Atoll 3.3.2 User Manual Radio

Version 3.3.2

User Manual for Radio Networks

AT332_UMR_E0

AT332_UMR_E0

Atoll 3.3.2 User Manual for Radio Networks Release: AT332_UMR_E0 (November 2016) © Copyright 1997-2016 Forsk. All Rights Reserved. Published by: Forsk 7 rue des Briquetiers 31700 Blagnac, France Tel: +33 562 747 210 Fax: +33 562 747 211 The software described in this document is provided under a licence agreement. The software may only be used or copied under the terms and conditions of the licence agreement. No part of the contents of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the publisher. The product or brand names mentioned in this document are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective registering parties. Third party services that are not part of Atoll are governed by the terms and conditions of their respective providers, which are subject to change without notice. The publisher has taken care in the preparation of this document, but makes no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of the use of the information contained herein.

Atoll 3.3.2 User Manual for Radio Networks Table of Contents

AT332_UMR_E0

Table of Contents

Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Atoll 3.3.2 User Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 About Atoll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 About Forsk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Getting Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Printing Help Topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 About Atoll Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Contacting Technical Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

1

Working Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

1.1 1.1.1 1.1.1.1 1.1.1.2 1.1.2 1.1.2.1 1.1.2.2 1.1.2.3 1.1.2.4 1.1.2.5 1.1.3 1.1.3.1 1.1.3.2 1.1.3.3 1.1.3.4 1.1.3.5 1.1.4 1.1.4.1 1.1.4.2 1.1.4.3 1.1.5

Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Standalone Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Available Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Creating a Standalone Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Documents Connected to a Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Atoll Multi-User Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Creating a Document from a Database. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Checking the Database Connection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Refreshing a Document from the Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Archiving the Modifications in the Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Configuring Document Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Projection and Display Coordinate Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Setting a Coordinate System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Selecting the Degree Display Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Setting Measurement Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Defining a Project Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Saving Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Saving a Copy of a Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Creating and Sharing Portable Atoll Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Configuring Automatic Backup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Opening Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

1.2 1.2.1 1.2.2 1.2.3 1.2.4 1.2.4.1 1.2.4.2 1.2.4.3 1.2.4.4 1.2.4.5 1.2.4.6

Atoll Work Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Document Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Explorers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Tool Windows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Organising the Atoll Work Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Grouping Tabs in the Document Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Displaying Explorers and Tool Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Moving Explorers and Tool Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Automatically Hiding Explorers and Tool Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Using the Status Bar to Get Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Resetting the Default Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

1.3 1.3.1 1.3.2 1.3.3 1.3.3.1 1.3.3.2 1.3.4 1.3.5 1.3.5.1 1.3.5.2 1.3.5.3

Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Renaming an Object. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Deleting an Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Modifying the Visibility of Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Displaying or Hiding Objects on the Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Changing the Order of Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Accessing Object Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Setting the Display Properties of Objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Setting the Display Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Setting the Transparency of Objects and Object Types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Setting the Visibility Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

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Atoll 3.3.2 User Manual for Radio Networks Table of Contents

1.3.5.4 1.3.5.5 1.3.5.6 1.3.5.7 1.3.5.8 1.3.6 1.3.6.1 1.3.6.2 1.3.6.3 1.3.6.4 1.3.6.5 1.3.7

4

© Forsk 2016. All Rights Reserved.

Associating a Label to an Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 Associating a Tip Text to an Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54 Adding an Object Type to the Legend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54 Changing the Symbol Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55 Examples of Using the Display Properties of Objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55 Modifying Transmitters and Sites on the Map. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56 Selecting One out of Several Transmitters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57 Moving a Site Using the Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57 Moving a Site to a Higher Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57 Changing the Azimuth of the Antenna Using the Mouse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57 Changing the Antenna Position Relative to the Site Using the Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58 Exporting Network Elements to Vector Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58

1.4 1.4.1 1.4.1.1 1.4.1.2 1.4.1.3 1.4.1.4 1.4.2 1.4.3 1.4.3.1 1.4.3.2 1.4.3.3 1.4.3.4 1.4.4 1.4.5 1.4.6 1.4.7 1.4.8 1.4.8.1 1.4.8.2 1.4.8.3 1.4.8.4 1.4.9 1.4.10 1.4.10.1 1.4.10.2 1.4.10.3 1.4.10.4 1.4.10.5 1.4.10.6 1.4.10.7 1.4.11 1.4.11.1 1.4.11.2 1.4.11.3 1.4.11.4 1.4.11.5 1.4.12

Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59 Configuring the Layout of the Map Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59 Displaying the Map Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59 Displaying Rulers Around the Map. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59 Displaying the Map Legend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60 Using Full Screen Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60 Moving the Map in the Document Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60 Changing the Map Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60 Zooming In and Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60 Choosing a Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61 Changing Between Previous Zoom Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61 Adjusting the Map Window to a Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61 Using the Panoramic Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61 Opening a New Map Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62 Centring the Map Window on a Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62 Favourite Map Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62 Searching for Objects on the Map. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63 Searching for a Map Object by Its Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63 Searching for a Map Object using Any Text Property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64 Searching for a Point on the Map by its Coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64 Searching for a Point on the Map by its Full or Partial Postal Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64 Measuring Distances on the Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65 Using Zones in the Map Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66 Filtering Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66 Computation Zone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67 Focus Zone and Hot Spots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68 Printing Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68 Geographic Export Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68 Creating Zones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68 Editing Zones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69 Vector Objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71 Adding a Vector Layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72 Creating Polygons, Lines, and Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72 Editing Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73 Editing Polygon Contours and Lines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73 Creating Complex Polygons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73 Map Window Pointers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74

1.5 1.5.1 1.5.2 1.5.2.1 1.5.2.2 1.5.2.3 1.5.3 1.5.4 1.5.4.1 1.5.4.2 1.5.4.3 1.5.4.4 1.5.4.5 1.5.4.6 1.5.5 1.5.5.1

Data Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75 Opening a Data Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76 Adding, Deleting, and Editing Data Table Fields. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76 Accessing Table Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76 Adding a Field to a Data Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77 Deleting a Field from a Data Table. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78 Accessing Record Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78 Defining the Table Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79 Setting Column Background Colours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79 Changing Table Cell Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79 Changing Column Widths and Row Heights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79 Displaying and Hiding Columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80 Freezing or Unfreezing a Column . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81 Moving Columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81 Editing the Contents of a Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82 Editing Table Entries Directly in the Table. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82

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1.5.5.2 1.5.5.3 1.5.6 1.5.7 1.5.8 1.5.9 1.5.10

Copying and Pasting in Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Searching for and Replacing Text Entries in Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Viewing a Statistical Analysis of Table Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Importing Tables from Text Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Exporting Tables to XML Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Importing Tables from XML Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

1.6 1.6.1 1.6.2 1.6.2.1 1.6.2.2 1.6.3 1.6.4 1.6.5

Printing in Atoll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Printing Data Tables and Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Printing a Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Printing Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Defining the Print Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Previewing Your Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Printing a Docking Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Printing Antenna Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

1.7 1.7.1 1.7.1.1 1.7.1.2 1.7.1.3 1.7.1.4 1.7.1.5 1.7.2 1.7.2.1 1.7.2.2 1.7.3 1.7.3.1 1.7.3.2 1.7.3.3 1.7.3.4 1.7.3.5 1.7.4 1.7.4.1 1.7.4.2 1.7.5 1.7.5.1 1.7.5.2 1.7.5.3 1.7.5.4 1.7.5.5 1.7.5.6 1.7.5.7 1.7.6 1.7.6.1 1.7.6.2 1.7.6.3 1.7.6.4 1.7.6.5 1.7.6.6

Grouping, Sorting, and Filtering Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Grouping Data Objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Grouping Data Objects by Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Grouping Data Objects by Zone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Grouping Data Objects by Property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Customizing the Group By Submenu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Advanced Grouping of Data Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Sorting Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Sorting Data in Tables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Advanced Sorting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Filtering Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Filtering Data Objects by Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Filtering Data Objects by Polygon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Filtering Data Objects in the Data Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Advanced Data Filtering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Removing Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 User Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Saving a User Configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Loading a User Configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Site and Transmitter Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Adding Sites or Transmitters to a List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Adding Sites or Transmitters to a List from a Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Editing a Site or Transmitter List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Importing a Site or Transmitter List. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Exporting a Site or Transmitter List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Filtering on a Site or Transmitter List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Using the Find on Map Tool to Display Site Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Folder Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Creating a Folder Configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Applying a Saved Folder Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Reapplying the Current Folder Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Saving a Folder Configuration in an External File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Loading a Folder Configuration from an External File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Deleting a Folder Configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

5

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1.7.7

Creating and Comparing Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

1.8

Add-ins and Macros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

1.9 1.9.1 1.9.2

Toolbars and Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Using Toolbars. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Using Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

2

6

© Forsk 2016. All Rights Reserved.

Geographic Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

2.1

Geographic Data Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

2.2

Supported Geographic Data Formats. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

2.3 2.3.1 2.3.2 2.3.3 2.3.4 2.3.4.1 2.3.4.2 2.3.5 2.3.6 2.3.6.1 2.3.6.2 2.3.6.3 2.3.7 2.3.8

Importing Geo Data Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Importing Raster Format Geo Data Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Importing Vector Format Geo Data Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Importing Traffic Maps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Importing MSI Planet® Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Importing a Single MSI Planet® Data Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Importing a MSI Planet® Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Importing a WMS Raster-format Geo Data File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Organising Geo Data Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Grouping Geo Data Files in Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating Folders for Vectors and Images. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Moving a Vector or Image into a Dedicated Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Embedding Geographic Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Repairing a Broken Link to a Geo Data File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2.4

Digital Terrain Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

2.5 2.5.1 2.5.2 2.5.3 2.5.4 2.5.5

Clutter Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Assigning Names to Clutter Classes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Clutter Class Properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adding a Clutter Class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Refreshing the List of Clutter Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Displaying Total Surface Area per Clutter Class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2.6

Clutter Heights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

2.7 2.7.1 2.7.2 2.7.3

Contours, Lines, and Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Managing the Display of a Vector Layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Managing the Properties of the Vector Layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Moving a Vector Layer to the Network Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2.8 2.8.1 2.8.2

Scanned Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 Importing Several Scanned Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 Defining the Display Properties of Scanned Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

2.9 2.9.1 2.9.2

Population Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Managing the Display of Population Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Displaying Population Statistics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

2.10 2.10.1 2.10.2 2.10.3 2.10.4 2.10.5

Custom Geo Data Maps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating a Custom Geo Data Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adding a File to a Custom Geo Data Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Managing the Properties of a Custom Geo Data Map. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Displaying Statistics on Custom Geo Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Integrable versus Non-integrable Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

133 134 135 135 136 136

2.11 2.11.1 2.11.2 2.11.3 2.11.4

Displaying Online Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Displaying Online Maps from a Generic Tile Server. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Displaying Online Maps from the Microsoft Bing Tile Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Displaying Online Maps from a GEO or CFG File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Online Maps Display Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

136 137 137 138 138

2.12 2.12.1 2.12.2 2.12.2.1 2.12.2.2

Setting the Priority of Geo Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Setting the Display Priority of Geo Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Setting the Priority of Geo Data in Calculations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Example 1: Two DTM Maps Representing Different Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Example 2: Clutter Classes and DTM Maps Representing the Same Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

138 138 139 140 140

119 120 120 121 122 122 122 122 124 124 124 125 125 126

126 126 127 129 129 130

130 130 131 131

AT332_UMR_E0

Atoll 3.3.2 User Manual for Radio Networks Table of Contents

2.12.2.3

Example 3: Two Clutter Class Maps Representing a Common Area. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

2.13

Displaying Geo Data Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

2.14 2.14.1 2.14.2

Geographic Data Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Exporting a Geo Data Set. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 Loading a Geo Data Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

2.15 2.15.1 2.15.1.1 2.15.1.2 2.15.1.3 2.15.1.4 2.15.2

Editing Geographic Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 Editing Clutter Class Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 Creating a Clutter Polygon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 Editing a Clutter Polygon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 Displaying the Coordinates of Clutter Polygons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 Deleting Clutter Polygons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 Editing Population or Custom Data Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

2.16 2.16.1 2.16.1.1 2.16.1.2 2.16.2 2.16.3 2.16.4 2.16.5

Saving Geographic Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Saving Modifications to an External File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Exporting an Edited Clutter Class Map to a Raster File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Exporting an Edited Vector Layer to a Vector File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 Updating the Source File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 Combining Several Raster Files into a Single File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 Exporting an Embedded Geo Data File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 Creating a File from a Section of a Larger File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

3

Radio Antennas and Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .153

3.1 3.1.1 3.1.2 3.1.3 3.1.3.1 3.1.3.2 3.1.4 3.1.4.1 3.1.4.2 3.1.4.3 3.1.4.4 3.1.4.5 3.1.4.6 3.1.5 3.1.6 3.1.7

Working With Antennas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Antenna Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Creating an Antenna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 Importing Antennas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 Importing Antennas From Files in Planet Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 Importing Antennas From Files Containing 3D Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 Working With Antenna Patterns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 Setting the Antenna Pattern Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 Displaying Antenna Patterns Using a Fixed Scale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 Printing an Antenna Pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 Comparing Antenna Patterns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 Smoothing One or More Antenna Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 Updating Antenna Properties Based on the Antenna Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 Assigning Antennas to Transmitters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 Sharing Antennas Among Transmitters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 Working With Multiple-Beam Antennas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

3.2 3.2.1 3.2.2 3.2.3 3.2.4 3.2.5

Working With Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Defining TMA Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Defining Feeder Cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Defining Transmitter Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 Updating the Values for Total Losses and the Transmitter Equipment Noise Figure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 Checking Antenna Consistency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

4 4.1 4.1.1 4.1.2 4.1.2.1 4.1.2.2 4.1.2.3 4.1.2.4 4.1.2.5 4.1.2.6 4.1.2.7 4.1.3 4.1.4 4.1.5 4.1.5.1 4.1.5.2

Radio Calculations and Models. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .167 Radio Propagation Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 Overview of Propagation Model Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 Standard Propagation Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 Standard Propagation Model Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 Calculating Diffraction With the SPM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 Sample Values for SPM Formulas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 Calculating f(clutter) with the Standard Propagation Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 Modelling Fixed Receivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 Defining the Parameters of the Standard Propagation Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 Defining the Clutter Settings of the Standard Propagation Model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 Aster Propagation Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 CrossWave Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Okumura-Hata Propagation Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 Defining General Settings (Okumura-Hata) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 Selecting an Environment Formula (Okumura-Hata). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

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4.1.5.3 4.1.6 4.1.6.1 4.1.6.2 4.1.6.3 4.1.7 4.1.7.1 4.1.7.2 4.1.7.3 4.1.8 4.1.9 4.1.9.1 4.1.9.2 4.1.9.3 4.1.10 4.1.11 4.1.12 4.1.13 4.1.14 4.1.15

Creating or Modifying Environment Formulas (Okumura-Hata) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cost-Hata Propagation Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining General Settings (Cost-Hata) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Selecting an Environment Formula (Cost-Hata) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating or Modifying Environment Formulas (Cost-Hata) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ITU 529-3 Propagation Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining General Settings (ITU 529-3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Selecting an Environment Formula (ITU 529-3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating or Modifying Environment Formulas (ITU 529-3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ITU 370-7 Propagation Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Erceg-Greenstein Propagation Model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining General Settings (Erceg-Greenstein (SUI)) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Selecting an Environment Formula (Erceg-Greenstein (SUI)) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating or Modifying Environment Formulas (Erceg-Greenstein (SUI)) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ITU 526-5 Propagation Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WLL Propagation Model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Longley-Rice Propagation Model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ITU 1546 Propagation Model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sakagami Extended Propagation Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Managing Propagation Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

179 179 179 180 180 180 181 181 181 181 182 182 182 183 183 183 184 184 185 185

4.2 4.2.1 4.2.2 4.2.2.1 4.2.2.2 4.2.2.3 4.2.2.4 4.2.3 4.2.3.1 4.2.3.2 4.2.3.3

The Calculation Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Preparing Base Stations for Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Assigning Propagation Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Specifying the Default Propagation Parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Assigning Propagation Parameters to a Single Transmitter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Assigning Propagation Parameters to a Group of Transmitters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Assigning Propagation Parameters to All Transmitters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Setting Transmitters or Cells as Active . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Setting Transmitters as Active from the Context Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Setting Transmitters or Cells as Active from a Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Setting Transmitters as Active by using a Zone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

186 186 187 188 188 189 189 189 190 190 190

4.3 4.3.1 4.3.2 4.3.3 4.3.4 4.3.5 4.3.6 4.3.7.1 4.3.7.2 4.3.7.3 4.3.7.4 4.3.7.5 4.3.8

Managing Path Loss Matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Setting the Storage Location of Path Loss Matrices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Calculating Path Loss Matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stopping Path Loss Matrix Calculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Checking the Validity of Path Loss Matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Deleting Path Loss Matrices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Optimising Path Loss Matrix Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining the Area to be Tuned . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Maximum Corrections and Thresholds on Path Loss Tuning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tuning Path Loss Matrices Using CW Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tuning Path Loss Matrices Using Drive Test Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Managing the Path Loss Tuning Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Exporting Path Loss Matrices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

190 190 191 192 192 193 194 196 196 197 198 199 201

4.4 4.4.1 4.4.2 4.4.3 4.4.4 4.4.5 4.4.6

Point Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Starting a Point Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Views of the Point Analysis Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Moving the Receiver on the Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Centring the Map Window on the Receiver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Taking Indoor Losses into Account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Taking Shadowing into Account in Point Analyses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

201 201 202 203 203 203 204

4.5 4.5.1 4.5.2 4.5.3 4.5.4 4.5.4.1 4.5.4.2 4.5.4.3 4.5.4.4 4.5.4.5 4.5.4.6 4.5.5 4.5.5.1

Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating Coverage Predictions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Duplicating Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cloning Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Calculating Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Calculating a Single Coverage Prediction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Calculating Multiple Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Forcing Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stopping Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Locking and Unlocking Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . External Storage of Coverage Prediction Numerical Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Saving Defined Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Saving a Coverage Prediction as a Customised Coverage Prediction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

204 204 205 205 206 207 207 207 207 207 208 209 209

AT332_UMR_E0

4.5.5.2 4.5.6 4.5.6.1 4.5.6.2 4.5.6.3 4.5.7 4.5.7.1 4.5.7.2 4.5.7.3 4.5.8 4.5.9 4.5.9.1 4.5.9.2 4.5.10

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Saving a Defined List of Predictions in a User Configuration File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 Exporting Coverage Prediction Results. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 Exporting a Coverage Prediction to a Vector File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 Exporting a Coverage Prediction to a Raster File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 Exporting Multiple Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 Generating Coverage Prediction Reports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212 Generating a Single Coverage Prediction Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212 Generating Multiple Coverage Prediction Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213 Generating Coverage Prediction Reports with Population Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213 Displaying Coverage Prediction Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214 Comparing Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 Studying the Effect of a New Base Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 Studying the Effect of a Change in Transmitter Tilt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217 Displaying Coverage Predictions as a Slideshow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

Neighbour Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .223

5.1 5.1.1 5.1.2

Exceptional Pairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223 Defining Exceptional Pairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223 Displaying Exceptional Pairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224

5.2 5.2.1 5.2.2 5.2.3 5.2.4

Automatic Neighbour Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224 Automatic Neighbour Allocation Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225 Automatically Allocating Neighbours to Multiple Cells. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226 Automatically Allocating Neighbours to a Base Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227 Automatically Allocating Neighbours to a Single Cell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

5.3 5.3.1 5.3.2 5.3.3

Editing Neighbour Relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228 Editing Neighbours in the Cell Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228 Editing Neighbours in the Neighbours Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228 Editing Neighbours on the Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

5.4 5.4.1 5.4.2 5.4.3

Neighbour Importance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 Neighbour Importance Evaluation Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230 Configuring Neighbour Importance Factors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231 Evaluating Neighbour Importance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

5.5 5.5.1 5.5.2 5.5.3 5.5.4

Displaying Neighbour Allocation Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232 Defining Display Settings for Single-RAT Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232 Configuring Display Settings for Multi-RAT documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234 Displaying Neighbour Relationships and Coverage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 Displaying Inter-technology Neighbours in Co-planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

5.6

Auditing Neighbour Allocation Plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

5.7 5.7.1 5.7.2

Importing and Exporting Neighbours. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 Importing Neighbours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 Exporting Neighbours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

6

Traffic and Capacity Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .241

6.1 6.1.1 6.1.1.1 6.1.1.2 6.1.2 6.1.2.1 6.1.2.2 6.1.3 6.1.3.1 6.1.3.2 6.1.3.3 6.1.3.4

Service and User Modelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241 Modelling Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241 Service Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241 Creating Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247 Modelling Mobility Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247 Mobility Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248 Creating Mobility Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249 Modelling Terminals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249 Terminal Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249 Creating Terminals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254 Modelling User Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254 Modelling Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

6.2 6.2.1 6.2.2 6.2.2.1 6.2.2.2

Working with Traffic Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256 Creating a Sector Traffic Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 Creating a User Profile Traffic Map. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258 Importing a User Profile Density-based Traffic Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 Importing a User Profile Environment-based Traffic Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

9

Atoll 3.3.2 User Manual for Radio Networks Table of Contents

6.2.2.3 6.2.3 6.2.3.1 6.2.3.2 6.2.3.3 6.2.4 6.2.5 6.2.6 6.3 6.3.1 6.3.2 6.3.3 6.3.5 6.3.6 6.3.7 6.3.8

7

© Forsk 2016. All Rights Reserved.

Creating a User Profile Environment-based Traffic Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating User Density Traffic Maps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Importing a User Density Traffic Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating a User Density Traffic Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating User Density Traffic Maps from Sector Traffic Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating a Fixed Subscribers Traffic Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Exporting Cumulated Traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Exporting a Traffic Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

261 261 261 262 263 263 264 265

Simulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating Simulations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Displaying Simulation Results on the Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Displaying Simulations as a Slideshow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Updating Cell Values With Simulation Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adding Simulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Replaying Simulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Duplicating Simulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

265 266 270 271 272 273 273 274

GSM/GPRS/EDGE Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

7.1

Designing a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

7.2 7.2.1 7.2.1.1 7.2.1.2 7.2.1.3 7.2.1.4 7.2.1.5 7.2.1.6 7.2.2 7.2.3 7.2.4 7.2.5 7.2.6 7.2.6.1 7.2.6.2 7.2.6.3 7.2.6.4 7.2.6.5 7.2.6.6 7.2.7 7.2.7.1 7.2.7.2 7.2.7.3 7.2.7.4 7.2.7.5 7.2.8 7.2.8.1 7.2.8.2 7.2.8.3 7.2.8.4 7.2.8.5 7.2.8.6 7.2.9 7.2.9.1 7.2.9.2 7.2.9.3 7.2.10 7.2.10.1 7.2.10.2 7.2.10.3

Planning and Optimising GSM/GPRS/EDGE Base Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Base Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Definition of a Base Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating or Modifying a Base Station Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Placing a New Station Using a Station Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Managing Station Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Duplicating an Existing Base Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Studying the Profile Around a Base Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating a Group of Base Stations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modifying Sites and Transmitters Directly on the Map. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Display Tips for Base Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modelling Packet-switched Transmitters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating a Repeater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Opening the Repeaters Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating and Modifying Repeater Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Placing a Repeater on the Map Using the Mouse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating Several Repeaters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining the Properties of a Repeater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tips for Updating Repeater Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating a Remote Antenna. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Opening the Remote Antennas Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Placing a Remote Antenna on the Map Using the Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating Several Remote Antennas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining the Properties of a Remote Antenna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tips for Updating Remote Antenna Parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Studying GSM Base Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GSM Prediction Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Signal Level Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Displaying Coverage Prediction Results. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Analysing Signal Reception Using the Point Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comparing Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Multi-point Analyses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Planning Neighbours. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Coverage Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Calculation Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reasons for Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Planning Neighbours in Co-planning Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Coverage Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Calculation Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reasons for Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

278 279 279 289 291 292 294 295 297 297 298 298 298 299 299 299 300 300 302 302 303 303 303 304 305 305 306 307 314 315 316 320 322 323 323 323 324 324 324 325

7.3 7.3.1 7.3.2 7.3.3 7.3.3.1

Studying GSM/GPRS/EDGE Network Capacity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Importing OMC Traffic Data into the Subcells Table: Traffic Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Multi-service Traffic Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Calculating and Displaying a Traffic Capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Prerequisites for a Traffic Capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

325 326 326 327 327

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7.3.3.2 7.3.3.3 7.3.3.4 7.3.4 7.3.4.1 7.3.4.2 7.3.5 7.3.5.1 7.3.5.2

Creating a Traffic Capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327 GSM/GPRS/EDGE Traffic Capture Results. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329 Modifying a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Traffic Capture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329 Dimensioning a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Network. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330 Defining a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Dimensioning Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330 Dimensioning a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332 Calculating GSM/GPRS/EDGE Traffic Simulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334 Radio Resource Management in GSM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335 GSM/GPRS/EDGE Simulation Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337

7.4 7.4.1 7.4.1.1 7.4.1.2 7.4.1.3 7.4.2 7.4.2.1 7.4.2.2 7.4.2.3 7.4.2.4 7.4.3 7.4.3.1 7.4.3.2 7.4.3.3 7.4.3.4 7.4.3.5 7.4.4 7.4.4.1 7.4.4.2 7.4.4.3 7.4.4.4 7.4.4.5 7.4.4.6 7.4.4.7

Allocating Frequencies, BSICs, HSNs, MALs, MAIOs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340 Defining Resource Ranges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341 Defining Frequency Bands, Domains, and Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341 Defining BSIC Domains and Groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343 Defining HSN Domains and Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344 Allocating Frequencies and BSICs Manually. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345 Assigning BSIC Domains to Transmitters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345 Assigning BSICs to Transmitters Manually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346 Defining Frequency Domains for Transmitters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346 Assigning Frequencies to Subcells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347 AFP Prerequisites (IM, Separations, Traffic, etc.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350 Interference Matrices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351 Channel Separations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362 Modelling Traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367 AFP-Related Parameters in the Subcells Table. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368 Modelling Layers and Subcells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370 Automatic Resource Allocation Using an AFP Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371 The Scope of the AFP and the Scope of the Interference Matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372 The Network Validation Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373 Running an Automatic Frequency Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374 AFP Progress Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377 AFP Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377 Committing and Exporting the Frequency Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387 Allocating Frequencies Interactively . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387

7.5 7.5.1 7.5.2 7.5.2.1 7.5.2.2 7.5.2.3 7.5.2.4 7.5.2.5 7.5.3 7.5.3.1 7.5.3.2 7.5.3.3 7.5.3.4 7.5.3.5

Automatic Frequency Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391 Using the Atoll AFP at a Basic Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392 Using the Atoll AFP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393 An Overview of the AFP Cost Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393 Setting the Parameters of the Atoll AFP Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399 Frequency Hopping Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410 Azimuth Oriented Assignments (Pattern Allocation, 1/1 1/3 1/x …) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412 BSIC Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412 Advanced AFP usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413 Optimising the Number of Required TRXs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413 Combining Interference Matrices According to Maximum Likelihood Estimation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419 The Storage of a Frequency Plan in Atoll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424 AFP Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425 The Role of the AFP Administrator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427

7.6 7.6.1 7.6.2 7.6.2.1 7.6.2.2 7.6.2.3 7.6.2.4 7.6.2.5 7.6.3 7.6.3.1 7.6.3.2 7.6.3.3

Analysing Network Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428 Evaluating the Quality of a Frequency Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428 Interference Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430 Making DL Quality Predic ons Based on C⁄I or C⁄(I+N) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431 Making UL Quality Predic ons Based on C⁄(I+N) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434 Studying Interference Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436 Analysing Interference Areas Using the Point Analysis Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439 Example of Analysing Interference Using a Point Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441 Packet-Specific Coverage Predictions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442 Making a Coverage Prediction by GPRS/EDGE Coding Schemes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442 Making a Coverage Prediction by Packet Throughput. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445 Making a BLER Coverage Prediction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449

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7.6.4 7.6.5 7.6.6 7.6.7 7.6.8 7.6.9 7.6.9.1 7.6.9.2 7.6.9.3 7.6.9.4 7.6.10

© Forsk 2016. All Rights Reserved.

Making a Circuit Quality Indicator (BER, FER, or MOS) Prediction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Making a Service Area Prediction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Studying Interference Between Transmitters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Auditing a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Frequency Plan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Checking Consistency in Subcells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Displaying the Frequency Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Using Find on Map to Display Channel Reuse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Displaying the Frequency Allocation Using Transmitter Display Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Grouping Transmitters by Frequencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Displaying the Channel Allocation Histogram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Calculating Key Performance Indicators of a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

452 454 457 458 461 462 462 463 464 464 465

7.7 7.7.1 7.7.2 7.7.3

Optimising Network Parameters Using ACP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GSM Optimisation Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GSM Quality Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GSM Quality Analysis Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

467 468 468 470

7.8 7.8.1 7.8.2 7.8.3 7.8.4 7.8.4.1 7.8.4.2 7.8.4.3 7.8.4.4 7.8.4.5 7.8.4.6 7.8.5 7.8.6 7.8.7 7.8.8

Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Importing a Drive Test Data Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Displaying Drive Test Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining the Display of a Drive Test Data Path. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Network Verification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Filtering Measurement Points Along Drive Test Data Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Predicting the Signal Level on Drive Test Data Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating Coverage Predictions on Drive Test Data Paths. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Displaying Statistics Over a Drive Test Data Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Extracting a Field From a Drive Test Data Path for a Transmitter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Analysing Data Variations Along the Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Exporting a Drive Test Data Path. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Extracting CW Measurements from Drive Test Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Generating Interference Matrices from a Drive Test Data Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Printing and Exporting the Drive Test Data Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

471 471 474 474 475 475 477 478 480 480 480 482 482 483 483

7.9 7.9.1 7.9.2 7.9.3 7.9.3.1 7.9.3.2 7.9.3.3 7.9.4 7.9.5 7.9.5.1 7.9.5.2 7.9.5.3 7.9.5.4 7.9.5.5 7.9.6 7.9.6.1 7.9.6.2 7.9.6.3 7.9.6.4 7.9.6.5 7.9.7 7.9.8 7.9.8.1 7.9.8.2 7.9.9 7.9.9.1 7.9.9.2

Advanced Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Setting HCS Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comparing Service Areas in Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cell Types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TRX Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating a Cell Type. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Examples of Cell Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TRX Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Codec Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Opening the Codec Mode Table. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating or Modifying Codec Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Setting Codec Mode Adaptation Thresholds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Setting Codec Mode Quality Thresholds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Using Codec Configurations in Transmitters and Terminals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Coding Scheme Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Opening the Coding Schemes Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating or Modifying a Coding Scheme Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Using Coding Scheme Configuration in Transmitters and Terminals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adapting Coding Scheme Thresholds for a Maximum BLER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Displaying Coding Scheme Throughput Graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Timeslot Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Advanced Transmitter Configuration Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Extended Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Advanced Modelling of Multi-Band Transmitters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Global Network Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Network Settings Properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modifying Global Network Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

483 484 484 488 488 488 490 491 492 492 493 493 494 495 495 495 496 497 498 498 499 499 499 500 504 504 504

12

AT332_UMR_E0

7.9.10 7.9.11 7.9.12 7.9.13

8

Atoll 3.3.2 User Manual for Radio Networks Table of Contents

Advanced Modelling of Hopping Gain in Coverage Predictions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504 Modelling Shadowing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 506 Modelling the Co-existence of Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 506 Modelling Inter-technology Interference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507

UMTS HSPA Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .511

8.1

Designing a UMTS Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511

8.2 8.2.1 8.2.1.1 8.2.1.2 8.2.1.3 8.2.2 8.2.2.1 8.2.2.2 8.2.2.3 8.2.2.4 8.2.2.5 8.2.2.6 8.2.2.7 8.2.2.8 8.2.2.9 8.2.2.10 8.2.3 8.2.4 8.2.5 8.2.6 8.2.7 8.2.8 8.2.8.1 8.2.8.2 8.2.8.3 8.2.8.4 8.2.8.5 8.2.8.6 8.2.9 8.2.9.1 8.2.9.2 8.2.9.3 8.2.9.4 8.2.9.5 8.2.10 8.2.10.1 8.2.10.2 8.2.10.3 8.2.10.4 8.2.10.5 8.2.10.6 8.2.10.7 8.2.10.8 8.2.11 8.2.11.1 8.2.11.2 8.2.11.3 8.2.12 8.2.12.1 8.2.12.2 8.2.12.3 8.2.12.4 8.2.12.5 8.2.12.6

Planning and Optimising UMTS Base Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513 Definition of a UMTS Base Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513 Site Properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513 Transmitter Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 514 Cell Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 516 Creating UMTS Base Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 519 Creating a Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 520 Modifying a Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 520 Creating or Modifying a Transmitter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 520 Assigning Equipment to a Transmitter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521 Creating or Modifying a Cell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521 Placing a New Station Using a Station Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 522 Placing a Station on an Existing Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 522 Managing Station Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 522 Duplicating an Existing Base Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525 Studying the Profile Around a Base Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526 Creating a Group of Base Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527 Modifying Sites and Transmitters Directly on the Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528 Display Tips for Base Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528 Creating Multi-band UMTS Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528 Creating Heterogeneous UMTS Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528 Creating Repeaters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529 Repeater Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529 Opening the Repeaters Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531 Creating and Modifying Repeater Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531 Placing a Repeater on the Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 532 Modifying the Properties of a Repeater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 532 Tips for Updating Repeater Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 532 Creating Remote Antennas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533 Remote Antenna Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533 Opening the Remote Antennas Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534 Placing a Remote Antenna on the Map Using the Mouse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535 Modifying the Properties of a Remote Antenna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535 Tips for Updating Remote Antenna Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535 Studying UMTS Base Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536 UMTS Prediction Properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536 Signal Level Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537 UMTS Coverage Predictions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 540 HSDPA Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549 HSUPA Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 551 Displaying Coverage Prediction Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553 Analysing a Coverage Prediction Using the Point Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 554 Multi-point Analyses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 557 Planning Neighbours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560 Coverage Conditions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560 Calculation Constraints. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 561 Reasons for Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 561 Planning Scrambling Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 562 Defining the Scrambling Code Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563 Creating Scrambling Code Domains and Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563 Defining Exceptional Pairs for Scrambling Code Allocation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563 Allocating Scrambling Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564 Checking the Consistency of the Scrambling Code Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 566 Displaying the Allocation of Scrambling Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567

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© Forsk 2016. All Rights Reserved.

8.3 8.3.1 8.3.2 8.3.2.1 8.3.2.2 8.3.3 8.3.3.1 8.3.3.2

Studying UMTS Network Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Multi-service Traffic Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Calculating UMTS Traffic Simulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Power Control Simulation Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . UMTS Simulation Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Analysing the Results of a Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Making an AS Analysis of Simulation Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Making Coverage Predictions Using Simulation Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

571 571 571 572 578 587 587 588

8.4 8.4.1 8.4.2 8.4.3

Optimising Network Parameters Using ACP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . UMTS Optimisation Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . UMTS Quality Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . UMTS Quality Analysis Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

589 589 590 592

8.5 8.5.1 8.5.2 8.5.3 8.5.4 8.5.4.1 8.5.4.2 8.5.4.3 8.5.4.4 8.5.4.5 8.5.4.6 8.5.5 8.5.6 8.5.7

Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Importing a Drive Test Data Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Displaying Drive Test Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining the Display of a Drive Test Data Path. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Network Verification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Filtering Measurement Points Along Drive Test Data Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Predicting Signal Level on Drive Test Data Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating Coverage Predictions on Drive Test Data Paths. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Displaying Statistics Over a Drive Test Data Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Extracting a Field From a Drive Test Data Path for a Transmitter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Analysing Measurement Variations Along the Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Exporting a Drive Test Data Path. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Extracting CW Measurements from Drive Test Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Printing and Exporting the Drive Test Data Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

593 593 596 596 597 597 598 599 600 600 600 602 602 603

8.6 8.6.1 8.6.2 8.6.2.1 8.6.2.2 8.6.3 8.6.4 8.6.4.1 8.6.4.2 8.6.4.3 8.6.5 8.6.5.1 8.6.5.2 8.6.6

Co-planning UMTS Networks with Other Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Switching to Co-planning Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Working with Coverage Predictions in Co-Planning Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Updating Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Analysing Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating a UMTS Sector From a Sector in the Other Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Planning Neighbours in Co-planning Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Coverage Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Calculation Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reasons for Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Using ACP in a Co-planning Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating a New Co-planning Optimisation Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Importing the Other Network into the Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ending Co-planning Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

603 603 605 605 606 609 609 609 610 610 610 611 611 611

8.7 8.7.1 8.7.2 8.7.3 8.7.3.1 8.7.3.2 8.7.4 8.7.5 8.7.5.1 8.7.5.2 8.7.5.3 8.7.6 8.7.6.1 8.7.6.2 8.7.6.3 8.7.7 8.7.7.1 8.7.7.2 8.7.7.3

Advanced Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modelling Inter-Carrier Interference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Frequency Bands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Global Network Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Network Settings Properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modifying Global Network Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Network Deployment Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Radio Bearers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining R99 Radio Bearers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining HSDPA Radio Bearers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining HSUPA Radio Bearers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Site Equipment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating Site Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Resource Consumption per UMTS Site Equipment and R99 Radio Bearer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Resource Consumption per UMTS Site Equipment and HSUPA Radio Bearer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Receiver Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating or Modifying Reception Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HSDPA UE Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HSUPA UE Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

611 612 612 613 613 614 614 615 615 615 616 616 616 617 618 618 618 620 620

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8.7.8 8.7.9 8.7.10 8.7.11 8.7.12

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Defining HSDPA Schedulers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 620 Multiple Input Multiple Output Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 621 Best Serving Cell and Active Set Determination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 622 Modelling Shadowing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 623 Modelling Inter-technology Interference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 624

CDMA2000 Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .629

9.1 9.1.1 9.1.1.1 9.1.1.2 9.1.1.3 9.1.1.4 9.1.1.5 9.1.1.6 9.1.2 9.1.3 9.1.4 9.1.5 9.1.6 9.1.6.1 9.1.6.2 9.1.6.3 9.1.6.4 9.1.6.5 9.1.6.6 9.1.7 9.1.7.1 9.1.7.2 9.1.7.3 9.1.7.4 9.1.7.5 9.1.8 9.1.8.1 9.1.8.2 9.1.8.3 9.1.8.4 9.1.8.5 9.1.8.6 9.1.9 9.1.9.1 9.1.9.2 9.1.9.3 9.1.10 9.1.10.1 9.1.10.2 9.1.10.3 9.1.10.4

Planning and Optimising CDMA Base Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 629 Creating a CDMA Base Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 630 Definition of a Base Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 630 Creating or Modifying a Base Station Element. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 636 Placing a New Station Using a Station Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 638 Managing Station Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 638 Duplicating an Existing Base Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 641 Studying the Profile Around a Base Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 642 Creating a Group of Base Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 643 Modifying Sites and Transmitters Directly on the Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 644 Display Tips for Base Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 644 Creating a Dual-Band and Tri-Band CDMA Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645 Creating a Repeater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645 Opening the Repeaters Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645 Creating and Modifying Repeater Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645 Placing a Repeater on the Map Using the Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 646 Creating Several Repeaters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 646 Defining the Properties of a Repeater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 647 Tips for Updating Repeater Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 648 Creating a Remote Antenna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 649 Opening the Remote Antennas Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 649 Placing a Remote Antenna on the Map Using the Mouse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 649 Creating Several Remote Antennas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 650 Defining the Properties of a Remote Antenna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 650 Tips for Updating Remote Antenna Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651 Studying CDMA Base Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 652 CDMA Prediction Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 652 Signal Level Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 653 CDMA Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 656 Displaying Coverage Prediction Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 665 Analysing a Coverage Prediction Using the Point Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 666 Comparing Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 670 Planning Neighbours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 674 Coverage Conditions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 674 Calculation Constraints. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 676 Reasons for Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 676 Planning PN Offsets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 677 Defining Exceptional Pairs for PN Offset Allocation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 677 Allocating PN Offsets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 678 Checking the Consistency of the PN Offset Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 681 Displaying the Allocation of PN Offsets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 681

9.2 9.2.1 9.2.2 9.2.2.1 9.2.2.2 9.2.3 9.2.3.1 9.2.3.2

Studying CDMA2000 Network Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 685 Defining Multi-service Traffic Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 685 Calculating CDMA2000 Traffic Simulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 685 The Power Control Simulation Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 686 CDMA2000 Simulation Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 688 Analysing the Results of a Simulation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 696 Making an AS Analysis of Simulation Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 696 Making Coverage Predictions Using Simulation Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 697

15

Atoll 3.3.2 User Manual for Radio Networks Table of Contents

© Forsk 2016. All Rights Reserved.

9.3 9.3.1 9.3.2 9.3.3

Optimising Network Parameters Using ACP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CDMA2000 Optimisation Objectives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CDMA2000 Quality Parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CDMA2000 Quality Analysis Predictions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

698 698 699 700

9.4 9.4.1 9.4.2 9.4.3 9.4.4 9.4.4.1 9.4.4.2 9.4.4.3 9.4.4.4 9.4.4.5 9.4.4.6 9.4.4.7 9.4.5 9.4.6 9.4.7

Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Importing a Drive Test Data Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Displaying Drive Test Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining the Display of a Drive Test Data Path. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Network Verification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Filtering Incompatible Points Along Drive Test Data Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Predicting Signal Level on Drive Test Data Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating Coverage Predictions on Drive Test Data Paths. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Displaying Statistics Over a Drive Test Data Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Extracting a Field From a Drive Test Data Path for a Transmitter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Extracting a Field From a Drive Test Data Path for a Transmitter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Analysing Data Variations Along the Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Exporting a Drive Test Data Path. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Extracting CW Measurements from Drive Test Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Printing and Exporting the Drive Test Data Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

701 702 704 704 705 705 707 708 709 710 710 710 712 712 713

9.5 9.5.1 9.5.2 9.5.2.1 9.5.2.2 9.5.3 9.5.4 9.5.4.1 9.5.4.2 9.5.4.3 9.5.5 9.5.5.1 9.5.5.2 9.5.6

Co-planning CDMA Networks with Other Networks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Switching to Co-planning Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Working with Coverage Predictions in a Co-Planning Project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Updating Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Analysing Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating a CDMA Sector From a Sector in the Other Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Planning Neighbours in Co-planning Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Coverage Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Calculation Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reasons for Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Using ACP in a Co-planning Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating a New Co-planning Optimisation Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Importing the Other Network into the Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ending Co-planning Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

713 714 715 715 716 718 719 719 720 721 721 721 722 722

9.6 9.6.1 9.6.2 9.6.3 9.6.4 9.6.4.1 9.6.4.2 9.6.5 9.6.6 9.6.6.1 9.6.6.2 9.6.7 9.6.7.1 9.6.7.2 9.6.8 9.6.8.1 9.6.8.2 9.6.9 9.6.10 9.6.10.1 9.6.11 9.6.12

Advanced Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modelling Inter-carrier Interference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Frequency Bands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Carrier Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Global Network Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CDMA Network Settings Properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modifying Global Network Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Throughputs Available for Services in CDMA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The 1xEV-DO Radio Bearers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining the Forward Link 1xEV-DO Radio Bearers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining the Reverse Link 1xEV-DO Radio Bearers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Site Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating Site Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Channel Element Consumption per CDMA Site Equipment and Radio Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Receiver Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Setting Receiver Height. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating or Modifying Reception Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Conditions for Entering the Active Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modelling Shadowing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Displaying the Shadowing Margins and Macro-diversity Gain per Clutter Class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating PN Offset Domains and Groups for PN Offset Allocation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modelling Inter-technology Interference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

722 723 723 724 724 724 725 725 726 727 727 727 727 728 728 729 729 730 730 731 732 733

10

TD-SCDMA Networks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 737

10.1

Designing a TD-SCDMA Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 737

10.2 10.2.1 10.2.1.1 10.2.1.2 10.2.1.3

Planning and Optimising TD-SCDMA Base Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating a TD-SCDMA Base Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Definition of a Base Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating or Modifying a Base Station Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Placing a New Base Station Using a Station Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

16

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10.2.1.4 10.2.1.5 10.2.1.6 10.2.2 10.2.3 10.2.4 10.2.5 10.2.6 10.2.6.1 10.2.6.2 10.2.6.3 10.2.6.4 10.2.6.5 10.2.6.6 10.2.7 10.2.7.1 10.2.7.2 10.2.7.3 10.2.7.4 10.2.7.5 10.2.8 10.2.8.1 10.2.8.2 10.2.8.3 10.2.8.4 10.2.8.5 10.2.8.6 10.2.8.7 10.2.9 10.2.9.1 10.2.9.2 10.2.9.3 10.2.9.4 10.2.9.5 10.2.10 10.2.10.1 10.2.10.2 10.2.10.3 10.2.11 10.2.11.1 10.2.11.2 10.2.11.3 10.2.11.4 10.2.11.5 10.2.11.6 10.2.11.7

Atoll 3.3.2 User Manual for Radio Networks Table of Contents

Managing Station Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 747 Duplicating an Existing Base Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 750 Studying the Profile Around a Base Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 751 Creating a Group of Base Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 753 Modifying Sites and Transmitters Directly on the Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 753 Display Tips for Base Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 753 Creating a Dual-Band TD-SCDMA Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 754 Creating a Repeater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 754 Opening the Repeaters Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 755 Creating and Modifying Repeater Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 755 Placing a Repeater on the Map Using the Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 755 Creating Several Repeaters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 756 Defining the Properties of a Repeater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 756 Tips for Updating Repeater Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 758 Creating a Remote Antenna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 758 Opening the Remote Antennas Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 759 Placing a Remote Antenna on the Map Using the Mouse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 759 Creating Several Remote Antennas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 759 Defining the Properties of a Remote Antenna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 760 Tips for Updating Remote Antenna Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 761 Studying TD-SCDMA Base Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 761 TD-SCDMA Prediction Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 761 Signal Level Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 763 Signal Quality Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 769 HSDPA Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 778 Displaying Coverage Prediction Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 780 Analysing a Coverage Prediction Using the Point Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 781 Comparing Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 781 Planning Frequencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 785 Setting up N-Frequency Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 785 Allocating Frequencies Automatically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 785 Checking Automatic Frequency Allocation Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 786 Allocating Carrier Types per Transmitter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 787 Checking the Consistency of the Frequency Allocation Plan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 787 Planning Neighbours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 788 Coverage Conditions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 788 Calculation Constraints. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 788 Reasons for Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 789 Planning Scrambling Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 789 Defining the Scrambling Code Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 790 Creating Scrambling Code Domains and Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 790 Defining Exceptional Pairs for Scrambling Code Allocation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 791 Defining Scrambling Code Relativity Clusters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 791 Allocating Scrambling Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 791 Checking the Consistency of the Scrambling Code Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 794 Displaying the Allocation of Scrambling Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 795

10.3 10.3.1 10.3.1.1 10.3.1.2 10.3.1.3 10.3.2 10.3.3 10.3.3.1 10.3.3.2 10.3.4

Studying TD-SCDMA Network Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 798 Calculating TD-SCDMA Network Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 798 Calculating Available Network Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 799 Calculating Required Network Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 799 Displaying the Network Capacity on the Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800 Defining Multi-service Traffic Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800 Calculating TD-SCDMA Traffic Simulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801 The Monte Carlo Simulation Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801 TD-SCDMA Simulation Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 804 Making Coverage Predictions Using Simulation Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 810

10.4 10.4.1 10.4.2 10.4.3 10.4.4 10.4.4.1 10.4.4.2 10.4.4.3 10.4.4.4

Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 811 Importing a Drive Test Data Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 811 Displaying Drive Test Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 813 Defining the Display of a Drive Test Data Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 814 Network Verification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 814 Filtering Incompatible Points Along Drive Test Data Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 815 Predicting the Signal Level on Drive Test Data Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 815 Displaying Statistics Over a Drive Test Data Path. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 816 Extracting a Field From a Drive Test Data Path for a Transmitter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 817

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© Forsk 2016. All Rights Reserved.

10.4.4.5 10.4.5 10.4.6 10.4.7

Analysing Data Variations Along the Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Exporting a Drive Test Data Path. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Extracting CW Measurements from Drive Test Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Printing and Exporting the Drive Test Data Analysis Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

817 819 819 820

10.5 10.5.1 10.5.2 10.5.2.1 10.5.2.2 10.5.3 10.5.4 10.5.4.1 10.5.4.2 10.5.4.3 10.5.5

Co-planning TD-SCDMA Networks with Other Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Switching to Co-planning Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Working with Coverage Predictions in a Co-Planning Project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Updating Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Analysing Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating a TD-SCDMA Sector From a Sector in the Other Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Planning Neighbours in Co-planning Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Coverage Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Calculation Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reasons for Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ending Co-planning Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

820 820 822 822 823 825 826 826 826 827 827

10.6 10.6.1 10.6.2 10.6.3 10.6.3.1 10.6.3.2 10.6.4 10.6.4.1 10.6.4.2 10.6.4.3 10.6.4.4 10.6.4.5 10.6.4.6 10.6.4.7 10.6.5 10.6.5.1 10.6.5.2 10.6.5.3 10.6.6 10.6.7 10.6.7.1 10.6.7.2 10.6.7.3 10.6.8 10.6.8.1

Advanced Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modelling Inter-carrier Interference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Frequency Bands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Global Network Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TD-SCDMA Network Settings Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modifying Global Network Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Smart Antenna Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Grid of Beams (GOB) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adaptive Beam Model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Conventional Beamformer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Optimum Beamformer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Statistical Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Third-Party Smart Antenna Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Smart Antenna Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Radio Bearers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining R99 Radio Bearers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining HSDPA Radio Bearers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining HSUPA Radio Bearers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating Site Equipment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Receiver Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating or Modifying Reception Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HSDPA UE Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HSUPA UE Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modelling Shadowing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Displaying the Shadowing Margins per Clutter Class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

827 827 828 828 829 830 831 831 833 833 833 834 834 834 835 835 836 836 837 837 837 838 838 839 839

11

LTE Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 843

11.1

Designing an LTE Network. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 843

11.2 11.2.1 11.2.1.1 11.2.1.2 11.2.1.3 11.2.2 11.2.2.1 11.2.2.2 11.2.2.3 11.2.2.4 11.2.2.5 11.2.2.6 11.2.2.7 11.2.2.8 11.2.2.9 11.2.2.10

Planning and Optimising LTE Base Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Definition of an LTE Base Station. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Site Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Transmitter Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cell Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating LTE Base Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating a Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modifying a Site. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating or Modifying a Transmitter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Assigning Equipment to a Transmitter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating or Modifying a Cell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Placing a New Base Station Using a Station Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Placing a Station on an Existing Site. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Managing Station Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Duplicating an Existing Base Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Studying the Profile Around a Base Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

18

844 845 845 846 848 853 853 854 854 854 855 855 855 856 858 859

AT332_UMR_E0

11.2.3 11.2.4 11.2.5 11.2.6 11.2.7 11.2.7.1 11.2.7.2 11.2.7.3 11.2.7.4 11.2.7.5 11.2.7.6 11.2.8 11.2.8.1 11.2.8.2 11.2.8.3 11.2.8.4 11.2.8.5 11.2.8.6 11.2.9 11.2.9.1 11.2.9.2 11.2.9.3 11.2.9.4 11.2.9.5 11.2.10 11.2.10.1 11.2.10.2 11.2.11 11.2.11.1 11.2.11.2 11.2.11.3 11.2.11.4 11.2.11.5 11.2.11.6 11.2.12 11.2.12.1 11.2.12.2 11.2.12.3 11.3 11.3.1 11.3.1.1 11.3.1.2 11.3.2 11.3.3 11.3.3.1 11.3.3.2 11.3.4 11.3.5 11.3.5.1 11.3.5.2 11.3.6 11.3.7 11.3.7.1 11.3.7.2 11.3.8 11.3.8.1 11.3.8.2 11.3.8.3 11.3.9 11.3.9.1 11.3.9.2 11.3.9.3 11.3.9.4 11.3.9.5

Atoll 3.3.2 User Manual for Radio Networks Table of Contents

Creating a Group of Base Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 860 Modifying Sites and Transmitters Directly on the Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 861 Display Tips for Base Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 861 Creating Multi-band LTE Networks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 861 Working With Cell Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 862 Creating or Modifying Carrier Aggregation Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 862 Creating or Modifying CoMP Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 863 Adding Cells to a Group From the Network Explorer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 864 Adding Cells to a Group From the Map Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 864 Adding Cells to a Group Using a Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 865 Using the Find on Map Tool to Display Cell Groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 865 Creating Repeaters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 866 Repeater Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 866 Opening the Repeaters Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 868 Creating and Modifying Repeater Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 868 Placing a Repeater on the Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 869 Modifying the Properties of a Repeater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 869 Tips for Updating Repeater Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 869 Creating Remote Antennas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 870 Remote Antenna Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 870 Opening the Remote Antennas Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 871 Placing a Remote Antenna on the Map Using the Mouse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 872 Modifying the Properties of a Remote Antenna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 872 Tips for Updating Remote Antenna Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 872 Creating a Relay Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 873 Defining a Relay Link. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 873 Creating Several Relay Links. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 873 Studying LTE Base Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 874 LTE Prediction Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 874 Signal Level Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 875 LTE Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 879 Displaying Coverage Prediction Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 893 Analysing a Coverage Prediction Using the Point Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 894 Multi-point Analyses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 899 Planning Neighbours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 904 Coverage Conditions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 904 Calculation Constraints. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 905 Reasons for Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 905 Configuring Network Parameters Using the AFP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 905 Working with Interference Matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 906 Calculating Interference Matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 906 Importing and Exporting Interference Matrices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 906 Defining Neighbour Relations and Importance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 907 Setting Resources Available for Allocation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 907 Creating Physical Cell ID Domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 907 Creating PRACH RSI Domains. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 908 Configuring Cost Component Weights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 908 Planning Frequencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 909 Manually Allocating Frequencies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 910 Automatically Allocating Frequencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 910 Planning Physical Cell IDs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 911 Planning PRACH RSIs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 913 Manually Allocating PRACH RSIs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 913 Automatically Allocating PRACH RSIs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 914 Displaying AFP Results on the Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 915 Using the Find on Map Tool to Display AFP Results. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 915 Displaying AFP Results Using Transmitter Display Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 916 Grouping Transmitters by Channels or Physical Cell IDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 917 Analysing AFP Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 917 Checking the Consistency of a Frequency Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 917 Checking the Consistency of the Physical Cell ID Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 919 Checking the Consistency of the PRACH RSI Plan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 922 Making a Cell Identifier Collision Zones Prediction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 924 Analysing the Frequency Allocation Using Coverage Predictions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 924

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© Forsk 2016. All Rights Reserved.

11.4 11.4.1 11.4.2 11.4.2.1 11.4.2.2 11.4.3

Studying LTE Network Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Multi-service Traffic Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Calculating LTE Traffic Simulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LTE Traffic Simulation Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LTE Simulation Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Making Coverage Predictions Using Simulation Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

924 925 925 926 928 936

11.5 11.5.1 11.5.2 11.5.3 11.5.4

Optimising Network Parameters Using ACP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LTE Optimisation Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LTE Quality Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LTE Quality Analysis Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LTE Cell Reconfiguration Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

936 937 937 939 941

11.6 11.6.1 11.6.2 11.6.3 11.6.4 11.6.4.1 11.6.4.2 11.6.4.3 11.6.4.4 11.6.4.5 11.6.4.6 11.6.5 11.6.6 11.6.7

Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Importing a Drive Test Data Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Displaying Drive Test Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining the Display of a Drive Test Data Path. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Network Verification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Filtering Measurement Points Along Drive Test Data Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Predicting the Signal Level on Drive Test Data Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating Coverage Predictions on Drive Test Data Paths. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Displaying Statistics Over a Drive Test Data Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Extracting a Field From a Drive Test Data Path for a Transmitter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Analysing Measurement Variations Along the Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Exporting a Drive Test Data Path. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Extracting CW Measurements from Drive Test Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Printing and Exporting the Drive Test Data Analysis Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

942 942 944 945 945 945 946 947 947 948 948 950 950 950

11.7 11.7.1 11.7.1.1 11.7.2 11.7.2.1 11.7.2.2 11.7.3 11.7.4 11.7.4.1 11.7.4.2 11.7.4.3 11.7.5 11.7.5.1 11.7.5.2 11.7.6

Co-planning LTE Networks with Other Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Switching to Co-planning Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Displaying Both Networks in the Same Atoll Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Working with Coverage Predictions in a Co-Planning Project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Updating Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Analysing Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating an LTE Sector From a Sector in the Other Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Planning Neighbours in Co-planning Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Coverage Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Calculation Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reasons for Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Using ACP in a Co-planning Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating a Co-planning Optimisation Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Importing the Other Network into a Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ending Co-planning Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

950 951 951 952 953 953 955 956 956 956 956 957 957 957 958

11.8 11.8.1 11.8.2 11.8.2.1 11.8.3 11.8.4 11.8.5 11.8.6 11.8.7 11.8.8 11.8.9 11.8.10 11.8.11 11.8.11.1 11.8.11.2 11.8.11.3 11.8.11.4

Advanced Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Frequency Bands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Global Network Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modifying Global Network Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Network Deployment Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Frame Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining LTE Radio Bearers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining LTE Quality Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining LTE Reception Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining LTE Schedulers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining LTE UE Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Smart Antenna Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Multiple Input Multiple Output Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Transmit and Receive Diversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Single-User MIMO or Spatial Multiplexing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adaptive MIMO Switching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Multi-User MIMO or Collaborative MIMO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

958 958 959 962 962 963 964 964 965 968 970 970 972 972 972 973 973

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11.8.12 11.8.13 11.8.14

Inter-cell Interference Coordination. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 974 Modelling Shadowing in LTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 974 Modelling Inter-technology Interference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 975

11.9 11.9.1 11.9.2 11.9.3 11.9.4 11.9.5 11.9.6 11.9.7 11.9.8 11.9.9 11.9.10

Tips and Tricks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 977 Working With User Densities Instead of User Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 977 Bearer Selection Thresholds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 977 Calculating Bearer Selection Thresholds From Receiver Sensitivity Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 978 Relation Between Bearer Efficiency And Spectral Efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 978 Modelling VoIP Codecs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 979 Working with EARFCNs instead of Channel Numbers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 979 Modelling the Co-existence of Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 980 Displaying LTE Cell Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 980 Mapping of Cell Size to Required Numbers of PRACH RSIs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 981 LTE Transmission Modes and Equivalent Settings in Atoll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 982

11.10

Glossary of LTE Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 984

12

3GPP Multi-RAT Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .989

12.1

Designing a 3GPP Multi-RAT Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 989

12.2 12.2.1 12.2.2 12.2.3 12.2.4 12.2.5 12.2.6 12.2.7 12.2.7.1 12.2.7.2 12.2.7.3 12.2.7.4 12.2.7.5 12.2.7.6 12.2.8 12.2.8.1 12.2.8.2 12.2.8.3 12.2.9 12.2.9.1 12.2.9.2 12.2.9.3

Planning and Optimising Base Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 991 Creating a Base Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 992 Creating a Group of Base Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 992 Modifying Sites and Transmitters Directly on the Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 992 Display Tips for Base Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 993 Creating a Repeater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 993 Creating a Remote Antenna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 993 Studying Base Stations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 994 3GPP Multi-RAT Predictions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 994 Displaying Coverage Prediction Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 996 Generating Coverage Prediction Reports and Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 997 Printing and Exporting Coverage Prediction Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1000 Comparing Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1000 Multi-point Analyses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1004 Planning Neighbours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1005 Coverage Conditions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1006 Calculation Constraints. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1006 Reasons for Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1006 Allocating Resources in a 3GPP Multi-RAT Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1006 Allocating Resources in GSM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1006 Allocating Resources in UMTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1007 Allocating Resources in LTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1007

12.3 12.3.1 12.3.2 12.3.3

Optimising Network Parameters Using ACP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1007 3GPP Optimisation Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1007 3GPP Quality Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1008 3GPP Quality Analysis Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1008

12.4

Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1008

12.5

Displaying Elements of One Atoll Document in a 3GPP Multi-RAT Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1008

13

3GPP2 Multi-RAT Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1013

13.1

Designing a 3GPP2 Multi-RAT Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1013

13.2 13.2.1 13.2.2 13.2.3 13.2.4 13.2.5 13.2.6 13.2.7 13.2.7.1 13.2.7.2 13.2.7.3

Planning and Optimising Base Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1014 Creating a Base Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1015 Creating a Group of Base Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1015 Modifying Sites and Transmitters Directly on the Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1016 Display Tips for Base Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1016 Creating a Repeater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1017 Creating a Remote Antenna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1017 Studying Base Stations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1017 3GPP2 Multi-RAT Predictions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1018 Displaying Coverage Prediction Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1020 Generating Coverage Prediction Reports and Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1020

21

Atoll 3.3.2 User Manual for Radio Networks Table of Contents

13.2.7.4 13.2.7.5 13.2.7.6 13.2.8 13.2.8.1 13.2.8.2 13.2.8.3 13.2.9 13.2.9.1 13.2.9.2

© Forsk 2016. All Rights Reserved.

Printing and Exporting Coverage Prediction Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comparing Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Multi-point Analyses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Planning Neighbours. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Coverage Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Calculation Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reasons for Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Allocating Resources in a 3GPP2 Multi-RAT Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Allocating Resources in CDMA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Allocating Resources in LTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1023 1024 1028 1028 1028 1028 1028 1028 1029 1029

13.3 13.3.1 13.3.2 13.3.3

Optimising Network Parameters Using ACP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3GPP2 Optimisation Objectives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3GPP2 Quality Parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3GPP2 Quality Analysis Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1029 1029 1029 1030

13.4

Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1030

13.5

Displaying Elements of One Atoll Document in a 3GPP2 Multi-RAT Document. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1030

14

WiMAX BWA Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1035

14.1

Designing a WiMAX Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1035

14.2 14.2.1 14.2.1.1 14.2.1.2 14.2.1.3 14.2.2 14.2.2.1 14.2.2.2 14.2.2.3 14.2.2.4 14.2.2.5 14.2.2.6 14.2.2.7 14.2.2.8 14.2.2.9 14.2.2.10 14.2.3 14.2.4 14.2.5 14.2.6 14.2.7 14.2.7.1 14.2.7.2 14.2.7.3 14.2.7.4 14.2.7.5 14.2.7.6 14.2.7.7 14.2.8 14.2.8.1 14.2.8.2 14.2.8.3 14.2.8.4 14.2.8.5 14.2.8.6 14.2.9 14.2.9.1 14.2.9.2 14.2.9.3 14.2.9.4 14.2.9.5 14.2.9.6 14.2.9.7

Planning and Optimising WiMAX Base Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Definition of a WiMAX Base Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Site Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Transmitter Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cell Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating WiMAX Base Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating a Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modifying a Site. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating or Modifying a Transmitter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Assigning Equipment to a Transmitter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating or Modifying a Cell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Placing a New Base Station Using a Station Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Placing a Base Station on an Existing Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Managing Station Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Duplicating an Existing Base Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Studying the Profile Around a Base Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating a Group of Base Stations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modifying Sites and Transmitters Directly on the Map. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Display Tips for Base Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating Multi-band WiMAX Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating Repeaters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Repeater Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Opening the Repeaters Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating and Modifying Repeater Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Placing a Repeater on the Map Using the Mouse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating Several Repeaters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modifying the Properties of a Repeater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tips for Updating Repeater Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating a Remote Antenna. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Remote Antenna Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Opening the Remote Antennas Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Placing a Remote Antenna on the Map Using the Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating Several Remote Antennas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modifying the Properties of a Remote Antenna. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tips for Updating Remote Antenna Parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Studying Base Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WiMAX Prediction Properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Signal Level Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WiMAX Coverage Predictions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Displaying Coverage Prediction Results. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Analysing a Coverage Prediction Using the Point Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comparing Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Multi-point Analyses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

22

1036 1037 1037 1037 1039 1042 1042 1043 1043 1043 1044 1044 1044 1045 1047 1048 1049 1050 1050 1050 1051 1051 1053 1053 1053 1054 1054 1054 1055 1055 1056 1057 1057 1057 1058 1058 1058 1059 1062 1070 1071 1075 1079

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14.2.10 14.2.10.1 14.2.10.2 14.2.10.3

Atoll 3.3.2 User Manual for Radio Networks Table of Contents

Planning Neighbours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1083 Coverage Conditions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1083 Calculation Constraints. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1084 Reasons for Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1084

14.3 14.3.1 14.3.1.1 14.3.1.2 14.3.2 14.3.3 14.3.4 14.3.5 14.3.5.1 14.3.5.2 14.3.6 14.3.7 14.3.8 14.3.8.1 14.3.8.2 14.3.8.3 14.3.9 14.3.9.1 14.3.9.2 14.3.9.3 14.3.9.4 14.3.9.5

Configuring Network Parameters Using the AFP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1084 Working with Interference Matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1085 Calculating Interference Matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1085 Importing and Exporting Interference Matrices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1086 Defining Neighbour Relations and Importance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1086 Setting Resources Available for Allocation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1086 Configuring Cost Component Weights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1087 Planning Frequencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1087 Manually Allocating Frequencies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1087 Automatically Allocating Frequencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1088 Planning Preamble Indexes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1089 Planning Permutation Zone PermBases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1091 Displaying the AFP Results on the Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1093 Using Find on Map to Display AFP Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1093 Using Transmitter Display Settings to Display AFP Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1094 Grouping Transmitters by Channels, Preamble Indexes, Zone PermBases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1094 Analysing the AFP Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1095 Checking the Consistency of the Frequency Plan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1095 Checking the Consistency of the Preamble Index Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1097 Checking the Consistency of DL and UL Zone PermBase Plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1099 Making a Cell Identifier Collision Zones Prediction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1101 Analysing the Frequency Allocation Using Coverage Predictions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1102

14.4 14.4.1 14.4.2 14.4.2.1 14.4.2.2 14.4.3

Studying WiMAX Network Capacity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1102 Defining Multi-service Traffic Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1103 Calculating WiMAX Traffic Simulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1103 WiMAX Traffic Simulation Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1103 WiMAX Simulation Results. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1105 Making Coverage Predictions Using Simulation Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1112

14.5 14.5.1 14.5.2 14.5.3

Optimising Network Parameters Using ACP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1112 WiMAX Optimisation Objectives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1113 WiMAX Quality Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1113 WiMAX Quality Analysis Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1115

14.6 14.6.1 14.6.2 14.6.3 14.6.4 14.6.4.1 14.6.4.2 14.6.4.3 14.6.4.4 14.6.4.5 14.6.4.6 14.6.5 14.6.6 14.6.7

Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1116 Importing a Drive Test Data Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1117 Displaying Drive Test Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1119 Defining the Display of a Drive Test Data Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1119 Network Verification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1120 Filtering Measurement Points Along Drive Test Data Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1120 Predicting the Signal Level on Drive Test Data Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1121 Creating Coverage Predictions on Drive Test Data Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1122 Displaying Statistics Over a Drive Test Data Path. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1123 Extracting a Field From a Drive Test Data Path for a Transmitter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1123 Analysing Measurement Variations Along the Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1123 Exporting a Drive Test Data Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1125 Extracting CW Measurements from Drive Test Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1125 Printing and Exporting the Drive Test Data Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1125

14.7 14.7.1 14.7.2 14.7.2.1 14.7.2.2 14.7.3 14.7.4 14.7.4.1 14.7.4.2 14.7.4.3 14.7.5 14.7.5.1 14.7.5.2

Co-planning WiMAX Networks with Other Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1125 Switching to Co-planning Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1126 Working with Coverage Predictions in a Co-planning Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1128 Updating Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1128 Analysing Coverage Predictions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1128 Creating a WiMAX Sector From a Sector in the Other Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1131 Planning Neighbours in Co-planning Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1131 Coverage Conditions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1131 Calculation Constraints. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1132 Reasons for Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1132 Using ACP in Co-planning Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1132 Creating a Co-planning Optimisation Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1132 Importing the Other Network into the Setup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1133

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© Forsk 2016. All Rights Reserved.

Ending Co-planning Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1133

14.8 14.8.1 14.8.2 14.8.2.1 14.8.2.2 14.8.3 14.8.4 14.8.5 14.8.6 14.8.7 14.8.8 14.8.9 14.8.9.1 14.8.9.2 14.8.9.3 14.8.10 14.8.10.1 14.8.10.2 14.8.10.3 14.8.10.4 14.8.11 14.8.12

Advanced Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Frequency Bands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Network Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Network Settings Properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modifying Network Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Network Deployment Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Frame Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining WiMAX Radio Bearers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining WiMAX Quality Indicators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining WiMAX Reception Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining WiMAX Schedulers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Smart Antenna Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Optimum Beamformer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Conventional Beamformer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Smart Antenna Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Space-Time Transmit Diversity and Maximum Ratio Combining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Single-User MIMO or Spatial Multiplexing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adaptive MIMO Switching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Multi-User MIMO or Collaborative MIMO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modelling Shadowing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modelling Inter-technology Interference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1133 1134 1134 1134 1136 1137 1138 1139 1139 1140 1143 1145 1146 1146 1147 1148 1148 1148 1149 1149 1150 1150

14.9 14.9.1 14.9.2 14.9.3 14.9.4 14.9.5 14.9.6 14.9.7 14.9.8 14.9.9 14.9.10

Tips and Tricks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Working With User Densities Instead of User Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Restricting Coverage Predictions to LOS Areas Only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bearer Selection Thresholds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Calculating Bearer Selection Thresholds From Receiver Sensitivity Values. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Relation Between Bearer Efficiency And Spectral Efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Determining Approximate Required DL:UL Ratio for a TDD Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Working With Frame Configurations, Permutation Zones, and Downlink Segmentation: Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modelling VoIP Codecs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modelling Different Types of AMC Subchannels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modelling the Co-existence of Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1152 1152 1153 1153 1153 1153 1154 1154 1158 1159 1160

14.10

Glossary of WiMAX Terms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1160

15

Wi-Fi Networks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1165

15.1

Designing a Wi-Fi Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1165

15.2 15.2.1 15.2.1.1 15.2.1.2 15.2.1.3 15.2.2 15.2.2.1 15.2.2.2 15.2.2.3 15.2.2.4 15.2.2.5 15.2.2.6 15.2.2.7 15.2.2.8 15.2.2.9 15.2.3 15.2.4 15.2.5 15.2.6 15.2.7 15.2.7.1 15.2.7.2 15.2.7.3 15.2.7.4 15.2.7.5

Planning and Optimising Wi-Fi Access Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Definition of a Wi-Fi Access Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Site Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Transmitter Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cell Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating Wi-Fi Access Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating a Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modifying a Site. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating or Modifying a Transmitter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating or Modifying a Cell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Placing a New Access Point Using a Station Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Placing an Access Point on an Existing Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Managing Station Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Duplicating an Existing Access Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Studying the Profile Around an Access Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating a Group of Access Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modifying Sites and Transmitters Directly on the Map. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Display Tips for Access Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating Multi-band Wi-Fi Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Studying Access Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wi-Fi Prediction Properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Signal Level Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wi-Fi Coverage Predictions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Displaying Coverage Prediction Results. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Analysing a Coverage Prediction Using the Point Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

24

1166 1166 1166 1167 1168 1170 1170 1170 1171 1171 1171 1172 1172 1174 1175 1176 1177 1177 1177 1178 1178 1179 1182 1189 1190

AT332_UMR_E0

Atoll 3.3.2 User Manual for Radio Networks Table of Contents

15.2.7.6 15.2.7.7 15.2.8 15.2.8.1 15.2.8.2 15.2.8.3

Comparing Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1193 Multi-point Analyses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1197 Planning Neighbours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1199 Coverage Conditions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1199 Calculation Constraints. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1200 Reasons for Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1200

15.3 15.3.1 15.3.1.1 15.3.1.2 15.3.2 15.3.3 15.3.4 15.3.5 15.3.5.1 15.3.5.2 15.3.6 15.3.6.1 15.3.6.2 15.3.6.3 15.3.7 15.3.7.1 15.3.7.2

Configuring Network Parameters Using the AFP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1200 Working with Interference Matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1201 Calculating Interference Matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1201 Importing and Exporting Interference Matrices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1201 Defining Neighbour Relations and Importance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1202 Setting Resources Available for Allocation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1202 Configuring Cost Component Weights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1202 Planning Frequencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1202 Manually Allocating Frequencies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1203 Automatically Allocating Frequencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1203 Displaying the AFP Results on the Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1204 Using Find on Map to Display AFP Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1204 Using Transmitter Display Settings to Display AFP Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1205 Grouping Transmitters by Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1205 Analysing the AFP Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1206 Checking the Consistency of the Frequency Plan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1206 Analysing the Frequency Allocation Using Coverage Predictions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1207

15.4 15.4.1 15.4.2 15.4.2.1 15.4.2.2 15.4.3

Studying Wi-Fi Network Capacity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1207 Defining Multi-service Traffic Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1208 Calculating Wi-Fi Traffic Simulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1208 Wi-Fi Traffic Simulation Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1208 Wi-Fi Simulation Results. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1210 Making Coverage Predictions Using Simulation Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1216

15.5 15.5.1 15.5.2 15.5.3

Optimising Network Parameters Using ACP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1216 Wi-Fi Optimisation Objectives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1217 Wi-Fi Quality Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1217 Wi-Fi Quality Analysis Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1219

15.6 15.6.1 15.6.2 15.6.3 15.6.4 15.6.4.1 15.6.4.2 15.6.4.3 15.6.4.4 15.6.4.5 15.6.4.6 15.6.5 15.6.6 15.6.7

Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1220 Importing a Drive Test Data Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1220 Displaying Drive Test Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1222 Defining the Display of a Drive Test Data Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1222 Network Verification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1223 Filtering Measurement Points Along Drive Test Data Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1223 Predicting the Signal Level on Drive Test Data Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1224 Creating Coverage Predictions on Drive Test Data Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1225 Displaying Statistics Over a Drive Test Data Path. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1225 Extracting a Field From a Drive Test Data Path for a Transmitter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1226 Analysing Measurement Variations Along the Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1226 Exporting a Drive Test Data Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1227 Extracting CW Measurements from Drive Test Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1227 Printing and Exporting the Drive Test Data Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1227

15.7 15.7.1 15.7.2 15.7.3 15.7.3.1 15.7.3.2 15.7.4 15.7.4.1 15.7.4.2 15.7.4.3 15.7.5 15.7.5.1 15.7.5.2

Co-planning Wi-Fi Networks with Other Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1228 Switching to Co-planning Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1228 Performing a Traffic Offload Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1229 Working with Coverage Predictions in a Co-planning Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1231 Updating Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1231 Analysing Coverage Predictions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1231 Planning Neighbours in Co-planning Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1233 Coverage Conditions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1233 Calculation Constraints. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1234 Reasons for Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1234 Using ACP in Co-planning Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1234 Creating a Co-planning Optimisation Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1234 Importing the Other Network into the Setup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1235

25

Atoll 3.3.2 User Manual for Radio Networks Table of Contents

15.7.6

© Forsk 2016. All Rights Reserved.

Ending Co-planning Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1235

15.8 15.8.1 15.8.2 15.8.2.1 15.8.2.2 15.8.3 15.8.4 15.8.5 15.8.6 15.8.7 15.8.7.1 15.8.7.2 15.8.7.3 15.8.7.4 15.8.8 15.8.9

Advanced Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Frequency Bands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Network Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Network Settings Properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modifying Network Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Frame Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Wi-Fi Radio Bearers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Wi-Fi Quality Indicators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Wi-Fi Reception Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Space-Time Transmit Diversity and Maximum Ratio Combining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Single-User MIMO or Spatial Multiplexing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adaptive MIMO Switching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Multi-User MIMO or Collaborative MIMO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modelling Shadowing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modelling Inter-technology Interference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1235 1235 1236 1236 1236 1237 1237 1238 1238 1240 1240 1240 1241 1241 1241 1242

15.9 15.9.1 15.9.2 15.9.3

Tips and Tricks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bearer Selection Thresholds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Calculating Bearer Selection Thresholds From Receiver Sensitivity Values. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modelling the Co-existence of Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1243 1244 1244 1244

16

LPWA Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1247

16.1

Designing an LPWA Network. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1247

16.2 16.2.1 16.2.1.1 16.2.1.2 16.2.1.3 16.2.2 16.2.2.1 16.2.2.2 16.2.2.3 16.2.2.4 16.2.2.5 16.2.2.6 16.2.2.7 16.2.2.8 16.2.2.9 16.2.2.10 16.2.3 16.2.4 16.2.5 16.2.6 16.2.6.1 16.2.6.2 16.2.6.3 16.2.6.4 16.2.6.5 16.2.6.6 16.2.7 16.2.7.1 16.2.7.2 16.2.7.3 16.2.7.4 16.2.7.5 16.2.7.6 16.2.7.7 16.2.8 16.2.8.1 16.2.8.2 16.2.8.3

Planning and Optimising LPWA Gateways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Definition of an LPWA Gateway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Site Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Transmitter Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cell Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating LPWA Gateways. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating a Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modifying a Site. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating or Modifying a Transmitter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Assigning Equipment to a Transmitter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating or Modifying a Cell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Placing a New Gateway Using a Station Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Placing a Gateway on an Existing Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Managing Station Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Duplicating an Existing Gateway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Studying the Profile Around a Gateway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating a Group of Gateways. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modifying Sites and Transmitters Directly on the Map. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Display Tips for Gateways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating Repeaters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Repeater Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Opening the Repeaters Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating and Modifying Repeater Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating and Placing a Repeater on the Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modifying the Properties of a Repeater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tips for Updating Repeater Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Studying Gateways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LPWA Prediction Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Signal Level Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LPWA Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Displaying Coverage Prediction Results. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Analysing a Coverage Prediction Using the Point Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comparing Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Multi-point Analyses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Planning Neighbours. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Coverage Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Calculation Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reasons for Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

26

1247 1248 1248 1248 1250 1251 1251 1251 1252 1252 1253 1253 1253 1253 1256 1256 1258 1258 1259 1259 1259 1261 1262 1262 1262 1263 1263 1263 1265 1267 1274 1275 1277 1280 1283 1283 1283 1284

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Atoll 3.3.2 User Manual for Radio Networks Table of Contents

16.3 16.3.1 16.3.2 16.3.3

Optimising Network Parameters Using ACP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1284 LPWA Optimisation Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1284 LPWA Quality Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1285 LPWA Quality Analysis Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1286

16.4 16.4.1 16.4.2 16.4.3 16.4.4 16.4.4.1 16.4.4.2 16.4.4.3 16.4.4.4 16.4.4.5 16.4.4.6 16.4.5 16.4.6 16.4.7

Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1287 Importing a Drive Test Data Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1287 Displaying Drive Test Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1289 Defining the Display of a Drive Test Data Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1289 Network Verification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1290 Filtering Measurement Points Along Drive Test Data Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1290 Predicting the Signal Level on Drive Test Data Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1290 Creating Coverage Predictions on Drive Test Data Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1291 Displaying Statistics Over a Drive Test Data Path. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1292 Extracting a Field From a Drive Test Data Path for a Transmitter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1292 Analysing Measurement Variations Along the Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1293 Exporting a Drive Test Data Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1294 Extracting CW Measurements from Drive Test Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1294 Printing and Exporting the Drive Test Data Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1294

16.5 16.5.1 16.5.2 16.5.2.1 16.5.2.2 16.5.3 16.5.3.1 16.5.3.2 16.5.3.3 16.5.4 16.5.4.1 16.5.4.2 16.5.5

Co-planning LPWA Networks with Other Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1294 Switching to Co-planning Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1295 Working with Coverage Predictions in a Co-planning Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1296 Updating Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1296 Analysing Coverage Predictions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1297 Planning Neighbours in Co-planning Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1299 Coverage Conditions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1299 Calculation Constraints. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1299 Reasons for Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1299 Using ACP in Co-planning Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1299 Creating a Co-planning Optimisation Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1300 Importing the Other Network into the Setup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1300 Ending Co-planning Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1300

16.6 16.6.1 16.6.2 16.6.3 16.6.3.1 16.6.3.2 16.6.4 16.6.5 16.6.6 16.6.7 16.6.7.1 16.6.7.2 16.6.7.3 16.6.7.4 16.6.8 16.6.9 16.6.10

Advanced Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1300 Defining Frequency Bands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1301 Defining Channel Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1301 Network Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1301 Network Settings Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1301 Modifying Network Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1302 Defining LPWA Radio Bearers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1302 Defining LPWA Quality Indicators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1302 Defining LPWA Reception Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1303 Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1304 Space-Time Transmit Diversity and Maximum Ratio Combining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1304 Single-User MIMO or Spatial Multiplexing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1304 Adaptive MIMO Switching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1305 Multi-User MIMO or Collaborative MIMO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1305 Modelling Shadowing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1305 Modelling Inter-technology Interference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1306 Modelling the Co-existence of Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1307

17 17.1 17.1.1 17.1.2 17.1.2.1 17.1.2.2 17.1.2.3 17.1.3 17.1.4 17.1.5 17.1.5.1 17.1.5.2

Automatic Cell Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1311 The ACP Module and Atoll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1311 Using Quality and Cost Objectives in ACP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1312 Using Zones with ACP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1312 Using the Computation Zone and the Focus Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1312 Using Custom Zones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1313 Using the Filtering Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1313 Using Pixel Weighting with ACP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1313 Shadowing Margin and Indoor Coverage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1313 ACP and Antenna Masking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1314 Native Propagation Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1314 Non-Native Propagation Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1314

27

Atoll 3.3.2 User Manual for Radio Networks Table of Contents

17.1.6

© Forsk 2016. All Rights Reserved.

EMF Exposure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1315

17.2 17.2.1 17.2.2 17.2.3

Configuring the ACP Module. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining the Storage Location of ACP Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining the Antenna Masking Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Configuring Default Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1316 1316 1316 1318

17.3 17.3.1 17.3.1.1 17.3.1.2 17.3.1.3 17.3.2 17.3.2.1 17.3.2.2 17.3.2.3 17.3.2.4 17.3.2.5 17.3.2.6

Optimising Cell Planning with ACP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating an ACP Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating a Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Duplicating a Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Running an Optimisation from an Existing Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Optimisation Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Setting Optimisation Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Setting Objective Parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Setting Network Reconfiguration Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Site Selection Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Antennas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adding Comments to the Optimisation Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1319 1319 1319 1319 1319 1320 1320 1329 1338 1348 1355 1359

17.4

Running an Optimisation Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1359

17.5

Working with Optimisations from the Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1361

17.6 17.6.1 17.6.1.1 17.6.1.2 17.6.1.3 17.6.1.4 17.6.1.5 17.6.1.6 17.6.1.7 17.6.1.8 17.6.2 17.6.3 17.6.3.1 17.6.3.2 17.6.3.3 17.6.3.4 17.6.3.5 17.6.3.6 17.6.3.7 17.6.4

Viewing Optimisation Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Viewing Optimisation Results in the Properties Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Statistics Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sectors Tab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Graph Tab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Quality Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Load Balancing Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Throughput Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Change Details Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Commit Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comparing Optimisations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Viewing Optimisation Results in the Map Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Objective Analysis Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Capacity Analysis Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Per Technology Layer Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . EMF Exposure Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comparing ACP Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Changing the Display Properties of ACP Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Exporting ACP Coverage Predictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Viewing Optimisation Results Using the Histogram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1362 1362 1362 1363 1364 1366 1367 1367 1368 1370 1370 1371 1373 1373 1374 1378 1378 1379 1380 1381

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1383

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Atoll 3.3.2 User Manual This User Manual provides guidance and detailed instructions to help you get started and to learn how to use the product effectively. To best understand the ideas and techniques described, you should already be familiar with the radio network technologies that are implemented in Atoll.

About Atoll Atoll is a 64-bit multi-technology wireless network design and optimisation platform. Atoll is open, scalable, flexible, and supports wireless operators throughout the network life cycle, from initial design to densification and optimisation. Atoll includes integrated single RAN – multiple RAT network design capabilities for both 3GPP (GSM/UMTS/LTE) and 3GPP2 (CDMA/LTE) technology streams. It provides operators and vendors with a powerful native 64-bit framework for designing and optimising current and future integrated multi-technology networks. Atoll supports multi-technology HetNets, small cell planning, and Wi-Fi offloading. Atoll’s integration and automation features help operators smoothly automate planning and optimisation processes through flexible scripting and SOA-based mechanisms. Atoll supports a wide range of implementation scenarios, from standalone to enterprise-wide server-based configurations. If you are interested in learning more about Atoll, please contact your Forsk representative to inquire about our training solutions.

About Forsk Forsk is an independent company providing radio planning and optimisation software solutions to the wireless industry since 1987. In 1997, Forsk released the first version of Atoll, its flagship radio planning software. Since then, Atoll has evolved to become a comprehensive radio planning and optimisation platform and, with more than 7000 installed licenses worldwide, has reached the leading position on the global market. Atoll combines engineering and automation functions that enable operators to smoothly and gradually implement SON processes within their organisation. Today, Forsk is a global supplier with over 450 customers in 120 countries and strategic partnerships with major players in the industry. Forsk distributes and supports Atoll directly from offices and technical support centres in France, USA, and China as well as through a worldwide network of distributors and partners. Since the first release of Atoll, Forsk has been known for its capability to deliver tailored and turn-key radio planning and optimisation environments based on Atoll. To help operators streamline their radio planning and optimisation processes, Forsk provides a complete range of implementation services, including integration with existing IT infrastructure, automation, as well as data migration, installation, and training services.

Getting Help The online help system that is installed with Atoll is designed to give you quick access to the information you need to use the product effectively. It contains the same material as the Atoll 3.3.2 User Manual. You can browse the online help from the Contents view, the Index view, or you can use the built-in Search feature. You can also download manuals from the Forsk web site at: http://www.forsk.com/MyForskAccount/

Printing Help Topics You can print individual topics or chapters from the online help. To print help topics or chapters: 1. In Atoll, click Help > Help Topics. 2. In the Contents tab, expand the table of contents. 3. Right-click the section or topic that you want to print and click Print. The Print Topics dialog box appears. 4. In the Print Topics dialog box, select what you want to print: • •

If you want to print a single topic, select Print the selected topic. If you want to print an entire section, including all topics and sections in that section, select Print the selected heading and all subtopics.

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5. Click OK.

About Atoll Documentation The following PDF manuals are available for Atoll and Atoll Microwave and can be downloaded from the Forsk web site at: http://www.forsk.com/MyForskAccount/ • • • • • •

Atoll User Manual Atoll Administrator Manual Atoll Data Structure Reference Guide Atoll Technical Reference Guide Atoll Task Automation Guide Atoll Model Calibration Guide

To read PDF manuals, download Adobe Reader from the Adobe web site at: http://get.adobe.com/reader/ Hardcopy manuals are also available. For more information, contact to your Forsk representative.

Contacting Technical Support Forsk provides global technical support for its products and services. To contact the Forsk support team, visit the My Forsk web site at: http://www.forsk.com/MyForskAccount/ Alternatively, depending on your geographic location, contact one of the following support teams: •

Forsk Head Office For regions other than North and Central America and China, contact the Forsk Head Office support team: • • •

Tel.: +33 562 747 225 Fax: +33 562 747 211 Email: [email protected]

Opening Hours: Monday to Friday 9.00 am to 6.00 pm (GMT +1:00) •

Forsk US For North and Central America, contact the Forsk US support team: • • •

Tel.: 1-888-GO-ATOLL (1-888-462-8655) Fax: 1-312-674-4822 Email: [email protected]

Opening Hours: Monday to Friday 8.00 am to 8.00 pm (Eastern Standard Time) •

Forsk China For China, contact the Forsk China support team: • • •

Tel: +86 20 8557 0016 Fax: +86 20 8553 8285 Email: [email protected]

Opening Hours: Monday to Friday 9.00am to 5.30pm (GMT+08:00) Beijing, Chongqing, Hong Kong, Urumqi.

30

Chapter 1 Working Environment This chapter presents the Atoll working environment and explains the tools and shortcuts available.

This chapter covers the following topics: •

"Documents" on page 33

•

"Atoll Work Area" on page 45

•

"Objects" on page 49

•

"Maps" on page 59

•

"Data Tables" on page 75

•

"Printing in Atoll" on page 90

•

"Grouping, Sorting, and Filtering Data" on page 94

•

"Add-ins and Macros" on page 109

•

"Toolbars and Shortcuts" on page 109

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1 Working Environment The Atoll working environment provides a wide set of tools to create and design radio-planning projects in a single application and to create and export results based on your projects. In Atoll, radio-planning projects are modelled and managed through Atoll documents (files with the .ATL extension). The Atoll working environment is flexible and supports standard Windows capabilities (such as simultaneous opening of several windows, moving windows or objects by dragging and dropping them, commands accessible through context menus, standard shortcuts). Data and objects contained in an Atoll document are accessible from different ways: •

•

•

Explorers: The explorers contain most of the objects in a document arranged in folders. Using the explorers, you can manage all objects in the Atoll document: sites, transmitters, calculations, as well as geographic data such as the Digital Terrain Model (DTM), traffic maps, and clutter classes. You can, for example, define various coverage predictions or configure the parameters or display of data objects. Maps: Atoll provides many tools for working with the map. You can change the view by moving or zooming in or out and you can choose which objects are displayed and how they are displayed. You can also export the current display definition, or configuration, to use it in other documents. Data tables: The content of the folders in the explorers can be displayed in tables, allowing you to manage large amounts of data. You can sort and filter the data in a table, or change how the data is displayed. You can also enter large amounts of information into a table by importing data or by cutting and pasting the information from any Windows spreadsheet into the table.

This chapter provides an overview of the Atoll working environment and covers the following topics: • • • • • • • •

"Documents" on page 33 "Atoll Work Area" on page 45 "Objects" on page 49 "Maps" on page 59 "Data Tables" on page 75 "Printing in Atoll" on page 90 "Grouping, Sorting, and Filtering Data" on page 94 "Toolbars and Shortcuts" on page 109.

1.1 Documents In Atoll, radio-planning projects are modelled and managed through Atoll documents (files with the .ATL extension). Each Atoll document can contain multiple technologies and assembles the following necessary information: • • •

Radio equipment such as sites, transmitters, antennas, repeaters, and other equipment. For more information on radio equipment, see the technology-specific chapters. Radio data such as frequency bands, technology-specific parameters, coordinate systems. For more information on radio data, see the technology-specific chapters. Geographic data such as clutter classes, clutter heights, Digital Terrain Model (DTM), population maps. For more information on geographic data, see Chapter 2: Geographic Data.

Atoll documents can be used in a single-user or multi-user environment: •

•

In a single-user environment, Atoll documents are standalone documents. Atoll is delivered with document templates that contain the data and folder structure necessary for the technologies you are using. You can also create your own templates by opening an existing template, changing it to fit your own requirements, and then saving it as a new template. In a multi-user environment, documents are connected to a database and can be created from an existing database. When you create an Atoll document from a database, the database you connect to has been created with the technologies and data you need. Working with a database allows several users to share the same data while at the same time managing data consistency.

This section covers the following topics: • •

"Standalone Documents" on page 33. "Documents Connected to a Database" on page 35.

1.1.1 Standalone Documents Standalone documents are documents that are not connected to a database and that are created based on a template delivered along with Atoll. A template is available for each technology you are planning for. Each template provides data and a data structure suitable for the selected technology. For example, the tables and fields for transmitters as well as the radio

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parameters available differ according to the project. As well, the objects that are available are appropriate for the technology. For example, UMTS cells are only available in UMTS documents and TRX are only available in GSM-TDMA documents. If you create a multi-RAT document, Atoll enables you to select the multiple radio technologies you will be planning for. In a multi-RAT document, the data and data structures for each radio technology planned for are made available in the new Atoll document. Once you have selected the appropriate template for your radio-planning project, you must configure the basic parameters of the Atoll document. This section covers the following topics: • •

"Available Templates" on page 34 "Creating a Standalone Document" on page 35

1.1.1.1 Available Templates Depending on your configuration of Atoll, the following templates are available: •

•

GSM GPRS EDGE: This template can be used to model second generation (2G) mobile telecommunications using TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) technology. This template can be used to model the following technologies: •

GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication): GSM is a 2G technology based on TDMA.

•

GPRS (General Packet Radio Service): GPRS is a packet-switched technology that enables data applications on GSM networks. It is considered a 2.5G technology.

•

EDGE (Enhanced Data for Global Evolution): EDGE is an advancement for GSM/GPRS networks that triples throughputs. Because it is based on existing GSM technology, it allows for a smooth upgrade for GSM operators, giving them capabilities approaching those of a 3G network, while remaining with the existing 2G system. Two types of EDGE are considered: standard EDGE (also called EGPRS) and EDGE Evolution (EGPRS2).

CDMA2000 1xRTT 1xEV-DO: This template can be used to model third generation (3G) mobile telecommunications based on CDMA2000 technology. CDMA2000 is an evolution of CDMA, or code division multiple access. This template can be used to model the following technologies: •

•

1xRTT (1x Radio Transmission Technology): 1xRTT is sometimes considered not as 3G but as 2.5G in terms of mobile telecommunications. It offers increased voice capacity as compared to 2G technologies, but not as much as pure 3G solutions. 1xEV-DO (1x Evolution - Data Only): 1xEV-DO is an evolution of CDMA2000 that provides data transfer rates of over 10 times those of 1xRTT. It is considered a 3G solution and addresses, as its name suggests, data only.

•

UMTS HSPA: UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) and HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) and HSUPA (High Speed Uplink Packet Access), collectively referred to as HSPA, are third generation (3G) mobile telecommunication systems based on WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) technology. Although WCDMA is similar in implementation to CDMA, the two technologies are incompatible. UMTS and HSPA are usually implemented in place and over GSM networks.

•

TD-SCDMA: TD-SCDMA (Time Division Synchronous CDMA) is a 3G mobile telecommunication system based on Time Division Duplex (TDD) mode. TD-SCDMA transmits uplink and downlink traffic in the same frame in different time slots.

•

LTE: This template can be used to model the new fourth generation (4G) networks based on the UTRAN LTE (UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Networks’ Long Term Evolution) specifications proposed by the 3GPP. Atoll LTE strictly follows the latest 3GPP LTE specifications, and has been developed in collaboration with the market-leading equipment manufacturers. Atoll LTE is the first and most comprehensive LTE network planning tool available on the market.

•

WiMAX: Atoll WiMAX is a state-of-the-art WiMAX and Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) network planning tool developed in cooperation with world-leading WiMAX equipment suppliers. Atoll WiMAX supports IEEE 802.16e.

•

Wi-Fi: Atoll Wi-Fi enables modelling of IEEE 802.11 wireless local area networks (WLAN) and to study mobile traffic offloading to Wi-Fi networks.

•

LPWA: Atoll LPWA (Low Power Wide Area) can be used to design and optimise wireless internet of things (IoT) networks.

•

3GPP Multi-RAT: This template can be used to model 2G/3G/4G multi-technology projects. When starting a new 3GPP multi-RAT project, Atoll allows you to model any GSM/UMTS/LTE technology combination in the same project. The 3GPP multi-RAT template can also be used to create a GSM, UMTS, or LTE single-RAT document. By using the 3GPP multi-RAT template to create a single-RAT document, you make it possible to add other 3GPP technologies to the document at a later time.

•

34

3GPP2 Multi-RAT: This template can be used to model 3G/4G multi-technology projects. When starting a new 3GPP2 multi-RAT project, Atoll allows you to model the CDMA2000/LTE technology combination in the same project.

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The 3GPP2 multi-RAT template can also be used to create a CDMA2000 or LTE single-RAT document. By using the 3GPP2 multi-RAT template to create a single-RAT document, you make it possible to add the other 3GPP2 technology to the document at a later time.

1.1.1.2 Creating a Standalone Document You can create a standalone document based on a template. To create a document from a template: 1. In the File menu, select New > From a Document Template. The Project Templates dialog box i displayed. 2. Select the template on which you want to base your document. For information about templates, see "Available Templates" on page 34. 3. Click OK. If you selected a Multi-RAT template, a dialog box is displayed enabling you to select the radio technologies you want to model in the new document. Atoll creates a document based on the selected template with the appropriate folder structure in the Network and Parameters explorer.

1.1.2 Documents Connected to a Database Working with a database allows several users to share the same data in the context of a multi-user environment. Atoll can work with the following databases: • • • •

Microsoft Access Microsoft SQL Server Oracle Microsoft Data Link files

The exact procedure of connecting with the database differs from one database to another. When you create an Atoll document from a database, Atoll loads the data to which you have rights from database into your new document and then disconnects it from the database. The connection to the reference database is reactivated only when necessary, thus ensuring access to the database by other users. When you work in a multi-user environment, there are issues related to sharing data that do not arise when you are working on a standalone document. For example, when you archive your changes to the database, the changes you have made may occasionally interfere with changes other users have made and you will need to resolve this conflict. This section covers the following topics: • • • • •

"Atoll Multi-User Environment" on page 35 "Creating a Document from a Database" on page 36 "Checking the Database Connection" on page 37 "Refreshing a Document from the Database" on page 37 "Archiving the Modifications in the Database" on page 38.

1.1.2.1 Atoll Multi-User Environment A multi-user environment is one where a number of users or groups of users work simultaneously on given parts of a single, large (perhaps nation-wide) network. Different user groups might be working on regional or smaller sections of the network. An Atoll multi-user environment consists of the following items, connected over a network: •

A central Atoll project: The central Atoll project can only be accessed, modified, and updated by the Atoll administrator. Through this central Atoll project, the Atoll administrator can manage all the data shared by all the individual Atoll users or groups of users.

•

Shared data: Shared data is initially set up by the administrator using the central Atoll project and are then accessed, modified, worked on, and updated by the Atoll users and the administrator. The shared data is mainly of the following three types: •

•

The central database: The central database stores all the radio data of all the Atoll user documents. It is initiated through the central Atoll project by the administrator, and is then subdivided into sections on which users or groups of users can work simultaneously. Once the database is in place, users can modify their projects, refresh their projects from the data stored in the database, and archive their modifications in the database. The use of a database means that potential data conflicts due to modifications from other users, modified or deleted records, for example, can be detected and resolved. Shared geographic data: Shared geographic data files are usually stored on a common file server with a fast access connection. Since geographic data files are usually large, they are usually linked to an Atoll file, i.e., they are stored externally, so as to minimise the size of the Atoll file. Users who modify geographic data locally, for example,

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•

© 2016 Forsk. All Rights Reserved.

editing edit clutter or traffic in their respective projects, usually store these modifications locally, since these modifications rarely have an impact on other users. Path loss matrices: Shared path loss matrices are calculated in the central Atoll project by the administrator. Users can read these path loss data but cannot modify them. When the shared path loss data becomes invalid in a user’sr Atoll document, the new path loss matrices are calculated and stored locally, either embedded in the ATL file or linked to an external file. The shared path loss data is not modified. Shared path loss matrices are updated when the calculation administrator performs an update, taking into account the modifications made by other users that have been updated in the central database.

•

User Documents: Individual user documents are initialised by the administrator but are later worked upon and managed by each user. User documents are Atoll files which are connected to the central database, load only the required part of the geographic data (as defined by the CFG file, for example), and have access to the shared path loss matrices folder.

Figure 1.1: Components of Multi-user Environments For information on creating and maintaining the database, see the Administrator Manual.

1.1.2.2 Creating a Document from a Database When you create a new document from a database, you must connect to the database. Once connected, Atoll loads the database into a new Atoll document. Then the connected is interrupted. A new connection with the database will be created only when necessary, in order to allow other users access to the database. To create a document from a database: 1. In the File menu, select New > From an Existing Database. The Open from a Database dialog box appears. 2. In the Files of type list, select the option corresponding to the type of your database. Depending on the type of the database, a dialog box is displayed to enter your User Name, Password, and Server.

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•

•

You can configure Atoll to always use a defined database type (MS Access, SQL Server, or Oracle) by setting an option in the Atoll.ini file. In this case, the Open from a Database dialog box is replaced by the database-specific authentication dialog box. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. Additional dialog boxes might open asking you to choose which project in the database to load or which site list to load.

3. Click OK. The Data to Load dialog box is displayed allowing you to select the data to load into the new Atoll document. 4. Select the Project, Site List, Custom Fields Groups, and Neighbours to be loaded from the database to create the document and click OK. If you load the intra-technology or the inter-technology neighbour list, the associated exceptional pairs table is also loaded. The new document opens with data loaded from the database. If the north-west point of the project is by default the axis origin, the new document opens with no site displayed in the map window. You can centre the document on the data displayed in the Network explorer by expanding the Sites folder, right-clicking any site, and selecting Centre in Map Window from the context menu (see "Centring the Map Window on a Selection" on page 62).

1.1.2.3 Checking the Database Connection You can check whether your document is connected to a database, modify the properties of the database connection, or disconnect a document from a database. To view the characteristics of the database connection: 1. In the Document menu, select Database > Connection Properties. • •

If the document is connected to a database, the Database Connection dialog box appears. If the document is a standalone document, a message is displayed to inform you that the document is not connected to a database. A document created from a template is not connected to any database.

2. To modify the connection to the database, click Modify. 3. To disconnect the document from the database, click Disconnect. If you disconnect your document from the database, it becomes a standalone document and it is not possible to reconnect it to the database.

1.1.2.4 Refreshing a Document from the Database As you are working on your document, other users who have access to the database may have modified some of the data. You can ensure that you have the most recent data in your document by refreshing the information from the database. How frequently you refresh the document depends on how frequently the database is updated. If the database is updated frequently, you should refresh your document frequently as well, in order to continue working with the most up-to-date data. To refresh an Atoll document from the database: 1. In the Document menu, select Database > Refresh From the Database. The Refresh dialog box is displayed. 2. If you have modified your document but have not yet saved those changes in the database, you can do one of the following: • • •

Archive your changes in the database: This option allows you to archive your changes to the server instead of refreshing your document from the server. Refresh unmodified data only: This option allows you to refresh from the database only those items that you have not modified in your document. Cancel your changes and reload database: This option allows you to cancel any changes you have made and start over from the point of the last archive to the database. • •

If you chose Refresh unmodified data only or Cancel your changes and reload database, Atoll proceeds without asking for confirmation. If you chose Archive your changes in the database, the Archive dialog box appears. For information, see "Archiving the Modifications in the Database" on page 38.

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3. Under Take into account, you can select the neighbour lists, Intra-technology Neighbours and Inter-technology Neighbours, to refresh. 4. To create a report for the refresh process, select Generate Report under Modifications Since the Last Refresh. 5. Click OK. The document is refreshed according to the selected options. If you selected to generate a report, Atoll creates a text file in CSV (Comma Separated Values) format in the temporary files system folder and opens it. You can then rename the file and save it where you want. The report lists all the modifications (deletions, additions, and updates) that were stored in the database since the last time you refreshed or opened your document.

1.1.2.5 Archiving the Modifications in the Database When you are working on an Atoll document that is attached to a database, it is recommended from time to time archive the modifications you have made to the data on the database. How frequently you should archive your document depends on several factors: the amount and size of changes you make, the number of other users using the database who might benefit from your modifications, and so on. What you can archive depends on the user rights the database administrator has given to you. For example, you can have read access to the antennas table, allowing you to create a new Atoll document with the given antennas. However, because only the administrator can modify the properties of the antennas, you will not be able to archive any changes you make to the antennas without write access to the table. The Atoll archiving process is flexible. You can archive all your modifications or only the site-related modifications. As well, when you are archiving, Atoll shows you all modifications that will be archived and, if you want, you can archive only some of them or even undo modifications you have made locally. Occasionally, other users might have modified some of the same data and, when you archive your changes, Atoll will inform you of the possible conflicts and help you resolve them. In this section, the following are explained: • •

1.1.2.5.1

"Archiving Modifications in the Database" on page 38 "Resolving Data Conflicts" on page 38.

Archiving Modifications in the Database Atoll allows you to archive all your modifications or only site-related data modifications. To archive all your modifications in the database: 1. In the Document menu, select Database > Archive. The Archive dialog box appears. You can archive only site-related data in the database by right-clicking the Sites folder in the Network explorer and selecting Archive from the context menu. The Archive dialog box appears with only site-related data displayed. Which data is archived depends on the radio technology you are working with. For example, in a UMTS HSPA radio planning project, the site-related data is: sites, transmitters, cells, and neighbours. 2. In the Archive dialog box, you can do the following: • • • •

To archive all your changes to the database, click Run All. To archive a specific modification to the database, select it under Pending changes and click Run. To view the differences between a local item and the corresponding item on the database, select the item under Pending changes and click Differences. To refresh the modification of an item with the original data from the database, select the item under Pending changes and click Undo.

3. If some of the data has been modified on the database since you last refreshed, Atoll stops the archiving process and asks you to resolve the conflict. For information on managing conflicts, see "Resolving Data Conflicts" on page 38. 4. Click Close when you are finished archiving.

1.1.2.5.2

Resolving Data Conflicts Atoll enables several users to use the same database by allowing user to load the data and then freeing the database for other users. However, this also creates the possibility of two users modifying the same data. When a second user attempts to archive his changes, Atoll warns them that the data has been changed since they last refreshed the data and that there is a conflict. Atoll can resolve data conflicts. When Atoll finds a conflict, it displays the warning window shown in Figure 1.2.

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Figure 1.2: Conflict warning You have three options: •

• •

Ignore: If you click Ignore, Atoll ignores items causing conflicts in the table being archived, archives all other modifications in the table, and continues with the next table. You can resolve the conflicts after the archiving process has ended. However, if conflicts are found in other tables, Atoll will warn you with the Database Transfer Error dialog box again. Ignore All: If you click Ignore All, Atoll ignores all items causing conflicts in all tables being archived, and archives all other modifications. You can resolve the conflicts after the archiving process has ended. Abort: If you click Abort, the archiving process stops. You can attempt to resolve conflicts before restarting the archiving process.

Whether you abort the archive process to resolve the conflict immediately, or wait until the end of the archive process, the procedure to resolve the conflict is the same. To resolve data conflicts one by one: 1. In the Pending Changes pane of the Archive dialog box, select the conflict you want to resolve and click Resolve. There are two different types of data conflicts: •

On a modified record: You are in the process of archiving your modifications on the database and another user has modified the same data since you last archived or refreshed your data. A conflict is caused only by differences in the same field of the same record between the database and the current Atoll document. The Conflict in Changes dialog box appears, with the fields in conflict highlighted (see Figure 1.3). In the Conflict in Changes dialog box, you can see the value of the field in the database in the Database values column, as well as the value of the same field in your document in the Current values column.

Figure 1.3: The Conflict in Changes dialog box

•

•

If you want to overwrite the database value with the value of the same field in your document, select the check box next to the highlighted change and click Okay. Your modification will be written to the database, overwriting the value there.

•

If you want to accept the value of the field in the database, clear the check box next to the highlighted change and click Okay. Your modification will be lost and the value in the database will remain unchanged.

On a deleted record: You are in the process of archiving your modifications on the database and another user has deleted a record since you last archived or refreshed your data. For information, see "Resolving Data Conflicts" on page 38. Atoll displays a message explaining that the record you are trying to update has been deleted from the database (see Figure 1.4). Select one of the following:

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Figure 1.4: Conflict on a deleted record • • •

Yes: Select Yes to store your modifications in the database, thereby recreating the deleted record. No: Select No to abandon your modifications to this record and delete this record from your document. Cancel: Select Cancel to cancel.

2. Click Close to close the Archive dialog box. To resolve all the data conflicts: 1. In the Pending Changes pane of the Archive dialog box, select any conflict and click Resolve All. Atoll displays a message explaining how Resolve All works (see Figure 1.5). Select one of the following:

Figure 1.5: Resolving all the data conflicts simultaneously • • •

Yes: Select Yes to accept all the modifications made by other users in the database and update your document with values from the database. No: Select No to overwrite the modifications made by other users in the database with the values from your document. Cancel: Select Cancel to cancel.

2. Click Close to close the Archive dialog box. You should only resolve all the data conflicts when you are certain about the modifications.

1.1.3 Configuring Document Properties Once you have created a document, you need to configure the basic parameters of the Atoll document. You can accept the default values for some parameters, such as basic measurement units, but you must set projection and display coordinate systems. This section covers the following topics: • • • •

"Projection and Display Coordinate Systems" on page 40 "Setting a Coordinate System" on page 41 "Selecting the Degree Display Format" on page 41 "Setting Measurement Units" on page 42

1.1.3.1 Projection and Display Coordinate Systems In Atoll, you define the two coordinate systems for each Atoll document: the projection coordinate system and the display coordinate system. By default, the same coordinate system is used for both. A projection is a method for producing all or part of a round body on a flat sheet. This projection cannot be done without distortion, thus the cartographer must choose the characteristic (distance, direction, scale, area or shape) which is to be

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shown appropriately at the expense of the other characteristics, or he must compromise on several characteristics1. The projected zones are referenced using cartographic coordinates (metre, yard, etc.). Two projection systems are widely used: •

•

The Lambert Conformal-Conic projection: a portion of the earth is mathematically projected on a cone conceptually secant at one or two standard parallels. This projection type is useful for representing countries or regions that lay primarily east to west. The Universal Transverse Mercator projection (UTM): a portion of the earth is mathematically projected on a cylinder tangent to a meridian (which is transverse or crosswise to the equator). This projection type is useful for mapping large areas that are oriented north-south.

A geographic system is not a projection, but a representation of a location on the earth's surface from geographic coordinates (degree-minute-second or grade) giving the latitude and longitude in relation to the origin meridian (Paris for the NTF system and Greenwich for the ED50 system). The locations in the geographic system can be converted into other projections. Atoll has databases including more than 980 international coordinate system references, a database based on the European Petroleum Survey Group and another one regrouping only France's coordinate systems. Atoll uses the cartographic coordinate systems for projection and either cartographic or geographic coordinate systems for display. The maps displayed in the workspace are referenced with the same projection system as the imported geographic data files; thus, the projection system depends on the imported geographic file. By choosing a specific display system, you can see (using the rulers or status bars) the location of sites on the map in a coordinate system different from the projection coordinate system. You can also position on the map sites referenced in the display system: the coordinates are automatically converted from the projection system to the display system and the site is displayed on the map. All imported raster geographic files must be use the same cartographic system. If not, you must convert them to a single cartographic system.

1.1.3.2 Setting a Coordinate System To work with maps, you must set a coordinate system for your Atoll document. By default, projection and display coordinate systems are the same, but you can choose a display coordinate system different from the projection coordinate system. To define the coordinate system: 1. Select Document > Properties. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. On the Coordinates tab, click the Browse button to the right of the Projection field. The Coordinate Systems dialog box appears. 3. In the Coordinate Systems dialog box, select a catalogue from the Find in list. For the projection system, only cartographic systems ( ) are available. 4. Select a coordinate system from the list. If you frequently use a particular coordinate system you can add it to a catalogue of favourites by clicking Add to Favourites.

5. Click OK. The selected coordinate system appears in the Projection field and, by default, in the Display field as well. 6. To set a different coordinate system for the display, click the Browse button to the right of the Display field and repeat step 3. to step 5. For the display system, both cartographic systems (identified by the tems (

symbol) and geographic sys-

) are available.

1.1.3.3 Selecting the Degree Display Format Atoll can display longitude and latitude in four different formats. For example: • • • •

26°56’29.9’’N 26d56m29.9sN 26.93914N +26.93914

1. Snyder, John. P., Map Projections Used by the US Geological Survey, 2nd Edition, United States Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 313 pages, 1982.

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To change the degree display format: 1. Select Document > Properties. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. On the Coordinates tab, select the format from the Degree Format list. 3. Click OK. The degree format options apply only to the geographic coordinate systems.

1.1.3.4 Setting Measurement Units When you create an Atoll document, measurement units for reception, transmission, antenna gain, distance, height, and offset are set to default. You can change the measurement units using the Properties dialog box. To set the default measurement units: 1. Select Document > Properties. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. On the Units tab, select the desired unit for the following measurements: •

Radio: • • • •

•

Radiated power: Select either "EIRP" (Effective Isotropically Radiated Power) or "ERP" () Antenna gain: Select either "dBi" (decibel (isotropic)) or "dBd" (decibel (dipole)) Transmission: Select either "dBm" (decibel (milliWatt)), "W" (Watt), or "kW" (kiloWatt) Reception: Select either "dBm" (decibel (milliWatt)), "dBµV" (decibel (microvolt)), "dBµV/M" (decibel (microvolt per metre)), or "V/M" (volts per metre)

Geo: •

Distance: Select either "m" (metres), "Km" (kilometres), or "mi" (miles) You can change the default metre-to-feet conversion factor from 3.28 to a more precise value by setting the MeterToFeetFactor option in the [Units] section of the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual.

•

Height and offset: Select either "m" (metres) or "ft" (feet) You can change the default mile-to-metre conversion factor from 1609 to a more precise value by setting the MileToMeterFactor option in the [Units] section of the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual.

•

Climate: •

Temperature: Select either "°C" (Celsius) or "°F" (Fahrenheit)

3. Click OK.

1.1.3.5 Defining a Project Description Atoll allows you to define a few parameters, such as author or project status, that will can be used to describe the Atoll project you are working on. The description you enter can be consulted by anyone working on this project. To define a project description: 1. Select Document > Properties. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. Click the Project tab. On the Project tab, you can define the following parameters: • •

• • • •

42

Title: You can set a descriptive name for the project that is different from the file name of the Atoll project file. Date: You can enter a timestamp for the project and then click the Lock button to prevent it from being changed. By default Atoll enters the current time as the timestamp. Each time you access the Project tab, Atoll will update the timestamp. Owner: You can enter the name of the person responsible for the project, and then click the Lock button to prevent it from being changed. By default Atoll enters the name you used to log on to the computer. Status: You can enter a description of the project status. Logo: You define a logo for the project by clicking the Browse button and browsing to a graphic file that can be used as a logo for the project. The logo will be used in reports exported in RTF format Comments: You can enter any comments in the Comments field.

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3. Click OK.

1.1.4 Saving Documents With Atoll, you can save a copy of your Atoll document and you can create portable documents. You can also configure automatic backup of your documents. You can also save geographic data files separately from saving an Atoll document. For more information, see "Saving Geographic Data" on page 146. This section covers the following topics: • • •

"Saving a Copy of a Document" on page 43 "Creating and Sharing Portable Atoll Documents" on page 43 "Configuring Automatic Backup" on page 44

1.1.4.1 Saving a Copy of a Document When you save a copy of an Atoll document you can link the new Atoll document with the externalised results files of the original document, create copies of the externalised calculation results with the new document, or ignore the externalised results files of the original document. To save a copy of your Atoll document: 1. In the File menu, select Save As. The Externalised results dialog box is displayed. 2. Select one of the following options: • • •

To link the copy of your Atoll document with the externalised calculation results files of the original document, select Link with the externalised results of the original document. To create copies of the externalised calculation results with the new document, select Make a copy of the externalised results. To create a copy of your document without linking the externalised calculation results files of the original document, select Ignore the externalised results. You can set an option in the [Settings] section of the Atoll.ini file to link, copy, or ignore the externalised calculation results files and to hide the Externalised results dialog box when saving a copy of a document.

3. Click OK in the Externalised results dialog box. The Save As dialog box is displayed. 4. Select the folder where the copy is to be stored, enter a File name, and click Save.

1.1.4.2 Creating and Sharing Portable Atoll Documents You can create portable Atoll documents in two ways: • •

By embedding all the geographic data in the ATL file. By creating a compressed archive (ZIP file) containing the ATL file and all geographic data linked to the Atoll document.

In most working environments, geographic data files are stored on a common file server and are linked to the ATL documents of different users over a network. Often these geographic data files are quite large, and it is not feasible to embed these files in an ATL file for reasons related to file size, memory consumption, and performance. It is, therefore, more useful to make a project portable by creating an archive that contains the ATL and all linked geographic data files. To create an archive containing the ATL file and all linked geographic data files: 1. In the File menu, select Save to Zip. The Save As dialog box appears. 2. Select the folder where the created archive is to be stored, enter a File name for the archive to be created, select "Zip Files (*.zip)" from the Save as type list, and click Save. Atoll creates a ZIP file containing: •

A copy of the ATL file with the same name as the name of the archive (ZIP file). The ATL file added to the archive contains all the data that might be embedded in it (path loss matrices, geographic data, coverage predictions, simulation results, measurement data, and so on).

•

A ".losses" folder containing a pathloss.dbf file and a LowRes subfolder which contains the pathloss.dbf file corresponding to the extended path loss matrices. Externally stored path loss matrices are not added to the archive because they are not necessary for making a portable document; they can be recalculated based on the network and geographic data in the ATL file. The pathloss.dbf files are stored in the archive because they are needed when reopening the archive in Atoll.

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•

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A "Geo" folder with all the linked geographic data available in the Geo explorer for the Atoll document. This folder contains subfolders with the same names as the folders in the Geo explorer. Geographic data that are found outside folders in the Geo explorer are stored in files under the Geo folder, and data present within folders in the Geo explorer are stored inside their respective folders. If the geographic data files linked to the document are located on a remote computer, such as a file server over a network, they are first copied to the local computer in the Windows’ temporary files folder and then added to the archive.

Once the portable archive is created, you can open it directly from Atoll without first having to extract it using another tool. To open an archive containing an ATL file and all linked geographic data files: 1. In the File menu, select Open from Zip. The Open dialog box appears. 2. Select the ZIP file that contains the ATL file and linked geographic data files and click Open. The Browse For Folder dialog box appears. 3. Select the folder where you want to extract the contents of the ZIP file. 4. Click OK. Atoll extracts all the files from the archive to the selected folder. If necessary, it creates the subfolders required for extracting the contents of the Geo folder. Once Atoll has finished extracting files from the archive, it opens the extracted ATL file. Geographic data extracted from the archive are linked to the ATL file. • •

You do not need to have a compression utility, such as WinZip or WinRAR, installed on the computer when working with archived ATL files. The highest compression level is used when creating the archive.

1.1.4.3 Configuring Automatic Backup Atoll can create and automatically update backups of documents you are working on. Once you have saved the document, Atoll creates a backup of the original document and updates it at a defined interval. For example, for a document named "filename.atl," Atoll will create a backup file called "filename.atl.bak" in the same folder as the original document. You can define the update interval each time you start Atoll. You can also configure Atoll to create automatic backups of external path loss matrices (LOS files) by setting an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. When you have activated automatic backup, Atoll automatically creates a backup for every document open. Consequently, if you have a lot of documents open, this operation can take a long time. However, you can optimise the process by opening large documents in separate Atoll sessions, instead of in the same Atoll session. This also improves memory management because each instance of Atoll has its own 2 GB (under 32-bit operating systems; 4 GB under 64-bit operating systems) memory allocation. If you open two large documents in the same Atoll session, these documents will use the same 2 GB memory pool. If you open them in two different Atoll sessions, each document will have its own 2 GB allocated memory. To configure an automatic backup: 1. In the Tools menu, select Configure Auto Backup. The Auto Backup Configuration dialog box appears. 2. Select Activate Auto Backup. 3. If you want to be warned before backing up your file every time, select Prompt before starting Auto Backup. 4. Enter a time interval, in minutes, between consecutive backups in the Automatically save backups every text box. It can take a long time to back up large documents. Therefore, you should set a correspondingly longer interval between backups when working with large documents in order to optimise the process. 5. Click OK. If you selected the Prompt before starting automatic backup check box, Atoll prompts you each time before backing up the document. If you click OK, Atoll proceeds to back up all open documents. If you click Cancel, Atoll skips the backup once. The automatic backup timer is stopped while the prompt is displayed. Atoll displays a message in the Events viewer every time a backup file is updated. If you are performing calculations, which means coverage predictions or simula-

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tions, the automatic backup is delayed until the calculations have ended. The timer starts again once the calculations are over. If you save the original document manually, the timer is reset to 0. You can easily recover your backup document and open it in Atoll just like any other Atoll document. If the original document is named "filename.atl," the backup document is stored in the same folder and is named "filename.atl.bak". If you just remove the BAK extension, your backup file will have the same file name as the original file and Windows will not allow you to rename the file. Therefore, it is safer to give a new name to the backup file and keep the original file until you are sure which version is most recent.

1.1.5 Opening Documents Atoll allows you to open existing documents, one of the last Atoll documents you have worked on, or portable Atoll documents (see "Creating and Sharing Portable Atoll Documents" on page 43). To open a document in Atoll: 1. To open an existing Atoll document, select File > Open, select the ATL file that you want to open, and click Open. The Atoll document and all linked data opens in Atoll. 2. To open one of the last Atoll documents you have worked on, select File > Recent, and select the ATL file from the list of recently open documents. 3. To open an archive containing an ATL file and all linked geographic data files, select File > Open from Zip. The Open dialog box appears. a. Select the ZIP file that contains the ATL file and linked geographic data files and click Open. The Browse For Folder dialog box appears. b. Select the folder where you want to extract the contents of the ZIP file. c. Click OK. Atoll extracts all the files from the archive to the selected folder. If necessary, it creates the subfolders required for extracting the contents of the Geo folder. Once Atoll has finished extracting files from the archive, it opens the extracted ATL file. Geographic data extracted from the archive are linked to the ATL file.

1.2 Atoll Work Area The Atoll work area, shown in Figure 1.6 on page 46, consists of: • • • •

A menu bar and several toolbars that give access to Atoll functions. For more information, see "Using Toolbars" on page 109. A document window that arranges by tab all the open Atoll documents, maps, data tables, and reports. Explorers that arranges by folder data and objects contained in an Atoll document, such as network data, geographic data, propagation models, and network settings. Tool windows that are windows providing information or data and that can be docked or floating such as events viewer, legend window, and panoramic window.

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Figure 1.6Example of the Atoll work area This section covers the following topics: • • • •

"Document Window" on page 46 "Explorers" on page 46 "Tool Windows" on page 47 "Organising the Atoll Work Area" on page 47

1.2.1 Document Window When working on a project in Atoll, you can work with several documents or different views of documents (such as map windows, data tables, and reports). Open documents and different views of documents (maps, data table, and reports) are displayed in the document window. Each open document, map, data table, and report is identified by a tab in the Atoll document window and by a thumbnail the Windows taskbar. You can navigate between documents or document views by selecting the corresponding tab in the document window. You can also rearrange the tabs by clicking and dragging a tab horizontally to a new position. You can also use the Windows dialog box to select, save, or close documents or document views.The Windows dialog box can be displayed by selecting the Window > Windows menu. You can modify the thumbnail preview of Atoll open documents or view of documents in the Windows taskbar by selecting the Windows > Show Thumbnails in the Taskbar menu.

1.2.2 Explorers Explorers play a central role in Atoll by grouping the data and objects contained in an Atoll document: • • • •

The Network explorer contains data related to sites, transmitters, predictions, simulations, interference matrices, drive test data, and links. The Site explorer allows you to view the elements located on the site that is currently selected in the Network explorer or in the map. The transmitters and links of the selected site are displayed in technology-specific folders. The Geo explorer allows you to manage the geographic data such as traffic maps, population, clutter heights, clutter classes, Digital Terrain Model (DTM), and online maps. The Parameters explorer allows you to manage propagation models, traffic parameters, radio network and microwave settings and equipment.

Each explorer contains objects and folders containing objects. The name of each folder containing at least one object is preceded by an Expand button ( ) or a Collapse button ( ).

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You can expand or collapse all the folders in the explorer by pressing SHIFT while you click on an expand or collapse button. You can expand or collapse all folders that are selected as visible by pressing CTRL while you click on an expand or collapse button. In the Site explorer, you can expand or collapse all folders at a specific level by clicking the arrow icons ( ) in the title bar. You can refresh the display of the Network explorer by clicking Refresh (

) on the toolbar or pressing F5.

Each object and folder in the explorers has a context-specific menu that you can access by right-clicking. You can modify items at the folder level, with changes affecting all items in the folder, or you can access and edit items individually. The content of the folders in the explorers can be displayed in tables, allowing you to manage large amount of data. For information on working with tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. By default, explorers are displayed when launching Atoll. If the explorers are hidden you can display them by using the View menu.

1.2.3 Tool Windows Tool windows are windows providing information or data. The following tool windows are available: •

• •

Events viewer: Atoll displays information about the current document in the Events viewer. The Events viewer displays information ( ), warning ( ), and error ( ) messages, as well as the progress of calculations. You can save the information displayed in the Events viewer to a log file by selecting one or more events, right-clicking the selection, and selecting Save As from the context menu. You can also automatically generate log files for each Atoll session and select the level of information displayed in the Events viewer. For more information about these settings, see the Administrator Manual. Legend window: The Legend window contains information on the objects displayed on the map. Panoramic window: The Panoramic window displays the entire map with all imported geographic data. A dark rectangle indicates what part of the geographic data is presently displayed in a document window, helping you situate the displayed area in relation to the entire map. You can use the Panoramic window to: • • •

Zoom in on a specific area of the map. Resize the displayed map area. Move around the map.

For more information, see "Using the Panoramic Window" on page 61. • •

Find on Map window: The Find on Map window allows you to find object on the map. For more information, see "Searching for Objects on the Map" on page 63. Favourite View window: The Favourite Views window allows you to navigate between different predefined views saved as favourite views. For more information, see "Favourite Map Views" on page 62.

1.2.4 Organising the Atoll Work Area Atoll enables you to organise the work area to best suit your needs by moving and hiding explorers and tool windows. This section covers the following topics: • • • • •

"Grouping Tabs in the Document Window" on page 47 "Displaying Explorers and Tool Windows" on page 48 "Moving Explorers and Tool Windows" on page 48 "Automatically Hiding Explorers and Tool Windows" on page 48 "Resetting the Default Layout" on page 49.

1.2.4.1 Grouping Tabs in the Document Window When working with large numbers of documents or document views, you can group the tabs contained in the document window in tab groups to facilitate your work. The document window is then split horizontally or vertically. Tab groups do not apply to explorers and other tool windows. To move a document window to a tab group: 1. Select the tab title in the document window, drag it, and drop it towards the centre of the map window. A context menu appears. 2. Select one of the following items from the context menu:

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• •

© 2016 Forsk. All Rights Reserved.

New Horizontal Tab Group: A new horizontal tab group is created and the selected document window is added. New Vertical Tab Group: A new vertical tab group and the selected document window is added.

You can also add a document window to a new tab group by clicking its title and then selecting New Horizontal Tab Group or New Vertical Tab Group from the Window menu. If you drag the window icon to the lower edge or right edge of an existing tab group, even if there is only one tab group, an outline appears to indicate the tab group the window will automatically be added to when you release the mouse.

1.2.4.2 Displaying Explorers and Tool Windows The explorers and the Legend window are displayed by default when launching Atoll. The other tool windows are not displayed by default. To display explorers and tool windows: 1. In the View menu, select the item corresponding to the explorer or tool window you want to display. The Find on Map window can be displayed by selecting Find on Map in the Tools menu. For more information, see "Searching for Objects on the Map" on page 63.

1.2.4.3 Moving Explorers and Tool Windows While working in Atoll, you can have several tool or explorer windows open at the same time. You can use the mouse to position explorers and tool windows to optimise your work area. To position a tool window or an explorer using the mouse: 1. Click the title of the tool window or the explorer and drag it towards the new position. A positioning icon appears over the Atoll work area.

Figure 1.7: Positioning icon 2. Place the tool window or the explorer over the part of the positioning icon corresponding to the new position. An outline appears over the Atoll work area to indicate the new position of the window. If you release the window icon without placing it over the positioning icon, you can float the explorer or tool window over the work area.

3. Release the mouse. The explorer or toll window docks in its new position.

1.2.4.4 Automatically Hiding Explorers and Tool Windows By having tool windows and especially the explorers visible, you have immediate access to data and objects. However, you sometimes need to display more of the map window. Atoll enables you to auto-hide the explorers and tool windows (such as the Find on Map window, the Legend window, the Drive Test Data window), thereby enabling you to see more of the map window. The hidden explorers and tool windows reappears when you move the pointer over it.

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To activate or deactivate the auto-hide a tool window or the explorers: 1. In the title bar of the explorer or tool window, click Auto Hide ( vertical tabs at the edge of the work area.

). The explorers or the tool window are reduced to

When auto-hide is activated on an explorer window, all the other explorers are reduced to vertical tabs at the edge of the work area.

You can display the hidden explorer or tool window by resting the pointer over the name of the explorer or the tool window. 2. In the title bar of the explorer or tool window, click Auto Hide ( their former positions.

). The explorers or the tool window are restored to

1.2.4.5 Using the Status Bar to Get Information Atoll displays the following information, if available, about the current position of the mouse pointer in the status bar (see Figure 1.8): • • • •

The current X-Y coordinates (according to the defined display coordinate system). The altitude (as defined in the DTM). The clutter class (as defined in the clutter classes properties). The clutter height (as defined in the clutter height file, or in the clutter classes).

X-Y coordinates

Altitude

Clutter class

Figure 1.8: Information displayed in the status bar By default the status bar is displayed when launching Atoll. To show or hide the status bar: 1. In the View menu, select Status Bar.

1.2.4.6 Resetting the Default Layout Atoll offers a high flexibility in customising the position of explorers, toolbars, and tool windows such as events viewer and legend window. You can restore the default Atoll layout. To restore the default position of explorers, tool windows, and toolbars: 1. In the Window menu, select Reset Window Layout. All explorers, tool windows, and toolbars retrieve their default position and sizes.

1.3 Objects In Atoll, the items found in the Network explorer or the Geo explorer and displayed on the map are referred to as objects. Most objects in Atoll belong to an object type. For example, a transmitter is an object of the type transmitter. Atoll enables you to carry out many operations on objects by clicking the object directly or by right-clicking the object and selecting the operation from the context menu. This section covers the following topics: • • • • •

"Renaming an Object" on page 50 "Deleting an Object" on page 50 "Modifying the Visibility of Objects" on page 50 "Accessing Object Properties" on page 51 "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51

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• •

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"Modifying Transmitters and Sites on the Map" on page 56 "Exporting Network Elements to Vector Files" on page 58

1.3.1 Renaming an Object You can change the name of an object in Atoll. To rename an object: 1. Right-click the object on the map or in the Network or Geo explorer and select Rename from the context menu. 2. Enter the new name and press ENTER to change the name. In Atoll, objects such as sites or transmitters are named with default prefixes. Individual objects are distinguished from each other by the number added automatically to the default prefix. You can change the default prefix for sites, transmitters, and cells by editing the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. Most objects in Atoll are case-insensitive. When renaming an object, you must make sure that the same name isn’t already used with different upper or lower-case characters.

1.3.2 Deleting an Object You can delete objects from either the map or from the explorer (the Network explorer or the Geo explorer). To delete an object: 1. Right-click the object on the map or in the Network or Geo explorer and select Delete from the context menu. The selected object is deleted. The Delete All command available in the context menus of certain folders (Geoclimatic Parameters, Population, Clutter Heights, Clutter Classes, Digital Terrain Model) allow you to delete all the objects in those folders.

1.3.3 Modifying the Visibility of Objects Objects contained in the Network and Geo explorer can be displayed on the map and are arranged in layers. The order of the layers in the Network and Geo explorer can change the visibility of an object. All objects in the Network explorer (such as transmitters, antennas, and predictions) are displayed over all objects in the Geo explorer. Atoll allows you to modify the visibility of objects on the map by displaying or hiding particular objects directly from the explorers and changing the order of layers. Other factors can influence the visibility of objects. For more information, see "Setting the Display Priority of Geo Data" on page 138.

1.3.3.1 Displaying or Hiding Objects on the Map You can use the explorers to display or hide objects on the map. By hiding one type of object, another type of object is more plainly visible. For example, you can hide all predictions except one, so that the results of that prediction are more clearly displayed. Hiding an object affects only its visibility in the map window; the hidden object is still taken into consideration during calculations.

To display or hide an object on the map: 1. Select the Network or Geo explorer that contains that object. 2. To hide an object, clear the check box corresponding to the object name in the Network or Geo explorer. The object is no longer visible on the map. When the check box of a folder appears greyed ( both visible and hidden objects.

50

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3. To hide all the objects of an entire folder, clear the check box corresponding to the folder name in the Network or Geo explorer. 4. To display an hidden object, select the check box corresponding to the object name in the Network or Geo explorer.

1.3.3.2 Changing the Order of Layers IIn Atoll, the layers on the top (as arranged on the Network and Geo explorers) are the most visible on the screen and in print. The visibility of the lower layers depends on which layers are above and visible (see "Displaying or Hiding Objects on the Map" on page 50) and on the transparency of these layers (see "Setting the Transparency of Objects and Object Types" on page 53). To change the order of layers: 1. In the Network or Geo explorer, click the layer you want to move and drag it to its new position. As you drag the object, a horizontal black line indicates where the object will remain when you release the mouse button (see Figure 1.9).

Figure 1.9: Moving a layer Before you print a map, you should pay attention to the arrangement of the layers. For more information, see "Printing Recommendations" on page 91.

1.3.4 Accessing Object Properties Parameters and characteristics of an object or a group of objects are referred as properties. Object properties can be visualised and modified using a Properties dialog box. The content of the Properties dialog box varies depending on the type of object. You can access and modify the properties of an object or a group of objects. For example, you can access and modify the properties of a specific site or all the sites contained the Sites folder. To access the properties of an object: 1. Right-click the object on the map or in the Network or Geo explorer and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. The content of the dialog box varies depending on the selected object or group of objects. When several objects (transmitters, antennas, sites, services, user profiles, and so on) are defined in the same folder, you can switch between the Properties dialog box of each object using the browse buttons (

).

If you have made any changes to the properties of an item, Atoll prompts you to confirm these changes before switching to the next Properties dialog box.

1.3.5 Setting the Display Properties of Objects In Atoll, most objects, such as transmitters or sites, belong to an object type. The display properties of an object or a group of object define how the object or the group of objects appear on the map. Display properties can be defined in the Display tab of the Properties dialog box. The Display tab is similar for all object types whose appearance can be configured. Options that are inapplicable for a particular object type are unavailable on the Display tab of its Properties dialog box.

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To set the display properties of an object type: 1. Right-click the object type folder either on the map or in the Network explorer or the Geo explorer) and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. Select the Display tab. 3. Set the display parameters. You can do the following: • • • • • •

"Setting the Display Type" on page 52 "Setting the Transparency of Objects and Object Types" on page 53 "Setting the Visibility Scale" on page 53 "Associating a Label to an Object" on page 53 "Associating a Tip Text to an Object" on page 54 "Adding an Object Type to the Legend" on page 54

4. Click OK.

1.3.5.1 Setting the Display Type Depending on the object selected, you can choose from the following display types: • •

Unique: defines the same symbol for all objects of this type. By defining a unique symbol for an object type, objects of different types, such as sites or transmitters, are immediately identifiable. Discrete values: defines the display of each object according to the value of a selected field. This display type can be used to distinguish objects of the same type by one characteristic. For example, you could use this display type to distinguish transmitters by antenna types, or to distinguish inactive sites from active ones. Atoll applies colours automatically on 36-colour cycles. As opposed to shading, this is particularly useful to distinguish neighbouring zones which have very close colour values. You can configure Atoll to loop on as many user-defined colours as you want and you can override user-defined colours, if any, and force shading (from red to blue) by setting options in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual.

• •

Value intervals: defines the display of each object according to set ranges of the value of a selected field. This display type can be used, for example, to distinguish population density, signal strength, and the altitude of sites. Automatic: only available for transmitters; a colour is automatically assigned to each transmitter, ensuring that each transmitter has a different colour than the transmitters surrounding it.

To change the display type: 1. Access the Display tab of the Properties dialog box as explained in "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 2. Select a display type from the Display Type list. 3. If you selected the Discrete values or Value Intervals display type, select the name of the Field by which you want to display the objects. 4. To modify the appearance of a symbol, click the symbol in the table, modify the symbol properties, and click OK in the dialog box that is displayed. 5. You can use the Actions button to access to the following commands: • • • • • • •

•

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Properties: The Display Parameters dialog box opens, which enables you to define the appearance of the selected symbol in the table. Refresh: Select this option to refresh the table. Select all: All the values in the table are selected. Insert before: When "Value Intervals" is the selected display type, a new threshold is inserted in the table before the threshold selected in the table. Insert after: When "Value Intervals" is the selected display type, a new threshold is inserted in the table after the threshold selected in the table. Delete: The selected value is removed from the table. Shading: The Shading dialog box appears. • When "Value Intervals" is the selected display type, you select Shading to define the number of value intervals and configure their colour. Enter the upper and lower limits of the value in the First Break and Last Break boxes respectively, and enter a value in the Interval box. Define the colour shading by choosing a Start Colour and an End Colour. The value intervals will be determined by the set values and coloured by a shade going from the set start colour to the set end colour. • When "Discrete Values" is the selected display type, you select Shading to choose a Start Colour and an End Colour. Display Configuration: Select Load if you want to import an existing display configuration. Select Save if you want to save the display configuration in a file.

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6. Click OK. •

•

When you create a map object, for example, a site or a transmitter, you must click the Refresh button ( ) to assign a colour to the newly created object according to the display type. You can define the default symbol used for sites and how it is displayed by setting an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual.

1.3.5.2 Setting the Transparency of Objects and Object Types You can change the transparency of some objects, such as predictions, and some object types, such as clutter classes, to allow objects on lower layers to be visible on the map. To change the transparency: 1. Access the Display tab of the Properties dialog box as explained in "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 2. Move the Transparency slider to the right to make the object or object type more transparent or to the left to make it less transparent. 3. Click OK.

1.3.5.3 Setting the Visibility Scale You can define a visibility range for object types. An object is visible only if the scale, as displayed on the Map toolbar, is within this range. This can be used to, for example, prevent the map from being cluttered with symbols when you are at a certain scale. Visibility ranges are taken into account for screen display, and for printing and previewing printing. They do not affect which objects are considered during calculations. To define an object visibility range: 1. Access the Display tab of the Properties dialog box as explained in "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 2. Enter a Visibility Scale minimum in the between 1: text box. 3. Enter a Visibility Scale maximum in the and 1: text box. 4. Click OK.

1.3.5.4 Associating a Label to an Object For most object types, such as sites and transmitters, you can display information about each object in the form of a label that is displayed with the object. You can display information from every field in that object type’s data table, including from fields that you add. To define a label for an object type: 1. Access the Display tab of the Properties dialog box as explained in "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 2. Click the Browse button beside the Label box. The Field Selection dialog box appears (see Figure 1.10).

Figure 1.10: Defining a label

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3. Select the fields that you want to display in the label: •

To select a field to be displayed in the label for the object type, select the field in the Available Fields list and click to move it to the Selected Fields list.

•

To remove a field from the Selected Fields list, select the field and click

•

To change the order of a field in the list, select the field and click

or

. to move it up or down.

4. Click OK to close the Field Selection dialog box then OK to close the Properties dialog box. The objects will be grouped in the order of the fields in the Selected Fields list, from top to bottom. For most object types, you can also display object information in the form of tip text that is only visible when you move the pointer over the object. This option has the advantage of not filling the map window with text. For more information on tip text, see "Associating a Tip Text to an Object" on page 54.

1.3.5.5 Associating a Tip Text to an Object For most object types, such as sites and transmitters, you can display information about each object in the form of tip text that is only visible when you move the pointer over the object. You can display information from every field in that object type’s data table, including from fields that you add. In the explorer (the Network explorer or the Geo explorer), the tip text displays the total numbers of items present in the Sites and Transmitters folders, and the view. To define tip text for an object type: 1. Access the Display tab of the Properties dialog box as explained in "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 2. Click the Browse button beside the Tip Text box. The Field Selection dialog box appears (see Figure 1.10). 3. Select the fields which you want to display in the tip text: a. To select a field to be displayed in the tip text for the object type, select the field in the Available Fields list and click

to move it to the Selected Fields list.

b. To remove a field from the Selected Fields list, select the field in the Selected Fields list and click it.

to remove

For most object types, you can also display object information in the form of a label that is displayed with the object. This option has the advantage of keeping object-related information permanently visible. For more information on tip text, see "Associating a Label to an Object" on page 53. 4. Click OK. Once you have defined the tip text, you must activate the tip text function before it appears by clicking Display Tips ( text are displayed when the pointer is over the object.

). Tip

If you have more than one coverage prediction displayed on the map, the tip text displays the tip text for all the coverage predictions available on a pixel up to a maximum of 30 lines. You can change this default maximum using an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual.

1.3.5.6 Adding an Object Type to the Legend You can display the information defined by the display type (see "Setting the Display Type" on page 52) in the Legend widow of your Atoll document. Only visible objects appear in the Legend window. For information on displaying or hiding objects, see "Displaying or Hiding Objects on the Map" on page 50. For example, if on the Display tab of a signal level prediction, the intervals defined are: • • •

Signal level >= -65 red -65 > Signal level >= -105 shading from red to blue (9 intervals) Signal level < -105 not shown in the coverage.

The entries in the Legend column will appear in the Legend window.

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Figure 1.11: Defined thresholds as they will appear in the Legend With value intervals, you can enter information in the Legend column to be displayed on the legend. If there is no information entered in this column, the maximum and minimum values are displayed instead. 1. Access the Display tab of the Properties dialog box as explained in "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 2. Select the Add to legend check box. The defined display will appear on the legend. You can also display the comments defined in the properties of a coverage prediction in the Legend window by setting an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information about setting options in the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual.

1.3.5.7 Changing the Symbol Style You can change the symbol that is used for objects, such as transmitters or repeaters, in the Symbol style dialog box. To change the colour, size, or symbol of a displayed object: 1. Right-click the object and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box of the object opens. 2. Click the Display tab. The Symbol style icon displays the symbol for the selected object. 3. Click the Symbol style icon. The Display Parameters dialog box opens. 4. Specify the Symbol, Size, and Colour of the symbol. The result is displayed in the Example area. 5. Click OK.

1.3.5.8 Examples of Using the Display Properties of Objects In this section are the following examples of how display properties of objects can be used: • •

"Automatic Display Type - Server Coverage Predictions" on page 55 "Shading - Signal Level Coverage Prediction" on page 56.

Automatic Display Type - Server Coverage Predictions When making a best server prediction, Atoll calculates, for each pixel on the map, which server provides the best reception. If the selected display type for transmitters is "Automatic," Atoll colours each pixel on the map according to the colour of the transmitter that is best received on that pixel. This way, you can immediately identify the best received transmitter on each pixel. The following two figures show the results of the same best server area and handover margin coverage prediction. In Figure 1.12, the transmitter display type is "Discrete Values," with the site name as the chosen value. The difference in colour is insufficient to make clear which transmitter is best received on each pixel. In Figure 1.13, the transmitter display type is "Automatic." Because Atoll ensures that each transmitter has a different colour than the transmitters surrounding it, the prediction results are also immediately visible.

Figure 1.12: Value interval display type

Figure 1.13: Automatic display type

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To display the results of a server coverage prediction with the transmitters set to the automatic display type: 1. Right-click the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer. The context menu appears. 2. Select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 3. Select the Display tab. 4. Select "Automatic" as the Display Type. 5. Click OK. 6. Click the Refresh button (

) to update the display of the prediction results.

Shading - Signal Level Coverage Prediction Atoll displays the results of a signal level prediction as value intervals. On the map, these value intervals appear as differences of shading. You can use the Shading command to define the appearance of these value intervals to make the results easier to read or more relevant to your needs. For example, you can change the range of data displayed, the interval between each break, or you can change the colours to make the intervals more visible. In this example, Figure 1.14 shows the results of the best signal level plot from -60 dBm to -105 dBm. However, if you are more interested in reception from -80 dBm to -105 dBm, you can change the shading to display only those values. The result is visible in Figure 1.15.

Figure 1.14: Shading from -60 dBm to -105 dBm

Figure 1.15: Shading from -80 dBm to -105 dBm

To change how the results of a signal level coverage prediction are displayed: 1. Expand the Predictions folder in the Network explorer and right-click the signal level prediction. The context menu appears. 2. Select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 3. Select the Display tab. 4. Click Actions to display the menu and select Shading. The Shading dialog box appears. 5. Change the value of the First Break to "-80". Leave the value of the Last Break at "-105." 6. Click OK to close the Shading dialog box. 7. Click OK to close the Properties dialog box and apply your changes.

1.3.6 Modifying Transmitters and Sites on the Map In a complex radio-planning project, it can be difficult to find the data object in the Network explorer, although it might be visible in the map window. Atoll lets you access the Properties dialog box of sites and transmitters directly from the map. You can also change the position of a site by dragging it, or by letting Atoll find a higher location for it. This section covers the following topics: • • • • •

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"Selecting One out of Several Transmitters" on page 57 "Moving a Site Using the Mouse" on page 57 "Moving a Site to a Higher Location" on page 57 "Changing the Azimuth of the Antenna Using the Mouse" on page 57 "Changing the Antenna Position Relative to the Site Using the Mouse" on page 58

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1.3.6.1

Selecting One out of Several Transmitters If there is more than one transmitter with the same azimuth, Atoll enables you to select a specific transmitter. To select one of several transmitters with the same azimuth: 1. In the map window, click the transmitters. A context menu appears with a list of the transmitters with the same azimuth (see Figure 1.16).

Figure 1.16: Selecting one transmitter 2. Select the transmitter from the context menu. • •

When you select a transmitter, it appears with a green point at both ends of the icon ( ). When one of the transmitters is already selected on the map, right-clicking on its location will display the context menu of the selected transmitter.

1.3.6.2 Moving a Site Using the Mouse You can move a site by editing the coordinates on the General tab of the Site Properties dialog box, or by using the mouse. To move a site using the mouse: 1. Click and drag the site to the desired position. As you drag the site, the exact coordinates of the pointer’s current location are visible in the Status bar. 2. Release the site where you would like to place it. By default, Atoll locks the position of a site. When the position of a site is locked, Atoll asks you to confirm that you want to move the site. 3. Click Yes to confirm. While this method allows you to place a site quickly, you can adjust the location more precisely by editing the coordinates on the General tab of the Site Properties dialog box.

1.3.6.3 Moving a Site to a Higher Location If you want to improve the location of a site, in terms of reception and transmission, Atoll can find a higher location within a specified radius from the current location of the site. To move a site to a higher location: 1. Right-click the site in the map window. The context menu appears. 2. Select Move to a Higher Location. 3. In the Move to a Higher Location dialog box, enter the radius of the area in which Atoll should search and click OK. Atoll moves the site to the highest point within the specified radius.

1.3.6.4 Changing the Azimuth of the Antenna Using the Mouse You can set the azimuth of a transmitter’s antenna by modifying it on the Transmitter tab of the Transmitter Properties dialog box, or you can modify it on the map, using the mouse. The azimuth is defined in degrees, with 0° indicating north. The precision of the change to the azimuth depends on the distance of the pointer from the transmitter symbol. Moving the pointer changes the azimuth by: • •

1 degree when the pointer is within a distance of 10 times the size of the transmitter symbol. 0.1 degree when the pointer is moved outside this area.

To modify the azimuth of the antenna using the mouse:

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1. On the map, click the antenna whose azimuth you want to modify. 2. Move the pointer to the end of the antenna with a green circle ( ). An arc with an arrow appears under the pointer. 3. Click the green circle and drag it to change the antenna’s azimuth. The current azimuth of the antenna is displayed in the far left of the status bar. 4. Release the mouse when you have set the azimuth to the desired angle. The antenna’s azimuth is modified on the Transmitter tab of the Transmitter Properties dialog box. You can also modify the azimuth on the map for all the antennas on a base station using the mouse. To modify the azimuth of all the antennas on a base station using the mouse: 1. On the map, click one of the antennas whose azimuth you want to modify. Move the pointer to the end of the antenna with a green circle ( ). An arc with an arrow appears under the pointer. 2. Hold Ctrl and, on the map, click the green circle and drag it to change the antenna’s azimuth. The current azimuth of the antenna is displayed in the far left of the status bar. 3. Release the mouse when you have set the azimuth of the selected antenna to the desired angle. The azimuth of the selected antenna is modified on the Transmitter tab of the Transmitter Properties dialog box. The azimuth of the other antennas on the base station is offset by the same amount as the azimuth of the selected antenna. If you make a mistake when changing the azimuth, you can undo your changes by using Undo (by selecting Edit > Undo, by pressing Ctrl+Z, or by clicking undo the changes made.

in the toolbar) to

1.3.6.5 Changing the Antenna Position Relative to the Site Using the Mouse By default, antennas are placed on the site. However, antennas are occasionally not located directly on the site, but a short distance away. In Atoll, you can change the position of the antenna relative to the site either by adjusting the Dx and Dy parameters or by entering the coordinates of the antenna position on the General tab of the Transmitter Property dialog box. Dx and Dy are the distance in metres of the antenna from the site position. You can also modify the position of the antenna on the map, using the mouse. To move a transmitter using the mouse: 1. On the map, click the transmitter you want to move. 2. Move the pointer to the end of the antenna with a green rectangle ( ). A cross appears under the pointer. 3. Click the green rectangle and drag it to change the antenna’s position relative to the site. The current coordinates (x and y) of the antenna are displayed in the far right of the status bar.

4. Release the mouse when you have moved the selected transmitter to the desired position. The position of the selected transmitter is modified on the General tab of the Transmitter Properties dialog box.

If you make a mistake when changing the position of the transmitter, you can undo your changes by using Undo (by selecting Edit > Undo, by pressing Ctrl+Z, or by clicking the toolbar) to undo the changes made.

1.3.7 Exporting Network Elements to Vector Files You can export the content of the following Network explorer folders to vector files: • •

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Sites Transmitters

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To export these network elements to vector files: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click any of the folders listed above. The context menu appears. 2. Select Export from the context menu. The Save As dialog box appears. 3. In the Save As dialog box, browse to the folder where you want to save the file, enter a name for the file, and select a format in the Save as type list. 4. Click Save. The Vector Export dialog box appears. 5. In the Vector Export dialog box, you can: • •

Change The coordinate system to use in export by clicking the Change button. Select the fields you want to export. You can select contiguous fields by clicking the first field, pressing Shift and clicking the last field. You can select non-contiguous fields by pressing Ctrl and clicking each field separately. •

To select a field to be exported, select the field in the Available fields list and click Exported fields list. All fields in the Exported fields list will be exported.

to move it to the

•

To remove a field from the list of Exported fields, select the field and click

•

To change the order in which the fields will be exported, select a field and click or to move it up or down. The top-most field under Exported fields corresponds to the left-most field under Preview.

.

The actual X and Y coordinates are stored in a hidden GEOMETRY field. The X and Y fields are informative.

6. Click Export. The selected network elements are exported to the vector file. You can import vector files in Atoll using File > Import. For more information, see "Importing Vector Format Geo Data Files" on page 120.

1.4 Maps Atoll has the following functions to help you work with maps: • • • • • • • • • • •

"Configuring the Layout of the Map Window" on page 59 "Changing the Map Scale" on page 60 "Moving the Map in the Document Window" on page 60 "Using the Panoramic Window" on page 61 "Opening a New Map Window" on page 62 "Centring the Map Window on a Selection" on page 62 "Searching for Objects on the Map" on page 63 "Measuring Distances on the Map" on page 65 "Using Zones in the Map Window" on page 66 "Vector Objects" on page 71 "Map Window Pointers" on page 74

1.4.1 Configuring the Layout of the Map Window You can configure the layout of the map window by displaying the map scale, displaying rulers around the map, displaying the map legend, and displaying the map in full screen mode.

1.4.1.1 Displaying the Map Scale You can display the map scale in the map window. To display the map scale: 1. In the View menu, click Scale.

1.4.1.2 Displaying Rulers Around the Map You can display rulers around the map in the document window.

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To display or hide rulers: 1. In the View menu, select Rulers > All Rulers to enable or disable all four rulers at once or Rulers > Top, Bottom, Left, or Right to enable or disable each ruler separately.

1.4.1.3 Displaying the Map Legend You can display a map legend, which contains the information on the object types that you have added to it. For information on adding object types to the legend, see "Adding an Object Type to the Legend" on page 54. To display the Legend window: 1. In the View menu, select Legend Window. The Legend window appears.

1.4.1.4 Using Full Screen Mode Atoll enables you to expand the map window to fill the entire computer screen, temporarily hiding the explorer windows and the toolbars. To enable full screen mode: 1. In the View menu, select Full Screen. The map window expands to fill the computer screen. You can move the Close Full Screen button by clicking and dragging the Full Screen title bar above it. If you inadvertantly move the Close Full Screen button off screen, you can still return to the normal view by selecting View > Full Screen again or by pressing ESC.

With the toolbars and scrollbars hidden, you can still navigate around the map window using the keyboard shortcuts: •

Ctrl++: Zoom in on the map

•

Ctrl+–: Zoom out on the map

•

Ctrl+D: Move the map in the map window

•

ALT+←: Previous zoom and location on the map

•

ALT+→: Next zoom and location on the map.

1.4.2 Moving the Map in the Document Window You can move the map in the document window using the mouse. To move the map in the document window: 1. Click the Move Map Window button (

) on the Map toolbar (or press Ctrl + D).

2. Move the pointer over the map and drag the map in the desired direction. You can also move the map in the document window by placing the pointer over the map, pressing the mouse wheel, and dragging the map in the desired direction.

1.4.3 Changing the Map Scale You can change the scale of the map by zooming in or out, by zooming in on a specific area of the map, or by choosing a scale. Atoll also allows you to define a zoom range outside of which certain objects are not displayed (see "Setting the Visibility Scale" on page 53).

1.4.3.1 Zooming In and Out Atoll offers several tools for zooming in and out on the map and zooming in on a specific area of the map. To zoom in or out on the map: 1. Click the Zoom icon ( ) on the Map toolbar (or press Ctrl+W). The zoom mode is activated and is based on the position of the cursor on the map. 2. To zoom in on the map, click the map where you want to zoom in.

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3. To zoom in on a specific area of the map, click in the map on one of the four corners of the area you want to select and drag to the opposite corner. When you release the mouse button, Atoll zooms in on the selected area. 4. To zoom out on the map, right-click the map where you want to zoom out. 5. To exit the zoom mode, click the Zoom icon (

) on the Map toolbar (or press Esc or Ctrl+W).

The following tools can also be used to zoom in and out in the map: •

• •

Mouse wheel: Place the mouse cursor where you want to zoom in (respectively zoom out) and rotate the mouse wheel forward (respectively backward) to zoom in (respectively zoom out) on the map. Keyboard shortcuts: Press Ctrl++ to zoom in on the map or Ctrl+– to zoom out on the map. View menu: Select Zoom > Zoom In from the View menu to zoom in on the map or Zoom > Zoom Out from the View menu to zoom in on the map.

1.4.3.2 Choosing a Scale To choose a scale: 1. Click the arrow next to the scale box (

) on the Map toolbar.

2. Select the scale from the list. 3. If the scale value you want is not in the list: a. Click in the scale box (

) on the Map toolbar.

b. Enter the desired scale. c. Press ENTER. Atoll zooms the map to the entered scale.

1.4.3.3 Changing Between Previous Zoom Levels Atoll saves the last five zoom levels, allowing you to quickly move between previous zoom levels and zoomed areas. To move between zoom levels: • •

Click the Previous Zoom button (

) to return to a zoom level you have already used (or press ALT+←).

Once you have returned to a previous zoom level, click the Next Zoom button (

) to return to the latest zoom level

(or press ALT+→).

1.4.3.4 Adjusting the Map Window to a Selection You can adjust the map window to display the contents of the Sites folder (or of a view), or a set of measurement data points, or one or all predictions, or any object or zone in the Geo explorer. When you adjust the map window to display a selection, Atoll optimises the display by changing the scale and position so that the selection (for example, the sites) is completely displayed in the map window. To adjust the map window to a folder or to an object in the explorer: 1. Right-click the folder or object in the explorer, and select Adjust Map Window from the context menu. You can also adjust the map window to a record (polygon or line) in a vector table. The map window is then adjusted so that the polygon (or line) entirely occupies the displayed map.

1.4.4 Using the Panoramic Window The Panoramic window displays the entire map with all of the imported geographic data. A dark rectangle indicates what part of the geographic data is presently displayed in a document window, helping you situate the displayed area in relation to the entire map. You can use the Panoramic window to: • • •

Zoom in on a specific area of the map Resize the displayed map area Move around the map.

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To zoom in on a specific area of the map: 1. In the Panoramic window, click one of the four corners of the zoom area. 2. Drag the mouse to the opposite corner. When you release the mouse button, Atoll zooms in on the selected area. To resize the displayed map area: 1. In the Panoramic window, click on a corner or border of the zoom area (i.e., the dark rectangle). 2. Drag the border to its new position. To move around the map: 1. Click in the zoom area (i.e., the dark rectangle) in the Panoramic window. 2. Drag the rectangle to its new position.

1.4.5 Opening a New Map Window When working on an Atoll project, especially when you are working on a larger, complex radio-planning project, you might want to be able to view a different part of the project without losing the focus on the original area. Atoll enables you to open several map windows of the same project. This permits you to verify data or to visually compare two separate areas of the project. To open a new map window: 1. In the Window menu, select New Map Window. A new map window of the current Atoll project appears. You can work with the new map window as you would with any Atoll map window.

1.4.6 Centring the Map Window on a Selection You can centre the map on any selected object (for example, a transmitter, a site, one or all predictions, or on any zone in the Zones folder in the Geo explorer). When centring the map window on an object the current scale is kept. You can select the object in the map window or in the explorer. To centre the map window on a selected object: 1. Right-click an object in the map window or in the explorer, and select Centre in Map Window from the context menu. You can also centre the map window on any record of a site table, transmitter table, and vector table. To centre the map window on a table record, select the record in the table and click Centre on Map ( ) in the Table toolbar.

1.4.7 Favourite Map Views You can save particular views of the map as favourite and easily navigate between those different views. You can also share favourite views among other users by embedding favourite views in a document. A favourite view contains a set of information regarding the visible elements of the map window. The following information are saved in a favourite view: • • •

Zoom level and map centre (coordinates of the centre of the map window). Geographic data set, such as map display settings, visibility status of the objects contained in the Geo explorer, and order of the layers in the Geo explorer. Optionally, the definition of a computation and a focus zone. To save the definition of a computation zone and a focus zone in favourite views and to restore those zones when applying a favourite view, an option must be set in the [FavouriteViews] section of the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual.

To work with favourite views: 1. In the View menu, select Favourite Views. The Favourite Views window appears. 2. To create a favourite view, click Add (

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By default, favourite views are stored in your user profile. You can store favourite views in the document by setting an option in the [FavouriteViews] section of the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual.

3. To save a favourite view in the document, right-click the favourite view under User Favourites and select Copy to Document Favourites from the context menu. The selected view is added to the Document Favourites list and will be saved in the current document when the document is saved. 4. To save a favourite view of the document in your user profile, right-click the favourite view under Document Favourites and select Copy to User Favourites from the context menu. The selected view is added to the User Favourites list and will be saved in your user profile. 5. To rename a favourite view, right-click the favourite view in the Favourite Views window and select Rename from the context menu. 6. To delete a favourite view, right-click the favourite view in the Favourite Views window and select Delete from the context menu. 7. To apply a favourite view, double-click the view in the Favourite Views window. The current applied view is identified by the ( ) symbol in the Favourite Views window.

1.4.8 Searching for Objects on the Map Atoll provides the Find on Map tool for finding data objects on the map. You can search for some objects (sites, vectors, transmitters, repeaters) by their name or by any text field, using Find on Map. You can also use Find on Map to search for a point on the map by its X and Y coordinates, or by its postal address. Additionally, Find on Map enables you to find technologyspecific attributes such as a BSIC-BCCH pair in GSM. Using Find on Map to find technology-specific attributes is covered in the chapter for that technology. This section covers the following topics: • • • •

"Searching for a Map Object by Its Name" on page 63 "Searching for a Map Object using Any Text Property" on page 64 "Searching for a Point on the Map by its Coordinates" on page 64 "Searching for a Point on the Map by its Full or Partial Postal Address" on page 64

1.4.8.1 Searching for a Map Object by Its Name You can use Find on Map to search for the following map objects by name: • • • • • •

Vectors Sites Transmitters Repeaters Remote antennas Transmitter cells

To search for a map object by name using the Find on Map tool: 1. Select Tools > Find on Map. The Find on Map window appears. 2. From the Find list, choose the map object you are searching for: • • • • •

Vector Site Transmitter Repeater/Rem. Antenna Cell

The map object you select appears in the Field box. 3. Enter the name of the object in the text box marked with an equal sign ("="). In the Find on Map window, Atoll searches and displays the results as you type. You can use the following wildcards as the first character of your search: •

An asterisk ("*") to represent multiple characters at the beginning of the name. For example, "*X" will find all names that contain "X".

•

A question mark ("?") to represent the first alphanumerical character of the name. For example, "?X" will find all "AX" to "ZX" and "0X" to "9X".

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It is not possible to combine the "?" wildcard with other wildcards or to use "?" in any other position than as the first character.

4. Select the object from the list. Atoll centres it in the map window. If the corresponding data table is open, then the line containing the object is selected. You can also right-click the object in the list to display the context menu for the object. You can also click Copy ( ) to copy to the clipboard the list of the object names that correspond to your search criteria.

1.4.8.2 Searching for a Map Object using Any Text Property You can use Find on Map to search for the following map objects using any text (i.e., non-numeric) property: • • • • • •

Vectors Sites Transmitters Repeaters Remote antennas Transmitter cells

To search for a map object by a text property using the Find on Map tool: 1. Select Tools > Find on Map. The Find on Map window appears. 2. From the Find list, choose the map object you are searching for: • • • • •

Vector Site Transmitter Repeater/Rem. Antenna Cell

3. From the Field list, select the text property on which you want to search, for example "Support Type" when you are looking for a "Site". 4. Enter the name of the object in the text box marked with an equal sign ("="). In the Find on Map window, Atoll searches and displays the results as you type. You can use an asterisk ("*") as a wildcard by entering it as the first character. For example, entering "*X" will find all names which contain "X". 5. Select the object from the list. Atoll centres it in the map window. You can right-click the object in the list to display the context menu for the object. You can also click Copy ( to the clipboard the list of the object names that correspond to your search criteria.

) to copy

1.4.8.3 Searching for a Point on the Map by its Coordinates You can use Find on Map to search for a point by its X and Y coordinates. To search for a point on the map by its X and Y coordinates: 1. Select Tools > Find on Map. The Find on Map window appears. 2. From the Find list, choose Position. 3. Enter the X and Y coordinates of the point, using the same units as defined under Display on the Coordinates tab of the Document Properties dialog box (see "Projection and Display Coordinate Systems" on page 40). Make sure that the coordinate system used in your document uses the same projection system as the tile server. Failing to do so will lead to inappropriate behaviour when an online map is specified (disproportionate and badly rendered map tiles) as you drag the map away from the area targeted by the specified projection coordinate system. For more information on displaying online maps, see "Displaying Online Maps" on page 136. 4. Click Search. Atoll centres the point in the map window.

1.4.8.4 Searching for a Point on the Map by its Full or Partial Postal Address You can use Find on Map to search for a point by its postal address. Atoll can use a geocoding service to locate a point on the map from a full or partial postal address. Atoll currently supports the following geocoding providers: Microsoft Bing and MapQuest. To enable this service, see the Atoll Administrator Manual.

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This geocoding service is not part of Atoll and is governed by the terms and conditions of its provider, which are subject to change without notice.

To search for a point on the map by its full or partial postal address: 1. Select Tools > Find on Map. The Find on Map window appears. 2. From the Find list, choose Online. 3. Enter a postal Address. You can specify a full or partial address, for example: street name, precinct, city, county, country, and so on. 4. Click Search. Atoll automatically begins searching and displays the results in the Find on Map window. 5. Select a result from the list. Atoll centres it in the map window.

1.4.9 Measuring Distances on the Map You can measure distances on the map by using the Distance Measurement tool. The Distance Measurement tool also displays the azimuth of a line segment. You can also use the Distance Measurement tool to measure distance between several points along a polyline. As you measure, Atoll displays the following information: • • • •

Path: The total distance between the first point and the last point of a line segment or a polyline. Line: The distance between the first point and the pointer’s position (for a line segment), or distance between the last point and the pointer’s position (for a polyline). Total: The total distance between the first point and the pointer’s location. Azimuth: The azimuth of the pointer’s position with respect to the first point of a line segment, or with respect to the last point of a polyline.

To measure a distance on the map between two points: 1. Click Distance Measurement (

). The mouse cursor turns into a scale cursor (

).

2. Click the starting point on the map. The information displayed in the status bar changes from "Ready" to the following message:

Figure 1.17: Distance Measurement information in the status bar The following popup appears next to the scale cursor if the Display Tips button (

) on the toolbar is active:

Figure 1.18: Distance Measurement information in a popup 3. As you move the pointer away from the first point, Atoll marks the initial position and connects it to the pointer with a line. The status bar displays the distance covered by the pointer thus far ("Path = 0 m" and "Line = Total"), and the azimuth of the pointer’s location with respect to the first point. As you move the pointer away from the first point, the measurement "Line" increases from 0 m to the distance covered by the pointer thus far. 4. Click the next point on the map. The status bar displays the same information as in step 2. (except that "Path = Total" and "Line = 0 m"). 5. Continue clicking points until you have clicked the last point. In the example shown in Figure 1.19, "BRU062" is the first point, "BRU069" is the last point, the pointer’s location is 567 m away from the last point and its azimuth is 248° with respect to the last point. 6. Double-click anywhere on the map to exit distance measurement.

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Figure 1.19: Measurement data in the status bar

1.4.10 Using Zones in the Map Window In the Geo explorer, Atoll provides you with a set of tools called zones. Zones are a type of polygon, which can be created and modified in the same way as contours, lines, or points. Zones can be used to define areas of the map for the following purposes: •

•

• • •

Filtering Zone: The filtering zone is a graphical filter that restricts the objects displayed on the map and in the Network explorer to the objects inside the filtering zone. It also restricts which objects are used in calculations such as coverage predictions, etc. Computation Zone: In radio--planning projects, the computation zone is used to define which base stations are to be taken into consideration in calculations and the area where Atoll calculates path loss matrices, coverage predictions, etc. Focus Zone and Hot Spots: With the focus zone and hot spots, you can select the areas of coverage predictions or other calculations on which you want to generate reports and results. Printing Zone: The printing zone allows you to define the area to be printed. Geographic Export Zone: The geographic export zone is used to define part of the map to be exported as a bitmap. Zones are taken into account whether or not they are visible. In other words, if you have drawn a zone, it will be taken into account whether or not its visibility check box in the Zones folder of the Geo explorer is selected. For example, if you have filtered the sites using a filtering zone, the sites outside the filtering zone will not be taken into consideration in coverage predictions, even if you have cleared the filtering zone’s visibility check box. You will have to delete the zone if you no longer want to select sites using a filtering zone.

This section covers the following topics: • • • • • • •

"Filtering Zone" on page 66 "Computation Zone" on page 67 "Focus Zone and Hot Spots" on page 68 "Printing Zone" on page 68 "Geographic Export Zone" on page 68 "Creating Zones" on page 68 "Editing Zones" on page 69

1.4.10.1 Filtering Zone The filtering zone is a graphical filter that restricts the objects displayed on the map and in the Network explorer to the objects inside the filtering zone. It also restricts which objects are used in calculations such as coverage predictions, etc. By limiting the number of sites, you can reduce the time and cost of calculations and make visualisation of data objects on the map clearer. The data objects filtered by the filtering zone are identified on the map and in the data tables. In the Network explorer, any folder whose content is affected by the filtering zone appears with a special icon ( ), indicating- that the folder contents have been filtered. When you have applied a filtering zone, you can perform the following actions on the filtered data: • • •

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Grouping (see "Grouping Data Objects" on page 94) Sorting (see "Sorting Data" on page 97) Filtering (see "Filtering Data" on page 99).

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The filtering zone is displayed with a blue contour on the map. The filtering zone is applied whether or not it is visible. In other words, if you have drawn a zone, it will be taken into account whether or not its visibility check box in the Zones folder of the Geo explorer is selected. You must delete the zone if you no longer want to restrict the selection to sites within the filtering zone.

1.4.10.2 Computation Zone The computation zone defines the area where Atoll performs calculations. When you create a computation zone, Atoll carries out the calculation for all base stations that are active, filtered (i.e., that are selected by the current filter parameters), and whose propagation zone intersects a rectangle containing the computation zone. Therefore, it considers sites inside the computation zone as well as sites that are outside the computation zone if they have an influence on the computation zone. In addition, the computation zone defines the area within which the coverage prediction results are displayed. When working with a large network, the computation zone can restrict your coverage predictions to the part of the network you are currently working on. By allowing you to reduce the number of sites studied, Atoll reduces both the time and computer resources necessary for calculations. By considering sites that are inside the computation zone as well as sites that are outside but which have an influence on the computation zone, Atoll provides realistic results for sites that are close to the border of the computation zone. If no computation zone is defined, Atoll performs calculations on all sites that are active and filtered and for the entire extent of the geographical data available. The computation zone is displayed with a red contour on the map. If you clear the computation zone visibility check box in the Zones folder of the Geo explorer, it is no longer displayed but is still taken into account for calculations. Figure 1.20 gives an example of a computation zone where the computation zone is displayed in red, as it is in the Atoll map window. The propagation zone of each active site is indicated by a blue square. Each propagation zone that intersects the rectangle containing the computation zone (indicated by the green dashed line) is taken into consideration in calculations.

Figure 1.20: An example of a computation zone In this example: • • •

Sites 78 and 95 are not in the computation zone, but their propagation zones intersect with the rectangle containing the computation zone. Therefore, they are taken into consideration in the calculations. The propagation zones of sites 71 and 93 do not intersect with the computation zone. Therefore, they are not taken into account in the calculations. Site 130 is within the coverage zone but has no active transmitters. Therefore, it is not taken into consideration.

The computation zone is considered whether or not it is visible. In other words, if you have drawn a computation zone, it is taken into account whether or not its visibility check box in the Zones folder of the Geo explorer is selected. You must delete the zone if you no longer want to define an area for the calculations.

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1.4.10.3 Focus Zone and Hot Spots The focus zone and hot spots can define an area on which statistics can be drawn and on which reports are made. While you can only have one focus zone, you can define several hot spots in addition to the focus zone. It is important not to confuse the computation zone and the focus zone and hot spots. The computation zone defines the area where Atoll calculates path loss matrices, coverage predictions, etc., whereas the focus and hot spots are the areas taken into consideration when generating reports and results. Atoll bases statistics on the area covered by the focus zone. If no focus zone is defined, Atoll uses the computation zone. However, by using a focus zone for the report, you can display the statistics for a specific number of sites, instead of displaying statistics for every site that has been calculated. The focus zone is displayed with a green contour on the map. Atoll considers the focus zone and hot spots whether or not they are visible. In other words, if you have drawn a focus zone or hot spot, it is taken into account whether or not its visibility check box in the Zones folder in the Geo explorer is selected. You must to delete the zone if you no longer want to define an area for the reports. A focus zone can consist of more than one polygon. The polygons of a focus zone must not intersect or overlap each other.

1.4.10.4 Printing Zone The printing zone allows you to define an area to be printed. The printing zone is displayed with a light green line on the map. If you clear the printing zone’s visibility check box in the Zones folder in the Geo explorer, it will no longer be displayed but will still be taken into account. For more information on printing, see "Printing in Atoll" on page 90.

1.4.10.5 Geographic Export Zone If you want to export part of the map as a bitmap, you can define a geographic export zone. After you have defined a geographic export zone, Atoll allows you to export only the area covered by the zone if you export the map as a raster image. Once you have created a geographic export zone, you can use Atoll’s polygon editing tools to edit it. For more information on the polygon editing tools, see "Editing Zones" on page 69. The geographic export zone can only export in raster format. You can not export in raster format if the coverage prediction was made per transmitter (for example, coverage predictions with the display type set by transmitter, by a transmitter attribute, by signal level, by path loss, or by total losses). Only the coverage area of a single transmitter can be exported in raster format.

1.4.10.6 Creating Zones Zones are drawn polygons that allow you to delimit geographic work areas for various tasks. You can create the following types of zones: • • • • • •

Filtering zones Focus zones Computation zones Hot spots Printing zones Geographic export zones

To create a zone: 1. In the Geo explorer, expand the Zones folder, right-click the type of zone that you want to create. The context menu opens. •

To draw a polygon: i.

Click Draw Polygon from the context menu.

ii. Click once on the map to start drawing the zone. iii. Click once on the map to define each point on the map where the border of the zone changes direction. iv. Click twice to finish drawing and close the zone. •

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i.

Click Draw Rectangle from the context menu.

ii. Click the point on the map that will be one corner of the rectangle that will define the zone. iii. Drag to the opposite corner of the rectangle that will define the zone. When you release the mouse, the zone will be created from the rectangle defined by the two corners. •

To fit the zone to the displayed map area, click Fit Zone to Map Window.

The following alternative methods also allow you to create a computation zone: • •

•

In the Vector Editor toolbar, select a type of zone (highlighted in blue) and use the New Polygon (

) and New Rec-

tangle ( ) buttons to draw the computation zone. You can use any existing polygon on the map (for example: an administrative area) as a zone by right-clicking it and selecting Use As and the type of zone from the context menu. You can also combine an existing computation zone with any existing polygon by right-clicking it on the map or in the explorer window and selecting Add To and the type of zone from the context menu. If you have a vector file that contains a polygonal shape, you can import the polygon to use it as a zone by right-clicking the Zone in the Geo explorer and selecting Import from the context menu. You can save the computation zone, so that you can use it in a different Atoll document, in the following ways: •

•

Saving the computation zone in the user configuration: For information on saving the computation zone in the user configuration, see "Saving a User Configuration" on page 104. Exporting the computation zone: You can export the computation zone by rightclicking the Computation Zone folder in the Geo explorer and selecting Export from the context menu.

1.4.10.7 Editing Zones Atoll provides several ways of editing a computation zone, focus zone, hot spots, and filtering zones. You can edit these zones by editing the points that define them, by combining several polygons, or by deleting parts of the polygons that make up these zones. When you no longer need the zone, you can delete it from the map. The computation, focus and hot spot polygons can contain holes. Holes within polygonal areas are differentiated from overlaying polygons by the order of the coordinates of their vertices. The coordinates of the vertices of polygonal areas are in clockwise order, whereas the coordinates of the vertices of holes within polygonal areas are in counter-clockwise order. Atoll enables you to edit a polygons and zone in several different ways. The first step is to select it, either by: • • •

Selecting the polygon zone in the Zones folder in the Geo explorer, Selecting the polygon zone by clicking it on the map, or Selecting the polygon zone from the list in the Vector Editor toolbar.

Once you have the polygon zone in editing mode, you can edit it as explained in the following sections: • • • •

1.4.10.7.1

"Editing the Contour of a Zone" on page 69 "Creating Complex Zones" on page 70 "Deleting Zones" on page 70 "Copying Zones into Other Applications" on page 70

Editing the Contour of a Zone You can change the shape of a zone by editing the contour of its polygon. To edit a contour, you can add new points, move existing points, or delete points. To edit the contour of a zone: 1. Right-click the zone that you want to edit in the map window and select Edit Zone from the context menu. The polygon enters editing mode. Alternatively, you can right-click the zone in the Zones folder in the Geo explorer and select Edit Zone from the context menu. When the zone is selected in the Vector Editor toolbar list, it is automatically put in editing mode.

2. Edit the points on the contour as explained in "Editing Polygon Contours and Lines" on page 73

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Creating Complex Zones In Atoll, you can create complex polygon zones by using the tools on the Vector Editor toolbar. The filtering, computation, and focus zone polygons can contain holes. Holes within polygonal areas are differentiated from overlaying polygons by the order of the coordinates of their vertices. The coordinates of the vertices of polygonal areas are in clockwise order, whereas the coordinates of the vertices of holes within polygonal areas are in counter-clockwise order. To edit a polygon zone using the icons on the Vector Editor toolbar: 1. Right-click the zone that you want to edit in the map window and select Edit Zone from the context menu. The polygon enters editing mode. Alternatively, you can right-click the zone in the Zones folder in the Geo explorer and select Edit Zone from the context menu. When the zone is selected in the Vector Editor toolbar list, it is automatically put in editing mode.

2. Edit the zone using the Vector Editor toolbar as explained in "Creating Complex Polygons" on page 73.

1.4.10.7.3

Deleting Zones When you no longer need a polygon zone, you can remove the zone. To remove a polygon zone: 1. In the Geo explorer, expand the Zones folder, right-click the folder containing the zone you want to remove, and select Delete Zone from the context menu. The polygon zone is removed and all document data is now displayed. You can also delete a zone by right-clicking the contour of the zone on the map and selecting Delete. You can delete all zones by right-clicking the Zones folder and selecting Delete All Zones.

1.4.10.7.4

Copying Zones into Other Applications You can copy the contents of a zone to the clipboard to paste it into a another application, such as a graphics program or a word processor. The copied content can be a bitmap image, a Windows metafile, or a list of coordinates that define the polygon. To copy a zone into another application: 1. In the Geo explorer, expand the Zones folder, right-click a zone, and select Edit from the context menu. Alternatively, right-click the contour of the zone on the map and select Edit from the context menu. 2. Perform one of the following actions: • •

To copy the selected zone to the clipboard as a bitmap image, click Edit > Copy or press Ctrl-C. To copy the selected zone as a bitmap image with a specific resolution, click Edit > Advanced Copy and follow the following steps: i.

In the Advanced Copy dialog box, select Bitmap image and specify a Custom resolution.

ii. Click OK • •

To copy the selected zone as a Windows metafile image, click Edit > Advanced Copy, select Metafile image, and click OK. To copy the selected zone as a list of coordinates, click Edit > Advanced Copy, select Georeference coordinates, and click OK.

3. Open the application in which you want to paste the selected zone and select the Edit > Paste command (or press Ctrl+V). The zone that you copied to the clipboard is pasted into the application document as an image or a list of coordinates.

1.4.10.7.5

Saving Zones You can save zones as .geo files for later use or for sharing with other users. The type of zone and its shape and coordinates are saved in the .geo file. To save a zone: 1. In the Tools menu, select User Configuration and Save. The User Configurations window opens. 2. In the User Configuration window, select Zones and click OK. The Save As window opens.

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3. Select a directory, type a name for the .geo file, and click Save. For more information on saving and loading user configurations, see "User Configurations" on page 103.

1.4.10.7.6

Loading Zones You can load .geo zone files into the current Atoll document. To load a zone: 1. In the Tools menu, select User Configuration and Load. The Open window is displayed. 2. Select a file to import, and click Load. The User Configurations window opens. 3. In the User Configuration window, select Zones and click OK. The zone is loaded. By default, the loaded zone replaces an existing zone of the same type. An optional merge feature allows you to merge the imported zone with the existing zone by adding an option in the Atoll.ini configuration file. For more information, see the Atoll Administrator Manual. You can also use the File > Import menu to load zones. In this case, the imported zone always replaces the existing zone regardless of the Atoll.ini setting. For more information on saving and loading user configurations, see "User Configurations" on page 103.

1.4.10.7.7

Exporting Zones as Raster Files You can export a zone on the map as an image file or a digital terrain model (DTM) file. The following file formats are supported: • •

Image files: BMP, PNG, ArcView Grid (TXT), TIFF, BIL, JPEG 2000, and JPG. DTM files: TIF, BIL, or TXT format.

When saving in BIL format, Atoll allows you to save files larger than 2 Gb. To export a map area as a raster file: 1. Select an existing zone or create geographic export zone or a printing zone as explained in "Creating Zones" on page 68. 2. Select File > Save Image As. The Save As dialog box appears. 3. In the Save as dialog box, select a destination folder, enter a File name, and select a file type from the Save as type list. 4. Click Save. The Image Export Options dialog box appears. 5. In the Image Export Options dialog box, select the zone that you want to export and define the size of the exported image in one of two ways: • •

Scale: If you want to define the size by scale, select Scale, enter a scale in the text box and a resolution. If you want to export the image with rulers, select Include Rulers. Pixel size: If you want to define the size by pixel size, select Pixel size, and enter a pixel size in the text box. If you want to use the exported file as a digital terrain model, you must define the size of the exported image by pixel size. A geo-referenced file is then created for the exported image.

6. Click OK.

1.4.11 Vector Objects Atoll can use different types of polygons, lines, and points in the map window. For example, the zones such as the filtering, computation, focus zones and hot spots, described in "Using Zones in the Map Window" on page 66, are specific types of polygons. Other types of polygons, called contours, along with lines and points, can be used to add additional information to geographic data. Atoll provides several ways of editing polygons, lines, and points. You can move or delete the points that define polygons, lines, and points. You can edit polygons by editing the points that define them, by combining several polygons, or by deleting parts of the polygons. Polygons, including the computation, focus zone and hot spot polygons can contain holes. Holes within polygonal areas are differentiated from overlaying polygons by the order of the coordinates of their vertices. The coordinates of the vertices of

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polygonal areas are in clockwise order, whereas the coordinates of the vertices of holes within polygonal areas are in counterclockwise order. When you no longer need the polygon, line, or point, you can delete it from the map. This section explains the different ways of editing polygons, lines, and points: • • • • •

"Adding a Vector Layer" on page 72 "Creating Polygons, Lines, and Points" on page 72 "Copying Zones into Other Applications" on page 70 "Editing Polygon Contours and Lines" on page 73 "Creating Complex Polygons" on page 73

1.4.11.1 Adding a Vector Layer You can add vector objects such as polygons, lines or points to geographical map information in a project by first creating a vector layer. You can also modify certain geographic data maps, for example, population maps, and custom data, by adding a vector layer to them and adding polygons, lines and points afterwards. For information on modifying certain geographic data maps by adding a vector layer, see "Editing Population or Custom Data Maps" on page 145. To add a vector layer to the Geo explorer: 1. Click the New Vector Layer button ( explorer.

) on the Vector Editor toolbar. A folder named "Vectors" is created in the Geo

2. Right-click the Vector folder, click Rename, and type a name for the vector layer.

1.4.11.2 Creating Polygons, Lines, and Points Once you have created a vector layer, as explained in "Adding a Vector Layer" on page 72, you can add vector objects such as polygons, lines, and points to it. To create a vector object: 1. In the Geo explorer, right-click the vector layer, and select Edit from the context menu. The tools on the Vector Editor toolbar are available. You can also make the vector tools available by selecting the vector layer to edit from the Vector Editor toolbar list. Because Atoll names all new vector layers "Vectors" by default, it might be difficult to know which vector folder you are selecting. By renaming each vector folder, you can ensure that you select the correct folder. For information on renaming objects, see "Renaming an Object" on page 50. If the Vector Editor toolbar is not visible, select View > Toolbars > Vector Editor. 2. Perform any of the following actions: •

To draw a polygon: i.

Click New Polygon (

) in the toolbar.

ii. Click once on the map to start drawing the zone. iii. Click once on the map to define each point on the map where the border of the zone changes direction. iv. Click twice to finish drawing and close the zone. •

To draw a rectangle: i.

Click New Rectangle (

) in the toolbar.

ii. Click the point on the map that will be one corner of the rectangle that will define the zone. iii. Drag to the opposite corner of the rectangle that will define the zone. When you release the mouse, the zone will be created from the rectangle defined by the two corners. If the polygon or rectangle is on the vector layer of a population map, or custom data, you must define the value the polygon or rectangle represents and map the vector layer. For more information, see "Editing Population or Custom Data Maps" on page 145. •

To draw a line: i.

Click New Line (

) in the toolbar.

ii. Click once on the map where you want to begin the line.

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iii. Click each time you change angles on the line. iv. Double-click to end the line. •

To draw a point, click New Point (

) in the toolbar and click once on the map where you want to place the point.

3. Press ESC to deselect the currently selected button on the Vector Editor toolbar.

1.4.11.3 Editing Points To edit a point: 1. In the Network explorer or the Geo explorer that contains the vector layer, right-click the vector layer folder and select Draw from the context menu. The vector tools on the Vector Editor toolbar are activated. You can activate the vector tools by selecting the vector layer to edit from the Vector Editor toolbar list.

2. Select the point and perform either of the following actions: •

To move a point: i.

Position the pointer over the point that you want to move. The pointer changes (

).

ii. Drag the point to its new position. •

To delete a point from the polygon: i.

Position the pointer over the point you want to delete. The pointer changes (

).

ii. Right-click and select Delete Point from the context menu. The point is deleted.

1.4.11.4 Editing Polygon Contours and Lines You can edit the shape of polygons and lines on the vector layer by creating, moving, and deleting points. To edit the polygon contours and lines: 1. In the explorer (the Network explorer or the Geo explorer) containing the vector layer, right-click the vector layer folder. The context menu appears. 2. Select Draw from the context menu. The vector tools on the Vector Editor toolbar are activated. You can also activate the vector tools by selecting the vector layer to edit from the Vector Editor toolbar list.

3. Select the polygon contour and edit the points of the polygon by performing any of the following actions: •

To move a point: i.

Position the pointer over the point that you want to move. The pointer changes (

).

ii. Drag the point to its new position. •

To add a point to the polygon: i.

Position the pointer over the polygon zone border where you want to add a point. The pointer changes (

).

ii. Right-click and select Insert Point from the context menu. A point is added to the polygon zone border at the position of the pointer. •

To delete a point from the polygon: i.

Position the pointer over the point you want to delete. The pointer changes (

).

ii. Right-click and select Delete Point from the context menu. The point is deleted.

1.4.11.5 Creating Complex Polygons You can create complex shapes by combining, splitting, intersecting, and substracting polygons with the tools on the Vector Editor toolbar.

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To edit a vector object using the icons on the Vector Editor toolbar: 1. In the Network explorer or the Geo explorer that contains the vector layer, right-click the vector layer folder and select Draw from the context menu. The vector tools on the Vector Editor toolbar are activated. You can activate the vector tools by selecting the vector layer to edit from the Vector Editor toolbar list.

2. Select the polygon contour and edit the polygon by performing any of the following actions: •

To combine several polygon zones: i.

In the Vector Editor toolbar, click the Combine button (

).

ii. Click once on the map where you want to begin drawing the new polygon zone. iii. Click each time you change angles on the border defining the outside of the polygon zone. iv. Double-click to close the polygon zone. v. Draw more polygon zones if desired. Atoll creates a group of polygons of the selected and new contours. If polygon zones overlap, Atoll merges them. •

To combine two existing contours: i.

In the Vector Editor toolbar, click the Combine button (

).

ii. Click the contour that you want to combine with the selected one. Atoll combines the two selected contours into a single object, merging them if they overlap. •

To delete part of the selected polygon zone: i.

In the Vector Editor toolbar, click the Delete button (

).

ii. Draw the area you want to delete from the selected polygon zone by clicking once on the map where you want to begin drawing the area to delete. iii. Click each time you change angles on the border defining the outside of the area. iv. Double-click to close the area. Atoll deletes the area from the selected contour. •

To create a contour out of the overlapping area of two polygons: i.

In the Vector Editor toolbar, click the Intersection button (

).

ii. Click once on the map where you want to begin drawing the polygon that will overlap the selected one. iii. Click each time you change angles on the border defining the outside of the polygon. iv. Double-click to close the polygon. Atoll creates a new polygon of the overlapping area of the two polygons and deletes the parts of the polygons that do not overlap. •

To split the selected polygon into multiple polygons: i.

In the Vector Editor toolbar, click the Split button (

).

ii. Click once on the map where you want to begin drawing the polygon that will split the selected one. iii. Click each time you change angles on the border defining the outside of the polygon. iv. Double-click to close the polygon. Atoll separates the area covered by the polygon from the selected polygon and creates a new polygon.

1.4.12 Map Window Pointers In Atoll, the mouse pointer appears in different forms according to its function. Each pointer is described below: Appearance

Description

Meaning The zone selection pointer indicates:

Selection arrow

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• •

On the map, that you can define a zone to print or copy In the Panoramic window, that you can define the zone to be displayed on the map. To define a zone, click and drag diagonally.

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Appearance

Description

Meaning

Polygon drawing pointer

The polygon drawing pointer indicates that you can draw a zone to filter either sites or transmitters, draw computation/focus/hot spot/filtering/printing/ geographic export zones, or draw vector or raster polygons on the map. To draw a polygon, click once to start, and each time you change angles on the border defining the outside of the polygon. Close the polygon by clicking twice.

The rectangle drawing pointer indicates that you that can draw computation/focus/ Rectangle drawing hot spot/filtering/printing/geographic export zones, or draw vector or raster pointer rectangles on the map. To define a zone, click and drag diagonally. Hand

The hand pointer indicates that you can move the visible part of the displayed map.

Zoom tool

The zoom pointer indicates that you can click to zoom in at the location of the mouse pointer, right-click to zoom out at the location of the mouse pointer, and click and drag to zoom in on an area.

New transmitter

The transmitter pointer indicates that you can place a transmitter on the map where you click. You can place more than one station by pressing Ctrl as you click on the map.

Deletion

The deletion pointer indicates that you can delete a newly created polygonal clutter zone by clicking its border.

Position indicator

The position indicator pointer indicates that you can select the border of a polygon. Right-clicking the polygon border opens a context menu allowing you to add a point, delete the polygon, or centre the map on the polygon.

Select/create points

The select/create points pointer indicates that you can modify the polygon in the map window. You can add a new point and modify the polygon contour by clicking on one of the edges and dragging. You can move an existing point by clicking and dragging an existing point. You can right-click to open a context menu to delete a point, delete the polygon, or centre the map on the polygon.

Placing a CW measurement point

The first CW measurement point pointer indicates that you can click a point on the map to create the first point of a CW measurement path.

Placing points in a The next CW measurement point pointer indicates that the first CW measurement CW measurement point has been set and you can now click other points on the map. Double-click to path end the CW measurement path. The measurement pointer indicates that you can click on the map to set the start Measurements on point of your measurement. As you move the pointer, the distance between the first the map point and the pointer is displayed in the status bar.

Terrain section

The terrain section pointer indicates that you can create a terrain section by clicking once on the map to create the first point and once more to create the second point. The terrain profile between the two points is displayed in the Point Analysis window and stored under Terrain Sections in the Geo explorer.

1.5 Data Tables Atoll stores object data (sites, transmitters, cells, repeaters, antennas, etc.) in the form of tables, containing all parameters and characteristics of the objects. The data contained in prediction reports is also stored in the form of tables. You can add columns to the data table and you can delete certain columns. When you create a new column, you can create a default value for a field that you create. You can also create a list of choices (for text fields) from which the user can choose when filling in the field. You can filter, sort, and group the data contained in these tables, and view a statistical analysis of the data. You can also export the data or import data into the Atoll data tables. The options for working with data tables are available from the context menu or from the Table toolbar displayed above the table. You can browse the data in tables by either using the vertical or horizontal scroll bars, the mouse wheel, or by moving through the table cell by cell using the cursor keys or the tab key. This section covers the following topics: •

"Opening a Data Table" on page 76

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"Adding, Deleting, and Editing Data Table Fields" on page 76 "Editing the Contents of a Table" on page 82 "Accessing Record Properties " on page 78 "Defining the Table Format" on page 79 "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83 "Viewing a Statistical Analysis of Table Contents" on page 86 "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86 "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88 "Exporting Tables to XML Files" on page 89 "Importing Tables from XML Files" on page 90.

1.5.1 Opening a Data Table To open a data table: 1. In the Network or Parameters explorer, right-click the data folder for which you want to display the data table and select Open Table from the context menu.

1.5.2 Adding, Deleting, and Editing Data Table Fields The data for each object type is stored in the form of a data table. Every data table in Atoll is created with a default set of columns, each corresponding to a field. This section covers the following topics: • • •

"Accessing Table Fields" on page 76 "Adding a Field to a Data Table" on page 77 "Deleting a Field from a Data Table" on page 78

1.5.2.1 Accessing Table Fields The fields contained in an object type’s table are defined in a dialog box. To access an object type’s table fields: 1. Open the object type’s data table as described in "Opening a Data Table" on page 76. 2. Right-click inside the table. The context menu appears. 3. Select Table Fields from the context menu. The object type’s Properties dialog box appears.

Figure 1.21: The Table tab •

Legend: The name of the field as it appears in the user interface. Legends of some fields may include: • •

•

76

"(NOT USED)" indicating that the field is not used in the current Atoll release. The corresponding check box is cleared in the Columns to be Displayed dialog box. "(OBSOLETE)" indicating that the field is obsolete and will be removed in a future Atoll release. The corresponding check box is not available in the Columns to be Displayed dialog box.

Name: The name of the field in the database.

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• • • •

Type: The type of the field. Size: The maximum size of the field. Default: The default value of the field. Group: A list of groups (separated by a semicolons ";") to which the field belongs. When opening an Atoll document from a database, you can select groups of custom fields to be loaded from the database, instead of loading all custom fields. You can set default values and choice lists for standard Atoll database fields. For more information, see the Administrator Manual.

1.5.2.2 Adding a Field to a Data Table You can add a custom field to any object type’s data table. To add a custom field to an object type’s data table: 1. Access the object type’s table fields as explained in "Accessing Table Fields" on page 76. 2. Click Add. The Field Definition dialog box appears. •

Name: Enter the Name for the field that will appear in the database. Field names must not contain special characters or spaces.

• • •

• • • •

Type: Select a type for the field (text, short integer, long integer, single, double, true/false, date/time, currency, or binary). Size (only available for "Text" type): Enter the number of characters. a size in characters. Group: If necessary, you can define the groups to which this custom field will belong separating each group name with a semicolon. When you open an Atoll document from a database, you can then select groups of custom fields to be loaded from the database, instead of loading all custom fields. Legend: Enter the name for the field that will appear in the Atoll user interface. Read-only: Select the Read-only check box if you do not want the custom field to be modifiable in the user interface. Default value: If necessary, enter a default value that will appear when you create a new record of this object type. Choice list (only available if you have selected the "Text", "Short integer", or "Long integer" type): You can create a choice list by entering the list items in the Choice list text box and press ENTER after each list item, keeping each choice on a separate line. You can prevent entering values other than those listed in the Choice list by selecting the Restricted option. In the Choice list text box, you can enter: • • •

A list of text items. A list of integer values. A list of associations between an integer value and a label. To associate an integer value with a label, you must use the equal sign ("=") as follows: integer_value = label When a list of associations is defined for a custom field, only the labels will be displayed in data tables.

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Figure 1.22: Creation of a list of associations and display of this list in a data table For integer choice lists (short integer and long integer): •

•

You cannot mix integer values and associations in the same list. If a line contains an equal sign, the choice list is considered as a list of associations and the lines that do not contain an equal sign are ignored. If you do not associate integer values with the labels defined in the integer choice list, the association will automatically be done by incrementing an integer value for each line, starting with zero. Associating integer values with the labels of your integer choice list is not mandatory but strongly recommended.

3. Click OK to return to the object type table. User or custom fields are for information only and are not considered in calculations. You can find these fields on the Other Properties tab of an object type’s Properties dialog box.

1.5.2.3 Deleting a Field from a Data Table You can delete custom fields from an object type’s data table. Custom fields are the fields that the user adds to an object type’s data table, as explained in "Adding a Field to a Data Table" on page 77. To delete a custom field from an object type’s data table: All data stored in the field is lost when you delete the field itself. Make sure that you are not deleting important information.

1. Access the object type’s table fields as explained in "Accessing Table Fields" on page 76. 2. Select the custom field that you want to delete. Some fields can not be deleted. If you select a field and the Delete button remains unavailable, the selected field is not a custom field and can not be deleted.

3. Click Delete. The field is deleted from the object type’s data table.

1.5.3 Accessing Record Properties You can open the Record Properties dialog box of an object, for example, a site, antenna, transmitter, or cell, from its data table.

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To open the Record Properties dialog box of an object: 1. Open the data table as explained in "Opening a Data Table" on page 76. 2. Right-click the record for which you want to see the properties and select Record Properties from the context menu. You can also open the Record Properties dialog box by double-clicking the record. To avoid editing the record when you double-click, double-click the left margin of the record instead of the record itself. You can also select the record and click the Record Properties button (

) in the Table toolbar.

1.5.4 Defining the Table Format Atoll lets you format the data tables to customise the presentation of data. You can change data table formats by: • • • • • •

"Setting Column Background Colours" on page 79 "Changing Table Cell Format" on page 79 "Changing Column Widths and Row Heights" on page 79 "Displaying and Hiding Columns" on page 80 "Freezing or Unfreezing a Column" on page 81 "Moving Columns" on page 81 Table formats can be saved to and loaded from user configuration files. For more information, see "User Configurations" on page 103.

1.5.4.1 Setting Column Background Colours You can change the background colours of columns in a data table. To change the background colour of one or more columns in a data table: 1. Open a data table as explained in "Opening a Data Table" on page 76. 2. Select the headers of the columns whose background colours you want to change. 3. In the Table toolbar, click the arrow next to the Background Colour button (

). A colour palette appears.

4. In the colour palette, select a background colour. The colour is applied to the background of the selected columns. In the colour palette, you can click Other to open the Colours dialog box and select a colour that is not listed in the main palette. You can also click Default to revert to the default column background colour corresponding to your Windows theme.

1.5.4.2 Changing Table Cell Format You can change the format of the content of table cells. To change the format of the content of table cells: 1. Open a data table as explained in "Opening a Data Table" on page 76. 2. Select the headers of the columns whose content you want to change the format and do one of the following change: •

To align the content of the selected cells to the left, click Align Left (

).

•

To align the content of the selected cells to the centre, click Centre (

).

•

To align the content of the selected cells to the right, click Align Right (

•

To display the content of the selected cells in bold, click Bold (

).

•

To display the content of the selected cells in italic, click Italic (

).

).

1.5.4.3 Changing Column Widths and Row Heights You can change column widths and row heights in a data table.

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To change a column width: 1. Open a data table as explained in "Opening a Data Table" on page 76. 2. Click the border separating two column headers and drag to change the column width. The column width changes as soon as the mouse button is released.

Figure 1.23: Changing a column width •

•

You can change the width of several columns at the same time by selecting their headers before clicking and dragging the border separating any two column headers. Double-clicking the border separating two column headers resets the width of the column to the left of the border.

To change a row height: 1. Open a data table as explained in "Opening a Data Table" on page 76. 2. Click the border separating two row headers and drag to change the row height. The row height changes as soon as the mouse button is released.

Figure 1.24: Changing a row height • •

You can change the height of several rows at the same time by selecting their headers before clicking and dragging the border separating any two row headers. Double-clicking the border separating two row headers resets the height of the row above the border.

1.5.4.4 Displaying and Hiding Columns You can choose to hide or display individual columns in the data table. To display or hide a column: 1. Open a data table as explained in "Opening a Data Table" on page 76. 2. In the Table toolbar, click the Display Columns button (

80

). The Columns to Be Displayed dialog box appears.

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Figure 1.25: Columns to Be Displayed dialog box 3. To display a column, select the corresponding check box. 4. To hide a column, clear the corresponding check box. • • • • •

You can search for a column in the table by entering its name in the search field. You can display or hide all the columns by selecting or clearing the (Select all) check box. You can change the order of columns in the table by selecting them in the list and clicking the Up and Down buttons. You can restore the default list of displayed and hidden columns by clicking the Reset button. Column display settings can be saved to and loaded from configuration files using the Save and Load buttons under Configuration.

5. Click Close. You can also hide one or more columns in the table by selecting their headers and clicking the Hide Columns button ( the Table toolbar.

) in

1.5.4.5 Freezing or Unfreezing a Column In Atoll, you can freeze one or more columns of a data table so that they always remain visible as you scroll horizontally through the table. For example, while scrolling through the Sites table, you might want to have the Name column always visible. You can keep this column, or any other column visible, by freezing it. To freeze a column: 1. Open the data table as explained in "Opening a Data Table" on page 76. 2. Select the header of the column you want to freeze. Click and drag over several headers to select more than one column to freeze. You can only freeze adjacent columns.

3. Right-click the selected header or headers and select Freeze Columns from the context menu or click the Freeze Columns button ( ) in the Table toolbar. Frozen columns are grouped to the left of the table and separated from other columns with a vertical red line. To unfreeze columns: •

Right-click the table and select Unfreeze All Columns from the context menu or click the Unfreeze All Columns button (

) in the Table toolbar.

1.5.4.6 Moving Columns In Atoll, you can change the column order so that you can group similar columns or present data in a determined order.

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To move a column: 1. Open the data table as explained in "Opening a Data Table" on page 76. 2. Select the header of the column you want to move. Click and drag over several headers to select more than one column to move. You can only move several columns at the same time when they are adjacent.

3. Click again on the selected column and drag to the desired position. As you drag the column, the position the column will occupy is indicated by a red line.

Figure 1.26: Moving a column 4. Release the mouse button to place the column.

1.5.5 Editing the Contents of a Table You can edit the content of a table in Atoll in several different ways: • • •

"Editing Table Entries Directly in the Table" on page 82 "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83 "Searching for and Replacing Text Entries in Tables" on page 85.

1.5.5.1 Editing Table Entries Directly in the Table To edit table entries directly in the table: 1. Click the Network or Parameters explorer. 2. Right-click the data folder of which you want to display the data table. 3. Select Open Table from the context menu. 4. Edit the content of the table by entering the value directly in the field (see Figure 1.27). 5. Click elsewhere in the table when you have finished updating the table. Your changes are automatically saved. If a list of options has been defined for a field, you can select a value from the list (see Figure 1.28) or enter a new value.

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Figure 1.27: Editing data in the transmitters data tables

Figure 1.28: Choosing data in the transmitters data tables

1.5.5.2 Copying and Pasting in Tables In Atoll, you can copy and paste data in tables using the Copy (Ctrl+C), Cut (Ctrl+X), and Paste (Ctrl+V) commands on the Edit menu. You can copy and paste data to create new records or you can copy and paste the same data into several cells. This section covers the following topics: • • •

1.5.5.2.1

"Copying and Pasting a Table Record" on page 83 "Pasting the Same Data into Several Cells" on page 84. "Pasting Vector Point Coordinates from an External XLS File" on page 85

Copying and Pasting a Table Record You can create a new record in tables by copying an existing record, pasting it into a new row and editing the details that are different. Each record in a table must have a unique Name.

To create a new record by copying and pasting: 1. Open the data table as explained in "Opening a Data Table" on page 76. 2. Click in the left margin of the table row containing the record to select the entire row. 3. Select Edit > Copy to copy the table row. 4. Click in the left margin of the table row marked with the New Row icon (

) to select the entire row.

5. Select Edit > Paste to paste the copied data into the new row. Atoll, creates a new record from the copied data. The name of the new record is the same as that of the copied record, preceded by "Copy of." You can edit this name.

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Pasting the Same Data into Several Cells You can paste the same data into several cells, using Fill Up or Fill Down. To paste the same data into several cells: 1. Open the data table as explained in "Opening a Data Table" on page 76. 2. Click on the cell with the data you want to copy and drag to select the cells into which you want to copy the data (see Figure 1.29).

Figure 1.29: Selecting the cells 3. Copy into the selected cells: •

To copy the contents of the top cell of the selection into the other cells, right-click the selection and select Edit > Fill Down from the context menu or click the Fill Down button (

) in the Table toolbar (see Figure 1.30).

Figure 1.30: Copying the contents of the top cell •

To copy the contents of the bottom cell of the selection into the other cells, right-click the selection and select Edit > Fill Up from the context menu or click the Fill Up button (

84

) in the Table toolbar (see Figure 1.31).

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Figure 1.31: Copying the contents of the bottom cell

1.5.5.2.3

Pasting Vector Point Coordinates from an External XLS File You can copy-paste vector point coordinates from an external XLS file directly into the vector points table of an Atoll project. When you copy, make sure that the X and Y columns are in 2nd and 3rd positions in the XLS file (insert an empty 1st column if necessary) and select entire rows (except the headers). When you paste in Atoll, click inside an editable cell before pasting.

1.5.5.3 Searching for and Replacing Text Entries in Tables In Atoll, you can search for and replace text strings in the table entries.

1.5.5.3.1

Searching for Text Entries in Tables In Atoll, you can search for text strings in the table entries. To search for text strings in a table: 1. Press Ctrl+Shift+F. The Find dialog box appears. You can also click the Find button (

) in the table toolbar.

2. In the Find button, define what you want to find: a. Enter the text you want to find in the Find what box. b. Select whether you want to search Up or Down from your current position in the table. c. If desired, select the Match case check box. 3. Click Find Next.

1.5.5.3.2

Replacing Text Entries in Tables In Atoll, you can search for and replace text strings in the table entries. To search for and replace text strings in a table: 1. Press Ctrl+Shift+R. The Replace dialog box appears. You can also click the Replace button (

) in the table toolbar.

2. In the Replace button, define the text you want to find and replace: a. Enter the text you want to find in the Find what box. b. Enter the text you want to replace the text in the Find what box in the Replace with box. c. If desired, select the Match case check box. 3. Click Find Next. Atoll proceeds to the next entry of the text entered in the Find what box. You can replace the text found: •

Replace: Atoll replaces the selected text with the entry in the Replace with box.

•

Replace All: Atoll replaces all occurrences of the text in the Find what box with the entry in the Replace with box.

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1.5.6 Viewing a Statistical Analysis of Table Contents You can view a statistical analysis of the contents of an entire column in a table or of the contents of a selection of cells. To view a statistical analysis of table contents: 1. Open the data table as explained in "Opening a Data Table" on page 76. 2. Select the column data you want to analyse: To view a statistical analysis of an entire column: •

Click the column title. The entire column is selected.

To view a statistical analysis of a selection of cells in one column: •

Select the cells you want to analyse. You can select contiguous cells by clicking the first cell and dragging to the last cell of the selection you want to analyse, or by clicking the first cell, pressing Shift and clicking the last cell. You can select non-contiguous cells by pressing Ctrl and clicking each cell in the column separately. In Atoll you can organise data in several different ways, allowing you to select only certain data. For more information, see "Grouping, Sorting, and Filtering Data" on page 94.

3. Right-click the selection of cells. The context menu appears. 4. Select Statistics from the context menu. The Statistics dialog box appears (see Figure 1.32).

Figure 1.32: The Statistics dialog box The statistics displayed depend on the type of numerical data selected. If you leave the Statistics dialog box open, you can view the statistical analysis of other cells by selecting them in the table. The contents of the Statistics dialog box are updated automatically.

1.5.7 Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets You can export entire Atoll data tables, or selected table columns, to ASCII text files (TXT and CSV formats) and MS Excel XML Spreadsheet files (XML format). You can open XML Spreadsheet files in MS Excel 2003 and later. Unlike XLS files, XML Spreadsheet files are not limited to 65,536 rows and 256 columns.

To export a table: 1. Open the data table as explained in "Opening a Data Table" on page 76. 2. Right-click the table. The context menu appears. 3. Select Export from the context menu. The Export dialog box appears with, at the bottom, a Preview of the table you want to export according to the current Field separator setting (see Figure 1.33).

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Figure 1.33: Exporting a data table 4. Select the Header check box if you want to export the names of the columns with the data. 5. Select a Decimal Symbol from the list. 6. Select a Field Separator from the list. Export to CSV format always uses the "List separator" defined in the Windows regional settings as the Field Separator.

7. Select the fields (displayed as columns in the table) you want to export. You can display all the fields belonging to a table by clicking the Expand button ( ) to the left of the table name. You can select contiguous fields by clicking the first field, pressing Shift and clicking the last field. You can select non-contiguous fields by pressing Ctrl and clicking each field separately. •

To select a field to be exported, select the field in the Available Fields box and click Exported Fields list. All fields in the Exported Fields list will be exported.

to move it to the

•

To remove a field from the list of Exported Fields, select the field and click

•

To change the order of a field in the list, select the field and click or to move it up or down. The top-most field under Exported Fields corresponds to the left-most field under Preview.

.

You can save the choices you made in the Export dialog box via the Save button next to Configuration file. The next time you export a data table, you can click Load in the Export dialog box to open the configuration file you saved and reuse the same settings. 8. Click Export. The Save As dialog box appears. 9. In the Save As dialog box, enter the File name and select the format from the Save as type list. 10. Click Save to export the table. You can export the Sites and Transmitters tables to text files by selecting the folder or view in the Network explorer and pressing Ctrl+E. For information on importing data into a data table, see "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88.

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1.5.8 Importing Tables from Text Files You can import data in the form of ASCII text files (in TXT and CSV formats) into Atoll data tables. To import a table from a text file: 1. Open the data table as explained in "Opening a Data Table" on page 76. 2. Right-click the table. The context menu appears. 3. Select Import from the context menu. The Open dialog box appears. 4. Select the ASCII text file you want to open and click Open. The Import dialog box appears (see Figure 1.34).

Figure 1.34: Importing information into a data table 5. If the file was created using a different Coordinate System, click the Browse button to select the coordinate system the file was created with. Atoll converts the coordinates in the imported file to match the coordinate system used in the Atoll document. 6. Enter the number of the first line of data in the 1st Data Row box. 7. Select a Decimal symbol from the list. 8. Select a Field Separator from the list. To import a table from a CSV format file, the Field separator you select must be the same as the "List separator" defined in the Windows regional settings.

9. Under Field mapping, there are two header rows: • •

Source: The column headers from the text file you are importing. Destination: The column headers from the Atoll data table.

Align the content of the source file with the content of the destination file by clicking the column header in the Destination row and selecting the corresponding column from the Atoll data file (see Figure 1.34). Select for the columns that you do not want to import. In vector tables, you can also select to append custom fields, if any. You can change the width of the columns to make the contents easier to work with. See "Changing Column Widths and Row Heights" on page 79.

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You can save the choices you made in the Import dialog box via the Save button next to Configuration file. The next time you import a data table, you can click Load in the Import dialog box to open the configuration file you saved and reuse the same settings. 10. Select the Mode that will be used for import: • •

Add: use this mode to add records from the imported file which are missing in the current table. This is the safest mode as records which are both in the imported file and the current table will not be modified in the current table. Update and add: this mode (default) is identical to the Add mode with the addition that the values of records in the current table will be updated with the corresponding values from the imported file.

An additional import mode is available when you import neighbour, secondary antenna, and GSM TRX records: •

Reset and add: this mode is identical to Update and add with the addition that existing records will be deleted if and when the imported file is found to contain data for the same transmitter or cell in the current table.

11. Neighbours only: At this point, you can compare the neighbour data you want to import with existing neighbour data. Click Compare. The neighbour list to be imported is compared with the existing neighbour list and a comparison report is displayed in text file, "NeighboursDeltaReport.txt", which sums up the changes that would occur after import. "NeighboursDeltaReport.txt" lists the following: • • •

The document name and the relations type. The number of Neighbour Link(s) Creation(s) that will take place after import, i.e. imported neighbour relations which are not in the existing neighbour list, and a list of these relations. The number of Neighbour Link(s) Deletion(s) that will take place after import, i.e. existing neighbour relations which are not in the imported neighbour list, and a list of these relations. A list of Neighbour Link(s) Deletion(s) can only be built in Reset and add import mode.

•

The number of Existing Neighbour Link(s), i.e. existing neighbour relations that are also proposed in the imported neighbour list, and a list of these relations. A list of Existing Neighbour Link(s) can only be built in Update and add or Reset and add import modes.

12. Click Import. The contents are imported in the current table according to the selected import Mode. You can import data from text files into the Sites and Transmitters tables by selecting the corresponding folder or view in the Network explorer and pressing Ctrl+I.

For information on exporting the information in a data table into a text file, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86.

1.5.9 Exporting Tables to XML Files All the data tables in an Atoll document can be exported to XML files. You can use XML to exchange information between Atoll and the Operation and Maintenance Center (OMC). Atoll creates the following files when data tables are exported to XML: • •

An index.xml file which contains the mapping between the data tables in Atoll and the XML file created for each table. One XML file per data table which contains the data table format (schema) and the data.

The index.xml file stores the system (GSM, UMTS, etc.), the technology (TDMA, CDMA, TD-SCDMA, etc.) of the document, and the version of Atoll used for exporting the data tables to XML files. It also contains the mapping between the data tables in the Atoll document and the XML file corresponding to each data table. For more information on XML files, see the Data Structure Reference Guide. To export all the data tables in your document to XML files: 1. Open your document and select Document > Data Exchange > XML Export from the Atoll menu. The Select Folder dialog box appears. 2. Select or create the folder where you want the exported XML files to be stored. 3. Click Select Folder. All the data tables in the document are exported to XML files.

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If you want to export only selected tables to XML files, you must set the AdvancedXML option in the [Export] section of the Atoll.ini file. When this option is set, you can select the tables you want to export. For more information, see the Administrator Manual.

1.5.10 Importing Tables from XML Files You can import data tables into your Atoll document from XML files. You can use XML to exchange information between Atoll and the Operation and Maintenance Center (OMC). In order for Atoll to be able to correctly import data tables from XML files: • •

the XML files and the current Atoll document must use the same system and technology, and the Atoll version used to create the XML files must be identical to the Atoll version used to import the data.

When XML files are imported in a document, table and field definitions are not modified, i.e. "Networks" and "CustomFields" tables are not imported. For more information on XML files, see the Data Structure Reference Guide. To import data tables into your document from XML files: 1. Select Document > Data Exchange > XML Import. The Select Folder dialog box appears. 2. Select the folder containing the index.xml file. 3. Click OK. The data tables corresponding to the XML files listed in index.xml are imported in the document. Tables are imported in the same order they appear in the index.xml file. You must not modify the order of tables in index.xml. The order in which tables are imported is very important; some data must be imported before other. For example, antennas used by transmitters must be imported before the transmitters themselves. When the data tables are imported: • • •

Data that exist both in the tables and in the XML files are overwritten by the data from the XML files. Data that exist only in the tables and not in the XML files are not deleted from the tables. Data that only exist in the XML files and not in the tables are imported from the XML files as new records in the tables.

Once the import is complete, Atoll performs a database integrity check and a duplicate records check to ensure that the import did not create database problems.

1.6 Printing in Atoll In Atoll, you can print any part of your document, including maps, data tables, document reports, and antenna patterns. When printing a map, Atoll enables you to define the area to be printed. Additionally, you can define the layout, for example, you can add a logo or graphic item, or a legend. This section covers the following topics: • • • •

"Printing Data Tables and Reports" on page 90 "Printing a Map" on page 91 "Printing a Docking Window" on page 94 "Printing Antenna Patterns" on page 94.

1.6.1 Printing Data Tables and Reports Data tables and reports are both presented in tabular format in Atoll and can, therefore, be printed in the same way. If you want to see how the table will appear once printed, see "Previewing Your Printing" on page 93. To print a table: 1. Open the data table as explained in "Opening a Data Table" on page 76. 2. If you want to print an area of the table, select it by clicking in one corner of the area and dragging diagonally to the opposite corner. 3. Select File > Print. 4. If you want to print only a selected area, choose Selected in the Print dialog box. 5. Click OK to print.

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1.6.2 Printing a Map Atoll can print maps and generate hard copies of coverage predictions. Atoll allows you to customise and optimise printed maps and supports printing to a variety of paper sizes, including A4 and A0. Before printing a map, you can use the following options: •

You can define an area of the map to be printed in one of the following ways: • •

• •

Create a printing zone (see "Printing Zone" on page 68). Create a focus zone (see "Focus Zone and Hot Spots" on page 68) and then opting to print only the contents of the focus zone (see "Defining the Print Layout" on page 91).

You can accept the default layout or you can modify the print layout (see "Defining the Print Layout" on page 91). You can preview how the map will appear once printed (see "Previewing Your Printing" on page 93). Printing graphics is a memory-intensive operation and can put a heavy load on your printer. Before printing for the first time, review the "Printing Recommendations" on page 91 to avoid memory-related problems.

To print a map: 1. Select the document window containing the map. 2. You now have the following options before printing the map: • • •

Create a printing zone or a focus zone as explained in "Creating Zones" on page 68. Modify the print layout as explained in "Defining the Print Layout" on page 91. Preview how the map will appear once printed as explained in "Previewing Your Printing" on page 93.

3. Select File > Print. 4. Click OK.

1.6.2.1 Printing Recommendations The appearance of the map is determined by the arrangement and properties of the objects the map contains. Objects in Atoll are arranged in layers. The layers on the top (as arranged on the Network and Geo tabs) are the most visible on the screen and in print. The visibility of the lower layers depends on which layers are above it and on the transparency of these layers (for information on transparency, see "Setting the Transparency of Objects and Object Types" on page 53). Before printing a map, when a document contains surface layers (raster maps or polygonal vector maps), lines (vectors such as roads, or airport), and points (measurements, etc.), organise the layers from top to bottom in the following order: • • • • • •

Points (vectors) Roads and Lines (vectors) Surface polygons (vectors) Multi-format maps - population, traffic maps (vector or raster), and others Clutter class maps (transparent raster maps) Images, DTM, or clutter height maps (non-transparent maps).

Sites and transmitters must be above all the other layers. Visible objects in the Network explorer, for example, sites, transmitters, and predictions, are displayed above objects in the Geo explorer. To improve performance, you can place vector layers, such as roads, over predictions. This ensures that those vector layers are visible when you print the map. To place vector layers over predictions in the Geo explorer: 1. Select the Geo explorer. 2. Right-click the vector layer you want to move to the Network explorer. The context menu appears. 3. Select Move to Network Explorer from the context menu. 4. Select the Network explorer. 5. Drag the vector layer to a position above Predictions but below Sites, Antennas, and Transmitters.

1.6.2.2 Defining the Print Layout You can use the Print Setup dialog box to define how your map will appear when you print it. In the Print Setup dialog box, you can perform the following actions: • • •

Set the scale of the map. Choose to print the rulers with the map. Choose to print the area outside the focus zone.

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• • •

© 2016 Forsk. All Rights Reserved.

Choose to print the legend. Add a title, comment, logo, header, or footer. Select paper size and source, as well as the page orientation and the margins.

These settings can be saved as a configuration, allowing you to define a standard appearance which you can then load and use the next time you print a similar document. To define the appearance of the map when it is printed: 1. Select File > Print Setup. The Print Setup dialog box appears.

Figure 1.35: Print Setup dialog box You define the print setup on the Page tab, the Components tab, and the Header/Footer tab. You can see any changes you make in the schematic preview on the right side of the Print Setup dialog box. If you have previously defined a configuration file containing all the necessary settings, you can click the Load button under Configuration file to import those settings.

2. Click the Page tab to define the page size, margins, and orientation and the scale of the printed map: a. Under Orientation, select whether the page should be printed in Portrait or Landscape. b. Under Paper, select the Size of the paper and, optionally, the Source of the paper. c. Under Scaling, define the scale of the printed image either by selecting Fit to page, or by selecting Scale and defining the scale. d. Under Margins, set the margins of the page in millimetres. 3. Click the Components tab. a. Under Map, you can define the appearance of the printed map: • •

Select the Rulers check box if you want to print the map with a scale around it. Select the Area inside focus zone only check box if you only want to print the part of the map inside the focus zone.

b. Under Legend, you can define the placement of the legend. •

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•

Click a button to set the Position of the legend. The buttons inside the square will place the legend on top of the map. The buttons outside of the square will place the legend outside of the map.

•

Click the Font button to open the Font dialog box to define the font of the legend.

c. Select the Comments check box if you want to print a comment with the map and set its Position. Clicking the Properties button opens a dialog box where you can enter text and set variables such as the current time and date. If you want the comment to appear on the map (and not outside of it), select the On the map check box. 4. Click the Header/Footer tab to set the position of graphic items. a. Select the Map title check box to define a title for the map and set its Position. Clicking the Properties button opens a dialog box where you can enter text and set variables such as the current time and date. If you want the title to appear on the map (and not outside of it), select the On the map check box. b. Under Logo 1 and Logo 2, you can define graphics that appear for the map. The graphics can be a company logo or other information, such as copyright information, in the form of a BMP graphic. i.

For the selected logo check box, click the Properties button. The Logo dialog box appears. By default, Atoll searches for a file named logo.bmp in the Atoll installation folder to use as the default header logo. However, you can select a different file.

ii. In the Logo dialog box, click File. The Open dialog box appears. iii. Select the your graphic in BMP format and click Open. Only BMP graphics can be used as logos. If your logo is in a different format, you must first convert it using a graphics programme to the BMP format.

iv. Select the correct Width and Height (in pixels). v. Click OK. c. Select the Header/Footer Note check box if you want to define a header or footer for the map and set its Position. Clicking the Properties button opens a dialog box where you can enter text and set variables such as the current time and date. If you want the header or footer to appear on the map (and not outside of it), select the On the map check box. 5. You can preview how your map will appear when it is printed by clicking the Preview button. For more information, see "Previewing Your Printing" on page 93. 6. Once you have configured your settings, click OK to close the Print Setup dialog box, or click Print to print the document. You can save the current settings as a configuration file by clicking the Save button under Configuration file. This enables you to reuse the same settings the next time by loading them.

1.6.3 Previewing Your Printing When you want to print maps, data tables, or reports, you can preview your printing. To preview your printing: 1. Select the map or table you want to print. 2. Select File > Print Preview. The Print Preview window appears. You can also access the Print Preview window directly from the Print Setup dialog box by clicking the Preview button. In the Print Preview toolbar, you can: •

Click the Print button (

) to open the Print dialog box.

•

Click the Next Page and Previous Page buttons ( and ) to preview different pages to print. If your printing zone contains more than one polygon, each printing zone appears on a separate page.

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•

Click the Toggle One/Two Pages Display button (

) to switch display from one to two pages side by side.

•

Click the Zoom In button (

• •

Click the Zoom Out button ( ) to zoom out on the print preview. Click Close to close the print preview.

) to zoom in on the print preview.

1.6.4 Printing a Docking Window You can print the content of many docking windows using the context menu; selecting File > Print only prints the contents of a document window, as explained in "Printing a Map" on page 91. The docking windows whose contents you can print are: • • • •

Legend Window (for more information on this tool, see "Adding an Object Type to the Legend" on page 54) Point Analysis Tool CW Measurement Analysis Tool (for more information on this tool, see the Measurements and Model Calibration Guide. Drive Test Data Analysis Tool

To print the content of a docking window: 1. Open the docking window you want to print. •

If you want to print a Point Analysis window, click the tab you want to print.

2. Right-click the window you want to print. 3. Select Print from the context menu. The Print dialog box appears. 4. Click OK to print.

1.6.5 Printing Antenna Patterns You can print the horizontal or vertical pattern of an antenna. To print an antenna pattern: 1. Click the Parameters explorer. 2. Open the Antennas table: a. Click the Expand button (

) to the left of the Radio Network Equipment folder.

b. Right-click the Antennas folder. c. Select Open Table from the context menu. 3. Right-click the antenna whose pattern you want to print. 4. Select Record Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 5. Select the Horizontal Pattern tab or the Vertical Pattern tab. 6. Right-click the antenna pattern and select Linear or Logarithmic from the context menu. 7. Right-click the antenna pattern and select Print from the context menu.

1.7 Grouping, Sorting, and Filtering Data In Atoll you can organise data in several different ways, allowing you to select only certain data and then, for example, modify only selected data or run calculations on the selected data. Atoll allows you to quickly group, sort, or filter data by one or multiple criterion, or by several. After you have defined how you will group, sort, or filter data, you can save this information as a folder configuration. This section covers the following topics: • • • • •

"Grouping Data Objects" on page 94 "Sorting Data" on page 97 "Filtering Data" on page 99 "Folder Configurations" on page 107 "Creating and Comparing Views" on page 108

1.7.1 Grouping Data Objects You can group objects by property values or by manually selecting them. Grouped objects are displayed as a subfolder in a data folder or in a view (see "Creating and Comparing Views" on page 108). Grouping objects in the Network explorer is similar

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to sorting data in the data table because it puts all records with the selected property together. You can also define the properties by which you can group objects. Once you have grouped data objects, you can access their Properties dialog box from the context menu to edit properties on all grouped objects. You can save the grouping parameters as a folder configuration. For more information, see "Folder Configurations" on page 107. This section covers the following topics: • • • • •

"Grouping Data Objects by Selection" on page 95 "Grouping Data Objects by Zone" on page 95 "Grouping Data Objects by Property" on page 95 "Customizing the Group By Submenu" on page 96 "Advanced Grouping of Data Objects" on page 96

1.7.1.1 Grouping Data Objects by Selection You can create groups of sites or transmitters by selecting multiple items from the Network explorer or the map window. To add sites or transmitters to a list: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Sites or Transmitters folder. 2. Press CTRL and select several data objects that you want to group together. You can also select several sites or transmitters directly in the map window. In a Multi-RAT environment, you can only select multiple transmitters that use the same radio technology. 3. Right-click the selected sites or transmitters and select Group By Selection. The folder now contains two folders: Selected and Not Selected. 4. To undo the grouping of data objects, right-click the folder or view whose grouping you want to reset, and select Group By > None.

1.7.1.2 Grouping Data Objects by Zone You can group data objects by computation or focus zone. You create a computation or focus zone when you want to concentrate on a given subset of transmitters, for example, when you are working on a certain area of the network. By grouping objects by computation or focus zone, the transmitters that you are working on are immediately visible under the Transmitter folder. To group data objects by geographical zone: 1. Create a computation zone or a focus zone as described in "Creating Zones" on page 68. 2. In the Network explorer, right-click the folder or view containing the type of data object that you want to group by a single property, and select Group By > Focus Zone. The Sites folder now contains two folders: Inside Focus Zone and Outside Focus Zone.

1.7.1.3 Grouping Data Objects by Property With basic property grouping, you group data objects by a single property. To group data objects by multiple properties, see "Advanced Grouping of Data Objects" on page 96.

To group data objects by property: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the folder or view containing the type of data object that you want to group by a single property. 2. Select Group By and choose a property by which you want to group the data objects. The data objects are now grouped by that property in the corresponding folder or view. For example: •

To group transmitters by the sites they are located on, right-click the Transmitter folder and selectGroup By > Site. The result of grouping can be seen in Figure 1.36.

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Figure 1.36: Transmitters grouped by site 3. To change the single property by which the data objects are currently grouped, right-click the folder or view whose grouping you want to change, select Group By and choose another property by which you want to group the data objects. 4. To undo the grouping of data objects, right-click the folder or view whose grouping you want to reset, and select Group By > None.

1.7.1.4 Customizing the Group By Submenu Some data objects, such as transmitters, have a large number of properties that appear by default in the Group By submenu. You can make it easier to group data objects by configuring the Group By submenu. To configure a Group By submenu: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the folder or view whose Group By submenu you want to configure and select Properties from the context menu. The corresponding Properties dialog box appears. 2. On the General tab, click the Configure Menu button next to the Group By field (which indicates how the data objects are presently grouped). The Configure Menu dialog box appears. 3. Select the fields you want to appear in the Group By submenu. You can display all the fields belonging to a table by clicking the Expand button ( ) to the left of the table name (e.g. "Site", "Antenna", etc.). You can select contiguous fields by clicking a field, pressing Shift and clicking the last field. You can also select non-contiguous fields by pressing Ctrl and clicking each field separately.

•

To make a field appear in the Group By submenu, select the field in the Available fields list and click it to the Fields of the group list.

•

To remove a field from the Fields of the group list, select the field in this list and click

•

To change the order of a field in the list, select the field and click

or

to move

.

to move it up or down.

4. Click OK to close the Configure Menu dialog box then OK to close the Properties dialog box. The Group By submenu now contains only the fields you selected, in the same order as in the Fields of the group list, and from top to bottom.

1.7.1.5 Advanced Grouping of Data Objects Advanced grouping enables you to group data objects by multiple properties. The data objects are displayed in multiple levels of subfolders in the Network explorer.

Figure 1.37: Advanced Grouping of Transmitters

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To group data objects by multiple properties: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the folder or view whose data objects you want to group by multiple properties and select Properties from the context menu. The corresponding Properties dialog box appears. 2. On the General tab, click the Group By button. The Group dialog box appears. 3. Select the multiple fields by which you want to group data objects. You can select contiguous fields by clicking a field, pressing Shift and clicking the last field. You can also select non-contiguous fields by pressing Ctrl and clicking each field separately.

Figure 1.38: Group dialog box •

To select a field to be used to group the data objects, select the field in the Available Fields list and click move it to the Fields of the group list.

•

To remove a field from the Fields of the group list, select the field in this list and click

•

To change the order of a field in the list, select the field and click

or

to

.

to move it up or down.

To undo advanced grouping of data objects, remove all the fields listed under Fields of the group.

4. Click OK to close the Group dialog box then OK to close the Properties dialog box. The data objects are now grouped by these properties in the corresponding folder or view, in the order of the fields in the Fields of the group list, from top to bottom (for example: "Antenna", "Height (m)", and "Site" in Figure 1.38 on page 97).

1.7.2 Sorting Data You can sort the document data either in the data tables or using the Sort function of Properties dialog box. You can sort the data in ascending (A to Z, 1 to 10) or descending (Z to A, 10 to 1) order. You can sort the data by either one or by several columns. When you sort data by several columns, Atoll sorts the records by the first column and then, within each group of identical values in the first column, Atoll then sorts the records by the second column, and so on. Once you have sorted data objects, you can save the settings as a folder configuration. For information, see "Folder Configurations" on page 107. This section covers the following topics: • •

"Sorting Data in Tables" on page 97 "Advanced Sorting" on page 98

1.7.2.1 Sorting Data in Tables When sorting data in tables, you can sort by one or several columns: • •

"Sorting by One Column" on page 98 "Sorting by Several Columns" on page 98.

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Sorting by One Column To sort data in a table by one column: 1. Open the data table as explained in "Opening a Data Table" on page 76. 2. Select the header of the column that you want to sort on. The entire column is selected. 3. Right-click the column header. The context menu appears. 4. From the context menu, select how you want to sort: •

Sort Ascending: sort the data table records from the lowest value in the reference column to the highest value.

•

Sort Descending: sort the data table records from the highest value in the reference column to the lowest value. You can also sort data in a table by selecting the column as described and then clicking either the Sort Ascending (

) or Sort Descending (

) buttons in the Table toolbar.

Sorting by Several Columns You can only sort in a table by adjacent columns. If you want to sort by columns that are not adjacent, you can move the columns first as explained in "Moving Columns" on page 81. If you want to sort data by several columns without moving the columns, you can use the Sort function on the Properties dialog box. For information, see "Advanced Sorting" on page 98. To sort data in a table by several columns: 1. Open the data table as explained in "Opening a Data Table" on page 76. 2. Click the header of the first column and drag over the adjacent columns that will be your sort references. The entire column is selected. 3. Right-click the column headers. The context menu appears. 4. From the context menu, select how you want to sort: •

Sort Ascending: sort the data table records from the lowest value in the first reference column to the highest value.

•

Sort Descending: sort the data table records from the highest value in the first reference column to the lowest value. You can also sort data in a table by selecting the column as described and then clicking either the Sort Ascending (

) or Sort Descending (

) buttons in the Table toolbar.

1.7.2.2 Advanced Sorting You can sort data by several criteria using the Sort function of the Properties dialog box.

Figure 1.39: The Sort dialog box

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To sort data using the Sort function of the Properties dialog box: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the folder whose data you want to sort, and select Properties from the context menu. 2. In the Properties dialog box, select the General tab and click the Sort button. The Sort dialog box appears (see Figure 1.39). 3. For the first column you want to sort on: a. Select the column name from the Sort by list. b. Choose whether you want to sort in ascending or descending order. 4. For each other column you want to sort on: a. Select the column name from the And by list. b. Choose whether you want to sort in ascending or descending order. 5. Click OK.

1.7.3 Filtering Data In Atoll, you can filter data objects according to one or several criteria. You can filter data to work with a subset of data, or to reduce the amount of records displayed in large documents. When a filter is applied, only the filtered data objects are available in Atoll: • • • •

The map window displays only the filtered data objects. Data tables display only filtered data. A filter icon ( ) is displayed in the top-left corner of the table and in columns that are used as filtering criteria. The Network explorer displays only filtered data. A filter overlay ( ) is displayed over any data objects that are affected by the filter. Any action performed on the entire document is only applied to the filtered data objects.

You can save the filtering parameters as a folder configuration. For information, see "Folder Configurations" on page 107. This section covers the following topics: • • • • •

"Filtering Data Objects by Selection" on page 99 "Filtering Data Objects by Polygon" on page 99 "Filtering Data Objects in the Data Table" on page 100 "Advanced Data Filtering" on page 101 "Removing Filters" on page 103.

1.7.3.1 Filtering Data Objects by Selection You can filter sites or transmitters by selecting multiple items from the Network explorer or the map window. To filter a selection of sites or transmitters : 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Sites or Transmitters folder. 2. Select one or several data objects that you want to group together. Press CTRL to select multiple data objects. You can also select one or several sites or transmitters directly in the map window. In a Multi-RAT environment, you can only select multiple transmitters that use the same radio technology. 3. Right-click the selected sites or transmitters and select Filter By Selection. The folder now displays only the filtered objects.

1.7.3.2 Filtering Data Objects by Polygon You can filter data objects by an existing computation or focus zone or by drawing a filtering zone. For information on filtering zones, see "Filtering Zone" on page 66. To filter data objects by geographical zone: 1. Create a computation zone or a focus zone as described in "Creating Zones" on page 68. 2. In the Network explorer, right-click the folder or view containing the type of data object that you want to group by a single property, and select either of the following options:

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To filter data objects that are inside an existing computation or focus zone, select Filter Inside a Polygon > Computation Zone or Filter By Polygon > Focus Zone. To filter data objects by drawing a polygon on the map, select Filter Inside a Polygon > Draw. The mouse pointer changes to polygon mode (

). Draw the filtering zone as explained in "Creating Polygons, Lines, and Points" on

page 72. When the filter is applied, only the data objects located inside the selected zone are available.

1.7.3.3 Filtering Data Objects in the Data Table You can filter a data table by selecting one or more values. Once you have selected one or more values, you can choose to view only records that have the same value or only records that do not have that value. To filter a data table on one or more fields: 1. Open the data table as explained in "Opening a Data Table" on page 76. 2. Select the value to filter on. You can select multiple values by pressing Ctrl as you click the other values. 3. Right-click the selected value or values and select one of the following from the table’s context menu: •

Filter by Selection: All records with the selected value or values are displayed. You can modify the filtered records or make calculations on them as you would normally do with the entire data table (see Figure 1.40 on page 100).

•

Filter Excluding Selection: All records without the selected value or values are displayed. You can modify the filtered records or make calculations on them as you would normally do with the entire data table (see Figure 1.41 on page 101).

When the data in a table are filtered, a filter icon ( ) appears at the top of the leftmost column and in the corresponding column header(s), as shown in Figure 1.40 and Figure 1.41. The icon in the leftmost column can prove useful when the column containing the filtered data is not displayed due to a large table width.

Figure 1.40: Filtering by selection

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Figure 1.41: Filtering excluding selection You can also filter data in a table by selecting the values as described and then clicking either the Filter by Selection ( toolbar.

) or Filter Excluding Selection (

) buttons in the Table

1.7.3.4 Advanced Data Filtering You can specify complex filters by combining filtering conditions on multiple fields using AND and OR operators. Advanced data filtering uses a table to express the filtering conditions where columns are used to specify the criteria for each field and the choice of the row is used to express the logical operators. The following principles allow you to express complex conditions: •

To express a filter on one or several fields combined with an AND operator (for example: a=1 AND b>5 AND b User Configuration > Save. The User Configuration dialog box appears. 2. Select the check boxes of the settings that you want to export as part of the user configuration. 3. Click OK. The Save As dialog box appears. 4. Enter a File name for the user configuration file and click Save. The folder configuration has been saved.

1.7.4.2 Loading a User Configuration You can load a user configuration that was created by you or another user into your current Atoll document. If the user configuration contains macro information, it will only be loaded if no document is currently open. When there is no Atoll document open, only macro information is loaded from the user configuration. To load a user configuration: 1. Select Tools > User Configuration > Load. The Open dialog box appears. 2. Select the user configuration file with the data you want to use in your current document. 3. Click Open. The User Configuration dialog box appears. 4. Select the check boxes corresponding to the settings you want to load. 5. Click OK. The user configuration is loaded in the current document.

1.7.5 Site and Transmitter Lists You can use site or transmitter list to work with subsets of data, or to facilitate working with large documents by reducing the number of records displayed. You can add and remove items in lists, use them as filters, and also export and import lists. In a multi-user environment, site and transmitter lists can be stored in the database. When you open a document from a database, you can select the sites to load according to any defined site lists. In a large radio-planning project, this allows you to manage your resources by reducing the amount of data you retrieve from the database. This section covers the following topics: • • •

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• • • •

"Importing a Site or Transmitter List" on page 106 "Exporting a Site or Transmitter List" on page 106 "Filtering on a Site or Transmitter List" on page 106 "Using the Find on Map Tool to Display Site Lists" on page 106

1.7.5.1 Adding Sites or Transmitters to a List You can add sites or transmitters to a new or existing list by selecting them from the Network explorer or the map window. To add sites or transmitters to a list: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Sites or Transmitters folder. 2. Select one or several sites or transmitters that you want to add to a list. Press CTRL to select multiple sites or transmitters. You can also select one or several sites or transmitters directly in the map window. In a Multi-RAT environment, you can only select multiple transmitters that use the same radio technology. 3. Right-click the selected sites or transmitters and select Add Site to a List. A dialog box appears. 4. Select the name of an existing list from the dialog box or type a name new list name to create a list. 5. Click OK. The site or transmitter is added to the selected list. You can also create a list by filtering the contents of the Sites or Transmitters folder, rightclicking the filtered Sites or Transmitters folder and selecting Site Lists > Add Sites to a List or Transmitter Lists > Add Transmitters to a List. For more information on filtering, see "Filtering Data" on page 99.

1.7.5.2 Adding Sites or Transmitters to a List from a Zone You can add the sites or transmitters contained in a zone to a site or transmitter list. To add the sites or transmitters contained in a zone to a list: 1. Create a zone (as explained in "Using Zones in the Map Window" on page 66) that contains the sites or transmitters that you want to add to a list. You can use a filtering, computation, focus, hot spot, printing, or geographic export zone. 2. In the Geo explorer, right-click the zone and select Add Sites to a List or Add Transmitters to a List. A dialog box appears. 3. Select the name of an existing list from the dialog box or type a name new list name to create a list. 4. Click OK. The sites or transmitters contained in the zone are added to the selected list.

1.7.5.3 Editing a Site or Transmitter List You can edit a site or transmitter list using the Site List or Transmitter List table. To edit a site or transmitter list: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Sites or the Transmitters folder, and select Site Lists > Open Table or Transmitter Lists > Open Table from the context menu. The table appears. 2. Select the name of the list that you want to edit and click Properties. The Properties dialog box appears. 3. You can now edit the list: To add a site or transmitter to the list: •

Select the name of the site or transmitter in the row marked with the New Row icon (

).

To delete a site or transmitter from the list: a. Click in the left margin of the row containing the site or transmitter to select it. b. Press DEL to delete the site or transmitter from the list. 4. Click OK when you have finished editing the site or transmitter list.

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1.7.5.4 Importing a Site or Transmitter List You can import a site or transmitter list from a text file by using the Site List or Transmitter List table. To import a site or transmitter list: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Sites or the Transmitters folder, and select Site Lists > Open Table or Transmitter Lists > Open Table from the context menu. The table appears. 2. Select the name of the list into which you want to import entries and click Properties. The Properties dialog box appears. 3. In the Properties dialog box, click the Import button. The Open dialog box appears. 4. Select the text file with the site or transmitter names you want to import and click Open. The contents of the text file are added to the list. 5. Click OK in the Properties dialog box when you have finished importing the file.

1.7.5.5 Exporting a Site or Transmitter List You can export a site or transmitter list to a text file using the Site List or Transmitter List table. To export a site or transmitter list: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Sites or the Transmitters folder, and select Site Lists > Open Table or Transmitter Lists > Open Table from the context menu. The table appears. 2. Select the name of the list that you want to export and click Properties. The Properties dialog box appears. 3. In the Properties dialog box, click the Export button. The Save As dialog box appears. 4. Enter a file name and click Save. The site or transmitter list is saved as a text file.

1.7.5.6 Filtering on a Site or Transmitter List You can use site or transmitter lists to filter the contents of the Sites and Transmitters folders. To filter folder contents using a site or transmitter list: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the folder whose contents you want to filter and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. On the General tab of the Properties dialog box, click Filter. The Filter dialog box appears. 3. If you have created a site or transmitter list, click the additional Sites or Transmitters tab. The Sites or Transmitters tab is only available if a site or transmitter list exists.

4. Select the check box of the list or lists that you want to display and click OK. 5. Click OK to close the Properties dialog box. Only sites or transmitters that belong to the selected list are now displayed in the Network explorer and in the map window.

1.7.5.7 Using the Find on Map Tool to Display Site Lists You can search for site lists using the Find on Map tool. To find a site list using Find on Map: 1. Select Tools > Find on Map. The Find on Map window appears. 2. From the Find list, select "Site List." 3. In List, either select a site list or enter a site list name. 4. Click Search. Sites belonging to the site list you selected are displayed in red in the map window and are listed under Results in the Find on Map window. Other sites are displayed in grey in the map window. To restore the initial site colours, click the Reset Display button in the Find on Map window.

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1.7.6 Folder Configurations In Atoll, the parameters that define how data contained in a folder is grouped, sorted, or filtered are referred to as a folder configuration. You can define folder configurations and save them, which allows you to consistently apply the same grouping, filtering, or sorting criteria. This section covers the following topics: • • • • • •

"Creating a Folder Configuration" on page 107 "Applying a Saved Folder Configuration" on page 107 "Reapplying the Current Folder Configuration" on page 107 "Saving a Folder Configuration in an External File" on page 107 "Loading a Folder Configuration from an External File" on page 108 "Deleting a Folder Configuration" on page 108. For transmitters, there is a default folder configuration called Same as Sites Folder. You can apply this configuration to arrange the transmitters in the Transmitters folder with the same parameters as those defined for sites.

1.7.6.1 Creating a Folder Configuration In Atoll, you can save the parameters that define how data contained in a folder is grouped, filtered, or sorted as a folder configuration. To create a configuration: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the folder whose settings you want to save and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box. 2. Select the General tab in the Properties dialog box. 3. If you have not yet done so, set the following parameters as desired: • • •

Group By (see "Grouping Data Objects" on page 94) Sort (see "Sorting Data" on page 97) Filter (see "Filtering Data" on page 99).

4. Under Folder configuration, click Save. 5. Enter the name of the configuration in the Save Configuration dialog box. 6. Click OK to save the configuration then OK to close the Properties dialog box. The saved folder configuration is only available for the current folder and can be reapplied to the folder by selecting it from the Folder Configuration submenu on the folder’s context menu.

1.7.6.2 Applying a Saved Folder Configuration You can apply a folder configuration that has been created and saved for the current folder. To apply a saved folder configuration: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the folder to which you want to apply a folder configuration. The context menu appears. 2. On the Folder Configuration submenu, select the name of the folder configuration you want to apply. The folder configuration is applied to the current folder.

1.7.6.3 Reapplying the Current Folder Configuration If you have grouped, filtered, or sorted a data folder, you have created and applied a folder configuration. If you then add or modify data, the properties of these may not match the folder configuration that you previously made on the data folder. In this case, you can reapply the same filter or sort settings to the new or modified data. To reapply the folder configuration: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the folder whose folder configuration you want to reapply, and select Refresh Folder Configuration from the context menu. The previously configured folder configuration is reapplied to the data.

1.7.6.4 Saving a Folder Configuration in an External File When you create a folder configuration, you save it in the current ATL document. However, you can save it as part of a user configuration in an external file, so that it can be used in other documents.

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To save a folder configuration in an external file: 1. Select Tools > User Configuration > Save. The User Configuration dialog box appears. 2. Select the Folder Configuration check box. If you want to export other configurations at the same time, select those check boxes as well. 3. Click OK. The Save As dialog box appears. 4. Enter a File name for the CFG file and click Save. The folder configuration has been saved.

1.7.6.5 Loading a Folder Configuration from an External File Once you have saved a folder configuration as explained in "Saving a Folder Configuration in an External File" on page 107, you can load it into your current document. To load a folder configuration: 1. Select Tools > User Configuration > Load. The Open dialog box appears. 2. Select the CFG file with the folder configuration you want to import. 3. Click Open. The User Configuration dialog box appears. 4. Select the Folder Configuration check box. If you want to import other configurations at the same time, select those check boxes as well. 5. Click OK. The folder configuration is imported.

1.7.6.6 Deleting a Folder Configuration You can delete a folder configuration from the Atoll document when you no longer need it. To delete a folder configuration: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the folder with the folder configuration you want to delete and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box is displayed. 2. Select the General tab in the Properties dialog box. 3. Under Folder configuration, select the name of the configuration from the list. 4. Click Delete. The folder configuration is deleted. When you delete a folder configuration, Atoll does not ask for confirmation; it is deleted immediately.

1.7.7 Creating and Comparing Views You can compare the effects of different grouping, sorting, or filtering settings by creating views of object folders in the Network explorer and applying different settings to each view. Each view contains a copy of the data in the object folder in which it was created. To create a view of a folder: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the folder you want to create a view of. 2. Select Create View from the context menu. A view is created containing a copy of the original folder content. You can now perform the following actions on the view: • • •

Grouping (see "Grouping Data Objects" on page 94) Sorting (see "Sorting Data" on page 97) Filtering (see "Filtering Data" on page 99). If you have created several views, you can rename each one to provide a more descriptive name. For information on renaming an object, see "Renaming an Object" on page 50.

Once you have performed the actions on each view, you can compare the differences by displaying each view, with its grouping, sorting, or filtering settings, on the map. For more information on display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51.

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To compare views: 1. In the Network explorer, clear the check boxes to the left of each view. The data objects are not displayed on the map. 2. Select the check box of one of the views, leaving the check boxes of the other views cleared. The data objects of the selected view, with its associated grouping, sorting, or filtering settings, are displayed on the map. 3. Clear this check box and select the check box of a different view. How the objects are displayed on the map will change, depending on the different grouping, sorting, or filtering settings of the selected view. You can remove views by deleting them. When you delete a view, the data contained are not deleted. When you delete the last view, the data reappear under the initial folder. To delete a view: •

Select the view to be deleted and press DEL. If, after deleting the last view, the data do not reappear under the initial folder, you can refresh the display by right-clicking the folder and selecting Group By > None from the context menu.

1.8 Add-ins and Macros A series of add-ins and macros are available to extend the capabilities of Atoll. The following add-ins are included with Atoll: • •

Export to Google Earth Add-in: This add-in can export items such as sites, transmitters, microwave links, their properties, and coverage prediction plots from Atoll single-RAT and multi-RAT documents to Google Earth. Signal Level Export Add-in: This add-in is designed to export, from Atoll single-RAT and multi-RAT documents, the signal levels received from transmitters at each pixel of a user-defined area. Transmitters are listed in decreasing signal level order starting with the one with the strongest signal level.

Many other add-ins are available from the Forsk support web-site, at: http://www.forsk.com/support/ For more information about installing add-ins and macros, see the Atoll Administrator Manual. For information about using an add-in, see the user manual for each add-in. The user manual is located in the installation directory of the add-in. The add-in versions that are installed with the product are the latest available at the release of the Atoll version. Check the Forsk web-site for updates.

To enable an add-in or macro: 1. Select Tools > Add-ins and Macros from the menu bar. The Add-ins and Macros dialog box appears. 2. Select the check box of the add-in or macro. 3. Click Close. The add-in or macro is now available in Atoll.

1.9 Toolbars and Shortcuts This section describes toolbars and shortcuts available in Atoll: • •

"Using Toolbars" on page 109 "Using Shortcuts" on page 112.

1.9.1 Using Toolbars You can access many commands in Atoll by clicking its icon on the toolbar. Some of them are also linked to shortcut keys (see "Using Shortcuts" on page 112). The different icons located in the toolbar are listed below: •

In the Standard toolbar Open the Project Templates dialog box (Ctrl+N)

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Open the Open dialog box (Ctrl+O) Save the current document (Ctrl+S) New from an existing database Refresh from database Save pending changes in database Import a file Load a user configuration Save a user configuration Cut the selected data (Ctrl+X) Copy the selected data (Ctrl+C) Paste the content of the clipboard (Ctrl+V) Undo the last modification (Ctrl+Z) Redo the previous undone modification (Ctrl+Y) Print the current window (table or map) (Ctrl+P) Preview the current window before printing (table or map) Open the Atoll Help •

In the Radio Planning toolbar Station template currently selected Create a new transmitter or station based on the currently selected model Create a new repeater or remote antenna for the currently selected transmitter Graphically manage neighbours for the selected transmitter Open the Point Analysis window Calculate only invalid matrices, unlocked coverages, and pending simulations (F7) Force the calculation of all matrices, unlocked coverages, and pending simulations (Ctrl+F7) Stop the calculation of all matrices, unlocked coverages, and pending simulations (ESC)

•

In the Map toolbar Refresh display of map and folders (F5) Select an object and disable zooming and panning tools. Move the map (Ctrl+D) Map scale currently used Previous view (zoom and location) (ALT+←) Next view (zoom and location) (ALT+→) Zoom in, zoom out, and define a zoom area on the map (Ctrl+W) Display a terrain section

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Measure distances on the map Turn on tip text Find on the map •

In the Vector Editor toolbar Create a new vector layer (in either the Geo or the Network explorer) Select the vector layer to edit Draw a new polygon Draw a new rectangle Draw a new line Draw points Combine several vector polygons Cut out areas in polygons Create new polygon from overlapping areas Split one polygon along the drawn lines.

•

In the Windows toolbar Display the Network explorer Display the Geo explorer Display the Parameters explorer Display the Events viewer Display the Legend window Display the Panoramic window Display the Favourite Views window

•

In the Table toolbar Import data from a file into the table Export data from the table to a file Display the properties of the current record Centre the current record on the map Define which columns should be displayed Hide the selected columns Freeze the selected columns Unfreeze all frozen columns Filter by the selected fields Filter excluding all records with the selected values Define an advanced filter

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Remove the filter Sort the selected columns in ascending order Sort the selected columns in descending order Display statistics Copy the contents of the top selected row into the rows below Copy the contents of the bottom selected row into the rows above Select the entire table Align the contents of the selected columns to the left Centre the contents of the selected columns Align the contents of the selected columns to the right Display the selected columns in bold Display the selected columns in italics Find specified text in the table Replace specified text in the table When you place the cursor over an icon, tip text appears, giving a short description.

1.9.2 Using Shortcuts Atoll provides many shortcuts that enable you to access commonly used tools and commands more quickly. The shortcuts available are listed below (some of the same commands can be accessed using a toolbar icon; see "Using Toolbars" on page 109): •

112

Using the Ctrl key: •

Ctrl++: Zoom in on the map

•

Ctrl+–: Zoom out on the map

•

Ctrl+A: Select all records in a table

•

Ctrl+C: Copy the selected data (in the toolbar, click

•

Ctrl+D:

)

•

In tables: Copy the first cell of a selection down into all selected cells

•

In the map window: Move the map in the map window (in the toolbar, click

)

•

Ctrl+E: Export the table of the selected Sites or Transmitters folder or view to a text file. For more information, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86.

•

Ctrl+F: •

Open the Find on Map window when the map is active (in the toolbar, click

•

Open the Find dialog box when a table is active (in the toolbar, click

)

)

•

Ctrl+H: Open the Replace dialog box when a table is active (in the toolbar, click

•

Ctrl+I: Import the table of the selected Sites or Transmitters folder or view from a text file. For more information, see "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88.

•

Ctrl+N: Open the Project Templates dialog box (in the toolbar, click

•

Ctrl+Shift+N: Create a new document from an existing database

•

Ctrl+O: Open the Open dialog box (in the toolbar, click

)

)

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•

Ctrl+P: Print the current window (in the toolbar, click

)

•

Ctrl+S: Save the current active document (in the toolbar, click

•

Ctrl+U: Copy the last cell of a selection up into all selected cells

• Ctrl+V: Paste the content of the clipboard (in the toolbar, click

•

•

)

)

•

Ctrl+W: Zoom in, zoom out, and define a zoom area on the map (in the toolbar, click

•

Ctrl+X: Cut the selected data (in the toolbar, click

•

Ctrl+Y: Redo the previous undone modification (in the toolbar, click

•

Ctrl+Z: Undo the last modification (in the toolbar, click

)

) )

)

Using the ALT key: •

ALT+←: Previous zoom and location on the map (in the toolbar, click

•

ALT+→: Next zoom and location on the map (in the toolbar, click

•

ALT+F8: Open the Add-ins and Macros dialog box

) )

Using the Function Keys •

F5: Refresh display of map and folders (toolbar: select

)

•

F7: Calculate only invalid matrices, unlocked coverages, and pending simulations (in the toolbar, click

•

Ctrl+F7: Force the calculation of all matrices, unlocked coverages, and pending simulations (in the toolbar, click

)

) You can also access menus and commands by pressing the ALT key and typing the underlined letter in the menu or command name.

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Chapter 2 Geographic Data In this chapter, the following are explained:

This chapter provides information on working with geographic data in an Atoll project.

•

"Geographic Data Types" on page 117

•

"Supported Geographic Data Formats" on page 119

•

"Importing Geo Data Files" on page 119

•

"Digital Terrain Models" on page 126

•

"Clutter Classes" on page 126

•

"Clutter Heights" on page 130

•

"Contours, Lines, and Points" on page 130

•

"Scanned Images" on page 132

•

"Population Maps" on page 133

•

"Custom Geo Data Maps" on page 133

•

"Displaying Online Maps" on page 136

•

"Setting the Priority of Geo Data" on page 138

•

"Displaying Geo Data Information" on page 141

•

"Geographic Data Sets" on page 141

•

"Editing Geographic Data" on page 143

•

"Saving Geographic Data" on page 146

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2 Geographic Data Several different geographic data types are used in an Atoll document. For example: the digital terrain model (DTM), clutter classes, clutter heights, online maps, population maps, traffic data maps, and scanned images are types of the geographic data that you can import or create. Some data types, such as clutter classes, can be used to give more realistic calculations. Other types such as scanned images, are used to create a more realistic display of the region under study. You can import a wide variety of both vector and raster-format geo data files. When you import a geo data file into Atoll, you can decide in which folder it goes. The Geo explorer window has folders for the commonly used data types. Therefore, choosing a folder is choosing what the file will be used for. You can also create your own data type by importing a file and defining what data is to be used. Once you have imported a file into the Atoll document, you can edit the data, define how the geo data will be displayed. Atoll also allows you to manage multiple files for a single data type, deciding the priority of data files with different information or different resolutions. You can also display geo data over items in the Network explorer, either by transferring them to the Network explorer, or by importing them directly to the Network explorer. You can also create and edit geographic data. You can add a vector layer to certain data types to which you can add contours, lines, or points, create new geographic data, or modify existing data. You can also create raster-based geographic data such as traffic maps or clutter classes. You can export most geo data objects (for example, DTM, clutter classes, clutter heights, raster polygons, or vector layers) for use in other Atoll documents or in other applications. Atoll also allows you to save changes you make to geo data objects back to the original files. This enables you to update the original files and, through the process of saving them, recompact the file. This chapter explains the following topics: • • • • • • • • • • • • •

"Geographic Data Types" on page 117 "Supported Geographic Data Formats" on page 119 "Importing Geo Data Files" on page 119 "Clutter Classes" on page 126 "Clutter Heights" on page 130 "Digital Terrain Models" on page 126 "Contours, Lines, and Points" on page 130 "Scanned Images" on page 132 "Population Maps" on page 133 "Custom Geo Data Maps" on page 133 "Setting the Priority of Geo Data" on page 138 "Editing Geographic Data" on page 143 "Saving Geographic Data" on page 146.

2.1 Geographic Data Types An Atoll document can contain several different geographic data types. Atoll supports a wide range of file formats for geographic data files. The different geographic data types play different roles in the Atoll document: •

Geographic data used in propagation calculation: • • •

•

Geographic data used in dimensioning: •

•

Traffic maps

Geographic data used in statistics: • •

•

Digital terrain model Clutter classes Clutter heights

Population maps Custom maps

Geographic data used for display purposes: • • • •

Scanned maps Online maps Images from web map services (WMS) Contours, lines, and points representing, for example, roads, railways, or regions.

In this section, the following data types are described: • • •

"Digital Terrain Model" on page 118 "Clutter Classes" on page 118 "Clutter Heights" on page 118

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"Contours, Lines, and Points" on page 118 "Scanned Images" on page 118 "Population Maps" on page 118 "Traffic Data Maps" on page 118 "Custom Data Maps" on page 118 "Online Maps" on page 119

Digital Terrain Model The DTM describes the elevation of the ground over sea level. You can display the DTM in different ways: by single value, discrete values, or by value intervals (see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51). The DTM is automatically taken into account by the propagation model during computations. Clutter Classes The clutter class geo data file describes land cover or land use. Clutter classes are taken into account by the propagation model during computations. Each pixel in a clutter class file contains a code (from a maximum of 256 possible classes) which corresponds to a clutter class, or in other words to a certain type of ground use or cover. The height per class can be defined as part of the clutter class, however, the height will be defined as an average height for each clutter class. For information on defining the height per clutter class, see "Defining Clutter Class Properties" on page 127. Clutter heights can also be defined by a separate clutter heights file (see "Clutter Heights" on page 118). A clutter height map can represent height much more accurately because it allows a different height to be assigned for each pixel of the map. Clutter Heights Clutter height maps describe the altitude of clutter over the DTM with one altitude defined per pixel. Clutter height maps can offer more precise information than defining an altitude per clutter class because, in a clutter height file, it is possible to have different heights within a single clutter class. When clutter altitude is defined both in clutter classes and in a clutter height map, clutter altitude is taken from the clutter height map. You can display the clutter height map in different ways: by single value, discrete values, or by value intervals (see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51). The only propagation models that can take clutter heights into account in calculations are the Standard Propagation Model, CrossWave, and the WLL model.

Contours, Lines, and Points Atoll supports contours, lines, and points to represent polygons such as regions, or lines such as roads or coastlines, or points. They are used for display only and have no effect on computations. Contours can also be used to create filtering polygons or computation or focus zones. Scanned Images Scanned images are geographic data files which represent the actual physical surroundings, for example, road maps or satellite images. They are used to provide a precise background for other objects or for less precise maps and are used only for display; they have no effect on calculations. Population Maps Population maps contain information on population density or on the total number of inhabitants. Population maps can be used in prediction reports in order to display, for example, the absolute and relative numbers of the population covered. Population maps have no effect on prediction and simulation results. Traffic Data Maps Traffic data maps contain information on capacity and service use per geographic area. Traffic data maps are used for network capacity analyses. Custom Data Maps You can import many different types of files for, for example, revenue, rainfall, or socio-demographic data. You could use the imported data in prediction reports. For example, you could display the predicted revenue for defined coverage. This imported data has no effect on prediction and simulation results.

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Online Maps You can display various types of online maps in the map window. From the Geo explorer, you can access these maps directly or by specifying their server URLs. For more information, see "Displaying Online Maps" on page 136.

2.2 Supported Geographic Data Formats Atoll supports the following geographic data formats: •

•

• • • •

• •

DTM files in the following formats: TIF (8 or 16-bit integer), BIL (8, 16 or 32-bit integer, 32-bit float), Planet (16-bit integer), BMP (8-bit integer), GRD Vertical Mapper (16-bit integer), and Erdas Imagine (8, 16 or 32-bit integer, 32-bit float) Clutter height files in the following formats: TIF (8 or 16-bit integer), BIL (8, 16 or 32-bit integer, 32-bit float), Planet (16-bit integer), BMP (8-bit integer), GRD Vertical Mapper (16-bit integer), and Erdas Imagine (8, 16 or 32-bit integer, 32-bit float) Clutter class and traffic files in the following formats: TIF (8-bit), BIL (8-bit), IST (8-bit), BMP (8-bit), Planet, GRC Vertical Mapper (8-bit), and Erdas Imagine (8-bit) Vector data files in the following formats: AGD, DXF, Planet, SHP, MIF, and TAB. Vector traffic files in the following formats: AGD, DXF, Planet, SHP, MIF, and TAB. Scanned image files in the following formats: TIF (1 to 24-bit), JPEG (1 to 24-bit), JPEG 2000 (1 to 24-bit), BIL (1 to 24-bit), IST (1 to 24-bit), BMP (1 to 24-bit), Planet, Erdas Imagine (1 to 24-bit), GRC Vertical Mapper (1 to 24-bit), and ECW (8 or 24-bit) Population files in the following formats: TIF (16-bit), BIL (16-bit), IST (16-bit), Planet, BMP (16-bit), Erdas Imagine (16-bit), GRD/GRC Vertical Mapper (16-bit), AGD, DXF, SHP, MIF, and TAB. Other data in the following formats: TIF (16-bit), BIL (16-bit), IST (16-bit), Planet, BMP (16-bit), Erdas Imagine (16-bit), GRD/GRC Vertical Mapper (16-bit), AGD, DXF, SHP, MIF, and TAB. All imported raster maps must have the same projection coordinate system.

2.3 Importing Geo Data Files You can import the geographic data you need into the current Atoll document. As explained in "Supported Geographic Data Formats" on page 119, Atoll supports a variety of both raster and vector file formats. When you import a new geo data file, Atoll recognises the file format and suggests the appropriate folder in the Geo explorer. You can embed geo data files in the Atoll document while you are importing them or afterwards (see "Embedding Geographic Data" on page 125). You can share the paths of imported maps and display settings with other users by using Atoll’s user configuration files. For information on exporting the paths of your document’s files or to import the path from another document using user configuration files, see "Geographic Data Sets" on page 141. The instructions in this section do not apply to custom geo data maps. For information on importing or creating a custom geo data map, see "Custom Geo Data Maps" on page 133.

This section explains the following: • • • • • •

"Importing Raster Format Geo Data Files" on page 120 "Importing Vector Format Geo Data Files" on page 120 "Importing MSI Planet® Data" on page 122 "Importing a WMS Raster-format Geo Data File" on page 122 "Grouping Geo Data Files in Folders" on page 124 "Embedding Geographic Data" on page 125. You can use drag-and-drop to import geo data files into a document. The format is automatically recognised and Atoll presents you with the appropriate dialog box.

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2.3.1 Importing Raster Format Geo Data Files All raster geo data files must be represented in the same projection coordinate system as the Atoll document itself. To import a raster format geographic data file: 1. Select File > Import. The Open dialog box is displayed. 2. Select the geo data file that you want to import. You can import more than one geo data file at the same time, providing that the geo data files are of the same type. You can select contiguous files by clicking the first file, pressing Shift and clicking the last file you want to import. You can select non-contiguous files by pressing Ctrl and clicking each file. 3. Click Open. The Raster Import dialog box appears. 4. In the Raster Import dialog box, under Import to, select a destination for the imported data. The destination depends on the purpose of vector data file that you are importing: • • • •

To import a digital terrain model (DTM), select Geo > Digital Terrain Model in the Import to list. To import a clutter class map, select Geo > Clutter Classes in the Import to list. To import a clutter heights map, select Geo > Clutter Heights in the Import to list. To import a population map, select Geo > Population in the Import to list and select from the Use as list whether the imported data is to be interpreted as a Density (number of inhabitants per square kilometre) or as a Value (number of inhabitants).

•

To import a custom map image into an existing folder, select Geo in the Import to list.

•

To import custom map image into a new folder, click New Folder > in Geo, and type a name for the custom data folder. For more information on importing custom geo data, see "Custom Geo Data Maps" on page 133

•

To import traffic data maps, see "Importing Traffic Maps" on page 121

•

To import a raster image file into the Network explorer, select Network in the Import to list. Typically, vector data should be stored in the Geo explorer. Importing into the Network explorer can however be useful when comparing an image map file with a prediction for example.

5. By default, the imported file is linked to the Atoll document. To embed the data file into the Atoll document, select the Embed in Document check box. For information on embedding files, see "Embedding Geographic Data" on page 125. 6. Click Import. The geo data file is imported and listed in the Geo explorer.

2.3.2 Importing Vector Format Geo Data Files When you import geo data files in vector format, their geographic system can be converted to the system used by the Atoll document. When you import extremely large vector geo data files, for example, vector files that cover an entire country, you must ensure that at least the centre of the bounding box defining the vector file is within the projection coordinate system defined for the Atoll document. To import a vector format geographic data file: 1. Select File > Import. The Open dialog box is displayed. 2. Select the geo data file that you want to import. You can import more than one geo data file at the same time, providing that the geo data files are of the same type. You can select contiguous files by clicking the first file, pressing Shift and clicking the last file you want to import. You can select non-contiguous files by pressing Ctrl and clicking each file. When you import vector data, you can simultaneously import the corresponding display configuration file (CFG) by setting an option in the Atoll.ini file. The display configuration file is imported if it has the same file name and is located in the same directory as the imported vector file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. 3. Click Open. The Vector Import dialog box is displayed. 4. In the Vector Import dialog box, under Import to, select a destination for the imported data. The destination depends on the purpose of vector data file that you are importing: •

To import a vector file into the Network explorer, select Network in the Import to list. Typically, vector data should be stored in the Geo explorer. Importing into the Network explorer can however be useful when comparing an exported vector file with a prediction for example.

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•

•

To import a vector file as a computation, filtering, printing, focus zone or a hot spot, select Geo > Zones and the type of zone in the Import to list that you want to create. For more information on using zones, see "Using Zones in the Map Window" on page 66. To import geoclimatic data, select Geo > Geoclimatic Parameters in the Import to list. The temperatures in the geoclimatic file must be expressed in Celsius whether the measurement unit defined for temperatures in the Atoll document is Farhenheit or Celsius.

•

To import population data, select Geo > Population in the Import to list and specify the data fields: Under Fields to be imported, the first list contains the attributes of the population vector data file that you are importing, and the second list lets you select whether the attribute corresponds to population density or to a number of inhabitants. Select from the first list which field is to be imported and from the second list whether the imported field is a Density (number of inhabitants per square kilometre for polygons, number of inhabitants per kilometre for lines, or number of inhabitants for points) or a Value (number of inhabitants) (see Figure 2.1 and Figure 2.2).

Figure 2.1: Population density (number of inhabitants/km²)

Figure 2.2: Population values (number of inhabitants per item – polygon/road/point) •

To import traffic data maps, see "Importing Traffic Maps" on page 121

•

To import custom vector data for reference purposes into an existing folder, select Geo in the Import to list.

•

To import custom vector data for reference purposes into a new folder, click New Folder > in Geo, and type a name for the custom data folder. For more information on importing custom geo data, see "Custom Geo Data Maps" on page 133

5. By default, the imported file is linked to the Atoll document. To embed the data file into the Atoll document, select the Embed in Document check box. For information on embedding files, see "Embedding Geographic Data" on page 125. 6. The Vector Import window displays the Coordinate system that is used in the current Atoll document. If necessary, you can convert the file from a different coordinate system into the current coordinate system. Click the Change button to specify the coordinate system of the file that you are importing. 7. Click Import. The geo data file is imported. You can import ellipses and arcs from MapInfo files (MIF and TAB). Rectangles are interpreted as polygons. You can define mappings between the coordinate system used for the MapInfo/ESRI vector files, defined in the corresponding MIF/PRJ files, and Atoll. This way, when you import a vector file, Atoll can detect the correct coordinate system automatically. For more information about defining the mapping between coordinate systems, please refer to the Administrator Manual.

2.3.3 Importing Traffic Maps You can import traffic maps into the Traffic Maps folder. To import traffic maps: 1. In the Geo explorer, right-click the Traffic Maps folder and select New Map from the context menu. The New Traffic Map dialog box appears. 2. Select the type of map you want to import and click Import. The Open dialog box appears. 3. Select the file that you want to import and click Open.

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2.3.4 Importing MSI Planet® Data MSI Planet® data is contained in a series of files described in index files. The index file is in ASCII text format and contains the information necessary to identify and properly interpret each data file. When you import MSI Planet® data, you can import each type of data separately, by importing the corresponding index file, or you can import several MSI Planet® data files at the same time, by importing several index files. This section explains the following: • •

"Importing a Single MSI Planet® Data Type" on page 122 "Importing a MSI Planet® Database" on page 122.

2.3.4.1 Importing a Single MSI Planet® Data Type When you want to import a certain type of MSI Planet® data, such as a DTM or clutter heights, you import the index file containing the information necessary to import the set of files containing the data. To import one type of MSI Planet® data: 1. Select File > Import. The Open dialog box appears. 2. Select the index file you want to import and click Open. The Data Type dialog box appears. 3. Select the type of data you are importing and select the Embed check box if you want to embed the data in the current Atoll document. 4. Click OK to import the data into the current Atoll document.

2.3.4.2 Importing a MSI Planet® Database You can import all available MSI Planet® data at the same time by importing all index files. To import the MSI Planet® database: 1. Select File > Import. The Open dialog box appears. 2. Select "Planet® database" from the Files of Type list. The Planet Data Import dialog box appears. 3. For each type of data that you want to import: a. Select the corresponding check box. b. If you want to embed the data, select the Embed check box. c. To locate the MSI Planet® index file, click

. The Open dialog box appears.

d. Select the MSI Planet® index file and click Open. The path and name of the file appears in the corresponding field of the Planet Data to Be Imported dialog box. 4. If you are also importing network data, select the network Technology. 5. When you have selected all the types of data you want to import, click OK. The data is imported into the current Atoll document.

2.3.5 Importing a WMS Raster-format Geo Data File You can import raster images from a Web Map Service (WMS) server into your Atoll document. The images can be in TIF, BMP, PNG, or JPEG formats. All images imported at the same time are imported as a single image. Before you import them, you can arrange them by placing the more important images, such as roads, on top; or you can place the least transparent image towards the bottom so that the other images imported at the same time remain visible. The image will be referenced in the document; it can not be embedded. Only WMS data mapped with a projection system (for example, the Lambert Conformal-Conic or the Universal Transverse Mercator projection) can be imported. Before importing an image from a WMS server, you must ensure that the coordinate system used in your document is the same projection system supported by the server. All raster geo data files must be represented in the same projection coordinate system as that used by the Atoll document itself. To import a geographic data file from a web map service: 1. Select File > Import. The Open dialog box appears. 2. From the Files of Type list, select Connection to a Web Map Services server... (*.url). The Web Map Services Data Import dialog box appears. 3. Select the URL of the WMS server from the Server URL list or enter it directly.

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Figure 2.3: Server URL list in the Web Map Services Data Import dialog box The list of WMS servers that appears in the Server URL list is defined by entries in the Atoll.ini file. For information on defining these entries, see the Administrator Manual.

4. Click the Connect button. Atoll connects to the URL of the WMS server and displays the information available along with a description of the service. 5. In the left pane of the Web Map Services Data Import dialog box, click the Expand button ( you want to add in the right pane.

) to navigate to the item

6. Select the check box that precedes the image or the image group, i.e. a group preceded by an Expand button ( The images you select are automatically listed in the right pane. • •

).

Unless you select one or several images, the image or the group of images listed in the right pane will be imported. To select the images you want to import: i.

Click the first image, press Shift, and then click the last image to select contiguous images.

ii. Press Ctrl and click each image separately to select non-contiguous images. 7. Arrange the order in which you want multiple images to appear by selecting each image in the right pane and clicking to move it towards the top or to move it toward the bottom. The images will be imported as a single object and their appearance will depend on the order you define here. 8. If you want, you can also click

to reverse the order of the list.

9. Click Import in the Web Map Services Data Import dialog box. The WMS Map Import dialog box appears. The following information is given about the imported WMS data: • •

•

Data Types: "Image or Scan" is selected. Name: The suggested Name is the name of the image currently selected in the left pane of the Web Map Services Data Import dialog box (e.g "Raster France 1/4 000 000"), or the name of the top folder when more than one image is selected (e.g. Serveur Geosignal_0"). If you want, you can enter a new name (e.g."my_server"). Geographic Coordinates: The geographic coordinates that the WMS data is given.

10. In the WMS Map Import dialog box, click Import. The image is imported by reference into the Atoll document. You can not embed a WMS image in your document. If you had selected more than one image or an image group, Atoll imports the group as a single object. You can not modify this object. If you want to remove one of the images or add another one you will have to go through the import process again. 11. In the Web Map Services Data Import dialog box, click Close. 12. In the Open dialog box, click Cancel to exit.

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2.3.6 Organising Geo Data Files Atoll provides the following features to help you organise geo data files: • • •

"Grouping Geo Data Files in Folders" on page 124 "Creating Folders for Vectors and Images" on page 124 "Moving a Vector or Image into a Dedicated Folder" on page 125

2.3.6.1 Grouping Geo Data Files in Folders By default, when you import scanned images and contours, lines, and points, they appear directly in the Geo explorer. Other data files, such as clutter classes, are listed together in a single Clutter Classes folder. You can, however, group scanned images and contours, lines, and points into folders as well. Once grouped, these geo data files can be displayed or hidden and moved more easily. They retain, however, their own individual display settings; the display settings cannot be managed at the folder level. You create the folder when you import the first geo data file that will be imported into it. When you import the next geo data file, either raster or vector, you can import it directly into the new folder. To create a new geo data folder when importing: 1. Select File > Import. The Open dialog box appears. 2. Select the geo data file and click Open. If the file to be imported is a raster file, the File Import dialog box appears. If the file to be imported is a vector file, the Vector Import dialog box appears. 3. From the Data Type list (on the File Import dialog box) or the Import To list (on the Vector Import dialog box), select New folder in Geo. The New Folder dialog box appears. If you want to import your file to the Network explorer, you can select New folder in Network.

4. Enter a name for the folder in Folder Name box and click OK. 5. Click Import. Your file is imported into the newly created folder. You can now import other geo data files into this folder by selecting it from the Data Type list (on the File Import dialog box) or the Import To list (on the Vector Import dialog box) when you import. You can transfer geo data that has been imported from the Geo explorer to the Network explorer, or vice versa. Right-click the data in the Explorer window and select Move to Network or Move to Geo.

2.3.6.2 Creating Folders for Vectors and Images Atoll enables you to create folders for vectors and images in the Network and Geo explorers. You can create as many levels of folders as you want. Once you have created a vector or image folder, you can move vectors and images into it. For more information, see "Moving a Vector or Image into a Dedicated Folder" on page 125. To create a vector or image folder in the Network or Geo explorer: 1. Right-click anywhere in the Network or Geo explorer, except on a folder or a command. A New Folder for Vectors or Images popup appears. 2. Click the New Folder for Vectors or Images popup. Atoll creates a new folder, New folder, at the top of the Network or Geo explorer where is a number assigned by Atoll sequentially, according to the number of folders with default names in the corresponding folder, see Figure 2.4 on page 124.

Figure 2.4: New folder for vectors or images in Network and Geo explorers

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You can change the name of the folder to give it a more descriptive name.

2.3.6.3 Moving a Vector or Image into a Dedicated Folder Once you have created folders for vectors or images in the Network or Geo explorers as explained in "Creating Folders for Vectors and Images" on page 124, you can organise the vectors and images by moving them into these folders. Atoll allows you to move vectors and images from the root level of the corresponding explorer to a folder, or from one folder to another. To move a vector or image to a dedicated folder: 1. Select the explorer where the vector or image you want to move can be seen (Network or Geo). 2. Click on the vector or image you want to move and, without releasing the mouse button, drag the vector or image and drop it over the name of the destination folder. You can only drop a vector or image in a destination folder when this folder is highlighted, as shown in Figure 2.5.

Figure 2.5: Using drag-and-drop to move a vector or image to a dedicated folder You can also move a folder of any level into another folder, as long as the destination folder does not belong to the folder you want to move.

2.3.7 Embedding Geographic Data By default, when you import a geo data file, Atoll creates a link to the file. You can, however, choose to embed the geo data file in your Atoll document, either when you import it or later. When Atoll is linked to a geo data file, the geo data file remains separate and modifying or saving the Atoll document has no effect on the geo data file. When the geo data file is embedded in the Atoll document, it is saved as part of the document. Both linking and embedding present advantages and disadvantages. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. If you are using distributed calculations, you must link your geo data files. Distributed calculations will not work with embedded geo data files. For information, see the Administrator Manual. To embed a geo data file in the current Atoll document while you are importing: •

Select the Embed in Document check box on the File Import or Vector Import dialog box.

To embed a geo data file that is already linked to the current Atoll document: 1. Select the Geo explorer. 2. Right-click the file you want to embed in the current document. 3. Select Properties from the context menu. 4. Click the General tab of the Properties dialog box. 5. Click Embed. 6. Click OK. The geo data file is now embedded in the current Atoll document.

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2.3.8 Repairing a Broken Link to a Geo Data File By default, when you import a geo data file, Atoll creates a link to the file; the geo data file remains separate and modifying or saving the Atoll document has no effect on the geo data file. If, however, the geo data file is moved, the link will be broken. To repair a broken link from within the Atoll document: 1. Select the Geo explorer. •

If the geo data file is in a folder, such as the Clutter Classes, Traffic Maps, or DTM folder, click folder.

to expand the

2. Right-click on the geo data file whose link you want to repair. The context menu appears. 3. Select Properties from the context menu. 4. On the General tab of the Properties dialog box, click the Find button. 5. Browse to the geo data file, select it and click OK.

2.4 Digital Terrain Models The Digital Terrain Model (DTM) is a geographic data file representing the elevation of the ground over sea level. To manage the properties of the DTM: 1. Select the Geo explorer. 2. Right-click the Digital Terrain Model folder. 3. Select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 4. Click the Display tab to define the display properties for the DTM. •

For information on Display tab settings, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51.

5. Move the Relief slider towards Flat, if you want to display very few little relief or towards x6 if you want to emphasise the differences in altitude. 6. Click OK to close the Properties dialog box.

2.5 Clutter Classes The clutter class geo data file describes land cover or land use. Each pixel of a clutter class file contains a code (from a maximum of 256 possible classes) which corresponds to a clutter class, or in other words to a certain type of ground use or cover. The height per class can be defined as part of the clutter class, however this height is only an average per class. A clutter height map can represent height much more accurately because it allows a different height to be assigned for each bin of the map. For information on clutter height maps, see "Clutter Heights" on page 130. This section explains the following: • • • • •

"Assigning Names to Clutter Classes" on page 126 "Defining Clutter Class Properties" on page 127 "Adding a Clutter Class" on page 129 "Refreshing the List of Clutter Classes" on page 129 "Displaying Total Surface Area per Clutter Class" on page 130.

2.5.1 Assigning Names to Clutter Classes The clutter class file identifies each clutter class with a code. To make it easier to work with clutter classes, you can assign a descriptive name to each clutter class name. When a clutter class has a descriptive name, it is the name that appears in tip text and reports. When you import a clutter class file in BIL, TIF, JPEG 2000, or IMP format, Atoll can automatically assign names to clutter classes if the clutter class file has a corresponding MNU file. The MNU file contains a list with the clutter class codes and their corresponding names. For more information on the MNU file format and on creating an MNU file, see the Atoll Administrator Manual. To assign names to clutter classes: 1. Select the Geo explorer. 2. Right-click the Clutter Classes folder.

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3. Select Properties from the context menu. 4. Click the Description tab of the Properties dialog box. 5. In the Name column, enter descriptive text for each class identified in the Code column.

2.5.2 Defining Clutter Class Properties The parameters are applied in relation to the location of the receiver being studied and the clutter class of the receiver location. These parameters can be set on the Properties dialog box: To define clutter class properties: 1. Select the Geo explorer. 2. Right-click the Clutter Classes folder. 3. Select Properties from the context menu. 4. Click the Description tab of the Properties dialog box. 5. Enter a Name and average Height (m) for each code. • •

If Height is left blank, propagation models that use this value use 0 by default. If clutter class heights are modified, you must recalculate path loss matrices by clicking Force Calculation ( lations.

) to apply the changes to any predictions and simu-

6. Enter default values in the first row of the table on the Description tab. or information about each field, see the descriptions in the following step. The default values are used if no clutter map is available. Even if there is a clutter classes map, you can select the Use default values only check box on the at the bottom of the Description tab to make Atoll use the values specified in this row instead of the values defined per clutter class. 7. If necessary, you can enter a value for each of the following fields applicable to the current document: •

For all Atoll documents: • •

•

For GSM GPRS EDGE documents: • • •

•

Model Standard Deviation (dB): to calculate shadowing losses on the path loss, as related to a user-defined cell edge coverage probability. Indoor Loss (dB): to be applied to the path loss and used in coverage predictions, point analysis, and Monte Carlo simulations. Use this setting to define a value of indoor loss per frequency. If a network item operates on a frequency for which the indoor loss is not defined in the indoor loss graph, an indoor loss value is interpolated from the values available in the graph. C/I Standard Deviation (DL) (dB): to calculate shadowing losses on the C/I values, as related to a user-defined cell edge coverage probability. Additional Transmit Diversity Gain (DL) (dB): to add to the 3 dB gain if Tx diversity is active at the subcell level. Antenna Hopping Gain (DL) (dB): to apply on a calculated C/I if antenna hopping is active at the subcell level.

For UMTS HSPA, and CDMA2000 1xRTT 1xEV-DO documents: • • • •

•

• •

Ec/Io Standard Deviation (dB): to calculate shadowing losses on the Ec/Io values, as related to a user-defined cell edge coverage probability. DL Eb/Nt Standard Deviation (dB): to calculate shadowing losses on the Eb/Nt values, as related to a userdefined cell edge coverage probability. UL Eb/Nt Standard Deviation (dB): to calculate shadowing losses on the Eb/Nt values, as related to a userdefined cell edge coverage probability. % Pilot Finger: to be used in the Ec/Io calculations. This factor represents the percentage of energy received by the mobile pilot finger. Mobile user equipment has one searcher finger for pilot. The searcher finger selects one path and only energy from this path is considered as signal; energy from other multipaths is considered as interference. For example, if 70% of the total energy is in one path and 30% of the energy is in other multipaths, then the signal energy is reduced to 70% of total energy). Orthogonality Factor: to be used to evaluate DL Eb/Nt. This parameter indicates the remaining orthogonality at the receiver; it can be modelled by a value from 0, indicating no remaining orthogonality because of multipath, to 1, indicating perfect orthogonality. Spatial Multiplexing Gain Factor: to apply to the spatial multiplexing gain read from the Max Spatial Multiplexing Gain graphs in the MIMO tab of reception equipment. Additional Diversity Gain (DL) (dB): to add to the user’s downlink HS-PDSCH Ec/Nt, if the user and its reference cell supports transmit diversity.

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•

For TD-SCDMA documents: • • • •

•

• •

• • •

• • •

C/I Standard Deviation (DL) (dB): to calculate shadowing losses on the C/(I+N) values, as related to a user-defined cell edge coverage probability. SU-MIMO Gain Factor: to apply to the spatial multiplexing gain read from the Max SU-MIMO Gain graphs in the MIMO tab of reception equipment. Additional Diversity Gain (DL) (dB): to add to the user’s downlink C/(I+N), if the user and its reference cell support transmit diversity. Additional Diversity Gain (UL) (dB): to add to the user’s uplink C/(I+N), if the user and its reference cell support receive diversity.

For multi-RAT documents: • • • • • • • •

•

• • •

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C/I Standard Deviation (DL) (dB): to calculate shadowing losses on the C/(I+N) values, as related to a user-defined cell edge coverage probability. SU-MIMO Gain Factor: to apply to the spatial multiplexing gain read from the Max SU-MIMO Gain graphs in the MIMO tab of reception equipment. Additional Diversity Gain (DL) (dB): to add to the user’s downlink C/(I+N), if the user and its reference cell support transmission diversity. Additional Diversity Gain (UL) (dB): to add to the user’s uplink C/(I+N), if the user and its reference cell support reception diversity.

For LTE documents: •

•

P-CCPCH Eb/Nt or C/I Standard Deviation (dB): to calculate shadowing losses on the P-CCPCH Eb/Nt or C/I values, as related to a user-defined cell edge coverage probability. DL Eb/Nt or C/I Standard Deviation (dB): to calculate shadowing losses on the Eb/Nt or C/I values, as related to a user-defined cell edge coverage probability. UL Eb/Nt or C/I Standard Deviation (dB): to calculate shadowing losses on the Eb/Nt or C/I values, as related to a user-defined cell edge coverage probability. DL Orthogonality Factor: to be used to evaluate DL Eb/Nt or C/I. This parameter indicates the remaining orthogonality at the receiver; it can be modelled by a value from 0, indicating no remaining orthogonality because of multi-path, to 1, indicating perfect orthogonality. UL Orthogonality Factor: to be used to evaluate UL Eb/Nt or C/I. This parameter indicates the remaining orthogonality at the receiver; it can be modelled by a value from 0, indicating no remaining orthogonality because of multi-path, to 1, indicating perfect orthogonality. Spreading Angle (°): to be used in determining the cumulative distribution of C/I gains for statistical smart antenna modelling.

For WiMAX and Wi-Fi documents: •

•

© 2016 Forsk. All Rights Reserved.

GSM Model Standard Deviation (dB): to calculate shadowing losses on the path loss (from GSM transmitters only), in relation to a user-defined cell edge coverage probability. GSM C/I Standard Deviation (DL) (dB): to calculate shadowing losses on the C/I values (from GSM transmitters only), in relation to a user-defined cell edge coverage probability. GSM Additional Diversity Gain (DL) (dB): to add to the 3 dB gain if diversity is set at the subcell level (GSM transmitters only). UMTS Model Standard Deviation (dB): to calculate shadowing losses on the path loss (from UMTS cells only), in relation to a user-defined cell edge coverage probability. UMTS Ec/Io Standard Deviation (dB): to calculate shadowing losses on the Ec/Io values (from UMTS cells only), in relation to a user-defined cell edge coverage probability. UMTS DL Eb/Nt Standard Deviation (dB): to calculate shadowing losses on the Eb/Nt values (from UMTS cells only), in relation to a user-defined cell edge coverage probability. UMTS UL Eb/Nt Standard Deviation (dB): to calculate shadowing losses on the Eb/Nt values (from UMTS cells only), in relation to a user-defined cell edge coverage probability. UMTS % Pilot Finger: to be used in the Ec/Io calculations (from UMTS cells only). This factor represents the percentage of energy received by the mobile pilot finger. (Mobile user equipment has one searcher finger for the pilot. The searcher finger selects one path and only energy from this path is considered as signal; energy from other multipaths is considered as interference. For example, if 70% of the total energy is in one path and 30% of the energy is in other multipaths, then the signal energy is reduced to 70% of total energy). UMTS Orthogonality Factor: to be used to evaluate DL Eb/Nt (from UMTS cells only). This parameter indicates the remaining orthogonality at the receiver; it can be modelled by a value from 0, indicating no remaining orthogonality because of multi-path, to 1, indicating perfect orthogonality. UMTS Spatial Multiplexing Gain Factor: to apply to the spatial multiplexing gain read from the Max Spatial Multiplexing Gain graphs on the MIMO tab of UMTS reception equipment. UMTS Additional Diversity Gain (DL) (dB): to add to the user’s downlink HS-PDSCH Ec/Nt, if the user’s mobile and his reference UMTS cell support transmit diversity. LTE Model Standard Deviation (dB): to calculate shadowing losses on the path loss (from LTE cells only), in relation to a user-defined cell edge coverage probability.

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• • • •

LTE C/I Standard Deviation (DL) (dB): to calculate shadowing losses on the C/(I+N) values (from LTE cells only), in relation to a user-defined cell edge coverage probability. LTE SU-MIMO Gain Factor: to apply to the spatial multiplexing gain read from the Max SU-MIMO Gain graphs in the MIMO tab of LTE reception equipment. LTE Additional Diversity Gain (DL) (dB): to add to the user’s downlink C/(I+N), if the user’s mobile and his reference LTE cell support transmit diversity. LTE Additional Diversity Gain (UL) (dB): to add to the user’s uplink C/(I+N), if the user’s mobile and his reference LTE cell support receive diversity.

8. If you want to use default values for all clutter classes, select the Use only default values check box at the bottom of the Description tab. 9. Click the Display tab to define the display properties for clutter classes. In addition to the Display tab options described in "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51, each clutter class display type has a visibility check box. By selecting or clearing the visibility check box, you can display or hide clutter class display types individually. Selecting white as the colour for a clutter class value or value interval will cause that clutter class value or value interval to be displayed as transparent.

10. Click OK. You can copy the description table into a new Atoll document after importing the clutter classes file. To copy the description table, select the entire table by clicking the cell in the upper-left corner of the table and press Ctrl+C. On the Description tab of the clutter classes Properties dialog box in the new Atoll document, press Ctrl+V to paste the values in the table.

2.5.3 Adding a Clutter Class You can add a new clutter class to your document. To add a new clutter class to the your document: 1. Select the Geo explorer. 2. Right-click the Clutter Classes folder. 3. Select Properties from the context menu. 4. Select the Description tab from the Properties dialog box. 5. In the blank row marked with column.

at the bottom of the table, enter an unused number from 1 to 255 in the Code

6. Fill in the remainder of the fields as described in step 5. and step 7. of "Defining Clutter Class Properties" on page 127. 7. Click OK. You can now use the new clutter class when modifying the clutter class map. For information on modifying the clutter class map, see "Creating a Clutter Polygon" on page 143.

2.5.4 Refreshing the List of Clutter Classes Under certain circumstances, it can happen that the list of clutter classes on the Description tab of the clutter classes Properties dialog box contains unused clutter classes. For example, if you have imported two clutter class files and then deleted one of them, the list of clutter classes will still contain the clutter classes of the deleted file, even if they are not used in the remaining file. Whenever you want to ensure that the list of clutter classes is accurate and current, you can refresh the list. To refresh the list of the clutter classes: 1. Select the Geo explorer. 2. Right-click the Clutter Classes folder. 3. Select Properties from the context menu. 4. Select the Description tab from the Properties dialog box. 5. Click Refresh. Atoll removes the unused clutter classes from the list. 6. Click OK.

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2.5.5 Displaying Total Surface Area per Clutter Class You can display the total surface area covered by each clutter class in the document. Atoll displays the surface area covered by each clutter class in the focus zone if there is one, in the computation zone if there is no focus zone and, if there is no focus or computation zone, Atoll displays the total surface area covered by each clutter class in the entire document. This information is also available in prediction reports. To display the surface area covered by each clutter class: 1. Select the Geo explorer. 2. Right-click the Clutter Classes folder. 3. Select Statistics from the context menu. The Statistics dialog box appears, displaying the surface area (Si in km²) of each clutter class (i) and its percentage (% of i) in the computation zone or focus zone, if one exists. Si % of I = --------------  100 Sk

 k

2.6 Clutter Heights Clutter height maps describe the altitude of clutter over the DTM. Clutter height files allow for a higher degree of accuracy because they allow more than one height per clutter class. In a clutter height file, a height is given for each point on the map. If you define clutter height as a property of clutter classes, the height is given as an average per clutter class. When a clutter height file is available, Atoll uses its clutter height information for calculations using certain propagation models (the Standard Propagation Model and WLL model), for display (in tip text and in the status line), and for CW measurements and test mobile data paths. If no clutter height file exists, Atoll uses the average clutter height per clutter class as defined in the clutter classes properties (see "Defining Clutter Class Properties" on page 127). To manage the properties of clutter heights: 1. Select the Geo explorer. 2. Right-click the Clutter Heights folder. 3. Select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 4. Click the Display tab to define the display properties for clutter heights. •

For information on Display tab settings, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51.

5. Click OK to close the Properties dialog box. The clutter height of the current pointer position as given in the clutter height file or in the clutter classes is displayed in the status bar.

2.7 Contours, Lines, and Points In Atoll, you can import or create vector objects such as contours, lines, and points. The imported or created vectors are used primarily for display purposes, but polygons can be used as filters, or computation or focus zones. Vector files can also be used for traffic maps or for population maps. They can also be used as part of an custom geo data map (see "Custom Geo Data Maps" on page 133). In an Atoll document, vector objects such as contours, lines, and points are arranged in vector layers. When you import a vector file, with, for example, roads, Atoll adds the file as a new vector layer containing all the vector objects in the file. The vector object data can be managed in the vector layer table. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. In this section, the following are explained: • • •

"Managing the Display of a Vector Layer" on page 130 "Managing the Properties of the Vector Layer" on page 131 "Moving a Vector Layer to the Network Explorer" on page 131.

2.7.1 Managing the Display of a Vector Layer Imported geographic vector files can have different attributes depending on their file formats. Atoll can use additional information related to vectors as display parameters. In addition, Atoll can read three-dimensional vector data.

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To manage the display of a vector layer: 1. Click the Network or Geo explorer on which the vector layer is located. 2. Right-click the vector layer. The context menu appears. 3. Select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 4. Select the Display tab of the Properties dialog box. For information on using the display tab, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. You can manage the display of an individual vector object by right-clicking the vector object in the vector layer folder and selecting Properties from the context menu.

2.7.2 Managing the Properties of the Vector Layer The properties of the objects on the vector layer can be managed in two ways: either from a table containing all vectors and their attributes or from the Properties dialog box. Vector Layer Table All the vector objects of a vector layer and their attributes are listed in the vector table. To open the vector layer table: 1. On the Explorer window tab containing the vector layer, right-click the vector layer folder. The context menu appears. 2. Select Open Table from the context menu. The vector table appears. You can edit the contents of this table using the commands from the context menu or from the Edit, Format, and Records menus. For more information on editing tables in Atoll, see "Data Tables" on page 75. Vector Layer Properties dialog box The vector layer Properties dialog box has three tabs: a General tab, a Table tab, and a Display tab. To open the Properties dialog box of a vector layer: 1. On the Explorer window tab containing the vector layer, right-click the vector layer folder. The context menu appears. 2. Select Properties from the context menu. 3. Click the General tab. The following options are available: • •

Name: The name of the vector layer. You can rename the vector layer using this field. Source File: The complete path of the vector layer file if the file is linked to the Atoll document; otherwise the file is described as embedded. • •

•

Find: Click the Find button to redefine the path when the file’s location has changed. Embed: Click the Embed button to embed a linked vector layer file in the Atoll document.

Coordinate System: When a vector layer is linked, the coordinate system used is the file’s, as specified when the file was imported. When the a vector layer is embedded, the coordinate system used is document’s, as specified when the file was embedded. •

Change: Click the Change button to change the coordinate system of the vector layer.

•

Sort: Click the Sort button to sort the data contained in the vector layer. For information on sorting, see "Advanced Sorting" on page 98.

•

Filter: Click the Filter button to filter the data contained in the vector layer. For information on filtering, see "Advanced Data Filtering" on page 101.

4. Click the Table tab. You can use the Table tab to manage the vector layer table content. For information on the Table tab, see "Adding, Deleting, and Editing Data Table Fields" on page 76. 5. Click the Display tab. You can use the Display tab to manage the vector layer display. For information on the Table tab, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51.

2.7.3 Moving a Vector Layer to the Network Explorer In Atoll, all objects in the Network explorer, such as transmitters, antennas, and predictions, are displayed over all objects in the Geo explorer. You may wish, however, to ensure that certain geo data, for example, major geographical features, roads, etc., remain visible in the map window. You can do this by transferring the geo data from the Geo explorer to the Network explorer and placing it above data such as predictions.

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To transfer a vector layer to the Network explorer: 1. Select the Geo explorer. 2. Right-click the vector layer you want to transfer. The context menu appears. 3. Select Move to Network from the context menu. The vector layer is transferred to the Network explorer. You can transfer the vector layer back to the Geo explorer by right-clicking it in the Network explorer and selecting Move to Geo from the context menu. For more information about display priority in Atoll, see "Setting the Priority of Geo Data" on page 138.

2.8 Scanned Images Scanned images are geographic data files which represent the actual physical surroundings, for example, road maps or satellite images. They are used to provide a precise background for other objects or for less precise maps.They have no effect on calculations. In this section, the following are explained: • •

"Importing Several Scanned Images" on page 132 "Defining the Display Properties of Scanned Images" on page 132.

2.8.1 Importing Several Scanned Images You can import scanned images into the current Atoll document one at a time, as explained in "Importing Geo Data Files" on page 119, or you can import a group of images by importing an index file listing the individual image files. The index file is a text file with the information for each image file on a separate line. Each line contains the following information, with the information separated by a space: • • • • • •

File name: The name of the file, with its path relative to the current location of the index file. XMIN: The beginning X coordinate of the file. XMAX: The end X coordinate, calculated as XMIN + (number of horizontal bins x bin width). YMIN: The beginning Y coordinate of the file. YMAX: The end Y coordinate, calculated as YMIN + (number of horizontal bins x bin width). 0: The zero character ends the sequence. nice1.tif 984660 995380 1860900 1872280 0 nice2.tif 996240 1004900 1860980 1870700 0 File name

XMIN

XMAX

YMIN

YMAX

0

To import an index 1. Select File > Import. 2. Select the index file and click Open. The File Import dialog box appears. 3. Select Image or Scan from the Data Type list. 4. Click Import. The image files imported and listed in the Geo explorer.

2.8.2 Defining the Display Properties of Scanned Images Because imported images cannot be modified, they have fewer display parameters than other object types. To define the display properties of a scanned image: 1. Select the Geo explorer. 2. Right-click the scanned image. The context menu appears. 3. Select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 4. Select the Display tab and set the following options: • • • •

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Colour: Select either Automatic, Shades of gray, or Watermark from the list. Transparent Colour: Select White from the list if you wish parts of the scanned image that are coloured white to be transparent, allowing objects in lower layers to be visible. Lightness: Move the slider to lighten or darken the scanned image. Contrast: Move the slider to adjust the contrast.

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•

Visibility Scale: Enter a visibility scale minimum in the between 1: text box and maximum in the and 1: text box. When the displayed or printed scale is outside this range, the scanned image is not displayed.

5. Click OK.

2.9 Population Maps Population maps contain information on population density or on the total number of inhabitants. Population maps can be used in prediction reports in order to display, for example, the absolute and relative numbers of the population covered. In this section, the following are explained: • •

"Managing the Display of Population Data" on page 133 "Displaying Population Statistics" on page 133.

2.9.1 Managing the Display of Population Data You can manage the display of population data. To manage the display of population data: 1. Select the Geo explorer. 2. Right-click the Population folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 4. Select the Display tab of the Properties dialog box. For information on using the display tab, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. Vector points added to a vector population map are not displayed if the map is displayed by population density.

2.9.2 Displaying Population Statistics You can display the relative and absolute distribution of population, according to the defined value intervals in the display properties (for information on defining value intervals, see "Setting the Display Type" on page 52), as well as the total population. Atoll displays the statistics for the focus zone if there is one, for the computation zone if there is no focus zone and, if there is no focus or computation zone, Atoll displays the statistics for the entire document. To display the population distribution statistics: 1. Select the Geo explorer. 2. Right-click the Population folder. 3. Select Statistics from the context menu. The Statistics window appears with the distributions of each value interval defined in the display properties. Statistics are displayed only for visible data. See "Displaying or Hiding Objects on the Map" on page 50.

2.10 Custom Geo Data Maps You can import maps other than the default maps that Atoll uses. For example, you can import files for the revenue, rainfall, or socio-demographic data. Depending on the type of information displayed, you could use it in prediction reports. For example, you could display the predicted revenue for defined coverage. These maps can be raster files of 8, 16, or 32 bits per pixel or vector-format files that you have either imported or created using the Vector Editor toolbar "Vector Objects" on page 71.

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You create an custom data map by: 1. Importing an custom geo data file and creating the custom data map folder. 2. Importing other custom geo data files into the newly created custom data map folder, if more than one file will be used for this custom geo data map. In this section, the following are explained: • • • • •

"Creating a Custom Geo Data Map" on page 134 "Adding a File to a Custom Geo Data Map" on page 135 "Managing the Properties of a Custom Geo Data Map" on page 135 "Displaying Statistics on Custom Geo Data" on page 136 "Integrable versus Non-integrable Data" on page 136.

2.10.1 Creating a Custom Geo Data Map The first step in creating a custom geo data map is importing the first file and creating the custom data map folder. To create an custom geo data map: 1. Select File > Import. The Open dialog box appears. 2. Select the first geo data file that will be a part of the custom data map and click Open. • •

If the selected file is a raster file, the File Import dialog box appears. If the selected file is a vector file, the Vector Import dialog box appears.

3. Click the Advanced button. The New Type dialog box appears (see Figure 2.6 on page 135). 4. Enter a Name for the custom geo data map. Atoll creates a folder with this name in the Geo explorer and all other files of the new custom geo data map will go in here. 5. Under Supported Input Formats, select the check boxes corresponding to the formats of both the present file and all other files that will constitute the new custom geo data map: • • • •

8-bit Raster 16-bit Raster 32-bit Raster Vector If you do not select all the formats you need now, you will not be able to add a format later.

6. Under Supported Input Formats, select the check box corresponding to the type of value of the present file and all other files that will constitute the new custom geo data map: • • • • •

Classes (8 bits): to create a map of value classes (such as clutter classes) with classes from 0 to 255. Short Integer (16 bits): to create a map with whole values. Long Integer (32 bits): to create a map with whole values. Float (32 bits): to create a map with decimal values. Double (64 bits): to create a map with decimal values.

7. Select the Integrable check box if you want to be able to use imported data as a surface density value and show cumulative custom geo data in prediction reports. • •

To use imported data as a surface density value, you must select the Integrable check box. You can not change the integrable setting once you have created your custom geo data map.

8. Click OK. 9. If the imported file is a raster file, the File Import dialog box appears; if the imported file is a vector file, the Vector Import dialog box appears: • •

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File Import dialog box: From the Use as list, select whether the new data is to be used a Density or as a Value. Vector Import dialog box: Under Fields to be imported, select from the first list which field is to be imported and from the second list whether the imported field is a Density or a Value (see Figure 2.1 on page 121 and Figure 2.2 on page 121).

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If the file you first import when you create your custom geo data map is an 8-bit raster map, the Use as and Fields to be imported boxes will not be available for any file that is imported into your new custom geo data map. The values in 8-bit maps are codes and not values such as densities. 10. .Click Import. A new folder is created in the Geo explorer containing the geo data file you imported.

Figure 2.6: The New Type dialog box

2.10.2 Adding a File to a Custom Geo Data Map Once you have created the custom geo data map by importing the first file, you can add more files that will be part of the custom map. To add a file to an custom geo data map: 1. Select File > Import. The Open dialog box appears. 2. Select the geo data file that you want to add to the custom data map and click Open. •

If the selected file is a raster file, the File Import dialog box appears . i.

From the File Type list, select the name of the custom geo data map.

ii. From the Use as list, select whether the new data is to be used a Density or as a Value. •

If the selected file is a vector file, the Vector Import dialog box appears. i.

From the Import To list, select the name of the custom geo data map.

ii. Under Fields to be imported, select from the first list which field is to be imported and from the second list whether the imported field is a Density or a Value (see Figure 2.1 on page 121 and Figure 2.2 on page 121). •

•

If the file you first imported when you created your custom geo data map was an 8-bit raster map, the Use as and Fields to be imported boxes will not be available for any file that is imported into your new custom geo data map. To use imported data as a surface density value, you must select the Integrable check box.

3. Click Import. The file is added to the custom geo data file in the Geo explorer containing the geo data file you imported.

2.10.3 Managing the Properties of a Custom Geo Data Map To manage the properties of a custom geo data map: 1. Right-click the custom geo data map in the Geo explorer. 2. Select Properties from the context menu: 3. Depending on the imported file types, the following tabs are available: •

Description: This tab lists the classes of all 8-bit raster files contained in the custom geo data map. You must enter a different value for each class.

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• •

•

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Table: This tab enables you to manage the contents of the class table presented on the Description tab. For information on working with the Table tab, see "Adding, Deleting, and Editing Data Table Fields" on page 76. Data Mapping: This tab enables you to select which value from each imported vector file is part of the custom geo data map. The imported vector files are listed in the Name column, with the relevant data selected in the Field column. You can change this value by selecting another value from the Field list. If the custom geo data map is marked as integrable (see "Integrable versus Non-integrable Data" on page 136), there is also a Density check box. If the value in the Field column is to be considered as a density, select the Density check box. Display: This tab enables you to define how the custom geo data map appears in the map window. Discrete value and value interval are the available display types. In the Field list, display by value is not permitted if the custom geo data map has: • • •

different raster maps with different resolutions both line and polygon vectors both raster and vector maps.

In the Field list, display by density is not permitted if the custom geo data map consists of vector points or lines. For information on using the display tab, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51.

2.10.4 Displaying Statistics on Custom Geo Data You can display the relative and absolute distribution of each value interval (for information on defining value intervals, see "Setting the Display Type" on page 52) of an custom geo data map. Atoll displays the statistics for the focus zone if there is one, for the computation zone if there is no focus zone and, if there is no focus or computation zone, Atoll displays the statistics for the entire document. To display the statistics of an custom geo data map: 1. Select the Geo explorer. 2. Right-click the custom geo data map. 3. Select Statistics from the context menu. The Statistics window appears with the distributions of each value interval. Statistics are displayed only for visible data. See "Displaying or Hiding Objects on the Map" on page 50.

2.10.5 Integrable versus Non-integrable Data Integrable data can be summed over the coverage area defined by the item in a prediction report (for example, by transmitter or threshold). The data can be value data (revenue, number of customers, etc.) or density data (revenue/km², number of customer/km², etc.). For example, if the integrable data comes from a revenue map, a prediction report would indicate: • • •

The percentage of coverage for each revenue class for the entire focus zone, and for each single coverage area (transmitter, threshold, etc.), The revenue of the focus zone and of each single coverage area, The percentage of the revenue map covered for the entire focus zone and for each single coverage area.

Data is considered as non-integrable if the data given is per pixel or polygon and cannot be summed over areas, for example, socio-demographic classes, etc. In the example of a socio-demographic classes map, a prediction report would indicate: •

The coverage of each socio-demographic class for the entire focus zone and for each single coverage area (transmitter, threshold, etc.)

2.11 Displaying Online Maps Several types of online maps can be displayed in the map window. These maps have no effect on coverage prediction results and simulation results. This section covers the following topics: • • • •

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"Displaying Online Maps from a Generic Tile Server" on page 137 "Displaying Online Maps from the Microsoft Bing Tile Server" on page 137 "Displaying Online Maps from a GEO or CFG File" on page 138 "Online Maps Display Properties" on page 138

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2.11.1 Displaying Online Maps from a Generic Tile Server To display online maps from a generic tile server: 1. Make sure that a projection coordinate system is specified (see "Setting a Coordinate System" on page 41) and that it is the same system supported by the tile server. If the projection coordinate systems are different, the map tiles can look disproportionate when you drag the map away from the area targeted by the projection coordinate system.

2. In the Geo explorer, right-click the Online Maps folder (

). The context menu appears.

3. Select New from the context menu. The Add a Tile Server dialog box appears. 4. Click the small triangle to the right of Name and select a tile server from the drop-down list. Selecting a tile server from the drop-down list next to Name automatically fills the Name and Server URL fields. Provider, Type, and Language fields remain greyed. • •

Name: Indicates the name of the tile server you selected. If you want, you can modify the name. Server URL: (Read-only) Indicates the URL of the tile server you selected. A server URL includes a tile set where: • •

"%z" represents the detail level, and "%x" and "%y" the tile coordinates, or "%q" represents a quadkey identifying a single tile at a particular detail level.

5. Click OK to validate and close the Add a Tile Server dialog box. A new item appears in the Online Maps folder with the online map icon ( ) followed by the Name currently defined in the Add a Tile Server dialog box. 6. In the Geo explorer, select the check box preceding the online map that you specified. The selected online map appears in the background of the map window according to the scale currently defined in the toolbar. The map tiles that you load in Atoll are stored in a specific cache directory named after the corresponding tile server. By default, the location of this cache is "%TEMP%\OnlineMaps". You can change this location by setting the TilesCachePath option in the [OnlineMaps] section of the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual.

2.11.2 Displaying Online Maps from the Microsoft Bing Tile Server To display online maps from the Microsoft Bing tile server: 1. Set the relevant option with a valid key in the [OnlineMaps] section of the Atoll.ini file, e.g. BingKey=. 2. Make sure that a projection coordinate system is specified (see "Setting a Coordinate System" on page 41) and that it is the same system supported by the tile server. If the projection coordinate systems are different, the map tiles can look disproportionate when you drag the map away from the area targeted by the projection coordinate system.

3. In the Geo explorer, right-click the Online Maps folder (

). The context menu appears.

4. Select New from the context menu. The Add a Tile Server dialog box appears. 5. In the Add a Tile Server dialog box, set the following options: • • • •

Name: Type the name you want to display in the Geo explorer under the Online Maps folder, for this tile server. Provider: Select a provider from the drop-down list, e.g. "Bing" Type: Select a map type from the drop-down list, e.g. "Aerial", "Road", "Hybrid" Language: Select a language from the drop-down list (default languages are "English", "French", and "Japanese"). You can display other languages if they are specified in the Atoll.ini file (for example if Provider="Bing", you must set the BingLanguage"X" and BingCulture"X" options in the [OnlineMaps] section for each additional language ).

6. Click OK to validate and close the Add a Tile Server dialog box. A new item appears in the Online Maps folder with the online map icon ( ) followed by the Name currently defined in the Add a Tile Server dialog box.

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7. In the Geo explorer, select the check box preceding the online map that you specified. The selected online map appears in the background of the map window, according to the scale currently defined in the toolbar. The map tiles which are loaded in Atoll are stored in a specific cache directory named after the corresponding tile server. By default, the location of this cache is "%TEMP%\OnlineMaps". You can change this location by setting the TilesCachePath option in the [OnlineMaps] section of the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual.

2.11.3 Displaying Online Maps from a GEO or CFG File To display an online map from a geo data file or from a user configuration file: 1. Make sure that a projection coordinate system is specified (see "Setting a Coordinate System" on page 41) and that it is the same system supported by the tiles you want to display. If the projection coordinate systems are different, the map tiles can look disproportionate when you drag the map away from the area targeted by the projection coordinate system.

2. Follow the procedure described in "Loading a Geo Data Set" on page 142.

2.11.4 Online Maps Display Properties Once an online map loaded into Atoll from a tile server, you can modify the way it is displayed in the map window. To change the display properties of an online map: 1. In the Geo explorer, expand the Online Maps folder. 2. Right-click the online map you want. The context menu appears. 3. Select Properties from the context menu. The online map’s Properties dialog box appears. 4. Click the Display tab. The default display settings are the following: • • •

Colour: "Automatic" Brightness: slider at 50% Contrast: slider at 50%

5. If you set Colour to "Watermark", the Brightness and Contrast settings are automatically set to 80% and 20%, resp. 6. You can also change the Brightness and/or Contrast settings manually by moving the corresponding sliders. Click Apply each time you change a setting to see on the map how it affects the displayed online map. 7. Click OK.

2.12 Setting the Priority of Geo Data Atoll lists the imported DTM, clutter class or traffic objects in their respective folders and creates a separate folder for each imported vector data file and scanned image. Each object is placed on a separate layer. Thus, there are as many layers as imported objects. The layers are arranged from top to bottom in the map window as they appear in the Geo explorer. It is important to remember that all objects in the Network explorer, such as transmitters, antennas, and predictions, are displayed over all objects in the Geo explorer.

2.12.1 Setting the Display Priority of Geo Data There are several factors that influence the visibility of geo data: •

•

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The display check box: The check box immediately to the left of the object name in the Geo explorer controls whether or not the object is displayed on the map. If the check box is selected ( ), the object is displayed; if the check box is cleared ( ), the object is not displayed. If the check box, is selected but shaded ( ), not all objects in the folder are displayed. For more information, see "Displaying or Hiding Objects on the Map" on page 50. The order of the layers: The layer at the top of the Geo explorer is on top of all other layers in the map window. Data on layers below is only visible where there is no data on the top layer or if you adjust the transparency of the objects on the top layer. You can use drag and drop to change the order of layers by dragging a layer in the Geo explorer towards the top or the bottom of the tab.

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All objects in the Network explorer, such as transmitters, antennas, and predictions, are displayed over all objects in the Geo explorer. Vector geo data, however, can be transferred to the Network explorer, where they can be placed over data such as predictions. In this way, you can ensure that certain vector geo data, for example, major geographical features, roads, etc., remain visible in the map window For more information, see "Moving a Vector Layer to the Network Explorer" on page 131. •

•

The transparency of objects: You can change the transparency of some objects, such as predictions, and some object types, such as clutter classes, to allow objects on lower layers to be visible on the map. For more information, see "Setting the Transparency of Objects and Object Types" on page 53. The visibility range of objects: You can define a visibility range for object types. An object is visible only in the map window if the scale, as displayed on the zoom toolbar, is within this range. For more information, see "Setting the Visibility Scale" on page 53.

In Figure 2.7, vector data (including the linear vectors HIGHWAYS, COASTLINE, RIVERLAKE, MAJORROADS, MAJORSTREETS, RAILWAYS and AIRPORT), clutter classes, DTM and scanned image have been imported and a UMTS environment traffic map has been edited inside the computation zone. In the map window, the linear objects (ROADS, RIVERLAKE, etc.) are visible both inside and outside the computation zone. The clutter class layer is visible in the area where there is no traffic data (outside the computation zone). On the other hand, the DTM layer which is beneath the clutter class layer and the scanned map which is beneath the DTM layer, are not visible.

Figure 2.7: Displaying Geo data layers

2.12.2 Setting the Priority of Geo Data in Calculations The priority of geo data in calculations is determined in much the same way as it is for display. When you make calculations in Atoll, the data taken into account in each folder (Clutter Classes, DTM, etc.) is the data from the top down. In other words, Atoll takes the object on top and objects below only where there is no data in higher levels; what is used is what is seen. The visibility in the context of calculations must not be confused with the display check box ( ). Even if the display check box of an object is cleared ( ), so that the object is not displayed on the map, it will still be taken into consideration for calculations. The only cases where clearing the display check box means that the data will not be used are for population data in reports, and for custom geo data maps. Object folders, for example, the DTM, clutter classes, clutter heights, and traffic density folders, can contain more than one data object. These objects can represent different areas of the map or the same parts of the map with the same or different resolutions. Therefore for each folder, you should place the objects with the best data at the top. These are normally the objects which cover the least area but have the highest resolution. For example, when calculating coverage in an urban area, you might have two clutter class files: one with a higher resolution for the downtown core, where the density of users is

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higher, and one with a lower resolution but covering the entire area. In this case, by placing the clutter class file for the downtown core over the file with the lower resolution, Atoll can base its calculations for the downtown core on the clutter class file with the higher resolution, using the second file for all other calculations. Population maps and custom geo data maps, both of which can be used in prediction reports follow the same rules of calculation priority. The following sections provide examples that illustrate how data is used in Atoll: • • •

"Example 1: Two DTM Maps Representing Different Areas" on page 140 "Example 2: Clutter Classes and DTM Maps Representing the Same Area" on page 140 "Example 3: Two Clutter Class Maps Representing a Common Area" on page 141.

2.12.2.1 Example 1: Two DTM Maps Representing Different Areas In this example, there are two imported DTM files: • •

"DTM 1” represents a given area and has a resolution of 50 m. “DTM 2” represents a different area and has a resolution of 20 m.

In this example, the file order of the DTM files in the Explorer window does not matter because they do not overlap; in both Case 1 and Case 2, Atoll will take all the data from both "DTM 1” and "DTM 2” into account. Explorer window

Work space

Case 1 DTM • •

DTM 2 (20m) DTM 1 (50m)

Case 2 DTM • •

DTM 1 (50m) DTM 2 (20m)

Figure 2.8: Multi-layer management in calculations – two DTM maps representing different areas

2.12.2.2 Example 2: Clutter Classes and DTM Maps Representing the Same Area In this example, there are two imported maps: • •

A clutter class map called “Clutter.” A DTM map called “DTM”.

Independently of the order of the two maps in the Explorer window, Atoll uses both the clutter and DTM data in calculations. In Case 1, the clutter class map is on top of the DTM map. In Case 2, the DTM map is on top of the clutter class map. In both Case 1 and Case 2, Atoll will use both the clutter and DTM data in calculations. Explorer window

Work space

Case 1 Clutter classes • Clutter DTM • DTM Case 2 DTM • DTM Clutter classes • Clutter Figure 2.9: Multi-layer management in calculations – Clutter and DTM maps representing the same area

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2.12.2.3 Example 3: Two Clutter Class Maps Representing a Common Area In this example, there are two imported clutter classes maps: • •

"Clutter 1" represents a large area with a resolution of 50 m. "Clutter 2" represents a smaller area with a resolution of 20 m. This area is also covered by "Clutter 1"

In the case of two clutter class maps, Atoll uses the order of the maps in the Clutter Classes folder in the Geo explorer to decide which data to use. In Case 1, "Clutter 2" is on top of "Clutter 1". Atoll will therefore use the data in "Clutter 2" where it is available, and the data from "Clutter 1" everywhere that is covered by "Clutter 1" but not by "Clutter 2." In Case 2, "Clutter 1" is on top and completely covers "Clutter 2." Therefore, Atoll will only use the data from "Clutter 1." Explorer window

Work space

Case 1 Clutter classes • Clutter 2 (20m) • Clutter 1 (50m)

Case 2 Clutter classes • Clutter 1 (50m) • Clutter 2 (20m)

Figure 2.10: Multi-layer management in calculations – two clutter maps representing the same area

2.13 Displaying Geo Data Information You can display information about a geo data map by using tip text. For information on how to display information in tip text, see "Associating a Tip Text to an Object" on page 54. To display information about the geo data in tip text: •

Hold the pointer over the geo data until the tip text appears. The surface area is only given for closed polygons.

Tip text only appears when the Tip Text button (

) on the toolbar has been selected.

2.14 Geographic Data Sets In Atoll, once you have imported geographic data and defined their parameters, you can save much of this information in a user configuration file. Then, another user, working on a similar Atoll document, can import the user configuration file containing the paths to the imported geographic data and many of the defined parameters. When you save the geographic data set in a user configuration, you save: • • • •

the paths of imported geographic maps map display settings (visibility scale, transparency, tips text, etc.) clutter description (code, name, height, standard deviations, etc.) raster or user profile traffic map description.

In this section, the following are explained: • •

"Exporting a Geo Data Set" on page 142 "Loading a Geo Data Set" on page 142.

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You can save and load other types of information with user configuration files as well. For information, see the Administrator Manual.

2.14.1 Exporting a Geo Data Set When you save a geo data set in a user configuration file, the information listed in "Geographic Data Sets" on page 141 is saved into a file. Vectors must be in the same coordinate system as the raster maps.

To save a geo data set in a user configuration file: 1. Select Tools > User Configuration > Save. The User Configuration dialog box appears (see Figure 2.11). 2. In the User Configuration dialog box, select the Geographic Data Set check box.

Figure 2.11: The User Configuration dialog box 3. Click OK. The Save As dialog box appears. 4. In the Save As dialog box, browse to the folder where you want to save the file and enter a File name. 5. Click OK.

2.14.2 Loading a Geo Data Set When you load a user configuration file containing a geo data set, the information listed in "Geographic Data Sets" on page 141 is loaded into your current Atoll document. To load a user configuration file containing a geo data set into your current Atoll document: 1. Select Tools > User Configuration > Load. The Open dialog box appears. 2. Browse to the user configuration file, select it and click Open. 3. The User Configuration dialog box appears. When you load a user configuration file including a geographic data set, Atoll checks if there are already geographic data in the current Atoll document. If so, the option Delete existing geo data appears with other options in the User Configuration dialog box. 4. In the User Configuration dialog box, select the check boxes of the items you want to load into your current Atoll document. 5. If you already have geographic data in your current Atoll document and would like to replace it with any data in the user configuration file you are loading, select the Delete existing geo data check box. If you do not want to replace existing geo data with imported data, clear the Delete existing geo data check box. 6. Click OK.

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You can automatically start Atoll with a user configuration file by naming the file "Atoll.cfg" and placing it in the same folder as the Atoll executable. You can also edit the Windows shortcut to Atoll and add "-cfg " where "" is the full path to the user configuration file.

2.15 Editing Geographic Data In Atoll, you can edit geo data that you have imported or you can create geo data by, for example, adding a vector layer to the Population folder and then adding polygons. The following types of geographic data can be edited: • • • • •

Clutter classes (for more information, "Editing Clutter Class Maps" on page 143) Contours, lines, and points (for more information, "Vector Objects" on page 71) Population maps, if they are in vector format, i.e. Erdas Imagine (16-bit), AGD, DXF, SHP, MIF, or TAB format (for more information, "Editing Population or Custom Data Maps" on page 145) Traffic data maps Custom data maps (for more information, "Editing Population or Custom Data Maps" on page 145).

2.15.1 Editing Clutter Class Maps Clutter class maps and certain traffic maps are raster maps. You can edit these maps by creating or modifying polygons. In this section, the following are explained: • • • •

"Creating a Clutter Polygon" on page 143 "Editing a Clutter Polygon" on page 144 "Displaying the Coordinates of Clutter Polygons" on page 144. "Deleting Clutter Polygons" on page 144

2.15.1.1 Creating a Clutter Polygon In Atoll, you can modify imported clutter class maps or create your own maps by adding data in the form of polygons. You can later edit and export the polygons you have created. All modifications you make to clutter class maps are taken into account by propagation model calculations. To create a polygon: 1. Select the Geo explorer. 2. Right-click the Clutter Classes folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Edit from the context menu. The Editor toolbar appears with a clutter or traffic list, a polygon drawing tool a polygon deletion tool

,

, and a Close button (see Figure 2.12).

Figure 2.12: Editor toolbar 4. From the list, select the clutter class for the polygon you want to create. Clutter classes are defined on the Descriptions tab of the clutter classes Properties dialog box.

5. Click the polygon drawing button (

). The pointer changes to a pencil (

).

6. Click once on the map where you want to begin drawing the polygon. 7. Click each time you change angles on the border defining the outside of the polygon. 8. Double-click to close the polygon.

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You can copy the exact coordinates of a closed polygon by right-clicking it on the map and selecting Properties from the context menu.

2.15.1.2 Editing a Clutter Polygon You can edit clutter polygons by moving existing points of the polygon or by adding or deleting points. To edit clutter polygons: 1. Select the Geo explorer. 2. Right-click the Clutter Classes folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Edit from the context menu. The Editor toolbar appears (see Figure 2.12). 4. Select the polygon. You can now edit the clutter polygon by: •

Moving a point: i.

Position the pointer over the point you want to move. The pointer changes (

).

ii. Drag the point to its new position. •

Adding a point: i.

Position the pointer over the polygon border where you want to add a point. The pointer changes (

).

ii. Right-click and select Insert Point from the context menu. A point is added to the border at the position of the pointer. •

Deleting a point: i.

Position the pointer over the point you want to delete. The pointer changes (

).

ii. Right-click and select Delete Point from the context menu. The point is deleted.

2.15.1.3 Displaying the Coordinates of Clutter Polygons To display the coordinates of the points defining the polygon area: 1. Select the Geo explorer. 2. Right-click the Clutter Classes folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Edit from the context menu. The Editor toolbar appears (see Figure 2.12). 4. Right-click the polygon and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears with the coordinates of the points defining the polygon and the total area. You can select and copy the coordinates displayed in the Properties dialog box of the polygon.

2.15.1.4 Deleting Clutter Polygons You can delete clutter polygons. To delete a clutter polygon: 1. Select the Geo explorer. 2. Right-click the Clutter Classes folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Edit from the context menu. The Editor toolbar appears (see Figure 2.12). 4. Click the polygon deletion tool (

). The pointer changes (

5. Click the polygon you want to delete. The polygon is deleted.

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2.15.2 Editing Population or Custom Data Maps Some geographic data maps, for example population maps, and custom data, are made up of individual vector objects. You can modify and create these geo data maps by adding a vector layer and then adding vector objects (contours, lines, and points) to this layer. To create a vector layer and vector objects on a geo data map: 1. Select the Geo explorer. 2. Right-click the Population or Custom Data folder to which you want to add a vector layer. The context menu appears. 3. Select Add Vector Layer from the context menu. A new data object called "Vectors" is created in the selected geo data object folder. 4. Right-click the new vector layer. The context menu appears. 5. Select Edit from the context menu. The vector tools on the Vector Editor toolbar are activated. You can also activate the vector tools by selecting the vector layer to edit from the Vector Editor toolbar list. Because Atoll names all new vector layers "Vectors" by default, it might be difficult to know which Vectors folder you are selecting. By renaming each vectors folder, you can ensure that you select the correct folder. For information on renaming objects, see "Renaming an Object" on page 50.

6. To draw a polygon, click the New Polygon button (

) on the Vector Editor toolbar:

a. Click once on the map where you want to begin drawing the contour. b. Click each time you change angles on the border defining the outside of the contour. c. Double-click to close the contour. 7. To draw a rectangle, click the New Rectangle button (

) on the Vector Editor toolbar:

a. Click the point on the map that will be one corner of the rectangle. b. Drag to the opposite corner of the rectangle. c. Release the mouse to create the rectangle defined by the two corners. 8. Right-click the new polygon or rectangle and select Properties from the context menu. 9. Enter a value: • •

Population: Enter a value in the Population field to indicate the number of inhabitants or the population density. Custom Data Map: The value you enter will depend on the type of custom data map you created.

10. Press ESC to deselect the New Polygon (

) or the New Rectangle (

) button on the Vector Editor toolbar.

11. For Atoll to consider the new vector layer as part of the data map, you must map the vector layer. Right-click the Population or Custom Data folder. The context menu appears. 12. Select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 13. Click the Data Mapping tab. For the following geo data: •

Population Map: i.

In the Field column, "Population" is selected by default.

ii. If the vector layer contains a population density, select the check box in the Density column. If the vector layer indicates the number of inhabitants, and not the population density, clear the check box in the Density column. •

Custom Data Map: The data you map will depend on the type of custom data map you created.

You can edit the vector objects as explained in "Vector Objects" on page 71.

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2.16 Saving Geographic Data Atoll allows you to save your geographic data files separately from saving the Atoll document. Atoll supports a variety of both raster and vector file formats (for more information, see "Supported Geographic Data Formats" on page 119). Saving a geographic file separately from saving the Atoll document enables you to: • • • • •

Save modifications you have made to an external file: If you have made modifications to geo data, you can export them to a new external file. Update the source file with modifications you have made: If you have made modifications to a geo data type in Atoll, you can save these changes to the source file. Combine several raster files into one file: If you have several small raster files in one folder of the Geo explorer, you can save them as one file. Export an embedded file to be used in another Atoll document or in another application: You can save a file to an external file, in the same format or in another one. Create a new file from part of a larger one: You can select part of certain geo data types and then save the selected part as a new file.

This section explains the following: • • • • •

"Saving Modifications to an External File" on page 146 "Updating the Source File" on page 148 "Combining Several Raster Files into a Single File" on page 148 "Exporting an Embedded Geo Data File" on page 148 "Creating a File from a Section of a Larger File" on page 149

2.16.1 Saving Modifications to an External File In Atoll, you can save your modifications to an external file. This section explains the following: • •

"Exporting an Edited Clutter Class Map to a Raster File" on page 146 "Exporting an Edited Vector Layer to a Vector File" on page 147.

2.16.1.1 Exporting an Edited Clutter Class Map to a Raster File You can export clutter class modifications in a raster-format file, either in the same format as used in the current Atoll document, or in a different raster format. You can also choose to export the entire clutter class geo data, the part containing the computation zone, or just your modifications to the geo data. When you have made modifications to a raster-format geo data file, exporting either the entire geo data or just your modifications allows you to save those modifications to an external file. To export clutter class modifications in a raster-format file: 1. Select the Geo explorer. 2. Right-click the Clutter Classes folder. 3. Select Save As from the context menu. The Save As dialog box appears. 4. In the Save As dialog box, browse to the folder where you want to save the file, enter a name for the file, and select the file format from the Save as type list. You can select from one of the following file formats: • • • • • •

BMP Files (*.bmp): When you select BMP format, Atoll automatically creates the corresponding BPW file containing the georeference information. PNG Files (*.png): When you select PNG format, Atoll automatically creates the corresponding PGW file containing the georeference information. ArcView Grid Files (*.txt, *.asc): The ArcView text format is intended only for export; no corresponding geo-reference file is created. TIFF Files (*.tif): When you select tagged image file format, Atoll automatically creates the corresponding TFW file containing the georeference information. BIL Files (*.bil): When you select the BIL format, Atoll automatically creates the corresponding HDR file containing the georeference information. When exporting in BIL format, Atoll allows you to export files larger than 2 Gb. Vertical Mapper Files (*.grc,*.grd): Files with the extension GRC or GRD are Vertical Mapper files. When exporting in GRD or GRC formats, Atoll allows you to export files larger than 2 Gb.

5. Click Save. The Export dialog box appears (see Figure 2.13).

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Figure 2.13: Export dialog box 6. Under Region, select one of the following: •

•

•

The Entire Project Area: This option allows you to export the entire clutter class geo data file, including any modifications you have made to the geo data. The exported geo data file will replace the geo data file in the current Atoll document. Only Pending Changes: This option allows you to export a rectangle containing any modifications you have made to the clutter classes. The exported geo data file will be added as a new object to the Clutter Classes geo data folder. The Computation Zone: This option allows you to export the clutter class geo data contained by a rectangle encompassing the computation zone, whether or not the computation zone is visible. The exported geo data file will be added as a new object to the selected geo data folder.

7. Define a Resolution in Metres. The resolution must be an integer and the minimum resolution allowed is 1. The suggested resolution value is defined by the following criteria: • • • •

If one object has been modified, the suggested resolution is the resolution of the modified object. If several objects have been modified, the suggested resolution is the highest resolution of the modified objects. If there is no initial clutter class object, the resolution will equal the highest resolution of the DTM maps. If the Atoll document in which you created the clutter class file has no DTM, no other clutter class geo data file, or traffic objects, the suggested resolution is 100 m.

8. Click OK. The selected data is saved in an external file.

2.16.1.2 Exporting an Edited Vector Layer to a Vector File You can export an edited vector layer as a vector-format file. A vector layer can contain contours, lines, and points. Along with vector layers you have added to the Geo explorer, the following maps can be exported as vector-format files: • •

Vector-format population maps Vector-format custom maps.

Once you save a vector layer, the exported file replaces the vector layer as a linked file. You can embed the file afterwards (see "Embedding Geographic Data" on page 125). You can simultaneously export the display configuration file (CFG) of the edited vector layer by setting an option in the Atoll.ini file. The exported display configuration file will have the same file name and will be saved in the same directory as the exported vectorformat file. For more information about setting options in the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual. To export a vector layer: 1. In the Explorer window, select the tab containing the vector layer you want to export. 2. Right-click the vector layer folder you want to export. The context menu appears. 3. Select Save As from the context menu. The Save As dialog box appears. 4. In the Save As dialog box, browse to the folder where you want to save the file, enter a name for the file, and select the file format from the Save as type list. You can select from one of the following file formats: • • •

AGD: "Atoll Geographic Data" vector format created for Atoll. The latter can read AGD files faster than the other supported vector formats. SHP: ArcView vector format can be used for vector layers containing only polygons, only lines, or only points. If a vector file has a combination of polygons, lines, and points, you should use the AGD, MIF, or TAB formats instead. MIF and TAB: MapInfo vector formats.

5. Click Save in the Save As dialog box. The Vector Export dialog box appears. It displays the current coordinate system which you can change by clicking Change.

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6. Click Export. The vector layer is saved in the format and with the name you specified and the exported file replaces the vector layer in the current document as a linked file.

2.16.2 Updating the Source File While working on an Atoll document, you may make changes to geo data. If the geo data file is embedded in the Atoll document, Atoll saves the changes automatically when you save the document. If the geo data file is linked, Atoll prompts you to save the changes when you close the document. To update the source file of a linked geo data file: 1. Select the Geo explorer. 2. Right-click the folder containing geo data file whose source file you want to update. The context menu appears. 3. Select Save from the context menu. The linked file is updated. You will not be warned that you are replacing the current file. Therefore, ensure that you want to replace the current file before proceeding to the following step. If you do not want to replace the current file, you can save your changes to an external file ("Exporting an Edited Vector Layer to a Vector File" on page 147).

2.16.3 Combining Several Raster Files into a Single File In certain circumstances, for example, after importing an MSI Planet® index file, you may have several geo data files of the same type. You can combine these separate files to create one single file. The files will be combined according to their order from the top down in the folder in the Geo explorer. If the files overlap on the map, the combined file will show the file on the top. You can create a one file from a section of the following geo data types: • • • •

Digital terrain model Clutter classes Clutter heights Scanned maps

To combine individual files into a new file: 1. Select the Geo explorer. 2. Right-click the folder of the geo data files you want to combine into one file. The context menu appears. 3. Select Save As from the context menu. The Save As dialog box appears. 4. Enter a File name and select a file type from the Save as type list. 5. Click OK. The Export dialog box appears. 6. Under Region, select The Entire Project Area. This option allows you to save the entire area covered by the geo data files, including any modifications you have made to the geo data. 7. Define a Resolution in Metres. The resolution must be an integer and the minimum resolution allowed is 1. The suggested resolution value is the highest resolution of all objects. 8. Click OK. The selected data is saved as a new file.

2.16.4 Exporting an Embedded Geo Data File You can export an embedded geo data file to be used in a different Atoll document, or in a different application. When you export an embedded file, Atoll replaces the embedded file in the current Atoll document with the newly exported file. To export an embedded geo data file: 1. Select the Geo explorer. 2. Right-click the folder of the embedded geo data file you want to export. The context menu appears. 3. Select Save As from the context menu. The Save As dialog box appears. 4. Enter a File name and select a file type from the Save as type list. 5. Click OK.

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If the geo data file is a vector file, the Vector Export dialog box appears. a. The Vector Export dialog box displays the coordinate system of the file. To change the coordinate system used for the exported file, click Change. The Coordinate Systems dialog box appears. For information on the Coordinate Systems dialog box, see "Setting a Coordinate System" on page 41. b. Click Export. The geo data file is exported with the selected coordinate system. If the geo data file is a raster file, the Export dialog box appears. a. Under Region, select one of the following: •

• •

The Entire Project Area: This option allows you to export the entire raster-format geo data file, including any modifications you have made to the geo data. The exported file will replace the embedded file in the Geo explorer. Only Pending Changes: This option allows you to export a rectangle containing any modifications you have made to the geo data. The exported file will be added as an object in the geo data folder. The Computation Zone: This option allows you to export the geo data contained by a rectangle encompassing the computation zone, whether or not the computation zone is visible. The exported file will be added as an object in the geo data folder.

b. Define a Resolution in Metres. The resolution must be an integer and the minimum resolution allowed is 1. c. Click OK. The selected data is saved in an external file.

2.16.5 Creating a File from a Section of a Larger File You can create a new file from a section of a larger file. You can use this new file in the same Atoll document, or in a new Atoll document. To create a new file, you must first define the area by creating a computation zone. You can create a new file from a section of the following geo data types: • • • • •

Digital terrain model Clutter classes Clutter heights Scanned maps Population maps

To create a new file from a section of a larger file: 1. Select the Geo explorer. 2. Right-click the folder of the embedded geo data file you want to export. The context menu appears. 3. Select Save As from the context menu. The Save As dialog box appears. 4. Enter a File name and select a file type from the Save as type list. 5. Click OK. The Export dialog box appears. 6. Under Region, select The Computation Zone. This option allows you to export the geo data contained by a rectangle encompassing the computation zone, whether or not the computation zone is visible. The exported geo data file will be added as a new object to the selected geo data folder. 7. Define a Resolution in Metres. The resolution must be an integer and the minimum resolution allowed is 1. 8. Click OK. The selected data is saved as a new file.

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Chapter 3 Radio Antennas and Equipment This chapter provides the information to work with antennas and equipment in Atoll.

This chapter covers the following topics: •

"Working With Antennas" on page 153

•

"Working With Equipment" on page 161

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3 Radio Antennas and Equipment Atoll models the equipment that is used to create a network, along with the characteristics that have a bearing on network performance. This chapter explains how to work with antennas and other equipment such as tower-mounted amplifiers, feeder cables, and base transceiver station equipment: • •

"Working With Antennas" on page 153 "Working With Equipment" on page 161

3.1 Working With Antennas Atoll enables you to work with antennas in many ways. To create a new antenna, you can import the data necessary from external sources, such as from a spreadsheet or from a Planet-format file. Once you have created an antenna, you can improve signal level prediction by smoothing the high-attenuation points of the vertical pattern. In this section, the following are explained: • • • • • • •

"Antenna Properties" on page 153 "Creating an Antenna" on page 154 "Importing Antennas" on page 155 "Working With Antenna Patterns" on page 157 "Assigning Antennas to Transmitters" on page 159 "Sharing Antennas Among Transmitters" on page 159 "Working With Multiple-Beam Antennas" on page 160

3.1.1 Antenna Properties Each Atoll project template has antennas that support the technology of the template. You can use the Antenna Properties window to create, edit, and view parameters such as manufacturer, gain, horizontal pattern, and vertical pattern. •

General tab: This tab contains general information about the antenna. • •

Name: If necessary, you can modify the default name. Physical antenna: The name of the physical antenna to which the antenna model belongs. A physical antenna may have one or more antenna models (patterns), corresponding to different electrical tilts. If you want to flag a physical antenna as obsolete, add the word "obsolete" (not case sensitive) to the name of the physical antenna. Physical antennas flagged as obsolete are not listed among available antennas in the Antenna Selection Assistant. It is strongly recommended to enter a name in the Physical antenna field. Atoll uses this entry to group antenna models into physical antennas.

• •

• •

Manufacturer: The name of the antenna manufacturer. Half-power Beamwidth: The half-power beamwidth of the antenna is the aperture of its horizontal pattern corresponding to the pattern attenuation of 3 dB. This field is used by the Antenna Selection Assistant to filter antennas and must be correctly set (i.e., consistent with the defined antenna pattern) if you want the antenna to be available in the Antenna Selection Assistant for a transmitter. For more information, see "Assigning Antennas to Transmitters" on page 159. Gain: The antenna’s isotropic gain. Pattern: This specifies the antenna Electrical Tilt and Electrical Azimuth. Atoll automatically calculates these values if the fields are left blank. These fields are used by the Antenna Selection Assistant to filter antennas. Changing the electrical azimuth or tilt does not change the antenna diagrams. Both electrical azimuth and tilt must remain consistent with the diagrams in order to provide correct calculation results. To ensure consistency, it is preferable to modify the diagrams first and then recalculate electrical tilt and azimuth. For more information, see "Updating Antenna Properties Based on the Antenna Patterns" on page 158.

•

Frequencies: This specifies the Min and Max operating frequencies of the antenna. These fields are used by the Antenna Selection Assistant to filter antennas and to suggest antennas that are compatible with the operating frequency of the transmitter.

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•

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Comments: Any additional information on the antenna.

Horizontal Pattern and Vertical Pattern tabs: These tabs display the horizontal and vertical antenna pattern diagrams and a table of attenuation in dB (Att.) per Angle. You can specify as many as 720 attenuation values for angles from 0° to 359°. For more information on functions related to antenna patterns, see "Working With Antenna Patterns" on page 157. Other Properties tab: This tab provides access to additional information and custom fields.

3.1.2 Creating an Antenna You can manually create new antenna patterns by entering values in the Antenna Properties window. When you create a new antenna, you can copy the horizontal and vertical antenna patterns from a spreadsheet or word processor.

To create an antenna: 1. Click the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Radio Network Equipment folder. 3. Right-click on the Antennas folder. The context menu opens. 4. Select New from the context menu. The Antennas: New Record Properties dialog box appears. 5. Click the General tab. You can enter information in the fields described in "Antenna Properties" on page 153. 6. Click the Horizontal Pattern tab. If you have the horizontal pattern in a spreadsheet or text document, you can copy the data directly into the table: a. Switch to the document containing the horizontal pattern. b. Select the columns containing the angles and attenuation values of the horizontal pattern. c. Copy the selected data.

Figure 3.1: Copying horizontal pattern values d. Switch to Atoll. e. Click the upper-left cell of the Co-polar Section table describing the horizontal pattern. f. Press Ctrl+V to paste the data in the table. • •

If there are blank rows in your data sheet, Atoll interpolates the values in order to obtain a complete and realistic pattern. When performing a calculation along an angle for which no data is available, Atoll calculates a linear interpolation from the existing pattern values. When Atoll performs linear interpolations on antenna pattern attenuation, interpolations are calculated in Watts by default. You can change this setting to dB by adding an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information on changing options in the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual.

g. Click Apply to display the pattern of the values you have pasted in.

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7. Click the Vertical Pattern tab. If you have the vertical pattern in a spreadsheet or text document, you can copy the data directly into the table as described in step 6. 8. Click OK. Atoll checks whether the vertical and horizontal patterns are properly aligned at the extremities. The antenna patterns are properly aligned when the following conditions are met: • •

Horizontal pattern attenuation at 0° is the same as the vertical pattern attenuation at the electrical tilt angle, and Horizontal pattern attenuation at 180° is the same as the vertical pattern attenuation at "180° minus the electrical tilt".

3.1.3 Importing Antennas You can import antennas from text or CSV files containing antenna patterns. To import antennas: 1. Click the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Radio Network Equipment folder. 3. Right-click on the Antennas folder. The context menu appears. 4. Select Open Table from the context menu. The Antennas table appears. 5. Click the Import icon in the Antennas table toolbar or right-click any cell in the table and select Import. The Open dialog box appears. 6. Select "TXT Files (*.txt)" or "CSV Files (*.csv) from the Files of type list. 7. Select the Atoll antenna file you want to import and click Open. The antennas are imported. You can also import antennas from files using specific formats. For more information, see: • •

"Importing Antennas From Files in Planet Format" on page 155 "Importing Antennas From Files Containing 3D Patterns" on page 155

3.1.3.1 Importing Antennas From Files in Planet Format You can import antenna files in the Planet format by importing an index file listing the individual antenna files to be imported. Standard Atoll fields are directly imported. Other fields are imported for information only and are accessible on the Other Properties tab of the Antenna Properties dialog box. If you are working with a database, you will have to create the required fields before you import the Planet-format antennas. For more details, see the relevant technical note. To import Planet-format antennas: 1. Click the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Radio Network Equipment folder. 3. Right-click on the Antennas folder. The context menu appears. 4. Select Import from the context menu. The Open dialog box appears. 5. Select "Planet 2D Antenna Files (index) (Index*)" from the Files of type list. 6. Select the index file you want to import and click Open. The antennas are imported. Atoll checks whether the vertical and horizontal patterns are correctly aligned at the extremities. The antenna patterns are correctly aligned when: • •

horizontal pattern attenuation at 0° is the same as the vertical pattern attenuation at the electrical tilt angle, and horizontal pattern attenuation at 180° is the same as the vertical pattern attenuation at "180° minus the electrical tilt". Atoll allows you to import Planet-format index files for pattern attenuations with as many as 720 angles.

3.1.3.2 Importing Antennas From Files Containing 3D Patterns You can import three-dimensional antenna patterns in the form of text files. The three-dimensional antenna patterns you import are saved in the Antennas table. During calculations, Atoll interpolates the data of antennas for which only horizontal and vertical cross-sections are available to create a three-dimensional pattern. When you import a three-dimensional antenna pattern, even though only horizontal

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and vertical sections of the antenna pattern are displayed, Atoll uses the actual 3D pattern without the need to create the three-dimensional antenna pattern. The text file must have the following format: •

Antenna description: Three separate values are necessary to describe the three-dimensional antenna pattern. The columns containing the values can be in any order: • • •

Azimuth: The allowed value range is [0°,360°] and the smallest increment is 1°. Tilt angle: The allowed value ranges are [-90°,90°] and [0°,180°], and the smallest increment is 1°. Attenuation: The attenuation (in dB).

The text file describing the antenna can also contain a header with additional information. When you import the antenna pattern you indicate where the header ends and where the antenna pattern itself begins. To import three-dimensional antenna pattern files: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Radio Network Equipment folder. 3. Right-click the Antennas folder. The context menu appears. 4. Select Import from the context menu. The Open dialog box appears. 5. Select "3D Antenna Files (*.txt)"from the Files of type list. 6. Select the file you want to import and click Open. The Setup dialog box appears (see Figure 3.2).

Figure 3.2: Importing a 3D antenna pattern 7. If you already have an import configuration defining the data structure of the imported file, you can select it from the Configuration list. If you do not have an import configuration, continue with step 8. a. Under Configuration, select an import configuration from the Configuration list. b. Continue with step 11. 8. Under Name, you can define a name for the imported antenna pattern. This name will appear in the Antennas folder in the Network explorer. If no name is defined, Atoll will use the file name as the name of the antenna: • •

If the name of the antenna is in the file, check the Value read in the file check box and enter a Keyword identifying the name value in the file. If you want to enter a name for the antenna, clear the Value read in the file check box and enter a name.

9. Under Gain, you can define the antenna gain. If no gain is defined, Atoll assumes that the gain is "0." • •

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If the gain of the antenna is in the file, check the Value read in the file check box and enter a Keyword identifying the gain value in the file. If you want to enter a gain for the antenna, clear the Value read in the file check box and enter a gain value.

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10. Under Diagram, you define the structure of the antenna pattern file. As you modify the parameters, the results are displayed in the table. • • • •

1st Pattern: Select the first row of the file containing data on the antenna pattern. File Tilt Range: Select the tilt range in the file. The tilt range can be measured from top to bottom or from bottom to top and from 0° to 180° or from -90° to 90°. Field Separator: Select the character that is used in the file to separate fields (" ", "", ";") Decimal Symbol: Select the decimal symbol.

11. In the table under Diagram, click the title in each column in the table and select the data type: Azimuth, Tilt, Attenuation, or . As you modify the parameters, the results are displayed in the table. You can save the choices you have made in the Setup dialog box as a configuration file by clicking the Save button at the top of the dialog box and entering a name for the configuration. The next time you import a three-dimensional antenna pattern file, you can select the same settings from the Configuration file list. 12. Click Import. The antenna patterns are imported into the current Atoll document.

3.1.4 Working With Antenna Patterns In this section, the following are explained: • • • • • •

"Setting the Antenna Pattern Display" on page 157 "Displaying Antenna Patterns Using a Fixed Scale" on page 157 "Printing an Antenna Pattern" on page 157 "Comparing Antenna Patterns" on page 158 "Smoothing One or More Antenna Patterns" on page 158 "Updating Antenna Properties Based on the Antenna Patterns" on page 158

3.1.4.1 Setting the Antenna Pattern Display You can display the antenna patterns using the linear or logarithmic scale. To select the antenna pattern display scale: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Equipment folder and the Antennas folder. 2. Right-click the antenna you want to display. The context menu appears. 3. Select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box opens. 4. Select the Horizontal Pattern tab or the Vertical Pattern tab to display the antenna pattern you want to display. 5. Click the Log button to toggle between linear and logarithmic scales.

3.1.4.2 Displaying Antenna Patterns Using a Fixed Scale Atoll displays the vertical and horizontal antenna patterns using a scale that is automatically adjusted to the highest and the lowest attenuation values of the antenna being displayed. You can, however, display all the antennas using a fixed scale in order to visually compare or print antenna patterns. To set the antenna pattern display scale: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Equipment folder and right-click the Antennas folder. The context menu appears. 2. Select Display Patterns Using a Fixed Scale from the context menu. Atoll determines the lowest and the highest antenna attenuation values of all the antennas in the Antennas folder, and uses these values to set the pattern scale. Antenna patterns of all the antennas are now displayed using this scale.

3.1.4.3 Printing an Antenna Pattern You can print the horizontal or vertical pattern of an antenna. To print an antenna pattern: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Equipment folder and the Antennas folder. 2. Right-click the antenna whose pattern you want to print. The context menu appears. 3. Select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box opens. 4. Select the Horizontal Pattern tab or the Vertical Pattern tab to display the antenna pattern you want to print.

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5. Click the Print button.

3.1.4.4 Comparing Antenna Patterns You can compare antenna patterns by displaying their diagrams in the Antenna Comparison window. Each pattern is displayed in a different colour. To compare two or more antenna patterns: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand Radio Network Equipment, right-click the Antennas folder and select Compare from the context menu. The Antenna Comparison window opens. You can also open the Antenna Comparison window by right-clicking a specific antenna and selecting Compare with from the context menu.

2. In the Antenna Comparison window, click Add Pattern. The Antenna Selection Assistant window appears. 3. In the Antenna Selection Assistant window, find and select an antenna and click OK. For more information about the Antenna Selection Assistant, see "Assigning Antennas to Transmitters" on page 159. 4. Repeat from step 2 to add as many antenna patterns as required. The patterns are displayed on top of each other in the Horizontal Patterns and Vertical Patterns tabs. 5. Select Add antenna gain to display the patterns with the specified gain. 6. Click Close when you have finished comparing the antenna patterns.

3.1.4.5 Smoothing One or More Antenna Patterns Empirical propagation models, such as the Standard Propagation Model (SPM), require antenna pattern smoothing in the vertical plane to better simulate the effects of reflection and diffraction, which, therefore, improves signal level prediction. You should make a copy of the antenna before smoothing its patterns. You can make a copy of the antenna by opening the Antennas table and copying and pasting the antenna data into a new row. For information on data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. To smooth the vertical or horizontal pattern of an antenna: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Equipment folder, the Antennas folder, and right-click the antenna whose pattern you want to smooth. The context menu appears. 2. Select Properties from the context menu. 3. Select the Vertical Pattern or the Horizontal Pattern tab. 4. Click the Smooth button. The Smoothing Parameters dialog box appears. 5. Enter the following parameters and click OK to smooth the pattern: • • •

Max Angle: Enter the maximum angle. Smoothing will be applied to the section of the pattern between 0° and the maximum angle (clock-wise). Peak-to-Peak Deviation: Enter the attenuation values to which smoothing will be applied. Atoll smooths all attenuation values greater than or equal to the peak-to-peak deviation with the defined correction factor. Correction: Enter the correction factor by which the attenuation values will be smoothed.

6. Click OK. To smooth the vertical and horizontal patterns of all the antennas in the Antennas folder, right-click the folder and select Smooth from the context menu.

3.1.4.6 Updating Antenna Properties Based on the Antenna Patterns You can update the half-power beamwidths, electrical tilts, and azimuths of antennas based on their patterns.

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To update antenna properties based on patterns: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand Radio Network Equipment, right-click the Antennas folder and select Calculation Based on Patterns > Electrical Tilt Update from the context menu. Atoll calculates the electrical tilts based on the antenna patterns and updates the values in the electrical tilt field. 2. In the Parameters explorer, expand Radio Network Equipment, right-click the Antennas folder and select Calculation Based on Patterns > Beamwidth and Electrical Azimuth Update from the context menu. Atoll calculates the halfpower beamwidths and electrical azimuths based on the antenna patterns and updates the values in the corresponding fields.

3.1.5 Assigning Antennas to Transmitters When you are creating or editing the properties of a transmitter, you can use the Antenna Selection Assistant to select a suitable antenna to use for the transmitter. This assistant lists all antennas that match the currently selected physical antenna and whose minimum and maximum operating frequencies include the operating frequency of the transmitter. To specify an antenna in the transmitter properties: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Transmitters folder, right-click a transmitter and select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter Properties dialog box opens. 2. In the Properties dialog box, select the Transmitter tab, and in the Antenna section, click Select. The Antenna Selection Assistant dialog box opens. 3. You can search for the most suitable antennas by either applying a standard filter or an advanced filter: • •

In most cases, select Standard to filter suitable antennas based on any combination of the following parameters: Half-power beamwidth, Electrical tilt, and Electrical azimuth. If you have a very large number of available antennas or more complex requirements, you can select Advanced and then click Filter to specify an advanced filter. You can specify complex filters by combining filtering conditions on multiple fields using AND and OR operators. For more information on using this option, see "Advanced Data Filtering" on page 101.

The Available antennas list displays the result of the standard or advanced filtering. 4. In the Available antennas list, select an antenna and click OK to apply the selected antenna to the transmitter. Any filter applied to the Antennas folder is taken into account by the Antenna Selection Assistant in the Available antennas list.

3.1.6 Sharing Antennas Among Transmitters You can share the antenna associated with a transmitter, a repeater, or a remote antenna with any other transmitter, repeater, or remote antenna belonging to the same single-RAN or multi-RAT Atoll document, or to another Atoll document in a co-planning configuration. Shared antennas are located on sites with the same position. When changes are made to the position offset (Dx, Dy), azimuth, antenna height, or mechanical tilt of one antenna, Atoll automatically applies those changes to all other transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas defined as sharing the same antenna. To share an antenna with another transmitter, repeater, or remote antenna: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Transmitters folder and right-click a transmitter. The context menu appears. 2. Click Share Antenna With in the context menu. The Antenna Sharing assistant appears. The Antenna Sharing assistant contains a table with a list of candidate transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas (i.e. candidates located on sites with the same position), along with the corresponding physical parameters. The bottom frame contains the physical parameters of the transmitter, repeater, or remote antenna that you selected on the map. 3. In the table, select a candidate transmitter, repeater, or remote antenna by clicking it in the "Transmitter" column: • • •

If the candidate already has a shared antenna name, you will see that name in the "Shared Antenna" column and it appears greyed in the field beside Shared antenna at the top of the Antenna Sharing assistant. If the candidate does not have a shared antenna name, you can enter a name in the Shared antenna field. In addition to the antenna position offset (Dx, Dy), azimuth, height, and mechanical tilt, if you also want to use the same antenna pattern for the transmitters using the shared antenna, enter a name in the Shared pattern field.

4. Click OK to close the Antenna Sharing assistant. As a result, the object you selected in the Network explorer now shares the antenna associated with the object you selected in the Antenna Sharing assistant, and both objects are superimposed on the map. If you now use the mouse

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to change the azimuth of the shared antenna (see "Changing the Azimuth of the Antenna Using the Mouse" on page 57), the objects sharing that antenna will move together on the map. You can also specify a shared antenna for a transmitter, a repeater, or a remote antenna in the Shared antenna field on the General tab of their Properties dialog boxes.

When you change the main antenna pattern on a shared antenna that uses a shared pattern, the pattern changes for all transmitters that have the same shared antenna name and the same shared pattern name. To change the antenna pattern for all shared antennas: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Transmitter folder, right-click a transmitter, and click Properties. The Transmitter Properties window opens. 2. On the Transmitter tab of the Transmitter Properties window, under Main Antenna, select a new antenna pattern. If necessary, click Select to use the Antenna Selection Assistant. 3. Click OK. The main antenna changes for all shared antennas that use the same shared antenna name and the same shared pattern name.

3.1.7 Working With Multiple-Beam Antennas Some manufacturers provide antennas that generate multiple-beams, also known as dual-beam or split-beam antennas. These antennas typically use two or more beams that have a negative and positive electrical azimuth offset from the mechanical antenna azimuth. Modelling multiple-beam antennas in Atoll requires one antenna pattern diagram for each beam. Each beam pattern is then defined as a shared antenna with its own electrical azimuth. When changes are made to the position offset (Dx, Dy), azimuth, antenna height, or mechanical tilt of one antenna, Atoll automatically applies the same changes to the other beams. For more information, see "Sharing Antennas Among Transmitters" on page 159. Because each beam is defined by a different antenna pattern for each combination of half-power beamwidth, electrical tilt, and electrical azimuth, the list of antenna patterns might become overwhelming. You can use the filtering feature of the Antenna Selection Assistant to filter antenna patterns with the appropriate electrical azimuth as well as other characteristics. For more information, see "Assigning Antennas to Transmitters" on page 159. To define a multiple-beam antenna: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Transmitter folder, right-click a transmitter, and click Properties. The Transmitter Properties window opens. 2. On the Transmitter tab of the Transmitter Properties window, under Main Antenna, click Select. The Antenna Selection Assistant opens. 3. Specify the Electrical azimuth corresponding to the first beam offset, as well as the other characteristics that are required for the antenna. 4. Choose an antenna pattern in the Available antennas list, and click OK. 5. On the General tab of the Transmitter Properties window, enter a Shared antenna name. This is a name that will identify each multiple-beam antenna on the site. 6. Click OK. On the map, the display of the transmitter now takes into account the electrical azimuth in addition to the mechanical azimuth. 7. Repeat steps 1 to 6 for each additional beam. 8. In the Network explorer, expand the Transmitter folder, right-click one of the transmitters, and click Properties. The Transmitter Properties window opens. 9. On the Transmitter tab of the Transmitter Properties window, specify the mechanical azimuth for the multiple-beam antenna, and click OK. On the map, each beam of the antenna is displayed as a separate transmitter oriented towards its own electrical azimuth, which is an offset of the mechanical azimuth. If you now use the mouse to change the azimuth of either of the beams (see "Changing the Azimuth of the Antenna Using the Mouse" on page 57), the other beams sharing the same Shared antenna name move together on the map.

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You can choose to display multiple-beam antennas with the mechanical azimuth only. This superimposes all beams as a single transmitter on the map, but makes selection of each individual transmitter more difficult. To do this, in the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitter folder, select Properties, click Display, and select Display mechanical azimuth only. This only affects the display of the transmitter symbols. Predictions and simulations always use the combination of mechanical and electrical azimuth.

3.2 Working With Equipment You can define the components of a base station and modify their properties in their respective tables. Atoll uses these properties to calculate the downlink and uplink losses and transmitter noise figure in UMTS, CDMA2000, WiMAX, or LTE. In GSM, Atoll calculates the downlink losses only. These parameters can be automatically calculated from the properties of the components or they can defined by the user. Base station subsystems consist of the following components: •

• •

Tower-mounted amplifier: Tower-mounted amplifiers (TMAs, also referred to as masthead amplifiers) are used to reduce the composite noise figure of the base station. TMAs are connected between the antenna and the feeder cable. To define a TMA, see "Defining TMA Equipment" on page 161. Feeder cables: Feeder cables connect the TMA to the antenna. To define feeder cables, see "Defining Feeder Cables" on page 161. Transmitter equipment: To define transmitter equipment, see "Defining Transmitter Equipment" on page 162.

3.2.1 Defining TMA Equipment The tower-mounted amplifier (TMA) is used to reduce the composite noise figure of the base station. Once you have defined a TMA, you can assign it to individual transmitters. To create a tower-mounted amplifier: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Radio Network Equipment folder. 3. Right-click the TMA folder. The context menu appears. 4. Select Open Table from the context menu. The TMA table appears. 5. In the table, create one TMA per row. For information on using data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. For each TMA, enter: • • • •

Name: Enter a name for the TMA. This name will appear in other dialog boxes when you select a TMA. Noise Figure (dB): Enter a noise figure for the TMA. Reception Gain (dB): Enter a reception (uplink) gain for the TMA. This must be a positive value. Transmission Losses (dB): Enter transmission (downlink) losses for the TMA. This must be a positive value.

3.2.2 Defining Feeder Cables Feeder cables connect the TMA to the antenna. Once you have defined feeder cables, you can assign them to individual transmitters. To create feeder cables: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Radio Network Equipment folder. 3. Right-click the Feeders folder. The context menu appears. 4. Select Open Table from the context menu. The Feeder table appears. 5. In the table, create one feeder per row. For information on data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. For each feeder, enter: • • • •

Name: Enter a name for the feeder cable. This name will appear in other dialog boxes when you select a feeder cable. Loss per Length: Enter the loss per meter of cable. This must be a positive value. Connector Reception Loss: Enter the connector reception loss. This must be a positive value. Connector Transmission Loss: Enter the connector transmission loss. This must be a positive value.

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3.2.3 Defining Transmitter Equipment Transmitter equipment is modelled for UMTS, CDMA2000, TD-SCDMA, WiMAX, and LTE. In GSM, only the downlink losses are modelled. Once you have defined transmitter equipment, it can be assigned to individual transmitters. To create transmitter equipment: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Radio Network Equipment folder. 3. Right-click the Transmitter Equipment folder. The context menu appears. 4. Select Open Table from the context menu. The Transmitter Equipment table appears. 5. In the table, create one entry per row. For information on data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. For each transmitter equipment entry, enter: • • • • •

Name: Enter a name for the transmitter equipment. This name appears in other dialog boxes when you select transmitter equipment. Noise Figure (dB): Enter the noise figure for the transmitter equipment. This value is not used in GSM GPRS EDGE documents. Downlink Losses Due to the Configuration (dB): Enter the losses on downlink due to the transmitter equipment configuration. Uplink Losses Due to the Configuration (dB): Enter the losses on uplink due to the transmitter equipment configuration. This value is not used in GSM GPRS EDGE documents. CDMA Rho Factor (%): Enter the CDMA Rho factor, as a percentage. The CDMA Rho factor enables Atoll to take into account self-interference produced by the transmitter equipment. Because equipment is not perfect, an input signal will experience some distortion, consequently the output signal will be not be identical. This factor defines how much distortion the system generates. Entering 100% means the system is perfect (there is no distortion) and the output signal will be 100% identical to the input signal. On the other hand, if you specify a value different from 100%, Atoll will consider that the transmitted signal is not 100% signal and that it contains a small percentage of interference generated by the equipment ("self-interference"). Atoll uses this parameter to evaluate the signalto-noise ratio in the downlink. This value is only used in CDMA-based technologies (CDMA2000, UMTS, and TD-SCDMA). It is not used in GSM, WiMAX, and LTE documents.

3.2.4 Updating the Values for Total Losses and the Transmitter Equipment Noise Figure Once equipment is defined and assigned to a transmitter, Atoll can evaluate downlink and uplink total losses and the total noise figure. Atoll uses the entry of the transmitter equipment as the reference point when evaluating total losses and the total noise figure. The transmitter equipment noise figure used by Atoll is the one specified in the transmitter equipment properties. Transmitter reception losses include feeder reception losses, connector reception losses, miscellaneous reception losses, antenna diversity gain, TMA benefit gain (as calculated with the Friis transmission equation), and an additional loss modelling the noise rise generated from repeaters (if any). Transmitter transmission losses include feeder transmission losses, connector transmission losses, miscellaneous transmission losses, and TMA transmission losses. For more information on the total noise figure and on transmitter reception and transmission losses, see the Technical Reference Guide. You can assign equipment to a transmitter: • •

Using the Equipment Specifications dialog box, available by clicking the Equipment button on the Transmitter tab of the transmitter’s Properties dialog box, or Using the Transmitters table, available by right-clicking the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer and selecting Open Table from the context menu.

When you assign equipment to a transmitter using the Equipment Specifications dialog box, Atoll updates the real values when you click OK and close the dialog box. When you assign equipment to a transmitter using the Transmitters table, Atoll does not update the real values automatically. To update the real values (total losses and transmitter equipment noise figure) with the calculated values of all transmitters: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Calculations > Update Losses and Noise Figures from the context menu.

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To update the real values (total losses and transmitter equipment noise figure) with the calculated values of a group of transmitters: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Click Group by in the context menu and select the property by which you want to group the transmitters from the Group by submenu. The objects in the folder are grouped by that property. 4. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Transmitters folder. 5. Right-click the group of transmitters whose real values you want to update. The context menu appears. 6. Select Open Table from the context menu. The Transmitters table appears with the transmitters from the selected group. 7. In the Transmitters table, select the values you want to update in the following columns and press DEL: • • •

Transmission Loss (dB) Reception Loss (dB) Noise Figure (dB)

Atoll automatically recalculates and updates these values.

3.2.5 Checking Antenna Consistency In some cases, changing antenna, transmitter or cell properties can introduce inconsistencies between the frequency bands of the antennas and the frequency of the transmitter or cell. To verify that the antenna and transmitter frequency bands are consistent, you can run an antenna consistency check. This is an audit that parses the database and for each technology, checks that the frequency of each transmitter or cell is consistent with the minimum and maximum frequency values of the selected antenna. Any discrepancies are displayed in the Events window as a warning. To run an antenna consistency check: 1. In the Document menu, select Data Audit > Antenna Consistency Check. 2. Expand the Events window to view the results of the audit.

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Chapter 4 Radio Calculations and Models This chapter provides the information to work with calculations in Atoll.

This chapter covers the following topics: •

"Radio Propagation Models" on page 167

•

"Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187

•

"Managing Path Loss Matrices" on page 190

•

"Point Predictions" on page 201

•

"Coverage Predictions" on page 204

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4 Radio Calculations and Models Once you have created a network, you can make predictions. There are two types of predictions: •

•

Point predictions: The Point Analysis tool allows you to predict, at any point on the map, the profile between a reference transmitter and a receiver, the value of the signal levels of the surrounding transmitters, an active set analysis for UMTS, CDMA2000, and TD-SCDMA projects and an interference analysis for GSM/GPRS/EDGE projects. Coverage predictions: You can calculate standard coverage predictions, coverage by transmitter, coverage by signal level and overlapping zones, and specific coverage predictions such as interference predictions for GSM/GPRS/EDGE projects or handover, or service availability for UMTS, CDMA2000, and TD-SCDMA projects. Many customisation features on coverage predictions are available in order to make their analysis easier.

Atoll facilitates the calculation of coverage predictions with support for multithreading and distributed calculating. The progress of the calculations can be displayed in the Events viewer or in a log file. Atoll also allows you to use polygonal zones to limit the amount of resources and time used for calculations. The polygonal zones, such as the filtering zone and the computation zone, help you to restrict calculations to a defined set of transmitters, and to limit calculations and coverage predictions. Depending on the type of project you are working on, you can choose between the propagation models available in Atoll.

4.1 Radio Propagation Models This section covers the following topics: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

"Overview of Propagation Model Characteristics" on page 167 "Standard Propagation Model" on page 168 "Aster Propagation Model" on page 175 "CrossWave Model" on page 177 "Okumura-Hata Propagation Model" on page 178 "Cost-Hata Propagation Model" on page 179 "ITU 529-3 Propagation Model" on page 180 "ITU 370-7 Propagation Model" on page 181 "Erceg-Greenstein Propagation Model" on page 182 "ITU 526-5 Propagation Model" on page 183 "WLL Propagation Model" on page 183 "Longley-Rice Propagation Model" on page 184 "ITU 1546 Propagation Model" on page 184 "Sakagami Extended Propagation Model" on page 185 "Managing Propagation Models" on page 185.

4.1.1 Overview of Propagation Model Characteristics Each propagation model available in Atoll is suited for certain conditions, frequencies and radio technologies. The following table summarises the frequency band, necessary geo data, and recommended use of each propagation model. Model

Frequency Range

Geo Data Taken into Account

Recommended Use

ITU 370-7 Vienna 93

100 – 400 MHz

Terrain profile

d > 10 km Low frequencies Broadcast

ITU 1546

30 – 3000 MHz

Terrain profile

1 < d < 1000 km Land and maritime mobile Broadcast

ITU 526-5 (theoretical)

30 – 10000 MHz

Terrain profile

Fixed receivers WLL

WLL

30 – 10000 MHz

Terrain profile Deterministic clutter

Fixed receivers WLL, Microwave links, WiMAX

Okumura-Hata (Automatic calibration)

150 – 1000 MHz

Terrain profile Statistical clutter (at the receiver)

1 < d < 20 km GSM 900, CDMA2000, LTE

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Model

Frequency Range

Geo Data Taken into Account

Recommended Use

Cost-Hata (Automatic calibration)

1500 – 2000 MHz

Terrain profile Statistical clutter (at the receiver)

1 < d < 20 km GSM 1800, UMTS, CDMA2000, LTE

ITU 529-3

300 – 1500 MHz

Terrain profile Statistical clutter (at the receiver)

1 < d < 100 km GSM 900, CDMA2000, LTE

Standard Propagation Model (Automatic calibration)

150 – 3500 MHz

Terrain profile Statistical clutter

1 < d < 20 km GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, LTE, WiMAX, Wi-Fi

Erceg-Greenstein (SUI)

1900 – 6000 MHz

Terrain profile Statistical clutter (at the receiver)

Urban and suburban areas 100 m < d < 8 km Fixed WiMAX, Wi-Fi

Sakagami Extended (Automatic calibration)

3000 – 8000 MHz

Terrain profile Statistical clutter

1 < d < 20 km LTE, WiMAX, Wi-Fi

200 – 5000 MHz

Terrain profile Statistical or deterministic clutter 3D building and line vectors (optional) Specific morphology, facets and graphs data files (optional)

All types of environments Small, micro, and macro cells GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, LTE, WiMAX, Wi-Fi

150 – 5000 MHz

Terrain profile Statistical or deterministic clutter 3D building and line vectors (optional)

All types of environments, particularly dense urban areas with high resolution raster data Small, micro, and macro cells GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, LTE, WiMAX, Wi-Fi

CrossWave Model

Aster PropagationModel (Automatic calibration)

4.1.2 Standard Propagation Model The Standard Propagation Model (SPM) is based on the Hata formulas and is suited for predictions in the 150 to 3500 MHz band over long distances (from one to 20 km). It is best suited to GSM 900/1800, UMTS, and CDMA2000 radio technologies. The Standard Propagation Model is based on the following formula:  K 1 + K 2  Log  d  + K 3  Log  H Txeff  + K 4  DiffractionLoss + K 5  Log  d   Log  H Txeff  +  P R = P Tx –    K 6  H Rxeff + K 7  Log  H Rxeff  + K clutter  f  clutter  + K hill LOS 

where: PR

received power (dBm)

PTx

transmitted power (EIRP) (dBm)

K1

constant offset (dB)

K2

multiplying factor for Log(d)

d

distance between the receiver and the transmitter (m)

K3

multiplying factor for Log(HTxeff)

H Tx

eff

multiplying factor for diffraction calculation. K4 must be a positive number

DiffractionLoss

losses due to diffraction over an obstructed path (dB)

K5

multiplying factor for Log(HTxeff) x Log(d)

K6

multiplying factor for HRxeff

K7

multiplying factor for Log(HRxeff)

H Rx

168

effective height of the transmitter antenna (m)

K4

eff

mobile antenna height (m)

Kclutter

multiplying factor for f(clutter)

f(clutter)

average of weighted losses due to clutter

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Khill, LOS

corrective factor for hilly regions (=0 in case of NLOS)

These parameters can be defined on the tabs (Parameters, and Clutter) of the Standard Propagation Model Properties dialog box. You can also use a wizard to calibrate the Standard Propagation Model. For information on the Automatic Calibration Wizard, see the Measurements and Model Calibration Guide. This section covers the following topics: • • • • • •

"Standard Propagation Model Guidelines" on page 169 "Calculating Diffraction With the SPM" on page 170 "Sample Values for SPM Formulas" on page 170 "Calculating f(clutter) with the Standard Propagation Model" on page 171 "Modelling Fixed Receivers" on page 172 "Defining the Parameters of the Standard Propagation Model" on page 172.

4.1.2.1 Standard Propagation Model Guidelines Clutter information can be evaluated in both diffraction loss and f(clutter). To prevent the model from evaluating clutter information twice, choose one of the following approaches: •

Approach #1: If you specify losses per clutter class, do not consider clutter altitudes in diffraction loss over the transmitter-receiver profile. This approach is recommended if the clutter height information is statistical (i.e., where the clutter is roughly defined and without a defined altitude). Because the Standard Propagation Model is a statistical propagation model, this approach is recommended.

•

Approach #2: If you consider clutter altitudes, do not define a loss per clutter class. In this case, f(clutter) will be "0;" losses due to clutter will only be taken into account in the calculated diffraction. This approach is recommended if the clutter altitude information is semi-deterministic (i.e., where the clutter is roughly defined with an average altitude per clutter class) or deterministic (i.e., where the clutter is sharply defined with an average altitude per clutter class or where there is a clutter height file). If the clutter height information is an average height defined for each clutter class, you must specify a receiver clearance per clutter class. Both ground and clutter altitude are considered along the whole transmitter-receiver profile except over a specific distance around the receiver (clearance), in which Atoll bases its calculations only on the DTM. The clearance information is used to model streets because it is assumed that the receiver is in the street. It is not necessary to define receiver clearance if the height information is from a clutter height file. In this case, the clutter height information is accurate enough to be used without additional information such as clearance; Atoll calculates the path loss if the receiver is in the street (if the receiver height is higher than the clutter height). If the receiver height is lower than the clutter height, the receiver is assumed to be inside a building. In this case, Atoll does not consider any diffraction for the building (or any clearance) but takes into account the clutter class indoor loss as an additional penetration loss. Nevertheless, Atoll does consider diffraction caused by surrounding buildings. In Figure 4.1 on page 170 this diffraction is displayed with a green line. To consider indoor losses inside a building when only using a deterministic clutter map (i.e., a clutter height map), disable the Indoor Coverage option when creating a prediction. If the option is enabled, indoor losses are added twice (once for the entire reception clutter class and once as indoor losses).

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Figure 4.1: Diffraction caused by surrounding buildings when the receiver is indoors

4.1.2.2 Calculating Diffraction With the SPM You can set the parameters used to calculate diffraction losses on the Parameters and Clutter tabs of the Standard Propagation Model Properties dialog box. In the Parameters explorer, you can define the calculation method used for diffraction and the K4 factor. The following methods are available: • • • •

Deygout Epstein-Peterson Deygout with correction Millington

The methods for calculating diffraction are based on the general method for one or more obstacles described in the ITU 526-5 recommendations. Calculations include the curvature of the Earth. Along the transmitter-receiver profile, you can choose to consider either the ground altitude only or both the ground altitude and the clutter height. If you choose to consider clutter height, Atoll extracts information from the clutter heights file. Otherwise, it uses an average clutter height specified for each clutter class. When clutter height information is statistical, Atoll also uses clearance values for each clutter class to establish street models. For detailed information on each method, see the Technical Reference Guide. To consider heights when calculating diffraction: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Propagation Models folder and right-click Standard Propagation Model., and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. Click the Clutter tab. 3. Under Heights, select one of the following for Clutter taken into account in diffraction: • •

1 - Yes: Select "1 - Yes" if you want heights from the clutter heights to be taken into account on top of the DTM when calculating diffraction. 0 - No: Select "0 - No" if you want diffraction to be calculated using only the DTM.

4. Click OK.

4.1.2.3 Sample Values for SPM Formulas The following table gives some possible values for the constants used in the Standard Propagation Model formulas.

170

Minimum

Typical

Maximum

K1

Variable

Variable

Variable

K2

20

44.9

70

K3

-20

5.83

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Minimum

Typical

Maximum

K4

0

0.5

0.8

K5

-10

-6.55

0

K6

-1

0

0

K7

-10

0

0

It is recommended to set K6 to 0, and use K7 instead of K6. K6 is a multiplicative coefficient to a value in dB, which means that slight variations in K6 have considerable impact on the path loss. K1 is a constant; its value depends on the radio frequency. The following table gives some possible values for K1. Frequency (MHz)

K1

935

12.5

1805

22

1930

23

2110

23.8

1900

23

2300

24.7

2500

25.4

2700

26.1

3300

27.8

3500

28.3

Its value is heavily influenced by the values given to losses per clutter class.

4.1.2.4 Calculating f(clutter) with the Standard Propagation Model The average of weighted losses due to clutter, f(clutter), is defined as follows: n

f  clutter  =

 Li  wi i=1

where L: loss due to clutter. w: weight. n: number of points taken into account over the profile. The losses due to clutter are calculated for the maximum distance from the receiver, defined as Maximum Distance on the Clutter tab of the Standard Propagation Model Properties dialog box. When the Maximum Distance is defined as "0", Atoll only considers the losses on the pixel where the receiver is located. On the Clutter tab, each clutter class is assigned losses and a weighting function, enabling Atoll to give a weight to each point. For more information, see the Technical Reference Guide. The losses per clutter class can be calculated using the Automatic Calibration Wizard. For information on the Automatic Calibration Wizard, see the Measurements and Model Calibration Guide. The following table gives typical values for losses (in dB) per clutter class: Clutter Class

Losses (dB)

Dense urban

from 4 to 5

Woodland

from 2 to 3

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Clutter Class

Losses (dB)

Urban

0

Suburban

from -5 to -3

Industrial

from -5 to -3

Open in urban

from -6 to -4

Open

from -12 to -10

Water

from -14 to -12

The Standard Propagation Model is based on Hata formulas, which are valid for an urban environment. The values above are consistent with an urban environment because losses of 0 dB are indicated for an urban clutter class, with positive values for more dense clutter classes and negative values for less dense clutter classes.

4.1.2.5 Modelling Fixed Receivers The following are suggestions for defining the height of fixed receivers: •

•

You can model the receiver as always being above the clutter, by selecting "1 - Yes" for the Receiver on Top of Clutter option on the Clutter tab of the Standard Propagation Model Properties dialog box. The receiver height will then be sum of the clutter height and the receiver height. This option can be used to model receivers on top of buildings, for example. You can define a specific receiver height for each clutter class in the Rx Height column on the Clutter tab of the Standard Propagation Model Properties dialog box. Or, you can select "(default)" for the receiver height. When creating a coverage prediction, Atoll will then read the receiver height on the Calculation Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box in the Parameters explorer.

4.1.2.6 Defining the Parameters of the Standard Propagation Model You can define the parameters of the Standard Propagation Model using the Standard Propagation Model Properties dialog box. Default values have been assigned to the multiplying factors. The default values correspond to the rural (quasi-open) Okumura-Hata formula valid for a frequency of 935 MHz. The values for K values can be calculated using an automatic or assisted calibration method. For more information, see the Measurements and Model Calibration Guide. To define the calculations parameters of the Standard Propagation Model: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Propagation Models folder and right-click Standard Propagation Model., and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. Click the Parameters tab (see Figure 4.2).

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Figure 4.2: Standard Propagation Model - Parameters tab Under Near Transmitter, you can set the following parameters: •

• •

Maximum Distance: Set the maximum distance for a receiver to be considered near the transmitter. If the distance between the receiver and the transmitter is greater than the set distance, the receiver is considered far from the transmitter. K1 - los and K2 - los: Enter the K1 and K2 values that will be used for calculations when the receiver is in the transmitter line of sight. K1 - nlos and K2 - nlos: Enter the K1 and K2 values that will be used for calculations when the receiver is not in the transmitter line of sight.

Under Far from Transmitter, the values you set will be used for all receivers whose distance from the transmitter is greater than the distance specified in Maximum Distance under Near Transmitter. You can set the following parameters: • •

K1 - los and K2 - los: Enter the K1 and K2 values that will be used for calculations when the receiver is in the transmitter line of sight. K1 - nlos and K2 - nlos: Enter the K1 and K2 values that will be used for calculations when the receiver is not in the transmitter line of sight. The LOS is defined by no obstruction along the direct ray between the transmitter and the receiver.

Under Effective Antenna Height, you can set the following parameters: •

Method: Select the method that will be used to calculate HTxeff, the effective antenna height.

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You can use the Automatic Calibration Wizard to select the best method for calculating the effective Tx antenna height. For information on the Automatic Calibration Wizard, see the Measurements and Model Calibration Guide. •

•

Distance min. and Distance max.: The Distance min. and Distance max. are set to 3,000 m and 15,000 m (according to ITU recommendations) for frequencies under 500 MHz and to 0 m and 15,000 m (according to ITU recommendations) for high frequency mobile communications. These values are only used for the "Abs Spot Ht" and the "Enhanced Slope at Receiver" methods. For more information on how these values are used, see the Technical Reference Guide. K3: Enter the K3 value.

Under Diffraction, you can set the following parameters: • • •

LOS calculations only: Select LOS calculations only ("1 - Yes") or LOS and NLOS calculations ("0 - No") . Method: Select the method that will be used to calculate diffraction. K4: Enter the K4 value.

Under Other Parameters, you can set the following parameters: • •

K5: Enter the K5 value. K6: Enter the K6 value. It is recommended to set K6 to 0, and use K7 instead of K6. K6 is a multiplicative coefficient to a value in dB, which means that slight variations in K6 have considerable impact on the path loss.

• • •

•

•

•

K7: Enter the K7 value. Kclutter: Enter the Kclutter value. Hilly Terrain Correction Factor: Select "1 - Yes" to take the Hilly Terrain Correction Factor into account. Otherwise, select "0 - No". The Hilly Terrain Correction Factor corrects path loss for hilly regions when transmitter and receiver are in LOS. For more information on the Hilly Terrain Correction Factor, see the Technical Reference Guide. Limitation to Free Space Loss: When using a Hata-based propagation model, it is possible to calculate a theoretical path loss that ends up being lower than the free space loss. In Atoll, you can define any Hata-based propagation model to never calculate a path loss that is lower than the calculated free space loss per pixel. Select "1 - Yes" if you want the propagation model to limit the path loss calculated per pixel to the calculated free space loss. Profiles: Select the method to be used to extract the profile. If you select "1 - Radial," Atoll establishes a profile between each transmitter and each point located on its calculation perimeter (as defined by the calculation radius) and then uses the nearest profile to make a prediction on a point inside the calculation perimeter. This process is called radial optimisation. If you select "2 - Systematic," Atoll systematically determines a profile between each transmitter and each point in its calculation area. This method requires a significantly longer calculation time, therefore, you should choose "1 - Radial" if you want a shorter calculation time. Grid Calculation: Select "0 - Centred" if you want Atoll to perform the calculations at the centre of each pixel or select "1 - Bottom left" if you want Atoll to perform the calculations at the lower left of each pixel.

3. Click OK.

4.1.2.7 Defining the Clutter Settings of the Standard Propagation Model You can define the parameters of the Standard Propagation Model using the Standard Propagation Model Properties dialog box. For more information, see "Calculating f(clutter) with the Standard Propagation Model" on page 171. To define the clutter parameters of the Standard Propagation Model: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Propagation Models folder and right-click Standard Propagation Model., and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. Click the Clutter tab (see Figure 4.3).

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Figure 4.3: Standard Propagation Model - Clutter tab Under Clutter Taken into Account, you can set the following parameters under Heights: • • •

Clutter taken into account in diffraction: Select "1 - Yes" if you want the clutter heights to be taken into account when calculating diffraction. Receiver on top of clutter: Select "1 - Yes" if you want to consider that the receiver is located on top of the clutter, for example if fixed receivers are located on building rooftops. Indoor calculations only: Select "1 - Yes" to create coverage predictions based on indoor calculations only.

Under Clutter Taken into Account, you can set the following parameters under Range: • •

Max. distance: Set the maximum distance from a receiver to be considered when calculating f(clutter). Weighting function: Select a weighting function to be used when calculating f(clutter). It enables you to weigh losses for each pixel between a receiver and a maximum distance. For more information on weighting functions, see the Technical Reference Guide.

Under Parameters per clutter class, you can set the following parameters for each clutter class: • •

•

Losses: If necessary, enter the losses for each clutter class to be considered when calculating f(clutter). Clearance: If necessary, enter a clearance around each receiver for each clutter class. The clearance information is used to model streets when it is assumed that the receiver is in the street. The clearance is used to calculate diffraction when statistical clutter is considered. Rx Height: If necessary, enter a specific receiver height for each clutter class. Alternatively, you can select "(default)" for the receiver height. When creating a coverage prediction, Atoll reads the receiver height on the Calculation Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box in the Parameters explorer.

3. Click OK.

4.1.3 Aster Propagation Model The Aster propagation model is a high-performance advanced ray-tracing propagation model developed by Forsk. It supports all radio access technologies and especially suits urban and dense urban propagation environments with small cells. Aster can provide highly accurate propagation results using high resolution raster building data for vertical and horizontal diffraction calculations in addition to vector building data. Aster comes with default macro, micro, and small cell configurations and can be optionally tuned using CW measurements. The Aster propagation model has the following features: •

Ray tracing: Aster is based on two major components:

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• •

© 2016 Forsk. All Rights Reserved.

Vertical diffraction over rooftops based on Walfisch-Ikegami model and multiple knife-edge Deygout method. Horizontal diffraction based on ray tracing.

Aster can use geographical data such as vectors for ray tracing, but it can also perform ray tracing with raster data only. • •

•

•

Extremely fast: Aster uses a unique high-speed ray-tracing technique, based on the raster sampling of building angles. For example, 5 seconds are enough to calculate a 1,500 m radius cell with a 5m grid on an ordinary laptop. Highly accurate: Aster can take all the main radio propagation effects into account, leading to highly accurate coverage prediction results. Its accuracy applies to antennas above rooftops (where signal levels are mainly due to vertical diffractions) as well as antennas under rooftops (where signal levels are mainly due to horizontal diffractions). Ready & Easy-to-use: Aster is fully integrated in the Atoll environment and there is no need for a special database or for any type of data pre-processing. • Compatible with high resolution (less than 25 m) raster data and with all types of clutter data. It is also compatible with vector data (ESRI Shapefiles SHP and MapInfo TAB formats are currently supported). • Compliant with all wireless technologies and frequencies ranging from 150 MHz to 5 GHz. • Supplied with pre-calibrated parameters using more than 1.5 million measurement points. The standard deviation from measurements is typically less than 6.5 dB. Model configurations are intuitive and easy to access. Auto-calibration: Aster supports measurement-based auto-calibration. The standard deviation can drop to less than 6.5 dB in scenarios and environments with high-resolution geo data and good-quality measurements.

Figure 4.4: Vertical and Horizontal Components in Aster The Aster user interface is organised with the following tabs: • • • • •

176

General: use this tab to change the Aster model instance name, view the register signature, and enter comments. Configuration: use this tab to define indoor calculation and indoor antennas parameters. Clutter: use this tab to define clutter classes and propagation classes. Geo: use this tab to map geo raster data to deterministic propagation classes and define vector files. Ray Tracing: use this tab to modify the settings of the ray tracing algorithm.

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Figure 4.5: Aster User Interface For more information on the Aster propagation model, please refer to the following documents: • • • •

Aster User Manual Aster Model Calibration Guide Aster Technical Reference Guide TN031 - Aster License Management

4.1.4 CrossWave Model CrossWave is a high performance universal propagation model that can be applied to all wireless technologies (GSM, UMTS, WiMAX, LTE, etc.) and frequency ranges from 200 MHz to 5 GHz. It supports any type of micro, mini, and macro cells and all types of environment without restriction (dense urban, urban, suburban, rural, etc.).

Figure 4.6: Propagation phenomena and CrossWave The CrossWave model relies on geographical data to determine a vertical profile of the terrain between a transmitter and a receiver and provides realistic modelling by combining the three following criteria: •

Vertical diffraction using elaborate clutter information

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Reflection on mountains Horizontal guided propagation

CrossWave supports automatic tuning based on CW measurements, but is also statistically pre-calibrated by incorporating measurements from various countries and environment types. CrossWave benefits from several years of experience in modelling of basic components (antenna and profile modelling) and automatic tuning (multi-linear regression, neuronal networks, etc.). Although highly complex, the CrossWave model combines accuracy, performance, versatility, and robustness. CrossWave is developed by Orange Labs and is distributed and supported by Forsk as an optional component for Atoll. For licensing information, contact your Forsk representative. For information on installing and using the CrossWave propagation model, see the CrossWave user manual.

4.1.5 Okumura-Hata Propagation Model The Okumura-Hata model is suited for predictions in the 150 to 1000 MHz band over long distances (from one to 20 km). It is best suited to GSM 900 and CDMA 1xRTT radio technologies. Hata models in general are well adapted to the urban environment. You can define several corrective formulas and associate a formula with each clutter class to adapt the Hata model to a wide variety of environments. You can also define a default formula to be used when no land use data is available. Additionally, you can consider diffraction losses based on the DTM. This section covers the following topics: • • •

"Defining General Settings (Okumura-Hata)" on page 178 "Selecting an Environment Formula (Okumura-Hata)" on page 178 "Creating or Modifying Environment Formulas (Okumura-Hata)" on page 179.

4.1.5.1 Defining General Settings (Okumura-Hata) To set general parameters on the Okumura-Hata propagation model: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Propagation Models folder and right-click Okumura-Hata. The context menu appears. 2. Select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 3. Click the Parameters tab. You can modify the following settings: •

•

Add diffraction loss: The Okumura-Hata propagation model can take into account losses due to diffraction, using a 1-knife-edge Deygout method, and using the ground altitude given in the DTM. For detailed information on the Deygout method, see the Technical Reference Guide. The calculations take the curvature of the earth into account. Select "1 - Yes" if you want the propagation model to add losses due to diffraction. You can weight this diffraction for each Hata environment formula (see "Creating or Modifying Environment Formulas (Okumura-Hata)" on page 179) Limitation to free space loss: When using a Hata-based propagation model, it is possible to calculate a theoretical path loss that ends up being lower than the free space loss. In Atoll, you can define any Hata-based propagation model to never calculate a path loss that is lower than the calculated free space loss per pixel. Select "1 - Yes" if you want the propagation model to limit the path loss calculated per pixel to the calculated free space loss.

4. Click OK.

4.1.5.2 Selecting an Environment Formula (Okumura-Hata) The Okumura-Hata model calculates propagation by using an environment formula appropriate to each clutter class. You can assign a default formula that Atoll can use for all clutter classes for which you have not assigned an environment formula or if you do not have clutter classes in your Atoll document. To select environment formulas: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Propagation Models folder, right-click Okumura-Hata, and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. Click the Configuration tab. 3. Under Formulas assigned to clutter classes, select the Default formula row. Under this grid, choose the appropriate formula in the formula scrolling list. Atoll uses the default environment formula for calculations on any clutter class to which you have not assigned an environment formula or if you do not have clutter classes in your Atoll document. 4. For each clutter class under Formulas assigned to clutter classes, select a formula from the list.

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5. For each clutter class under Additional Losses per Clutter Class, enter an optional correction (in dB). This correction acts as an additional loss on the loss calculated by the chosen formula. For information on modifying the selected formula, see "Creating or Modifying Environment Formulas (OkumuraHata)" on page 179. 6. Click OK. Correction terms can be evaluated using the Automatic Calibration Wizard. For information on the Automatic Calibration Wizard, see the Measurements and Model Calibration Guide.

4.1.5.3 Creating or Modifying Environment Formulas (Okumura-Hata) The Okumura-Hata propagation model provides several environmental formulas to simulate various environments. You can modify existing environmental formulas used by the Okumura-Hata propagation model or you can create new environmental formulas. To create or modify an environment formula: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Propagation Models folder, right-click Okumura-Hata, and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. Click the Configuration tab. 3. Click the Formulas button. The Formulas dialog box appears. You can do the following: • • •

Add: To create a new formula, click the Add button and modify the parameters of the formula. Delete: To delete a formula, select the formula and click the Delete button. Modify: To modify an existing formula, select the formula and modify the parameters.

4. Click OK to save your changes and close the Formulas dialog box. 5. Click OK. • •

You can weight the diffraction loss by setting the diffraction multiplying factor within the range [0;1]. Constant values and a diffraction multiplying factor can be evaluated using the Automatic Calibration Wizard for each environment formula. For information on the Automatic Calibration Wizard, see the Measurements and Model Calibration Guide.

4.1.6 Cost-Hata Propagation Model The Cost-Hata model is suited for coverage predictions in the 1500 to 2000 MHz band over long distances (from one to 20 km). It is best suited to DCS 1800 and UMTS radio technologies. Hata models in general are well adapted to the urban environment. You can define several corrective formulas and associate a formula with each clutter class to adapt the Hata model to a wide variety of environments. You can also define a default formula to be used when no land use data is available. This section covers the following topics: • • •

"Defining General Settings (Cost-Hata)" on page 179 "Selecting an Environment Formula (Cost-Hata)" on page 180 "Creating or Modifying Environment Formulas (Cost-Hata)" on page 180.

4.1.6.1 Defining General Settings (Cost-Hata) To set general parameters on the Cost-Hata propagation model: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Propagation Models folder, right-click Cost-Hata, and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. Click the Parameters tab. You can modify the following settings: •

Add diffraction loss: The Cost-Hata propagation model can consider losses due to diffraction by using both a 1knife-edge Deygout method, and the ground altitude provided by the DTM. For detailed information on the Deygout method, see the Technical Reference Guide. The calculations take the curvature of the Earth into account. Select "1 - Yes" if you want the propagation model to add losses due to diffraction. You can weight this diffraction for each Hata environmental formula (See "Creating or Modifying Environment Formulas (Cost-Hata)" on page 180)

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Limitation to free space loss: When using a Hata-based propagation model, it is possible to calculate a theoretical path loss that ends up being lower than the free space loss. In Atoll, you can define any Hata-based propagation model to never calculate a path loss that is lower than the calculated free space loss per pixel. Select "1 - Yes" if you want the propagation model to limit the path loss calculated per pixel to the calculated free space loss.

3. Click OK.

4.1.6.2 Selecting an Environment Formula (Cost-Hata) The Cost-Hata propagation model can use an environment formula appropriate to each clutter class when calculating. You can assign a default formula that Atoll can use for all clutter classes for which you have not assigned an environment formula or if you do not have clutter classes in your Atoll document. To select environment formulas: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Propagation Models folder, right-click Cost-Hata, and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. Click the Configuration tab. 3. Under Formulas assigned to clutter classes, select the Default formula row. Under this grid, choose the appropriate formula in the formula scrolling list. Atoll uses the default environment formula for calculations on any clutter class to which you have not assigned an environment formula or if you do not have clutter classes in your Atoll document. 4. For each clutter class under Formulas assigned to clutter classes, select a formula from the list. 5. For each clutter class under Additional Losses per Clutter Class, enter an optional correction (in dB). This correction acts as an additional loss on the loss calculated by the chosen formula. 6. Click OK.

4.1.6.3 Creating or Modifying Environment Formulas (Cost-Hata) Several environment formulas are available with the Cost-Hata propagation model to model different environments. You can modify existing environment formulas used by the Cost-Hata propagation model or create new environmental formulas. To create or modify an environment formula: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Propagation Models folder, right-click Cost-Hata, and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. Click the Configuration tab. 3. Click the Formulas button. The Formulas dialog box appears. You can do the following: • • •

Add: To create a new formula, click the Add button and modify the parameters of the formula. Delete: To delete a formula, select the formula and click the Delete button. Modify: To modify an existing formula, select the formula and modify the parameters.

4. Click OK to save your changes and close the Formulas dialog box. 5. Click OK. • •

You can weight the diffraction loss by setting the diffraction multiplying factor within the range [0;1]. Constant values and diffraction multiplying factor can be evaluated using the Automatic Calibration Wizard for each environment formula. For information on the Automatic Calibration Wizard, see the Measurements and Model Calibration Guide.

4.1.7 ITU 529-3 Propagation Model The ITU 529-3 model is suited for predictions in the 300 to 1500 MHz band over long distances (from one to 100 km). It is best suited to the GSM 900 radio technology. Hata models in general are well adapted to the urban environment. You can define several corrective formulas and associate a formula with each clutter class to adapt the Hata model to a wide variety of environments. You can also define a default formula to be used when no land use data is available. In addition, for long distances 20km Calculate Path Loss Matrices from the context menu. Atoll calculates all non-existent and invalid path loss matrices of active and filtered transmitters. If you are working with multiple radio technologies, you can select Predictions > Path Loss Matrix Calculation > Calculate to run the calculations for all technologies at once.

You can calculate the non-existent and invalid path loss matrices for all transmitters, for a single transmitter, or for a defined group of transmitters, by expanding the Transmitters folder right-clicking either the single transmitter or the defined group of transmitters and selecting Calculations > Calculate Path Loss Matrices from the context menu. Atoll calculates path loss matrices of co-located co-site transmitters in a single step, i.e., per site, instead of calculating each transmitter’s matrix separately. The calculation of path losses comprises two mutually independent components: 1. The path loss due to electromagnetic wave propagation around the transmitter. This component is calculated by propagation models. 2. Attenuation due to antenna pattern (masking). This component is independent of the propagation calculation. The first component, which is the most time-consuming, is the same for all co-located co-site transmitters. Therefore, by calculating path loss matrices per site, Atoll is able to provide short calculation times. Atoll generates separate path loss matrix results for each transmitter, combining both components of path loss calculations. Co-located co-site transmitters are transmitters with the same site, antenna height, DX, DY, main and extended propagation models, main and extended calculation radii, and main and extended calculation resolutions. By default, the per-site path loss calculation is enabled in Atoll 64-bit and disabled in Atoll 32-bit. You can enable and disable this option as needed using the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. You can prevent Atoll from calculating one or more path loss matrices by locking them. You can lock path loss matrices using the Propagation tab of the Transmitters dialog box. You can lock a single path loss matrix by selecting the check box in the Locked column, or more than one by selecting several path loss matrices and then selecting Lock from the context menu.

4.3.3 Stopping Path Loss Matrix Calculation Depending on the size of the path loss matrices, it can take a long time and a lot of computer resources to calculate them. If necessary, you can stop calculation at any point. To stop path loss matrix calculations: 1. Click the Stop Calculations button ( ) in the toolbar. Atoll immediately stops all ongoing calculations. However, the results of calculations that have already been completed will be saved.

4.3.4 Checking the Validity of Path Loss Matrices Atoll automatically checks the validity of the path loss matrices when calculating any coverage prediction. If you want, you can check whether the path loss matrices are valid before calculating a coverage prediction. To check whether the path loss matrices are valid: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. Click the Propagation tab. The path loss matrix information is listed in the Available Results table. 3. Select one of the following display options: • •

Display all the matrices: All path loss matrices are displayed. Display only invalid matrices: Only invalid path loss matrices are displayed.

The Available Results table lists the following information for each displayed path loss matrix: • • • •

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Transmitter: The name of the transmitter. Locked: If the Locked check box is selected, the path loss matrix will not be updated even if the path loss matrices are recalculated. Valid: This is a boolean field indicating whether or not the path loss matrix is valid. Reason for Invalidity: If the path loss matrix is indicated as being invalid, the reason is given here.

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• • •

Size: The size of the path loss matrix for the transmitter. File: If the path loss matrix is not embedded, the location of the file is listed. Tuned: If the Tuned check box has been selected, the initial path loss matrix obtained by the propagation model has been tuned by the use of real measurement points. See "Tuning Path Loss Matrices Using Measurement Data" on page 195 for more information.

4. Click the Statistics button to display the number of path loss matrices to be recalculated. The Statistics dialog box appears (see Figure 4.7) with the total number of invalid path loss matrices and the reasons for invalidity, as well as a summary of the reasons for invalidity.

Figure 4.7: Path loss matrix statistics

4.3.5 Deleting Path Loss Matrices Path loss matrices can be deleted at any time, from the Predictions folder or from the Transmitters folder. To delete path loss matrices via the Predictions folder: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select Path Loss Matrix Storage from the context menu. In multi-RAT documents, an additional menu appears with the technologies that are available; select the technology you want. The Results dialog box appears. 2. In the Results dialog box, select the path loss matrix/matrices you want to delete: •

To delete a single path loss matrix: i.

Click in the row containing the path loss matrix you want to delete. The selected row is highlighted.

ii. Right-click anywhere in the Results table and select Delete from the context menu, or click the Actions button and select Delete from the menu. The deleted path loss matrix appears hatched. •

To delete multiple path loss matrices at once: i.

Select contiguous rows by clicking the first row, pressing Shift, and clicking the last row, or non-contiguous rows by pressing Ctrl and clicking each row separately. The selected rows are highlighted.

ii. Right-click anywhere in the Results table and select Delete from the context menu, or click the Actions button and select Delete from the menu. The deleted path loss matrices appear hatched.

Figure 4.8: Available results for path loss matrices after selecting the Delete command 3. Click OK. The next time you display the Results dialog box via the Predictions folder, "No available result" will be indicated in red under File for the corresponding transmitters.

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Figure 4.9: Available results for path loss matrices after selecting the Delete command You can also delete path loss matrices via the Transmitters folder: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder and select Properties from the context menu. The Transmitters Properties dialog box appears. 2. Click the Propagation tab. The path loss matrix information is listed in the Available Results table. 3. In the Available Results table, select the path loss matrix/matrices you want to delete: •

To delete a single path loss matrix: i.

Click in the row containing the path loss matrix you want to delete. The selected row is highlighted.

ii. Right-click anywhere in the Available Results table and select Delete from the context menu. The deleted path loss matrix appears hatched. •

To delete multiple path loss matrices at once: i.

Select contiguous rows by clicking the first row, pressing Shift, and clicking the last row, or non-contiguous rows by pressing Ctrl and clicking each row separately. The selected rows are highlighted.

ii. Right-click anywhere in the Available Results table and select Delete from the context menu. The deleted path loss matrices appear hatched. 4. Click OK. The next time you click the Available results table via the Transmitters folder, "No available result" will be indicated in red under File for the corresponding transmitters.

4.3.6 Optimising Path Loss Matrix Storage As explained in "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187, you can assign calculation radii for main and extended matrices, either for each transmitter, for a group of transmitters or for all the transmitters in a project. The path loss matrices are then calculated from the transmitter to the distance defined by the calculation radii. In some cases, considering the minimum signal required from the point of view of the receiver, calculating large path losses serves no purpose and has negative consequences in terms of calculation time and the storage of path loss matrices. In Atoll, you can re-evaluate the calculation radii of existing path loss matrices by truncating values which would lead to unnecessary received signal levels. To optimise the calculation radius of the main or extended path loss matrices: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder, and select Calculations > Optimise Path Loss Matrices from the context menu. 2. Select the matrices (main or extended) for which you want to re-evaluate the calculation radius. 3. For each selected matrix, enter the minimum signal level which are to be used during matrix reduction. After calculation, Atoll will filter out the path losses leading to signal levels lower than these thresholds. If you enter a higher threshold for extended matrices than that for the main matrices, the lower one (that for the main matrices) will be used for extended matrices as well. 4. Click Calculate. Atoll begins evaluating the calculation radii. Atoll first checks to see whether the path loss matrices are valid before optimising their radius. If the path loss matrices are not valid, Atoll does not optimise their radius. Information about the calculation of the path loss matrix radii are listed in the Available Results table. 5. Select one of the following display options: • •

Display all results: All path loss matrices, including those which do not need optimisation, are displayed. Display modified radii only: Only path loss matrices for which the radius have to be optimised are displayed.

The Available Results table lists the following information for each displayed transmitter: • • • •

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Transmitter: The name of the transmitter. Main Radius: The radius of the main path loss matrix before optimisation. Optimised Main Radius: The radius of the main path loss matrix after optimisation. Extended Radius: The radius of the extended path loss matrix before optimisation.

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Optimised Extended Radius: The radius of the extended path loss matrix after optimisation.

6. Select the Commit check box for each transmitter for which you want to commit the optimised radius (or radii). You can select one, several, or all the results and right-click in order to select, ignore or commit the results. 7. Click Commit. The calculation radius (or radii) for all transmitters whose Commit check box is selected is updated. Clearing the Main matrices or Extended matrices check box at the top of the dialog box will not prevent the main or extended matrices from being updated if the given check box was selected before you clicked the Calculate button. If the calculation radii of extended matrices are changed, the extended matrices are deleted and will need to be recalculated with the new radius values. •

•

•

Invalid matrices cannot be optimised and have to be calculated prior to the optimisation process (see "Setting the Storage Location of Path Loss Matrices" on page 190 for more information). Invalid (or non-existent) matrices are displayed in red in the available results list. Even if the radius can be evaluated (and committed to the transmitter properties), path losses are not optimised for locked matrices or matrices in a shared directory (see "Checking the Validity of Path Loss Matrices" on page 192 for more information). These matrices are displayed in grey in the available results list. You can also optimise path loss matrices using the context menu of a transmitter or group of transmitters. Only the matrices of the selected transmitter or transmitters will be optimised.

4.3.7 Tuning Path Loss Matrices Using Measurement Data In Atoll, the path loss matrices are calculated using the propagation model and parameters defined as explained in "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187. However, the results calculated by a propagation model can vary from actual measurements. Atoll allows you to use available drive test data paths and CW measurements to increase the accuracy of calculated path loss matrices. When Atoll applies measurement data to path loss matrices, it first strips the effect of the antenna pattern from the data. Therefore, if the antenna parameters change, the same measurement data can be used to tune the path loss matrices because the effect of the antenna pattern is not present in the data. Atoll uses the selected measurement data to tune a user-defined elliptical area around each measurement point. The main axis of the ellipse is oriented in the direction of the transmitter or repeater. Atoll smooths the differences between tuned path loss matrix points and uncorrected path loss matrix points using an average error calculated between each measured value and the corresponding value in the path loss matrices. When you use measurement data to tune path loss matrices, the results are stored locally. If you are using shared path loss matrices, these results will be automatically deleted when you make a calculation if the FullResyncPrivShared option is set in the Atoll.ini file. If you are using shared path loss matrices, you should disable this option before tuning path loss matrices using measurement data. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. When using measurement data to tune path loss matrices, you need to have valid path loss matrices that are stored externally. Path loss tuning is not available when path loss matrices are stored inside the Atoll document. For more information on path loss matrix validity, see "Managing Path Loss Matrices" on page 190. To tune path loss calculation with measurement data: 1. Define the elliptical area around the measurement point as explained in "Defining the Area to be Tuned" on page 196. 2. Select the measurement data to be used to tune the path loss matrices: •

•

CW Measurements: You select the CW measurements from the CW Measurements folder as explained in "Tuning Path Loss Matrices Using CW Measurements" on page 197. The selected CW measurements will be used to tune the path loss matrices calculated for the site on which the CW measurements were made. Drive Test Data: You select the drive test data path from the Drive Test Data folder as explained in "Tuning Path Loss Matrices Using Drive Test Data" on page 198. The selected measurements from drive test data path will be used to tune the path loss matrices calculated for the selected transmitter.

Atoll replaces existing path loss matrices with the tuned matrices which remain valid as long as the radio configuration of the network does not change. Atoll creates an external folder containing the catalogue of all the tuning paths as explained in "Managing the Path Loss Tuning Points" on page 199. By activating or deactivating the tuning paths, you can select the tuning path to be applied to the existing path loss matrices. Therefore, even if the path loss is recalculated, the path loss is automatically retuned using the active tuning paths.

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4.3.7.1 Defining the Area to be Tuned Atoll tunes the path loss matrices over an elliptical area around each measurement point. The main axis of the ellipse is oriented in the direction of the transmitter. To define the elliptical area around each measurement point: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the measurement type that you will use to tune the path loss matrices: • •

CW Measurements: If you are going to use CW measurements to tune the path loss matrices, right-click the CW Measurements folder. The context menu appears. Drive Test Data: If you are going to use drive test data to tune the path loss matrices, right-click the Drive Test Data folder. The context menu appears.

2. Select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 3. Select the Path Loss Tuning Parameters tab (see Figure 4.10).

Figure 4.10: Defining the ellipse for tuning path loss matrices 4. Under Tuning Ellipse, set the following parameters: • •

Radius of the Axis Parallel to Profile: Enter the radius of the ellipse axis oriented in the same direction as the transmitter (or repeater). Radius of the Axis Perpendicular to Profile: Enter the radius of the ellipse axis perpendicular to the transmitter (or repeater).

5. Click OK.

4.3.7.2 Defining Maximum Corrections and Thresholds on Path Loss Tuning Path loss tuning is done in two steps, as described in the Technical Reference Guide: 1. Correction of the entire path loss matrix: A mean error is calculated between each measured value and the corresponding pixel in the path loss matrix. Mean error is calculated for each path loss matrix (main and extended) of each transmitter. This mean error is then applied to all the pixels in the matrix. This tuning is done to smooth local corrections (step 2) of measured values and not the tuned pixels themselves. 2. Local correction for each measured value. In Atoll, you can set a tuning range in order to limit the tuning in the case the difference between the measurements and the predicted measurements is too great. In addition, you can define a level under which the measured signal strength is not used for path loss tuning. To define the tuning range and the measurement threshold for path loss tuning: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the measurement type that you will use to tune the path loss matrices: • •

CW Measurements: If you are going to use CW measurements to tune the path loss matrices, right-click the CW Measurements folder. The context menu appears. Drive Test Data: If you are going to use drive test data to tune the path loss matrices, right-click the Drive Test Data folder. The context menu appears.

2. Select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 3. Select the Path Loss Tuning Parameters tab.

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4. Under Tuning Range, set the following parameters: • • •

Maximum total correction (dB): Enter the maximum admissible mean error in step 1 of the path loss tuning process. Maximum local correction (dB): Enter the maximum admissible local error in step 2 of the path loss tuning process. Minimum measurement threshold (dBm): Enter the measured signal level under which measurements are not taken into account for the path loss tuning.

5. Click OK.

4.3.7.3 Tuning Path Loss Matrices Using CW Measurements Atoll allows you to use available CW measurements to increase the accuracy of calculated path loss matrices. To use CW measurements to tune path loss matrices: 1. In the Network explorer, select how you want to tune the path loss matrices: To tune the path loss matrix for a single transmitter: a. Expand the CW Measurement folder and the site folder containing the CW measurement path you want to use to tune the path loss matrices. b. Right-click the CW measurement path in the site folder and select Tune Path Loss Matrices from the context menu. Atoll immediately begins optimising the path loss matrices for the transmitter on which the CW measurement was made. The progress is displayed in the Events viewer. To tune the path loss matrices for all transmitters: a. Right-click the CW Measurement folder and select Tune Path Loss Matrices from the context menu. The Measurement Path Selection dialog box appears (see Figure 4.11).

Figure 4.11: Selecting all CW measurement paths b. Under Measurement Paths, select All. c. Click OK. Atoll begins optimising the path loss matrices for all transmitters on which CW measurements are available. The progress is displayed in the Events viewer. To tune the path loss matrices for selected transmitters using selected CW measurement paths: a. Right-click the CW Measurement folder and select Tune Path Loss Matrices from the context menu. The Measurement Path Selection dialog box appears (see Figure 4.11). b. Under Measurement Paths, select the option beside the list of CW measurements. c. Select the check box corresponding to each transmitter for which you want to tune the path loss matrices. For some transmitters, more than one CW measurement may exist. In this case, selecting the check box for the transmitter will select all the CW measurements. If you do not want to use all CW measurements, click the Expand button ( ) to expand the transmitter list and then select the single CW measurements you want to use. d. Click OK. Atoll begins optimising the path loss matrices for all transmitters on which CW measurements are available. The progress is displayed in the Events viewer.

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For repeaters, Atoll also tunes the path loss matrix of both the donor transmitter and the repeater. The contribution of the repeater and donor to the measured value is calculated based on the ratio of calculated values between the repeater signal and the donor signal. Each evaluated contribution is then used as input to tune the path loss matrix of each item.

4.3.7.4 Tuning Path Loss Matrices Using Drive Test Data Atoll allows you to use available drive test data paths to increase the accuracy of calculated path loss matrices. To use drive test data to tune path loss matrices: 1. In the Network explorer, select how you want to tune the path loss matrices: To tune the path loss matrix using a single drive test data path: a. Expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data path you want to use to tune the path loss matrices, and select Tune Path Loss Matrices from the context menu. The Path Loss Tuning dialog box appears (see Figure 4.12).

Figure 4.12: Path Loss Tuning dialog box b. Click the For the following transmitters list. The list opens. c. Select the check box for each transmitter whose path loss matrix you want to tune. d. Click the Select the measured signal levels list. The list opens. e. For each transmitter selected from the For the following transmitters list, select the check box for each measured signal strength that will be used to tune the path loss matrices. f. Click OK. Atoll begins optimising the path loss matrices for the transmitter on which the CW measurement was made. The progress is displayed in the Events viewer. To tune the path loss matrices using all drive test data paths: a. Right-click the Drive Test Data folder and select Tune Path Loss Matrices from the context menu. The Measurement Path Selection dialog box appears (see Figure 4.13).

Figure 4.13: Selecting all CW measurement paths

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b. Under Measurement Paths, select All. c. Click the For the following transmitters list. The list opens. d. Select the check box for each transmitter whose path loss matrix you want to tune. e. Click the Select the measured signal levels list. The list opens. f.

For each transmitter selected from the For the following transmitters list, select the check box for each measured signal strength that will be used to tune the path loss matrices.

g. Click OK. Atoll begins optimising the path loss matrices for the transmitter on which the CW measurement was made. The progress is displayed in the Events viewer. To tune the path loss matrices for selected transmitters using selected drive test data paths: a. Right-click the Drive Test Data folder and select Tune Path Loss Matrices from the context menu. The Measurement Path Selection dialog box appears (see Figure 4.13). b. Under Measurement Paths, select the option beside the list of drive test data paths. c. Select the check box corresponding to the drive test data you want to use to tune the path loss matrices. d. Click the For the following transmitters list. The list opens. e. Select the check box for each transmitter whose path loss matrix you want to tune. f.

Click the Select the measured signal levels list. The list opens.

g. For each transmitter selected from the For the following transmitters list, select the check box for each measured signal strength that will be used to tune the path loss matrices. h. Click OK. Atoll begins optimising the path loss matrices for the transmitter on which the CW measurement was made. The progress is displayed in the Events viewer. For repeaters, Atoll tunes the path loss matrix of both the donor transmitter and the repeater. The contribution of the repeater and donor to the measured value is calculated based on the ratio of calculated values between the repeater signal and the donor signal. Each evaluated contribution is then used as input to tune the path loss matrix of each item.

4.3.7.5 Managing the Path Loss Tuning Points After tuning the path loss matrices, Atoll creates a tuning measurement file for each transmitter in a folder with the extension ".tuning". The .pts tuning file contains a header and a list of points defining the measurement data path excluding the antenna losses which means that the measurement data remains valid even if the antenna parameters change. A tuning file can contain several measurement paths, so that several calibrations can be applied successively on a path loss matrix and stored in a single tuning file. All the tuning files are stored as a catalogue in the current project. Each single tuning path can be activated or deactivated in order to be automatically applied to path loss matrices, even after recalculation. Tuning files are stored in the same way as path loss matrices, as explained in "Checking the Validity of Path Loss Matrices" on page 192. They can be saved on a network and shared between users. To manage the catalogue of the tuning path loss data: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. Click the Propagation tab. The path loss matrix information is listed in the Available Results table. 3. Select one of the following display options: • •

Display all the matrices: All path loss matrices are displayed. Display only invalid matrices: Only invalid path loss matrices are displayed.

The Available Results table lists the following information for each displayed path loss matrix: • • • • • • •

Transmitter: The name of the transmitter or repeater. Locked: If the check box is selected, the path loss matrix will not be updated even if the path loss matrices are recalculated. Valid: This is a boolean field indicating whether or not the path loss matrix is valid. Reason for Invalidity: If the path loss matrix is indicated as being invalid, the reason is given here. Size: The size of the path loss matrix for the transmitter. File: If the path loss matrix is not embedded, the location of the file is listed. Tuned: If the check box is selected, the initial path loss matrix obtained by the propagation model has been tuned by the use of real measurement data.

4. Select the tuning path loss matrices you want to manage using the available catalogue:

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a. Select contiguous rows by clicking the first row, pressing Shift and clicking the last row. You can select non-contiguous rows by pressing Ctrl and clicking each rows separately. b. Right-click inside the multiple selection. The context menu appears. 5. Select Path Loss Tuning Points from the context menu. The Path Loss Tuning Points dialog box appears.

Figure 4.14: Path Loss Tuning Catalogue 6. Select one of the following display options: • •

All: All the tuning paths are displayed. Active Only: Only the active tuning paths are displayed.

The Available Results table lists the following information for each displayed tuning path, assuming each transmitter (or repeater) can have several ones coming from either the same or different measurement paths: • • • •

• • • • • • • •

• • •

Transmitter: The name of the transmitter or repeater. File: The location of the tuning file. Name: The name of the tuning entry. Each entry is automatically named by Atoll based on the source of the tuning data. You can edit the name by right-clicking the line and selecting Properties from the context menu. Active: You can set each tuning path as active by selecting the check box. Only active entries are used to tune the path loss matrices. When several entries are active and therefore applied to the same transmitter (or repeater), the applicable tunings on the path loss matrix are realised in turn from the top to the bottom of the catalogue. No. points: Displays the number of measurement points on the tuning path. X Radius (m): Displays the radius of the ellipse axis oriented in the same direction as the transmitter (or repeater) during the tuning session. Y Radius (m): Displays the radius of the ellipse axis perpendicular to the transmitter (or repeater) during the tuning session. Gain (dB): Displays the gain of the measurement receiver. Max. total correction (dB): Displays the user-defined maximum admissible total correction. Max. local correction (dB): Displays the user-defined maximum admissible local correction. Min. Threshold (dBm): Displays the user-defined level under which measurement values are not taken into account for path loss tuning. Total correction (dB): Displays the mean error between each measured value and its corresponding pixel in the path loss matrix. This is the correction which is applied globally to all the matrices during the first step of path loss tuning. For more information, please refer to the Technical Reference Guide. Valid: This is a boolean field indicating whether or not the measurement path data (excluding the antenna information) are valid. Reason for Invalidity: If the measurement path data is indicated as being invalid, the reason is given here. Comments: Additional comments referring to the measurement entry are given in this field. You can edit the comment by right-clicking the line and selecting Properties from the context menu. When path loss tuning entries are changed (e.g., activated or deleted) Atoll suggests deleting the corresponding path loss matrices.

You can import tuning files to replace an existing tuning or to benefit from a path loss tuning done by another user. The PTS files are imported using a DBF file containing all the information relative to matrices and their tuning. To import a path loss tuning catalogue: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. Click the Propagation tab. The path loss matrix information is listed in the Available Results table. 3. In the Available Results table, select the tuning path loss matrices for which you want to import tuning files:

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a. Select contiguous rows by clicking the first row, pressing Shift and clicking the last row. You can select non-contiguous rows by pressing Ctrl and clicking each rows separately. b. Right-click inside the multiple selection. The context menu appears. 4. In the context menu, select Import Path Loss Tuning Catalogue from the context menu. The Open dialog box appears. 5. Select the DBF path loss tuning catalogue file you want to import. 6. Click Open. The existing PTS files are replaced by the ones referenced in the catalogue file. Any additional files in the DBF catalogue file are added. You can work with the imported PTS files with the same options as files from a tuning carried out in the current project.

4.3.8 Exporting Path Loss Matrices You can export path loss matrices if you want to use the data in another application. To export path loss matrices from Atoll: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. Click the Propagation tab. The path loss matrix information is listed in the Available Results table. 3. Right-click the Available Results table and select Select All from the context menu. 4. Right-click the Available Results table and select Export from the context menu. The Calculation Results Export dialog box appears (see Figure 4.15). 5. Set the following export parameters: • • •

Directory: Specify a directory where exported path loss matrices will be stored or click the Browse button ( ) to navigate to it. The directory must already exist. Exported Values: Select the values that are to be exported: Path Loss (dB), Signal Level (dBm), Signal Level (dBµV), or Signal Level (dBµV/m). Format: Select the format of the exported data: BIL Files (*.bil), TXT Files (*.txt) (Separator: tab), or CSV Files (*.csv) (Separator: ";").

Figure 4.15: Exporting path loss matrices 6. Click OK to export the path loss matrices.

4.4 Point Predictions Point predictions use the Point Analysis tool to predict, at any point on the map, the profile between a reference transmitter and a receiver, the value of the signal levels of the surrounding transmitters, quality and interference analysis for any technology, scrambling code (or PN Offset) collision analysis in UMTS/HSPA (or CDMA2000) projects. This section covers the following topics: • • • • •

"Starting a Point Analysis" on page 201 "Views of the Point Analysis Tool" on page 202 "Moving the Receiver on the Map" on page 203 "Taking Indoor Losses into Account" on page 203 "Taking Shadowing into Account in Point Analyses" on page 204.

4.4.1 Starting a Point Analysis To make a point analysis: 1. Select Tools > Point Analysis. The Point Analysis window appears and the pointer changes ( receiver. This receiver is placed at the centre of the active map.

) to represent the

If a transmitter was already selected on the map, a line appears connecting the selected transmitter and the receiver.

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2. Select the view of the Point Analysis window corresponding to the type of point prediction you want to make. For information on the views available in the Point Analysis window, see "Views of the Point Analysis Tool" on page 202.

4.4.2 Views of the Point Analysis Tool You can access several views from the Point Analysis tool. These views enable you to make several different point predictions. The views available depend on the radio technology of the current document. When opening the Point Analysis, you can select the appropriate view from the list located at the top left part of the window: •

The Profile View: The Profile view ( ) is available in the Point Analysis tool for GSM/GPRS/EDGE, CDMA, UMTS, TD-SCDMA, WiMAX, Wi-Fi, LPWA, and LTE projects. The Profile view of the Point Analysis tool displays the profile between a reference transmitter and the receiver. As well, Atoll displays the signal level of the received signal from the selected transmitter. You can also display the path loss or total losses of the selected transmitter. In this view, the results are calculated in real time.

•

The Reception View: The Reception view ( ) is available in the Point Analysis tool for GSM/GPRS/EDGE, CDMA, UMTS, TD-SCDMA, WiMAX, Wi-Fi, LPWA, and LTE projects. In multi-RAT projects, there are as many Reception views as there are technologies. The Reception view of the Point Analysis tool displays the predicted signal level from different transmitters in the form of a bar chart, from the highest predicted signal level on the top to the lowest one on the bottom. The calculations are based on the path loss matrices. Each bar is displayed in the colour of the transmitter it represents. In the map window, arrows from the pointer to each transmitter are displayed in the colour of the transmitters they represent. The best server for the pointer is the transmitter from which the pointer receives the highest signal level. If you let the pointer rest on an arrow, the signal level received from the corresponding transmitter at the pointer location is displayed in the tip text.

•

The AS Analysis View: The AS Analysis view (

) is available in the Point Analysis tool for CDMA and UMTS projects.

The AS Analysis view displays information on the pilot quality (Ec⁄I0), which is the main parameter used to define the mobile active set, the connection status, and the active set of the probe mobile. •

The Interference View: The Interference view ( ) is available in the Point Analysis window for GSM/GPRS/EDGE projects, WiMAX, Wi-Fi, LPWA, and LTE projects. In a multi-RAT projects where GSM and LTE are present, there is one reception window for each of these technologies. The Interference view displays, in the form of a bar graph, the signal level of the selected transmitter, a black bar indicating the total interference experienced by the receiver, and bars representing the interference received from each interferer. In the map window, arrows from the receiver towards each transmitter are displayed in the colour of the transmitters they represent. If you let the pointer rest on an arrow, the interference level received from the corresponding transmitter at the receiver location will be displayed in tip text along with information on the channel being interfered and the type of interference, i.e., co- or adjacent channel.

•

The PN Offset Collision View: The PN Offset Collision view (

) is available in the Point Analysis tool for CDMA projects.

The PN Offset Collision view of the Point Analysis tool gives you information on the reception for any point on the map where there is PN Offset collision. •

The SC Collision View: The SC Collision view (

) is available in the Point Analysis tool for UMTS projects.

The SC Collision view of the Point Analysis tool gives you information on reception for any point on the map where there is scrambling code collision. •

The Details View: The Details view ( ) is available in the Point Analysis tool for GSM/GPRS/EDGE, CDMA, UMTS, TD-SCDMA, WIMAX, and LTE projects. In Multi-RAT projects, there are as many Results views as there are technologies.

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The Details view displays the current position and height of the receiver, the clutter class it is located on. In addition, it also displays: •

in GSM/GPRS/EDGE projects, you can select to display the results on a specific HCS layer (or all). You can also evaluate either C/I or C/I+N values where the interferences are due to any combination between adjacent channels, co-channels or external sources. Atoll displays for each transmitter its BCCH signal level, the BCCH C/I, the most interfered mobile station allocation (TRX, MAL or MAL-MAIO depending on the hopping mode) and its corresponding C/I.

•

in CDMA projects, you can select to display the results for a specific terminal, service, mobility, carrier, DL rate, and UL rate. Atoll displays for each transmitter its signal level (or RSCP), its path loss, Ec/Io, C/I, DL and UL Eb/Nt values, PN offsets.

•

in UMTS/HSPA projects, you can select to display the results for a specific terminal, service, mobility, carrier. Atoll displays for each transmitter its signal level, Ec/Io, DL and UL Eb/Nt values, scrambling codes.

•

in TD-SCDMA projects, Atoll displays for each transmitter its signal level.

•

in WiMAX projects, you can select to display the results for a specific terminal, service, mobility. Atoll displays for each transmitter its preamble index, its preamble signal C, C/N and I.

•

in LTE projects, you can select to display the results for a specific terminal, service, mobility. Atoll displays for each transmitter its physical cell ID, its reference signal Level, its RSRP and its RS I.

4.4.3 Moving the Receiver on the Map When you make a point analysis, the pointer ( of the receiver in several ways: • • •

) represents the receiver in the map window. You can change the position

You can move the receiver manually. You can enter the coordinates of the new position. You can place the receiver on a selected site.

To change the position of the receiver manually: 1. Click and drag the receiver to change the position. Release the mouse button to place the receiver. 2. You can move the receiver again by clicking and dragging it a second time. To enter the coordinates of a position: 1. Right-click the receiver (

) in the map window. The context menu appears.

2. Select Coordinates from the context menu. The Receiver Position dialog box appears. 3. Enter the X and Y coordinates of the position and click OK. The receiver moves to the specified position. To place the receiver on a selected site: 1. Right-click the receiver ( tion dialog box appears.

) in the map window and select Centre on a Site from the context menu. The Site Selec-

2. Select the site on which you want to place the receiver from the Name list and click OK. The receiver moves to the specified position and the map window is centred on the receiver.

4.4.4 Centring the Map Window on the Receiver When the receiver is no longer visible, you can centre the map window on the receiver without modifying the receiver position. To centre the map window on the receiver: 1. Click the Centre on Map button (

) in the Point Analysis window. The map window is centred on the receiver.

4.4.5 Taking Indoor Losses into Account In Atoll you can calculate indoor predictions by taking indoor losses into consideration. You can define default indoor losses for all clutter classes, or you can define different indoor losses for each clutter class so that the characteristics of each clutter class are taken into consideration during calculations. To take indoor losses into account when making a point analysis: 1. Click the Options button (

) at the top of the Point Analysis view. The Calculation Options dialog box appears.

2. Select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses to the total path loss.

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4.4.6 Taking Shadowing into Account in Point Analyses Shadowing, or slow fading, is signal loss along a path caused by obstructions not taken into consideration by the propagation model. Even when a receiver remains in the same location or in the same clutter class, there are variations in reception due to the surrounding environment. Normally, the signal received at any given point is spread on a gaussian curve around an average value and a specific standard deviation. If the propagation model is correctly calibrated, the average of the results it gives should be correct. In other words, in 50% of the measured cases, the result will be greater and in 50% of the measured cases, the result will be worse. Atoll uses a model standard deviation with the defined cell edge coverage probability to model the effect of shadowing and thereby provide predictions that are reliable more than fifty percent of the time. The additional losses or gains caused by shadowing are known as the shadowing margin. The shadowing margin is added to the path losses calculated by the propagation model. For example, a properly calibrated propagation model calculates a loss leading to a signal level of -70 dBm. You have set a cell edge coverage probability of 85%. If the calculated shadowing margin is 7 dB for a specific point, the target signal will be equal to or greater than -77 dBm 85% of the time. For information on setting the model standard deviation and the C⁄I standard deviations for each clutter class or for all clutter classes, see "Defining Clutter Class Properties" on page 127. You can take shadowing into account when you are making a point analysis. To take shadowing into account when making a point analysis: 1. Click the Options button (

) at the top of the Point Analysis view. The Calculation Options dialog box appears.

2. Select the Shadowing Taken into Account check box and enter a Cell Edge Coverage Probability. Atoll calculates the shadowing using the appropriate standard deviation defined per clutter class. Copying

4.5 Coverage Predictions Coverage predictions display the results of defined coverage conditions. It is calculated using the path loss matrices and is based on coverage conditions and coverage resolutions. After calculation, Atoll displays the results as a graphical representation of the pixels for which the defined coverage conditions are satisfied. Atoll offers the following general coverage predictions, available for all technologies: • • •

Coverage by transmitter (DL) Coverage by signal level (DL) Coverage by overlapping zones (DL).

Atoll also offers technology-specific coverage predictions, described in the technology-specific chapters, for example: • • •

Interference predictions in GSM/GPRS/EDGE projects Coding scheme and throughput predictions for GPRS/EDGE UMTS or CDMA2000 coverage predictions.

Atoll gives you a large flexibility over how the results of your coverage prediction are displayed. You can select which attributes should be displayed on the map and how they are displayed. As well, you can define information to be displayed in the legend, in the label, or in tip text. Furthermore, Atoll also allows you to filter, sort, or group results before displaying them. This section covers the following topics: • • • • • • • • •

"Creating Coverage Predictions" on page 204 "Duplicating Coverage Predictions" on page 205 "Cloning Coverage Predictions" on page 205 "Calculating Coverage Predictions" on page 206 "Exporting Coverage Prediction Results" on page 210 "Saving Defined Coverage Predictions" on page 209 "Generating Coverage Prediction Reports" on page 212 "Displaying Coverage Prediction Statistics" on page 214 "Comparing Coverage Predictions" on page 215.

4.5.1 Creating Coverage Predictions When you create a new coverage prediction, you can select the type of coverage prediction and set all the parameters that define it. The newly created coverage prediction is not automatically calculated.

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To create a coverage prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. You can also create new coverage predictions for a specific transmitter or for all the transmitters on a site. To do this, right-click a transmitter or a site on the map or in the Network explorer, and select Calculations > Create a New Prediction from the context menu.

2. Select a coverage prediction from the Prediction Types dialog box and click OK. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. The Properties dialog box for a coverage prediction common to all technologies has three tabs: •

General tab: You can rename the coverage prediction, define the coverage resolution, and add comments. A readonly Unique ID is generated for each coverage prediction at creation time. You can also define group, sort, and filter criteria; these criteria will apply to the coverage display, not the results.

•

Condition tab: You can define the parameters of the coverage prediction. To calculate indoor coverage, select the Indoor Coverage option. The indoor losses defined for the clutter classes will be added to the total path loss for each pixel. Indoor losses are defined per clutter class. You can define a default indoor losses value for all clutter classes or you can define different indoor losses for each clutter class, to take the characteristics of each clutter class into consideration.

•

To include shadowing calculation into the prediction, select Take shadowing into account and define the Cell Edge Coverage Probability. Shadowing, or slow fading, is signal loss along a path that is caused by obstructions not taken into consideration by the propagation model. Display tab: You can define how coverage prediction results will be displayed.

3. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

For more information on calculating coverage predictions, see "Calculating Coverage Predictions" on page 206. You can create child folders in the Predictions folder by right-clicking the Predictions folder and selecting New Folder. You can organise your predictions by dragging and dropping them into these folders.

4.5.2 Duplicating Coverage Predictions You can create a new coverage prediction by duplicating an existing coverage prediction. When you duplicate an existing coverage prediction, the coverage prediction you create will have the same coverage and display settings as the original one. Duplicating a coverage prediction is a way to quickly create a new coverage prediction with the same settings as an original one. The newly created coverage prediction is not automatically calculated. A new read-only Unique ID is generated for the duplicated coverage prediction.

To duplicate an existing coverage prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Predictions folder, right-click the coverage prediction you want to duplicate. The context menu appears, and select Duplicate from the context menu. A new coverage prediction appears in the Predictions folder with the same name as the original coverage prediction, preceded by "Copy of." The duplicated coverage prediction has the same coverage and display settings as the original one. For information on calculating coverage predictions, see "Calculating Coverage Predictions" on page 206.

4.5.3 Cloning Coverage Predictions You can create a new coverage prediction by cloning an existing coverage prediction. When you clone an existing coverage prediction, Atoll creates a copy of the coverage prediction with the calculated coverage. You can then change the display,

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providing that the selected parameter does not invalidate the calculated coverage prediction. Cloning is useful if the existing coverage prediction has a display by discrete values (e.g., coverage by transmitter with a display by transmitter) and if you want a new coverage prediction with another display by discrete values (e.g., display by RNC or BSC). In this case, Atoll maps the results to the selected field and you do not need to recalculate the coverage prediction. On the other hand, cloning is not relevant if you change the display from a discrete field to value intervals, in which case, you must recalculate the coverage prediction. A new read-only Unique ID is generated for the cloned coverage prediction.

To clone an existing coverage prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Predictions folder, right-click the coverage prediction you want to clone, and select Clone from the context menu. A new coverage prediction appears in the Predictions folder with the same name as the original coverage prediction, preceded by "Clone of." The cloned coverage prediction not only has the same coverage and display settings as the original one, but keeps the same results as well. 2. Right-click the cloned coverage prediction and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 3. Select the Display tab. 4. On the Display tab, keep the Display Type "Discrete Values" selected. 5. Select another value from the Field list to change the value displayed. 6. Click OK to apply the new display parameter.

4.5.4 Calculating Coverage Predictions After you have defined a coverage prediction, you can calculate it. Atoll allows you to define and calculate coverage predictions in two separate steps. This enables you to create one or several coverage predictions at one time, and then calculate them later, when you do not need the computer resources. Before calculating one or more coverage predictions, you can create a computation zone. The computation zone is used to define the area where Atoll carries out calculations. When you create a computation zone, Atoll carries out the calculation for all base stations that are active, filtered (i.e., that are selected by the current filter parameters), and whose propagation zone intersects a rectangle containing the computation zone. Therefore, it takes into consideration base stations inside and base stations outside the computation zone if they have an influence on the computation zone. In addition, the computation zone defines the area within which the coverage prediction results will be displayed. The computation zone is taken into account whether or not it is visible. In other words, if you have drawn a computation zone, it will be taken into account whether or not its visibility check box in the Zones folder of the Geo explorer is selected. You will have to delete the computation zone if you no longer want to define an area for calculations. When working with a large network, the computation zone allows you to restrict your coverage predictions to the part of the network you are currently working on. By allowing you to reduce the number of base stations studied, Atoll reduces both the time and computer resources necessary for calculations. As well, by taking into consideration base stations within the computation zone and base stations outside the computation zone but which have an influence on the computation zone, Atoll gives you realistic results for base stations that are close to the border of the computation zone. If there is no computation zone defined, Atoll makes its calculations on all base stations that are active and filtered and for the entire extent of the geographical data available. For information on creating a computation zone, see "Computation Zone" on page 67. This section covers the following topics: • • • • • •

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"Calculating a Single Coverage Prediction" on page 207 "Calculating a Single Coverage Prediction" on page 207 "Forcing Calculations" on page 207 "Stopping Calculations" on page 207 "Locking and Unlocking Coverage Predictions" on page 207. "External Storage of Coverage Prediction Numerical Results" on page 208

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4.5.4.1 Calculating a Single Coverage Prediction To calculate a single coverage prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Predictions folder, right-click the coverage prediction you want to calculate, and select Calculate from the context menu. Atoll first calculates non-existent and invalid path loss matrices and then, the coverage prediction even if this one has been previously locked. After calculation, the results are displayed in the map window, if the coverage prediction’s visibility check box has been selected.

4.5.4.2 Calculating Multiple Coverage Predictions When you have several defined coverage predictions, you can start calculation when you want and Atoll will calculate them one after the other. When you calculate coverage predictions, only unlocked coverage predictions are calculated. Unlocked coverage predictions are displayed in the Predictions folder with the unlocked icon ( ). For information on locking and unlocking coverage predictions, see "Locking and Unlocking Coverage Predictions" on page 207. To calculate created coverage predictions: •

Click the Calculate button ( ) in the toolbar. When you click the Calculate button, Atoll first calculates non-existent and invalid path loss matrices and then, unlocked coverage predictions in the Predictions folder. The progress of the calculations is displayed in the Events viewer. After calculation, the results are displayed in the map window, if the coverage prediction’s visibility check box has been selected.

4.5.4.3 Forcing Calculations When you have several defined coverage predictions, you can start calculation when you want and Atoll will calculate them one after the other. Normally, Atoll only recalculates non-existent and invalid path loss matrices before calculating coverage predictions. If you want, you can make Atoll recalculate all path loss matrices, including valid ones. When you calculate coverage predictions, only unlocked coverage predictions are calculated. Unlocked coverage predictions are displayed in the Predictions folder with the unlocked icon ( ). For information on locking and unlocking coverage predictions, see "Locking and Unlocking Coverage Predictions" on page 207. To force Atoll to recalculate all path loss matrices before calculating coverage predictions: •

Click the Force Calculate button ( ) in the toolbar. When you click the Force Calculate button, Atoll first removes existing path loss matrices, recalculates them and then calculates unlocked coverages predictions. After calculation, the results are displayed in the map window, if the coverage prediction’s visibility check box has been selected.

4.5.4.4 Stopping Calculations When Atoll has begun to calculate coverage predictions, you can stop the calculation at any given point. This can be useful if, for example, you want to change one of the coverage predictions or if you don’t want to calculate the coverage predictions at that time. To stop calculations: •

Click the Stop Calculations button ( ) in the toolbar. Atoll immediately stops all ongoing calculations. The results of calculations that have already been completed, however, will be saved.

4.5.4.5 Locking and Unlocking Coverage Predictions Coverage predictions are locked by default as soon as they have been calculated. Then, when you calculate new coverage predictions, only unlocked coverage predictions are calculated. Locking a coverage prediction retains the information as calculated under given conditions (e.g., before a new base station is created or before optimising the network). It also saves time by limiting unnecessary recalculation.

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To prevent Atoll from automatically locking coverage predictions after calculating them, you can set an option in the Atoll.ini file. For information on setting options in the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual. • •

Unlocked coverage predictions are displayed in the Predictions folder with the unlocked icon ( Locked coverage predictions are displayed in the Predictions folder with the locked icon ( ).

)

To toggle a coverage prediction lock: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Predictions folder, right-click the coverage prediction you want to lock or unlock and select Prediction Locked from the context menu. If the prediction was unlocked, the icon changes to the locked icon and the Prediction Locked item in the context menu now appears checked. If the prediction was locked, the icon changes to the unlocked icon the Prediction Locked item in the context menu is no longer checked. Locked coverage prediction are not calculated when the Calculate button in the toolbar is clicked. However, if you select Calculate from the coverage prediction’s context menu, Atoll will first unlock the coverage prediction and then calculate it. You can lock all unlocked coverage predictions using the Predictions folder’s context menu.

4.5.4.6 External Storage of Coverage Prediction Numerical Results By default, when a new Atoll document is created the numerical results of predictions calculated by value intervals are stored externally. Therefore the Store prediction numerical results check box is selected by default. •

•

•

You can reverse this default behaviour by setting the CalculationResults option to 0 in the [Studies] section of the Atoll.ini file. CalculationResults setting changes only impact new documents created after changing the setting and restarting Atoll. Once a new document is saved, the status of the Store prediction numerical results check box is frozen and CalculationResults setting changes have no effect. At this point, you can only manually select/clear the status of this check box. If a prediction is calculated in a new unsaved document, the numerical prediction results will not be saved even if the Store prediction numerical results is selected.

When the Store prediction numerical results check box is selected, the coverage prediction numerical results are stored in BIL format outside the ATL file for the coverage predictions calculated by value intervals with the relevant Field setting (i.e. a field calculated by the coverage prediction and not a value taken from the database), in the following folder: C:\\.studies\{} Where "" is a read-only Unique ID generated for each coverage prediction when it is created (see General tab in the prediction’s Properties dialog box). This ID is written to the corresponding XML file, between "" and "" tags. The string combining the above path and the longest file name must not exceed 260 characters.

Until you save your ATL document, the following path (including a temporary "\~" folder) is used instead of the above path: C:\\.studies\~\{} When they exist, these externally stored numerical results spare you the need to recalculate a coverage prediction when the legend is modified and they provide you with a numerical difference feature between basic predictions. The storage of numerical results may require additional disk space when your document contains several coverage predictions and transmitters, and/or when high resolutions are used. If you have limited disk space, you can disable this feature by adding an option in the Atoll.ini file. The "{}" folder always contains at least one XML file, one BIL file, and one HDR file.

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For example, when a Coverage by Transmitter (DL) prediction is calculated by "Value Intervals" with Field set to "Number of Servers", the following files are created: • • •

.XML .BIL .HDR •

•

If you delete in Atoll all the coverage predictions calculated by "Value intervals" and save the document, the entire ".studies" folder corresponding to this document will be deleted. If you delete in Atoll one of several coverage predictions calculated by " Value intervals", the corresponding "{}" folder will be deleted automatically without the need for saving the document.

Except for the GUID, the externally stored coverage predictions results can be imported as customised coverage predictions. For more information on importing customised coverage predictions, see "Saving Defined Coverage Predictions" on page 209. "Per Transmitter" Coverage Predictions Some coverage predictions are calculated on a "per transmitter" basis. In this case, a BIL file and the associated HDR file are generated for each transmitter, and a DBF file is created with a reference to each transmitter’s HDR and BIL results files. For example, when a Coverage by Transmitter (DL) prediction is calculated by "Value Intervals" with Field set to "DL Path Loss (dB)", the following files are created: • • • •

.XML .BIL (one BIL file per transmitter) .HDR (one HDR file per transmitter) .DBF

"Global" Coverage Predictions Some coverage predictions may identify servers in their results matrices (e.g. best server, first server in active set, etc.). In this case, another SVR.BIL file containing the server identifiers is generated along with the associated SVR.HDR file. Moreover, each transmitter name and the corresponding identifier are stored in an SVR.MNU file. For example, when a Coverage by Transmitter (DL) prediction is calculated by "Value Intervals" with Field set to "Best Signal Level (dBm)", the following files are created: • • • • • •

.XML .BIL .HDR .SVR.BIL .SVR.HDR .SVR.MNU

4.5.5 Saving Defined Coverage Predictions Once you have defined a coverage prediction, you can use it again in other Atoll documents, either by using the coverage prediction to create a customised coverage prediction or by saving its coverage and display parameters in a user configuration. This section covers the following topics: • •

"Saving a Coverage Prediction as a Customised Coverage Prediction" on page 209 "Saving a Defined List of Predictions in a User Configuration File" on page 210.

4.5.5.1 Saving a Coverage Prediction as a Customised Coverage Prediction Once you have defined a coverage prediction, you can use it as a customised coverage prediction. This coverage prediction will be available to you in the Prediction Types dialog box the next time you want to create a new coverage prediction. The initial parameters of the coverage prediction will be the same as the coverage prediction it is based on but, when you select it in the Prediction Types dialog box, Atoll allows you to modify them. To save a coverage prediction as a customised coverage prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Predictions folder, right-click the coverage prediction you want to save as a customised coverage prediction, and select Save as Customised Prediction from the context menu. The Save As dialog box appears. In the Save As dialog box, Atoll proposes a name and location for the XML file (studies.XML by default) that will contain the customised coverage prediction. You can accept the default values or you can change the name and save the XML file in any folder you have write access to.

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2. Click Save. Atoll saves the coverage prediction in the selected XML file. The next time you create a new coverage prediction, the customised coverage prediction will be available at the bottom of the list, under the full path and file name of the XML file. If you have other XML template files, you can click the Customised Predictions button and select it in the Open dialog box. Coverage predictions stored in the XML template files are also directly available in the Calculations menu of the context menus of the Transmitters folder, of a group of transmitters, and of a single transmitter. In a multi-user environment, the administrator can make customised predictions available for all the users by saving the XML file in the Atoll installation directory. For more information, see the Administrator Manual.

4.5.5.2 Saving a Defined List of Predictions in a User Configuration File You can save the defined coverage predictions in the Predictions folder in a user configuration file. You can then import this user configuration file into another Atoll document. All the coverage predictions in the user configuration will then be available in the Predictions folder of the new Atoll document and can be calculated. To export a user configuration with the coverage predictions in the Predictions folder: 1. Select Tools > User Configuration > Save. The User Configuration dialog box appears. 2. Select the Prediction List check box, as well as the check box of any other information you want to save as part of the user configuration. 3. Click OK. The Save As dialog box appears. 4. Enter a File name for the user configuration file and click Save. The folder configuration is saved. For information on loading the user configuration into another Atoll document, see "Loading a User Configuration" on page 104.

4.5.6 Exporting Coverage Prediction Results You can export the results of coverage predictions in raster and vector formats, which can then be imported as vector or raster objects in Atoll or in other applications. • •

Supported raster formats: BIL, BMP, PNG, JPEG, TIFF, TXT, ArcView© grid, and Vertical Mapper GRD and GRC. Supported vector formats: ArcView SHP, MapInfo MIF and TAB, and AGD.

You can export coverage predictions one by one or several coverage predictions at the same time. In this section, the following are explained: • • •

"Exporting a Coverage Prediction to a Vector File" on page 210 "Exporting a Coverage Prediction to a Raster File" on page 211 "Exporting Multiple Coverage Predictions" on page 211

4.5.6.1 Exporting a Coverage Prediction to a Vector File To export an individual coverage prediction in vector format: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button (

) to expand the Predictions folder.

3. Display the coverage prediction that you want to export on the map. For information on displaying objects in the map window, see "Displaying or Hiding Objects on the Map" on page 50. 4. Right-click the coverage prediction that you want to export. The context menu appears. 5. Select Export the Coverage. The Save As dialog box appears. 6. Select a destination folder, enter a File name, and choose a vector format in the Save as type list. 7. Click Save. If you selected the AGD format, the coverage prediction results are immediately exported. If you selected any other format, the Vector Export dialog box appears. In the Vector Export dialog box, select the following export options: •

• • •

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Coordinate systems: The coverage prediction is exported using the Display coordinate system of the document. If you want to export the coverage prediction using a different coordinate system, click Change and select the coordinate system to use for the export. Resolution: You can change the export resolution of the coverage prediction. Filtering: Select the level of filtering to use for the export. For more information on how filtering works, see the Technical Reference Guide. Smoothing: Select the level of smoothing to use for the export either as Percentage or absolute value of the Maximum number of points.

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8. Click Export to finish exporting the coverage prediction. The MIF export format also stores the tip text information. If you export a coverage prediction using the MIF format and then import it in Atoll, tip texts will be visible on the map. For information on defining tip text, see "Associating a Tip Text to an Object" on page 54.

4.5.6.2 Exporting a Coverage Prediction to a Raster File You can export coverage predictions to raster format files as long as the predictions are not subdivided by transmitter. For predictions that are subdivided by transmitter, only the coverage area of a single transmitter can be exported in raster format. To export an individual coverage prediction in raster format: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button (

) to expand the Predictions folder.

3. Display the coverage prediction that you want to export on the map. For information on displaying objects in the map window, see "Displaying or Hiding Objects on the Map" on page 50. 4. Right-click the coverage prediction that you want to export. The context menu appears. 5. Select Export the Coverage. The Save As dialog box appears. 6. Select a destination folder, enter a File name, and choose a raster format in the Save as type list. 7. Click Save. The Raster Export dialog box appears. The Raster Export dialog box contains different export options according to the raster export format selected in the Save as type list. For "BIL Files (*.bil)" and "Vertical Mapper Files (*.grd, *.grc)" formats, select: • •

•

Region: The geographic region within which the coverage prediction results are to be exported. You can select the Entire project area, the Computation zone, or the Geographic export zone. Data to export: The data that you want to be exported. Select Pixel values to export the actual predicted values for each pixel, or Coverage thresholds to export the values corresponding to the display thresholds defined for the coverage prediction. Filtering: If you choose to export Coverage thresholds, select the level of filtering to use for the export. For more information on how filtering works, see the Technical Reference Guide.

The "Text Files (*.txt)" raster format allows you to export the actual predicted values for each pixel. This format is available if the prediction was calculated with the Store prediction numerical results check box selected in the Predictions Properties dialog box. For "Text Files (*.txt)" format, select: •

•

Format: The syntax for storing coverage prediction data values in the text file. Enter the Number of decimal digits to define the precision of the exported values, select the Separator to use, and select the Use one line per server check box to export values for a server in one line. Region: The geographic region within which the coverage prediction results are to be exported. You can select the Entire project area, the Computation zone, or the Geographic export zone. The coverage prediction is exported using the Display coordinate system of the document. If you want to export the coverage prediction using the Projection coordinate system, you can set the CoordSystemForTextExportIsProjection option in the [Studies] section of the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual.

All other raster formats allow you to export the values corresponding to the display thresholds defined for the coverage prediction. For other raster formats, select: • •

Region: The geographic region within which the coverage prediction results are to be exported. You can select the Entire project area, the Computation zone, or the Geographic export zone. Filtering: Select the level of filtering to use for the export. For more information on how filtering works, see the Technical Reference Guide.

8. Click Export to finish exporting the coverage prediction.

4.5.6.3 Exporting Multiple Coverage Predictions To export several coverage predictions at the same time: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Predictions folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Export Coverages. The Coverage Prediction Export dialog box appears.

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4. Under Select predictions to export, select the check boxes corresponding to the coverage predictions you want to export. By default, the predictions visible on the map are already selected. The list also displays the coverage prediction calculation resolution, whether the prediction is of vector or raster format, and whether actual numerical values of calculation results are available. 5. Under Options, select the following export options: • • • • •

Directory: Enter the location where exported coverage predictions will be stored. You can click the Browse button ( ) and select a location in the Select Folder dialog box that appears. Format: Select the format in which you want Atoll to export the coverage predictions. Overwrite existing predictions: Select this check box to overwrite any existing coverage predictions in the same location. Timestamp: Select this check box if you want to add the date and time information to the file names of exported coverage predictions. This check box is only available when Overwrite existing predictions is cleared. Resolution: Enter the resolution for the exported coverage predictions.

6. Click Export to finish exporting the selected predictions. If all selected predictions are exported in a raster format, only the geographic export zone is used to define the coverage export region.

4.5.7 Generating Coverage Prediction Reports You can generate a report for any coverage prediction whose display check box is selected. The report displays the covered surface and percentage for each threshold value defined in the Display tab of the coverage prediction’s Properties dialog box. The coverage prediction report is displayed in a table. For information on working with tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. By default, the report table only displays the name and coverage area columns. You can edit the table to select which columns to display or to hide. For information on displaying and hiding columns, see "Displaying and Hiding Columns" on page 80. The coverage prediction report is based on the area specified by a focus zone and hot spots. If no focus zone or hot spot is defined, Atoll uses the computation zone. However, using a focus zone for the report allows you to create a report for a specific number of sites, instead of creating a report for every site that has been calculated. The focus zone or hot spot must be defined before you display a report; it is not necessary to define it before calculating coverage. The focus zone or hot spot do not, however, need to be visible; they are taken into account when generating the report even if they are not visible. For more information on creating focus zones or hot spots, see "Focus Zone and Hot Spots" on page 68. Once you have generated a report, you can export it in any of the following formats by right-clicking the report and selecting Export from the context menu or click the Export button ( ) in the Table toolbar: • • • •

TXT: To save the report as a text file. CSV: To save the report as a comma-separated values file. XLS: To save the report as an Excel spreadsheet. XML Spreadsheet 2003: To save the report as an XML spreadsheet.

This section covers the following topics: • • •

"Generating a Single Coverage Prediction Reports" on page 212 "Generating Multiple Coverage Prediction Reports" on page 213 "Generating Coverage Prediction Reports with Population Statistics" on page 213

4.5.7.1 Generating a Single Coverage Prediction Reports Atoll can generate a report for a single coverage prediction. To generate a report for a single coverage prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Predictions folder and right-click the coverage prediction for which you want to generate a report. The context menu appears. 2. Select Generate Report from the context menu. The Columns to Be Displayed dialog box appears. In case a hot spot was imported in your Atoll document, additional fields will appear at the bottom of the Columns to Be Displayed dialog box if the hot spot description contains parameters other than Atoll-specific parameters. 3. Define the format and content of the report:

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You can select the columns that will be displayed in the report and define the order they are in: a. Select the check box for each column you want to have displayed. b. Define the order of the columns by selecting each column you want to move and clicking to move it down.

to move it up or

You can load a configuration that you have saved previously and apply it to the current report: a. Under Configuration, click the Load button. The Open dialog box appears. b. Select the configuration you want to load and click Open. The loaded report configuration is applied. You can save the current report format in a configuration: a. Under Configuration, click the Save button. The Save As dialog box appears. b. In the Save As dialog box, browse to the folder where you want to save the configuration and enter a File name. 4. When you have finished defining the format and content of the report, click OK in the Columns to Be Displayed dialog box. The coverage prediction report table appears. The report is based on the hot spots and on the focus zone if available or on the hot spots and computation zone if there is no focus zone.

4.5.7.2 Generating Multiple Coverage Prediction Reports Atoll can generate a report for all the coverage predictions currently displayed on the map. To generate reports for several coverage predictions: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Predictions folder, select the check box in front of each coverage prediction that you want to include in the report, and right-click the Predictions folder. The context menu appears. 2. Select Generate Report from the context menu. The Columns to Be Displayed dialog box appears. In case a hot spot was imported in your Atoll document, additional fields will appear at the bottom of the Columns to Be Displayed dialog box if the hot spot description contains parameters other than Atoll-specific parameters. 3. Define the format and content of the report: You can select the columns that will be displayed in the report and define the order they are in: a. Select the check box for each column you want to have displayed. b. Define the order of the columns by selecting each column you want to move and clicking to move it down.

to move it up or

You can save the current report format in a configuration: a. Under Configuration, click the Save button. The Save As dialog box appears. b. In the Save As dialog box, browse to the folder where you want to save the configuration and enter a File name. You can load a configuration that you have saved previously and apply it to the current report: a. Under Configuration, click the Load button. The Open dialog box appears. b. Select the configuration you want to load and click Open. The loaded report configuration is applied. 4. Once you have defined the format and content of the report, click OK in the Columns to Be Displayed dialog box. A coverage prediction report appears for each selected prediction. Each report is based on the focus zone, if any (even if it is not displayed on the map), or on the calculation zone if there is no focus zone. By default, the ranges that do not contain any pixels do not appear in the reports. By setting an option in the Atoll.ini file, you can include these ranges in the report. For more information, see the Administrator Manual.

4.5.7.3 Generating Coverage Prediction Reports with Population Statistics You can include population statistics in the focus zone or hot spots by importing a population map. For information on importing maps, see "Importing Raster Format Geo Data Files" on page 120. Normally, Atoll takes all geo data into consideration, whether it is displayed or not. However, for the population statistics to be used in a report, the population map has to be displayed.

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To include population statistics in the focus zone or hot spots: 1. Ensure that the population geo data is visible. For information on displaying geo data, see "Displaying or Hiding Objects on the Map" on page 50. 2. Display the report as explained above. 3. Select Format > Display Columns. The Columns to Be Displayed dialog box appears. 4. Select the following columns, where "Population" is the name of the folder in the Geo explorer containing the population map: • • •

"Population" (Population): The number of inhabitants covered. "Population" (% Population): The percentage of inhabitants covered. "Population" (Population [total]: The total number of inhabitants inside the zone.

Atoll saves the names of the columns you select and will automatically select them the next time you create a coverage prediction report. 5. Click OK. If you have created a custom data map with integrable data, the data can be used in prediction reports. The data will be summed over the coverage area for each item in the report (for example, by transmitter or threshold). The data can be value data (revenue, number of customers, and so on) or density data (revenue/km², number of customer/km², and so on). Data is considered as non-integrable if the data given is per pixel or polygon and cannot be summed over areas, for example, sociodemographic classes, rain zones, and so on. For information on integrable data in custom data maps, see "Integrable versus Non-integrable Data" on page 136.

4.5.8 Displaying Coverage Prediction Statistics You can display coverage prediction statistics in the form of a graph. By default, coverage prediction statistics are displayed as a histogram using the coverage prediction colours, interval steps, and shading as defined on the Display tab of the coverage prediction Properties dialog box. You can also display coverage prediction statistics as a cumulative distribution function (CDF). In this case, the resulting values are combined and shown along a curve. To display coverage prediction statistics in the form of a graph: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Predictions folder, right-click the coverage prediction whose statistics you want to display, and select Show Histogram from the context menu. The Histogram window appears with a graph of the area defined by the zone used for the calculation of the coverage prediction and a legend table. • • • •

You can click a point on the diagram to display the values of the Y-axis against the coverage criterion along the Xaxis. The corresponding cell is highlighted in the legend table. You can also zoom in the graph by selecting several contiguous cells. Select a cell to return to the default view. You can copy the graph to the clipboard for use in an external program by clicking Copy ( ). You can print the graph by clicking Print ( ).

2. Click Histogram ( function.

) to display the graph as a histogram or CDF (

) to display the graph as a cumulative distribution

3. Click Values ( ) to display the covered area values along the Y-axis or Percentage ( ) to display the percentage of the covered area along the Y-axis. 4. To specify a custom scale for the Y-axis, enter values in Min Y and Max Y and click OK ( ingly. Click Default ( ) to return to the default scale.

) to rescale the graph accord-

5. By default, "" is selected in the Zone list, which means that the statistics are displayed for every site that has been calculated. To filter the statistics according to a specific zone that contains a specific number of sites, select a zone from the Zone list. All zones defined in the Zones folder of the Geo explorer can be selected (computation zone, focus zone, hot spots, and so on). 6. To compare with another prediction, select the Compare with check box and select the prediction. You can select only predictions with the same shading options (same interval number and same maximum and minimum values). Under Statistics based on prediction conditions, you can view the mean and standard deviation of the coverage criterion calculated during the coverage calculations, if available.

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Figure 4.16: Histogram comparison

4.5.9 Comparing Coverage Predictions Atoll allows you to compare two similar predictions to see the differences between them. This enables you to quickly see how changes you make affect the network. In this section, there are two examples to explain how you can compare two similar predictions. You can display the results of the comparison in one of the following ways: • • •

•

•

Intersection: This display shows the area where both coverage predictions overlap (for example, pixels covered by both predictions are displayed in red). Merge: This display shows the area that is covered by either of the coverage predictions (for example, pixels covered by at least one of the predictions are displayed in red). Union: This display shows all pixels covered by both coverage predictions in one colour and pixels covered by only one coverage prediction in a different colour (for example, pixels covered by both predictions are red and pixels covered by only one prediction are blue). Difference: This display shows all pixels covered by both coverage predictions in one colour, pixels covered by only the first prediction with another colour and pixels covered only by the second prediction with a third colour (for example, pixels covered by both predictions are red, pixels covered only by the first prediction are green, and pixels covered only by the second prediction are blue). Value Difference: This display shows the dB difference between any two coverage predictions by signal level. This display option will not be available if the coverage predictions were calculated using different resolutions.

To compare two similar coverage predictions: 1. Create and calculate a coverage prediction of the existing network. 2. Examine the coverage prediction to see where coverage can be improved. 3. Make the changes to the network to improve coverage. 4. Duplicate the original coverage prediction (in order to leave the first coverage prediction unchanged). 5. Calculate the duplicated coverage prediction. 6. Compare the original coverage prediction with the new coverage prediction. Atoll displays differences in coverage between them. This section provides two examples of coverage prediction comparisons: • •

"Studying the Effect of a New Base Station" on page 216 "Studying the Effect of a Change in Transmitter Tilt" on page 217.

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4.5.9.1 Studying the Effect of a New Base Station If you have an area in a network that is poorly covered by current transmitters, you have several options for increasing coverage. In this example, you can verify if a newly added base station improves coverage. You can make a signal level coverage prediction of the current network. The results are displayed in Figure 4.17. An area with poor coverage is visible on the right side of the figure.

Figure 4.17: Signal level coverage prediction of existing network You can add a new base station is added, either by creating the site and adding the transmitters, or by placing a station template. Once the new site base station been added, the original coverage prediction can be recalculated, but then it would be impossible to compare the results. Instead, the original signal level coverage prediction can be copied by selecting Duplicate from its context menu. The copy is then calculated to show the effect of the new site (see Figure 4.18).

Figure 4.18: Signal level coverage prediction of network with new base station Now you can compare the two predictions. To compare two predictions: 1. Right-click one of the two predictions. The context menu appears. 2. From the context menu, select Compare with and, from the menu that opens, select the coverage prediction you want to compare with the first. The Comparison Properties dialog box appears. 3. Click the General tab. You can change the Name of the comparison and add Comments. The General tab contains information about the coverage predictions being compared, including their name and resolution.

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4. Click the Display tab. On the Display tab, you can choose how you want the results of the comparison to be displayed. You can choose among: • • • •

Intersection Merge Union Difference

In order to see what changes adding a new base station made, you should choose Difference. 5. Click OK to create the comparison. The comparison in Figure 4.19, shows clearly the area covered only by the new base station.

Figure 4.19: Comparison of both signal level coverage predictions

4.5.9.2 Studying the Effect of a Change in Transmitter Tilt If you have an area in a network that is poorly covered by current transmitters, you have several options for increasing coverage. In this example, you can see how modifying transmitter tilt can improve coverage. You can make a coverage prediction by transmitter of the current network. The results are displayed in Figure 4.20. The coverage prediction shows that one transmitter is covering its area poorly. The area is indicated by a red oval in Figure 4.20.

Figure 4.20: Coverage prediction by transmitter of existing network You can try modifying the tilt on the transmitter to improve the coverage. The properties of the transmitter can be accessed by right-clicking the transmitter in the map window and selecting Properties from the context menu. The mechanical and electrical tilt of the antenna are defined on the Transmitter tab of the Properties dialog box. Once the tilt of the antenna has been modified, the original coverage prediction can be recalculated, but then it would be impossible to compare the results. Instead, the original coverage prediction by can be copied by selecting Duplicate from its context menu. The copy is then calculated, to show how modifying the antenna tilt has affected coverage (see Figure 4.21).

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Figure 4.21: Coverage prediction by transmitter of network after modifications As you can see, modifying the antenna tilt increased the coverage of the transmitter. However, to see exactly the change in coverage, you can compare the two predictions. To compare two predictions: 1. Right-click one of the two predictions. The context menu appears. 2. From the context menu, select Compare with and, from the menu that opens, select the coverage prediction you want to compare with the first. The Comparison Properties dialog box appears. 3. Click the General tab. You can change the Name of the comparison and add Comments. The General tab contains information about the coverage predictions being compared, including their name and resolution. 4. Click the Display tab. On the Display tab, you can choose how you want the results of the comparison to be displayed. You can choose among: • • • •

Intersection Merge Union Difference

In order to see what changes modifying the antenna tilt made, you can choose Union. This will display all pixels covered by both predictions in one colour and all pixels covered by only one prediction in another colour. The increase in coverage, seen in only the second coverage prediction, will be immediately clear. 5. Click OK to create the comparison. The comparison in Figure 4.22, shows clearly the increase in coverage due to the change in antenna tilt.

Figure 4.22: Comparison of both transmitter coverage predictions

4.5.10 Displaying Coverage Predictions as a Slideshow When several coverage predictions are available in an Atoll document, you can cycle the display of the coverage predictions one after the other in the map window at a specified speed.

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The slideshow feature can also be used with simulations. For more information, see "Displaying Simulations as a Slideshow" on page 271. If the simulation slideshow is started while the prediction slideshow is running, the prediction slideshow stops automatically. Likewise, if the prediction slideshow is started while the simulation slideshow is running, the simulation slideshow stops. To start the prediction slideshow: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Predictions folder (or a prediction group folder). The context menu appears. 3. Select Start Slideshow from the context menu. The Slideshow dialog box appears. All coverage predictions in the Predictions folder (or in the prediction group folder) are displayed one after the other on the map. As the display cycles, the visibility check box of the corresponding coverage prediction is selected in the Network explorer. To change the speed of the slideshow, click inside the Duration field in the Slideshow dialog box and type the delay between coverage predictions (in milliseconds). The speed of the slideshow changes dynamically. To stop the slideshow from the Network explorer, click Stop Slideshow (

) in the Slideshow dialog box.

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Chapter 5 Neighbour Planning This chapter provides information on using Atoll to plan intra- and intertechnology neighbours in single-RAT and multi-RAT networks..

This chapter covers the following topics: •

"Exceptional Pairs" on page 223

•

"Automatic Neighbour Allocation" on page 224

•

"Editing Neighbour Relationships" on page 228

•

"Neighbour Importance" on page 229

•

"Displaying Neighbour Allocation Results" on page 232

•

"Auditing Neighbour Allocation Plans" on page 236

•

"Importing and Exporting Neighbours" on page 237

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5 Neighbour Planning Cell neighbour lists are necessary to ensure handovers between base stations. You can use Atoll to automatically allocate neighbour relationships between cells. The cell to which a neighbour relation is allocated is referred to as the reference cell. The cells that fulfil the requirements to be neighbours are referred to as potential neighbours. The automatic allocation process allows you to manually declare exceptional pairs. These are particular neighbour relationships that are declared to be either forced or forbidden and therefore are not modified by the automatic neighbour allocation process. Exceptional pair relationships can be either symmetrical or assymetrical. Atoll manages neighbour relationships in both single-RAT and multi-RAT documents by using the following concepts: • •

Intra-technology neighbours are cells defined as neighbours that use the same radio technology as the reference cell. In single-RAT documents, only Intra-technology neighbours are supported. Inter-technology neighbours are cells defined as neighbours that use a different radio technology. Inter-technology neighbours are available in co-planning environments (where two single-RAT documents are linked) and multi-RAT documents.

Typically, you allocate neighbour relationships globally at the beginning of a radio planning project. Later, you can allocate neighbour relationships to cells as you add them. You can use automatic allocation on all cells in the document, or you can define a group of cells either by using a focus zone or by grouping cells in the explorer window. For information on creating a focus zone, see "Focus Zone and Hot Spots" on page 68. For information on grouping cells in the explorer window, see "Grouping Data Objects" on page 94. This chapter covers the following topics: • • • • • • •

"Exceptional Pairs" on page 223 "Automatic Neighbour Allocation" on page 224 "Editing Neighbour Relationships" on page 228 "Neighbour Importance" on page 229 "Displaying Neighbour Allocation Results" on page 232 "Auditing Neighbour Allocation Plans" on page 236 "Importing and Exporting Neighbours" on page 237

5.1 Exceptional Pairs Exceptional pairs are sets of two cells that are declared as either forced or forbidden neighbours: • •

Forced neighbours: The selected cell will always be a neighbour of the reference cell. Forbidden neighbours: The selected cell will never be a neighbour of the reference cell.

Exceptional pairs can cover either of the following scopes: • • •

Intra-technology: You can define exceptional pairs for transmitters that use the same radio technology. Inter-technology in a co-planning environment: You can define exceptional pairs for transmitters that use a different radio technology between two single-RAT documents. Inter-technology in a multi-RAT environment: You can define exceptional pairs for transmitters that use a different radio technology in a multi-RAT document.

This section covers the following topics: • •

"Defining Exceptional Pairs" on page 223 "Displaying Exceptional Pairs" on page 224

5.1.1 Defining Exceptional Pairs You can define neighbour constraints by defining exceptional pairs in Atoll. These constraints are taken into account during automatic allocation of neighbour relations. To define exceptional pairs: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder for the technology for which you want to specify the exceptional pairs. The context menu appears. • • •

To define exceptional pairs in the same technology, select Neighbours > Intra-Technology > Open Exceptional Pairs Table. To define exceptional pairs between multiple technologies in a co-planning environment, select Neighbours > Inter-Technology > Open Exceptional Pairs Table. To define exceptional pairs between multiple technologies in a multi-RAT environment, select Neighbours > > Open Exceptional Pairs Table.

The corresponding Exceptional Pairs table appears.

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2. In the row marked with the New Row icon ( under Neighbour.

), define a reference cell under Transmitter or Cell and a neighbour

3. Specify the Status of the exceptional pair: • •

Forced: The selected cell will always be a neighbour of the reference cell. Forbidden: The selected cell will never be a neighbour of the reference cell.

5.1.2 Displaying Exceptional Pairs You can display on the map the forced and forbidden neighbour relations defined in the Exceptional Pairs table for single-RAT or multi-RAT technologies. To display forced or forbidden neighbours on the map: 1. In the Radio Planning toolbar, click the arrow ( ) beside the Edit Relations on the Map button (

).

2. Select Forced Neighbours or Forbidden Neighbours from the context menu. 3. Click the Edit Relations on the Map button (

).

4. Select a cell to show its forced or forbidden neighbour relations on the map.

5.2 Automatic Neighbour Allocation Atoll can automatically allocate intra-technology and inter-technology neighbours in a radio network. The neighbours are allocated according to the parameters defined in the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box. In a multi-RAT environment, the automatic neighbour allocation can determine handover relations between networks of different technologies. For example, if a network uses UMTS and GSM, inter-technology handovers from UMTS to GSM can occur when the UMTS coverage is not continuous. The overall network coverage is extended by a UMTS-to-GSM handover. In a co-planning environment, where two single-RAT documents are linked, Atoll can automatically determine neighbours in the linked document for cells in the main document and vice versa. Inter-technology neighbours are stored in the database. •

•

•

•

LTE: Depending on the best server selection method defined in the network settings, the automatic allocation of neighbour relations can be based on coverage areas calculated for best servers based on the reference signal levels or RSRP. WiMAX: Depending on the best server selection method defined in the network settings, the automatic allocation of neighbour relations can be based on coverage areas calculated for best servers based on the preamble C or preamble C/(I+N). TD-SCDMA: For N-frequency mode compatible cells, neighbour relations are only stored for master carriers. A slave carrier has the same neighbour relations as its master carrier. Neighbour relations are not allocated to standalone carriers (nonN-frequency mode compatible). UMTS: You can prevent Atoll from allocating inter-technology neighbours to UMTS cells located on sites whose equipment do not support the compressed mode. by adding the CompressModeEval option in the [Neighbours] section of the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual.

When allocating neighbour relationships to all active and filtered cells, Atoll allocates neighbour relations only to the cells within the focus zone and considers as potential neighbours all the active and filtered cells whose propagation zone intersects the rectangle containing the computation zone. If there is no focus zone, Atoll allocates neighbour relations only to the cells within the computation zone. The focus and computation zones are taken into account whether or not they are visible. In other words, the focus and computation zones will be taken into account whether or not their visibility check box in the Zones folder of the Geo explorer is selected. You can save automatic neighbour allocation parameters in a user configuration. For information on saving automatic neighbour allocation parameters in a user configuration, see "Saving a User Configuration" on page 104. This section covers the following topics: • • • •

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5.2.1 Automatic Neighbour Allocation Window The Automatic Neighbour Allocation window enables you to specify the parameters for automatically allocating neighbours. Depending in the radio technology of the current document, and whether the automatic allocation applies to the current technology or to another technologies, either one or both of the following tabs are displayed: • •

Intra-technology: This tab allows you to configure the automatic allocation for transmitters that use the same radio technology as the selected transmitter or group of transmitters. Inter-technology: This tab allows you to configure the automatic allocation for transmitters that use a different radio technology from the selected transmitter or group of transmitters in a co-planning or multi-RAT environment.

Intra-technology or Inter-technology Tab The Intra-technology or Inter-technology tab allows you to configure the following settings are available •

Max inter-site distance: Specify the maximum distance between the reference cell and a potential neighbour. •

By default, the automatic neighbour allocation compares the defined Max intersite distance with the effective inter-cell distance. As a consequence, there can be cases where the real distance between assigned neighbours is higher than the Max inter-site distance, because the effective distance is smaller. If you want Atoll to compare the Max inter-site distance with the real inter-site distance, set the RealInterSiteDistanceCondition option in the [Neighbours] section of the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual.

•

•

•

•

You can consider repeaters and remote antennas in the maximum inter-site distance by setting the RepeaterInterSiteDistanceInAlloc option in the [Neighbours] section of the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual.

Max no. of neighbours: Specify the maximum number of intra-technology or inter-technology neighbour relations that can be allocated to a cell. This value can be either set here for all the cells, or specified for each cell separately in their specific properties. Carriers to allocate (for UMTS and CDMA2000 only): • On the Intra-carrier Neighbours tab, select the carriers on which you want to run the allocation. Atoll will allocate neighbour relations only to the cells using the selected carriers. • On the Inter-carrier Neighbours tab, select Source and Destination carriers. Atoll will allocate neighbour relations to the cells using the carriers defined next Source. Potential neighbours can be the cells using the carriers defined beside Destination. Use coverage conditions: Select this option to specify the coverage conditions. When this option is selected, click Define to open the Coverage Conditions dialog box and change the parameters. Coverage conditions are specific to each radio technology: • • • • • • •

GSM: "Coverage Conditions" on page 323 UMTS: "Coverage Conditions" on page 560 CDMA: "Coverage Conditions" on page 674 LTE: "Coverage Conditions" on page 904 WiMAX: "Coverage Conditions" on page 1083 Wi-Fi: "Coverage Conditions" on page 1199 TD-SCDMA: "Coverage Conditions" on page 788

When Use coverage conditions is not selected, only the distance criterion is considered between neighbours and reference cells. • •

•

% min covered area: Enter the smallest percentage of the reference cell coverage area that the coverage area of a potential neighbour must overlap. Force: Specify the calculation constraints. Calculation constraints are specific to each radio technology. • GSM: see "Calculation Constraints" on page 323 • UMTS: see "Calculation Constraints" on page 561 • CDMA: see "Calculation Constraints" on page 676 • LTE: see "Calculation Constraints" on page 905 • WiMAX: see "Calculation Constraints" on page 1084 • Wi-Fi: see "Calculation Constraints" on page 1200 • TD-SCDMA: see "Calculation Constraints" on page 788 Delete existing neighbours: Enable this option to delete all existing neighbour relations prior to automatic allocation. When this option is disabled, existing neighbour relations are not deleted and Atoll only adds new neighbour relations to the list.

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Results table After clicking Calculate, the Results table contains the following information: • • • • •

Transmitter or Cell: Name of the reference cell. Number: Total number of neighbour relations allocated to the reference cell. Maximum number: Maximum number of neighbour relations that the reference cell can have. Neighbour: Cell that will be allocated as a neighbour to the reference cell. Importance (%): Neighbour importance calculated according to the selected options. By default, the neighbour importance calculated with respect to distance is based on the global Max inter-site distance setting for all potential neighbours. As a consequence, the calculated importance can differ when the global Max inter-site distance is modified. To prioritise individual distances between reference cells and their potential neighbours, set the CandidatesMaxDistanceInImportanceCalculation option in the [Neighbours] section of the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual.

•

Cause: Reason why Atoll has allocated the potential neighbour shown under Neighbour to the reference cell shown on the same row under Transmitter or Cell. Possible causes depend on the technology: • • • • • • •

• • • •

GSM: "Reasons for Allocation" on page 323 UMTS: "Reasons for Allocation" on page 561 CDMA: "Reasons for Allocation" on page 676 LTE: "Reasons for Allocation" on page 905 WiMAX: "Reasons for Allocation" on page 1084 Wi-Fi: "Reasons for Allocation" on page 1200 TD-SCDMA: "Reasons for Allocation" on page 789

Relation type (except GSM): Specify the type of neighbour relationship with respect to centre frequencies. The cells that have channels with identical centre frequencies have an intra-carrier neighbour relation. Coverage: Specify the amount of reference cell coverage area that the neighbour overlaps, in % and km². Adjacency: Specify the area of the reference cell, in % and km², where the neighbour is best or second best server. Commit: Select the option in this column to specify, for each potential neighbour, whether it should be committed. The Results table is empty if the Deleting existing neighbours option is disabled and no new potential neighbours are found.

5.2.2 Automatically Allocating Neighbours to Multiple Cells You can use the Automatic Neighbour Allocation window to automatically create neighbour lists for cells and group of cells in single-RAT or multi-RAT documents. During automatic neighbour allocation, Atoll considers the cells whose coverage areas intersect the coverage areas of the selected cells. To automatically allocate intra-technology neighbour relations to all cells. 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. If necessary, you can select Group By to create a group of transmitters as explained in "Grouping Data Objects" on page 94 and run the automatic allocation on a transmitter group.

• • •

To allocate single-RAT neighbours, select Neighbours > Intra-technology > Automatic Allocation. To allocate neighbours that use a different radio-technology in a co-planning environment, select Neighbours > Inter-technology > Automatic Allocation. To allocate multi-RAT neighbours, select Neighbours > > Automatic Allocation.

The Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box appears with one or two tabs, according to the technology: • •

UMTS/CDMA: Intra-carrier Neighbours and Inter-carrier Neighbours tabs Other: Intra-technology Neighbours and Inter-technology Neighbours tabs

2. Define the automatic allocation settings as specified in "Automatic Neighbour Allocation Window" on page 225. 3. Click Calculate. The Event Viewer window appears and displays the progress of the neighbour allocation process. During the calculation, the validity of path loss matrices for each neighbour is checked. If the matrices are not valid, they are recalculated.

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4. When the calculation is finished, close the Event Viewer window. The Results table displays all neighbour candidates for each cell. • •

•

If the Delete existing neighbours option is disabled and no new potential neighbours are found, then the list is empty. Forbidden neighbours are not listed as neighbour candidates unless the neighbour relation already exists and the Delete existing neighbours check box is cleared when you start the new allocation. When Exceptional pairs and Symmetric relations options are selected, the constraints between exceptional pairs are considered in both directions to respect the symmetry. However, if the neighbour relation is forced in one direction and forbidden in the other, the symmetry cannot be respected.

For more information on the Results table, see "Automatic Neighbour Allocation Window" on page 225. 5. In the Results table, select the Commit box for each potential neighbour that you want to commit. 6. If necessary, click the Compare button to compare the list of potential neighbours proposed by Atoll with the list of existing neighbours. A report is generated in the NeighboursDeltaReport.txt file and is displayed automatically. The NeighboursDeltaReport.txt file lists the following: • • • •

Document name and neighbour type Neighbour Link(s) Creation(s): Number of potential neighbours (after automatic allocation) and their list. Neighbour Link(s) Deletion(s): Number of deleted neighbours (after automatic allocation) and their list. Existing Neighbour Link(s): Number of existing neighbours (prior to automatic allocation and kept after automatic allocation) and their list.

7. Click Commit. The list of intra-technology neighbour relations for all cells in the Transmitters folder is updated. To check the new neighbour relationships in the Neighbours table, right-click the Transmitters folder, and select Neighbours > Intra-technology > Open Table or Neighbours > Inter-technology > Open Table.

5.2.3 Automatically Allocating Neighbours to a Base Station After creating a new base station, you can use Atoll to automatically allocate its neighbours. During automatic neighbour allocation, Atoll considers the cells whose coverage areas intersect the coverage areas of the cells of the new base station. To automatically allocate neighbours to a base station: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder and select Group By and Site. 2. In the Transmitters folder, right-click the site for which you want to allocate neighbours. The context menu appears. • • •

To allocate single-RAT neighbours, select Neighbours > Intra-technology > Automatic Allocation. To allocate single-RAT neighbours in a co-planning environment, select Neighbours > Inter-technology > Automatic Allocation. To allocate multi-RAT neighbours, select Neighbours > > Automatic Allocation.

The Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box appears with one or two tabs, according to the technology. 3. Define the automatic allocation settings as specified in "Automatic Neighbour Allocation Window" on page 225 and follow the steps described in "Automatically Allocating Neighbours to Multiple Cells" on page 226. To check the new neighbour relationships in the Neighbours table, right-click the Transmitters folder, and select Neighbours > Intra-technology > Open Table or Neighbours > Inter-technology > Open Table.

5.2.4 Automatically Allocating Neighbours to a Single Cell After adding a cell to a base station, you can use Atoll to automatically allocate neighbours to the new cell. During automatic neighbour allocation, Atoll considers the cells whose coverage areas intersect the coverage area of the new cell. To automatically allocate neighbours to a single cell: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Transmitters folder and right-click the cell for which you want to allocate neighbours. The context menu appears. • • •

To allocate single-RAT neighbours, select Neighbours > Intra-technology > Automatic Allocation. To allocate single-RAT neighbours in a co-planning environment, select Neighbours > Inter-technology > Automatic Allocation. To allocate multi-RAT neighbours, select Neighbours > > Automatic Allocation.

The Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box appears with one or two tabs, according to the technology:

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2. Define the automatic allocation settings as specified in "Automatic Neighbour Allocation Window" on page 225 and follow the steps described in "Automatically Allocating Neighbours to Multiple Cells" on page 226. To check the new neighbour relationships in the Neighbours table, right-click the Transmitters folder, and select Neighbours > Intra-technology > Open Table or Neighbours > Inter-technology > Open Table.

5.3 Editing Neighbour Relationships In addition to using automatic neighbour allocation, you can manually create and edit neighbour relationships for intra-technology and inter-technology neighbours from the properties of a cell, from the Neighbours table, or from the map. This section covers the following topics: • • •

"Editing Neighbours in the Cell Properties" on page 228 "Editing Neighbours in the Neighbours Table" on page 228 "Editing Neighbours on the Map" on page 229

5.3.1 Editing Neighbours in the Cell Properties You can manually edit neighbour relationships from the Intra-technology neighbours or Inter-technology neighbours tabs of the Cell Properties dialog box. To edit the neighbour properties: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. • •

GSM: Select Open Table. The Transmitters table appears with the cell names listed under Transmitter. Other technologies: Select Cells > Open Table. The Cells table appears with the cell names listed under Name.

2. Double-click anywhere in the row containing the cell that you want to edit. The Properties dialog box for the corresponding cell appears. 3. Select the Intra-technology Neighbours or Inter-technology Neighbours tab. The existing neighbour relations appear under List. 4. Click Edit. The List table can be edited. 5. To create a neighbour relationship: a. In the List table, on the row containing the New Row icon ( icon ( ) appears on the right-hand side of the cell.

), click inside the cell under Neighbour. An arrow

b. Click the arrow icon ( ) and select the cell that you want to define as a new neighbour. c. Click inside another row to finish allocating the new neighbour. The distance from the neighbour to the reference cell is indicated under Distance, Source is set to "manual", and neighbour Importance is set to "1". 6. To make neighbour relationship symmetrical: a. In the List table, click in the left margin of the row containing a neighbour to select the row. b. Right-click anywhere in the selected row and select Make Symmetrical from the context menu. c. Click Apply. The corresponding check box under Symmetry is selected. 7. To delete a symmetric neighbour relationship: a. In the List table, click in the left margin of the row containing a neighbour to select the row. b. Right-click anywhere in the selected row and select Delete Symmetric Relation from the context menu. c. Click Apply. The corresponding check box under Symmetry is cleared. 8. To delete a neighbour relationship: a. In the List table, click in the left margin of the row containing a neighbour to select the row. b. Right-click anywhere on the selected row and select Delete Link. The neighbour link is deleted from the List table. 9. Optionally, you can specify: • •

UMTS/CDMA: the Max number of intra-carrier and inter-carrier neighbours that can be allocated. Other: the Max number of neighbours that can be allocated.

5.3.2 Editing Neighbours in the Neighbours Table You can manually edit neighbour relationships in the Neighbours table.

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To create and edit neighbour relationships in the Neighbours table: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. • • •

To allocate single-RAT neighbours, select Neighbours > Intra-technology > Open Table. To allocate single-RAT neighbours in a co-planning environment, select Neighbours > Inter-technology > Open Table. To allocate multi-RAT neighbours, select Neighbours > > Open Table.

The Neighbours table opens. 2. To create neighbour relationships: a. On the row containing the New Row icon ( appears on the right-hand side of the cell.

), click inside the cell under Transmitter or Cell. An arrow icon ( )

b. Click the arrow icon ( ) and select the reference cell in the drop-down list. c. On the same row, click inside the cell under Neighbour. An arrow icon ( ) appears on the right-hand side of the cell. d. Click the arrow icon ( ) and select the cell that you want to define as a neighbour. e. Click in any other row to finish creating the new neighbour relation. As a result, Atoll adds the distance from the neighbour to the reference cell under Distance, sets Source to "manual", and neighbour Importance to "1". 3. To delete neighbour relationships, select one or several rows in the table, right-click anywhere in the Neighbours table and select Delete Link from the context menu. The neighbour relationship is deleted. 4. To create or delete symmetric neighbour relationships, select one or several rows in the table, right-click anywhere in the Neighbours table and select Make Symmetrical or Delete Symmetric Relation from the context menu. The Symmetry check boxes for the selected neighbours are changed accordingly. 5. To take all exceptional pairs into account, right-click anywhere in the Neighbours table and select Force Exceptional Pairs from the context menu.

5.3.3 Editing Neighbours on the Map You can manually edit neighbour relationships on the map. To create and edit neighbour relationships on the map: 1. In the Radio Planning toolbar, click the arrow ( ) beside the Edit Relations on the Map button (

).

2. Select Neighbours from the context menu. The following procedures apply to cells. However, you can also select any repeater or remote antenna to create a neighbour relation with the donor cell. Cascaded repeaters and remote antennas are also considered.

3. Click the reference cell on the map. Its neighbour relationships are displayed. 4. To create a symmetric neighbour relationship, press Shift and click the target cell. The symmetric relationship is added in the neighbours lists of both cells. Press Shift and click the target cell again to delete the relationship. 5. To create an outward neighbour relationship, press Ctrl and click the target cell. The neighbour relationship is added in the neighbours list of the reference cell. Press Ctrl and click the target cell again to delete the relationship. 6. To create an inward neighbour relationship, press Shift and click the target cell to create a symmetric relationship, and then press Ctrl and click the target cell. The symmetric relation is converted into an inward non-symmetric relation. Press Shift and click the target cell again to delete the relationship.

5.4 Neighbour Importance After you have defined neighbour relationships in your Atoll document, you can evaluate the importance (weight) of each neighbour of the cells that are active and filtered within the focus zone. This value is used to specify a rank for each neighbour in the AFP process. This section covers the following topics: • • •

"Neighbour Importance Evaluation Window" on page 230 "Configuring Neighbour Importance Factors" on page 231 "Evaluating Neighbour Importance" on page 231

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5.4.1 Neighbour Importance Evaluation Window The Neighbour Importance Evaluation window enables you to determine the relative importance of neighbours. Depending on the radio technology of the current document, and whether the evaluation applies to the current radio technology or to other technologies, either one or both of the following tabs are displayed: • •

Intra-technology: This tab allows you to evaluate neighbour importance for transmitters that use the same radio technology as the selected transmitter or group of transmitters. Inter-technology: This tab allows you to evaluate neighbour importance for transmitters that use a different radio technology from the selected transmitter or group of transmitters in a co-planning or multi-RAT environment.

Intra-technology or Inter-technology Tab The Intra-technology or Inter-technology tab allows you to configure the following settings: •

Max inter-site distance: Maximum distance between the reference cell and a potential neighbour. •

By default, the automatic neighbour allocation compares the defined Max intersite distance with the effective inter-cell distance. As a consequence, there can be cases where the real distance between assigned neighbours is higher than the Max inter-site distance, because the effective distance is smaller. If you want Atoll to compare the Max inter-site distance with the real inter-site distance, set the RealInterSiteDistanceCondition option in the [Neighbours] section of the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual.

•

•

• • • • •

You can consider repeaters and remote antennas in the maximum inter-site distance by setting the RepeaterInterSiteDistanceInAlloc option in the [Neighbours] section of the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual.

Take co-site factor into account: Select this option to verify that neighbours are located on the same site as their reference cell when calculating importance. If a transmitter has no antenna, it cannot be considered as a co-site neighbour. Take cell adjacency into account (except GSM and Inter-carrier Neighbours tab in UMTS/CDMA): Select this option to verify that neighbours are adjacent to their reference cell when calculating the neighbour importance. Take HCS layer adjacency into account (GSM only): Select this option to verify that neighbours on other HCS layers are adjacent to their reference cell when calculating neighbour importance. Take layer adjacency into account (except GSM and TD-SCDMA): Select this option to verify that neighbours on other layers are adjacent to their reference cell when calculating neighbour importance. Filter: Click this button to open the Filter dialog box and define advanced filtering conditions to restrict the neighbours to be calculated. The corresponding number of neighbours is indicated in the field beside the Filter button. Use coverage conditions: Select this option to specify the coverage conditions. When this option is selected, click Define to open the Coverage Conditions dialog box and change the parameters. Coverage conditions are specific to each radio technology: • • • • • • •

GSM: "Coverage Conditions" on page 323 UMTS: "Coverage Conditions" on page 560 CDMA: "Coverage Conditions" on page 674 LTE: "Coverage Conditions" on page 904 WiMAX: "Coverage Conditions" on page 1083 Wi-Fi: "Coverage Conditions" on page 1199 TD-SCDMA: "Coverage Conditions" on page 788

When Use coverage conditions is not selected, only the distance criterion is considered between neighbours and reference cells. Results table After clicking Calculate, the Results table contains the following information: • •

Importance (%): The neighbour importance calculated with the specified importance factors. For more information, see "Configuring Neighbour Importance Factors" on page 231 Cause: The reason why Atoll has allocated the value under Importance (%), according to the weights defined in the corresponding Neighbour Importance Weighting dialog box. Possible causes depend on the technology: • • • • •

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GSM: "Reasons for Allocation" on page 323 UMTS: "Reasons for Allocation" on page 561 CDMA: "Reasons for Allocation" on page 676 LTE:"Reasons for Allocation" on page 905 WiMAX: "Reasons for Allocation" on page 1084

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• • • • •

• Wi-Fi: "Reasons for Allocation" on page 1200 • TD-SCDMA: "Reasons for Allocation" on page 789 Relation type (UMTS/CDMA): The type of the neighbour relation: intra-carrier or inter-carrier. Cells whose channels have the same centre frequency are intra-carrier neighbours. Other cells are inter-carrier neighbours. Coverage: Amount of reference cell’s coverage area that the neighbour overlaps, in % and km². Adjacency: Area of the reference cell where the neighbour cell is best server or second best server, in % and km². Distance: Distance between the reference cell and the neighbour. Commit: Select the check box in this column to specify, for each potential neighbour, whether it should be committed.

5.4.2 Configuring Neighbour Importance Factors You can define the relative importance of the factors that Atoll will use to evaluate potential neighbours. For information on how Atoll calculates importance, see Technical Reference Guide. To configure the importance factors for neighbours: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. • • •

To configure the importance of single-RAT neighbours, select Neighbours > Intra-technology > Configure Importance. To configure the importance of neighbours that use a different radio-technology in a co-planning environment, select Neighbours > Inter-technology > Configure Importance. To configure the importance of multi-RAT neighbours, select Neighbours > > Configure Importance.

The Neighbour Importance Weighting dialog box appears with one or two tabs, according to the technology: • •

UMTS/CDMA: Intra-carrier Neighbours and Inter-carrier Neighbours tabs. Other: Intra-technology Neighbours and Inter-technology Neighbours tabs.

2. Define the following importance factors: •

Distance Factor: Set the Min and Max importance of a potential neighbour cell being located within the maximum distance from the reference cell.

•

Coverage Factor: Set the Min and Max importance of a neighbour being admitted for coverage reasons.

•

Adjacency factor: Set the Min and Max importance of a potential neighbour cell being adjacent to the reference cell. The Adjacency factor will be used when the following check boxes are selected in the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box: • GSM: Adjacent neighbours and Adjacent HCS layer neighbours • UMTS/CDMA/LTE: Adjacent cells as neighbours and Adjacent layers as neighbours • Other: Adjacent cells as neighbours •

•

•

Adjacent neighbours are geographically adjacent cells based on their Best Server coverages. Cell A is considered adjacent to cell B if there exists at least one pixel of cell A’s Best Server coverage area where cell B is 2nd Best Server. The ranking of the adjacent neighbour cell increases with the number of these pixels. Cells are considered adjacent across layers if they belong to different layers and have a coverage overlap of at least one pixel.

Co-site factor: Set the Min and Max importance of a potential neighbour cell being located on the same site as the reference cell. The defined Co-site factor will not be taken into account when the following check box is cleared in the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box: • GSM: Co-site transmitters as neighbours • Other: Co-site cells as neighbours

3. Click OK to save your settings and close the Neighbour Importance Weighting dialog box.

5.4.3 Evaluating Neighbour Importance To calculate the importance of neighbours: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. • • •

To calculate the importance of single-RAT neighbours, select Neighbours > Intra-technology > Calculate Importance. To calculate the importance of neighbours that use a different radio-technology in a co-planning environment, select Neighbours > Inter-technology > Calculate Importance. To calculate the importance of multi-RAT neighbours, select Neighbours > > Calculate Importance.

The Neighbour Importance Evaluation dialog box appears with one or two tabs, according to the technology:

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UMTS/CDMA: Intra-carrier Neighbours and Inter-carrier Neighbours tabs . Other: Intra-technology Neighbours and Inter-technology Neighbours tabs.

2. Define the automatic allocation settings as specified in "Neighbour Importance Evaluation Window" on page 230. 3. Click Calculate. The Event Viewer window appears and displays the progress of the neighbour allocation process.. During the calculation, the validity of path loss matrices for each neighbour is checked. If the matrices are not valid, they are recalculated. 4. Click Close in the Events viewer. The following values appear in the Neighbour Importance Evaluation dialog box: 5. Click Commit to commit these importance values and the reasons for neighbour allocation to the Neighbours table.

5.5 Displaying Neighbour Allocation Results Neighbour relationship links and coverage areas can be viewed directly on the map. You can also select the neighbour relations that should be displayed or hidden: symmetrical, non-symmetrical inwards, or non-symmetrical outwards. This section covers the following topics: • • • •

"Defining Display Settings for Single-RAT Documents" on page 232 "Configuring Display Settings for Multi-RAT documents" on page 234 "Displaying Neighbour Relationships and Coverage" on page 235 "Displaying Inter-technology Neighbours in Co-planning" on page 236

5.5.1 Defining Display Settings for Single-RAT Documents The Neighbour Display dialog box allows you to configure how neighbour relationships and and neighbour coverage maps are displayed. To configure neighbour display settings in single-RAT documents: 1. In the Radio Planning toolbar, click the arrow ( ) beside the Edit Relations on the Map button ( Options from the context menu. The Neighbour Display dialog box appears.

) and select Display

2. Under Links, select Display intra-technology links to display neighbour relationships that use the radio-technology of the current document, and click Browse ( ) to specify how neighbour relationships are displayed. The Neighbour Display Settings dialog box appears. a. From the Display Type list, select a display type: • •

•

Select Unique to colour the neighbour links of the selected cell with a unique colour. Select Discrete values to colour the neighbour links of the selected cell according to: - The colour of the source or target cell when Field is set to "Transmitter", "Cell", or "Neighbour" - The relevant value in the table when Field is set to "Reason", "Source", "Neighbour.CellType" (GSM), "Neighbour.HCSLayer" (GSM), "Neighbour.FrequencyBand" (GSM/LTE/WiMAX/Wi-Fi), "Neighbour.Carrier" (UMTS/ CDMA/TD-SCDMA), or "Relation Type" (UMTS/CDMA/LTE/WiMAX/Wi-Fi) Select Value Intervals to colour the neighbour links of the selected cell according to the "Importance" weights defined in the corresponding Neighbour Importance Weighting dialog box. You can display the number of handoff attempts for each cell-neighbour pair by creating a new field of type "Integer" in the Intra-technology Neighbour table for the number of handoff attempts. Once you have imported or entered the values in the new column, you can select this field from the Field list when Display type is set to "Value Intervals". For information on adding a new field to a table, see "Adding a Field to a Data Table" on page 77.

b. If necessary, you can disable the display of the neighbour link types you want by clearing the corresponding visibility check boxes in the rightmost column. c. Click the Browse button beside Tip text and select the characteristics to be displayed as tip text on neighbour links. d. Click OK to save your settings and close the Neighbour Display Settings dialog box. 3. If you are in a co-planning environment, where a single-RAT document is linked to one or several other single-RAT documents, select Display inter-technology links to display neighbour relationships that use the radio-technologies of linked co-planning documents.

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There are no display settings for inter-technology neighbours links in Co-planning. The links appear on the map as dashed lines.

4. Under Coverages, select Highlight coverage areas to display the coverage areas of neighbours and click Browse to specify how coverage areas are displayed. The Neighbour Display Settings dialog box appears. a. From the Display type list, select a display type: •

Unique: Select this option to colour the intra-technology coverage areas of the selected cell’s neighbours with a unique colour and the coverage area of the source cell in yellow.

Figure 5.1: Example of intra-technology neighbour coverage (Display type: "Unique")

Figure 5.2: Example of intra-technology neighbour coverage (Display type: "Unique" with "Filter on neighbourhood") •

Discrete values: Select this option to colour the intra-technology coverage areas of the selected cell’s neighbours according to: - the colour of the source or target cell when Field is set to "Transmitter", "Cell", or "Neighbour" - the relevant value in the table when Field is set to "Reason", "Source", or "Relation Type" (UMTS/CDMA/LTE/ WiMAX/Wi-Fi)

Figure 5.3: Example of intra-technology neighbour coverage (Display type: "Discrete values", Field: "Neighbour") •

Value Intervals: Select this option to colour the intra-technology coverage areas of the selected cell’s neighbours according to the "Importance" weights defined in the corresponding Neighbour Importance Weighting dialog box.

b. Click the Browse button beside Tip text and select the characteristics to be displayed as tip text on coverage areas. c. Click OK to save your settings and close the Neighbour Display Settings dialog box. 5. Under Coverages, select whether to Filter on neighbourhoods and whether to Display relevant coverage types only. 6. Select the neighbour relations that you want to display: • • •

Select Display non-symmetrical outwards to display a neighbour link when the selected cell is the reference cell and the neighbour relation is not symmetric. Select Display non-symmetrical inwards to display a neighbour link when the selected cell is the neighbour and the neighbour relation is not symmetric. Select Display symmetrics to display a neighbour link when the reference cell or the neighbour is selected and the neighbour relation is symmetric.

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7. Select Adjust Map Window if you want the map window to self-adjust to display all the neighbour relations of the selected cell. 8. In the Labels drop-down list, specify the cell labels to display when the Edit Relations on the Map button ( pressed: • • •

) is

Select None to hide all cell labels at all times. Select Neighbours to display the names (and carriers in UMTS/CDMA) of the selected cell's neighbours and hide all other cells’ labels. Select Transmitters to display at all times the cells’ labels defined in the cells' display properties.

9. Click OK to save your settings and close the Neighbour Display dialog box.

5.5.2 Configuring Display Settings for Multi-RAT documents The Neighbour Display dialog box allows you to configure how neighbour relationships and neighbour coverage maps are displayed. In Multi-RAT documents, the Neighbour Display dialog box has one tab to for each combination of technology pairs. To configure neighbour display settings in Multi-RAT documents: 1. In the Radio Planning toolbar, click the arrow ( ) beside the Edit Relations on the Map button ( Options from the context menu. The Neighbour Display dialog box appears.

) and select Display

2. Under Links, select Display links to display neighbour relationships, click the Menu ( ) button and select a technology from the context menu to specify how neighbour relationships are displayed for that technology. The Neighbour Display Settings dialog box appears with a separate tab for each technology combination. 3. For the intra-technology neighbours and each of the other neighbour combinations, specify the display settings: a. From the Display Type list, select a display type: • •

•

Select Unique to colour the neighbour links of the selected cell with a unique colour. Select Discrete values to colour the intra-technology neighbour links of the selected cell according to: - the colour of the source or target cell when Field is set to "Transmitter", "Cell", or "Neighbour - the relevant value in the table when Field is set to "Reason", "Source", "Neighbour.CellType" (GSM), "Neighbour.HCSLayer" (GSM), "Neighbour.FrequencyBand" (GSM/LTE), "Neighbour.Carrier" (UMTS/CDMA), or "Relation Type" (UMTS/CDMA/LTE) Select Value Intervals to colour the neighbour links of the selected cell according to the "Importance" weights defined in the corresponding Neighbour Importance Weighting dialog box. You can display the number of handoff attempts for each cell-neighbour pair by creating a new field of type "Integer" in the Intra-technology Neighbour table for the number of handoff attempts. Once you have imported or entered the values in the new column, you can select this field from the Field list when Display type is set to "Value Intervals". For information on adding a new field to a table, see "Adding a Field to a Data Table" on page 77.

b. If necessary, you can disable the display of the neighbour link types you want by clearing the corresponding visibility check boxes in the rightmost column. c. Click the Browse button beside Tip text and select the characteristics to be displayed as tip text on neighbour links. d. Click OK to save your settings and close the Neighbour Display Settings dialog box. 4. Under Coverages, select Highlight coverage areas to display the coverage areas of neighbours and click Browse to specify how coverage areas are displayed. The Neighbour Display Settings dialog box appears. a. From the Display type list, select a display type: • •

•

Unique: to colour the intra-technology coverage areas of neighbours of the selected cell with a unique colour and the coverage area of the source cell in yellow. Discrete values: to colour the intra-technology coverage areas of the neighbours of the selected cell according to: - the colour of the source or target cell when Field is set to "Transmitter", "Cell", or "Neighbour" - the relevant value in the table when Field is set to "Reason", "Source", or "Relation Type" (UMTS/CDMA/LTE/ WiMAX/Wi-Fi) Value Intervals: to colour the intra-technology coverage areas of the neighbours of the selected cell according to the "Importance" weights defined in the corresponding Neighbour Importance Weighting dialog box.

b. Click the Browse button beside Tip text and select the characteristics to be displayed as tip text on coverage areas. c. Click OK to save your settings and close the Neighbour Display Settings dialog box.

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5. Under Coverages, select whether to Filter on neighbourhoods and whether to Display relevant coverage types only. 6. Select the neighbour relations that you want to display: •

Select Display inter-technology only to hide intra-technology relationships.

•

Select Display non-symmetrical outwards to display a neighbour link when the selected cell is the reference cell and the neighbour relation is not symmetric. Select Display non-symmetrical inwards to display a neighbour link when the selected cell is the neighbour and the neighbour relation is not symmetric. Select Display symmetrics to display a neighbour link when the reference cell or the neighbour is selected and the neighbour relation is symmetric.

• •

7. Select Adjust Map Window if you want the map window to self-adjust to display all the neighbour relations of the selected cell. 8. In the Labels drop-down list, specify the cell labels to display when the Edit Relations on the Map button ( pressed: • • •

) is

Select None to hide all cell labels at all times. Select Neighbours to display the names (and carriers in UMTS/CDMA) of the selected cell's neighbours and hide all other cells’ labels. Select Transmitters to display at all times the cells’ labels defined in the cells' display properties.

9. Click OK to save your settings and close the Neighbour Display dialog box.

5.5.3 Displaying Neighbour Relationships and Coverage You can display neighbour relationships as arrows that are drawn from source cells to neighbour cells. If you have calculated a Coverage by Transmitter prediction, you can also display the neighbour coverage.

Figure 5.4: Single-RAT intra-technology neighbour links with a "Coverage by Transmitter (DL)" prediction To display neighbour relationships and coverage on the map: 1. In the Radio Planning toolbar, click the arrow ( ) beside the Edit Relations on the Map button ( bours from the context menu. 2. Click the Edit Relations on the Map button (

) and select Neigh-

).

3. If you want to display the neighbour coverage areas, in the Network explorer, select the visibility check box of the Predictions folder in the Networks explorer. 4. Select a cell by performing either of the following actions: • •

•

In the Network explorer, expand the Transmitters folder, and select a cell. Select a cell in Map window. For Multi-RAT documents, when there is more than one cell on the transmitter, clicking the transmitter in the map window opens a context menu for cell selection (see "Selecting One out of Several Transmitters" on page 57). In the Neighbours table, select a cell by clicking the leftmost cell in the row.

The neighbours of the cell are displayed on the map. If a prediction is selected in the Predictions folder, the coverage areas of the neighbours of the selected cell are displayed on the map. The selected cell is highlighted in the Neighbours table if it is open. Atoll displays the following information for the selected cell: • • •

Symmetric neighbour relations of the selected cell are indicated by a simple line. Outward neighbour relations are indicated by a line with an arrow pointing towards the neighbour. Inward neighbour relations are indicated by a line with an arrow pointing towards the reference cell.

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•

•

Neighbour links are displayed in grey if no shading is defined for the Value assigned to them in the Neighbour Display Settings dialog box and they are not displayed at all if the check box corresponding to the assigned Value is cleared. You can display forced or forbidden neighbours by clicking the arrow ( ) beside the Edit Relations on the Map button ( ) then selecting Forced Neighbours or Forbidden Neighbours.

5.5.4 Displaying Inter-technology Neighbours in Co-planning In a co-planning environment, where several single-RAT documents that use different technologies are linked, you can display inter-technology neighbour relationships and coverage areas. To display the coverage area of an inter-technology neighbour on the map in co-planning: 1. In the main document (for example: GSM), follow the procedure in "Displaying Neighbour Relationships and Coverage" on page 235 to display the inter-technology neighbour links a cell. 2. In the linked document (for example: UMTS), locate an inter-technology neighbour cell on the map. 3. In the map window, select the tab of the linked document. The linked document becomes the main document. 4. In the Radio Planning toolbar, click the arrow ( ) beside the Edit Relations on the Map button (

).

5. Select Display Options from the context menu. The Neighbour Display dialog box appears. 6. Select the Highlight coverage areas check box and click the Browse button beside it. The Neighbour Display Settings dialog box appears. 7. Set Display type to "Unique" then click OK to close the Neighbour Display Settings dialog box. 8. Click OK in the Neighbour Display dialog box. 9. Select the visibility check box of the Predictions folder in the Networks explorer. 10. In the map, select the inter-technology neighbour cell that you identified at the beginning of this procedure. The area displayed in yellow is the coverage area of the inter-technology neighbour cell.

5.6 Auditing Neighbour Allocation Plans You can perform an audit of the current neighbour allocation plan. At the end of the audit, Atoll lists the results in a text file report. You can define what information should appear in the report. To audit a neighbour allocation plan: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. • • •

To audit single-RAT neighbours, select Neighbours > Intra-technology > Audit. To audit single-RAT neighbours in a co-planning environment, select Neighbours > Inter-technology > Audit. To audit multi-RAT neighbours, select Neighbours > > Audit.

The Neighbour Audit dialog box appears. 2. Select the options corresponding to the neighbour characteristics to be audited: • • • •

•

• • • • •

Neighbour Type (UMTS/CDMA): Select this option to set the audit on Intra-Carrier or Inter-Carrier neighbour relations. Average no. of neighbours: Select this option to verify the average number of neighbours per cell. Empty lists: Select this option to verify which cells have no neighbours (an empty neighbour list). Full lists: Select this option to verify which cells have the maximum number of neighbours allowed (in other words, which cells have a full neighbour list). The maximum number of neighbours can be either set here for all the cells, or specified for each cell in the Cells table. Lists > max number: Select this option to verify which cells have more than the maximum number of neighbours allowed. The maximum number of neighbours can be either set here for all the cells, or specified for each cell in the Cells table. Missing co-sites: Select this option to verify which cells have no co-site neighbours. Missing symmetrics: Select this option to verify which cells have non-symmetric neighbour relations. Exceptional pairs: Select this option to verify which cells have forced neighbours or forbidden neighbours. Distance between neighbours: Select and enter the maximum distance between neighbours. Same BCCH (GSM): Select this option to verify which cells have the same BCCH.

3. Click OK to perform the audit. Atoll produces the results of the audit in a text file named "InterNeighboursCheck.txt", which appears at the end of the audit. •

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Neighbours with the same BCCH: X; total number of neighbours having the same BCCH.

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Syntax:

GSM: |TRANSMITTER| |NUMBER| |NEIGHBOUR| |NEIGHBOUT BCCH| |NEIGHBOUR BSIC| Other: Not applicable

•

Average number of neighbours: X; X is the average number of neighbours (integer) per cell for the plan audited.

•

Empty Lists: x/X; x number of cells out of a total of X having no neighbours (or empty neighbours list) Syntax:

•

Full Lists (default max number = Y): x/X; x number of cells out of a total of X having Y number of neighbours listed in their respective neighbours lists. Syntax:

•

GSM: |TRANSMITTER| Other: |CELL|

GSM: |TRANSMITTER| |NUMBER| |MAX NUMBER| Other: |CELL| |NUMBER| |MAX NUMBER|

Lists > max number (default max number = Y): x/X; x number of cells out of a total of X having more than Y number of neighbours listed in their respective neighbours lists. Syntax:

GSM: |TRANSMITTER| |NUMBER| |MAX NUMBER| Other: |CELL| |NUMBER| |MAX NUMBER| If the field Max number of intra-technology neighbours in the Cells table is empty, the Full Lists check and the Lists > max number check use the Default max number value defined in the audit dialog box.

•

Missing Co-Sites: X; total number of missing co-site neighbours in the audited neighbour allocation plan. Syntax:

•

Non Symmetric Links: X; total number of non-symmetric neighbour links in the audited neighbour allocation plan. Syntax:

•

GSM: |TRANSMITTER| |NEIGHBOUR| Other: |CELL| |NEIGHBOUR|

Existing Forbidden: X; total number of forbidden neighbours existing in the audited neighbour allocation plan. Syntax:

•

GSM: |TRANSMITTER| |NEIGHBOUR| |TYPE| |REASON| Other: |CELL| |NEIGHBOUR| |TYPE| |REASON|

Missing Forced: X; total number of forced neighbours missing in the audited neighbour allocation plan. Syntax:

•

GSM: |TRANSMITTER| |NEIGHBOUR| Other: |CELL| |NEIGHBOUR|

GSM: |TRANSMITTER| |NEIGHBOUR| |TYPE| |REASON| Other: |CELL| |NEIGHBOUR| |TYPE| |REASON|

Distance between neighbours > Y: X; total number of neighbours existing in the audited neighbour allocation plan that are located at a distance greater than Y. Syntax:

GSM: |TRANSMITTER| |NEIGHBOUR| |DISTANCE| Other: |CELL| |NEIGHBOUR| DISTANCE

5.7 Importing and Exporting Neighbours You can import and export the following neighbour data: • • •

Intra-technology: You can import and export neighbours that use the same radio technology. Inter-technology in a co-planning environment: You can import and export neighbours that use a different radio technology between two single-RAT documents. Inter-technology in a multi-RAT environment: You can import and export neighbours that use a different radio technology in a multi-RAT document.

This section covers the following topics: • •

"Importing Neighbours" on page 237 "Exporting Neighbours" on page 238

5.7.1 Importing Neighbours You can import neighbour data in the form of ASCII text files (in TXT and CSV formats) into the current Atoll document using the Neighbours table.

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To import intra-technology neighbours: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder for the technology into which you want to import neighbour data. The context menu appears. 2. Depending on the technology from which you want to import the neighbours, perform one of the following tasks: • • •

To import neighbours from the same radio technology, select Neighbours > Intra-technology > Open Table. To import neighbours from a different technology in a co-planning environment, select Neighbours > Inter-technology > Open Table. To import neighbours from a different technology in a multi-RAT environment, select Neighbours > Open Table.

The corresponding Neighbours table is displayed. 3. Import the ASCII text file as explained in "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88.

5.7.2 Exporting Neighbours Neighbour data is stored in a series of database tables. You can export this data and later use it in another Atoll document or in another application. To export single-RAT intra-technology neighbour data: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. • • •

To export neighbours from the same radio technology, select Neighbours > Intra-technology > Open Table. To export neighbours from a different technology in a co-planning environment, select Neighbours > Inter-technology > Open Table. To export neighbours from a different technology in a multi-RAT environment, select Neighbours > Open Table.

2. When the table appears, export it as described in "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86.

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Chapter 6 Network Capacity and Traffic This chapter provides information on studying network capacity and performing traffic simulations in Atoll.

This chapter covers the following topics: •

"Service and User Modelling" on page 241

•

"Working with Traffic Maps" on page 256

•

"Simulations" on page 265

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6 Traffic and Capacity Planning You can study the capacity of a network by studying the traffic demand, which is a prerequisite for dimensioning the network, that the network can handle. Each radio technology implements different methods to regulate power to minimize interference. Atoll can simulate these network regulation mechanisms, thereby enabling you to study the capacity of the network. In Atoll, a simulation is based on a realistic distribution of users at a given point in time. The distribution of users at a given moment is referred to as a snapshot. Based on this snapshot, Atoll calculates various network parameters such as: • • • •

For GSM traffic: the downlink and uplink traffic loads, the uplink noise rise, etc. For UMTS traffic: the active set for each mobile, the required power of the mobile, the total DL power and DL throughput per cell, and the UL load per cell. For the CDMA part of the traffic: the active set for each mobile, the required power of the mobile, the total DL power, and the UL load per cell For LTE traffic: the downlink and uplink traffic loads, the uplink noise rise, the user throughputs, etc.

Simulations are calculated in an iterative fashion. When several simulations are performed at the same time using the same traffic information, the distribution of users will be different, according to a Poisson distribution. Consequently you can have variations in user distribution from one snapshot to another. To create snapshots, services and users must be modelled. As well, certain traffic information in the form of traffic maps must be provided. Once services and users have been modelled and traffic maps have been created, you can make simulations of the network traffic. In this section, the following are explained: • • •

"Service and User Modelling" on page 241 "Working with Traffic Maps" on page 256 "Simulations" on page 265

6.1 Service and User Modelling In a 3GPP multi-RAT network, the traffic parameters are shared by all technologies. This section covers the following topics: • • • • •

"Modelling Services" on page 241. "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 247. "Modelling Terminals" on page 249. "Modelling User Profiles" on page 254 "Modelling Environments" on page 255

6.1.1 Modelling Services Services are the various services, such as voice, mobile internet access, etc., available to subscribers. These services can be either circuit-switched (voice) or packet-switched (data) depending on the radio access technology and the type of application. This section contains the following topics: • •

"Service Properties" on page 241 "Creating Services" on page 247

6.1.1.1 Service Properties The service properties dialog box consists of multiple tabs, depending on the radio access technologies that you are using. For Single-RAT documents, the dialog box displays a General tab and a Parameters tab. For Multi-RAT documents, there is a General tab and a tab for each technology. The General Tab • •

•

Name: A default name is provided, but you can set a more descriptive name. Activity factor: The uplink and downlink activity factors are used to determine the probability of activity for users accessing the service during Monte Carlo simulations. For packet-switched services (data), this parameter is used when working with sector traffic maps and user density traffic maps. For circuit-switched services (voice), the parameter is taken into consideration with any traffic map. Average Requested Throughput: You can enter the average requested throughput for uplink and downlink. This throughput is the average throughput obtained by a user of the service. How the average requested throughput is used in Atoll depends on the type of service:

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•

•

•

© 2016 Forsk. All Rights Reserved.

Circuit or All except Packet (HSPA): This throughput is the average throughput obtained by a user of the service. It is used in simulations during user distribution generation to calculate the number of users attempting a connection and to determine their activity status. Packet (HSPA): This throughput is the requested average throughput which guarantees a minimum average throughput during an HSUPA call. It is used twice in a simulation: once during user distribution generation in order to calculate the number of HSUPA users attempting a connection and then during power control as a quality target to be compared to the real obtained average throughput.

Technology priorities (for Multi-RAT documents only): Click the Browse button beside Technology priorities to open a dialog box enabling you to define the technologies that can use this service and their priority.

The GSM Parameters Tab •

• • •

• • •

•

•

Type: You can select either "Circuit", "Packet (Max Bit Rate)" or "Packet (Constant Bit Rate)" as the service type. If you select "Circuit", the only other applicable parameter is Max probability of blocking (or delay) (Erlang B or C, respectively). Priority: Enter a priority for this service. "0" is the lowest priority. Max throughput demand: The maximum uplink and downlink throughputs per user is used in the simulation process for GPRS/EDGE networks. Min throughput demand: The minimum uplink throughput per user is used in the simulation process for GPRS/EDGE networks. The minimum downlink throughput per user is used in both dimensioning and simulation processes for GPRS/EDGE networks. Max probability of blocking (or delay): The maximum blocking rate defines the call blocking or call queuing rate for the GSM voice services and the probability of delayed packets for GPRS/EDGE data services. Max packet delay: The maximum period of time that a packet can be delayed before transmission. Required availability for minimum throughput: The percentage of cell coverage where the minimum throughput (or the guaranteed bit rate for constant bit rate packet-switched services) per user must be available. This value is also used in dimensioning. Max number of timeslots per carrier: The maximum number of timeslots per carrier is used during dimensioning to limit the number of timeslots that can be assigned to a user using this service on a carrier. This parameter applies to packet-switched services. For constant bit rate packet-switched services such as VoIP, this parameter has to be set to "1". Application throughput: You can define the Scaling factor and the Offset. The throughput scaling factor and offset are used to determine the user or application level throughput in Radio Link Control (RLC) throughput or timeslot coverage prediction. The application throughput is calculated by multiplying the RLC throughput by the scaling factor and subtracting the offset. These parameters model header information and other supplementary data that do not appear at the application level.

The CDMA2000 Parameters Tab •

Type: Select either "Speech", "1xRTT Data", "1xEV-DO Rev. 0 Data", "1xEV-DO Rev. A Data" or "1xEV-DO Rev. B Data". The options available depend on the type of service: • Speech: The following options are available for services with the type "Speech": • Activity Factor FCH: Enter an activity factor for the FCH on the uplink (reverse link) and on the downlink (forward link). The activity factor can be from "0," indicating no activity during connection, to "1," indicating constant activity during connection. The activity factor is used to calculate the average power transmitted on the FCH. •

1xRTT Data: The following options are available for services with the type "1xRTT Data": • SCH Throughput Probabilities: Enter the probability of the service having the specified throughput, from 2 to 16 times the peak throughput (defined in the terminal properties), on the uplink (reverse link) and on the downlink (forward link). The sum of the probabilities must be lower than or equal to 1. The throughput probabilities are used during simulations to determine the throughput requested by each user.

•

1xEV-DO Rev. 0 Data: The following options are available for services with the type "1xEV-DO Rev. 0 Data": • Downgrading Supported: Select this option if the service supports downgrading on the reverse link. • UL Throughput Probabilities: Under UL Throughput Probabilities, you can enter the probability of the service having the specified throughput on the reverse link. The sum of the probabilities of the service having the specified throughput must be lower than or equal to 1. The throughput probabilities are used during simulations to determine the throughput requested by each user. If the service supports throughput downgrading, you can define the probability of the service being upgraded or downgraded on the uplink (reverse link) for each 1xEV-DO Rev. 0 throughputs. The probabilities are taken into account during the uplink load control part of simulations in order to determine if a user with a certain throughput can be upgraded or downgraded. User throughput downgrading and upgrading occurs when the cell is over- or underloaded. The following table shows the throughput changes that are possible when a throughput is upgraded or downgraded. The probabilities are defined with a number from 1 to 255 for each throughput.

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Possible Throughput Changes During Upgrading

•

•

Possible Throughput Changes During Downgrading

From

To

From

To

9.6 kbps

19.2 kbps

153.6 kbps

76.8 kbps

19.2 kbps

38.4 kbps

76.8 kbps

38.4 kbps

38.4 kbps

76.8 kbps

38.4 kbps

19.2 kbps

76.8 kbps

153.6 kbps

19.2 kbps

9.6 kbps

UL Throughput due to TCP acknowledgement: If the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is used on the downlink (forward link), check the TCP Used check box. When TCP is used, reverse link traffic due to acknowledgements is generated. The traffic generated is calculated using the graph which describes the reverse link traffic due to TCP acknowledgements as a function of the forward link application throughput. The generated traffic is taken into account in simulation during the reverse link power control.

1xEV-DO Rev. A Data and 1xEV-DO Rev. B Data: The following options are available for services with the type "1xEV-DO Rev. A Data" and "1xEV-DO Rev. B Data". • QoS Class: Select "Guaranteed Bit Rate" for services that require a minimum bit rate or "Best Effort" for besteffort applications. • Uplink Mode: This setting escribes the type of radio resource management required on uplink for that service. Select either "Low Latency" for real-time applications, or "High Capacity" for non-real-time applications • Downgrading Supported: Select this option if the service supports downgrading on the reverse link. • Min throughput demand: If you have selected "Guaranteed Bit Rate" as QoS class, enter the minimum required bit rate in order for the service to be available in the uplink and downlink. This parameter is not available for best-effort applications. • UL Throughput Probabilities: Under UL Throughput Probabilities, you can enter the probability of the service having the specified uplink throughput. This parameter is available for best-effort applications only. In the column marked with the New Column icon ( ), select a Radio Bearer Index and enter a Usage Probability. Atoll automatically creates a new blank column. The sum of the probabilities must be lower than or equal to 1. The throughput probabilities are used during simulations to determine the throughput requested by each user. If the bearer is not defined under UL Throughput Probabilities, it is assumed that there are no users using the bearer. For services requiring a minimum bit rate, the usage probability is automatically calculated according to the number of selected radio bearers. •

UL Throughput Due to TCP Acknowledgement: Select TCP Used if the downlink (forward link) uses Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). When TCP is used, reverse link traffic due to acknowledgements is generated. The traffic generated is calculated using the graph which describes the reverse link traffic due to TCP acknowledgements as a function of the forward link application throughput. The generated traffic is taken into account in simulation during the reverse link power control. Best-effort services with the 1xEV-DO Rev. B Data type can be provided in multi-carrier mode if the server and the user terminal support it.

If you selected "Speech" or "1xRTT Data" as the Type, you must define each possible combination of terminal, SCH factor, and mobility by clicking the Eb⁄Nt button. On the Eb⁄Nt dialog box, The SCH factor is the multiplying factor of the terminal peak throughput used to calculate the throughput. The following table lists the SCH factors available and the corresponding throughputs. SCH Factor

Throughput

0

FCH peak throughput

2

(FCH peak throughput) + 2*(FCH peak throughput)

4

(FCH peak throughput) + 4*(FCH peak throughput)

8

(FCH peak throughput) + 8*(FCH peak throughput)

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SCH Factor

Throughput

16

(FCH peak throughput) + 16*(FCH peak throughput)

For each combination, you must define the thresholds, targets, and gains: • • •

•

• •

•

•

•

Terminal: Select a radio configuration from the list. SCH Factor: Enter an SCH factor. Min. and Max. TCH Power (dBm): Enter the minimum and maximum TCH power. The TCH can be equal to the FCH or the SCH, depending on the entered SCH factor. The values entered can be absolute or relative to the pilot power, depending on the option chosen on the Global Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box, and have to be manually modified when the option is changed. The minimum and maximum traffic channel power make up the dynamic range for forward link power control. UL Target (dB): Enter the Eb⁄Nt required on the reverse link for TCH. The TCH can be equal to the FCH or the SCH, depending on the entered SCH factor. The value defined for the UL Target is only used when the reverse link power control is based on traffic quality as set on the Global Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box. DL Target (dB): Enter the Eb⁄Nt required on the forward link for TCH. The TCH can be equal to the FCH or the SCH, depending on the entered SCH factor. UL Pilot Threshold (dB): Enter the pilot Ec⁄Nt required on the reverse link. This is only used when the reverse link power control is based on pilot quality as set on the Global Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box. UL FCH/Pilot Offset (dB): Enter the FCH gain on the reverse link relative to the pilot. This is only used when the reverse link power control is based on pilot quality as set on the Global Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box. UL SCH/Pilot Offset (dB): Enter the SCH gain on the reverse link relative to the pilot. This is only used when the reverse link power control is based on pilot quality as set on the Global Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box. This value is not used for services of Type "Speech." Mobility: Select the mobility type for which the thresholds, targets, and gains are defined. If you select All, the thresholds, targets, and gains will be considered valid for all mobility types.

•

Preferred Carrier: Select the preferred carrier for the service. This is the carrier that will be used during simulations, if the transmitter supports it. If the preferred carrier is not available, Atoll will choose another carrier using the carrier selection mode defined in the site equipment properties.

•

Priority: Enter a priority for the service. A priority of "0" gives the lowest priority. The priority is used during simulations to decide which terminal will be rejected when the network is overloaded.

•

Soft Handoff Allowed: Select the Soft Handoff Allowed check box if this service can have a soft handoff.

•

Application Throughput: The application throughput is not used for services with the type Speech.

•

Body Loss: Enter a body loss for the service. The body loss is the loss due to the body of the user. For example, in a voice connection the body loss, due to the proximity of the user’s head, is estimated to be 3dB.

The UMTS Parameters Tab • •

R99 Radio Bearer: Select an R99 radio bearer from the list. You can click the Browse button to edit the properties of the selected R99 radio bearer. Type: Select either if the following service types. The options available depend on the type of service: • • •

Circuit (R99): For circuit services. Packet (R99): For packet services that can only use R99 channels. Packet (HSDPA - Best Effort): For best effort applications that can use HSDPA channels. Specify the following parameters under HSPA parameters: •

E-DPCCH/A-DPCH activity factor: The downlink E-DPCCH/A-DPCH activity factor is used to estimate the average power on A-DPCH channels. The HSDPA service is linked to a R99 bearer in order to manage the connection to the R99dedicated channel A-DPCH.

•

Packet (HSPA - Best Effort): For best effort applications that can use HSDPA and HSUPA channels. Set the following parameters under HSPA parameters: •

•

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E-DPCCH/A-DPCH activity factor: The uplink and downlink E-DPCCH/A-DPCH activity factors are used to estimate the average power on E-DPCCH and A-DPCH channels.

Packet (HSPA - Variable Bit Rate): For variable bit rate services using HSDPA channels, select Packet (HSDPA - Variable Bit Rate). Specify the following HSPA parameters:

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• • •

Packet (HSDPA - Variable Bit Rate): For variable bit rate services using HSPA channels. Specify the following HSPA Parameters: • •

•

E-DPCCH/A-DPCH activity factor: The uplink and downlink E-DPCCH/A-DPCH activity factors are used to estimate the average power on E-DPCCH and A-DPCH channels. Max throughput demand and Min throughput demand: Enter the maximum and minimum bit rate that the service can require in the uplink and downlink.

E-DPCCH/A-DPCH activity factor: The downlink E-DPCCH/A-DPCH activity factor is used to estimate the average power on A-DPCH channels. Max throughput demand and Min throughput demand: Enter the maximum and minimum bit rate that the service can require in the uplink and downlink.

Packet (HSPA - Constant Bit Rate): For constant bit rate services using HSPA channels. Specify the following HSPA Parameters: • •

E-DPCCH/A-DPCH Activity Factor: The E-DPCCH/A-DPCH activity factor is used to estimate the average power on A-DPCH channels. Min throughput demand: Enter the minimum bit rate that the service can require in the uplink and downlink. •

•

The uplink and downlink E-DPCCH/A-DPCH activity factors have been set to 0.1 and cannot be changed. These values are used to estimate the average power on E-DPCCH and A-DPCH channels. Variable Bit Rate users are processed as Best Effort users when no value is defined for the min and max throughput demands.

If you select a packet type, click the Packet button to define the parameters used to determine the probability of activity for each user during Monte Carlo simulations. These parameters are used when working with user profile traffic maps only. In the Packet dialog box, you can set the following parameters for packet-switched services: • • • • • • •

Efficiency factor: The uplink and downlink efficiency factors are used to determine duration of usage by the user during Monte Carlo simulations. Average number of packet calls: Enter the average number of packet calls in the uplink and downlink during one session. Average time between two packet calls: Enter the average time between two packet calls (in milliseconds) in the uplink and downlink. Min size (Kbytes) and Max size (Kbytes): Enter the minimum and maximum size of a packet call in kilobytes for the uplink and downlink. Average time between two packets (ms): Enter the average time between two packets in milliseconds in the uplink and downlink. Size (Bytes): Enter the packet size in bytes in the uplink and downlink.

Preferred/Allowed Carriers: The specified carrier is considered in simulation when admitting a transmitter to the mobile active set. If you select "Preferred Carriers" and the transmitter uses the specified carrier, Atoll selects it. Otherwise, it selects another carrier using the carrier selection mode defined in the site equipment properties. If no preferred carrier is specified, it considers the carrier selection mode defined in the site equipment properties. If you select "Allowed Carriers", Atoll only uses the defined carriers. If they are not available, the service will be rejected. The preferred/allowed carriers are not used in predictions (i.e., AS analysis, multi-point analysis and coverage predictions).

• • •

Bearer Downgrading: Select whether the service supports bearer downgrading on uplink and downkink. Bearer downgrading is not allowed for Packet (HSDPA - Variable Bit Rate) and Packet (HSPA - Variable Bit Rate) services. Priority: Specify a priority for this service. "0" is the lowest priority. Soft Handoff Allowed: Select whether you want the network to be able to use soft handoff with this service. HSDPA channels do not use soft handover even if the Soft Handoff Allowed check box is selected. If you want the HSUPA service to be operated using soft handover, select the Soft Handoff Allowed check box. Soft handover will be applied to R99 and HSUPA channels only.

•

Supported layers: You can select the network layers supported by the service. For more information on network layers, see "Defining Network Deployment Layers" on page 962. The specified layers are considered in predictions (i.e., AS analysis, multi-point analysis and coverage predictions) for best serving cell selection. Users are only allowed to connect to cells of layers supported by their services. For more information on best serving cell selection, see "Best Serving Cell and Active Set Determination" on page 622. The supported layers are not used in simulations.

•

Application throughput: You can define the Scaling factor and the Offset. The throughput scaling factor and offset are used to determine the user or application level throughput in Radio Link Control (RLC) throughput or timeslot cov-

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erage prediction. The application throughput is calculated by multiplying the RLC throughput by the scaling factor and subtracting the offset. These parameters model header information and other supplementary data that do not appear at the application level. Body Loss: Enter a body loss for the service. The body loss is the loss due to the body of the user. For example, in a voice connection the body loss, due to the proximity of the user’s head, is estimated to be 3dB.

The LTE Tab • •

• •

• • • • • • •

Type: You can select either "Voice" or "Data" as the service type. Supported layers: You can select the network layers supported by the service. For more information on network layers, see "Defining Network Deployment Layers" on page 962. During calculations, users are only allowed to connect to cells of layers supported by their services. QoS class identifier (QCI): You can select a QoS class identifier for the service. The information about the QoS class used by any service is used by the schedulers for resource allocation. QCI priority: The priority corresponding to the selected QoS class identifier (QCI). QCI values and their priorities are defined by the 3GPP as follows: QoS class identifier

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

QCI priority

2

4

3

5

1

6

7

8

9

Priority: Enter a user-defined priority for the service with respect to other services belonging to the same QoS class identifier (QCI). "0" is the lowest priority. Carrier aggregation: Select this check box if the service supports carrier aggregation. Highest bearer: Select the highest bearer that the service can use in the uplink and downlink. This is considered as an upper limit during bearer determination. Lowest bearer: Select the lowest bearer that the service can use in the uplink and downlink. This is considered as a lower limit during bearer determination. Min throughput demand and Max throughput demand: Enter the minimum and maximum throughput that the service can demand in the uplink and downlink. Min number of frequency blocks: Enter the minimum number of frequency blocks required for this service in uplink. Application throughput: Under Application throughput, you can set a Scaling factor between the application throughput and the RLC (Radio Link Control) throughput and a throughput Offset. These parameters model the header information and other supplementary data that does not appear at the application level. The application throughput parameters are used in throughput coverage predictions and for application throughput calculation.

•

Body loss: Enter a body loss for the service. The body loss is the loss due to the body of the user. For example, in a voice connection the body loss, due to the proximity of the user’s head, is estimated to be 3 dB.

The TD-SCDMA Tab • •

R99 Radio Bearer: Select an R99 radio bearer from the list. You can click the Browse button to edit the properties of the selected R99 radio bearer. Type: Select either if the following service types. The options available depend on the type of service: • • •

Circuit (R99): For circuit services. Packet (R99): For packet services that can only use R99 channels. Packet (HSDPA): For packet services that can use HSDPA channels. Specify the following settings: •

•

A-DPCH activity factor: The downlink A-DPCH activity factor is used to estimate the average power on A-DPCH channels. Packet (HSPA): For packet services that can use HSDPA and HSUPA channels, select Packet (HSPA). Specify the followinf settings: •

E-UCCH/A-DPCH activity factor: The uplink E-UCCH and downlink A-DPCH activity factors are used to estimate the average power on these channels.

If you select a packet type, click the Packet button to define the parameters used to determine the probability of activity for each user during Monte Carlo simulations. These parameters are used when working with user profile traffic maps only. In the Packet dialog box, you can set the following parameters for packet-switched services: • • • •

246

Efficiency factor: The uplink and downlink efficiency factors are used to determine duration of usage by the user during Monte Carlo simulations. Average number ofpacket calls: Enter the average number of packet calls in the uplink and downlink during one session. Average tme between two packet calls: Enter the average time between two packet calls (in milliseconds) in the uplink and downlink. Min size (Kbytes) and Max size (Kbytes): Enter the minimum and maximum size of a packet call in kilobytes for the uplink and downlink.

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• • •

Average time between two packets (ms): Enter the average time between two packets in milliseconds in the uplink and downlink. Size (Bytes): Enter the packet size in bytes in the uplink and downlink.

Preferred or Allowed Carriers: The specified carrier is considered in simulation when admitting a transmitter to the mobile active set. If you select "Preferred Carriers" and the transmitter uses the specified carrier, Atoll selects it. Otherwise, it selects another carrier using the carrier selection mode defined in the site equipment properties. If no preferred carrier is specified, it considers the carrier selection mode defined in the site equipment properties. If you select "Allowed Carriers", Atoll only uses the defined carriers. If they are not available, the service will be rejected. The preferred/allowed carriers are not used in predictions (i.e., AS analysis, multi-point analysis and coverage predictions).

• •

•

Priority: Specify a priority for this service. "0" is the lowest priority. Application throughput: You can define the Scaling factor and the Offset. The throughput scaling factor and offset are used to determine the user or application level throughput in Radio Link Control (RLC) throughput or timeslot coverage prediction. The application throughput is calculated by multiplying the RLC throughput by the scaling factor and subtracting the offset. These parameters model header information and other supplementary data that do not appear at the application level. Body Loss: Enter a body loss for the service. The body loss is the loss due to the body of the user. For example, in a voice connection the body loss, due to the proximity of the user’s head, is estimated to be 3dB.

6.1.1.2 Creating Services This section explains how to create a service. In UMTS, LTE, and CDMA, you must define bearers before you can specify the services: •

For UMTS R99 bearers, see "Defining R99 Radio Bearers" on page 615.

•

For CDMA 1xEV-DO radio bearers, see "Defining the Forward Link 1xEV-DO Radio Bearers" on page 727 and "Defining the Reverse Link 1xEV-DO Radio Bearers" on page 727. For LTE radio bearers, see "Defining LTE Radio Bearers" on page 964. For TD-SCDMA R99 bearers, see "Defining R99 Radio Bearers" on page 835

• •

To create or modify a service: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Traffic Parameters folder, right-click the Services folder, and select New from the context menu. The Services: New Record Properties dialog box appears. You can modify the properties of an existing service by right-clicking the service in the Services folder and selecting Properties from the context menu.

2. Click the General tab and specify a Name for the service. 3. If the document is Multi-RAT, click the Browse button beside Technology priorities to define the technologies that can use this service and their priority. • • • •

To select a technology that can use this service, select the technology in the Available technologies list and click to move it to the Selected technologies list. To remove a technology from the list of Selected technologies, select the technology in the Selected technologies list and click to move it to the Available technologies list. To change the priority of the technologies, select a technology and click or to move it up or down in the list. The technology at the top of the list has the highest priority. Click OK to close the dialog box and return to the Services: New Record Properties dialog box.

4. Click the tab of the technology for which you want to define the service and enter the parameters as described in "Service Properties" on page 241. 5. Click OK.

6.1.2 Modelling Mobility Types Information about receiver mobility is important to efficiently manage traffic and connections. A mobility model is associated with a terminal and a service model to simulate user behaviour. Depending on the technology, a terminal used by a driver moving quickly or a pedestrian will not necessarily be connected to the same transmitters. For example, in a multi-layer GSM/GPRS/EDGE network, a mobile user travelling at a high speed is usually allocated a channel on the macro layer. In UMTS, Ec⁄I0 requirements and Eb⁄Nt targets per radio bearer and per link (up and down) are largely

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dependent on mobile speed. In LTE, information about the receiver mobility is required for determining which bearer selection threshold and quality graph to use from the LTE equipment referred to in the terminal or cell.

6.1.2.1 Mobility Properties The Mobility Properties window allows you to specify the settings that define a mobility type. The following tabs depend on the radio access technology that you are working with: The General Tab • •

Name: Enter a descriptive name for the mobility type. Average Speed: Enter an average speed for the mobility type. This field is for information only; the average speed is not used by any calculation.

The UMTS Tab • •

Ec⁄I0 Threshold: Under Active Set Management, enter or modify the minimum Ec⁄I0 required from a transmitter to enter the active set. This value must be verified for the best server. HS-SCCH Ec⁄Nt Threshold: Under HSDPA, enter or modify the minimum quality required in order for the HSDPA link to be available. This parameter is used by Atoll to determine the HS-SCCH power when the user has selected dynamic allocation in the cell properties. For static allocation, Atoll calculates the HS-SCCH Ec⁄Nt from the HS-SCCH power set in the cell properties and compares it to this threshold. This field is only used with HSDPA.

The CDMA2000 Tab •

Under Active Set Management, enter or modify the following parameters in order to make the user active set dependent on the mobility type: • •

•

Delta Min. Ec⁄I0: Enter a positive value in order to increase the minimum Ec⁄I0 required from a transmitter to be the best server in the active set, or a negative value to decrease it. Delta T_Drop: Enter a positive value in order to increase the minimum Ec⁄I0 required from a transmitter not to be rejected from the active set, or a negative value to decrease it.

Under 1xEV-DO (Rev 0), enter or modify the following parameters: •

•

Min. Ec⁄Nt (UL): Enter or modify the minimum Ec⁄Nt required on the reverse link. This parameter is only used for CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev 0. This parameter is considered during reverse link power control in order to calculate the required reverse link pilot power. DL Peak Throughput = f(C⁄I): The graph of the throughput on the forward link as a function of (C⁄I). This parameter is only used for CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev 0.

The TD-SCDMA Tab •

Under Baton handover parameters, you can set the minimum pilot signal levels required from transmitters to enter and exit the list of potential servers. • •

•

• • • •

P-CCPCH Eb⁄Nt threshold or P-CCPCH C⁄I threshold: Enter or modify the minimum P-CCPCH Eb⁄Nt or C⁄I quality. This value is used as the minimum requirement limit for the P-CCPCH Quality Analysis (Eb⁄Nt) (DL) or P-CCPCH Quality Analysis (C⁄I) (DL) coverage predictions. DwPCH RSCP threshold: Enter or modify the minimum signal level required for the DwPTS coverage. This value is used as the minimum requirement limit for the Coverage by DwPCH RSCP coverage prediction. DwPCH C⁄I threshold: Enter or modify the minimum DwPCH C⁄I quality. This value is used as the minimum requirement limit for the DwPCH Quality Analysis (C⁄I) (DL) coverage prediction. UpPCH RSCP threshold: Enter or modify the minimum signal level required for the UpPTS coverage. This value is used as the minimum requirement limit for the Coverage by UpPCH RSCP coverage prediction. Under HSDPA, you can set the minimum Ec/Nt levels required for HSDPA channels. •

•

•

HS-SCCH Ec⁄Nt threshold (DL): Enter or modify the minimum quality required for the HSDPA link to be available. Atoll calculates the HS-SCCH Ec⁄Nt from the HS-SCCH power set in the cell properties and compares it to this threshold. This field is used only with HSDPA. HS-SICH Ec⁄Nt threshold (UL): Enter or modify the minimum quality required for the HSDPA link to be available. Atoll calculates the HS-SICH Ec⁄Nt from the HS-SICH power set in the terminal properties and compares it to this threshold. This field is used only with HSDPA.

Under HSUPA, you can set the minimum Ec/Nt levels required for E-DCH channel. •

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P-CCPCH RSCP T_Add (P-CCPCH RSCP threshold): The minimum pilot signal level from transmitters required for entering the list of potential servers. P-CCPCH RSCP T_Drop: The signal level from transmitters below which a transmitter cannot enter the list of potential servers.

E-DCH Ec⁄Nt threshold (DL): Enter or modify the minimum quality required for the HSUPA link to be available. This field is used only with HSUPA.

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6.1.2.2 Creating Mobility Types To create or modify a mobility type: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Traffic Parameters folder, right-click the Mobility Types folder, and select New from the context menu. The Services: New Record Properties dialog box appears. You can modify the properties of an existing mobility type by right-clicking the mobility type in the Mobility Types folder and selecting Properties from the context menu.

2. You can enter or modify the following parameters in the Mobility Types: New Record Properties dialog box. 3. Click the General tab and specify a Name for the service and the movement Speed for the user that you want to model. 4. If the document uses UMTS, CDMA2000, or TD-SCDMA, click the tab of the technology for which you want to define the mobility and enter the parameters as described in "Mobility Properties" on page 248. 5. Click OK.

6.1.3 Modelling Terminals A terminal is the user equipment that is used in the network, for example, a mobile phone, a PDA, or a car’s on-board navigation device.

6.1.3.1 Terminal Properties The Terminal Properties window allows you to specify the settings that define a mobility type. The following tabs depend on the radio access technology that you are working with: The General Tab • •

Name: You can change the name of the terminal. Supported technologies (for Multi-RAT documents only): Enter or modify an average speed for the mobility type. This field is for information only; the average speed is not used by any calculation.

The GSM Tab • • • • • • • •

Main Band: The primary frequency band with which the terminal compatible. Secondary Band: The secondary frequency band with which the terminal is compatible. The compatible frequency bands are used to allocate the user to a transmitter using that frequency band if the network is a multi-band network. Noise Figure: The noise caused by the terminal. This value is added to the thermal noise (set to -121 dBm by default) in predictions when studying C⁄N or C⁄I + N instead of C or C⁄I. Technology: The technology with which the terminal is compatible. You can choose among GSM, GPRS (i.e., GSM/ GPRS), or GPRS/EDGE (i.e., GSM/GPRS/EDGE). Codec Configuration: Select the codec configuration for the terminal. This parameter is optional. Min. power: Set the minimum transmission power. The minimum and maximum transmission power make up the dynamic range for uplink power control. Max power: Set the maximum transmission power. DTX: The DTX check box is selected if the terminal supports DTX (Discontinuous Transmission) technology. If you selected "GSM," "GPRS," OR "GPRS/EDGE" under Technology, set the following parameters under GPRS\EDGE: • • •

Coding Scheme Configuration: If the terminal is GPRS or EDGE-compatible, select the coding scheme configuration for the terminal. This parameter is optional. Max. GPRS CS: If the terminal is GPRS-compatible, set the maximum number of coding schemes that the terminal can use. Max. EDGE CS: If the terminal is EDGE-compatible, set the maximum number of coding schemes that the terminal can use. The highest number of GPRS (or EDGE) coding schemes available to the terminal is limited by the maximum number of GPRS (or EDGE) coding schemes defined for the TRX configuration assigned to a transmitter.

•

Number of DL Timeslots per carrier: If the terminal is GPRS or EDGE-compatible, you can enter the maximum number of downlink timeslots the terminal can use on a carrier. Terminals using only circuit-switched services will

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use only one downlink timeslot. Using more than one DL timeslot has an effect in the dimensioning process. For more information, see "Dimensioning a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Network" on page 332. Number of Simultaneous Carriers: If the terminal is EDGE evolution compatible (EGPRS2), you can enter the maximum number of simultaneous carriers the terminal can use. Terminals using either circuit-switched services, GPRS, or EGPRS packet-switched services will use only one carrier at a time. Using more than one carrier has an effect in the dimensioning process. For more information, see "Dimensioning a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Network" on page 332. When you model EDGE Evolution on the terminal side Atoll has to consider: • • •

The support of high-order modulations and the use of turbo codes in specific coding schemes which can be found in the selected GPRS/EDGE configuration. The support of multi-carriers which can be set up on the terminal side. The support of dual antenna terminals (mobile station receive diversity) and enhanced single antenna terminals (single antenna interference cancellation). Atoll offers a statistical modelling of these through the use of an EDGE evolution configuration, with the effect of SAIC or diversity already included both in the coding scheme admission thresholds and on the throughput versus C (or C⁄I) graphs.

The CDMA2000 Tab •

Type: Select the terminal type. The following tabs are available depending on the selected type.

•

The Definition tab: • CDMA Equipment: You can change the type of equipment. • Min power and Max power: Set the minimum transmission power. The minimum and maximum transmission power make up the dynamic range for reverse link power control in simulations. • Gain and Losses: Set the antenna gain and reception losses. • Rho factor (%): This parameter enables Atoll to take into account the self-interference produced by the terminal. Because hardware equipment is not perfect, the input signal experiences some distortion which affects, in turn, the output signal. This factor defines how much distortion the system generates. Entering 100% means the system is perfect (there is no distortion) and the output signal will be 100% equal to the input signal. On the other hand, if you specify a value different than 100%, Atoll considers that the transmitted energy is not 100% signal and contains a small percentage of interference generated by the equipment, i.e., self-interference. Atoll considers this parameter to calculate the signal to noise ratio in the reverse link. • Main Band: Select the frequency band with which the terminal is compatible and enter the terminal Noise Figure for the main frequency. • Second Band: Select a second frequency band with which the terminal is compatible and enter the terminal Noise Figure for the second frequency band. Leave the Secondary Band field empty if the terminal works only on one frequency band. • Third Band: Select a third frequency band with which the terminal is compatible and enter the terminal Noise Figure for the third frequency. Leave the Third Band field empty if the terminal works only on two frequency bands. There are two ways of defining multi-band terminals. Depending on the configuration, Atoll processes multi-band terminal users differently in the Monte Carlo simulation. •

•

The first method consists of defining main, secondary and third frequency bands. This enables you to give different priorities to the frequency bands in the Monte Carlo simulation (the main frequency band will have the highest priority). A user with such a tri-band terminal will be connected to transmitters using the main frequency band if carriers on this frequency band are not overloaded. In case of overloading, he will be connected to transmitters using the secondary frequency band and so on. The second consists of selecting "All" as main frequency band. This means that the terminal works on any frequency band without any priority. In this case, the user can be connected to transmitters using any frequency band.

In coverage predictions, both configurations give the same results. The priority of frequency bands is not taken into account. •

250

The 1xRTT tab. • DL Rake Factor: Set the forward link rake factor. This enables Atoll to model the rake receiver on the forward link. • Active Set Size: Set the active set size for both the fundamental channel (FCH) and the supplementary channel (SCH). The active set size is the maximum number of transmitters to which a terminal can be connected at one time.

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For EV-DO-capable terminals, the FCH active set size also determines the active set size on the reverse link.

• • •

•

Number of Fingers: Enter the maximum number of signals that the terminal can recombine. The value of this field must be lower than the value of the active set size. The value in this field is the same for both FCH and SCH. Peak Throughput: Set the peak throughput on both the Downlink and the Uplink. Pilot Power Percentage: Enter the percentage of the total mobile power that is dedicated to the reverse link pilot power. This parameter is used during the reverse link power control (if based on traffic quality) in order to calculate the mobile power.

The 1xEV-DO Rev 0 and 1xEV-DO Rev A tabs. The values on these tab are relative to the reverse link pilot power. They are added to the required reverse link pilot power in order to calculate power on the ACK, RRI (for 1xEV-DO Rev A), DRC, and traffic data channels. You can modify the following parameters: • Acknowledgement Channel Gain: Enter the gain on the acknowledgement (ACK) channel. • Radio Reverse Indicator (RRI) Channel Gain (for 1xEV-DO Rev A): Enter the gain on the radio reverse indicator channel. • Data Rate Control Channel Gains (DRC): Under Data Rate Control Channel Gains (DRC), enter the gain for the following handoff types: No Handoff, Softer, and Soft handoff. • Data Channels/Auxiliary Pilot Gains: Under Data Channels/Auxiliary Pilot Gains, enter the gains on the traffic data channel for both low latency and high capacity services and the gain on the auxiliary pilot channel according to the radio bearer index. The auxiliary pilot is only used the highest throughputs. 1xEV-DO Rev A-capable terminals support the 16QAM modulation.

•

The 1xEV-DO Rev B tab. •

Handoff type: Select whether the terminal supports locked or unlocked mode. This parameter is taken into consideration when determining the terminal active set when multi-carrier mode is used. The active set of a multicarrier user consists of sub-active sets, each one being associated with one carrier. When locked mode is used, the serving transmitters must be the same in all sub-active sets. In this case, the active set is rectangular (i.e., the same number of serving cells in each sub-active set). With unlocked mode, the serving transmitters can be different from one sub-active set to another. Here, the active set might be rectangular is not necessarily so (i.e., the number of serving cells in each sub-active set can vary). Atoll does not manage the non-rectangular active set configuration when locked mode is selected.

• •

Highest supported modulation: Select the highest modulation supported by the terminal. You can choose either 16QAM or 64QAM (if you select 64QAM, 64QAM, and 16QAM modulations can be used). Max number of carriers in multi-carrier mode: Select the maximum number of EV-DO carriers that can be used when multi-carrier mode is active.

The UMTS Tab •

Equipment: Select a type of reception equipment from the list. You can create a new type of reception equipment by using the Reception Equipment table. Expand the UMTS Network Settings folder and right-click the Reception Equipment folder and selecting Open Table from the context menu.

• • • •

Active Set Size: Set the active set size. The active set size is the maximum number of transmitters to which a terminal can be connected at one time. Min power and Max power: Specify the minimum and maximum transmission power. The minimum and maximum transmission power make up the dynamic range for uplink power control. Gain and Losses: Specify the antenna gain and reception losses. DL Rake Factor: Set the DL rake factor. This enables Atoll to model the rake receiver on DL.

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The rake efficiency factor, used for calculating recombination in uplink has to be set in the site equipment properties. For information on setting site equipment properties, see "Creating Site Equipment" on page 616. •

•

• • •

Rho factor (%): This parameter enables Atoll to take into account the self-interference produced by the terminal. Because hardware equipment is not perfect, the input signal experiences some distortion which affects, in turn, the output signal. This factor defines how much distortion the system generates. Entering 100% means the system is perfect (there is no distortion) and the output signal will be 100% equal to the input signal. On the other hand, if you specify a value different than 100%, Atoll considers that the transmitted energy is not 100% signal and contains a small percentage of interference generated by the equipment, i.e., self-interference. Atoll considers this parameter to calculate the signal to noise ratio in the uplink. Supported frequency bands: Click the Configure button to select the list of frequency bands supported by the terminal. In the Supported Frequency Bands dialog box, select All for the terminal to support all the frequency bands or List of selected frequency bands to define the list of supported Frequency bands with the corresponding Noise figures. During calculations, users are only allowed to connect to cells of frequency bands supported by their terminals. Default noise figure: Specify the default noise figure of the terminal. Layers: You can select the network layers supported by the terminal. For more information on network layers, see "Defining Network Deployment Layers" on page 962. The specified layers are considered in predictions (i.e., AS analysis, multi-point analysis and coverage predictions) for best serving cell selection. Users are only allowed to connect to cells of layers supported by their terminals. For more information on best serving cell selection, see "Best Serving Cell and Active Set Determination" on page 622. Layers are not used in simulations.

• •

Compressed Mode Supported: Select this option if the terminal uses compressed mode. Compressed mode is generally used to prepare hard-handover of users with single receiver terminals. HSPA Support: Select the type of HSPA support the terminal has: • • • • •

None: R99 support only. HSDPA: Single-band HSDPA and R99 in the uplink. HSPA: Single-band HSDPA and HSUPA. DB-HSDPA: Dual-band HSDPA and R99 in the uplink. DB-HSPA: Dual-band HSDPA and single-band HSUPA.

If you select DB-HSDPA or DB-HSPA, make sure that you have defined a terminal compatible with several frequency bands. If the terminal supports HSDPA, you can define the HSDPA parameters under HSDPA: • •

•

UE Category: Select the HSDPA user equipment category of the terminal. Click ... to display the properties of each terminal category. MUD Factor: Enter a multi-user detection factor (MUD). MUD is based on an algorithm used to improve mobile receiver capacity. It reduces intra-cell interference and allows for higher Ec⁄Nt. MUD is modelled by a coefficient from 0 to 1; this factor is considered in calculating DL interference. If MUD is not supported, enter "0." Number of Reception Antenna Ports: Select the number of reception antenna ports available on the terminal for MIMO.

If the terminal supports HSUPA, you can define the HSUPA parameters under HSUPA: •

UE Category: Select the HSUPA user equipment category of the terminal. Click ... to display the properties of each terminal category.

You can model terminals with the following capabilities:

252

Terminal

DL Connection

UL Connection

R99 1 HSDPA carrier 1 frequency band

R99

HSDPA terminal

1 frequency band

HSPA terminal

R99 1 HSDPA carrier 1 frequency band

R99 1 HSUPA carrier 1 frequency band

DC-HSPA terminal

R99 2 HSDPA carriers 1 frequency band

R99 2 HSUPA carriers 1 frequency band

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Terminal

DL Connection

UL Connection

MC-HSPA terminal

R99 8 HSDPA carriers 1 frequency band

R99 2 HSUPA carriers 1 frequency band

DB-MC-HSPA terminal

R99 8 HSDPA carriers 2 frequency bands

R99 2 HSUPA carriers 1 frequency band

To model the various terminals listed above, you have to set the following parameters: • • • • •

HSDPA terminal: Select HSDPA as the HSPA support and an HSDPA UE category from Category 1 to 20. HSPA terminal: Select HSPA as the HSPA support, choose an HSDPA UE category from Category 1 to 20, and an HSUPA UE category from Category 1 to 8. DC-HSPA terminal (dual-cell HSPA): Choose HSPA as the HSPA support, select an HSDPA UE category from Category 21 to 28, and a DC-HSUPA UE category from Category 8 to 9. MC-HSPA (multi-cell HSPA) terminal: Choose HSPA as the HSPA support, select an HSDPA UE category from Category 21 to 36, and a DC-HSUPA UE category from Category 8 to 9. DB-MC-HSPA (dual-band multi-cell HSPA) terminal: Choose DB-HSPA as the HSPA support, select an HSDPA UE category from Category 21 to 36, a DC-HSUPA UE category from Category 8 to 9, and define at least two Frequency bands.

The LTE Tab • • • • • •

•

•

•

Min power and Max power: Enter the minimum and maximum transmission power of the terminal. Noise figure: Enter the default noise figure of the terminal, which is used to calculate the downlink total noise. Losses: Enter the losses of the terminal. LTE equipment: Select an equipment from the list of available reception equipment. For more information on reception equipment, see "Defining LTE Reception Equipment" on page 965. UE category: Select a UE category from the list of available UE categories. For more information on UE categories, see "Defining LTE UE Categories" on page 970. Supported layers: You can select the network layers supported by the terminal. For more information on network layers, see "Defining Network Deployment Layers" on page 962. During calculations, users are only allowed to connect to cells of layers supported by their terminals. Supported frequency bands: Click the Configure button to select the list of frequency bands supported by the terminal. In the Supported Frequency Bands dialog box, select All for the terminal to support all the frequency bands or List of selected frequency bands to define the list of supported Frequency bands with the corresponding Noise figures. LTE-Advanced: Select this option if the terminal supports carrier aggregation or CoMP. For carrier aggregation, enter the Max number of secondary cells for Downlink and Uplink. The number of uplink secondary cells must be less than or equal to the number of downlink secondary cells. Setting the maximum numbers of secondary cells to 0 means that the terminal does not support carrier aggregation. For CoMP, select whether the terminal supports in downlink, uplink, or both. Model: Select an antenna model from the list of available antennas. If you do not select an antenna for the terminal, Atoll uses an isotropic antenna in calculations. In case you do not select an antenna, Atoll uses an isotropic antenna, not an omni-directional antenna, in calculations. An isotropic antenna has spherical radiation patterns in the horizontal as well as vertical planes. • •

•

Gain: Enter the terminal antenna gain if you have not selected an antenna model in the Model field. If you have selected an antenna, the Gain field is disabled and shows the gain of the selected antenna. Diversity support: Select the type of antenna diversity techniques supported by the terminal. Antenna diversity gains will be applied to the users using any terminal type depending on the supported antenna diversity techniques, i.e., AAS, MIMO, or AAS+MIMO. If a terminal that supports AAS+MIMO is connected to a cell that supports both antenna diversity techniques, both AAS and MIMO gains will be applied. Number of transmission antenna ports and Number of reception antenna ports: Enter the values for the terminal.

The TD-SCDMA Tab • • •

TD-SCDMA equipment: Select a type of reception equipment from the list. For more information on reception equipment, see "Receiver Equipment" on page 837. No. of carriers supported: Select the number of carriers that the terminal can support. Power: These settings allow you to set the minimum and maximum transmission power limits and the UpPCH power for the UpPTS timeslot.

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• • • •

Min: Set the minimum transmission power. The minimum and maximum transmission powers make up the dynamic range for uplink power control. Max: Set the maximum transmission power. UpPCH: The transmission power for the UpPTS timeslot (or the TS1 uplink timeslot in case of UpPCH shifting).

Interference: Set the parameters that influence interference: • •

•

• •

© 2016 Forsk. All Rights Reserved.

Noise figure: Set the terminal noise figure. JD factor: Enter a joint detection (JD) factor. Joint detection is used to model interference cancellation at the user terminal. JD is modelled by a coefficient from 0 to 1; this factor is considered in calculating downlink interference. If JD is not supported, enter "0." Rho factor (%): This parameter enables Atoll to take into account the self-interference produced by the terminal. Because hardware equipment is not perfect, the input signal experiences some distortion which affects, in turn, the output signal. This factor defines how much distortion the system generates. Entering 100% means the system is perfect (there is no distortion) and the output signal will be 100% equal to the input signal. On the other hand, if you specify a value different than 100%, Atoll considers that the transmitted energy is not 100% signal and contains a small percentage of interference generated by the equipment, i.e., self-interference. Atoll considers this parameter to calculate the signal to noise ratio in the uplink.

Gain and Losses: Set the antenna gain and reception losses. HSPA support: Select the type of HSPA support for this terminal if the terminal is able to use HSPA channels: "None" (R99 only), "HSDPA", or "HSPA". For an HSDPA-capable terminal, you can set the following parameters under HSDPA: • •

UE category: The HSDPA user equipment category of the terminal. For more information on HSDPA UE categories, see "HSDPA UE Categories" on page 838. HS-SICH power: The transmission power for the HS-SICH channel. When you are modelling static power allocation, the HS-SICH dynamic power allocation check box in the cell properties is cleared and the actual power per HSSICH channel is entered in this box. In case of dynamic HS-SCCH power allocation, the value entered here represents the maximum power for the HS-SICH channel.

For an HSPA-capable terminal, you can also set the following parameters under HSUPA: •

UE category: The HSUPA user equipment category of the terminal. For more information on HSUPA UE categories, see "HSDPA UE Categories" on page 838.

6.1.3.2 Creating Terminals To create or modify a terminal: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Traffic Parameters folder, right-click the Terminals folder,and select New from the context menu. The Terminals: New Record Properties dialog box opens. You can modify the properties of an existing terminal by right-clicking the terminal in the Terminals folder and selecting Properties from the context menu.

2. Click the General tab and specify a Name for the service. 3. If the document is Multi-RAT, click the arrow next to Supported technologies and select the check box of each technology supported by this terminal. 4. Click the tab of the technology that you want to configure for the terminal and enter the parameters as described in "Terminal Properties" on page 249. 5. Click OK.

6.1.3.3 Modelling User Profiles You can model variations in user behaviour by creating different profiles for different times of the day or for different circumstances. For example, a user might be considered a business user during the day, with video-conferencing and voice, but no

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web browsing. In the evening the same user might not use video-conferencing, but might use multi-media services and web browsing. To create or modify a user profile: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Traffic Parameters folder, right-click the User Profiles folder, and select New from the context menu. The User Profiles: New Record Properties dialog box appears. You can modify the properties of an existing user profile by right-clicking the user profile in the User Profiles folder and selecting Properties from the context menu.

2. In the User Profiles: New Record Properties dialog box, you can modify the following parameters: •

Name: Enter a descriptive name for the user profile.

• • •

Service: Select a service from the list. For information on services, see "Modelling Services" on page 241. Terminal: Select a terminal from the list. For information on terminals, see "Modelling Terminals" on page 249. Calls/Hour: For circuit-switched (voice) services and constant bit rate packet-switched services, enter the average number of calls per hour for the service. The calls per hour is used to calculate the activity probability. For these services, one call lasting 1000 seconds presents the same activity probability as two calls lasting 500 seconds each. For packet-switched (data) services (max. bit rate), the Calls/Hour value is defined as the number of sessions per hour. A session is like a call in that it is defined as the period of time between when a user starts using a service and when he stops using a service. In packet-switched services, however, he might not use the service continually. For example, with a web-browsing service, a session starts when the user opens his browsing application and ends when he quits the browsing application. Between these two events, the user might be downloading web pages and other times he might not be using the application, or he might be browsing local files, but the session is still considered as open. A session, therefore, is defined by the volume transferred in the uplink and downlink and not by the time. In order for all the services defined for a user profile to be taken into account during traffic scenario elaboration, the sum of activity probabilities must be lower than 1.

• • •

Duration: For circuit-switched services, enter the average duration of a call in seconds. For packet-switched services, this field is left blank. UL Volume: For packet-switched services, enter the average uplink volume per session in kilobytes. DL Volume: For packet-switched services, enter the average downlink volume per session in kilobytes.

3. Click OK. The user profile is created.

6.1.3.4 Modelling Environments An environment class describes its environment using a list of user profiles, each with an associated mobility type and a given density (i.e., the number of subscribers with the same profile per km²). To get an appropriate user distribution, you can assign a weight to each clutter class for each environment class. You can also specify the percentage of indoor subscribers for each clutter class. During Monte Carlo simulations, indoor losses defined per frequency per clutter class will be added to the path losses of indoor mobiles. To create or modify an environment: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Traffic Parameters folder, right-click the Environments folder, and select New from the context menu. The Environments: New Record Properties dialog box appears. You can modify the properties of an existing environment by right-clicking the environment in the Environments folder and selecting Properties from the context menu.

2. Click the General tab. a. Enter a Name for the new environment. b. In the row marked with the New Row icon ( bination that this environment describes: • • •

), set the following parameters for each user profile/mobility com-

User Profile: Select a user profile. Mobility: Select a mobility type. Density (Subscribers/km2): Enter a density as a number of subscribers per square kilometre for the combination of user profile and mobility type.

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3. Click the Clutter Weighting tab. a. For each clutter class, enter a weight that will be used to calculate a user distribution. The user distribution is calculated using the following equation: Wk  Sk N k = N Area  -------------------------Wi  Si

 i

where: Nk =

Number of users in the clutter k

N Area =

Number of users in the zone Area

Wk =

Weight of clutter k

Sk =

Surface area of clutter k (in km²)

For example: An area of 10 km² with a subscriber density of 100/km². Therefore, in this area, there are 1000 subscribers. The area is covered by two clutter classes: Open and Building. The clutter weighting for Open is "1" and for Building is "4." Given the respective weights of each clutter class, 200 subscribers are in the Open clutter class and 800 in the Building clutter class. b. Optionally, you can specify a percentage of indoor subscribers for each clutter class. During Monte Carlo simulations, indoor losses defined per frequency per clutter class will be added to the path losses of indoor mobiles. 4. Click OK. The environment is created.

6.2 Working with Traffic Maps The following sections describe the different types of traffic maps available in Atoll and how to create, import, and use them. Atoll provides three types of traffic maps: • • •

Sector traffic map User profile traffic map User density traffic map (number of users per km2)

These maps can be created using different types of traffic data sources as follows: •

Sector traffic maps can be used if you have live traffic data from the OMC (Operation and Maintenance Centre). The OMC (Operations and Maintenance Centre) collects data from all cells in a network. This includes, for example, the number of users or the throughput in each cell and the traffic characteristics related to different services. Traffic is spread over the best server coverage area of each transmitter and each coverage area is assigned either the throughputs in the uplink and in the downlink or the number of users per activity status or the total number of users (including all activity statuses). For more information, see "Creating a Sector Traffic Map" on page 257.

•

User profile traffic maps can be used if you have marketing-based traffic data. User profile traffic maps, where each vector (polygon, line, or point) describes subscriber densities (or numbers of subscribers for points) with user profiles and mobility types, and user profile environment based traffic maps, where each pixel has an assigned environment class. For more information, see the following topics:

•

• "Importing a User Profile Density-based Traffic Map" on page 259 • "Importing a User Profile Environment-based Traffic Map" on page 260 • "Creating a User Profile Environment-based Traffic Map" on page 261 User density traffic maps (number of users per km2) can be used if you have population-based traffic data, or 2G network statistics. Each pixel has a user density assigned. The value either includes all activity statuses or corresponds to a particular activity status. For more information, see the following topics: • • •

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For CDMA: Because each of the CDMA technologies has capabilities and services that are specific to it, it is recommended to create separate traffic maps for voice, 1xRTT data, and EV-DO data services. This section covers the following topics: • • • • • •

"Creating a Sector Traffic Map" on page 257 "Creating a User Profile Traffic Map" on page 258 "Creating User Density Traffic Maps" on page 261 "Creating a Fixed Subscribers Traffic Map" on page 263 "Exporting Cumulated Traffic" on page 264 "Exporting a Traffic Map" on page 265

6.2.1 Creating a Sector Traffic Map This section explains how to create a sector traffic map in Atoll to model traffic. You can input either the throughput demands in the uplink and in the downlink, the number of users per activity status, or the total number of users including all activity statuses. For GSM traffic, you can input either the throughput demand or Erlangs. A coverage prediction by transmitter is required to create this traffic map. If you do not already have a coverage prediction by transmitter in your document, you must create and calculate it. You can also create a coverage by transmitter for each technology of the network and assign the corresponding technology traffic. For more information, depending on the radio technology, see the following topics: • • • • • • •

GSM: "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter" on page 309. UMTS: "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter" on page 539 CDMA: "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter" on page 655 LTE: "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter" on page 877 WiMAX: "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter" on page 1061 WiFi: "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter" on page 1181 LPWA: "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter" on page 1266

You can create as many traffic maps as you want and they can be combined in simulations if selected. To create a sector traffic map: 1. In the Geo explorer, right-click the Traffic Maps folder and select New Map from the context menu. The New Traffic Map dialog box appears. 2. Select Sector Traffic Map. 3. Select the type of traffic information that you want to input. For simulations, you can choose between the following inputs: • • • •

Uplink and Downlink Throughputs Total Number of Users (All Activity Statuses) Number of Users per Activity Status Downlink throughput/Erlangs for GSM traffic analysis (only for GSM).

4. Click the Create button. The Sector Traffic Map dialog box appears. You can also import a traffic map from a file by clicking the Import button. You can import AGD (Atoll Geographic Data) format files that you have exported from an other Atoll document. 5. Select a coverage prediction by transmitter from the list of available coverage predictions by transmitter. 6. Enter the data required in the Sector Traffic Map dialog box: • • • •

Uplink and Downlink Throughputs: enter the throughput demands in the uplink and downlink for each sector and for each listed service. Total Number of Users (All Activity Statuses): enter the number of connected users for each sector and for each listed service. Number of Users per Activity Status: enter the number of inactive users, the number of users active in the uplink, in the downlink and in the uplink and downlink, for each sector and for each service. Downlink Throughputs/Erlangs for GSM traffic analysis (For GSM only): enter the amount of traffic for modelling GSM traffic: •

In erlangs for circuit services (e.g. voice) and constant bit rate packet services (e.g. VoIP). In the second case, erlangs are internally transformed into Kbps by multiplying the value by a service-guaranteed bit rate per user.

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In Kbps for packet services (maximum bit rate). You can also import a text file containing the data by clicking the Actions button and selecting Import Table from the menu. For more information on importing table data, see "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88.

7. Click OK. The Sector Traffic Map N Properties dialog box appears. 8. Select the Traffic tab. Under Terminals (%), enter a percentage for each type of terminal used in the map. The total must equal 100. Under Mobilities (%), enter a percentage for each mobility type used in the map. The total must equal 100. 9. Select the Clutter tab. Under Distribution per clutter class, enter the following for each clutter class: • •

A weight to spread the traffic over the vector. A percentage of indoor users.

10. Click OK. Atoll creates the traffic map in the Traffic folder. You can modify the sector traffic map after it has been created. To modify a sector traffic map: 1. In the Geo explorer, expand the Traffic folder, right-click the traffic map based on live data that you want to update, and select Properties from the context menu. The Sector Traffic Map dialog box appears. 2. In the Traffic and Clutter tabs, modify the Terminals (%), Mobilities (%), and Distribution per clutter class as required. 3. Click OK. Atoll saves the traffic map with its modified values. You can update the information on the map afterwards. This can be useful if you add or remove a base station or if you modify the clutter classes or their distribution. You must first recalculate the coverage prediction by transmitter. Once you have recalculated the coverage prediction, you can update the traffic map. To update a sector traffic map: 1. In the Geo explorer, expand the Traffic folder, right-click the traffic map based on live data that you want to update and select Update from the context menu. The Sector Traffic Map dialog box appears. 2. Select the updated coverage prediction by transmitter and define traffic values for the new transmitter(s) listed at the bottom of the table. Deleted or deactivated transmitters are automatically removed from the table. 3. Click OK. The Sector Traffic Map Properties dialog box appears. 4. If necessary, in the Traffic and Clutter tabs, modify the Terminals (%), Mobilities (%), and Distribution per clutter class as required. 5. Click OK. The traffic map is updated on the basis of the selected coverage prediction by transmitter. If you want to extract and display the exact number of users per unit of surface, i.e., the density of users, taking into account any clutter weighting defined for the sector traffic map, you can create user density traffic maps from sector traffic maps. For more information, see "Creating User Density Traffic Maps from Sector Traffic Maps" on page 263.

6.2.2 Creating a User Profile Traffic Map Marketing departments can provide data that can be useful for creating traffic maps, including the behaviour of different types of users. For example, you can obtain data that quantifies categories of users accessing various services for various durations. There can also be information about the type of terminal devices that they use to access those services. In Atoll, this data can be used to create traffic maps based on user profiles and environments: A user profile models the behaviour of different subscriber categories. Each user profile is defined by a list of services, which are in turn defined by the terminal used, the calls per hour, and duration (for circuit-switched or constant bit rate packet-switched calls) or downlink and uplink volume (for max bit rate packet-switched calls). For more information on user profiles, see "Modelling User Profiles" on page 254. •

Environment classes are used to describe the distribution of subscribers on a map. An environment class describes its environment using a list of user profiles, each with an associated mobility type and a given density (i.e., the number of subscribers with the same profile per square kilometre). For more information on environment classes, see "Modelling Environments" on page 255.

This section covers the following topics: • •

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•

"Creating a User Profile Environment-based Traffic Map" on page 261

6.2.2.1 Importing a User Profile Density-based Traffic Map User profile traffic maps are composed of vectors (either points with a number of subscribers, lines with a number of subscribers⁄km, or polygons with a number of subscribers⁄km²) with a user profile, mobility type, and traffic density assigned to each vector. To import a user profile density-based traffic map: 1. In the Geo explorer, right-click the Traffic folder and select New Map from the context menu. The New Traffic Map dialog box appears. 2. Select User profile traffic map and select User profile densities from the list. 3. Click the Import button. The Open dialog box appears. You can also create a traffic map manually in Atoll by clicking the Create button in the New Traffic Map dialog box. For information, see "Creating a User Profile Environment-based Traffic Map" on page 261. 4. Select the file to import and click Import. Atoll imports the traffic map. The traffic map’s Properties dialog box appears. 5. Select the Traffic tab (see Figure 6.1). Under Traffic Fields, you can specify the user profiles to be considered, their mobility type (km⁄h), and their density. If the file you are importing has this data, you can define the traffic characteristics by identifying the corresponding fields in the file. If the file you are importing does not have data describing the user profile, mobility, or density, you can assign values. When you assign values, they apply to the entire map.

Figure 6.1: Traffic map properties dialog box - Traffic tab Define each of the following: •

•

•

User Profile: If you want to import user profile information from the file, under Defined, select "By field" and select the source field from the Choice column. If you want to assign a user profile from the Traffic Parameters folder in the Parameters explorer, under Defined, select "By value" and select the user profile in the Choice column. Mobility: If you want to import mobility information from the file, under Defined, select "By field" and select the source field from the Choice column. If you want to assign a mobility type from the Traffic Parameters folder in the Parameters explorer, under Defined, select "By value" and select the mobility type in the Choice column. Density: If you want to import density information from the file, under Defined, select "By field" and select the source field from the Choice column. If you want to assign a density, under Defined, select "By value" and enter a density in the Choice column for the combination of user profile and mobility type. In this context, the term "density" depends on the type of vector traffic map. It refers to the number of subscribers per square kilometre for polygons, the number of subscribers per kilometre in case of lines and the number of subscribers when the map consists of points.

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When you import user profile or mobility information from the file, the values in the file must be exactly the same as the corresponding names in the Traffic Parameters folder in the Parameters explorer. If the imported user profile or mobility does not match, Atoll will display a warning. 6. Select the Clutter tab. a. Under Distribution per clutter class, enter a weight for each class that will be used to calculate a user distribution. The user distribution is calculated using the following equation: Wk  Sk N k = N Area  -------------------------Wi  Si

 i

where: Nk =

Number of users in the clutter k

N Area =Number of users in the zone Area Wk =

Weight of clutter k

Sk =

Surface area of clutter k (in square km)

b. If required, you can specify a percentage of indoor subscribers for each clutter class. During Monte Carlo simulations, indoor losses defined per frequency per clutter class will be added to indoor user path losses. 7. Select the Display tab. For information on changing the display parameters, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 8. Click OK to finish importing the traffic map.

6.2.2.2 Importing a User Profile Environment-based Traffic Map Environment classes describe the distribution of user profiles. To create a user profile environment based traffic map: 1. In the Geo explorer, right-click the Traffic folder and select New Map from the context menu. The New Traffic Map dialog box appears. 2. Select User profile traffic map and select User profile environments from the list. 3. Click the Import button. The Open dialog box appears. You can also create a traffic map manually in Atoll by clicking the Create button in the New Traffic Map dialog box. For information, see "Creating a User Profile Environment-based Traffic Map" on page 261. 4. Select the file to import. The file must be in one of the following supported raster formats (8 bit): TIF, JPEG 2000, BIL, IST, BMP, PlaNET©, GRC Vertical Mapper, or Erdas Imagine. 5. Click Open. The User Profile Environment Traffic Map N Properties dialog box appears. 6. Select the Traffic tab. 7. In the imported map, each type of region is defined by a number. Atoll reads the numbers and lists them under Code. For each Code, select the corresponding environment in the Name column. The available environments are those available in the Environments folder, under Traffic Parameters in the Parameters explorer. For more information, see "Modelling Environments" on page 255. 8. Select the Display tab. For information on changing the display parameters, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 9. Click Import. Atoll imports the traffic map. The traffic map’s Properties dialog box appears. 10. Select the Description tab. In the imported map, each type of region is defined by a number. Atoll reads these numbers and lists them in the Code column. 11. For each Code, select the environment it corresponds to from the Name column. The environments available are those available in the Environments folder, under Traffic Parameters in the Parameters explorer. For more information, see "Modelling Environments" on page 255.

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12. Select the Display tab. For information on changing the display parameters, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 13. Click OK to finish importing the user profile environments based traffic map.

6.2.2.3 Creating a User Profile Environment-based Traffic Map Atoll enables you to create a user profile environment traffic map based on by drawing it in the map window. To draw a traffic map: 1. In the Geo explorer, right-click the Traffic folder and select New Map from the context menu. The New Traffic Map dialog box appears. 2. Select User Profile Traffic Map and select User Profile Environments from the list. 3. Click Create. The Environment Map Editor toolbar appears (see Figure 6.2).

Draw Map

Delete

Figure 6.2: Environment Map Editor toolbar 4. Select the environment class from the list of available environment classes. 5. Click the Draw Polygon button ( 6. Click the Delete Polygon button (

) to draw the polygon on the map for the selected environment class. ) and click the polygon to delete the environment class polygon on the map.

7. Click the Close button to close the Environment Map Editor toolbar and end editing. You can display the statistics of a user profile environment traffic map by right-clicking the traffic map and selecting Statistics from the context menu. If you do not have a focus zone defined, statistics are determined for the computation zone. If a clutter classes map is available in the document, traffic statistics provided for each environment class are listed per clutter class.

6.2.3 Creating User Density Traffic Maps User density traffic maps can be based on population statistics (user densities can be calculated from the density of inhabitants) or based on 2G traffic statistics. User density traffic maps provide the number of connected users per unit of surface, i.e., the density of users, as input. User density traffic maps can also be created from sector traffic maps in order to extract and display the exact number of users per unit of surface, i.e., the density of users, taking into account any clutter weighting defined for the sector traffic maps. For more information, see "Creating User Density Traffic Maps from Sector Traffic Maps" on page 263. This section covers the following topics: • • •

"Importing a User Density Traffic Map" on page 261 "Creating a User Density Traffic Map" on page 262. "Creating User Density Traffic Maps from Sector Traffic Maps" on page 263

6.2.3.1 Importing a User Density Traffic Map The user density traffic map defines the density of users per pixel. For a traffic density of X users per km², Atoll will consider x users per pixel during traffic analyses, where x depends on the size of the pixels. These x users will have a terminal, a mobility type, a service, and percentage of indoor users as defined on the Traffic tab of the traffic map’s properties dialog box. You can create a number of user density traffic maps for different combinations of terminals, mobility types, and services. You can add vector layers to the map and draw regions with different traffic densities. To create a user density traffic map: 1. In the Geo explorer, right-click the Traffic Maps folder and select New Map from the context menu. The New Traffic Map dialog box appears. 2. Select User density traffic map (no. users/km2) and select the type of traffic information that you want to import:

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All activity statuses: Select this option if the map you are importing provides a density of users with any activity status. Active in uplink: Select this option if the map you are importing provides a density of users active in the uplink only. Active in downlink: Select this option if the map you are importing provides a density of users active in the downlink only. Active in uplink and downlink: Select this option if the map you are importing provides a density of users with both uplink and downlink activity. Inactive: Select this option if the map you are importing provides a density of inactive users. Downlink user density for GSM traffic analysis (for GSM only): Select Downlink user density for GSM traffic analysis if the map you are importing provides a density of users active in the downlink only, and with a view to use it in a traffic capture. For more information on GSM traffic captures, see "Calculating and Displaying a Traffic Capture" on page 327.

3. Click the Import button. The Open dialog box appears. You can also create a traffic map manually in Atoll by clicking the Create button in the New Traffic Map dialog box. For information, see "Creating a User Profile Environment-based Traffic Map" on page 261. 4. Select the file to import. The file must be in one of the following supported raster formats (16 or 32 bit): BIL, BMP, PlaNET©, TIF, JPEG 2000, ISTAR, and Erdas Imagine. 5. Click Open. The traffic map’s properties dialog box appears. 6. Select the Traffic tab. • • •

Under Terminals (%), enter a percentage for each type of terminal used in the map. The total must equal 100. Under Mobilities (%), enter a percentage for each mobility type used in the map. The total must equal 100. Under Services (%), enter a percentage for each service type used in the map. The total must equal 100.

7. Select the Clutter tab. Under Distribution per clutter class, enter the following for each clutter class: • •

A weight to spread the traffic over the vector. The percentage of indoor users for each clutter class.

8. Click OK. Atoll creates the traffic map in the Traffic Maps folder.

6.2.3.2 Creating a User Density Traffic Map Atoll enables you to create a user density traffic map by drawing it in the map window. To draw a traffic map per user density: 1. Select the Geo explorer. 2. Right-click the Traffic folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select New Map from the context menu. The New Traffic Map dialog box appears. 4. Select User Density Traffic Map (Number of users per km2). 5. Select the type of traffic information provided in the map: • • • • • •

All Activity Statuses: Select this option if the map you are drawing provides a density of users with any activity status. Active in Uplink: Select this option if the map you are drawing provides a density of users active in the uplink only. Active in Downlink: Select this option if the map you are drawing provides a density of users active in the downlink only. Active in Uplink and Downlink: Select this option if the map you are drawing provides a density of users with both uplink and downlink activity. Inactive: Select this option if the map you are drawing provides a density of inactive users. Downlink user density for GSM traffic analysis (GSM only): Select this option if the map that you are creating provides a density of users active in the downlink only when modelling GSM traffic. For more information, see "Studying GSM/GPRS/EDGE Network Capacity" on page 325

6. Click the Create button. The traffic map’s properties dialog box appears. 7. Select the Traffic tab. • • •

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Under Services (%), enter a percentage for each service type used in the map. The total must equal 100. Under Terminals (%), enter a percentage for each type of terminal used in the map. The total must equal 100. Under Mobilities (%), enter a percentage for each mobility type used in the map. The total must equal 100.

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8. Select the Clutter tab. Under Distribution per clutter class, enter the following for each clutter class: • •

A weight to spread the traffic over the vector. The percentage of indoor users for each clutter class.

9. Click OK. Atoll creates the traffic map in the Traffic Maps folder. 10. Right-click the traffic map and select Edit from the context menu. 11. Use the tools available in the Vector Editor toolbar in order to draw contours. For more information on how to edit contours, see "Vector Objects" on page 71. Atoll creates an item called Density values in the User Density Map folder. 12. Right-click the traffic map in the Traffic folder and select Open Table from the context menu. 13. In the table, enter a traffic density value (i.e., the number of users per km2) for each contour that you have drawn. 14. Right-click the traffic map in the Traffic folder and select Edit from the context menu to end editing.

6.2.3.3 Creating User Density Traffic Maps from Sector Traffic Maps You can create user density traffic maps from sector traffic maps. User density traffic maps created from sector traffic maps extract and display the exact number of users per unit of surface, i.e., the density of users, taking into account any clutter weighting defined for the sector traffic maps. To create user density traffic maps from a sector traffic map: 1. In the Geo explorer, expand the Traffic folder and right-click the sector traffic map from which you want to create user density traffic maps. The context menu appears. 2. Select Create Density Maps from the context menu. Atoll creates as many user density traffic maps as the number of services present in the sector traffic map. The user density map files use the resolution of the coverage prediction used for the sector traffic map and are embedded in the document. 3.

6.2.4 Creating a Fixed Subscribers Traffic Map Fixed subscriber traffic maps contain lists of fixed locations representing subscribers. Such subscribers may include homes, home offices, small businesses, etc., where the operator provides broadband wireless access, as well as end-devices or objects in an IoT (internet of things) or M2M (machine-to-machine) ecosystem. Fixed subscribers may have outdoor or indoor antennas fixed on the roof or façade providing wireless indoor connectivity to one or more devices. In Atoll, a fixed subscriber traffic map contains a list of subscriber locations with the following information for each subscriber: • •

• • • •

•

•

X and Y: The coordinates of the subscriber. Height (m): The height of the subscriber. The height of a subscriber may be different from the receiver height used for the path loss matrix calculations. If this is the case, Atoll calculates path losses at the subscriber heights during calculations rather than using the path loss matrices. Service: The service assigned to the subscriber. The activity status of fixed subscribers in Monte Carlo simulations is determined by Atoll only based on the uplink and downlink activity factors of the services assigned to them. Terminal: The terminal assigned to the subscriber. Mobility: The mobility type assigned to the subscriber. Serving cell: The serving cell of the subscriber. If a valid cell name is defined for any LTE, WiMAX, Wi-Fi, or LPWA subscriber, Atoll considers the server already known and fixed for all calculations. Otherwise, the serving cell is automatically calculated. Azimuth: The orientation of the subscriber’s terminal antenna in the horizontal plane. Azimuth is always considered with respect to the North. If an azimuth is defined for any LTE, WiMAX, Wi-Fi, or LPWA subscriber, Atoll considers the subscriber antenna fixed in that direction for all calculations. Otherwise, the subscriber antenna is automatically directed towards its best server. Downtilt: The orientation of the subscriber’s terminal antenna in the vertical plane. Mechanical downtilt is positive when it is downwards and negative when upwards. If a tilt is defined for any LTE, WiMAX, Wi-Fi, or LPWA subscriber, Atoll considers the subscriber antenna fixed in that direction for all calculations. Otherwise, the subscriber antenna is automatically directed towards its best server.

To create a fixed subscribers traffic map: 1. In the Geo explorer, right-click the Traffic folder and select New Map from the context menu. The New Traffic Map dialog box appears. 2. Select Fixed Subscribers and click Create. The traffic map’s properties dialog box appears.

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3. On the General tab: • • •

Enter a Name for the traffic map. If needed, select the Coordinate system for the traffic map by clicking the Change button. Under Default parameters, select the default Service, Terminal, Mobility, and enter the default Receiver height for the fixed subscribers. These values are used for subscribers for which the corresponding information is missing from the traffic map.

4. On the Display tab, specify how to display the fixed subscribers on the map. For more information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Click OK. Atoll creates an empty traffic map in the Traffic Maps folder. 6. Right-click the fixed subscriber traffic map and select Open Table from the context menu. The fixed subscriber traffic map’s data table appears. 7. In the Table toolbar, click the Import (

) button. The Open dialog box appears.

8. Select a text or comma-separated value (CSV) file containing a tabulated list of fixed subscriber locations and click Import. The Import dialog box appears. For information on importing table data, see "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88. 9. Click Import. You can also create custom fields in the fixed subscriber traffic map’s data table at the time of import. To do so, you must have these fields present in the source text or commaseparated value (CSV) file that you are about to import. To import a fixed subscribers traffic map: 1. In the Geo explorer, right-click the Traffic folder and select New Map from the context menu. The New Traffic Map dialog box appears. 2. Select Fixed Subscribers and click Import. The Open dialog box appears. 3. Select a text or comma-separated value (CSV) file containing a tabulated list of fixed subscriber locations and click Import. The Import dialog box appears. For information on importing table data, see "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88. 4. Click Import. Atoll imports the traffic map in to the Traffic Maps folder You can also add subscriber locations to an existing traffic map by using the New Point (

) button in the Vector Editor toolbar and clicking on the map using the mouse.

6.2.5 Exporting Cumulated Traffic Atoll allows you to export the cumulated traffic of selected traffic maps in the form of user density traffic maps. During export, Atoll converts any traffic map to user density. The cumulated traffic is exported in 32-bit BIL, ArcView© Grid, or Vertical Mapper format. When exporting in BIL format, Atoll allows you to export files larger than 2 GB. The exported traffic map can then be imported as a user density traffic map and used for traffic analysis. For GSM, the exported traffic map can also be used for traffic analysis. For more information on GSM traffic analysis, see "Calculating and Displaying a Traffic Capture" on page 327. To export the cumulated traffic: 1. In the Geo explorer, right-click the Traffic folder and select Export Cumulated Traffic from the context menu. The Save As dialog box appears. 2. Enter a file name and select the file format. 3. Click Save. The Export dialog box appears. 4. Under Region, select the area to export: • •

The Entire Project Area: This option allows you to export the cumulated traffic over the entire project. The Computation Zone: This option allows you to export the cumulated traffic contained by a rectangle encompassing the computation zone, whether or not the computation zone is visible.

5. Define a Resolution in Metres. The resolution must be an integer and the minimum resolution allowed is 1.

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You must enter a resolution before exporting. If you do not enter a resolution, it remains at "0" and no data will be exported.

6. Under Traffic, define the data to be exported in the cumulated traffic. Atoll uses this information to filter the traffic data to be exported. • • • •

Terminal: Select the type of terminal that will be exported or select "All" to export traffic using any terminal. Service: Select the service that will be exported, select "Circuit services" to export traffic using any circuit service, or select "Packet services" to export traffic using any packet service. Mobility: Select the mobility type that will be exported or select "All" to export all mobility types. Activity: Select one of the following: • • • • •

All Activity Statuses: Select this option to export all users without any filter by activity status. Uplink: Select this option to export terminals that are active in the uplink only. Downlink: Select this option to export terminals that are active in the downlink only. Uplink/Downlink: Select this option to export only terminals with both uplink and downlink activity. Inactive: Select this option to export only inactive terminals.

7. In the Select Traffic Maps to Be Used list, select the check box of each traffic map you want to include in the cumulated traffic. 8. Click OK. The defined data is extracted from the selected traffic maps and cumulated in the exported file.

6.2.6 Exporting a Traffic Map You can export traffic maps for use in other tools or for reporting purposes. To export a traffic map: 1. In the Geo explorer, expand the Traffic folder, right-click the traffic map you want to export and select Save As from the context menu. The Save As dialog box appears. 2. Enter a file name and select a file format for the traffic map. 3. Click Save. If you are exporting a raster traffic map, you have to define: •

The Export Region: • • •

•

Entire Project Area: Saves the entire traffic map. Only Pending Changes: Saves only the modifications made to the map. Computation Zone: Saves only the part of the traffic map inside the computation zone.

An export Resolution.

6.3 Simulations Once you have modelled the network services and users and have created traffic maps, you can create simulations. Depending on the radio technology, the simulation process consists of several steps: 1. Obtaining a realistic user distribution: Atoll generates a user distribution using a Monte Carlo algorithm; this user distribution is based on the traffic database and traffic maps and is weighted by a Poisson distribution between simulations of the same group. Each user is assigned a service, a mobility type, and an activity status by random trial, according to a probability law that uses the traffic database. The user activity status is an important output of the random trial and has direct consequences on the next step of the simulation and on the network interferences. A user can be either active or inactive. Both active and inactive users consume radio resources and create interference. A shadowing error is randomly assigned to each user using the probability distribution that describes the shadowing effect. Another random trial determines user positions in their respective traffic zone (possibly according to the clutter weighting and the indoor ratio per clutter class). 2. Technology selection: For each mobile generated at the beginning of the simulation, Atoll searches for its serving cell in each possible technology. For multi-technology mobiles, an active list of transmitters is generated, possibly using different technologies. Then, retained transmitters are sorted according to the priorities of technologies in the services. In a 3GPP or 3GPP2 Multi-RAT environment, the very first part of the simulation consists, for each distributed mobile, in analysing whether this mobile can be served by cells of different technologies. Each mobile dropped at the begin-

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ning of the allocation has a specific mobility type and supports one or more technologies as explained in "Modelling Terminals" on page 249. For each supported technology, the mobile verifies whether it can be served by at least one transmitter or cell. •

• • •

If the mobile supports GSM, Atoll determines a GSM best server according to an HCS server prediction where the mobile can only be served by a GSM transmitter if its mobility does not exceed the maximum speed supported on its HCS layer and the received signal level is stronger than its HCS layer threshold (see "Setting HCS Layers" on page 484 for more information). If no transmitter fulfils these conditions, the mobile is not served by GSM. If the mobile supports CDMA, a best CDMA server is determined based on the Ec/Io values of nearby CDMA cells. If no cell fulfils these conditions, the mobile is not served by CDMA. If the mobile supports UMTS, Atoll determines a UMTS best server based on the Ec/Io values of nearby UMTS cells. If no cell fulfils these conditions, the mobile is not served by UMTS. If the mobile supports LTE, Atoll determines an LTE best server as described in "Global Network Settings" on page 959. If no cell respects these conditions, the mobile is not served by LTE.

3. Modelling network regulation mechanisms: Regulation mechanisms are modelled according to the technology, or set of technologies, used by the network: • • •

• •

For the GSM traffic, Atoll manages the GSM resources as described in "Radio Resource Management in GSM" on page 335 For CDMA traffic, the CDMA resources are managed as described in "The Power Control Simulation Algorithm" on page 686. For UMTS traffic, Atoll uses a power control algorithm for R99 users, and an algorithm mixing A-DPCH power control and fast link adaptation for HSDPA users and an additional loop modelling noise rise scheduling for HSUPA users. The power control simulation algorithm is described in "The Power Control Simulation Algorithm" on page 572. For LTE traffic, Atoll manages the LTE resources as described in "LTE Traffic Simulation Algorithm" on page 926. For TD-SCDMA traffic: Atoll performs dynamic channel allocation and power control for mobiles generated in the previous step. The power control simulation algorithm is described in "The Monte Carlo Simulation Algorithm" on page 801.

Atoll selects the highest priority as defined in the service assigned to the mobile. Once determined, the serving technology does not change for a given user distribution. For more information on the methods used for each radio technology, see the following topics: • • • •

GSM: "Radio Resource Management in GSM" on page 335. CDMA: "The Power Control Simulation Algorithm" on page 686 UMTS: "The Power Control Simulation Algorithm" on page 572 LTE: "LTE Traffic Simulation Algorithm" on page 926 for LTE.

This section covers the following topics: • • • • • •

"Creating Simulations" on page 266 "Displaying Simulation Results on the Map" on page 270 "Updating Cell Values With Simulation Results" on page 272 "Adding Simulations" on page 273. "Replaying Simulations" on page 273. "Duplicating Simulations" on page 274

6.3.1 Creating Simulations Traffic simulations enable you to study the capacity of your network and model the different network regulation mechanisms in order to minimise interference and maximise capacity. You can create one simulation or a group of simulations that will be performed in sequence. You must have at least one traffic map in your document to be able to perform simulations. To create a simulation or a group of simulations: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Simulations folder and select New from the context menu. The properties dialog box for a group of simulations appears. 2. On the General tab, specify the Execution parameters: a. Number of simulations: enter the number of simulations to be carried out. All simulations created at the same time are grouped together in a folder in the Network explorer. • •

266

Information to retain (for UMTS, CDMA2000, and TD-SCDMA only): Select the level of detail that will be available in the output: Only the average simulation and statistics: Select this option if none of the individual simulations are to be displayed or available in the group. Only an average of all simulations and statistics is available.

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Some calculation and display options available for coverage predictions are not available when the option "Only the average simulation and statistics" is selected.

•

• •

No information about mobiles: All the simulations are listed and can be displayed. For each of them, a properties window containing simulation output, divided among four tabs – Statistics, Sites, Cells, and Initial Conditions – is available. Standard information about mobiles: All the simulations are listed and can be displayed. The properties window of each simulation contains an additional tab with output related to mobiles. Detailed information about mobiles: All the simulations are listed and can be displayed. The properties window for each simulation contains additional mobile-related output on the Mobiles and Mobiles (Shadowing values) tabs. When you are working on very large radio-planning projects, you can reduce memory consumption by selecting Only the average simulation and statistics under Information to retain.

3. If you are using a 3GPP or 3GPP2 Multi-RAT document, for each technology that you want to simulate, click the GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, or LTE tab, and click the Take the network into account option. When this check box is selected, you can specify the following settings for each technology: • • • •

GSM: Convergence UMTS: Load Constraints, Bearer negotiation, and Convergence. CDMA2000: Load Constraints, and Convergence. LTE: Load Constraints, Power Control, and Convergence

If you are using a single-RAT document, these settings are located on the Advanced tab 4. Specify the Convergence parameters: a. If you are using a single-RAT document, click the Advanced tab. If you are using a 3GPP or 3GPP2 Multi-RAT document, click the technology tab and set the Convergence parameters for each technology that you want to take into account. b. For GSM, specify the following Convergence parameters: • • • •

DL traffic load: Enter the relative difference in terms of downlink traffic load that must be reached between two iterations. UL traffic load: Enter the relative difference in terms of uplink traffic load that must be reached between two iterations. DL power control gain: Enter the relative difference in terms of downlink power control gain that must be reached between two iterations. UL noise rise: Enter the relative difference in terms of uplink noise rise that must be reached between two iterations.

c. For CDMA2000, UMTS, and TD-SCDMA, specify the following Convergence parameters: • •

UL convergence threshold: Enter the relative difference in terms of interference and connected users on the uplink that must be reached between two iterations. DL convergence threshold: Enter the relative difference in terms of interference and connected users on the downlink that must be reached between two iterations.

d. For LTE, specify the following Convergence parameters: • • •

DL traffic load: Enter the relative difference in terms of downlink traffic load that must be reached between two iterations. UL traffic load: Enter the relative difference in terms of uplink traffic load that must be reached between two iterations. UL noise rise: Enter the relative difference in terms of uplink noise rise that must be reached between two iterations.

e. For Wifi and WiMAX, enter the following Convergence parameters: • • • f.

DL traffic load: Enter the relative difference in terms of downlink traffic load that must be reached between two iterations. UL traffic load: Enter the relative difference in terms of uplink traffic load that must be reached between two iterations. UL noise rise: Enter the relative difference in terms of uplink noise rise that must be reached between two iterations.

Click the Advanced tab, and specify the following options:

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Max number of iterations: Specify the maximum number of iterations that Atoll should run to reach a convergence. Generator Initialisation: Enter an integer as the generator initialisation value. The integer must be the same generator initialisation number as used in the group of simulations with the user and shadowing error distributions you want to use in this simulation or group of simulations. If you enter "0", the default, the user and shadowing error distribution will be random. If you enter any other integer, the same user and shadowing error distribution will be used for any simulation using the same generator initialisation value. When you create groups of simulations using the same generator initialisation number (which must be an integer other than 0) Atoll generates the same user and shadowing error distributions (user with a service, a mobility, an activity status and a shadowing error) in all groups using the same number. However, any modifications to traffic parameters and radio data are taken into account during the power control simulation. By creating and calculating one group of simulations, making a change to the network and then creating and calculating a new group of simulations using the same generator initialisation number, you can see the difference your parameter changes make.

5. For UMTS, CDMA2000, LTE, Wi-Fi, and WiMAX, specify the Load Constraints parameters: a. If you are using a single-RAT document, click the Advanced tab. If you are using a 3GPP or 3GPP2 Multi-RAT document, click the technology tab and repeat the procedure for each technology that you want to take into account. b. For UMTS, CDMA2000, enter the following Load Constraints parameters: • • • • •

Number of CEs: Select the Number of CEs check box if you want the simulation to respect the number of channel elements defined for each site. Iub throughputs (for UMTS only): Select the Iub throughputs check box if you want Atoll to respect the maximum Iub backhaul throughputs defined for each site. Number of codes: Select the Number of codes check box if you want the simulation to respect the number of OVSF codes available each cell. UL load factor: If you want the UL load factor to be considered in the simulation, select the UL load factor check box. Max UL load factor: If you want to enter a global value for the maximum uplink cell load factor, click the button (

• •

) beside the box and select Global value. Then, enter a maximum uplink cell load factor. If you want to use

the maximum uplink cell load factor as defined in the properties for each cell, click the button ( ) beside the box and select Defined per cell. DL load (% Pmax): If you want the DL load to be considered in the simulation, select the DL load (% Pmax) check box and enter a maximum downlink cell load in the Max DL load box. Max DL load (% Pmax): If you want to enter a global value for the maximum downlink cell load, as a percentage of the maximum power, click the button ( ) beside the box and select Global value. Then, enter a maximum downlink cell load, as a percentage of the maximum power. If you want to use the maximum downlink cell load factor as defined in the properties for each cell, click the button ( Defined per cell.

) beside the box and select

c. For LTE, Wi-Fi and WiMAX, enter the following Load Constraints parameters: •

Max DL traffic Load: If you want to enter a global value for the maximum downlink traffic load, click the button (

•

(

•

) beside the box and select Global Threshold. Then, enter a maximum downlink traffic load. If you want to

use the maximum downlink traffic load as defined in the properties for each cell, click the button ( ) beside the box and select Defined per Cell. Max UL traffic Load: If you want to enter a global value for the maximum uplink traffic load, click the button ) beside the box and select Global Threshold. Then, enter a maximum uplink traffic load. If you want to

use the maximum uplink traffic load as defined in the properties for each cell, click the button ( ) beside the box and select Defined per Cell. Backhaul capacity: Select this option if you want Atoll to consider backhaul capacity during LTE simulation.

6. For UMTS, specify the Bearer Negotiation parameters: a. If you are using a single-RAT document, click the Advanced tab. If you are using a 3GPP or 3GPP2 Multi-RAT document, click the UMTS tab. b. Under Bearer negotiation, check the Bearer downgrading check box if you want to permit bearer downgrading during the simulation. When a constraint is not respected, user radio bearers with services supporting bearer downgrading are downgraded. If the constraint is still not satisfied after downgrading, users are rejected. If down-

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grading is not selected, users will be rejected immediately, starting with users with the lowest service priority, if a constraint cannot be respected. 7. For LTE, specify the Power Control parameters: a. If you are using a single-RAT document, click the Advanced tab. If you are using a 3GPP or 3GPP2 Multi-RAT document, click the LTE tab. b. Under Power control, select the UL noise rise control (Best effort) check box if you want to activate the uplink noise rise control in the simulations. For more information on the uplink noise rise control, see the Technical Reference Guide. 8. For TD-SCDMA, specify the following additional settings: a. Click the TD-SCDMA tab. b. Under Settings, enter an Angular step in degrees which is used to build the geometrical distributions of uplink and downlink loads. Angular step in used with grid of beams, statistical, and adaptive beam modelling. For more information on the different smart antenna models, see "Smart Antenna Systems" on page 831. c. Under DCA strategies, select the strategy to be used for selecting carriers and timeslots during the simulations. There are four different strategies available: • • • •

Based on Load: The least loaded cell or timeslot is selected. Based on the Number of Available RUs: The cell or timeslot with the most available resource units is selected. Based on the Direction of arrival: The cell or timeslot selected is the one which does not have an interfering mobile located nearby at the same angle as the direction of arrival of the targeted mobile. Sequential: Cells and timeslots are selected in a sequential order.

For more information about the DCA strategies, see "The Monte Carlo Simulation Algorithm" on page 801. d. Select the Calculate interference between mobiles check box and enter a maximum distance to consider between interfering mobiles in the Max distance field. e. Click the Advanced tab f.

Under Quality threshold type, select whether the simulations will be carried out using the Eb/Nt or C/I. For more information on the quality threshold type selection, see "Global Network Settings" on page 828.

9. On the Traffic tab, enter the following parameters: •

Global scaling factor: If desired, enter a scaling factor to increase user density. When you create simulations, you are basing them on a set of traffic conditions that represent the situation you are creating the network for. However, traffic can, and in fact most likely will, increase. The global scaling factor enables you to increase user density without changing traffic parameters or traffic maps. For example, setting the global scaling factor to 2 is the same as doubling the initial number of subscribers (for environment and user profile traffic maps) or the throughputs or users (for sector traffic maps). However, the global scaling factor does not apply to fixed subscriber traffic maps.

•

Select traffic maps to be used: Select the traffic maps you want to use for the simulation. You can select traffic maps of any type. However, if you have several different types of traffic maps and want to make a simulation based on a specific type of traffic map, you must ensure that you select only traffic maps of the same type. For information on the types of traffic maps, see "Working with Traffic Maps" on page 256.

10. On the Advanced tab, if necessary, specify the following parameters: •

•

Next to Generator initialisation, enter an integer as the generator initialisation value. If you enter "0", the default, the user and shadowing error distribution will be random. If you enter any other integer, the same user and shadowing error distribution will be used for any simulation using the same generator initialisation value. Under Convergence, enter the Max number of iterations that Atoll should run to make convergence. Using the same generated user and shadowing error distribution for several simulations can be useful when you want to compare the results of several simulations where only one parameter changes.

11. Once you have defined the simulation, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it to calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined simulation and calculate it immediately OK: Click OK to save the defined simulation without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

All simulations created at the same time are grouped together in a folder in the Network explorer.

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6.3.2 Displaying Simulation Results on the Map You can use the map to display the distribution of traffic that is generated by all simulations according to different parameters. For example, you can display the traffic according to a service, activity status or any output of the simulation. You can set the display of the traffic distribution according to discrete values and the select the value to be displayed. Or, you can select the display of the traffic distribution according to value intervals, and then select the parameter and the value intervals that are to be displayed. You can also define the colours of the icon and the icon itself. For information on changing display characteristics, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. You can make the traffic distribution easier to see by hiding geo data and predictions. For more information, see "Displaying or Hiding Objects on the Map" on page 50.

To display the traffic distribution: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Simulations folder and select Properties from the context menu. The Simulations Properties dialog box appears. 2. If you are using a single-RAT document, click the Display tab. If you are using a 3GPP or 3GPP2 Multi-RAT document, click the technology tab and repeat the procedure for each technology that you want to display. 3. Select the Display type and Field to determine the information that is displayed by the traffic distribution map. For example: •

To display the traffic distribution by activity status (see Figure 6.3), select "Discrete values" as Display type and select "Activity Status" as the Field.

Figure 6.3: Displaying the traffic distribution by activity status (example for LTE) • •

270

To display the traffic distribution by connection status, select "Discrete values" as Display type and select "Connection Status" as the Field. To display the traffic distribution by the service in a 3GPP document (see Figure 6.4), on each technology tab, select "Discrete values" as the Display Type and "Service" as the Field.

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Figure 6.4: Displaying the traffic distribution by service 4. Click OK. The traffic distribution is now displayed on the map as specified. You can also display information by placing the pointer over a particular mobile generated during a simulation. After a brief pause, a tip text appears with the information defined in the Display tab of the Simulations folder properties (see Figure 6.5). For information on defining the tip text, see "Associating a Tip Text to an Object" on page 54.

Figure 6.5: Displaying the traffic simulation results using tip text

6.3.3 Displaying Simulations as a Slideshow When several simulations are available in an Atoll document, you can cycle the display of the simulations one after the other in the map window at a specified speed. The slideshow feature can also be used with coverage predictions. For more information, see "Displaying Coverage Predictions as a Slideshow" on page 218. If the simulation slideshow is started while the prediction slideshow is running, the prediction slideshow stops automatically. Likewise, if the prediction slideshow is started while the simulation slideshow is running, the simulation slideshow stops. To start the simulation slideshow: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Simulations folder (or a simulation group folder). The context menu appears. 3. Select Start Slideshow from the context menu. The Slideshow dialog box appears. All simulations in the Simulations folder (or in the simulation group folder) are displayed one after the other on the map. As the display cycles, the visibility check box of the corresponding simulation is selected in the Network explorer. To change the speed of the slideshow, click inside the Duration field in the Slideshow dialog box and type the delay between simulations (in milliseconds). The speed of the slideshow changes dynamically. To stop the slideshow from the Network explorer, click Stop Slideshow (

) in the Slideshow dialog box.

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6.3.4 Displaying the Simulation Results Table After you have created a simulation, as explained in "Creating Simulations" on page 266, you can display the actual values of the simulation in a table. Actual values can be displayed either for a single simulation or as average values for a group of simulations. The results that are provided in the simulation properties depend on the radio technologies that were taken into account for the simulation. Actual values can be displayed either for a single simulation or as average values for a group of simulations. To access the results of a single simulation: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Simulations folder and the folder of the simulation group containing the simulation whose results you want to access, 2. If you are in a 3GPP or 3GPP2 Multi-RAT document, expand the folder of the radio technology. 3. Right-click the simulation and select Properties from the context menu. The simulation properties dialog box appears. The contents of the simulation properties tab depends on the technology that is being studied. For information on simulation results for each technology, see the following topics: • • • • • • •

GSM: "GSM/GPRS/EDGE Simulation Results" on page 337. UMTS: "UMTS Simulation Results" on page 578. CDMA2000: "CDMA2000 Simulation Results" on page 688. LTE: "LTE Simulation Results" on page 928. TD-SCDMA: "TD-SCDMA Simulation Results" on page 804. WiMAX: "WiMAX Simulation Results" on page 1105. Wi-Fi: "Wi-Fi Simulation Results" on page 1210.

6.3.5 Updating Cell Values With Simulation Results After you have created a simulation or a group of simulations, as explained in "Creating Simulations" on page 266, you can update values for cells or subcells with the results calculated during the simulation. The following values are updated depending on the radio technology: •

For GSM: • • • • •

•

For UMTS: • • • • • • •

Total transmitted power UL load factor UL reuse factor Available HSDPA power Number of HSDPA users UL load factor due to HSUPA Number of HSUPA users

•

For CDMA2000: • UL Load Factor • Total DL Power

•

For LTE: • • • • • • • •

•

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Subcell DL and UL traffic loads Subcell DL power control gains Subcell DTX gains Subcell half-rate traffic ratios TRX intra-technology UL noise rises

DL and UL traffic loads UL noise rise UL MU-MIMO capacity gain DL and UL number of users Number of co-scheduled MU-MIMO users (DL) Number of co-scheduled MU-MIMO users (UL) UL ICIC noise rise DL ICIC ratio

For TD-SCDMA: • •

Required resource units in uplink and downlink Number of HSDPA users

•

DL traffic power

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• • • •

UL load factor UL reuse factor Available HSDPA power Angular distribution of UL and DL loads

•

For Wi-Fi: • Traffic load (DL) (%) • Traffic load (UL) (%) • UL noise rise (dB) • No. of users (DL) • No. of users (UL)

•

For WiMAX: • • • • • • • • • •

Traffic load (DL) (%) Segmentation usage (DL) (%) Traffic load (UL) (%) UL noise rise (dB) Segmented zone UL noise rise (dB) Angular distributions of interference (AAS) AAS usage (DL) (%) MU-MIMO capacity gain (UL) No. of users (DL) No. of users (UL)

To update cell or subcell values with calculated simulation results: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Simulations folder and the folder of the simulation group containing the simulation whose results you want to access, 2. If you are in a 3GPP or 3GPP2 Multi-RAT document, expand the folder of the radio technology. 3. Right-click the simulation and select Properties from the context menu. The simulation properties dialog box appears. The contents of the simulation properties tab depends on the technology that is being studied. 4. On the tab corresponding to the technology and the data that you want to update, click Commit Results. The fields listed above are updated for each cell or subcell.

6.3.6 Adding Simulations When you add one or more simulations to an existing group of simulations, Atoll reuses the same input (radio, traffic, and simulation parameters) as those used to generate the group of simulations. It then generates a new user distribution and performs the power control simulation. To add a simulation to an existing group of simulations: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Simulations folder, right-click the group of simulations to which you want to add a simulation, and select New from the context menu. The properties dialog box of the group of simulations appears. When adding a simulation to an existing group of simulations, the parameters originally used to calculate the group of simulations are used for the new simulations. Consequently, few parameters can be changed for the added simulation. 2. On the General tab of the dialog box, you can set the following parameters: • •

Change the Name, and add Comments if you want. Number of Simulations: Enter the number of simulations to be added to this group of simulations.

3. You can calculate the new simulation(s) immediately or save them and calculate them later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined simulation(s) and calculate them immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined simulation(s) without calculating them. You can calculate them later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

6.3.7 Replaying Simulations When you replay an existing group of simulations, Atoll reuses the same user distribution (users with a service, a mobility and an activity status) as the one used to calculate the initial simulation. The shadowing error distribution between simulations is different. Traffic parameter changes can be taken into account. Finally, radio data modifications (new transmitters, changes to the antenna azimuth, etc.) are always taken into account during the power control (or throughput/power control) simulation.

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To replay an existing simulation or group of simulations: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Simulations folder, right-click the group of simulations to which you want to add a simulation, and select Replay from the context menu. The properties dialog box of the group of simulations appears. When replaying an existing group of simulations, some parameters originally used to calculate the group of simulations are reused for the replayed group. Consequently, few parameters can be changed for the replayed group. 2. On the General tab of the dialog box, you can set the following parameters: •

Change the Name, and add Comments if you want.

3. On the Traffic tab of the dialog box, select the Refresh Traffic Parameters check box if you want to take into account traffic parameter changes in the replayed simulation. 4. On the CDMA2000 and LTE tabs, you can modify the Load constraints and the Convergence thresholds. 5. On the Advanced tab, you can set the following parameters: • • • • •

Max number of iterations: Enter the maximum number of iterations that should run to make convergence. DL traffic load: Enter the relative difference in terms of downlink traffic load that must be reached between two iterations. UL traffic load: Enter the relative difference in terms of uplink traffic load that must be reached between two iterations. DL power control gain: Enter the relative difference in terms of downlink power control gain that must be reached between two iterations. UL noise rise: Enter the relative difference in terms of uplink noise rise that must be reached between two iterations.

6. Click Calculate. Atoll immediately begins the simulation.

6.3.8 Duplicating Simulations When you duplicate a group of simulations, Atoll creates the new group with the same simulation parameters as the ones used to generate the original group. You can then modify the simulation parameters before calculating the group. To duplicate an existing simulation or group of simulations: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Simulations folder, right-click the simulation or group of simulations you want to duplicate and select Duplicate from the context menu. The properties dialog box for the duplicated group of simulations appears. You can change the parameters for the duplicated simulation or group of simulations as explained in "Creating Simulations" on page 266.

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Chapter 7 GSM/GPRS/ EDGE Networks This chapter provides information on using Atoll to design, analyse, and optimise a GSM/GPRS/EDGE network.

This chapter covers the following topics: •

"Designing a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Network" on page 277

•

"Planning and Optimising GSM/GPRS/EDGE Base Stations" on page 278

•

"Studying GSM/GPRS/EDGE Network Capacity" on page 325

•

"Allocating Frequencies, BSICs, HSNs, MALs, MAIOs" on page 340

•

"Automatic Frequency Planning" on page 391

•

"Analysing Network Quality" on page 428

•

"Optimising Network Parameters Using ACP" on page 467

•

"Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data" on page 471

•

"Advanced Configuration" on page 483

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7 GSM/GPRS/EDGE Networks Atoll enables you to create and modify all aspects of a GSM/GPRS/EDGE network. Once you have created the network, Atoll offers many tools to let you verify the network. Based on the results of your tests, you can modify any of the parameters defining the network. The process of planning and creating a GSM/GPRS/EDGE network is outlined in "Designing a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Network" on page 277. Creating the network of base stations is explained in "Planning and Optimising GSM/GPRS/EDGE Base Stations" on page 278. Allocating neighbours is also explained. In this section, you will also find information on how you can display information on base stations on the map and how you can use the tools in Atoll to study base stations. In "Studying GSM/GPRS/EDGE Network Capacity" on page 325, using traffic maps to study network capacity is explained. Creating traffic captures and simulations using the traffic map information and dimensioning the network using these results is also explained. Using drive test data paths to verify the network is explained in "Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data" on page 471. Filtering imported drive test data paths, and using the data in coverage predictions is also explained.

7.1 Designing a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Network The following diagram depicts the process of planning and creating a GSM/GPRS/EDGE network.

Figure 7.1: Planning a GSM/GPRS/EDGE network - workflow The steps involved in planning a GSM/GPRS/EDGE network are described below. The numbers refer to Figure 7.1. 1. Open an existing radio-planning document or create a new one ( • •

).

You can open an existing Atoll document by selecting File > Open. Creating a new Atoll document is explained in Chapter 1: Working Environment.

2. Configure the network by adding network elements and changing parameters (

).

You can add and modify the following elements of base stations: • • •

"Creating or Modifying a Site" on page 289 "Creating or Modifying a Transmitter" on page 289 "Applying a New Cell Type" on page 290.

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You can also add base stations using a base station template (see "Placing a New Station Using a Station Template" on page 291). 3. Carry out basic coverage predictions ( •

"Signal Level Coverage Predictions" on page 307

4. Estimate the required number of TRXs ( • •

)

) in one of the following ways:

You can import or create traffic maps ( ) and use them as a basis for dimensioning ( )) (see "Studying GSM/ GPRS/EDGE Network Capacity" on page 325). You can define them manually either on the TRXs tab of each transmitter’s Properties dialog box or in the Subcells table (see "Modifying a Subcell" on page 290) (

5. Allocate neighbours, automatically or manually ( •

). ).

"Planning Neighbours" on page 322.

6. Since you know the required number of TRXs, manually or automatically create a frequency plan ( •

"Allocating Frequencies and BSICs Manually" on page 345 (

•

"Automatic Resource Allocation Using an AFP Module" on page 371 (

).

) ).

7. Before making more advanced coverage predictions, you need to define cell load conditions (

).

You can define cell load conditions in the following ways: • •

You can generate realistic cell load conditions by creating a simulation based on a traffic map ( and ) (see "Studying GSM/GPRS/EDGE Network Capacity" on page 325). You can define them manually ("Importing OMC Traffic Data into the Subcells Table: Traffic Data" on page 326) (

).

8. With the frequency plan, analyse the frequency plan ( • • •

"Auditing a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Frequency Plan" on page 458 "Checking Consistency in Subcells" on page 461 "Displaying the Frequency Allocation" on page 462.

9. Make GSM/GPRS/EDGE-specific coverage predictions ( •

).

) and the corresponding prediction reports (

).

"Analysing Network Quality" on page 428.

7.2 Planning and Optimising GSM/GPRS/EDGE Base Stations As described in Chapter 1: Working Environment, you can start an Atoll document from a template, with no sites, or from a database with a set of sites. As you work on your Atoll document, you will still need to create sites and modify existing ones. In Atoll, a site is defined as a geographical point where one or more transmitters are located. Once you have created a site, you can add transmitters. In Atoll, a transmitter is defined as the antenna and any other additional equipment, such as the TMA, feeder cables, etc. In a GSM/GPRS/EDGE project, you must also add subcells to each transmitter. A subcell refers to the characteristics of a group of TRXs on a transmitter. Atoll lets you create one site or transmitter at a time, or create several at once by using a station template. Using a station template, you can create one or more base stations at the same time. In Atoll, a base station refers to a site with its transmitters, antennas, equipment, subcells, and TRXs. Atoll allows you to make a variety of coverage predictions, such as signal level or transmitter coverage predictions. The results of calculated coverage predictions can be displayed on the map, compared, or studied. Atoll enables you to model network traffic by allowing you to create services, users, user profiles, environments, and terminals. This data can be then used to make quality predictions, such as interference predictions, or circuit or packet-dedicated predictions. In this section, the following are explained: • • • •

278

"Creating a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Base Station" on page 279 "Creating a Group of Base Stations" on page 297 "Modifying Sites and Transmitters Directly on the Map" on page 297 "Display Tips for Base Stations" on page 298

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• • •

"Creating a Repeater" on page 298 "Creating a Remote Antenna" on page 302 "Studying GSM Base Stations" on page 305

7.2.1 Creating a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Base Station When you create a GSM/GPRS/EDGE site, you create only the geographical point; you must add the transmitters afterwards. The site, with the transmitters, antennas, equipment, and cell type, is called a base station. In this section, each element of a base station is described. If you want to add a new base station, see "Placing a New Station Using a Station Template" on page 291. If you want to create or modify one of the elements of a base station, see "Creating or Modifying a Base Station Element" on page 289. If you need to create a large number of base stations, Atoll allows you to import them from another Atoll document or from an external source. For information, see "Creating a Group of Base Stations" on page 297. This section explains the various parts of the base station process: • • • • •

"Definition of a Base Station" on page 279 "Creating or Modifying a Base Station Element" on page 289 "Placing a New Station Using a Station Template" on page 291 "Managing Station Templates" on page 292 "Duplicating an Existing Base Station" on page 294.

7.2.1.1 Definition of a Base Station A base station consists of the site, one or more transmitters, various pieces of equipment, and radio settings such as, for example, subcells. You will usually create a new base station using a station template, as described in "Placing a New Station Using a Station Template" on page 291. This section describes the following elements of a base station and their parameters: • • • •

7.2.1.1.1

"Site Properties" on page 279 "Transmitter Properties" on page 280 "Subcell Properties" on page 282 "TRX Properties" on page 287.

Site Properties The parameters of a site can be found in the site’s Properties dialog box. The Properties dialog box has one tab: •

The General tab (see Figure 7.2):

Figure 7.2: New Site dialog box • •

Name: Atoll automatically enters a default name for each new site. You can modify the default name here. If you want to change the default name that Atoll gives to new sites, see the Administrator Manual. Position: By default, Atoll places the new site at the centre of the map window. You can modify the location of the site here. While this method allows you to place a site with precision, you can also place sites using the mouse and then position them precisely with this dialog box afterwards. For information on placing sites using the mouse, see "Moving a Site Using the Mouse" on page 57.

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•

7.2.1.1.2

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Altitude: The altitude, as defined by the DTM for the location specified under Position, is given here. You can specify the actual altitude under Real, if you want. If an altitude is specified here, Atoll will use this value for calculations. Comments: You can enter comments in this field if you want.

Transmitter Properties The parameters of a transmitter can be found in the transmitter’s Properties dialog box. When you create a transmitter, the Properties dialog box has four tabs: the General tab, the Transmitter tab, the TRXs tab, the AFP tab (see "Allocating Frequencies, BSICs, HSNs, MALs, MAIOs" on page 340), and the Configurations tab. Once you have created a transmitter, its Properties dialog box has four additional tabs: the Intra-Technology Neighbours tab, the Inter-technology Neighbours tab, the Propagation tab, and the Display tab. The General tab •

• •

•

•

Name: By default, Atoll names the transmitter after the site it is on, adding an underscore and a number. You can enter a name for the transmitter, but for the sake of consistency, it is better to let Atoll assign a name. If you want to change the way Atoll names transmitters, see the Administrators Manual. ID: You can enter an ID for the transmitter. This is a user-definable network-level parameter for cell identification. Site: You can select the Site on which the transmitter will be located. Once you have selected the site, you can click the Browse button to access the properties of the site on which the transmitter will be located. For information on the site Properties dialog box, see "Site Properties" on page 279. You can click the New button to create a new site on which the transmitter will be located. Shared antenna: This field is used to identify the transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas located at the same site or on sites with the same position and that share the same antenna. The entry in the field must be the same for all transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas sharing the same antenna. When changes are made to the position offset (Dx, Dy), azimuth, antenna height, or mechanical tilt of one antenna, Atoll automatically synchronises the same changes to all other transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas defined as having a shared antenna. This field is also used for multi-band transmitters to synchronise antenna parameters for different frequency bands. For more information, see "Advanced Modelling of Multi-Band Transmitters" on page 500. Under HCS Layer: • • •

You can select the HCS Layer (Hierarchical Cell Structure layer) for the transmitter. Once you have selected the HCS layer, you can click the Browse button to open the properties of the HCS layer. You can enter a specific HCS layer threshold for this transmitter. The threshold defined in the HCS Layer properties is considered only if no value is entered in this field. For information on the HCS layer Properties dialog box, see "Setting HCS Layers" on page 484.

•

Under Antenna Position, you can modify the position of the antennas (main and secondary): • •

Relative to Site: Select this option if you want to enter the antenna positions as offsets with respect to the site location, and then enter the x-axis and y-axis offsets, Dx and Dy, respectively. Coordinates: Select this option if you want to enter the coordinates of the antenna, and then enter the x-axis and y-axis coordinates of the antenna, X and Y, respectively.

The Transmitter tab •

Active: If this transmitter is to be active, you must select the Active check box. Active transmitters are displayed in red in the Transmitters folder of the Network explorer. Only active transmitters are taken into consideration during calculations.

•

Transmitter Type: If you want Atoll to consider the transmitter as a potential server as well as an interferer, set the transmitter type to Intra-Network (Server and Interferer). If you want Atoll to consider the transmitter only as an interferer, set the type to Inter-Network (Interferer Only). No coverage for an Interferer Only transmitter will be calculated for coverage predictions. This enables you to model the co-existence of different networks in the same geographic area. For more information on how to study interference between co-existing networks, see "Modelling the Co-existence of Networks" on page 506.

•

•

280

Transmission/Reception: Under Transmission/Reception, you can see the total losses and the noise figure of the transmitter. Atoll calculates losses and noise according to the characteristics of the equipment assigned to the transmitter. Equipment can be assigned by using the Equipment Specifications dialog box which appears when you click the Equipment button. On the Equipment Specifications dialog box (see Figure 7.3), the equipment you select and the gains and losses you define are used to initialise total transmitter UL and DL losses:

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• • •

• •

TMA: You can select a tower-mounted amplifier (TMA) from the list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the TMA. For information on creating a TMA, see "Defining TMA Equipment" on page 161. Feeder: You can select a feeder cable from the list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the feeder. For information on creating a feeder cable, see "Defining Feeder Cables" on page 161. Transmitter: You can select transmitter equipment from the Transmitter list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the transmitter equipment. For information on creating transmitter equipment, see "Defining Transmitter Equipment" on page 162. Feeder Length: You can enter the feeder length at transmission and reception. Miscellaneous Losses: You can enter miscellaneous losses at transmission and reception. The value you enter must be positive.

Figure 7.3: The Equipment Specifications dialog box Any loss related to the noise due to a transmitter’s repeater is included in the calculated losses. Atoll always takes the values in the Real boxes into consideration in prediction even if they are different from the values in the Computed boxes. The information in the real Noise Figure reception box is calculated from the information you entered in the Equipment Specifications dialog box. You can modify the real Total Losses at transmission and reception and the real Noise Figure at reception if you want. Any value you enter must be positive. •

Power: Under Power, you can select to enter either Power or EIRP (Effective Isotropical Radiated Power). If you select EIRP, you can enter the value yourself, without defining power and losses for the transmitter. If you select Power, Atoll calculates losses and noise according to the characteristics of the equipment assigned to the transmitter. Equipment can be assigned using the Equipment Specifications dialog box which appears when you click the Equipment button. Atoll calculates EIRP with the following formula: EIRP = Power + Gain - DL Losses

•

Antennas: •

•

Height/Ground: The Height/Ground box gives the height of the antenna above the ground. This is added to the altitude of the site as given by the DTM. If the remote antenna is situated on a building, the height entered must include the height of building. Main Antenna: Under Main Antenna, the type of antenna is visible in the Model list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the antenna. Click the Select button to open the Antenna Selection Assistant. This assistant lists all the antennas that match the currently selected physical antenna and whose minimum and maximum operating frequencies include the operating frequency of the transmitter. For more information, see "Assigning Antennas to Transmitters" on page 159

•

Mechanical Azimuth, Mechanical downtilt, Electrical Azimuth, Electrical Downtilt, and Additional electrical downtilt display additional antenna parameters. • •

The Additional Electrical Downtilt can be made accessible through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide.

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Under Secondary Antennas, you can select one or more secondary antennas in the Antenna column and enter their Azimuth, Mechanical Downtilt, Additional Electrical Downtilt, and % Power, which is the percentage of power reserved for this particular antenna. For example, for a transmitter with one secondary antenna, if you reserve 40% of the total power for the secondary antenna, 60% is available for the main antenna. • • •

The Additional Electrical Downtilt can be made accessible through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75.

The Configurations tab •

Under GPRS/EDGE Properties, you must select the GPRS/EDGE Transmitter check box if the transmitter is going to be a packet-switched capable transmitter. You can select a Coding Scheme Configuration from the list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the configuration. For information on creating a coding scheme configuration, see "Coding Scheme Configuration" on page 495. When you model EDGE Evolution on the transmitter side Atoll has to consider: •

The support of high order modulations and the use of turbo codes in specific coding schemes which can be found in the selected GPRS/EDGE Configuration.

In addition, EDGE Evolution can be modelled on the terminal side through: •

•

The support of dual antenna terminals (Mobile Station Receive Diversity) and enhanced single antenna terminals (Single Antenna Interference Cancellation). Atoll offers a statistical modelling of these through the use of an EDGE evolution configuration, with the effect of SAIC or diversity already included both in the coding scheme admission thresholds and on the throughput versus C (or C⁄I) graphs. The support of multi-carriers which can be set up on the terminal side.

For more information, see "Modelling Terminals" on page 249. •

7.2.1.1.3

Under GSM Properties, you can select Codec Configuration from the list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the codec configuration assigned to the GSM transmitter. For information on creating a coding scheme configuration, see "Codec Configuration" on page 492.

Subcell Properties In Atoll, a subcell refers to the characteristics of a group of TRXs on a transmitter sharing the same radio characteristics, the same quality (C/I) requirements, and other settings. The initial settings of a subcell of a transmitter depend on the cell type selected for the transmitter. Assigning a different cell type to a transmitter changes the characteristics of the subcells (for information on the cell type, see "Cell Types" on page 488). Once the cell type has been selected, the initial values of the subcell, taken from the cell type, can be modified, with the exception of the TRX type. If you modify the cell type afterwards, for all transmitters based on that cell type, Atoll offers you the choice of keeping current parameters or resetting them to the new cell type parameters. The properties related to subcells are found on the TRXs tab of the Properties dialog box of the transmitter to which it is assigned. Prior to defining a subcell, you may want to define the minimum and maximum range of extended subcells. You can do that through the General tab of the transmitter’s Properties dialog box: •

Under Extended Cells, you can enter the minimum and maximum range of an extended subcell. Normally, coverage of a GSM cell is limited to a 35 km radius. Extended GSM cells enable the operator to overcome this limit by taking this delay into consideration when defining the timing advance for users in the extended cells. Extended cells may cover distances from 70 to 140 km from the base station. For more information on extended cells, see "Defining Extended Cells" on page 499. • •

Min. Range: You can enter the distance from the transmitter at which coverage begins. Max. Range: You can enter the maximum range from the transmitter of its coverage. Although coverage can be restricted within the set minimum range and maximum range, interference from the transmitter is not limited within these ranges.

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TRX tab •

Under Cell Type: • •

• • •

Name: You can select the name of the Cell Type on which the transmitters subcells will be based from the list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the cell type. Relevant Frequency Band: The Relevant Frequency Band displays the frequency band that will be used to calculate the path loss matrix for the transmitter. The frequency band is the band used by the BCCH TRX type under Subcell (TRX groups) Settings on the same tab. Cell Reselect Offset: The offset which is applied to the reception threshold to determine the Reselect Criterion (C2) in idle mode. The C2 value is used to select a server and as a display parameter in coverage predictions. Max. No. of TRXs: The maximum number of TRXs that the transmitter can have. The value entered here will be taken instead of the global value defined during dimensioning.

Under Identification: •

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BSIC Domain: You can select the BSIC (Base Station Identity Code) domain from the list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the selected BSIC domain. For information on BSIC domains, see "Defining BSIC Domains and Groups" on page 343. BSIC: The BSIC (Base Station Identity Code) colour code is associated with a defined BCCH so that a mobile can identify the base station to which both a particular BCCH and BSIC are assigned. The BSIC is derived from the NCC (Network Colour Code) and the BCC (BTS Colour Code). To assign a BSIC number to the current transmitter, you can assign a number from the BSIC Domain by selecting it from the list. You can also enter the BSIC number in the format NCC-BCC. When you click Apply, Atoll converts the entered NCC-BCC number into the single-number BSIC format. For information on the BSIC, see "Defining the BSIC Format" on page 343.

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BCCH: The BCCH text box displays the frequency of the BCCH (TS0 of the BCCH TRX) of the current transmitter. If the BCCH subcell, under Subcell (TRX Groups) Settings on the TRXs tab, is in synthesised frequency hopping (SFH) mode, you can enter the MAL channel which will be TS0. NCC-BCC: The NCC (Network Colour Code), identifying the operator, and the BCC (BTS Colour Code), identifying the base station are displayed in the NCC-BCC text box. The NCC and BCC are integers from 0 to 7.

Under Subcells, the information displayed depends on the type of subcell information selected from the Display list, Standard Data, Traffic Data, AFP Indicators: •

Standard: The information displayed is the standard information defining the subcell. The initial settings are from the selected cell type and can be modified with the exception of the TRX Type: •

TRX Type: The TRX Type can be one of the default TRX types available in the GSM/GPRS/EDGE project template: BCCH: The broadcast control channel (BCCH) carrier TCH: The default traffic (TCH) carrier TCH_EGPRS: The EDGE traffic (TCH_EGPRS) carrier. TCH_INNER: The inner traffic (TCH_INNER) carrier.

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Frequency Domain: The frequency domain assigned to the TRX group. Only channels belonging to this frequency domain will be allocated to TRXs of this group during manual or automatic frequency planning. The frequency domains assigned to the BCCH subcell and to the TCH subcell must reference the same frequency band, unless you are modelling multi-band transmitters. For information on multi-band transmitters, see "Advanced Modelling of Multi-Band Transmitters" on page 500.

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Excluded Channels: The defined frequency domain can have, as part of its definition, a list of excluded channels. Addition excluded channels for this subcell can be added in the Excluded Channels column. Required TRXs: The number of TRXs required for the subcell. For subcells with the BCCH TRX Type, the number of requested TRXs must be "1," the default value. For subcells with the TCH, TCH_EGPRS or TCH_INNER TRX Type, the value in the Required TRXs column is a result of network dimensioning, which depends on the traffic demand and the required quality. DL Traffic Load: The DL usage rate of TRXs within a same subcell pool; its value must be from 0 to 1. The value in the DL Traffic Load column can be either user-defined, obtained from Monte Carlo simulations, or the result of network dimensioning, in which case it will be the same value for all subcells covering the same area (e.g. BCCH and TCH). The traffic load is used to calculate DL interference and in automatic frequency planning. UL Traffic Load: The UL usage rate of TRXs; its value must be from 0 to 1. The value in the UL Traffic Load column can be either user-defined or obtained from Monte Carlo simulations. The traffic load is used to calculate UL interference.

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DL Power Reduction (dB) : The reduction of power relative to the transmitter power. The DL Power Reduction is used to model the power reduction of TCH TRXs, TCH_EGPRS and TCH_INNER TRXs. TCH_INNER TRXs are concentric subcells, in other words, subcells that transmit a power lower than that used by the BCCH TRX and by TCH TRXs. DL power reduction can also be used to model in a simple way the coverage reduction of a 1800 subcell compared to the BCCH 900 subcell, assuming that all subcells are transmitting at the same power. Atoll also enables advanced multi-band transmitter modelling. For more information, see "Advanced Modelling of Multi-Band Transmitters" on page 500 and the Administrator Manual.

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Reception Threshold (dBm): The reception threshold defines the minimum reception level for the subcell. I can be used as the minimum subcell reception sensitivity if the link budget is correctly defined. C/I Threshold (dB): The minimum signal quality for the TRX Type. The C/I Threshold can be used in interference predictions and in the AFP. Mean Power Control Gain (dB): The average reduction in interference due to power control in downlink. This gain is used when calculating interference generated by the subcell. Interference generated by the subcell is reduced by this value during C/I calculations. This value can be user-defined or the result of Monte Carlo simulations. Timeslot Configuration: The timeslot configuration defines the distribution of circuit, packet and shared timeslots for the subcell. For information on timeslot configurations, see "Timeslot Configurations" on page 499. DTX Supported: The DTX Supported check box is selected if the subcell supports DTX (Discontinuous Transmission) technology. Subcells supporting DTX can reduce the interference they produce by the defined voice activity factor. Hopping Mode: The frequency hopping mode supported by the selected TRX type. The hopping mode can be either "Base Band Hopping" mode (BBH) or "Synthesised Hopping" mode (SFH). If frequency hopping is not supported, select "Non Hopping." Allocation Strategy: The allocation strategy used during manual or automatic frequency planning. There are two available allocation strategies: - Free: Any of the channels belonging to the frequency domain can be assigned to TRXs. - Group Constrained: Only channels belonging to a same frequency group in the frequency domain can be assigned. You can use the Preferred Frequency Group to define the preferred group of frequencies when using the AFP. Default TRX Configuration: The default TRX configuration selected in this column is applied to all TRXs belonging to the subcell. By selecting the default TRX configuration, the maximum number of coding schemes in GPRS and in EDGE is set at the TRX type level. You can also define the TRX configuration for each TRX. EDGE Power Backoff (dB): The average power reduction for EDGE transmitters due to 8PSK, 16QAM and 32QAM modulations in EDGE. This has an impact on the EDGE service zone which can be seen in traffic analysis and EDGE predictions. Diversity Mode: The type of diversity supported by the subcell ("None," "Tx Diversity," or "Antenna Hopping"). If you select "Tx Diversity," the signal is transmitted as many times that there are antennas. If you select "Antenna Hopping," the signal is transmitted successively on each antenna. In "Tx Diversity" mode, transmitting on more than one antenna, the signal experiences a gain of 3 dB. For all diversity modes, an additional transmission diversity gain can be defined per clutter class in order to correctly model gain due to the environment (for more information, see "Defining Clutter Class Properties" on page 127). The resulting gain will increase the C/I value at the terminal served by the considered subcell. Max MAL Length: The maximum length of the mobile allocation list (MAL), in other words, the maximum number of channels allocated to the TRXs of the subcell during automatic frequency planning if the Hopping Mode is either SFH (Synthesised Frequency Hopping) or BBH (Base Band Hopping) and if the Allocation Strategy is Free. Synchronisation: The value entered in the Synchronisation column is used during frequency hopping; frequency hopping is synthesised among all TRXs of subcells with the same string of characters in the Synchronisation column. By default, the name of the site is used as the value in the Synchronisation column, synchronising frequency hopping for all TRXs on the same site. However, you can, for example, enter different values for each subcell to define synchronisation at the subcell level, or different values for each group of sites to define synchronisation by sites group. HSN Domain: Only hopping sequence numbers (HSN) belonging to the selected HSN domain will be allocated to subcells during manual or automatic frequency planning. The HSNs are allocated if the Hopping Mode is either SFH (Synthesised Frequency Hopping) or BBH (Base Band Hopping). HSN: The hopping sequence number (HSN) of the subcell. All TRXs of the subcell have the same HSN. The HSN can be entered manually or allocated automatically. This parameter is used if the Hopping Mode is either SFH (Synthesised Frequency Hopping) or BBH (Base Band Hopping). Lock HSN: When this check box is selected, the subcell’s currently assigned HSN is kept when a new AFP session is started.

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The Lock HSN status can also be managed via the Network explorer from the context menu of an individual transmitter or group of transmitters. For more information, see "AFP Resource Status Management" on page 288. •

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Accepted Interference Percentage: The maximum level of interference allowable during automatic frequency planning. The interference is defined as a percentage of area or traffic, as defined during the calculation of the interference matrices. Preferred Frequency Group: When the Group Constrained allocation strategy is selected, in any hopping mode (including non-hopping), the AFP tries to assign frequencies from the preferred group during automatic allocation. The preferred frequency group is a soft constraint used by the AFP to assign frequencies to TRXs. When the AFP is unable to assign a frequency from the preferred group, and allocates a frequency from outside the group, a corresponding cost is taken into account. The preferred group can also be the result of allocation if the AFP model is able to allocate patterns based on the azimuth. AFP Weight: Enter an AFP weight. The AFP weight is used to increase or decrease the importance of a subcell during automatic frequency planning. The value must be a real number. The higher the AFP weight is, the higher the constraint on the TRX type. The AFP weight artificially multiplies the cost which has to be minimised by the AFP. Lock Required TRXs: This option can be used by an AFP model which has the capability to optimise (i.e., increase or decrease) the number of required TRXs where the only goal is maximising the amount of correctly served traffic. In other words, you might have fewer TRXs than required if they are not subject to any interference and the amount of correctly served traffic will be larger. When you select this option, the number of required TRXs is blocked for that subcell. If some subcell fields are empty (e.g., HSN domain, frequency domain, C/I Threshold), Atoll uses the default values of the selected Cell type. For more information, see "Creating a Cell Type" on page 488.

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Traffic Data: The information displayed describes the traffic of the cell. Because subcells share the traffic of the transmitter, in most cases, the traffic data for all TRXs is displayed together. All fields can be modified with the exception of the TRX Type, Effective Rate of Traffic Overflow, and Traffic Load. •

TRX Type: The type can be one of the default TRX types available in the GSM/GPRS/EDGE project template: - BCCH: The broadcast control channel (BCCH) carrier - TCH: The default traffic (TCH) carrier - TCH_EGPRS: The EDGE traffic (TCH_EGPRS) carrier - TCH_INNER: The inner traffic (TCH_INNER) carrier

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Circuit Demand (Erlangs): The circuit demand indicates the amount of Erlangs necessary to absorb the circuitswitched demand. This value can be either user-defined or the result of a traffic capture, in which case it will be the same value for all subcells covering the same area (e.g., BCCH and TCH). Packet Average Demand (TS): The packet demand indicates the amount of timeslots necessary to absorb the packet-switched demand. This value can be either user-defined or the result of a traffic capture, in which case it will be the same value for all subcells covering the same area (e.g., BCCH and TCH).

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Circuit and packet demands can be imported into this table from a real network. These value will then be taken into account for dimensioning or KPI calculation if these calculations are not based on the default traffic capture. •

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Half-Rate Traffic Ratio (%): The percentage of half-rate voice traffic in the subcell. This value is used to calculate the number of timeslots required to respond to the voice traffic demand. This value can be user-defined or the result of Monte Carlo simulations. Target Rate of Traffic Overflow (%): The target rate of traffic overflow is used during traffic analysis to distribute the traffic between subcells and layers. The traffic located in the inner zone or in the service zone of a high priority cell (see the figures below) contributes to the traffic demand of the inner subcell or the high priority cell respectively. If the target rate of traffic overflow is greater than 0, a part of this traffic is re-injected, so that it also contributes to the demand of outer zone (or to the low priority cell respectively). The key performance indicators calculation (and dimensioning process) transforms the traffic demand into a served demand on one hand and an effective overflow on the other hand. If effective overflow rates are higher than target overflow rates, it means there is a capacity reserve. If it is the other way around, it means that more TRXs are needed. If rates are equal, the network is correctly optimised.

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Figure 7.4: Overflow between concentric cells

Figure 7.5: Overflow between HCS layers The target rate of traffic overflow and the half-rate traffic ratio must be the same for BCCH and TCH subcells. If the values are different for BCCH and TCH subcells, Atoll will use the values for the target rate of traffic overflow and the half-rate traffic ratio from the BCCH subcell. • •

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AFP Indicators: The information displayed comes from the results of an AFP model; it is displayed for informational purposes only and cannot be edited. •

TRX Type: The type can be one of the default TRX types available in the GSM/GPRS/EDGE project template: - BCCH: The broadcast control channel - TCH: The default traffic channel - TCH_EGPRS: The EDGE traffic channel - TCH_INNER: The inner traffic channel

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Total Cost: The total cost is the combination of the AFP Separation Cost, the Additional Cost, and the AFP Congestion cost. AFP Separation Cost: The separation cost is the cost to the system when separation rules are not respected between subcell pools. If separation constraints are violated, this has a direct effect on the interference level. Additional Cost (Interference, Modification, Group): The additional cost is combination of other costs such as interference, the cost of carrying modifications, and not respecting the preferred TRX group. AFP Blocking Cost: The AFP blocking cost is the part of the cost where traffic is considered as blocked due to a lack of resources. Soft Blocking (Total Cost - Blocking): Total cost minus the AFP blocking cost. AFP Congestion: The AFP congestion is the soft blocking cost, an estimation of the level of congestion for a pool of subcells (e.g., BCCH and TCH are considered as a pool of subcells since they are managed together). In other words, a highly congested pool of subcells will be a source of a high level of interference.

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Effective Rate of Traffic Overflow (%): The percentage of traffic overflowing from a subcell. The effective rate of traffic overview is a result of the calculation of key performance indicators. DL Traffic Load: The DL usage rate of TRXs within a same subcell pool; its value must be from 0 to 1. The value in the DL Traffic Load column can be either user-defined, obtained from Monte Carlo simulations, or the result of network dimensioning, in which case it will be the same value for all subcells covering the same area (e.g. BCCH and TCH). The traffic load is used to calculate DL interference and in automatic frequency planning. UL Traffic Load: The UL usage rate of TRXs; its value must be from 0 to 1. The value in the UL Traffic Load column can be either user-defined or obtained from Monte Carlo simulations. The traffic load is used to calculate UL interference. Final Blocking Probability (%): Key performance indicator (KPI) calculated using a traffic capture and the AFP module. This KPI is also part of a simplified traffic model used by the AFP module.

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7.2.1.1.4

The subcells of the entire GSM/GPRS/EDGE document are found in the Subcells Table: Standard Data. You can open the Subcells Table: Standard Data by rightclicking the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer and then selecting Subcells > Subcells Table: Standard Data from the context menu. In addition, you can access specific views of the subcell table. The table containing the information regarding traffic data, or the AFP indicators, can be accessed by right-clicking the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer and then selecting Subcells > Subcells Table: Traffic data (or AFP Indicators) from the context menu. You can run a subcell audit to verify the consistency of data between the Subcell and Transmitter tables. As well, this audit can correct unrealistic subcell values (see "Checking Consistency in Subcells" on page 461 for more information).

TRX Properties In Atoll, the TRX refers to the transmission/reception card. In GSM/GPRS/EDGE projects, frequencies and channels are defined using TRXs. In non-hopping or base-band hopping mode, a single frequency or channel can be assigned to each TRX. In synthesised frequency hopping mode, more than one frequency can be assigned to each TRX. The number of timeslots supported by a TRX defines the multiplexing factor of the frequency using that TRX. In Atoll, TRXs are modelled using defined TRX types. Three TRX types are available in the GSM/GPRS/EDGE project template: • • • •

BCCH: The broadcast control channel (BCCH) carrier TCH: The default traffic (TCH) carrier TCH_EGPRS: The EDGE traffic (TCH_EGPRS) carrier TCH_INNER: The inner traffic (TCH_INNER) carrier

The TRXs and their properties are found on TRXs tab of the Properties dialog box of the transmitter to which they are assigned. The TRXs of the entire GSM/GPRS/EDGE document are found in the TRXs Table. You can access the TRXs Table by right-clicking the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer and then selecting Subcells > TRXs Table from the context menu. The TRXs tab has the following TRX-related options: •

Under TRXs, the table lists each TRX allocated to the transmitter. The initial settings are from the selected cell type and can be modified. You can sort the content of each column as described in "Sorting Data in Tables" on page 97, on each column of the table. • •

Index: This is the identification number of the TRX. The number must be an integer and can be user-defined or assigned automatically by Atoll when you close the dialog box. TRX Type: The TRX Type can be one of the default TRX types available in the GSM GPRS EDGE project template: • • • •

BCCH: The broadcast control channel (BCCH) carrier TCH: The default traffic (TCH) carrier TCH_EGPRS: The EDGE traffic (TCH_EGPRS) carrier TCH_INNER: The inner traffic (TCH_INNER) carrier Only the TRX types defined for the corresponding Cell type are available.

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Channels: The channels allocated to the TRX. You must specify 1 channel per TRX if the hopping mode for the TRX type is "Non Hopping" or "Base Band Hopping," and more than one channel per TRX if the hopping mode for the TRX type is "Synthesised Hopping." You can enter channels directly (separating them with a comma, a semi-colon, or a space) or you can enter a range of channels separating the first and last channel with a hyphen (for example, entering "1-5" corresponds to "1 2 3 4 5"). You can also select a channel from the list which offers you channels from the frequency domain assigned to the TRX type that this TRX is based on. MAIO: The MAIO (Mobile Allocation Index Offset) is used in frequency hopping (BBH or SFH) to avoid intra-site collisions caused by two sites using the same or adjacent channels. This value is an integer ranging from 0 and N-1 (where "N" is the number of channels used in the hopping sequence). You can enter the MAIO or it can be allocated automatically using the AFP. Lock Channels and MAIO: When this check box is selected, the TRX’s currently assigned channels and MAIO are kept when a new AFP session is started.

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The Lock Channels and MAIO status can also be managed via the Network explorer from the context menu of an individual transmitter or group of transmitters. For more information, see "AFP Resource Status Management" on page 288. •

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7.2.1.1.5

TRX Configuration: The selected TRX Configuration defines the highest possible coding scheme index number in GPRS and in EDGE. For the TRX configuration to be used fully, the terminal must be capable of using a coding index number that is as high as that of the TRX configuration. Otherwise, capacity will be limited by the highest index number supported by the terminal. EDGE Power Backoff (dB): The average power reduction for EDGE transmitters due to 8PSK, 16QAM and 32QAM modulations in EDGE. This has an impact on the EDGE service zone which can be seen in traffic analyses and EDGE predictions. TRX Rank: The TRX rank is determined by the AFP. It indicates the quality of that TRX. The higher the TRX rank, the higher the cost, in terms of the risk of interference. In other words, when you are trying to improve the solution proposed by the AFP tool, you must concentrate on the TRXs with the highest TRX rank first. Additional DL Noise Rise (dB): This noise rise represents the interference created by the mobiles of an external network on the mobiles served by this TRX on the downlink. This noise rise will be taken into account in all interference-based calculations involving this TRX. For more information on inter-technology interference, see "Modelling Inter-technology Interference" on page 507. Intra-technology UL Noise Rise (dB): This noise rise represents the interference created by the mobiles of the current network over this TRX on the uplink. The value can be either user-defined or obtained from Monte Carlo simulations. This noise rise is used to calculate UL interference.

AFP Resource Status Management This section describes the commands you can use to automatically lock/unlock AFP allocation resources (Channels and MAIO, HSN, BSIC) from the context menu of an individual transmitter or group of transmitters. With these commands, you can perform the following actions: • • •

Lock/unlock an AFP resource for an individual transmitter or a group of transmitters. In a set of transmitters, lock/unlock an AFP resource for only the transmitters which are donor transmitters (changing frequencies may require on-site visits to change the repeaters parameters as well). In a set of transmitters, expand a lock/unlock operation to the super-set containing all the GSM neighbours of the group (to add or remove constraints before AFP).

Status Management from Tables The lock/unlock statuses of AFP resources can be managed from the relevant tables by editing the properties of each transmitter, subcell, or TRX. Transmitters Table

Subcells Table (Standard Data)

TRXs Table

Lock Channels and MAIO

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Lock Channels and MAIO

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Lock HSN

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Status Management from the Network Explorer Lock and Unlock command groups are available from the context menus of the following items: • • •

Individual transmitters Transmitters folder > Frequency Plan Transmitters sub-folder > Frequency Plan

The following commands are available from each Lock and Unlock command group folder: • • •

Transmitters Neighbours Donor Transmitters

Figure 7.6: Lock and Unlock commands

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When one of these commands is invoked, the corresponding dialog box appears: • • •

Lock > Transmitters and Unlock > Transmitters commands apply to all the transmitters in the selected folder or subfolder (or to the selected transmitter). Lock > Neighbours and Unlock > Neighbours commands apply to all the GSM neighbours of all the transmitters in the selected folder or sub-folder (or to the GSM neighbours of the selected transmitter). Lock > Donor Transmitters and Unlock > Donor Transmitters commands apply to all the transmitters in the selected folder or sub-folder which are donor transmitters of repeaters (or to the selected transmitter if it is a donor transmitter of a repeater).

7.2.1.2 Creating or Modifying a Base Station Element A base station consists of the site, one or more transmitters, various pieces of equipment, and radio settings such as, for example, cells and TRXs. This section describes how to create or modify the following elements of a base station: • • • • •

7.2.1.2.1

"Creating or Modifying a Site" on page 289 "Creating or Modifying a Transmitter" on page 289 "Applying a New Cell Type" on page 290 "Modifying a Subcell" on page 290 "Creating or Modifying a TRX" on page 291.

Creating or Modifying a Site You can modify an existing site or you can create a new site. You can access the properties of a site, described in "Site Properties" on page 279, through the site’s Properties dialog box. How you access the Properties dialog box depends on whether you are creating a new site or modifying an existing site. To create a new site: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Sites folder and select Add Site from the context menu. The mouse cursor changes and the coordinates of the mouse cursor are displayed in the status bar. 2. Click the map at the location where you want to place the new site. A new site is created with default values at the corresponding location. Alternatively, you can create a new site by entering its coordinates and properties as described in "Site Properties" on page 279, by right-clicking the Sites folder and selecting New from the context menu.

To modify the properties of an existing site: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Sites folder and right-click the site, or right-click the site on the map. The context menu appears. 2. Select Properties from the context menu. The site’s Properties dialog box appears. 3. Modify the parameters described in "Site Properties" on page 279. 4. Click OK. If you are creating several sites at the same time, or modifying several existing sites, you can do it quickly by editing or pasting the data directly in the Sites table. You can open the Sites table by right-clicking the Sites folder in the Network explorer and selecting Open Table from the context menu. For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83.

7.2.1.2.2

Creating or Modifying a Transmitter You can modify an existing transmitter or you can create a new transmitter. When you create a new transmitter, its initial settings are based on the default station template displayed in the Radio Planning toolbar. You can access the properties of a transmitter, described in "Transmitter Properties" on page 280, through the transmitter’s Properties dialog box. How you access the Properties dialog box depends on whether you are creating a new transmitter or modifying an existing transmitter. To create a new transmitter: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select New from the context menu. The Transmitters: New Record Properties dialog box appears. 4. Modify the parameters described in "Transmitter Properties" on page 280.

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5. Click OK. When you create a new transmitter, Atoll automatically assigns a cell type based on the default station template. For information on modifying the properties inherited from a cell type, see "Applying a New Cell Type" on page 290. To modify the properties of an existing transmitter: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Transmitters folder. 3. Right-click the transmitter you want to modify. The context menu appears. 4. Select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter’s Properties dialog box appears. 5. Modify the parameters described in "Transmitter Properties" on page 280. 6. Click OK. •

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7.2.1.2.3

If you are creating several transmitters at the same time, or modifying several existing transmitters, you can do it more quickly by editing or pasting the data directly in the Transmitters table. You can open the Transmitters table by rightclicking the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer and selecting Open Table from the context menu. For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83. If you want to add a transmitter to an existing site on the map, you can add the transmitter by right-clicking the site and selecting New Transmitter from the context menu.

Applying a New Cell Type In GSM/GPRS/EDGE, the subcells are defined by the cell type. By selecting a different cell type, you can change the existing subcells to the subcells defined by the new cell type. Atoll will then create the subcells that exist in the new cell type and remove the subcells that do not exist in the new cell type. If the same subcells exist in the new cell type, Atoll offers you the choice of keeping current parameters or resetting them to those found in the new cell type. To apply a new cell type: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Transmitters folder. 3. Right-click the transmitter to which you want to apply a new cell type. The context menu appears. 4. Select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter’s Properties dialog box appears. 5. Select the TRXs tab. 6. Under Cell Type, select the Name of the cell type on which the transmitters subcells will be based from the list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the cell type. 7. Modify the parameters described in "Subcell Properties" on page 282 of the cell type and its subcells. 8. Click OK. If you are applying a new cell type to several transmitters at the same time, or modifying several existing transmitters, you can do it more quickly by editing or pasting the data directly in the Transmitters table. You can open the Transmitters table by right-clicking the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer and selecting Open Table from the context menu. For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83.

7.2.1.2.4

Modifying a Subcell You can modify the parameters of an existing subcell. You can access the properties of a subcell, described in "Subcell Properties" on page 282, through the Properties dialog box of the transmitter where the subcell is located. To create or modify a subcell: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Transmitters folder. 3. Right-click the transmitter on which you want to create a subcell or whose subcell you want to modify. The context menu appears. 4. Select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter’s Properties dialog box appears.

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5. Select the TRXs tab. 6. Modify the parameters described in "Subcell Properties" on page 282. 7. Click OK. If you are creating several subcells at the same time, or modifying several existing subcells, you can do it more quickly by editing or pasting the data directly in the Subcells table. You can open the Subcells table by right-clicking the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer and selecting Subcells > Subcells Table: Standard Data from the context menu. For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83.

7.2.1.2.5

Creating or Modifying a TRX When a GSM/GPRS/EDGE network is first created, TRXs are assigned as part of the dimensioning process. Once the network exists, you can add TRXs manually to either existing or new transmitters. You can also modify existing TRXs. You can access the properties of a TRX, described in "TRX Properties" on page 287, through the Properties dialog box of the transmitter the TRX is assigned to. To create or modify a TRX: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Transmitters folder. 3. Right-click the transmitter on which you want to create a TRX or whose TRX you want to modify. The context menu appears. 4. Select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter’s Properties dialog box appears. 5. Select the TRXs tab. 6. Under TRXs: • •

If you are creating a new TRX, enter the parameters described in "TRX Properties" on page 287 in the row marked with the New Row icon ( ). If you are modifying an existing TRX, modify the parameters described in "TRX Properties" on page 287.

7. Click OK. If you are creating several TRXs at the same time, or modifying several existing TRXs, you can do it more quickly by editing or pasting the data directly in the TRXs table. You can open the TRXs table by right-clicking the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer and selecting Subcells > TRXs Table from the context menu. For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83.

7.2.1.3 Placing a New Station Using a Station Template In Atoll, a station is defined as a site with one or more transmitters sharing the same properties. With Atoll, you can create a network by placing stations based on station templates. This allows you to build your network quickly with consistent parameters, instead of building the network by first creating the site, then the transmitters, and finally by adding subcells and TRXs. To place a new station using a station template: 1. In the Radio Planning toolbar, select a template from the list. 2. Click the New Transmitter or Station button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar.

3. In the map window, move the pointer over the map to where you would like to place the new station. The exact coordinates of the pointer’s current location are visible in the Status bar. 4. Click to place the station. •

•

To place the station more accurately, you can zoom in on the map before you click the New Station button. For information on using the zooming tools, see "Changing the Map Scale" on page 60. If you let the pointer rest over the station you have placed, Atoll displays its tip text with its exact coordinates, allowing you to verify that the location is correct.

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Placing a Station on an Existing Site When you place a new station using a station template as explained in "Placing a New Station Using a Station Template" on page 291, the site is created at the same time as the station. However, you can also place a new station on an existing site. To place a station on an existing site: 1. In the Network explorer, clear the display check box beside the Hexagonal Design folder. 2. In the Radio Planning toolbar, select a template from the list. 3. Click the New Station button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar.

4. Move the pointer to the site on the map. When the frame appears around the site, indicating it is selected, click to place the station.

7.2.1.4 Managing Station Templates Atoll comes with GSM/GPRS/EDGE station templates, but you can also create and modify station templates. The tools for working with station templates can be found on the Radio Planning toolbar (see Figure 7.7).

Figure 7.7: The Radio Planning toolbar In this section, the following are explained: • • • • • •

7.2.1.4.1

"Station Template Properties" on page 292 "Creating a Station Template" on page 293 "Modifying a Station Template" on page 294 "Copying Properties from One Station Template to Another" on page 294 "Modifying a Field in a Station Template" on page 294 "Deleting a Station Template" on page 294.

Station Template Properties The station template Properties dialog box contains the settings for templates that are used for creating new sites and transmitters. It consists of the following tabs: General Tab This tab contains general information about the station template: • • • • •

•

Name: Type the name of the station template. Sectors: Specify the number of transmitters on the site. Hexagon Radius: Specify the theoretical radius of the hexagonal area covered by each sector. HCS Layer, the Cell Type, the Max. TRXs/Sector, the Min. Range, the Max. Range, and the BSIC Domain. Antennas: Specify the following: 1st sector azimuth, from which the azimuth of the other sectors are offset to offer complete coverage of the area, the Height/ground of the antennas from the ground (i.e., the height over the DTM; if the transmitter is situated on a building, the height entered must include the height of the building), and the Mechanical downtilt for the antennas. Electrical Azimuth, Electrical Downtilt, and Additional electrical downtilt display additional antenna parameters. • •

•

•

•

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The Additional electrical downtilt can be made accessible through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide.

Under Main antenna, you can select the main antenna Model, under Smart antenna, you can select the smart antenna Equipment used by the transmitter, and under Number of antenna ports, you can enter the number of antennas used for Transmission and for Reception for MIMO. Under Path loss matrices, you can modify the following: the Main propagation model, the Main radius, and the Main resolution, and the Extended propagation model, the Extended radius, and the Extended resolution. For information on propagation models, see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models. Under Comments, you can add additional information. The information you enter will be the default information in the Comments field of any transmitter created using this station template.

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Transmitter Tab Use this tab to modify the following settings: •

Transmitter Type: If you want Atoll to consider transmitters created using this template as potential servers as well as interferer(s), set the transmitter type to Intra-Network (Server and Interferer). If you want Atoll to consider transmitters created using this template only as interferers, set the type to Intra-Network (Interferer Only). No coverage for an Interferer Only transmitter will be calculated for coverage predictions. This enables you to model the co-existence of different networks in the same geographic area. For more information on studying interference between co-existing networks, see "Modelling the Co-existence of Networks" on page 506. Under Transmission/Reception, you can see the total losses and the noise figure of the transmitter. Atoll calculates losses and noise according to the characteristics of the equipment assigned to the transmitter. Equipment can be assigned by using the Equipment Specifications dialog box which appears when you click the Equipment button. For information on the Equipment Specifications dialog box, see "Transmitter Properties" on page 280.

•

Power: Under Power, you can select to enter either Power or EIRP (Effective Isotropical Radiated Power). If you select EIRP, you can enter the value yourself, without defining power and losses for the transmitter. If you select Power, Atoll calculates losses and noise according to the characteristics of the equipment assigned to the transmitter. Equipment can be assigned using the Equipment Specifications dialog box which appears when you click the Equipment button. Atoll calculates EIRP with the following formula: EIRP = Power + Gain - DL Losses

If you want transmitters created with this station template to be active by default, select the Active check box. Configurations Tab On this tab, you select the configuration used for GSM and GPRS/EDGE stations. •

GPRS/EDGE Properties: Select the GPRS/EDGE Transmitter option if the transmitters are going to be packet-switched capable transmitters, select a Coding Scheme Configuration from the list. For information on creating a coding scheme configuration, see "Coding Scheme Configuration" on page 495. When you model EDGE Evolution on the transmitter side Atoll has to consider: •

The support of high order modulations and the use of turbo codes in specific coding schemes which can be found in the selected GPRS/EDGE Configuration.

In addition, EDGE Evolution can be modelled on the terminal side through: •

•

The support of dual antenna terminals (Mobile Station Receive Diversity) and enhanced single antenna terminals (Single Antenna Interference Cancellation). Atoll offers a statistical modelling of these through the use of an EDGE evolution configuration, with the effect of SAIC or diversity already included both in the coding scheme admission thresholds and on the throughput versus C (or C⁄I) graphs. The support of multi-carriers which can be set up on the terminal side.

For more information, see "Modelling Terminals" on page 249. •

For all transmitters, select a codec configuration from the list. For information on creating a coding scheme configuration, see "Codec Configuration" on page 492.

Neighbours tab Max number of neighbours: Set the maximum numbers of Intra-technology and Inter-technology neighbours. For information on defining neighbours, see "Neighbour Planning" on page 223. Other Properties The Other Properties tab will only appear if you have defined additional fields in the Sites table, or if you have defined an additional field in the Station Template Properties dialog box.

7.2.1.4.2

Creating a Station Template When you create a station template, you can create it by basing it on the station template that most closely resembles the template you want to create. Therefore, you can create a new template by only modifying the parameters that differ.

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To create a station template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the GSM Network Settings folder, right-click the Station Templates folder, and select Open Table from the context menu. The Station Templates table appears. 2. In the Station Templates table, right-click the station template that most closely resembles the station template you want to create and select Copy from the context menu. 3. Right-click the row marked with the New Row icon ( ) and select Paste from the context menu. The station template you copied in step 2. is pasted in the new row, with the Name of the new station template given as the same as the template copied but preceded by "Copy of". 4. Edit the station template properties as described in "Station Template Properties" on page 292. 5. Click OK.

7.2.1.4.3

Modifying a Station Template You can modify a station template directly in the Station Templates table, or you can open the Properties dialog box for that station template and modify the parameters in the dialog box. To modify a station template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the GSM Network Settings folder, right-click the Station Templates folder, and select Open Table from the context menu. The Station Templates table opens. 2. Right-click the station template that you want to modify and select Record Properties from the context menu. The station template’s Properties dialog box appears. 3. Modify the station template parameters as described in "Station Template Properties" on page 292 4. Click OK.

7.2.1.4.4

Copying Properties from One Station Template to Another You can copy properties from one template to another template by using the Station Templates table. To copy properties from one template to another template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the GSM Network Settings folder, right-click the Station Templates folder, and select Open Table from the context menu. The Station Templates table opens. 2. In the Stations Templates table, copy the settings in the row corresponding to the station template that you want to copy from and paste them into the row corresponding to the station template that you want to modify.

7.2.1.4.5

Modifying a Field in a Station Template You can add, delete, and edit user-defined data table fields in the Station Templates table. If you want to add a user-defined field to the station templates, you must have already added it to the Sites table for it to appear as an option in the station template properties To modify a field in a station template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the GSM Network Settings folder, right-click the Station Templates folder, and select Properties from the context menu. The Station Template Properties dialog box opens. 2. Select the Table tab. 3. Add, delete, or edit the user-defined fields as described in "Adding, Deleting, and Editing Data Table Fields" on page 76. 4. Click OK.

7.2.1.4.6

Deleting a Station Template To delete a station template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the GSM Network Settings folder and the Station Templates folder, and rightclick the station template that you want to delete. The context menu appears. 2. Select Delete from the context menu. The template is deleted.

7.2.1.5 Duplicating an Existing Base Station You can create new base stations by duplicating an existing base station. When you duplicate an existing base station, the base station you create will have the same transmitter, subcell, TRX parameter values as the original base station. If no site exists

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where you place the duplicated base station, Atoll will create a new site with the same parameters as the site of the original base station. Duplicating a base station allows you to: • •

Quickly create a new base station with the same settings as the original base station in order to study the effect of a new base station on the coverage and capacity of the network, and Quickly create a homogeneous network with stations that have the same characteristics.

To duplicate an existing base station: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Sites folder. 3. Right-click the site you want to duplicate. The context menu appears. 4. From the context menu, select one of the following: • •

Select Duplicate > Without Neighbours from the context menu, if you want to duplicate the base station without the intra- and inter-technology neighbours of its transmitters. Select Duplicate > With Neighbours from the context menu, if you want to duplicate the base station along with the lists of intra- and inter-technology neighbours of its transmitters.

5. Place the new base station on the map using the mouse: •

•

Creating a duplicate base station and site: In the map window, move the pointer over the map to where you would like to place the duplicate. The exact coordinates of the pointer’s current location are visible in the Status bar. Placing the duplicate base station on an existing site: In the map window, move the pointer over the existing site where you would like to place the duplicate. When the pointer is over the site, the site is automatically selected. The exact coordinates of the pointer’s current location are visible in the Status bar. •

•

To place the base station more accurately, you can zoom in on the map before you select Duplicate from the context menu. For information on using the zooming tools, see "Changing the Map Scale" on page 60. If you let the pointer rest over the station you have placed, Atoll displays tip text with its exact coordinates, allowing you to verify that the location is correct.

6. Click to place the duplicate base station. A new base station is placed on the map. If the duplicate base station was placed on a new site, the site, transmitters, subcells, and TRXs of the new base station have the same names as the site, transmitters, subcells, and TRXs of the original base station with each name marked as "Copy of." The site, transmitters, subcells, and TRXs of the duplicate base station have the same settings as those of the original base station. If the duplicate base station was placed on an existing site, the transmitters, subcells, and TRXs of the new base station have the same names as the transmitters, subcells, and TRXs of the original base station with each name preceded by the name of the site on which the duplicate was placed. All the remote antennas and repeaters of any transmitter on the original site are also duplicated. Any duplicated remote antennas and repeaters will retain the same donor transmitter as the original. If you want the duplicated remote antenna or repeater to use a transmitter on the duplicated base station, you must change the donor transmitter manually. You can also place a series of duplicate base stations by pressing and holding Ctrl in step 6. and clicking to place each duplicate base station. For more information on the site, transmitter, subcell, and TRX properties, see "Definition of a Base Station" on page 279.

7.2.1.6 Studying the Profile Around a Base Station In Atoll, you can make a profile analysis to study obstacles along the path between a reference transmitter and any point on the map. Atoll displays the geographic profile between the transmitter and the receiver with clutter heights. An ellipsoid indicating the Fresnel zone is also displayed allowing you to study obstructions to radio signals along the path. You can also study propagation losses along the profile as well as the signal level received at the point. Before studying path loss along a profile, you must assign a propagation model to the transmitter. The propagation model takes the radio and geographic data into account and calculates losses along the transmitter-receiver path. The profile is calculated in real time, using the propagation model, allowing you to study the profile and get a prediction on the selected point. For information on assigning a propagation model, see "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187.

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To study the profile between a transmitter and a receiver: 1. In the map window, select the transmitter from which you want to make a point analysis. 2. Click the Point Analysis button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar. The Point Analysis window appears and the

pointer changes ( ) to represent the receiver. A line appears on the map connecting the selected transmitter and the current position. You can move the receiver on the map (see "Moving the Receiver on the Map" on page 203). 3. Select the Profile view. The Profile view displays the profile between the transmitter and the receiver with the terrain and clutter heights.

Figure 7.8: Point Analysis Tool - Profile view The distance between the transmitter and the receiver is displayed at the top of the Profile view. The altitude is reported on the vertical axis and the receiver-transmitter distance on the horizontal axis. A blue ellipsoid indicates the Fresnel zone between the transmitter and the receiver. A green line indicates the line of sight (LOS) with the angle of the LOS read from the vertical antenna pattern. Along the profile, if the signal meets an obstacle, the obstacle causes attenuation with diffraction displayed by a red vertical line (if the used propagation model is able to calculate diffraction). The main diffraction edge is the one that intersects the Fresnel ellipsoid the most. Propagation models that use a 3 knife-edge Deygout diffraction method may also display two additional diffraction edges. The total attenuation is displayed above the main diffraction edge. The results of the analysis are displayed at the top of the Profile view: • • • •

The received signal strength from the selected transmitter for the cell with the highest reference signal power The propagation model used The shadowing margin and the indoor loss (if selected) The distance between the transmitter and the receiver.

4. If needed, select an other transmitter from the list. You can click the Properties button ( properties.

) to access the transmitter

5. Select the subcell to be analysed from the Subcell list. 6. Click the Options button ( • • • •

) to display the Calculation Options dialog box and change the following:

Change the X and Y coordinates to change the current position of the receiver. Select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a Cell edge coverage probability. For more information, see "Taking Shadowing into Account in Point Analyses" on page 204. Select Signal level, Path loss, or Total losses from the Result type list. You can select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. For more information, see "Taking Indoor Losses into Account" on page 203.

7. In the Profile view toolbar, you can use the following tools: •

Click the Geographic Profile button ( Click the Geographic Profile button ( receiver.

296

) to view the geographic profile between the transmitter and the receiver. ) again to view the radio signal path between the transmitter and the

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•

Click the Link Budget button (

•

Click the Detailed Report button ( ) to display a text document with details on the displayed profile analysis. The detailed report is only available for the Standard Propagation Model. Click the Copy button ( ) to copy the content of the view and paste it as a graphic into a graphic editing or wordprocessing programme.

• • •

) to display a dialog box with the link budget.

Click the Print button ( ) to print the content of the view. Click the Centre on Map button ( ) to centre the map window on the receiver.

8. To end the point analysis, click the Point Analysis button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar again.

7.2.2 Creating a Group of Base Stations You can create base stations individually as explained in "Creating a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Base Station" on page 279, or you can create one or several base stations by using station templates as explained in "Placing a New Station Using a Station Template" on page 291. However, if you have a large data-planning project and you already have existing data, you can import this data into your current Atoll document and create a group of base stations. When you import data into your current Atoll document, the coordinate system of the imported data must be the same as the display coordinate system used in the document. If you cannot change the coordinate system of your source data, you can temporarily change the display coordinate system of the Atoll document to match the source data. For information on changing the coordinate system, see "Setting a Coordinate System" on page 41. You can import base station data in the following ways: •

Copying and pasting data: If you have data in table form, either in another Atoll document or in a spreadsheet, you can copy this data and paste it into the tables in your current Atoll document. When you create a group of base stations by copying and pasting data, you must copy and paste site data in the Sites table, transmitter data in the Transmitters table, and subcell data in the Subcells table, in that order. The table you copy data from must have the same column layout as the table you are pasting data into.

For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83. •

Importing data: If you have data in text or comma-separated value (CSV) format, you can import it into the tables in the current document. If the data is in another Atoll document, you can first export it in text or CSV format and then import it into the tables of your current Atoll document. When you are importing, Atoll allows you to select what values you import into which columns of the table. When you create a group of base stations by importing data, you must import site data in the Sites table, transmitter data in the Transmitters table, and subcell data in the Subcells table, in that order. For information on exporting table data, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. For information on importing table data, see "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88. You can quickly create a series of base stations for study purposes using the Hexagonal Design tool ( ) on the Radio Planning toolbar. For information, see "Placing a New Station Using a Station Template" on page 291.

7.2.3 Modifying Sites and Transmitters Directly on the Map In Atoll, you can access the Properties dialog box of a site or transmitter using the context menu in the Network explorer. However, in a complex radio-planning project, it can be difficult to find the data object in the Network explorer, although it might be visible in the map window. Atoll lets you access the Properties dialog box of sites and transmitters directly from the map. You can also select a site to display all of the transmitters located on it in the Site explorer. When selecting a transmitter, if there is more than one transmitter with the same azimuth, clicking the transmitters in the map window opens a context menu allowing you to select the transmitter. You can also change the position of the station by dragging it, or by letting Atoll find a higher location for it. Modifying sites and transmitters directly on the map is explained in detail in Chapter 1: Working Environment:

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"Selecting One out of Several Transmitters" on page 57 "Moving a Site Using the Mouse" on page 57 "Moving a Site to a Higher Location" on page 57 "Changing the Azimuth of the Antenna Using the Mouse" on page 57 "Changing the Antenna Position Relative to the Site Using the Mouse" on page 58.

7.2.4 Display Tips for Base Stations Atoll allows to you to display information about base stations in a number of different ways. This enables you not only to display selected information, but also to distinguish base stations at a glance. The following tools can be used to display information about base stations: •

•

•

•

Label: You can display information about each object, such as each site or transmitter, in the form of a label that is displayed with the object. You can display information from every field in that object type’s data table, including from fields that you add. The label is always displayed, so you should choose information that you would want to always be visible; too much information will lead to a cluttered display. For information on defining the label, see "Associating a Label to an Object" on page 53. Tip text: You can display information about each object, such as each site or transmitter, in the form of tip text that is only visible when you move the pointer over the object. You can choose to display more information than in the label, because the information is only displayed when you move the pointer over the object. You can display information from any field in that object type’s data table, including from fields that you add. For information on defining the tip text, see "Associating a Tip Text to an Object" on page 54. Transmitter colour: You can set the transmitter colour to display information about the transmitter. For example, you can select "Discrete Values" to distinguish transmitters by antenna type, or to distinguish inactive from active sites. You can also define the display type for transmitters as "Automatic." Atoll then automatically assigns a colour to each transmitter, ensuring that each transmitter has a different colour than the transmitters surrounding it. For information on defining the transmitter colour, see "Setting the Display Type" on page 52. Transmitter symbol: You can select one of several symbols to represent transmitters. For example, you can select a symbol that graphically represents the antenna half-power beamwidth (

). If you have two transmitters on the

same site with the same azimuth, you can differentiate them by selecting different symbols for each ( For information on defining the transmitter symbol, see "Setting the Display Type" on page 52.

and

).

7.2.5 Modelling Packet-switched Transmitters By default, transmitters are not packet-capable in Atoll GSM/GPRS/EDGE documents. Therefore, when modelling a GPRS/ EDGE-capable network, it is important to correctly configure it: 1. Verify the definition of the existing coding schemes (see "Opening the Coding Schemes Table" on page 495). 2. Correctly define the coding scheme configuration (see "Creating or Modifying a Coding Scheme Configuration" on page 496). 3. For each packet-capable transmitter, select the GPRS/EDGE Transmitter check box to identify the transmitter as GPRS/EDGE-capable (see "Transmitter Properties" on page 280). 4. Choose configuration from the Coding Scheme Configuration list that is consistent with the transmitter’s configuration, and that is also consistent with other parameters, such as, HCS layers, frequency bands, and cell types. For example, if the cell type assigned to the transmitter is "Concentric Cell 1800," it would be illogical to choose "GPRS 900" as the configuration (see "Transmitter Properties" on page 280).

7.2.6 Creating a Repeater A repeater receives, amplifies, and re-transmits the radiated or conducted RF carrier both in downlink and uplink. It has a donor side and a server side. The donor side receives the signal from a donor transmitter, repeater, or remote antenna. This signal might be carried by different types of links such as radio link or microwave link. The server side re-transmits the received signal. When Atoll models GSM repeaters, the modelling focuses on the additional coverage these systems provide to transmitters in the downlink. In this section, the following are explained: • • • • • •

298

"Opening the Repeaters Table" on page 299 "Creating and Modifying Repeater Equipment" on page 299 "Placing a Repeater on the Map Using the Mouse" on page 299 "Creating Several Repeaters" on page 300 "Defining the Properties of a Repeater" on page 300 "Tips for Updating Repeater Parameters" on page 302.

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Broad-band repeaters are not modelled. Atoll assumes that all carriers from the 3G donor transmitter are amplified.

7.2.6.1 Opening the Repeaters Table Repeaters and their defining parameters are stored in the Repeaters table. To open the Repeaters table: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Repeaters > Open Table from the context menu. The Repeaters table appears.

7.2.6.2 Creating and Modifying Repeater Equipment You can define repeater equipment to be assigned to each repeater in the network. To create repeater equipment: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Radio Network Equipment folder. 3. In the Radio Network Equipment folder, right-click Repeater Equipment. The context menu appears. 4. Select Open Table from the context menu. The Repeater Equipment table appears. 5. Enter the following in the row marked with the New Row icon (

):

a. Enter a Name and Manufacturer for the new equipment. b. Enter a Noise Figure (dB). The repeater causes a rise in noise at the donor transmitter, so the noise figure is used to calculate the UL loss to be added to the donor transmitter UL losses. The noise figure must be a positive value. c. Enter minimum and maximum repeater amplification gains in the Min. Gain and Max Gain columns. These parameters enable Atoll to ensure that the user-defined amplifier gain is consistent with the limits of the equipment if there are any. d. Enter a Gain Increment. Atoll uses the increment value when you increase or decrease the repeater amplifier gain using the buttons to the right of the Amplification box ( box.

) on the General tab of the repeater Properties dialog

e. Enter a Max. Downlink Power. This parameter is used to ensure that the downlink power is not exceeded after amplification by the repeater.

f.

If desired, enter an Internal Delay and Comments. These fields are for information only and are not used in calculations.

To modify repeater equipment: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button (

) to expand the Radio Network Equipment folder.

3. In the Radio Network Equipment folder, right-click Repeater Equipment. The context menu appears. 4. Select Open Table from the context menu. The Repeater Equipment table appears. 5. Change the parameters in the row containing the repeater equipment you want to modify.

7.2.6.3 Placing a Repeater on the Map Using the Mouse In Atoll, you can create a repeater and place it using the mouse. When you create a repeater, you can add it to an existing site, or have Atoll automatically create a new site. Atoll supports cascading repeaters, in other words, repeaters that extend the coverage of another repeater or of a remote antenna. To create a repeater and place it using the mouse: 1. Select the donor transmitter, repeater, or remote antenna. You can select it from the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer, or directly on the map. 2. Click the arrow next to New Repeater or Remote Antenna button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

3. Select Repeater from the menu.

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4. Click the map to place the repeater. The repeater is placed on the map, represented by a symbol ( ) in the same colour as the donor transmitter, repeater, or remote antenna. If the repeater is inactive, it is displayed by an empty icon. By default, the repeater has the same azimuth as the donor. Its tip text and label display the same information as displayed for the donor. As well, its tip text identifies the repeater and the donor. In the explorer window, the repeater is found in the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer under its donor transmitter, repeater, or remote antenna. For information on defining the properties of the new repeater, see "Defining the Properties of a Repeater" on page 300. •

•

When the donor is a transmitter, you can see to which base station the repeater is connected by clicking it; Atoll displays a link to the donor transmitter. You can hide the link by clicking it again. When the donor is a repeater or a remote antenna, Atoll displays a spider-type link showing the entire chain down to the donor transmitter. The same spider-type link is displayed when you click any of the items belonging to the chain is clicked (i.e., donor transmitter, any repeater, or any remote antenna).

7.2.6.4 Creating Several Repeaters In Atoll, the characteristics of each repeater are stored in the Repeaters table. If you have data in table form, either in another Atoll document or in a spreadsheet, you can copy this data and paste it into the Repeaters table in your current Atoll document. To paste the information into the Repeaters table: 1. Open the Repeaters table as explained in "Opening the Repeaters Table" on page 299. 2. Copy the data from the source document and paste it into the Repeaters table. The table you copy data from must have the same column layout as the table you are pasting data into.

For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83.

7.2.6.5 Defining the Properties of a Repeater To define the properties of a repeater: 1. Right-click the repeater either directly on the map, or in the Repeaters table (for information on opening the Repeaters table, see "Opening the Repeaters Table" on page 299). The context menu appears. 2. Select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 3. Click the General tab. You can modify the following parameters: •

You can change the Name of the repeater. By default, repeaters are named "SiteX_Y_RepZ" where "X" is the donor site number, "Y" the donor transmitter number, and "Z" a number assigned to the repeater when it was created. •

•

• • •

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If the donor is a remote antenna or another repeater, then "RepZ" is preceded by "RemA_" or "RepB_" where "A" and "B" identify the donor remote antenna and the donor repeater. In Multi-RAT documents, a repeater’s name is "SiteX_T_Y_RepZ" where "T" stands for the technology (either GSM, UMTS, or LTE).

You can change the Donor by selecting it from the Donor list. The Donor can be a transmitter, a remote antenna, or another repeater. Clicking the Browse button opens the Properties dialog box of the selected donor. You can change the Site on which the repeater is located. Clicking the Browse button opens the Properties dialog box of the selected site. You can enter a value in the Shared Antenna (coverage side) field for the repeater. This field is used to identify the transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas that are located on the same site or on sites with the same position and that share an antenna. The entry in the field must be the same for all such transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas. When changes are made to the position offset (Dx, Dy), azimuth, antenna height, or mechanical tilt of one antenna, Atoll automatically synchronises the same changes to all other transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas defined as having a shared antenna.

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This field is also used for multi-band transmitters to synchronise antenna parameters for different frequency bands. For more information, see "Advanced Modelling of Multi-Band Transmitters" on page 500. •

Under Antenna Position, you can define the position of the repeater, if it is not located on the site itself: •

• •

Relative to Site: Select Relative to Site, if you want to define the position of the repeater relative to the site itself and then enter the XY offsets. • Coordinates: Select Coordinates, if you want to define the position of the repeater by its XY coordinates. You can select equipment from the Equipment list. Clicking the Browse button opens the Properties dialog box of the equipment. You can change the Amplification Gain. The amplification gain is used in the link budget to evaluate the repeater total gain.

4. Click the Donor Side tab. You can modify the following parameters: •

Under Donor-Repeater Link, select a Link Type. • •

If you select Microwave Link, enter the Link Losses and proceed to step 5. If you select Air, select a Propagation Model and enter the Propagation Losses or click Calculate to determine the actual propagation losses between the donor and the repeater. If you do not select a propagation model, the propagation losses between the donor transmitter and the repeater are calculated using the ITU 526-5 propagation model. When you create an off-air repeater, it is assumed that the link between the donor transmitter and the repeater has the same frequency as the network. If you want to create a remote antenna, you must select Optical Fibre Link.

•

If you selected Air under Donor-Repeater Link, enter the following information under Antenna: •

Model: The type of antenna is visible in the Model list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the antenna. Click the Select button to open the Antenna Selection Assistant. This assistant lists all the antennas that match the currently selected physical antenna and whose minimum and maximum operating frequencies include the operating frequency of the transmitter. For more information, see "Assigning Antennas to Transmitters" on page 159

•

•

Height/Ground: The Height/Ground box gives the height of the antenna above the ground. This is added to the altitude of the site as given by the DTM. If the repeater is situated on a building, the height entered must include the height of building. Mechanical Azimuth and Mechanical Downtilt display additional antenna parameters. You can click the Calculate button to update the mechanical azimuth and mechanical downtilt values after changing the repeater donor side antenna height or the repeater location. If you choose another site or change site coordinates in the General tab, click Apply before clicking the Calculate button.

•

If you selected Air under Donor-Repeater Link, enter the following information under Feeders: i.

Select a Type of feeder from the list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the feeder.

ii. Enter the Length of the feeder cable at Transmission and at Reception. 5. Click the Coverage Side tab. You can modify the following parameters: • •

Select the Active check box. Only active repeaters (displayed in red in the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer) are calculated. Under Transmission, enter the a value for EIRP (Effective Isotropically Radiated Power) or click Calculate to determine the actual gains. Atoll calculates the EIRP with the following formula: EIRP = Power + Gain - Losses Even if the EIRP is a DL parameter, Atoll can extract the corresponding gain from the knowledge of the various transmission gains and losses. This gain is then re-used to evaluate UL power used in any UL calculation.

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•

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Under Antennas, you can modify the following parameters: •

•

Height/Ground: The Height/Ground box gives the height of the antenna above the ground. This is added to the altitude of the site as given by the DTM. If the repeater is situated on a building, the height entered must include the height of building. Main Antenna: Under Main Antenna, the type of antenna is visible in the Model list. Click the Browse button to access the properties of the antenna. Click the Select button to open the Antenna Selection Assistant. This assistant lists all the antennas that match the currently selected physical antenna and whose minimum and maximum operating frequencies include the operating frequency of the transmitter. For more information, see "Assigning Antennas to Transmitters" on page 159

• •

Mechanical Azimuth, Mechanical downtilt, Electrical Azimuth, Electrical Downtilt, and Additional electrical downtilt display additional antenna parameters. Under Secondary antennas, you can select one or more secondary antennas in the Antenna column and enter their Azimuth, Mechanical downtilt, Additional electrical downtilt, and % Power. • • •

•

The Additional electrical downtilt can be made accessible through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75.

Under Feeders, you can modify the following information: i.

Select a Type of feeder from the list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the feeder.

ii. Enter the Length of the feeder cable at Transmission and at Reception. •

Under Losses, you can modify the following information: •

Misc. losses: You can specify additional losses in dB for Transmission and Reception.

6. Click the Propagation tab. Since repeaters are taken into account during calculations, you must set the propagation parameters. On the Propagation tab, you can modify the following: the Propagation Model, Radius, and Resolution for both the Main Matrix and the Extended Matrix. By default, the propagation characteristics of the repeater (model, calculation radius, and grid resolution) are the same as those of the donor transmitter. For information on propagation models, see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models.

7.2.6.6 Tips for Updating Repeater Parameters Atoll provides you with a few shortcuts that you can use to change certain repeater parameters: • •

You can update the calculated azimuth and downtilt of the donor-side antennas of all repeaters by selecting Repeaters > Calculate Donor Side Azimuths and Tilts from the Transmitters context menu. You can update the EIRP (Effective Isotropically Radiated Power) of all repeaters by selecting Repeaters > Calculate EIRP from the Transmitters context menu. You can prevent Atoll from updating the EIRP of selected repeaters by creating a custom Boolean field named "FreezeTotalGain" in the Repeaters table and setting the value of the field to "True." Afterwards, when you select Repeaters > Calculate EIRP from the Transmitters context menu, Atoll will only update the EIRP for repeaters with the custom field "FreezeTotalGain" set to "False."

• •

You can update the propagation losses of all off-air repeaters by selecting Repeaters > Calculate Donor Side Propagation Losses from the Transmitters context menu. You can select a repeater on the map and change its azimuth (see "Changing the Azimuth of the Antenna Using the Mouse" on page 57) or its position relative to the site (see "Changing the Antenna Position Relative to the Site Using the Mouse" on page 58).

7.2.7 Creating a Remote Antenna Atoll allows you to create remote antennas to position antennas at locations that would normally require long runs of feeder cable. A remote antenna is connected to the base station with an optical fibre. Remote antennas allow you to ensure radio coverage in an area without a new base station. In Atoll, the remote antenna should be connected to a base station that does not have any antennas. It is assumed that a remote antenna, as opposed to a repeater, does not have any equipment and generates no amplification gain nor noise. In certain cases, you might want to model a remote antenna with equipment or a remote antenna connected to a base station

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that has antennas. This can be done by modelling a repeater. For information on creating a repeater, see "Creating a Repeater" on page 298. In this section, the following are explained: • • • • •

"Opening the Remote Antennas Table" on page 303 "Placing a Remote Antenna on the Map Using the Mouse" on page 303 "Creating Several Remote Antennas" on page 303 "Defining the Properties of a Remote Antenna" on page 304 "Tips for Updating Remote Antenna Parameters" on page 305.

7.2.7.1 Opening the Remote Antennas Table The remote antennas and their defining parameters are stored in the Remote Antennas table. To open the Remote Antennas table: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Remote Antennas > Open Table from the context menu. The Remote Antennas table appears.

7.2.7.2 Placing a Remote Antenna on the Map Using the Mouse In Atoll, you can create a remote antenna and place it using the mouse. When you create a remote antenna, you can add it to an existing base station without antennas, or have Atoll automatically create a new site. To create a remote antenna and place it using the mouse: 1. Select the donor transmitter. You can select it from the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer, or directly on the map. Ensure that the remote antenna’s donor transmitter does not have any antennas.

2. Click the arrow next to New Repeater or Remote Antenna button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

3. Select Remote Antenna from the menu. 4. Click the map to place the remote antenna. The remote antenna is placed on the map, represented by a symbol ( ) in the same colour as the donor transmitter. If the remote antenna is inactive, it is displayed by an empty icon. By default, the remote antenna has the same azimuth as the donor transmitter. Its tip text and label display the same information as displayed for the donor transmitter. As well, its tip text identifies the remote antenna and the donor transmitter. For information on defining the properties of the new remote antenna, see "Defining the Properties of a Remote Antenna" on page 304. •

•

When the donor is a transmitter, you can see to which base station the repeater is connected by clicking it; Atoll displays a link to the donor transmitter. You can hide the link by clicking it again. When the donor is a repeater or a remote antenna, Atoll displays a spider-type link showing the entire chain down to the donor transmitter. The same spider-type link is displayed when you click any of the items belonging to the chain is clicked (i.e., donor transmitter, any repeater, or any remote antenna).

7.2.7.3 Creating Several Remote Antennas In Atoll, the characteristics of each remote antenna are stored in the Remote Antennas table. You can create several remote antennas at the same time by pasting the information into the Remote Antennas table. •

If you have data in table form, either in another Atoll document or in a spreadsheet, you can copy this data and paste it into the Remote Antennas table in your current Atoll document. The table you copy data from must have the same column layout as the table you are pasting data into.

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For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83.

7.2.7.4 Defining the Properties of a Remote Antenna To define the properties of a remote antenna: 1. Right-click the remote antenna either directly on the map, or from the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer. The context menu appears. 2. Select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 3. Click the General tab. You can modify the following parameters: •

You can change the Name of the remote antenna. By default, remote antennas are named "SiteX_Y_RemZ" where "X" is the donor site number, "Y" the donor transmitter number, and "Z" a number assigned to the remote antenna when it was created. •

•

• • •

•

If the donor is a repeater or another remote antenna, then "RemZ" is preceded by "RepA_" or "RemB_" where "A" and "B" identify the donor repeater and the donor remote antenna. In Multi-RAT documents, a remote antenna’s name is "SiteX_T_Y_RemZ" where "T" stands for the technology (either GSM, UMTS, or LTE).

You can change the Donor by selecting it from the Donor list. The Donor can be a transmitter, another remote antenna or a repeater. Clicking the Browse button opens the Properties dialog box of the selected donor. You can change the Site on which the remote antenna is located. Clicking the Browse button opens the Properties dialog box of the selected site. You can enter a value in the Shared Antenna (coverage side) field for the remote antenna. This field is used to identify the transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas located on the same site or on sites with the same position. The entry in the field must be the same for all such transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas. Shared antennas are located on the same site or on sites with the same position. When changes are made to the position offset (Dx, Dy), azimuth, antenna height, or mechanical tilt of one antenna, Atoll automatically synchronises the same changes to all other transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas defined as having a shared antenna. Under Antenna Position, you can define the position of the remote antenna, if it is not located on the site itself: • •

Relative to Site: Select Relative to Site, if you want to define the position of the remote antenna relative to the site itself and then enter the XY offsets. Coordinates: Select Coordinates, if you want to define the position of the remote antenna by its XY coordinates. A remote antenna does not have equipment.

4. Click the Donor Side tab. You can modify the following parameters: •

Under Donor-Repeater Link, select Optical Fibre Link and enter the Fibre Losses.

5. Click the Coverage Side tab. You can modify the following parameters: • •

Select the Active check box. Only active remote antennas (displayed in red in the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer) are calculated. Under Transmission, enter the a value for EIRP (Effective Isotropically Radiated Power) or click Calculate to determine the actual gains. Atoll calculates the EIRP with the following formula: EIRP = Power + Gain - Losses Even if the EIRP is a DL parameter, Atoll can extract the corresponding gain from the knowledge of the various transmission gains and losses. This gain is then re-used to evaluate UL power used in any UL calculation.

•

Under Antennas, you can modify the following parameters: •

•

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Height/Ground: The Height/Ground box gives the height of the antenna above the ground. This is added to the altitude of the site as given by the DTM. If the remote antenna is situated on a building, the height entered must include the height of building. Main Antenna: Under Main Antenna, the type of antenna is visible in the Model list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the antenna.

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Click the Select button to open the Antenna Selection Assistant. This assistant lists all the antennas that match the currently selected physical antenna and whose minimum and maximum operating frequencies include the operating frequency of the transmitter. For more information, see "Assigning Antennas to Transmitters" on page 159 • •

Mechanical Azimuth, Mechanical downtilt, Electrical Azimuth, Electrical Downtilt, and Additional electrical downtilt display additional antenna parameters. Under Secondary Antennas, you can select one or more secondary antennas in the Antenna column and enter their Azimuth, Mechanical Downtilt, Additional Electrical Downtilt, and % Power. • • •

•

The Additional Electrical Downtilt can be made accessible through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75.

Under Feeders, you can modify the following information: i.

Select a Type of feeder from the list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the selected feeder.

ii. Enter the Length of the feeder cable at Transmission and at Reception. •

Under Losses, you can modify the following information: •

Misc. losses: You can specify additional losses in dB for Transmission and Reception.

6. Click the Propagation tab. Since remote antennas are taken into account during calculations, you must set propagation parameters, as with transmitters. On the Propagation tab, you can modify the following: the Propagation Model, Radius, and Resolution for both the Main Matrix and the Extended Matrix. By default, the propagation characteristics of the remote antenna (model, calculation radius, and grid resolution) are the same as those of the donor transmitter. For information on propagation models, see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models.

7.2.7.5 Tips for Updating Remote Antenna Parameters Atoll provides you with a few shortcuts that you can use to change certain remote antenna parameters: •

You can update the EIRP (Effective Isotropically Radiated Power) of all remote antennas by selecting Remote Antennas > Calculate EIRP from the Transmitters context menu. You can prevent Atoll from updating the EIRP of selected remote antennas by creating a custom Boolean field named "FreezeTotalGain" in the Remote Antennas table and setting the value of the field to "True." Afterwards, when you select Remote Antennas > Calculate EIRP from the Transmitters context menu, Atoll will only update the EIRP for remote antennas with the custom field "FreezeTotalGain" set to "False."

•

You can select a remote antenna on the map and change its azimuth (see "Changing the Azimuth of the Antenna Using the Mouse" on page 57) or its position relative to the site (see "Changing the Antenna Position Relative to the Site Using the Mouse" on page 58).

7.2.8 Studying GSM Base Stations You can study one or several base stations to test the effectiveness of the set parameters. Coverage predictions on groups of base stations can take a large amount of time and consume a lot of computer resources. Restricting your coverage prediction to the base station you are currently working on allows you get the results quickly. You can expand your coverage prediction to a number of base stations once you have optimised the settings for each individual base station. Before studying a base station, you must assign a propagation model. The propagation model takes the radio and geographic data into account and calculates propagation losses along the transmitter-receiver path. This allows you to predict the received signal level at any given point. Any coverage prediction you make on a base station uses the propagation model to calculate its results. For more information, see "The Calculation Process" on page 186. In this section, the following are explained: • • • • • •

"GSM Prediction Properties" on page 306 "Signal Level Coverage Predictions" on page 307 "Displaying Coverage Prediction Results" on page 314 "Analysing Signal Reception Using the Point Analysis" on page 315 "Comparing Coverage Predictions" on page 316 "Multi-point Analyses" on page 320

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7.2.8.1 GSM Prediction Properties You can configure the following parameters in the Properties dialog box. The General Tab The General tab allows you to specify the following settings for the prediction: • •

Name: Specify the assigned Name of the coverage prediction. Resolution: Specify the display resolution. To improve memory consumption and optimise the calculation times, you should set the display resolutions of coverage predictions according to the precision required. The following table lists the levels of precision that are usually sufficient: Size of the Coverage Prediction

Display Resolution

City Centre

5m

City

20 m

County

50 m

State

100 m

Country

Dependent on the size of the country

The resolution specified here is only for display purposes. The calculated resolution is independently specified in the propagation settings. For more information, see "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187. A read-only Unique ID is generated when you create a new coverage prediction. This ID can later be found between the and tags in the following files: • •

• •

"studies.XML" file created in the installation folder if at least one coverage prediction was saved using the Save as Customised Prediction command. ".XML" files (one per prediction) created in the following folder if coverage predictions were calculated with Display type = "Value intervals": C:\\.studies\{}

Receiver height: This displays the height of the receiver defined in the Calculation Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box Comments: Specify an optional description of comment for the prediction. Under Display Configuration, you can create a Filter to select which sites to display in the results. For information on filtering, see "Filtering Data" on page 99. The Group By and Sort buttons are not available when making a so-called "global" coverage prediction (e.g., signal level coverage prediction). The Group By and Sort buttons are not available when making a so-called "global" coverage prediction (e.g., signal level coverage prediction).

The Conditions Tab The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. •

•

At the top of the Conditions tab, you can set the range of signal level to be considered for the current prediction. You can click the down arrow button and select Subcell C Threshold to use the reception threshold specified for each subcell (including the defined power reduction) as the lower end of the signal level range or Global C Threshold to enter a threshold to be used for all subcells as the lower end of the signal level range. Server: Select either All, Best Signal Level or Second Best Signal Level: • •

Select All to consider all servers. Select Best Signal Level or Second Best Signal Level to also specify an Overlap margin. Selecting All or Best Signal Level will give you the same results because Atoll displays the results of the best server in either case. Selecting Best Signal Level requires a longer calculation time.

•

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Shadowing taken into account: Select this option to consider shadowing in the prediction. For more information, see "Modelling Shadowing" on page 506. If you select this option, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability. For more information, see "Modelling Shadowing" on page 506.

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• •

Indoor coverage: Select this option to consider indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. Reception from Subcells: Select the TRX type to consider from the list.

The contents of this tab depends on the type of prediction. For more information, see "Signal Level Coverage Predictions" on page 307. The Display Tab On the Display tab, you can modify how the results of the coverage prediction will be displayed. •

Under Display Type, select "Value Intervals." • Under Field, select "Best Signal Level." "Best Signal Level." Selecting "All" or "Best Signal Level" on the Conditions tab will give you the same results because Atoll displays the results of the best server in either case. Selecting "Best Signal Level" necessitates, however, the longest time for calculation. • You can change the value intervals and their displayed colour. For information on changing display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. • You can create tip text with information about the coverage prediction by clicking the Browse button next to the Tip Text box and selecting the fields you want to display in the tip text. • You can select the Add to Legend check box to add the displayed value intervals to the legend. If you change the display properties of a coverage prediction after you have calculated it, you can make the coverage prediction invalid. You will then have to recalculate the coverage prediction to obtain valid results.

7.2.8.2 Signal Level Coverage Predictions Atoll offers a series of standard coverage predictions that are common to all radio technologies. Coverage predictions specific to GSM/GPRS/EDGE are covered in "Interference Coverage Predictions" on page 430 and "Packet-Specific Coverage Predictions" on page 442. Once you have created and calculated a coverage prediction, you can use the coverage prediction’s context menu to make the coverage prediction into a customised prediction which will appear in the Prediction Types dialog box. You can also select Duplicate from the coverage prediction’s context menu to create a copy. By duplicating an existing prediction that has the parameters you want to study, you can create a new coverage prediction more quickly than by creating a new coverage prediction. If you clone a coverage prediction, by selecting Clone from the context menu, you can create a copy of the coverage prediction with the calculated coverage. You can then change the display, providing that the selected parameter does not invalidate the calculated coverage prediction. You can also save the list of all defined coverage predictions in a user configuration, allowing you or other users to load it into a new Atoll document. When you save the list in a user configuration, the parameters of all existing coverage predictions are saved; not just the parameters of calculated or displayed ones. For information on exporting user configurations, see "Saving a User Configuration" on page 104. The following standard coverage predictions are explained in this section: • • • • •

7.2.8.2.1

"Studying DL Signal Level Coverage of a Single Base Station" on page 307 "Making a Coverage Prediction by DL Signal Level" on page 308 "Making a Coverage Prediction by UL Signal Level" on page 309 "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter" on page 309 "Making a Coverage Prediction on Overlapping Zones" on page 313.

Studying DL Signal Level Coverage of a Single Base Station While you are building your radio-planning project, you might want to check the coverage of a new base station without having to calculate the entire project. You can do this by selecting the site with its transmitters and then creating a coverage prediction. This section explains how to calculate the DL signal level coverage of a single site. A DL signal level coverage prediction displays the signal of the best server for each pixel of the area studied. You can use the same procedure to study the DL signal level coverage of several sites by grouping the transmitters. For information on grouping transmitters, see "Grouping Data Objects by Property" on page 95.

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To study the DL signal level coverage of a single base station: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the GSM Transmitters folder and select Group By > Sites from the context menu. The transmitters are now displayed in the GSM Transmitters folder by the site on which they are situated. If you want to study only sites by their status, at this step you could group them by status.

2. Specify the propagation parameters as explained in "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187. 3. In the GSM Transmitters folder, right-click the group of transmitters that you want to study and select Calculations > Create a New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. The Prediction Types dialog box lists the coverage prediction types available. They are divided into Standard Predictions, supplied with Atoll, and Customised Prediction. Unless you have already created some customised predictions, the Customised Prediction list will be empty. 4. Select Coverage by Signal Level (DL) and click OK. The Coverage by Signal Level (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 5. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "GSM Prediction Properties" on page 306. The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. 6. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button ( ) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window. The signal level coverage prediction can be found in the Predictions folder in the Network explorer. Atoll automatically locks the results of a coverage prediction as soon as it is calculated, as indicated by the icon ( ) beside the coverage prediction in the Predictions folder. When you click the Calculate button ( ), Atoll only calculates unlocked coverage predictions ( ).

7.2.8.2.2

Making a Coverage Prediction by DL Signal Level A coverage prediction by DL signal level allows you to predict the best DL signal strength at each pixel. You can base the coverage on the signal level, path loss, or total losses within a defined range. To make a coverage prediction by DL signal level: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Coverage by Signal Level (DL) and click OK. The Coverage by Signal Level (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "GSM Prediction Properties" on page 306. The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. 4. Click the Display tab. If you choose to display the results by best signal level, the coverage prediction results will be in the form of thresholds. If you choose to display the results by signal level, the coverage prediction results will be arranged according to transmitter. For information on adjusting the display, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

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You can also display the best idle mode reselection criterion (C2) by selecting "Best C2" on the Display tab. This allows you to compare the coverage in idle mode with the coverage in dedicated mode. For more information on coverage predictions in idle mode, See "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter Based on the Best Idle Mode Reselection Criterion (C2)" on page 313.

7.2.8.2.3

Making a Coverage Prediction by UL Signal Level A coverage prediction by UL signal level allows you to predict the UL signal strength at a transmitter, on a user-defined service area, from a user-defined terminal located on each pixel. You can base the coverage on the signal level or total losses within a defined range. To make a coverage prediction by UL signal level: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Coverage by Signal Level (DL) and click OK. The Coverage by Signal Level (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "GSM Prediction Properties" on page 306. 4. On the Conditions tab, you can define how the transmitter service areas will be evaluated. Under DL Coverage Conditions, you can set the range of signal level to be considered via the following parameters: •

Click the down arrow button and select one of the following thresholds: •

• •

•

Subcell C Threshold: to use the reception threshold specified for each subcell (including the defined power reduction) as the lower end of the signal level range. • Global C Threshold: to enter a threshold to be used for all subcells as the lower end of the signal level range. Under Server, select "All" to consider all servers. This option defines the server at which the UL signal level is evaluated. In the Terminal list, select which terminal type is to be considered on each pixel. The UL transmitted power is based on the max power of the selected terminal, gains and losses. The UL signal level is then a result of this output power reduced by the path loss which is identical to the one in DL For information on the Terminal Specifications dialog box, see "Modelling Terminals" on page 249.

5. Click the Display tab. If you choose to display the results by best signal level, the coverage prediction results will be in the form of thresholds. If you choose to display the results by signal level, the coverage prediction results will be arranged according to transmitter. For information on adjusting the display, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. Selecting "All" or "Best signal level" on the Conditions tab will give you the same results because Atoll displays the results of the best server in either case. Selecting "Best signal level" necessitates, however, the longest time for calculation. 6. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window. You can also base the transmitter service areas on the best idle mode reselection criterion (C2) by selecting "Best C2" on the Display tab. This allows you to compare the coverage in idle mode with the coverage in dedicated mode. For more information on coverage predictions in idle mode, See "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter Based on the Best Idle Mode Reselection Criterion (C2)" on page 313.

7.2.8.2.4

Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter A coverage prediction by transmitter allows you to predict which server is the best at each pixel. You can base the coverage on the signal level, path loss, or total losses within a defined range. The type of server you base the coverage prediction on determine the type of coverage prediction by transmitter you make. In this section, the following scenarios are explained: • • •

"Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter Based on the Best Signal Level" on page 310 "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter Based on the Best Signal Level by HCS Layer" on page 310 "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter on HCS servers" on page 311

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"Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter for Highest Priority HCS Server" on page 312 "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter Based on the Best Idle Mode Reselection Criterion (C2)" on page 313.

Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter Based on the Best Signal Level When you base a coverage prediction by transmitter on the best signal level, Atoll will consider the best signal level on each pixel. A coverage prediction by transmitter based on the best signal level is more suitable for a network that does not have HCS layers. If the network has HCS layers, a coverage prediction by transmitter based on the best signal level can give misleading results as the best signal on any pixel will usually be on a macro layer, although not all users will necessarily connect to it. To make a coverage prediction by transmitter based on the best signal level: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Coverage by Transmitter (DL) and click OK. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "GSM Prediction Properties" on page 306. The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. On the Conditions tab, define the signals that will be considered for each pixel: •

At the top of the Conditions tab, set the range of signal level to be considered. You can select one of the following thresholds: •

•

Subcell C Threshold: to use the reception threshold specified for each subcell (including the defined power reduction) as the lower end of the signal level range. • Global C Threshold: to enter a threshold to be used for all subcells as the lower end of the signal level range. Under Server, select "Best Signal Level" to take the best signal level from all servers on all layers into consideration (for more information, see "Comparing Service Areas in Calculations" on page 484). Enter an Overlap margin. The default value is "4 dB."

•

You can select which TRX type to consider by selecting it from the Reception from Subcells list.

•

4. Click the Display tab. For a coverage prediction by transmitter, the Display Type "Discrete Values" based on the Field "Transmitter" is selected by default. Each coverage zone will then be displayed with the same colour as that defined for each transmitter. For information on defining transmitter colours, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. When creating a coverage prediction by discrete values, you can not export the values per pixel.

5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window. You can also predict which server is second best server on each pixel by selecting "Second Best Signal Level" on the Conditions tab and selecting "Discrete Values" as the Display Type and "Transmitter" as the Field on the Display tab. Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter Based on the Best Signal Level by HCS Layer When you base a coverage prediction by transmitter on the best signal level by HCS layer, Atoll will consider the best signal level by HCS layer on each pixel. Grouping the results by HCS layer will allow you to quickly select which HCS layer is displayed. To make a coverage prediction by transmitter based on the best signal level per HCS layer: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Coverage by Transmitter (DL) and click OK. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "GSM Prediction Properties" on page 306.

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4. On the General tab, group the transmitters by HCS layer: a. Click the Group By button. The Group dialog box appears. b. Select "HCS Layers" in the Available Fields list and click

to move it to the Group these fields in this order list.

c. Click OK to close the Group dialog box. 5. On the Conditions tab, specify the signals that will be considered for each pixel. •

At the top of the Conditions tab, set the range of signal level to be considered. You can select one of the following thresholds: • •

•

Subcell C Threshold: to use the reception threshold specified for each subcell (including the defined power reduction) as the lower end of the signal level range. Global C Threshold: to enter a threshold to be used for all subcells as the lower end of the signal level range.

•

Under Server, select "Best Signal Level per HCS Layer" to take the best signal level from all servers on each HCS layer into consideration (for more information, see "Comparing Service Areas in Calculations" on page 484). Enter an Overlap margin. The default value is "4 dB."

•

You can select which TRX type to consider by selecting it from the Reception from Subcells list.

6. Click the Display tab. For a coverage prediction by transmitter, the Display Type "Discrete Values" based on the Field "Transmitter" is selected by default. Each coverage zone will then be displayed with the same colour as that defined for each transmitter. For information on defining transmitter colours, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. When creating a coverage prediction by discrete values, you can not export the values per pixel.

7. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window. You can select which HCS layer to display by clicking the Expand button ( ) to expand the coverage prediction in the Predictions folder and the selecting only the visibility check box of the HCS layer you want to display. You can also predict which server is second best server per HCS layer on each pixel by selecting "Second Best Signal Level per HCS Layer" on the Conditions tab and selecting "Discrete Values" as the Display Type and "Transmitter" as the Field on the Display tab. Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter on HCS servers When you base a coverage prediction by transmitter on HCS servers, Atoll will consider the best signal level by HCS layer on each pixel, assuming the cell edge of each layer is defined by the HCS threshold. To make a coverage prediction by transmitter on HCS servers: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Coverage by Transmitter (DL) and click OK. The prediction Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "GSM Prediction Properties" on page 306. On the Conditions tab, specify the signals that will be considered for each pixel. •

At the top of the Conditions tab, you can set the range of signal level to be considered. You can click the down arrow button and select one of the following thresholds: • •

•

Subcell C Threshold: to use the reception threshold specified for each subcell (including the defined power reduction) as the lower end of the signal level range. Global C Threshold: to enter a threshold to be used for all subcells as the lower end of the signal level range.

Under Server, select "HCS servers" to take the best signal level by HCS layer on each pixel into consideration, assuming this signal level on each layer exceeds the minimum HCS threshold defined either at the HCS layer level

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•

or specifically for each transmitter (for more information, see "Comparing Service Areas in Calculations" on page 484). Enter an Overlap margin. The default value is "4 dB."

•

You can select which TRX type to consider by selecting it from the Reception from Subcells list.

4. Click the Display tab. For a coverage prediction by transmitter, the Display Type "Discrete Values" based on the Field "Transmitter" is selected by default. Each coverage zone will then be displayed with the same colour as that defined for each transmitter. For information on defining transmitter colours, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. When creating a coverage prediction by discrete values, you can not export the values per pixel.

5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window. Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter for Highest Priority HCS Server When you base a coverage prediction by transmitter for highest priority HCS servers, Atoll will consider the best signal level of the highest priority on each pixel, assuming priority is a combination of the priority field and the minimum threshold per HCS layer. To make a coverage prediction by transmitter for highest priority HCS servers: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Coverage by Transmitter (DL) and click OK. The prediction Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "GSM Prediction Properties" on page 306. 4. On the Conditions tab, specify the signals that will be considered for each pixel. •

At the top of the Conditions tab, you can set the range of signal level to be considered. You can click the down arrow button and select one of the following thresholds: • •

•

Subcell C Threshold: to use the reception threshold specified for each subcell (including the defined power reduction) as the lower end of the signal level range. Global C Threshold: to enter a threshold to be used for all subcells as the lower end of the signal level range.

•

Under Server, select "Highest priority HCS server" to take the best signal level of all the severs on the highest priority HCS layer into consideration, assuming the priority of the layer is defined by its priority field and its signal level exceeds the minimum HCS threshold defined either at the HCS layer level or specifically for each transmitter (for more information, see "Comparing Service Areas in Calculations" on page 484). Enter an Overlap margin. The default value is "4 dB."

•

You can select which TRX type to consider by selecting it from the Reception from Subcells list.

5. Click the Display tab. For a coverage prediction by transmitter, the Display Type "Discrete Values" based on the Field "Transmitter" is selected by default. Each coverage zone will then be displayed with the same colour as that defined for each transmitter. For information on defining transmitter colours, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. When creating a coverage prediction by discrete values, you can not export the values per pixel.

6. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

312

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Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window. Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter Based on the Best Idle Mode Reselection Criterion (C2) When you base a coverage prediction by transmitter on the best C2, Atoll will consider the best signal level in idle mode. Such type of coverage can be used: • •

to compare idle and dedicated mode best servers for voice traffic to display the GPRS/EDGE best server (based on the GSM idle mode)

The path loss criterion C1 used for cell selection and reselection is defined by: C1 = BCCH Reception level - BCCH Reception Threshold The path loss criterion (GSM03.22) is satisfied if C1>0. The reselection criterion C2 is used for cell reselection only and is defined by: C2= C1+ Cell Reselect Offset To make a coverage prediction by transmitter based on the best signal level: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Coverage by Transmitter (DL) and click OK. The prediction Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "GSM Prediction Properties" on page 306. On the Conditions tab, specify the signals that will be considered for each pixel. •

At the top of the Conditions tab, you can set the range of signal level to be considered. You can click the down arrow button and select one of the following thresholds: • •

Subcell C Threshold: to use the reception threshold specified for each subcell (including the defined power reduction) as the lower end of the signal level range. Global C Threshold: to enter a threshold to be used for all BCCH subcells as the lower end of the signal level range.

• •

Under Server, select "Best Idle Mode Reselection Criterion (C2)" to consider the best C2 from all servers. If you select the Shadowing Taken into Account check box, you can change the Cell Edge Coverage Probability. For more information, see "Modelling Shadowing" on page 506.

•

You can select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

4. Click the Display tab. For a coverage prediction by transmitter, the Display Type "Discrete Values" based on the Field "Transmitter" is selected by default. Each coverage zone will be displayed with the same colour as that defined for each transmitter. For information on defining transmitter colours, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. When creating a coverage prediction by discrete values, you can not export the values per pixel.

5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

7.2.8.2.5

Making a Coverage Prediction on Overlapping Zones Overlapping zones (dl) are composed of pixels that are, for a defined condition, covered by the signal of at least two transmitters. You can base a coverage prediction of overlapping zones on the signal level, path loss, or total losses within a defined range. To make a coverage prediction on overlapping zones: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Overlapping Zones (DL) and click OK. The prediction Properties dialog box appears.

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3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "GSM Prediction Properties" on page 306. On the Conditions tab, you can define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. •

At the top of the Conditions tab, you can set the range of signal level to be considered. You can click the down arrow button and select one of the following thresholds: • •

•

• • • •

Subcell C Threshold: to use the reception threshold specified for each subcell (including the defined power reduction) as the lower end of the signal level range. Global C Threshold: to enter a threshold to be used for all subcells as the lower end of the signal level range.

Under Server, select "HCS servers" to take the best signal level by HCS layer on each pixel into consideration, assuming the signal level on each layer exceeds the minimum HCS threshold defined either at the HCS layer level or specifically for each transmitter (for more information, see "Comparing Service Areas in Calculations" on page 484). Enter an Overlap margin. The default value is "4 dB." If you select the Shadowing Taken into Account check box, you can change the Cell Edge Coverage Probability. For more information, see "Modelling Shadowing" on page 506. You can select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. You can select which TRX type to consider by selecting it from the Reception from Subcells list.

4. Click the Display tab. For a coverage prediction on overlapping zones, the Display Type "Value Intervals" based on the Field "Number of servers" is selected by default. Each overlapping zone will then be displayed in a colour corresponding to the number of servers received per pixel. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window. By changing the parameters selected on the Conditions tab and by selecting different results to be displayed on the Display tab, you can calculate and display information other than that which has been explained in the preceding sections.

7.2.8.3 Displaying Coverage Prediction Results The results are displayed graphically in the map window according to the settings from the Display tab when you create the coverage prediction. If several coverage predictions are visible on the map, it might be difficult to clearly see the results of the coverage prediction you wish to analyse. You can select which predictions to display or to hide by selecting or clearing the display check box. For information on managing the display, see "Displaying or Hiding Objects on the Map" on page 50. Once you have completed a prediction, you can also generate reports and statistics with the tools that Atoll provides. For more information, see "Generating Coverage Prediction Reports" on page 212 and "Displaying Coverage Prediction Statistics" on page 214. In this section, the following tools are explained: • • •

7.2.8.3.1

"Displaying the Legend Window" on page 314. "Displaying Coverage Prediction Results Using the Tip Text" on page 315. "Printing and Exporting Coverage Prediction Results" on page 315.

Displaying the Legend Window When you create a coverage prediction, you can add the displayed values of the coverage prediction to a legend by selecting the Add to Legend check box on the Display tab. To display the Legend window: •

314

Select View > Legend Window. The Legend window is displayed, with the values for each displayed coverage prediction identified by the name of the coverage prediction.

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7.2.8.3.2

Displaying Coverage Prediction Results Using the Tip Text You can get information by placing the pointer over an area of the coverage prediction to read the information displayed in the tip text. The information displayed is defined on the Display tab when you create the coverage prediction. To get coverage prediction results in the form of tip text: •

In the map window, place the pointer over the area of the coverage prediction that you want more information on. After a brief pause, the tip text appears with the information defined in the Display tab of the coverage prediction properties (see Figure 7.9).

Figure 7.9: Displaying coverage prediction results using tip text

7.2.8.3.3

Printing and Exporting Coverage Prediction Results Once you have made a coverage prediction, you can print the results displayed on the map or save them in an external format. You can also export a selected area of the coverage as a bitmap. •

•

•

Printing coverage prediction results: Atoll offers several options allowing you to customise and optimise the printed coverage prediction results. Atoll supports printing to a variety of paper sizes, including A4 and A0. For more information on printing coverage prediction results, see "Printing a Map" on page 91. Defining a geographic export zone: If you want to export part of the coverage prediction as a bitmap, you can define a geographic export zone. After you have defined a geographic export zone, when you export a coverage prediction as a raster image, Atoll offers you the option of exporting only the area covered by the zone. For more information on defining a geographic export zone, see "Geographic Export Zone" on page 68. Exporting coverage prediction results: In Atoll, you can export the coverage areas of a coverage prediction in raster or vector formats. In raster formats, you can export in BMP, TIF, JPEG 2000, ArcView© grid, or Vertical Mapper (GRD and GRC) formats. When exporting in GRD or GRC formats, Atoll allows you to export files larger than 2 GB. In vector formats, you can export in ArcView©, MapInfo©, or AGD formats. For more information on exporting coverage prediction results, see "Exporting Coverage Prediction Results" on page 210.

7.2.8.4 Analysing Signal Reception Using the Point Analysis Once you have calculated the coverage prediction, you can use the Point Analysis tool. 1. Click the Point Analysis button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar. The Point Analysis window appears and the

pointer changes ( ) to represent the receiver. A line appears on the map connecting the selected transmitter and the current position. You can move the receiver on the map (see "Moving the Receiver on the Map" on page 203). 2. At the top of the Point Analysis window, select the Reception (

) view.

Figure 7.10: Point Analysis window - Reception view

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The predicted signal level from different transmitters is reported in the Reception view in the form of a bar chart, from the highest predicted signal level on the top to the lowest one on the bottom. Each bar is displayed in the colour of the transmitter it represents. In the map window, arrows from the pointer to each transmitter are displayed in the colour of the transmitters they represent. The best server of the pointer is the transmitter from which the pointer receives the highest signal level. If you let the pointer rest, the signal level received from the corresponding transmitter at the pointer location is displayed in the tip text. 3. Select the HCS Layer and the Subcell to be analysed. If you select nothing from the HCS Layer list, the signals from all HCS layers will be studied. 4. Click the Options button ( • • •

) to display the Calculation Options dialog box and change the following:

Change the X and Y coordinates to change the present position of the receiver. Select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a Cell Edge Coverage Probability. For more information, see "Modelling Shadowing" on page 506. You can select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. For more information, see "Taking Indoor Losses into Account" on page 203.

5. In the Reception view toolbar, you can use the following tools: •

Click the Copy button ( processing programme.

) to copy the content of the view and paste it as a graphic into a graphic editing or word-

• •

Click the Print button ( ) to print the content of the view. Click the Centre on Map button ( ) to centre the map window on the receiver.

6. To get more information, select the Details view ( ). The Details view displays the current position and height of the receiver, the clutter class it is situated on, and for each transmitter its BCCH signal level, the BCCH C/I, the most interfered mobile station allocation (TRX, MAL or MAL-MAIO depending on the hopping mode) and its corresponding C/I. You can display a point analysis that uses the settings from an existing prediction by right-clicking the prediction in the Network explorer and selecting Open Point Analysis from the context menu.

7.2.8.5 Comparing Coverage Predictions Atoll allows you to compare two similar predictions to see the differences between them. This enables you to quickly see how changes you make affect the network. In this section, there are two examples to explain how you can compare two similar predictions. You can display the results of the comparison in one of the following ways: • • •

•

•

Intersection: This display shows the area where both coverage predictions overlap (for example, pixels covered by both predictions are displayed in red). Merge: This display shows the area that is covered by either of the coverage predictions (for example, pixels covered by at least one of the predictions are displayed in red). Union: This display shows all pixels covered by both coverage predictions in one colour and pixels covered by only one coverage prediction in a different colour (for example, pixels covered by both predictions are red and pixels covered by only one prediction are blue). Difference: This display shows all pixels covered by both coverage predictions in one colour, pixels covered by only the first prediction with another colour and pixels covered only by the second prediction with a third colour (for example, pixels covered by both predictions are red, pixels covered only by the first prediction are green, and pixels covered only by the second prediction are blue). Value Difference: This display shows the dB difference between any two coverage predictions by signal level. This display option will not be available if the coverage predictions were calculated using different resolutions.

To compare two similar coverage predictions: 1. Create and calculate a coverage prediction of the existing network. 2. Examine the coverage prediction to see where coverage can be improved. 3. Make the changes to the network to improve coverage. 4. Duplicate the original coverage prediction (in order to leave the first coverage prediction unchanged). 5. Calculate the duplicated coverage prediction. 6. Compare the original coverage prediction with the new coverage prediction. Atoll displays differences in coverage between them.

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In this section, the following examples are explained: • •

"Example 1: Studying the Effect of a New Base Station" on page 317 "Example 2: Studying the Effect of a Change in Transmitter Tilt" on page 318.

Example 1: Studying the Effect of a New Base Station If you have an area in a network that is poorly covered by current transmitters, you have several options for increasing coverage. In this example, you can verify if a newly added base station improves coverage. A signal level coverage prediction of the current network is made as described in "Making a Coverage Prediction by DL Signal Level" on page 308. The results are displayed in Figure 7.11. An area with poor coverage is visible on the right side of the figure.

Figure 7.11: Signal level coverage prediction of existing network A new base station is added, either by creating the site and adding the transmitters, as explained in "Creating a GSM/GPRS/ EDGE Base Station" on page 279, or by placing a station template, as explained in "Placing a New Station Using a Station Template" on page 291. Once the new site base station been added, the original coverage prediction can be recalculated, but then it will be impossible to compare the two predictions. Instead, the original signal level coverage prediction can be copied by selecting Duplicate from its context menu. The copy is then calculated to show the effect of the new site (see Figure 7.12).

Figure 7.12: Signal level coverage prediction of network with new base station Now you can compare the two predictions.

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To compare two predictions: 1. Right-click one of the two predictions. The context menu appears. 2. From the context menu, select Compare with and, from the menu that opens, select the coverage prediction you want to compare with the first. The Comparison Properties dialog box appears. 3. Click the General tab. You can change the Name of the comparison and add Comments. The General tab contains information about the coverage predictions being compared, including their name and resolution. 4. Click the Display tab. On the Display tab, you can choose how you want the results of the comparison to be displayed. You can choose among: • • • •

Intersection Merge Union Difference

To see the changes that adding a new base station made, choose Difference. 5. Click OK to create the comparison. The comparison in Figure 7.13, shows clearly the area covered only by the new base station.

Figure 7.13: Comparison of both signal level coverage predictions Example 2: Studying the Effect of a Change in Transmitter Tilt If you have an area in a network that is poorly covered by current transmitters, you have several options for increasing coverage. In this example, you can see how modifying transmitter tilt can improve coverage. A coverage prediction by transmitter of the current network is made as described in "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter" on page 309. The results are displayed in Figure 7.14. The coverage prediction shows that one transmitter is covering its area poorly. The area is indicated by a red oval in Figure 7.14.

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Figure 7.14: Coverage prediction by transmitter of existing network You can try modifying the tilt on the transmitter to improve the coverage. The properties of the transmitter can be accessed by right-clicking the transmitter in the map window and selecting Properties from the context menu. The mechanical and electrical tilt of the antenna are defined on the Transmitter tab of the Properties dialog box. Once the tilt of the antenna has been modified, the original coverage prediction can be recalculated, but then it will be impossible to compare the two predictions. Instead, the original coverage prediction by can be copied by selecting Duplicate from its context menu. The copy is then calculated to show how modifying the antenna tilt has affected coverage (see Figure 7.15).

Figure 7.15: Coverage prediction by transmitter of network after modifications As you can see, modifying the antenna tilt increased the coverage of the transmitter. However, to see exactly the change in propagation, you can compare the two predictions. To compare two predictions: 1. Right-click one of the two predictions. The context menu appears. 2. From the context menu, select Compare with and, from the menu that opens, select the coverage prediction you want to compare with the first. The Comparison Properties dialog box appears. 3. Click the General tab. You can change the Name of the comparison and add Comments. The General tab contains information about the coverage predictions being compared, including their name and resolution. 4. Click the Display tab. On the Display tab, you can choose how you want the results of the comparison to be displayed. You can choose among: • • •

Intersection Merge Union

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Difference

In order to see what changes modifying the antenna tilt made, you can choose Union. This will display all pixels covered by both predictions in one colour and all pixels covered by only one predictions in another colour. The increase in coverage, seen in only the second coverage prediction, will be immediately clear. 5. Click OK to create the comparison. The comparison in Figure 7.16, shows clearly the increase in coverage due to the change in antenna tilt.

Figure 7.16: Comparison of both transmitter coverage predictions

7.2.8.6 Multi-point Analyses In Atoll, you can carry out calculations on lists of points representing subscriber locations for analysis. These analyses may be useful for verifying network QoS at subscriber locations in case of incidents (call drops, low throughputs, etc.) reported by users. In point analysis, a number of parameters are calculated at each point for all potential servers. In this section, the following are explained: • • •

7.2.8.6.1

"Point Analysis Properties" on page 320 "Making a Point Analysis" on page 321 "Viewing Point Analysis Results" on page 322

Point Analysis Properties The point analysis Properties window allows you to create and edit point analyses. The General Tab The General tab allows you to specify the following settings for the multi-point analysis: • •

Name: Specify the assigned Name of the coverage prediction. Comments: Specify an optional description of comment for the prediction.

The Conditions Tab The load condition parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. •

• • • • •

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Load conditions: Select "(Cells table)" to calculate the multi-point analysis using the load conditions defined in the cells table. Select a simulation or a group of simulations to calculate the multi-point analysis using the load conditions calculated by Monte Carlo simulations. HCS Layer: Select the HCS layer for which you want to run the analysis. Interference: Select the source of interference to be taken into account in the calculations, "Co-channel", "Adjacent", or both. Based on: Select "C/I" or "C/I+N". Shadowing taken into account: Select this option to consider shadowing in the prediction. For more information, see "Modelling Shadowing" on page 506. If you select this option, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability. Indoor coverage: Select this option to consider indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

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The Points Tab The Points tab displays a table containing each point of the point-analysis. You can use this table to import and create points or to export a list of points. • • • • • •

Position Id: The indexes of the points used for the multi-point analysis. X and Y: The coordinates of the points used for the multi-point analysis. Height (m): The height of the points used for the multi-point analysis. Service: The services assigned to the points used for the multi-point analysis. Terminal: The terminals assigned to the points used for the multi-point analysis. Mobility: The mobility types assigned to the points used for the multi-point analysis.

The Display Tab On the Display tab, you can modify how the results of the point analysis will be displayed. For information on changing display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51.

7.2.8.6.2

Making a Point Analysis 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Multi-point Analysis folder and select New Point Analysis. The Point Analysis Properties dialog box appears. 2. On the General and Conditions tabs, specify the settings as described in "Point Analysis Properties" on page 320. 3. On the Points tab, you can create a list of points by: •

•

• •

Importing a list of points from an external file: Click the Actions button and select Import Table from the menu to open the Open file dialog box. In this dialog box, select a TXT or CSV file containing a list of points and click Open. For more information on importing data tables, see "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88. Importing a list of points from a fixed subscriber traffic map: Click the Actions button and select Import from Fixed Subscribers from the menu to open the Fixed Subscribers dialog box. In this dialog box, select one or more existing fixed subscriber traffic maps and click OK. Copying a list of points from an external file. Creating points in the list by editing the table: Add new points by clicking the New Row icon ( ) and entering X and Y coordinates as well as a service, a terminal, and a mobility. The list of points must have the same coordinate system as the display coordinate system used in the Atoll document. For more information on coordinate systems, see "Setting a Coordinate System" on page 41.

•

It is also possible to leave the Points tab empty and add points to the analysis on the map using the mouse once the point analysis item has been created. To add points on the map using the mouse, right-click the point analysis item to which you want to add points, and select Add Points from the context menu. The mouse pointer changes to point creation mode (

•

). Click once to create each point you

want to add. Press ESC or click the Pointer button ( ) in the Map toolbar to finish adding points. You can also export the list of point from a point analysis to ASCII text files (TXT and CSV formats) and MS Excel XML Spreadsheet files (XML format) by selecting Actions > Export Table. For more information on exporting table data, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86.

4. On the Display tab, specify how to display point analysis results on the map according to any input or calculated parameter. For more information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have defined the point analysis parameters, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the point analysis and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the point analysis without calculating it. You can calculate it later by opening the point analysis properties and clicking the Calculate button.

Once Atoll has finished calculating the point analysis, the results are displayed in the map window. You can also access the analysis results in a table format. For more information, see "Viewing Point Analysis Results" on page 322. You can also organise point analyses in folders under the Multi-point Analysis folder by creating folders under the Multi-point Analysis folder in the Network explorer. Folders may contain one or more point analyses items. You can move point analyses items from one folder to another and rename folders.

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Viewing Point Analysis Results Once a point analysis has been calculated, its results are displayed on the map and are also available in the point analysis item in the form of a table. To view the results table of a point analysis: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Multi-point Analysis folder, right-click the analysis whose results table you want to view, and select Analysis Results from the context menu. The Results dialog box appears. The results table includes the following information: • • • • • • • • • • • •

Position Id: The indexes of the points used for the multi-point analysis. X and Y: The coordinates of the points used for the multi-point analysis. Height (m): The height of the points used for the multi-point analysis. Service: The services assigned to the points used for the multi-point analysis. Terminal: The terminals assigned to the points used for the multi-point analysis. Mobility: The mobility types assigned to the points used for the multi-point analysis. Transmitter: Names of the potential serving transmitters. Distance (m): Distances from the potential serving cells. BCCH - C (dBm): BCCH signal level. BCCH - C/I (dB): BCCH signal quality. Min C/I (dB): Minimum signal quality. TRX: Name of the TRX.

2. To add or remove columns from the results table: a. Click the Actions button and select Display Columns from the menu. The Columns to be Displayed dialog box opens. b. Select or clear the columns that you want to display or hide. c. Click Close. You can also export the multi-point analysis results table to ASCII text files (TXT and CSV formats) and MS Excel XML Spreadsheet files (XML format) by selecting Actions > Export. For more information on exporting table data, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. 3. Click Close.

7.2.9 Planning Neighbours You can use Atoll to manually allocate neighbour relations to any cell in a network. You can also use Atoll to automatically allocate neighbour relations to a single cell, to all the cells of a base station, to all the cells in a transmitter group, or to all the cells in a network, based on predefined parameters. In this section, only the concepts that are specific to automatic neighbour allocation in GSM networks are explained. For more information on neighbour planning, see "Neighbour Planning" on page 223.

Figure 7.17: GSM handover area between a reference cell and a potential neighbour

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7.2.9.1 Coverage Conditions In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, you either select or clear the Use coverage conditions check box. • •

When it is cleared, only the defined Distance will be used to allocate neighbours to a reference cell. When it is selected, click Define to open the Coverage Conditions dialog box:

Figure 7.18: GSM coverage conditions for automatic intra-technology neighbour allocation • • • •

• •

Resolution: Enter the resolution to be used to calculate cells’ coverage areas during automatic neighbour allocation. Global reception threshold: Enter the minimum signal level which must be provided by reference cell A and potential neighbour cell B. Handover start (HO margin): Enter the signal level which indicates the beginning of the handover margin. The handover start must be outside of the best server area of the reference cell. Handover end: Enter the signal level indicating the end of the handover margin. The handover end must exceed the value entered for the Handover start. The higher the value entered for the Handover end, the longer the list of potential neighbours. The area between the Handover start and the Handover end constitutes the area in which Atoll will search for neighbours. Shadowing Taken into Account: If selected, enter a Cell edge coverage probability. For more information, see "Modelling Shadowing" on page 506. Indoor Coverage: Select this check box to take indoor losses into acccount in calculations. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

7.2.9.2 Calculation Constraints In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, you can select the following calculation constraints: • • • • •

Co-site transmitters as neighbours: cells located on the same site as the reference cell will automatically be considered as neighbours. A transmitter with no antenna cannot be considered as a co-site neighbour. Adjacent neighbours: cells that are adjacent to the reference cell will automatically be considered as neighbours. Adjacent HCS layer neighbours: cells that have HCS layer adjacency with the reference cell will automatically be considered as neighbours. Symmetric relations: Select this check box if you want the neighbour relations to be reciprocal, i.e. any reference cell is a potential neighbour of all the cells that are its neighbours. Exceptional pairs: Select this check box to force the neighbour relations defined in the Intra-technology Exceptional pairs table. For information on exceptional pairs, see "Exceptional Pairs" on page 223.

7.2.9.3 Reasons for Allocation In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, the reason for neighbour allocation is indicated under Cause in the Results table. It can be any of the following: Cause

Description

When

Distance

The neighbour is located within the defined maximum distance from the reference cell

Use coverage conditions is not selected

Coverage

The neighbour relation fulfils the defined coverage conditions

Use coverage conditions is selected and nothing is selected under Force

Co-Site

The neighbour is located on the same site as the reference cell

Use coverage conditions is selected and Co-site transmitters as neighbours is selected

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Cause

Description

When

Adjacent

The neighbour is adjacent to the reference cell

Use coverage conditions is selected and Adjacent neighbours is selected

Adjacent layer

The neighbour belongs to an adjacent HCS layer

Use coverage conditions is selected and Adjacent HCS layer neighbours is selected

Symmetry

The neighbour relation between the reference cell and the neighbour is symmetrical

Use coverage conditions is selected and Symmetric relations is selected

Exceptional Pair

The neighbour relation is defined as an exceptional pair

Exceptional pairs is selected

Existing

The neighbour relation existed before automatic allocation

Delete existing neighbours is not selected

7.2.10 Planning Neighbours in Co-planning Mode In co-planning mode, you can use Atoll to manually allocate neighbour relations to any cell in a network. You can also use Atoll to automatically allocate neighbour relations to a single cell, to all the cells of a base station, to all the cells in a transmitter group, or to all the cells in a network, based on predefined parameters. • •

For generic neighbour allocation, see "Neighbour Planning" on page 223. GSM-specific coverage conditions in automatic inter-technology neighbour allocation are described below.

7.2.10.1 Coverage Conditions In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, you either select or clear the Use coverage conditions check box. • •

When it is cleared, only the defined Distance will be used to allocate neighbours to a reference cell. When it is selected, click Define for GSM to open the corresponding Coverage Conditions dialog box:

Figure 7.19: GSM coverage conditions for automatic inter-technology neighbour allocation • • • • •

Resolution: Enter the resolution to be used to calculate cells’ coverage areas during automatic neighbour allocation. Global reception threshold: Enter the minimum signal level which must be provided by reference cell A and potential neighbour cell B. Margin: Enter a handover margin. Shadowing Taken into Account: If selected, enter a Cell edge coverage probability. For more information, see "Modelling Shadowing" on page 506. Indoor Coverage: Select this check box to take indoor losses into acccount in calculations. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

7.2.10.2 Calculation Constraints In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, you can select the following calculation constraints: • •

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Co-site neighbours: cells located on the same site as the reference cell will automatically be considered as neighbours. A cell with no antenna cannot be considered as a co-site neighbour. Exceptional pairs: Select this check box to force the neighbour relations defined in the Intra-technology Exceptional pairs table. For information on exceptional pairs, see "Exceptional Pairs" on page 223.

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7.2.10.3 Reasons for Allocation In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, the reason for neighbour allocation is indicated under Cause in the Results table. It can be any of the following: Cause

Description

When

Distance

The neighbour is located within the defined maximum distance from the reference cell

Use coverage conditions is not selected

Coverage

The neighbour relation fulfils the defined coverage conditions

Use coverage conditions is selected and nothing is selected under Force

Co-Site

The neighbour is located on the same site as the reference cell

Use coverage conditions is selected and Co-site neighbours is selected

Exceptional Pair

The neighbour relation is defined as an exceptional pair

Exceptional pairs is selected

Existing

The neighbour relation existed before automatic allocation

Delete existing neighbours is not selected

7.3 Studying GSM/GPRS/EDGE Network Capacity In Atoll, you can study the network capacity of a GSM/GPRS/EDGE network by studying the traffic demand, which is a prerequisite for dimensioning a GSM/GPRS/EDGE network, that the network can handle. There are several different ways to study traffic demand: • • •

OMC traffic data: You can use OMC traffic data to calculate traffic demand and import the traffic demand into the Subcells Table: Traffic Data. Traffic captures: You can import traffic demand information from traffic maps and then use this information to create a traffic capture. Simulations: Like for the traffic captures, you can import traffic demand from traffic maps and then use this information to create one or several simulations.

A traffic capture is based on a macroscopic description of traffic as defined by one or more traffic maps. In a traffic capture, the total traffic is broken down per transmitter, respecting the compatibility between the traffic and the transmitter. For example, if two transmitters cover the same traffic: • •

the traffic can be treated as traffic demand for each, or the traffic can be treated as traffic demand for only one of the two, taking into consideration the maximum speed defined per layer (for example, traffic with a high-speed mobility type will not be allocated to a micro layer), frequency bands, etc.

The result of the traffic capture is the demand per transmitter, broken down by subcell, service, terminal, and mobility, in terms of Kbps for packet-switched traffic (maximum bit rate or constant bit rate) and Erlangs for circuit-switched traffic. This breakdown is made on the service zones defined for each subcell, as defined by the parameters set on the Conditions tab of the traffic capture’s Properties dialog box. Compared to a traffic capture, a simulation is based on a realistic distribution of voice or packet users at a given point in time. The distribution of users at a given moment is referred to as a snapshot. Based on this snapshot, Atoll calculates various network parameters such as the UL and DL C/(I+N) for each mobile, the required power and the obtained coding (codec or coding scheme) of the mobile, the DL/UL Traffic Load, the mean power control gain, the DL DTX gain and the Half-rate traffic ratio of each subcell. Simulations are calculated in an iterative fashion. When several simulations are performed at the same time using the same traffic information, the distribution of users will be different, according to a Poisson distribution. Consequently you can have variations in user distribution from one snapshot to another. To create snapshots, services and users must be modelled. As well, certain traffic information in the form of traffic maps must be provided. Once services and users have been modelled and traffic maps have been created, you can make simulations of the network traffic. For information on studying network capacity in Atoll, see Chapter 6: Traffic and Capacity Planning. This section covers the following topics for GSM networks: • • • •

"Importing OMC Traffic Data into the Subcells Table: Traffic Data" on page 326 "Defining Multi-service Traffic Data" on page 326 "Calculating and Displaying a Traffic Capture" on page 327 "Dimensioning a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Network" on page 330.

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"Calculating GSM/GPRS/EDGE Traffic Simulations" on page 334

7.3.1 Importing OMC Traffic Data into the Subcells Table: Traffic Data As explained in "Subcell Properties" on page 282, subcell data is displayed in three subcell tables: Standard Data, Traffic Data, and AFP Data. The data in the Subcells Table: Traffic Data can be used for a variety of different purposes in Atoll: • • • • •

For dimensioning purposes To calculate quality indicators For the AFP To evaluate and allocate neighbours In interference predictions.

You can use OMC traffic data as a source of accurate traffic data and import it into the Subcells Table: Traffic Data. The first step in using OMC traffic data is ensuring that the data is available in a form usable by Atoll. Normally, OMC traffic data is measured in kbits instead of timeslots. The major drawback of this method is the fact that, in many cases, the packet-switched OMC traffic demand is available in kbits instead of timeslot units. In order to correctly translate Kbits into timeslots, you must create traffic maps as described in the sections below. The traffic capture will analyse the radio conditions at each point, defining the coding schemes, modulation, and bit rates, in order to calculate how many timeslots are required for a given demands of kbits. It is very common to use traffic maps based on OMC data per transmitter for the purpose of retrieving interference matrices based on traffic. The best method of working with an AFP is to use the OMC data of the subcells table and to generate interference matrices based on clutter weighting as explained in "Calculating an Interference Matrix Based on Clutter Weighting" on page 355. Once the data has been converted into timeslots, you can import it into the Subcells Table: Traffic Data. To import OMC traffic data into the Subcells Table: Traffic Data: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Subcells > Subcells Table: Traffic Data from the context menu. The Subcells Table: Traffic Data opens. After modifying the available OMC data to change it from served traffic to traffic demand, you can import the following data into the Subcells Table: Traffic Data: • • •

Voice demand in Erlangs Packet-switched demand in timeslots Half-rate traffic ratio.

For more information on working with data tables in Atoll, see "Data Tables" on page 75.

7.3.2 Defining Multi-service Traffic Data The first step in studying network capacity is defining how the network is used. In Atoll, this is accomplished by creating all of the parameters of network use, in terms of services, users, and equipment used. The following services and users are modelled in Atoll in order to create simulations: •

Codec Modes: Codecs are used by the network to compress voice and, as a consequence, to increase the voice traffic in the network. The Codec Modes table lists all the available codec modes. Codec modes can be selected according to radio conditions. Mappings between quality and codec modes are listed in the Codec configuration table. You can create new codec configurations and modify existing ones by using the Codec Configuration table. For information on codec mode configurations, see "Codec Configuration" on page 492.

•

Coding Schemes: Coding Schemes are used by the network for carrying packet-switched data. The Coding Schemes table lists all the available coding schemes. Coding Schemes can be selected according to radio conditions. Mappings between quality and coding schemes are listed in the Coding Schemes configuration table. You can create new coding scheme configurations and modify existing ones by using the Coding Scheme Configuration table. For information on coding scheme configurations, see "Coding Scheme Configuration" on page 495. Services: Services are the various services, such as voice, VoIP, mobile internet access, etc., available to subscribers. These services can be either circuit-switched or packet-switched. There are two types of packet-switched services: max. bit rate or constant bit rate (e.g., VoIP). For each service, quality targets, such as quality of service in Erlangs for circuit-switched services, are defined for network dimensioning. For information on modelling end-user services, see "Modelling Services" on page 241.

•

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•

•

Mobility types: In GSM/GPRS/EDGE, information about receiver mobility is important to efficiently manage connections: a mobile used by a driver moving quickly or a pedestrian will not necessarily be connected to the same HCS layer. For information on creating a mobility type, see "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 247. Terminals: In GSM/GPRS/EDGE, a terminal is the user equipment that is used in the network, for example, a mobile phone, a PDA, or a car’s on-board navigation device. It is defined to ensure compliancy between transmitter equipment and supported frequency bands and GPRS/EDGE parameters. For information on creating a terminal, see "Modelling Terminals" on page 249.

7.3.3 Calculating and Displaying a Traffic Capture In Atoll, you can create a traffic capture from an existing traffic map to analyse traffic at the transmitter level. When you calculate a traffic capture, the traffic from the selected maps is distributed to all transmitters according to the criteria defined for each transmitter, as well as the Traffic Parameters: services, mobility types, terminals, and user profiles. For example, an GPRS/EDGE-enabled transmitter will be allocated the data user traffic whereas a transmitter not capable of GPRS/EDGE will only carry GSM voice traffic. Similarly, a user using a GSM900-band mobile phone will not be allocated to a transmitter that only functions on the DCS1800 band. By creating different traffic captures using different criteria to represent different conditions, you can analyse network traffic under the various situations. You can define one of the traffic captures as the default traffic capture. It can be used to: • • • •

dimension a GSM/GPRS/EDGE network calculate KPI calculate interference matrices allocate neighbours according to overlapping traffic.

Instead of using a default traffic capture, you can import the actual network traffic directly into the Subcells Table: Traffic Data (see "Dimensioning a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Network" on page 330 for more information). In this section, the following are explained: • • • •

"Prerequisites for a Traffic Capture" on page 327 "Creating a Traffic Capture" on page 327 "GSM/GPRS/EDGE Traffic Capture Results" on page 329 "Modifying a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Traffic Capture" on page 329.

7.3.3.1 Prerequisites for a Traffic Capture To successfully create a traffic capture, you must ensure that you have the following information: • •

A valid traffic map (see "Working with Traffic Maps" on page 256) Correct GPRS-related parameters (see "Creating or Modifying a Base Station Element" on page 289), including: • • •

• • •

GPRS/EDGE capacity selected GPRS/EDGE-capable configuration selected Correct packet traffic-related parameters

Target rate for traffic overflow defined for subcells (see "Subcell Properties" on page 282) Correctly defined service zones (see "Creating a Traffic Capture" on page 327) Correctly defined HCS layers (see "Setting HCS Layers" on page 484).

7.3.3.2 Creating a Traffic Capture To create a traffic capture: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Traffic Analysis folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select New from the context menu. A traffic capture Properties dialog box appears. 4. Click the General tab. You can change the following: • • •

Name: By default, Atoll names traffic captures sequentially. You can change the assigned name. Comments: You can enter comments in this field if you want. Filter: You can select the transmitters to be considered in the traffic capture by clicking the Filter button. For information on using the Filter dialog box, see "Advanced Data Filtering" on page 101.

5. Click the Traffic tab. You can enter the following: •

Global Scaling Factor: If desired, enter a scaling factor to increase user density.

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The global scaling factor enables you to increase user density without changing traffic parameters or traffic maps. For example, setting the global scaling factor to 2 is the same as doubling the initial number of subscribers (for environment and user profile traffic maps) or the throughputs/users (for sector traffic maps). For information on using the global scaling factor, see "Creating Simulations" on page 266. •

Select Traffic Maps to Be Used: Each available traffic map in the project can be used for the current traffic capture by assigning its traffic to all HCS layers (default mode) or by restricting its spread to a specific HCS layer. In order to make the traffic capture, you must select at least one traffic map and assign its traffic to a single HCS layer or to all. Assigning traffic to all HCS layers means that for a given traffic map, its traffic will overflow from lowest to highest priority layers as explained in "Subcell Properties" on page 282 and in Figure 7.5 on page 286. If the traffic of a map is assigned to a specific layer, its traffic is only captured on that layer and the traffic only overflows within concentric cells. You can select traffic maps of any type. However, if you have several different types of traffic maps and want to make a traffic capture on a specific type of traffic map, you must ensure that you select only traffic maps of the same type. For information on the types of traffic maps, see "Working with Traffic Maps" on page 256.

6. Click the Conditions tab. The parameters on the Conditions tab define how the service zone for each transmitter and the number of timeslots for circuit and packet services will be calculated. 7. Under Coverage Conditions, set the following parameters to define how the service area of each transmitter will be calculated: •

• •

•

Under Server, select "HCS servers" to take the best signal level by HCS layer on each pixel into consideration, assuming this signal level on each layer exceeds the minimum HCS threshold defined either at the HCS layer level or specifically for each transmitter (for more information, see "Comparing Service Areas in Calculations" on page 484). Enter an Overlap margin. The default value is "4 dB." If you select the Shadowing Taken into Account check box, you can change the Cell Edge Coverage Probability. Shadowing margins (depending on the entered cell edge coverage probability and the model standard deviation per clutter class) are applied to the values for C. For more information, see "Modelling Shadowing" on page 506. You can select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. If shadowing is taken into account, the C⁄I standard deviation per clutter class is used to estimate the shadowing losses on the calculated C⁄I values.

8. Under GPRS/EDGE, you can set the parameters to define how the number of timeslots for circuit and packet services will be calculated. Select one of the following to define how the calculations in the traffic capture are going to be made: • •

Select Calculations Based on C if you want to base the traffic capture on C⁄N. Continue to step 14. Select Calculations Based on C⁄I and continue with the following step.

9. Select the DTX taken into account check box and enter the percentage of time during which a user is talking in the Voice Activity Factor text box, if you want discontinuous transmission mode for TRXs which support it taken into account. 10. From the Interference Sources list, select whether the interference should be calculated from adjacent channels, cochannels, or from both. The adjacent channel effect on the victim channel, i.e., the interference, is decreased by the adjacent channel protection level. Inter-technology interference is taken into account by default. For more information, see "Modelling Inter-technology Interference" on page 624. By adding an option in the Atoll.ini file, you can add an Inter-technology check box which will allow you to consider or not inter-technology interference. 11. Select the Traffic Load that will be used to calculate interference: • •

100%: The maximum traffic load (subcells entirely loaded). From subcell table: The subcell traffic load as user-defined or as calculated during dimensioning.

12. Select the Ideal Link Adaptation check box if you want the coding scheme that offers the highest throughput for a given C or C⁄I to be selected. Otherwise, Atoll will choose the coding scheme by considering only the coding scheme admission threshold in terms of C and/or C⁄I. 13. Select the Thermal Noise Taken into Account check box if you want Atoll to consider thermal noise. 14. Click Calculate.

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After the traffic capture has been completed, two new tabs appear on the traffic capture Properties dialog box with the results. For a detailed explanation of the results, see "GSM/GPRS/EDGE Traffic Capture Results" on page 329.

7.3.3.3 GSM/GPRS/EDGE Traffic Capture Results After you have calculated a GSM/GPRS/EDGE traffic capture, as described in "Creating a Traffic Capture" on page 327, two new tabs, Results per Transmitter and Results per Subcell, appear on the traffic capture Properties dialog box: •

Results per Transmitter: The results on the Results per Transmitter tab give the traffic allocated to each transmitter: • •

• • •

•

Circuit demand (Erlangs): The total circuit-switched traffic demand in Erlangs for that transmitter. This is calculated by summing the circuit-switched traffic in Erlangs per pixel in the transmitter coverage area. Circuit average demand (Timeslots): The average demand on circuit timeslots takes into consideration the effect of half-rate circuit-switched traffic carried by the transmitter, i.e., it takes into consideration the fact that 2 halfrate users are equivalent to 1 full-rate user in terms of Erlangs of traffic. Packet demand (Kbps): The total traffic demand in kilobits per second generated by the packet-switched users within the coverage area of the transmitter. Packet average demand (Timeslots): The number of timeslots needed to meet the packet traffic demand depends on the maximum throughput that a packet timeslot can support. Average Packet Timeslot Capacity (Kbps): The average packet timeslot capacity is calculated according to the propagation conditions on each pixel of the transmitter coverage area. When calculating the traffic capture, you can choose to base this on carrier power or on interference (C or C⁄I).

Results per Subcell: The results on the Results per Subcell tab give the traffic per subcell. For each subcell (except for the BCCH, which captures the same traffic as the corresponding TCH), Atoll indicates the types of traffic assigned by service, mobility, and terminal and displays: • •

Packet Demand (Kbps): The total traffic demand in kilobits per second generated by the packet-switched users within the coverage area of the transmitter. Circuit Demand (Erlangs): The total circuit-switched traffic demand in Erlangs. In case of circuit switched services, it depends whether the subcell supports half-rate traffic. If the percentage of half-rate traffic of the subcell is 0, the average demand in circuit timeslots will be the same as the traffic demand in Erlangs and the number of used timeslots will be the same as the traffic demand. If there is a certain percentage of half-rate traffic, the number of used timeslots will depend on the percentage of traffic using half-rate connections.

•

Average demand (Timeslots): The average number of timeslots needed to match the demand in circuit-switched and packet-switched traffic. The demand in packet timeslots depends on the maximum throughput that a timeslot can support. Therefore, it depends on the average timeslot capacity within the transmitter coverage area, which in turn depends on the propagation conditions. The traffic capture results provide traffic per transmitter. You can retrieve the amount of traffic (Erlangs for circuit services, Kbps for max bit rate packet services) defined in the input traffic map in output as follows: 1. Create a sector traffic map per HCS layer (see "Creating a Sector Traffic Map" on page 257) based on a best server coverage prediction (HCS server option with 0 dB overlap margin). As a result, you will have as many sector traffic maps as the number of HCS layers. 2. Create a traffic capture (HCS server option with 0 dB overlap margin) where the traffic of each map is assigned to its respective layer (see "Creating a Traffic Capture" on page 327). As a result, each transmitter will have the same amount of traffic (Erlangs for circuit services, Kbps for max bit rate packet services) as the transmitter in the selected traffic maps used for input. Constant bit rate services cannot be treated in the same way since their input traffic is stated in Erlangs whereas the corresponding demand is evaluated in Kbps as with any other packet-switched service.

For more information on how the results are calculated and on the formulas used, see the Technical Reference Guide.

7.3.3.4 Modifying a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Traffic Capture Atoll offers several options to modify a traffic capture once you have created it as explained in "Creating a Traffic Capture" on page 327. As well, you can use a traffic capture for one of several calculations. You can access these options using the traffic capture’s context menu:

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To access the options for a traffic capture: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Traffic Analysis folder. 3. Right-click the traffic capture. The context menu appears. 4. Select one of the following from the context menu: •

•

Properties: Select Properties to open the traffic capture’s Properties dialog box. You can review the results of the traffic capture, or change the parameters and recalculate the traffic capture. For a description of the results, see "GSM/GPRS/EDGE Traffic Capture Results" on page 329. For information on the parameters available, see "Creating a Traffic Capture" on page 327. Default: Select Default to set the current traffic capture as the default traffic capture. The default traffic capture ( ) is the one used to: • • • •

• •

dimension a GSM/GPRS/EDGE network (see "Dimensioning a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Network" on page 330) calculate KPIs (see "Calculating Key Performance Indicators of a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Network" on page 465) calculate interference matrices (see "Interference Matrices" on page 351) allocate neighbours according to overlapping traffic (see "Automatically Allocating Neighbours to Multiple Cells" on page 226) Calculate: Select Calculate to calculate a new traffic capture (i.e., one that you created but closed without calculating) or to recalculate an existing traffic capture to which you have made changes. Delete: Select Delete to delete the current traffic capture. The traffic capture is deleted immediately; there is no opportunity to confirm or cancel the action.

•

Rename: Select Rename to rename the current traffic capture.

7.3.4 Dimensioning a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Network The dimensioning process allows you to calculate the number of TRXs required to meet the traffic needs of a GSM/GPRS/EDGE network. Dimensioning is carried out using the parameters defined in the selected dimensioning model and on either: • •

the default traffic capture based on one or more traffic maps, or the current traffic data present in the subcells table,

During dimensioning, Atoll evaluates a number of TRXs so as to have enough circuit timeslots (shared and dedicated) to match the circuit traffic demand with the quality requirements defined in circuit-switched services (Erlang B or C). Then, Atoll calculates how many TRXs must be added to meet packet traffic demand, using the quality charts defined in the dimensioning model. In this section, the following are explained: • •

"Defining a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Dimensioning Model" on page 330 "Dimensioning a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Network" on page 332.

7.3.4.1 Defining a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Dimensioning Model The dimensioning model is the definition of the parameters that will be used during the dimensioning process. You can modify an existing dimensioning model or you can create a new dimensioning model. To create or modify a dimensioning model: 1. If you are creating a new dimensioning model: a. Select the Parameters explorer. b. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the GSM Network Settings folder. c. Right-click the Dimensioning Models folder. The context menu appears. d. Select New from the context menu. The Dimensioning Models: New Record Properties dialog box appears (see Figure 7.2 on page 279). 2. If you are modifying the properties of an existing dimensioning model: a. Select the Parameters explorer. b. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Traffic Parameters folder. c. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Dimensioning Models folder. d. Right-click the dimensioning model you want to modify. The context menu appears.

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e. Select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 3. Click the General tab. You can set the following parameters: • •

Name: Atoll assigns a Name to the dimensioning model. You can change the default name, if desired. Max. Number of TRXs per Transmitter: Enter the maximum number of TRXs that a transmitter can have. During dimensioning, this value is used for transmitters for which this value is not defined on the TRXs tab of the Properties dialog box (see "Subcell Properties" on page 282).

Under Circuit: •

Queuing Model: Enter the queuing model for GSM voice calls (Erlang B or Erlang C).

Under Packet: • •

•

Min. number of packet-dedicated timeslots per transmitter: Enter the minimum number of dedicated packetswitched timeslots that must be reserved for each transmitter. Max. number of additional TRXs for packet services: Enter the maximum number of TRXs that can be added for the subcell to satisfy the demand for packet-switched services after Atoll has dimensioned the circuit-switched services. KPIs to Take into Account: Select the key performance indicators you want taken into account during dimensioning. The values of the key performance indicators are defined by the quality graphs on the Quality Graphs tab of the dimensioning model Properties dialog box. •

Min. Throughput: Select the Min. Throughput check box if you want to take minimum required throughput (or the guaranteed bit rate for constant bit rate packet-switched services) into account when performing dimensioning. From the point of view of a GPRS/EDGE user, throughput is the average maximum throughput experienced by the mobile terminal during a data call. If there is more than one user multiplexed on the same timeslot, which occurs when the system accommodates many users, each multiplexed user will experience a reduction in throughput. This reduction in throughput is described by the reduction factor defined in the reduction factor graph. A reduction factor of 1, or almost 1, means that each user has the maximum throughput that a timeslot can offer in a given environment (the maximum throughput per timeslot, in turn, depends on the carrier power and/or C⁄I ratio at a given location). As the system load increases, the reduction factor starts decreasing, corresponding to the decrease in throughput per user.

•

Max. Blocking Rate: Select the Max. Blocking Rate check box if you want to take blocking probability into account when performing dimensioning. The blocking probability and the delay in the GPRS/EDGE system are closely related. A user starts to experience more delay in service when the system is near saturation and the incoming packets are placed in a waiting queue as there are no resources available for immediate transfer. This buffering of packets is related to the load of the system. The blocking probability is the probability that an incoming packet be placed in a queue. The delay is the average delay the packet will undergo due to blocking as it waits its turn to be transmitted when resources are available. In GPRS and EDGE, the term "system load" refers to the ratio of the number of used packet timeslots to the number of packet switching (shared and dedicated) timeslots available in the system.

•

Max. Delay: Select the Max. Delay check box if you want to take delay into account when performing dimensioning. The delay is the average delay the packet will undergo due to blocking as it waits its turn to be transmitted when resources are available. The delay can be restricted to an allowed maximum in the properties of the service. If the dimensioning model takes into account all three KPIs, the following conditions are satisfied when the number of TRXs to add for packet service is calculated: •

•

The throughput must be greater than the minimum throughput (or the guaranteed bit rate for constant bit rate packet-switched services) even if a reduction factor is applied to the throughput. The delay and the blocking rate must be lower than the maximum delay and maximum blocking rate, respectively.

4. Click the Quality Charts tab. The Quality Charts tab displays the throughput reduction factor, delay, and blocking probability graphs used for dimensioning packet switched traffic. The graphs are calculated as a function of the system load, which is defined as the ratio of the number of used packet timeslots to the number of packet switching (shared and dedicated) timeslots available in the system.

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You can modify or replace the quality graphs with graphs generating using a third-party simulator. If the quality graphs are modified incorrectly, the dimensioning and quality analysis results that are based on the quality graphs will also be incorrect.

• •

For the moment, Atoll does not provide a default delay graph; if desired, you can enter your own values. The blocking rate graph is based on a user multiplexing factor of 8. The user multiplexing factor corresponds to the number of timeslots on a GSM/GPRS/EDGE frame.

5. Click OK.

7.3.4.2 Dimensioning a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Network You can dimension a GSM/GPRS/EDGE network once you have the necessary information: •

Either a default traffic capture (for information on creating a traffic capture, see "Calculating and Displaying a Traffic Capture" on page 327) or alternatively a populated traffic data part of the subcells table (see "Subcell Properties" on page 282). If you have modified the traffic map, traffic parameters, or transmitter properties (e.g., calculation area, coding scheme configuration, etc.), since creating the traffic capture, you must recalculate the traffic capture before dimensioning.

•

A dimensioning model (for information on creating a or modifying a dimensioning model, see "Defining a GSM/GPRS/ EDGE Dimensioning Model" on page 330).

To dimension a GSM/GPRS/EDGE network: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Traffic > Dimensioning from the context menu. The Dimensioning/KPIs dialog box appears (see Figure 7.20).

Figure 7.20: The Dimensioning dialog box

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4. Under Dimensioning parameters, select the dimensioning model from the Model list. 5. Under Traffic (circuit and packet demand), select whether the dimensioning is to be based on the traffic demand computed in the default traffic capture of from the current values (circuit and packet demands) in the subcells table. •

If you selected "From subcell table," you will define the following additional parameters: •

• • •

Specify the minimum throughput reduction factor that can be accepted in the network. When calculating a traffic capture, this parameter is evaluated (but not displayed) during the calculation. The minimum throughput reduction factor models the fact that at the user level, the user throughput can be reduced due to how much it will be multiplexed with other users. In other words, this parameter will be affected by the traffic load which is a consequence of the dimensioning. Under Terminals (%), enter the percentage of each type of terminal used in the map. The total percentages must equal 100. Under Circuit Services (%), enter the percentage of each type of circuit service used in the map. The total percentages must equal 100. Under Packet Services (%), enter the percentage of each type of packet service used in the map (assuming the packet services consist of max bit rate and constant bit rate packet services). The total percentages must equal 100.

6. Click Calculate to dimension the network. The output of the dimensioning appears in the Dimensioning dialog box, under Results. Some columns are hidden by default. You can select which columns to display by clicking the Displayed Columns button and selecting or clearing the check box of the columns. The following results are given for each transmitter in the Transmitter column: •

TRX Type: For each transmitter, the results are given by TRX type (e.g., BCCH, TCH, TCH_EGPRS and TCH_INNER). Together, the Transmitter and TRX Type columns identify the subcell.

•

Initial required number of TRXs: This is the required number of TRXs before dimensioning. For example, this value might come from the actual number of TRXs or it might be the result of an estimate the number of required TRXs.

•

Required Number of TRXs: The number of TRXs required to satisfy both the subcell's circuit-switched and packetswitched traffic, while taking into account the quality of service criterion assigned for each. The required number of TRXs is the most important result of the dimensioning process. If the number of required TRXs exceeds the maximum number of TRXs per transmitter, Atoll displays the results for the subcell in red.

•

Required TRXs to add: The required TRXs to add is the difference between the obtained required number of TRXs (before the dimensioning process) and the initial required number of TRXs. If the value is positive, it means that the current dimensioning process has evaluated than more TRXs than the initial estimated value are needed to absorb the traffic.

•

Load (%): The average demand in timeslots (packet and circuit), divided by the total number of timeslots available. It represents the average occupancy of the TRXs. This parameter is one of the principal results of dimensioning along with the number of TRXs. It is assigned to subcell pools when committing the results of dimensioning.

•

Multiplexing Factor: The user or Temporary Block Flow (TBF) multiplexing factor. The multiplexing factor is an input of the dimensioning process. It corresponds to the number of packet switched service users that can be multiplexed onto the same timeslot in GPRS and EDGE.

•

Maximum Number of TRXs per Transmitter: The maximum number of TRXs that a transmitter can support is an input of the dimensioning process. This parameter is provided by the equipment manufacturer. The value can be set for each transmitter or taken from the dimensioning model for transmitters where this value is not set.

•

Target Rate of Traffic Overflow (%): This input parameter defines the percentage of traffic that is allowed to overflow from one subcell to another in case the traffic assigned to this subcell is greater than the maximum traffic that it can accommodate. It can be considered an anticipation of the percentage of traffic that will be rejected from higher priority subcells or layers to lower ones. The value is specified for each subcell.

•

Half-rate Traffic Ratio (%): This input parameter is defined per subcell and indicates the percentage of subcell traffic that uses half-rate access. If the values are different for BCCH and TCH subcells, Atoll will use the values for the target rate of traffic overflow and the half-rate traffic ratio from the BCCH subcell.

•

Packet demand (Kbps): The Packet Traffic Demand is the total traffic demand in kilobits per second generated by packet switched service users within the coverage area of the transmitter. This parameter comes from the traffic capture or from the Subcells table, depending on the source you chose for the traffic demand. It is assigned to subcell pools when committing the results of dimensioning.

•

Packet average demand (Timeslots): The number of timeslots needed to satisfy the packet traffic demand depends on the maximum throughput that a packet timeslot can support.

•

Circuit Demand (Erlangs): The Circuit Traffic Demand is the total traffic demand in Erlangs generated by circuitswitched-service users within the coverage area of the transmitter. This parameter comes from the traffic capture or from the subcells table, depending on the user selection for the traffic demand source. It is assigned to subcell pools when committing the results of dimensioning.

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•

Circuit average demand (Timeslots): The Average Demand in Circuit Timeslots is calculated taking into account the effect of half-rate circuit-switched traffic: two half-rate users are equivalent to one full-rate user.

•

Served Circuit Traffic (Erlangs): The Served Circuit Traffic is the circuit-switched traffic in Erlangs that the subcell can potentially serve, if the dimensioning results are applied. The served circuit-switched traffic is circuit traffic demand less the effective overflowed circuit traffic.

•

Served Packet Traffic (Kbps): The Served Packet Traffic is the packet-switched traffic in kilobits per second that the subcell can potentially serve, if the dimensioning results are applied. The served packet-switched traffic is packet traffic demand less the effective overflowed packet traffic.

•

Effective Rate of Traffic Overflow (%): The Effective Rate of Traffic Overflow is the actual rate of traffic that is rejected by the subcell because of a lack of packet timeslots. In a GSM network, the value is the same as the blocking probability. In a more complex network, this value includes the traffic overflow from all services. For Erlang B, the effective rate of traffic overflow corresponds to the effective blocking rate. This value is calculated from the required number of circuit timeslots (both shared and circuit timeslots) and the circuit traffic demand in Erlang B tables. For Erlang C, the effective rate of traffic overflow is zero except if the maximum number of TRXs is exceeded. The effective blocking rate is inferred from the required number of circuit timeslots (both shared and circuit timeslots) and the circuit traffic demand in Erlang C tables.

•

Circuit Blocking Rate (/Delay) (%): The Circuit Blocking Rate is the grade of service (GoS) indicator for circuitswitched traffic. It can be either the rate at which calls are blocked (Erlang B) or delayed (Erlang C), depending on which queuing model the dimensioning model uses.

•

Minimum Throughput Reduction Factor (%): The Minimum Throughput Reduction Factor is the lowest throughput reduction factor that can still guarantee service availability. The Minimum Throughput Reduction Factor is one of the criteria for packet-switched traffic dimensioning. It is calculated using the parameters defined for the services: the minimum service throughput (or the guaranteed bit rate for constant bit rate packet-switched services); the maximum number of timeslots per connection; the required availability; and the per pixel timeslot capacity of the subcell coverage area. This parameter is calculated when making the traffic capture or is userdefined, depending on the source of traffic demand on which the dimensioning is based.

•

Throughput Reduction Factor (%): The Throughput Reduction Factor is calculated from the quality charts using the packet load and available connections for each subcell. This reduction factor must be greater than the minimum throughput reduction factor for packet-switched services for these services to be satisfactorily available in the subcell.

•

Maximum Delay (s): The Maximum Delay is the defined delay in seconds that must not be exceeded for the service quality to be considered satisfactory.

•

Delay (s): The Delay is a key performance indicator (KPI) calculated using the quality graphs, the load, and the number of connections available. This dimensioning output must not exceed the maximum delay defined for the service for service availability to be considered satisfactory.

•

Maximum Packet Blocking Rate (/Delay) (%): The Maximum Packet Blocking Rate is defined for each packet service and is the highest probability that the service will be blocked that is acceptable in terms of service availability.

•

Packet Blocking Rate (Delay) (%): The Packet Blocking Rate is a dimensioning output and must not exceed the Maximum Packet Blocking Rate defined for the service for service availability to be considered satisfactory.

7.3.5 Calculating GSM/GPRS/EDGE Traffic Simulations Once you have modelled the network services and users and have created traffic maps, you can create simulations. The simulation process consists of two steps: 1. Obtaining a realistic user distribution: Atoll generates a user distribution using a Monte Carlo algorithm; this user distribution is based on the traffic database and traffic maps and is weighted by a Poisson distribution between simulations of the same group. Each user is assigned a service, a mobility type, and an activity status by random trial, according to a probability law that uses the traffic database. The user activity status is an important output of the random trial and has direct consequences on the next step of the simulation and on the network interferences. A user can be either active or inactive. Both active and inactive users consume radio resources and create interference. Finally, another random trial determines user positions in their respective traffic zone (possibly according to the clutter weighting and the indoor ratio per clutter class). 2. Modelling network regulation mechanisms: Atoll manages the GSM resources as described in "Radio Resource Management in GSM" on page 335

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This section explains the specific mechanisms that are used to calculate GSM/GPRS/EDGE traffic simulations. For information on working with traffic simulations in Atoll, see "Simulations" on page 265

7.3.5.1 Radio Resource Management in GSM This section covers the following topics: • •

7.3.5.1.1

"MSA Definition" on page 335 "GSM Simulation Process" on page 335.

MSA Definition In order to understand the difference between each frequency hopping mode from the point of view of a mobile, you can consider the Mobile Station Allocation. MSA is characterised by the pair channel list and MAIO. In the following, this concept of MSA will be used to characterise the interference and resources set of a mobile. For non-hopping (NH) mode, the channel list is 1 channel. For base-band hopping (BBH) or synthesised frequency hopping (SFH), the channel list corresponds to the mobile allocation list (MAL). For BBH, channels of MAL belong to the same TRX type. Examples: For NH, you have: TRX index

Channel list

MAIO

MSA

1

53

*

(53,*)

2

54

*

(54,*)

For BBH, if you assume TRXs belong to the same TRX type, you have: TRX index

Channel list

MAIO

MSA

1

53

*

([53,54,55],0)

2

54

*

([53,54,55],1)

3

55

*

([53,54,55],2)

TRX index

Channel list

MAIO

MSA

1

53 54 55 56

2

([53,54,55,56],2)

2

53 54 55 56

3

([53,54,55,56],3)

For SFH, you have:

Therefore, from the point of view of a mobile station, BBH and SFH work in the same way. An MSA will be attached to each mobile considered during the simulation and the level of interference will be evaluated on this MSA.

7.3.5.1.2

GSM Simulation Process Figure 7.21 shows the GSM simulation algorithm. The specific simulation process in GSM consists of the following steps:

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Figure 7.21: GSM simulation algorithm For each simulation, the simulation process performs the following actions: 1. It sets initial values for the following parameters: a. Mobile transmission power is set to the maximum mobile power. b. Cell traffic loads for each MSA and transmitter are set to their average current value in the Transmitters table (one traffic load value per subcell). For each iteration k, the simulation process does the following: 2. For each circuit-switched mobile, the simulation: a. Determines the server and the MSA to which the circuit-switched mobile is attached (which is the same in uplink and downlink). b. Determines the downlink and uplink C/(I+N) for each of these mobiles. c. Determines MSA codec modes in downlink and uplink and performs the corresponding target power controls. 3. For each packet-switched mobile, the simulation: a. Determines the server and the MSA to which the packet-switched mobile is attached (which is the same in uplink and downlink). b. Determines the downlink and uplink C/(I+N) for each of these mobiles. c. Determines MSA coding scheme in downlink and uplink, evaluates the numbers of necessary timeslots to reach the minimum downlink and uplink throughput demands (defined in the requested service) of the users randomly ranked and performs the corresponding target power controls. The number of timeslots in DL and UL are obviously not linked.

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4. It equally shares the remaining resources to packet-switched users who did not reach their maximum throughput demands. Resources and throughputs are finally assigned to each packet-switched user. 5. It updates the DL traffic loads, power control gains, DTX gains, and half-rate traffic ratios of all the subcells according to the resources in use and the total resources. 6. It updates the UL traffic loads of all the subcells and the UL noise rises of all the TRXs according to the resources in use and the total resources. 7. It performs a convergence test to see whether the differences between the current and the new loads and noise rises are within the convergence thresholds. 8. Repeats the previous steps (from step 2. to step 7.) for the iteration k+1 using the new calculated load conditions as the current load and noise rise. At the end of the simulations, active users can be connected in the direction corresponding to their activity status if: • • •

They have a serving cell assigned For a circuit-switched (or packet-switched) service, he has a codec mode (or coding scheme) corresponding to his activity status He is not rejected due to resource saturation.

If users are rejected during server determination, the cause of rejection is "No Coverage". If users are rejected because quality is too low to obtain any codec mode or coding scheme, the cause of rejection is "No Service". If users are rejected because they cannot be allocated a sufficient number of resources to obtain the codec mode or coding scheme, the cause of rejection is "Resource Saturation," i.e., all of the cell’s resources were used up by other users.

7.3.5.2 GSM/GPRS/EDGE Simulation Results After you have created a simulation, as explained in "Creating Simulations" on page 266, you can either display the results as a distribution map or you can access the actual values of the simulation. Actual values can be displayed either for a single simulation or as average values for a group of simulations. To display distribution maps of a simulation, see "Displaying Simulation Results on the Map" on page 270. Actual values can be displayed either for a single simulation or as average values for a group of simulations. This section covers the following topics: • •

7.3.5.2.1

"Displaying the Results of a Single Simulation" on page 337 "Displaying the Average Results of a Group of Simulations" on page 339

Displaying the Results of a Single Simulation To access the result values of a simulation: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Simulations folder, and expand the folder of the simulation group containing the simulation whose results you want to access. 2. Right-click the simulation and select Properties from the context menu. A simulation properties dialog box appears. One tab gives statistics of the results of the simulation. Other tabs in the simulation properties dialog box contain simulation results as identified by the tab title. A final tab lists the initial conditions of the simulation. The amount of detail available when you display the results depends on the level of detail you selected from the Information to retain list on the General tab of the properties dialog box for the group of simulations. The Statistics tab: The Statistics tab contains the following two sections: •

Demand: Under Demand, you will find data on the connection requests: • • •

•

Atoll calculates the total number of users who try to connect. This number is the result of the first random trial; power control has not yet finished. The result depends on the traffic description and traffic input. During the first random trial, each user is assigned a service and an activity status. The number of users per activity status and the UL and DL throughputs that all active users could theoretically generate are provided. The breakdown per service (total number of users, number of users per activity status) is given.

Results: Under Results, you will find data on connection results: • •

•

The number of iterations that were run in order to converge. The number and the percentage of rejected users is given along with the reason for rejection. These figures include rejected users only. These figures are determined at the end of the simulation and depend on the network design. The breakdown per service (total number of users, number of users per activity status) is given.

The Sites tab: The Sites tab contains the following information per site: •

DL and UL Throughput for Each Service: The throughput in kbits⁄s for each service. The result is detailed on the downlink and uplink only when relevant.

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The Subcells tab: The Cells tab contains the following information, per transmitter and TRX Type: • • • • • • • •

Frequency Domain: The frequency domain assigned to the subcell. DL Power Reduction (dB): The power reduction applied to the considered subcell compared to the BCCH power. DL Traffic Load: The obtain DL traffic load which represents the average occupancy of the subcell timeslots in DL. UL Traffic Load: The obtain UL traffic load which represents the average occupancy of the subcell timeslots in UL. Mean Power Control Gain (dB): The average gain due to the DL power control in order to reduce interference. DL DTX Gain (dB): The gain due to DTX users inactivity. Half-Rate Traffic Ratio (%): The percentage of half-rate voice traffic in the subcell. DTX supported: The ability of subcell to support DTX mode. For BCCH subcells, this box should remain cleared. If this box is selected, a DL DTX gain can be obtained.

The TRXs tab: The TRXs tab contains the following information: • • • • •

Hopping Mode: The hopping mode of the subcell to which the TRX belongs Channels: The channel list to which the TRX is part of. In case of non hopping, it corresponds to a unique channel. In case of any hopping mode, it corresponds to a MAL. MAIO: The MAIO defined at this TRX in case of SFH only TRX Rank: The rank assigned to the TRX during an automatic frequency allocation Intra-technology UL Noise Rise (dB): the resulting noise rise caused by the surrounding UL traffic at the TRX. This result is the output which can be committed to the TRXs table.

The Mobiles tab: The Mobiles tab contains the following information: • • • • • • •

• • • • • • • • • •

•

• • • • • • • • •

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X and Y: The coordinates of users who attempt to connect (the geographic position is determined by the second random trial). Service: The service assigned during the first random trial during the generation of the user distribution. Terminal: The assigned terminal. Atoll uses the assigned service and activity status to determine the terminal and the user profile. User Profile: The assigned user profile. Atoll uses the assigned service and activity status to determine the terminal and the user profile. Mobility: The mobility type assigned during the first random trial during the generation of the user distribution. Activity Status: The activity status assigned during the first random trial during the generation of the user distribution. Connection Status: The connection status indicates whether the user is connected or rejected at the end of the simulation. If connected, the connection status corresponds to the activity status. If rejected, the rejection cause is given. Server: The transmitter serving the mobile on its MSA. HCS Layer: The HCS Layer of the serving cell Best Server Signal Level (dBm): The received signal strength of the serving cell. Frequency Band: The frequency band used by the transmitter-mobile link. TRX Type: The TRX type of the subcell to which the mobile is attached. DL Requested Throughput (kbps): The DL max throughput demand defined in the service. DL Obtained Throughput (kbps): The DL obtained throughput depending on the resources allocated to the user. This value must be between the minimum and the maximum throughput demands. UL Requested Throughput (kbps): The UL max throughput demand defined in the service. UL Obtained Throughput (kbps): The UL obtained throughput depending on the resources allocated to the user. This value must be between the minimum and the maximum throughput demands. Timeslots (DL): the number of DL timeslots used. It should be 0 if it is not connected. Then for circuit-switched services, depending on the served codec mode, it can be 0,5 or 1, but has to be the same as for UL. For packetswitched services, this is the number of timeslots corresponding to the DL total obtained throughput. Timeslots (UL): the number of UL timeslots used. It should be 0 if it is not connected. Then for circuit-switched services, depending on the served codec mode, it can be 0,5 or 1, but has to be the same as for DL. For packetswitched services, this is the number of timeslots corresponding to the UL total obtained throughput. Initial C/(I+N) (DL) (dB): The C/(I+N) of the served MSA at the user location in the downlink before power control. Final C/(I+N) (DL) (dB): The C/(I+N) of the served MSA at the user location in the downlink after power control. Target Threshold (DL) (dB): The DL C/(I+N) to get the coding (coding scheme of codec mode) at the current location. Initial C/(I+N) (UL) (dB): The C/(I+N) of the served MSA at the serving cell in the uplink before power control. Final C/(I+N) (UL) (dB): The C/(I+N) of the served MSA at the serving cell in the uplink after power control. Target Threshold (UL) (dB): The UL C/(I+N) to get the coding (coding scheme of codec mode) at the serving cell. Mobile Total Power (dBm): The mobile total power corresponds to the total power transmitted by the terminal. Channels: The channel or list of channels allocated to the mobile station during the simulation. It has to be 1 channel in case of "Non Hopping" and a list of channel in case of frequency hopping. MAIO: The Mobile Allocation Index Offset assigned in case of frequency hopping (BBH or SFH) to avoid intra-site collisions caused by two sites using the same or adjacent channels. This value has to be an integer ranging from 0 and N-1 (where "N" is the number of channels used in the hopping sequence)

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•

•

Codec or Coding scheme (DL): According to the capability of both the base station and the terminal, this value is either the codec mode (for a circuit-switched service) or the coding scheme (for a packet-switched service) served at the terminal. Codec or Coding scheme (UL): According to the capability of both the base station and the terminal, this value is either the codec mode (for a circuit-switched service) or the coding scheme (for a packet-switched service) served at the cell.

The Initial Conditions tab: The Initial Conditions tab contains the following information: •

The input parameters specified when creating the simulation: • • • • • • • •

•

7.3.5.2.2

The generator initialisation value The global scaling factor The maximum number of iterations The DL traffic load convergence threshold The UL traffic load convergence threshold The DL power control convergence threshold The UL noise rise convergence threshold The name of the traffic maps used.

The parameters related to the clutter classes, including the default values.

Displaying the Average Results of a Group of Simulations To access the averaged results of a group of simulations: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button (

) to expand the Simulations folder.

3. Right-click the group of simulations on which you want to average the results. 4. Select Average Simulation and from the context menu. A properties dialog box appears. One tab gives statistics of the results of the group of simulations. Other tabs in the properties dialog box contain simulation results for all simulations, both averaged. The Statistics tab: The Statistics tab contains the following two sections: •

Demand: Under Demand, you will find data on the connection requests: • • •

•

Atoll calculates the total number of users who try to connect. This number is the result of the first random trial; power control has not yet finished. The result depends on the traffic description and traffic input. During the first random trial, each user is assigned a service and an activity status. The number of users per activity status and the UL and DL throughputs that all active users could theoretically generate are provided. The breakdown per service (total number of users, number of users per activity status) is given.

Results: Under Results, you will find data on connection results: • •

•

The number of iterations that were run in order to converge. The number and the percentage of rejected users is given along with the reason for rejection. These figures include rejected users only. These figures are determined at the end of the simulation and depend on the network design. The breakdown per service (total number of users, number of users per activity status) is given.

The Sites (Average) tab: The Sites (Average) tab contains the following average information per site: •

DL and UL Throughput for Each Service: The throughput in kbits⁄s for each service. The result is detailed on the downlink and uplink only when relevant.

The Subcells (Average) tab: The Subcells (Average) tab contains the following average information per transmitter and TRX Type: • • • • • • • •

Frequency Domain: The frequency domain assigned to the subcell. DL Power Reduction (dB): The power reduction applied to the considered subcell compared to the BCCH power. DL Traffic Load: The obtain DL traffic load which represents the average occupancy of the subcell timeslots in DL. UL Traffic Load: The obtain UL traffic load which represents the average occupancy of the subcell timeslots in UL. Mean Power Control Gain (dB): The average gain due to the DL power control in order to reduce interference. DL DTX Gain (dB): The gain due to DTX users inactivity. Half-Rate Traffic Ratio (%): The percentage of half-rate voice traffic in the subcell. DTX supported: The ability of subcell to support DTX mode. For BCCH subcells, this box should remain cleared. If this box is selected, a DL DTX gain can be obtained.

The TRXs (Average) tab: The TRXs tab contains the following information: • •

Hopping Mode: The hopping mode of the subcell to which the TRX belongs Channels: The channel list to which the TRX is part of. In case of non hopping, it corresponds to a unique channel. In case of any hopping mode, it corresponds to a MAL.

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MAIO: The MAIO defined at this TRX in case of SFH only TRX Rank: The rank assigned to the TRX during an automatic frequency allocation Intra-technology UL Noise Rise (dB): the resulting noise rise caused by the surrounding UL traffic at the TRX. This result is the output which can be committed to the TRXs table.

The Initial Conditions tab: The Initial Conditions tab contains the following information: •

The input parameters specified when creating the simulation: • • • • • • • •

•

The generator initialisation value The global scaling factor The maximum number of iterations The DL traffic load convergence threshold The UL traffic load convergence threshold The DL power control convergence threshold The UL noise rise convergence threshold The name of the traffic maps used.

The parameters related to the clutter classes, including the default values.

7.4 Allocating Frequencies, BSICs, HSNs, MALs, MAIOs The allocation of resources is an important part of planning and optimising a GSM network. The resources — frequencies, BSICs, HSNs, and MAIOs — can be allocated manually, automatically, or interactively. These resources are limited, consequently each resource will have to be used more than once, although identical instances of the same resource can not be used close to each other. The resources are allocated on different levels: • •

•

The channel, MAIO, and MAL are allocated at the TRX level: each TRX requires one channel (or MAL) and one MAIO. The HSN is allocated at the subcell level: each subcell performing frequency hopping requires an HSN (however cells that do not perform frequency hopping do not need to be allocated an HSN). The allocation of HSNs is managed using domains and groups. The BSIC is allocated at the cell level and the BSIC-BCCH pair is used to identify the transmitters in the network. The allocation of BSICs is managed using domains and groups.

Frequencies are managed on three different levels: frequency bands, and then domains, and finally groups. The frequency band is the highest level and is defined by the frequencies allocated to GSM/GPRS/EDGE in the area covered by the project. It can therefore be considered as a fixed item. The frequency bands usually follow the Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number (ARFCN) standards. The frequency bands are mainly used for base station and terminal compatibility. A frequency domain is a subset of the frequencies contained by the frequency band. The frequency domain can contain one or more groups. While the frequency band is fixed, frequency groups and domains can be defined and modified. The second level on which frequencies are managed, and the highest level on which BSICs and HSNs are managed, is the domain. The main role of the domain is to limit the resources to the subset of those resources available. For BSICs and HSNs, the domain is the highest level on which they can be managed. Much like frequency domains, BSIC and HSN domains can contain one or more groups. However, while the resources defined in a frequency domain are limited by the frequency band the domain belongs to, the resources in a BSIC or HSN domain are defined by the GSM standard. The lowest level at which frequencies, BSICs, and HSNs are managed is at the group level. A group belongs to a domain. All frequencies in a group must belong to the frequency band the domain belongs to. In the case of BSIC or HSN groups, the entries must be valid BSIC or HSN numbers. This section begins with an explanation of how to manually allocate resources. By beginning with manual allocation, you will have a better understanding of how Atoll manages the various resources. When the project is too large or when there are too many variables to co-ordinate, manually allocating resources will be too time-consuming and complex. At that point, you will probably need to use Automatic Frequency Planning (AFP). By allocating resources efficiently within defined parameters, the AFP can enhance network performance. However, before you can perform an automatic allocation, you must be certain that the pre-requisites have been filled: you must have valid interference matrices, you must determine the number of required TRXs, and you must define separation rules and quality targets. Along with manual and automatic allocation, Atoll also allows you to allocate resources using Interactive Frequency Planning (IFP). The IFP enables you to verify the frequency allocation of each transmitter and interactively improve an existing frequency plan by selecting the most appropriate channels to assign to individual TRXs. The IFP uses the installed AFP module to calculate the costs associated with the current and modified frequency plans. By using the AFP to allocate channels and find the best solution in terms of allocated channels, i.e., the frequency allocation that provides the lowest overall cost, the IFP lets you use your knowledge of the network to improve the frequency plan proposed by the AFP. Automatic and interactive allocation are implemented using an AFP module. Many AFP modules work with Atoll. Because each module is different, in this section only the general allocation process will be described.

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For more information on the optional Atoll AFP module, see "Automatic Frequency Planning" on page 391. This section covers the following topics: • • • •

"Defining Resource Ranges" on page 341 "Allocating Frequencies and BSICs Manually" on page 345 "AFP Prerequisites (IM, Separations, Traffic, etc.)" on page 350 "Automatic Resource Allocation Using an AFP Module" on page 371.

7.4.1 Defining Resource Ranges In Atoll, when you allocate resources such as frequencies and BSICs, you do so using domains and groups. The domains and groups define the range of resources that can be used by the transmitter, subcell, or TRX. Using defined ranges of resources facilitates both allocation and management of resources. In this section, the following are explained: • • •

"Defining Frequency Bands, Domains, and Groups" on page 341 "Defining BSIC Domains and Groups" on page 343 "Defining HSN Domains and Groups" on page 344

7.4.1.1 Defining Frequency Bands, Domains, and Groups In GSM/GPRS/EDGE projects, you can manage frequencies by defining frequency domains and groups based on standard frequency bands. A frequency domain consists of one or several frequency groups. The frequency domain in turn belongs to a frequency band. A frequency group is a set of channels. A frequency group can belong to one or several frequency domains. Frequency planning, both manual and automatic, is based on the frequency domains assigned to the TRX types in defined cell types. In this section, the following are explained: • •

7.4.1.1.1

"Defining Frequency Bands" on page 341 "Defining Frequency Domains and Groups" on page 342.

Defining Frequency Bands Frequency bands represent the defined frequency that frequency domains and groups refer to. In a GSM/GPRS/EDGE project, the frequency bands are usually fixed items, whereas domains and groups can be defined and modified to respond to the needs of the project. The properties of frequency bands can be accessed from the Frequency Bands table. To define a frequency band: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the GSM Network Settings folder. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Frequencies folder. 4. In the Frequencies folder, right-click Bands. The context menu appears. 5. Select Open Table. The Frequency Bands table appears. 6. In the row marked with the New Row icon ( ), enter the following parameters to define a frequency band (for information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75): • • • • • • • •

Name: Enter a name for the frequency, for example, "GSM 1900." This name will appear in other dialog boxes when you select a frequency band. Frequency (MHz): Enter the average frequency. Channel Width (kHz): Enter the width, in kHz, that each channel will cover. First channel: Enter the number of the first channel in this frequency band. Last channel: Enter the number of the last channel in this frequency band. Excluded channels: Enter the channels that will not be included in this frequency band, even though they are between the first and last channels. Multiplexing factor: Enter the multiplexing factor of the frequency band. The user multiplexing factor corresponds to the number of timeslots in a GSM/GPRS/EDGE frame. Max channel number: Enter the maximum channel number after which the channel number count restarts at 0. The GSM 900 frequency band in Atoll includes the P-GSM (primitive GSM), R-GSM (GSM for railways), and E-GSM (extended GSM) bands, i.e., channels from 1 to 124 (P-GSM), from 955 to 974 (R-GSM), and from 975 to 1023 and 0 (E-GSM). The channel numbers 0 and 1023 will be considered adjacent if you enter a Max Channel Number of 1024 for this frequency band.

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You can also modify the properties of a frequency band using its Properties dialog box. You can open the frequency band Properties dialog box by double-clicking the left margin of the row with the frequency band. The frequency band Properties dialog box has a General tab which allows you to modify the properties described above, a Frequency Domains tab which indicates the frequency domains that belong to the frequency band, and, if userdefined fields have been added to the Frequency Bands table, an Other Properties tab. The absolute radio frequency channel numbers are determined in Atoll with the following equation: ARFCN of X = First Channel Number + (Channel Frequency of X - First Channel Frequency)/200 kHz

7.4.1.1.2

Defining Frequency Domains and Groups In a GSM/GPRS/EDGE project, the frequency bands are usually fixed items, whereas domains and groups can be defined and modified to respond to the needs of the project. Frequency domains are linked to TRX types. Frequency groups are used in frequency allocation. To define frequency domains and groups: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the GSM Network Settings folder. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Frequencies folder. 4. In the Frequencies folder, right-click Domains. The context menu appears. 5. Select Open Table. The Frequency Domains table appears. 6. In the row marked with the New Row icon ( ), enter the following parameters to define a frequency domain (for information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75): • •

Name: Enter a name for the frequency domain, for example, "GSM 1900 domain." This name will appear in other dialog boxes when you select a frequency domain. Frequency Band: Select the frequency band the domain will belong to from the list.

7. Select the row containing the frequency domain and click the Properties button ( quency domain’s Properties dialog box appears.

) in the Table toolbar. The fre-

In the frequency domain’s Properties dialog box, you can modify the properties of the frequency domain and create frequency groups. 8. Under Groups, in the row marked with the New Row icon ( ), enter the following parameters to define a frequency group (for information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75): • • • • •

•

Name: Enter a name for the frequency group, for example, "GSM 1900 domain Group1." This name will appear in other dialog boxes when you select a frequency group. Min.: Enter the number of the first channel in this frequency group. Max.: Enter the number of the last channel in this frequency group. Step: Enter the value interval between channels in this frequency group. Excluded: Enter the channels that you do not want to use in this frequency group. You can enter or paste a list of channels; the values must be separated with either a comma, or a semi-colon, or a space. You can also enter a range of channels to be excluded from this group, by entering the first and last channel of the range separated by a hyphen. For example, entering 520-525 corresponds to entering 520 521 522 523 524 525. Extra: Enter the additional channels, outside the first and last channels of the group, that you want to use in this frequency group. You can enter or paste a list of channels; the values must be separated with either a comma, or a semi-colon, or a space. You can also enter a range of channels to be excluded from this group, by entering the first and last channel of the range separated by a hyphen. For example, entering 520-525 corresponds to entering 520 521 522 523 524 525.

9. Click OK to close the frequency domain’s Properties dialog box. 10. Click the Close button ( ) to close the Frequency Domains table. You can associate frequency groups to frequency domains using the Frequency Groups table. You can open the Frequency Groups table by expanding the GSM Network Settings folder in the Parameters explorer, expanding the Frequencies folder, right-clicking Groups and selecting Open Table from the context menu. Although each group name in a single frequency domain must be unique, you can use the same group name in different frequency domains.

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7.4.1.2 Defining BSIC Domains and Groups In GSM/GPRS/EDGE, the Base Station Identity Code (BSIC) is assigned to a BCCH to identify the transmitter on which the BCCH is located. BSICs are made available according to country and area. The mobile uses the BSIC, which can be in either decimal or octal format, to distinguish one BCCH from BCCHs on nearby transmitters. The BSIC is composed of a Network Colour Code (NCC) and a BTS Colour Code (BCC). BSICs are modelled using domains and groups which can be defined and modified: • •

A domain consists of one or more groups. A group is a defined set of BSICs. A BSIC group can belong to one or more BSIC domains.

In this section, the following are explained: • •

7.4.1.2.1

"Defining the BSIC Format" on page 343 "Defining BSIC Domains and Groups" on page 343.

Defining the BSIC Format The BSIC is composed of a Network Colour Code (NCC) combined with a BTS Colour Code (BCC). Both the NCC and the BCC are integers from 0 to 7, making a total of 64 possible BSICs. They are broken down into 8 groups (one group for each possible NCC) of 8 BSICs. For each NCC-BCC pair, the resulting BSIC number can be in either decimal or octal format. •

Decimal format: In decimal format, all numbers from 0 to 9 can be used to define the BSIC. Because both the NCC and the BCC are in octal format (using the numbers from 0 to 7), their combined value must be converted to decimal format with the following equation: NCCx8 + BCC The resulting value is the BSIC in decimal format. For example, the NCC-BCC pair 3-2 results in a decimal BSIC value of 26.

•

Octal format: Both the NCC and the BCC are already in octal format (using the numbers from 0 to 7), so they can be combined directly to express the resulting BSIC. For example, the NCC-BCC pair 3-2 results in an octal BSIC value of 32. The octal format is more commonly used than the decimal format.

In Atoll, you define the format globally for the entire GSM/GPRS/EDGE document. When you import drive test data, you must ensure that the defined BSIC format is the same as that of the drive test data before you import the data.

To define the BSIC format for a GSM/GPRS/EDGE document: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the GSM Network Settings folder. 3. Right-click the BSICs folder. The context menu appears. 4. Select Format and select one of the following: • •

7.4.1.2.2

Decimal Octal

Defining BSIC Domains and Groups BSICs are modelled using domains and groups which can be defined and modified. A domain consists of one or more groups. You must assign a BSIC domain to each transmitter. A group is a defined set of BSICs. A BSIC group can belong to one or more BSIC domains. Groups are used during automatic BSIC allocation. To define frequency domains and groups: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the GSM Network Settings folder. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the BSICs folder. 4. In the BSICs folder, right-click Domains. The context menu appears. 5. Select Open Table. The BSICs Domains table appears. The BSIC Domains table contains a default domain called "ALL BSICs;" it contains all 64 BSICs divided into 8 groups. 6. In the row marked with the New Row icon (

), enter the name of the new BSIC domain.

7. Select the row containing the BSIC domain and click the Properties button ( domain’s Properties dialog box appears.

) in the Table toolbar. The BSIC

In the BSIC domain’s Properties dialog box, you can modify the properties of the BSIC domain and create BSIC groups.

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8. Under Groups, in the row marked with the New Row icon ( ), enter the following parameters to define a BSIC group (for information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75): When defining the BSIC group, ensure that the entered values are consistent with the defined BSIC format (see "Defining the BSIC Format" on page 343).

• • • • •

•

Name: Enter a name for the BSIC group. This name will appear in other dialog boxes when you select a BSIC group. Min.: Enter the first BSIC in this BSIC group. Max.: Enter the last BSIC in this BSIC group. Step: Enter the value interval between BSICs in this BSIC group. Excluded: Enter the BSICs that you do not want to use in this BSIC group. You can enter or paste a list of BSICs; the values must be separated with either a comma, or a semi-colon, or a space. You can also enter a range of BSICs to be excluded from this group, by entering the first and last BSIC of the range separated by a hyphen. For example, entering 0-5 corresponds to entering 0 1 2 3 4 5. Extra: Enter the additional BSICs, outside the first and last BSICs of the group, that you want to use in this BSIC group. You can enter or paste a list of BSICs; the values must be separated with either a comma, or a semi-colon, or a space. You can also enter a range of BSICs to be excluded from this group, by entering the first and last BSIC of the range separated by a hyphen. For example, entering 0-5 corresponds to entering 0 1 2 3 4 5.

9. Click OK to close the BSIC domain’s Properties dialog box. 10. Click the Close button ( ) to close the BSIC Domains table. You can associate BSIC groups to BSIC domains using the BSIC Groups table. You can open the BSIC Groups table by expanding the GSM Network Settings folder in the Parameters explorer, expanding the BSICs folder, right-clicking Groups and selecting Open Table from the context menu. Although each group name in a single BSIC domain must be unique, you can use the same group name in different BSIC domains.

7.4.1.3 Defining HSN Domains and Groups In Atoll, both base band hopping (BBH) and synthesised frequency hopping (SFH) are supported in GSM/GPRS/EDGE projects. BBH and SFH are modelled using the hopping sequence number (HSN) along with other parameters such as the MAL and the MAIOs. The HSN describes the frequency hopping sequence. It can have one of 64 different values (from 0 to 63). Frequency sequences are pseudo-random, except for HSN "0," where frequencies are used one after the other (cyclic hopping). In Atoll, HSNs are modelled in the form of HSN domains and groups: • •

A domain consists of one or more HSN groups. A group is a defined set of HSNs. A HSN group can belong to one or more HSN domains.

Manual and automatic HSN allocation is based on the HSN domains assigned to TRX types in cell types; when you define a cell type, you must assign an HSN domain to each TRX type. The assigned HSN domain will be used as a constraint during automatic HSN allocation. To define frequency domains and groups: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the GSM Network Settings folder. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the HSNs folder. 4. In the HSNs folder, right-click Domains. The context menu appears. 5. Select Open Table. The HSNs Domains table appears. The HSN Domains table contains a default domain called "ALL HSNs;" it contains all 64 HSNs. 6. In the row marked with the New Row icon (

), enter the name of the new HSN domain.

7. Select the row containing the HSN domain and click the Properties button ( domain’s Properties dialog box appears.

) in the Table toolbar. The HSN

In the HSN domain’s Properties dialog box, you can modify the properties of the HSN domain and create HSN groups. 8. Under Groups, in the row marked with the New Row icon ( ), enter the following parameters to define a HSN group (for information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75): •

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• • • •

•

Min.: Enter the first HSN in this HSN group. Max.: Enter the last HSN in this HSN group. Step: Enter the value interval between HSNs in this HSN group. Excluded: Enter the HSNs that you do not want to use in this HSN group. You can enter or paste a list of HSNs; the values must be separated with either a comma, or a semi-colon, or a space. You can also enter a range of HSNs to be excluded from this group, by entering the first and last HSN of the range separated by a hyphen. For example, entering 0-5 corresponds to entering 0 1 2 3 4 5. Extra: Enter the additional HSNs, outside the first and last HSNs of the group, that you want to use in this HSN group. You can enter or paste a list of HSNs; the values must be separated with either a comma, or a semi-colon, or a space. You can also enter a range of HSNs to be excluded from this group, by entering the first and last HSN of the range separated by a hyphen. For example, entering 0-5 corresponds to entering 0 1 2 3 4 5.

9. Click OK to close the HSN domain’s Properties dialog box. 10. Click the Close button ( ) to close the HSN Domains table. You can associate HSN groups to HSN domains using the HSN Groups table. You can open the HSN Groups table by expanding the GSM Network Settings folder in the Parameters explorer, expanding the HSNs folder, right-clicking Groups and selecting Open Table from the context menu. Although each group name in a single HSN domain must be unique, you can use the same group name in different HSN domains.

7.4.2 Allocating Frequencies and BSICs Manually Normally, when you allocate frequencies and BSICs for an entire project, you will allocate them automatically. However, Atoll enables you to allocate frequencies and BSICs manually, for example, when you add new base stations or when you modify frequencies or BSICs that have already been allocated. When you allocate frequencies or BSICs, you first define a range of frequencies or BSICs for the transmitter. You will then assign frequencies or BSICs that respect the defined range. In Atoll, ranges of frequencies and BSICs are modelled using domains and groups. For information on creating or modifying frequency or BSIC domains and groups, see "Defining Resource Ranges" on page 341. In this section, setting a range of frequencies or BSICs is explained, as well as manually assigning frequencies or BSICs from the defined range: • • • •

"Assigning BSIC Domains to Transmitters" on page 345 "Assigning BSICs to Transmitters Manually" on page 346 "Defining Frequency Domains for Transmitters" on page 346 "Assigning Frequencies to Subcells" on page 347.

7.4.2.1 Assigning BSIC Domains to Transmitters Before you assign a BSIC to a transmitter, you define the range of possible BSICs for that transmitter by assigning a BSIC domain. For information on creating or modifying BSIC domains and groups, see "Defining BSIC Domains and Groups" on page 343. To assign a BSIC domain to a transmitter: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Transmitters folder. 3. Right-click the transmitter to which you want to assign a BSIC domain. The context menu appears. 4. Select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter’s Properties dialog box appears. You can also access a transmitter’s Properties dialog box by right-clicking the transmitter in the map window and selecting Properties from the context menu.

5. Select the TRXs tab. 6. Under Identification, select the BSIC Domain from the list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the selected BSIC domain. 7. Click OK.

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7.4.2.2 Assigning BSICs to Transmitters Manually Normally, you will allocate Base Station Identity Codes (BSICs) automatically for an entire project. However, you can allocate BSICs manually, for example, when you add new base stations or when you modify BSICs that have already been allocated. The BSIC is composed of the Network Colour Code (NCC) and the BTS Colour Code (BCC). Both the NCC and BCC must be whole numbers from 0 to 7. The combination of the BSIC and BCCH (in other words, the frequency of the BCCH) permit to precisely identify a transmitter. Over greater distances, a BSIC-BCCH pair can be repeated. To allocate a BSIC to a transmitter manually: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Transmitters folder. 3. Right-click the transmitter to which you want to assign a BSIC. The context menu appears. 4. Select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter’s Properties dialog box appears. You can also access a transmitter’s Properties dialog box by right-clicking the transmitter in the map window and selecting Properties from the context menu.

5. Select the TRXs tab. 6. Under Identification, select the BSIC from the list. The BSICs available in the list will be those available in the defined BSIC domain. You can enter a value in the BSIC field, however, it must be a BSIC that is part of the selected BSIC Domain and in the correct BSIC format (for information on the BSIC format, see "Defining the BSIC Format" on page 343). As well, you can enter a BSIC in the format of a NCC-BCC. When you click OK or Apply, Atoll will convert it into the single-digit BSIC format. Once you have selected the BSIC, the NCC-BCC is displayed. 7. Click OK.

7.4.2.3 Defining Frequency Domains for Transmitters Before you assign a frequency to a transmitter, you define the range of possible frequencies for that transmitter by assigning a frequency domain to the transmitter’s subcells. In Atoll, you define the range of frequencies that can be assigned to a transmitter by assigning frequency domains to the transmitter’s subcells. By default, a transmitter’s subcells, based on the selected cell type (for information, see "Applying a New Cell Type" on page 290), already have an assigned frequency domain. However, you can change a subcell’s frequency domain. If you select a different cell type after having modified any of the parameters of a subcell, Atoll offers you the choice of keeping current parameters or resetting them to those found in the cell type. For information on creating or modifying frequency domains and groups, see "Defining Frequency Domains and Groups" on page 342. To change the frequency domain assigned to a transmitter: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Transmitters folder. 3. Right-click the transmitter to which you want to assign a frequency domain. The context menu appears. 4. Select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter’s Properties dialog box appears. You can also access a transmitter’s Properties dialog box by right-clicking the transmitter in the map window and selecting Properties from the context menu.

5. Select the TRXs tab. 6. Under Subcells, select "Standard" from the Display list. The standard table lists each TRX group defined in the cell type selected under Cell Type on the TRXs tab.

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7. Select a Frequency Domain from the list. Only channels belonging to this frequency domain will be allocated to TRXs of this group during automatic or manual frequency planning. The frequency domains assigned to the BCCH subcell and to the TCH subcell must reference the same frequency band. If the transmitter has more than one subcell with the TRX type TCH, only one must reference the same frequency band as the BCCH subcell. 8. If desired, add Excluded Channels. The defined frequency domain can have, as part of its definition, a list of excluded channels. Addition excluded channels for this subcell can be added in the Excluded Channels column. 9. Click OK. If you are defining frequency domains for several transmitters, you can group them by frequency band (for information on grouping transmitters, see "Grouping Data Objects" on page 94) and then open the Transmitters table for the selected transmitters and assign the frequency domain to all transmitters at the same time. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75.

7.4.2.4 Assigning Frequencies to Subcells In a GSM/GPRS/EDGE project, frequencies are modelled using channels. The channels are assigned to the TRXs of each subcell. If your Atoll document represents an existing network, frequencies might already have been assigned to many of the transmitters. You can then import the existing frequency list into your current Atoll document. You can also export the frequency list from the current Atoll document. In this section, the following are explained: • • • •

7.4.2.4.1

"Importing a Frequency List" on page 347 "Adding New TRXs to a Document" on page 348 "Displaying the Frequency Plan" on page 348 "Exporting the Frequency List" on page 348.

Importing a Frequency List If your Atoll document represents an existing GSM/GPRS/EDGE network, frequencies can already have been assigned to many of the transmitters. You can import the existing frequency list into your current Atoll document. You can then complete the data for new TRXs either manually or using the AFP. The frequency list you import must be a TXT or CSV file and the data must be arranged in a manner compatible with Atoll. The imported file must contain the transmitter name and the TRX type to identify the TRX to which the frequencies will be assigned. When you import a frequency list for a network with non-hopping or base-band hopping only, you only need to import the channels and the TRX types. If the network has synthesised frequency hopping, even if not all subcells use synthesised frequency hopping, you will also have to import the MAIO, the HSN, and the synchronisation. When Atoll imports the data, it will add TRXs that do not yet exist in the Atoll document to existing transmitters. If some sites and transmitters do not yet exist in the Atoll document, you must create them before you import the frequency list. For information on creating sites and transmitters, see "Creating a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Base Station" on page 279. To import an existing frequency list: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Subcells > TRXs Table from the context menu. The TRXs table appears. 4. Import the file as explained in "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88. The file imported must contain, at a minimum, the transmitter name and TRX type to identify the TRX to which the frequencies will be assigned, and the channels, identifying the frequencies. In the case of SFH, the channels will constitute the MAL. Additionally, if the hopping mode is SFH, the file imported must also contain the MAIO. If the hopping mode is BBH or SFH, continue with step 5. 5. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 6. Select Subcells > Subcells Table: Standard Data from the context menu. The Subcells table appears. 7. Import the file as explained in "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88. The file imported must contain, at a minimum, the transmitter name and TRX type to identify the TRX. When the hopping mode is BBH or SFH, file must also contain the synchronisation and the HSN.

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If you want to import the BSIC at the same time, you can also import the frequency list into the Transmitters table, which you can open by right-clicking the Transmitters folder and selecting Open Table from the context menu. If you are modifying the frequency list of a single transmitter, it is easier to modify the information directly on the TRXs tab of the transmitter’s Properties dialog box. For more information, see "Subcell Properties" on page 282.

7.4.2.4.2

Adding New TRXs to a Document You can add TRXs to existing transmitters either by using the TRXs tab of the transmitter Properties dialog box, or by using the TRXs table. If you are adding TRXs to a single transmitter, it is easier to use the transmitter Properties dialog box. To add TRXs using the TRXs tab of the transmitter Properties dialog box: 1. In the map window, select the transmitter to which you want to add a TRX. You can also select the transmitter in the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer.

2. Right-click the transmitter. The context menu appears. 3. Select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 4. Click the TRXs tab. 5. Under TRXs, in the row marked with the New Row icon ( page 287.

), enter the parameters described in "TRX Properties" on

6. Click OK. If you are adding TRXs to several transmitters, it is easier to use the TRXs table. To add TRXs using the TRXs table: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Subcells > TRXs Table from the context menu. The TRXs table appears. 4. Scroll down to the row marked with the New Row icon (

).

5. In the Transmitter column, select the transmitter to which the TRXs will be added. 6. Enter the parameters described in "TRX Properties" on page 287.

7.4.2.4.3

Displaying the Frequency Plan You can display or modify the network frequency plan, that is the channels allocated to each TRX, by opening the TRXs table. To open the TRXs table: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Subcells > TRXs Table from the context menu. The TRXs table appears. If you want, you can export the frequency plan. For information on exporting the frequency plan, see "Exporting the Frequency List" on page 348.

7.4.2.4.4

Exporting the Frequency List You can export the network frequency list, that is the channels allocated to each TRX, using the TRXs table. The exported file must contain the transmitter name and the TRX type to identify the TRX to which the frequencies are assigned. To export the frequency list: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Subcells > TRXs Table from the context menu. The TRXs table appears. 4. Export the file as explained in "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. If the hopping mode is BBH or SFH, continue with step 5.

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5. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 6. Select Subcells > Subcells Table: Standard Data from the context menu. The Subcells table appears. 7. Export the file as explained in "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. The file exported must contain, at a minimum, the transmitter name and TRX type to identify the TRX to which the frequencies are assigned, the HSN, and the synchronisation.

7.4.2.4.5

Assigning Frequencies Manually Using the Map Using Atoll, you can allocate frequencies manually on the map. When allocating frequencies using this method, you must ensure that neighbours have already been allocated. For information on allocating neighbours, see "Studying GSM/GPRS/ EDGE Network Capacity" on page 325. To allocate frequencies manually using the map: 1. Create and display a coverage prediction by transmitter based on the best signal level and set the display to discrete values by transmitter. For more information, see "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter Based on the Best Signal Level" on page 310. 2. Click the arrow ( ) next to the Edit Relations on the Map button ( appears.

) in the Radio Planning toolbar. The menu

3. Select Neighbours from the context menu. If you display the coverage areas of the neighbours, you can see not only the neighbours on the map but their coverage as well. This will enable you to see more clearly where frequencies used by the neighbours could cause interference. You can display the neighbours’ coverage areas by clicking the arrow ( ) next to the Edit Relations on the Map button ( ) in the Radio Planning toolbar and selecting Display Options from the menu. In the Neighbour Display dialog box that appears, you can select the Display Coverage Areas option. 4. Select Tools > Find on Map. The Find on Map window appears. 5. From the Find list, select "GSM Channel." 6. In the Channel list, enter a channel that you would like to allocate. 7. Select the check boxes to define where you want Atoll to search for the selected channel: • •

Used as BCCH Used as TCH

8. Select the Adjacent channels check box if you want Atoll to display adjacent channels as well as the selected channel. 9. Click the Search button. The map window displays the coverage areas with the selected channel along with coverage areas using adjacent channels, if you selected the Adjacent channels check box. By repeating the search with other channels you can find a frequency with few adjacent channels close by that you can allocate to the selected transmitter. In the following example, channel 11 would not be a good choice because it is used by a neighbour. Channels 10 and 12 are adjacent channels that are also used by neighbours of the selected transmitter.

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Figure 7.22: Scanning for frequencies On the other hand, channel 14 would be a good choice and could be allocated. Neither channel 14 nor either of the adjacent channels (13 and 15) are allocated to neighbours of the selected transmitter.

Figure 7.23: Scanning for frequencies

7.4.3 AFP Prerequisites (IM, Separations, Traffic, etc.) In Atoll, you can use an Automatic Frequency Planning (AFP) module to allocate frequencies and BSICs, as well as the MAL, MAIO, and HSN. The Automatic Frequency Planning (AFP) module assigns frequencies according to traffic demand (as indicated by the number of required TRXs) and respecting quality requirements with the aim of reducing interference. Atoll can use an optional Atoll AFP module as well third-party AFP tools. The AFP attempts to allocate resources in an optimal fashion, i.e., it attempts to allocate resources in a way that minimises interference and complies with a set of user-defined constraints. The two main types of constraints are separation constraints and interference. The AFP assigns a cost to each constraint and then uses a cost-based algorithm to evaluate possible frequency plans and find the frequency plan with the lowest costs. Although you can run the AFP without an interference matrix, allocation will be calculated without taking interference into consideration, i.e., without considering one of the most important constraints.

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When you assign frequencies manually, you do not need an interference matrix, traffic, or separation rules; you will be using your knowledge of the network. On the other hand, when you assign frequencies automatically (or interactively) you need to supply the additional information to the AFP.

Figure 7.24: Input data for the AFP In this section, the AFP input records are explained. As well, both a quick and a longer, more accurate process of finding the necessary information for each record is explained. The quality of the results given by the AFP depends on the quality of the input, therefore it is very important that you understand and prepare the input before running the AFP. This will enable you to choose the level of complexity that corresponds to the desired accuracy of the results. The following AFP input records are explained in this section: • • • • •

"Interference Matrices" on page 351 "Channel Separations" on page 362 "Modelling Traffic" on page 367 "AFP-Related Parameters in the Subcells Table" on page 368 "Modelling Layers and Subcells" on page 370.

7.4.3.1 Interference Matrices In Atoll, the probability of interference between pairs of subcells is stored in an interference matrix. An interference matrix can be thought of as the probability that a user connected to an interfered subcell will receive a given C/I level where the only interference ("I") is the interference coming from the interferer sub-cell. The set of active interference matrices will be combined by the AFP to provide interference estimations for each pair of subcells. You can use more than one interference matrix in an Atoll document. The interference matrices themselves can be created using the data from different sources (propagation, OMC data, drive tests, or other planning tools) and can be activated or deactivated, as necessary. Atoll allows for a great deal of flexibility in interference matrix use, which in turn enables varying levels of complexity with the AFP: • • • • •

Level 1: The AFP can base its calculations on neighbour relations and work without an interference matrix Level 2: You can calculate an interference matrix based on uniform traffic spreading Level 3: You can calculate an interference matrix with clutter weighting Level 4: You can use OMC or drive-test-based interference matrices Level 5: You can use any combination of levels 2, 3, and 4.

In this section, the following are explained: • • • • • • • • •

"Calculating a Simple Interference Matrix" on page 352 "Calculating Interference Matrices for Large Networks" on page 353 "Calculating an Interference Matrix Based on Clutter Weighting" on page 355 "Interference Matrices Based on OMC Statistics" on page 355 "Importing and Exporting Interference Matrices" on page 356 "Defining Type-Dependant Quality Indicators on Interference Matrices" on page 357 "Analysing Interference Matrices" on page 359 "Generating Reports on Interference Matrices" on page 361 "Selecting Interference Matrices for the Frequency Allocation Process" on page 362.

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Calculating a Simple Interference Matrix You can use simple interference matrices as an effective background constraint system. They can be calculated on a nationwide scale. To calculate an interference matrix: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Interference Matrices folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select New from the context menu. The Interference Calculation dialog box appears. 4. In the Interference Calculation dialog box, set the following options under Service area: •

• •

Server: Select "HCS Servers" in order to correctly consider HCS priorities for service zone selection. Selecting "All" is not recommended because the results are not significantly better under most circumstances and the calculation consumes a great deal of resources. or with "best idle mode reselection criterion (C2)", (only for packet switched IM). For more information, see "Comparing Service Areas in Calculations" on page 484. Enter an Overlap margin. The default value is "4 dB." If you select the Shadowing Taken into Account check box, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability (see "Reliability Recommendations" on page 352). Using shadowing is recommended. For more information, see "Modelling Shadowing" on page 506.

5. Under Traffic spreading, you can select whether you want to calculate interference on the percentage of interfered traffic or on the percentage of interfered area: • •

Based on the maps used in the default traffic capture: If you choose this option, Atoll will calculate interference on the interfered traffic for each pair of subcells (interfered-interferer). Uniform (probability expressed in % of interfered area): If you choose this option, Atoll will calculate interference on the interfered areas for each pair of subcells (interfered-interferer). This method cannot accurately consider local concentration of traffic, but is faster than calculating interference based on maps.

6. Click OK to start the calculation. The results of the calculation can be found in a new item in the Interferences Matrices folder in the Network explorer. By default, the new interference matrix is active. Changing certain transmitter or subcell properties, such as power reduction, reception threshold, transmitter power, or EIRP, will make interference matrices invalid. If you change transmitter or subcell properties, you will have to recalculate the interference matrices. Reliability Recommendations Occasionally, the constraints you have set for the AFP are not strong enough. If the constraints are not strong enough: • • •

The unlocked part of the AFP cost will be 0 and, because of this, the AFP will stops. Frequencies will be reused in too close proximity to each other in the resulting frequency plan. The distribution of frequency use will not be even and some frequencies will seldom be used.

To correct an unacceptable distribution of frequencies, you will have to create a more reliable interference matrix, thereby putting more constraints on the AFP. The best way to create a more reliable interference matrix is to increase the cell edge coverage probability and recalculate the interference matrices. When the reliability requirement is raised, the part of the standard deviation is reduced from the signal ("C") when calculating the C/I distribution for each IM entry. This gives a lower C/I for each given "reuse" and therefore a lower probability of meeting the required C/I target and, consequently, more interference. Raising the interference in the interference matrix increases the constraints placed on the AFP. You should also verify that the standard deviation's default value is properly defined and that it is properly defined in all clutter classes. This step is particularly important for Atoll documents converted from older versions or connected to a database.

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Figure 7.25: Model standard deviation: default value •

•

7.4.3.1.2

Mean power control gains are not taken into account when calculating interference matrices. They are only applied when the interference matrices are used in calculations (IFP, AFP, etc.). The same is the case with the power offset. When you calculate an interference matrix, you would expect to have full interference for all transmitters over which the AFP will perform a cost calculation. The interference matrix scope is therefore defined by the AFP scope which is described in "The Scope of the AFP and the Scope of the Interference Matrix" on page 372.

Calculating Interference Matrices for Large Networks Calculating interference matrices is very resource intensive. If you have a very large network, calculating an interference matrix that covers the entire network can require more computer resources than are available. It is more efficient to create a low resolution interference matrix on a nation-wide scale, possibly splitting the network into partial interference matrices if necessary. Once you have a low resolution interference matrix that covers the entire network, you can add high resolution interference matrices that cover the cities. Merging IMs does not affect the efficiency of the Atoll AFP. If necessary, in order to properly optimise the frequency plan, you can then add clutter-weighted interference matrices calculated over the difficult areas so that they are correctly modelled. Last but not least, you can add idle-mode IMs to model the behaviour of packetswitched data. All active IMs are merged by the AFP and loaded into memory only when needed. To reduce resource consumption: 1. Modify the default resolution and/or the minimum interferer reception threshold. These global parameters have a strong influence on the IM calculation process. When setting the path loss resolution and size appropriate for the interference matrices, for example, use a resolution that is the double of path loss data: •

To modify the default resolution: i.

Select the Network explorer.

ii. Right-click the Predictions folder. The context menu appears. iii. Select Properties from the context menu. iv. On the Predictions tab, set the Default resolution. The default resolution is used during the IM integration calculation and is saved with the IM. •

To modify the minimum interferer reception threshold: i.

Select the Parameters explorer.

ii. Right-click the Network Settings folder. The context menu appears. iii. Select Properties from the context menu. iv. On the Calculation Parameters tab, set the Min. interferer reception threshold. This threshold defines the level from which all interferers are ignored. If you increase it to -115 dB or -110 dB, you will lose very little interference information, but calculations will be much faster. 2. Define a large handover margin, for example, 2 to 4 dB: •

Select the Network explorer.

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3. Save IMs and coverage predictions, etc., externally, if possible: • •

To save IMs externally, see "Storing Interference Matrices Externally" on page 357. To save coverage predictions externally, see "External Storage of Coverage Prediction Numerical Results" on page 208.

4. Delete coverage predictions that are no longer needed: a. Select the Network explorer. b. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Predictions folder. c. Right-click the coverage prediction you want to delete. The context menu appears. d. Select Delete from the context menu. If you have multiband transmitters, keep in mind that the multiband path loss option (see "Advanced Modelling of Multi-Band Transmitters" on page 500) creates a lot of overhead when the interference matrix is calculated. For more information, see the Administrator Guide. For more information on reducing resource consumption, see "Performance and Memory Issues in Big Projects" in the Administrator Guide. If you have more than 20,000 transmitters in your network, you might need to calculate several smaller interference matrices. Under most circumstances, including 1,000 to 2,000 transmitters in each interference matrix is the most efficient. To calculate interference matrices for a large network: 1. Create a computation zone that covers part of the network. For information on creating a computation zone, see "Computation Zone" on page 67. In Figure 7.26, the computation zone is indicated by the red outline.

Figure 7.26: The first computation zone 2. Calculate an interference matrix for the area covered by the computation zone as explained in "Calculating a Simple Interference Matrix" on page 352. 3. Create a new computation zone that partly overlaps the area covered by the first computation zone. In Figure 7.27, the area covered by the first computation zone is indicated by the black outline.

Figure 7.27: The second computation zone 4. Calculate an interference matrix for the area covered by the computation zone. 5. Repeat step 1. to step 4. until have created interference matrices for the entire network, as shown in the following figures.

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The computation zones do not need to overlap because the AFP scope extends beyond the computation zone. For more information, see "The Scope of the AFP and the Scope of the Interference Matrix" on page 372.

7.4.3.1.3

Calculating an Interference Matrix Based on Clutter Weighting Calculating an interference matrix based on clutter weighting delivers a large increase in quality. However, you should be aware that this process is relatively time-consuming and therefore not suited for nation-wide calculations. It is better suited to local frequency allocations where frequency allocation is difficult. By default, Atoll gives a higher priority to this type of interference matrix when combining interference matrices, so an interference matrix based on clutter weighting can be used with other interference matrices that are less precise. To create an interference matrix based on clutter weighting: 1. Create a traffic model. a. Create a user profile for an active user with voice service, with calls lasting a total of 3,600 seconds per hour (i.e., 1 Erlang). For information on creating a user profile, see "Modelling User Profiles" on page 254. b. Create an environment using this user profile with a density of 1 and pedestrian mobility type. For information on creating an environment, see "Modelling Environments" on page 255. c. Assign appropriate clutter weighting to the environment. d. In the Geo explorer, create a new User Profile Traffic Map based on User Profile Environments. i.

From the Environment Map Editor toolbar, select the environment created in step 2.

ii. Click the Draw Polygon button ( ) and draw the polygon encompassing the computation zone. This raster map now appears in the Traffic folder. iii. Name the map "Temporary IM map." For information on creating a user profile traffic map, see "Creating a User Profile Environment-based Traffic Map" on page 261. 2. Create a traffic capture using the temporary traffic map. •

Set this traffic capture to be the default traffic capture.

For information on creating a traffic capture, see "Calculating and Displaying a Traffic Capture" on page 327. 3. Calculate the interference matrix. •

7.4.3.1.4

When calculating the interference matrix, select the option Traffic spreading based on the maps used in the default traffic capture in the IM calculation dialog box.

Interference Matrices Based on OMC Statistics An OMC interference matrix is an interference matrix created using a statistical analysis of the RXLEV measurements performed by the mobiles in the network. The Atoll AFP can fully employ this type of interference matrix. The main advantage of an interference matrix based on OMC statistics is that, in many cases, the OMC database is the only reliable source of network information. However, an OMC-based IM also has a certain number of inherent weaknesses.

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OMC IMs can be based on reselection mobile measurements or upon HO mobile measurements. In most cases, the HO mobile measurements are used to create the interference matrix. The main weakness of this approach is that HO mobile measurements are limited to the list of neighbours, and that this list is limited in size. To overcome this considerable limitation, the OMC can temporarily apply neighbours. However, when this is done, the statistical analysis must take into account the partial time over which each temporary neighbour is tested. An other limitation which applies to all OMC statistic-based interference matrices is the fact that the BSIC-BCCH pair is the means used to identify a transmitter. The BSIC-BCCH pairs are sufficient for identifying a server or a potential strong neighbour for HO candidate, but they are not sufficient to identify an interferer. The final limitation is the simple fact that the BCCH plan has an effect on the IM when the IM is calculated: if two transmitters interfere but have the same BCCH, their interference will not be present in the OMC interference matrix. This limitation can be avoided by adding the BCCH plan to the IM scope. This allows the Atoll AFP to ensure that certain interference entries, (or more precisely no interference entries) have 0 likelihood, and will supplement the information with propagation interference information.

7.4.3.1.5

Importing and Exporting Interference Matrices You can import interference matrices from and export them to the following formats: • • • • •

IM0: One matrix per line IM1: One C⁄I threshold and probability pair per line for each interfered/interfering subcell pair. IM2: Only co-channel and adjacent channel interference values. CLC: One value per line. The accompanying dictionary (DCT) file gives the correspondence between the transmitter identifiers and the transmitter names. Other: Forsk provides import macros for other IM formats. For information on these or other IM formats, contact your Forsk representative.

For more information on the interference matrix file formats, see the Technical Reference Guide. In this section, the following are explained: • • •

"Importing Interference Matrices" on page 356 "Storing Interference Matrices Externally" on page 357 "Exporting Interference Matrices" on page 357.

Importing Interference Matrices Atoll supports IM0, IM1, IM2, and CLC interference matrix files. Atoll also supports a simplified format that gives the interfered subcell, the interfering subcell, the co-channel interference probability, and the adjacent channel probability. For more information on the simplified format, see the Technical Reference Guide. When you import several interference matrices that describe the same interfered-interferer pairs, Atoll only takes the first description of the pair. When descriptions of the same interfered-interferer pair are found in subsequent files, the description is ignored. Atoll does not perform a validity check on the imported interference file; you must therefore ensure that the imported information is consistent with the current configuration. Furthermore, Atoll only imports interference matrices for active transmitters. To import interference matrices: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the GSM Interference Matrices folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Import from the context menu. The Open dialog box appears. 4. Select the file type from the Files of Type list. 5. Select the file to import. If you are importing a CLC file, Atoll looks for the associated DCT file in the same directory. When this file is unavailable, Atoll assumes that the transmitter identifiers in the CLC file are the same as the transmitter names. 6. Click Open. A message appears asking whether Atoll should merge the imported interference matrix into the GSM/ GPRS/EDGE document: •

Click Yes to save the imported interference matrix in the GSM/GPRS/EDGE document. When you save an imported interference matrix in the GSM/GPRS/EDGE document, you can still choose to save it to an external file linked to the GSM/GPRS/EDGE document. For information, see "Storing Interference Matrices Externally" on page 357.

•

356

Click No to store the interference matrix externally, but linked to the GSM/GPRS/EDGE document.

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7. The interference matrices are imported into the current Atoll document and appear as new items in the GSM Interference Matrices folder. You can also extract interference matrices from real network data. Using drive test data paths in which the signal strengths of several transmitters have been measured at each point, Atoll can generate interference matrix files containing probabilities of C⁄I per transmitter-subcell pair (see "Generating Interference Matrices from a Drive Test Data Path" on page 483). Storing Interference Matrices Externally You can save interference matrices to external files that are linked to the GSM/GPRS/EDGE document. Linking interference matrices to the GSM/GPRS/EDGE document can reduce file size when the Atoll document is extremely large. Because the interference matrices are stored externally in ASCI format, reading and writing to file can be time consuming. When Atoll reads an externally stored IM, it remains in memory. Therefore, to improve AFP performance, it is recommended to embed interference matrices. You should only save interference matrices externally when the project file is getting large (for example, when the project file exceeds 2 Gb). To store an interference matrix externally: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the GSM Interference Matrices folder. 3. Right-click the interference matrix you want to store externally. The context menu appears. 4. Select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 5. On the General tab, under Interference Matrices Storage, click the Externalise button. A confirmation message appears. 6. Click Yes to confirm. The Save As dialog box appears. 7. Select the file type from the Save as Type list. 8. Enter the File name and click Save. The interference matrix is stored externally but remains linked to the GSM/GPRS/ EDGE document. Exporting Interference Matrices Atoll supports IM0, IM1, IM2, and CLC interference matrix files. To export interference matrices: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the GSM Interference Matrices folder. 3. Right-click the interference matrix you want to export. The context menu appears. 4. Select Export from the context menu. The Save As dialog box appears. 5. Select the file type from the Save as Type list. 6. Enter the File name and click Save. The interference matrix is exported.

7.4.3.1.6

Defining Type-Dependant Quality Indicators on Interference Matrices As explained in "Interference Matrices" on page 351, you can calculate several individual interference matrices for large networks with the intention of recombining them as unique C/I probabilities. In the same way, you can combine several interference matrices of different types according to their quality indicators and the strategy defined by the AFP module used. For more information on how the optional Atoll AFP module combines the data from more than one interference matrix, see "Automatic Frequency Planning" on page 391. You can create or import 9 different types of interference matrices: 1. Interference matrices based on path loss (propagation data) matrices Their reliability depends on the accuracy and correctness of network and geo data. 2. Interference matrices based on reselection statistics from the OMC Their reliability is usually low due to the difference between the locations where mobiles are switched on and where they are actually used to access the network. 3. Interference matrices based on handover statistics from the OMC Their reliability is usually low due to the fact that interference is measured only among existing neighbours (which might not be correctly assigned). This type of interference matrix is highly correlated with the neighbour relations. It can be used to remove excessive neighbour constraints. However, it can not be used to complete any missing neigh-

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bour information. Another reason for low reliability is that interference information is collected from handover regions only, instead of from the service area. 4. Interference matrices based on RXLEV statistics from the OMC (neighbours as well as temporary neighbours) They can be a very good source of interference information if they are statistically stable because they are not sensitive to data errors. On the other hand, they have many disadvantages, such as: • • • • •

Transmitters with the same BSIC and BCCH can not be differentiated. Transmitters having the same BCCH will never have an interference entry. Information is lost when more than 6 interferers exist at any location. If many interferers share the same BCCH, they increase each other’s interference levels. HCS layers can cause problems because there are more servers at any point, macro layer servers are stronger, or a correction margin might be introduced for some equipment, etc.

This type of interference matrix can be created using an extended neighbours list. 5. Interference matrices based on drive test data Reliability can be low because usually the drive test data sampling zone and the traffic model are not related. Secondly, the measurements are carried out for existing neighbours. 6. Interference matrices based on CW measurements Their reliability can be low because the measurements usually do not reflect the traffic model. However, this source of information can be very reliable for a subset of transmitters that were properly scanned. Carrying out CW measurements is expensive which means that the collected information is often partial or out of date. 7. Interference matrices based on scan data drive tests They are highly reliable and an excellent source of information, but are not useful in a radio planning tool because no information is available to map transmitters to the received signals at any pixel. 8. Upper bound interference matrix The source of this type of interference matrix is not defined. It can be based on user experience. The information contained in this interference matrix is used as an upper limit, i.e., if this interference matrix indicates a certain level of interference, it should not be exceeded because other interference matrices show higher interference. If an upper bound interference matrix does not contain information about an entry, it is ignored. 9. Lower bound interference matrix The source of this type of interference matrix is not defined. It can be based on user experience. The information contained in this interference matrix is used as a lower limit. This type of interference matrix can be very useful because you can edit entries in this interference matrix, and be certain that the interference will be at least as high as the value you entered. This approach can be used when user experience shows a certain level of interference which the radio network planning tool is unable to calculate. To define the interference matrix type: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the GSM Interference Matrices folder. 3. Right-click the interference matrix for which you want to define the type. The context menu appears. 4. Select Properties from the context menu. The Interference Matrix Properties dialog box appears. 5. On the Advanced tab, select the Interference Matrix Type from the list. Depending on the matrix type, the quality indicators available in the Advanced tab include: •

For matrices based on path loss (propagation data) matrices: • • •

The standard deviation The resolution Whether the interference information (probabilities) correspond to traffic or surface area. Matrices based on propagation can store additional information, such as server selection or the overlap margin value, if shadowing has been taken into account for their calculation and, if so, the cell edge coverage probability. This information can then be used by the AFP for some calculations. For more information, see "The Cost Tab" on page 400 and "The Advanced Tab" on page 409.

•

For matrices based on reselection statistics from the OMC: • •

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The statistic duration Whether the interference information (probabilities) correspond to traffic or surface area.

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•

For matrices based on handover statistics from the OMC: • • • •

•

For matrices based on RXLEV statistics from the OMC: • •

•

The standard deviation, depending on the equipment quality and measurement post-processing The average number of points collected at each matrix calculation point.

For matrices based on CW measurements: • • • •

•

The statistic duration Whether the interference information (probabilities) correspond to traffic or surface area.

For matrices based on drive test data: • •

•

The standard deviation, depending on the equipment quality and measurement post-processing The average number of points collected at each matrix calculation point The volume of information Whether the interference information (probabilities) correspond to traffic or surface area.

The standard deviation, depending on the equipment quality and measurement post-processing The average number of points collected at each matrix calculation point The volume of information Whether the interference information (probabilities) correspond to traffic or surface area.

For matrices based on scan data drive tests: • • • •

The standard deviation, depending on the equipment quality and measurement post-processing The average number of points collected at each matrix calculation point The volume of information Whether the interference information (probabilities) correspond to traffic or surface area.

The context in which an interference matrix was created is not part of the interference matrix files. You must therefore set up the type and quality indicators of the interference matrix manually.

7.4.3.1.7

Analysing Interference Matrices The Atoll AFP enables you to analyse interference matrices for different transmitters and their TRXs. For any selected transmitter and its TRX, you can use the AFP module to display lists of interfering and interfered transmitters, their TRXs, and the corresponding costs. The AFP module also displays the interference relations between transmitters in the map window. Cochannel and adjacent channel interferences are treated separately. You can display all or strongly interfered and interfering transmitters, and interfered and interfering neighbour transmitters. To analyse interference matrices: 1. Select Tools > Interactive Frequency Planning (IFP). The Interactive Frequency Planning (IFP) window appears. 2. Select the Interference Matrix Analysis from the list at the top of the Interactive Frequency Planning (IFP) window. 3. Select a transmitter from the Transmitter list. You can also select a transmitter by clicking its symbol in the map window.

4. Select the TRX type from the Subcells list. 5. Select an AFP module from the AFP Module list. 6. If you want to modify parameters that will influence frequency planning before running the tool, select one of the following from the Parameters list: • •

AFP Module Properties: For information on the options, see "Automatic Frequency Planning" on page 391. AFP Parameters: In the AFP Launching Parameters dialog box, you can set the following parameters: i.

Under Traffic loads, indicate whether the AFP should take traffic loads From the subcells table or use loads Based on the default traffic capture results.

ii. If you want the AFP to consider discontinuous transmission mode for TRXs which support it in calculating the interference, select the DTX check box and enter the Voice activity factor. iii. Select the Load all the subcells involved in separation constraints check box if you want all subcells potentially involved to be loaded. iv. Select the Load all the potential interferers check box if you want all potential interferers to be loaded. If this check box is not selected, the cost function will consist only of the separation violation cost. • •

Separation Rules: For information on the options, see "Channel Separations" on page 362. Exceptional Pairs: For information on the options, see "Channel Separations" on page 362.

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Intra-Technology Neighbours: For information on the options, see "Studying GSM/GPRS/EDGE Network Capacity" on page 325.

7. Click Calculate. The interference probability values are displayed in the right-most column of the Interference Matrix Analysis tab. The tool calculates and displays interference probabilities using the active interference matrices available in the GSM Interference Matrices folder in the Network explorer. If the interference matrices in the GSM Interference Matrices folder are inactive or if interference matrices are not available, the analysis tool only calculates and displays the interference from a transmitter and its TRXs on itself. In the map window, arrows from the studied transmitter to each interfered or interfering transmitter are displayed. The colour of the arrow is the same as the colour of the studied transmitter. The probabilities of interference are displayed as captions for the arrows. The thickness of the arrows are indicate the interference probability. 8. Select the interference information to display in the rightmost column: • • •

Under the Status column, you can display the interference matrix information with the studied transmitter as the Victim or the Interferer. Under the Frequency Reuse column, you can display Co-channel or Adjacent Channel interference information for the studied transmitter. Under the Filtering column, you can display the Strongly Interfered, All Interfered, or the Neighbour Violations of the studied transmitter. You can choose more than one of these options by pressing and holding Ctrl and clicking each option.

The following figures illustrate the display of interference information.

Figure 7.28: Displaying interference information

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Figure 7.28: Displaying interference information

7.4.3.1.8

Generating Reports on Interference Matrices You can generate reports on one or all of the interference matrices in the GSM Interference Matrices folder. In this section, the following are explained: • •

"Generating a Report on a Single Interference Matrix" on page 361 "Generating a Report on All Interference Matrices" on page 362.

Generating a Report on a Single Interference Matrix To generate a report on a single interference matrix: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the GSM Interference Matrices folder. 3. Right-click the interference matrix on which you want to generate a report. The context menu appears. 4. Select Generate Report from the context menu. The Interference Matrix Scope dialog box appears with the report details: • • • •

A table with the number of times the listed transmitter has been interfered The total number of entries in the selected interference matrix The number of transmitters covered by the interference matrix The average number of interferers per interfered subcell in the interference matrix.

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Generating a Report on All Interference Matrices In order to generate a report on all the interference matrices in the GSM Interference Matrices folder: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the GSM Interference Matrices folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Generate Report from the context menu. The Interference Matrix Scope dialog box appears with the report details: • • • •

7.4.3.1.9

A table with the number of times the listed transmitter has been interfered The total number of entries in the selected interference matrices The number of transmitters covered by the interference matrices The average number of interferers per interfered subcell in the interference matrices.

Selecting Interference Matrices for the Frequency Allocation Process When you allocate frequencies automatically or interactively using the AFP in GSM/GPRS/EDGE, the allocation process uses interference matrices. You can select which interference matrices the automatic or interactive frequency allocation process will be based on. When you use more than one interference matrix, the AFP combines the data. For more information on how the optional Atoll AFP module combines the data from more than one interference matrix, see "Automatic Frequency Planning" on page 391. To activate an interference matrix to be used for an automatic frequency allocation: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the GSM Interference Matrices folder. 3. Right-click the interference matrix you want to use in an automatic frequency allocation. The context menu appears. 4. Select Activate from the context menu. The selected interference matrix is now active and will be used the next time you use an AFP. You can deactivate the interference matrix by right-clicking it and selecting Deactivate from the context menu. When you have several active interference matrices in a project, only those intersecting the AFP scope will be loaded in order to avoid consuming more memory than necessary during the AFP process. The "RAM Consumption" field in the interference matrix properties dialog box indicates how much memory the interference matrix will take. For embedded matrices, the AFP loads them only during the AFP process, so the "RAM Consumption" field will always be zero. For external matrices, the AFP reads them to check their scope and then decides whether they are to be loaded into memory or not, so, the "RAM Consumption" field will always be a non-zero value (after running the AFP). As a result, it is recommended to embed interference matrices as long as the document file size is not excessively large.

7.4.3.2 Channel Separations Channel separations define how many channels should separate different TRXs under set circumstances. Channel separations are necessary if you are using automatic frequency planning. Carefully defining channel separations will help you increase the efficient use of channels in your network. Defining channel separations is a three-step process in Atoll. In step 1, you set general separation rules that define the channel separation that should exist between TRXs on the same transmitter, same site, or between neighbours. In step 2, you define separation rules for the TRXs of specific pairs of transmitters. During automatic frequency planning, the separation rules can be overridden by the specific entries in the Exceptional Separation Constraints table. You can edit constraints directly from the AFP output dialog box. The Exceptional Separation Constraints table is automatically updated with any changes you make in the AFP output dialog box. In step 3, you ensure that your neighbour relation constraints are correctly weighted by the neighbour importance. In this section, creating separation rules and exceptional separation constraints is explained. As well, displaying and modifying exceptional separation constraints on the map is explained: • • • • •

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"Defining Separation Rules" on page 363 "Importing Separation Rules" on page 363 "Defining Exceptional Frequency Separations" on page 363 "Displaying Exceptional Frequency Separations on the Map" on page 363 "Adding or Removing Exceptional Frequency Separations Using the Mouse" on page 364.

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7.4.3.2.1

Defining Separation Rules You can define separation rules that set the channel separation that should exist between pairs of TRXs on the same transmitter, same site, or between neighbours after a frequency allocation. To define separation rules: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Frequency Plan > Separation Rules from the context menu. The Separation Rules table appears. 4. In the row marked with the New Row icon ( to define: • • • •

7.4.3.2.2

), select the following parameters for each separation rule you want

Type of Relation: Select the type of relation, co-transmitter, co-site, or neighbour, between the two TRXs. TRX Type: Select the first TRX type. TRX Type 2: Select the second TRX type. Default Min. Separation: Enter the minimum difference in channels that must exist between the two TRX types. Entering "0" means that they can use the same channel.

Importing Separation Rules If you have an existing set of separation rules, you can import them into your GSM/GPRS/EDGE document. To import separation rules: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Frequency Plan > Separation Rules from the context menu. The Separation Rules table appears. 4. Import the file as explained in "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88.

7.4.3.2.3

Defining Exceptional Frequency Separations The separation rules apply to the entire network. However, in a few cases, the separation rules might not apply to specific pairs of TRXs. In this case, you can set exceptional frequency separations to define channel separations that apply to specific pairs of TRXs. During automatic frequency planning, the separation rules are first considered, but they can be overridden by specific entries in the Exceptional Separation Constraints table. To define exceptional frequency separations: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Frequency Plan > Exceptional Pairs from the context menu. The Exceptional Separation Constraints table appears. 4. In the row marked with the New Row icon ( to define: • • • • •

), select the following parameters for each separation rule you want

Transmitter: Select the transmitter on which the TRX in TRX Type is located. TRX Type: Select the first TRX type. Transmitter 2: Select the transmitter on which the TRX in TRX Type 2 is located. TRX Type 2: Select the second TRX type. Separation: Enter the minimum difference in channels that must exist between the two TRX types. Entering "0" means that they can use the same channel. You can also define exceptional pairs from the AFP results. Subcells which do not respect separation constraints can be defined as exceptional pairs in order to force the AFP to modify its allocation priority and to avoid this violation. See "AFP Results" on page 377 for more information.

7.4.3.2.4

Displaying Exceptional Frequency Separations on the Map You can display the exceptional frequency separations defined in the Exceptional Separation Constraints table on the map. To display the exceptional frequency separations: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Frequency Plan > Display Options from the context menu. The Separation Constraint Display dialog box appears.

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4. Select the Transmitter 1 TRX Type and the Transmitter 2 TRX Type to display. When you select "All" as either Transmitter 1 TRX Type or Transmitter 2 TRX Type, Atoll does not display all TRX types. Rather it displays only exceptional frequency separations for which the TRX type constraint is defined as "All." 5. Click the arrow ( ) next to the Edit Relations on the Map button ( appears.

) in the Radio Planning toolbar. The menu

6. Select Exceptional Pairs (AFP) from the context menu. 7. Click the Edit Relations on the Map button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar.

8. Click a transmitter on the map to display the exceptional frequency separations. If the selected transmitter has defined exceptional frequency separations that fit the display options, Atoll displays the following information (see Figure 7.29): • •

The exceptional frequency separations of the selected transmitter are indicated by a heavy line in the same colour as the other transmitter in the defined pair. The defined minimum channel separation is indicated beside the line linking the two transmitters.

Figure 7.29: Displaying exceptional frequency separations 9. In order to restore colours and cancel the neighbour display, click the Edit Relations on the Map button (

) again.

You can define exceptional pairs directly on the map. For information, see "Adding or Removing Exceptional Frequency Separations Using the Mouse" on page 364.

7.4.3.2.5

Adding or Removing Exceptional Frequency Separations Using the Mouse You can add and remove define exceptional frequency separations directly on the map. To define an exceptional frequency separation on the map: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Frequency Plan > Display Options from the context menu. The Separation Constraint Display dialog box appears. 4. In Transmitter 1 TRX Type list and Transmitter 2 TRX Type list, select the TRX type for which you want to define separation constraints. 5. Click the arrow ( ) next to the Edit Relations on the Map button ( appears.

) in the Radio Planning toolbar. The menu

6. Select Exceptional Pairs (AFP) from the context menu. 7. Click the Edit Relations on the Map button (

).

8. Click the reference transmitter on the map. Atoll displays the existing exceptional frequency separations for this transmitter.

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You can do the following: •

•

To add an exceptional frequency separation: Press Ctrl and click on the second transmitter. A dialog box appears where you enter the minimum separation between the transmitters. When you click OK, the exceptional frequency separation is created and indicated by a heavy line in the same colour as the second transmitter. The minimum separation is indicated next to the link. The exceptional separation constraint is automatically added to the Exceptional Separation Constraints table. To remove an exceptional frequency separation: Press Ctrl and click on the second transmitter of an existing exceptional frequency separation. The exceptional frequency separation is removed from the map and from the Exceptional Separation Constraints table.

9. In order to restore colours and cancel the neighbour display, click the Edit Relations on the Map button (

) again.

You can display the coverage areas of exceptional pairs in much the same way as you would display the coverage of a transmitter’s neighbours, with the exception that you select Exceptional Pairs (AFP) when you click the arrow ( ) next to the Edit Relations on the Map button ( ) in the Radio Planning toolbar. For more information, see "Editing Neighbours on the Map" on page 229.

7.4.3.2.6

Adjusting the Relative Importance of Neighbours In many cases, neighbour relations are the strongest constraints on the AFP. The neighbour importance field of the Neighbours table enables the AFP to partially ignore weak or distant neighbours and concentrate more on the more important neighbours. Neighbour importance can be either: • • •

calculated by Atoll imported, based on OMC statistics, or imported and completed by a calculation performed in Atoll

This section gives several examples of how you can adjust the relative importance of neighbours. Review the neighbour allocation before running the AFP. Often poorly defined neighbour relations are the cause of a poorly defined frequency plan.

Example 1: Automatic Neighbour Allocation You can calculate neighbour importance by automatically allocating neighbours as explained in "Automatically Allocating Neighbours to Multiple Cells" on page 226. Atoll’s default values when automatically allocating neighbours are: • • •

Coverage Factor: 1% to 30% Adjacency Factor: 30% to 60% Co-site Factor: 60% to 100%

If you are running an automatic neighbour allocation so that Atoll can use the calculated neighbour calculation in the AFP, you should change the values: • • •

Coverage Factor: 1% to 81% Adjacency Factor: 20% to 90% Co-site Factor: 70% to 100% Changing the default values changes the priority definitions of the neighbour allocation algorithm. For more information, see the Technical Reference Guide.

After you have run the automatic neighbour allocation and the latter has calculated the neighbour importance, you can commit the results and run the AFP. Example 2: Importing Neighbour Importance There are several possible external sources of neighbour importance. For example: • •

OMC HO statistics Test mobile data measurements (providing the measurements ignore interference between non-neighbours).

As with any source of information, it is up to the user to prepare and import this external data. Neighbour importance is measured in terms of probabilities.

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Example 3: Completing or Updating the Neighbour Importance Information After adding new sites, or in order to resolve handover problems, you might need to run a new automatic neighbour allocation. However, when you run an automatic neighbour allocation, Atoll recalculates all existing neighbour relations and overwrites existing neighbour importance values. If the changes to the network were only minimal, you can assume that the existing neighbour relations and weights were accurate. You can also assume that the newly calculated neighbour relations and importance values are less important, because they are only minor modifications to a working system. You can preserve the existing neighbour relations and importance values while at the same time creating neighbour relations for the new sites by first exporting the existing neighbour relations, running an automatic neighbour allocation to create neighbour relations along with their weights, and then re-importing the original neighbour relations and weights. Atoll will then replace the newly calculated neighbour relations and weights with the original values where they exist. To extend an neighbour allocation while preserving existing neighbour relations: 1. Export the current intra-technology neighbour relations once to a file called AllCurrentNei.txt using the Export command on the Neighbours table's context menu. For information on exporting a table, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. 2. Export the intra-technology neighbour relations a second time to a file called AllCurrentNei_Importance.txt, this time selecting the neighbour relations with a reliable neighbour importance. 3. Import the AllCurrentNei.txt file into the Exceptional Pairs of Intra-technology Neighbours table. This will set all existing neighbour relations to forced, which is a pre-requisite to extending an existing neighbour allocation. For information on importing the contents of a text file into a table, see "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88. 4. Set the importance weighting in the Neighbour Importance Weighting dialog box in order to keep the values assigned for importance below a certain value. For example, if you want all importance values to be under 50%, you can set the Max Importance values as indicated in Figure 7.30. For information on setting the importance weighting, see "Configuring Neighbour Importance Factors" on page 231. 5. Run an automatic neighbour allocation to allocate neighbours to new sites and assign importance to neighbour relations that do not already have an importance assigned. For information on defining and running an automatic neighbour allocation, see "Automatically Allocating Neighbours to Multiple Cells" on page 226.

Figure 7.30: Setting neighbour importance weighting As you can see in Figure 7.30, the importance assigned to all new neighbour relations will be weak. 6. Commit the allocation. 7. Import the AllCurrentNei.txt file into the Neighbours table. When Atoll prompts you to delete existing neighbours, click No. In Figure 7.31, you can see that neighbour relations now include old neighbour relations with a higher importance and new neighbour relations with a lower importance automatically calculated by Atoll.

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Figure 7.31: Neighbours table Example 4: Importing Partial Sources of Neighbour Importance You can import partial sources of neighbour importance. The data, in the form of a probability from 0 to 1, are imported into the Importance column of the Neighbours. If your network statistics do not provide you with the importance of neighbours, you can calculate neighbour importance using other statistics. You can then import this calculated importance into Atoll where it can be used by the AFP. For example, if you have statistics on the number of handovers between two sectors, you can calculate the importance of the different neighbours of each cell using these statistics. For example, if you have two sectors, A and B, and you use X to represent the "Average Activity of a Relationship" in the network, i.e., the sum of all handovers for all sectors divided by the number of neighbour relationships. If the number of handovers from sector B (neighbour of sector A) is Y, the importance of sector B for sector A can be calculated using the following equation:   Impor tan ce =   

1ifY  X Y ---- IfY  X X

This way, when a relationship has an above-average number of handovers, its importance will be the highest possible in Atoll, i.e., 100%. Otherwise, its importance will be below average.

7.4.3.3 Modelling Traffic When allocating frequencies, information from the interference matrix is often used along with AFP traffic. In Atoll, these two records are not correlated. For more information on why interference matrices and AFP traffic are not correlated in Atoll, see "AFP Guidelines" on page 425. The AFP uses traffic to differentiate between heavily loaded TRXs (which would generate a high cost if they are interfered) and TRXs with a low load (which can be interfered without generating a high cost). In other words, the AFP traffic model is basically a weighting system. In more advanced AFP use, AFP traffic can be used, for example, to optimise the number of TRXs and estimate blocking. AFP traffic input will be described in this section. Traffic is one of the most important AFP inputs because: • • • •

The AFP will try to assign the required number of TRXs. The number of required TRXs is an important part of the AFP traffic information. The cost of interference is proportional to the traffic load. For frequency hopping, the interference caused by a given interferer usually increases when its traffic load increases. At its most advanced level, the Atoll AFP can optimise the trade-offs between interfered traffic and blocked traffic (i.e., when the AFP is permitted to adapt the number of TRXs to the spectrum availability conditions).

There is more than one method of providing traffic information to the AFP. In this section, the methods of providing traffic information are explained from the simplest to the most advanced. Method 1: Setting All Traffic Loads to 1 When all traffic loads are set to "1," the amount of traffic is determined exclusively by the number of required TRXs. As a result, all TRXs are considered equally. This method has to be used whenever the only information you have is the number of required TRXs.

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Method 2: Entering Traffic Loads Manually In this method of providing traffic information to the AFP, the AFP traffic is determined by the manually entered traffic load values, and by the manually entered number of required TRXs. The disadvantage of this method is that this information must usually be calculated and entered manually; it is not easy to obtain automatically. If you have access to this information, you can use this method. Method 3: Importing Traffic Loads from OMC Data This method is recommended for use with the Atoll AFP, however, it is not supported by all external AFP suppliers. Using this method, the AFP considers the number of required TRXs as a recommendation only. The actual traffic demand is taken from the Subcells table, where the data has been updated using traffic demands supplied by the OMC (see "Importing OMC Traffic Data into the Subcells Table: Traffic Data" on page 326). To use the traffic information in the Subcells Table: Traffic Data: 1. On the Cost tab of the Atoll AFP Module Properties dialog box, select the option Based on the traffic demand (from subcell table or default traffic capture). For more information on the Atoll AFP Module Properties dialog box, see "Automatic Frequency Planning" on page 391. 2. On the Global Parameters tab of the AFP wizard dialog box, select the option From subcell table under Traffic (Subcell load, demand and target rate of traffic overload). For more information on the Atoll AFP Module Properties dialog box, see "Automatic Frequency Planning" on page 391. 3. On the AFP Model and Allocations tab of the first AFP dialog box, select the option Optimisation of the number of TRXs under Strategies. For more information on the AFP Module Properties dialog box, see "Automatic Frequency Planning" on page 391. Method 4: Extracting Traffic from Traffic Maps In this method, you use traffic maps, but you rely on external dimensioning to determine the number of required TRXs. This method also requires you to create a traffic capture before launching the AFP. The traffic capture will provide an analysis of traffic at the transmitter level, thereby transforming the traffic maps into the load estimates that are required for the AFP. The traffic model is a map and gives probabilistic traffic estimates per pixel. The AFP needs either traffic demands or loads. In both case, it needs this information at the subcell or cell level. The traffic capture is responsible for this conversion. Using a traffic model is an enhanced use of Atoll. You must be sure that your traffic modelling is correct and compatible with the service zone modelling. You must also be aware of mobility compatibilities, service compatibilities, mobile compatibilities, and layer definitions. The inherent complexities of working with a traffic model discourage many users from working with a traffic model, even though theoretically this is the best way of planning a GSM network. It is even possible to restrict the use of a certain map (or set of maps) to a certain HCS layer. We highly recommend the usage of this feature since it reduces this complexity (see "Creating a Traffic Capture" on page 327). In order to use this option, you must do the following: •

On the Global Parameters tab of the AFP dialog box, select Based on default traffic capture results under Traffic.

Method 5: Using a Traffic Model with Dimensioning With this method you use a traffic model along with dimensioning (see "Dimensioning a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Network" on page 332). Usually the number of required TRXs is an input. The number of required TRXs can be strict or lightly modified. If you decide to use Atoll's dimensioning model to determine the number of required TRXs: • •

Thoroughly test your traffic model and network. Carry out the dimensioning, verify the results, and commit it.

By committing the required number of TRXs you have already committed the load and the demand information to the cells or subcells. You are now ready to use the AFP.

7.4.3.4 AFP-Related Parameters in the Subcells Table Many of the parameters used by the AFP are read directly from subcell settings made in the GSM/GPRS/EDGE network. You can modify these parameters globally or for individual transmitters before running the AFP. Other parameters are calculated when you dimension the GSM/GPRS/EDGE network. Before you can use the AFP tool, you need to know the number of required TRXs. You can dimension the network to let Atoll automatically calculate and update the required number of TRXs needed per subcell for each transmitter of the network, or you can enter the information manually. For information on letting Atoll automatically calculate and update the required

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number of TRXs needed per subcell, see "Dimensioning a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Network" on page 330. For information on adding TRXs manually, see "Creating or Modifying a TRX" on page 291. When you dimension the network, Atoll also calculates the required number of shared, circuit, and packet timeslots required for all TRXs of the subcell. The other AFP-relevant parameters in the network concern the subcells and related TRXs. In Atoll, a subcell refers to the characteristics of a group of TRXs on a transmitter sharing the same radio characteristics, the same quality (C/I) requirements, and other settings. The following subcell settings can be modified globally by modifying the cell type or for a specific transmitter by modifying the parameters under Subcells on the TRXs tab of the transmitter’s Properties dialog box. The parameters are displayed in three different tables under Subcells: Standard Data, for the standard information defining a subcell, Traffic Data, for information describing the traffic in the cell, and AFP indicators, for information resulting from running an AFP model. For information on modifying cell types, see "Cell Types" on page 488. For information on modifying transmitter properties, see "Creating or Modifying a Transmitter" on page 289. The following are the most important AFP-relevant parameters under Subcells on the TRXs tab of the transmitter’s Properties dialog box: •

•

•

• • •

Traffic Load: The Traffic Load indicates the usage rate of TRXs; its value must be from 0 to 1. The value in the Traffic Load column can be either user-defined or the result of network dimensioning, in which case it will be the same value for all subcells covering the same area (e.g., BCCH and TCH). The traffic load is used to calculate interference and in automatic frequency planning. Total Circuit Demand: The circuit demand indicates the amount of Erlangs necessary to absorb the circuit-switched demand. This value can be either user-defined or the result of a traffic capture, in which case it will be the same value for all subcells covering the same area (e.g., BCCH and TCH). This value can be used by an advanced AFP model to optimise the number of TRXs and maximise the amount of correctly served traffic. The Total Circuit Demand is found in the Traffic Data table. Total Packet Demand: The packet demand indicates the amount of timeslots necessary to absorb the packet-switched demand. This value can be either user-defined or the result of a traffic capture, in which case it will be the same value for all subcells covering the same area (e.g. BCCH and TCH). This value can be used by an advanced AFP model to optimise the number of TRXs and maximise the amount of correctly served traffic. The Total Packet Demand is found in the Traffic Data table. C/I Threshold (dB): The minimum signal quality for the TRX Type, under which the subcell interface is taken into consideration. The C/I Threshold is found in the Standard table. Reception Threshold (dBm): The minimum received signal for the TRX Type. The Reception Threshold is found in the Standard table. Frequency Domain: (including excluded channels), from which the AFP tool can choose frequencies. The Frequency Domain is found in the Standard table. The Relevant Frequency Band used by the model when assigning cell types to transmitters is also visible on the TRXs tab, but is a parameter of the cell type and can not be changed here.

The other AFP-relevant parameters under Subcells on the TRXs tab of the transmitter’s Properties dialog box are: •

Allocation Strategy: The allocation strategy used during manual or automatic frequency planning. The Allocation Strategy is found in the Standard table. There are two available allocation strategies: • •

•

•

•

Free: Any of the channels belonging to the frequency domain can be assigned to TRXs. Group Constrained: Only channels belonging to the same frequency group in the frequency domain can be assigned. You can use the Preferred Frequency Group to define the preferred group of frequencies when using the AFP.

Preferred Frequency Group: When the Group Constrained allocation strategy is selected, in any hopping mode (including non-hopping), the AFP tries to assign frequencies from the preferred group during automatic allocation. The preferred frequency group is a soft constraint used by the AFP to assign frequencies to TRXs. When the AFP is unable to assign a frequency from the preferred group and allocates a frequency from outside the group, a corresponding cost is taken into account. The preferred group can also be the result of allocation if the AFP model is able to allocate patterns based on azimuth. The Preferred Frequency Group is found in the Standard table. Max. MAL Length: The maximum length of the mobile allocation list (MAL), in other words, the maximum number of channels allocated to the TRXs of the subcell during automatic frequency planning if the Hopping Mode is either SFH (Synthesised Frequency Hopping) or BBH (Base Band Hopping) and if the Allocation Strategy is Free. The Max. MAL Length is found in the Standard table. Hopping Mode: The frequency hopping mode supported by the selected TRX type. The hopping mode can be either "Base Band Hopping mode (BBH)" or "Synthesised Hopping mode (SFH)." If frequency hopping is not supported, select "Non Hopping." The Hopping Mode is found in the Standard table. If SFH is the frequency hopping mode, the settings in the AFP module must match the settings in the subcell. For information on configuring the optional Atoll AFP module, see "Automatic Frequency Planning" on page 391.

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•

•

•

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Synchronisation: The Synchronisation is used during frequency hopping; frequency hopping is synchronised among all TRXs of subcells with the same string of characters in the Synchronisation column. By default, the name of the site is used as the value in the Synchronisation column, synchronising frequency hopping for all TRXs on the same site. The Synchronisation is found in the Standard table. DTX Supported: The DTX Supported check box is selected if the subcell supports DTX (Discontinuous Transmission) mode. Subcells supporting DTX can reduce interference they produce according to the defined voice activity factor. DTX does not apply to the BCCH since it is assumed that the BCCH is always on air. The DTX Supported check box is found in the Standard table. Lock required TRXs: This option can be used by an AFP model which has the capability to optimise (i.e., increase or decrease) the number of required TRXs where the only goal is maximising the amount of correctly served traffic. In other words, you might have fewer TRXs than required if they are not subject to any interference and the amount of correctly served traffic will be larger. When you select this option, the number of required TRXs is blocked for that subcell. The Lock required TRXs option is found in the Standard table.

Although you can manually set the values of the following required timeslot numbers, these values are calculated during the dimensioning process. On the AFP tab of a transmitter’s Properties dialog box, under Parameters related to automatic planning, you can set the weight and reuse distance to be used for the selected transmitter during the AFP: •

•

Weight: Enter the AFP weight. The AFP weight is used to increase or decrease the importance of a subcell during automatic frequency planning. The value must be a real number. The higher the AFP weight is, the higher the constraint on the TRX type. The AFP weight artificially multiplies the cost function which has to be minimised by the AFP. The Weight is found in the Standard table. Reuse distance: Enter a reuse distance. The reuse distance is taken into consideration when assigning frequencies or BSIC. Using a minimum reuse distance can help compensate for inaccuracies in the interference matrices or other input data.

If certain resources have already been allocated, on the AFP tab of a transmitter’s Properties dialog box you can choose to lock the resources that have already been allocated to the selected transmitter. During automatic frequency planning, these resources, which can be allocated as part of the process, will not be changed. •

• •

Lock Channels and MAIO: When selected, the transmitter’s currently assigned channels and MAIO are kept when a new AFP session is started. On the TRXs tab, under TRXs, you can lock the channels and MAIO for individual TRXs assigned to the transmitter. Lock HSN: When selected, the transmitter’s currently assigned HSN is kept when a new AFP session is started. On the TRXs tab, under Subcells, you can lock the HSN for individual subcells assigned to the transmitter. Lock BSIC: When selected, the transmitter’s currently assigned BSIC is kept when a new AFP session is started. The Lock BSIC status can also be managed via the Network explorer from the context menu of an individual transmitter or group of transmitters. For more information, see "AFP Resource Status Management" on page 288.

On the AFP tab, under Exceptional separation constraints with other transmitters, you can enter exceptional separation constraints with other transmitters. Exceptional separation constraints you enter here also appear in the Exceptional Separation Constraints table. For information on creating exceptional separation constraints, see "Defining Exceptional Frequency Separations" on page 363. By adding two options in the Atoll.ini file, you can force the Atoll AFP model to restrict channel allocation to a limited spectrum for each transmitter in the same way that it is implemented on some equipment. For more information, see the Administrator Manual.

7.4.3.5 Modelling Layers and Subcells There are several different methods that you can use to correctly model layers and subcells. These methods offer different levels of accuracy and can help you to increase the spectral efficiency of your network. Method 1: The simplest method of modelling layers and subcells is to use only one HCS layer and only two TRX types (i.e., BCCH and TCH) for all transmitters. Method 2: The second method involves modelling HCS layers in a more complete fashion. HCS layers play several roles in Atoll. Their most important role is related to the way Atoll manages traffic maps. Different layers have different priorities and mobility limitations. As well, you can manage traffic overflow by allowing traffic to flow from one layer to another. The objective of is to model the behaviour of a real network, where two potential servers that do not belong to the same layer usually do not compete to be the best server. When calculating an interference matrix, or when making an interference coverage prediction, HCS layers are used to create service zone maps which are used as the basis of these calculations. If two transmitters belong to different layers, they can both serve the same pixel even if the received signal of one is much stronger than the received signal of the other. For equal

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HO margins, more HSC layers mean more overlapping in the network. As the overlapping increases, the constraint level in the interference matrix and the amount of interference in an interference prediction also increase. When using this method, you must study the priority mechanism in your network, both in the re-selection process and in the handover process. Define the corresponding HCS layers once you know its working. When using a traffic map, you must ensure that there are enough mobility types to model high speed and low speed mobilities. Method 3: With this method, you study the settings of the TCH TRXs and how they manage radio resources. There might be differences between the TRXs on at least one of the following items: • • • • • • • •

Whether transmission power is maximum or average Whether reception is managed by reception level or by distance Scheduling priority Whether the subcell handles packet-switched or circuit-switched traffic Quality requirement for high bit-rate coding schemes. Spectral restrictions (often present with the GSM extended frequencies) Frequent use of high bit rate modulations Whether the BCCH is multi-band or single BCCH.

A customised definition of multi-subcell transmitters can permit the AFP to exploit these differences. This is often called the underlay overlay layout, (or intelligent underlay overlay). For detailed information on the technical aspects of cell type definition, see "Cell Types" on page 488. With this method, there is more than one way to improve the accuracy of the network model. The common point is the fact that they all require multi-subcell transmitters. Theoretically, these combined methods should provide over 40% additional spectrum efficiency (40% in the case of voice, for packet-switched services it can be much higher). However, you can assume that the gains are lower when the HCS layers are intelligently defined. In other words, if you improve the efficient use of spectrum by accurately defining the HCS layers, you can not get an equivalent amount through the accurate definition of concentric cells. Concentric cells are necessary whenever some TRXs have a bigger interference area than others, or when some TRXs serve traffic which is more widely spread than others, or when some TRXs are used for more robust services than others, (i.e., for services which do not need as high a quality as others). Each of these refinements, alone or combined, can reduce the constraint level, leading to a much better frequency plan. Method 4: With this method, you’ll have to check the network as described in this section before starting the AFP: 1. Create a traffic map based on environments, using an appropriate clutter weighting. For information on creating an environment-based traffic map, see "Creating a User Profile Environment-based Traffic Map" on page 261. 2. Import the current frequency plan into your Atoll document. For information on importing a frequency plan into an Atoll document, see "Importing a Frequency List" on page 347. 3. Create a traffic capture and calculate it. For information on creating a traffic capture, see "Calculating and Displaying a Traffic Capture" on page 327. 4. Perform a KPI calculation and commit it. For information on KPI calculation, see "Calculating Key Performance Indicators of a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Network" on page 465. 5. Adjust the traffic coefficient in the traffic capture so that the average level of traffic loads is correct. 6. Study the cases where traffic loads are either too low or too high. This can easily be managed by colouring transmitters according to their traffic load. The reasons for this can be the following: • • •

A high priority cell is taking all the traffic from another cell. This means that the HCS parameters in Atoll do not reflect reality. There exist a cell that is no longer used and, in fact, has been removed from the OMC but still exists in the Atoll. This cell is absorbing the traffic and reduces to 0 the load of another cell. Other parameters are not correct: Height, power, tilt, etc.

7.4.4 Automatic Resource Allocation Using an AFP Module There are several different ways, of differing levels of complexity, to automatically allocate resources. In "Automatic Frequency Planning" on page 391, these different methods of automatically allocating resources are explained. In this section, the basic information necessary to automatic resource allocation, regardless of the level of optimisation, is explained. The Automatic Frequency Planning (AFP) tool is a designed to perform large-scale and small-scale resource allocation. It can add or remove TRXs and assign frequencies or MAL lists as well as MAIOs. The AFP can also assign the HSN, the BSIC, various KPIs, and preferred group names. When the AFP assigns resources, it takes traffic demand, separation constraints, and interference limitations into consideration. Atoll allows the use of third-party AFP tools. The AFP attempts to create an optimal resource allocation, i.e., an allocation that minimises interference and complies with a set of user-defined constraints. Most AFPs assign a cost to the various constraints and then use cost-based algorithms to

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evaluate possible frequency plans and to find the frequency plan with the lowest costs. The cost function can be different from one AFP to another. The cost function of the Atoll AFP module is described in "Automatic Frequency Planning" on page 391. The quality of the final resource allocation depends on the level of preparation you make for the AFP. An advanced level requires an understanding of the cost function, the algorithm, and the parameters specific to that module. Therefore, in this section, only basic preparation is explained since it is common to all AFP modules that work with Atoll. Advanced use of the Atoll AFP is explained in "Automatic Frequency Planning" on page 391. Before using the AFP for automatic resource allocation, you should understand the following: • • • •

The scope of the AFP (i.e., in other words, the area and parameters that will be affected by the AFP). For more information, see "The Scope of the AFP and the Scope of the Interference Matrix" on page 372. The network validation process that takes place before the AFP starts. For more information, see "The Network Validation Process" on page 373. An understanding of the AFP dialog box. For more information, see "Running an Automatic Frequency Allocation" on page 374 The AFP results. Understanding the displayed AFP results enables you to assess the proposed frequency plan before committing the frequency plan. For more information, see "AFP Results" on page 377.

7.4.4.1 The Scope of the AFP and the Scope of the Interference Matrix In this section, the following are explained: • •

7.4.4.1.1

"The Scope of the AFP" on page 372 "The Scope of the Interference Matrix" on page 372.

The Scope of the AFP You can think of the scope of the AFP as, first and foremost, the transmitters that are active and filtered and within the focus zone and the computation zone. This is the area that the AFP will be affecting. The second part of the scope is the part which will be taken into consideration by the AFP but will not be affected. This second part includes the neighbours of any transmitters within the focus and computation zones, and any transmitter whose calculation radius intersects the calculation radius of any transmitter that is already within the AFP scope. For example, in a given project, there are three groups of transmitters: • • •

Active: The Active group includes all active transmitters that are filtered in the Transmitters folder and in the Sites folder. Selected: The Selected group is a subgroup of the Active group and contains all the transmitters in the folder from which the AFP was started and that are located inside the focus zone and the computation zone. Ring: Transmitters that are part of the Active group, but not part of the Selected group belong to the Ring group if they affect transmitters in the Active group. For example, neighbours of transmitters in the Selected group would be in the Ring group, as would the second transmitter of an exceptional pair. Additionally, if some transmitters are defined as interferers only (see "Transmitter Properties" on page 280), they are part of the AFP scope because they might affect the transmitters to which frequencies will be allocated but their frequency plan cannot be modified. Finally, if BSIC are being assigned, all second-order neighbours are in the Ring group as well. Finally, if interference is taken into account during the AFP process (by selecting the Load all interferers propagating in the focus zone check box), any transmitter whose calculation radius intersects the calculation radius of a transmitter in the Selected group, is included in the Ring group. If a site has a large calculation radius (e.g. 20 km), a potentially large number of transmitters can be loaded into the Ring group.

In this example, the Selected and Ring groups are both loaded into the network and form the AFP scope. However, the transmitters in the Ring group are locked; the AFP-related parameters (BSIC, HSN, MAL, MAIO, and channels) can not be changed. As for the transmitters in the Selected group, the AFP can assign any of the resources specified in the AFP dialog box, with the following exceptions: • • •

You can lock individual transmitters for channel (and MAL), HSN or BSIC assignment. You can lock individual TRXs for channel (and MAL) assignment. You can lock individual subcells for HSN assignment. In Atoll's AFP, locked TRXs are reported as locked during cost calculation, however the AFP can still modify the cost of locked TRXs under the following circumstances: if the locked TRX has a bad neighbour relation (in terms of cost) with another TRX which is not locked, Atoll's AFP reports to the user which part of the cost can be modified and which part can not.

7.4.4.1.2

The Scope of the Interference Matrix The scope of each individual interference matrix depends on how it was defined and created. If you generate a report on the GSM Interference Matrices folder in the Network explorer, the report will show a combined scope of all active interference

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matrices in the folder. For more information on the definition of the interference matrix, see "Interference Matrices" on page 351. In terms of the AFP, the scope of the interference matrix is the same as that of the AFP, as described in "The Scope of the AFP" on page 372. In other words, the scope of the interference matrix during an automatic resource allocation includes the transmitters that are active and filtered and within the focus zone and the computation zone, as well the transmitters which will be taken into consideration by the AFP but will not be affected. Including the transmitters that are not affected by the AFP (but that affect other transmitters during the allocation of resources) can be quite demanding on computer resources. By drawing a filtering zone around all of the transmitters to which resources are to be allocated (the Selected group in the example given in "The Scope of the AFP" on page 372), you can cause the AFP to ignore transmitters outside of the group of affected transmitters in the interference matrix zone.

7.4.4.2 The Network Validation Process Before the AFP begins the automatic resource allocation process, it verifies the network and the data. By beginning with a verification, the AFP can save time by finding potential problems before the allocation process actually starts. If the AFP finds a problem, it displays a message with the warning or error in the Events viewer (see Figure 7.32). It is highly recommended to correct any problems indicated in these messages before you continue with the AFP process.

Figure 7.32: Warnings and errors during network validation phase You can view the entire message by double-clicking it in the Events viewer, Atoll then displays the message in a separate dialog box (see Figure 7.33).

Figure 7.33: Message from the Events viewer The following table contains a few examples of the range checks performed by the AFP: Range Check

Values

Lowest and highest possible HSN

0 - 63

Limit on the number of different frequency domains

10,000

Lowest and highest BSIC

0 - 77

Maximum required channels at a subcell

62

Lowest and highest value for AFP weight

0 - 100

Default value for AFP weight

1

Lowest and highest value for “min C/I”

2 - 25

Default value for “min C/I”

12

Comments

Each exclusion of frequencies at a transmitter might create a new domain

Used if the AFP weight is out of domain

Used if the parameter is out of range

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Range Check

Values

Maximum power offset

25

Highest reception threshold

-50

Lowest reception threshold

-116

Default value for reception threshold

-102

Limit on separation requirements

Must be Automatic Allocation from the context menu. The first page of the AFP dialog box appears with the AFP Model and Allocations tab. a. Select "Atoll AFP Module" from the AFP Module list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the selected AFP module. When the AFP starts, Atoll ensures that the selected AFP module is correctly installed then verifies its capabilities. The selected AFP module capabilities determine the resources that you can allocate using the AFP. b. Under Resources to Allocate, select the check boxes of the resources you want to allocate. The selections you make will depend on the hopping mode of your network: • • • • •

MAL: The MAL is used by subcells that have either the BBH or the SFH hopping mode. You must also allocate MAIO, HSN, and channels. MAIO: The MAIO is used by subcells that have either the BBH or the SFH hopping mode. You must also allocate MAL, HSN, and channels. Channels: All subcells must be allocated channels, independently of their hopping mode. HSN: The HSN is used by subcells that have either the BBH or the SFH hopping mode. You must also allocate MAL, MAIO, and channels. BSIC: The BSIC is used by all transmitters, independently of the hopping mode. Atoll will not create TRXs without channels. Therefore, if you do not allocate MAL and MAIO, all the SFH subcells are considered locked and no TRXs will be created for them. By the same token, if you allocate only MAL and MAIO, all NH and BBH subcells will be considered locked and no TRXs will be created.

c. Under Strategies, select the check boxes corresponding to the allocation strategies you want the AFP to use. •

Optimisation of the number of TRXs: When subcells have low traffic loads and are located in a zone of heavy spectral congestion, reducing the number of TRXs to be assigned can present an advantage. On the other hand, when some subcells have a high traffic demand, the AFP may increase the number of TRXs compared to what is required to reduce the amount of blocked traffic.

•

Azimuth-oriented allocation (Pattern 1/X): The azimuth-oriented allocation strategy consists of allocating preferred frequency groups to group-constrained subcells according to the azimuth of the subcell. If the frequency groups are correctly configured (i.e., if X comparably sized frequency groups for X azimuths), then the pattern of allocation will be 1/X. If the geometry of the network is incompatible with an azimuth-oriented allocation, the AFP will not attempt to allocate preferred frequency groups.

d. Under Indicators to allocate, select the check boxes corresponding to the indicators you want the Atoll AFP to allocate. •

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TRX Rank: The AFP can calculate the TRX rank of each TRX. The higher the TRX rank, the higher the cost, in terms of the risk of interference..

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•

Subcell Indicators: AFP cost, congestion, blocking and separation cost can be estimated by the AFP module per pool of subcells (e.g., a BCCH pool or a TCH pool). These indicators are a way of precisely estimating the allocation quality at the subcell level and provide some directions to improve the plan, if necessary.

e. Select the Load all interferers propagating in the focus zone check box if you want the AFP scope to be extended to include all potential interferers. For more information on the AFP scope, see "The Scope of the AFP and the Scope of the Interference Matrix" on page 372. 4. Click Next. The second page of the AFP dialog box appears with the Separations tab. On this page, you can modify the network's default separation requirements as well the exceptional pairs. For more information on the separation requirements, see "Defining Exceptional Frequency Separations" on page 363. For more information on the exceptional pairs, see "Exceptional Pairs" on page 223. 5. Click Next. The third page of the AFP dialog box appears with the Global Parameters tab. 6. Under Allocation of subcells of type, select the check boxes corresponding to the subcells for which resources will be allocated to TRXs. Missing TRXs will not be created for any subcell not selected under Allocation of subcells of type.

7. Under Locking of existing TRXs of type, select the check boxes corresponding to the subcells for which you want the existing TRXs to be locked during allocation. The existing TRXs will not be affected. You can lock the resources allocated to individual TRXs in either the Transmitters table, the Standard Data Subcells table, the TRXs table, or the Properties dialog box of each transmitter. 8. Under Traffic (Subcell load, demand and target rate of traffic overflow), select the source of the traffic information: •

From Subcells table: The traffic information in the Subcells table can come from one of three sources: • • •

The information could have been entered manually The information could have come from dimensioning The information could have come from a KPI calculation. If the traffic information in the Subcells table is the result of a KPI calculation you must be aware that, during a KPI calculation, Atoll divides the captured traffic by the timeslot capacity of the existing number of TRXs, whereas the AFP requires the traffic to be divided by the timeslot capacity of the required number of TRXs.

•

Based on default traffic capture results.

9. If you want the AFP to consider discontinuous transmission mode for TRXs which support it in calculating the interference, select the DTX check box and enter the Voice activity factor. 10. If you want the AFP to consider reuse distance as a factor in interference, select the Reuse distance check box and, if desired, change the Default value. You can enter a reuse distance for each transmitter in the Reuse Distance column of the Transmitters table.

11. Click OK. The AFP verifies the parameters you have defined. The AFP dialog box that appears (see Figure 7.35) gives a summary of the verification process as well as the messages displayed in the Events viewer.

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Figure 7.34: The AFP dialog box (last page: "Validation") 12. Under Convergence, adjust the slider to define whether you want AFP to provide quicker results (High speed), at the expense of quality, or more accurate results (High quality), at the expense of speed. You can also position the slider on an intermediate setting or enter a percentage in the field to the right of the slider. In Atoll, convergence is one of the last parameters you set before running the AFP. In theory, an exhaustive exploration of all cost-reduction possibilities by the AFP could last indefinitely; therefore, when you run the AFP, you must define a convergence criterion. When convergence time has expired (or even before if you are satisfied with the cost reduction at that point), you can stop the AFP. The quality of the final results is determined by the speed-to-quality ratio you specified with the Convergence slider and by the size of the network. 13. If desired, enter a Random Generator Initialisation. If you set the random generator initialisation to "0", the calculations will be random. If you set the generator initialisation to any other value, the results will be deterministic, i.e., using the same value again will result in the same results with the same document. All AFP calculations are deterministic at the start, even if the random generator initialisation is set to "0." The effect of the random seed can only be observed after a certain time. If you want the automatic allocation process to show the effect of random allocation, you must let the AFP calculate until computation time has elapsed. 14. Click Calculate. The AFP Progress dialog box appears (see Figure 7.35). Read the messages in the Events viewer carefully before clicking Calculate. There might be issues that you need to address before you can successfully run an AFP.

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Figure 7.35: The AFP Progress dialog box For information on the AFP Progress dialog box and on the process of allocating frequencies and resources, see "AFP Progress Dialog Box" on page 377.

7.4.4.4 AFP Progress Dialog Box When running an AFP, the first step, explained in "Running an Automatic Frequency Allocation" on page 374, is defining the parameters that the AFP will use. When you have finished defining the parameters and clicked Calculate on the final dialog box, the AFP begins its calculations and the AFP Progress dialog box appears (see Figure 7.35). The AFP Progress dialog box has three tabs: •

General: On the General tab, you will find information on the current status of the AFP, with the elapsed CPU time, the remaining CPU time corresponding to the speed-to-quality ratio you specified with the Convergence slider, and the number of solutions evaluated to that point. CPU time is based on one calculation thread. Since the AFP uses more than one thread in most multi-core computers, the CPU time is actually about 2.5 times faster than real time.

•

Quality Indicators: On the Quality Indicators tab, you will find a summary of the current Modifiable cost, Total cost, and Total traffic, with details for each frequency plan currently retained by the AFP given in the form of a table. You can select what information is displayed in the table by clicking the Display Options button. The following options are available for each component of the cost (total, separation, intermodulation, blocking, additional, taxes, spectrum modification, etc.): • • •

•

Summed Costs Modifiable Costs Locked Costs

Histogram: On the Histogram tab, you can display histograms of the frequency cost and usage distribution for both the initial plan and best plan. The histogram represents the channels as a function of the frequency of their use. Moving the pointer over the histogram displays the cost or frequency of use of each channel. The results are highlighted simultaneously in the Zoom on selected values list. You can zoom in on values by clicking and dragging in the Zoom on selected values list. Atoll will zoom in on the selected values.

You can pause or stop the AFP process at any time by clicking the Pause/Stop button. When you click the Pause/Stop button, the Details dialog box appears. For information on the Details dialog box, see "AFP Results" on page 377. You can continue the AFP process, if you want, by clicking the Resume button in the Details dialog box.

7.4.4.5 AFP Results When the AFP process has completed, or when you have stopped the process by clicking the Pause/Stop button, the frequency plan proposed by the AFP is displayed in the Details dialog box (see Figure 7.36). Because the Details dialog box opens in a separate window, you can return to your Atoll document while it is displayed. This allows you to verify your network data while you resolve separation constraint violations and before you commit the automatic frequency allocation. Transmit-

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ters located within the focus zone are listed in the Details dialog box. If the focus zone is not available, the results are displayed for all the transmitters within the computation zone. The Details dialog box is composed of four tabs: Summary, Allocation, Subcells, and Histogram.

7.4.4.5.1

Summary Tab The Summary tab shows the progress of the AFP plan and the improvements obtained by comparing the initial plan (i.e., as it existed before running the AFP) and the best plan. In addition, you can verify all the cost components for each solution which has improved the plan in the AFP Progress dialog box (see Figure 7.35).

Figure 7.36: AFP Results > Summary tab AFP cost units are traffic units. In the Initial plan and Best plan frames, the Traffic correctly served is the total traffic minus the Total Cost. In Figure 7.36, the Traffic correctly served for the best plan is 7095.7, which corresponds to 7192.3 minus 96.6.

7.4.4.5.2

Allocation Tab The Allocation tab contains the allocation results. On this tab, you can edit the frequency plan created by the AFP. The results are displayed by transmitter, TRX type, and TRX and they are colour-coded. There are two colour families: •

In case of an important separation constraint violation: • Red: indicates that the resource has been modified but there is an important separation constraint violation. • Purple: indicates tha the resource has been created but there is an important separation constraint violation. By adding some options in the Atoll.ini file, you can set the threshold above which the important separation constraint violations will be displayed in red.

•

Else: • Black: The resource has been not been modified. • Light blue: The resource is locked and has not been modified. • Green: The resource has been modified according to the defined separation constraints. • Brown: The resource has not been modified but there is a separation constraint violation. • Blue: The resource has been created according to the defined separation constraints.

By default, AFP results are displayed in basic view (see Figure 7.37). A more detailed view can be displayed using Display Options > Display Detailed Constraint Violations (see Figure 7.37).

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Figure 7.37: AFP Results > Allocation tab (basic view) In basic view, a grid shows all the sectors and their newly allocated frequencies, with various resources from different levels: transmitter, subcell, and TRX levels. In case of SFH, the HSN synchronisation, the MALs, and the MAIOs are highly interconnected; it is therefore important to see them all at the same time. As said earlier, the quality of a new frequency plan is visible at first glance. It is reflected by the colour of each TRX. Important violations ("Red" TRXs) can be displayed separately using Display Options > Display Important Violations Only.

Figure 7.38: AFP Results > Allocation tab (displaying important violations only) Also, if the AFP has removed resources such as TRXs to obtain the lowest blocking cost, the initial resource value is displayed but the corresponding line is dithered. The resources are actually deleted from the TRXs table. When hovering the mouse pointer over a resource in the table, the corresponding tip text displays the reason for the status indicated by the colour. Under Display, for each combination of transmitter (Transmitter column), subcell (TRX Type column), and TRX (Index column), Atoll will display one of the following columns according to the selected resources: • • •

BSIC HSN Channels

The TRX Rank column indicates the quality of the TRX in that subcell. The higher the TRX rank, the higher the cost, in terms of risk of interference. In other words, when you are trying to improve the solution proposed by the AFP, you must concentrate on the TRXs with the highest TRX ranks. You can hide the TRX Rank column by clicking the Display Options button and deselecting Display AFP Indicators. Separation constraint violations, if any, are listed in the Separations violations column.

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To display the details of a separation constraint violation (in basic view only): 1. Click the violation in the Separations violations column. A message box appears with details on the violation.

Figure 7.39: AFP Results > Summary of constraint violations in a transmitter 2. Click Yes or No: •

•

Yes: to define the pair currently in violation as an exceptional pair. Because separation constraints between exceptional pairs have more weight than default separation constraints, you will be able to re-run the AFP and force it to try to avoid this violation No: to close the message box without defining the pair currently in violation as an exceptional pair.

The bottom of the Allocation tab displays the messages related to the last solution (which may not be the best solution) as well as potentially related allocation problems.

Figure 7.40: AFP Results > Allocation tab messages Resolving Important Separation Constraint Violations You can resolve all important separation constraint violations at once. When you do that, Atoll deletes all the TRXs which cause important separation constraint violations. To display important constraint violations only: 1. Click the Display Options button. The context menu appears. 2. Select Display Important Violations Only from the context menu. As a result, only important violations are displayed. See Figure 7.38 on page 379. To resolve all important separation constraint violations at once: 1. Click the Actions button. The context menu appears. 2. Select Resolve Important Constraint Violations from the context menu. Resolving Separation Constraint Violations Manually In the Channel Assignment column, each TRX is assigned one of two values: "Initial Value" or "New Value". A third option is available to "Delete the TRX", particularly when you want to resolve a separation a constraint violation manually. When you select one of the options in the Channel Assignment column, Atoll updates not only the affected TRX, but also the separation constraint violations of all other TRXs affected by the change.

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Figure 7.41: AFP Results > Deleting TRXs As you modify the current frequency allocation plan, you can display the AFP plan as it appeared before modifications, or before the initial frequency plan, if any. To change the displayed plan, click the Display Options button than select one of the following: •

• •

Display the Plan to be Committed: When this option is selected, Atoll displays the frequency plan as it now stands, that is the post-AFP frequency plan with the modifications you made after running the AFP. You can only modify the entries in the Channel Assignment column in the current plan. Display the Final AFP Plan: When this option is selected, Atoll displays the post-AFP frequency plan as it stood before you began making modifications. Display the Initial Plan: When this option is selected, Atoll displays the frequency plan before the AFP session.

You can also cancel all the modifications you have made to the current AFP plan using Actions > Reset Channel Allocation. Resolving Separation Constraint Violations Automatically When you resolve separation constraint violations automatically, Atoll deletes the TRXs that respond to set criteria and that are involved in the violations. To resolve separation constraint violations automatically: 1. Click the Actions button. The context menu appears. 2. Select Resolve Constraint Violations. The Constraint Violations Resolution dialog box appears.

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Figure 7.42: Constraint Violations Resolution 3. Under TRXs to take into account, select one of the following: • •

All the TRXs: Atoll will delete all TRXs that do not respect the separation constraints. Only the TRXs modified by the AFP: Atoll will delete only TRXs that were modified by the AFP that do not respect the separation constraints.

4. Under Violation types to consider, select the check boxes corresponding to the separation constraint violations that you want Atoll to take into consideration: • • • •

Co-transmitter: TRXs on the same transmitter. Co-site: TRXs on the same site. If a transmitter has no antenna, it cannot be considered as a co-site neighbour. Neighbours: TRXs on neighbouring transmitters. Exceptional pairs: TRXs on transmitters that are part of an exceptional pair.

5. Under Collision Probabilities, select the collision probability you want Atoll to take into consideration: • • •

All: Select this option if you want Atoll to consider all co-channel and adjacent channel collision probabilities. If the co-channel collision probability is >=: Select this option and enter a value if you want Atoll to consider cochannel collision probabilities greater than or equal to the defined value. If the co- or adjacent channel collision probability is >=: Select this option and enter a value if you want Atoll to consider co-channel and adjacent collision probabilities greater than or equal to the defined value.

6. Under TRX types, select the check boxes of the TRX types you want Atoll to take into consideration: • •

Apply to control channel TRXs: If you select this option, control channel TRXs (i.e., BCCH TRXs) will be deleted. Apply to other TRXs: If you select this option, TRXs on non-control channel TRX types (i.e., TCH, TCH_EGPRS or TCH_INNER) will be deleted.

7. Click OK. Atoll deletes the TRXs that are involved in the separation constraint violations and that respond to the defined criteria. Defining the Display of the Allocation Tab You can sort the contents of the table on the Allocation tab by using the context menu or by selecting an option displayed by clicking the Display Options button. By default, the contents of the table under Display are sorted by the content of the Transmitters column. If desired, you can sort the content of the table by any other column, such as, for example, the BSIC column. To sort the contents of the table: 1. Right-click the name of the column by which you want to sort the contents of the table. The context menu appears. 2. Select Sort Ascending or Sort Descending from the context menu. Atoll enables you to filter the contents of the table to display only a selection of data.

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To filter the contents of the table: 1. Right-click the cell in the table containing the data on which you want to filter the content of the table. The context menu appears. 2. Select one of the following from the context menu: • • •

Filter by Selection: When you select this option, all records with the selected value or values are displayed. Filter Excluding Selection: When you this option, all records without the selected value or values are displayed. Advanced Filter: When you select this option, the Filter dialog box appears. Using the Filter dialog box, you can use advanced data filtering to combine several criteria in different fields to create complex filters. For more information on advanced data filtering, see "Advanced Data Filtering" on page 101.

If you have filtered information, you can remove the filter and display all the data again by right-clicking a cell in the table under Display and selecting Remove Filter from the context menu. You can also define how the contents on the Allocation tab are displayed by clicking the Display Options button and selecting one of the options that appear: •

You can select the columns that will appear on the Allocation tab: • • •

Cells: select Cells to display the BSIC column. Subcells: select Subcells to display the TRX Type and HSN columns. TRXs: select TRXs to display the TRX Type column and the following columns: • Index • Channels • MAIO • Separation Violations: where you can click the hypertext, if any, to display a message box listing the violations • TRX Rank • Channel Assignment: where you can choose to keep the initial value, assign the new value, or delete the TRX (see "Resolving Separation Constraint Violations Manually" on page 380). • and the following columns when Display Options > Display Detailed Constraint Violations is selected: - With the TRX: where you can click the hypertext, if any, to jump to the TRX causing the violation - P(co-channel) - P(adjacent)

•

You can Display AFP Indicators if you calculated them during the AFP session.

•

You can select one of the following plans to appear in the table: •

•

•

Display the Plan to Be Committed: The plan to be committed represents the results obtained from the AFP and your possible modifications (deletion of allocated resources, rollback to initial values, etc.). Only this plan can be committed to the network. Display the Final AFP Plan: The AFP plan shows the gross results of the AFP session, in other words, the final results of the best plan. When this plan is displayed, the Commit button is not available. To make it available, select the option Display the Plan to Be Committed. Display the Initial Plan: The initial plan shows the network frequency plan before the AFP session. This plan is the one before you commit any AFP results, in other words, the current plan.

•

You can Display Allocated Transmitters Only.

•

You can Display Detailed Constraint Violations. In this mode, the hyperlinks under Separation Violations are removed (and the corresponding violations are listed in full) and three additional columns appear on the right: • • •

With the TRX: contains hyperlinks, each indicating which TRX of which transmitter is causing the violation. If you click a hyperlink, you will jump directly to the cell containing the index of the TRX causing the violation. P(co-channel): probability of the violation being due a co-channel. P(adjacent): probability of the violation being due to an adjacent channel.

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Figure 7.43: AFP Results > Allocation tab (detailed view) •

You can Display Important Violations Only. This option can prove very useful when too many low importance violations are displayed on the Allocation tab. In this mode, you can choose to delete the faulty TRXs individually (see "Resolving Separation Constraint Violations Manually" on page 380) or all at once (see "Resolving Important Separation Constraint Violations" on page 380). By adding options in the Atoll.ini file, you can specify the thresholds above which important violations will be highlighted.

•

You can select one of the following plans to appear in the table: • • • •

Co-transmitter Violations: Select this option to show/hide co-transmitter separation constraint violations. Co-site Violations: Select this option to show/hide co-site separation constraint violations. Neighbour Violations: Select this option to show/hide neighbour separation constraint violations. Exceptional Pair Violations: Select this option to show/hide exceptional pair separation constraint violations.

Displaying a Detailed AFP Report In case of large numbers of transmitters, it is recommended to use the Detailed Report feature. The other advantage of detailed reports is that individual costs are displayed for each separation violation. To display a detailed report: 1. Click the Detailed Report button. The Detailed Report table appears:

Figure 7.44: AFP Results > Allocation tab > Detailed AFP Report • •

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Site, Transmitter, TRX Type, Index, Channels (or MAL), MAIO, HSN Type of Violation

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• • • • • • • • •

Exceptional pair violation Co-transmitter violation Co-site violation Neighbour violation Corrupted TRX: mode = SFH yet no HSN Corrupted TRX: mode = SFH yet no MAIO Corrupted TRX: no channels Corrupted TRX: mode is not SFH yet MAL length > 1

AFP Separation Cost, Penalty p (between 0 and 1), Violating Transmitter, Violating TRX Type, Violating TRX Index, Violating Channels (or MAL), Violating MAIO

Separation constraint violations are considered for TRXs if, and only if, the TRXs are not corrupted. • •

In case of corrupted TRXs, the AFP will fix them or delete them. However, corrupted TRXs can still be present in the output plan (if frozen for example). For each of these corrupted TRXs, a specific line is issued to indicate the state of corruption and the reason.

In Atoll, the various separation constraints are compiled into a TRX-level non-symmetric relation. Each ordered TRX pair points to one single "requirement" composed of the separation magnitude and the highest priority separation type. Since two transmitters can simultaneously be co-site, be co-transmitter, be neighbours, and form an exceptional pair, the following hierarchical order is considered: • • • •

Exceptional pair (highest priority) Co-transmitter Co-site Neighbour

When AFP is set to Automatic Assignment (for large networks), the detailed violation reports are exported automatically.

Figure 7.45: Automatic assignment of the best obtained plan to the document The full content of the detailed report is split into 5 files that will be saved in the ATL document directory. File Name (generated at 11:35 on 03/09/2015)

File Content

FP_AutoCommit__11h35_21_10_2015__exPairViolations.txt

All records for which: Violation type = "Exceptional pair violation"

FP_AutoCommit__11h35_ 21_10_2015__coCellViolations.txt

All records for which: Violation type = "Co-transmitter violation"

FP_AutoCommit__11h35_ 21_10_2015__coSiteViolations.txt

All records for which: Violation type = "Co-site violation"

FP_AutoCommit__11h35_ 21_10_2015__neighborViolation.txt

All records for which: Violation type = "Neighbour violation"

FP_AutoCommit__11h35_ 21_10_2015__corruptedTrxs.txt

Corrupted TRX information

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Subcells Tab The Subcells tab (see Figure 7.46) shows the subcell indicators, the variation of the number of required TRXs (and corresponding traffic loads), and the allocated preferred frequency groups estimated by the AFP model, if you selected these options when starting the AFP. For each parameter, the table gives the initial and final results. When committing them, they are assigned to the corresponding subcells. If the AFP has been run with the azimuth-oriented allocation strategy, the Subcells tab will also display the preferred groups. If the geometry of the network was incompatible with an azimuth-oriented allocation, the AFP will not attempt to allocate frequency groups.

Figure 7.46: AFP Results > Subcells tab

7.4.4.5.4

Histogram Tab On the Histogram tab (see Figure 7.47), you can display histograms of the frequency cost and usage distribution for both the initial plan and best plan. The histogram represents the channels as a function of the frequency of their use. Moving the pointer over the histogram displays the cost or frequency of use of each channel. The results are highlighted simultaneously in the Zoom on selected values list. You can zoom in on values by clicking and dragging in the Zoom on selected values list. Atoll will zoom in on the selected values.

Figure 7.47: AFP Results > Histogram tab

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7.4.4.6 Committing and Exporting the Frequency Plan Once you have made the necessary modifications to the frequency plan created by the AFP, you can commit the frequency plan to the network or export the frequency plan to a file. In this section, the following are explained: • •

7.4.4.6.1

"Committing an Automatic Frequency Plan" on page 387 "Exporting an Automatic Frequency Plan" on page 387.

Committing an Automatic Frequency Plan To commit the currently displayed frequency plan: 1. Select the Allocation tab. 2. Ensure that the currently displayed frequency plan is the one you want to commit by clicking the Display Options button and selecting the desired frequency plan: •

• •

Display the Plan to be Committed: When you select this option, Atoll displays the frequency plan as it now stands, in other words, Atoll displays the AFP plan with your modifications. You can only modify the entries in the Channel Assignment column in the current plan. Display the Final AFP Plan: When you select this option, Atoll displays the AFP plan as it stood before you began making modifications. Display the Initial Plan: When you select this option, Atoll displays the frequency plan before the AFP session.

3. Click Commit.

7.4.4.6.2

Exporting an Automatic Frequency Plan To export the currently displayed frequency plan: 1. Select the Allocation tab. 2. Ensure that the currently displayed frequency plan is the one you want to export by clicking the Display Options button and selecting the desired frequency plan: •

• •

Display the Plan to be Committed: When you select this option, Atoll displays the frequency plan as it now stands, in other words, Atoll displays the AFP plan with your modifications. You can only modify the entries in the Channel Assignment column in the current plan. Display the Final AFP Plan: When you select this option, Atoll displays the AFP plan as it stood before you began making modifications. Display the Initial Plan: When you select this option, Atoll displays the frequency plan as it was after the AFP stopped, in other words, Atoll displays the AFP plan without your modifications.

3. Click the Actions button and select Export Results. The Export dialog box appears. 4. Export the frequency plan as explained in "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. If you are not satisfied with the current frequency plan, you can click the Resume button to restart the AFP process from the last proposed solution in order to try to improve it.

7.4.4.7 Allocating Frequencies Interactively The Atoll Interactive Frequency Planning (IFP) tool enables you to verify the frequency allocation of transmitters one by one, and improve an existing frequency plan by letting you select the most appropriate channels to assign to TRXs. The IFP tool uses an AFP module to calculate the costs associated with current and modified frequency plans. For more information on the optional Atoll AFP module, see "Automatic Frequency Planning" on page 391. While an AFP module provides a complete solution in terms of allocated channels, i.e., best frequency allocation providing the lowest overall cost, the IFP lets you use your knowledge of the network to improve the frequency plan proposed by the AFP. In Figure 7.48, we can see that candidate channel 565 is interfered by TRXs of BRU002_G4 and BRU005_G5.

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Figure 7.48: Selected TRX in Non Hopping mode (cost components and indicators for channel 565) In Figure 7.49, candidate channel 545 is better than channel 565 even if interfered by TRXs of BRU002_G4 and BRU038_G5. The Replace button becomes active for replacement.

Figure 7.49: Selected TRX in Non Hopping mode (candidate channel 545 for replacement of channel 565) To allocate frequencies interactively using the IFP: 1. Select Tools > Interactive Frequency Planning (IFP). The Interactive Frequency Planning (IFP) window appears. 2. Select the Channel Allocation and Analysis view at the top of the Interactive Frequency Planning (IFP) window. 3. Select a transmitter from the Transmitter list or by clicking its symbol in the map window. 4. Select the TRX type from the Subcell list. 5. Select an AFP module from the AFP list. 6. If you want, click the Parameters button to modify the parameters that will influence frequency planning: • •

• • •

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AFP Module Properties: For information on the options, see "Automatic Frequency Planning" on page 391. AFP Parameters: the AFP Launching Parameters dialog box appears: • Under Traffic Loads, indicate whether the AFP should take traffic loads From the subcells table or use loads Based on the default traffic capture results. • If you want the AFP to consider discontinuous transmission mode for TRXs which support it in calculating the interference, select the DTX check box and enter the Voice Activity Factor. • Select Display best candidates only if you want to limit the number of solutions to be calculated and displayed. Selecting this option might reduce calculation time for large networks. • Select Load all the subcells involved in separation constraints if you want all the subcells that are potentially involved in separation constraints to be loaded. • Select Load all interferers propagating in the focus zone> if you want all potential interferers propagating in the focus zone to be loaded. If not selected, the cost function will consist only of the separation violation cost. Separation Rules: see "Defining Separation Rules" on page 363. Exceptional Pairs: see "Defining Exceptional Frequency Separations" on page 363. Intra-technology Neighbours: see "Adjusting the Relative Importance of Neighbours" on page 365.

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7. Click Calculate. The IFP calculates and displays the cost of the current channel allocation for the selected transmitter. The tool calculates and displays interference probabilities using the active interference matrices available in the GSM Interference Matrices folder in the Network explorer. If the interference matrices in the GSM Interference Matrices folder are not active or if interference matrices are not available, the analysis tool only calculates and displays the interference from a transmitter and its TRXs on itself. In the map window, arrows are displayed from the selected transmitter to each interfered or interfering transmitter. The colour of the arrow is the same as the colour of the studied transmitter. The probabilities of interference are displayed as captions on the arrows. The thickness of the lines indicates the interference probability. Different information and options are available depending on the hopping mode of the selected transmitter’s TRXs: Non Hopping mode •

• •

•

1st column: The header indicates the number of "existing TRXs" and "TRXs required" for the transmitter under study, according to the TRX type currently selected beside Subcell. The "existing TRXs" are listed with the channel and MAL assigned to each, and the allocation cost. "New TRX" appears at the beginning of the list after calculation for TCH. 2nd column: The header indicates the number of "candidate(s)" and "channels in domain". The candidate channels are listed with the corresponding costs if allocated to the selected transmitter. 3rd column: In this column, you can select the information that should appear in the 4th column and on the map. All the information below is selected by default. To filter it, press the Ctrl key and select the information you want: • penalties due to Major separation violations, Separation violations, Interference and Neighbour relations • KPIs and other components 4th column: The last column displays information on the way the allocation cost has been evaluated (traffic load, cost components). In addition, it displays the interference probabilities between the selected TRX and interfering TRXs according to the options selected in the Filtering column. Filter

Displayed Information

Major separation violations

When only this filter is selected, only the penalties due to important separation violations appear in the 4th column and on the map.

Separation violations

When only this filter is selected, all the penalties due separation violations appear in the 4th column and on the map.

When only this filter is selected, only the penalties due to interference appear in the 4th column and on the map. Interference (IM and distance) When Separation violations is also selected, the penalty displayed on the map is the sum of the penalties due to interference and separation violations. Neighbour relations

When only this filter is selected, only the penalties due to the neighbours currently in the Neighbours table appear in the 4th column and on the map.

KPIs and other components

Traffic load and various costs due to generated intermodulations, co-site intermodulations, and respect of required TRX number. When only this filter is selected, no IFP information is displayed on the map.

Base Band Hopping mode •

•

•

•

1st column: The header indicates the number of "existing TRXs" and "TRXs required" for the transmitter under study, according to the TRX type currently selected beside Subcell. The "existing TRXs" are listed with the channel and MAL assigned to each, and the allocation cost. When an "existing TRX" is selected, the IFP will try to replace the frequency defined in this TRX; the replaced frequency is one of the frequencies in the MAL. "New TRX" appears at the beginning of the list after calculation for TCH. 2nd column: The header indicates the number of "candidate(s)" and the number of "channels in domain". The candidate channels are listed with the corresponding MAL and cost when a channel is allocated to the TRX selected in the 1st column. 3rd column: In this column, you can select the information that should appear in the 4th column and on the map. All the information below is selected by default. To filter it, press the Ctrl key and select the information you want: • penalties due to Major separation violations, Separation violations, Interference and Neighbour relations • KPIs and other components 4th column: The last column displays information on the way the allocation cost has been evaluated (traffic load, cost components). In addition, it displays the interference probabilities between the selected TRX and interfering TRXs according to the options selected in the Filtering column. For more details, see table in No Hopping mode.

Synthesised Frequency Hopping mode •

1st column: The header indicates that there is "No alternative proposed since the subcell is in SFH". Existing TRXs appear with the channel and MAIO assigned to each, as well as the corresponding allocation cost.

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Figure 7.50: Selected TRX in SFH mode (cost components and indicators for channel 565) •

2nd column: The MAIO and allocation cost appear for the TRX selected in the first column. Unlike in "Non Hopping" and "Base Band Hopping" modes, there are no candidate channels in "Synthesised Hopping" mode since a channel should be assigned to several TRXs; in addition, a candidate MAIO should also be proposed. The only usage of IFP in "Synthesised Frequency Hopping" mode is to analyse the cost.

•

•

3rd column: In this column, you can select the information that should appear in the 4th column and on the map. All the information below is selected by default. To filter it, press the Ctrl key and select the information you want: • penalties due to Major separation violations, Separation violations, Interference and Neighbour relations • KPIs and other components 4th column: The last column displays information on the way the allocation cost has been evaluated (traffic load, cost components). In addition, it displays the interference probabilities between the selected TRX and interfering TRXs according to the options selected in the Filtering column. For more details, see table in No Hopping mode.

You can double-click any item in any column to display additional information on this item. For example, the following dialog box appears when you double-click a candidate channel in the 2nd column:

Figure 7.51: IFP Detailed Information Window After calculating the cost of the current channel allocation for the selected transmitter, you can use the IFP to: • • •

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Create a new TRX and assign a channel to it Delete an existing TRX Replace the channel currently assigned to an existing TRX

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7.4.4.7.1

Creating a new TRX To create a new TRX and assign a channel to this TRX: 1. Select New TRX from the list of TRXs in the 1st column. 2. Select a channel from the list of candidate channels in the 2nd column. 3. Click Create. A new TRX is created in the selected transmitter with the channel you selected and the map window is refreshed automatically.

7.4.4.7.2

Deleting an Existing TRX To delete an existing TRX: 1. Select the TRX that you want to delete from the list of TRXs in the 1st column. 2. Click Delete. The selected TRX is deleted from the transmitter and the map window is refreshed automatically.

7.4.4.7.3

Replacing a Channel Assigned to an Existing TRX To replace the channel currently assigned to an existing TRX: 1. Select the TRX to which you want to assign a different channel from the list of TRXs in the 1st column. 2. Select a channel from the list of candidate channels in the 2nd column. 3. Click Replace. The candidate channel is assigned to the existing TRX and the map window is refreshed automatically.

7.5 Automatic Frequency Planning The main purpose of the Atoll Automatic Frequency Planner (AFP) module is to assign frequencies (i.e., channels) to the network in such a way that overall network quality is optimised. As GSM has evolved, many improvements have been integrated into the technology; improvements such as the implementation of baseband and synthesised frequency hopping, discontinuous transmission, and network synchronisation. These improvements have led to a more complicated frequency planning process and, therefore, to the need for an AFP that is advanced enough to help the frequency planner through the entire frequency planning process. The advanced AFP in Atoll can take a large number of constraints and directives into consideration when allocating resources. Some of the constraints it can work with are ARFCN separation requirements between transmitters, interference relations, HSN assignment methods, frequency domain constraints, a given fractional load to maintain, etc. The AFP depends on a variety of input data, such as the interference matrix, neighbour relations, traffic information, etc. The Atoll AFP module is implemented using simulated annealing, taboo search, graph heuristics, and machine learning. It manages its time resources to match the convergence defined by the user. If the corresponding computation time is high, the module will use part of this time to "learn" the network. During the learning phase, the module adjusts its internal parameters. After the learning phase, the AFP will switch to a randomised combinatorial search phase. The Atoll AFP module performs network learning by executing many fast and deterministic instances of the AFP. The instance that results in the best performance can be saved both in the document and in the database. If this experience is conserved, the next time that an AFP is executed, it will start where the learning process ended: it will use the parameter profile of the best solution stored in the AFP model. The most important part of network learning are the parameters controlling trade-offs between the various parts of the algorithm. For example, you can base candidate selection on interference only by choosing frequencies that do not interfere and are not interfered. Or you can base candidate selection only on availability reduction by choosing frequencies that do not reduce the availability of non-interfered frequencies in the surrounding TRXs. In Atoll's AFP the two criteria are combined and their relative weight is part of the AFP experience. The advantage of the Atoll AFP is that it simplifies the decision for the user by combining the input records and presenting the user with a simple result, such as traffic load or total cost, on which to base his decisions. In the previous sections, the basic records of the AFP usage were presented. In this section, the more advanced aspects, as well as what is specific to Atoll's AFP module are presented. The content is presented according to level of complexity. Therefore this section is organised according to the level of complexity: • • •

"Using the Atoll AFP at a Basic Level" on page 392 "Using the Atoll AFP" on page 393 "Advanced AFP usage" on page 413.

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7.5.1 Using the Atoll AFP at a Basic Level In this section, you will find the information necessary to run the Atoll AFP to solve a simple problem, or to evaluate a hypothetical "What if" scenario. If you are unfamiliar the AFP cost function or how its parameters are set, you can use the Atoll AFP with its default values. If you are new to the Atoll AFP, you should follow the recommendations in this section. As a new user of the Atoll AFP, the only parameter you should alter is the cost of modifying a TRX and the intermodulation tax. The other settings of the AFP model should be left as is. When you use the AFP at the most basic level, you should not worry too much about the cost function. The only thing that is important is that the actual cost is reduced. If the actual cost does not go down, or if you want to reduce the cost even more, see "An Overview of the AFP Cost Function" on page 393 for more information about the cost function. Normally, the first step in using the Atoll AFP, is to configure the parameters of the Atoll AFP module. When you use the AFP at the most basic level, you only need to set the basic, most important parameters. To set the basic parameters of the Atoll AFP module: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the GSM Network Settings folder. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the AFP Modules folder. 4. Right-click the Atoll AFP Module. The context menu appears. 5. Select Properties from the context menu. The Atoll AFP Module Properties dialog box appears. 6. Select the Cost tab (see Figure 7.52).

Figure 7.52: The Cost tab of the AFP Module Properties dialog box 7. Select the Modified TRX check box to restrict the number of modifications to the existing plan. 8. Select the Intermodulation Tax check box in order to try avoiding these products. 9. Click OK to save your changes to the AFP module and close the AFP Module Properties dialog box. All the other AFP settings should be left with their default values. To run a simple AFP process: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears.

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3. Select Frequency Plan > Automatic Allocation from the context menu. The AFP dialog box appears with the AFP Model and Allocations tab displayed. 4. On the AFP Model and Allocations tab, click Next without modifying any of the options. The Separations tab appears. 5. On the Separations tab, click Next without modifying any of the separation rules and without defining any exceptional pairs. The Global Parameters tab appears. 6. On the Global Parameters tab, select From subcells table under Traffic (load and demand). In the third page of the AFP wizard, extract the traffic data from the subcells table. 7. Clear all the check boxes under Locking of existing TRXs of type and clear the DTX check box. 8. Click OK. The final AFP dialog box appears. 9. Set the Convergence to a relatively short period, i.e. move the corresponding slider closer to Speed than Quality. For more information on running an automatic frequency allocation, see "Automatic Resource Allocation Using an AFP Module" on page 371.

7.5.2 Using the Atoll AFP Most users of the AFP use the Atoll AFP at a relatively sophisticated level, assigning frequencies, optimising TRXs, and taking into account all of the constraints on frequency use in a GSM network. This section explains the basic concepts necessary to successfully working with the AFP and explains the parameters of the Atoll AFP module. In this section, the following are explained: • • • • •

"An Overview of the AFP Cost Function" on page 393 "Setting the Parameters of the Atoll AFP Module" on page 399 "Frequency Hopping Overview" on page 410 "Azimuth Oriented Assignments (Pattern Allocation, 1/1 1/3 1/x …)" on page 412 "BSIC Allocation" on page 412.

7.5.2.1 An Overview of the AFP Cost Function The Atoll AFP cost function maps two frequency plans (the initial and the final frequencies plans) to a single number: the AFP cost. Atoll's AFP cost function has the advantage of being TRX-based. It is calculated for each TRX and then added up. It corresponds to the served traffic of each TRXs. In this section, the following are explained: • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

7.5.2.1.1

"The Cost Function as a Combination of Separation Violation and Interference Probabilities" on page 393 "Counting Bad TRXs (Nodes) Instead of Bad Relations (Edges)" on page 394 "The Cost of Each TRX" on page 394 "Cost of Each Subcell" on page 394 "An Example of Separation Violation Cost with Frequency Hopping" on page 395 "Interference Cost" on page 396 "Probabilistic Cost Combination" on page 396 "The Cost of Missing and Corrupted TRXs" on page 397 "Cost of Out-of-domain Frequency Assignment" on page 397 "Preferred Group Cost" on page 397 "Intermodulation Cost" on page 397 "Quality Target" on page 399 "Quality Target" on page 399 "AFP Shadowing" on page 399.

The Cost Function as a Combination of Separation Violation and Interference Probabilities The cost function of the Atoll AFP has two main components: the cost for violations of separation constraints and the cost of creating interference. The Atoll AFP gives each separation violation the cost equivalent to a certain amount of interference, making it possible to add both costs and minimise their total. For example, you can decide that a separation violation of 1 costs the same as x% of interfered traffic. This is weighted by the type of violation (for example, co-transmitter separation violations have a higher impact than neighbour separation violations). By defining equivalence between these dissimilar measurements, you can add separation violation and interference costs using their common unit, i.e., the percentage of interfered traffic. Following this principle, all other cost components are calculated in the same way: • • • •

The cost component due to allocation changes The cost component of allocating TRXs that belong (or not) to a preferred frequency group (if such a group is defined) The cost component of missing or extra TRXs compared to the number of required TRXs The cost component of corrupted TRXs

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• • •

7.5.2.1.2

© 2016 Forsk. All Rights Reserved.

The cost component of assigned frequencies that are not in the assigned domain The cost component of blocked traffic (calculated only when you set the AFP to optimise the number of required TRXs) The cost component of intermodulation.

Counting Bad TRXs (Nodes) Instead of Bad Relations (Edges) This text may have a purpose but here it is totally without context. This is the very first time he mentions "nodes" or "edges." In other words, there is no explanation or context. Without a context it has no purpose. If no better place or context can be found for this, it should be deleted. In the following example, each separation violation represents an edge and each TRX a node. The two frequency plans proposed in this example do not respect all separation requirements for all TRXs, meaning that they all have bad nodes and bad edges. They demonstrate the difference between minimizing the number of bad edges or the number of bad nodes. The network in this example consists of 6 TRXs, all having a separation constraint of 1 with each other (i.e., 6 nodes, 15 edges): Case 1

Case 2

F1 is used 4 times; F2 and F3 are used one time each.

F1, F2, and F3 are used two times each.

Number of separation violations is 6 (6 bad edges)

Number of separation violations is 3 (3 bad edges)

Two TRXs have good assignments

No TRX has a good assignment

The spectrum is not equally used

The spectrum is equally used

This example shows the particularity of the node-oriented cost approach. AtollAFP is node oriented by default. You can set Atoll's AFP to be edge oriented; these parameters are explained in "XREF" on page start here XREF. The three main advantages of the node-oriented approach are: • • •

The cost function has units which are easy to understand: interfered traffic. It has a greater capacity to optimise the number of TRXs. It has the ability to respect a TRX-based quality target, i.e., to disregard interference at a TRX below a certain value (for more information, see start here XREF).

The node-oriented approach provides a better correspondence between the AFP cost and the network quality.

7.5.2.1.3

The Cost of Each TRX The AFP cost is added up for each TRX according to the following logic: • • • • •

If TRX  is corrupted, the cost of being corrupted is added to the total cost, and multiplied by T(  ), where T(  ) is an estimate of the traffic time slots for TRX  weighted by the AFP weight for this TRX. If TRX  is missing (i.e., if the required number of TRXs and the actual number of TRXs is different), the cost of the missing TRX is added to the total cost, and multiplied by T(  ). If TRX  has frequencies assigned to it that do not belong to its domain, the cost is added to the total cost, and multiplied by T(  ). Otherwise, the separation cost, the interference cost, the changing load, and the preferred group respect ratio of this TRX are added together (probabilistically) and added to the total cost, and multiplied by T(  ). If this amount is very small, it is discarded (for more information, see "Quality Target" on page 399).

You can control the AFP cost target by determining the value of the cost function parameters. Some of these parameters are part of the data model, e.g., "Maximum MAL Length" and "Minimum C/I", while others belong to the AFP. For more information on each of these parameters, see XREF.

7.5.2.1.4

Cost of Each Subcell When you use the AFP to optimise the number of required TRXs, the cost function is adapted: the traffic load becomes dependent on the number of TRXs. Moreover, a blocked cost component is used. For the purposes of this section, you can assume that the cost of each subcell corresponds to all cases where the allocation strategy does not include the optimisation of the number of TRXs. For more detailed information on the changes in the cost of each subcell, see start here XREF. The AFP cost is the cost of the entire loaded network, not only the cost of the selected or non-locked TRXs. In many cases, the AFP is authorised to change only a part of the network. Therefore, the part of the cost corresponding to the non-locked part of the network and the part of the cost corresponding to the locked part of the network are indicated.

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7.5.2.1.5

An Example of Separation Violation Cost with Frequency Hopping In this example, the interference cost is ignored in order to make the separation violation cost easier to understand. The example uses a TRX with only one separation. In this example, Sij represents the required separation between two transmitters. If f1 is assigned at i and f2 at j such that , the separation constraint is not satisfied. A separation constraint violation can be strong or weak. For example, the pair of frequencies 1 and 2 violates a separation requirement of 3. The pair of frequencies 1 and 3 violate this requirement as well but is still a better solution than 1 and 2 and, therefore, should have a lower cost. Frequencies that are part of a MAL with a low fractional load and that violate a separation constraint should not be weighted the same as for non-hopping separation violations. In fact, the separation component is weighted by the burst collision probability, which is the multiplication of the victim's fractional load and the interferer's fractional load.

Figure 7.53: The Separation tab of the AFP Module Properties dialog box In this example, there is a network with two TRXs on the same cell. The first, TRXi, has a MAL referred to as MALi. It is interfered by TRXk with MALk. TRXi and TRXk have a separation requirement of 2. Their MAL lengths are 5 and 4, respectively. Unfortunately, one of their frequencies is the same (i.e., the separation is 0), while all other frequencies are correct. For a co-channel violation when the required separation is 2, the cost of the separation violation is 90%, as indicated in Figure 7.53 on page 395. Because only one channel of each TRX causes interference, and the length of MALi is 5 and the length of MALi is 4, the collision probability is 1/20. Therefore, the cost to consider is divided by 20: 90/20 or 4.5% for each TRX. Because this example uses frequency hopping, there is an additional hopping gain which provides a slight cost reduction. The exact gain is obtained from the Frequency diversity gain table on the Advanced tab of the Atoll AFP Module Properties dialog box. The gain values are given in dB, and because the two TRXs have different MAL lengths, they have different diversity gains: a gain of 1.4 for a MAL length of 5 and a gain of 1.2 for a MAL length of 4 (assuming the default values were not changed). The diversity gain of 1.4 dB is applied to the separation cost using the following equation:

10

 1,4 --------  10 

 1,38

. For TRXi, this result-

ing gain is 4.5%⁄1.38, or 3.25%. 1 90  = 3,41% . The cost will be a little larger because the gain is smaller. For TRXk, the cost will be ------  -----------------------20 10  1,2  10 

In order to calculate the exact contribution to the separation cost component, these values are multiplied by the traffic load (Erlangs/timeslot) and by the number of traffic carrier timeslots for each TRX. Assuming the traffic load is 1 and that each TRX has 8 traffic carrier timeslots, the result is (8 x 3.25 + 8 x 3.41), or about 0.5 Erlangs for the two TRXs combined.

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In this example, the AFP weight was assumed to be 1, the traffic loads were assumed to be 1, no DTX was used, no other interference or separation violation was combined with the given cost, the global separation cost was set to 1, and the co-transmitter separation weight was set to 1 as well.

7.5.2.1.6

Interference Cost Traffic on a TRX is interfered if and only if interfering transmitters use the same channel or an adjacent channel. Each case of reuse reduces the amount of good traffic and increases the interference cost. The reuse is weighted by the global interference weighting factor, and takes into account the burst collision probability in the same way as in the example in start here XREF. This example explains how a single interference cost component is calculated. In this example, the network contains only two TRXs belonging to [TX1, BCCH] and [TX2, BCCH]. The interference matrix entry between these two subcells is given in the form of a CDF, a cumulative density function, displayed in Figure 7.54.

Figure 7.54: The interference matrix entry between [TX1, BCCH] and [TX2, BCCH] You can see that the probability of C/I (BCCH of TX2 affecting the BCCH of TX1) being greater than 0 is 100%. The probability of having a C/I at least equal to 31 dB is 31.1%. In the Subcells table, the Min C/I field of the TX1's BCCH subcell of is 12. Therefore, for a C/I level of 12 dB, the probability of interference is 6.5% (because this requirement has a probability of 93.5% of being fulfilled). In order to be converted into cost, the probability of interference 6.5% must be multiplied by the number of time slots, their loads, and the AFP weight. For more information, see the cost function formula in start here (todo put ref XXXXX)

7.5.2.1.7

Probabilistic Cost Combination In this example, TRX  is subject to a separation violation causing a cost of 30% of T(  ) (where T(  ) is an estimate of the traffic time slots for TRX  weighted by the AFP weight for this TRX) and in addition, a co/adjacent-channel reuse causing this TRX to be 40% interfered. These costs are combined using a probabilistic approach. In this example, the probability of these costs occurring are p(Violation) with a value of 0.3 and p(Interference) with a value of 0.4. The cost of the two together is given by: 1 –  1 – p  violation     1 – p  Interference   = 0,58 or 58%

P1, P2, ….Pn are the costs of the probability of a violation of a TRX (one for each of "n" violations). Pn+1, Pn+2, ….Pm are the costs of the probability of interference of a TRX (one for each of "m-n" interferences). Pm+1 is the changing TRX cost described below: 

n



The cost of separation for this TRX is therefore:  1 –   1 – P i  

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m+1

n





    1 – P i  –  1 –  1 – P i        i=1 i=1

The interference cost uses the "min C/I" value, defined at the subcell level, for which it might have precise interference information. It can apply various gains to this C/I quality target due to frequency hopping and/or DTX.

7.5.2.1.8

The Cost of Missing and Corrupted TRXs It is easy to have a 0-cost solution if the criterion of the required number of TRXs is not fulfilled (for example, by removing all TRXs). This is the main purpose of the missing TRX cost. By default, the exact traffic that a missing TRX was supposed to carry will be counted as a cost. However, you can increase this cost (by 200% for example) if necessary. Corrupted TRXs are TRXs where the assignment is unusable by the AFP. A few examples of corrupted TRXs would be: • • • •

TRXs with an empty channel list A TRX with a MAL without HSN or without a MAIO for synthesised hopping. A TRX assigned an invalid frequency. A non-hopping or base-band hopping TRX with a MAL that has more than one frequency.

By default, 100% of the traffic that a corrupted TRX is supposed to carry is considered impaired. In some cases, correcting the assignment of resources for a group of corrupted TRXs will not only result in these TRXs being considered corrupted but many other TRXs that, otherwise, would have correctly assigned resources, will also be considered corrupted. When you enable the optimisation of the number of TRXs, the costs for missing TRXs and corrupted TRXs change to a fixed value. For missing TRXs, this value multiplies the absolute difference between the number of assigned TRXs and the number of required TRXs. If you do not enable the optimisation of the number of TRXs, the weights for missing and corrupted TRXs are multiplied by the traffic (time slots, load, and AFP weight).

7.5.2.1.9

Cost of Out-of-domain Frequency Assignment If a TRX is assigned out-of-domain frequencies (channels) but has correct ARFCNs, it will have a double influence on the cost: • •

7.5.2.1.10

The usual cost of interference, separation, or modification, and An additional cost of having out-of-domain channels, [IS THIS NEXT PART REALLY NECESSARY, ESPECIALLY SINCE WE DON’T EXPLAIN WHY WE DO SO?]multiplied by the number of frequencies out of domain and divided by the MAL length.

Preferred Group Cost If a subcell's allocation strategy is group constrained, or if its hopping mode is synthesised hopping, the cost could be influenced by a preferred frequency group in the following ways: • •

When a preferred frequency group is assigned in the subcell table, all frequencies not belonging to this group are considered as interfered if assigned to TRXs of this subcell. If an azimuth-oriented pattern is required by the AFP, then the AFP itself will choose the preferred frequency groups. The AFP will correlate its choice with the azimuth direction.

The group constraint weight is meant to be kept very low. Otherwise it becomes equivalent to a domain constraint. The group constraint weight in converted into a cost as follows: each use of an out-of-group frequency is equivalent to a small amount of interference. This interference is then combined with the other sources of interference and multiplied by the traffic (time slots, load, and AFP weight).

7.5.2.1.11

Intermodulation Cost The purpose of this cost component is to avoid cases where intermodulation can cause problems. It is therefore defined slightly more strictly than in real cases where intermodulation effects occur. The intermodulation violations are summarised as a tax, since they always have relatively low interference probabilities. This tax is applied when the combination of allocated frequencies generates a frequency already allocated within the same site. The weight of the tax depends on the type of combination (order, harmonics, or various amplification spreading violation), on whether the combination of DL frequencies affects UL frequencies, or whether the intermodulation takes place within a same site, transmitter or equipment. Each physical frequency used in a site can be subject to an Nth order (2, 3, or 5) or or a VASP (Various Amplification Spreading Violation) intermodulation separation violation.

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If there are 2 frequencies, X and Y where X < Y, the following table describes the separation constraint: Constraint Order

Condition

Constraint Applied To

Second order (Harmonics)

Y=2X

X and Y

VASP

Y < X + (3x200 kHz)

X and Y

If there are 3 frequencies, f, f1, and f2, the following table describes the separation constraint: Constraint Order

Condition

Constraint Applied To

Second order

f=f1+f2

f, f1 and f2

Third order

f=2f1-f2 f=2f2-f1

f, f1 and f2

Fifth order

f=3f1-2f2 f=3f2-f1

f, f1 and f2

The preceding tables summarise five types of violations. Each type has a default weight: Constraint Type

Weight

Second Order

0.01

Harmonics

0.005

3rd order

0.004

5th order

0.0028

VASP

0.0002

The costs detailed up to this point are added together and weighted with the inter-modulation weight W, the UL/DL component weight, and the equipment sharing weight. In each intermodulation violation there is an interfering frequency (or frequencies) and an interfered frequency. In all the preceding equations except the VASP, the generator frequency is on the right side of the equations while the interfered frequency is on the left site. The VASP case corresponds to two violations: in the first, the lower frequency is the generator, and the higher frequency is the interfered. It is assumed that the generator frequencies are either all on the uplink or all on the downlink, otherwise, no violation is considered. The interfered frequency can be a downlink or uplink frequency as well. Therefore, there are 4 cases for which 4 weights will multiply the violation cost. Generator Frequencies

Interfered Frequencies

Weight

Description

DL

UL

5

High power amplification pollution interferes with the RX, causing an important noise rise

UL

UL

1

High power received signals generate an inter-modulation product on a weakly received interfered frequency

DL

DL

1

Downlink power control is active over the interfered frequency but is not active over the generators, which generate high noise on the interfered signal

UL

DL

0

This type of interaction can be ignored

The final weight concerns the equipment sharing. This aspect has a crucial effect on the importance of intermodulation. In Atoll, it is assumed that sharing a site implies sharing a transmitter and that sharing a feeder and antenna implies co-cell cohabitation. For co-cell intermodulation (generator frequencies as well as IM belong to the same cell), the intermodulation cost is multiplied by 5. To display the Intermodulation Cost column on the Summary tab of the AFP Details window (see Figure 7.55), you must select Component Details from the Display Options drop-down menu:

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Figure 7.55: Displaying the Intermodulation Cost column the Summary tab of the AFP Details window

7.5.2.1.12

Quality Target It is often necessary to deal with small and large amounts of interference differently. For example, an operator might prefer to have 10 transmitters with 2% interfered traffic on each, rather than to have 2 transmitters with 10% interfered traffic on each. On the Cost tab of the Atoll AFP Properties dialog box, you can choose to ignore the interference and separation costs that do not add up to the value of the Accepted Interference Percentage set in the Subcells table for each subcell by clearing the Summed cost of all TRXs check box. TRXs that have a lower percentage of interference than the Accepted Interference Percentage are considered to have no interference and are excluded from the total cost. In other words, the AFP dismisses any TRX whose quality is better than the quality target, enabling it to concentrate the optimisation on the TRXs that really need improvement.

7.5.2.1.13

Minimum Reuse Distance The Atoll AFP can take into consideration a minimum reuse distance when assigning frequencies or BSIC. Using a minimum reuse distance can help compensate for inaccuracies in the interference matrices or other input data. The reuse distance is considered as a soft constraint. Because the reuse distance is an estimation of possible interference, it is added to the interference probability. The minimum reuse distance is combined as a tax with the interference probability as follows: 1 – 1 – i  1 – d

where i is the interference probability and d is the minimum reuse distance. In the following example, the interference probability is 0.12 and the reuse distance 0.023: 1 –  1 – 0,12    1 – 0,023  = 0,14024

The tax on reuse distance is defined on the Protection tab of the Atoll AFP Properties dialog box. The tax applied on reuse distance is associated with any additional protection against adjacent channel reuse. The greater the additional protection against adjacent channel reuse defined on the Protection tab, the greater the distance tax. The number of relations based on distance taken into consideration for each transmitter is limited for performance reasons. You can define the maximum number of relations by setting the "GlobalDistanceMatrixDegreeUB" option in the Atoll.ini file. For information on setting options in the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual.

7.5.2.1.14

AFP Shadowing Shadowing is important for the AFP. Within the context of the AFP, shadowing is implemented by setting the definition of interference as Flexible on the Protection tab of the Atoll AFP Properties dialog box. Shadowing is so important that in some cases it is enabled automatically, for example, if the interference matrices themselves were not calculated with shadowing. AFP shadowing is applied in relation to the quality threshold. When enabled, traffic having C/I conditions slightly worse than the required threshold is not considered 100% interfered. At the same time, traffic having C/I conditions that are only slightly better than the threshold is not considered as 100% good. This shadowing is performed by repeatedly accessing the CDF function as explained in "Interference Cost" on page 396.

7.5.2.2 Setting the Parameters of the Atoll AFP Module You can define the Atoll AFP-specific parameters used when calculating the cost and set some guidelines for the Atoll AFP module by using the Atoll AFP Module Properties dialog box. To open the Atoll AFP module Properties dialog box: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the GSM Network Settings folder. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the AFP Modules folder.

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4. Right-click the Atoll AFP Module folder. The context menu appears. 5. Select Properties from the context menu. The Atoll AFP Module Properties dialog box appears. The Atoll AFP Module Properties dialog box consists of 10 tabs: General, Cost, Separation Weights, Interference Matrices, HSN, MAL, Execution, Spacing, Protections, and Advanced. The Cost, Separation Weights, Interference Matrices, Protections, and Advanced tabs include parameters that are taken into account when estimating the cost. The Finalisation tab provides options on how the AFP runs. The other tabs are used to define the allocation strategies for HSN, MAL, MAIO, and BSICs assigned by the AFP. You can make copies of the Atoll AFP module and set different parameters for each copy (for information on copying modules, see start here XREF). All copies will be available in each AFP session. In other words, you will be able to choose from the list of all Atoll AFP modules, each with its own defined parameters. The settings of each Atoll AFP module are saved in the Atoll document but they can also be archived in the database so that all users connected to the same centralised database can use them. For more information on archiving Atoll AFP module settings, see the Administrator Manual. For information on setting the parameters on each of the tabs of the Atoll AFP module, see the following: • • • • • • • • • •

7.5.2.2.1

"The General Tab" on page 400 "The Cost Tab" on page 400 "The Separations tab" on page 402 "The Interference Matrices Tab" on page 403 "The HSN Tab" on page 404 "The MAL Tab" on page 404 "The Finalisation tab" on page 405 "The Reuse tab" on page 406 "The Protection Tab" on page 407 "The Advanced Tab" on page 409

The General Tab The General tab of the Atoll AFP Module Properties dialog box enables you to change the name of the Atoll AFP module. For example, if you have created a copy of the Atoll AFP and modified some parameters in order to customise the copy for a specific situation, you can give the copy a descriptive name. To display the General tab of the Atoll AFP module Properties dialog box: 1. Open the Atoll AFP Module Properties dialog box as explained in "Setting the Parameters of the Atoll AFP Module" on page 399. 2. Click the General tab. 3. Change the name of the Atoll AFP module.

7.5.2.2.2

The Cost Tab The Cost tab of the Atoll AFP Module Properties dialog box enables you to define the different components that make up the global cost. A component will be taken into consideration by the AFP if it is selected. If its cost or weight is "0," it will not be taken into consideration. The most important parameters on this tab are the interference and separation weights. These are used as multiplicative factors for each incidence of interference or violation. In other words, these parameters can reduce cost. If these two parameters have low values (for example, 0.1 for interference and 0.035 for separation), the AFP will be forced to work using an edge-oriented strategy, which is not the best approach. By default, interference costs are less important than separation violation costs. The second most important parameter is the cost of modifying a TRX. This parameter should be set if the non-locked part of the network is to be changed as little as possible. The example in the following table shows how this parameter can affect total costs. In this example, there is a network with a total of 90 transmitters. 15 of these transmitters are locked. Out of a total of 257 required TRXs, only 193 good TRXs have already been allocated. This leaves 64 TRXs that will have to be created and allocated affecting the other 193 as little as possible:

400

Cost

Effect

For a cost of changing a TRX = 1

AFP changed only 98 TRXS

For a cost of changing a TRX = 0.3

AFP changed only 129 TRXS

For a cost of changing a TRX = 0.1

AFP changed only 139 TRXS

For a cost of changing a TRX = 0

AFP changed 162 TRXS

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Selecting the Summed cost of all TRXs check box makes the AFP take the cost of all TRXs into account, whether or not they exceed this quality target. If you clear this check box, the AFP will only take into account the costs of TRXs which do not fulfil the quality thresholds defined in their corresponding subcells. In other words, the AFP dismisses any TRX whose quality is better than the quality target, enabling it to concentrate the optimisation on the TRXs that really need improvement. To display the Cost tab of the Atoll AFP module Properties dialog box: 1. Open the Atoll AFP Module Properties dialog box as explained in "Setting the Parameters of the Atoll AFP Module" on page 399. 2. Click the Cost tab (see Figure 7.56).

Figure 7.56: AFP Module Properties dialog box - Cost tab 3. Under Tax per TRX, set the following parameters: • • •

For each missing or extra TRX: If desired, select the check box to make it active and set the cost for each missing or unnecessary TRX. For each corrupted TRX: If desired, select the check box to make it active and set the cost for each corrupted TRX. For each out-of-domain TRX : If desired, select the check box to make it active and set the cost for each TRX that has frequencies allocated to it that do not belong to its domain.

4. If desired, select the Intermodulation Tax check box to make it active and set the cost each applied to the total cost each time intermodulation might occur because of the allocated frequencies. 5. Under Component per TRX, set the following parameters: • • • •

Interference: Set the cost for interference for each TRX. For more information on the AFP and interference, see "Interference Cost" on page 396. Separation: Set the cost for separation violation for each TRX. For more information on the AFP and separation violation, see "An Example of Separation Violation Cost with Frequency Hopping" on page 395. Modified TRX: If desired, select the check box to make it active and set the cost of modifying a TRX. For more information on the cost of modifying a TRX, see "The Cost of Missing and Corrupted TRXs" on page 397. Outside preferred group: If desired, select the check box to make it active and set the cost of an allocated frequency being outside of the preferred group. For more information on the cost of using a frequency outside of the preferred group, see "Preferred Group Cost" on page 397.

6. If desired, select the Sum of the costs of all TRXs check box to make it active. The AFP will take into account the sum of th costs of all TRXs, including those that fulfil the quality thresholds defined in their corresponding subcells. 7. Under Traffic, select the traffic source the AFP will use during optimisation:

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•

•

7.5.2.2.3

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Based on the traffic demand (from the Subcells table or default traffic capture): If you choose to use the traffic demand, the AFP will use either the traffic demand defined in the Subcells table or the default traffic capture (depending on what you select when you run the AFP optimisation). Based on the traffic demand calculated from traffic load, number of required TRXs, blocking probability, and Erlang B formula: If you choose to use this option, the AFP will calculate the traffic demand from the traffic load, the number of required TRXs, the blocking probability, and the Erlang B formula.

The Separations tab The Separations tab of the Atoll AFP Module Properties dialog box enables you to define a weight for each type of separation constraint violation or partial violation. You can assign a weight between 0 and 1 for the following types of separation constraint violations: • • • •

Co-cell separation violations Co-site separation violations Neighbourhood separation violations Exceptional pair separation violations

The Partial separation constraint violations section enables you to define the cost of the actual separation ("k") when a different separation ("s") is required. You can define the percentage of traffic of each TRX to be considered infor a partial separation constraint violation. You can also add and remove partial separation constraints using the Add Separation and Remove Separation buttons at the bottom of the tab. To display the Separations tab of the Atoll AFP module Properties dialog box: 1. Open the Atoll AFP Module Properties dialog box as explained in "Setting the Parameters of the Atoll AFP Module" on page 399. 2. Click the Separations tab (see Figure 7.57).

Figure 7.57: AFP Module Properties dialog box - Separations tab Under Partial separation constraint violations, you can edit the conditions defining a partial separation constraint. You can have up to 7 separations. To edit the separation conditions: a. Click the Expand button ( ) to the left of the separation. b. Click the entry in the Value column and enter a percentage corresponding to the amount of traffic. To remove a separation:

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•

Click the Remove separation button. Atoll removes the last separation.

To add a separation: •

Click the Add separation button. Atoll adds a separation entry to the end of the list under Properties and fills in default values for each "k" value.

3. If desired, modify the weight for each of the following: • • • •

7.5.2.2.4

Co-transmitter violations Co-site violations Violations between neighbours Violations between exceptional pairs

The Interference Matrices Tab The Interference Matrices tab of the Atoll AFP Module Properties dialog box enables you to define weights that are used to define how interference matrices are combined. The Atoll AFP combines interference matrices by first loading the part of active interference matrices that intersects the scope of the AFP. The AFP then combines the information by performing a weighted average of all entries for each pixel. The weighted average is calculated by multiplying the following three components present on the Interference Matrices tab: • • •

Whether the interference matrix is within the scope of the AFP The type of interference matrix The interference matrix quality indicators

For more information on how Atoll combines interference matrices, see the Administrator Manual. To display the Interference Matrices tab of the Atoll AFP Module Properties dialog box: 1. Open the Atoll AFP Module Properties dialog box as explained in "Setting the Parameters of the Atoll AFP Module" on page 399. 2. Click the Interference Matrices tab (see Figure 7.58).

Figure 7.58: AFP Module Properties dialog box - Interference Matrices tab The first component in combining interference matrices is whether a given interference matrix entry is within the scope of the AFP. 3. Under The type of interference matrix, define the parameters for each section: •

Overlapping area based on path loss matrices

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• • •

7.5.2.2.5

Signal level measurements (RXLEV), neighbours only Signal level measurements (RXLEV), neighbours and extended neighbours Based on reselection

Measurement analysis • • •

•

Ratio of overlapping surface Ratio of overlapping traffic

OMC statistics • • •

•

© 2016 Forsk. All Rights Reserved.

Based on drive test data Based on CW measurements Based on scan measurements

Under Component depending on the interference matrix quality indicators, the Active check box is selected and cannot be cleared. The Atoll AFP always includes the quality matrix specific to each type of interference matrix when combining interference matrices.

The HSN Tab The HSN tab of the Atoll AFP Module Properties dialog box enables you to define how the HSN will be allocated when synchronised frequency or base-band hopping is used. For detailed information on hopping parameters, see XREF. To display the HSN tab of the Atoll AFP Module Properties dialog box: 1. Open the Atoll AFP Module Properties dialog box as explained in "Setting the Parameters of the Atoll AFP Module" on page 399. 2. Click the HSN tab (see Figure 7.59).

Figure 7.59: AFP Module Properties dialog box - HSN tab 3. Under Allocation, select how the HSN will be allocated: • • • •

7.5.2.2.6

By Subcell By Transmitter By Site Free.

The MAL Tab The MAL tab of the Atoll AFP Module Properties dialog box enables you to define Mobile Allocation List patterns and length priorities when synchronised frequency or base-band hopping is used. For detailed information on hopping parameters, see XREF. The MAL tab of the Atoll AFP Module Properties dialog box enables you to enable or disable general automatic adjustment for Mobile Allocation List patterns and length priorities when synchronised frequency or base-band hopping is used. For detailed information on hopping parameters, see XREF. To display the MAL tab of the Atoll AFP Module Properties dialog box: 1. Open the Atoll AFP Module Properties dialog box as explained in "Setting the Parameters of the Atoll AFP Module" on page 399. 2. Click the MAL tab. The General automatic adjustment (Recommended) check box is selected by default, therefore hiding the remaining content of the MAL tab. 3. Clear the General automatic adjustment (Recommended) check box to display the MAL settings.

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4. Under MAL allocation type, select how the MAL will be allocated for groups of synchronised subcells. • •

Same MAL for all the subcells of a synchronised set, or Different MALs within a synchronised set.

5. Under MAL length, set the constraints that the Atoll AFP will follow to define the MAL length: a. The first constraint concerns group-constrained subcells: the choice of MAL length for group-constrained subcells is limited. Only the group lengths of each subcell frequency domain can be chosen. b. Select either Max MAL length or Adjust MAL lengths. If you select Max MAL length, you do not need to set any other constraints. If you select Max MAL Length, it is not necessary to set any other constraints.

c. If you selected Adjust MAL lengths, set the following parameters to define how the Atoll AFP will set MAL lengths: i.

Define the value that MAL length/Domain size must not be equal to or greater than.

ii. If you selected Different MALs within a synchronised set as the MAL allocation type in step 7.5.2.2.7, you can select a Long or Short MAL Strategy (with the option of keeping MAL long enough to allow a certain pattern). iii. Define a Target fractional load and select the Automatic adjustment check box if you want to give the AFP the possibility of modifying this value automatically. The fractional load is the ratio of the number of TRXs with a given MAL over the number of frequencies in the same MAL. It is recommended that you let the AFP automatically adjust the target fractional load.

7.5.2.2.7

The Finalisation tab The Finalisation tab of the Atoll AFP Module Properties dialog box enables you to define the behaviour of the Atoll AFP module when it reaches the end of the calculation time. To display the Finalisation tab of the Atoll AFP Module Properties dialog box: 1. Open the Atoll AFP Module Properties dialog box as explained in "Setting the Parameters of the Atoll AFP Module" on page 399. 2. Click the Finalisation tab (see Figure 7.60).

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Figure 7.60: AFP Module Properties dialog box - Finalisation tab 3. Under Target CPU time, select how the AFP uses the computation time corresponding to the Convergence criterion defined in the AFP dialog box: •

•

Fixed duration: If you select Fixed Duration, the AFP stops when this time has elapsed. If a stable solution has been found prior to this limit, the allocation stops. Fixed duration corresponds to the minimum amount of time you reserve for the AFP to find the best solution. Directive duration: This is the Atoll AFP's default. If you select Directive duration, the Convergence criterion you set in the AFP dialog box is used by the AFP to estimate the methods which will be used to find the best solution. • If the corresponding CPU time is long enough, the AFP will attempt to modify its internal calibration to better match the network on which frequencies and resources are being allocated. • If the corresponding CPU time is shorter, the AFP will select a smaller number of methods and will not calibrate its internal parameters. • If the AFP finds a stable solution before the end of the corresponding CPU time, the AFP will stop. On the other hand, if convergence has not been reached by the end of the corresponding CPU time, the AFP will continue.

4. Under Result Assignment, select how the AFP assigns the results once the automatic allocation has stopped: • •

7.5.2.2.8

Manual Assignment: You can analyse the best plan before committing it to the document. Automatic Assignment: The AFP automatically assigns the best plan to the document. This approach is recommended if Auto Backup is enabled.

The Reuse tab The Reuse tab of the Atoll AFP Module Properties dialog box enables you to define an allocation strategy if the selected allocation strategy is "free." To display the Reuse tab of the Atoll AFP Module Properties dialog box: 1. Open the Atoll AFP Module Properties dialog box as explained in "Setting the Parameters of the Atoll AFP Module" on page 399. 2. Click the Reuse tab (see Figure 7.61).

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Figure 7.61: AFP Module Properties dialog box - Reuse tab 3. Under Pattern, define the pattern to be used to assign frequency groups to sectors. The assigned pattern is defined by "1/n," where "n" is the number of larger frequency groups in the domain. If the frequency domain has fewer than "n" groups, the pattern is ignored. 4. Under BSIC, define the diversity of BSIC use for frequency hopping: • •

Min.: The AFP chooses the most compact scheme permitted by the constraints. Max.: The AFP attempts to distribute the BSICs homogeneously.

5. Under Channels, define the spacing between channels to be used between channels during allocation: • • •

Automatic: The AFP optimises channel spacing to minimise the cost. Max.: The AFP uses the entire spectrum. This option is recommended with the modelling is not accurate. Min.: This option is recommended when a part of the spectrum is to be saved for future use.

6. Under MAIO, define the MAIO allocation strategy for frequency hopping: • •

7.5.2.2.9

Staggered: The MAIOs assigned to TRXs of a subcell are evenly spaced. Free: The AFP module freely assigns MAIOs.

The Protection Tab The Protection tab of the Atoll AFP Module Properties dialog box enables you to define additional strategies to evaluate interference. To display the Protection tab of the Atoll AFP Module Properties dialog box: 1. Open the Atoll AFP Module Properties dialog box as explained in "Setting the Parameters of the Atoll AFP Module" on page 399. 2. Click the Protection tab (see Figure 7.61).

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Figure 7.62: AFP Module Properties dialog box - Protections tab 3. Under Additional protection against adjacent channel reuse, select the level of additional protection you want the AFP to use against adjacent channel reuse: • • •

None: no additional protection is added. Weak: 1.5 dB is applied to the initial protection. Strong: 2.5 dB is applied to the initial protection.

For more information about protection against adjacent channel reuse, see "Adjacency Suppression" on page 408. 4. Under Interference definition with respect to the required quality threshold, set a C/I weighting margin around the required quality threshold in order for the AFP to consider the traffic having close-to-threshold C/I conditions as neither 100% satisfactory nor 100% corrupted. For more information, "Interference Cost" on page 396. • • •

Rigid: If you select Rigid, the AFP will evaluate interference only at the defined quality threshold. Intermediate: If you select Intermediate, the AFP will evaluate interference at 3 reference points: the defined quality threshold, and at +/- 2 dB of the quality threshold. Flexible: If you select Flexible, the AFP will evaluate interference at 5 reference points: the defined quality threshold, at +/- 2 dB of the quality threshold, and at +/- 4 dB of the quality threshold. Selecting Flexible has the same effect as shadowing. For interference matrices based on propagation, Atoll can determine whether they have been calculated with shadowing. If shadowing has not been taken into account, the AFP can adapt its settings to more realistically model the network. In other words, if you do not take shadowing into consideration when calculating the interference matrix, Atoll can automatically change its definition of interference from rigid to intermediate, or even to flexible.

Adjacency Suppression Adjacency suppression is defined as the difference between the required C/I and the required C/A (C/A being the "Carrier to Adjacent Intensity ratio"). By default this is set to 18 dB following the GSM specification. You can change this value in the Properties dialog box of the Network Settings folder. When the value of this parameter is used in the AFP (to extract the interference caused by an adjacent channel) you can apply a small safety margin, temporarily reducing the 18 dB to 16.5, or even to 15.5. This safety margin is applied only in the AFP; Atoll's predictions continue to apply the full adjacency suppression.

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For interference matrices based on propagation, Atoll can determine whether they have been calculated with an overlap margin. If the overlap margin has not been used, the AFP can adapt its settings to more realistically model the network. In other words, if you do not take the overlap margin into consideration when calculating the interference matrix, Atoll can automatically change the adjacent channel additional protection from none to weak or to strong.

7.5.2.2.10

The Advanced Tab In the next section "Calculating the separation cost for an hopping TRX" [DOES HE PERHAPS MEAN "An Example of Separation Violation Cost with Frequency Hopping"]start here todo XXXX put ref, we saw how the fractional load is taken into account: If only one frequency in a MAL is interfered or has a separation violation and the MAL length is 5, then the TRX cost effect will be 1/5 (i.e., 20%) interfered. This means the cost will be 5 times smaller than if the entire MAL was composed of frequencies which are interfered or have a separation violation. In the AFP, the fractional load directly affects the cost. For example, if the MAL length is n, and one of the frequencies has a cost of X, then for the entire MAL the cost will be X/n. If this same MAL is repeated in m TRXs of the transmitter, then the cost will be X*m/n. Although you could create very long MAL in order to reduce the size of m/n, this is an inappropriate solution. Because of the fact that the more n is big, the more we have cost effects: • •

We have more frequencies over which the cost effects are counted. It is harder to find clean frequencies since all frequencies are used all over.

The more the MALs are long, the less we have the benefice of FDM principle which is the main source of the GSM spectral efficiency. It is therefore easy to prove and to demonstrate that the fractional load cost all alone will privilege non hopping and base band hopping plans, where the fractional load is 1. (m = n) This corresponds to the case where all gains are 0 in the advanced property page below:

Figure 7.63: AFP Module Properties dialog box - Advanced tab The tables in this page enable you to define the Interference and Frequency diversity gains in the case of frequency hopping, which are supplementary gains. These gains model the non-linear effects of the C/I diversity on the quality (FER, BLER). Due to fast fading, and channel burst interleaving.

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When setting non-0 gains in these tables (as by default), both the Interference diversity gain and the frequency diversity gain are combined in order to reduce the interference probability. On the other hand, when it comes to separation calculation, only the Interference diversity gains are considered. The other options in this page were grouped into it because they share only one characteristic: They are all administrator parameters. If you wish to change something in this page, please read the manual until the end of this chapter.

7.5.2.3 Frequency Hopping Overview AFP is capable of performing both free MAL assignment (sometimes called ad hoc), as well as predefined MAL assignment. The instruction indicating the assignment mode to be used is at subcell level: i.e. different subcell can each indicate a different assignment mode. In free assignment mode, the AFP is free to assign any MAL (assuming of course that it belongs to the domain, and not too long). The length of MAL, the HSNs and the MAIOs are assigned in compliance with the user's directives. If the assignment mode is group constrained, the AFP can only assign one of the predefined groups in the domain.

7.5.2.3.1

The Case of Synthesised Hopping + Group Constrained If you are working on a group constrained assignment mode, the success of your assignment will strongly depends on the definition of the groups in the domain. We recommend you work as following: Step 1: decide what will be the MAL length(s) that your domain will permit. Choosing a single MAL length is a current option. Choosing multiple MAL lengths is often called MPR: Multiple pattern Reuse. The more MAL lengths you have the more optimised will be your allocation. We recommend MPR. Step 2: For each length you have chosen, create as many groups as possible having the specific length and if possible, covering the entire domain. Example, For a domain of 60 frequencies, create: 3 groups of 20 frequencies each (mainly reserved for the preferred group allocation of an azimuth oriented allocation) 10 groups with 12 frequencies each + 12 groups of 10 frequencies each (will be used in heavy traffic cases or in "HSN by site" cases). We are giving an example where there are so many groups that some of them must overlap. In addition we could define 20 groups with 6 frequencies each, 24 groups of 4 frequencies each, and even 30 groups with 4 frequencies each. By thus each frequency will belong to an average of 11 groups. Do not hesitate to create groups, the AFP likes groups. When many groups are defined, the quality is almost as good as with free assignment. • •

•

•

7.5.2.3.2

Currently, the AFP always assigns the same MAL to all TRXs within a subcell. The "group constrained" assignment mode is applicable for SFH only. In NH and BBH, the group constrained mode will only concern the respect of the preferred group. Which is a different issue. There is no contradiction between proffered group respect and the pre defined MAL assignment in SFH. When both are relevant, each of the predefined MALs can be more or less included in the preferred group and therefore more or less "preferred". When azimuth oriented pattern allocation is performed at the same time as predefined MAL allocation, only the biggest groups in the domain will be used for the pattern, while the small ones will be used for MAL assignment.

An Atom = A Perfectly Synchronised Set of Equi HSN SFH Subcells An atom is a set of synchronised subcells that share the same HSN, the same frequency domain and have the same length MAL. The MAIO assignment of an atom manages the frequency collisions between the MALs of the atom. If an atom contains more than one subcell, the AFP may assign to it partially different MALs (depending on a user-definable option) but it will always consider the fact that the subcells are synchronised. Atoms can be determined by the user or by the AFP via the HSN allocation. Some restrictions on this definition exist due to some extreme cases: • •

If two subcells have different domains, they cannot belong to the same atom. If two subcells have different limitations on "Max MAL Length", they cannot belong to the same atom.

A warning is generated when HSN assignment directives contradict with these restrictions. You can force the AFP to always assign the same MAL among the subcells of the Atom. When calculating the cost of a TRX in an Atom: It is possible that none of the co-Atom TRXs interfere with the given TRX. This is the most common case, and it is due to the fact that the "on air" frequencies are never the same. However, it is possible that intra-Atom interference exists. In that case, the burst collision which is calculated conform to the MAIO definitions, multiplies the interference probability.

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7.5.2.3.3

Synchronous Networks Through working at atom level, and consulting a user defined synchronisation reference given in the subcell table, the AFP can fully exploit the benefits of synchronisation in a GSM network. It is capable of extending Atoms beyond the limit of a site and, by doing so, using the MAIO assignment to further resolve violations or interference. (For this you must choose the free HSN assignment option, and enable the HSN assignment).

7.5.2.3.4

Optimising Hopping Gains If the AFP was given a degree of freedom when choosing MAL lengths, it may opt for longer MAL lengths. In this way, it can profit more from the hopping gains. On the other hand, it might be increasingly hard to find frequencies for these MALs The advanced page, the MAL page, and the HSN page in the AFP property pages provides the capacity to control this convergence. For more details, see the advanced page description. In interference limited network, the default hopping gain values are not sufficiently strong to cause the AFP to converge toward long MALs.

7.5.2.3.5

Fractional Load The Atoll AFP uses the user-defined fractional load as a guide when assigning the HSN and determining the MAL length. A fractional load of X is obtained if the number of TRXs using a certain MAL is only X times the length of the MAL. In Atoll, fractional load does not take the traffic load into consideration. Because the fractional load cannot always be met, this parameter is considered a guide rather than a constraint. When it can be met, the AFP chooses either a MAL length 1/X times longer than the number of TRXs in the biggest subcell of the atom or a MAL length 1/X times longer than the sum of all TRXs in the atom. These are called "the short MAL strategy" and "the long MAL strategy" respectively. You can choose between the two in the MAL tab of the properties dialog box. The value of the fractional load parameter can also be edited and, furthermore, it can even be automatically calibrated by the AFP. • •

7.5.2.3.6

Fractional load is 1 for Baseband hopping. The MAL length has an upper limit defined in the "Max MAL length" parameter of the subcell table. The user can instruct the AFP to strictly use this value (see the MAL page in the AFP property pages).

Domain Use Ratio Both HSN assignment and MAL length determination processes are tuned to avoid exceeding a user defined Domain Use Ratio. Domain Use Ratio is the MAL length divided by the total number of frequencies in the domain. For example, a 1/1 reuse pattern has a frequency reuse ratio of 1. A 4/12 reuse pattern can have a reuse ratio between 1/4 and 1/12, depending on whether all TRXs in a site have the same MAL (and HSN) or not.

7.5.2.3.7

HSN Allocation The AFP assigns HSNs at subcell level. It chooses different HSNs for interfering and non-synchronous subcells. For synchronous subcells (usually within a site), the AFP can opt to assign the same HSN and different MAIOs within the set of same-HSN subcells. According to the adapted convention on HSNs for BBH TRXs, the AFP allocates different HSNs to the BCCH TRX and TCH TRXs. The 1st HSN corresponds to timeslots 1 through 7 of the BCCH and TCH TRXs, and the second HSN corresponds to the timeslot 0 of the TCH TRXs only. The second HSN is used in predictions.

The user can control the HSN allocation so that it performs one of the following: • • • •

7.5.2.3.8

Assigns the same HSN to all subcells of a site Assigns the same HSN to all subcells of a transmitter Assigns pair-wise different HSNs if a pair of subcells have mutual interference. Optimise HSN assignment so that the frequency assignment is better (free HSN).

MAIO Allocation The AFP assigns MAIOs to TRXs so that the same MAL can be reused within a subcell, within a transmitter or even within a site. The separation requirements must be satisfied for frequencies that are on air, at all frame numbers. The cost function

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averages the cost upon all frame numbers in the synchronised case and upon all collision probabilities in the non-synchronised case.

7.5.2.4 Azimuth Oriented Assignments (Pattern Allocation, 1/1 1/3 1/x …) In order to understand what a pattern allocation in the Atoll AFP is, you must first read the previous chapters, since the pattern allocation in Atoll is performed as following: 1. The AFP first assigns preferred groups to all demanding subcells 2. The AFP assigns what ever needs to be assigned, trying to respect these preferred groups, as explained in the cost description. The conditions for getting a preferred group from the AFP are the following: • • • • • • •

The subcells must be or in synthesised hopping mode, or must have a group constrained allocation directive. This condition is also the condition that determines weather a user defined preferred group can impact the cost. The pattern directive in the AFP property pages defines if we are doing 1/1, 1/3 or 1/5 pattern allocation. By default it is set to 1/3. We will now refer to its value as X. The AFP group weight must not be 0. Only the X biggest groups in the domain will be considered as candidates for the proffered group allocation. Only transmitters in the AFP scope will get a preferred group. The AFP assigned preferred group will overwrite whatever used defined preferred group. Only transmitters that are not lonely in their site will be entitled to a preferred group: •

•

The pattern allocation associates the X main direction axes with the X biggest groups in the domains • • •

• •

Not lonely means that other transmitters of the same band, and layer, (and also active), exist in the site. It assumes these groups are disjoint. It finds the main axis azimuth as the most commune azimuth, and then it spans the other directions so that all the X axes are equi spread. It matches each directional axis to a group.

The AFP will only allocate a preferred group if the transmitters azimuth is clearly aligned with one of the directional axes. Even if only 50% of the subcells receive a preferred group, the allocation can be very strongly impacted because of second order influence.

We recommend using this because it regulates the assignments, and helps the AFP to exist local minima. Be sure to always have 3 big and disjoint groups in your domain. (If the majority of your sites are X-sectorial, X should replace 3). We recommend not imposing the pattern very strongly on your network. It should be kept as a guideline.

7.5.2.5 BSIC Allocation The BSIC allocation algorithm of the AFP includes both hard and soft constraints. The hard constraint is easier to satisfy but must not be violated. A hard-constraint violation is equivalent to an error, and corresponds to handover failures in the network. The soft constraint is more difficult to fully satisfy, and violations of the soft constraint can exist in an operating network. A soft-constraint violation is equivalent to a warning. The hard and soft constraints can be defined as follows: •

Hard Constraint: The same BSIC must not be allocated to two transmitters that: •

have the same BCCH frequency and

•

have first- or second-order neighbour relations.

It is only based on first and second order neighbour relations and BCCH co-channel reuse. •

Soft Constraint: The same BSIC should not be allocated to two transmitters that: •

have the same or adjacent BCCH frequencies and

•

have first- or second-order neighbour relations, or interfere each other.

It is based on first- and second-order neighbour relations, interference matrices, and co- and adjacent channel BCCH reuse. This means that the soft constraint is more demanding than the hard constraint, and has a higher probability of not being satisfied. If the AFP is unable to satisfy the soft constraints, the BSIC allocation algorithm assigns the "least interfering" BSIC to transmitters depending on the interference and separation relations. This leads to increasing the same BSIC+BCCH reuse distance as much as possible.

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In the preceding definitions, all neighbour relations between transmitters are considered, independently of the direction, as shown in Figure 7.64 on page 413.

Figure 7.64: Neighbour Relations The same applies for the interference relation; i.e., two transmitters are considered to interfere each other whether the first interferes the second, the second interferes the first, or both interfere mutually. During the allocation, the AFP counts the number of times it was unable to allocate a BSIC due to a constraint that was not satisfied. The AFP respects the BSIC domains defined for transmitters and takes into account the BSIC spacing strategy selected on the Reuse tab of the AFP properties dialog box: • •

Min.: The AFP assigns the minimum possible number of BSICs that satisfies the constraints. Max.: The AFP assigns as many BSICs as possible while keeping them evenly distributed.

7.5.3 Advanced AFP usage Whenever a network becomes spectrum-wise limited, frequency planning becomes the most cost efficient way to optimise its performance. The AFP usage in these cases must evolve in order to include the more advanced capacities of the AFP.

7.5.3.1 Optimising the Number of Required TRXs One of the two new allocation styles is the one in which the AFP is permitted to optimise the number of required TRXs. When this option is selected, the AFP may reduce the number of TRXs compared to the number of required TRXs in order to maximise the amount of correctly served traffic, and consequently, reduce the level of interferences. In the same way, for highly traffic-loaded subcells, the AFP may increase the number of TRXs compared to what is required in order to reduce the blocked traffic. The circuit and packet demand are the two main inputs used for estimating the blocking rates. They can be either directly extracted from the subcell table, or come from the default traffic capture, or be re-estimated by the Atoll AFP Module. It will perform do it using the old traffic load, and the number of required TRXs as input. Whatever the method is, when the traffic demand is known, the Atoll AFP Module may vary the number of TRXs in subcells and for each it will calculates: • • •

The blocking probability The served circuit and packet traffic The resulting traffic loads.

The goal of the AFP is to determine the best trade-off between the blocking due to interferences (also called soft blocking) and the blocking due to traffic (also called hard blocking) by the optimisation of the number of TRXs. In order to control the process of optimising the number of TRxs, you can modify the following parameters: • • •

Increasing the missing TRX tax influences the Atoll AFP Module to respect the number of required TRXs. Increasing the interference weight influences the creation of a small number of TRXs In the case of high values of traffic loads (which forces the Atoll AFP Module to create extra TRXs), reducing the maximum blocking rate limits the number of extra TRXs.

This strategy may also affect the initial subcell loads and KPIs would have to be recalculated after the automatic frequency planning process. In this chapter, we will explain the entire process, so that you fully understand this optimization capacity and by thus understand how to control it.

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Soft Blocking Versus Hard Blocking In Performance Enhancements in a Frequency Hopping GSM Network, the authors suggest (as have many others) that network quality is a trade-off between soft blocking and hard blocking.1 Soft blocking is due to interference-related effects (such as dropped calls), which is addressed by frequency planning, while hard blocking is due to circuit shortage during the busiest periods which is addressed by dimensioning. One cost component of the AFP models hard blocking (dimensioning), based on the Erlang B theory. The AFP is therefore capable of finding the optimal trade-off point between soft and hard blocking. The trade-off point is not a global one, but rather is specific to each TRX. The issue of dimensioning during the AFP process is discussed in the following sections: • •

"The Advantage of Combining Dimensioning and Frequency Planning" on page 414 "The AFP and Local Frequency Availability" on page 414.

The Advantage of Combining Dimensioning and Frequency Planning Given the difficulty inherent in combining dimensioning and frequency planning, it is often tempting to do each separately. However, by combing dimensioning and frequency planning, as done by the Atoll AFP, you can exploit local variations of soft versus hard blocking measure and thereby better enhance of network capacity. The advantage of adjusting the number of TRXs while making an automatic frequency allocation is demonstrated in "Example of Combining Dimensioning and Frequency Planning" on page 416. The basic advantage of combining the two is that you can avoid the need to manually find a target blocking rate.

When evaluating the resulting frequency plan, it is important to keep in mind how this frequency plan was created: it was created to maximise the correctly served traffic instead of trying to simply minimise the interfered traffic. For example, if plan A has more TRXs than plan B, it is possible that an interference prediction for plan A will display more interference, even if plan A is the best plan. It consists on the positive attitude: trying to maximise the correctly served traffic instead of trying to minimise the interfered traffic. This is taken into consideration in the method used to evaluate the AFP results (todo XXXX put ref). The AFP and Local Frequency Availability Combining both soft and hard blocking, the AFP optimises the amount of correctly served traffic for each individual transmitter using frequencies available to it. In this example, there is a transmitter with two subcells: TCH and BCCH. The two subcells absorb the traffic demand together. Let us assume that the traffic demand consists of 25 Erlangs of circuit-switched traffic, and 5 timeslots of packet-switched traffic. Let us also assume that the required number of TCH TRXs is 2 with 1 BCCH TRX. The AFP could just assign 3 TRXs in this cell, exactly as required, or it could study a few additional possibilities: • •

Assign only 2 TRXs, thereby reducing interference. Assign 4 TRXs (one additional TRX), thereby reducing the blocking rate.

The AFP calculates the best option as follows: 1. It calculates the available number of circuits (depending on the HR — half-rate — ratio). 2. Then it calculates the blocking rate using the Erlang B equation and the circuit-switched demand. 3. Once the AFP has calculated how much traffic is served, it can calculate the traffic load (from 0 to 1, with "1" corresponding to a full load). 4. With the traffic load calculated, the AFP can calculate the interference cost as well as the hard blocking cost. The cost representing the interference depends on which frequencies were assigned. The more TRXs there are, the harder it is to find frequencies that are free from interference. In this example, the locally available frequencies are as follows: Only 2 frequencies (f1 and f2) have low interference (i.e., probability of interference = 10%). One frequency (f3) has a medium level of interference (20%). One frequency (f4) has a high level of interference (30%). All the other available frequencies are even more heavily interfered. 1. Thomas Toftegaard Nielsen and Jeroen Wigard, Performance Enhancements in a Frequency Hopping GSM Network(Springer, 2000), 68.

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The entire process is summarised in the table below: Number of circuits

Blocked Traffic (Timeslots)

Traffic load (%)

Interfered traffic on f1 and f2 (Timeslots)

2 TRXs: using f1 and f2.

21

7.4

100%

1.5

0: Since it is not used

0: Since it is not used

Frequency plan 2:

3 TRXs: using f1, f2 and f3.

32.2

0.55

97.7%

1.46

1.56

0: Since it is not used

Frequency plan 3:

4 TRXs: using f1, f2, f3, and f4.

43.4

0: No blocking with 4 TRXs.

74%

1.1

1.18

1.77

Frequency Plan

TRXs

Frequency plan 1:

Interfered traffic on f3 (Timeslots)

Interfered traffic on f4 (Timeslots)

The best plan depends on the locally available frequencies: if there was less interference, the AFP would have chosen frequency plan 3. If f3 and f4 where heavily interfered, the AFP would have chosen frequency plan 1. Because the AFP tries to minimise what is in bold in the table above (i.e., the blocked and interfered traffic), it chooses frequency plan 2 (in which the figures in bold add up to 3.57 timeslots).

7.5.3.1.2

The Sources of Traffic Demand Used by the AFP The Atoll AFP one of several sources for traffic demand: traffic demand can be taken from traffic captures, as is the case with traffic loads, or traffic demand can be entered into the Subcells table using data from the OMC, or the AFP can use traffic loads to calculate traffic demand (if maintaining compatibility with older documents is a concern). • • •

"Traffic Captures as a Source of Traffic Demand" on page 415 "OMC Data as a Source of Traffic Demand" on page 415 "Traffic Loads as a Source of Traffic Demand" on page 415

Traffic Captures as a Source of Traffic Demand If you choose to use traffic maps, a traffic capture can supply the traffic demand. Then, by performing dimensioning or a KPI calculation, this information is committed into the Subcells table. Afterwards, when running an automatic frequency allocation, you can then choose to have the AFP use the traffic information from the default traffic capture or from the Subcells table. OMC Data as a Source of Traffic Demand The traffic demand can come from the OMC and be imported into the Subcells Table: Traffic Data table. For more information on importing OMC traffic into the Subcells Table: Traffic Data table, see "Importing OMC Traffic Data into the Subcells Table: Traffic Data" on page 326. The Subcells Table: Traffic Data table sA specific table is defined in order to absorb OMC traffic readings. To open it: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Subcells > Subcells Table: Traffic Data from the context menu. The Traffic data part of the Subcells table appears. By importing Subcells Table: Traffic Data table into the fields for the BCCH and TCH subcells (which share the same field as they are assumed to share the same traffic management unit) and into the TCH_INNER subcells field, where they exist, you supply the AFP with your OMC traffic. Traffic Loads as a Source of Traffic Demand The AFP can use traffic loads to calculate the traffic demand (if maintaining compatibility with older documents is a concern). Previously, the AFP used the field "traffic load" and the number of required TRXs as its traffic source. When the required number of TRXs is adjusted, the cost function will continue to be the same. When the adjustment is requested, the AFP can base its demand on the traffic load, in a way that permits the user to maintain compatibility with the old traffic model.

7.5.3.1.3

How to control the optimization so that it allocates more or less TRXs? There are several mechanisms by which you can set the AFP to allocate more or fewer TRXs: you can modify the traffic demand to have more or fewer TRXs allocated, you can modify the weights for the interference and separation violation costs, or you can modify the tax for missing (or superfluous) TRXs. Increasing the Traffic Demand to Increase TRX Allocation

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The more demand exists, the higher will be the pressure on the AFP to allocate more transmitters. As said above, the demand can come from the traffic model, from the subcell table, or from the traffic load values. If demand come from the traffic capture, you can increase demand by recalculating the capture with a higher traffic coefficients. If demand comes from the OMC, you can boost it by using a spreadsheet. If demand comes from traffic loads you can do the following: In the AFP property pages, where you indicate that the demand should be regenerated from the traffic loads, you are also requested to bound the actual blocking rate (actual with respect to the number of required transmitters). This is because of the following reason: If your served traffic load is 100%, theoretically, only an infinite circuit demand can generate such a load…

Figure 7.65: AFP Module Properties dialog box - Cost tab The 5% in this screen shot mean that the traffic demand can exceed the served traffic by no more than 5% . By Increasing this measure we increase the difference between served traffic and traffic demand, yet only in the heavily loaded transmitters. Because in this case where the served traffic is a constant information source, this means that demand increases, which implies the need for more transmitters. You can modify the cost penalty for interference and separation violation. High cost puts pressure on the AFP to allocate less transmitters. You can modify the tax for missing (or extra) transmitters. The tax is a simple cost penalty that softly limits the freedom of the AFP in this new domain. The higher the tax, the more the original "number of required TRXs" is respected. A dedicated locking flag at the subcell level allows you to shut down the new capacity planning when you already know the exact number of transmitters that is required.

7.5.3.1.4

Example of Combining Dimensioning and Frequency Planning The following example demonstrates the advantages of combining dimensioning and frequency planning: • • •

416

"Less Interference" on page 417 "Re-adjusting the Number of TRXs to Match OMC Traffic" on page 418 "Frequency Domain and Frequency Band Balancing" on page 418.

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Less Interference The example shows that interference can be greatly reduced. The following graphs show the effect of adjusting the number of TRXs on the interfered and served traffic, compared to the initial dimensioning.

Figure 7.66: Effects of adjusting the number of TRXs on traffic

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The preceding 4 frequency plans were all generated using exactly 50 frequencies. All other network parameters remained the same. In the plan "Dim - 76 TRXs" many TRXs were removed by the AFP (76 out of 820). Removing the TRXs reduced interference by a considerable margin but had no impact on the amount of served traffic because reducing TRXs was only considered if the transmitter's load was low. Re-adjusting the Number of TRXs to Match OMC Traffic In a real network, it is often necessary to re-adjust the number of TRXs to match evolution of the traffic. A typical situation is the following snap shot; taken before any adaptation is made.

Figure 7.67: Number of required TRXs vs. Erlang Demand It is normal that not all transmitters having the same number of TRXs have the same traffic demands, therefore the traffic loads will often vary from one transmitter to another. Once the AFP performs its optimisation, the traffic loads become more uniform, as can be observed in the following graph.

Figure 7.68: Load comparison before and after TRX adjustment Frequency Domain and Frequency Band Balancing A common practice is to split the frequency domains and reserve one frequency domain for BCCH, one for TCH, and one for EGPRS (when used). As well, frequency bands and domains are reserved for the HCS layer. When the network is dimensioned during an automatic frequency allocation, the number of TRXs is adapted without modifying the divisions.

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Figure 7.69: Frequency reuse balancing with or without TRX number adjustment In this example, most TRXs that were removed were removed in the 900 band (In the first half of the graph, the red line is almost always below the blue line.)

7.5.3.2 Combining Interference Matrices According to Maximum Likelihood Estimation In general, for a fixed set of data and underlying statistical model, the method of maximum likelihood selects values of the model parameters that produce a distribution that gives the observed data the greatest probability (i.e., parameters that maximise the likelihood function). The AFP uses maximum-likelihood estimation to combine different interference matrices. Different types of interference matrices have different weak points. When combining interference matrices, the most important aspect is differentiating between no interference and unknown interference (i.e., between situations where it can be proven that there is no interference and situations where it can not be known whether there is interference). Maximum likelihood estimation selects the values from different interference matrices that would have the greatest probability of resulting in the observable data. Additional to the interference matrix itself, Atoll uses information about the type of interference matrix, its quality indicators, and its scope. The following sections explain the maximum likelihood combination performed by the Atoll AFP Module. Before describing the combination process, the scope and context of interference matrices is explained.

7.5.3.2.1

Interference Matrix Context The context of an interference matrix refers to the following properties associated with each matrix: • • • • •

The name of the interference matrix (and comments, if any) The external file name (if the matrix is an external file) Whether the interference matrix is active or not The type of the interference (for more information on the types of interference matrices, "Defining Type-Dependant Quality Indicators on Interference Matrices" on page 357) The quality indicators (dependent on the type of interference matrix)

The context of an interference matrix is used mainly to indicate the statistical quality off the interference matrix so that the AFP can weight the information read from the interference matrix accordingly. Atoll supports a wide number of AFP tools. The interference matrix combination process, which is a part of the cost function, can be different in different AFP tools. The concept of an interference matrix context permits a common representation and significance of the parameters influencing the combination process. These parameters are, therefore, described as a set of quality indicators, with meaningful units, such as the number of measurement days, standard deviation, calculation resolution, and whether the interference matrix is based on traffic or surface area. The nine predefined types of interference matrices are divided into four groups with respect to their quality indicator representation: OMC-based, drive-test-based, propagation-based, and others. The General tab of the Interference Matrix Properties dialog box gives you access to this information:

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Figure 7.70: Definition of Interference Matrix Types Depending on the matrix type, the quality indicators available on the Advanced tab include: •

For matrices based on path loss (propagation data) matrices: • • •

•

For matrices based on reselection statistics from the OMC: • •

•

-

420

The standard deviation, depending on the equipment quality and measurement post-processing The average number of measurement points in the test mobile data that correspond to a single matrix calculation point.

For matrices based on CW measurements: -

•

The statistic duration Whether the interference information (probabilities) correspond to traffic or surface area.

For matrices based on test mobile data -

•

The standard deviation, depending on the equipment quality and measurement post-processing The average number of measurement points in the handover statistics that correspond to a single matrix calculation point The volume of information Whether the interference information (probabilities) correspond to traffic or surface area.

For matrices based on RXLEV statistics from the OMC: -

•

The statistic duration Whether the interference information (probabilities) correspond to traffic or surface area.

For matrices based on handover statistics from the OMC: -

•

The standard deviation The resolution Whether the interference information (probabilities) correspond to traffic or surface area.

The standard deviation, depending on the equipment quality and measurement post-processing The average number of CW measurement points that correspond to a single matrix calculation point The volume of information Whether the interference information (probabilities) correspond to traffic or surface area.

For matrices based on scan data drive tests:

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-

The standard deviation, depending on the equipment quality and measurement post-processing The average number of measurement points in the scan data drive test data that correspond to a single matrix calculation point The volume of information Whether the interference information (probabilities) correspond to traffic or surface area.

The context of an interference matrix is not systematically included in the interference matrix files. That is why Atoll asks the user to set up the type and quality indicators of the interference matrix manually.

7.5.3.2.2

Interference Matrix Scope The scope of an interference matrix is the correspondence between a transmitter ID and the following information: • • • • •

The name of the transmitter The BSIC (as it was when the IM statistics were gathered) The BCCH (as it was when the IM statistics were gathered) The percentage of coverage of the victim that is taken into consideration in the interference matrix The percentage of coverage of the interferer that is taken into consideration in the interference matrix

Figure 7.71: Interference matrix scope The most important information of the scope is the percentage of victim coverage and the percentagle of interferer coverage. In order to understand their significance as well as their use, you should bear in mind that interference matrices must provide interference information between each pair of subcells in the network. A large amount of memory would be required for a simple sequential representation of the interference matrix, which would make it impossible to work with such interference matrices in large networks. Therefore, entries in an interference matrix only exist when there is interference between a given pair of subcells. If an entry (i, j) does not exist in the interference matrix, there are two possible explanations: • •

Either j does not interfere with i (no interference), Or the interference information is missing in the interference matrix because at least one of the two was out of the scope of the interference matrix (unknown interference).

In other words, the lack of information can be interpreted as either no interference or as unknown interference. If there is only one interference matrix (i.e., only one source of interference information) then no interference is the same as unknown interference. If there is more than one interference matrix, the information missing in one matrix might be available in another. Therefore, it becomes very important to distinguish between the two cases in order to intelligently combine different interference matrices.

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For example, if you have three interference matrices and, for a given pair of subcells, you have 60% interference in one, unknown interference in the second, and unknown interference in the third, the resulting interference when the three matrices are combined will be 60%. However, if for the same pair of subcells, you have 60% interference in one, no interference in the second, and no interference in the third, the resulting interference when the three matrices are combined will be only 20%. The ideal method for differentiating between no interference and unknown interference would be to keep a matrix of values in memory, which would indicate the reliability of each matrix entry, and thereby indicate the entries for which the interference is "Unknown" as unreliable entries. Unfortunately, this would be completely impractical because this matrix of values would be too large to work with. Therefore, Atoll implements a slightly restricted approach for storing the scope of interference matrices. Interference matrices contain two reliability indicators at transmitter level, i.e., the reliability when a transmitter is the victim, and the reliability when it is the interferer. This information is stored in the columns % of Victim Coverage and % of Interferer Coverage. The reliability of an entry (i, j) is calculated as follows: VictimCoverage(Transmitter(i)) * InterfererCoverage(Transmitter(j)) This implementation is simple and sufficient for the most interference matrices. Creation of the Interference Matrix Scope The scope of an interference matrix is created by the tool that creates the interference matrix. If the interference matrix is created by Atoll, the AFP scope will be set to the initial set of victims, corresponding to SEL + RING (see "The Scope of the AFP and the Scope of the Interference Matrix" on page 372). This means that even when only one transmitter is present inside the computation zone, many other transmitters might be taken into account. Atoll adds all potential interferers to this set, and calculates the interference matrix entries between all pairs of this set. This set becomes the scope of the interference matrix, with 100% at both victim and interferer coverage. Other software can be used to edit the interference matrix scope using the general API features, or by saving the interference matrix as a CLC file and editing it. The CLC file format can store all the interference matrix information (see the Technical Reference Guide for more information). •

•

•

The scopes of the interference matrices are automatically created when old CLC, IM0, IM1, or IM2 files are imported. The scope is created using the current BSIC and BCCH allocation, and finding the set of all victims and the set of all interferers. The interference matrix scope internally manages the transmitter IDs. When exchanging information with a CLC file, these ID's are visible to the user. They are arbitrary numbers used to index the interference matrix entries. Even if an addin is used to create the interference matrix, the association of transmitter names to IDs is carried out by Atoll. The addin will associate the interference information to pairs of transmitter ID's. The CLC and DCT files have the same mapping of transmitter names to transmitter IDs. There are no restrictions on transmitter IDs as long as they are unique integers under 231.

Two possibilities (examples) for editing the interference matrix information could be: •

•

An addin that imports an interference matrix should know its scope. For example, if it is an OMC addin, and the OMC covers 50 transmitters, the scope will contain 50 transmitters. Their indexes will be supplied by Atoll once added to the scope. The percentage of victim and interferer coverage should be 100%. When generating an interference matrix from CW measurements, there might be a few transmitters which were correctly scanned and others that were not. In this case, the correctly scanned transmitters would have good percentage of victim and interferer coverage, while the others would not.

Use of the BSIC and BCCH in the Scope The BSIC and BCCH fields in the scope are used for the cases where the BSIC and BCCH allocation, during the period when the interference matrix information was gathered, was different from the current BSIC and BCCH allocation.

7.5.3.2.3

Keeping the Interference matrix Up to Date An interference matrix is no longer valid once the network has changed. However, currently this fact is left under the user responsibility. Atoll will try to perform some matrix maintenance in order to reduce overhead, yet this help is not guaranteed. start here When a CLC file (and its corresponding DCT) are imported, the transmitter indexes in the files can be arbitrary. In order to improve access time, Atoll changes these indexes to the ADO record ID as index. When you rename or delete a transmitter, or when the ADO index is changed, the interference matrix is automatically updated, and saved when the Atoll document is saved.

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Instead of updating the interference matrix every time a transmitter is renamed or deleted, Atoll stores the events in memory, and updates the interference matrix only when it is used. It checks the ADO record ID's and, if they have been changed, the changes are taken into account. When an Interference matrix is externalised, Atoll does not always manage to keep it updated as described above. Calculate your Interference Matrices as often as you calculate your path loss matrices.

7.5.3.2.4

Interference Matrix Combination in Atoll AFP Module Interference matrices are combined in a manner that follows these two important guidelines: • •

The cost function definition does not change. If earlier, interference values were read from a single interference matrix. Now, they are read from more than one interference matrix. When the interference matrices are correctly managed in Atoll, no further parameterisation (weighting) is required.

The Interference Matrices tab (see "The Interference Matrices Tab" on page 403) available in the Atoll AFP Module properties dialog box displays and lets to modify the weights that control the interference matrix combination. The interference matrix combination is carried out as follows: 1. The Atoll AFP Module asks Atoll to load a subset of the active interference matrices of the document. This subset is determined by comparing each interference matrix scope with the AFP scope. Only the interference matrices whose scope intersects the AFP scope are loaded. 2. The Atoll AFP Module then reads the scope and context information of each loaded interference matrix. The interference, p(i, v, x), of subcell i (interferer) on subcell v (victim) for a given C/I level x, can be read from more than one interference matrix. 3. The Atoll AFP Module combines all the values of p(i, v, x) by performing a weighted average. Therefore, it calculates as many weights as the number of p(i, v, x) entries for a pixel. These "reliability weights" are calculated by multiplying the following three components: a. Component quantifying the membership to the AFP scope: VictimCoverage(Transmitter(v)) x InterfererCoverage(Transmitter(i)) For interference matrices based on OMC statistics, if the scope indicates that both i and v had the same BCCH, the component will be 0. b. Component depending on the interference matrix type. c. Component depending on the interference matrix quality indicators: The "Reliability Calculation". The equations are different for the different classes of types since the quality indicators are different as well: i.

Interference matrix based on propagation: 75 7,5 Component C = ---------------  -------r + 25



Where  is the standard deviation of the propagation model, and r is the calculation resolution. A resolution of 50 m and a standard deviation of 7.5 dB gives a weight of 1. ii. Interference matrix based on measurements from the OMC performed during n days: 1+n Component C = ---------------3

Which gives a weight of 1 for 8 days of measurements. iii. Interference matrix based on drive test analysis: 0,4

1 + n  r + 1 Component C = --------------------------------------------4   + 1

3 parameters determine the weight: i.The standard deviation  , which is assumed to be lower than the one of a propagation model. ii.The number of measurements considered at each calculation point, r iii.The number of calculation points per transmitter, n iv. Interference matrices of other types do not participate in the weighting, since they are or Upper bound IMs or Lower bounds IMs.

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7.5.3.3 The Storage of a Frequency Plan in Atoll Atoll stores a single frequency plan. It is stored in its TRX table records, and also in its subcell and transmitter tables. Some AFP Quality indicators can even be stored in the Site table. In this chapter we will depict the various issues concerning this storage. The TRX table enables support of the following items: • • • •

An external ID space of the TRXs of a transmitter (important for import and export utilities). MAL/channel at TRX level. MAIO at TRX level. Fine locking: The user can lock specific TRXs in an unlocked transmitter.

The TRX table does not contain an "active" field. Therefore, all TRXs in it should contain a valid frequency or MAL and are all considered to be on air. It is better to remove a TRX record than removing only the frequency or MAL from its channels list. There are certain factors which affect the AFP directives that can be set at different levels in the GSM project: • • •

During an AFP optimisation, the channels and MAIO currently assigned to a TRX will not be changed if the TRX is locked in the TRXs table or if the transmitter is locked in the Transmitters table. The AFP weighing can be set at the transmitter level and at the subcell level. The final AFP weight will be the product of both weights (i.e., the transmitter AFP weight multiplied by the subcell AFP weight). The domain definition can be modified at the subcell level by defining excluded channels.

Some AFP-relevant entries can be found in the TRXs, Subcells, and Transmitters tables, creating a certain level of redundancy: • • •

The channel list in the Transmitters table is a combination of all channels appearing in the TRXs of a transmitter (depending on the hopping modes used and the number of subcells). The hopping mode of a transmitter is the hopping mode of its default traffic carrier (the TCH TRX Type). The frequency band of the transmitter (the one used by the propagation model), is read from the domain of the BCCH subcell of the transmitter.

Atoll considers the lowest level of information as the accurate source. For example: • •

Atoll automatically updates the TRXs table if the channel list of a transmitter in the Transmitters table is modified. The frequency band of a transmitter cannot be edited.

In cases where the data management is perfectly controlled (for example, when several users are working on the same project), it can happen that issues of consistency can occur. In that case, you might want to run a subcell audit as explained in "Checking Consistency in Subcells" on page 461 to verify where consistency has been lost and how to correct it.

7.5.3.3.1

AFP Performance Indicators (AFP PI's) The AFP can be used to generate different AFP performance indicators (AFP PI's). The AFP PIs are visible in the AFP results window, and once commit is applied, they can be seen in Atoll's TRXs, subcells, transmitters and sites tables. The most important AFP PIs are found in the subcell table, and are now visible in a dedicated read only table view. The TRX Rank PI and Its Use The AFP TRX Rank provides a ranking of the TRXs in a subcell. If a TRX rank is high, it implies that the frequency (channel) corresponding to this TRX has bad usage conditions. TRX ranks indicate the best and worst quality TRXs in each subcell. The best TRX might be a candidate for extensive GPRS or EDGE usage. The worst TRX will be the TRX that is potentially removable. The OMC might use rank (or preference) information for better RRM (first charge the good TRXs, only after charge the bad ones …). • •

Rank = 1 is the best rank. TRX Rank is the corresponding field in the TRX table.

As it is during an AFP process that frequencies and MALs/MAIOs for different TRXs of a subcell are chosen, the AFP tool stores and manipulates the information about TRXs in good and in bad conditions. If you choose AFP Rank indicator to be allocated when starting an AFP session, each cost improving solution will go through a TRX rank assignment. If no improving plan is found, TRX rank will be assigned for the initial plan (like BSIC). TRX ranking within a subcell is performed on the basis of TRX costs. A TRX will be considered locked for TRX Rank assignment if and only if it is not selected for AFP allocation or if it has been locked. The Theory of "Scheduling" in Frequency Planning TRX rank is Atoll's AFP implementation of "Scheduling", which can help increase performance in certain particular cases. Example: imagine the case where a cell and its neighbour are not loaded with traffic at the same time (for example, a stadium

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and its parking lot). In such cases, it is possible to decrease call blocking by adding one or two dirty TRXs to the concerned cells. (assuming clean TRXs do not exist for spectral reasons). What you will need to do is the following: 1. You need an OMC that can be informed about the TRX ranking, and that knows not to use the bad TRXs when load is normal or low. They get into use only when the load is high. 2. You need to relax the interference matrix entries and the separation relation constraints between the two oppositely correlated cells. 3. You need to run the AFP with TRX rank. The spectral efficiency of scheduling can not be fully acquired by real time RRM, since the latest is of a caustic nature. You can be sure to obtain a bigger gain if the scheduling order is predefined.

7.5.3.3.2

The AFP Cost Performance Indicators Total cost and separation violation cost component at the TRX, subcell, transmitter, and site levels can be calculated and displayed as AFP performance indicators. These are the cumulated total costs and the cumulated separation violation costs of each TRX, subcell, transmitter and site. In order to be able to compute and display these results, you must add AFP_COST and AFP_SEP_COST fields (of type SINGLE) to the TRX, Transmitters and Sites tables. AFP_COST field and AFP_SEP_COST field correspond to the total cost and separation cost component respectively. These AFP performance indicators are available in the list of AFP performance indicators to be computed available when launching the AFP tool. The AFP cost assignment to the TRXs, subcells, transmitters and sites is carried out at the same time as the TRX rank assignment. Once a frequency plan is committed, the next instance of the AFP can concentrate more on the problematic TRX/ subcell/transmitter/site to improve results. As well, this can automatically limit the modification scope to the problematic cells/sites. This can deliver a significant quality gain.

7.5.3.3.3

The AFP Subcell Performance Indicators Four AFP performance indicators can be committed into 4 subcell fields. These fields are then displayed in a separate view of the subcell table. And also in a separate page in the AFP output dialog box.

7.5.3.4 AFP Guidelines In this section, there are a few methods that will help you use the AFP more efficiently. • • • •

7.5.3.4.1

"Focusing the AFP on the Problematic Areas" on page 425 "Learning the Network while Solving Hard Spots" on page 425 "Better Understanding the Point Analysis Tool" on page 426 "Why Aren't the Traffic Loads Incorporated in the Interference Matrix?" on page 427.

Focusing the AFP on the Problematic Areas In this small paragraph we propose a simple strategy for obtaining improved frequency plans. Let us assume that we have X hours of available computation time: • • • • • •

First, we launch the AFP during X/2 hours, then; we stop it and commit the results (if good). Lock all TRXs in the network. Find the areas that generate problems. For example, some sites with separation violations. Unlock the worst 10 sites. For each such site, unlock 2 - 4 neighbouring transmitters. Run the AFP for an additional X * 30 minutes (the remaining half of the time).

A more simple way to detect the hard spots is by committing cell or site level KPIs to the corresponding tables. The principle remains the same: Let the AFP work only on the small part where the interference is strongest.

7.5.3.4.2

Learning the Network while Solving Hard Spots 1. Apply this technique to networks having 12000 to 120000 Erlangs (2500 to 25000 TRXs). Make sure that the AFP is configured to maintain its learned experience (execution page in the AFP property pages). 2. Run the AFP for at least 10 solutions, on the entire network, specifying a short time period, commit the plan knowing it is of basic quality. If this quality satisfies you, you do not need to continue. 3. Find the areas that generate problems. For example, some sites with separation violations, high congestion, or high interferences. 4. Create a calculation zone around these areas. 5. Create a filtering zone including the computation zone + the first ring of neighbours. 6. Make sure that this representative part of the network is not too big nor too small. For example: 100 to 200 transmitters in the computation zone, plus an additional 50 to 100 of locked neighbours.

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7. Specify a long execution time (1500 to 4000 minutes) and let the AFP work on the core for this entire target time. The target time should be long enough for the AFP to generate at least 800 solutions. The AFP should be run using a cost for changing the TRX channel. (we want to minimise the number of changes). 8. Assuming that the long execution on a small area had improved the result, commit the plan. 9. If not, reduce the cost of changing a TRX, or reduce the number of locked transmitters, or both. Repeat the two previous steps until an improving long execution is achieved. 10. Now you can run the AFP on entire network. Keep the same cost for changing a TRX, so that the basic plan obtained in the beginning is not too strongly modified. If step N° 10 has provided a good plan then it might be worth while sharing your AFP experience with all the other users: • • • •

7.5.3.4.3

Duplicate your AFP model. Give a meaningful name to the duplicated model. In its execution property page, switch off the experience learning option. (So that this model does not get altered by other AFP users) Archive to database the new AFP model, yet not the old one. The new model can be used by the other AFP users. The old model which you didn't archive is not affected by your modifications.

Better Understanding the Point Analysis Tool It is often useful to know what exactly causes interference conditions at a point. This is one of the important roles of the point analysis tool. Yet because of its complexity, some users are afraid to use it, which is a pity. The point analysis is complicated only because it is a very rich tool. It provides the user with the information of how are the interferers of a TRX at a point, what are the different gains (power offsets, burst collision probability, DTX, adjacency suppression), and how do the different components combine to a "total interference" on a channel or on a mobile allocation. Example 1: Combination of Interference Effects This figure depicts the case where one co-channel and two adjacent channel interferers are combined to create total interference (the gain value (the empty part - 18 dB) shows that they are adjacent). For each of the two adjacent interferers, C/I > 12 dB, while for their combination, the total interference, C/I < 12 dB. This example demonstrates the fact that geographic interference combination is more accurate than the interference cost of the AFP. Assuming the required quality to be 12 dB, this specific point would not contribute to the AFP cost, while it would be considered as interfered in the interference coverage prediction.

Figure 7.72: Combination of Interference Effects Example 2: Counting Strong Interference Only Once In this case, two strong interferences are combined to create an extra strong total interference. C/I is very weak for both interferers. Therefore, the point under analysis contributes to both IM entries, which are considered in the AFP cost. This example

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demonstrates the fact that geographic interference combination is more accurate than the interference cost of the AFP because of counting this point only once as an interfered point (and not twice as in the AFP).

Figure 7.73: Counting Strong Interference Only Once

7.5.3.4.4

Why Aren't the Traffic Loads Incorporated in the Interference Matrix? Atoll maintains the traffic load separate from the interference information. Before justifying this choice we must depict the two alternatives: • •

The mixed option: The interference information contains the traffic information as well. In this way, each IM entry will contain the quantity of traffic interfered if a co-channel or adjacent channel reuse exists. The separated option: The AFP has separate access to traffic load information and to interference probabilities (As in Atoll).

The main reasons for choosing the second implementation are the following: • • • • • • •

Option 2 is a superset that contains option 1. But option 1, being a subset, does not contain option 2 (i.e. once the information are mixed they cannot be separated). It does not create any overhead (the size of the additional information is negligible compared to the size of the IM). It helps keeping the unit definitions simpler. It facilitates merging IMs with different traffic units. The traffic information can be used for weighting the separation violation component, as well as the interference component. The traffic load can be used in deciding whether a TRX can be left uncreated. The gain introduced by the traffic load of the interferer depends on the hopping mode and the MAL length. Incorporating this gain in the IM (as a result of the mixed option) means that the IMs become hopping-mode and MAL-size dependent. This is a bad idea since the AFP should be able to change the MAL. And the user should be able to change the hopping mode without recalculating the IM. In addition, an IM calculated externally to Atoll, with a non-hopping BCCH can be used for the hopping TCH.

7.5.3.5 The Role of the AFP Administrator The AFP administrator is a corporate AFP expert. The AFP administrator evaluates the AFP and decides how it should be configured. The AFP administrator has a very powerful control tool which is the centralised database where predefined and pre-configured AFP models can be published.

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7.6 Analysing Network Quality When you are working on a GSM/GPRS/EDGE network, you can analyse the quality of the network using the coverage predictions provided in Atoll. For GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks, Atoll provides both circuit and packet-specific coverage predictions as well as quality indicator predictions for both GSM and GPRS/EDGE. In this section, the following are explained: • • • • • • • • • •

"Evaluating the Quality of a Frequency Plan" on page 428 "Interference Coverage Predictions" on page 430 "Packet-Specific Coverage Predictions" on page 442 "Making a Circuit Quality Indicator (BER, FER, or MOS) Prediction" on page 452 "Making a Service Area Prediction" on page 454 "Studying Interference Between Transmitters" on page 457 "Auditing a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Frequency Plan" on page 458 "Checking Consistency in Subcells" on page 461 "Displaying the Frequency Allocation" on page 462 "Calculating Key Performance Indicators of a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Network" on page 465

7.6.1 Evaluating the Quality of a Frequency Plan Creating an AFP-compatible interference coverage prediction is the most precise and objective way of evaluating the quality of the frequency plan. It is more precise than the AFP cost estimation because it is based on the calculated radio conditions at each point and not on interference matrices. It is also more objective because it does not depend on the AFP module used to create the frequency plan evaluated. When you create an AFP-compatible interference coverage prediction, you must observe the following rules (for information on defining and calculating an interfered zones coverage prediction, see "Studying Interference Areas" on page 436: 1. Select Interfered Zones (DL) from the Prediction Types dialog box. The prediction’s Properties dialog box appears. 2. Click the Conditions tab.

Figure 7.74: Condition settings for an Interfered Zones (DL) coverage prediction 3. Under Coverage Conditions:

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• •

Use the default setting for Subcell C threshold. Use the same service area model that was used when calculating the interference matrices. For example, if you calculated the interference matrices on HCS servers with an overlap margin of 4 dB, shadowing, and a cell edge coverage probability of 82% as shown in Figure 7.75, you should use the same settings when creating the Interfered Zones coverage prediction:

Figure 7.75: Generating interference matrices 4. Under Interference Conditions: • • •

Use the default settings for the Subcell C⁄I threshold. Use the same DTX definition that you used when you ran the AFP. Select "From subcell table" for the Traffic Load, and select the Detailed Results check box.

After defining and calculating the coverage prediction as explained in "Studying Interference Areas" on page 436, generate a report as explained in ""Generating Coverage Prediction Reports" on page 212. When the Columns to Be Displayed dialog box appears, select the check boxes corresponding to the following columns (see Figure 7.74): • •

Served load (timeslots weighted by the AFP weight) Served load (timeslots weighted by the half rate traffic ratio).

Figure 7.76: Defining the report on the Interfered Zones coverage prediction The resulting report is shown in Figure 7.77.

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Figure 7.77: The report on the Interfered Zones coverage prediction The report displays: the following: • • •

For each TRX, a given amount of traffic is spread uniformly over the TRX service zone. Part of this traffic is interfered because the C/I conditions are bad. The part that is interfered is added up in the report. In Figure 7.77, the interfered traffic for channel 25 is outlined in red. The total amount of traffic per TRX is the sum of: • •

Served load (timeslots weighted by the AFP weight): The traffic load is multiplied first by the AFP cost factor and then multiplied by the number of timeslots. Served load (Erlangs weighted by the half rate traffic ratio): The traffic load is multiplied first by the number of timeslots and then multiplied by 1/(1 - Half of the half-rate ratio)

The total amount of traffic per TRX is given in parentheses, and added. This way, you can see the ratio between interfered traffic and the total amount of traffic. The final ratio is outlined in green in Figure 7.77. Atoll's AFP cost function is given using the same units as those used to display the data in the column called Served load (Timeslots weighted by the AFP weight) The report displayed in Figure 7.77 is TRX-based and is therefore much more precise than worst case surface estimations that are usually observed when you look at the results of a coverage prediction in the map window.

Figure 7.78: Considerations in frequency planning

7.6.2 Interference Coverage Predictions The interference coverage predictions described in this section depend on the existence of a frequency plan. If you have not yet allocated frequencies, you must do so before carrying out any of the coverage predictions described in this section. For information on creating a frequency plan, see "Allocating Frequencies, BSICs, HSNs, MALs, MAIOs" on page 340. Each of the interference coverage predictions described in this section can be carried out based on a fixed noise value or based on the settings for a particular terminal. For information on defining a terminal, see "Modelling Terminals" on page 249.

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The following GSM-specific coverage predictions are explained in this section: • • •

"Making DL Quality Predic ons Based on C⁄I or C⁄(I+N)" on page 431 "Making UL Quality Predic ons Based on C⁄(I+N)" on page 434 "Studying Interference Areas" on page 436.

You can also study interference areas by using the Point Analysis window: • •

"Analysing Interference Areas Using the Point Analysis Tool" on page 439 "Example of Analysing Interference Using a Point Analysis" on page 441.

Atoll also enables you to model interference coming from an external project. For more information, see "Modelling Intertechnology Interference" on page 507.

7.6.2.1 Making DL Quality Predictions Based on C⁄I or C⁄(I+N) In Atoll, you can make DL quality predictions based on C⁄I or C⁄(I+N) levels once channels have been allocated. If you have not yet allocated frequencies, you must do so before carrying out the coverage prediction described in this section. For information on creating a frequency plan, see "Allocating Frequencies, BSICs, HSNs, MALs, MAIOs" on page 340. The coverage by DL C⁄I level prediction enables you to determine DL C⁄I levels for transmitters sharing either an identical channel or an adjacent channel with other transmitters as a function of the carrier-to-interference ratio. If desired, you can limit the quality coverage prediction to a specific channel. You can calculate this DL coverage by C⁄I or by C⁄I + N. "N" is the receiver total noise and is defined as the thermal noise (set to -121 dBm) + noise figure. When you calculate the coverage by DL C⁄I + N, you can select whether the noise figure used is a fixed value or the noise value set for a selected terminal. If Detailed Results is selected on the Conditions tab, the following results are displayed per pixel, depending on the hopping mode set for the subcells covered by the coverage prediction: • • •

Non-hopping mode: A TRX channel of the selected TRX type (BCCH, TCH, TCH_EGPRS or TCH_INNER). Base-band hopping: The MAL of the subcell (BCCH, TCH, TCH_EGPRS or TCH_INNER). Synthesised-frequency hopping: The MAL-MAIO of the subcell (BCCH, TCH, TCH_EGPRS or TCH_INNER).

To make a coverage prediction by DL C⁄I levels: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Predictions folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 4. Select Coverage by C/I Level (DL) and click OK. 5. Click the General tab. On this tab, you can change the Name of the prediction, the Resolution, and add Comments. The Receiver height corresponds to the height of the receiver defined in the Calculation Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box. A read-only Unique ID is generated when you create a new coverage prediction. This ID can later be found between the "" and "" tags in the following files: •

".XML" file (one per prediction) created in the following folder for coverage predictions calculated by value intervals with relevant Field settings: C:\\.studies\{}. For more information, see "External Storage of Coverage Prediction Numerical Results" on page 208.

•

"studies.XML" file created in the installation folder if at least one coverage prediction is saved using the Save as Customised Prediction command.

Under Display Configuration, you can create a Filter to select which sites to display in the results. For information on filtering, see "Filtering Data" on page 99. 6. Click the Conditions tab. On this tab, you can define the signals that will be considered for each pixel.

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Figure 7.79: Condition settings for a Coverage by C/I Level (DL) prediction 7. Under Coverage Conditions: •

Click the down arrow button and select one of the following thresholds: • •

•

• •

•

Subcell C Threshold: to use the reception threshold specified for each subcell (including the defined power reduction) as the lower end of the signal level range. Global C Threshold: to enter a threshold to be used for all subcells as the lower end of the signal level range.

Under Server, select "HCS servers" to take the best signal level by HCS layer on each pixel into consideration, assuming this signal level on each layer exceeds the minimum HCS threshold defined either at the HCS layer level or specifically for each transmitter. When you select "HCS Servers" or "All," there might be areas where several transmitters experience interference. On these pixels, several DL C⁄I values are calculated. Therefore, on the Display tab, you select to display either the lowest DL C⁄I level or the highest DL C⁄I level (for more information, see "Comparing Service Areas in Calculations" on page 484). Enter an Overlap margin. The default value is "4 dB." If you select the Shadowing Taken into Account check box, you can change the Cell Edge Coverage Probability. Shadowing margins (depending on the entered cell edge coverage probability and the model standard deviation per clutter class) are applied only to the values for C. For more information, see "Modelling Shadowing" on page 506. You can select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

8. Under Interference Conditions: • •

You can select the type of TRX to consider as a potential victim by selecting it from the Interfered Subcells list. You can filter the subcells by Channel or by Frequency Band. Atoll will calculate interference only for the selected channel or frequency band in this coverage prediction. •

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Channel: Select Channel as shown in Figure 7.80 and enter the channel number for which Atoll will calculate interference in this prediction. Atoll ignores by default all the TRXs using baseband or synthesised hopping. If you clear the Non-Hopping Only check box, all the TRXs using the defined channel will be considered as potential victims. If the Non-Hopping Only check box is cleared and the defined channel is in a MAL, interference will be calculated for the entire MAL. When you define a channel, Atoll uses it to identify only victim TRXs; all TRXs are taken into account as interferers.

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Figure 7.80: Filtering subcells by channel in Coverage by C/I Level (DL) predictions •

Frequency Band: Select Frequency Band as shown in Figure 7.81 and choose from the drop-down menu the frequency band for which Atoll will calculate interference in this prediction. Atoll ignores by default all the TRXs using baseband or synthesised hopping. If you clear the Non-Hopping Only check box, all the TRXs using the selected frequency band will be considered as potential victims.

Figure 7.81: Filtering subcells by frequency band in Coverage by C/I Level (DL) predictions •

Click the down arrow button and select one of the following thresholds: • •

• •

Subcell C/I Threshold: to use the C⁄I threshold specified for each subcell (including the defined power reduction) as the lower end of the C⁄I range. Global C/I Threshold: to enter a threshold to be used for all subcells as the lower end of the C⁄I range.

Select either "C⁄I" or "C⁄(I+N)". Click the down arrow button and select one of the following thresholds: • •

Subcell C/I Threshold: to use the C⁄I threshold specified for each subcell (including the defined power reduction) as the upper end of the C⁄I range. Global C/I Threshold: to enter a threshold to be used for all subcells as the upper end of the C⁄I range. The defined C⁄I values define the range of C⁄I values to be displayed. Values outside of this range are not displayed. You can not select Subcell C/I Threshold as both the lower and the upper end of the C⁄I range to be considered.

•

Select whether you want the defined DL C⁄I or C⁄I+N condition to be Satisfied By: • •

At least one TRX: When you select the option At least one TRX, the defined interference condition must be satisfied by at least one TRX on a given pixel for the results to be displayed on that pixel. The worst TRX: When you select the option The worst TRX, Atoll selects the worst results for each pixel. If the worst results do not satisfy the defined interference condition, the results will not be displayed on that pixel. These options are available only if a lower C/I Threshold is set.

•

If you have selected "C/(I+N)", you can define the value to be added to the interference. The defined noise figure is added to the thermal noise value (defined by default at -121 dBm) to calculate the value of N. Select one of the following: • •

Based on Terminal: Select Based on Terminal if you want to use the noise figure defined for a terminal and select the terminal from the list. Fixed Value: Select Fixed Value if you want to enter a value and then enter the noise figure in the text box.

9. If you want discontinuous transmission mode for TRXs which support it taken into account during the calculation of interference, select the DTX taken into account check box and enter the percentage of time during which a user is talking in the Voice Activity Factor text box. 10. Select the Traffic Load that will be used to calculate interference: • •

100%: The maximum traffic load (subcells entirely loaded). From subcell table: The subcell traffic load as defined or as calculated during dimensioning.

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11. From the Interference Sources list, select whether interference should be calculated from adjacent channels, co-channels, or from both. The adjacent channel effect on the victim channel, i.e., the interference, is decreased by the adjacent channel protection level. Inter-technology interference is taken into account by default. For more information, see "Modelling Inter-technology Interference" on page 624. By adding an option in the Atoll.ini file, you can add an Inter-technology check box which will allow you to consider or not inter-technology interference. 12. Select the Detailed Results check box if you want to display detailed results per transmitter. The results displayed depend on the subcell frequency hopping mode: • • •

Non-Hopping Mode: The results are displayed for one channel of each TRX in non-hopping mode. Base Band Hopping Mode: The results are displayed for the MAL of each subcell in base band hopping mode. Synthesised Frequency Hopping Mode: The results are displayed for the MAL-MAIO of each subcell in synthesised frequency hopping mode.

13. Click the Display tab. For a coverage prediction by DL C⁄I levels, the Display Type "Value Intervals" based on the Field "C⁄I level (dB)" is selected by default. If you selected "HCS Servers" or "All" from the Server list on the Conditions tab, there can be areas where several transmitters experience interference. On these pixels, several C⁄I values are calculated. Therefore, you can base the results displayed on either the Field "Min. C⁄I level (dB)" or "Max. C⁄I level (dB)" as well as the "C⁄I level (dB)" Field. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 14. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window. By changing the parameters selected on the Conditions tab and by selecting different results to be displayed on the Display tab, you can calculate and display information other than that which has been explained in the preceding sections.

7.6.2.2 Making UL Quality Predictions Based on C⁄(I+N) In Atoll, you can make UL quality predictions based on C⁄(I+N) level assuming one can estimate the UL noise rise at each TRX. This UL noise rise represents the UL effects of terminals over surrounding TRXs. This value can be populated manually but may also be one of the simulation ouputs. As a consequence, the total interference over a TRX is the combination of its UL noise rise and the receiver total noise. In the case of Base Band Hopping, a MAL average noise rise is used. If Detailed Results is selected on the Conditions tab, the following results are displayed per pixel, depending on the hopping mode set for the subcells covered by the coverage prediction: • • •

Non-hopping mode: A TRX channel of the selected TRX type (BCCH, TCH, TCH_EGPRS or TCH_INNER). Base-band hopping: The MAL of the subcell (BCCH, TCH, TCH_EGPRS or TCH_INNER). Synthesised-frequency hopping: The MAL-MAIO of the subcell (BCCH, TCH, TCH_EGPRS or TCH_INNER).

To make a coverage prediction by UL C⁄I levels: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Predictions folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 4. Select Coverage by C/I Level (UL) and click OK. 5. Click the General tab. On this tab, you can change the Name of the prediction, the Resolution, and add Comments. The Receiver height corresponds to the height of the receiver defined in the Calculation Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box.

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A read-only Unique ID is generated when you create a new coverage prediction. This ID can later be found between the "" and "" tags in the following files: •

".XML" file (one per prediction) created in the following folder for coverage predictions calculated by value intervals with relevant Field settings: C:\\.studies\{}. For more information, see "External Storage of Coverage Prediction Numerical Results" on page 208.

•

"studies.XML" file created in the installation folder if at least one coverage prediction is saved using the Save as Customised Prediction command.

Under Display Configuration, you can create a Filter to select which sites to display in the results. For information on filtering, see "Filtering Data" on page 99. 6. Click the Conditions tab. On this tab, you can define the signals that will be considered for each pixel.

Figure 7.82: Condition settings for a Coverage by C/I Level (UL) prediction 7. Under DL Coverage Conditions, set the following parameters: •

Click the down arrow button and select one of the following thresholds: • •

•

• •

• •

Subcell C Threshold: to use the reception threshold specified for each subcell (including the defined power reduction) as the lower end of the signal level range. Global C Threshold: to enter a threshold to be used for all subcells as the lower end of the signal level range.

Under Server, select "HCS servers" to take the best signal level by HCS layer on each pixel into consideration, assuming this signal level on each layer exceeds the minimum HCS threshold defined either at the HCS layer level or specifically for each transmitter. Enter an Overlap margin. The default value is "4 dB." If you select the Shadowing Taken into Account check box, you can change the Cell Edge Coverage Probability. Shadowing margins (depending on the entered cell edge coverage probability and the model standard deviation per clutter class) are applied only to the values for C. For more information, see "Modelling Shadowing" on page 506. You can select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. Select the terminal type to be considered on each pixel by selecting it from the Terminal list. The UL transmitted power is based on the max power of the selected terminal, gains and losses. For information on the Terminal Specifications dialog box, see "Modelling Terminals" on page 249.

8. Under UL Interference Condition, set the following parameters: •

Click the down arrow button and select one of the following thresholds: •

•

Subcell C/I Threshold: to use the C⁄I threshold specified for each subcell (including the defined power reduction) as the lower end of the C⁄(I+N) range. • Global C/I Threshold: to enter a threshold to be used for all subcells as the lower end of the C⁄(I+N) range. You may also let this field blank in order not to consider any lower C⁄(I+N) boundary. Click the down arrow button and select one of the following thresholds:

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Subcell C/I Threshold: to use the C⁄I threshold specified for each subcell (including the defined power reduction) as the upper end of the C⁄I range. Global C/I Threshold: to enter a threshold to be used for all subcells as the upper end of the C⁄I range. You may also let this field blank in order not to consider any upper C⁄(I+N) boundary. The defined C⁄I values define the range of C⁄I values to be displayed. Values outside of this range are not displayed.

9. Select the Detailed Results check box if you want to display detailed results per transmitter. The results displayed depend on the subcell frequency hopping mode: • • •

Non-Hopping Mode: The results are displayed for one channel of each TRX in non-hopping mode. Base Band Hopping Mode: The results are displayed for the MAL of each subcell in base band hopping mode. Synthesised Frequency Hopping Mode: The results are displayed for the MAL-MAIO of each subcell in synthesised frequency hopping mode.

10. Click the Display tab. For a coverage prediction by UL C⁄I levels, the Display Type "Value Intervals" based on the Field "C⁄I level (dB)" is selected by default. If you selected "HCS Servers" or "All" from the Server list on the Conditions tab, there can be areas where several transmitters experience interference. On these pixels, several C⁄I values are calculated. Therefore, you can base the results displayed on either the Field "Min. C⁄I level (dB)" or "Max. C⁄I level (dB)" as well as the "C⁄I level (dB)" Field. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 11. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window. By changing the parameters selected on the Conditions tab and by selecting different results to be displayed on the Display tab, you can calculate and display information other than that which has been explained in the preceding sections.

7.6.2.3 Studying Interference Areas In Atoll, you can study interference zones once channels have been allocated. If you have not yet allocated frequencies, you must do so before carrying out the interfered zones coverage prediction. For information on creating a frequency plan, see "Allocating Frequencies, BSICs, HSNs, MALs, MAIOs" on page 340. You can create an interfered zones coverage prediction to predict areas where transmitters suffer interference caused by other transmitters using the same channel or an adjacent channel. Atoll calculates the C⁄I level on each pixel where reception conditions are satisfied. Of these, Atoll calculates the coverage for pixels where the calculated C⁄I is lower than the defined upper limit. The pixel is coloured according to the selected attribute of the interfered transmitter attribute. If Detailed Results is selected on the Conditions tab, the following results are displayed per pixel, depending on the hopping mode set for the subcells covered by the coverage prediction: • • •

Non-hopping mode: A TRX channel of the selected TRX type (BCCH, TCH, TCH_EGPRS or TCH_INNER). Base-band hopping: The MAL of the subcell (BCCH, TCH, TCH_EGPRS or TCH_INNER). Synthesised-frequency hopping: The MAL-MAIO of the subcell (BCCH, TCH, TCH_EGPRS or TCH_INNER).

To make a coverage prediction by interfered zones: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Predictions folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 4. Select Interfered Zones (DL) and click OK. 5. Click the General tab. On this tab, you can change the Name of the prediction, the Resolution, and add Comments. The Receiver height corresponds to the height of the receiver defined in the Calculation Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box.

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A read-only Unique ID is generated when you create a new coverage prediction. This ID can later be found between the "" and "" tags in the following files: •

".XML" file (one per prediction) created in the following folder for coverage predictions calculated by value intervals with relevant Field settings: C:\\.studies\{}. For more information, see "External Storage of Coverage Prediction Numerical Results" on page 208.

•

"studies.XML" file created in the installation folder if at least one coverage prediction is saved using the Save as Customised Prediction command.

Under Display Configuration, you can create a Filter to select which sites to display in the results. For information on filtering, see "Filtering Data" on page 99. 6. Click the Conditions tab. On this tab, you can define the signals that will be considered for each pixel.

Figure 7.83: Condition settings for an Interfered Zones (DL) prediction 7. Under Coverage Conditions, set the following parameters: •

•

• •

•

Click the down arrow button and select one of the following thresholds: • Subcell C Threshold: to use the reception threshold specified for each subcell (including the defined power reduction) as the lower end of the signal level range. • Global C Threshold: to enter a threshold to be used for all subcells as the lower end of the signal level range. In Figure 7.79, a Global C Threshold less than or equal to -105 dBm will be considered. Under Server, select "HCS servers" to take the best signal level by HCS layer on each pixel into consideration, assuming this signal level on each layer exceeds the minimum HCS threshold defined either at the HCS layer level or specifically for each transmitter (for more information, see "Comparing Service Areas in Calculations" on page 484). Enter an Overlap margin. The default value is "4 dB." If you select the Shadowing Taken into Account check box, you can change the Cell Edge Coverage Probability. Shadowing margins (depending on the entered cell edge coverage probability and the C⁄I standard deviation per clutter class) are applied only to the values for C. Shadowing margins are not taken into account in determining the values for interference. For more information, see "Modelling Shadowing" on page 506. You can select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

8. Under Interference Conditions:

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You can select the type of TRX to consider as a potential victim by selecting it from the Interfered Subcells list. You can filter the interfered subcells by Channel or by Frequency Band. Atoll will calculate interference only for the selected channel or frequency band in this coverage prediction. •

Channel: Select Channel as shown in Figure 7.84 and enter the channel number for which Atoll will calculate interference in this prediction. Atoll ignores by default all the TRXs using baseband or synthesised hopping. If you clear the Non-Hopping Only check box, all the TRXs using the defined channel will be considered as potential victims. If the Non-Hopping Only check box is cleared and the defined channel is in a MAL, interference will be calculated for the entire MAL. When you define a channel, Atoll uses it to identify only victim TRXs; all TRXs are taken into account as interferers.

Figure 7.84: Filtering subcells by channel in Interfered Zones (DL) coverage prediction •

Frequency Band: Select Frequency Band as shown in Figure 7.85 and choose from the drop-down menu the frequency band for which Atoll will calculate interference in this prediction. Atoll ignores by default all the TRXs using baseband or synthesised hopping. If you clear the Non-Hopping Only check box, all the TRXs using the selected frequency band will be considered as potential victims.

Figure 7.85: Filtering subcells by frequency band in Interfered Zones (DL) coverage prediction •

Click the down arrow button and select one of the following thresholds: • •

• •

Select either "C⁄I" or "C⁄(I+N)". Click the down arrow button and select one of the following thresholds: • •

•

Subcell C/I Threshold: to use the C⁄I threshold specified for each subcell (including the defined power reduction) as the lower end of the C⁄I range. Global C/I Threshold: to enter a threshold to be used for all subcells as the lower end of the C⁄I range.

Subcell C/I Threshold: to use the C⁄I threshold specified for each subcell (including the defined power reduction) as the upper end of the C⁄I range. Global C/I Threshold: to enter a threshold to be used for all subcells as the upper end of the C⁄I range.

If you have selected "C/(I+N)", you can define the value to be added to the interference. The defined noise figure is added to the thermal noise value (defined at -121 dBm) to calculate the value of N. Select one of the following: • •

Based on Terminal: Select Based on Terminal if you want to use the noise figure defined for a terminal and select the terminal from the list. Fixed Value: Select Fixed Value if you want to enter a value and then enter the noise figure in the text box.

9. If you want discontinuous transmission mode for TRXs which support it taken into account during the calculation of interference, select the DTX taken into account check box and enter the percentage of time during which a user is talking in the Voice Activity Factor text box. 10. Select the Traffic Load that will be used to calculate interference: • •

100%: The maximum traffic load (subcells entirely loaded). From subcell table: The subcell traffic load as defined or as calculated during dimensioning.

11. From the Interference Sources list, select whether the interference should be calculated from adjacent channels, cochannels, or from both. The adjacent channel effect on the victim channel, i.e., the interference, is decreased by the adjacent channel protection level. Inter-technology interference is taken into account by default. For more information, see "Modelling Inter-technology Interference" on page 624. By adding an option in the Atoll.ini file, you can add an Inter-technology check box which will allow you to consider or not inter-technology interference.

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12. Select the Detailed Results check box if you want to display detailed results per transmitter. The results displayed depend on the subcell frequency hopping mode: • • •

Non-Hopping Mode: The results are displayed for one channel of each TRX in non-hopping mode. Base Band Hopping Mode: The results are displayed for the MAL of each subcell in base band hopping mode. Synthesised Frequency Hopping Mode: The results are displayed for the MAL-MAIO of each subcell in synthesised frequency hopping mode.

13. Click the Display tab. For a coverage prediction by interfered zones, the Display Type "Discrete Values" based on the Field "Transmitter" is selected by default. In the Network explorer, the coverage prediction results are arranged by interfered transmitter. You can also define the display to display the quality received on each interfered area: •

The quality received on each interfered area: Select "Value Intervals" as the Display Type and "C/I Level (dB)" as the Field. In the Network explorer, the coverage prediction results are first arranged by interfered transmitter and then by C/I level.

For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 14. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window. •

•

By changing the parameters selected on the Conditions tab and by selecting different results to be displayed on the Display tab, you can calculate and display information other than that which has been explained in the preceding sections. As explained in "Generating Coverage Prediction Reports" on page 212, you can display a prediction report on the interfered predictions indicating the amount of correctly served traffic out of the total traffic covered by the coverage prediction by selecting the options Served load (Timeslots weighted either by the AFP weight or by the Half rate traffic ratio) after having calculated the prediction report. The total served load (Timeslots weighted by the AFP weight) is obtained by the product between the number of timeslots, the AFP weight and the traffic load. The total served load (Timeslots weighted by the HR Ratio) is obtained by the product between the number of timeslots, 1   1 – HR  2  and the traffic load. The actual loads given by the report come from the ratio between the covered area and the total service area.

7.6.2.4 Analysing Interference Areas Using the Point Analysis Tool In Atoll, you can study the interferers of a transmitter using the Point Analysis. If you have not yet allocated frequencies, you must do so before using the Point Analysis to study interferers. For information on creating a frequency plan, see "Allocating Frequencies, BSICs, HSNs, MALs, MAIOs" on page 340. To make a point analysis to study interference areas: 1. In the map window, select the transmitter from which you want to make a point analysis. 2. Click the Point Analysis button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar. The Point Analysis window appears and the

pointer changes ( ) to represent the receiver. A line appears on the map connecting the selected transmitter and the current position. You can move the receiver on the map or centre the map window on the receiver (see "Moving the Receiver on the Map" on page 203). 3. Select the Interference view. The Interference view displays, in the form of a bar graph, the signal level of the selected transmitter, a black bar indicating the total interference experienced by the receiver, and bars representing the interference received from each interferer. The information displayed in the bar graph depends on the hopping mode of the subcell identified in the left margin of the graph:

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In Non-Hopping Mode, you can study the interference level on either a specific channel or on the most interfered one of either of a specific subcell (BCCH, TCH, TCH_EGPRS or TCH_INNER) or all of the selected transmitter. In Base Band Hopping Mode, you can study the interference level on either a specific MAL or on the most interfered one of either of a specific subcell (BCCH, TCH, TCH_EGPRS or TCH_INNER) or all of the selected transmitter. In Synthesised Frequency Hopping Mode, you can study the interference level on either a specific MAL-MAIO pair or on the most interfered one of either of a specific subcell (BCCH, TCH, TCH_EGPRS or TCH_INNER) or all of the selected transmitter.

Figure 7.86 on page 441 gives an example of the Interference view. The signal level of the transmitter, Site10_3, is -95.61 dB and is indicated by a red bar. The black bar indicates the total interference experienced by the receiver (-98.65 dB). The seven interferers are responsible for -102.69 dB (olive green), -103.06 dB (yellow), -107.31 dB (purple), -111.56 dB (olive green), -115.38 dB (green), -115.50 dB (pink), and -117.13 dB (olive green). The bars indicating the interference caused by Site17_1 and Site15_1 are only partially filled. The entire bar indicates the interference that could potentially be caused by the transmitter whereas the filled part of the bar indicates the actual interference caused. A transmitter’s actual interference can be lower than its potential interference: • • •

If it uses synthesised frequency hopping mode (reduction due to fractional load) If it uses adjacent channels (reduction due to adjacent channel protection) If the subcell it is modelling is a TRX_INNER subcell (reduction due to lower offset).

In the map window, arrows from the receiver to each transmitter are displayed in the colour of the transmitters they represent. The interference levels at the receiver from transmitters are displayed as captions for these arrows. If you let the pointer rest on an arrow, the interference level received from the corresponding transmitter at the receiver location will be displayed in the tip text along with information on the channel being interfered and the type of interference, i.e., co-channel or adjacent channel interference. 4. You can change the following options at the top of the Interference view: • • • •

Transmitter: Select the transmitter from the list. The transmitters in the list are sorted in the order of decreasing signal level received at the pointer location. Subcell: Select the subcell type (or ALL) to be analysed. TRX: Select whether you want the interference to be studied on a specific item (channel, MAL or MAL-MAIO according to the hopping mode) or the most interfered item. Interference: Select whether the interference should be calculated from adjacent channels, co-channels, or from both. Inter-technology interference is taken into account by default. For more information, see "Modelling Inter-technology Interference" on page 624. By adding an option in the Atoll.ini file, you can add an Inter-technology check box which will allow you to consider or not inter-technology interference.

•

Interference Method: Select whether the interference is calculated by C⁄I or by C⁄(I+N).

5. Click the Options button ( • • • •

) to display the Calculation Options dialog box and change the following:

Change the X and Y coordinates to change the present position of the receiver. Select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a Cell Edge Coverage Probability. For more information, see "Modelling Shadowing" on page 506. Select Signal Level, Path loss, or Total losses from the Result Type list. You can select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. For more information, see "Taking Indoor Losses into Account" on page 203.

6. In the Interference view toolbar, you can use the following tools: •

Click the Copy button ( processing programme.

) to copy the content of the view and paste it as a graphic into a graphic editing or word-

• •

Click the Print button ( ) to print the content of the view. Click the Centre on Map button ( ) to centre the map window on the receiver.

7. Select the Details view. The Details tab displays the current position and height of the receiver, the clutter class it is situated on, and for each transmitter, its signal level, the total level of interferences (I) over its subcells, the elementary level of DL interference of each interferer, and the resulting total DL C/I (or C/I+N). In the map window, arrows from the receiver to each transmitter are displayed in the colour of the transmitters they represent. The interference levels at the receiver from transmitters are displayed as captions for these arrows. A thick black line from the pointer to its best server is also displayed in the map window. The best server of the pointer is the transmitter from which the pointer receives the highest signal level. If you let the pointer rest on an arrow, the interference level received from the corresponding transmitter at the receiver location will be displayed in the tip text

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along with information on the channel being interfered and the type of interference, i.e., co-channel or adjacent channel. 8. You can change the following options at the top of the Details tab: • •

HCS Layer: Select the HCS layer to be analysed. Interference: Select whether the interference should be calculated from adjacent channels, co-channels, or from both. Inter-technology interference is taken into account by default. For more information, see "Modelling Inter-technology Interference" on page 624. By adding an option in the Atoll.ini file, you can add an Inter-technology check box allowing you to include or not such interference.

•

Interference Method: Select whether the interference is calculated by C⁄I or by C⁄(I+N). Thermal noise is taken into account in the second method only.

For each transmitter, you can display the interference on each subcell or on the most interfered one. You can click the Expand button ( ) of each transmitter order to expand the list of all its interferers and their individual I and C/I levels.

7.6.2.5 Example of Analysing Interference Using a Point Analysis When you use the Point Analysis to study the interferers of a transmitter, the Interference view displays, in the form of a bar graph, the signal level of the selected transmitter, a black bar indicating the total interference experienced by the receiver, and bars representing the signal levels from each interferer contributing to total interference. The bars representing the signal level of the transmitter or of the interferers consist of two parts: a solid part which indicates the received signal or interference, and an outlined part which indicates the amount of signal or interference reduction. The signal level of the transmitter can be reduced due to subcell power reduction. For each interferer, interference can be reduced: • • •

If it uses synthesised frequency hopping mode (reduction due to fractional load) If it uses adjacent channels (reduction due to adjacent channel protection) If the subcell it is modelling is a TRX_INNER subcell (reduction due to lower offset).

In this example, the studied transmitter is Site10_3. Potential interference from all interferers (both co-channel and adjacent channel) received on all its TRXs is studied; in other words, the worst case is studied. The requested cell edge coverage probability is 75%. As with interfered zones coverage predictions and coverage predictions by C⁄I levels, Atoll analyses the most interfered channel of the studied transmitter if it is using non-hopping model.

Figure 7.86: Point Analysis Tool - Interference view The transmitters in this example are the following: • • • • • •

BRU038_G2 has two subcells: one of TRX type BCCH and one of TRX type TCH. Neither has a power reduction defined. Channel 17 is assigned to the TCH TRX. BRU099_G1 has two subcells: one of TRX type BCCH and one of TRX type TCH. Neither has a power reduction defined. Channel 17 is assigned to the TCH TRX. BRU005_G1 has two subcells: one of TRX type BCCH and one of TRX type TCH. Neither has a power reduction defined. Channel 16 is assigned to the BCCH TRX. BRU063_G1 has two subcells: one of TRX type BCCH and one of TRX type TCH. Neither has a power reduction defined. Channel 17 is assigned to the BCCH TRX. BRU096_G3 has two subcells: one of TRX type BCCH and one of TRX type TCH. Neither has a power reduction defined. Channel 17 is assigned to the BCCH TRX. BRU061_G3 has two subcells: one of TRX type BCCH and one of TRX type TCH. Neither has a power reduction defined. Channel 17 is assigned to the BCCH TRX.

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BRU094_G3 has two subcells: one of TRX type BCCH and one of TRX type TCH. Neither has a power reduction defined. Channel 17 is assigned to the TCH TRX. BRU065_G3 has two subcells: one of TRX type BCCH and one of TRX type TCH. Neither has a power reduction defined. Channel 18 is assigned to the TCH TRX. BRU006_G3 has two subcells: one of TRX type BCCH and one of TRX type TCH. Neither has a power reduction defined. Channel 16 is assigned to the TCH TRX. Non-hopping mode is assigned to the all the subcells, whatever the TRX type is (BCCH or TCH).

The Point Analysis gives the following results: •

•

•

The signal level of the transmitter BRU038_G2 is -81.33 dBm and is indicated by a light green bar. It could have been -75.94 dB, but was decreased by 5.39 dB due to the shadowing margin. Only the signal level (C) is reduced by the shadowing margin (as calculated by the cell edge coverage probability and the C⁄I standard deviation defined per clutter class). The interference level (I) is not affected by the shadowing margin. The black bar indicates the total interference experienced by the receiver (-84.74 dB). Atoll calculates the interference level by considering 100% of the voice activity factor and traffic load. Neither DTX, nor the traffic load of TRXs are taken into account in evaluating the interference levels. The eight interferers are responsible for -86.56 dB (Dark Blue), -93.94 dB (Green), -95.13 dB (Cyan), -96.44 dB (Light Green), -101.56 dB (Orange), -103.13 dB (Yellow), -107.06 dB (Yellow) and -109.19 dB (Green). The bars indicating the interference caused by BRU005_G1, BRU065_G3 and BRU006_G3 are only partially filled. An entire bar indicates the interference that could potentially be caused by the transmitter whereas a filled part of the bar indicates the actual interference caused. Intra-technology third order intermodulation interference can also be optionally displayed. This option requires activation through changes in the database. When available, the intra-technology third order intermodulation interference level is displayed as a bar with the title format "Interferer Name: I3 (first channel, second channel)". For more information on how to activate this option, contact support.

At the top of the Interference view, the name of the most interfered channel on BRU038_G2 is channel 17 and the C/I received is 3.41 dB. An analysis of the interferers gives the following information: •

•

The bars representing BRU099_G1, BRU063_G1, BRU096_G3, BRU061_G3 and BRU094_G3 are full. On two out of five transmitters, channel 17 is assigned to the TCH TRX of the transmitter. For the other three transmitters, channel 17 is assigned to the BCCH TRX. They are, therefore, co-channel interferers. No power reduction is defined, therefore the interference is not reduced. The bars representing BRU065_G3, BRU006_G3 and BRU005_G1 are partly full. The bars are only partly full because the interference is reduced: on these transmitters, channel 17 is not assigned; channel 16 is assigned to the BCCH TRX of BRU005_G1 and to the TCH TRX of BRU006_G3. In addition, channel 18 is assigned to the TCH TRX of BRU065_G3. They are, therefore, adjacent channel interferers and their interference is reduced by the adjacent channel protection level of 18 dB (the default value defined in the GSM Network Settings properties). No power reduction is defined for this subcell. If a power reduction of 3 dB had been defined for this subcell, the interference would have been reduced by an additional 3 dB. A fractional load might be another reason for reduced interference.

7.6.3 Packet-Specific Coverage Predictions The packet-specific coverage predictions described in this section can use an existing frequency plan. If you have not yet allocated frequencies, you can do so before carrying out any of the coverage predictions described in this section. For information on creating a frequency plan, see "Allocating Frequencies, BSICs, HSNs, MALs, MAIOs" on page 340. The coverage predictions described in this section can only be made on transmitters that are packet-capable, in other words, GPRS or EDGE-capable transmitters. For information on defining packet capabilities on a transmitter, see "Creating or Modifying a Transmitter" on page 289. Each of the packet-specific coverage predictions described in this section can be carried out based on a fixed noise value or based on the settings for a particular terminal as well as the settings for a particular mobility. For information on defining a terminal, see "Modelling Terminals" on page 249. For information on defining a mobility, see "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 247. The following packet-specific coverage predictions are explained in this section: • • •

"Making a Coverage Prediction by GPRS/EDGE Coding Schemes" on page 442 "Making a Coverage Prediction by Packet Throughput" on page 445 "Making a BLER Coverage Prediction" on page 449

7.6.3.1 Making a Coverage Prediction by GPRS/EDGE Coding Schemes In Atoll, you can make a coverage prediction of the GPRS/EDGE coding schemes, whether channels have been allocated or not. If you have not yet allocated frequencies, you can do so before carrying out the coverage prediction described in this section. For information on creating a frequency plan, see "Allocating Frequencies, BSICs, HSNs, MALs, MAIOs" on page 340.

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You can make a coverage prediction of the coding schemes for either GPRS, for EDGE, or for both. The choice of coding scheme is based on the DL radio conditions (C, C and C/I, or C/N, C/N and C/(I+N)). Therefore, the better the values for C and C⁄I are, the higher the throughput of the selected coding scheme will be. As well, you can restrict the coverage prediction to a selected terminal or mobility or to a combination of terminal and mobility. When you restrict the coverage prediction to a selected terminal, Atoll bases the coverage prediction on the C and C⁄I graphs for the selected terminal, as well as on its noise figure. As well, Atoll respects the terminal’s defined coding scheme limit. When you select a mobility, Atoll considers which transmitters have the coding scheme configuration that can support the selected mobility and the coding scheme threshold for that mobility. For information on defining a terminal, see "Modelling Terminals" on page 249. A coverage prediction by coding schemes enables you to determine the coding scheme assigned to transmitters sharing either an identical channel or an adjacent channel with other transmitters. Coding schemes are assigned according to the DL radio condition (i.e., C, C and C/I, with or without thermal noise) and optionally according to a specific hopping mode, frequency band, mobility type and MAL (See "Creating or Modifying a Coding Scheme Configuration" on page 496 for more information). To make a coverage prediction by GPRS/EDGE coding schemes: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Predictions folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 4. Select Coverage by GPRS/EDGE Coding Scheme (DL) and click OK. 5. Click the General tab. On this tab, you can change the Name of the prediction, the Resolution, and add Comments. The Receiver height corresponds to the height of the receiver defined in the Calculation Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box. A read-only Unique ID is generated when you create a new coverage prediction. This ID can later be found between the "" and "" tags in the following files: •

".XML" file (one per prediction) created in the following folder for coverage predictions calculated by value intervals with relevant Field settings: C:\\.studies\{}. For more information, see "External Storage of Coverage Prediction Numerical Results" on page 208.

•

"studies.XML" file created in the installation folder if at least one coverage prediction is saved using the Save as Customised Prediction command.

Under Display Configuration, you can create a Filter to select which sites to display in the results. You can also display the results grouped in the Network explorer by one or more characteristics by clicking the Group By button, or you can display the results sorted by clicking the Sort button. For information on filtering, see "Filtering Data" on page 99; for information on grouping, see "Advanced Grouping of Data Objects" on page 96; for information on sorting, see "Advanced Sorting" on page 98. 6. Click the Conditions tab. On this tab, you can define the signals that will be considered for each pixel.

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Figure 7.87: Condition settings for a coverage prediction by GPRS/EDGE coding scheme 7. Under Coverage Conditions, set the following parameters: •

• •

•

Under Server, select "HCS servers" to take the best signal level by HCS layer on each pixel into consideration, assuming this signal level on each layer exceeds the minimum HCS threshold defined either at the HCS layer level or specifically for each transmitter (for more information, see "Comparing Service Areas in Calculations" on page 484). Enter an Overlap margin. The default value is "4 dB." If you select the Shadowing Taken into Account check box, you can change the Cell Edge Coverage Probability. Shadowing margins (depending on the entered cell edge coverage probability and the C⁄I standard deviation per clutter class) are applied only to the values for C. Shadowing margins are not taken into account in determining the values for interference. For more information, see "Modelling Shadowing" on page 506. You can select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

8. Under Interference Condition, you can define how Atoll will calculate interference for the GPRS/EDGE coding scheme coverage prediction. If, under GPRS/EDGE, you select C and not C⁄I for the coverage prediction, the only option you need to select under Interference Condition is the TRX type to consider from the TRXs list. You can select the following parameters: • •

•

You can select which TRX type to consider as potential victim by selecting it from the Interfered Subcells list. If you want discontinuous transmission mode for TRXs which support it taken into account, select the DTX taken into account check box and enter the percentage of time during which a user is talking in the Voice Activity Factor text box. Select the Traffic Load that will be used to calculate interference: • •

•

444

100%: The maximum traffic load (subcells entirely loaded). From subcell table: The subcell traffic load as defined or as calculated during dimensioning.

From the Interference Sources list, select whether the interference should be calculated from adjacent channels, co-channels, or from both. The adjacent channel effect on the victim channel, i.e., the interference, is decreased by the adjacent channel protection level.

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Inter-technology interference is taken into account by default. For more information, see "Modelling Inter-technology Interference" on page 624. By adding an option in the Atoll.ini file, you can add an Inter-technology check box which will allow you to consider or not inter-technology interference. •

Select the Detailed Results check box if you want to display detailed results per transmitter. The results displayed depend on the subcell frequency hopping mode: • • •

Non-Hopping Mode: The results are displayed for one channel of each TRX in non-hopping mode. Base Band Hopping Mode: The results are displayed for the MAL of each subcell in base band hopping mode. Synthesised Frequency Hopping Mode: The results are displayed for the MAL-MAIO of each subcell in synthesised frequency hopping mode.

9. Under GPRS/EDGE, set the following parameters: •

From the Coding Schemes list, select the technology on which the coding scheme calculation will be based: • • •

• •

•

• • •

All: If you select All, both GPRS coding schemes and EDGE coding schemes will be used. GPRS: If you select GPRS, only GPRS coding schemes will be used. EDGE: If you select EDGE, only EDGE coding schemes will be used. Depending on the selected GPRS/EDGE configurations, EDGE coding schemes can be of the type EGPRS (Standard EDGE) or EGPRS2 (EDGE Evolution).

Select whether you want to base the coverage prediction on C or C and C⁄I. If you select C, the only option you need to select under Interference Condition is the TRX type to consider from the TRXs list. If desired, select which Terminal you want to base the coding scheme coverage prediction on. When you restrict the coverage prediction to a selected terminal, Atoll bases the coverage prediction on the C and C⁄I graphs for the selected terminal, as well as on its noise figure. As well, Atoll respects the terminal’s defined coding scheme limit. If desired, select which Mobility you want to base the coding scheme coverage prediction on. When you select a mobility, Atoll considers which transmitters have the coding scheme configuration that can support the selected mobility and relative threshold. Enter a Noise Figure. By default, a noise figure of 8 dB is used if no terminal is selected. Select the Thermal Noise Taken into Account check box if you want Atoll to consider thermal noise. Select the Ideal Link Adaptation check box if you want the coding scheme that offers the highest throughput to be selected. Otherwise, Atoll will choose the coding scheme according to signal level and quality.

10. Click the Display tab. For a coverage prediction by coding schemes, the Display Type "Discrete Values" based on the Field "Coding Schemes" is selected by default. If desired, you can base the display in "Value Intervals" the Field "Best Coding Schemes," in which case, Atoll displays the best coding scheme for each pixel. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. When creating a coverage prediction by discrete values, you can not export the values per pixel.

11. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

7.6.3.2 Making a Coverage Prediction by Packet Throughput In Atoll, you can make a coverage prediction of the packet throughput or quality, whether channels have been allocated or not. If you have not yet allocated frequencies, you can do so before carrying out the coverage prediction described in this section. For information on creating a frequency plan, see "Allocating Frequencies, BSICs, HSNs, MALs, MAIOs" on page 340. You can calculate the following types of predictions using the Packet Quality and Throughput Analysis (DL) prediction: •

•

RLC throughput per timeslot: Based on the coding scheme determined on each pixel (see "Making a Coverage Prediction by GPRS/EDGE Coding Schemes" on page 442) and the calculated quality, Atoll extracts the RLC throughput per timeslot as defined in the coding scheme configuration assigned to transmitters. Application throughput per timeslot for a selected service: Using the RLC throughput per timeslot and the application throughput parameters (scaling factor and offset) defined for the selected service (see "Modelling Services" on page 241), Atoll evaluates the throughput per timeslot on the application layer.

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•

•

•

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Effective RLC Throughput for a selected service-terminal pair: Using the RLC throughput per timeslot, Atoll can evaluate a maximum throughput for a selected terminal, assuming that the terminal uses several timeslots to transmit the packet-switched data. The number of timeslots used by the terminal is given by the product of the number of DL timeslots per carrier and the number of simultaneous carriers (for EDGE evolution terminals) as defined in the terminal properties (see "Modelling Terminals" on page 249). For example, for an EDGE evolution terminal using 4 DL timeslots on a carrier and 2 simultaneous carriers, the maximum throughput will be 8 times the corresponding RLC throughput per timeslot. In addition, the number of timeslots per carrier defined in the terminal can be limited by the maximum number of timeslots permitted for the considered service (see "Modelling Services" on page 241). Application Throughput for a selected service-terminal pair: Using the application throughput per timeslot for a selected service, Atoll can evaluate a maximum throughput for a selected terminal, assuming that the terminal uses several timeslots to transmit the packet-switched data. The number of timeslots used by the terminal is given by the product of the number of DL timeslots per carrier and the number of simultaneous carriers (for EDGE evolution terminals) as defined in the terminal properties (see "Modelling Terminals" on page 249). For example, for an EDGE evolution terminal using 4 DL timeslots on a carrier and 2 simultaneous carriers, the maximum throughput will be 8 times the corresponding application throughput per timeslot. In addition, the number of timeslots per carrier defined in the terminal can be limited by the maximum number of timeslots permitted for the considered service (see "Modelling Services" on page 241). Application throughput per User for a selected service-terminal pair and considering the reduction factor obtained from a selected dimensioning model: Using the maximum throughput for a selected service terminal, Atoll can evaluate an end-user throughput by applying a reduction factor expressing the actual capacity of the serving transmitter and its occupancy to the maximum throughput. The reduction factor is obtained from the dimensioning model graphs (see "Defining a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Dimensioning Model" on page 330) and is the function of the number of available connections and the subcell traffic load. The number of connections is the ratio between the number of available packet timeslots (the sum of dedicated packet-switched and shared timeslots) and the number of terminal timeslots (as seen above).

You can make a throughput coverage prediction for either GPRS, for EDGE, or for both. As well, you can restrict the coverage prediction to a selected terminal or mobility or to a combination of terminal and mobility. When you restrict the coverage prediction to a selected terminal, Atoll bases the coverage prediction on the C and C⁄I graphs for the selected terminal. As well, Atoll respects the terminal’s defined coding scheme limit. When you select a mobility, Atoll considers which transmitters have the coding scheme configuration that can support the selected mobility. Atoll can use the noise figure defined for the selected terminal or a user-defined noise figure if no terminal is selected or if the calculations are based on an interpolation of the values for C⁄I and C⁄(I+N). For information on defining a terminal, see "Modelling Terminals" on page 249. To make a coverage prediction by packet throughput per timeslot: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Predictions folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 4. Select Packet Quality and Throughput Analysis (DL) and click OK. 5. Click the General tab. On this tab, you can change the Name of the prediction, the Resolution, and add Comments. The Receiver height corresponds to the height of the receiver defined in the Calculation Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box. A read-only Unique ID is generated when you create a new coverage prediction. This ID can later be found between the "" and "" tags in the following files: •

".XML" file (one per prediction) created in the following folder for coverage predictions calculated by value intervals with relevant Field settings: C:\\.studies\{}. For more information, see "External Storage of Coverage Prediction Numerical Results" on page 208.

•

"studies.XML" file created in the installation folder if at least one coverage prediction is saved using the Save as Customised Prediction command.

Under Display Configuration, you can create a Filter to select which sites to display in the results. You can also display the results grouped in the Network explorer by one or more characteristics by clicking the Group By button, or you can display the results sorted by clicking the Sort button. For information on filtering, see "Filtering Data" on page 99; for information on grouping, see "Advanced Grouping of Data Objects" on page 96; for information on sorting, see "Advanced Sorting" on page 98. 6. Click the Conditions tab. On this tab, you can define the signals that will be considered for each pixel.

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Figure 7.88: Condition settings for a Packet Throughput coverage prediction 7. Under Coverage Conditions, set the following parameters: •

• •

• •

Under Server, select "HCS servers" to take the best signal level by HCS layer on each pixel into consideration, assuming the signal level on each layer exceeds the minimum HCS threshold defined either at the HCS layer level or specifically for each transmitter (for more information, see "Comparing Service Areas in Calculations" on page 484). Enter an Overlap margin. The default value is "4 dB." If you select the Shadowing Taken into Account check box, you can change the Cell Edge Coverage Probability. Shadowing margins (depending on the entered cell edge coverage probability and the C⁄I standard deviation per clutter class) are applied only to the values for C. Shadowing margins are not taken into account in determining the values for interference. For more information, see "Modelling Shadowing" on page 506. You can select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. Select the Detailed Results check box if you want to display detailed results per transmitter. The results displayed depend on the subcell frequency hopping mode: • • •

Non-Hopping Mode: The results are displayed for one channel of each TRX in non-hopping mode. Base Band Hopping Mode: The results are displayed for the MAL of each subcell in base band hopping mode. Synthesised Frequency Hopping Mode: The results are displayed for the MAL-MAIO of each subcell in synthesised frequency hopping mode.

8. Under Interference Condition, you can define how Atoll will evaluate interference for the coding scheme and consequently the throughputs. If, under GPRS/EDGE, you select Based on C for the coverage prediction, the only option you need to select under Interference Condition is the TRX type to consider from the TRXs list. You can select the following parameters: • •

•

You can select which TRX type to consider as potential victim by selecting it from the Interfered Subcells list. If you want discontinuous transmission mode for TRXs which support it taken into account, select the DTX taken into account check box and enter the percentage of time during which a user is talking in the Voice Activity Factor text box. Select the Traffic Load that will be used to calculate interference: •

100%: The maximum traffic load (subcells entirely loaded).

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• •

© 2016 Forsk. All Rights Reserved.

From subcell table: The subcell traffic load as defined or as calculated during dimensioning.

From the Interference Sources list, select whether the interference should be calculated from adjacent channels, co-channels, or from both. The adjacent channel effect on the victim channel, i.e., the interference, is decreased by the adjacent channel protection level. Inter-technology interference is taken into account by default. For more information, see "Modelling Inter-technology Interference" on page 624. By adding an option in the Atoll.ini file, you can add an Inter-technology check box which will allow you to consider or not inter-technology interference.

9. Under GPRS/EDGE, set the following parameters: •

From the Coding Schemes list, select the technology for which the packet throughput per timeslot calculation will be calculated: • • •

•

•

•

• • •

•

All: If you select All both GPRS coding schemes and EDGE coding schemes will be used. GPRS: If you select GPRS only GPRS coding schemes will be used. EDGE: If you select EDGE only EDGE coding schemes will be used. Depending on the selected GPRS/EDGE configurations, EDGE coding schemes can be of the type EGPRS (Standard EDGE) or EGPRS2 (EDGE Evolution).

Select Based on C if you want to base the coverage prediction on C. If you select Based on C, the only option you need to select under Interference Condition is the TRX type to consider from the TRXs list. Otherwise, select Based on C⁄I. If desired, select which Terminal you want to base the coverage prediction on. When you restrict the coverage prediction to a selected terminal, Atoll bases the coverage prediction on the C and C⁄I graphs for the selected terminal. As well, Atoll respects the terminal’s defined coding scheme limit and noise figure. Selecting a terminal is obligatory if you are making a maximum or user throughput coverage prediction because it is necessary to know the number terminal timeslots. If desired, select which Mobility you want to base the coding scheme coverage prediction on. When you select a mobility, Atoll considers which transmitters have the coding scheme configuration that can support the selected mobility. Enter a Noise Figure. By default, the noise figure is 8 dB. Select the Thermal Noise Taken into Account check box if you want Atoll to consider thermal noise. If you want to display either an application throughput/timeslot coverage prediction, or a maximum or an enduser throughput coverage prediction, select the service from which the application throughput parameters will be extracted. Select the Ideal Link Adaptation check box if you want the coding scheme that offers the highest throughput per timeslot for a given C or C and C⁄I to be selected. Otherwise, Atoll will choose the coding scheme by considering only the coding scheme admission threshold in terms of C and/or C⁄I.

10. Under Application Throughput per User, select the dimensioning model from which the load reduction factor can be extracted in order to display an end-user throughput prediction. 11. Click the Display tab. For a coverage prediction by packet throughput, the Display Type "Value Intervals" based on the Field "Effective RLC Throughput/Timeslot" is selected by default. If desired, you can change the values displayed by selecting one of the following values from the Field list: • • •

• • •

•

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Effective RLC Throughput/Timeslot: Each layer shows the Effective RLC Throughput/Timeslot that a transmitter can carry on one timeslot per pixel. Max Effective RLC Throughput/Timeslot: The resulting coverage provides the maximal Effective RLC Throughput/ Timeslot on each pixel from the previous display. Average Effective RLC Throughput/Timeslot: Gives the average Effective RLC Throughput/Timeslot that the transmitter can carry on one timeslot averaged on each pixel. If there are different coverage areas for different TRXs, this coverage prediction will calculate the union of these coverages and display the average values over these coverage areas, whereas the other coverage predictions for Effective RLC Throughput/Timeslot perform an intersection of these coverage zones, keeping the minimum value of throughput per pixel. Application Throughput/Timeslot: Each layer shows the application throughput/timeslot that a transmitter can carry on one timeslot for a particular service per pixel. Max Application Throughput/Timeslot: The resulting coverage provides the maximal application throughput/ timeslot on each pixel for a particular service provided by a specific terminal from the previous display. Average Application Throughput/Timeslot: The average application throughput/timeslot that the transmitter can carry on one timeslot averaged on each pixel for a particular service. If there are different coverage areas for different TRXs, this coverage prediction will calculate the union of these coverages and display the average values over these coverage areas, whereas the other coverage predictions for application throughput/timeslot perform an intersection of these coverage zones, keeping the minimum value of throughput per pixel. Effective RLC Throughput: Each layer shows the max RLC throughput that a transmitter can provide to a selected terminal per pixel.

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• •

• • •

• • •

Max Effective RLC Throughput: The resulting coverage provides the maximal RLC throughput on each pixel from the previous display. Average Effective RLC Throughput: Gives the average RLC throughput that a transmitter can provide to a selected terminal averaged on each pixel. If there are different coverage areas for different TRXs, this coverage prediction will calculate the union of these coverages and display the average values over these coverage areas, whereas the other coverage predictions for max RLC throughput perform an intersection of these coverage zones, keeping the minimum value of throughput per pixel. Application Throughput: Each layer shows the throughput that a transmitter can provide to a selected terminal per pixel. Max Application Throughput: The resulting coverage gives the maximal throughput on each from the previous display. Average Application Throughput: Gives the average throughput that the transmitter can provide to a selected terminal averaged on each pixel. If there are different coverage areas for different TRXs, this coverage prediction will calculate the union of these coverages and display the average values over these coverage areas, whereas the other coverage predictions for throughput perform an intersection over these coverage zones keeping the minimum value of throughput per pixel. Application Throughput per User: Each layer shows the throughput that a transmitter can provide to a user on a pixel, considering load reduction factors. Max Application Throughput per User: The resulting coverage gives the maximal user application throughput on each pixel from the previous display. Average Application Throughput per User: The average throughput that the transmitter can provide to a user averaged on each pixel. If there are different coverage areas for different TRXs, this coverage prediction will calculate the union of these coverages and display the average values over these coverage areas, whereas the other coverages for throughput perform an intersection over these coverage zones, keeping the minimum value of throughput per pixel.

For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 12. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

7.6.3.3 Making a BLER Coverage Prediction In Atoll, you can make a coverage prediction of the block error rate (BLER) measured per transmitter, whether channels have been allocated or not. If you have not yet allocated frequencies, you can do so before carrying out the coverage prediction described in this section. For information on creating a frequency plan, see "Allocating Frequencies, BSICs, HSNs, MALs, MAIOs" on page 340. The BLER is determined after Atoll determines which coding scheme is to be selected for a given C or C and C⁄I. When the coding scheme has been determined, 1 - BLER represents the efficiency factor applied to the maximum throughput of the coding scheme to obtain the served throughput. The BLER can be determined for each pixel. You can make a BLER coverage prediction for either GPRS, for EDGE, or for both. As well, you can restrict the coverage prediction to a selected terminal or mobility or to a combination of terminal and mobility. When you restrict the coverage prediction to a selected terminal, Atoll bases the coverage prediction on the C and C⁄I graphs for the selected terminal. As well, Atoll respects the terminal’s defined coding scheme limit. When you select a mobility, Atoll considers which transmitters have the coding scheme configuration that can support the selected mobility. Atoll can use the noise figure defined for the selected terminal or a user-defined noise figure if no terminal is selected or if the calculations are based on an interpolation of the values for C⁄I and C⁄(I+N). For information on defining a terminal, see "Modelling Terminals" on page 249. To make a BLER coverage prediction: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Predictions folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 4. Select Packet Quality and Throughput Analysis (DL) and click OK. 5. Click the General tab. On this tab, you can change the Name of the prediction, the Resolution, and add Comments. The Receiver height corresponds to the height of the receiver defined in the Calculation Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box.

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A read-only Unique ID is generated when you create a new coverage prediction. This ID can later be found between the "" and "" tags in the following files: •

".XML" file (one per prediction) created in the following folder for coverage predictions calculated by value intervals with relevant Field settings: C:\\.studies\{}. For more information, see "External Storage of Coverage Prediction Numerical Results" on page 208.

•

"studies.XML" file created in the installation folder if at least one coverage prediction is saved using the Save as Customised Prediction command.

Under Display Configuration, you can create a Filter to select which sites to display in the results. For information on filtering, see "Filtering Data" on page 99. 6. Click the Conditions tab. On this tab, you can define the signals that will be considered for each pixel.

Figure 7.89: Condition settings for a BLER coverage prediction 7. Under Coverage Conditions, set the following parameters: •

• •

• •

Under Server, select "HCS servers" to take the best signal level by HCS layer on each pixel into consideration, assuming this signal level on each layer exceeds the minimum HCS threshold defined either at the HCS layer level or specifically for each transmitter (for more information, see "Comparing Service Areas in Calculations" on page 484). Enter an Overlap margin. The default value is "4 dB." If you select the Shadowing Taken into Account check box, you can change the Cell Edge Coverage Probability. Shadowing margins (depending on the entered cell edge coverage probability and the model standard deviation per clutter class) are applied to the values for C. For more information, see "Modelling Shadowing" on page 506. You can select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. Select the Detailed Results check box if you want to display detailed results per transmitter. The results displayed depend on the subcell frequency hopping mode: • • •

Non-Hopping Mode: The results are displayed for one channel of each TRX in non-hopping mode. Base Band Hopping Mode: The results are displayed for the MAL of each subcell in base band hopping mode. Synthesised Frequency Hopping Mode: The results are displayed for the MAL-MAIO of each subcell in synthesised frequency hopping mode.

8. Under Interference Conditions, you can define how Atoll will calculate C⁄I for the BLER coverage prediction.

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You can select the following parameters: • •

•

You can select which TRX type to consider as potential victim by selecting it from the Interfered Subcells list. If you want discontinuous transmission mode for TRXs which support it taken into account, select the DTX taken into account check box and enter the percentage of time during which a user is talking in the Voice Activity Factor text box. Select the Traffic Load that will be used to calculate interference: • •

•

100%: The maximum traffic load (subcells entirely loaded). From subcell table: The subcell traffic load as defined or as calculated during dimensioning.

From the Interference sources list, select whether the interference should be calculated from adjacent channels, co-channels, or from both. The adjacent channel effect on the victim channel, i.e., the interference, is decreased by the adjacent channel protection level. • •

If the coverage prediction is set to be Based on C (under GPRS/EDGE), you can only select the Interfered sources and the TRX type to consider (Interfered subcells). Inter-technology interference is taken into account by default. For more information, see "Modelling Inter-technology Interference" on page 507. By adding an option in the Atoll.ini file, you can add an Inter-technology check box which will allow you to consider or not inter-technology interference.

9. Under GPRS/EDGE, set the following parameters: •

From the Coding Schemes list, select the technology for which the packet throughput per timeslot calculation will be calculated: • • •

•

•

•

• • •

All: If you select All both GPRS coding schemes and EDGE coding schemes will be used. GPRS: If you select GPRS only GPRS coding schemes will be used. EDGE: If you select EDGE only EDGE coding schemes will be used. Depending on the selected GPRS/EDGE configurations, EDGE coding schemes can be of the type EGPRS (Standard EDGE) or EGPRS2 (EDGE Evolution).

Select Based on C if you want to base the coverage prediction on C. If you select Based on C, the only option you need to select under Interference Condition is the TRX type to consider from the TRXs list. Otherwise, select Based on C⁄I. If desired, select which Terminal you want to base the coverage prediction on. When you restrict the coverage prediction to a selected terminal, Atoll bases the coverage prediction on the C and C⁄I graphs for the selected terminal, as well as on its noise figure. As well, Atoll respects the terminal’s defined coding scheme limit. If desired, select which Mobility you want to base the coding scheme coverage prediction on. When you select a mobility, Atoll considers which transmitters have the coding scheme configuration that can support the selected mobility and relative threshold. Enter a Noise Figure. By default, a noise figure of 8 dB is used if no terminal is selected. Select the Thermal Noise Taken into Account check box if you want Atoll to consider thermal noise. Select the Ideal Link Adaptation check box if you want the coding scheme that offers the highest throughput to be selected. Otherwise, Atoll will chose the coding scheme according to signal level and quality.

10. Click the Display tab. For a BLER coverage prediction, the Display Type "Value Intervals" is selected by default. Select one of the following values from the Field list: • •

BLER (%): The coverage is coloured according to the block error rate measured per transmitter. If the throughput per timeslot is greater than the maximum throughput per timeslot, the BLER is 0%. Max BLER: Gives the coverage according to the maximum block error rate per pixel for each transmitter.

For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 11. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

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7.6.4 Making a Circuit Quality Indicator (BER, FER, or MOS) Prediction In Atoll, you can make a circuit quality indicator coverage prediction based on the bit error rate (BER), the frame erasure rate (FER), or the mean opinion score (MOS). The circuit quality indicator coverage predictions refer to the codec configuration assigned to a transmitter or, optionally, to a terminal. For information on using codec configuration in transmitters and terminals, see "Using Codec Configurations in Transmitters and Terminals" on page 495. The circuit quality indicator coverage prediction can use an existing frequency plan. If you have not yet allocated frequencies, you can do so before carrying out any of the coverage predictions described in this section. For information on creating a frequency plan, see "Allocating Frequencies, BSICs, HSNs, MALs, MAIOs" on page 340. Each of the circuit-specific predictions described in this section can be carried out based on a fixed noise value or based on the settings for a particular terminal as well as the settings for a particular mobility. For information on defining a terminal, see "Modelling Terminals" on page 249. For information on defining a mobility, see "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 247. The circuit quality indicator coverage prediction displays the areas where the selected circuit quality indicator (BER, FER, or MOS) for the transmitter satisfies the user-defined criteria. The quality indicator is calculated using C⁄N or C⁄N and C⁄(I+N) and the adaptation or quality thresholds defined for the codec configuration on each transmitter. Transmitters that have no codec configuration defined are not taken into consideration in this coverage prediction. If a transmitter has a codec configuration, Atoll proceeds as follows: • •

If a terminal type is not defined or does not have codec configuration assigned, Atoll considers the codec configuration assigned to the transmitter only. If the terminal and the transmitter have different codec configuration, Atoll determines the intersection of the codec modes contained in the transmitter and terminal codec configuration. The codec mode is then selected according to the calculated C⁄N or C⁄N and C⁄I + N on and optionally according to a specific hopping mode, frequency band, mobility type and MAL (See "Creating or Modifying Codec Configuration" on page 493 for more information) each pixel. For a given quality or a given codec mode, look-up tables defined in codec configuration provide the circuit quality indicator (BER, FER, or MOS) displayed as a result.

The quality indicator used for ideal link adaptation is determined by the codec configuration assigned to the transmitters. To make a circuit quality indicator coverage prediction: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Predictions folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 4. Select Circuit Quality Indicator Analysis (DL) and click OK. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 5. Click the General tab. On this tab, you can change the Name of the prediction, the Resolution, and add Comments. The Receiver height corresponds to the height of the receiver defined in the Calculation Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box. A read-only Unique ID is generated when you create a new coverage prediction. This ID can later be found between the "" and "" tags in the following files: •

".XML" file (one per prediction) created in the following folder for coverage predictions calculated by value intervals with relevant Field settings: C:\\.studies\{}. For more information, see "External Storage of Coverage Prediction Numerical Results" on page 208.

•

"studies.XML" file created in the installation folder if at least one coverage prediction is saved using the Save as Customised Prediction command.

Under Display Configuration, you can create a Filter to select which sites to display in the results. For information on filtering, see "Filtering Data" on page 99. 6. Click the Conditions tab. On this tab, you can define the signals that will be considered for each pixel.

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Figure 7.90: Condition settings for a Circuit Quality Indicator Analysis (DL) prediction 7. Under Coverage Conditions, set the following parameters: •

• •

• •

Under Server, select "HCS servers" to take the best signal level by HCS layer on each pixel into consideration, assuming this signal level on each layer exceeds the minimum HCS threshold defined either at the HCS layer level or specifically for each transmitter (for more information, see "Comparing Service Areas in Calculations" on page 484). Enter an Overlap margin. The default value is "4 dB." If you select the Shadowing Taken into Account check box, you can change the Cell Edge Coverage Probability. Shadowing margins (depending on the entered cell edge coverage probability and the model standard deviation per clutter class) are applied to the values for C. For more information, see "Modelling Shadowing" on page 506. You can select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. Select the Detailed Results check box if you want to display detailed results per transmitter. The results displayed depend on the subcell frequency hopping mode: • • •

Non-Hopping Mode: The results are displayed for one channel of each TRX in non-hopping mode. Base Band Hopping Mode: The results are displayed for the MAL of each subcell in base band hopping mode. Synthesised Frequency Hopping Mode: The results are displayed for the MAL-MAIO of each subcell in synthesised frequency hopping mode.

8. Under Interference Condition, you can define how Atoll will calculate interference for the throughput per timeslot coverage prediction. If, under Quality Indicators Calculation, you select Calculations Based on C⁄N for the coverage prediction, the only option you need to select under Interference Condition is the TRX type to consider from the TRXs list. You can select the following parameters: • •

•

You can select which TRX type to consider as potential victim by selecting it from the Interfered Subcells list. If you want discontinuous transmission mode for TRXs which support it taken into account, select the DTX taken into account check box and enter the percentage of time during which a user is talking in the Voice Activity Factor text box. Select the Traffic Load that will be used to calculate interference: • •

•

100%: The maximum traffic load (subcells entirely loaded). From subcell table: The subcell traffic load as defined or as calculated during dimensioning.

From the Interference Sources list, select whether the interference should be calculated from adjacent channels, co-channels, or from both. The adjacent channel effect on the victim channel, i.e., the interference, is decreased by the adjacent channel protection level.

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Inter-technology interference is taken into account by default. For more information, see "Modelling Inter-technology Interference" on page 624. By adding an option in the Atoll.ini file, you can add an Inter-technology check box which will allow you to consider or not inter-technology interference. 9. Under Quality Indicators Calculation, set the following parameters: •

• •

• •

Select Calculations Based on C⁄N if you want to base the coverage prediction on C⁄N. If you select Calculations Based on C⁄N for the coverage prediction, the only option you need to select under Interference Condition is the TRX type to consider from the TRXs list. The codec mode is selected only according to signal level. Select Calculations Based on C⁄(I+N) if you want to base the coverage prediction on C⁄N and C⁄(I+N). If desired, select which Terminal you want to base the coverage prediction on. When you restrict the coverage prediction to a selected terminal and the terminal type and the transmitter have different codec configuration, Atoll determines the intersection of the codec modes contained in the transmitter and terminal codec configuration. The codec mode is then selected according to the calculated C⁄N or C⁄N and C⁄I + N on each pixel. For a given quality or a given codec mode, look-up tables defined in codec configuration provide the circuit quality indicator (BER, FER, or MOS) displayed as a result. If desired, select which Mobility you want to base the coding scheme coverage prediction on. When you select a mobility, Atoll considers the codec mode applicable for the selected mobility on the codec configuration. Enter a Noise Figure. By default, a noise figure of 8 dB is used if no terminal is selected.

10. Click the Display tab. For a circuit quality indicator coverage prediction, the Display Type "Value Intervals" is selected by default. Select one of the following values from the Field list: • • • • • •

BER: The coverage is coloured according to the bit error rate measured per transmitter. FER: The coverage is coloured according to the frame erasure rate measured per transmitter. MOS: The coverage is coloured according to the mean opinion score measured per transmitter. Max BER: The coverage is coloured according to the maximum bit error rate per pixel of the covering transmitters. Max FER: The coverage is coloured according to the maximum frame erasure rate per pixel of the covering transmitters. Max MOS: The coverage is coloured according to the maximum mean opinion score per pixel of the covering transmitters.

For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 11. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window. The results of circuit quality indicator coverage predictions based on BER, FER, or MOS are broken down by transmitter, as you can see by clicking the Expand button ( ) to expand the results of the coverage prediction after you have calculated it. The results of circuit quality indicator coverage predictions based on Max BER, Max FER, or Max MOS are broken down by threshold.

7.6.5 Making a Service Area Prediction Service Area Analysis (DL) and Service Area Analysis (UL) coverage predictions calculate the traffic channel quality when using the maximum power allowed, i.e., the maximum traffic channel power allowed per transmitter for downlink and the maximum terminal power for uplink. In the prediction, the downlink or uplink service area is limited by the maximum allowed power and by the pilot quality. If the received pilot quality is insufficient, the traffic channel quality is not displayed. Mobile handover status is considered to evaluate the downlink and uplink traffic channel quality. Atoll combines the signal from each transmitter in the probe mobile active set. The Effective Service Area Analysis (DL+UL) coverage prediction calculates 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. For a circuit-switched service, the aim of a service area prediction is to show the areas where, according to the radio conditions, a codec mode can be obtained, as explained in "Making a Circuit Quality Indicator (BER, FER, or MOS) Prediction" on page 452. For a packet-switched service, the aim of a service area prediction is to show the areas where, according to the radio conditions, a coding scheme can be obtained, as explained in "Making a Coverage Prediction by GPRS/EDGE Coding Schemes" on page 442.

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You can make service area analysis coverage predictions whether channels have been allocated or not. If you have not yet allocated frequencies, you can do so before carrying out the coverage prediction described in this section. For information on creating a frequency plan, see "Allocating Frequencies, BSICs, HSNs, MALs, MAIOs" on page 340. You can also restrict the coverage prediction to a selected terminal or mobility or to a combination of terminal and mobility. When you restrict the coverage prediction to a selected terminal, the coverage prediction is based on the C and C⁄I graphs for the selected terminal, as well as on its noise figure. The defined codec mode (or coding scheme) limit of the terminal is respected. When you select a mobility, the transmitters that have a codec (or coding scheme) configuration that supports the selected mobility and the codec mode (or coding scheme) threshold for that mobility are considered. For information on defining a terminal, see "Modelling Terminals" on page 249. To make a coverage prediction on a service area: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Predictions folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 4. Select one of the following predictions and click OK: • • •

Service Area Analysis (DL) Service Area Analysis (UL) Effective Service Area Analysis (DL+UL)

The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 5. Click the General tab. On this tab, you can change the Name of the prediction, the Resolution, and add Comments. The Receiver height corresponds to the height of the receiver defined in the Calculation Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box. A read-only Unique ID is generated when you create a new coverage prediction. This ID can later be found between the "" and "" tags in the following files: •

".XML" file (one per prediction) created in the following folder for coverage predictions calculated by value intervals with relevant Field settings: C:\\.studies\{}. For more information, see "External Storage of Coverage Prediction Numerical Results" on page 208.

•

"studies.XML" file created in the installation folder if at least one coverage prediction is saved using the Save as Customised Prediction command.

Under Display Configuration, you can create a Filter to select which sites to display in the results. For information on filtering, see "Filtering Data" on page 99. 6. Click the Conditions tab. On this tab, you can define the signals that will be considered for each pixel.

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Figure 7.91: Condition settings for a Service Area Analysis (DL) prediction 7. Under Coverage Conditions, set the following parameters: •

• •

•

Under Server, select "HCS servers" to take the best signal level by HCS layer on each pixel into consideration, assuming this signal level on each layer exceeds the minimum HCS threshold defined either at the HCS layer level or specifically for each transmitter (for more information, see "Comparing Service Areas in Calculations" on page 484). Enter an Overlap margin. The default value is "4 dB." If you select the Shadowing Taken into Account check box, you can change the Cell Edge Coverage Probability. Shadowing margins (depending on the entered cell edge coverage probability and the model standard deviation per clutter class) are applied to the values for C. For more information, see "Modelling Shadowing" on page 506. You can select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

8. Under Interference Condition, you can define how interference is evaluated for the codec mode (or coding scheme) selection. You can select the following parameters: • • •

You can select which TRX type to consider as a potential victim by selecting it from the Interfered Subcells list. If you want discontinuous transmission mode is supported by the TRXs, select DTX taken into account and in the Voice activity factor, enter the percentage of time during which a user talks. Select the Traffic load that will be used to calculate interference: • •

•

100%: The maximum traffic load (subcells entirely loaded). From subcell table: The subcell traffic load as defined or as calculated during dimensioning.

From the Interference Sources list, select whether the interference should be calculated from adjacent channels, co-channels, or from both. The adjacent channel effect on the victim channel, i.e., the interference, is decreased by the adjacent channel protection level. Inter-technology interference is taken into account by default. For more information, see "Modelling Inter-technology Interference" on page 624. By adding an option in the Atoll.ini file, you can add an Inter-technology check box which will allow you to consider or not inter-technology interference.

9. Under GPRS/EDGE, set the following parameters: •

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• • • •

All: If you select All, both GPRS coding schemes and EDGE coding schemes will be used. GPRS: If you select GPRS, only GPRS coding schemes will be used. EDGE: If you select EDGE, only EDGE coding schemes will be used. Depending on the selected GPRS/EDGE configurations, EDGE coding schemes can be of the type EGPRS (Standard EDGE) or EGPRS2 (EDGE Evolution).

Select Ideal Link Adaptation to select the coding scheme that offers the highest throughput. Otherwise, Atoll chooses the coding scheme according to signal level and quality.

10. Under Coding, set the following parameters: •

• •

•

• •

Select Calculations Based on C⁄N if you want to base the coverage prediction on C⁄N. If you select Calculations based on C⁄N for the coverage prediction, the only option to select under Interference conditions is the TRX type to consider from the TRXs list. The codec mode (or coding scheme) is selected according to signal level and receiver noise N. Select Calculations Based on C⁄(I+N) if you want to base the coverage prediction on C⁄N and C⁄(I+N). If necessary, select the Terminal on which you want to base the coverage prediction. When you restrict the coverage prediction to a selected terminal and the terminal type and the transmitter have different codec (or coding scheme) configurations, Atoll determines the intersection of the codec modes (or coding schemes) contained in the transmitter and terminal codec (or coding scheme) configuration. The codec mode (or coding scheme) is then selected according to the calculated C⁄N or C⁄N and C⁄I + N on each pixel. If necessary, select the Mobility on which you want to base the coding scheme coverage prediction. When you select a mobility, Atoll considers the codec mode (or coding scheme) applicable for the selected mobility on the codec configuration. Enter a Noise Figure. By default, a noise figure of 8 dB is used if no terminal is selected. Select which Service you want to base the coverage prediction on. If you select a circuit-switched service, the service will be served if at least one codec mode can be selected. If you select a packet-switched service, the service will be served if at least one coding scheme can be selected.

11. Click the Display tab. Only the Display Type "Unique" is available. Pixels are covered with a unique colour if the selected service can be provided on the considered pixel. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 12. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

7.6.6 Studying Interference Between Transmitters In Atoll, you can use the Tx-Tx Interference tool to study the effects of an interfering signal from one transmitter on the signal of any other transmitter within the computation zone. You can restrict the interference to a set threshold or you can base it on a selected coverage prediction. Using a coverage prediction enables you to compare the results of the Tx-Tx Interference tool to the results of the selected coverage prediction. You must have a computation zone defined to use the Tx-Tx Interference tool. For information on creating a computation zone, see "Computation Zone" on page 67.

To display interference between transmitters on the map: 1. Click Tools > Tx-Tx Interference. The Tx-to-Tx Interference window appears. 2. Under Transmitters: •

Select the transmitter whose signal is interfered from the Victim list or click the Victim button ( the transmitter by clicking it on the map.

•

Select the transmitter whose signal is interfering from the Interferer list or click the Interferer button ( select the transmitter by clicking it on the map. The victim and interferer transmitters are displayed on the map with specific icons (

and

) and select ) and

).

3. Under Coverage conditions, select what you are going to base the interference calculation on:

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• •

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Signal level: Enter a signal threshold. Based on prediction: Select the coverage prediction on which you want to base the interference calculation.

4. Click Calculate. The interference will be displayed on the map if you have selected the Visible check box (see Figure 7.92).

Figure 7.92: The Tx-Tx Interference Tool You can change the colors used in the interference area on the map by applying the display properties of any existing prediction that is based on C/I levels. Under Legend, select Based on prediction and select a prediction that is configured with the color and transparency display settings that you want to use for the Tx-Tx Interference tool. Click Calculate to redraw the interference area on the map. You can use the Tx-Tx Interference tool to display the interference between transmitters in a histogram. To display interference between transmitters in a histogram: •

After you have calculated the interference as explained earlier in this section, click the Histogram button. The Statistics window appears. • •

• • •

Under Histogram based on covered areas, you can select to view a histogram, CDF, or inverse CDF based on area or percentage. The Zoom on selected values section displays the covered area values, or the percentage of the covered area, along the y-axis against the coverage criterion along the x-axis. You can zoom in on values by clicking and dragging in the Zoom on selected values list. Atoll will zoom in on the selected values. You can copy the graph by clicking the Copy button. You can print the graph by clicking the Print button. Under Statistics based on prediction conditions, you can view the mean and standard deviation of the coverage criterion calculated during the coverage calculations, if available.

7.6.7 Auditing a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Frequency Plan When you have assigned frequencies to the TRXs, either manually or automatically, you can make an audit of the frequency plan. The audit allows you to verify the consistency and validity of the following GSM/GPRS/EDGE network parameters: •

• •

The transmitters to be allocated: The transmitters to be allocated, or TBA transmitters, are the active and filtered transmitters belonging to the transmitters folder from which the AFP was started and that are located within the focus zone. The potential interferers: The potential interferers are transmitters whose calculation radius intersects the calculation radius of any TBA transmitter. Transmitters involved in the separation conditions with TBA transmitters: These are the neighbours, co-site transmitters, transmitters or subcells of exceptional pairs and, in case of BSIC allocation, neighbours of neighbours.

The frequency plan audit automatically checks certain points and allows you to define additional points to be verified. The points which are automatically verified are: •

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• • • • • • • • • • • •

Subcell parameters respect the cell type on which the subcell is based. TRX parameters respect the TRX type on which the TRX is based. No frequency, HSN, or BSIC domain is empty. For subcells where the hopping mode is NH or BBH, each TRX has a single, unique frequency. For subcells where the hopping mode is SSH, each TRX has a defined frequency list. For subcells where the hopping mode is SSH, the maximum MAL length is respected. For subcells where the hopping mode is SSH, the MAIO is lower than the number of frequencies in the MAL. The number of timeslots per subcell is lower than or equal to the multiplexing factor (or, for the BCCH subcell, the number of timeslots equals the multiplexing factor minus one). The number of timeslots per subcell is 0. The non-existence of multi-band transmitters when these are not expected to be present. In multi-RAT networks, detection of UMTS inter-technology neighbour transmitters with identical scrambling codes. In multi-RAT networks, detection of LTE inter-technology neighbours with identical physical cell IDs.

You can configure the frequency plan audit to verify the following points as well: • • • • • • •

Frequency domains belong to the assigned frequency band. The current frequency plan respects the assigned allocation strategy (free or group-constrained). The allocated resources, the frequency, HSN, or BSIC, belong to the assigned domain. There is consistency between the excluded channels defined at the subcell and the assigned channels. The exceptional separation constraints are respected. No transmitter has the same BSIC-BCCH pair as one of its neighbours. No transmitter has two neighbours with the same BSIC-BCCH pair. It is highly recommended to run frequency plan audits on a regular basis.

To make a frequency plan audit: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Frequency Plan > Audit from the context menu. The Frequency Plan Audit dialog box appears. 4. Select the General tab. a. Under Loading, select the subcells to be considered: •

•

Load all the subcells involved in separation constraints: Select this check box if you want all transmitters involved in separation constraints to be considered in the audit. You can review and modify separation constraints and exceptional pairs on the Separation tab of the dialog box (see step 5.). Load all interferers propagating in the focus zone: Select this check box if you want all potential interferers to be considered in the audit.Check this box to load all the potential servers potentially involved in interferences with servers to be normally taken into account through the computation zone.

b. Under Optional Checking, select the check boxes of the domain constraints you want to have verified by the audit: • • • •

Frequencies: Select this check box if you want the audit to verify that the current frequency plan respects the assigned frequency domains. HSN: Select this check box if you want the audit to verify that the assigned HSNs belong to the assigned HSN domains. Compliance with the Allocation Strategy: Select this check box if you want the audit to verify that the current frequency plan respects the assigned allocation strategy (free or group-constrained). BSIC: Select this check box if you want the audit to verify that the assigned BSICs belong to the assigned BSIC domains.

c. Select the Separation Constraints check box if you want the audit to verify that the currently defined separation constraints are respected. You can review and modify separation constraints and exceptional pairs on the Separation tab of this dialog box (see step 5.). When the Separation Constraints check box is not cleared, you can select an AFP module next to Violations Importance and click the Browse button to display its Properties dialog box. d. Select the (BSIC, BCCH) pairs check box if you want the audit to verify the following: • •

That no transmitter has the same BSIC-BCCH pair as one of its neighbours. That no transmitter has two neighbours with the same BSIC-BCCH pair.

5. Click the Separations tab if you want to define/modify separation constraints and exceptional separation constraints: a. Click the Exceptional Pairs button to open the Exceptional Separation Constraints dialog box and define exceptional frequency separations to define channel separations that apply to specific pairs of TRXs. During automatic frequency planning, the separation rules are first considered, but they can be overridden by specific entries in the

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Exceptional Separation Constraints table. For information on defining exceptional separation constraints, see "Defining Exceptional Frequency Separations" on page 363. b. When you have finished entering exceptional separation constraints, click Close to close the Exceptional Separation Constraints dialog box. c. In the table on the Separations tab, enter or modify the separation rules. The separation rules set the channel separation that should exist between pairs of TRXs on the same transmitter, same site, or on adjacent sites. For information on defining separation rules, see "Defining Separation Rules" on page 363. 6. Click the Detailed Results tab to select the type of information you want in the report. • • • •

Error Messages: If you select this check box, the audit displays global warnings and error messages, as well as a summary of separation constraint violations by transmitter/subcell/TRX pair and by TRX. Warnings Related to Separations: If you select this check box, the audit displays a description of each separation constraint violation. Additional Warnings: If you select this check box, the audit displays additional detailed warnings. Postpone the Global Summary and Part of the Tests: You can select this check box for faster display of the results. The audit results will be displayed immediately and you can generate the global summary at that point.

7. Click OK to start the audit. The Checking Planning Consistency dialog box appears (see Figure 7.93). The results are given in a grid under Separation Violations. Under Messages are the detailed results as defined in step 6. You can define the display of the Allocation tab from the Display Options menu. For more information, see "Defining the Display of the Allocation Tab" on page 382. If you had selected to Postpone the Global Summary and Part of the Tests in step 6., the Messages area will be empty. You can generate global summary now by clicking the Actions button and selecting Generate the Global Summary.

Figure 7.93: Checking Planning Consistency dialog box The results are listed in a table by transmitter, TRX type, and TRX and are coded by colour. Channels in black present no separation violations. Channels in red present important separation violations. You can Display Important Violations Only. This option can prove very useful when too many low importance violations are displayed. Separation constraint violations, if any, are listed in the Separations violations column. To display the details of a separation constraint violation: 1. Click the violation in the Separations violations column. A message box appears displaying details about the violation. 2. Click OK to close the message box. 3. Or, if you are asked to "Reinforce constraints on these violations by using Exceptional Pairs":

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•

•

Click Yes if you want to define the pair currently in violation as an exceptional pair. Because separation constraints between exceptional pairs have more weight than default separation constraints, you will be able to re-run the AFP and force it to try to avoid this violation. Or click No to close the message box without defining the pair currently in violation as an exceptional pair.

7.6.8 Checking Consistency in Subcells When network data is imported into an Atoll document, inconsistencies can occur between parameters that can be defined on the subcell and TRX and parameters that can be defined on the transmitter. Additionally, some subcell values which are either used in an AFP or in predictions can be outside an acceptable range. This can lead to, for example, unrealistic results or long calculation times. You can perform an audit on the consistency of all of these parameters and have Atoll automatically correct these problems as well. For each transmitter, Atoll checks that: • • • • •

The number of TRXs in the Transmitters table corresponds to the number of TRXs defined for this transmitter in the TRXs table. The list of channels used by the transmitter consists of all the channels assigned to TRXs of the transmitter. The BCCH of the transmitter is the same as the channel assigned to the BCCH TRX of the transmitter. The number of required TRXs indicated in the Transmitters table equals the sum of required TRXs of the transmitter’s subcells. The hopping mode of the transmitter corresponds to the hopping mode defined for its TCH subcell.

For each subcell, Atoll checks the following values: number of required TRXs, number of required BCCHs, traffic load, reception threshold, min C/I, half-rate traffic ratio, mean power control gain, DL power reduction, AFP weight, target rate of traffic overflow, max percentage of interference, maximum MAL length. To make a subcell audit: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Subcells > Audit from the context menu. The Subcell Audit dialog box appears. 4. Under Consistency of redundant values in the transmitters, subcells, and TRXs tables, select the Audit the values and generate a report in the event viewer check box. Problems found during the audit will be displayed in the Events viewer and grouped by transmitter. 5. If you want Atoll to update the transmitter parameters that are inconsistent with their subcells and TRXs, select the Fix inconsistencies between transmitters and their subcells check box. 6. Under Compatibility of the main subcell values, select the Audit the values and generate a report in the event viewer check box. Warnings will be displayed in the Events viewer for inconsistent values: • • • • • • • • • • • •

If the number of required TRXs is greater than 31 If the number of required BCCHs is not 1 If the traffic load is less than < 0.1 If the reception threshold is greater than -60 dBm or is less than -112 dBm If the min C/I is greater than 18 dB If the half-rate traffic ratio is greater than 100% or is less than 0% If the mean power control gain is greater than 16 dB If the DL power reduction is greater than 25 dB or is less than 0 dB If the AFP weight is greater than 3 or is less than 0.2 If the target rate of traffic overflow is greater than 100 or is less than 0 If the accepted interference percentage is greater than 100 or is less than 1 if the maximum MAL length is greater than 62.

7. If you want Atoll to fix the subcell values as follows, select the Fix incompatibilities found in the main values check box. • • • • • • • • • • • •

If the number of required TRXs is greater than 62 or is less than 1, it is replaced by 1 If the number of required BCCHs is not 1, it is replaced by 1 If the traffic load is greater than 1 or is less than 0, it is replaced by 1 If the reception threshold is greater than -50 dBm or is less than -116 dBm, it is replaced by -102 dBm If the minimum C/I is greater than 25 dB, it is replaced by 12 dB If the half-rate traffic ratio is greater than 100% or less than 0%, it is replaced by 40% If the mean power control gain is greater than 32 dB or less than 0 dB, it is replaced by 4 dB If the DL power reduction is greater than 25 dB or less than 0 dB, it is replaced by 0 dB If the AFP weight is greater than 100 or less than 0, it is replaced by 1 If the target rate of traffic overflow is greater than 100 or less than 0, it is replaced by 0 If the accepted interference percentage is greater than 100 or less than 1, it is replaced by 1 If the maximum MAL length is greater than 62, it replaced by 62.

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8. Click OK. If you choose to fix the incompatible values, Atoll displays the report in the Events viewer. Values that are inconsistent are changed and Atoll displays warnings to inform you of unrealistic values.

7.6.9 Displaying the Frequency Allocation Atoll provides several tools that enable you to view the frequency allocation. You can use these tools to analyse a frequency plan by displaying the overall distribution of channels or channel and BSIC use on the map. You can also search for channels or BSICs. In this section, the following are explained: • • • •

"Using Find on Map to Display Channel Reuse" on page 462 "Displaying the Frequency Allocation Using Transmitter Display Settings" on page 463 "Grouping Transmitters by Frequencies" on page 464 "Displaying the Channel Allocation Histogram" on page 464.

7.6.9.1 Using Find on Map to Display Channel Reuse In Atoll, you can use Find on Map to search for BCCH and non-BCCH channels, and BSICs. The Find on Map tool allows you to view channel and BSIC reuse on the map. Find on Map enables you to find transmitters using a given channel, BSIC or NCC-BCC, or combination of HSN and MAIO. If you have already calculated and displayed a coverage prediction by transmitter based on the best server, with the results displayed by transmitter, the search results will be displayed by transmitter coverage. Channel reuse and any potential problems will then be clearly visible. For information on coverage predictions by transmitter, see "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter" on page 309. By including the BCCH, BSIC, and channel list of each transmitter in the transmitter label, the search results will be easier to understand. For information on defining the label, see "Associating a Label to an Object" on page 53. Searching for Channels You can use Find on Map to search for a channel. You can search in all channels, in control channels, or in non-control channels. To find a channel using Find on Map: 1. Click Tools > Find on Map. The Find on Map window appears. 2. From the Find list, select "GSM Channel." 3. In the Channel list, enter a channel that you would like to allocate. 4. Define where you want Atoll to search for the selected channel: • •

Used as BCCH: Atoll will search for the channel when used as a BCCH. Used as TCH: Atoll will search for the channel when used as a TCH.

By default, Find on Map displays only co-channel subcells. If you want adjacent channels to be displayed as well, select the Adjacent channels check box. 5. Click Search. When you search for both BCCH and TCH TRX types, transmitters with the same channel for BCCH are displayed in red. Transmitters with the same channel for any TCH are displayed in orange. Transmitters with two adjacent channels (i.e., a channel higher and a channel lower) are displayed in yellow. Transmitters with a lower adjacent channel are displayed in green; transmitters with a higher adjacent channel are displayed in green. Colours used for co-channel cases take precedence over the colours used for adjacent channels. All other transmitters are displayed as grey lines. When you search for the BCCH or TCH TRX types, transmitters with the same channel are displayed in red. Transmitters with two adjacent channels (i.e., a channel higher and a channel lower) are displayed in yellow. Transmitters with a lower adjacent channel are displayed in green; transmitters with a higher adjacent channel are displayed in green. Colours used for co-channel take precedence over the colours used for adjacent channels. All other transmitters are displayed as grey lines. If you cleared the Adjacent channels check box, transmitters using the same channel are displayed in red; all others, including transmitters with adjacent channels, are displayed as grey lines. To restore the initial transmitter colours, click the Reset Display button in the Search Tool window.

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Searching for a Combination of TRX and Subcell Parameters You can use Find on Map to search for a combination of TRX and subcell parameters: a channel, BSIC or NCC-BCC, as well as HSN and MAIO. To find a BSIC-BCCH pair: 1. Click Tools > Find on Map. The Find on Map window appears. 2. From the Find list, select "BSIC-BCCH Pair." 3. Select the parameters on which you want to search: •

BCCH channel: Enter a BCCH channel number. If you do not enter a BCCH channel number, Atoll will search all specified channels according to the other parameters.

•

BSIC or NCC-BCC: Enter either a BSIC or a value for the NCC and for the BCC.

4. Click Search. Transmitters that match the defined search parameters are displayed in red. All other transmitters are displayed as grey lines. To restore the initial transmitter colours, click the Reset Display button in the Search Tool window. To find a BCCH or TCH channel or a combination of channel (BCCH or TCH) and HSN or MAIO: 1. Click Tools > Find on Map. The Find on Map window appears. 2. From the Find list, select "Channel-HSN/MAIO Pair." 3. From the Channel list, select a BCCH or TCH channel number and the parameter on which you want to search: • •

HSN: to search for a combination of channel number and HSN, select HSN and an HSN number. MAIO: to search for a combination of channel number and MAIO, select MAIO and a MAIO number. The Find on Map tool can also return results for a specific HSN or MAIO when the Channel field is empty. In this case, the Results window will list all the transmitters for which the specified HSN or MAIO was defined.

4. Click Search. Transmitters that match the defined search parameters are displayed in red. All other transmitters are displayed as grey lines. To restore the initial transmitter colours, click the Reset Display button in the Find on Map window.

7.6.9.2 Displaying the Frequency Allocation Using Transmitter Display Settings You can use the display characteristics of transmitters to display frequency allocation-related information on the map. To display frequency allocation-related information on the map: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 4. Click the Display tab. You can display the following information per transmitter: • •

BCCH: To display the BCCH of a transmitter, select "Discrete values" as the Display Type and "BCCH" as the Field. BSIC: To display the BSIC of a transmitter, select "Discrete values" as the Display Type and "BSIC" as the Field.

You can display the following information in the transmitter label or tip text: • • • • • •

BCCH: To display the BCCH of a transmitter’s subcells, select "BCCH" from the Label or Tip Text Field Definition dialog box. BSIC: To display the BSIC of a transmitter, select "BSIC" from the Label or Tip Text Field Definition dialog box. Channels: To display the channels allocated to a transmitter, select "Channels" from the Label or Tip Text Field Definition dialog box. HSN: To display the HSN allocated to a transmitter’s subcells, select "HSN" from the Label or Tip Text Field Definition dialog box. MAIO: To display the MAIO allocated to a transmitter’s subcells, select "MAIO" from the Label or Tip Text Field Definition dialog box. Cell type: To display the cell type allocated to a transmitter, select "Cell type" from the Label or Tip Text Field Definition dialog box.

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• • • • •

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Required TRXs per Transmitter or Subcell: To display the number of required TRXs per transmitter or per subcell, select "Required TRXs" or "Subcell: Required TRXs," respectively, from the Label or Tip Text Field Definition dialog box. Number of TRXs Assigned: To display the number of TRXs assigned to a transmitter, select "Number of TRXs" from the Label or Tip Text Field Definition dialog box. Frequency Band: To display the frequency band assigned to a transmitter, select "Frequency Band" from the Label or Tip Text Field Definition dialog box. GPRS/EDGE: To display which transmitters are GPRS/EDGE-capable, select "GPRS/EDGE" from the Label or Tip Text Field Definition dialog box. Coding Scheme Configuration: To display the coding scheme configuration assigned to a transmitter, select "Coding Scheme Configuration" from the Label or Tip Text Field Definition dialog box. Codec Configuration: To display the codec configuration assigned to a transmitter, select "Codec Configuration" from the Label or Tip Text Field Definition dialog box. Because labels are always displayed, you should avoid displaying too much information at the same time.

5. Click OK. For information on display options, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51.

7.6.9.3 Grouping Transmitters by Frequencies You can group transmitters in the Network explorer by their channel list or by their frequency band, or by both. To group transmitters by channels or by frequency band: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 4. On the General tab, click Group By. The Group dialog box appears. 5. Under Available Fields, select the parameter you want to group transmitters by: • •

Frequency band Channels

6. Click to add the parameter to the Group these fields in this order list. The selected parameter is added to the list of parameters on which the transmitters will be grouped. 7. If you do not want the transmitters to be sorted by a certain parameter, select it in the Group these fields in this order list and click grouped.

. The selected parameter is removed from the list of parameters on which the transmitters will be

8. Arrange the parameters in the Group these fields in this order list in the order in which you want the transmitters to be grouped: a. Select a parameter and click

to move it up to the desired position.

b. Select a parameter and click

to move it down to the desired position.

9. Click OK to save your changes and close the Group dialog box.

7.6.9.4 Displaying the Channel Allocation Histogram Atoll has a frequency distribution analysis tool. You can open the frequency distribution analysis tool by right-clicking the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer and then selecting Frequency Plan > Channel Distribution from the context menu. The frequency distribution analysis tool gives you a three-column table with: • • •

The channel number The load (i.e., the number of occurences weighted by the fractional load) The number of times that channel is used.

The load is the same as the number of TRXs if synthesised hopping is not used. When synthesised hopping is used, the frequency load is the sum of 1/(MAL length) of all the TRXs using this frequency. The scope of this tool is the same as the scope of the AFP. For more information on the AFP scope, see "The Scope of the AFP and the Scope of the Interference Matrix" on page 372.

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The frequency load distribution can be displayed as a histogram by clicking the Histogram button. The histogram is similar to the one on the Histogram tab in the AFP Progress dialog box. For more information, see "Histogram Tab" on page 386. The Relationship Between Uniform Distribution and Quality You should be aware that uniform distribution is not always synonymous with quality. While it is clear that in some cases the frequency usage distribution can be a quality indicator, it is not always the case. For this reason the Atoll AFP does not have a cost dedicated to non-uniformity of spectral use. Therefore Atoll AFP can create non-uniform frequency distributions. •

•

When the frequency assignment problem (FAP) is easy, the AFP reaches a 0-cost solution and stops immediately. If it was instructed to use the minimum spectrum possible, the AFP will use the smaller ARFCNs more than the larger ones (and will leave the largest ARFCNs untouched, for future use). Otherwise, the AFP will try to spread spectrum use. By default this directive is free for AFP tuning. In many cases, a large volume of allocation constraints exists for adjacent channel reuse. The two end-channels, (the biggest and the smallest in the domain), have fewer constraints, because they have only one adjacent channel in use, and are therefore heavily used. The adjacent channels (the second in the domain, and the one before the biggest in the domain) are used less often than the others because they each have a heavily used adjacent channel. Because the third domain frequency is adjacent to a seldom used channel, it will be used more often than usual. In the case of a continuous domain, which is small, and whose size is impair, this effect will resonate strongly and will provide a significant reduction in usage of the 2nd, 4th, 6th, etc., frequencies of the domain.

After you have manually or automatically allocated frequencies, you can view channel allocation in the form of a table or a histogram. For each channel used, Atoll displays both the channel load (i.e., the number of times the channel is used, weighted by the fractional load) and the total number of times the channel is used. The information in the table can either be copied or exported for use in another application. To display the channel allocation table or histogram: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Frequency Plan > Channel Distribution. The Channel Use Statistics table appears. 4. You can do the following: •

•

Export: Click the Export button to open the Export dialog box and export the Channel Use Statistics table contents as a TXT, CSV, or XLS file. For information on using the Export dialog box, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. Histogram: Click the Histogram button to display the Distribution Histogram dialog box. The histogram represents the channels as a function of the frequency of their use. You can move the pointer over the histogram to display the frequency of use of each channel. The results are highlighted simultaneously in the Zoom on selected values list. You can zoom in on values by clicking and dragging in the Zoom on selected values list. Atoll will zoom in on the selected values. In the Distribution Histogram dialog box, you have the following options: • •

Copy: Click the Copy button to copy the histogram to the clipboard. You can paste the histogram as a graphic into another application, for example, a word-processor. Print: Click the Print button to print the histogram.

7.6.10 Calculating Key Performance Indicators of a GSM/GPRS/ EDGE Network Atoll allows the user to calculate and analyse key performance indicators (KPI), such as the reduction factor, the blocking probability, and the delay, that are currently defined for the network. This allows you to verify how well the network satisfies basic performance criteria. To calculate key performance indicators: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder, and select Traffic > Dimensioning and KPI Calculation from the context menu. The Dimensioning/KPIs dialog box is displayed. 2. Under Dimensioning Parameters, select the dimensioning model that will be used for the KPI calculation from the Model list. You can access the parameters of the selected dimensioning model by clicking the Browse button. 3. Under Traffic (Circuit and Packet Demand), select whether the KPI calculation will be based on the traffic demand calculated in the default traffic capture or the current values (circuit and packet demands) in the Subcells table. •

If you select From subcell table, define the following additional parameters: •

Specify the Minimum throughput reduction factor that can be accepted in the network. When running a traffic capture, this parameter is evaluated (but not displayed) during the calculation. The minimum throughput reduction factor models the fact that, at the user level, the user throughput can be reduced because of how

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much it will be multiplexed with other users. In other words, this parameter will be affected by the traffic load which is a consequence of dimensioning. Under Terminals (%), enter the percentage of each type of terminal used in the map. The total percentages must equal 100. Under Circuit Services (%), enter the percentage of each type of circuit service used in the map. The total percentages must equal 100. Under Packet Services (%), enter the percentage of each type of packet service used in the map (assuming the packet is made of maximum bit rate and constant bit rate packet services). The total percentages must equal 100.

4. Click Calculate to calculate the KPI calculation. The output of the calculation appears in the KPI Calculation dialog box under Results. You can select which columns to display by clicking the Displayed Columns button and selecting or clearing the check box of the columns. The following results are given for each transmitter in the Transmitter column: •

TRX Type: For each transmitter, the results are given by TRX type (e.g., BCCH, TCH, TCH_EGPRS and TCH_INNER). Together, the Transmitter and TRX Type columns identify the subcell.

•

Number of TRXs: The number of TRXs assigned for both the subcell's circuit-switched and packet-switched traffic, while taking into account the quality of service criterion assigned for each.

•

Load (%): The average demand in timeslots (packet and circuit), divided by the total number of timeslots available. It represents the average occupancy of the TRXs. This parameter is one of the principal results of dimensioning along with the number of TRXs. In addition, this parameter might have been updated by an AFP model which is capable of optimising (i.e., reduce or increase) the number of required TRXs. This results in the subcell load being modified.

•

Multiplexing Factor: The user or Temporary Block Flow (TBF) multiplexing factor. The multiplexing factor corresponds to the number of timeslots per frame.

•

Maximum Number of TRXs per Transmitter: The maximum number of TRXs that a transmitter can support is an input of the KPI calculation. This parameter is provided by the equipment manufacturer. The value can be set for each transmitter or taken from the dimensioning model for transmitters where this value is not set.

•

Target Rate of Traffic Overflow (%): This input parameter defines the percentage of traffic that is allowed to overflow from one subcell to another in case the traffic assigned to this subcell is greater than the maximum traffic that it can accommodate. It can be considered an anticipation of the percentage of traffic that will be rejected from higher priority subcells or layers to lower ones. The value is specified for each subcell.

•

Half-rate Traffic Ratio (%): This input parameter is defined per subcell and indicates the percentage of subcell traffic that uses half-rate access. If the values are different for BCCH and TCH subcells, Atoll will use the values for the target rate of traffic overflow and the half-rate traffic ratio from the BCCH subcell.

•

Packet demand (Kbps): The Packet Traffic Demand is the total traffic demand in kilobits per second generated by packet-switched service users within the coverage area of the transmitter.

•

Packet average demand (timeslots): The number of timeslots needed to satisfy the packet traffic demand depends on the maximum throughput that a packet timeslot can support.

•

Average Number of Timeslots per Connection (Packet): This input parameter defines the average number of timeslots used by packet-switched-traffic users while accessing services. Packet-switched services allow up to eight timeslots per connection. The average number of timeslots per connection corresponds to the average number of downlink timeslots (multiplied by the number of simultaneous carriers in EDGE Evolution, if any) over which a single mobile terminal can communicate at one time.

•

Circuit Demand (Erlangs): The Circuit Traffic Demand is the total traffic demand in Erlangs generated by circuitswitched-service users within the coverage area of the transmitter. For concentric cell types, the traffic demand on TCH subcells is different from the one calculated during the traffic capture. For concentric cell types, the traffic demand on TCH subcells is calculated from the traffic demand of the capture and the effective rate of traffic overflow.

•

Circuit average demand (timeslots): The Average Demand in Circuit Timeslots is calculated taking into account the effect of half-rate circuit-switched traffic: two half-rate users are equivalent to one full-rate user.

•

Average Number of Timeslots per Connection (Circuit): The Average Number of Timeslots per Connection (Circuit) is an input parameter. The number of timeslots per connection is "1" for full-rate traffic, otherwise it depends on the half-rate traffic ratio. At present, Atoll only models circuit calls using 1 timeslot per connection; this parameter is for forward compatibility.

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•

Served Circuit Traffic (Erlangs): The Served Circuit Traffic is the circuit-switched traffic in Erlangs that the subcell can serve. The served circuit-switched traffic is circuit traffic demand less the effective overflowed circuit traffic.

•

Served Packet Traffic (Kbps): The Served Packet Traffic is the packet-switched traffic in kilobits per second that the subcell can serve.

•

The served packet-switched traffic is packet traffic demand less the effective overflowed packet traffic.

•

Effective Rate of Traffic Overflow (%): The Effective Rate of Traffic Overflow is the actual rate of traffic that is rejected by the subcell and overflows because of a lack of packet timeslots. In a GSM network, the value is the same as the blocking probability. In a more complex network, this value includes the traffic overflow from all services. In case of Erlang B, the effective rate of traffic overflow corresponds to the effective blocking rate. This value is calculated from the required number of circuit timeslots (both shared and circuit timeslots) and the circuit traffic demand in Erlang B tables. In case of Erlang C, the effective rate of traffic overflow is zero except if the maximum number of TRXs is exceeded. The effective blocking rate is inferred from the required number of circuit timeslots (both shared and circuit timeslots) and the circuit traffic demand in Erlang C tables.

•

Probability of Circuit Blocking Rate (or Delay) (%): The Circuit Blocking Rate is the grade of service (GoS) indicator for circuit-switched traffic. It can be either the rate at which calls are blocked (Erlang B) or delayed (Erlang C), depending on which queuing model the dimensioning model uses.

•

Minimum Throughput Reduction Factor (%): The Minimum Throughput Reduction Factor is the lowest throughput reduction factor that can still guarantee service availability. The Minimum Throughput Reduction Factor is one of the criteria for packet-switched traffic dimensioning. It is calculated using the parameters defined for the services: the minimum service throughput; the maximum number of timeslots per connection; the required availability; and the per pixel timeslot capacity of the subcell coverage area. This parameter is calculated when making the traffic capture or is user-defined depending on the source of traffic demand on which the KPI calculation is based.

•

Throughput Reduction Factor (%): The Throughput Reduction Factor is calculated from the quality charts using the packet load and available connections for each subcell. This reduction factor must be greater than the minimum throughput reduction factor for packet-switched services for these services to be satisfactorily available in the subcell.

•

Maximum Packet Delay (s): The Maximum Packet Delay is the defined delay in seconds that must not be exceeded for the service quality to be considered satisfactory.

•

Packet Delay (s): The Delay is a key performance indicator (KPI) calculated using the quality graphs, the load, and the number of connections available. This dimensioning output must not exceed the maximum delay defined for the service for service availability to be considered satisfactory.

•

Maximum Probability of Packet Delay (%): The Maximum Probability of Packet Delay is defined for each packet service and is the highest probability that the service will be blocked that is acceptable in terms of service availability.

•

Probability of Packet Delay (Delay) (%): The Probability of Packet Delay is a dimensioning output and must not exceed the Maximum Probability of Packet Delay defined for the service for service availability to be considered satisfactory.

5. Click Commit to assign the load and the effective rate of traffic overflow to the subcells. KPI calculation is based on a traffic capture. Modifications to traffic maps, traffic parameters, and transmitter properties (e.g., calculation area, coding scheme configuration, etc.) have an influence on the traffic capture. Therefore, if you modify some of these data, you must recalculate the traffic capture before calculating KPIs.

7.7 Optimising Network Parameters Using ACP The ACP (Automatic Cell Planning) module enables radio engineers designing GSM networks to automatically calculate the optimal network settings in terms of network coverage and quality. ACP can also be used to add sites from a list of candidate sites or to remove unnecessary sites or sectors. ACP can also be used in co-planning mode where networks using different radio access technologies must be taken into consideration when calculating the optimal network settings. ACP is primarily intended to improve existing network deployment by reconfiguring the main parameters that can be remotely controlled by operators: antenna electrical tilt and transmission power. ACP can also be used during the initial planning stage of a GSM network by enabling the selection of the antenna, and its azimuth, height, and mechanical tilt. ACP not only takes transmitters into account in optimisations but also any repeaters and remote antennas.

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ACP can also be used to measure and optimise the EMF exposure created by the network. This permits the optimisation of power and antenna settings to reduce excessive EMF exposure in existing networks and optimal site selection for new transmitters. ACP uses user-defined objectives to evaluate the optimisation, as well as to calculate its implementation cost. Once you have defined the objectives and the network parameters to be optimised, ACP uses an efficient global search algorithm to test many network configurations and propose the reconfigurations that best meet the objectives. ACP presents the changes ordered from the most to the least beneficial, allowing phased implementation or implementation of just a subset of the suggested changes. ACP is technology-independent and can be used to optimise networks using different radio access technologies. Chapter 17: Automatic Cell Planning explains how you configure the ACP module, how you create and run an optimisation setup, and how you can view the results of an optimisation. In this section, only the concepts specific to GSM networks are explained: • • •

"GSM Optimisation Objectives" on page 468 "GSM Quality Parameters" on page 468 "GSM Quality Analysis Predictions" on page 470.

7.7.1 GSM Optimisation Objectives ACP optimises the network using user-defined objectives to evaluate the quality of the network reconfiguration. The objectives depend on the technology used by the project and are consistent with the corresponding coverage predictions in Atoll. In projects using GSM, either alone, or in a co-planning or multi-RAT mode, the following objectives are proposed: • •

GSM Coverage GSM Cell Dominance

You can also create the following objectives from the context menu of Objectives in the left-hand pane of the Objectives tab: • • •

GSM CINR Co-channel GSM 1st-Nth Difference Custom Coverage

You define the optimisation objectives using the Objectives tab of the ACP Setup dialog box. For information on setting objective parameters, see "Setting Objective Parameters" on page 1329.

Figure 7.94: Running ACP Optimisation for a GSM Network

7.7.2 GSM Quality Parameters When you create an optimisation setup, you define how ACP evaluates the objectives. The quality parameters are technology dependent. You can base the evaluation of the objectives on a calculated coverage prediction or on manual configuration. If you base the coverage prediction settings on a calculated coverage prediction, ACP will use the ranges and colours defined in the selected coverage prediction as the default for its own predictions. However, if you have saved the display options of an ACP prediction as default, or if you are using a configuration file for ACP, these defined ranges and colours will be used as the default, overriding the settings in the selected coverage prediction. In projects using GSM, either alone, or in a co-planning or multi-RAT mode, the following Quality parameters are proposed in the Pixel Rules frame of the objectives’ properties pages:

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• • • • • •

BCCH Signal Level Overlap Best Server Distance CINR Co-channel 1st-2nd Difference 1st-Nth Difference

To define the ACP quality parameters for GSM: 1. Open the Setup Properties dialog box to define the optimisation as explained in "Creating an ACP Setup" on page 1319. 2. Click the Objectives tab. 3. Under Parameters, expand the GSM folder. The list of available quality parameters appears. You can base the evaluation of a qualiy analysis prediction on a calculated Atoll prediction, if any, or on a manual configuration. •

If you base the evaluation of a qualiy analysis prediction on a calculated Atoll prediction, ACP will use the display settings of the calculated Atoll prediction in the qualiy analysis prediction calculated for that objective.

•

If you saved the display settings of a qualiy analysis prediction as defaults, or if you are using a configuration file for ACP, these display settings will be used by default and will override the display settings of the calculated Atoll prediction. For more information on changing the display settings of a quality analysis prediction, see "Changing the Display Properties of ACP Predictions" on page 1379.

CINR Co-channel Click this parameter to define in the right-hand pane how ACP will evaluate coverage by C/I level. • •

Base prediction settings on > "Coverage by C/I Level (DL)": ACP will evaluate coverage by C/I level based on the parameters used to calculate the selected "Coverage by C/I Level (DL)" prediction in Atoll. Base prediction settings on > "Manual configuration": If you select this option, you can Enable shadowing margin and define a Cell edge coverage probability. The standard deviations defined in the Atoll clutter are used or, if no clutter information is available, default values are used.

BCCH Signal Level Click this parameter to define in the right-hand pane how ACP will evaluate coverage by signal level. • •

Base prediction settings on > "Coverage by Signal Level (DL)": ACP will evaluate the coverage by signal level based on the parameters used to calculate the selected "Coverage by Signal Level (DL)" prediction in Atoll. Base prediction settings on > "Manual configuration": If you select this option, you can Enable shadowing margin and define a Cell edge coverage probability. The standard deviations defined in the Atoll clutter are used or, if no clutter information is available, default values are used.

Overlap / 1st-Nth to define in the right-hand pane how ACP will evaluate overlapping coverage and coverage by 1stNth difference. Overlap Click this parameter to define in the right-hand pane how ACP will evaluate coverage by overlapping zones or by 1st-Nth difference. •

•

Base prediction settings on > "Overlapping Zones (DL)": ACP will evaluate coverages by overlapping based on the parameters used to calculate the selected "Overlapping Zones (DL)" prediction in Atoll. Only the Atoll predictions displaying a "Number of Servers" per pixel can be accessed by the ACP. Base prediction settings on > "Manual configuration": If you select this option, set the Minimum signal level to "Subcell C Threshold" (reception threshold defined per subcell) or "Global C Threshold" and specify the Overlap threshold margin to be used for all subcells.

1st-Nth •

•

Base prediction settings on > "Overlapping Zones (DL)": ACP will evaluate coverages by 1st-Nth difference based on the parameters used to calculate the selected "Overlapping Zones (DL)" prediction in Atoll. Since there is no Atoll prediction type equivalent to ACP’s GSM 1st-Nth Difference objective, the parameters recovered by ACP from the selected Atoll prediction are limited to the minimum signal level and the shading. The number of servers must always be specified manually next to No. servers. Base prediction settings on > "Manual configuration": If you select this option, set the Minimum signal level to "Subcell C Threshold" or "Global C Threshold" and specify the No. serversthreshold margin to be used for all subcells. In both cases, the value you specify next to No. servers determines "Nth" in the GSM 1st-Nth Difference objective. For instance if you set No. servers to 4, then the "1st-4th Difference" quality parameter will be auto-

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matically selected by default in the Quality column of the GSM 1st-Nth Difference properties page. - Allowed values for No. servers range from 3 to 100, with only one value available per technology. - The "1st-2nd Difference" quality parameter (based on No. servers = 2) is provided by default.

7.7.3 GSM Quality Analysis Predictions ACP quality analysis predictions can be displayed in the Atoll map window. The same predictions are displayed by default on the Quality tab of an optimisation’s results window.

Figure 7.95: ACP Quality Analysis Prediction Types for a GSM Network ACP quality analysis predictions are equivalent to some of Atoll’s coverage predictions. The following table lists the quality analysis predictions available in ACP for GSM and the equivalent GSM coverage predictions in Atoll.

ACP Quality Analysis Prediction Type

Atoll Coverage Prediction Type "Display type" / "Field"

BCCH Signal Level

Coverage by Signal Level (DL) (1) "Value Intervals" / "Best Signal Level (dBm)"

Overlap

Overlapping Zones (DL) (2) "Value Intervals" / "Number of Servers"

CINR Co-channel

Coverage by C/I Level (DL) (3) "Value Intervals" / "C/I Level (dB)"

1st-Nth Difference

N/A

(1) For more information, see "Making a Coverage Prediction by DL Signal Level" on page 308. (2) For more information, see "Making a Coverage Prediction on Overlapping Zones" on page 313. (3) For more information, see "Making DL Quality Predic

ons Based on C⁄I or C⁄(I+N)" on page 431.

Making these predictions available within ACP enables you to quickly validate the optimisation results without having to commit the results and then calculate a coverage prediction in Atoll. The ACP predictions display results very similar to those that Atoll would display if you committed the optimisation results and calculated Atoll coverage predictions, however, before basing any decision to commit the optimisation results on the predictions produced by ACP, you should keep the following recommendations in mind: • • • •

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You should verify the results with a different Atoll coverage prediction, such as the interfered zones prediction. ACP generated predictions are generated using the entire set of proposed changes. They do not take into account the change subset defined on the Change Details tab. The predictions are only provided for the used or requested carrier (GSM900, GSM1800, etc.) separately. Even after committing the optimisation results, small differences can appear between ACP predictions and the predictions resulting from Atoll coverage predictions.

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You can view the exact BCCH value on any pixel by letting the pointer rest over the pixel. The BCCH value is then displayed in tip text. For ACP overlapping zones predictions, you can: •

specify a best server threshold: • by entering a value next to Minimum Signal Level in the Overlap / 1st-Nth properties page, • or by setting the param.gsm.overlap.minRxLevel option with the same value in the [ACPTplObjectivePage] section of the ACP.ini file.

•

specify a threshold margin: • by entering a value next to Threshold margin in the Overlap / 1st-Nth properties page, • or by setting the param.gsm.overlap.margin option with the same value in the [ACPTplObjectivePage] section of the ACP.ini file.

For each network quality coverage prediction, ACP offers a prediction showing the initial network state, the final network state, and a prediction showing the changes between the initial and final state.

7.8 Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data An important step in the process of creating a GSM/GPRS/EDGE network is to analyse the network’s performance using drive test data. This is done using measurements of the strength of the pilot signal and other parameters in different locations within the area covered by the network. This collection of measurements is called a drive test data path. The data contained in a drive test data path is used to verify the accuracy of current network parameters and to optimise the network. In this section, the following are explained: • • • • • • •

"Importing a Drive Test Data Path" on page 471 "Displaying Drive Test Data" on page 474 "Defining the Display of a Drive Test Data Path" on page 474 "Network Verification" on page 475 "Exporting a Drive Test Data Path" on page 482 "Extracting CW Measurements from Drive Test Data" on page 482 "Printing and Exporting the Drive Test Data Window" on page 483.

7.8.1 Importing a Drive Test Data Path In Atoll, you can analyse drive tests by importing drive test data in the form of ASCII text files (with tabs, commas, semi-colons, or spaces as separator), TEMS FICS-Planet export files (with the extension PLN), or TEMS text export files (with the extension FMT). For Atoll to be able to use the data in imported files, the imported files must contain the following information: • •

The position of drive test data points. When you import the data, you must indicate which columns give the abscissa and ordinate (XY coordinates) of each point. Information identifying scanned cells (for example, serving subcells, neighbour subcells, or any other subcells). Transmitters may be identified by their IDs or their BCCH and BSIC.

You can import a single drive test data file or several drive test data files at the same time. If you regularly import drive test data files of the same format, you can create an import configuration. The import configuration contains information that defines the structure of the data in the drive test data file. By using the import configuration, you will not need to define the data structure each time you import a new drive test data file. To import one or several drive test data files: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Drive Test Data folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Import from the context menu. The Open dialog box appears. 4. You can import one or several files. Select the file or files you want to open. If you are importing more than one file, you can select contiguous files by clicking the first file you want to import, pressing Shift and clicking the last file you want to import. You can select non-contiguous files by pressing Ctrl and clicking each file you want to import. 5. Click Open. The Import of Measurement Files dialog box appears.

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Files with the extension PLN, as well as some FMT files (created with previous versions of TEMS) are imported directly into Atoll; you will not be asked to define the data structure using the Import of Measurement Files dialog box. 6. If you already have an import configuration defining the data structure of the imported file or files, you can select it from the Import configuration list on the Setup tab of the Import of Measurement Files dialog box. If you do not have an import configuration, continue with step 7. a. Under Import configuration, select an import configuration from the Import configuration list. b. Continue with step 10. •

•

When importing a drive test data path file, existing configurations are available in the Files of type list of the Open dialog box, sorted according to their date of creation. After you have selected a file and clicked Open, Atoll automatically proposes a configuration, if it recognises the extension. If several configurations are associated with an extension, Atoll chooses the first configuration in the list. The defined configurations are stored, by default, in the file "NumMeasINIFile.ini", located in the directory where Atoll is installed. For more information on the NumMeasINIFile.ini file, see the Administrator Manual.

7. Click the General tab. On the General tab, you can set the following parameters: • • •

Name: By default, Atoll names the new drive test data path after the imported file. You can change this name if desired. Under Receiver, set the Height of the receiver antenna and the Gain and Losses. Under Measurement Conditions, • •

Units: Select the measurement units used. Coordinates: By default, Atoll imports the coordinates using the display system of the Atoll document. If the coordinates used in the file you are importing are different than the coordinates used in the Atoll document, you must click the Browse button and select the coordinate system used in the drive test data file. Atoll will then convert the data imported to the coordinate system used in the Atoll document.

8. Click the Setup tab (see Figure 7.96).

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Figure 7.96: The Setup tab of the Import of Measurement Files dialog box a. Under File, enter the number of the 1st Measurement Row, select the data Separator, and select the Decimal Symbol used in the file. b. Click the Setup button to link file columns and internal Atoll fields. The Drive Test Data Setup dialog box appears. c. Under Measurement point position, select the columns in the imported file that give the X-Coordinates and the Y-Coordinates of each point in the drive test data file. You can also identify the columns containing the XY coordinates of each point in the drive test data file by selecting them from the Field row of the table on the Setup tab.

d. If you are importing drive test data by ID as transmitter identifiers: i.

Under Server identification, select By ID

ii. In the By ID identifier box, enter a string found in the column name that identifies the cell Ids of scanned transmitters. For example, if the string "Cell_ID" is found in the column names that identify the Cell_ID of scanned transmitters, enter it here. Atoll will then search for the column with this string in the column name. e. If you are importing data using BSIC and BCCH as transmitter identifiers: i.

Under Server identification, select By BSIC/BCCH.

ii. In the BSIC identifier box, enter a string that is found in the column names identifying the BSICs of the scanned subcells. For example, if the string "BSIC" is found in the column names identifying the BSIC of the scanned subcells, enter it here. Atoll will then search for columns with this string in the column name. iii. In the BCCH identifier box, enter a string that is found in the column names identifying the BCCH of the scanned subcells. For example, if the string "BCCH" is found in the column names identifying the BCCH of scanned subcells, enter it here. Atoll will then search for columns with this string in the column name. If there is no BCCH information contained in the drive test data file, leave the BCCH identifier box empty. iv. In the BSIC format list, select the scrambling code format, "Decimal" or "Octal." f.

Click OK to close the Drive Test Data Setup dialog box.

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•

•

If you have correctly entered the information under File on the Setup tab, and the necessary values in the Drive Test Data Setup dialog box, Atoll should recognise all columns in the imported file. If not, you can click the name of the column in the table in the Field row and select the column name. For each field, you must ensure that each column has the correct data type in order for the data to be correctly interpreted. The default value under Type is "". If a column is marked with "", it will not be imported. The data in the file must be structured so that the columns identifying the BCCH and the BSIC are placed before the data columns for each subcell. Otherwise Atoll will not be able to properly import the file.

9. If you want to save the definition of the data structure so that you can use it again, you can save it as an import configuration: a. On the Setup tab, under Import configuration, click Save. The Configuration dialog box appears. b. By default, Atoll saves the configuration in a file called "NumMeasINIfile.ini" found in Atoll’s installation folder. If you cannot write into that folder, you can click the Browse button to choose a different location. c. Enter a Configuration name and an Extension of the files that this import configuration will describe (for example, "*.csv"). d. Click OK. Atoll will now select this import configuration automatically every time you import a drive test data path file with the selected extension. If you import a file with the same structure but a different extension, you will be able to select this import configuration from the Import configuration list. • •

•

You do not have to complete the import procedure to save the import configuration and have it available for future use. When importing a CW measurement file, you can expand the NumMeasINIfile.ini file by clicking the Expand button ( ) in front of the file under Import configuration to display all the available import configurations. When selecting the appropriate configuration, the associations are automatically made in the table at the bottom of the dialog box. You can delete an existing import configuration by selecting the import configuration under Import configuration and clicking the Delete button.

10. Click Import, if you are only importing a single file, or Import All, if you are importing more than one file. The mobile data is imported into the current Atoll document.

7.8.2 Displaying Drive Test Data When you have imported the drive test data into the current Atoll document, you can display it in the map window. Then, you can select individual drive test data points to see information about the transmitters at that location. To display information about a single drive test data point: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Drive Test Data folder. 3. Select the display check box beside the drive test data you want to display in the map window. The drive test data is displayed. 4. Click and hold the drive test data point on which you want server and neighbour information. Atoll displays an arrow pointing towards the serving transmitters and neighbours (see Figure 7.101 on page 481), with a number identifying the server as numbered in the drive test data. If the transmitter display type is "Automatic," both the number and the arrow are displayed in the same colour as the transmitter. For information on changing the display type to "Automatic," see "Setting the Display Type" on page 52.

7.8.3 Defining the Display of a Drive Test Data Path Drive test data paths have the standard Atoll display dialog box to allow you to define the display according to any available attribute, to manage permanent labels on the map, tip texts, and the legend. To open the display dialog box of a drive test data path: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Drive Test Data folder.

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3. Right-click the drive test data path whose display you want to define. The context menu appears. 4. Select Properties from the context menu. 5. Click the Display tab. Each single point can be displayed by a unique attribute, or according to: • •

a text or integer attribute (discrete value) a numerical value (value interval).

In addition, a last option is available which permits to display points according to more than one criterion at a time. By selecting Advanced Display from the Display Type, a dialog box opens in which you can define the following display for each single point of the measurement path: • • •

a symbol type according to any attribute a symbol colour according to any attribute a symbol size according to any attribute

With such settings, you can, for example, display a signal level by colour, choose a symbol type for Transmitter 1 (circle, triangle, cross, etc.) and a size according to the altitude. •

• • •

Fast Display forces Atoll to use the lightest symbol to display points. Fast Display is useful when you have a very large amount of points which would require a great amount of computer resources to display. Using Advanced Display on symbols is possible only if the Fast Display check box is cleared. You can sort drive test data paths in alphabetical order in the Network explorer by selecting Sort Alphabetically from the Drive Test Data context menu. You can save the display settings (such as colours and symbols) of a drive test data path in a user configuration file to make them available for use on another drive test data path. To save or load the user configuration file, click the Actions button on the Display tab of the path properties dialog box and select Save or Load from the Display Configuration submenu.

7.8.4 Network Verification The imported drive test data is used to verify the GSM/GPRS/EDGE network. To improve the relevance of the data, Atoll allows you to filter out incompatible or inaccurate points. You can then use the data for coverage predictions, either by comparing the imported measurements with previously calculated coverage predictions, or by creating new coverage predictions using the imported drive test data. In this section, the following are explained: • • • • • •

"Filtering Measurement Points Along Drive Test Data Paths" on page 475 "Predicting the Signal Level on Drive Test Data Points" on page 477 "Creating Coverage Predictions on Drive Test Data Paths" on page 478 "Displaying Statistics Over a Drive Test Data Path" on page 480 "Extracting a Field From a Drive Test Data Path for a Transmitter" on page 480 "Analysing Data Variations Along the Path" on page 480.

7.8.4.1 Filtering Measurement Points Along Drive Test Data Paths When using a drive test data path, some measured points might present values that are too far outside of the median values to be useful in calibration. As well, test paths might include test points in areas that are not representative of the drive test data path as a whole. For example, a test path that includes two heavily populated areas might also include test points from the more lightly populated region between the two. In Atoll, you can filter out points that are incompatible with the points you are studying, either by filtering out the clutter classes where the incompatible points are located, or by filtering out points according to their properties. To filter out incompatible points by clutter class: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Drive Test Data on which you want to filter out incompatible points: • •

All Drive Test Data measurements: Right-click the Drive Test Data folder. Only one Drive Test Data path: Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Drive Test Data folder. The context menu appears.

3. Select Filter from the context menu. The CW Measurement Filter dialog box appears.

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4. In the Per Clutter window, under Filter, clear the check boxes of the clutter classes you want to filter out. Only the clutter classes whose check box is selected will be taken into account. 5. If you want to keep the measurement points that are inside the focus zone, select the Use focus zone to filter check box. 6. If you want to permanently remove the measurement points outside the filter, select the Delete Points Outside Filter check box. If you permanently delete measurement points and later want to use them, you will have to re-import the original measurement data. To filter out incompatible points using a filter: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Drive Test Data on which you want to filter out incompatible points: • •

All Drive Test Data measurements: Right-click the Drive Test Data folder. Only one Drive Test Data path: Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Drive Test Data folder. The context menu appears.

3. Select Filter from the context menu. The CW Measurement Filter dialog box appears. 4. Click More. The Filter dialog box appears. 5. Click the Filter tab: 6. Select a Field from the list. 7. Under Values to Include, you will find all the values represented in the selected field. Select the check boxes next to the values you want to include in the filter. Click Clear All to clear all check boxes. 8. Click the Advanced tab: 9. In the Column row, select the name of the column to be filtered on from the list. Select as many columns as you want (see Figure 7.97).

Figure 7.97: The Filter dialog box - Advanced tab i.

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Underneath each column name, enter the criteria on which the column will be filtered as explained in the following table: Formula

Data is kept in the table only if

=X

value equal to X (X can be a number or characters)

X

value not equal to X (X can be a number or characters)

X

numerical value is greater than X

=X

numerical value is greater than or equal to X

*X*

text objects which contain X

*X

text objects end with X

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Formula

Data is kept in the table only if

X*

text objects which start with X

ii. Click OK to filter the data according to the criteria you have defined. Combinations of filters are first made horizontally, then vertically. For more information on filters, see "Advanced Data Filtering" on page 101. iii. Click OK to apply the filter and close the dialog box. You can update heights (of the DTM, and clutter heights) and the clutter class of drive test data points after adding new geographic maps or modifying existing ones by selecting Refresh Geo Data from the context menu of the Drive Test Data Paths folder.

7.8.4.2 Predicting the Signal Level on Drive Test Data Points To predict the signal level on drive test data points: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Drive Test Data folder. 3. Right-click the drive test data path on which you want to create the point prediction. The context menu appears. 4. Select Calculations > Create a New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 5. Under Point predictions, select Point Signal Level and click OK. The Point Signal Level Properties dialog box appears (see Figure 7.98).

Figure 7.98: Point Signal Level Properties dialog box The errors between measured and predicted signal levels can be calculated and added to the drive test data table. 6. If you want to calculate errors between measured and predicted signal levels, under Select signal levels for error calculations, select the names of the columns representing measured signal level values in the drive test data table for which you want to calculate the errors (see Figure 7.99). If you do not want to add this information to the drive test data table, continue with step 7.

Figure 7.99: Selecting measured signal levels for which errors will be calculated 7. Click OK. A new point prediction is created for the selected drive test data path. 8. Right-click the drive test data path. The context menu appears. 9. Select Calculations > Calculate All the Predictions from the context menu.

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If you chose to have Atoll calculate the errors between measured and predicted signal levels, new columns are added to the drive test data table for the predicted point signal level from the serving cell and the errors between the measured and predicted values.

Figure 7.100: Drive Test Data Table after Point Signal Level Prediction (with Error Calculations) New columns are also added for the predicted point signal level from each neighbour cell and the errors between the predicted and measured values. The values stored in these columns can be displayed in the Drive Test Data analysis tool. For more information on the Drive Test Data analysis tool, see "Analysing Data Variations Along the Path" on page 480. The propagation model used to calculate the predicted point signal levels is the one assigned to the transmitter for the main matrix. For more information on propagation models, see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models.

7.8.4.3 Creating Coverage Predictions on Drive Test Data Paths You can create the following coverage predictions for all transmitters on each point of a drive test data path: • •

Coverage by Signal Level (DL) Coverage by C/I Level (DL)

To create a coverage prediction along a drive test data path: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Drive Test Data folder. 3. Right-click the drive test data to which you want to add a coverage prediction. The context menu appears. 4. Select Calculations > Create a New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 5. Under Standard Predictions, select one of the following coverage predictions and click OK: •

Coverage by Signal Level (DL): Click the Conditions tab. •

At the top of the Conditions tab, you can set the range of signal level to be considered. You can click the down arrow button and select one of the following thresholds: Subcell C Threshold: to use the reception threshold specified for each subcell (including the defined power reduction) as the lower end of the signal level range. Global C Threshold: to enter a threshold to be used for all subcells as the lower end of the signal level range.

• •

Under Server, select "All" to consider all servers. If you select Shadowing Taken Into Account check box, you can change the Cell Edge Coverage Probability. For more information, see "Modelling Shadowing" on page 506. You can select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. You can select which TRX type to consider by selecting it from the Reception from Subcells list.

• • •

Coverage by C/I: Click the Conditions tab. •

•

•

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On the Conditions tab, you can define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. You can click the down arrow button and select one of the following thresholds: Subcell C Threshold: to use the reception threshold specified for each subcell (including the defined power reduction) as the lower end of the signal level range. Global C Threshold: to enter a threshold to be used for all subcells as the lower end of the signal level range. Under Server, select "HCS servers" to take the best signal level by HCS layer on each pixel into consideration, assuming this signal level on each layer exceeds the minimum HCS threshold defined either at the HCS layer level or specifically for each transmitter. When you select "Best Signal Level per HCS Layer" or "All," there might be areas where several transmitters experience interference. On these pixels, several C⁄I values are calculated. Therefore, on the Display tab, you select to display either the lowest C⁄I level or the highest C⁄I level (for more information, see "Comparing Service Areas in Calculations" on page 484). Enter an Overlap margin. The default value is "4 dB."

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•

• • •

If you select Shadowing Taken into Account, you can change the Cell Edge Coverage Probability. Shadowing margins (depending on the entered cell edge coverage probability and the model standard deviation per clutter class) are applied to the values for C. For more information, see "Modelling Shadowing" on page 506. You can select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. Under Interference Conditions, you can select which TRX type to consider as potential victim by selecting it from the Interfered Subcells list. Select "C⁄I" or "C⁄(I+N)". On the same line, click the down arrow buttons on the left and on the right and select one of the following thresholds: Subcell C/I Threshold: to use the C⁄I threshold specified for each subcell (including the defined power reduction) as the lower end of the C⁄I range. Global C/I Threshold: to enter a threshold to be used for all subcells as the lower end of the C⁄I range. You can not select Subcell C/I Threshold as both the lower and the upper end of the C⁄I range to be considered.

•

•

•

•

•

Select whether you want the defined interference condition to be Satisfied By: At least one TRX: When you select this option, the defined interference condition must be satisfied by at least one TRX on a given pixel for the results to be displayed on that pixel. The worst TRX: When you select this option, Atoll selects the worst results for each pixel. If the worst results do not satisfy the defined interference condition, the results will not be displayed on that pixel. If you selected C/(I+N), you can define the value to be added to the interference. The defined noise figure is added to the thermal noise value (defined at -121 dBm) to calculate the value of N. Select one of the following: Based on Terminal: to use the noise figure defined for a terminal and select the terminal from the list. Fixed Value: to enter a value and then enter the noise figure in the text box. If you want discontinuous transmission mode for TRXs which support it taken into account during the calculation of interference, select the DTX taken into account check box and enter the percentage of time during which a user is talking in the Voice Activity Factor text box. Select the Traffic Load that will be used to calculate interference: 100%: The maximum traffic load (subcells entirely loaded). From subcell table: The subcell traffic load as defined or as calculated during dimensioning. From the Interference Sources list, select whether the interference should be calculated from adjacent channels, co-channels, or from both. The adjacent channel effect on the victim channel, i.e., the interference, is decreased by the adjacent channel protection level. Inter-technology interference is taken into account by default. For more information, see "Modelling Inter-technology Interference" on page 624. By adding an option in the Atoll.ini file, you can add an Inter-technology check box which will allow you to consider or not inter-technology interference.

•

Select the Detailed Results check box if you want to display detailed results per transmitter. The results displayed depend on the subcell frequency hopping mode: Non-Hopping Mode: The results are displayed for one channel of each TRX in non-hopping mode. Base Band Hopping Mode: The results are displayed for the MAL of each subcell in base band hopping mode. Synthesised Frequency Hopping Mode: The results are displayed for the MAL-MAIO of each subcell in synthesised frequency hopping mode.

6. When you have finished setting the parameters for the coverage prediction, click OK. You can create a new coverage prediction by repeating the procedure from step 1. to step 6. for each new coverage prediction. 7. When you have finished creating new coverage predictions for these drive test data, right-click the drive test data. The context menu appears. 8. Select Calculations > Calculate All the Predictions from the context menu. A new column for each coverage prediction is added in the table for the drive test data. The column contains the predicted values of the selected parameters for the transmitter. The propagation model used is the one assigned to the transmitter for the main matrix (for information on the propagation model, see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models). You can display the information in these new columns in the Drive Test Data window. For more information on the Drive Test Data window, see "Analysing Data Variations Along the Path" on page 480.

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7.8.4.4 Displaying Statistics Over a Drive Test Data Path Assuming some predictions have been calculated along a Drive Test Data path, you can display the statistics between the measured and the predicted values on a specific measurement path. To display the statistics for a specific Drive Test Data path: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Drive Test Data folder. 3. Right-click the drive test data from which you want to display comparative statistics. The context menu appears. 4. Select Display Statistics from the context menu. The Measurement and Prediction Fields Selection dialog box appears. 5. Select one or more transmitters from the For the Transmitters list. 6. Select the fields that contain the previously predicted values that you want to use for predictions. Only one type of value can be compared at a time (signal level or quality). 7. Select the fields that contain the measured values that you want to use for predictions. Only one type of value can be compared at a time (signal level or quality). The measured and the selected values have to match up. 8. Enter the minimum and maximum measured values. Statistics are done with drive test data points where the measured values are within this specified range. 9. Click OK. Atoll opens a popup in which the global statistics between measurements and predictions are given over all the filtered (or not) points of the current drive test data path through the mean error, its standard deviation, the root mean square and the error correlation factor. The statistics are also given per clutter class.

7.8.4.5 Extracting a Field From a Drive Test Data Path for a Transmitter You can extract a specific field for a specific transmitter on each point of an existing drive test data path. The extracted information will be added to a new column in the table for the drive test data. To extract a field from a drive test data path: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Drive Test Data folder. 3. Right-click the drive test data from which you want to extract a field. The context menu appears. 4. Select Focus on a Transmitter from the context menu. The Field Selection for a Given Transmitter dialog box appears. 5. Select a transmitter from the On the Transmitter list. 6. Click the For the Fields list. The list opens. 7. Select the check box beside the field you want to extract for the selected transmitters. Atoll can display the seven servers per point. If you want to display for example, the point signal level, remember to select the check box for the point signal level for all servers in the For the Fields list. The new column will then display the point signal level for the selected transmitter for all servers if a value exists. 8. Click OK. Atoll creates a new column in the drive test data path data table for the selected transmitters and with the selected values.

7.8.4.6 Analysing Data Variations Along the Path In Atoll, you can analyse variations in data along any drive test data path using the Drive Test Data window. You can also use the Drive Test Data window to see which cell is the serving cell for a given test point. To analyse data variations using the Drive Test Data window. 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Drive Test Data folder. 3. Click the drive test data you want to analyse and select Drive Test Data from the Tools menu. The Drive Test Data window appears (see Figure 7.101)

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Figure 7.101: The Drive Test Data window 4. Click Display at the top of the Drive Test Data window. The Display Parameters dialog box appears (see Figure Figure 7.102).

Figure 7.102: The Display Parameters dialog box 5. In the Display Parameters dialog box: • • •

Select the check box next to any field you want to display in the Drive Test Data window. If you wish, you can change the display colour by clicking the colour in the Colour column and selecting a new colour from the palette that appears. Click OK to close the Display Parameters dialog box. You can change the display status or the colour of more than one field at a time. You can select contiguous fields by clicking the first field, pressing Shift and clicking the last field you want to import. You can select non-contiguous fields by pressing Ctrl and clicking each field. You can then change the display status or the colour by right-clicking on the selected fields and selecting the choice from the context menu. The selected fields are displayed in the Drive Test Data window.

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6. You can display the data in the drive test data path in two ways: • •

Click the values in the Drive Test Data window. Click the points on the drive test data path in the map window.

The drive test data path appears in the map window as an arrow pointing towards the serving cell, with a number identifying the best server (see Figure on page 481). If the transmitter display type is "Automatic," both the number and the arrow are displayed in the same colour as the transmitter. For information on changing the display type to "Automatic," see "Setting the Display Type" on page 52. 7. You can display a second Y-axis on the right side of the window in order to display the values of a variable with different orders of magnitude than the ones selected in the Display Parameters dialog box. You can select the secondary Y-axis from the right-hand list on the top of the Drive Test Data window. The selected values are displayed in the colours defined for this variable in the Display Parameters dialog box. 8. You can change the zoom level of the Drive Test Data window display in the Drive Test Data window in the following ways: •

Zoom in or out: i.

Right-click the Drive Test Data window.

ii. Select Zoom In or Zoom Out from the context menu. •

Select the data to zoom in on: i.

Right-click the Drive Test Data window on one end of the range of data you want to zoom in on.

ii. Select First Zoom Point from the context menu. iii. Right-click the Drive Test Data window on the other end of the range of data you want to zoom in on. iv. Select Last Zoom Point from the context menu. The Drive Test Data window zooms in on the data between the first zoom point and the last zoom point. 9. Click the data in the Drive Test Data window to display the selected point in the map window. Atoll will recentre the map window on the selected point if it is not presently visible. If you open the table for the drive test data you are displaying in the Drive Test Data window, Atoll will automatically display in the table the data for the point that is displayed in the map and in the Drive Test Data window (see Figure 7.101 on page 481).

7.8.5 Exporting a Drive Test Data Path You can export drive test data paths to vector files. To export a drive test data path to a vector file: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Drive Test Data folder. 3. Right-click the drive test data path you want to export. The context menu appears. 4. Select Export from the context menu. The Save As dialog box appears. 5. Enter a File name for the drive test data path and select a format from the Save as type list. 6. Click Save. The drive test data path is exported and saved in the file.

7.8.6 Extracting CW Measurements from Drive Test Data You can generate CW measurements from drive test data paths and extract the results to the CW Measurements folder. To generate CW measurement from a drive test data path: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Drive Test Data folder. 3. Right-click the drive test data path you want to export. The context menu appears. 4. Select Extract CW Measurements from the context menu. The CW Measurement Extraction dialog box appears.

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5. Under Extract CW Measurements: a. Select one or more transmitters from the For the Transmitters list. b. Select the field that contains the information that you want to export to CW measurements from the For the Fields list. 6. Under CW Measurement Creation Parameters: a. Enter the Min. Number of Points to Extract per Measurement Path. CW measurements are not created for transmitters that have fewer points than this number. b. Enter the minimum and maximum Measured Signal Levels. CW measurements are created with drive test data points where the signal levels are within this specified range. 7. Click OK. Atoll creates new CW measurements for transmitters satisfying the parameters set in the CW Measurement Extraction dialog box. For more information about CW measurements, see the Measurements and Model Calibration Guide.

7.8.7 Generating Interference Matrices from a Drive Test Data Path You can generate interference matrices from drive test data paths and extract the results to the Interference Matrix folder. To generate Interference Matrices from a drive test data path: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Drive Test Data folder. 3. Right-click the drive test data path you want to export. The context menu appears. 4. Select Extract Interference Matrices from the context menu. The Interference Matrix Export dialog box appears. 5. Under Storage File: a. Click the Browse button to select the path and the name of the interference matrix file to be generated. b. Select the field that contains the signal level information that you want Atoll to convert into C/I values from the Select the measured signal levels list. 6. Click OK. Atoll creates a new interference matrix item in the Interference Matrix folder which can be used like any other interference matrix (See "Interference Matrices" on page 351).

7.8.8 Printing and Exporting the Drive Test Data Window You can print or export the contents of the Drive Test Data window, using the context menu in the Drive Test Data window. To print or export the contents of the Drive Test Data window: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Drive Test Data folder. 3. Right-click the drive test data you want to analyse. The context menu appears. 4. Select Open the Analysis Tool from the context menu. The Drive Test Data window appears (see Figure 7.101 on page 481). 5. Define the display parameters and zoom level as explained in "Analysing Data Variations Along the Path" on page 480. 6. Right-click the Drive Test Data window. The context menu appears. To export the Drive Test Data window: a. Select Copy from the context menu. b. Open the document into which you want to paste the contents of the Drive Test Data window. c. Paste the contents of the Drive Test Data window into the new document. To print the Drive Test Data window: a. Select Print from the context menu. The Print dialog box appears. b. Click OK to print the contents of the Drive Test Data window.

7.9 Advanced Configuration In this section, the following advanced configuration options are explained:

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"Setting HCS Layers" on page 484 "Comparing Service Areas in Calculations" on page 484 "Cell Types" on page 488 "TRX Configuration" on page 491 "Codec Configuration" on page 492 "Coding Scheme Configuration" on page 495 "Timeslot Configurations" on page 499 "Advanced Transmitter Configuration Options" on page 499 "Advanced Modelling of Hopping Gain in Coverage Predictions" on page 504 "Modelling Shadowing" on page 506 "Modelling the Co-existence of Networks" on page 506

7.9.1 Setting HCS Layers You can model hierarchical networks in Atoll by defining hierarchical cell structure (HCS) layers. HCS layers are defined by the following parameters: • • •

Priority Layer reception threshold Maximum speed.

The priority and layer reception threshold are used to determine the best server on each pixel. When there are several possible transmitters, the best server will be determined by the priority. If there are transmitters on different layers having the same priority, the transmitter for which the difference between the received signal level and the layer reception threshold will be selected as the best server. Transmitters whose received signal level is below the layer reception threshold will be ranked by signal level, but will not be chosen as best server. The HCS layer reception threshold is considered only if no specific HCS layer reception threshold has been defined at the transmitter level (on the General tab of the transmitter’s Properties dialog box). You can set Atoll to select the transmitter with the highest received signal level as the serving transmitter by changing an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information on changing options in the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual. The maximum speed is used to select HCS layer users according to the speed defined in the mobility. To define HCS layers: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the GSM Network Settings folder. 3. Right-click the HCS Layers folder. The context menu appears. 4. Select Open Table. The HCS Layers table appears. 5. In the row marked with the New Row icon ( ), enter the following parameters to define a HCS layer (for information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75): • • • •

Name: Enter a name for the HCS layer. This name will appear in other dialog boxes when you select a HCS layer. Priority: Enter a priority for the HCS layer. "0" is the lowest priority. Max. Speed (km/h): Enter a maximum mobility speed for the HCS layer. Layer Reception Threshold (dBm): Enter a default layer reception threshold in dBm. This threshold can be used as a border for the HCS layer in some predictions when the HCS server option is selected.

7.9.2 Comparing Service Areas in Calculations For any coverage prediction, traffic analysis, or interference matrix calculation, transmitter service areas can be defined differently according to the server selection made on the Conditions tab of the dialog box used to define the calculation. On the Conditions tab, you can select: • • • • • •

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All: All servers will be taken into consideration. Best Signal Level: The best signal level from all servers on all layers will be taken into consideration. Second Best Signal Level: The second best signal level from all servers on all layers will be taken into consideration. Best Signal Level per HCS Layer: The best signal level from all servers on each HCS layer will be taken into consideration. Second Best Signal Level per HCS Layer: The second best signal level from all servers on each HCS layer will be taken into consideration. HCS Servers: The best signal level by HCS layer on each pixel will be taken into consideration, assuming the signal level on each layer exceeds the minimum HCS threshold defined either at the HCS layer level or specifically for each transmitter.

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•

•

Highest Priority HCS Server: The best signal level of all the severs on the highest priority HCS layer will be taken into consideration, assuming the priority of the layer is defined by its priority field and its signal level exceeds the minimum HCS threshold defined either at the HCS layer level or specifically for each transmitter. Best Idle Mode Reselection Criterion (C2): The best C2 from all servers will be taken into consideration.

A server is considered on a pixel if its calculated signal level exceeds the lower boundary of the signal level defined either globally on the Conditions tab of the coverage prediction or specifically for each subcell in coverage prediction, traffic analysis, and interference matrix calculations. Selecting the server to be taken into consideration retains one or several servers on each pixel, according to a combination of HCS layer properties (layer priority, maximum speed allowed on the layer, layer admission threshold) and the calculated signal level on each pixel. Example of Service Areas In this example, the following network is used: • • •

3 tri-sector base stations on a micro layer 1 omni base station on a macro layer 1 omni base station on an umbrella layer

The umbrella layer is defined to overlap the macro layer, which overlaps the micro layer. The HCS layers are defined with the following characteristics: Name

Priority (0:Lowest)

Max Speed (km/h)

Layer Reception Threshold (dBm)

Macro Layer

2

100

-90

Micro Layer

3

10

-84

Umbrella Layer

1

300

-105

The subcell reception threshold is -102 dBm for the micro cells and -105 dBm for the macro and the umbrella cells. Three mobility types are defined in this project: Pedestrian (3km/h), 50 km/h and 90 km/h The resulting services areas are displayed in the following graphics for each selection. •

All: All servers are taken into consideration

Composite Coverage

Umbrella Layer Coverage

Macro Layer Coverage

Micro Layer Coverage

Figure 7.103: Coverage by Transmitter (DL) on All the servers Figure 7.103 shows the service areas of all the transmitters without any layers taken into consideration. Each cell is considered individually and the limit of its coverage is defined by its subcell reception thresholds. Overlapping is possible between transmitters and between HCS layers. •

Best Signal Level: The best signal level from all servers on all layers is taken into consideration.

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Composite Coverage

Umbrella Layer Coverage

Macro Layer Coverage

Micro Layer Coverage

Figure 7.104: Coverage by Transmitter (DL) for the Best Signal Level Figure 7.104 shows the service areas of the transmitters having the best signal level on each pixel, without any layer taken into consideration. Cells are in competition if their calculated signal level is higher than the subcell reception thresholds. Overlapping between transmitters and between HCS layers is not possible. •

Best Signal Level per HCS Layer: The best signal level from all servers on each HCS layer is taken into consideration.

Composite Coverage

Umbrella Layer Coverage

Macro Layer Coverage

Micro Layer Coverage

Figure 7.105: Coverage by Transmitter (DL) for the Best Signal Level per HCS Layer Figure 7.105 shows the service areas of the transmitters having the best signal level on each pixel, for each HCS layer. Cells are in competition per layer if their computed signal level is higher than its subcell reception thresholds. Overlapping between HCS layers is possible, but overlapping between transmitters on a given HCS layer is not possible. •

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HCS Servers: The best signal level by HCS layer on each pixel is taken into consideration, assuming the signal level on each layer exceeds the minimum HCS threshold defined either at the HCS layer level or specifically for each transmitter.

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Composite Coverage

Umbrella Layer Coverage

Macro Layer Coverage

Micro Layer Coverage

Figure 7.106: Coverage by Transmitter (DL) for the HCS Servers Figure 7.106 shows the service areas of the transmitters having the best signal level on each pixel, for each HCS layer. Cells are in competition per layer assuming their calculated signal level is higher than the subcell reception thresholds and the HCS layer reception threshold. Overlapping between HCS layers is possible, but overlapping between transmitters on a given HCS layer is not possible. In the case above, the micro layer overlaps the macro layer and its borders are defined by the maximum between the subcell reception thresholds (-102 dBm) and the micro layer threshold (-84 dBm), i.e. -84 dBm. In addition, the macro layer overlaps the umbrella layer and its borders are defined by the maximum between the subcell reception thresholds (-105 dBm) and the macro layer threshold (-90 dBm), i.e. -90 dBm. The umbrella layer is displayed when its signal level exceeds the maximum between the subcell reception thresholds and the umbrella layer threshold, i.e. -105 dBm. •

Highest Priority HCS Server: The best signal level of all the severs on the highest priority HCS layer are taken into consideration, assuming the priority of the layer is defined by its priority field and its signal level exceeds the minimum HCS threshold defined either at the HCS layer level or specifically for each transmitter.

Composite Coverage

Umbrella Layer Coverage

Macro Layer Coverage

Micro Layer Coverage

Figure 7.107: Coverage by Transmitter (DL) for the Highest Priority HCS Server

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Figure 7.107 shows the service areas of the transmitters having the best signal level on each pixel, on the highest priority HCS layer. The priority HCS layer is the layer for which the priority value is the highest and for which the calculated signal level is higher than its subcell reception thresholds and the HCS layer reception threshold. Overlapping between HCS layers and between transmitters of a given HCS layer is not possible. If two layers have the same priority, the traffic is served by the transmitter for which the difference between the received signal strength and the HCS threshold is the highest. The way competition is managed between layers with the same priority can be modified. For more information, see the Administrator Manual.

7.9.3 Cell Types A cell type is a defined set of TRX types. The cell type, with its TRX types, constitutes the basic configuration of a transmitter in GSM/GPRS/EDGE. By changing the cell type assigned to a transmitter or station template, you change its basic configuration. You can create cell types and assign different existing TRX types to them. In this section, the following are described: • • •

"TRX Types" on page 488 "Creating a Cell Type" on page 488 "Examples of Cell Types" on page 490.

7.9.3.1 TRX Types By default, the Atoll GSM/GPRS/EDGE document template has three types of TRXs: • • • •

BCCH: The BCCH TRX type is the BCCH carrier TCH: The TCH TRX type is the default traffic carrier TCH_EGPRS: The TRX type is the EDGE traffic carrier. TCH_INNER: The TRX type is the inner traffic carrier.

If necessary, you can define additional TRX types by creating them in the GSM/GPRS/EDGE document template. The template is located in the templates directory, within the Atoll install directory, and is called "GSM GPRS EDGE.mdb." For information on the Atoll document template, see the Administrator Manual.

7.9.3.2 Creating a Cell Type A cell type must have a BCCH TRX type for the broadcast control channel and a TCH TRX type for the default traffic carrier; it can also have a TCH_INNER or TCH_EGPRS TRX type. You can not have more than one instance of a given TRX type in a cell type. To create a cell type: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the GSM Network Settings folder. 3. Right-click the Cell Types folder. The context menu appears. 4. Select Open Table. The Cell Types table appears. 5. In the row marked with the New Row icon ( dialog boxes when you select a cell type.

), enter the name of the new cell type. This name will appear in other

6. Select the row containing the cell type and click the Properties button ( erties dialog box appears.

) in the Table toolbar. The cell type’s Prop-

In the cell type’s Properties dialog box, you can add and define the TRX types that will constitute the cell type. 7. Under TRX Types, in the row marked with the New Row icon ( ), enter the following parameters to define a TRX type (for information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75): • • • • •

488

TRX Type: Select a TRX type from the list. Frequency Domain: Select a frequency domain from the list. Only channels belonging to this frequency domain will be allocated to TRXs of this TRX type during automatic or manual frequency planning. DL Power Reduction: Enter a value for the reduction of power relative to the transmitter power. The downlink power reduction can be used to model inner subcells. Reception Threshold (dBm): Enter a minimum received signal for this TRX type. C/I Threshold (dB): Enter a minimum signal quality for this TRX type. The C/I Threshold can be used in interference predictions and in the AFP.

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•

• •

DTX Supported: If the TRX type supports DTX (Discontinuous Transmission) technology, select the DTX Supported check box. Subcells supporting DTX can reduce interference they produce according to the defined voice activity factor. This option has no impact on BCCH TRX type. Timeslot Configuration: Select a timeslot configuration from the list. The timeslot configuration defines the distribution of circuit, packet and shared timeslots for the subcell, respecting the number of TRXs. Half-Rate Traffic Ratio (%): Enter the percentage of half-rate voice traffic in for this TRX type. This value is used to calculate the number of timeslots required to respond to the voice traffic demand. The target rate of traffic overflow and the half-rate traffic ratio must be the same for BCCH and TCH TRX types. If the values are different for BCCH and TCH TRX types, Atoll will use the values for the target rate of traffic overflow and the half-rate traffic ratio from the BCCH TRX type.

•

Target Rate of Traffic Overflow (%): Enter the target rate of traffic overflow. The target rate of traffic overflow is used during traffic analysis to distribute the traffic between subcells and layers. The value is the percentage of candidate traffic overflowing to a subcell with a lower priority. It has an impact on the traffic capture between inner and outer subcells, and between micro and macro layers. In other words, The target rate of traffic overflow can be considered to an estimation of the allowed percentage of traffic rejected from subcells or layers of higher priority to subcells or layers of lower subcells (see Figure 7.5). If the traffic overflow target is set to a value lower than the grade of service, it means that the traffic rejected (according to the queuing model selected in the dimensioning model: Erlang B or Erlang C) will be lost and will not overflow to other subcells.

•

•

Hopping Mode: Select the frequency hopping mode supported by this TRX type. The hopping mode can be either "Base Band Hopping mode (BBH)" or "Synthesised Hopping mode (SFH)." If frequency hopping is not supported, select "Non Hopping." Allocation Strategy: Select the allocation strategy used during manual or automatic frequency planning. There are two available allocation strategies: • •

•

•

•

Free: Any of the channels belonging to the frequency domain can be assigned to TRXs. Group Constrained: Only channels belonging to a same frequency group in the frequency domain can be assigned. You can use the Preferred Frequency Group to define the preferred group of frequencies when using the AFP.

Max. MAL Length: Enter the maximum length of the mobile allocation list (MAL), in other words, the maximum number of channels allocated to the TRXs of subcells based on this TRX type during automatic frequency planning if the Hopping Mode is either SFH (Synthesised Frequency Hopping) or BBH (Base Band Hopping) and if the Allocation Strategy is Free. HSN Domain: Select the HSN domain for this TRX type. Only hopping sequence numbers (HSN) belonging to the selected HSN domain will be allocated to subcells during automatic or manual frequency planning. The HSNs are allocated if the Hopping Mode is either SFH (Synthesised Frequency Hopping) or BBH (Base Band Hopping). Lock HSN: If the HSN assigned to this TRX type is to be kept when a new AFP session is started, select the Lock HSN check box. The Lock HSN status can also be managed via the Network explorer from the context menu of an individual transmitter or group of transmitters. For more information, see "AFP Resource Status Management" on page 288.

•

•

•

•

•

AFP Weight: Enter an AFP weight. The AFP weight is used to increase or decrease the importance of a subcell during automatic frequency planning. The value must be a real number. The higher the AFP weight is, the higher the constraint on the TRX type. The AFP weight artificially multiplies the cost function which has to be minimised by the AFP. % Max. Interference: Enter the maximum level of interference allowable during automatic frequency planning. The interference is defined as a percentage of area or traffic, as defined during the calculation of the interference matrices. Mean Power Control Gain (dB): The average reduction in interference due to power control in downlink. This gain is used when calculating interference generated by the subcell. Interference generated by the subcell is reduced by this value during C/I calculations. Default TRX Configuration: Select the default TRX configuration for this TRX type. It will apply to all TRXs belonging to a subcell based on this TRX type. By selecting the default TRX configuration, the maximum number of GPRS and EDGE coding schemes is set at the TRX type level. You can also define the TRX configuration for each TRX. EDGE Power Backoff (dB): Enter the average power reduction for EDGE transmitters due to 8PSK, 16QAM and 32QAM modulations in EDGE. This has an impact on the EDGE service zone which can be seen in traffic analysis and EDGE predictions.

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Diversity Mode: The type of diversity supported by the subcell ("None," "Tx Diversity," or "Antenna Hopping"). If you select "Tx Diversity," the signal is transmitted as many times as there are antennas. If you select "Antenna Hopping," the signal is transmitted successively on each antenna. In "Tx Diversity mode," transmitting on more than one antenna, the signal experiences a gain of 3 dB. For any diversity mode, an additional transmission diversity gain can be defined per clutter class in order to correctly model gain due to the environment (see "Defining Clutter Class Properties" on page 127 for more information). The resulting gain will increase the C/I value at the terminal served by the considered subcell. An Other Properties tab appears on the Properties dialog box if you have added userdefined fields to the Cell Types table.

8. Click OK to close the cell type’s Properties dialog box. 9. Click the Close button ( ) to close the Cell Types table.

7.9.3.3 Examples of Cell Types When you create a new GSM/GPRS/EDGE document, some cell types are provided by default. In this section, the parameters for two examples of cell types are given: • •

"Normal Cell Type" on page 490 "Concentric Cell Type" on page 491.

Normal Cell Type A normal cell type consists of two TRX types: • •

BCCH TRX type TCH TRX type

The following table describes the parameters to be specified for each hopping mode.

490

Parameter

Where Used in Atoll

Frequency domain

Hopping mode Non hopping

BBH

SFH

Automatic or manual frequency planning

x

x

x

Maximum MAL (Mobile Allocation List) length

Automatic frequency planning

Not used

x

x

Allocation strategy

Automatic or manual frequency planning

x

x

x

C/I threshold

Interference predictions, Automatic frequency planning

x

x

x

Accepted interference percentage

Automatic frequency planning

x

x

x

DL power reduction

Signal level predictions

= 0 for BCCH = 0 for TCH

= 0 for BCCH = 0 for TCH

= 0 for BCCH = 0 for TCH

Hopping mode

Interference predictions

Non Hopping

Base Band Hopping

Synthesised Hopping

Reception threshold

Signal level predictions

x

x

x

AFP weight

Automatic frequency planning

x

x

x

HSN domain

Automatic frequency planning

Not used

x

x

Lock HSN

Automatic frequency planning

x

x

x

DTX supported

Automatic frequency planning, Interference predictions

x

x

x

Half-rate traffic ratio

Traffic analysis

x

x

x

Target rate of traffic overflow

Traffic analysis

x

x

x

Timeslot configuration

Dimensioning

x

x

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Parameter

Where Used in Atoll

Default TRX configuration

Hopping mode Non hopping

BBH

SFH

Traffic analysis, Packet predictions

x

x

x

EDGE Power Backoff

Traffic analysis, Packet predictions

x

x

x

Diversity Mode

Signal level predictions

x

x

x

Concentric Cell Type A concentric cell type consists of three TRX types: • • •

BCCH TRX type TCH TRX type TCH_INNER

The following table describes the parameters to be specified for each hopping mode.

Parameter

Where Used in Atoll

Frequency domain

Hopping mode Non hopping

BBH

SFH

Automatic or manual frequency planning

x

x

x

Maximum MAL (Mobile Allocation List) length

Automatic frequency planning

Not used

x

x

Allocation strategy

Automatic or manual frequency planning

x

x

x

C/I threshold

Interference predictions, Automatic frequency planning

x

x

x

Accepted interference percentage

Automatic frequency planning

x

x

x

DL power reduction

Signal level predictions

= 0 for BCCH => 0 for TCH 0 for TCH_INNER

= 0 for BCCH => 0 for TCH 0 for TCH_INNER

= 0 for BCCH => 0 for TCH 0 for TCH_INNER

Hopping mode

Interference predictions

Non Hopping

Base Band Hopping

Synthesised Hopping

Reception threshold

Signal level predictions

x

x

x

AFP weight

Automatic frequency planning

x

x

x

HSN domain

Automatic frequency planning

Not used

x

x

Lock HSN

Automatic frequency planning

x

x

x

DTX supported

Automatic frequency planning, Interference predictions

x

x

x

Half-rate traffic ratio

Traffic analysis

x

x

x

Target rate of traffic overflow

Traffic analysis

x

x

x

Timeslot configuration

Dimensioning

x

x

x

7.9.4 TRX Configuration In GSM/GPRS/EDGE projects, coding schemes are modelled using a TRX configuration. For each TRX, you can define a maximum coding scheme for GPRS or for EDGE. The maximum number of coding schemes can also be defined per terminal, if the terminal is GPRS or EDGE-capable. Capacity will be limited by the lower of the maximum coding schemes defined for the TRX configuration and for the terminal. For example, if the highest coding index number defined on the terminal is lower than the value defined on the TRX configuration, capacity will be limited by the highest index number supported by the terminal.

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The coding scheme index number is an input in traffic captures (and, therefore, in dimensioning) and in GPRS coverage predictions. It is important to keep in mind that, before dimensioning, in other words, before TRXs have been allocated to transmitters, the TRX configuration defined per subcell is used in calculations. However, once TRXs have been allocated, the value for the TRX configuration is read from the TRXs. The TRX configuration, and any parameters or limitations, will have be defined again for the TRXs. Otherwise, the configuration will not be taken into account during calculations. In Atoll, you can create or import a TRX configuration for GSM/GPRS/EDGE documents. To create a new TRX configuration: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the GSM Network Settings folder, right-click the TRX Configurations folder, and select Open Table. The TRX Configurations table appears. 2. In the row marked with the New Row icon ( ), enter the following parameters to create a TRX configuration (for information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75): • • • •

Name: Select a TRX type from the list. Max. GPRS CS: Enter the maximum number of coding schemes that the GPRS-compatible configuration can use. Max. EDGE CS: Enter the maximum number of coding schemes that the EDGE-compatible configuration can use. Comments: You can enter comments in this field if you want.

If you have a TRX configuration data in text or comma-separated value (CSV) format, you can import it into the TRX Configuration table in the current document. If the data is in another Atoll document, you can first export it in text or CSV format and then import it into the TRX Configuration table of your current Atoll document. When you are importing, Atoll allows you to select what values you import into which columns of the table. To import a new TRX configuration: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Network Settings > TRX Configurations. The TRX Configuration table appears. The HSN Domains table contains a entry called "Standard." 4. Right-click the TRX Configuration table. The context menu appears. 5. Select Import from the context menu. For information on importing table data, see "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88.

7.9.5 Codec Configuration In Atoll, you can model configurations of voice codecs for GSM networks. The codec configurations are modelled with codec configuration and their parameters are used in coverage predictions concerning voice quality indicators. You can create different codec configurations for different Active Codec mode Sets (ACS). For example, a certain codec configuration might have full-rate and half-rate codec modes defined for 12.2 Kbps, 7.4 Kbps, 5.9 Kbps, and 4.75 Kbps. This configuration would then only be compatible with the defined modes. When the codec configuration does not have the capacity for ideal link adaptation, adaptation thresholds are used in calculations (see "Setting Codec Mode Adaptation Thresholds" on page 493). When the codec configuration has the capacity for ideal link adaptation, quality thresholds are used in calculations (see "Setting Codec Mode Quality Thresholds" on page 494). In this section, the following are described: • • • • •

"Opening the Codec Mode Table" on page 492 "Creating or Modifying Codec Configuration" on page 493 "Setting Codec Mode Adaptation Thresholds" on page 493 "Setting Codec Mode Quality Thresholds" on page 494 "Using Codec Configurations in Transmitters and Terminals" on page 495. Codec configurations can be adapted in order to create an advanced model of the frequency hopping gain effect on the quality indicator predictions (see "Advanced Modelling of Hopping Gain in Coverage Predictions" on page 504).

7.9.5.1 Opening the Codec Mode Table You can access the table containing all the codec modes which can be used to create or modify and codec configurations. This table is read-only and cannot be edited. To open the Codec Mode table: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the GSM Network Settings folder.

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3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Codec Modes folder. 4. In the Codec Modes folder, right-click List. The context menu appears. 5. Select Open Table. The Codec Mode table appears. It displays the following information: • • • • • •

Name: The name of the codec mode. Codec Type: The specific type of a speech coding algorithm, applied on a specific radio access technology (e.g., FR or AMR). Half Rate: The codec mode is half rate if the check box under Half Rate is selected. Power Backoff: The codec mode has power backoff if the check box under Power Backoff is selected. Max Throughput (Kbps): The maximum throughput per timeslot corresponding to the selected codec mode. Priority: For a given quality, in a non ideal link adaptation mode, if several codec modes are possible, the one with the highest priority (i.e., the highest number) is retained.

7.9.5.2 Creating or Modifying Codec Configuration You create a codec configuration by creating a new entry in the Codec Configuration table. Additional parameters, such as the adaptation thresholds and the quality thresholds, can be set in the Properties dialog box for the codec configuration. The additional parameters are explained in the following sections: • •

"Setting Codec Mode Adaptation Thresholds" on page 493 "Setting Codec Mode Quality Thresholds" on page 494

To create or modify a codec configuration: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the GSM Network Settings folder. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Codec Modes folder. 4. In the Codec Modes folder, right-click Configurations. The context menu appears. 5. Select Open Table. The Codec Configurations table appears. 6. If you are creating a new codec configuration, enter the name of the codec configuration in the row marked with the New Row icon ( ). This name will appear in other dialog boxes when you select a codec configuration. If you are modifying an existing codec configuration, continue with the following step. 7. Set the following parameters for the codec configuration: •

• •

Ideal Link Adaptation: Select the Ideal Link Adaptation check box if you want the codec mode that offers the best quality indicator (BER, FER, or MOS) to be selected. Otherwise, Atoll will choose the codec mode with the highest priority from those requiring an adaptation threshold lower than the calculated qualIty (C⁄N or C⁄N and C⁄I + N). QI for Ideal Link Adaptation: Select the quality indicator to be used if the Ideal Link Adaptation check box is selected. Reference Noise (dBm): Enter the receiver noise that provided the mapping (thresholds - codecs). In coverage predictions, for a specific terminal leading to another receiver total noise, the thresholds will be shifted by the noise difference. You can add new fields to the Codec Configuration table by right-clicking the table and selecting Table Fields from the context menu. The new fields will appear in the Codec Configuration table and on the Other Properties tab of the selected codec configuration’s Properties dialog box.

7.9.5.3 Setting Codec Mode Adaptation Thresholds A GSM network has a variety of different codec modes that allow it to optimise resource usage. These codec modes include Full Rate (FR), Half Rate (HR), Enhanced Full Rate (EFR), and many Adaptive Multi-Rate (AMR) modes and can be seen in the read-only codec mode table (See"Opening the Codec Mode Table" on page 492). A GSM network, with different codec configurations on different transmitters, can dynamically allocate and manage resources based on interference levels. You can define quality thresholds for each codec mode compatible with the codec configuration in the Adaptation Thresholds tab in the codec configuration Properties dialog box. These thresholds are used in calculations when the codec configuration does not have the capacity for ideal link adaptation. To define the codec mode adaptation thresholds to be used when the codec configuration does not have the capacity for ideal link adaptation: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the GSM Network Settings folder. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Codec Modes folder.

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4. In the Codec Modes folder, right-click Configurations. The context menu appears. 5. Select Open Table. The Codec Configurations table appears. 6. In the Codec Configuration table, right-click the record describing the codec configuration for which you want to define adaptation thresholds. The context menu appears. 7. Select Record Properties from the context menu. The codec configuration Properties dialog box appears. 8. Select the Adaptation Thresholds tab. Each codec mode adaptation threshold has the following parameters: • • • • • •

Codec Mode: The codec mode. Mobility: The mobility to which the codec mode adaptation threshold corresponds. You can select "All" if you want it to apply to all mobilities. Frequency Hopping: The type of frequency hopping to which the codec mode adaptation threshold corresponds. You can select "All" if you want the adaptation threshold to apply to any type of frequency hopping. Frequency Band: The frequency band to which the codec mode adaptation threshold corresponds. You can select "All" if you want it to apply to any frequency band. Adaptation Threshold (dB): Enter the adaptation threshold for the codec mode. Adaptation thresholds are used for codec mode selection when the codec configuration does support ideal link adaptation. MAL Length: The mobile allocation list length to which the codec mode adaptation threshold corresponds. You can create a new adaptation threshold by entering the parameters in the row marked with the New Row icon ( ).

9. Click OK.

7.9.5.4 Setting Codec Mode Quality Thresholds You can define quality thresholds for each codec mode compatible with the codec configuration in the Adaptation Thresholds tab in the codec configuration Properties dialog box. These thresholds are used in calculations when the codec configuration has the capacity for automatic mode selection. The quality indicators that can be used with codec configuration are Bit Error Rate (BER), Frame Error Rate (FER), and Mean Opinion Score (MOS). You can define each a quality threshold for each quality indicator, in combination with specific codec modes, mobilities, frequency hopping modes, and frequency bands, as a function of C⁄N and C⁄I + N. These quality thresholds are used in calculations when codec configuration has the capacity for ideal link adaptation. The quality threshold chosen respects the combination of codec modes, mobilities, frequency hopping modes, and frequency bands as well as the selected quality indicator. To define the codec mode quality graphs to be used when the codec configuration has the capacity for automatic mode selection: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the GSM Network Settings folder. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Codec Modes folder. 4. In the Codec Modes folder, right-click Configurations. The context menu appears. 5. Select Open Table. The Codec Configurations table appears. 6. In the Codec Configuration table, right-click the record describing the codec configuration for which you want to define adaptation thresholds. The context menu appears. 7. Select Record Properties from the context menu. The codec configuration Properties dialog box appears. 8. Select the Quality Graphs tab. Each quality indicator graph has the following parameters: • • • • • •

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Quality Indicator: The quality indicator. Codec Mode: The codec mode to which the quality indicator graph corresponds. Mobility: The mobility to which the quality indicator graph corresponds. You can select "All" if you want it to apply to all mobilities. Frequency Hopping: The type of frequency hopping to which the quality indicator graph corresponds. You can select "All" if you want it to apply to all types of frequency hopping. Frequency Band: The frequency band to which the quality indicator graph corresponds. You can select "All" if you want it to apply to all frequency bands. QI = f(C/N): The values of the graph defining the selected quality indicator threshold as a function of C⁄N. You can view the graph and edit its values by selecting the row containing the quality indicator and clicking the C⁄N Graph button.

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•

QI = f(C/I): The values of the graph defining the selected quality indicator threshold as a function of C⁄I. You can view the graph and edit its values by selecting the row containing the quality indicator and clicking the C⁄I Graph button. If intra-technology third order intermodulation interference is taken into account, Atoll assumes that the C⁄I graphs include the effect of this interference whereas the C⁄N graphs do not. This option requires activation through changes in the database. For more information, contact support.

•

MAL Length: The mobile allocation list length to which the quality indicator graph corresponds. You can create a new quality indicator threshold by entering the parameters in the row marked with the New Row icon ( ).

9. Click OK.

7.9.5.5 Using Codec Configurations in Transmitters and Terminals In Atoll, codec configurations can be assigned to transmitters and terminals. If a codec configuration is assigned on both the transmitter and terminal, Atoll takes the codec modes common to both and finds the possible modes, using the terminal-side thresholds if the defined thresholds are different on transmitter and terminal sides. If no codec configuration is defined either at the transmitter or in the terminal, the transmitter will not be considered in the specific quality indicators coverage prediction. To assign a codec configuration to a transmitter: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Transmitters folder, right-click the transmitter to which you want to assign the codec configuration, and select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter’s Properties dialog box appears. You can also access a transmitter’s Properties dialog box by right-clicking the transmitter on the map and selecting Properties from the context menu.

2. Click the Configurations tab. 3. Under GSM Properties, select the Codec Configuration from the list. To assign a codec configuration to a terminal: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Traffic Parameters folder and the Terminals folder, right-click the terminal to which you want to assign the codec configuration, and select Properties from the context menu. The terminal’s Properties dialog box appears. 2. Select the Codec Configuration from the list.

7.9.6 Coding Scheme Configuration In Atoll, you can model a coding scheme configuration with coding schemes and their related thresholds. Any GPRS/EDGEcapable transmitters must have a coding scheme configuration assigned to them. In this section, the following are described: • • • • •

"Opening the Coding Schemes Table" on page 495 "Creating or Modifying a Coding Scheme Configuration" on page 496 "Using Coding Scheme Configuration in Transmitters and Terminals" on page 497 "Adapting Coding Scheme Thresholds for a Maximum BLER" on page 498 "Displaying Coding Scheme Throughput Graphs" on page 498. You can adapt coding scheme configurations in order to create an advanced model of the frequency hopping gain effect on the GPRS/EDGE predictions (see"Advanced Modelling of Hopping Gain in Coverage Predictions" on page 504).

7.9.6.1 Opening the Coding Schemes Table You can access the table containing all the coding schemes that can be used to create or modify and coding scheme configurations. This table is read-only and can not be edited.

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To open the Coding Schemes table: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the GSM Network Settings folder. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Coding Schemes folder. 4. In the Coding Schemes folder, right-click List. The context menu appears. 5. Select Open Table. The Coding Schemes table appears. It displays the following information: •

Name: The name of the coding scheme: • • • •

• • • • •

CS: Coding schemes for GPRS MCS: Modulation and coding schemes for EGPRS (EDGE) DAS: Downlink coding schemes for EGPRS2-A (EDGE Evolution) DBS: Downlink coding schemes for EGPRS2-B (EDGE Evolution)

Number: The coding scheme number. By default the limit is 4 in GPRS, 9 in GPRS, and 12 in GPRS2 (EDGE evolution) Technology: The technology the coding scheme can be used for: GPRS or EDGE. EGPRS and EGPRS2 (EDGE evolution) are grouped together into EDGE. Modulation: The modulation of the coding scheme. For any coding scheme except the ones using the modulations GMSK (GPRS) and QPSK (DBS-5 and DBS-6 in EGPRS2), a power backoff is applied on the GPRS/EDGE service area. Coding: The coding of the selected coding scheme. Coding is convolutional for GPRS and EGPRS, turbo for EGPRS2 (EDGE evolution). Peak RLC Throughput/Timeslot (Kbps): For a given quality, if several codec modes are possible, the one with the highest priority (highest number) is retained.

7.9.6.2 Creating or Modifying a Coding Scheme Configuration You create a coding scheme configuration by creating a new entry in the Coding Scheme Configurations table. The coding scheme thresholds for a coding scheme configuration can be set in its Properties dialog box. To create or modify a coding scheme configuration: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the GSM Network Settings folder. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Coding Schemes folder. 4. In the Coding Schemes folder, right-click Configurations. The context menu appears. 5. Select Open Table. The Coding Scheme Configurations table appears. 6. If you are creating a new coding scheme configuration, enter the name of the coding scheme configuration in the row marked with the New Row icon ( ). This name will appear in other dialog boxes when you select a coding scheme configuration. If you are modifying an existing coding scheme configuration, continue with the following step. 7. Set the following parameters for the coding scheme configuration: • •

Technology: Select the technology that this configuration can be used with: GPRS/EDGE or just GPRS. Reference Noise (dBm): Enter the total noise at the receiver. The reference noise is used to convert values of C in graphs to values of C⁄N. You can add new fields to the Coding Scheme Configurations table by right-clicking the table and selecting Table Fields from the context menu. The new fields will appear in the Coding Scheme Configurations table and on the Other Properties tab of the selected coding scheme configuration’s Properties dialog box.

8. In the Coding Scheme Configurations table, right-click the record describing the coding scheme configuration for which you want to define adaptation thresholds. The context menu appears. 9. Select Record Properties from the context menu. The coding scheme configuration’s Properties dialog box appears. The coding scheme configuration’s Properties dialog box has a General tab which allows you to modify the properties described above. 10. Select the Thresholds tab. Each coding scheme threshold has the following parameters: • • •

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Coding Scheme: The coding scheme. C Selection Threshold (dBm): The signal level admission threshold for the corresponding coding scheme when the ideal link adaptation option is cleared in GPRS/EDGE coverage predictions. C/I Selection Threshold (dB): The C/I admission threshold for the corresponding coding scheme when the ideal link adaptation option is cleared in GPRS/EDGE coverage predictions.

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•

•

Effective RLC Throughput = f(C) (Kbps): The values of the graph defining the throughput per timeslot as a function of C. You can view the graph and edit its values by selecting the row containing the coding scheme and clicking the C Graph button. Effective RLC Throughput = f(C/I) (Kbps): The values of the graph defining the throughput per timeslot as a function of C⁄I. You can view the graph and edit its values by selecting the row containing the coding scheme and clicking the C⁄I Graph button. If intra-technology third order intermodulation interference is taken into account, Atoll assumes that the C⁄I graphs include the effect of this interference whereas the C graphs do not. This option requires activation through changes in the database. For more information, contact support.

• • • •

Frequency Hopping: The type of frequency hopping to which this coding scheme applies. You can select "All" if you want it to apply to all types of frequency hopping. Mobility: The mobility to which this coding scheme applies. You can select "All" if you want it to apply to all mobilities. Frequency Band: The frequency band to which this coding scheme applies. You can select "All" if you want it to apply to all frequency bands. MAL Length: The mobile allocation list length to which the coding scheme (and its related quality thresholds) applies. You can create a new coding scheme threshold by entering the parameters in the row marked with the New Row icon ( ).

11. Click OK. The throughput per timeslot graphs are defined for given frequency hopping mode, mobility type and frequency band. These graphs will be taken into account in a coverage prediction if these parameters correspond to the ones defined in that coverage prediction. Otherwise, Atoll will use the graphs for which none of these parameters has been defined. If no such graph exists, Atoll will consider that the corresponding coding scheme is not defined during the calculations.

7.9.6.3 Using Coding Scheme Configuration in Transmitters and Terminals In Atoll, a coding scheme configuration can be assigned to transmitters. If a coding scheme configuration is assigned on both the transmitter and terminal, Atoll takes the coding scheme configuration common to both and finds the possible modes, using the terminal-side thresholds if the defined thresholds are different on transmitter and terminal sides. If no coding scheme configuration is defined either at the transmitter or in the terminal, the transmitter will not be considered in certain quality indicators coverage predictions. To assign a coding scheme configuration to a transmitter: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Transmitters folder. 3. Right-click the transmitter to which you want to assign the coding scheme configuration. The context menu appears. 4. Select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter’s Properties dialog box appears. You can also access a transmitter’s Properties dialog box by right-clicking the transmitter on the map and selecting Properties from the context menu.

5. Click the Configurations tab. 6. Under GPRS/EDGE Properties, select the GPRS/EDGE Transmitter check box. 7. Select the Coding Scheme Configuration from the list. To assign a coding scheme configuration to a terminal: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Traffic Parameters folder. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Terminals folder. 4. Right-click the terminal to which you want to assign the coding scheme configuration. The context menu appears. 5. Select Properties from the context menu. The terminal’s Properties dialog box appears.

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6. Select the GPRS Configuration from the list.

7.9.6.4 Adapting Coding Scheme Thresholds for a Maximum BLER You can have Atoll automatically calculate the reception and C⁄I thresholds for a coding scheme configuration. You enter the acceptable Block Error Rate (BLER) in the coding scheme configuration’s Properties dialog box and Atoll calculates the thresholds required to ensure that the defined BLER is never exceeded. The admission threshold corresponds to 1 - BLER X max. throughout calculated for the coding scheme. To calculate the reception and C/I thresholds for a coding scheme configuration: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the GSM Network Settings folder. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Coding Schemes folder. 4. In the Coding Schemes folder, right-click Configurations. The context menu appears. 5. Select Open Table. The Coding Scheme Configurations table appears. 6. In the Coding Scheme Configurations table, right-click the record of the coding scheme configuration for which you Atoll to automatically calculate reception and C⁄I thresholds. The context menu appears. 7. Select Record Properties from the context menu. The coding scheme configuration’s Properties dialog box appears. 8. Select the Thresholds tab. 9. Under Calculate the Thresholds to Get the Following BLER Value, enter a value in the BLER text box and click the Calculate button. Atoll calculates the thresholds required to satisfy the entered BLER. 10. Click OK to close the coding scheme configuration’s Properties dialog box and save the new threshold values.

7.9.6.5 Displaying Coding Scheme Throughput Graphs In GPRS/EDGE technology, coding schemes are linked with data transmission redundancy levels. With coding schemes, two types of information is transmitted: user data and error correction data. There is a trade-off between accurate data transmission and transmission throughputs. Low error correction offers potentially higher transmission throughputs, but also a higher risk of data loss. On the other hand, a high rate of error correction ensures safer data transmission, but means a lower transmission rate. Coding schemes are defined to obtain the best compromise between the transmission rate and the safety of the data sent. That is why each coding scheme has an optimum working range depending on either C or C⁄I values. This optimum range can be seen in the coding scheme throughput graphs for each defined coding scheme configuration. The graphs show the throughput as a function of radio conditions (C and C/I) as calculated using block error rates. The graphs can help choose a coding scheme suitable to radio conditions. To display the graph of the throughput as a function of C or C⁄I for a given coding scheme: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the GSM Network Settings folder. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Coding Schemes folder. 4. In the Coding Schemes folder, right-click Configurations. The context menu appears. 5. Select Open Table. The Coding Scheme Configurations table appears. 6. In the Coding Scheme Configurations table, right-click the record describing the coding scheme configuration for which you Atoll to automatically calculate reception and C⁄I thresholds. The context menu appears. 7. Select Record Properties from the context menu. The coding scheme configuration’s Properties dialog box appears. 8. Select the Thresholds tab. 9. Select the coding scheme for which you want to display a throughput graph and click one of the following: • •

C Graph: Click the C Graph button to display a graph defining the throughput as a function of C. C/I Graph: Click the C/I Graph button to display a graph defining the throughput as a function of C⁄I.

If intra-technology third order intermodulation interference is taken into account, Atoll assumes that the C⁄I graphs include the effect of this interference whereas the C graphs do not. This option requires activation through changes in the database. For more information, contact support. 10. Click OK to close the dialog box.

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7.9.7 Timeslot Configurations You can create timeslot configurations that can be used to allocate different timeslot types to TRXs. A timeslot configuration describes how circuit, packet, and shared timeslots will be distributed in a subcell, depending on the number of TRXs. Shared timeslots are used for both circuit-switched and packet-switched calls. The distribution and definition of timeslot configurations have an influence on the network dimensioning results and the calculation of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Timeslot configurations are assigned to each TRX type of each cell type. If there is no timeslot configuration assigned to a TRX type, the fields defined at the subcell level "Number of packet (circuit or shared) timeslots" are used. To create or modify a timeslot configuration: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the GSM Network Settings folder. 3. Right-click the Timeslot Configurations folder. The context menu appears. 4. Select Open Table. The Timeslot Configurations table appears. 5. If you are creating a new timeslot configuration, enter the name of the timeslot configuration in the row marked with the New Row icon ( ). This name will appear in other dialog boxes when you select a timeslot configuration. If you are modifying an existing timeslot configuration, continue with the following step. 6. Select the row containing the timeslot configuration and click the Properties button ( timeslot configuration’s Properties dialog box appears.

) in the Table toolbar. The

Under Mapping between TRX numbers and timeslot configurations, each row corresponds to a distribution of timeslots and is identified by an index number. During dimensioning, Atoll determines the number of circuit and packet timeslots required to meet the traffic demand. Atoll uses the timeslot configuration to determine how many TRXs are needed to meet the need in timeslots. If, during dimensioning, there are not enough index numbers in the timeslot configuration, Atoll reuses the last index number in the timeslot configuration. 7. In the timeslot configuration’s Properties dialog box, enter the following information for each index number: • • •

Number of Shared Timeslots: The number of timeslots that can be used for both circuit-switched (GSM) and packet-switched (GPRS and EDGE) services. Number of Circuit Timeslots: The number of timeslots that can be used only for both circuit-switched (GSM) services. Number of Packet Timeslots: The number of timeslots that can be used only for packet-switched (GPRS and EDGE) services. In GSM/GPRS/EDGE the total number of timeslots per index number must not exceed 8 for timeslot configurations intended for TCH TRXs and 7 for timeslot configurations intended for BCCH TRXs.

8. Click OK to close the timeslot configuration’s Properties dialog box. 9. Click the Close button ( ) to close the List of Timeslot Configurations table.

7.9.8 Advanced Transmitter Configuration Options Atoll offers several options to help you configure more complex transmitter situations. These options are explained in this section: • •

"Defining Extended Cells" on page 499 "Advanced Modelling of Multi-Band Transmitters" on page 500.

7.9.8.1 Defining Extended Cells GSM cells usually cover an area within a 35 km radius. But, as user locations and their distances from the base station vary, and radio waves travel at a constant speed, the signal from users who are further than 35 km from the base station can be delayed by almost an entire timeslot. This delay creates interference with the signal on the adjacent timeslot. Extended GSM cells enable the operator to overcome this limit by taking this delay into consideration when defining the timing advance for users in the extended cells. Extended cells can cover distances from 70 to 140 km from the base station. In a network with extended cells, Atoll will calculate coverage predictions from the extended cell’s defined minimum to maximum range, but will calculate interference caused by the extended cell beyond these ranges, inwards and outwards.

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To define an extended cell: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Transmitters folder. 3. Right-click the transmitter for which you want to define an extended cell. The context menu appears. 4. Select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter’s Properties dialog box appears. You can also access a transmitter’s Properties dialog box by right-clicking the transmitter on the map and selecting Properties from the context menu.

5. Click the General tab. 6. Under Extended Cells, set a Min. Range and a Max. Range for the extended cell. 7. Click OK.

7.9.8.2 Advanced Modelling of Multi-Band Transmitters In Atoll GSM/GPRS/EDGE projects, all subcells share the same frequency band by default. However, by changing an option in the Atoll.ini file, you can model transmitters with more than one frequency band. For more information on changing options in the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual. Once you have set the multi-band option in the Atoll.ini file and restarted Atoll, you can modify the properties of existing transmitters to change them to multi-band transmitters or create a multi-band transmitter template. The relevant properties of all multi-band transmitters can be accessed in a special table. In this section, the following are explained: • • •

7.9.8.2.1

"Defining a Multi-band Transmitter" on page 500 "Creating a Multi-Band Template" on page 501 "Accessing the Multi-Band Propagation Parameters Table" on page 503.

Defining a Multi-band Transmitter Each subcell on a transmitter is assigned a frequency domain. After setting the MultiBandManagement option in the [Studies] section of the Atoll.ini file, you can change the frequency domain of one or more non-BCCH subcells to a domain on a frequency band that is different from the frequency band used by the BCCH, then modify frequency-band-specific settings: • • •

Antenna type, height, mechanical and additional electrical downtilt, Equipment losses Propagation models and path loss matrices.

These settings are taken into account in: • • • •

Coverage predictions Traffic captures Dimensioning Interference matrices

To define the propagation settings for a frequency band used by a subcell: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Transmitters folder. 3. Right-click the transmitter you want to change to a multi-band transmitter. The context menu appears. 4. Select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter’s Properties dialog box appears. 5. Click the TRXs tab. 6. Under Subcells, set View to "Standard". The standard table lists each TRX group defined in the cell type selected under Cell Type on the TRXs tab. 7. Change the Frequency Domain for one of the TRXs to a frequency belonging to a different frequency band. 8. In the Subcells table, select the row of the TRX and click the Frequency Band Propagation button below the table. The frequency band propagation Properties dialog box appears. It is assumed that you have already set the MultiBandManagement option in the [Studies] section of the Atoll.ini file. Else, the Frequency Band Propagation button will not appear.

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9. Click the General tab. The following parameters are displayed: • • • •

•

Name: Read-only string made of the name of the transmitter and the "@0" suffix (e.g. Site156_1@0). ID: The ID is a user-definable network-level parameter for cell identification. You can enter an ID that is different from the name of the base transmitter. Site: The Site on which the base transmitter is located. This field cannot be edited. Shared Antenna: This field is used to identify the transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas located at the same site or on sites with the same position and that share the same antenna. The entry in the field must be the same for all transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas sharing the same antenna. When changes are made to the position offset (Dx, Dy), azimuth, antenna height, or mechanical tilt of one antenna, Atoll automatically synchronises the same changes to all other transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas defined as having a shared antenna. Under Antenna Position, you can modify the position of the antenna: • •

Relative to Site: Select this option if you want to enter the antenna position as an offset with respect to the site location, and then enter the x-axis and y-axis offsets, Dx and Dy, respectively. Coordinates: Select this option if you want to enter the coordinates of the antenna, and then enter the x-axis and y-axis coordinates of the antenna, X and Y, respectively.

10. Click the Transmitter tab. You can set the following parameters: •

•

•

•

Total Losses: You can enter a value for Total Losses or let Atoll calculate losses according to the characteristics of the equipment assigned to the transmitter. The Equipment Specifications dialog box can be accessed by clicking the Equipment button. Height/Ground: The Height/Ground box gives the height of the antenna above the ground. This is added to the altitude of the site as given by the DTM. If the transmitter is situated on a building, the height entered must include the height of building. Main Antenna: Under Main Antenna, the type of antenna is visible in the Model list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the antenna. The other fields, Azimuth, Mechanical Downtilt, and Additional Electrical Downtilt, display additional antenna parameters. Under Secondary Antennas, you can select one or more secondary antennas in the Antenna column and enter their Azimuth, Mechanical Downtilt, Additional Electrical Downtilt, and % Power, which is the percentage of power reserved for this particular antenna. For example, for a transmitter with one secondary antenna, if you reserve 40% of the total power for the secondary antenna, 60% is available for the main antenna. • • •

The Additional Electrical Downtilt can be made accessible through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75.

11. Click the Propagation tab. On the Propagation tab, you can modify the following: the Propagation Model, Radius, and Resolution for both the Main Matrix and the Extended Matrix. 12. Click the Other Properties tab. The Other Properties tab will only appear if you have defined additional fields in the Transmitters table. 13. Click OK.

7.9.8.2.2

Creating a Multi-Band Template If you will be creating new multi-band base stations, you can first create a multi-band template with the necessary parameters, including the propagation model parameters for each subcell using a different frequency band. When you create a station template, Atoll bases it on the station template selected in the Station Template Properties dialog box. The new station template has the same parameters as the one it is based on. Therefore, by selecting the existing station template that most closely resembles the station template you want to create, you can create a new template by only modifying the parameters that differ. It is assumed that you have already set the MultiBandManagement option in the [Studies] section of the Atoll.ini file and restarted Atoll before beginning this procedure.

To create a multi-band template, you must have an appropriate multi-band cell type to assign to the template. If you have not already created a multi-band cell type, you must do so before creating the template. For information on creating a cell type, see "Creating a Cell Type" on page 488.

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To create a multi-band template: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the GSM Network Settings folder. 3. Right-click the Station Templates folder. The context menu appears. 4. Select Management... from the context menu. The Transmitters Properties dialog box appears with the Station Templates tab. 5. Under Available Templates, select the station template that most closely resembles the station template you want to create and click Add. The Properties dialog box appears. 6. Create the multi-band template: a. Click the General tab of the Properties dialog box. b. In the Name text box, give the template a descriptive name. c. From the Cell Type list, select the multi-band cell type that corresponds to the type of station template you are creating. d. Make any other necessary changes to the station template parameters. For information on the parameters available, see "Station Template Properties" on page 292. e. When you have finished setting the parameters for the station template, click OK to close the dialog box and save your changes. 7. Set the propagation parameters for each frequency band in the multi-band template: a. Select the multi-band template you have just created and click Add. Because the station template you selected is a multi-band template, the New Station Template dialog box appears with the following options (see Figure 7.108): • •

Add a new station template: If you select this option and click OK, Atoll creates a new station template based on the selected one. Add a new multi-band station template for the frequency band: If you select this option and click OK, Atoll allows you to set the propagation parameters for the selected frequency band.

Figure 7.108: New Station Template dialog box b. Select Add a new multi-band station template for the frequency band, choose a frequency band from the list and click OK. A properties dialog box appears. On the General tab, you can set the antenna and propagation parameters for the selected frequency band (see Figure 7.109): •

Under Main Antenna, you can modify the following: the Height/Ground of the antennas from the ground (i.e., the height over the DTM; if the transmitter is situated on a building, the height entered must include the height of building), the main antenna Model, 1st Sector Azimuth, from which the azimuth of the other sectors are offset to offer complete coverage of the area, the Mechanical Downtilt, and the Additional Electrical Downtilt for the antennas. • •

•

The Additional Electrical Downtilt can be made accessible through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide.

Under Propagation, you can modify the following: the Propagation Model, Radius, and Resolution for both the Main Matrix and the Extended Matrix. For information on propagation models, see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models.

On the Transmitter tab, under Transmission, you can set the Total losses. Atoll calculates the losses according to the characteristics of the equipment assigned to the transmitter. Equipment can be assigned using the Equipment

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Specifications dialog box which appears when you click the Equipment button. For information on the Equipment Specifications dialog box, see "Transmitter Properties" on page 280.

Figure 7.109: Properties dialog box for frequency band of a multi-band template - General Tab On the Transmitter tab, under Transmission/Reception, you can see the total losses and the noise figure of the transmitter for this specific frequency band. Atoll calculates losses and noise according to the characteristics of the equipment assigned to the transmitter. Equipment can be assigned by using the Equipment Specifications dialog box which appears when you click the Equipment button. For information on the Equipment Specifications dialog box, see "Transmitter Properties" on page 280.

Figure 7.110: Properties dialog box for frequency band of a multi-band template - Transmitter Tab 8. Click OK. The properties defined for the frequency band appear in the Station Template Properties dialog box with a name composed of the multi-band template they belong to followed by the frequency band, separated by "@". 9. Repeat step 7. for every frequency band modelled by the multi-band template.

7.9.8.2.3

Accessing the Multi-Band Propagation Parameters Table In a GSM/GPRS/EDGE multi-band document, you can access the properties of all multi-band transmitters using the MultiBand Propagation Parameters table. To open the Multi-Band Propagation Parameters table: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Subcells > Multi-Band Propagation Parameters from the context menu. The Multi-Band Propagation table appears. All multi-band transmitters are listed under Transmitter. They are suffixed with "@ [FreqBand]" when the frequency band used a non-BCCH subcell is different from the main frequency band of the transmitter.

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7.9.9 Global Network Settings In the Network Settings Properties dialog box, you can define many calculation parameters that are used in predictions and in Monte Carlo simulations. This section explains the options available in the Network Settings Properties dialog box, and explains how to access the dialog box: • •

"Network Settings Properties" on page 504 "Modifying Global Network Settings" on page 504.

7.9.9.1 Network Settings Properties The Network Settings Properties dialog box contains the Calculation Parameters tab. The Calculation Parameters Tab The Calculation Parameters tab has the following options: •

Min. interferer reception threshold: This limit is used by Atoll to limit the input of interferers in calculations. When the interferer reception threshold is set, the performance of calculations based on C⁄I, such as coverage by C⁄I level, interfered zones. and GPRS/EDGE predictions can be improved. As well, the performance of calculations using the Interference view of the Point Analysis window, traffic analyses, and interference histograms can also be improved. This value is used as a filter criterion on interferers. Atoll discards all interferers with a signal level lower than this value.

• • • • •

Height/ground: The receiver height at which the path loss matrices and coverage predictions are calculated. Calculations made on mobile users (from traffic maps) in Monte Carlo simulations are also carried out at this receiver height. Antenna: Select an antenna for the receiver. Losses: Specify any receiver losses. Adjacent channel protection level: The maximum coverage range of transmitters in the network. Default max range: The maximum coverage range of transmitters in the network.

7.9.9.2 Modifying Global Network Settings You can change global network settings in the Network Settings Properties dialog box. To change global network settings: 1. In the Parameters explorer, right-click the Network Settings folder and select Properties from the context menu. The Network Settings Properties dialog box appears. 2. Modify the parameters described in "Network Settings Properties" on page 504. 3. Click OK.

7.9.10 Advanced Modelling of Hopping Gain in Coverage Predictions Using frequency hopping has an advantage from the point of view of interference in the way interference can be smoothed over several frequencies. In addition, radio link resistance to fast fading is increased and its efficiency is optimised. Because this effect of hopping can be noticed on voice quality and on throughput, you can define specific admission thresholds for codec modes and coding schemes according to specific MAL lengths. If you want Atoll to take advanced modelling of hopping gains in coverage predictions, the administrator (or you, if you have administrator rights) has to add the field MAL_LENGTH to the CodecQualityTables and EGPRSQuality tables. Adding this custom field provides a MAL_LENGTH column in the definition of each codec configuration (Quality Graphs tab) and each coding scheme configuration. For codec configurations, it means that you can define a specific codec mode graph per MAL length where the graph efficiency increases as the MAL length increases, too (see Figure 7.111 on page 505).

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Figure 7.111: Codec Configuration Properties: Quality Graphs tab (with MAL length definition) In quality indicators coverage predictions (see "Making a Circuit Quality Indicator (BER, FER, or MOS) Prediction" on page 452), Atoll will extract, for a specified quality indicator and a given codec mode, the quality indicator value corresponding to the MAL of the receiver being studied. If graphs for the mobile MAL length are not defined, Atoll selects the graphs to which the MAL length is the most similar, i.e.: • •

if the mobile MAL length exceeds all the MAL lengths defined in the quality indicator graphs, the closest MAL length is selected; if the mobile MAL length is between two MAL lengths defined in the quality indicator graphs, Atoll carries out an interpolation on the graphs to extract the appropriate quality indicator value.

For coding scheme configurations, it means that you can define a specific coding scheme graph per MAL length where the graph efficiency increases whereas the MAL length increases too (See Figure 7.112 on page 505).

Figure 7.112: Coding Scheme Configuration Properties (with MAL length definition) In GPRS/EDGE coverage predictions (see "Packet-Specific Coverage Predictions" on page 442), Atoll will extract, for a given coding scheme, the throughput corresponding to the MAL of the studied receiver. If graphs for the mobile MAL length are not defined, Atoll selects the graphs for which the MAL length is the most similar, i.e.: • •

if the mobile MAL length exceeds all the MAL lengths defined in the coding scheme graphs, the closest MAL length is selected; if the mobile MAL length is between two MAL lengths defined in the coding scheme graphs, Atoll carries out an interpolation on the graphs to extract the appropriate throughput.

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For a more precise description of these fields, see the Administrator Manual.

7.9.11 Modelling Shadowing Shadowing, or slow fading, is signal loss along a path that is caused by obstructions not taken into consideration by the propagation model. Even when a receiver remains in the same location or in the same clutter class, there are variations in reception due to the surrounding environment. Normally, the signal received at any given point is spread on a gaussian curve around an average value and a specific standard deviation. If the propagation model is correctly calibrated, the average of the results it gives should be correct. In other words, in 50% of the measured cases, the result will be greater and in 50% of the measured cases, the result will be worse. Atoll uses a model standard deviation with the defined cell edge coverage probability to model the effect of shadowing and thereby create coverage predictions that are reliable more than fifty percent of the time. The additional losses or gains caused by shadowing are known as the shadowing margin. The shadowing margin is added to the path losses calculated by the propagation model. For example, a properly calibrated propagation model calculates a loss leading to a signal level of -70 dBm. You have set a cell edge coverage probability of 85%. If the calculated shadowing margin is 7 dB for a specific point, the target signal will be equal to or greater than -77 dBm 85% of the time. In GSM/GPRS/EDGE projects, the standard deviation of the propagation model is used to calculate shadowing margins on signal levels. You can also calculate shadowing margins on C⁄I. For information on setting the model standard deviation and the C⁄I standard deviations for each clutter class or for all clutter classes, see "Defining Clutter Class Properties" on page 127. Shadowing can be taken into consideration when Atoll calculates the signal level (C) and the signal-to-noise ratio (C⁄I) for: • •

• •

A point analysis (see "Studying the Profile Around a Base Station" on page 295) A coverage prediction (see "Studying DL Signal Level Coverage of a Single Base Station" on page 307, "Interference Coverage Predictions" on page 430, "Packet-Specific Coverage Predictions" on page 442, and "Making a Circuit Quality Indicator (BER, FER, or MOS) Prediction" on page 452) Neighbours (see "Automatically Allocating Neighbours to Multiple Cells" on page 226) Traffic capture (see "Calculating and Displaying a Traffic Capture" on page 327).

You can display the shadowing margins per clutter class. To display the shadowing margins per clutter class: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Predictions folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Shadowing Margins from the context menu. The Shadowing Margins dialog box appears. 4. You can set the following parameters: • •

Cell Edge Coverage Probability: Enter the probability of coverage at the edge of the cell. The value you enter in this dialog box is for information only. Standard Deviation: Select the type of standard deviation to be used to calculate the shadowing margin: • •

From Model: The model standard deviation. Atoll will display the shadowing margin on the signal level. C⁄I: The C⁄I standard deviation. Atoll will display the shadowing margin on the C⁄I level.

5. Click Calculate. The calculated shadowing margin is displayed. 6. Click Close to close the dialog box.

7.9.12 Modelling the Co-existence of Networks In Atoll, you can study the effect of interference received by your network from other GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks. The interfering GSM/GPRS/EDGE network can be a different part of your own network, or a network belonging to another operator. To study interference from co-existing networks: 1. Import the interfering network data (sites, transmitters, and cells) in to your document as explained in "Creating a Group of Base Stations" on page 297. 2. For the interfering network’s transmitters, set the Transmitter Type to Intra-Network (Interferer Only) as explained in "Transmitter Properties" on page 280. During calculations, Atoll will consider the transmitters of type Intra-Network (Interferer Only) when calculating interference. These transmitters will not serve any pixel, subscriber, or mobile, and will only contribute to interference. Modelling the interference from co-existing networks will be as accurate as the data you have for the interfering network. If the interfering network is a part of your own network, this information would be readily available. However, if the interfering network belongs to another operator, the information available might not be accurate.

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7.9.13 Modelling Inter-technology Interference Analyses of GSM networks co-existing with other technology networks can be carried out in Atoll. Inter-technology interference may create considerable capacity reduction in a GSM network. Atoll can take into account interference from co-existing networks in calculations. •

Interference received by mobiles on the downlink: Interference can be received by mobiles in a GSM network on the downlink from external base stations and mobiles in the vicinity. Interference from external base stations (also called downlink-to-downlink interference) can be created by the use of same or adjacent carriers, wideband noise (thermal noise, phase noise, modulation products, and spurious emissions), and intermodulation. In Atoll, you can define interference reduction factor (IRF) graphs for different technologies (CDMA, TDMA, OFDM). These graphs are then used for calculating the interference from the external base stations on mobiles. This interference is taken into account in all downlink interference-based calculations. Interference from external mobiles (also called uplink-to-downlink interference) can be created by insufficient separation between the uplink frequency used by the external network and the downlink frequency used by your GSM network. Such interference may also come from co-existing TDD networks. The effect of this interference is modelled in Atoll using the Additional DL Noise Rise definable for each TRX in the GSM network. This noise rise is taken into account in all interference-based calculations. For more information on the Additional DL Noise Rise, see "TRX Properties" on page 287.

Figure 7.113: Interference received by mobiles on the downlink Interference received from external base stations on mobiles of your GSM network can be calculated by Atoll. Atoll uses the inter-technology interference reduction factor (IRF) graphs for calculating the interference levels. An IRF graph represents the variation of the Adjacent Channel Interference Ratio (ACIR) as a function of frequency separation. ACIR is determined from the Adjacent Channel Suppression (ACS) and the Adjacent Channel Leakage Ratio (ACLR) parameters as follows: 1 ACIR = ------------------------------------1 - + ---------------1 -----------ACS ACLR

An IRF depends on: • • • •

The interfering technology (TDMA, CDMA, and OFDM) The interfering carrier bandwidth (kHz) The interfered carrier bandwidth (kHz) The frequency offset between both carriers (MHz).

IRFs are used by Atoll to calculate the interference from external base stations only if the Atoll document containing the external base stations is linked to your GSM document, i.e. in co-planning mode or in a multi-RAT document. To define the inter-technology IRFs in the victim network: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Radio Network Equipment folder. 3. In the Radio Network Equipment folder, right-click Inter-technology Interference Reduction Factors. The context menu appears. 4. Select Open Table. The Inter-technology Interference Reduction Factors table appears. 5. In the table, enter one interference reduction factor graph per row. For each IRF graph, enter: • • •

Technology: Select the technology used by the interfering network. Interferer Bandwidth (kHz): Enter the width in kHz of the channels (carriers) used by the interfering network. This channel width must be consistent with that used in the linked document. Victim Bandwidth (kHz): Enter the width in kHz of the channels (carriers) used by the interfered network. This channel width must be consistent with that used in the main document.

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Reduction Factors (dB): Click the cell corresponding to the Reduction Factors (dB) column and the current row in the table. The Reduction Factors (dB) dialog box appears. •

Enter the interference reduction factors in the Reduction (dB) column for different frequency separation, Freq. Delta (MHz), values relative to the centre frequency of the channel (carrier) used in the main document. • •

Reduction values must be positive. If you leave reduction factors undefined, Atoll assumes there is no interference.

6. When you have finished defining interference reduction factors, click OK.

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Chapter 8 UMTS HSPA Networks This chapter covers the following topics:

This chapter provides information on using Atoll to design, analyse, and optimise a UMTS HSPA network.

•

"Designing a UMTS Network" on page 511

•

"Planning and Optimising UMTS Base Stations" on page 513

•

"Studying UMTS Network Capacity" on page 571

•

"Optimising Network Parameters Using ACP" on page 589

•

"Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data" on page 593

•

"Co-planning UMTS Networks with Other Networks" on page 603

•

"Advanced Configuration" on page 611

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8 UMTS HSPA Networks Atoll enables you to create and modify all aspects of a UMTS HSPA (HSDPA and HSUPA) network. Once you have created the network, Atoll offers many tools to let you verify the network. Based on the results of your tests, you can modify any of the parameters defining the network. The process of planning and creating a UMTS HSPA network is outlined in "Designing a UMTS Network" on page 511. Creating the network of base stations is explained in "Planning and Optimising UMTS Base Stations" on page 513. Allocating neighbours and scrambling codes is also explained. In this section, you will also find information on how you can display information on base stations on the map and how you can use the tools in Atoll to study base stations. In "Studying UMTS Network Capacity" on page 571, using traffic maps to study network capacity is explained. Creating simulations using the traffic map information and analysing the results of simulations is also explained. Using drive test data paths to verify the network is explained in "Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data" on page 593. Filtering imported drive test data paths, and using the data in coverage predictions is also explained.Filtering imported drive test data paths, and using the data in coverage predictions is also explained. In the rest of this document, the following terms describe the users and the services: • •

R99 users: The Circuit (R99) and Packet (R99) service users. These require an R99 bearer. HSDPA users: The users that only support HSDPA. These have an HSDPA-capable terminal and one of the following services: • •

Packet (HSDPA - Best Effort), Packet (HSDPA - Variable Bit Rate).

HSDPA users require an R99 bearer (i.e. the A-DPCH radio bearer) and an HSDPA bearer. •

HSPA users: The users that support both HSDPA and HSUPA. These have an HSPA-capable terminal and one of the following services: • • •

Packet (HSPA - Best Effort), Packet (HSPA - Variable Bit Rate), Packet (HSPA - Constant Bit Rate).

HSPA users require an R99 bearer (i.e. the E-DPCCH/A-DPCH radio bearer), an HSDPA bearer and an HSUPA bearer. •

•

•

• • •

DC-HSPA users: The dual-cell HSPA users. Users with DC-HSPA-capable terminals that can simultaneously connect to two HSPA cells of the transmitter for data transfer. The R99 A-DPCH bearer is transmitted on one of the cells, which is called the anchor cell. The user can be assigned HSDPA and HSUPA bearers in each of the cells. MC-HSPA users: The multi-cell HSPA users. Users with MC-HSPA-capable terminals that can simultaneously connect to several HSPA cells of the transmitter for data transfer. The R99 A-DPCH bearer is transmitted on one of the cells, which is called the anchor cell. The user can be assigned HSDPA and HSUPA bearers in each of the cells. DB-MC-HSPA users: The dual-band multi-cell HSPA users. Users with DB-MC-HSPA-capable terminals that can simultaneously connect to several HSPA cells on co-site transmitters using different frequency bands. The R99 A-DPCH bearer is transmitted on one of the cells, which is called the anchor cell. The user can be assigned HSDPA and HSUPA bearers in each of the cells. BE services: Best Effort services. VBR services: Variable Bit Rate services. CBR services: Constant Bit Rate services. CBR services do not support multi-cell mode.

8.1 Designing a UMTS Network The following diagram depicts the process of planning and creating a UMTS HSPA network.

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1

Open an Existing Project or Create a New One

2

Network Configuration - Add Network Elements - Change Parameters Basic Predictions (Best Server, Signal Level) Neighbour Allocation

Traffic Maps

5a

3

4

5b

Monte-Carlo Simulations

User-defined values Cell Load Conditions

5c

5

Scrambling Code Plan

6a

6

UMTS/HSPA Predictions

Prediction Study Reports

7

Figure 8.1: Planning a UMTS network - workflow The steps involved in planning a UMTS HSPA network are described below. The numbers refer to Figure 8.1. 1. Open an existing radio-planning document or create a new one ( • •

1

).

You can open an existing Atoll document by selecting File > Open. Creating a new a new Atoll document is explained in Chapter 1: Working Environment.

2. Configure the network by adding network elements and changing parameters (

2

).

You can add and modify the following base station elements: • • •

"Creating a Site" on page 520 "Creating or Modifying a Transmitter" on page 520 "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 521.

You can also add base stations using a base station template (see "Placing a New Station Using a Station Template" on page 522). 3. Carry out basic coverage predictions ( •

3

)

"Signal Level Coverage Predictions" on page 537

4. Allocate neighbours, automatically or individually ( •

4

).

"Planning Neighbours" on page 560.

5. Before making more advanced coverage predictions, you need to define cell load conditions (

5

).

You can define cell load conditions in the following ways: • •

You can generate realistic cell load conditions by creating a simulation based on a traffic map ( 5a and 5b ) (see "Studying UMTS Network Capacity" on page 571). You can define them manually either on the Cells tab of each transmitter’s Properties dialog box or in the Cells table (see "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 521) (

5c

).

6. Make UMTS-specific coverage predictions using the defined cell load conditions ( • • •

"UMTS Coverage Predictions" on page 540 "HSDPA Coverage Predictions" on page 549 "HSUPA Coverage Predictions" on page 551.

7. Allocate scrambling codes ( •

512

7

).

"Planning Neighbours" on page 560.

6

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8.2 Planning and Optimising UMTS Base Stations As described in Chapter 1: Working Environment, you can start an Atoll document from a template, with no sites, or from a database with a set of sites. As you work on your Atoll document, you will still need to create sites and modify existing ones. In Atoll, a site is defined as a geographical point where one or more transmitters are located. Once you have created a site, you can add transmitters. In Atoll, a transmitter is defined as the antenna and any other additional equipment, such as the TMA, feeder cables, etc. In a UMTS project, you must also add cells to each transmitter. A cell refers to the characteristics of a carrier on a transmitter. Antenna - Azimuth - Mechanical tilt

TMA Antenna - Height

Feeder Cable

Transmitter - Noise figure - Power

Site - X, Y coordinates

Figure 8.2: A transmitter Atoll lets you create one site, transmitter, or cell at a time, or create several at once by creating a station template. Using a station template, you can create one or more base stations at the same time. In Atoll, a base station refers to a site with its transmitters, antennas, equipment, and cells. Atoll allows you to make a variety of coverage predictions, such as signal level or transmitter coverage predictions. The results of calculated coverage predictions can be displayed on the map, compared, or studied. Atoll enables you to model network traffic by allowing you to create services, users, user profiles, environments, and terminals. This data can be then used to make quality predictions, such as effective service area, noise, or handover status predictions, on the network. In this section, the following are explained: • • • • • • • • • •

"Creating UMTS Base Stations" on page 519 "Creating a Group of Base Stations" on page 527 "Modifying Sites and Transmitters Directly on the Map" on page 528 "Display Tips for Base Stations" on page 528 "Creating Multi-band UMTS Networks" on page 528 "Creating Heterogeneous UMTS Networks" on page 528 "Creating Repeaters" on page 529 "Creating Remote Antennas" on page 533 "Studying UMTS Base Stations" on page 536 "Planning Neighbours" on page 560.

8.2.1 Definition of a UMTS Base Station A base station consists of the site, one or more transmitters, various pieces of equipment, and radio settings such as, for example, cells. You will usually create a new base station using a station template, as described in "Placing a New Station Using a Station Template" on page 522. This section describes the following elements of a base station and their parameters: • • •

"Site Properties" on page 513 "Transmitter Properties" on page 514 "Cell Properties" on page 516.

8.2.1.1 Site Properties The parameters of a site can be found in the site Properties dialog box. The Properties dialog box has two tabs:

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The General tab • •

Name: Atoll automatically enters a default name for each new site. You can modify the default name here. If you want to change the default name that Atoll gives to new sites, see the Administrator Manual. Position: By default, Atoll places the new site at the centre of the map window. You can modify the location of the site here. While this method allows you to place a site with precision, you can also place sites using the mouse and then position them precisely with this dialog box afterwards. For information on placing sites using the mouse, see "Moving a Site Using the Mouse" on page 57.

• •

Altitude: The altitude, as defined by the DTM for the location specified under Position, is given here. You can specify the actual altitude under Real, if you want. If an altitude is specified here, Atoll will use this value for calculations. Comments: You can enter comments in this field if you want.

The UMTS tab • • • • •

Max Number of Uplink Channel Elements: The maximum number of physical radio resources for the current site in the uplink. By default Atoll enters the maximum possible (256). Max Number of Downlink Channel Elements: The maximum number of physical radio resources for the current site in the downlink. By default Atoll enters the maximum possible (256). Max Iub Uplink Backhaul Throughput: The maximum Iub backhaul throughput for the current site in the uplink. Max Iub Downlink Backhaul Throughput: The maximum Iub backhaul throughput for the current site in the downlink. Equipment: You can select equipment from the list. To create new site equipment, see "Creating Site Equipment" on page 616. If no equipment is assigned to the site, Atoll considers the following default values: • • • • •

Rake efficiency factor = 1 MUD factor = 0 Carrier selection = UL minimum noise Downlink and uplink overhead resources for common channels = 0 The option AS Restricted to Neighbours is not selected, and Atoll uses one channel element on the uplink or downlink for any service during power control simulation.

8.2.1.2 Transmitter Properties The parameters of a UMTS transmitter can be found in the transmitter’s Properties dialog box. When you create a transmitter, the Properties dialog box has two tabs: the General tab and the Transmitter tab. Once you have created a transmitter, its Properties dialog box has three additional tabs: the Cells tab (see "Cell Properties" on page 516), the Propagation tab (see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models), and the Display tab (see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51). The General tab •

•

•

•

•

•

514

Name: By default, Atoll names the transmitter after the site it is on, adding an underscore and a number. You can enter a name for the transmitter, but for the sake of consistency, it is better to let Atoll assign a name. If you want to change the way Atoll names transmitters, see the Administrator Manual. Site: You can select the Site on which the transmitter will be located. Once you have selected the site, you can click the Browse button to access the properties of the site on which the transmitter will be located. For information on the site Properties dialog box, see "Site Properties" on page 513. You can click the New button to create a new site on which the transmitter will be located. Frequency Band: You can select a Frequency Band for the transmitter. Once you have selected the frequency band, you can click the Browse button to access the properties of the band. For information on the frequency band Properties dialog box, see "Defining Frequency Bands" on page 612. Shared antenna: This field is used to identify the transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas located at the same site or on sites with the same position and that share the same antenna. The entry in the field must be the same for all transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas sharing the same antenna. When changes are made to the position offset (Dx, Dy), azimuth, antenna height, or mechanical tilt of one antenna, Atoll automatically synchronises the same changes to all other transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas defined as having a shared antenna. This field is also used for multi-band transmitters to synchronise antenna parameters for different frequency bands. Under Antenna Position, you can modify the position of the antennas (main and secondary): • Relative to Site: Select this option if you want to enter the antenna positions as offsets with respect to the site location, and then enter the x-axis and y-axis offsets, Dx and Dy, respectively. • Coordinates: Select this option if you want to enter the coordinates of the antenna, and then enter the x-axis and y-axis coordinates of the antenna, X and Y, respectively. Max Range: You can define a maximum coverage range for the transmitter.

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The Transmitter tab •

Active: If this transmitter is to be active, you must select the Active check box. Active transmitters are displayed in red in the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer. Only active transmitters are taken into consideration during calculations.

•

•

Transmission/Reception: Under Transmission/Reception, you can see the total losses and the noise figure of the transmitter. Atoll calculates losses and noise according to the characteristics of the equipment assigned to the transmitter. Equipment can be assigned by using the Equipment Specifications dialog box which appears when you click the Equipment button. In the Equipment Specifications dialog box, the equipment that you select and the gains and losses that you define are used to initialise the total transmitter UL and DL losses: • TMA: You can select a tower-mounted amplifier (TMA) from the list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the TMA. For information on creating a TMA, see "Defining TMA Equipment" on page 161. • Feeder: You can select a feeder cable from the list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the feeder. For information on creating a feeder cable, see "Defining Feeder Cables" on page 161. • Transmitter: You can select transmitter equipment from the Transmitter list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the transmitter equipment. For information on creating transmitter equipment, see "Defining Transmitter Equipment" on page 162. • Feeder Length: You can enter the feeder length at transmission and reception. • Miscellaneous Losses: You can enter miscellaneous losses at transmission and reception. The value you enter must be positive. • Receiver Antenna Diversity Gain: You can enter a receiver antenna diversity gain. The value you enter must be positive. Any loss related to the noise due to a transmitter’s repeater is included in the calculated losses. Atoll always takes the values in the Real boxes into consideration in prediction even if they are different from the values in the Computed boxes. The information in the real Noise Figure reception box is calculated from the information you entered in the Equipment Specifications dialog box. You can modify the real Total Losses at transmission and reception and the real Noise Figure at reception if you want. Any value you enter must be positive.

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Antennas: • Height/Ground: The Height/Ground box gives the height of the antenna above the ground. This is added to the altitude of the site as given by the DTM. If the transmitter is situated on a building, the height entered must include the height of building. • Main Antenna: Under Main Antenna, the type of antenna is visible in the Model list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the antenna. • Click the Select button to open the Antenna Selection Assistant. This assistant lists all the antennas that match the currently selected physical antenna and whose minimum and maximum operating frequencies include the operating frequency of the transmitter. For more information, see "Assigning Antennas to Transmitters" on page 159 • Mechanical Azimuth, Mechanical downtilt, Electrical Azimuth, Electrical Downtilt, and Additional electrical downtilt display additional antenna parameters. • • •

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The Additional Electrical Downtilt can be made accessible through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide. The mechanical and additional electrical downtilts defined for the main antenna are also used for the calculations of smart antennas.

Under Diversity, you can select the number of transmission and reception antenna ports used for MIMO (No. of ports). MIMO systems are supported by some HSDPA bearers (following improvements introduced by release 7 of the 3GPP UTRA specifications, referred to as HSPA+). For more information on how the number of antenna ports are used, see "Multiple Input Multiple Output Systems" on page 621. R99 bearers only support transmit and receive diversities. You can define the transmit diversity method from the Transmission list when more than one transmission antenna port is available. The receive diversity method depends on the number of reception antenna ports selected (2RX for two reception antenna ports and 4RX for four reception antenna ports).

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Under Secondary Antennas, you can select one or more secondary antennas in the Antenna column and enter their Azimuth, Mechanical Downtilt, Additional Electrical Downtilt, and % Power, which is the percentage of power reserved for this particular antenna. For example, for a transmitter with one secondary antenna, if you reserve 40% of the total power for the secondary antenna, 60% is available for the main antenna. • • •

The Additional Electrical Downtilt can be made accessible through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75.

Cell Tab When you create a transmitter, Atoll automatically creates a cell for the transmitter using the properties of the currently selected station template. The cell tab enables you to configure the properties for every cell of a transmitter. For more information on the properties of a cell, see "Cell Properties" on page 516. Propagation Tab Transmitters are taken into account during calculations. Therefore, you must specify their propagation parameters. On the Propagation tab, you can modify the following: the Propagation model, Radius, and Resolution for both the Main matrix and the Extended matrix. For information on propagation models, see "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187. Display Tab On the Display tab, you can modify how a transmitters are displayed. For information on changing display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51.

8.2.1.3 Cell Properties In Atoll, a cell is defined as a carrier, with all its characteristics, on a transmitter; the cell is the mechanism by which you can configure a UMTS multi-carrier network. In other words, a transmitter has one cell for every carrier. This section explains the parameters of a UMTS cell, including the parameters for HSDPA and HSUPA functionality. The properties of a UMTS cell are found on Cells tab of the Properties dialog box of the transmitter to which it is assigned. You can also display the properties of a cell by double-clicking the cell in the Site explorer.

The following HSDPA options apply to all the cells of the transmitter: •

Multi-cell mode: Select whether the transmitter supports carrier aggregation in the downlink (DL multi-cell), or in the downlink and in the uplink (UL/DL multi-cell). When multi-cell is active, the user can simultaneously connect to several carriers of the transmitter for data transfer (up to eight carriers in the downlink and two carriers in the uplink) and be assigned HSDPA and HSUPA bearers in each of the cells. The R99 A-DPCH bearer is transmitted on one of the cells, which is called the anchor cell. The maximum number of cells to which the user can simultaneously connect depends on the HSDPA and HSUPA UE categories of the terminal.

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Inter-Carrier Power Sharing: You can enable power sharing between cells by selecting the Inter-Carrier Power Sharing check box under HSDPA and entering a value in the Maximum Shared Power box. In order for Inter-Carrier Power Sharing to be available, you must have at least one HSDPA carrier with dynamic power allocation. Inter-Carrier Power Sharing enables the network to dynamically allocate available power from R99-only and HSDPA carriers among HSDPA carriers. When you select Inter-Carrier Power Sharing and you define a maximum shared power, the Max Power of each cell is used to determine the percentage of the transmitter power that the cell cannot exceed. The most common scenario is where you have R99-only cells that are not using 100% of their power and can share it with an HSDPA carrier. To use power sharing efficiently, you should set the Max Power of the HSDPA cells to the same value as the Maximum Shared Power. For example, if the Maximum Shared Power is defined as 43 dBm, the Max Power of all HSDPA cells should be set to 43 dBm in order to be able to use 100% of the available power. In this case, all of an R99 cell’s unused power can be allocated to the HSDPA cell.

The following parameters can be set for each individual cell of the transmitter:

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Name: By default, Atoll names the cell after its transmitter, adding the carrier number in parentheses. If you change transmitter name or carrier, Atoll does not update the cell name. You can enter a name for the cell, but for the sake of consistency, it is better to let Atoll assign a name. If you want to change the way Atoll names cells, see the Administrator Manual. ID: You can enter an ID for the cell. This is a user-definable network-level parameter for cell identification. Carrier: The number of the carrier. Order: The display order of a cell within the transmitter. This value is used to determine the order in which information related to a cell will be displayed in the Network explorer and on the map. This field is automatically filled by Atoll but you can change these default values to display cells in a user-defined order. The consistency between values stored in this field is verified by Atoll. However, inconsistencies may arise when tools other than Atoll modify the database. You can check for inconsistencies in the cell display order and fix them by selecting Data Audit > Cell Display Order Check in the Document menu.

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Layer: The network layer to which the cell belongs. This information is used in determining the best serving cell. For more information on defining layers, see "Defining Network Deployment Layers" on page 614. Active: If this cell is to be active, you must select the Active check box. Max Power (dBm): The maximum available downlink power for the cell. Pilot Power (dBm): The pilot power. SCH power (dBm): The average power of both the synchronisation channels (P-SCH and S-SCH). The SCH power is only transmitted 1⁄10 of the time. Consequently, the value entered for the SCH power should only be 1⁄10 of its value when transmitted, in order to respect its actual interference on other channels.

• • •

Other CCH power (dBm): The power of other common channels (P-CCPCH, S-CCPCH, AICH). AS Threshold (dB): The active set threshold. It is the Ec⁄I0 margin in comparison with the Ec⁄I0 of the best server. It is used to determine which cells, apart from the best server, will be part of the active set. Min RSCP (dBm): The minimum pilot RSCP required for a user to be connected to the cell. The pilot RSCP is compared with this threshold to determine whether or not a user can be connected to the cell. When this field is empty, Atoll uses the Default Min Pilot RSCP Threshold defined on the Calculation Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box.

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Handover margin (dB): You can define the handover margin to use for best serving cell selection. The handover margin is used in UMTS networks to avoid handover ping-pong between cells. For more information on best serving cell selection, see "Best Serving Cell and Active Set Determination" on page 622. Cell individual offset (dB): You can define the cell individual offset to use for best serving cell selection. The cell individual offset (CIO) is used in UMTS networks in order to tune or bias the ranking of potential servers for best serving cell selection in connected mode. For more information on best serving cell selection, see "Best Serving Cell and Active Set Determination" on page 622. DL Max Throughput per User (kbps): The downlink max throughput per user in kbps. The DL max throughput per user is the maximum connection rate in the downlink for a user. The DL and UL peak throughputs are taken into account during power control simulation. UL Max Throughput per User (kbps): The uplink max throughput per user in kbps. The UL max throughput per user is the maximum connection rate in the uplink for a user. The DL and UL peak throughputs are taken into account during power control simulation. Max DL Load (% Pmax): The percentage of the maximum downlink power (set in Max Power) not to be exceeded. This limit will be taken into account during the simulation if the option DL Load is selected. If the DL load option is not selected during a simulation, this value is not taken into consideration. Max UL Load Factor (%): The maximum uplink load factor not to be exceeded. This limit can be taken into account during the simulation. Total Power (dBm or %): The total transmitted power on downlink is the total power necessary to serve the users. This value can be a simulation result or can be entered by the user. By default, the total power is set as an absolute value. You can set this value as a percentage of the maximum power of the cell by right-clicking the UMTS Network Settings folder in the Parameters explorer and selecting Properties from the context menu. Then, on the Global Parameters tab of the Properties dialog box, under DL Load, you can select % Pmax. The total power value is automatically converted and set as a percentage of the maximum power.

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UL Load Factor (%): The uplink cell load factor. This factor corresponds to the ratio between the uplink total interference and the uplink total noise. The uplink cell load factor is a global value and includes the inter-technology uplink interference. This value can be a simulation result or can be entered by the user. UL Reuse Factor: The uplink reuse factor is determined from uplink intra and extra-cell interference (signals received by the transmitter respectively from intra and extra-cell terminals). This is the ratio between the total uplink interference and the intra-cell interference. This value can be a simulation result or can be entered by the user. Scrambling Code Domain: The scrambling code domain to which the allocated scrambling code belongs. This and the scrambling code reuse distance are used by the scrambling code planning algorithm. SC Reuse Distance: The scrambling code reuse distance. This and the scrambling code domain are used by the scrambling code planning algorithm. Primary Scrambling Code: The primary scrambling code. SC Locked: The status of the primary scrambling code allocated to the cell. If the SC Locked check box is checked, the automatic allocation tool considers that the current primary scrambling code is not modifiable. Comments: If desired, you can enter any comments in this field. Max Number of Intra-carrier Neighbours: The maximum number of intra-carrier neighbours for this cell. This value is used by the intra-carrier neighbour allocation algorithm. Max Number of Inter-carrier Neighbours: The maximum number of inter-carrier neighbours for this cell. This value is used by the inter-carrier neighbour allocation algorithm. Max Number of Inter-technology Neighbours: The maximum number of inter-technology neighbours for this cell. This value is used by the inter-technology neighbour allocation algorithm. Additional UL Noise Rise: This noise rise represents the interference on this cell on the uplink created by the mobiles and base stations of an external network. This noise rise will be taken into account in uplink interference-based calculations involving this cell in the simulation. It is not used in predictions (AS Analysis, multi-point analysis and coverage predictions). In predictions, Atoll calculates the uplink total interference from the UL load factor which includes intertechnology uplink interference. For more information on inter-technology interference, see "Modelling Inter-technology Interference" on page 624. Additional DL Noise Rise: This noise rise represents the interference created by mobiles of an external network on the mobiles served by this cell on the downlink. This noise rise will be taken into account in all downlink interferencebased calculations involving this cell. For more information on inter-technology interference, see "Modelling Intertechnology Interference" on page 624. Neighbours: You can access a dialog box in which you can set both intra-technology (intra-carrier and inter-carrier) and inter-technology neighbours by clicking the Browse button. For information on defining neighbours, see "Editing Neighbours in the Cell Properties" on page 228. The Browse button may not be visible in the Neighbours box if this is a new cell. You can make the Browse button appear by clicking Apply.

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HSPA Support: The HSPA functionality supported by the cell. You can choose between None (i.e., R99 only), HSDPA, HSPA (i.e., HSDPA and HSUPA) or HSPA+. When HSDPA is supported, the following fields are available: •

HSDPA Dynamic Power Allocation: If you are modelling dynamic power allocation, the HSDPA Dynamic Power Allocation should be checked. During a simulation, Atoll first allocates power to R99 users and then dynamically allocates the remaining power of the cell to the HS-PDSCH and HS-SCCH of HSDPA bearer users. At the end of the simulation, you can commit the calculated available HSDPA power and total power values to each cell. In the context of dynamic power allocation, the total power cannot exceed the maximum power minus the power headroom.

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Available HSDPA Power (dBm): When you are modelling static power allocation, the HSDPA Dynamic Power Allocation check box is cleared and the available HSDPA power is entered in this box. This is the power available for the HS-PDSCH and HS-SCCH of HSDPA bearer users. Power Headroom (dB): The power headroom is a reserve of power that Atoll keeps for Dedicated Physical Channels (DPCH) in case of fast fading. During simulation, HSDPA bearer users will not be connected if the cell power remaining after serving R99 users is less than the power headroom value. HS-SCCH Dynamic Power Allocation: If you are modelling dynamic power allocation the HS-SCCH Dynamic Power Allocation check box should be checked and a value should be entered in HS-SCCH Power (dBm). During power control, Atoll will control HS-SCCH power in order to meet the minimum quality threshold (as defined for each mobility type). The value entered in HS-SCCH Power (dBm) is the maximum power available for each HS-SCCH channel. The calculated power for each HSDPA bearer user during the simulation cannot exceed this maximum value.

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HS-SCCH Power (dBm): The value for each HS-SCCH channel will be used if you are modelling dynamic power allocation. If you have selected the HS-SCCH Dynamic Power Allocation check box and modelling dynamic power allocation, the value entered here represents a maximum for each HSDPA bearer user. If you have not selected the HS-SCCH Dynamic Power Allocation check box and are modelling static power allocation, the value entered here represents the actual HS-SCCH power per HS-SCCH channel. Number of HS-SCCH Channels: The maximum number of HS-SCCH channels for this cell. Each Packet (HSDPA Best Effort), Packet (HSDPA - Variable Bit Rate), Packet (HSPA - Best Effort), and Packet (HSPA - Variable Bit Rate) user consumes one HS-SCCH channel. Therefore, at any given time (over a time transmission interval), the number of HSDPA bearer users cannot exceed the number of HS-SCCH channels per cell. HS-DSCH transmissions without an accompanying HS-SCCH are performed for Packet (HSPA - Constant Bit Rate) users. Therefore, the number of HS-SCCH channels is not taken into account when managing the number of Packet (HSPA - Constant Bit Rate) users connected at a given time.

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Min. Number of HS-PDSCH Codes: The minimum number of OVSF codes available for HS-PDSCH channels. This value will be taken into account during simulations in order to find a suitable bearer. Max Number of HS-PDSCH codes: The maximum number of OVSF codes available for HS-PDSCH channels. This value will be taken into account during simulations and coverage predictions in order to find a suitable bearer. Max Number of HSDPA Users: The maximum number of HSDPA bearer users [i.e., Packet (HSDPA - Best Effort) users, Packet (HSDPA - Variable Bit Rate) users, Packet (HSPA - Best Effort) users, Packet (HSPA - Variable Bit Rate) users, and Packet (HSPA - Constant Bit Rate) users] that this cell can support at any given time. Number of HSDPA Users: The number of HSDPA bearer users is an average and can be used for certain coverage predictions. You can enter this value yourself, or have the value calculated by Atoll using a simulation. Dual-cell HSDPA users are counted once in each cell they are connected to. HSDPA Scheduler Algorithm: The scheduling technique that will be used to rank the HSDPA bearer users to be served. You can select the scheduler from the list of schedulers available in the Schedulers table. For more information, see "Defining HSDPA Schedulers" on page 620. MIMO Support: The MIMO method used by the cell when it supports HSPA+. You can choose between None, Transmit Diversity, or Spatial Multiplexing.

When HSUPA is supported, the following fields are also available: • •

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DL HSUPA Power: The power (in dBm) allocated to HSUPA DL channels (E-AGCH, E-RGCH, and E-HICH). This value must be entered by the user. Max Number of HSUPA Users: The maximum number of HSUPA bearer users (i.e., Packet (HSPA - Best Effort) users, Packet (HSPA - Variable Bit Rate) users and Packet (HSPA - Constant Bit Rate) users) that this cell can support at any given time. UL Load Factor Due to HSUPA (%): The uplink cell load contribution due to HSUPA. This value can be a simulation result or can be entered by the user. Number of HSUPA Users: The number of HSUPA bearer users is an average and can be used for certain coverage predictions. This value can be a simulation result or can be entered by the user. By default, the SCH power, the CCH power, the HS-SCCH power and the HSUPA power are set as absolute values. You can set these values as relative to the pilot power by right-clicking the UMTS Network Settings folder in the Parameters explorer and selecting Properties from the context menu. Then, on the Global Parameters tab of the Properties dialog box, under DL Powers, you can select Relative to Pilot. The SCH power, the CCH power, the HSSCCH power, and the HSUPA power values are automatically converted and set as relative to the pilot power.

8.2.2 Creating UMTS Base Stations When you create a UMTS site, you create only the geographical point; you must add the transmitters and cells afterwards. The site, with the transmitters, antennas, equipment, and cells is called a base station. In this section, each element of a base station is described. If you want to add a new base station, see "Placing a New Station Using a Station Template" on page 522. If you want to create or modify one of the elements of a base station, see "Creating UMTS Base Stations" on page 519. If you need to create a large number of base stations, Atoll allows you to import them from another Atoll document or from an external source. For information, see "Creating a Group of Base Stations" on page 527. This section explains the various parts of the base station process: • • • •

"Creating a Site" on page 520 "Creating or Modifying a Transmitter" on page 520 "Assigning Equipment to a Transmitter" on page 521 "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 521

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"Placing a New Station Using a Station Template" on page 522 "Managing Station Templates" on page 522 "Duplicating an Existing Base Station" on page 525 "Studying the Profile Around a Base Station" on page 526.

8.2.2.1 Creating a Site You can create a new an existing site or you can create a new site. How you access the Properties dialog box depends on whether you are creating a new site or modifying an existing site. To create a new site: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Sites folder and select Add Sites from the context menu. The mouse cursor changes (

)and the coordinates of the mouse cursor are displayed in the status bar.

2. Click the map at the location where you want to place the new site. A new site is created with default values at the corresponding location. Alternatively, you can create a new site by entering its coordinates and properties as described in "Site Properties" on page 513, by right-clicking the Sites folder and selecting New from the context menu.

8.2.2.2 Modifying a Site Once you have created a site, you can edit the site through the site Properties dialog box. To modify the properties of an existing site: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Sites folder and right-click the site, or right-click the site on the map. The context menu appears. 2. Select Properties from the context menu. The site Properties dialog box appears. 3. Modify the parameters described in "Site Properties" on page 513. 4. Click OK. If you are creating several sites at the same time, or modifying several existing sites, you can do it quickly by editing or pasting the data directly in the Sites table. You can open the Sites table by right-clicking the Sites folder in the Network explorer and selecting Open Table from the context menu. For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83.

8.2.2.3 Creating or Modifying a Transmitter You can modify an existing transmitter or you can create a new transmitter. When you create a new transmitter, its initial settings are based on the default station template displayed in the Radio Planning toolbar. You can access the properties of a transmitter, described in "Transmitter Properties" on page 514, through the transmitter’s Properties dialog box. How you access the Properties dialog box depends on whether you are creating a new transmitter or modifying an existing transmitter. To create or modify a new transmitter: 1. In the Network explorer, perform one of the following actions. • •

To create a transmitter, right-click the UMTS Transmitters select New from the context menu. To modify an existing transmitter, expand the UMTS Transmitters folder, right-click the transmitter that you want to modify, and select Properties from the context menu.

The Transmitters: New Record Properties dialog box appears. 2. Modify the parameters as described in "Transmitter Properties" on page 514. 3. Click OK. When you create a new transmitter, Atoll automatically creates a cell based on the default station template. For information on creating a cell, see "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 521.

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An alternative way of creating several transmitters at the same time, or modifying several existing transmitters, is to edit or paste the data directly in the Transmitters table. You can open the Transmitters table by right-clicking the LTE Transmitters folder in the Network explorer and selecting Open Table from the context menu. For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83. If you want to add a transmitter to an existing site on the map, you can add the transmitter by right-clicking the site and selecting New Transmitter from the context menu.

8.2.2.4 Assigning Equipment to a Transmitter You can use the Equipment Specifications dialog box to assign a tower-mounted amplifier (TMA), feeders, and transmitter equipment to a transmitter. The gains and losses that you define are used to initialise total transmitter losses in the uplink and downlink: To assign equipment to a transmitter: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the UMTS Transmitters folder, right-click the transmitter that you want to modify, and select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter’s Properties dialog box appears. 2. On the Transmission tab, click the Equipment button. The Equipment Specifications dialog box opens. 3. Specify the following settings for the transmitter: • • •

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TMA: Select a tower-mounted amplifier (TMA) from the list. Click the Browse button to access the properties of the TMA. For information on creating a TMA, see "Defining TMA Equipment" on page 161. Feeder: Select a feeder cable from the list. Click the Browse button to access the properties of the feeder. For information on creating a feeder cable, see "Defining Feeder Cables" on page 161. Transmitter equipment: Select transmitter equipment from the Transmitter list. Click the Browse button to access the properties of the transmitter equipment. For information on creating transmitter equipment, see "Defining Transmitter Equipment" on page 162. Feeder length: Enter the feeder length at transmission and reception. Miscellaneous losses: Enter any additional losses at transmission and reception. The value must be positive. Receiver antenna diversity gain: Loss related to repeater noise rise:

4. Click OK.

8.2.2.5 Creating or Modifying a Cell You can modify an existing cell or you can create a new cell. You can access the properties of a cell, described in "Cell Properties" on page 516, through the Properties dialog box of the transmitter where the cell is located. To create or modify a cell: 1. In the Network explorer expand the UMTS Transmitters folder, right-click the transmitter on which you want to create a cell or whose cell you want to modify, and select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter’s Properties dialog box appears. 2. Select the Cells tab. 3. Modify the parameters described in "Cell Properties" on page 516. 4. Click OK. An alternative way of creating or modifying several cells at the same time is to edit or paste the data directly in the Cells table. You can open the Cells table by right-clicking the LTE Transmitters folder in the Network explorer and selecting Cells > Open Table from the context menu. You can either edit the data in the table, paste data into the table (see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83), or import data into the table (see "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88). If you want to add a cell to an existing transmitter on the map, you can add the cell by rightclicking the transmitter and selecting New Cell from the context menu.

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8.2.2.6 Placing a New Station Using a Station Template In Atoll, a station is defined as a site with one or more transmitters sharing the same properties. You can create a network by placing stations based on station templates. This allows you to build your network quickly with consistent parameters, instead of building the network by first creating the site, then the transmitters, and finally by adding the cells. To place a new station using a station template: 1. In the Radio Planning toolbar, select a template from the list. 2. Click the New Transmitter or Station button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar.

3. In the map window, move the pointer over the map to where you would like to place the new station. The exact coordinates of the pointer’s current location are visible in the Status bar. 4. Click to place the station. To place the station more accurately, you can zoom in on the map before you click the New Station button. For information on using the zooming tools, see "Changing the Map Scale" on page 60. If you let the pointer rest over the station you have placed, Atoll displays its tip text with its exact coordinates, allowing you to verify that the location is correct.

8.2.2.7 Placing a Station on an Existing Site When you place a new station using a station template, the site is created at the same time as the station. However, you can also place a new station on an existing site. To place a base station on an existing site: 1. In the Radio Planning toolbar, select a template from the list. 2. Click the New Transmitter or Station button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar.

3. Move the pointer to the site on the map. When the frame appears around the site, indicating it is selected, click to place the station.

8.2.2.8 Managing Station Templates Atoll comes with several UMTS station templates, but you can also create and modify station templates. The tools for working with station templates can be found on the Radio Planning toolbar (see Figure 8.3).

Figure 8.3: The Radio Planning toolbar In this section, the following are explained: • • • • • •

8.2.2.8.1

"Station Template Properties" on page 522 "Creating a Station Template" on page 524 "Modifying a Station Template" on page 524 "Copying Properties from One Station Template to Another" on page 524 "Modifying a Field in a Station Template" on page 525 "Deleting a Station Template" on page 525.

Station Template Properties The station template Properties dialog box contains the settings for templates that are used for creating new sites and transmitters. It consists of the following tabs: General Tab This tab contains general information about the station template: • • • •

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Name: Type the name of the station template. Sectors: Specify the number of transmitters on the site. Hexagon Radius: Specify the theoretical radius of the hexagonal area covered by each sector. Antennas: Specify the following: 1st sector azimuth, from which the azimuth of the other sectors are offset to offer complete coverage of the area, the Height/ground of the antennas from the ground (i.e., the height over the DTM; if the transmitter is situated on a building, the height entered must include the height of the building), and the Mechanical downtilt for the antennas.

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Electrical Azimuth, Electrical Downtilt, and Additional electrical downtilt display additional antenna parameters. • •

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The Additional electrical downtilt can be made accessible through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide.

Under Main antenna, you can select the main antenna Model, under Smart antenna, you can select the smart antenna Equipment used by the transmitter, and under Number of antenna ports, you can enter the number of antennas used for Transmission and for Reception for MIMO. Under Path loss matrices, you can modify the following: the Main propagation model, the Main radius, and the Main resolution, and the Extended propagation model, the Extended radius, and the Extended resolution. For information on propagation models, see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models. Under Comments, you can add additional information. The information you enter will be the default information in the Comments field of any transmitter created using this station template.

Transmitter Tab •

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•

•

Under Transmission/Reception, you can click the Equipment button to open the Equipment Specifications dialog box and modify the tower-mounted amplifier (TMA), feeder cables, or transmitter equipment. For information on the Equipment Specifications dialog box, see "Transmitter Properties" on page 514. The information in the real Total Losses in transmission and reception boxes is calculated from the information you entered in the Equipment Specifications dialog box. Any loss related to the noise due to a transmitter’s repeater is included in the calculated losses. Atoll always considers the values in the Real boxes in predictions even if they are different from the values in the Computed boxes. You can modify the real Total Losses at transmission and reception if you want. Any value you enter must be positive. The information in the real Noise Figure reception box is calculated from the information you entered in the Equipment Specifications dialog box. You can modify the real Noise Figure at reception if you want. Any value you enter must be positive. Under Diversity, you can select the number of transmission and reception antenna ports used for MIMO (No. of ports). MIMO systems are supported by some HSDPA bearers (following improvements introduced by release 7 of the 3GPP UTRA specifications, referred to as HSPA+). For more information on how the number of antenna ports are used, see "Multiple Input Multiple Output Systems" on page 621. R99 bearers only support transmit and receive diversities. You can define the transmit diversity method from the Transmission list when more than one transmission antenna port is available. The receive diversity method depends on the number of reception antenna ports selected (2RX for two reception antenna ports and 4RX for four reception antenna ports).

UMTS Tab On this tab, you modify the Carriers (each corresponding to a cell) that this station supports. For information on carriers and cells, see "Cell Properties" on page 516. •

• • • • •

•

Carrier: You can select the numbers for each sector of the station template. To select the carriers to be added to the sectors of a base station created using this station template, click the Browse button and select the carriers to be created for each sector of the station. Primary Scrambling Code: Specify the Reuse Distance and the scrambling code Domain. Under Power, you can select the Power Shared Between Cells check box. As well, you can modify the Pilot, the SCH, the Other CCH powers, and the AS Threshold. Under Simulation Constraints, you can modify the Max Power, the Max DL Load (defined as a percentage of the maximum power), the DL Max Throughput/User, the Max UL Load Factor, and the UL Max Throughput/User. Under Load Conditions, you can modify the Total Transmitted Power, the UL Load Factor, and the UL Reuse Factor. Under Additional Interference, you can modify the UL and DL noise rise which respectively model the effect of terminals and stations of an external network on the network cells and the effect of terminals of an external network interfering the mobiles served by the network cells. For more information on inter-technology interferences, See "Modelling Inter-technology Interference" on page 624. You can also modify the Number of Uplink and Downlink Channel Elements, the Max Iub Uplink and Downlink Backhaul Throughputs and select the Equipment.

HSPA/HSPA+ Tab On these tabs, you can define the HSPA functionality supported by the cells. You can choose between None (i.e., R99 only), HSDPA, HSPA (i.e, HSDPA and HSUPA), HSPA+. When HSDPA functionality is supported, you can modify the following under HSDPA (for more information on the fields, see "Cell Properties" on page 516): •

Multi-cell mode: You can select whether the transmitter supports carrier aggregation in the downlink (DL multi-cell), or in the downlink and in the uplink (UL/DL multi-cell). When multi-cell is active, users can simultaneously connect to several carriers of the transmitter for data transfer (up to eight carriers in the downlink and two carriers in the uplink).

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• • •

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You can select the Allocation Strategy (Static or Dynamic). If you select Static as the Allocation Strategy, you can enter the available HSDPA Power. If you select Dynamic as the Allocation Strategy, Atoll allocates the HSDPA power to cells during the simulation. Atoll first allocates power to R99 users and then dynamically allocates the remaining power of the cell to the HS-PDSCH and HS-SCCH of HSDPA bearer users. At the end of the simulation, you can commit the calculated available HSDPA power and total power values to each cell. Under HS-PDSCH, you can modify the Min. and Max Number of Codes and the Power Headroom. Under HS-SCCH, you can select the Allocation Strategy (Static or Dynamic) and the Number of Channels. If you select Static as the Allocation Strategy, you can enter the HS-SCCH Power. Under Scheduler, you can modify the Algorithm, the Max Number of Users, the Number of Users. For the Proportional Fair scheduler, to edit the MUG graph, see "Defining HSDPA Schedulers" on page 620. Under HSUPA, if HSUPA functionality is supported, you can modify the following (for more information on the fields, see "Cell Properties" on page 516):

•

You can modify the DL Power, the UL Load, the Max Number of Users, and the Number of Users.

Neighbours tab Max number of neighbours: Set the maximum numbers of Intra-technology and Inter-technology neighbours. For information on defining neighbours, see "Neighbour Planning" on page 223. Other Properties The Other Properties tab will only appear if you have defined additional fields in the Sites table, or if you have defined an additional field in the Station Template Properties dialog box.

8.2.2.8.2

Creating a Station Template When you create a station template, you can do so by selecting an existing station template that most closely resembles the station template you want to create and making a copy. Then you can modify the parameters that differ. To create a station template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Network Settings folder, right-click the Station Templates folder, and select Open Table from the context menu. The Station Templates table appears. 2. In the Station Templates table, right-click the station template that most closely resembles the station template you want to create and select Copy from the context menu. 3. Right-click the row marked with the New Row icon ( ) and select Paste from the context menu. The station template you copied in step 2. is pasted in the new row, with the Name of the new station template given as the same as the template copied but preceded by "Copy of". 4. Edit the station template properties as described in "Station Template Properties" on page 522. 5. Click OK.

8.2.2.8.3

Modifying a Station Template You can modify a station template directly in the Station Templates table, or you can open the Properties dialog box for that station template and modify the parameters in the dialog box. To modify a station template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the UMTS Network Settings folder, right-click the Station Templates folder, and select Open Table from the context menu. The Station Templates table opens. 2. Right-click the station template that you want to modify and select Record Properties from the context menu. The station template’s Properties dialog box appears. 3. Modify the station template parameters as described in "Station Template Properties" on page 522 4. Click OK.

8.2.2.8.4

Copying Properties from One Station Template to Another You can copy properties from one template to another template by using the Station Templates table. To copy properties from one template to another template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the UMTS Network Settings folder, right-click the Station Templates folder, and select Open Table from the context menu. The Station Templates table opens. 2. In the Stations Templates table, copy the settings in the row corresponding to the station template that you want to copy from and paste them into the row corresponding to the station template that you want to modify.

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8.2.2.8.5

Modifying a Field in a Station Template You can add, delete, and edit user-defined data table fields in the Station Templates table. If you want to add a user-defined field to the station templates, you must have already added it to the Sites table for it to appear as an option in the station template properties To modify a field in a station template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the UMTS Network Settings folder, right-click the Station Templates folder, and select Properties from the context menu. The Station Template Properties dialog box opens. 2. Select the Table tab. 3. Add, delete, or edit the user-defined fields as described in "Adding, Deleting, and Editing Data Table Fields" on page 76. 4. Click OK.

8.2.2.8.6

Deleting a Station Template To delete a station template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the UMTS Network Settings folder and the Station Templates folder, and rightclick the station template that you want to delete. The context menu appears. 2. Select Delete from the context menu. The template is deleted.

8.2.2.9 Duplicating an Existing Base Station You can create new base stations by duplicating an existing base station. When you duplicate an existing base station, the base station you create will have the same transmitter, and cell parameter values as the original base station. If no site exists where you place the duplicated base station, Atoll will create a new site with the same parameters as the site of the original base station. Duplicating a base station allows you to: • •

Quickly create a new base station with the same settings as the original base station in order to study the effect of a new base station on the coverage and capacity of the network, and Quickly create a homogeneous network with stations that have the same characteristics.

To duplicate an existing base station: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Sites folder, and right-click the site you want to duplicate. The context menu appears. 2. From the context menu, select either of the following commands: • •

If you want to duplicate the base station without the intra- and inter-technology neighbours of its transmitters, select Duplicate > Without Neighbours from the context menu, If you want to duplicate the base station along with the lists of intra- and inter-technology neighbours of its transmitters, select Duplicate > With Outward Neighbours from the context menu,

3. In the map window, place the new base station on the map using the mouse: • •

To create a duplicate base station and site, move the pointer over the map to where you would like to place the duplicate. The exact coordinates of the pointer’s current location are visible in the Status bar. To place the duplicate base station on an existing site, move the pointer over the existing site where you would like to place the duplicate. When the pointer is over the site, the site is automatically selected. The exact coordinates of the pointer’s current location are visible in the Status bar. To place the station more accurately, you can zoom in on the map before you select Duplicate from the context menu. For information on using the zooming tools, see "Changing the Map Scale" on page 60. If you let the pointer rest over the station you have placed, Atoll displays tip text with its exact coordinates, allowing you to verify that the location is correct.

4. Click to place the duplicate base station. A new base station is placed on the map. If the duplicate base station was placed on a new site, the site, transmitters, and cells of the new base station have the same names as the site, transmitters, and cells of the original base station with each name marked as "Copy of." The site, transmitters, and cells of the duplicate base station have the same settings as those of the original base station. If the duplicate base station was placed on an existing site, the transmitters, and cells of the new base station have the same names as the transmitters, and cells of the original base station with each name preceded by the name of the site on which the duplicate was placed. All the remote antennas and repeaters of any transmitter on the original site are also duplicated.

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Any duplicated remote antennas and repeaters will retain the same donor transmitter as the original. If you want the duplicated remote antenna or repeater to use a transmitter on the duplicated base station, you must change the donor transmitter manually. You can also place a series of duplicate base stations by pressing and holding Ctrl in step 4. and clicking to place each duplicate base station. For more information on the site, transmitter, and cell properties, see "Definition of a UMTS Base Station" on page 513.

8.2.2.10 Studying the Profile Around a Base Station In Atoll, you can make a profile analysis to study obstacles along the path between a reference transmitter and any point on the map. Atoll displays the geographic profile between the transmitter and the receiver with clutter heights. An ellipsoid indicating the Fresnel zone is also displayed allowing you to study obstructions to radio signals along the path. You can also study propagation losses along the profile as well as the signal level received at the point. Before studying path loss along a profile, you must assign a propagation model to the transmitter. The propagation model takes the radio and geographic data into account and calculates losses along the transmitter-receiver path. The profile is calculated in real time, using the propagation model, allowing you to study the profile and get a prediction on the selected point. For information on assigning a propagation model, see "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187. To study the profile between a transmitter and a receiver: 1. In the map window, select the transmitter from which you want to make a point analysis. 2. Click the Point Analysis button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar. The Point Analysis window opens and the pointer

changes ( ) to represent the receiver. A line appears on the map connecting the selected transmitter and the receiver. You can move the receiver on the map (see "Moving the Receiver on the Map" on page 203). 3. Select the Profile view. The Profile view displays the profile between the transmitter and the receiver with the terrain and clutter heights. Transmitter selection list.

Display area including: received signal, shadowing margin, cell edge coverage probability, propagation model used, and transmitter-receiver distance.

Fresnel ellipsoid

Line of sight

Attenuation with diffraction

Figure 8.4: Point Analysis - Profile view The distance between the transmitter and the receiver is displayed at the top of the Profile view. The altitude is reported on the vertical axis and the receiver-transmitter distance on the horizontal axis. A blue ellipsoid indicates the Fresnel zone between the transmitter and the receiver. A green line indicates the line of sight (LOS) with the angle of the LOS as read from the vertical antenna pattern. Along the profile, if the signal meets an obstacle, the obstacle causes attenuation with diffraction displayed by a red vertical line (if the selected propagation model is able to calculate diffraction). The main diffraction edge is the one that intersects the Fresnel ellipsoid the most. Propagation models that use a 3 knife-edge Deygout diffraction method may also display two additional diffraction edges. The total attenuation is displayed above the main diffraction edge. The results of the analysis are displayed at the top of the Profile view: • • • •

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The received signal strength from the selected transmitter for the cell with the highest reference signal power The propagation model used The shadowing margin and the indoor loss (if selected) The distance between the transmitter and the receiver.

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4. If needed, select an other transmitter from the list. You can click the Properties button ( properties.

) to access the transmitter

5. Select the carrier to be analysed from the Carriers list. 6. Click the Options button ( • • • •

) to display the Calculation Options dialog box and change the following:

Change the X and Y coordinates to change the current position of the receiver. Select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a Cell edge coverage probability. For more information, see "Taking Shadowing into Account in Point Analyses" on page 204. Select Signal level, Path loss, or Total losses from the Result type list. You can select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. For more information, see "Taking Indoor Losses into Account" on page 203.

7. In the Profile view toolbar, you can use the following tools: •

Click the Geographic Profile button (

) to view the geographic profile between the transmitter and the receiver.

Click the Geographic Profile button ( receiver.

) again to view the radio signal path between the transmitter and the

•

Click the Link Budget button (

•

Click the Detailed Report button ( ) to display a text document with details on the displayed profile analysis. The detailed report is only available for the Standard Propagation Model. Click the Copy button ( ) to copy the content of the view and paste it as a graphic into a graphic editing or wordprocessing programme.

• • •

) to display a dialog box with the link budget.

Click the Print button ( ) to print the content of the view. Click the Centre on Map button ( ) to centre the map window on the receiver.

8. To end the point analysis, click the Point Analysis button (

) again.

8.2.3 Creating a Group of Base Stations You can create base stations individually as explained in "Creating UMTS Base Stations" on page 519, or you can create one or several base stations by using station templates as explained in "Placing a New Station Using a Station Template" on page 522. However, if you have a large data-planning project and you already have existing data, you can import this data into your current Atoll document and create a group of base stations. When you import data into your current Atoll document, the coordinate system of the imported data must be the same as the display coordinate system used in the document. If you cannot change the coordinate system of your source data, you can temporarily change the display coordinate system of the Atoll document to match the source data. For information on changing the coordinate system, see "Setting a Coordinate System" on page 41. You can import base station data in the following ways: •

Copying and pasting data: If you have data in table form, either in another Atoll document or in a spreadsheet, you can copy this data and paste it into the tables in your current Atoll document. When you create a group of base stations by copying and pasting data, you must copy and paste site data in the Sites table, transmitter data in the Transmitters table, and cell data in the Cells table, in that order. The table you copy data from must have the same column layout as the table you are pasting data into.

For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83. •

Importing data: If you have data in text or comma-separated value (CSV) format, you can import it into the tables in the current document. If the data is in another Atoll document, you can first export it in text or CSV format and then import it into the tables of your current Atoll document. When you are importing, Atoll allows you to select what values you import into which columns of the table. When you create a group of base stations by importing data, you must import site data in the Sites table, transmitter data in the Transmitters table, and cell data in the Cells table, in that order. For information on exporting table data, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. For information on importing table data, see "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88.

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8.2.4 Modifying Sites and Transmitters Directly on the Map In Atoll, you can access the Properties dialog box of a site or transmitter using the context menu in the Network explorer. However, in a complex radio-planning project, it can be difficult to find the data object in the Network explorer, although it might be visible in the map window. Atoll lets you access the Properties dialog box of sites and transmitters directly from the map. You can also select a site to display all of the transmitters located on it in the Site explorer. When selecting a transmitter, if there is more than one transmitter with the same azimuth, clicking the transmitters in the map window opens a context menu allowing you to select the transmitter. You can also change the position of the station by dragging it, or by letting Atoll find a higher location for it. Modifying sites and transmitters directly on the map is explained in detail in Chapter 1: Working Environment: • • • • •

"Selecting One out of Several Transmitters" on page 57 "Moving a Site Using the Mouse" on page 57 "Moving a Site to a Higher Location" on page 57 "Changing the Azimuth of the Antenna Using the Mouse" on page 57 "Changing the Antenna Position Relative to the Site Using the Mouse" on page 58.

8.2.5 Display Tips for Base Stations Atoll allows to you to display information about base stations in a number of different ways. This enables you not only to display selected information, but also to distinguish base stations at a glance. The following tools can be used to display information about base stations: •

•

•

•

Label: You can display information about each object, such as each site or transmitter, in the form of a label that is displayed with the object. You can display information from every field in that object type’s data table, including from fields that you add. The label is always displayed, so you should choose information that you would want to always be visible; too much information will lead to a cluttered display. For information on defining the label, see "Associating a Label to an Object" on page 53. Tip text: You can display information about each object, such as each site or transmitter, in the form of tip text that is only visible when you move the pointer over the object. You can choose to display more information than in the label, because the information is only displayed when you move the pointer over the object. You can display information from any field in that object type’s data table, including from fields that you add. For information on defining the tip text, see "Associating a Tip Text to an Object" on page 54. Transmitter colour: You can set the transmitter colour to display information about the transmitter. For example, you can select "Discrete Values" to distinguish transmitters by antenna type, or to distinguish inactive from active sites. You can also define the display type for transmitters as "Automatic." Atoll then automatically assigns a colour to each transmitter, ensuring that each transmitter has a different colour than the transmitters surrounding it. For information on defining the transmitter colour, see "Setting the Display Type" on page 52. Transmitter symbol: You can select one of several symbols to represent transmitters. For example, you can select a symbol that graphically represents the antenna half-power beamwidth ( ). If you have two transmitters on the same site with the same azimuth, you can differentiate them by selecting different symbols for each (

and

).

For information on defining the transmitter symbol, see "Setting the Display Type" on page 52.

8.2.6 Creating Multi-band UMTS Networks You can model multi-band UMTS networks, for example, a network consisting of 900 MHz and 2.1 GHz, in a single document. Creating a multi-band UMTS network consists of the following steps: • • • •

Defining the frequency bands in the document (see "Defining Frequency Bands" on page 612). Selecting and calibrating a propagation model for each frequency band (see "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187). Assigning a frequency band, with its propagation model, to each transmitter (see "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 521 and "Creating or Modifying a Transmitter" on page 520). Defining the frequency bands with which terminals are compatible (see "Modelling Terminals" on page 249).

8.2.7 Creating Heterogeneous UMTS Networks With Atoll, you can model HetNets or heterogeneous networks (e.g., network with cells of different sizes (macro, micro, small cells, etc.)). Creating an heterogeneous UMTS network consists of the following steps: 1. Defining the layers in the document (see "Defining Network Deployment Layers" on page 614). 2. Assigning a layer to each cell and defining the cell handover margin and the cell individual offset (see "Cell Properties" on page 516).

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3. Defining the layers with which services and terminals are compatible (see "Modelling Services" on page 241 and "Modelling Terminals" on page 249).

8.2.8 Creating Repeaters A repeater receives, amplifies, and re-transmits the radiated or conducted RF carrier both in downlink and uplink. It has a donor side and a server side. The donor side receives the signal from a donor transmitter, repeater, or remote antenna. This signal can be carried by different types of links such as a radio link or a microwave link. The server side re-transmits the received signal. When Atoll models UMTS repeaters, the modelling focuses on: • •

The additional coverage these systems provide to transmitters in the downlink. The noise rise generated at the donor transmitter by the repeater.

Repeaters are defined in the Repeaters table. Each repeater is assigned repeater equipment with specific noise, gain, and power characteristics, which are specified in the Repeater Equipment table. This section covers the following topics: • • • • • •

"Repeater Properties" on page 529 "Opening the Repeaters Table" on page 531 "Creating and Modifying Repeater Equipment" on page 531 "Placing a Repeater on the Map" on page 532 "Modifying the Properties of a Repeater" on page 532 "Tips for Updating Repeater Parameters" on page 532. Broad-band repeaters are not modelled. Atoll assumes that all carriers from the 3G donor transmitter are amplified.

8.2.8.1 Repeater Properties You can edit the properties of a repeater in the repeater Properties dialog box. The General tab •

Name: You can change the Name of the repeater. By default, repeaters are named "SiteX_Y_RepZ" where "X" is the donor site number, "Y" the donor transmitter number, and "Z" a number assigned to the repeater when it was created. •

•

• • •

•

If the donor is a remote antenna or another repeater, then "RepZ" is preceded by "RemA_" or "RepB_" where "A" and "B" identify the donor remote antenna and the donor repeater. In Multi-RAT documents, a repeater’s name is "SiteX_T_Y_RepZ" where "T" stands for the technology (either GSM, UMTS, or LTE)..

Donor: The donor of a repeater can be a transmitter, a remote antenna, or another repeater. Click Browse to open the Properties of the donor. Site: Specify the site on which the repeater is located. Click Browse to open the Properties of the site. Shared antenna: Specify the identifier (coverage side) of the transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas that are located at the same site or on sites with the same position and that share an antenna. The identifier must be the same for all such transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas. When changes are made to the position offset (Dx, Dy), azimuth, antenna height, or mechanical tilt of one antenna, Atoll automatically synchronises the same changes to all other transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas defined as having a shared antenna. Antenna position: If the repeater is not located exactly on the site, you can specify its location. •

• •

Relative to site: Select this option to specify the position of the repeater relative to the site itself and then enter the Dx and Dy offsets. • Coordinates: Select this option to specify the position of the repeater by its X and Y absolute coordinates. Equipment: Select an equipment from the list. Click Browse to open the Properties of the equipment. Amplifier Gain: Specify a gain for the amplifier. The amplifier gain is used in the link budget to evaluate the repeater total gain.

The Donor tab •

Donor-repeater link, specify the type of link between the donor and the repeater:

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Air: Select this option to specify an off-air repeater. Select a Propagation model and either enter the Propagation losses between the donor and the repeater or click Calculate to determine the actual propagation losses based on the propagation model. If you do not select a propagation model, the propagation losses between the donor transmitter and the repeater are calculated using the ITU 526-5 propagation model. When you create an off-air repeater, it is assumed that the link between the donor transmitter and the repeater has the same frequency as the network.

• • •

Microwave link: Select this option to specify a microwave link. Specify the total Link losses for the link between the donor transmitter and the repeater. Optical fibre link: Select this option to specify an optical fibre link. Specify the total Fibre losses for the link between the donor transmitter and the repeater If you select Air under Donor-repeater link, enter the following information under Antenna: •

Model: Select the antenna model from the list. Click Browse to open the antenna properties. Click Select to open the Antenna Selection Assistant. This assistant lists all the antennas that match the currently selected physical antenna and whose minimum and maximum operating frequencies include the operating frequency of the transmitter. For more information, see "Assigning Antennas to Transmitters" on page 159

•

•

Height/ground: Specify the height of the antenna above the ground. This is added to the altitude of the site as given by the DTM. If the repeater is situated on a building, the height entered must include the height of the building. Mechanical Azimuth and Mechanical Downtilt : Specify additional antenna parameters. You can click the Calculate button to update the mechanical azimuth and mechanical downtilt values after changing the repeater donor side antenna height or the repeater location. If you choose another site or change site coordinates in the General tab, click Apply before clicking the Calculate button.

•

If you select Air under Donor-repeater link, enter the following information under Feeders: • •

Type: Select the type of feeder from the list. Click Browse to open the feeder properties. Length: Enter the Length of the repeater feeder cable for Transmission and Reception.

The Coverage Side tab • •

Active: specify whether the repeater is active. Only active repeaters (displayed in red in the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer) are calculated. Total gain: Specify the total gain (in downlink and uplink) or click Calculate to determine the actual gain in both directions. If you have modified any settings in the General, Donor Side, or Coverage Side tabs, click Apply before clicking the Calculate button. • •

In downlink, the total gain is applied to each power (pilot power, SCH power, and so on). In uplink, the total gain is applied to each terminal power.

The total gain takes into account losses between the donor transmitter and the repeater, donor characteristics (donor antenna gain, reception feeder losses), amplifier gain, and coverage characteristics (coverage antenna gain, transmission feeder losses). •

Under Antennas, you can modify the following parameters: •

•

Height/ground: Specify the height of the antenna above the ground. This is added to the altitude of the site as provided by the DTM. If the repeater is located on a building, the height entered must include the height of building. Model: Select antenna model from the list. Click Browse to open the antenna properties. Click Select to open the Antenna Selection Assistant. This assistant lists all the antennas that match the currently selected physical antenna and whose minimum and maximum operating frequencies include the operating frequency of the transmitter. For more information, see "Assigning Antennas to Transmitters" on page 159

• •

530

Mechanical Azimuth, Mechanical Downtilt, Electrical Azimuth, Electrical Downtilt, and Additional electrical downtilt: Specify the additional antenna parameters. Secondary antennas: Select one or more secondary antennas in the Antenna column and enter their Azimuth, Mechanical downtilt, Additional electrical downtilt, and % Power.

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• • • •

•

The Additional electrical downtilt can be made available through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75.

Under Feeders, specify the following settings: • Type: Select a type of feeder from the list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the feeder. • Enter the Length of the feeder cable at Transmission and at Reception. Under Losses, the Loss related to repeater noise rise is displayed and you can specify any additional Misc. Losses in dB for Transmission and Reception.

The Propagation tab. Repeaters are taken into account during calculations. Therefore, you must specify their propagation parameters. On the Propagation tab, you can modify the following: the Propagation model, Radius, and Resolution for both the Main matrix and the Extended matrix. By default, the propagation characteristics of the repeater (model, calculation radius, and grid resolution) are the same as those of the donor transmitter. For information on propagation models, see "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187.

8.2.8.2 Opening the Repeaters Table Repeaters and their defining parameters are stored in the Repeaters table. To open the Repeaters table: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the UMTS Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 2. Select Repeaters > Open Table from the context menu. The Repeaters table appears. If you have data in table form, either in another Atoll document or in a spreadsheet, you can copy this data and paste it into the Repeaters table in your current Atoll document to create several repeaters. The table you copy data from must have the same column layout as the table you are pasting data into. You can also use this method to create a large number of repeaters in a single operation. For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83.

8.2.8.3 Creating and Modifying Repeater Equipment You can define repeater equipment to be assigned to each repeater in the network. To create or modify repeater equipment: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Equipment folder, right-click Repeater Equipment, and select Open Table from the context menu. The Repeater Equipment table appears. 2. Specify the following settings in an existing record or in a new row marked with the New row icon (

):

a. Enter a Name and Manufacturer for the new equipment. b. Enter a Noise figure (dB). The repeater causes a rise in noise at the donor transmitter, so the noise figure is used to calculate the UL loss to be added to the donor transmitter UL losses. The noise figure must be a positive value. c. Enter minimum and maximum repeater amplification gains in the Min. gain and Max gain columns. These parameters enable Atoll to ensure that the user-defined amplifier gain is consistent with the limits of the equipment if there are any. d. Enter a Gain increment. Atoll uses the increment value when you increase or decrease the repeater amplifier gain by using the buttons to the right of the Amplifier gain box ( ) on the General tab of the repeater Properties dialog box. e. Enter the maximum power that the equipment can transmit on the downlink in the Max downlink power column. This parameter enables Atoll to ensure that the downlink power after amplification does not exceed the limit of the equipment. f.

If necessary, enter a Max uplink power, an Internal delay and Comments. These fields are for information only and are not used in calculations.

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8.2.8.4 Placing a Repeater on the Map In Atoll, you can create a repeater and place it using the mouse. When you create a repeater, you can add it to an existing site, or have Atoll automatically create a new site. Atoll supports cascading repeaters, in other words, repeaters that extend the coverage of another repeater or of a remote antenna. To create a repeater on the map with the mouse: 1. Select the donor transmitter, repeater, or remote antenna. You can select it from the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer, or directly on the map. 2. Click the arrow next to New Repeater or Remote Antenna button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

3. Select Repeater from the menu. 4. Click the map to place the repeater. The repeater is placed on the map, represented by a symbol ( ) of the same colour as the donor transmitter, repeater, or remote antenna. If the repeater is inactive, it is displayed by an empty icon. By default, the repeater has the same azimuth as the donor. Its tip text and label display the same information as displayed for the donor. As well, its tip text identifies the repeater and the donor. In the explorer window, the repeater is found in the UMTS Transmitters folder of the Network explorer under its donor transmitter, repeater, or remote antenna. For information on defining the properties of the new repeater, see "Modifying the Properties of a Repeater" on page 532. •

•

When the donor is a transmitter, you can see to which base station the repeater is connected by clicking it; Atoll displays a link to the donor transmitter. You can hide the link by clicking it again. When the donor is a repeater or a remote antenna, Atoll displays a spider-type link showing the entire chain down to the donor transmitter. The same spider-type link is displayed when you click any of the items belonging to the chain is clicked (i.e., donor transmitter, any repeater, or any remote antenna).

8.2.8.5 Modifying the Properties of a Repeater You can edit repeaters in the Repeater Properties dialog box. To define the properties of a repeater: 1. Right-click the repeater either directly on the map, or in the Repeaters table (for information on opening the Repeaters table, see "Opening the Repeaters Table" on page 531), and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. Edit the properties of the repeater as described in "Repeater Properties" on page 529. 3. Click OK.

8.2.8.6 Tips for Updating Repeater Parameters Atoll provides you with a few shortcuts that you can use to change certain repeater parameters: • •

You can update the calculated azimuth and downtilt of the donor-side antennas of all repeaters by selecting Repeaters > Calculate Donor Side Azimuths and Tilts from the Transmitters context menu. You can update the UL and DL total gains of all repeaters by selecting Repeaters > Calculate Gains from the Transmitters context menu. You can prevent Atoll from updating the UL and DL total gains of selected repeaters by creating a custom Boolean field named "FreezeTotalGain" in the Repeaters table and setting the value of the field to "True". Afterwards, when you select Repeaters > Calculate Gains from the Transmitters context menu, Atoll will only update the UL and DL total gains for repeaters with the custom field "FreezeTotalGain" set to "False".

• •

532

You can update the propagation losses of all off-air repeaters by selecting Repeaters > Calculate Donor Side Propagation Losses from the Transmitters context menu. You can select a repeater on the map and change its azimuth (see "Changing the Azimuth of the Antenna Using the Mouse" on page 57) or its position relative to the site (see "Changing the Antenna Position Relative to the Site Using the Mouse" on page 58).

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8.2.9 Creating Remote Antennas Atoll allows you to create remote antennas to position antennas at locations that would normally require long runs of feeder cable. A remote antenna is connected to the base station with an optical fibre. Remote antennas allow you to ensure radio coverage in an area without a new base station. In Atoll, the remote antenna should be connected to a base station that does not have any antennas. It is assumed that a remote antenna, as opposed to a repeater, does not have any equipment and generates no amplification gain nor noise. In certain cases, you may want to model a remote antenna with equipment or a remote antenna connected to a base station that has antennas. This can be done by modelling a repeater. For information on creating a repeater, see "Creating Repeaters" on page 529. In this section, the following are explained: • • • • •

"Remote Antenna Properties" on page 533 "Opening the Remote Antennas Table" on page 534 "Placing a Remote Antenna on the Map Using the Mouse" on page 535 "Modifying the Properties of a Remote Antenna" on page 535 "Tips for Updating Remote Antenna Parameters" on page 535.

8.2.9.1 Remote Antenna Properties You can edit the properties of a remote antenna in the Remote Antenna Properties dialog box. The General tab •

Name: You can change the Name of the remote antenna. By default, remote antennas are named "SiteX_Y_RepZ" where "X" is the donor site number, "Y" the donor transmitter number, and "Z" a number assigned to the remote antenna when it was created. •

•

• • •

•

If the donor is a remote antenna or another repeater, then "RepZ" is preceded by "RemA_" or "RepB_" where "A" and "B" identify the donor remote antenna and the donor repeater. In Multi-RAT documents, a remote antennas are named "SiteX_T_Y_RepZ" where "T" stands for the technology (either GSM, UMTS, or LTE)..

Donor: Specify whether the donor of the remote antenna is a transmitter, another remote antenna, or a repeater. Click Browse to open the Properties of the donor. Site: Specify the site on which the remote antenna is located. Click Browse to open the Properties of the site. Shared antenna: Specify the identifier (coverage side) of the transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas that are located at the same site or on sites with the same position and that share an antenna. The identifier must be the same for all such transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas. When changes are made to the position offset (Dx, Dy), azimuth, antenna height, or mechanical tilt of one antenna, Atoll automatically synchronises the same changes to all other transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas defined as having a shared antenna. Antenna position: If the remote antenna is not located exactly on the site, you can specify its location. • •

Relative to site: Select this option to specify the position of the remote antenna relative to the site itself and then enter the Dx and Dy offsets. Coordinates: Select this option to specify the position of the remote antenna by its X and Y absolute coordinates. Remote antennas do not have assigned equipment.

The Donor tab •

Donor-repeater link: specify Optical fibre link. Specify the total Fibre losses for the link between the donor transmitter and the repeater For remote antennas, you must select Optical fibre link. Do not select Air or Microwave link.

The Coverage Side tab •

Active: specify whether the remote antenna is active. Only active remote antennas (displayed in red in the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer) are calculated.

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Total gain: Specify the total gain (in downlink and uplink) or click Calculate to determine the actual gain in both directions. If you have modified any settings in the General, Donor Side, or Coverage Side tabs, click Apply before clicking the Calculate button. • •

In downlink, the total gain is applied to each power (pilot power, SCH power, and so on). In uplink, the total gain is applied to each terminal power.

The total gain takes into account losses between the donor transmitter and the remote antenna, donor characteristics (donor antenna gain, reception feeder losses), amplifier gain, and coverage characteristics (coverage antenna gain, transmission feeder losses). •

Under Antennas, you can modify the following parameters: •

•

Height/ground: Specify the height of the antenna above the ground. This is added to the altitude of the site as provided by the DTM. If the remote antenna is located on a building, the height entered must include the height of building. Model: Select antenna model from the list. Click Browse to open the antenna properties. Click Select to open the Antenna Selection Assistant. This assistant lists all the antennas that match the currently selected physical antenna and whose minimum and maximum operating frequencies include the operating frequency of the transmitter. For more information, see "Assigning Antennas to Transmitters" on page 159

• •

Mechanical Azimuth, Mechanical Downtilt, Electrical Azimuth, Electrical Downtilt, and Additional electrical downtilt: Specify the additional antenna parameters. Secondary antennas: Select one or more secondary antennas in the Antenna column and enter their Azimuth, Mechanical downtilt, Additional electrical downtilt, and % Power. • • •

•

•

The Additional electrical downtilt can be made available through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75.

Under Feeders, specify the following settings: • Type: Select a type of feeder from the list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the feeder. • Enter the Length of the feeder cable at Transmission and at Reception. Under Losses, the Loss related to repeater noise rise is displayed and you can specify any additional Misc. Losses in dB for Transmission and Reception.

The Propagation tab. Remote antennas are taken into account during calculations in the same way as transmitters. Therefore, you must specify their propagation parameters. On the Propagation tab, you can modify the following: the Propagation model, Radius, and Resolution for both the Main matrix and the Extended matrix. By default, the propagation characteristics of the remote antenna (model, calculation radius, and grid resolution) are the same as those of the donor transmitter. For information on propagation models, see "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187.

8.2.9.2 Opening the Remote Antennas Table The remote antennas and their defining parameters are stored in the Remote Antennas table. To open the Remote Antennas table: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the UMTS Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 2. Select Remote Antennas > Open Table from the context menu. The Remote Antennas table opens. If you have data in table form, either in another Atoll document or in a spreadsheet, you can copy this data and paste it into the Remote Antennas table in your current Atoll document to create several repeaters. The table you copy data from must have the same column layout as the table you are pasting data into. You can also use this method to create a large number of remote antennas in a single operation. For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83.

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8.2.9.3 Placing a Remote Antenna on the Map Using the Mouse In Atoll, you can create a remote antenna and place it using the mouse. When you create a remote antenna, you can add it to an existing base station without antennas, or have Atoll automatically create a new site. To create a remote antenna on the map with the mouse: 1. Select the donor transmitter. You can select it from the UMTS Transmitters folder in the Network explorer, or directly on the map. Ensure that the remote antenna’s donor transmitter does not have any antennas.

2. Click the arrow next to New Repeater or Remote Antenna button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

3. Select Remote Antenna from the menu. 4. Click the map to place the remote antenna. The remote antenna is placed on the map, represented by a symbol ( ) in the same colour as the donor transmitter. If the remote antenna is inactive, it is displayed by an empty icon. By default, the remote antenna has the same azimuth as the donor transmitter. Its tip text and label display the same information as displayed for the donor transmitter. As well, its tip text identifies the remote antenna and the donor transmitter. For information on defining the properties of the new remote antenna, see "Modifying the Properties of a Remote Antenna" on page 535. •

•

When the donor is a transmitter, you can see to which base station the repeater is connected by clicking it; Atoll displays a link to the donor transmitter. You can hide the link by clicking it again. When the donor is a repeater or a remote antenna, Atoll displays a spider-type link showing the entire chain down to the donor transmitter. The same spider-type link is displayed when you click any of the items belonging to the chain is clicked (i.e., donor transmitter, any repeater, or any remote antenna).

8.2.9.4 Modifying the Properties of a Remote Antenna You can edit the properties of a remote antenna in the Remote Antenna Properties dialog box. To edit the properties of a remote antenna: 1. Right-click the repeater either directly on the map, or in the Remote Antennas table (for information on opening the Remote Antennas table, see "Opening the Remote Antennas Table" on page 534), and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. Edit the properties of the repeater as described in "Remote Antenna Properties" on page 533. 3. Click OK.

8.2.9.5 Tips for Updating Remote Antenna Parameters Atoll provides you with a few shortcuts that you can use to change certain remote antenna parameters: •

You can update the UL and DL total gains of all remote antennas by selecting Remote Antennas > Calculate Gains from the Transmitters context menu. You can prevent Atoll from updating the UL and DL total gains of selected remote antennas by creating a custom Boolean field named "FreezeTotalGain" in the Remote Antennas table and setting the value of the field to "True." Afterwards, when you select Remote Antennas > Calculate Gains from the Transmitters context menu, Atoll will only update the UL and DL total gains for remote antennas with the custom field "FreezeTotalGain" set to "False."

•

You can select a remote antenna on the map and change its azimuth (see "Changing the Azimuth of the Antenna Using the Mouse" on page 57) or its position relative to the site (see "Changing the Antenna Position Relative to the Site Using the Mouse" on page 58).

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8.2.10 Studying UMTS Base Stations You can study one or several base stations to test the effectiveness of the set parameters. Coverage predictions on groups of base stations can take a large amount of time and consume a lot of computer resources. Restricting your coverage prediction to the base station you are currently working on allows you get the results quickly. You can expand your coverage prediction to a number of base stations once you have optimised the settings for each individual base station. Before studying a base station, you must assign a propagation model. The propagation model takes the radio and geographic data into account and calculates propagation losses along the transmitter-receiver path. This allows you to predict the received signal level at any given point. Any coverage prediction you make on a base station uses the propagation model to calculate its results. For more information, see "Preparing Base Stations for Calculations" on page 186. This section covers the following topics: • • • • • • • •

"UMTS Prediction Properties" on page 536 "Signal Level Coverage Predictions" on page 537 "UMTS Coverage Predictions" on page 540 "HSDPA Coverage Predictions" on page 549 "HSUPA Coverage Predictions" on page 551 "Displaying Coverage Prediction Results" on page 553 "Analysing a Coverage Prediction Using the Point Analysis" on page 554 "Multi-point Analyses" on page 557

8.2.10.1 UMTS Prediction Properties You can configure the following parameters in the Properties dialog box. The General Tab The General tab allows you to specify the following settings for the prediction: • •

Name: Specify the assigned Name of the coverage prediction. Resolution: Specify the display resolution. To improve memory consumption and optimise the calculation times, you should set the display resolutions of coverage predictions according to the precision required. The following table lists the levels of precision that are usually sufficient: Size of the Coverage Prediction

Display Resolution

City Centre

5m

City

20 m

County

50 m

State

100 m

Country

Dependent on the size of the country

The resolution specified here is only for display purposes. The calculated resolution is independently specified in the propagation settings. For more information, see "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187. A read-only Unique ID is generated when you create a new coverage prediction. This ID can later be found between the and tags in the following files: • •

• •

"studies.XML" file created in the installation folder if at least one coverage prediction was saved using the Save as Customised Prediction command. ".XML" files (one per prediction) created in the following folder if coverage predictions were calculated with Display type = "Value intervals": C:\\.studies\{}

Receiver height: This displays the height of the receiver defined in the Calculation Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box Comments: Specify an optional description of comment for the prediction. Under Display Configuration, you can create a Filter to select which sites to display in the results. For information on filtering, see "Filtering Data" on page 99. The Group By and Sort buttons are not available when making a so-called "global" coverage prediction (e.g., signal level coverage prediction).

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The Group By and Sort buttons are not available when making a so-called "global" coverage prediction (e.g., signal level coverage prediction).

The Conditions Tab The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel: • •

At the top of the Conditions tab, you can specify the range to be considered for the current prediction. Server: Select either All, Best Signal Level or Second Best Signal Level: • •

Select All to consider all servers. Select Best Signal Level or Second Best Signal Level to also specify an Overlap margin. Selecting All or Best Signal Level will give you the same results because Atoll displays the results of the best server in either case. Selecting Best Signal Level requires a longer calculation time.

• • •

Shadowing taken into account: Select this option to consider shadowing in the prediction. For more information, see "Modelling Shadowing" on page 623. If you select this option, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability. Indoor coverage: Select this option to consider indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. Carrier: Select the carrier to be studied, or select the "Best" carrier of a frequency band or of all frequency bands. In this case, Atoll takes the highest pilot power of carriers to calculate the pilot signal level received from a transmitter.

For more information, see the following sections: • • • •

"Signal Level Coverage Predictions" on page 537 "UMTS Coverage Predictions" on page 540 "HSDPA Coverage Predictions" on page 549 "HSUPA Coverage Predictions" on page 551

The Display Tab On the Display tab, you can modify how the results of the coverage prediction will be displayed. •

Under Display Type, select "Value Intervals." • Under Field, select "Best Signal Level." "Best Signal Level." Selecting "All" or "Best Signal Level" on the Conditions tab will give you the same results because Atoll displays the results of the best server in either case. Selecting "Best Signal Level" necessitates, however, the longest time for calculation. • You can change the value intervals and their displayed colour. For information on changing display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. • You can create tip text with information about the coverage prediction by clicking the Browse button next to the Tip Text box and selecting the fields you want to display in the tip text. • You can select the Add to Legend check box to add the displayed value intervals to the legend. If you change the display properties of a coverage prediction after you have calculated it, you may make the coverage prediction invalid. You will then have to recalculate the coverage prediction to obtain valid results.

8.2.10.2 Signal Level Coverage Predictions Atoll offers a series of standard coverage predictions based on the measured signal level at each pixel; other factors, such as interference, are not taken into consideration. Once you have created and calculated a coverage prediction, you can use the coverage prediction’s context menu to make the coverage prediction into a customised prediction which will appear in the Prediction Types dialog box. You can also select Duplicate from the coverage prediction’s context menu to create a copy. By duplicating an existing prediction that has the parameters you want to study, you can create a new coverage prediction more quickly than by creating a new coverage prediction. If you clone a coverage prediction, by selecting Clone from the context menu, you can create a copy of the coverage prediction with the calculated coverage. You can then change the display, providing that the selected parameter does not invalidate the calculated coverage prediction. You can also save the list of all defined coverage predictions in a user configuration, allowing you or other users to load it into a new Atoll document. When you save the list in a user configuration, the parameters of all existing coverage predictions are saved; not just the parameters of calculated or displayed ones. For information on exporting user configurations, see "Saving a User Configuration" on page 104. The following standard coverage predictions are explained in this section: • •

"Studying Signal Level Coverage for a Single Base Station" on page 538 "Making a Coverage Prediction by Signal Level" on page 538

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"Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter" on page 539 "Making a Coverage Prediction on Overlapping Zones" on page 540.

Coverage predictions specific to UMTS are covered in the following topics: • • •

8.2.10.2.1

"UMTS Coverage Predictions" on page 540 "HSDPA Coverage Predictions" on page 549 "HSUPA Coverage Predictions" on page 551.

Studying Signal Level Coverage for a Single Base Station While you are building your radio-planning project, you might want to check the coverage of a new base station without having to calculate the entire project. You can do this by selecting the site with its transmitters and then creating a new coverage prediction. This section explains how to calculate the pilot signal level coverage of a single site. A signal level coverage prediction displays the pilot signal of the best server for each pixel of the area studied. You can use the same procedure to study the signal level coverage of several sites by grouping the transmitters. For information on grouping transmitters, see "Grouping Data Objects by Property" on page 95. To study the signal level coverage of a single base station: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the UMTS Transmitters folder and select Group By > Sites from the context menu. The transmitters are now displayed in the UMTS Transmitters folder by the site on which they are situated. If you want to study only sites by their status, at this step you could group them by status.

2. Specify the propagation parameters as explained in "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187. 3. In the UMTS Transmitters folder, right-click the group of transmitters you want to study and select Calculations > Create a New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. The Prediction Types dialog box lists the predictions available. They are divided into Standard Predictions, supplied with Atoll, and Customised Predictions. Unless you have already created some customised coverage predictions, the Customised Predictions list will be empty. 4. Select Coverage by Signal Level (DL) and click OK. The Coverage by Signal Level (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 5. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "UMTS Prediction Properties" on page 536. The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. 6. Click the Display tab and specify the following options: • •

Under Display Type, select "Value Intervals." Under Field, select "Best Signal Level." "Best Signal Level." Selecting "All" or "Best Signal Level" on the Conditions tab will give you the same results because Atoll displays the results of the best server in either case. Selecting "Best Signal Level" necessitates, however, the longest time for calculation.

7. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button ( ) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window. The signal level coverage prediction can be found in the Predictions folder in the Network explorer. Atoll automatically locks the results of a coverage prediction as soon as it is calculated, as indicated by the icon ( ) beside the coverage prediction in the Predictions folder. When you click the Calculate button ( ), Atoll only calculates unlocked coverage predictions ( ).

8.2.10.2.2

Making a Coverage Prediction by Signal Level A coverage prediction by signal level allows you to predict the best pilot signal strength at each pixel. You can base the coverage on the signal level, path loss, or total losses within a defined range.

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To make a coverage prediction by signal level: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Coverage by Signal Level (DL) and click OK. The Coverage by Signal Level (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "UMTS Prediction Properties" on page 536. The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. 4. Click the Display tab. If you choose to display the results by best signal level, the coverage prediction results will be in the form of thresholds. If you choose to display the results by signal level, the coverage prediction results will be arranged according to transmitter. For information on adjusting the display, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately.. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button ( ) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window (see Figure 8.5 on page 539).

Figure 8.5: Coverage prediction by signal level You can run a specific prediction study displaying a coverage by pilot signal level for a given terminal, service, mobility and carrier as explained in "Studying Pilot Signal Quality" on page 541.

8.2.10.2.3

Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter A coverage prediction by transmitter allows the user to predict which server is the best at each pixel. You can base the coverage on the signal level, path loss, or total losses within a defined range. To make a coverage prediction by transmitter: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Coverage by Transmitter (DL) and click OK. The Coverage by Transmitter (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "UMTS Prediction Properties" on page 536. The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel.

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4. Click the Display tab. For a coverage prediction by transmitter, the Display Type "Discrete Values" based on the Field "Transmitter" is selected by default. Each coverage zone will then be displayed with the same colour as that defined for each transmitter. For information on defining transmitter colours, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button ( ) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window. You can also predict which server is second best server on each pixel by selecting "Second best signal level" on the Conditions tab setting "Discrete Values" as the Display Type and "Transmitter" as the Field on the Display tab.

8.2.10.2.4

Making a Coverage Prediction on Overlapping Zones Overlapping zones (DL) are composed of pixels that are, for a defined condition, covered by the signal of at least two transmitters. You can base a coverage prediction of overlapping zones on the signal level, path loss, or total losses within a defined range. To make a coverage prediction on overlapping zones: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Overlapping zones (DL) and click OK. The Overlapping zones (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "UMTS Prediction Properties" on page 536. The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. For this prediction, select Best Signal Level. 4. Click the Display tab. For a coverage prediction on overlapping zones, the Display Type "Value Intervals" based on the Field "Number of Servers" is selected by default. Each overlapping zone will then be displayed in a colour corresponding to the number of servers received per pixel. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button ( ) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window. By changing the parameters selected on the Conditions tab and by selecting different results to be displayed on the Display tab, you can calculate and display information other than that which has been explained in the preceding sections.

8.2.10.3 UMTS Coverage Predictions UMTS coverage predictions available in Atoll are used to analyse the signal quality and interference specifically for UMTS networks. For the purposes of these coverage predictions, each pixel is considered a non-interfering user with a defined service, mobility type, and terminal. For more information, see "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. In UMTS, the quality of the signal and the size of the area that can be covered are influenced by the network load. As the network load increases, the area a cell can effectively cover decreases. For this reason, the network load must be defined in order to calculate UMTS-specific predictions. If you have traffic maps, you can do a Monte Carlo simulation to model power control and evaluate the network load for a generated user distribution. If you do not have traffic maps, Atoll can calculate the network load using the UL load factor and DL total power defined for each cell.

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In this section, the UMTS-specific coverage predictions are calculated using UL load factor and DL total power parameters defined at the cell level. For the purposes of these predictions, each pixel is considered a non-interfering user with a defined service, mobility type, and terminal. Before making a coverage prediction, you must set the UL load factor and DL total power. These are explained in the following sections: •

"Setting the UL Load Factor and the DL Total Power" on page 541.

This section explains the coverage predictions available for analysing the signal quality and interference. The following are explained: • • • • • • • •

8.2.10.3.1

"Studying Pilot Signal Quality" on page 541 "Studying Downlink and Uplink Service Areas (Eb⁄Nt)" on page 542 "Studying the Effective Service Area" on page 543. "Making a Coverage Prediction by Quality Indicators" on page 544 "Studying the Total Noise Level on the Downlink" on page 545 "Studying Pilot Pollution" on page 546 "Studying Inter-technology Downlink Interference" on page 547. "Making a Handoff Status Coverage Prediction" on page 548.

Setting the UL Load Factor and the DL Total Power If you are setting the UL load factor and the DL total power for a single transmitter, you can set these parameters on the Cells tab of the transmitter’s Properties dialog box. However, you can set the UL load factor and the DL total power for all cells using the Cells table. To set the UL load factor and the DL total power using the Cells table: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder and select Cells > Open Table from the context menu. The Cells table appears. 2. Enter a value in the following columns: • •

Total Power (dBm) UL Load Factor (%) For a definition of the values, see "Cell Properties" on page 516. To enter the same values in one column for all cells in the table by copying the contents of one cell into other cells, you can use the Fill Down and Fill Up commands. For more information on working with tables in Atoll, see "Data Tables" on page 75.

8.2.10.3.2

Studying Pilot Signal Quality A pilot signal quality prediction enables you to identify areas where there is at least one transmitter whose pilot quality is received sufficiently well to be added to the probe mobile active set. Atoll determines the best serving cell for each pixel and calculates the received pilot quality (Ec⁄I0). Potential serving cells are filtered depending on the prediction definition (selected layers or carriers, layers supported by the service and the terminal, mobility type) and the pilot signal level which must exceed the defined minimum RSCP threshold. Pixels are coloured if the display threshold condition is fulfilled (in other words, if the Ec/I0 of the best serving cell is higher than the Ec/I0 threshold defined for the selected mobility type or user-defined Ec⁄I0 thresholds). For more information on best serving cell selection, see "Best Serving Cell and Active Set Determination" on page 622. To make a pilot signal quality prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Pilot Quality Analysis (DL) and click OK. The Pilot Quality Analysis (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "UMTS Prediction Properties" on page 536. 4. Click the Conditions tab and select "(Cells Table)" from Load conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not going to be based on load conditions taken from a simulation. Atoll will calculate the coverage prediction using the UL load factor and the DL total power defined in the cell properties. When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load Conditions list.

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You must select a Terminal, Service, and Mobility, as defined in "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. You must also select the network Layer or Carrier to be considered for the determination of best servers. Otherwise, you can calculate the prediction for all layers or carriers. If you want the pilot signal quality prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. You can also select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 5. Click the Display tab. For a pilot signal quality prediction, the Display Type "Value Intervals" based on the Field "Ec⁄I0 (dB)" is selected by default. Each pixel is displayed in a colour corresponding to the pilot signal quality. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. You can also set parameters to display the following results: • • • •

Where at least one transmitter is in the active set: Select "Unique" as the Display Type. Where at least one transmitter is in the active set, with information on the best server: Select "Discrete Value" as the Display Type and "Transmitter" as the Field. The pilot signal level: Select "Value Intervals" as the Display Type and "Ec (dBm)" as the Field. The pilot quality relative to the Ec⁄I0 threshold: Select "Value Intervals" as the Display Type and "Ec⁄I0 margin (dB)" as the Field.

6. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

8.2.10.3.3

Studying Downlink and Uplink Service Areas (Eb⁄Nt) Atoll calculates the traffic channel quality (as defined by Eb⁄Nt) when using the maximum power allowed, i.e., the maximum traffic channel power allowed per cell for downlink and the maximum terminal power for uplink. In the coverage prediction, the downlink or uplink service area is limited by the maximum power allowed and by the Ec/I0 threshold defined for the mobility. If the received pilot quality is insufficient, Atoll will not display the traffic channel quality. The mobile handover status is taken in consideration to evaluate the downlink and uplink traffic channel quality (Eb⁄Nt). Atoll combines the signal from each transmitter in the probe mobile active set. To make a coverage prediction on service area (Eb/Nt) downlink or uplink: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select one of the following predictions and click OK: • •

Service Area Analysis (Eb/Nt) (DL) Service Area Analysis (Eb/Nt) (UL)

The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "UMTS Prediction Properties" on page 536. 4. On the Conditions tab, select "(Cells Table)" from Load conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not going to be based on load conditions taken from a simulation. Atoll will calculate the coverage prediction using the UL load factor and the DL total power defined in the cell properties. When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load Conditions list.

You must select a Terminal, Service, and Mobility, as defined in "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. You must also select the network Layer or Carrier to be considered for the determination of best servers. Otherwise, you can calculate the prediction for all layers or carriers. If you want the service area (Eb⁄Nt) coverage prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. You can also select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

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You can select the Bearer downgrading check box if you want the service area (Eb⁄Nt) prediction to take into consideration circumstances when the R99 bearer is downgraded. When downgrading is enabled and if the selected service supports bearer downgrading, Atoll will consider only the lowest radio bearer. 5. Click the Display tab. For a service area (Eb/Nt) coverage prediction, the Display Type "Value Intervals" based on the Field "Max Eb⁄Nt (dB)" is selected by default. The Field you choose determines which information the service area (Eb⁄Nt) downlink or uplink prediction makes available. Each pixel is displayed in a colour corresponding to the traffic channel quality. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. You can also set parameters to display the following results: • • •

The traffic channel quality relative to the Eb⁄Nt threshold: Select "Value Intervals" as the Display Type and "Eb⁄Nt Margin (dB)" as the Field. The power required to reach the Eb⁄Nt threshold: Select "Value Intervals" as the Display Type and "Required Power (dB)" as the Field. Where traffic channel quality exceeds the Eb⁄Nt threshold for each mobility type: On the Conditions tab, select "All" as the Mobility Type. The parameters on the Display tab are automatically set.

For a service area (Eb⁄Nt) (DL) coverage prediction, you can also display the following results: • •

The R99 effective RLC throughput: Select "Value Intervals" as the Display Type and "Effective RLC Throughput (kbps)" as the Field. The R99 application throughput: Select "Value Intervals" as the Display Type and "Application Throughput (kbps)" as the Field.

For a service area (Eb⁄Nt) (UL) coverage prediction, you can also display the following result: •

The gain due to soft handover: Select "Value Intervals" as the Display Type and "Soft Handover Gain" as the Field.

6. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button ( ) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

8.2.10.3.4

Studying the Effective Service Area 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. To make an effective service area prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Effective Service Area Analysis (Eb⁄Nt) (DL+UL) and click OK. The Effective Service Area Analysis (Eb⁄Nt) (DL+UL) Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "UMTS Prediction Properties" on page 536. 4. On the Conditions tab, select "(Cells Table)" from Load conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not going to be based on load conditions taken from a simulation. Atoll will calculate the coverage prediction using the UL load factor and the DL total power defined in the cell properties. When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load Conditions list.

You must select a Terminal, Service, and Mobility, as defined in "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. You must also select the network Layer or Carrier to be considered for the determination of best servers. Otherwise, you can calculate the prediction for all layers or carriers. If you want the effective service area prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. You can also select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

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You can select the Bearer downgrading check box if you want the effective service area prediction to take into consideration circumstances when the R99 bearer is downgraded. When downgrading is enabled and if the selected service supports bearer downgrading, Atoll will consider only the lowest radio bearer. 5. Click the Display tab. For an effective service area prediction, the Display Type "Unique" is selected by default. The coverage prediction will display where a service actually is available for the probe mobile. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 6. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button ( ) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

8.2.10.3.5

Making a Coverage Prediction by Quality Indicators You can create a quality prediction based on a given quality indicators (BER, BLER, or FER). The coverage prediction will show for each pixel the measurement of the selected quality indicator. This type of coverage prediction is not available in the list of standard predictions; you can, however, use quality indicators in a prediction by first ensuring that the parameters of the quality indicators have been correctly set and then creating a coverage prediction, selecting display parameters that use these quality indicators. Before you define the quality prediction, you must ensure that the parameters of the quality indicators have been correctly set. To check the parameters of the quality indicators: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the UMTS Network Settings folder, right-click Quality Indicators, and select Open Table from the context menu. The Quality Indicators table appears. For each quality indicator in the Name column, you can set the following parameters: • • • •

Used for Packet Services: Select the Used for Packet Services check box if the quality indicator is to be used for packet services. Used for Circuit Services: Select the Used for Circuit Services check box if the quality indicator is to be used for circuit services. Measured Parameter for Quality Indicator: From the list, select the parameter that will be measured to indicate quality. Interpolated Quality Indicator: Select the Interpolated Quality Indicator check box if you want Atoll to interpolate between two existing QI values. Clear the Interpolated Quality Indicator check box if you want Atoll to take the closest QI value.

2. Close the Quality Indicators table. 3. In the UMTS Network Settings folder, right-click the Reception Equipment folder. The context menu appears. 4. Select Open Table from the context menu. The Reception Equipment table appears. "Standard" is the default reception equipment type for all terminals. 5. Double-click the reception equipment type for which you want to verify the correspondence between the measured quality and the quality indicator. The reception equipment type’s Properties dialog box appears. 6. Click the Quality Graphs tab. 7. Ensure that a Quality Indicator has been chosen for each R99 Bearer. You can edit the values in the DL and UL Quality Indicator Tables by clicking directly on the table entry, or by selecting the Quality Indicator and clicking the Downlink Quality Graphs or the Uplink Quality Graphs buttons. 8. Click OK to close the reception equipment type’s Properties dialog box. Once you have ensured that the parameters of the quality indicators have been correctly set, you can use the measured quality to create a quality prediction. How you define a coverage prediction according to the measured quality indicator depends several parameters: • • • •

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The settings made in the Quality Indicators table The service you want to study The quality indicator you want to use (BER, BLER, or FER) The coverage prediction you want to use (Pilot Quality Analysis Downlink, the Service Area Analysis Downlink, or Service Area Analysis Uplink).

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In the following example, you will create a quality prediction showing BLER, for a user on foot, and with mobile internet access. To create a quality prediction showing BLER for a user on foot, and with mobile internet access: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Service Area Analysis (Eb⁄Nt) (DL) and click OK. The Service Area Analysis (Eb⁄Nt) (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "UMTS Prediction Properties" on page 536. 4. On the Conditions tab, select "(Cells Table)" from Load conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not going to be based on load conditions taken from a simulation. Atoll will calculate the coverage prediction using the UL load factor and the DL total power defined in the cell properties. When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load Conditions list.

• • • •

Terminal: Select the appropriate terminal for mobile Internet access from the Terminal list. Service: Select "Mobile Internet Access" from the Service list. Mobility: Select "Pedestrian" from the Mobility list. Carrier: Select the network Layer or Carrier to be considered for the determination of best servers. Otherwise, you can calculate the prediction for all layers or carriers

If you want the service area (Eb⁄Nt) (DL) prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. You can also select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. You can select the Bearer downgrading check box if you want the service area (Eb⁄Nt) downlink prediction to take into consideration circumstances when the R99 bearer is downgraded. When downgrading is enabled and if the selected service supports bearer downgrading, Atoll will consider only the lowest radio bearer. 5. Click the Display tab. Select "Value intervals" as the Display Type and "BLER" as the Field. The exact field value will depend on the name given in the Quality Indicators table. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 6. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button ( ) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window. Atoll calculates for each pixel the DL traffic channel quality (Eb⁄Nt) (provided when using the maximum traffic channel power allowed). Then, it calculates the corresponding BLER value from the quality graph (BLER=f(DL Eb⁄Nt)). The pixel is coloured if the condition is fulfilled (i.e., if BLER is evaluated as being higher than the specified threshold). The BLER is also used in the service area (DL) prediction (as described in "Studying Downlink and Uplink Service Areas (Eb⁄Nt)" on page 542) in order to evaluate R99 peak RLC and application throughputs.

8.2.10.3.6

Studying the Total Noise Level on the Downlink In the coverage by total noise level (DL) prediction, Atoll calculates and displays the areas where the downlink total noise or the downlink noise rise exceeds a set threshold. To make a downlink total noise or downlink noise rise prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Total Noise Level Analysis (DL) and click OK. The Total Noise Level Analysis (DL) dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "UMTS Prediction Properties" on page 536.

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4. On the Conditions tab, select "(Cells Table)" from Load conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not going to be based on load conditions taken from a simulation. Atoll will calculate the coverage prediction using the UL load factor and the DL total power defined in the cell properties. When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load Conditions list.

You must select a Terminal, and Service, as defined in "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. You must also select the network Layer or Carrier to be considered for the determination of best servers. Otherwise, you can calculate the prediction for all layers or carriers You can also select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 5. Click the Display tab. For a downlink total noise or downlink noise rise prediction, the Display Type "Value Intervals" is selected by default. The Field you choose determines which information the downlink total noise or downlink noise rise prediction makes available. •

Coverage by total noise on the downlink: When making a prediction on the total noise level on the downlink, select one of the following in the Field list: • • •

•

Min. Noise Level Average Noise Level Max Noise Level

Coverage by noise rise on the downlink: When making a prediction on the noise rise on the downlink, select one of the following in the Field list: • • •

Min. Noise Rise Average Noise Rise Max Noise Rise

For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 6. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button ( ) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

8.2.10.3.7

Studying Pilot Pollution A transmitter which fulfils all the criteria to enter a mobile’s active set but which is not admitted because the active set limit has already been reached is considered a polluter. In the Pilot Pollution Analysis prediction, Atoll calculates and displays the areas where the probe mobile is interfered by the pilot signal from polluter transmitters. To make a pilot pollution prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Pilot Pollution Analysis (DL) and click OK. The Pilot Pollution Analysis (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "UMTS Prediction Properties" on page 536. 4. On the Conditions tab, select "(Cells Table)" from Load conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not going to be based on load conditions taken from a simulation. Atoll will calculate the coverage prediction using the UL load factor and the DL total power defined in the cell properties. When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load Conditions list.

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You must select a Terminal, Service, and Mobility, as defined in "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. You must also select the network Layer or Carrier to be considered for the determination of best servers. Otherwise, you can calculate the prediction for all layers or carriers. If you want the pilot pollution prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. You can also select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 5. Click the Display tab. For a Pilot Pollution Analysis prediction, the Display Type "Value Intervals" and the Field "Number of Polluters" are selected by default. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 6. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button ( ) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

8.2.10.3.8

Studying Inter-technology Downlink Interference In the inter-technology downlink noise prediction, Atoll calculates and displays the areas where the downlink noise or noise rise from external base stations and mobiles exceeds a set threshold. For more information on the modelling of inter-technology interference, see "Modelling Inter-technology Interference" on page 624. To make an inter-technology downlink noise or noise rise prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Inter-technology Interference Level Analysis (DL) and click OK. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 3. Click the General tab to specify the general parameters of the prediction as described in "UMTS Prediction Properties" on page 536. 4. Click the Conditions tab. Select "(Cells Table)" from Load conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not going to be based on load conditions taken from a simulation. When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load Conditions list.

You must select a Terminal and a Service, as defined in "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. You must also select the network Layer or Carrier to be considered for the determination of best servers. Otherwise, you can calculate the prediction for all layers or carriers. If you want the prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. You can also select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 5. Click the Display tab to specify the display parameters of the prediction as described in "UMTS Prediction Properties" on page 536. The Display Type "Value Intervals" is selected by default. The Field you choose determines which information the prediction makes available, Noise Level or Noise Rise. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 6. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button ( ) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

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The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

8.2.10.3.9

Making a Handoff Status Coverage Prediction In the handoff status coverage prediction, Atoll calculates and displays the zones where a handoff can be made. For a handover to be possible, there must be a potential active transmitter, i.e., a transmitter that fulfils all the criteria to enter the mobile active set, and the service chosen by the user must be available. You can also use the handoff status coverage prediction to display the number of potential active transmitters. To make a handoff status coverage prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Handoff Zones (DL) and click OK. The Handoff Zones (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "UMTS Prediction Properties" on page 536. 4. On the Conditions tab, select "(Cells Table)" from Load conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not going to be based on load conditions taken from a simulation. Atoll will calculate the coverage prediction using the UL load factor and the DL total power defined in the cell properties. When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load Conditions list.

You must select a Terminal, Service, and Mobility, as defined in "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. You must also select the network Layer or Carrier to be considered for the determination of best servers. Otherwise, you can calculate the prediction for all layers or carriers. If you want the handoff status coverage prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. You can also select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 5. Click the Display tab. To display the handoff status: a. Select "Discrete Values" from the Display Type list. b. Select "Status" from the Field list. Depending on the active set size of the terminal and the service capabilities in terms of soft handover, the coverage prediction can display the following values: • • • • • • •

No handoff: one cell in the mobile active set. Softer: two cells in the mobile active set belonging to the same site. Soft: two cells in the mobile active set, one from Site A and the other from Site B. Softer-Softer: three cells in the mobile active set, belonging to the same site. Softer-Soft: three cells in the mobile active set, two from Site A and the third one from Site B. Soft-Soft: three cells in the mobile active set, one from Site A, one from Site B and one from Site C. Not connected: no cell in the mobile active set.

To display the number of potential active transmitters: a. Select "Value Intervals" from the Display Type list. b. Select "Potential Active Transmitters" from the Field list. The coverage prediction will display the number of potential active transmitters. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 6. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button ( ) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

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8.2.10.4 HSDPA Coverage Predictions The HSDPA predictions allow you to study many HSDPA-related parameters, depending on the parameters defined. Each HSDPA bearer user is associated to an R99-dedicated channel A-DPCH in the uplink and downlink, and must first initiate a ADPCH connection in order to be able to use HSDPA channels. In the coverage prediction, the HSDPA service area is limited by the Ec/I0 threshold defined for the mobility and the A-DPCH quality. The parameters used as input for the HSDPA coverage predictions are the available HSDPA power, and the total transmitted power for each cell. If the coverage prediction is not based on a simulation, these values are taken from the cell properties. For information about the cell parameters, see "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 521. For information on the formulas used to calculate different throughputs, see the Technical Reference Guide. To make an HSDPA coverage prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select HSDPA Quality and Throughput Analysis (DL) and click OK. The HSDPA Quality and Throughput Analysis (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "UMTS Prediction Properties" on page 536. 4. Click the Conditions tab. Select "(Cells Table)" from Load conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not going to be based on load conditions taken from a simulation. Atoll will calculate the coverage prediction using the UL load factor and the DL total power defined in the cell properties. When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load Conditions list.

You must select a Mobility, as defined in "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. For an HSDPA coverage prediction, under Terminal, you must chose an HSDPA-capable terminal and, under Service, you must chose a service with HSDPA. You must also select the network Layer or Carrier to be considered for the determination of best serving cells. Otherwise, you can calculate the prediction for all layers or carriers. Under HSDPA radio bearer, select either "All" to consider all possible HSDPA radio bearers in the prediction or an HSDPA radio bearer index to calculate a prediction for a certain bearer. Display options available in the Display tab depend on what you have selected here. You can set the following parameters: • • •

To model a DC-HSPA user: Select a DC-HSPA capable terminal as the Terminal and a BE or VBR Service with HSPA. To model a MC-HSPA user: Select a MC-HSPA capable terminal as the Terminal and a BE or VBR Service with HSPA. To model a DB-MC-HSPA user: Select a DB-MC-HSPA capable terminal as the Terminal, a BE or VBR Service with HSPA.

For these configurations, selecting one specific carrier or one layer associated with one unique carrier is not suitable. To display the global throughput, you have to select several carriers ("Best HSPA (All/Specific band)" as the carrier) or layers associated with several carriers. If you want to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. You can also select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 5. Click the Display tab to specify the display parameters of the prediction as described in "UMTS Prediction Properties" on page 536. If you have selected "All" as the HSDPA radio bearer in the Conditions tab, you can set the following parameters: •

To analyse the uplink and downlink A-DPCH qualities on the map: •

• •

The maximum DL A-DPCH quality relative to the Eb⁄Nt threshold: Select "Max DL A-DPCH Eb⁄Nt (dB)" as the Field. Atoll determines downlink A-DPCH quality at the receiver for the maximum traffic channel power allowed for the best server. The maximum UL A-DPCH quality relative to the Eb⁄Nt threshold: Select "Max UL A-DPCH Eb⁄Nt (dB)" as the Field. Atoll determines uplink A-DPCH quality at the receiver for the maximum terminal power allowed.

To analyse the HS-SCCH quality or power: •

The HS-SCCH power per HS-SCCH channel relative to the power threshold: Select "HS-SCCH Power (dBm)" as the Field. This display option is relevant only if HS-SCCH power is allocated dynamically.

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The HS-SCCH Ec⁄Nt per HS-SCCH channel relative to the Ec⁄Nt threshold: Select "HS-SCCH Ec⁄Nt (dBm)" as the Field. This display option is relevant only if HS-SCCH power is allocated statically.

To model fast link adaptation for a single HSDPA bearer user or for a defined number of HSDPA bearer users: For a single HSDPA bearer user, Atoll considers one HSDPA bearer user on each pixel and determines the best HSDPA bearer that the user can obtain by considering the entire available HSDPA power of the cell. • •

The HS-PDSCH Ec/Nt relative to the Ec⁄Nt threshold: Select "HS-PDSCH Ec/Nt" as the Field. Atoll calculates the best HS-PDSCH Ec⁄Nt on each pixel. The channel quality indicator (CQI) relative to the Ec⁄Nt threshold: Select "CQI" as the Field. Atoll displays either the CPICH CQI or the HS-PDSCH CQI, depending on the option selected under HSDPA on the Global Parameters tab of the UMTS Network Settings Properties dialog box (see "Network Settings Properties" on page 613).

If you are modelling an MC-HSPA user, the best carrier is determined using the best serving cell selection algorithm. The secondary carriers must belong to the same transmitter and are chosen among the adjacent carriers according to the CQI. When two adjacent carriers are available, the one with the highest CQI value is selected. Atoll selects secondary cells as long as HSDPA carriers are available in the transmitter and the maximum number of cells to which the user can simultaneously connect is not exceeded. If you are modelling a DB-MC-HSPA user, the best carrier among all supported frequency bands is selected based on the best serving cell selection algorithm. The secondary cells are taken in the same band as the best carrier (i.e., they belong to the same transmitter), as long as carriers are available. Then, if additional carriers are required and if there are no more carriers available in this transmitter, Atoll selects the carriers in a transmitter using the second frequency band. Within one frequency band, the secondary cells are first selected according to an adjacency criterion and then, according to the CQI value. When two adjacent carriers are available, Atoll takes the one with the highest CQI value. For MC-HSPA and DB-MC-HSPA users, all selected carriers are taken into consideration to calculate the throughputs. • • •

• • •

The peak MAC throughput relative to the threshold: Select "Peak MAC Throughput (kbps)" as the Field. Atoll calculates the peak MAC throughput from the transport block size of the selected HSDPA bearer. The Effective MAC throughput relative to the threshold: Select "Effective MAC Throughput (kbps)" as the Field. The Effective MAC throughput is calculated from the peak MAC throughput. The peak RLC throughput relative to the threshold: Select "Peak RLC Throughput (kbps)" as the Field. Atoll displays the peak RLC throughput that the selected HSDPA bearer can be supplied with. The peak RLC throughput is a characteristic of the HSDPA bearer. The effective RLC throughput relative to the threshold: Select "Effective RLC Throughput (kbps)" as the Field. Atoll calculates the effective RLC throughput from the peak RLC throughput. The average effective RLC throughput relative to the threshold: Select "Average Effective RLC Throughput (kbps)" as the Field. The application throughput relative to the threshold: Select "Application Throughput (kbps)" as the Field. Using the peak RLC throughput, the BLER, the HSDPA service scaling factor, and the throughput offset, Atoll calculates the application throughput. The application throughput represents the net throughput without coding (redundancy, overhead, addressing, etc.).

In order to be covered, VBR service users have to obtain an HSDPA bearer with a peak RLC throughput exceeding their minimum throughput demands. When the peak RLC throughput of the best HSDPA bearer exceeds the user maximum throughput demand, the HSDPA bearer is downgraded until the peak RLC throughput is lower than the maximum throughput demand. MC-HSPA users with VBR services are not covered if they cannot obtain the minimum throughput demand on their best carrier. Atoll can consider several HSDPA bearer users per pixel. When the coverage prediction is not based on a simulation, this value is taken from the cell properties. Atoll considers the defined number of HSDPA bearer users on each pixel and determines the best HSDPA bearer that each user can obtain. The coverage prediction results displayed are the average results for one user. The available HSDPA power of the cell is shared between the HSDPA bearer users. If you are modelling a single-band or DB-MC-HSPA user (where n is the number of cells to which the user is connected), the following throughputs are calculated for the n best carriers. You can display the following results: •

•

•

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The average effective MAC throughput per user relative to the threshold: Select "Effective MAC Throughput per User (kbps)" as the Field. Atoll calculates the average MAC throughput per user from the from the MAC throughput of each user. The average effective RLC throughput per user relative to the threshold: Select "Effective RLC Throughput per User (kbps)" as the Field. Atoll calculates the average RLC throughput per user from the RLC throughput of each user. The average application throughput per user relative to the threshold: Select "Application Throughput per User (kbps)" as the Field. Using the peak RLC throughput, the BLER, the HSDPA service scaling factor, and the

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throughput offset, Atoll calculates the average application throughput per user from the application throughput of each user. If you have selected an HSDPA radio bearer index as the HSDPA Radio Bearer on the Conditions tab, you can display the following results: •

Where a certain peak RLC throughput is available with different cell edge coverage probabilities: On the Conditions tab, do not take shadowing into consideration and select a specific HSDPA radio bearer index. On the Display tab, the Display Type "Value Intervals" based on the Field "Cell Edge Coverage Probability (%)" is selected by default.

When no value is defined in the Cells table for the total transmitted power and the number of HSDPA bearer users, Atoll uses the following default values: • •

Total transmitted power = 50% of the maximum power (i.e, 40 dBm if the maximum power is set to 43 dBm) Number of HSDPA bearer users = 1

On the other hand, no default value is used for the available HSDPA power; this parameter must be defined by the user. For information on selecting the best bearer, see the Technical Reference Guide. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 6. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button ( ) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

8.2.10.5 HSUPA Coverage Predictions The HSUPA coverage prediction allows you to study several HSUPA-related parameters. Each HSUPA bearer user is associated with an R99-dedicated traffic channel in the downlink and uplink (i.e., the ADPCH-EDPCCH R99 bearer), and must first initiate this connection in order to be able to use HSUPA channels. In the coverage prediction, the HSUPA service area is limited by the Ec/I0 threshold defined for the mobility and ADPCH-EDPCCH quality. The parameters used as input for the HSUPA predictions are the uplink load factor the uplink reuse factor, the uplink load factor due to HSUPA and the maximum uplink load factor for each cell. If the coverage prediction is not based on a simulation, these values are taken from the cell properties. For information about the cell parameters, see "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 521. For information on the formulas used to calculate required E-DPDCH Ec/Nt, required terminal power, and different throughputs, see the Technical Reference Guide. To make an HSUPA coverage prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select HSUPA Quality and Throughput Analysis (UL) and click OK. The HSUPA Quality and Throughput Analysis (UL) Properties dialog box appears. 3. Click the General tab to specify the general parameters of the prediction as described in "UMTS Prediction Properties" on page 536. 4. Click the Conditions tab. Select "(Cells Table)" from Load conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not going to be based on load conditions taken from a simulation. Atoll will calculate the coverage prediction using the UL load factor and the DL total power defined in the cell properties. When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load Conditions list.

You must select a Mobility, as defined in "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. For an HSUPA coverage prediction, under Terminal, you must chose an HSUPA-capable terminal and, under Service, you must chose a service with HSUPA. You must also select the network Layer or Carrier to be considered for the determination of best servers. Otherwise, you can calculate the prediction for all layers or carriers. You can set the following parameters: •

To model a DC-HSPA user: Select a DC-HSPA capable terminal as the Terminal and a BE or VBR Service with HSPA.

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To model a MC-HSPA user: Select a MC-HSPA capable terminal as the Terminal and a BE or VBR Service with HSPA. To model a DB-MC-HSPA user: Select a DB-MC-HSPA capable terminal as the Terminal, a BE or VBR Service with HSPA.

For these configurations, selecting one specific carrier or one layer associated with one unique carrier is not suitable. To display the global throughput, you have to select several carriers ("Best HSPA (All/Specific band)" as the carrier) or layers associated with several carriers. HSUPA Resources: Atoll can calculate the HSUPA coverage prediction in one of two ways: • •

For a single user: After allocating capacity to all R99 users, the entire remaining load will be allocated to a single HSUPA bearer user. Shared by HSUPA users defined or calculated per cell: After allocating capacity to all R99 users, the remaining load of the cell will be shared equally between all the HSUPA bearer users. When the coverage prediction is not based on a simulation, the number of HSUPA bearer users is taken from the cell properties. The displayed results of the coverage prediction will be for one user.

If you want the coverage prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. You can also select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. When no value is defined in the Cells table, Atoll uses the following default values for input parameters: • • • • •

Uplink load factor = 50% Uplink reuse factor = 1 Uplink load factor due to HSUPA = 0% Maximum uplink load factor = 75% Number of HSUPA users = 1

5. Click the Display tab to specify the display parameters of the prediction as described in "UMTS Prediction Properties" on page 536. You can set parameters to display the following results: •

• • •

• •

•

•

The required E-DPDCH Ec⁄Nt relative to the threshold: Select "Required E-DPDCH Ec⁄Nt (dB)" as the Field. Atoll selects the best HSUPA bearer whose required E-DPDCH Ec⁄Nt does not exceed the maximum E-DPDCH Ec⁄Nt allowed. The required E-DPDCH Ec⁄Nt is a property of the selected HSUPA bearer. The power required for the selected terminal relative to the threshold: Select "Required Terminal Power (dBm)" as the Field. Atoll calculates the required terminal power from the required E-DPDCH Ec⁄Nt. The peak MAC Throughput relative to the threshold: Select "Peak MAC Throughput (kbps)" as the Field. Atoll calculates the peak MAC throughput from the transport block size of the selected HSUPA bearer. The peak RLC throughput relative to the threshold: Select "Peak RLC Throughput (kbps)" as the Field. Atoll displays the peak RLC throughput that the selected HSUPA bearer can supply. The peak RLC throughput is a property of the HSUPA bearer. The guaranteed RLC throughput relative to the threshold: Select "Min RLC Throughput (kbps)" as the Field. The average RLC throughput relative to the threshold: Select "Average RLC Throughput (kbps)" as the Field. Atoll calculates the average RLC throughput on the uplink using the early termination probabilities, defined in the terminal’s reception equipment, to model HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request). The application throughput relative to the threshold: Select "Application Throughput (kbps)" as the Field. Using the peak RLC throughput, the BLER, the HSUPA service scaling factor, and the throughput offset, Atoll calculates the application throughput. The application throughput represents the net throughput without coding (redundancy, overhead, addressing, etc.). The average application throughput relative to the threshold: Select "Average Application Throughput (kbps)" as the Field. Atoll calculates the average application throughput on the uplink using the early termination probabilities, defined in the terminal’s reception equipment, to model HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request).

To be connected to two carriers in the uplink, DC-HSPA, MC-HSPA and DB-MC-HSPA users must first initiate a connection to several carriers in the downlink. The best carrier is the one selected in the downlink. The secondary carrier belongs to the same transmitter; it is the second best carrier among the adjacent carriers selected in the downlink. All selected carriers are taken into consideration to calculate the throughputs. In order to be covered, VBR users have to obtain an HSUPA bearer with a peak RLC throughput exceeding their minimum throughput demands. When the peak RLC throughput of the best HSUPA bearer exceeds the user maximum throughput demand, the HSUPA bearer is downgraded until the peak RLC throughput is lower than the maximum throughput demand. DC-HSPA, MC-HSPA and DB-MC-HSPA users with VBR services are not covered if they cannot obtain the minimum throughput demand on their best carrier. For information on selecting the best bearer, see the Technical Reference Guide. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51.

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6. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button ( ) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

8.2.10.6 Displaying Coverage Prediction Results The results are displayed graphically in the map window according to the settings you made on the Display tab when you created the coverage prediction. If several coverage predictions are visible on the map, it can be difficult to clearly see the results of the coverage prediction you want to analyse. You can select which predictions to display or to hide by selecting or clearing the display check box. For information on managing the display, see "Displaying or Hiding Objects on the Map" on page 50. Once you have completed a prediction, you can also generate reports and statistics with the tools that Atoll provides. For more information, see "Generating Coverage Prediction Reports" on page 212 and "Displaying Coverage Prediction Statistics" on page 214. This section covers the following topics: • • •

8.2.10.6.1

"Displaying the Legend Window" on page 553. "Displaying Coverage Prediction Results Using the Tip Text" on page 553. "Printing and Exporting Coverage Prediction Results" on page 553.

Displaying the Legend Window When you create a coverage prediction, you can add the displayed values of the coverage prediction to a legend by selecting the Add to legend check box on the Display tab. To display the Legend window: 1. Select View > Legend Window. The Legend window is displayed, with the values for each displayed coverage prediction identified by the name of the coverage prediction.

8.2.10.6.2

Displaying Coverage Prediction Results Using the Tip Text You can get information by placing the pointer over an area of the coverage prediction to read the information displayed in the tip text. The information displayed is defined by the settings you made on the Display tab when you created the coverage prediction. To get coverage prediction results in the form of tip text: •

In the map window, place the pointer over the area of the coverage prediction that you want more information on. After a brief pause, the tip text appears with the information defined in the Display tab of the coverage prediction properties (see Figure 8.6).

Figure 8.6: Displaying coverage prediction results using tip text

8.2.10.6.3

Printing and Exporting Coverage Prediction Results Once you have made a coverage prediction, you can print the results displayed on the map or save them in an external format. You can also export a selected area of the coverage as a bitmap. •

Printing coverage prediction results: Atoll offers several options allowing you to customise and optimise the printed coverage prediction results. Atoll supports printing to a variety of paper sizes, including A4 and A0. For more information on printing coverage prediction results, see "Printing a Map" on page 91.

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Defining a geographic export zone: If you want to export part of the coverage prediction as a bitmap, you can define a geographic export zone. After you have defined a geographic export zone, when you export a coverage prediction as a raster image, Atoll offers you the option of exporting only the area covered by the zone. For more information on defining a geographic export zone, see "Geographic Export Zone" on page 68. Exporting coverage prediction results: In Atoll, you can export the coverage areas of a coverage prediction in raster or vector formats. In raster formats, you can export in BMP, TIF, ArcView© grid, or Vertical Mapper (GRD and GRC) formats. When exporting in GRD or GRC formats, Atoll allows you to export files larger than 2 GB. In vector formats, you can export in ArcView©, MapInfo©, or AGD formats. For more information on exporting coverage prediction results, see "Exporting Coverage Prediction Results" on page 210.

8.2.10.7 Analysing a Coverage Prediction Using the Point Analysis Once you have completed a prediction, you can use the Point Analysis tool to verify it. If you do, before you make the point analysis, ensure the coverage prediction you want to verify is displayed on the map. In this section, the following are explained: • • •

8.2.10.7.1

"Studying Signal Reception" on page 554 "Making an Active Set Analysis" on page 555 "Obtaining Numerical Values of Signal Levels and Signal Quality" on page 556

Studying Signal Reception The Reception view of the Point Analysis tool gives you information on the pilot signal levels for any point on the map. The analysis is provided for a user-definable probe receiver which has a terminal, a mobility, and a service. The downlink and uplink load conditions can be taken from the Cells table or from Monte Carlo simulations. To perform a reception point analysis: 1. Click the Point Analysis button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar. The Point Analysis window opens and the pointer

changes ( ) to represent the receiver. A line appears on the map connecting the selected transmitter and the current position. You can move the receiver on the map ("Moving the Receiver on the Map" on page 203). 2. At the top of the Point Analysis window, select the Reception view (see Figure 8.7). The predicted signal level from the transmitters is reported in the Reception view in the form of a bar chart, from the highest predicted signal level on the top to the lowest one on the bottom. The name of the transmitter is followed by the carrier number (between parentheses). Each bar is displayed in the colour of the transmitter it represents. In the map window, arrows from the pointer to each transmitter are displayed in the colour of the transmitters they represent. A thick black line from the pointer to its best server is also displayed in the map window. The best server of the pointer is the transmitter from which the pointer receives the highest signal level. If you let the pointer rest, the signal level received from the corresponding transmitter at the pointer location is displayed in the tip text. 3. In the Reception view, select the carrier to be analysed. You can make the prediction for a specific carrier or select "Best (All Bands)" to consider the best carrier of all bands.

Figure 8.7: Point Analysis - Reception view 4. Click the Options button ( • • •

) to display the Calculation Options dialog box and change the following:

Change the X and Y coordinates to change the current position of the receiver. Select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a Cell Edge Coverage Probability. For more information, see "Taking Shadowing into Account in Point Analyses" on page 204. Select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. For more information, see "Taking Indoor Losses into Account" on page 203.

5. In the Reception view toolbar, you can use the following tools: •

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• •

Click the Print button ( ) to print the content of the view. Click the Centre on Map button ( ) to centre the map window on the receiver.

6. To get the details about the received signal levels and quality in the form of a table, select the Details view (see "Obtaining Numerical Values of Signal Levels and Signal Quality" on page 556). 7. Click the Point Analysis button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar again to end the point analysis.

You can display a point analysis that uses the settings from an existing prediction by right-clicking the prediction in the Network explorer and selecting Open Point Analysis from the context menu.

8.2.10.7.2

Making an Active Set Analysis The AS Analysis view of the Point Analysis window gives you information on the pilot quality (Ec⁄I0) (which is the main parameter used to define the mobile active set), the connection status, and the active set of the probe mobile. Results are displayed for any point of the map where the pilot signal level exceeds the defined minimum RSCP. The analysis is provided for a userdefinable probe receiver which has a terminal, a mobility and a service. For information on the criteria for belonging to the active set, see "Best Serving Cell and Active Set Determination" on page 622. To make an active set analysis: 1. Click the Point Analysis button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar. The Point Analysis window opens and the pointer

changes ( ) to represent the receiver. A line appears on the map connecting the selected transmitter and the current position. You can move the receiver on the map ("Moving the Receiver on the Map" on page 203). 2. Select the AS Analysis view. 3. Select "Cells Table" from the Loads list. 4. If you are making an AS analysis to verify a coverage prediction, you can recreate the conditions of the coverage prediction: a. Select the Layer or Carrier to be considered for the determination of best servers. Otherwise, you can make the AS analysis for all layers or carriers. b. Select the same Terminal, Service, and Mobility studied in the coverage prediction. c. Select the Bearer downgrading check box if bearer downgrading was selected in the coverage prediction. When downgrading is enabled and if the selected service supports bearer downgrading, Atoll will consider only the lowest radio bearer. d. Click the Options button ( • • •

) to display the Calculation Options dialog box.

Change the X and Y coordinates to change the present position of the receiver. Select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a Cell Edge Coverage Probability. For more information, see "Taking Shadowing into Account in Point Analyses" on page 204. Select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. For more information, see "Taking Indoor Losses into Account" on page 203.

e. Click OK in the Calculation Options dialog box. 5. Move the pointer over the map to make an active set analysis for the current location of the pointer. As you move the pointer, Atoll indicates on the map which is the best server for the current position.

Figure 8.8: Point analysis on the map Information on the current position is given on the AS Analysis view of the Point Analysis window. See Figure 8.9 for an explanation of the displayed information.

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Figure 8.9: Point Analysis Tool - AS Analysis view The bar graph displays the following information: • • •

The pilot quality (Ec⁄I0) of all cells using the selected carrier (the colour of the bar corresponds to the colour of the transmitter on the map). The thresholds of the active set (Ec⁄I0 threshold, best server active set threshold). The portion of the graph with the grey background indicates the cells in the active set. The pilot and the availability of service on UL, DL, HSDPA, and HSUPA.

If there is at least one successful connection (for pilot, DL, UL, HSDPA, or HSUPA), double-clicking the icons in the righthand frame will open a dialog box with additional information. 6. Click the map to leave the point analysis pointer at its current position. To move the pointer again, click the point analysis pointer on the map and drag it to a new position. 7. In the AS Analysis view toolbar, you can use the following tools: •

Click the Report button ( ) to generate a report that contains the information from the Point Analysis window. The Analysis Report dialog box opens.

•

Click the Copy button ( processing programme.

• •

Click the Print button ( ) to print the content of the view. Click the Centre on Map button ( ) to centre the map window on the receiver.

) to copy the content of the view and paste it as a graphic into a graphic editing or word-

8. Click the Point Analysis button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar again to end the point analysis.

You can display a point analysis that uses the settings from an existing prediction by right-clicking the prediction in the Network explorer and selecting Open Point Analysis from the context menu.

8.2.10.7.3

Obtaining Numerical Values of Signal Levels and Signal Quality In Atoll, you can get details about the servers in the form of a table using the Point Analysis tool. The Details view gives you information on signal levels, Ec/Io, and Eb/Nt on any point on the map. The analysis is provided for a user-definable probe receiver which has a terminal, a mobility, and a service. The downlink and uplink load conditions can be taken from the Cells table or from Monte Carlo simulations.

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To make a detailed analysis: 1. Click the Point Analysis button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar. The Point Analysis window opens and the pointer

changes ( ) to represent the receiver. You can move the receiver on the map ("Moving the Receiver on the Map" on page 203). 2. Select the Details view. 3. Select "Cells table" from the Loads list. 4. If you are making a detailed analysis to verify a coverage prediction, you can recreate the conditions of the coverage prediction: a. Select the same Terminal, Mobility, and Service studied in the coverage prediction. b. Select the Layer or Carrier to be considered for the determination of best servers. Otherwise, you can make the analysis for all layers or carriers. c. Click the Options button ( i.

). The Calculation Options dialog box appears.

Edit the X and Y coordinates to change the present position of the receiver.

ii. Select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a Cell edge coverage probability. For more information, see "Taking Shadowing into Account in Point Analyses" on page 204. iii. Select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. For more information, see "Taking Indoor Losses into Account" on page 203. iv. Click OK in the Calculation Options dialog box. 5. Move the pointer over the map to make a detailed analysis for the current location of the pointer. The Details view displays the following information in the form of a table: • • • • • • • •

Transmitter: The name of the transmitter from which the received signal levels are displayed. The cells are listed in decreasing order of RSCP. Distance (m): The distance from the transmitter to the current location of the pointer on the map. Scrambling Code: The scrambling code of the transmitter. Path Loss (dB): The path loss from the transmitter to the current location of the pointer on the map. RSCP (dBm): The received pilot signal level from the transmitter to the current location of the pointer on the map. Ec/Io (dB): The Ec/Io from the transmitter to the current location of the pointer on the map. DL Eb/Nt (dB): The downlink Eb/Nt from the transmitter to the current location of the pointer on the map. UL Eb/Nt (dB): The uplink Eb/Nt from the transmitter to the current location of the pointer on the map.

6. In the Details view toolbar, you can use the following tools: •

Click the Display Columns button ( view.

•

Click the Copy button ( ) to copy the content of the table or of a cell selection and paste it as a graphic into a graphic editing or word-processing programme. Click the Centre on Map button ( ) to centre the map window on the receiver.

•

7. Click the Point Analysis button (

) to select the columns to be displayed or hidden in the table of the Details

) on the Radio Planning toolbar again to end the point analysis.

8.2.10.8 Multi-point Analyses In Atoll, you can carry out calculations on lists of points representing subscriber locations for analysis. These analyses may be useful for verifying network QoS at subscriber locations in case of incidents (call drops, low throughputs, etc.) reported by users. In point analysis, a number of parameters are calculated at each point for all potential servers. This section covers the following topics related to point analyses: • • •

8.2.10.8.1

"Point Analysis Properties" on page 557 "Making a Point Analysis" on page 558 "Viewing Point Analysis Results" on page 559

Point Analysis Properties The point analysis Properties window allows you to create and edit point analyses. The General Tab The General tab allows you to specify the following settings for the point analysis: •

Name: Specify the assigned Name of the point analysis.

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Comments: Specify an optional description of comment for the point analysis.

The Conditions Tab The load condition parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. •

• • • •

Load conditions: Select "(Cells table)" to calculate the point analysis using the load conditions defined in the cells table. Select a simulation or a group of simulations to calculate the point analysis using the load conditions calculated by Monte Carlo simulations. Carrier: Select the carriers for which you want to run the analysis or select "Best." The best carrier depends on the cell selection method. Shadowing taken into account: Select this option to consider shadowing in the point analysis. For more information, see "Modelling Shadowing" on page 623. If you select this option, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability. Indoor coverage: Select this option to consider indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. Bearer Downgrading: Select this check box if you want to permit bearer downgrading.

The Points Tab The Points tab displays a table containing each point of the point-analysis. You can use this table to import and create points or to export a list of points. • • • • • •

Position Id: The indexes of the points used for the point analysis. X and Y: The coordinates of the points used for the point analysis. Height (m): The height of the points used for the point analysis. Service: The services assigned to the points used for the point analysis. Terminal: The terminals assigned to the points used for the point analysis. Mobility: The mobility types assigned to the points used for the point analysis.

The Display Tab On the Display tab, you can modify how the results of the point analysis will be displayed. For information on changing display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51.

8.2.10.8.2

Making a Point Analysis Point analyses are calculated on lists of points, either imported or created on the map using the mouse, and based on userdefined calculation settings. To create a new point analysis: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Multi-point Analysis folder and select New Point Analysis. The Point Analysis Properties dialog box appears. 2. On the General and Conditions tabs, specify the settings as described in "Point Analysis Properties" on page 557. 3. On the Points tab, you can create a list of points by: •

•

• •

Importing a list of points from an external file: Click the Actions button and select Import Table from the menu to open the Open file dialog box. In this dialog box, select a TXT or CSV file containing a list of points and click Open. For more information on importing data tables, see "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88. Importing a list of points from a fixed subscriber traffic map: Click the Actions button and select Import from Fixed Subscribers from the menu to open the Fixed Subscribers dialog box. In this dialog box, select one or more existing fixed subscriber traffic maps and click OK. Copying a list of points from an external file. Creating points in the list by editing the table: Add new points by clicking the New Row icon ( ) and entering X and Y coordinates as well as a service, a terminal, and a mobility. The list of points must have the same coordinate system as the display coordinate system used in the Atoll document. For more information on coordinate systems, see "Setting a Coordinate System" on page 41.

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•

It is also possible to leave the Points tab empty and add points to the analysis on the map using the mouse once the point analysis item has been created. To add points on the map using the mouse, right-click the point analysis item to which you want to add points, and select Add Points from the context menu. The mouse pointer changes to point creation mode (

•

). Click once to create each point you

want to add. Press ESC or click the Pointer button ( ) in the Map toolbar to finish adding points. You can also export the list of point from a point analysis to ASCII text files (TXT and CSV formats) and MS Excel XML Spreadsheet files (XML format) by selecting Actions > Export Table. For more information on exporting table data, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86.

4. On the Display tab, specify how to display point analysis results on the map according to any input or calculated parameter. For more information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have defined the point analysis parameters, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the point analysis and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the point analysis without calculating it. You can calculate it later by opening the point analysis properties and clicking the Calculate button.

Once Atoll has finished calculating the point analysis, the results are displayed in the map window. You can also access the analysis results in a table format. For more information, see "Viewing Point Analysis Results" on page 559. You can also organise point analyses in folders under the Multi-point Analysis folder by creating folders under the Multi-point Analysis folder in the Network explorer. Folders may contain one or more point analyses items. You can move point analyses items from one folder to another and rename folders.

8.2.10.8.3

Viewing Point Analysis Results Once a point analysis has been calculated, its results are displayed on the map and are also available in the point analysis item in the form of a table. To view the results table of a point analysis: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Multi-point Analysis folder, right-click the analysis whose results table you want to view, and select Analysis Results from the context menu. The Results dialog box appears. The results table includes the following information: • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Position Id: The indexes of the points used for the point analysis. X and Y: The coordinates of the points used for the point analysis. Height (m): The height of the points used for the point analysis. Service: The services assigned to the points used for the point analysis. Terminal: The terminals assigned to the points used for the point analysis. Mobility: The mobility types assigned to the points used for the point analysis. Cell: Names of the potential serving cells. Distance (m): Distances from the potential serving cells. Path Loss (dB): Path losses to the potential serving cells. RSCP (dBm): Received signal code powers from to the potential serving cells. Ec/Io (dB): Ec/Io from to the potential serving cells. DL Eb/Nt (dB): Downlink Eb/Nt corresponding to the potential serving cells. UL Eb/Nt (dB): Uplink Eb/Nt corresponding to the potential serving cells. Scrambling Code: Scrambling codes of the potential serving cells.

2. To add or remove columns from the results table: a. Click the Actions button and select Display Columns from the menu. The Columns to be Displayed dialog box opens. b. Select or clear the columns that you want to display or hide. c. Click Close. You can also export the point analysis results table to ASCII text files (TXT and CSV formats) and MS Excel XML Spreadsheet files (XML format) by selecting Actions > Export. For more information on exporting table data, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. 3. Click Close.

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8.2.11 Planning Neighbours You can use Atoll to manually allocate neighbour relations to any cell in a network. You can also use Atoll to automatically allocate neighbour relations to a single cell, to all the cells of a base station, to all the cells in a transmitter group, or to all the cells in a network, based on predefined parameters.

Figure 8.10: UMTS intra-carrier handover area between reference cell and potential neighbour

Figure 8.11: UMTS inter-carrier handover area between reference cell and potential neighbour In this section, only the concepts that are specific to automatic neighbour allocation in UMTS networks are explained. • • •

"Coverage Conditions" on page 560 "Calculation Constraints" on page 561 "Reasons for Allocation" on page 561

For more information on neighbour planning, see "Neighbour Planning" on page 223

8.2.11.1 Coverage Conditions There are two tabs in the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box for UMTS: Intra-carrier Neighbours and Inter-carrier Neighbours.The coverage conditions are defined separately for automatic intra-carrier neighbour allocation and automatic inter-carrier neighbour allocation.

8.2.11.1.1

Coverage Conditions for Automatic Intra-carrier Neighbour Allocation On the Intra-carrier Neighbours tab of the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, you either select or clear the Use coverage conditions check box. • •

When it is cleared, only the defined Distance will be used to allocate neighbours to a reference cell. When it is selected, click Define to open the Coverage Conditions dialog box and specify the following settings: • •

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Resolution: Enter the resolution to be used to calculate cells’ coverage areas during automatic neighbour allocation. Global min RSCP: Enter the minimum RSCP to be provided by the reference cell and the potential neighbour. Atoll uses the highest value between the Global min RSCP and the following:

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• •

• • • • •

8.2.11.1.2

If Global min RSCP is not defined, Atoll uses the Min RSCP in individual cells’ properties If Global min RSCP is not defined and no Min RSCP is available in a cell’s properties, Atoll uses the Default min Pilot RSCP threshold defined on the Calculation Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box. Min Ec⁄Io: Enter the minimum Ec⁄Io which must be provided by reference cell A in an overlapping area. Reference cell A must also be the best server in terms of pilot quality in the overlapping area. AS Threshold: Enter the maximum difference of Ec⁄I0 between reference cell A and potential neighbour cell B in the overlapping area. DL load contributing to Io: You can select whether Atoll should use a Global value (% Pmax) of the downlink load for all the cells, or the downlink loads Defined per cell. Shadowing Taken into Account: If selected, enter a Cell edge coverage probability. Indoor Coverage: Select this check box to take indoor losses into acccount in calculations. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

Coverage Conditions for Automatic Inter-carrier Neighbour Allocation On the Inter-carrier Neighbours tab of the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, you either select or clear the Use coverage conditions check box. • •

When it is cleared, only the defined Distance will be used to allocate neighbours to a reference cell. When it is selected, click Define to open the Coverage Conditions dialog box and specify the following settings: • •

• •

• • •

Resolution: Enter the resolution to be used to calculate cells’ coverage areas during automatic neighbour allocation. Global min RSCP: Enter the minimum RSCP to be provided by the reference cell and the potential neighbour. Atoll uses the highest value between the Global min RSCP and the following: • If Global min RSCP is not defined, Atoll uses the Min RSCP in individual cells’ properties • If Global min RSCP is not defined and no Min RSCP is available in a cell’s properties, Atoll uses the Default min Pilot RSCP threshold defined on the Calculation Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box. Min Ec⁄Io: Enter the minimum Ec⁄Io which must be provided by reference cell A in an overlapping area. Reference cell A must also be the best server in terms of pilot quality in the overlapping area. Handover margin: Enter the maximum difference of Ec⁄Io between reference cell A and potential neighbour cell B in the overlapping area. You can select whether Atoll should use a Global value of the handover margin for all cells, or the handover margins Defined per cell. DL load contributing to Io: You can select whether Atoll should use a Global value (% Pmax) of the downlink load for all the cells, or the downlink loads Defined per cell. Shadowing Taken into Account: If selected, enter a Cell edge coverage probability. Indoor Coverage: Select this check box to take indoor losses into account in calculations. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

8.2.11.2 Calculation Constraints In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, you can select the following calculation constraints: • •

• • •

Co-site cells as neighbours: cells located on the same site as the reference cell will automatically be considered as neighbours. A cell with no antenna cannot be considered as a co-site neighbour. Adjacent cells as neighbours (Intra-carrier Neighbours tab): cells that are adjacent to the reference cell will automatically be considered as neighbours. A cell is considered adjacent if there is at least one pixel in the reference cell’s coverage area where the potential neighbour cell is the best server, or where the potential neighbour cell is the second best server in the reference cell’s active set. Adjacent layers as neighbours: cells that are adjacent to the reference cell across layers will be automatically considered as neighbours. Symmetric relations: Select this check box if you want the neighbour relations to be reciprocal, i.e. any reference cell is a potential neighbour of all the cells that are its neighbours. Exceptional pairs: Select this check box to force the neighbour relations defined in the Intra-technology Exceptional pairs table. For information on exceptional pairs, see "Exceptional Pairs" on page 223.

8.2.11.3 Reasons for Allocation In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, the reason for neighbour allocation is indicated under Cause in the Results table. It can be any of the following:

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Cause

Description

When

Distance

The neighbour is located within the defined maximum distance from the reference cell

Use coverage conditions is not selected

Coverage

The neighbour relation fulfils the defined coverage conditions

Use coverage conditions is selected and nothing is selected under Force

Co-Site

The neighbour is located on the same site as the reference cell

Use coverage conditions and Co-site cells as neighbours is selected

Adjacent (intra-carrier)

The neighbour is adjacent to the reference cell

Use coverage conditions is selected and Adjacent cells as neighbours is selected

Adjacent layer

The neighbour belongs to an adjacent layer

Use coverage conditions is selected and Adjacent layers as neighbours is selected

Symmetry

The neighbour relation between the reference cell and the neighbour is symmetrical

Use coverage conditions is selected and Symmetric relations is selected

Exceptional Pair

The neighbour relation is defined as an exceptional pair

Exceptional pairs is selected

Existing

The neighbour relation existed before automatic allocation

Delete existing neighbours is not selected

8.2.12 Planning Scrambling Codes In UMTS, 512 scrambling codes are available, numbered from 0 to 511. Although UMTS scrambling codes are displayed in decimal format by default, they can also be displayed and calculated in hexadecimal format, in other words using the numbers 0 to 9 and the letters A to F. Atoll facilitates the management of scrambling codes by letting you create groups of scrambling codes and domains, where each domain is a defined set of groups. You can also assign scrambling codes manually or automatically to any cell in the network. Once allocation is completed, you can audit the scrambling codes, view scrambling code reuse on the map, and make an analysis of scrambling code distribution. The procedure for planning scrambling codes for a UMTS project is: •

Preparing for scrambling code allocation • • •

•

"Defining the Scrambling Code Format" on page 563 "Creating Scrambling Code Domains and Groups" on page 563 "Defining Exceptional Pairs for Scrambling Code Allocation" on page 563.

Allocating scrambling codes • •

"Automatically Allocating Scrambling Codes to UMTS Cells" on page 564 "Allocating Scrambling Codes to UMTS Cells Manually" on page 566.

•

"Checking the Consistency of the Scrambling Code Plan" on page 566.

•

Displaying the allocation of scrambling codes • • • • • •

"Using Find on Map to Display Scrambling Code Allocation" on page 567 "Displaying Scrambling Code Allocation Using Transmitter Display Settings" on page 568 "Grouping Transmitters by Scrambling Code" on page 568 "Displaying the Scrambling Code Allocation Histogram" on page 569 "Making a Scrambling Code Collision Zones Prediction" on page 569. "Making a Scrambling Code Collision Analysis" on page 570 • •

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Within the context of primary scrambling code allocation, "neighbours" refer to intra-carrier neighbours. According to 3GPP specifications, the 512 possible scrambling codes can be broken down into groups, each containing 8 codes. Because the term "group" in Atoll refers to user-defined sets of scrambling codes, these groups of 8 codes each are referred to as "clusters" in Atoll. As well, Atoll allows you to change the number of codes in a cluster.

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8.2.12.1 Defining the Scrambling Code Format Scrambling codes can be displayed in decimal or hexadecimal format. The selected format is used to display scrambling codes in dialog boxes and tables such as in the Domains and Groups tables, the Cells table, and the Scrambling Code Allocation dialog box. The decimal format is the default format in Atoll. The accepted decimal values are from 0 to 511. The decimal format is also used, even if you have chosen the hexadecimal format, to store scrambling codes in the database and to display scrambling code distribution or the results of a scrambling code audit. The hexadecimal format uses the numbers 0 to 9 and the letters A to F for its base characters. In Atoll, hexadecimal values are indicated by a lower-case "h" following the value. For example, the hexadecimal value "3Fh" is "63" as a decimal value. You can convert a hexadecimal value to a decimal value with the following equation, where A, B, and C are decimal values within the hexadecimal index ranges: 2

A  16 + B  16 + C

For example, the hexadecimal value "3Fh" would be calculated as shown below: 2

0  16 + 3  16 + 15 = 63

To define the scrambling code format: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the UMTS Network Settings folder, right-click the Scrambling Codes folder, and select Format from the context menu and select either Decimal or Hexadecimal.

8.2.12.2 Creating Scrambling Code Domains and Groups Atoll facilitates the management of scrambling codes by letting you create domains, each containing groups of scrambling codes. The procedure for managing scrambling codes in a UMTS document consists of the following steps: • • •

Creating a scrambling code domain, as explained in this section. Creating groups, each containing a range of scrambling codes, and assigning them to a domain, as explained in this section. Assigning a scrambling code domain to a cell or cells. If there is no scrambling code domain, Atoll will consider all 512 possible scrambling codes when assigning codes.

To create a scrambling code domain: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the UMTS Network Settings folder and the Scrambling Codes folder, right-click Domains, and select Open Table from the context menu. The Domains table appears. 2. In the row marked with the New Row icon (

), enter a Name for the new domain.

3. Click in another cell of the table to create the new domain and add a new blank row to the table. 4. Double-click the domain to which you want to add a group. The domain’s Properties dialog box appears. 5. Under Groups, enter the following information for each group you want to create. • •

• • • •

Name: Enter a name for the new scrambling code group. Min.: Enter the lowest available primary scrambling code in this group’s range. The minimum and maximum scrambling codes must be entered in the format, decimal or hexadecimal, set for the Atoll document (for information on setting the scrambling code format, see "Defining the Scrambling Code Format" on page 563). Max: Enter the highest available primary scrambling code in this group’s range. Step: Enter the separation interval between each primary scrambling code. Excluded: Enter the scrambling codes in this range that you do not want to use. Extra: Enter any additional scrambling codes (i.e., outside the range defined by the Min. and Max fields) you want to add to this group. You can enter a list of codes separated by either a comma, semi-colon, or a space. You can also enter a range of scrambling codes separated by a hyphen. For example, entering, "1, 2, 3-5" means that the extra scrambling codes are "1, 2, 3, 4, 5."

6. Click in another cell of the table to create the new group and add a new blank row to the table.

8.2.12.3 Defining Exceptional Pairs for Scrambling Code Allocation You can also define pairs of cells which cannot have the same primary scrambling code. These pairs are referred to as exceptional pairs. Exceptional pairs are used along with other constraints, such as neighbours, reuse distance, and domains, in allocating scrambling codes.

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To create a pair of cells that cannot have the same scrambling code: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder, and select Primary Scrambling Codes > Exceptional Pairs. The Exceptional Separation Constraints table appears. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. 2. In the row marked with the New Row icon ( ), select one cell of the new exceptional pair in the Cell column and the second cell of the new exceptional pair from the Cell_2 column. 3. Click in another cell of the table to create the new exceptional pair and add a new blank row to the table.

8.2.12.4 Allocating Scrambling Codes Atoll can automatically assign scrambling codes to the cells of a UMTS network according to set parameters. For example, it takes into account the definition of groups and domains of scrambling codes, the selected scrambling code allocation strategy (clustered, distributed per cell, distributed per site and one cluster per site), minimum code reuse distance, and any constraints imposed by neighbours. You can also allocate scrambling codes manually to the cells of a UMTS network. In this section, the following methods of allocating scrambling codes are described: • • •

8.2.12.4.1

"Defining Automatic Allocation Constraint Violation Costs" on page 564 "Automatically Allocating Scrambling Codes to UMTS Cells" on page 564 "Allocating Scrambling Codes to UMTS Cells Manually" on page 566.

Defining Automatic Allocation Constraint Violation Costs You can define the costs of the different types of constraints used in the automatic scrambling code allocation algorithm. To define the different constraint violation costs: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Primary Scrambling Codes > Constraint Costs. The Constraint Violation Costs dialog box appears. In this dialog box you can define the following costs of constraint violations for the automatic allocation process (the cost is a value from 0 to 1): • • • • •

Under Intra-technology Neighbours, you can set the constraint violation cost for 1st Order, 2nd Order, and 3rd Order neighbours. Under Distributed per Site Strategy, you can set the constraint violation cost for intra-technology neighbours that are 1st or 2nd Order Using the Same Cluster. Reuse Distance: Enter the maximum cost for reuse distance constraint violations. Exceptional Pair: Enter the cost for exceptional pair constraint violations. Common Inter-technology Neighbour: Enter the cost for inter-technology neighbour constraint violations.

4. Click OK. The constraint violation costs are stored and will be used in the automatic allocation.

8.2.12.4.2

Automatically Allocating Scrambling Codes to UMTS Cells The allocation algorithm enables you to automatically allocate primary scrambling codes to cells in the current network. You can choose among several automatic allocation strategies. The actual automatic allocation strategies available will depend on your network and options selected in the Atoll.ini file. For more information on the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on automatic allocation strategies, see the Technical Reference Guide. • • •

•

Clustered: The purpose of this strategy is to choose for a group of mutually constrained cells, scrambling codes among a minimum number of clusters. In this case, Atoll will preferentially allocate all the codes from the same cluster. Distributed per Cell Allocation: This strategy consists in using as many clusters as possible. Atoll will preferentially allocate codes from different clusters. One Cluster per Site: This strategy allocates one cluster to each base station, then, one code of the cluster to each cell of each base station. When all the clusters have been allocated and there are still base stations remaining to be allocated, Atoll reuses the clusters at another base station. Distributed per Site: This strategy allocates a group of adjacent clusters to each base station in the network, then, one cluster to each transmitter of the base station according to its azimuth and finally one code of the cluster to each cell of each transmitter. The number of adjacent clusters per group depends on the number of transmitters per base station you have in your network; this information is required to start allocation based on this strategy. When all the groups of adjacent clusters have been allocated and there are still base stations remaining to be allocated, Atoll reuses the groups of adjacent clusters at another base station.

To automatically allocate primary scrambling codes: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears.

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3. Select Primary Scrambling Codes > Automatic Allocation. The Primary Scrambling Codes dialog box appears. •

Under Constraints, you can set the constraints on automatic scrambling code allocation. •

Existing Neighbours: Select the Existing Neighbours check box if you want to consider intra-carrier neighbour relations and then choose the neighbourhood level to take into account: Neighbours of a cell are referred to as the first order neighbours, neighbours’ neighbours are referred to as the second order neighbours and neighbours’ neighbours’ neighbours as the third order neighbours. First Order: No cell will be allocated the same scrambling code as its neighbours. Second Order: No cell will be allocated the same scrambling code as its neighbours or its second order neighbours. Third Order: No cell will be allocated the same scrambling code as its neighbours or its second order neighbours or its third order neighbours. Atoll can only consider neighbour relations if neighbours have already been allocated. For information on allocating neighbours, see "Planning Neighbours" on page 560. Atoll can take into account inter-technology neighbour relations as constraints when allocating scrambling codes to the UMTS neighbours of a GSM transmitter. In order to consider inter-technology neighbour relations in scrambling code allocation, you must make the Transmitters folder of the GSM Atoll document accessible in the UMTS Atoll document. For information on making links between GSM and UMTS Atoll documents, see "Creating a UMTS Sector From a Sector in the Other Network" on page 609

•

Additional Overlapping Conditions: Select the Additional Overlapping Conditions check box, if you want to set overlapping coverage criteria. If cells meet the overlapping conditions to enter the reference cell’s active set, they will be not allocated the same scrambling code as the reference cell. Click Define to change the overlapping conditions. In the Coverage Conditions dialog box, you can change the following parameters: Min. Pilot Signal Level: Enter the minimum pilot signal level which must be provided by reference cell A and possible neighbour cell B. Min. Ec⁄I0: Enter the minimum Ec⁄I0 which must be provided by reference cell A in an area with overlapping coverage. Reference cell A must also be the best server in terms of pilot quality in the area with overlapping coverage. Ec⁄I0 Margin: Enter the maximum difference of Ec⁄I0 between reference cell A and possible neighbour cell B in the area with overlapping coverage. DL Load Contributing to I0: You can let Atoll base the interference ratio on the total power used as defined in the properties for each cell (Defined per Cell) or on a percentage of the maximum power (Global Value). Shadowing taken into account: If desired, select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a Cell Edge Coverage Probability. Indoor Coverage: Select the Indoor Coverage check box if you want to use indoor losses in the calculations. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

•

Reuse Distance: Select the Reuse Distance check box, if you want to the automatic allocation process to consider the reuse distance constraint. Enter the Default reuse distance within which two cells on the same carrier cannot have the same primary scrambling code. A reuse distance can be defined at the cell level (in the cell Properties dialog box or in the Cells table). If defined, a cell-specific reuse distance will be used instead of the value entered here.

• •

From the Strategy list, you can select an automatic allocation strategy: • • • •

• •

Exceptional Pairs: Select the Exceptional Pairs check box, if you want to the automatic allocation process to consider the exceptional pair constraints. Clustered Distributed per Cell One Cluster per Site Distributed per Site

Carrier: Select the Carrier on which you want to run the allocation. You may choose one carrier (Atoll will assign primary scrambling codes to transmitters using the selected carrier) or all of them. No. of Codes per Cluster: According to 3GPP specifications, the number of codes per cluster is 8. If you want, you can change the number of codes per cluster.

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When the allocation is based on a distributed strategy (Distributed per Cell or Distributed per Site), this parameter can also be used to define the interval between the primary scrambling codes assigned to cells on a same site. The defined interval is applied by setting an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information about setting options in the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual. •

•

•

Use a Max of Codes: Select the Use a Max of Codes check box to make Atoll use the maximum number of codes. For example, if there are two cells using the same domain with two scrambling codes, Atoll will assign the remaining code to the second cell even if there are no constraints between these two cells (for example, neighbour relations, reuse distance, etc.). If you do not select this option, Atoll only checks the constraints, and allocates the first ranked code in the list. Delete Existing Codes: Select the Delete Existing Codes check box if you want Atoll to delete currently allocated scrambling codes and recalculate all scrambling codes. If you do not select this option, Atoll will keep currently allocated scrambling codes and will only allocate scrambling codes to cells that do not yet have codes allocated. Allocate Carriers Identically: Select the Allocate Carriers Identically check box if you want Atoll to allocate the same primary scrambling code to each carrier of a transmitter. If you do not select this option, Atoll allocates scrambling codes independently for each carrier.

4. Click Calculate. Atoll begins the process of allocating scrambling codes. Once Atoll has finished allocating scrambling codes, the codes are visible under Results. Atoll only displays newly allocated scrambling codes. The Results table contains the following information. • • • • •

Site: The name of the base station. Cell: The name of the cell. Code: The primary scrambling code proposed for allocation to the cell. Cluster: The cluster to which the new scrambling code belongs. Initial Code: The primary scrambling code initially allocated to the cell.

5. Click Commit. The primary scrambling codes are committed to the cells. You can save automatic scrambling code allocation parameters in a user configuration. For information on saving automatic scrambling code allocation parameters in a user configuration, see "Saving a User Configuration" on page 104.

If you need to allocate scrambling codes to the cells on a single transmitter, you can allocate them automatically by selecting Allocate Scrambling Codes from the transmitter’s context menu. If you need to allocate scrambling codes to all the cells on group of transmitters, you can allocate them automatically by selecting Primary Scrambling Codes > Automatic Allocation from the transmitter group’s context menu.

8.2.12.4.3

Allocating Scrambling Codes to UMTS Cells Manually When you allocate scrambling codes to a large number of cells, it is easiest to let Atoll allocate scrambling codes automatically, as described in "Automatically Allocating Scrambling Codes to UMTS Cells" on page 564. However, if you want to add a primary scrambling code to one cell or to modify the primary scrambling code of a cell, you can do it by accessing the properties of the cell. To allocate a scrambling code to a UMTS cell manually: 1. On the map, right-click the transmitter to whose cell you want to allocate a scrambling code. The context menu appears. 2. Select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter’s Properties dialog box appears. 3. Select the Cells tab. 4. Enter a Primary Scrambling Code in the cell’s column. 5. Click OK.

8.2.12.5 Checking the Consistency of the Scrambling Code Plan Once you have completed allocating scrambling codes, you can verify whether the allocated scrambling codes respect the specified constraints by performing an audit of the plan. The scrambling code audit also enables you to check for inconsistencies if you have made some manual changes to the allocation plan. The cells that are checked in a scrambling code audit: •

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• • •

are located inside the Focus Zone, if any is defined are located inside the Computation Zone, if any is defined (and if no Focus Zone is defined) are the activated cells in the Filtering Zone, if any is defined •

Transmitters and cells involved in a scrambling code collision are not necessarily located inside the Focus Zone or Computation Zone, when any is defined.

•

It is highly recommended to run scrambling code audits on a regular basis.

To perform an audit of the allocation plan: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Primary Scrambling Codes > Audit. The Code and Cluster Audit dialog box appears. 4. Under Conditions, select the allocation criteria that you want to check: • •

No. of Codes per Cluster: Enter the number of scrambling codes per cluster. Neighbours: Select this box to check scrambling code constraints between cells and their neighbours and then choose the neighbourhood level to take into account: • • •

First Order: Atoll will check that no cell has the same scrambling code as any of its neighbours. Second Order: Atoll will check that no cell has the same scrambling code as any of its neighbours or any of the neighbours of its neighbours. Third Order: Atoll will check that no cell has the same scrambling code as any of its neighbours or any of the neighbours of its neighbours or any of the neighbours of its second order neighbours.

The report will list the cells and the neighbours that do not meet any of these constraints. In addition, it will indicate the allocated primary scrambling code and the neighbourhood level. • • •

• •

•

Neighbours in Different Clusters: Select this box to check that neighbour cells have scrambling codes from different clusters. The report will list any neighbour cells that do have scrambling codes from the same cluster. Domain Compliance: Select this box to check if allocated scrambling codes belong to domains assigned to cells. The report will list any cells with scrambling codes that do not belong to domains assigned to the cell. Site Domains Not Empty: Select this box to check for and list base stations for which the allocation domain (i.e., the list of possible scrambling codes) is not consistent with the "One cluster per site" strategy. If there is a base station with N cells, Atoll will check that the domains assigned to the cells contain at least one cluster consisting of N codes. If you plan to automatically allocate scrambling codes using the "One Cluster per Site" strategy, you can perform this test beforehand to check the consistency of domains assigned to cells of each base station. One Cluster per Site: Select this box to check for and list base stations whose cells have scrambling codes coming from more than one cluster. Distance: Select this box and set a reuse distance to check for and list the cell pairs that do not respect the reuse distance condition. For any cell pair, Atoll uses the lowest of the reuse distance values defined in the properties of the two cells and the value that you set in the Code and Cluster Audit dialog box. Cell pairs that do not respect the reuse distance condition are listed in increasing order of the distance between them. The primary scrambling code and the reuse distance are also listed for each cell pair. Exceptional Pairs: Select this box to check for and display pairs of cells that are listed as exceptional pairs but still use the same scrambling code.

5. Click OK. Atoll displays the results of the audit in a text file called CodeCheck.txt, which it opens at the end of the audit. For each selected criterion, Atoll gives the number of detected inconsistencies and details each of them.

8.2.12.6 Displaying the Allocation of Scrambling Codes Once you have completed allocating scrambling codes, you can verify several aspects of scrambling code allocation. You have several options for displaying scrambling codes: • • • • • •

8.2.12.6.1

"Using Find on Map to Display Scrambling Code Allocation" on page 567 "Displaying Scrambling Code Allocation Using Transmitter Display Settings" on page 568 "Grouping Transmitters by Scrambling Code" on page 568 "Displaying the Scrambling Code Allocation Histogram" on page 569 "Making a Scrambling Code Collision Zones Prediction" on page 569. "Making a Scrambling Code Collision Analysis" on page 570

Using Find on Map to Display Scrambling Code Allocation In Atoll, you can search for scrambling codes and scrambling code groups using the Find on Map tool. Results are displayed in the map window in red. If you have already calculated and displayed a coverage prediction by transmitter based on the best server, with the results displayed by transmitter, the search results will be displayed by transmitter coverage. Scrambling codes and scrambling code

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groups and any potential problems will then be clearly visible. For information on coverage predictions by transmitter, see "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter" on page 539. To find scrambling codes or scrambling code groups using the Find on Map tool: 1. Click Tools > Find on Map. The Find on Map window appears. 2. From the Find list, select "Scrambling Code." 3. Select what you what you want to search for: • •

Scrambling code: If you want to find a scrambling code, select Scrambling code and select it from the list. SC Group: If you want to find a scrambling code group, select SC group and select it from the list.

4. Select the carrier you want to search on from the For carrier list, or select "(All)" to search in all carriers. 5. Click Search. Transmitters with cells matching the search criteria are displayed in red. Transmitters that do not match the search criteria are displayed as grey lines. To restore the initial transmitter colours, click the Reset Display button in the Find on Map window.

8.2.12.6.2

Displaying Scrambling Code Allocation Using Transmitter Display Settings You can use the display characteristics of transmitters to display scrambling code-related information. To display scrambling code-related information on the map: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 4. Click the Display tab. You can display the following information per transmitter: • • •

Primary scrambling code: To display the primary scrambling code of a transmitter’s cell, select "Discrete values" as the Display Type and "Cells: Primary Scrambling Code" as the Field. Ranges of primary scrambling codes: To display ranges of primary scrambling codes, select "Value intervals" as the Display Type and "Cells: Primary Scrambling Code" as the Field. Scrambling code domain: To display the scrambling code domain of a transmitter’s cell, select "Discrete values" as the Display Type and "Cells: Scrambling Code Domain" as the Field.

You can display the following information in the transmitter label or tip text by clicking the Label or Tip Text Browse button: • • •

Primary scrambling code: To display the primary scrambling code of a transmitter’s cell in the transmitter label or tip text, "Cells: Primary Scrambling Code" from the Label or Tip Text Field Definition dialog box. Scrambling code domain: To display the primary scrambling code domain of a transmitter’s cell in the transmitter label or tip text, "Cells: Scrambling Code Domain" from the Label or Tip Text Field Selection dialog box. Scrambling code reuse distance: To display the scrambling code reuse distance of a transmitter’s cell in the transmitter label or tip text, "Cells: SC Reuse Distance" from the Label or Tip Text Field Selection dialog box.

5. Click OK. For information on display options, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51.

8.2.12.6.3

Grouping Transmitters by Scrambling Code You can group transmitters in the Network explorer by their primary scrambling code, their scrambling code domain, or by their scrambling code reuse distance. To group transmitters by scrambling code: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 4. On the General tab, click Group by. The Group dialog box appears. 5. Under Available Fields, scroll down to the Cell section. 6. Select the parameter you want to group transmitters by: • • •

Scrambling Code Domain Primary Scrambling Code SC Reuse Distance

7. Click to add the parameter to the Grouping Fields list. The selected parameter is added to the list of parameters on which the transmitters will be grouped.

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8. If you do not want the transmitters to be sorted by a certain parameter, select it in the Grouping Fields list and click . The selected parameter is removed from the list of parameters on which the transmitters will be grouped. 9. Arrange the parameters in the Grouping Fields list in the order in which you want the transmitters to be grouped: a. Select a parameter and click

to move it up to the desired position.

b. Select a parameter and click

to move it down to the desired position.

10. Click OK to save your changes and close the Group dialog box. If a transmitter has more than one cell, Atoll cannot arrange the transmitter by cell. Transmitters that cannot be grouped by cell are arranged in a separate folder under the Transmitters folder.

8.2.12.6.4

Displaying the Scrambling Code Allocation Histogram You can use a histogram to analyse the use of allocated scrambling codes in a network. The histogram represents the scrambling codes or scrambling code clusters as a function of the frequency of their use. To display the scrambling code histogram: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder and select Primary Scrambling Codes > Code Distribution. The Distribution Histograms dialog box appears. Each bar represents a scrambling code or a cluster, its height depending on the frequency of its use. 2. Select Scrambling Codes to display scrambling code use and Clusters to display scrambling code cluster use. 3. Move the pointer over the histogram to display the frequency of use of each scrambling code or cluster. The results are highlighted simultaneously in the Zoom on selected values list. You can zoom in on values by clicking and dragging in the Zoom on selected values list. Atoll will zoom in on the selected values.

8.2.12.6.5

Making a Scrambling Code Collision Zones Prediction You can make a scrambling code collision zone prediction to view areas covered by cells using the same scrambling code. Atoll checks on each pixel if the best serving cell and the cells that fulfil all criteria to enter the active set (without any active set size limitation) have the same scrambling code. If so, Atoll considers that there is a scrambling code collision. To make a scrambling code collision zone prediction: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Predictions folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 4. Select Scrambling Code Collision Zones (DL) and click OK. 5. Click the General tab. On the General tab, you can change the assigned Name of the coverage prediction, the Resolution, and you can add a Comment. The resolution you set is the display resolution, not the calculation resolution. The Receiver height corresponds to the height of the receiver defined in the Calculation Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box. A read-only Unique ID is generated when you create a new coverage prediction. This ID can later be found between the and tags in the following files: • •

"studies.XML" file created in the installation folder if at least one coverage prediction was saved using the Save as Customised Prediction command. ".XML" files (one per prediction) created in the following folder if coverage predictions were calculated with Display type = "Value intervals": C:\\.studies\{}

Under Display Configuration, you can create a Filter to select which sites to display in the results. You can also display the results grouped in the Network explorer by one or more characteristics by clicking the Group By button, or you can display the results sorted by clicking the Sort button. For information on filtering, see "Filtering Data" on page 99; for information on grouping, see "Advanced Grouping of Data Objects" on page 96; for information on sorting, see "Advanced Sorting" on page 98. 6. Click the Conditions tab. Select "(Cells Table)" from Load conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not going to be based on load conditions taken from a simulation. Atoll will calculate the coverage prediction using the UL load factor and the DL total power defined in the cell properties.

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When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load Conditions list.

You must select a Terminal, Service, and Mobility, as defined in "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. You must also select which Carrier is to be considered. If you want the scrambling code collision zone prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. You can also select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 7. Click the Display tab. For a scrambling code collision zone prediction, the Display Type "Discrete Values" based on the Field "Transmitter" is selected by default. Each pixel where there is scrambling code collision is displayed with the same colour as that defined for the interfered transmitter. In the explorer window, the coverage prediction results are first arranged by interfered transmitter and then by interferer. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. You can also set parameters to display the following results: •

•

The number of interferers for each transmitter: Select "Value Intervals" as the Display Type and "No. of Interferers per Transmitter" as the Field. In the explorer window, the coverage prediction results are arranged by interfered transmitter. The total number of interferers on one pixel: Select "Value Intervals" as the Display Type and "No. of Interferers" as the Field. In the explorer window, the coverage prediction results are arranged according to the number of interferers.

8. Click the Calculate button ( ) in the Radio Planning toolbar to calculate the scrambling code collision zone prediction. The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

8.2.12.6.6

Making a Scrambling Code Collision Analysis The SC Collisions tab of the Point Analysis window gives you information on reception for any point on the map where there is scrambling code collision. Scrambling code collision occurs if the best serving cell and the cells that fulfil all criteria to enter the active set (without any active set size limitation) have the same scrambling code. When there is a scrambling code collision, Atoll displays the pilot quality (Ec⁄I0) received from interfered and interferer transmitters. The analysis is based on the UL load percentage and the DL total power of each cell. The analysis is provided for a user-definable probe receiver which has a terminal, a mobility, and a service. You can make a scrambling code collision analysis to verify a scrambling code collision zone prediction. In this case, before you make the scrambling code collision analysis, ensure the coverage prediction you want to use in the scrambling code collision analysis is displayed on the map. To make a scrambling code collision analysis: 1. Click the Point Analysis button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar. The Point Analysis window appears.

2. Select the SC Collisions view. 3. Select "Cells Table" from the Loads list. 4. If you are making a scrambling code collision analysis to verify a coverage prediction, you can recreate the conditions of the coverage prediction: a. Select the same Terminal, Service, and Mobility studied in the coverage prediction. b. Select the Carrier studied in the coverage prediction. c. Click the Options button ( • • •

) to display the Calculation Options dialog box. You can change the following:

Change the X and Y coordinates to change the present position of the receiver. Select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a Cell Edge Coverage Probability, and, select "Ec⁄I0" from the Shadowing Margin list. Select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

d. Click OK to close the Properties dialog box.

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If you are making a scrambling code collision analysis to make a prediction on a defined point, you can use the instructions in this step to define a user.

5. Move the pointer over the map to make a scrambling code collision analysis for the current location of the pointer. 6. Click the map to leave the point analysis pointer at its current position. To move the pointer again, click the point analysis pointer on the map and drag it to a new position. 7. Click the Point Analysis button (

) on the toolbar again to end the point analysis.

8.3 Studying UMTS Network Capacity A UMTS network automatically regulates power on both uplink and downlink with the objective of minimising interference and maximising network capacity. In the case of HSDPA, the network uses A-DCH power control in the uplink and downlink and a fast link adaptation (in other words, the selection of an HSDPA bearer) in the downlink. Atoll can simulate these network regulation mechanisms, thereby enabling you to study the capacity of the UMTS network. In Atoll, a simulation is based on a realistic distribution of R99 and HSPA users at a given point in time. The distribution of users at a given moment is referred to as a snapshot. Based on this snapshot, Atoll calculates various network parameters such as the active set for each mobile, the required power of the mobile, the total DL power and DL throughput per cell, and the UL load per cell. Simulations are calculated in an iterative fashion. When several simulations are performed at the same time using the same traffic information, the distribution of users will be different, according to a Poisson distribution. Consequently you can have variations in user distribution from one snapshot to another. To create snapshots, services and users must be modelled. As well, certain traffic information in the form of traffic maps must be provided. Once services and users have been modelled and traffic maps have been created, you can make simulations of the network traffic. In this section, the following are explained: • • •

"Defining Multi-service Traffic Data" on page 571 "Calculating UMTS Traffic Simulations" on page 571. "Analysing the Results of a Simulation" on page 587.

8.3.1 Defining Multi-service Traffic Data The first step in making a simulation is defining how the network is used. In Atoll, this is accomplished by creating all of the parameters of network use, in terms of services, users, and equipment used. The following services and users are modelled in Atoll in order to create simulations: •

•

•

•

R99 radio bearers: Bearer services are used by the network for carrying information. The R99 Radio Bearer table lists all the available radio bearers. You can create new R99 radio bearers and modify existing ones by using the R99 Radio Bearer table. For information on defining R99 radio bearers, see "Defining R99 Radio Bearers" on page 615. Services: Services are the various services, such as voice, mobile internet access, etc., available to subscribers. These services can be either circuit-switched or packet-switched. For information on modelling end-user services, see "Modelling Services" on page 241. Mobility type: In UMTS, information about receiver mobility is important to efficiently manage the active set: a mobile used by a driver moving quickly or a pedestrian will not necessarily be connected to the same transmitters. Ec⁄I0 requirements and Eb⁄Nt targets per radio bearer and per link (uplink or downlink) are largely dependent on mobile speed. For information on creating a mobility type, see "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 247. Terminals: In UMTS, a terminal is the user equipment that is used in the network, for example, a mobile phone, a PDA, or a car’s on-board navigation device. For information on creating a terminal, see "Modelling Terminals" on page 249.

8.3.2 Calculating UMTS Traffic Simulations Once you have modelled the network services and users and have created traffic maps, you can create simulations. The simulation process consists of two steps: 1. Obtaining a realistic user distribution: Atoll generates a user distribution using a Monte Carlo algorithm; this user distribution is based on the traffic database and traffic maps and is weighted by a Poisson distribution between simulations of the same group. Each user is assigned a service, a mobility type, and an activity status by random trial, according to a probability law that uses the traffic database.

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The user activity status is an important output of the random trial and has direct consequences on the next step of the simulation and on the network interferences. A user can be either active or inactive. Both active and inactive users consume radio resources and create interference. Then, Atoll randomly assigns a shadowing error to each user using the probability distribution that describes the shadowing effect. Finally, another random trial determines user positions in their respective traffic zone (possibly according to the clutter weighting and the indoor ratio per clutter class). 2. Modelling network power control: Atoll uses a power control algorithm for R99 users, and an algorithm mixing A-DPCH power control and fast link adaptation for HSDPA bearer users and an additional loop modelling noise rise scheduling for HSUPA bearer users. The power control simulation algorithm is described in "The Power Control Simulation Algorithm" on page 572. This section explains the specific mechanisms that are used to calculate UMTS traffic simulations. For information on working with traffic simulations in Atoll, see "Simulations" on page 265

8.3.2.1 The Power Control Simulation Algorithm The power control algorithm (see Figure 8.12) simulates the way a UMTS network regulates itself by using uplink and downlink power controls in order to minimise interference and maximise capacity. HSDPA users are linked to the A-DPCH radio bearer (an R99 radio bearer). Therefore, the network uses a A-DPCH power control on UL and DL and then it performs fast link adaptation on DL in order to select an HSDPA radio bearer. For HSPA users, the network first uses a E-DPCCH/A-DPCH power control on UL and DL, checks that there is an HSDPA connection on downlink and then carries out noise rise scheduling in order to select an HSUPA radio bearer on uplink. Atoll simulates these network regulation mechanisms with an iterative algorithm and calculates, for each user distribution, network parameters such as cell power, mobile terminal power, active set and handoff status for each terminal. During each iteration of the algorithm, all the users selected during the user distribution generation (1st step) attempt to connect one by one to network transmitters. The process is repeated until the network is balanced, i.e., until the convergence criteria (on UL and DL) are satisfied.

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Figure 8.12: Schematic view of simulation algorithm As shown in Figure 8.12, the simulation algorithm is divided in three parts. All users are evaluated by the R99 part of the algorithm. HSDPA and HSPA users, unless they have been rejected during the R99 part of the algorithm, are then evaluated by the HSDPA part of the algorithm. Finally, HSPA users, unless they have been rejected during the R99 or HSDPA parts of the algorithm, are then evaluated by the HSUPA part of the algorithm. In the HSDPA portion of the Monte Carlo simulation, Atoll processes MC-HSPA users as DCHSPA users if they are connected to more than two carriers. Otherwise, they are considered as single-cell HSPA users. On the same hand, a DB-MC-HSPA user will be managed: • •

Either as a single-cell HSPA user if the best carrier and all the other carriers to which he is connected are on two different frequency bands. Or as a DC-HSPA user if the best carrier and at least one of the other carriers are in the same frequency band.

In the HSUPA portion, Atoll processes all users as single-cell HSPA users. Therefore, we will only differentiate single-cell and DC-HSPA users in the next sections.

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Description of the R99 Portion of the Simulation The R99 part of the algorithm simulates power control, congestion and radio resource control performed for R99 bearers for all users. Atoll considers each user in the order established during the generation of the user distribution and determines his best server and his active set. Atoll first calculates the required terminal power in order to reach the Eb⁄Nt threshold requested by the R99 bearer on UL, followed by the required traffic channel power in order to reach the Eb⁄Nt threshold requested by the R99 bearer on DL. After calculating power control, Atoll updates the cell load parameters. Atoll then carries out congestion and radio resource control, verifying the cell UL load, the total power transmitted by the cell, the number of channel elements, the Iub throughput and OVSF codes consumed by the cell. In DC-HSDPA, A-DPCH is only transmitted on one of the two carriers (called the anchor carrier). Therefore, DC-HSPA users consume the same amount of R99 resources as single-cell HSDPA users. The R99 bearer is allocated to DC-HSPA users on their best serving cell. At this point, users can be either connected or rejected. They are rejected if: •

The signal quality is not sufficient: • • •

•

On the downlink, either the pilot signal level is lower than the defined minimum RSCP threshold or the pilot quality is not high enough (no cell in the user active set): the status is "Ec⁄I0 < (Ec⁄I0)min" On the downlink, the power required to reach the user is greater than the maximum allowed: the status is "Ptch > PtchMax" On the uplink, there is not enough power to transmit: the status is "Pmob > PmobMax"

Even if constraints above are respected, the network can be saturated: • • • • •

The maximum uplink load factor is exceeded (at admission or congestion): the status is either "Admission Rejection" or "UL Load Saturation" There are not enough channel elements on site: the status is "Ch. Elts Saturation" The maximum Iub backhaul throughput on site is exceeded: the status is "Iub Throughput Saturation" There is not enough power for cells: the status is "DL Load Saturation" There are no more OVSF codes available: the status is "OVSF Code Saturation"

Description of the HSDPA Portion of the Simulation In the HSDPA part, Atoll processes HSDPA and HSPA users. The HSDPA part of the algorithm simulates fast link adaptation, the scheduling of HSDPA bearer users, and radio resource control on downlink. For DC-HSPA users, fast link adaptation is done once for each carrier. For a DC-HSPA user, the first carrier is the one selected in the R99 part according to the carrier selection method chosen in the site equipment, and the second carrier is an adjacent carrier that provides the best CQI. Therefore, DC-HSPA users have two HSDPA bearers (possibly different ones depending on the available HSDPA power in each cell), and consume HSDPA resources in both cells. Their throughputs are the sum of the throughputs provided by the two HSDPA bearers. HSDPA bearer selection is based on look-up tables, available by double-clicking the corresponding entry in the Reception Equipment table, found in the Terminals context menu. HSDPA bearer selection depends on reported CQI, UE and cell capabilities as detailed in the following diagramme.

[ Figure 8.13: HSDPA bearer selection The HSDPA and HS-SCCH powers of a cell are evaluated before calculating HS-PDSCH Ec⁄Nt. The available HSDPA power (the power dedicated to HS-SCCH and HS-PDSCH of HSDPA bearer users) of a cell can be either fixed (statically allocated) or dynamically allocated. If it is dynamically allocated, the power allocated to HSDPA depends on how much power is required to serve R99 traffic. In other words, the power available after all common channels (including the power for downlink HSUPA channels) and all R99 traffic have been served is allocated to HS-PDSCH and HS-SCCH of HSDPA bearer users. Similarly, the power per HS-SCCH can be either fixed or dynamically allocated in order to attain the HS-SCCH Ec⁄Nt threshold. Using the HS-SCCH and HSDPA powers, Atoll evaluates the HS-PDSCH power (the difference between the available HSDPA power and the HS-SCCH power), calculates the HS-PDSCH Ec⁄Nt and, from that, the corresponding CQI (from the graph CQI=f(HS-PDSCH Ec⁄Nt) defined for the terminal reception equipment and the user mobility). Then, Atoll reads the best HSDPA bearer associated to this CQI (i.e., it reads the Best Bearer=f(HS-PDSCH CQI) from the table defined for the terminal reception equipment and the user mobility) and checks if it is compatible with the user equipment and cell capabilities. If compatible, Atoll selects the HSDPA bearer. Otherwise, it downgrades the HSDPA bearer to a lower one until the selected HSDPA bearer is compatible with the user equipment and cell capabilities. For BE service users, the selected HSDPA bearer is the best HSDPA bearer that the user can obtain. For VBR service users, Atoll downgrades the HSDPA bearer to a lower one if the associated peak RLC throughput exceeds the maximum throughput demand defined for the service. Downgrading occurs until the peak RLC throughput of the selected HSDPA bearer is lower than the maximum throughput demand. Additionally, the selected HSDPA bearer must provide a peak RLC throughput higher than the minimum throughput demand defined for the service.

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For CBR service users, HS-SCCH-less operation (i.e., HS-DSCH transmissions without any accompanying HS-SCCH) is performed. In this case, the UE is not informed about the transmission format and has to revert to blind decoding of the transport format used on the HS-DSCH. Complexity of blind detections in the UE is decreased by limiting the transmission formats that can be used (i.e., the HSDPA bearers available). Therefore, only HSDPA bearers using QPSK modulation and a maximum of two HS-PDSCH channels can be selected and allocated to the user. Additionally, the selected HSDPA bearer must provide a peak RLC throughput higher than the minimum throughput demand defined for the service. Two CQI values are calculated for DC-HSPA users, one for each carrier, and two HSDPA bearers are determined. CBR service users have the highest priority and are processed first, in the order established during the generation of the user distribution. The scheduler manages the maximum number of users within each cell and shares the cell’s available HSDPA power between the users. Atoll determines the HSDPA bearer for each user. The selected HSDPA bearer must provide a peak RLC throughput higher than the minimum throughput demand defined for the service. To achieve the highest cell capacity, the scheduler can hold several packets over a TTI (Transmission Time Interval). Atoll models this "intelligent scheduling" by allowing several CBR service users to share the same HSDPA bearer. Then, Atoll calculates the HSDPA bearer consumption for each user and takes into account this parameter when it determines the resources consumed by the user (i.e., the HSDPA power used, the number of OVSF codes, and the Iub backhaul throughput). Atoll checks if enough codes and Iub backhaul throughput are available for the user (taking into account the maximum number of OVSF codes defined for the cell and the maximum Iub backhaul throughput allowed on the site in the downlink). If not, Atoll allocates a lower HSDPA bearer ("downgrading") which needs fewer OVSF codes and consumes lower Iub backhaul throughput. If no OVSF codes are available, the user is rejected. At the same time, if the maximum Iub backhaul throughput allowed on the site in the downlink is still exceeded, the user is rejected. At this point, CBR service users can be connected or rejected. They are rejected if: • • • • •

The maximum number of HSDPA bearer users per cell is exceeded: the status is "HSDPA Scheduler Saturation" The lowest HSDPA bearer they can obtain does not provide a peak RLC throughput higher than the minimum throughput demand: the status is "HSDPA Resource Saturation" The HS-SCCH signal quality is not sufficient: the status is "HSDPA Resource Saturation" There are no more OVSF codes available: the status is "HSDPA Resource Saturation" The maximum Iub backhaul throughput allowed on the site in the downlink is exceeded: the status is "HSDPA Resource Saturation"

After processing the CBR service users, Atoll processes the remaining HSDPA bearer users (i.e., HSDPA VBR and BE service users, and HSPA VBR and BE service users), without exceeding the maximum number of users within each cell. VBR service users have the highest priority and are managed before BE service users. For each type of service, the scheduler ranks the users according to the selected scheduling technique: •

• •

Max C/I: "n" users (where "n" corresponds to the maximum number of HSDPA bearer users defined for the cell minus the number of CBR service users in the cell) are scheduled in the same order as in the simulation (i.e., in random order). Then, they are sorted in descending order by the channel quality indicator (CQI). Round Robin: Users are scheduled in the same order as in the simulation (i.e., in random order). Proportional Fair: "n" users (where "n" corresponds to the maximum number of HSDPA bearer users defined for the cell minus the number of CBR service users in the cell) are scheduled in the same order as in the simulation (i.e., in random order). Then, they are sorted in descending order according to a random parameter which corresponds to a combination of the user rank in the simulation and the channel quality indicator (CQI).

Then, users are processed in the order defined by the scheduler and the remaining cell’s HSDPA power (i.e., the HSDPA power available after all CBR service users have been served) is shared between them. Atoll checks if enough codes and Iub backhaul throughput are available for the user (taking into account the maximum number of OVSF codes defined for the cell and the maximum Iub backhaul throughput allowed on the site in the downlink). If not, Atoll allocates a lower HSDPA bearer ("downgrading") which needs fewer OVSF codes and consumes lower Iub backhaul throughput. For VBR services, if no OVSF codes are available, the user is rejected. At the same time, if the maximum Iub backhaul throughput allowed on the site in the downlink is still exceeded, the user is rejected. At this point, VBR service users can be connected or rejected. They are rejected if: • • • • • •

The maximum number of HSDPA bearer users per cell is exceeded: the status is "HSDPA Scheduler Saturation" The lowest HSDPA bearer they can obtain does not provide a peak RLC throughput higher than the minimum throughput demand: the status is "HSDPA Resource Saturation" There are no more HS-SCCH channels available: the status is "HS-SCCH Channels Saturation" The HS-SCCH signal quality is not sufficient: the status is "HSDPA Resource Saturation" There are no more OVSF codes available: the status is "HSDPA Resource Saturation" The maximum Iub backhaul throughput allowed on the site in the downlink is exceeded: the status is "HSDPA Resource Saturation"

For BE services, if no OVSF codes are available, the user is delayed. At the same time, if the maximum Iub backhaul throughput allowed on the site in the downlink is still exceeded even by using the lowest HSDPA bearer, the user is delayed.

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At this point, BE service users can be connected, rejected, or delayed. They are rejected if the maximum number of HSDPA bearer users per cell is exceeded (status is "HSDPA Scheduler Saturation") and delayed if: • • • • •

They cannot obtain the lower HSDPA bearer: the status is "No Compatible Bearer" The HS-SCCH signal quality is not sufficient: the status is "HSDPA Power Saturation" There are no more HS-SCCH channels available: the status is "HS-SCCH Channels Saturation" There are no more OVSF codes available: the status is "OVSF Code Saturation" The maximum Iub backhaul throughput allowed on the site in the downlink is exceeded: the status is "Iub Throughput Saturation"

Description of the HSUPA Portion of the Simulation In the HSUPA part, Atoll processes HSPA users who are connected to an HSDPA bearer or were delayed in the previous step. It manages the maximum number of users within each cell. CBR service users have the highest priority and are processed first, in the order established during the generation of the user distribution. Then, Atoll considers VBR service users in the order established during the generation of the user distribution and lastly, it processes BE service users in the order established during the generation of the user distribution. The HSUPA part of the algorithm simulates an admission control on the HSUPA bearer users followed by noise rise scheduling and radio resource control. Atoll first selects a list of HSUPA bearers that are compatible with the user equipment capabilities for each HSUPA bearer user. For CBR service users, the list is restricted to HSUPA bearers that provide a peak RLC throughput higher than the minimum throughput demand. Then, during admission control, Atoll checks that the lowest compatible bearer in terms of the required E-DPDCH Ec⁄Nt does not require a terminal power higher than the maximum terminal power allowed. Then, Atoll performs the noise rise scheduling on CBR service users, followed by a radio resource control. The noise rise scheduling algorithm attempts to evenly share the remaining cell load between the users admitted in admission control; in terms of HSUPA, each user is allocated a right to produce interference. The remaining cell load factor on uplink depends on the maximum load factor allowed on uplink and how much uplink load is produced by the served R99 traffic. From this value, Atoll calculates the maximum E-DPDCH Ec⁄Nt allowed and can select an HSUPA bearer. The HSUPA bearer is selected based on the values in a look-up table, and depends on the maximum E-DPDCH Ec⁄Nt allowed and on UE capabilities. You can open the HSUPA Bearer Selection table by clicking the Expand button ( ) to expand the UMTS Network Settings folder in the Parameters explorer, and then rightclicking the Reception Equipment folder and selecting Open Table from the context menu. Atoll selects the best HSUPA bearer from the HSUPA compatible bearers, in other words, the HSUPA bearer with the highest potential throughput where the required E-DPDCH Ec/Nt is lower than the maximum E-DPDCH Ec⁄Nt allowed and the required terminal power is lower than the maximum terminal power. In this section, the potential throughput refers to the ratio between the peak RLC throughput and the number of retransmissions. When several HSUPA bearers are available, Atoll selects the one with the lowest required E-DPDCH Ec⁄Nt. Several CBR service users can share the same HSUPA bearer. Atoll calculates the HSUPA bearer consumption for each user and takes into account this parameter when it determines the resources consumed by each user (i.e., the terminal power used, the number of channel elements and the Iub backhaul throughput). Finally, Atoll carries out radio resource control on CBR service users. Atoll checks to see if enough channel elements and Iub backhaul throughput are available for the HSUPA bearer assigned to the user (taking into account the maximum number of channel elements defined for the site and the maximum Iub backhaul throughput allowed on the site in the uplink). If not, Atoll allocates a lower HSUPA bearer ("downgrading") which needs fewer channel elements and consumes lower Iub backhaul throughput. If no channel elements are available, the user is rejected. On the same hand, if the maximum Iub backhaul throughput allowed on the site in the uplink is still exceeded even by using the lowest HSUPA bearer, the user is rejected. At this point, CBR service users can be either connected, or rejected. They are rejected if: • • • • •

The maximum number of HSUPA bearer users per cell is exceeded: the status is "HSUPA Scheduler Saturation". The terminal power required to obtain the lowest compatible HSUPA bearer exceeds the maximum terminal power in the admission control: the status is "Pmob > PmobMax". The lowest compatible HSUPA bearer they can obtain does not provide a peak RLC throughput higher than the minimum throughput demand: the status is "HSUPA Admission Rejection". There are no more channel elements available: the status is "Ch. Elts Saturation" The maximum Iub backhaul throughput allowed on the site in the uplink is exceeded: the status is "Iub Throughput Saturation".

Then, Atoll processes VBR service users. For these users, the list of compatible bearers is restricted to HSUPA bearers that provide a peak RLC throughput between the maximum and the minimum throughput demands. Atoll performs a new noise rise scheduling and distributes the remaining cell load factor available after all CBR service users have been served. From this value, Atoll selects an HSUPA bearer for each VBR service user. Finally, Atoll carries out radio resource control on VBR service users. Atoll checks to see if enough channel elements and Iub backhaul throughput are available for the HSUPA bearer assigned to the user (taking into account the maximum number of channel elements defined for the site and the maximum Iub backhaul throughput allowed on the site in the uplink). If not,

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Atoll allocates a lower HSUPA bearer ("downgrading") which needs fewer channel elements and consumes lower Iub backhaul throughput. If no channel elements are available, the user is rejected. On the same hand, if the maximum Iub backhaul throughput allowed on the site in the uplink is still exceeded even by using the lowest HSUPA bearer, the user is rejected. At this point, VBR service users can be either connected, or rejected. They are rejected if: • • • • •

The maximum number of HSUPA bearer users per cell is exceeded: the status is "HSUPA Scheduler Saturation". The terminal power required to obtain the lowest compatible HSUPA bearer exceeds the maximum terminal power in the admission control: the status is "Pmob > PmobMax". The lowest compatible HSUPA bearer they can obtain does not provide a peak RLC throughput higher than the minimum throughput demand: the status is "HSUPA Admission Rejection". There are no more channel elements available: the status is "Ch. Elts Saturation". The maximum Iub backhaul throughput allowed on the site in the uplink is exceeded: the status is "Iub Throughput Saturation".

Then, Atoll processes BE service users. It performs a new noise rise scheduling and distributes the remaining cell load factor available after all CBR and VBR service users have been served. From this value, Atoll selects an HSUPA bearer for each BE service user. Then, Atoll checks that each BE service user has obtained the average requested throughput (defined in the properties of the service). Finally, Atoll carries out radio resource control, verifying whether enough channel elements and Iub backhaul throughput are available for the HSUPA bearer assigned to the user (taking into account the maximum number of channel elements defined for the site and the maximum Iub backhaul throughput allowed on the site in the uplink). If not, Atoll allocates a lower HSUPA bearer ("downgrading") which needs fewer channel elements and consumes lower Iub backhaul throughput. If no channel elements are available, the user is rejected. On the same hand, if the maximum Iub backhaul throughput allowed on the site in the uplink is still exceeded even by using the lowest HSDPA bearer, the user is rejected. At this point, BE service users can be either connected, or rejected. They are rejected if: • • • •

The maximum number of HSUPA bearer users per cell is exceeded: the status is "HSUPA Scheduler Saturation". The terminal power required to obtain the lowest compatible HSUPA bearer exceeds the maximum terminal power in the admission control: the status is "Pmob > PmobMax". There are no more channel elements available: the status is "Ch. Elts Saturation" The maximum Iub backhaul throughput allowed on the site in the uplink is exceeded: the status is "Iub Throughput Saturation".

Bearer Downgrading If you select the option "Bearer Downgrading," when creating a simulation, R99, HSDPA and HSUPA service users can be downgraded under certain circumstances. When the downgrading is allowed, Atoll does not reject R99, HSDPA and HSPA users directly; it downgrades them first. The R99 to R99 bearer downgrading occurs when: •

The cell resources are insufficient when the user is admitted •

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The cell resources are insufficient during congestion control • • • • •

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The maximum uplink load factor is exceeded The maximum uplink load factor is exceeded There is not enough power for cells There are not enough channel elements on the site The maximum Iub backhaul throughput on the site is exceeded There are no more OVSF codes available

The user maximum connection power is exceeded during power control: • •

On the downlink, the maximum traffic channel power is exceeded On the uplink, the maximum terminal power is exceeded

For all these reasons, the user’s R99 bearer will be downgraded to another R99 bearer of the same type (same traffic class). Upon admission and during power control, downgrading is only performed on the user who causes the problem. During congestion control, the problem is at the cell level and therefore, downgrading is performed on several users according to their service priority. Users with the lowest priority services will be the first to be downgraded. If R99 bearer downgrading does not fix the problem, the user will be rejected. For an HSDPA bearer user, downgrading is triggered upon admission (into the R99 portion) when the best serving cell does not support HSDPA traffic. When this happens, the HSDPA bearer user will not be able to get an HSDPA bearer and will be downgraded to an R99 bearer of the same type as the A-DPCH bearer and the user will be processed as an R99 user. For an HSUPA bearer user, downgrading is triggered upon admission (into the R99 portion) when the best serving cell does not support HSUPA traffic. When this happens, the HSUPA bearer user will not be able to get an HSUPA bearer and will be downgraded to an R99 bearer of the same type as the E-DPCCH/A-DPCH bearer and the user will be processed as an R99 user.

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8.3.2.2 UMTS Simulation Results After you have created a simulation, as explained in "Creating Simulations" on page 266, you can either display the results as a distribution map or you can access the actual values of the simulation. Actual values can be displayed either for a single simulation or as average values for a group of simulations. To display distribution maps of a simulation, see "Displaying Simulation Results on the Map" on page 270. Actual values can be displayed either for a single simulation or as average values for a group of simulations. This section covers the following topics: • •

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"Displaying the Results of a Single Simulation" on page 578 "Displaying the Average Results of a Group of Simulations" on page 584

Displaying the Results of a Single Simulation To access the result values of a simulation: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Simulations folder, and expand the folder of the simulation group containing the simulation whose results you want to access. 2. Right-click the simulation and select Properties from the context menu. A simulation properties dialog box appears. One tab gives statistics of the results of the simulation. Other tabs in the simulation properties dialog box contain simulation results as identified by the tab title. A final tab lists the initial conditions of the simulation. The amount of detail available when you display the results depends on the level of detail you selected from the Information to retain list on the General tab of the properties dialog box for the group of simulations. For more information on the different options, see "Creating Simulations" on page 266. The Statistics tab: The Statistics tab contains the following two sections: •

Demand: Under Demand, you will find data on the connection requests: • • •

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Atoll calculates the total number of users who try to connect. This number is the result of the first random trial; power control has not yet finished. The result depends on the traffic description and traffic input. During the first random trial, each user is assigned a service and an activity status. The number of users per activity status and the UL and DL throughputs that all active users could theoretically generate are provided. The breakdown per service (total number of users, number of users per activity status, and UL and DL throughputs) is given.

Results: Under Results, you will find data on connection results: • •

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The number of iterations that were run in order to converge. The number and the percentage of rejected users is given along with the reason for rejection. These figures include rejected users only. These figures are determined at the end of the simulation and depend on the network design. The number and the percentage of delayed users is given along with the reason for delay. The number and percentage of R99 bearer users connected to a cell, the number of users per frequency band for a multi-band network, the number of users per activity status, and the UL and DL total throughputs they generate. These figures include R99 users as well as HSDPA and HSPA users (since all of them request an R99 bearer); they are determined in the R99 part of the algorithm. This data is also provided by service. The total number and the percentage of connected users with an HSDPA bearer, the number of users per frequency band for a multi-band network, the number of users per activity status, and the DL total throughput that they generate. HSDPA and HSPA service users are considered because they all request an HSDPA bearer, except Packet (HSPA - Constant Rate). The total number of connected HSUPA bearer users and the percentage of users with an HSUPA bearer, the number of users per frequency band for a multi-band network, the number of users per activity status, and the UL total throughput they generate. Only HSPA service users are considered, except Packet (HSPA Constant Rate).

The Sites tab: The Sites tab contains the following information per site: • • • • • • •

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Max No. of DL and UL CEs: The maximum number of channel elements available on uplink and downlink for R99 bearers requested by the users. No. of DL and UL CEs Used: The number of channel elements required on uplink and downlink for R99 bearers to handle the traffic of current simulation. No. of DL and UL CEs Due to SHO Overhead: The number of extra channel elements due to soft handover, on uplink and downlink. Carrier Selection: The carrier selection method defined on the site equipment. Downlink and Uplink Overhead CEs/Cell: The overhead channel elements per cell on the downlink and on the uplink, defined on the site equipment. AS Restricted to Neighbours: Whether the active set is restricted to neighbours of the reference cell. This option is selected on the site equipment. Rake Factor: The rake factor, defined on the site equipment, enables Atoll to model a rake receiver on downlink.

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MUD Factor: The multi-user detection factor, defined on the site equipment, is used to decrease intra-cell interference on uplink. Compressed Mode: Whether compressed mode is supported. This option is defined on the site equipment. Max Iub Downlink and Uplink Backhaul Throughput (kbps): The maximum Iub backhaul throughput in the downlink and uplink. Iub Downlink and Uplink Backhaul Throughput (kbps): The Iub backhaul throughput required on downlink and uplink to handle the traffic of current simulation. Overhead Iub Throughput (kbps): the Iub throughput required by the site for common channels in the downlink. It corresponds to the overhead Iub throughput per cell (defined on the site equipment) multiplied by the number of cells on the site. HSDPA Iub Backhaul Overhead (%): This parameter is defined on the site equipment. It corresponds to the percentage of the HSDPA bearer peak RLC throughput to be added to the peak RLC throughput. The total value corresponds to the Iub backhaul throughput required by the HSDPA bearer users for HS Channels in the downlink. Nb of Recommended E1/T1/Ethernet Link: The number of E1/T1/Ethernet links required to provide the total Iub backhaul throughput. Instantaneous HSDPA Throughput (kbps): The Instantaneous HSDPA Throughput (kbps). Instantaneous HSDPA MAC Throughput (kbps): The Instantaneous HSDPA MAC throughput (kbps). DL and UL Throughput for Each Service: The throughput in kbits⁄s for each service. The result is detailed on the downlink and uplink only when relevant.

The Cells tab: The Cells tab contains the following information, per site, transmitter, and carrier: • • • • •

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Max Power (dBm): The maximum power as defined in the cell properties. Pilot Power (dBm): The pilot power as defined in the cell properties. SCH power (dBm): The SCH power as defined in the cell properties. Other CCH power (dBm): The power of other common channels. It includes the other CCH power and the DL HSUPA power as defined in the cell properties. Available HSDPA Power (dBm): The available HSDPA power as defined in the cell properties. This is the power available for the HS-PDSCH and HS-SCCH. The value is either fixed by the user when the HSDPA power is allocated statically, or by a simulation when the option HSDPA Power Dynamic Allocation is selected. AS Threshold (dB): The active set threshold as defined in cell properties Gain (dBi): The gain as defined in the antenna properties for that transmitter. Reception Losses (dB): The reception losses as defined in the transmitter properties. Transmission Losses (dB): The transmission losses as defined in the transmitter properties. Noise Figure (dB): The noise figure as defined in the transmitter properties Total Transmitted R99 Power (dBm): The total transmitted R99 power is the power transmitted by the cell on common channels (Pilot, SCH, other CCH), HSUPA channels (E-AGCH, E-RGCH, and E-HICH) and R99 traffic-dedicated channels. Transmitted HSDPA Power (dBm): The HSDPA power transmitted by the cell on HSDPA channels. It corresponds to the HSDPA power used to serve HSDPA bearer users. Total Transmitted Power (dBm): The total transmitted power of the cell is the sum of the total transmitted R99 power and the transmitted HSDPA power. If HSDPA power is allocated dynamically, the total transmitted power cannot exceed the maximum power minus the power headroom. When the constraint "DL load" is set and HSDPA power is statically allocated, the total transmitted power cannot exceed the maximum DL load (defined either in the cell properties, or in the simulation). On the other hand, if HSDPA power is allocated dynamically, the control is carried out on the R99 transmitted power, which cannot exceed the maximum DL load.

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UL Total Noise (dBm): The uplink total noise takes into account the total signal received at the transmitter on a carrier from intra and extra-cell terminals using the same carrier and adjacent carriers (uplink total interference) and the thermal noise. Max UL Load Factor (%): The maximum uplink load factor that the cell can support. It is defined either in the cell properties, or in the simulation creation dialog box. Max DL Load (% Pmax): The maximum percentage of power that the cell can use. It is defined either in the cell properties, or in the simulation creation dialog box. UL load factor (%): The uplink cell load factor corresponds to the ratio between the uplink total interference and the uplink total noise. If the constraint "UL load factor" has been selected, UL cell load factor is not allowed to exceed the user-defined maximum UL load factor (either in the cell properties, or in the simulation creation dialog box). DL Load Factor (%): The DL load factor of the cell i corresponds to the ratio (DL average interference [due to transmitter signals on the same and adjacent carriers] for terminals in the transmitter i area) ⁄ (DL average total noise [due to transmitter signals and to thermal noise of terminals] for terminals in the transmitter i area). UL and DL Noise Rise (dB): The uplink and downlink noise rises are calculated from uplink and downlink load factors. These data indicate signal degradation due to cell load (interference margin in the link budget).

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DL R99 Load (% Pmax): The percentage of power used for R99 channels is determined by the total transmitted R99 power-maximum power ratio (power stated in W). When the constraint "DL load" is set and HSDPA power is allocated dynamically, the DL R99 Load can not exceed the user-defined Max DL Load (defined either in the cell properties, or in the simulation). Reuse Factor (UL): The uplink reuse factor is the ratio between the uplink total interference and the intra-cell interference. Reuse Efficiency Factor (UL): The uplink reuse efficiency factor is the reciprocal of the uplink reuse factor. Number of UL and DL Radio Links: The number of radio links corresponds to the number of user-transmitter links on the same carrier. This data is calculated on uplink and on downlink and indicates the number of users connected to the cell on uplink and downlink. Because of handover, a single user can use several radio links. Connection Success Rate (%): The connection success rate gives the ratio of connected users over the total number of users in the cell. HSDPA Application Throughput (kbps): This is the net HSDPA throughput without coding (redundancy, overhead, addressing, etc.). Min. HSDPA Peak RLC Throughput (kbps): The minimum HSDPA peak RLC throughput corresponds to the lowest of peak RLC throughputs obtained by HSDPA bearer users connected to the cell. For DC-HSPA users, this is the lower of the two minimum HSDPA peak RLC throughputs. Max HSDPA Peak RLC Throughput (kbps): The maximum HSDPA peak RLC throughput corresponds to the highest of peak RLC throughputs obtained by HSDPA bearer users connected to the cell. For DC-HSPA users, this is the higher of the two maximum HSDPA peak RLC throughputs. Avg. Instantaneous HSDPA Throughput (kbps): The average instantaneous HSDPA throughput (kbps) is the average number of kbits per second that the cell supports on downlink to provide one connected user with an HSDPA bearer. The HSDPA throughput of DC-HSPA users is the sum of their HSDPA throughputs on both cells. Instantaneous HSDPA Throughput (kbps): The instantaneous HSDPA throughput (kbps) is the number of kbits per second that the cell supports on downlink to provide simultaneous connected users with an HSDPA bearer. The HSDPA throughput of DC-HSPA users is the sum of their HSDPA throughputs on both cells. Instantaneous HSDPA MAC Throughput (kbps): The Instantaneous HSDPA MAC throughput (kbps) that the cell carries. The HSDPA throughput of DC-HSPA users is the sum of their HSDPA throughputs on both cells. No. of Simultaneous HSDPA Users: The number of simultaneous HSDPA users corresponds to the number of HSDPA bearer users that the cell supports at one time, i.e. within one time transmission interval. All these users are connected to the cell at the end of the HSDPA part of the simulation; they have a connection with the R99 bearer and an HSDPA bearer. DC-HSPA users are considered once in each cell they are connected to. No. of HSDPA Users: The number of connected and delayed HSDPA bearer users. DC-HSPA users are considered once in each cell they are connected to. No. of HSUPA Users: The number of HSUPA bearer users connected to the cell. HSUPA Application Throughput (kbps): This is the net HSUPA throughput without coding (redundancy, overhead, addressing, etc.). HSUPA UL Load Factor (%): The uplink cell load contribution due to HSUPA traffic. No. of Codes (512 Bits): The number of 512-bit OVSF codes used per cell. The types of handover as a percentage: Atoll estimates the percentages of handover types for each transmitter. Atoll only lists the results for the following handover status, no handover (1⁄1), softer (1⁄2), soft (2⁄2), softer-soft (2⁄3) and soft-soft (3⁄3) handovers; the other handover status (other HO) are grouped. R99 UL and DL Throughput (kbps): The uplink and downlink R99 throughputs represent the numbers of kbits per second delivered by the cell respectively on uplink and on downlink to supply users with a R99 bearer. All the radio links in the cell, i.e., links due to handover, are taken into account in the throughput calculation. R99 UL and DL Throughput Without HO (kbps): The uplink and downlink R99 throughputs represent the numbers of kbits per second delivered by the cell respectively on uplink and on downlink to supply users with a R99 bearer. Only the links with the best server are taken into account in the calculation of throughput. Min TCH Pwr (dBm): The minimum power allocated to a traffic channel to supply services. Max TCH Pwr (dBm): The maximum power allocated to a traffic channel to supply services. Avg TCH Pwr (dBm): The average power allocated to a traffic channel to supply services. Non-connected users: The number of rejected and delayed users per cell. Rejected users are sorted by the following values: Pmob > PmobMax, Ptch > PtchMax, Ec⁄Io < (Ec⁄Io)min., UL Load Saturation, Ch. Elts Saturation, DL Load Saturation, Code Saturation, Admission Rejection, HSDPA Scheduler Saturation, HSDPA Resource Saturation, HSUPA Admission Rejection, HSUPA Scheduler Saturation and Iub Throughput Saturation. Delayed users are regrouped under HSDPA Delayed. Connection Success Rate (%) For Each Service: For each service, the connection success rate gives the ratio of connected users over the total number of users of that service in the cell.

The Mobiles tab: The Mobiles tab contains the following information: The Mobiles tab only appears if, when creating the simulation as explained in "Creating Simulations" on page 266, you select either "Standard information about mobiles" or "Detailed information about mobiles" under Information to Retain.

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X and Y: The coordinates of users who attempt to connect (the geographic position is determined by the second random trial). Service: The service assigned during the first random trial during the generation of the user distribution. Terminal: The assigned terminal. Atoll uses the assigned service and activity status to determine the terminal and the user profile. User Profile: The assigned user profile. Atoll uses the assigned service and activity status to determine the terminal and the user profile. Mobility: The mobility type assigned during the first random trial during the generation of the user distribution. Activity Status: The activity status assigned during the first random trial during the generation of the user distribution. Carrier: The carrier used for the mobile-transmitter connection. DC-HSPA users are connected to two carriers. Details can be displayed per carrier by selecting Actions > Detailed Display. Frequency Band: the frequency band used for the mobile-transmitter connection. DL and UL Total Requested Throughput (kbps): For R99 users, the DL and UL total requested throughputs correspond to the DL and UL peak throughputs of the R99 bearer associated to the service. For HSDPA users, the uplink requested throughput corresponds to the peak throughput of ADPCH R99 radio bearer and the downlink requested throughput is the sum of the ADPCH radio bearer peak throughput and the peak RLC throughput(s) that the selected HSDPA radio bearer(s) can provide. Here, the user is treated as if he is the only user in the cell and then, Atoll determines the HSDPA bearer the user would obtain by considering the entire HSDPA power available of the cell. For HSPA users, the uplink requested throughput is equal to the sum of the ADPCH-EDPCCH radio bearer peak throughput and the peak RLC throughput of the requested HSUPA radio bearer. The requested HSUPA radio bearer is selected from the HSUPA bearers compatible with the user equipment. Here, the user is treated as if he is the only user in the cell and then, Atoll determines the HSUPA bearer the user would obtain by considering the entire remaining load of the cell. The downlink requested throughput is the sum of the ADPCH-EDPCCH radio bearer peak throughput and the peak RLC throughput(s) that the requested HSDPA radio bearer(s) can provide.

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DL and UL Total Obtained Throughput (kbps): For R99 service users, the obtained throughput is the same as the requested throughput if he is connected without being downgraded. Otherwise, the obtained throughput is lower (it corresponds to the peak throughput of the selected R99 bearer). If the user is rejected, the obtained throughput is zero. In the downlink, HSDPA bearer users can be connected to a single cell or to two cells of the same transmitter when the user has a DC-HSPA-capable terminal and when the transmitter supports the multi-cell HSDPA mode. For a single-carrier HSDPA service user connected to an HSDPA bearer, the downlink obtained throughput corresponds to the instantaneous throughput; this is the sum of the A-DPCH radio bearer peak throughput and the peak RLC throughput provided by the selected HSDPA radio bearer after scheduling and radio resource control. If the user is delayed (he is only connected to an R99 radio bearer), downlink obtained throughput corresponds to the downlink peak throughput of the ADPCH radio bearer. Finally, if the user is rejected either in the R99 part or in the HSDPA part (i.e., because the HSDPA scheduler is saturated), the downlink obtained throughput is zero. For a dual-carrier HSDPA service user connected to two HSDPA bearers, the downlink obtained throughput corresponds to the instantaneous throughput; this is the sum of the peak throughput provided by the A-DPCH radio bearer in the anchor cell and the peak RLC throughputs provided by the selected HSDPA radio bearers after scheduling and radio resource control. If the user is connected to one cell and delayed in the other cell, the downlink obtained throughput is the sum of the peak throughput provided by the A-DPCH radio bearer in the anchor cell and the peak RLC throughput provided by the selected HSDPA radio bearer after scheduling and radio resource control. If the user is delayed in the two cells (he is only connected to an R99 radio bearer in the anchor cell), the downlink obtained throughput corresponds to the downlink peak throughput of the ADPCH radio bearer in the anchor cell. Finally, if the user is rejected either in the R99 part or in the HSDPA part (i.e., because the HSDPA scheduler is saturated), the downlink obtained throughput is zero. In the uplink, HSDPA service users can only have a single-carrier connection. When the user is either connected or delayed, the uplink obtained throughput corresponds to the uplink peak throughput of the ADPCH radio bearer. If the user is rejected either in the R99 part or in the HSDPA part (i.e., because the HSDPA scheduler is saturated), the uplink obtained throughput is zero. For single-carrier HSPA VBR and BE service users, on downlink, if the user is connected to an HSDPA bearer, the downlink obtained throughput corresponds to the instantaneous throughput. The instantaneous throughput is the sum of the ADPCH-EDPCCH radio bearer peak throughput and the peak RLC throughput provided by the selected HSDPA radio bearer after scheduling and radio resource control. If the user is delayed, the downlink obtained throughput corresponds to the downlink peak throughput of ADPCH-EDPCCH radio bearer. If the user is rejected, the downlink obtained throughput is "0". For dual-carrier HSPA VBR and BE service users connected to two HSDPA bearers, the downlink obtained throughput corresponds to the instantaneous throughput; this is the sum of the peak throughput provided by the ADPCHEDPCCH radio bearer in the anchor cell and the peak RLC throughputs provided by the selected HSDPA radio bearers after scheduling and radio resource control. If the user is connected to one cell and delayed in the other cell,

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the downlink obtained throughput is the sum of the peak throughput provided by the ADPCH-EDPCCH radio bearer in the anchor cell and the peak RLC throughput provided by the selected HSDPA radio bearer after scheduling and radio resource control. If the user is delayed in the two cells (he is only connected to an R99 radio bearer in the anchor cell), the downlink obtained throughput corresponds to the downlink peak throughput of the ADPCHEDPCCH radio bearer in the anchor cell. Finally, if the user is rejected, the downlink obtained throughput is zero. In uplink, HSPA VBR and BE service users can only have a single-carrier connection. When the user is connected to an HSUPA bearer, the uplink obtained throughput is the sum of the ADPCH-EDPCCH radio bearer peak throughput and the peak RLC throughput provided by the selected HSUPA radio bearer after noise rise scheduling. If the user is rejected, the uplink obtained throughput is zero. For a connected HSPA CBR service user, the uplink and downlink total obtained throughputs are the sum of the ADPCH-EDPCCH radio bearer peak throughput and the minimum throughput demand defined for the service. If the user is rejected, the uplink and downlink total obtained throughputs are "0". • •

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Mobile Total Power (dBm): The mobile total power corresponds to the total power transmitted by the terminal. Connection Status: The connection status indicates whether the user is connected, delayed or rejected at the end of the simulation. If connected, the connection status corresponds to the activity status. If rejected, the rejection cause is given. If delayed (for HSDPA and HSPA users only), the status is "HSDPA delayed". Best Server: The best server among the transmitters in the mobile active set. HO Status (Sites/No. Transmitters Act. Set): The HO status is the number of sites compared to the number of transmitters in the active set. AS1, AS2, AS3, AS4: The name of the cell that is the best server, the second-best server, and so on is given in a separate column for each cell in the active set. Ec/Io AS1, AS2, AS3, AS4, (dB): Ec⁄Io is given in a separate column for each cell in the active set. The Ec/Io AS 1 column lists the Ec/Io from the best server for the rejected mobiles as well. Indoor: This field indicates whether indoor losses have been added or not. Active Compressed Mode: This field indicates whether active compressed mode is supported by the mobile or not.

The following columns only appear if, when creating the simulation as explained in "Creating Simulations" on page 266, you select "Detailed information about mobiles" under Information to Retain: •

DL and UL Requested Peak RLC Throughputs (kbps): Downlink and uplink requested peak RLC throughputs are not calculated for R99 users. For HSDPA users, the uplink peak RLC throughput is not calculated and the downlink requested peak RLC throughput is the throughput that the selected HSDPA radio bearer(s) can provide. For HSPA users, the requested uplink peak RLC throughput is the throughput of the requested HSUPA radio bearer. The requested HSUPA radio bearer is selected from the HSUPA bearers compatible with the user equipment. Here, the user is treated as if he is the only user in the cell and then, Atoll determines the HSUPA bearer the user would obtain by considering the entire remaining load of the cell. If the user is connected to one or two HSDPA bearers in the downlink, the downlink requested peak RLC throughput is the throughput that the requested HSDPA radio bearer(s) can provide. The requested HSDPA radio bearer is determined as explained in the previous paragraph.

•

DL and UL Obtained Peak RLC Throughput (kbps): Downlink and uplink obtained peak RLC throughputs are not calculated for R99 users. For HSDPA users connected to one or two HSDPA bearers, the uplink obtained peak RLC throughput is not calculated, and the downlink obtained peak RLC throughput is the throughput provided by the selected HSDPA radio bearer(s) after scheduling and radio resource control. For connected HSPA BE and VBR service users, on uplink, if the user is connected to an HSUPA bearer, the obtained uplink peak RLC throughput is the throughput provided by the selected HSUPA radio bearer after noise rise scheduling. On downlink, if the user is connected to one or two HSDPA bearers, the downlink obtained peak RLC throughput is the throughput provided by the selected HSDPA radio bearer(s) after scheduling and radio resource control. For a connected HSPA CBR service user, the uplink and downlink obtained peak RLC throughputs are the uplink and downlink minimum throughput demands defined for the service.

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HSDPA Application Throughput (kbps): The HSDPA application throughput is the net HSDPA throughput without coding (redundancy, overhead, addressing, etc.). It is calculated from the instantaneous HSDPA throughput (i.e., the DL obtained throughput), the BLER, the HSDPA service scaling factor and the throughput offset. Served HSDPA Power (dBm): This is the HSDPA power required to provide the HSDPA bearer user with the downlink obtained throughput. Required HSDPA Power (dBm): The required HSDPA power is the HSDPA power required to provide the HSDPA bearer user with the downlink requested throughput. If the HSDPA bearer allocated to the user is the best one, the required HSDPA power corresponds to the available HSDPA power of the cell. On the other hand, if the HSDPA has been downgraded in order to be compliant with cell and UE capabilities, the required HSDPA power will be lower than the available HSDPA power of the cell.

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No. of HSUPA Retransmissions (Required): The maximum number of retransmissions in order to have the requested HSUPA radio bearer with a given BLER. No. of HSUPA Retransmissions (Obtained): The maximum number of retransmissions in order to have the obtained HSUPA radio bearer with a given BLER. HSUPA Application Throughput (kbps): The HSUPA application throughput is the net HSUPA throughput without coding (redundancy, overhead, addressing, etc.). It is calculated from the UL obtained throughput, the BLER, the HSUPA service scaling factor and the throughput offset. Cell TCH Power AS1, AS2, AS3, AS4 (DL) (dBm): The cell power transmitted on the downlink is given for each link between the mobile and a transmitter in the active set. DL Ntot AS1, AS2, AS3, AS4 (dBm): The total noise on the downlink for each link between the mobile and a transmitter in the active set. Load Factor AS1, AS2, AS3, AS4 (DL) (%): The load factor on the downlink for each link between the mobile and a transmitter in the active set. It corresponds to the ratio between the total interference on the downlink and total noise at the terminal. Noise Rise AS1, AS2, AS3, AS4 (DL) (dB): The noise rise on the downlink for each link between the mobile and a transmitter in the active set. Reuse Factor AS1, AS2, AS3, AS4 (DL): The DL reuse factor for each link between the mobile and a transmitter in the active set. It is calculated from the interference received at the terminal from the intra cell area and the total interference received at the terminal from all the transmitters (intra and extra-cell and inter-carrier). Iintra AS1, AS2, AS3, AS4 (DL) (dBm): The intra-cell interference for each cell (I) of the active set.  DL ic   Fortho   P DL ic   PSCH I int ra  P DL tot tot LT i  i

•

Iextra AS1, AS2, AS3, AS4 (DL) (dBm): The extra-cell interference for each cell (I) of the active set. I extra  DL

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   

 ic   Fortho   P DL ic   PSCH P DL tot tot LT Tx ,iTx 

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Total Loss AS1, AS2, AS3, AS4 (dB): The total attenuation for each link between the mobile and a transmitter in the active set. Iub UL Backhaul Throughput (kbps): The Iub backhaul throughput consumed on the uplink by the mobile. Iub DL Backhaul Throughput (kbps): The Iub backhaul throughput consumed on the downlink by the mobile. No. of UL CEs: The number of channel elements consumed on the uplink by the mobile. No. of DL CEs: The number of channel elements consumed on the downlink by the mobile. Name: The name of the mobile, as assigned during the random user generation. Clutter: The clutter class on which the mobile is located. Orthogonality Factor: The orthogonality factor used in the simulation. The orthogonality factor is the remaining orthogonality of the OVSF codes at reception. The value used is the orthogonality factor set in the clutter classes. % Pilot Finger: The percentage pilot finger used in the simulation, defined per clutter class or globally for all clutter classes. UL SHO Gain (dB): The uplink soft handover gain is calculated if mobile receivers are connected either on DL or on UL and DL. DL SHO Gain (dB): The downlink soft handover gain is calculated if mobile receivers are connected either on DL or on UL and DL. No. of Codes (512 Bits): The number of OVSF codes used per mobile.

The Mobiles (Shadowing Values) tab: The Mobiles (Shadowing Values) tab contains information on the shadowing margin for each link between the receiver and up to ten closest potential transmitters: The Mobiles (Shadowing Values) tab only appears if, when creating the simulation as explained in "Creating Simulations" on page 266, you select "Detailed information about mobiles" under Information to Retain. • • • • •

Name: The name assigned to the mobile. Value at Receiver (dB): The value of the shadowing margin at the receiver. Clutter: The clutter class on which the mobile is located. Path To: The name of the potential transmitter. Value (dB): The shadowing value for the potential link in the corresponding Path To column. These values depend on the model standard deviation per clutter type on which the receiver is located and are randomly distributed on a gaussian curve.

The Initial Conditions tab: The Initial Conditions tab contains the following information: •

The global transmitter parameters: • •

The spreading width Whether the power values on the downlink are absolute or relative to the pilot

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The default uplink soft handover gain Whether the MRC in softer/soft is defined or not The methods used to calculate I0 and Nt Parameters for compressed mode The methods used to calculate Nt and CQI for HSDPA.

The input parameters specified when creating the simulation: • • • • •

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The maximum number of iterations The global scaling factor The generator initialisation value The uplink and downlink convergence thresholds The simulation constraints such as maximum power, the maximum number of channel elements, the maximum Iub throughputs, the uplink load factor and the maximum load The name of the traffic maps used.

The parameters related to the clutter classes, including the default values.

Displaying the Average Results of a Group of Simulations To access the averaged results of a group of simulations: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Simulations folder, right-click the group of simulations whose results you want to display, and select Average Simulation from the context menu. A Properties dialog box appears. One tab gives statistics of the results of the group of simulations. Other tabs in the properties dialog box contain simulation results for all simulations, both averaged and as a standard deviation. The Statistics tab: The Statistics tab contains the following two sections: •

Request: Under Request, you will find data on the connection requests: • • •

•

Atoll calculates the total number of users who try to connect. This number is the result of the first random trial; power control has not yet finished. The result depends on the traffic description and traffic input. During the first random trial, each user is assigned a service. The UL and DL throughputs that all users could theoretically generate are provided. The breakdown per service (total number of users, number of users per activity status, and UL and DL throughputs) is given.

Results: Under Results, you will find data on the connection results: • •

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The number of iterations that were run in order to converge. The number and the percentage of rejected users is given along with the reason for rejection. These figures include rejected users only. These figures are determined at the end of the simulation and depend on the network design. The number and the percentage of delayed users is given along with the reason for delay. The number and percentage of R99 bearer users connected to a cell, the number of users per frequency band for multi-band networks, the number of users per activity status, and the total UL and DL throughputs they generate. These figures include R99 users as well as HSDPA and HSPA users (since all of them request an R99 bearer); they are determined in the R99 part of the algorithm. This data is also provided by service. The total number and the percentage of connected users with an HSDPA bearer, the number of users per frequency band for multi-band networks, the number of users per activity status, and DL total throughput that they generate. HSDPA and HSPA service users are considered since they all request an HSDPA bearer. The total number of connected HSUPA bearer users and the percentage of users with an HSUPA bearer, the number of users per frequency band for multi-band networks, the number of users per activity status, and UL and DL total throughputs they generate. Only HSPA service users are considered.

The Sites (Average) and Sites (Standard Deviation) tabs: The Sites (Average) and Sites (Standard Deviation) tabs contains the following average and standard deviation information, respectively, per site: • • • • • • • •

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Max No. of DL and UL CEs: The maximum number of channel elements available on uplink and downlink for R99 bearers requested by the users. No. of DL and UL CEs Used: The number of channel elements required on uplink and downlink for R99 bearers to handle the traffic of current simulation. No. of DL and UL CEs Due to SHO Overhead: The number of extra channel elements due to soft handover, on uplink and downlink. Carrier Selection: The carrier selection method defined on the site equipment. Downlink and Uplink Overhead CEs/Cell: The overhead channel elements per cell on the downlink and on the uplink, defined on the site equipment. AS Restricted to Neighbours: Whether the active set is restricted to neighbours of the reference cell. This option is selected on the site equipment. Rake Factor: The rake factor, defined on the site equipment, enables Atoll to model a rake receiver on downlink. MUD Factor: The multi-user detection factor, defined on the site equipment, is used to decrease intra-cell interference on uplink.

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Compressed Mode: Whether compressed mode is supported. This option is defined on the site equipment. Max Iub Downlink and Uplink Backhaul Throughput (kbps): The maximum Iub backhaul throughput in the downlink and uplink. Iub Downlink and Uplink Backhaul Throughput (kbps): The Iub backhaul throughput required on downlink and uplink to handle the traffic of current simulation. Overhead Iub Throughput/Cell (kbps): The Iub throughput required by the cell for common channels in the downlink, defined on the site equipment. HSDPA Iub Backhaul Overhead (%): This parameter is defined on the site equipment. It corresponds to the percentage of the HSDPA bearer peak RLC throughput to be added to the peak RLC throughput. The total value corresponds to the Iub backhaul throughput required by the HSDPA bearer user for HS Channels in the downlink. Nb of Recommended E1/T1/Ethernet Link: The number of E1/T1/Ethernet links required to provide the total Iub backhaul throughput. Instantaneous HSDPA Throughput (kbps): The Instantaneous HSDPA Throughput (kbps). Instantaneous HSDPA MAC Throughput (kbps): The Instantaneous HSDPA MAC throughput (kbps). DL and UL Throughput for Each Service: The throughput in kbits⁄s for each service.

The Cells (Average) and Cells (Standard Deviation) tabs: The Cells (Average) and Cells (Standard Deviation) tabs contains the following average and standard deviation information, respectively, per site, transmitter, and carrier: • • • • •

• • • • • •

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Max Power (dBm): The maximum power as defined in the cell properties. Pilot Power (dBm): The pilot power as defined in the cell properties. SCH power (dBm): The SCH power as defined in the cell properties. Other CCH power (dBm): The power of other common channels. It includes the other CCH power and the DL HSUPA power as defined in the cell properties. Available HSDPA Power (dBm): The available HSDPA power as defined in the cell properties. This is the power available for the HS-PDSCH and HS-SCCH. The value is either fixed by the user when the HSDPA power is allocated statically, or by a simulation when the option HSDPA Power Dynamic Allocation is selected. AS Threshold (dB): The active set threshold as defined in cell properties Gain (dBi): The gain as defined in the antenna properties for that transmitter. Reception Losses (dB): The reception losses as defined in the transmitter properties. Transmission Losses (dB): The transmission losses as defined in the transmitter properties. Noise Figure (dB): The noise figure as defined in the transmitter properties Total Transmitted R99 Power (dBm): The total transmitted R99 power is the power transmitted by the cell on common channels (Pilot, SCH, other CCH), HSUPA channels (E-AGCH, E-RGCH, and E-HICH) and R99 traffic-dedicated channels. Transmitted HSDPA Power (dBm): The HSDPA power transmitted by the cell on HSDPA channels. It corresponds to the HSDPA power used to serve HSDPA bearer users. Total Transmitted Power (dBm): The total transmitted power of the cell is the sum of the total transmitted R99 power and the transmitted HSDPA power. If HSDPA power is allocated dynamically, the total transmitted power cannot exceed the maximum power minus the power headroom. When the constraint "DL load" is set and HSDPA power is statically allocated, the total transmitted power cannot exceed the maximum DL load (defined either in the cell properties, or in the simulation). On the other hand, if HSDPA power is allocated dynamically, the control is carried out on the R99 transmitted power, which cannot exceed the maximum DL load.

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UL Total Noise (dBm): The uplink total noise takes into account the total signal received at the transmitter on a carrier from intra and extra-cell terminals using the same carrier and adjacent carriers (uplink total interference) and the thermal noise. Max UL Load Factor (%): The maximum uplink load factor that the cell can support. It is defined either in the cell properties, or in the simulation creation dialog box. Max DL Load (% Pmax): The maximum percentage of power that the cell can use. It is defined either in the cell properties, or in the simulation creation dialog box. UL Load Factor (%): The uplink cell load factor corresponds to the ratio between the uplink total interference and the uplink total noise. If the constraint "UL load factor" has been selected, UL cell load factor is not allowed to exceed the user-defined maximum UL load factor (either in the cell properties, or in the simulation creation dialog box). UL Load Factor due to HSUPA (%): The uplink cell load caused by HSUPA traffic. DL Load Factor (%): The DL load factor of the cell i corresponds to the ratio (DL average interference [due to transmitter signals on the same carrier] for terminals in the transmitter i area) ⁄ (DL average total noise [due to transmitter signals and to thermal noise of terminals] for terminals in the transmitter i area). UL and DL Noise Rise (dB): The uplink and downlink noise rises are calculated from uplink and downlink load factors. These data indicate signal degradation due to cell load (interference margin in the link budget). DL R99 Load (% Pmax): The percentage of power used for R99 channels is determined by the total transmitted R99 power-maximum power ratio (power stated in W). When the constraint "DL load" is set and HSDPA power is

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allocated dynamically, the DL R99 Load can not exceed the user-defined Max DL Load (defined either in the cell properties, or in the simulation). Reuse Factor (UL): The uplink reuse factor is the ratio between the uplink total interference and the intra-cell interference. Reuse Efficiency Factor (UL): The uplink reuse efficiency factor is the reciprocal of the uplink reuse factor. Number of UL and DL Radio Links: The number of radio links corresponds to the number of user-transmitter links on the same carrier. This data is calculated on uplink and on downlink and indicates the number of users connected to the cell on uplink and downlink. Because of handover, a single user can use several radio links. Connection Success Rate (%): The connection success rate gives the ratio of connected users over the total number of users in the cell. HSDPA Application Throughput (kbps): The HSDPA application throughput is the net HSDPA throughput without coding (redundancy, overhead, addressing, etc.). It is calculated from the instantaneous HSDPA throughput (i.e., the DL obtained throughput), the BLER, the HSDPA service scaling factor and the throughput offset. Min. HSDPA Peak RLC Throughput (kbps): The minimum HSDPA peak RLC throughput corresponds to the lowest of peak RLC throughputs obtained by HSDPA bearer users connected to the cell. For DC-HSPA users, this is the lower of the two minimum HSDPA peak RLC throughputs. Max HSDPA Peak RLC Throughput (kbps): The maximum HSDPA peak RLC throughput: It corresponds to the highest of peak RLC throughputs obtained by HSDPA bearer users connected to the cell. For DC-HSPA users, this is the higher of the two maximum HSDPA peak RLC throughputs. Avg. Instantaneous HSDPA Throughput (kbps): The average instantaneous HSDPA throughput (kbps) is the average number of kbits per second that the cell supports on downlink to provide one connected user with an HSDPA bearer. The HSDPA throughput of DC-HSPA users is the sum of their HSDPA throughputs on both cells. Instantaneous HSDPA Throughput (kbps): The instantaneous HSDPA throughput (kbps) is the number of kbits per second that the cell supports on downlink to provide simultaneous connected users with an HSDPA bearer. The HSDPA throughput of DC-HSPA users is the sum of their HSDPA throughputs on both cells. Instantaneous HSDPA MAC Throughput (kbps): The Instantaneous HSDPA MAC throughput (kbps) that the cell carries. The HSDPA throughput of DC-HSPA users is the sum of their HSDPA throughputs on both cells. No. of Simultaneous HSDPA Users: The number of simultaneous HSDPA users corresponds to the number of HSDPA bearer users that the cell supports at a time, i.e. within one time transmission interval. All these users are connected to the cell at the end of the simulation HSDPA part; they have a connection with the R99 bearer and an HSDPA bearer. DC-HSPA users are considered once in each cell they are connected to. No. of HSDPA Users: The number of HSDPA users include the connected and delayed HSDPA bearer users. DCHSPA users are considered once in each cell they are connected to. No. of HSUPA Users: The number of HSUPA bearer users connected to the cell. HSUPA Application Throughput (kbps): This is the net HSUPA throughput without coding (redundancy, overhead, addressing, etc.). HSUPA UL Load Factor (%): The uplink cell load caused by HSUPA traffic. No. of Codes (512 Bits): The number of OVSF codes used per cell. The types of handover as a percentage: Atoll estimates the percentages of handover types for each transmitter. Atoll only lists the results for the following handover status, no handover (1⁄1), softer (1⁄2), soft (2⁄2), softer-soft (2⁄3) and soft-soft (3⁄3) handovers; the other handover status (other HO) are grouped. R99 UL and DL Throughput (kbps): The uplink and downlink R99 throughputs represent the numbers of kbits per second delivered by the cell respectively on uplink and on downlink to supply users with a R99 bearer. All the radio links in the cell, i.e., links due to handover, are taken into account in the throughput calculation. R99 UL and DL Throughput Without HO (kbps): The uplink and downlink R99 throughputs represent the numbers of kbits per second delivered by the cell respectively on uplink and on downlink to supply users with a R99 bearer. Only the links with the best server are taken into account in the calculation of throughput. Min TCH Pwr (dBm): The minimum power allocated to a traffic channel to supply services. Max TCH Pwr (dBm): The maximum power allocated to a traffic channel to supply services. Avg TCH Pwr: The average power allocated to a traffic channel to supply services. Non-connected users: The number of rejected and delayed users per cell. Rejected users are sorted by the following reasons: Pmob > PmobMax, Ptch > PtchMax, Ec⁄Io < (Ec⁄Io)min., UL Load Saturation, Ch. Elts Saturation, DL Load Saturation, Code Saturation, Admission Rejection, HSDPA Delayed, HSDPA Scheduler Saturation, HSDPA Resource Saturation, HSUPA Admission Rejection, HSUPA Scheduler Saturation and Iub Throughput Saturation. Delayed users are regrouped under HSDPA Delayed. Connection Success Rate (%) For Each Service: For each service, the connection success rate gives the ratio of connected users over the total number of users of that service in the cell.

The Initial Conditions tab: The Initial Conditions tab contains the following information: •

The global transmitter parameters: • • • • • •

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The spreading width Whether the power values on the downlink are absolute or relative to the pilot The default uplink soft handover gain Whether the MRC in softer/soft is defined or not The methods used to calculate I0 and Nt Parameters for compressed mode

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The input parameters specified when creating the group of simulations: • • • • • •

•

The methods used to calculate Nt and CQI for HSDPA. The maximum number of iterations The global scaling factor The generator initialisation value The uplink and downlink convergence thresholds The simulation constraints such as maximum power, the maximum number of channel elements, the uplink load factor and the maximum load The name of the traffic maps used.

The parameters related to the clutter classes, including the default values.

8.3.3 Analysing the Results of a Simulation In Atoll, you have several methods available to help you analyse simulation results. You can make an active set analysis of a real-time probe user or you can make a prediction where each pixel is considered as a probe user with a defined terminal, mobility, and service. The analyses are based on a single simulation or on an averaged group of simulations. You can find information on the analysis methods in the following sections: • •

"Making an AS Analysis of Simulation Results" on page 587 "Making Coverage Predictions Using Simulation Results" on page 588.

8.3.3.1 Making an AS Analysis of Simulation Results The Point Analysis window gives you information on reception for any point on the map. The AS Analysis view gives you information on the pilot quality (Ec⁄I0) (which is the main parameter used to define the mobile active set), the connection status, and the active set of the probe mobile. Analysis is based on the UL load percentage and the DL total power of cells. In this case, these parameters can be either outputs of a given simulation, or average values calculated from a group of simulations. The analysis is provided for a user-definable probe receiver which has a terminal, a mobility and a service. For information on the criteria for belonging to the active set, see "Best Serving Cell and Active Set Determination" on page 622. Before you make an AS analysis: • •

Ensure the simulation or group of simulations you want to use in the AS analysis is displayed on the map. Replay the simulation or group of simulations you want to use if you have modified radio parameters since you made the simulation. The AS analysis does not take possible network saturation into account. Therefore, there is no guarantee that a simulated mobile with the same receiver characteristics can verify the point analysis, simply because the simulated network can be saturated.

To make an AS analysis of simulation results: 1. Click the Point Analysis button (

) on the toolbar. The Point Analysis window appears.

2. Select the AS Analysis view at the top of the Point Analysis window. 3. At the top of the AS Analysis view, select the simulation or group of simulations you want to base the AS analysis on from the Load Conditions list. 4. Select the Terminal, Service, and Mobility. 5. Click the Options button (

) to display the Calculation Options dialog box.

6. Select or clear the following options: • • •

Whether shadowing is to be taken into account (and, if so, the cell edge coverage probability). Whether indoor coverage is to be taken into account. Whether downgrading is allowed.

7. Click OK to close the Calculation Options dialog box. 8. Move the pointer over the map to make an active set analysis for the current location of the pointer. As you move the pointer, Atoll indicates on the map which is the best server for the current position (see Figure 8.8 on page 555). Information on the current position is given on the AS Analysis view of the Point Analysis window. See Figure 8.9 on page 556 for an explanation of the displayed information. 9. Click the map to leave the point analysis pointer at its current position.

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To move the pointer again, click the point analysis pointer on the map and drag it to a new position. 10. Click the Point Analysis button (

) again to end the point analysis.

8.3.3.2 Making Coverage Predictions Using Simulation Results When no simulations are available, Atoll uses the UL load factor, the DL total power, the UL reuse factor, the available HSDPA power, the number of HSDPA bearer users, the number of HSUPA bearer users, and the UL load factor due to HSUPA defined for each cell to make coverage predictions. For information on cell properties, see "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 521; for information on modifying cell properties, see "Cell Properties" on page 516. Once you have made simulations, Atoll can use this information instead of the defined parameters in the cell properties to make coverage predictions where each pixel is considered as a probe user with a terminal, mobility, profile, and service. For each coverage prediction based on simulation results, you can base the coverage prediction on a selected simulation or on a group of simulations, choosing either an average analysis of all simulations in the group or a statistical analysis based on a defined probability. To be able to base a coverage prediction on a simulation or group of simulations, the simulation must have converged. The coverage predictions that can use simulation results are: •

Coverage predictions on the pilot or on a service: • • • •

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Coverage predictions on noise and interference: • •

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Handoff Zones (DL): For information on making a Handoff Zones (DL), see "Making a Handoff Status Coverage Prediction" on page 548.

An HSDPA prediction to analyse A-DPCH qualities, HS-SCCH power or quality per HS-SCCH channel and to model fast link adaptation. •

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Coverage by Total Noise Level (DL): For information on making a coverage by total noise level, see "Studying the Total Noise Level on the Downlink" on page 545. Pilot Pollution Analysis (DL): For information on making a coverage by pilot polluter, see "Studying Pilot Pollution" on page 546.

A handover status coverage prediction to analyse macro-diversity performance: •

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Pilot Quality Analysis (DL): For information on making a pilot quality analysis, see "Studying Pilot Signal Quality" on page 541. Service Area Analysis (Eb/Nt) (DL): For information on making a coverage prediction on the downlink service area, see "Studying Downlink and Uplink Service Areas (Eb⁄Nt)" on page 542. Service Area Analysis (Eb/Nt) (UL): For information on making a coverage prediction on the uplink service area, see "Studying Downlink and Uplink Service Areas (Eb⁄Nt)" on page 542. Effective Service Area Analysis (Eb/Nt) (DL+UL): For information on making a effective service area analysis, see "Studying the Effective Service Area" on page 543.

HSDPA Quality and Throughput Analysis (DL): For information on making an HSDPA coverage prediction, see "HSDPA Coverage Predictions" on page 549.

An HSUPA predictions prediction to analyse the required E-DPDCH Ec/Nt, the required terminal power, and the obtained HSUPA bearer. •

HSUPA Quality and Throughput Analysis (UL): For information on making an HSUPA coverage prediction, see "HSUPA Coverage Predictions" on page 551.

The procedures for the coverage predictions assume that simulation results are not available. When no simulations are available, you select "(Cells Table)" from the Load Conditions list, on the Conditions tab. However, when simulations are available you can base the coverage prediction on one simulation or a group of simulations. To base a coverage prediction on a simulation or group of simulations, when setting the parameters: 1. Click the Conditions tab. 2. From the Load Conditions list, select the simulation or group of simulations on which you want to base the coverage prediction. 3. If you select a group of simulations from the Load Conditions list, select one of the following: •

•

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All: If you select All to make a statistical analysis of all simulations based on the defined Probability (the probability must be from 0 to 1). This will make a global analysis of all simulations in a group and with an evaluation of the network stability in terms of fluctuations in traffic. Average: Select Average make the coverage prediction on the average of the simulations in the group.

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8.4 Optimising Network Parameters Using ACP The ACP (Automatic Cell Planning) module enables radio engineers designing UMTS networks to automatically calculate the optimal network settings in terms of network coverage and quality. ACP can also be used to add sites from a list of candidate sites or to remove unnecessary sites or sectors. ACP can also be used in co-planning projects where networks using different radio access technologies must be taken into consideration when calculating the optimal network settings. ACP is primarily intended to improve existing network deployment by reconfiguring the main parameters that can be remotely controlled by operators: antenna electrical tilt and cell pilot power. ACP can also be used during the initial planning stage of a UMTS network by enabling the selection of the antenna, and its azimuth, height, and mechanical tilt. ACP not only takes transmitters into account in optimisations but also any repeaters and remote antennas. ACP can also be used to measure and optimise the EMF exposure created by the network. This permits the optimisation of power and antenna settings to reduce excessive EMF exposure in existing networks and optimal site selection for new transmitters. ACP uses user-defined objectives to evaluate the optimisation, as well as to calculate its implementation cost. Once you have defined the objectives and the network parameters to be optimised, ACP uses an efficient global search algorithm to test many network configurations and propose the reconfigurations that best meet the objectives. ACP presents the changes ordered from the most to the least beneficial, allowing phased implementation or implementation of just a subset of the suggested changes. ACP is technology-independent and can be used to optimise networks using different radio access technologies. Chapter 17: Automatic Cell Planning explains how you configure the ACP module, how you create and run an optimisation setup, and how you can view the results of an optimisation. In this section, only the concepts specific to UMTS networks are explained: • • •

"UMTS Optimisation Objectives" on page 589 "UMTS Quality Parameters" on page 590 "UMTS Quality Analysis Predictions" on page 592.

8.4.1 UMTS Optimisation Objectives ACP optimises the network using user-defined objectives to evaluate the quality of the network reconfiguration. The objectives are dependent on the technology used by the project and are consistent with the corresponding coverage predictions in Atoll. In projects using UMTS, either alone, or in a co-planning or multi-RAT mode, the following objectives are proposed by default: • •

UMTS RSCP coverage UMTS EcIo

You can also create the following objectives from the context menu of Objectives in the left-hand pane of the Objectives tab: • • • • • • •

HSDPA EcNt UMTS RSSI UMTS Pilot Pollution UMTS Soft Handover UMTS 1st-Nth Difference HSDPA RLC Peak Rate Custom Coverage

You define the optimisation objectives using the Objectives tab of the ACP Setup dialog box. For information on setting objective parameters, see "Setting Objective Parameters" on page 1329.

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Figure 8.14: Running ACP Optimisation for an UMTS Network

8.4.2 UMTS Quality Parameters When you create an optimisation setup, you define how ACP evaluates the objectives. The quality parameters are technology dependent. You can base the evaluation of the objectives on a calculated coverage prediction or on manual configuration. If you base the coverage prediction settings on a calculated coverage prediction, ACP will use the ranges and colours defined in the selected coverage prediction as the default for its own maps. However, if you have saved the display options of an ACP prediction as default, or if you are using a configuration file for ACP, these defined ranges and colours will be used as the default, overriding the settings in the selected coverage prediction. In projects using UMTS, either alone, or in a co-planning or multi-RAT mode, the following Quality parameters are proposed in the Pixel Rules frame of the objectives’ properties pages: • • • • • • • • •

RSCP EcIo Overlap Best Server Distance HSDPA EcNt 1st-2nd Difference 1st-Nth Difference RSSI HSDPA RLC Peak Rate

To define the ACP quality parameters for UMTS: 1. Open the Setup Properties dialog box to define the optimisation as explained in "Creating an ACP Setup" on page 1319. 2. Click the Objectives tab. 3. Under Parameters, expand the UMTS folder. The list of available quality parameters appears. You can base the evaluation of a quality analysis prediction on a calculated Atoll prediction, if any, or on a manual configuration. •

If you base the evaluation of a qualiy analysis prediction on a calculated Atoll prediction, ACP will use the display settings of the calculated Atoll prediction in the qualiy analysis prediction calculated for that objective.

•

If you saved the display settings of a qualiy analysis prediction as defaults, or if you are using a configuration file for ACP, these display settings will be used by default and will override the display settings of the calculated Atoll prediction. For more information on changing the display settings of a quality analysis prediction, see "Changing the Display Properties of ACP Predictions" on page 1379.

HSDPA RLC Peak Rate Click this parameter to define in the right-hand pane how ACP will evaluate coverage by HSDPA RLC Peak Rate. •

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Base prediction settings on > "HSDPA Quality and Throughput Analisys (DL)": ACP will evaluate coverages by HSDPA RLC Peak Rate based on the parameters used to calculate the selected "HSDPA Quality and Throughput Analisys (DL)" prediction in Atoll. Only the Atoll predictions displaying a "HS-PDSCH Ec/Nt (dB)" per pixel can be accessed by the ACP.

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•

Manual configuration: If you select this option, you can Enable shadowing margin and define a Cell edge coverage probability. The standard deviations defined in the Atoll clutter are used or, if no clutter information is available, default values are used. Additionally, you can specify: • The Service, Terminal, and Mobility that will be used during the calculation of HSDPA RLC Peak Rate through gain and losses (i.e., the service body loss, the gain and loss of the terminal antenna, and the terminal noise factor).

RSCP Click this parameter to define in the right-hand pane how ACP will evaluate coverage by RSCP. • •

Coverage Prediction: If you select a coverage prediction from the Base prediction settings on list, ACP will evaluate the coverage by RSCP using the same parameters that were used to calculate the coverage prediction. Manual configuration: If you select this option, you can Enable shadowing margin and define a Cell edge coverage probability. The standard deviations defined in the Atoll clutter are used or, if no clutter information is available, default values are used.

Ec/Io Click this parameter to define in the right-hand pane how ACP will evaluate coverage by Ec/Io. • •

Coverage Prediction: If you select a coverage prediction from the Base prediction settings on list, ACP will evaluate the coverage by Ec/Io using the same parameters that were used to calculate the coverage prediction. Manual configuration: If you select this option, you can Enable shadowing margin and define a Cell edge coverage probability. The standard deviations defined in the Atoll clutter are used or, if no clutter information is available, default values are used. Macro diversity is also taken into account during Ec⁄Io calculation. Additionally, you can specify: • The Service and Terminal that will be used during the calculation of Ec⁄Io through gain and losses (i.e., the service body loss, the gain and loss of the terminal antenna, and the terminal noise factor).

Overlap / 1st-Nth Click this parameter to define in the right-hand pane how ACP will evaluate coverage by overlapping zones or by 1stNth difference. Overlap •

•

Coverage Prediction: If you select a coverage prediction from the Base prediction settings on list, ACP will evaluate overlapping coverage using the same parameters that were used to calculate the coverage prediction. Only coverage predictions displaying a Number of Servers per pixel can be accessed by the ACP. Manual configuration: If you select this option, specify a Minimum signal level and an Overlap threshold margin.

1st-Nth •

Coverage Prediction: If you select a coverage prediction from the Base prediction settings on list, ACP will evaluate coverage by 1st-Nth difference based on the parameters used to calculate the selected prediction. Only Atoll predictions displaying a "Number of Servers" per pixel can be accessed by the ACP. Since there is no coverage prediction type in Atoll equivalent to ACP’s UMTS 1st-Nth Difference objective, the parameters recovered by ACP from the selected Atoll prediction are limited to the minimum signal level and the prediction shading. The number of servers must always be specified manually next to No. servers.

•

Manual configuration: If you select this option, specify a Minimum signal level and the No. servers.

In both cases, the value you specify next to No. servers determines "Nth" in the UMTS 1st-Nth Difference objective. For instance if you set No. servers to 4, then the "1st-4th Difference" quality parameter will be automatically selected by default in the Quality column of the UMTS 1st-Nth Difference properties page. • •

Allowed values for No. servers range from 3 to 100, with only one value available per technology. The "1st-2nd Difference" quality parameter (based on No. servers = 2) is provided by default.

HSDPA EcNt Click this parameter to define in the right-hand pane how ACP will evaluate coverage by HSDPA EcNt. •

Manual configuration: If you select this option, you can Enable shadowing margin and define a Cell edge coverage probability. The standard deviations defined in the Atoll clutter are used or, if no clutter information is available, default values are used. Additionally, you can specify: • The Service, Terminal, and Mobility that will be used during the calculation of HSDPA EcNt through gain and losses (i.e., the service body loss, the gain and loss of the terminal antenna, and the terminal noise factor).

RSSI Click this parameter to define in the right-hand pane how ACP will evaluate coverage by RSSI. •

Manual configuration: If you select this option, you can Enable shadowing margin and define a Cell edge coverage probability. The standard deviations defined in the Atoll clutter are used or, if no clutter information is available, default values are used. Additionally, you can specify: • The Service and Terminal that will be used during the calculation of RSSI through gain and losses (i.e., the service body loss, the gain and loss of the terminal antenna, and the terminal noise factor).

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8.4.3 UMTS Quality Analysis Predictions The quality analysis predictions enable you to display the RSCP and Ec⁄Io quality predictions in the Atoll map window. These predictions are the same as those displayed on the Quality tab of the optimisation’s Properties dialog box.

Figure 8.15: ACP Quality Analysis Prediction Types for an UMTS Network The quality analysis predictions created in ACP are equivalent to those created by different Atoll coverage predictions. The correspondence table below shows the ACP predictions and their equivalents in Atoll.

ACP Quality Analysis Prediction Type

Atoll Coverage Prediction Type "Display type" / "Field"

RSCP

Coverage by Signal Level (DL) (1) "Value Intervals" / "Best Signal Level (dBm)"

EcIo

Pilot Quality Analysis (DL) (2) "Value Intervals" / "Ec/Io (dB)"

Overlap

Overlapping Zones (DL) (3) "Value Intervals" / "Number of Servers"

HSDPA EcNt

HSDPA Quality and Throughput Analisys (DL) (4) "Value Intervals" / "HS-PDSCH Ec/Nt (dB)"

RSSI

Total Noise Level Analysis (DL) (5) "Value Intervals" / "Max Noise Level (dBm)"

HSDPA RLC Peak Rate

HSDPA Quality and Throughput Analisys (DL) (4) "Value Intervals" / "Peak RLC Throughput (kbps)"

1st-Nth Difference

N/A

(1) For more information, see "Making a Coverage Prediction by Signal Level" on page 538. (2)

For more information, see "Studying Pilot Signal Quality" on page 541.

(3) For more information, see "Making a Coverage Prediction on Overlapping Zones" on page 540. (4) (5)

For more information, see "HSDPA Coverage Predictions" on page 549. For more information, see "Studying the Total Noise Level on the Downlink" on page 545.

Making these predictions available within ACP enables you to quickly validate the optimisation results without having to commit the results and then calculate a coverage prediction in Atoll. The ACP predictions display results very similar to those that Atoll would display if you committed the optimisation results and calculated Atoll coverage predictions, however, before

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basing any decision to commit the optimisation results on the predictions produced by ACP, you should keep the following recommendations in mind: • • • •

You should verify the results with a different coverage prediction, such as the pilot pollution analysis. ACP generated predictions are generated using the entire set of proposed changes. They do not take into account the change subset defined on the Change Details tab. Multiple-carrier optimisation is supported in UMTS. However the predictions are provided separately for each carrier. Even after committing the optimisation results, differences can remain between the ACP predictions and the predictions resulting from Atoll coverage predictions.

You can view the exact RSCP and Ec⁄Io values on any pixel by letting the pointer rest over the pixel. The RSCP or Ec⁄Io value is then displayed in tip text. For ACP overlapping zones predictions, you can: •

specify a best server threshold: • by entering a value next to Minimum Signal Level in the Overlap / 1st-Nth properties page, • or by setting the param.umts.overlap.minRxLevel option with the same value in the [ACPTplObjectivePage] section of the ACP.ini file.

•

specify a threshold margin: • by entering a value next to Threshold margin in the Overlap / 1st-Nth properties page, • or by setting the param.umts.overlap.margin option with the same value in the [ACPTplObjectivePage] section of the ACP.ini file.

For each network quality coverage prediction, ACP offers a prediction showing the initial network state, the final network state, and a prediction showing the changes between the initial and final states.

8.5 Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data An important step in the process of creating a UMTS HSPA network is to analyse the network’s performance using drive test data. This is done using measurements of the strength of the pilot signal and other parameters in different locations within the area covered by the network. This collection of measurements is called a drive test data path. The data contained in a drive test data path is used to verify the accuracy of current network parameters and to optimise the network. In this section, the following are explained: • • • • • • •

"Importing a Drive Test Data Path" on page 593 "Displaying Drive Test Data" on page 596 "Defining the Display of a Drive Test Data Path" on page 596 "Network Verification" on page 597 "Exporting a Drive Test Data Path" on page 602 "Extracting CW Measurements from Drive Test Data" on page 602 "Printing and Exporting the Drive Test Data Window" on page 603.

8.5.1 Importing a Drive Test Data Path In Atoll, you can analyse drive tests by importing drive test data in the form of ASCII text files (with tabs, commas, semi-colons, or spaces as separator), TEMS FICS-Planet export files (with the extension PLN), or TEMS text export files (with the extension FMT). For Atoll to be able to use the data in imported files, the imported files must contain the following information: • •

The position of drive test data points. When you import the data, you must indicate which columns give the abscissa and ordinate (XY coordinates) of each point. Information identifying scanned cells (for example, serving cells, neighbour cells, or any other cells). Cells can be identified by their IDs or scrambling codes.

You can import a single drive test data file or several drive test data files at the same time. If you regularly import drive test data files of the same format, you can create an import configuration. The import configuration contains information that defines the structure of the data in the drive test data file. By using the import configuration, you will not need to define the data structure each time you import a new drive test data file. To import one or several drive test data files: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Drive Test Data folder and select Import from the context menu. The Open dialog box appears. 2. Select the file or files that you want to open. You can import one or several files.

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If you are importing more than one file, you can select contiguous files by clicking the first file you want to import, pressing Shift and clicking the last file you want to import. You can select non-contiguous files by pressing Ctrl and clicking each file you want to import. 3. Click Open. The Import of Measurement Files dialog box appears. Files with the extension PLN, as well as some FMT files (created with previous versions of TEMS) are imported directly into Atoll; you will not be asked to define the data structure using the Import of Measurement Files dialog box. 4. If you already have an import configuration defining the data structure of the imported file or files, you can select it from the Import configuration list on the Setup tab of the Import of Measurement Files dialog box. If you do not have an import configuration, continue with step 5. a. Under Import configuration, select an import configuration from the Import configuration list. b. Continue with step 8. •

•

When importing a drive test data path file, existing configurations are available in the Files of type list of the Open dialog box, sorted according to their date of creation. After you have selected a file and clicked Open, Atoll automatically proposes a configuration, if it recognises the extension. If several configurations are associated with an extension, Atoll chooses the first configuration in the list. The defined configurations are stored, by default, in the file "NumMeasINIFile.ini", located in the directory where Atoll is installed. For more information on the NumMeasINIFile.ini file, see the Administrator Manual.

5. Click the General tab. On the General tab, you can set the following parameters: • • •

Name: By default, Atoll names the new drive test data path after the imported file. You can change this name if desired. Under Receiver, set the Height of the receiver antenna and the Gain and Losses. Under Measurement Conditions, • •

Units: Select the measurement units used. Coordinates: By default, Atoll imports the coordinates using the display system of the Atoll document. If the coordinates used in the file you are importing are different than the coordinates used in the Atoll document, you must click the Browse button and select the coordinate system used in the drive test data file. Atoll will then convert the data imported to the coordinate system used in the Atoll document.

6. Click the Setup tab (see Figure 8.16).

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Figure 8.16: The Setup tab of the Import of Measurement Files dialog box a. Under File, enter the number of the 1st Measurement Row, select the data Separator, and select the Decimal Symbol used in the file. b. Click the Setup button to link file columns and internal Atoll fields. The Drive Test Data Setup dialog box appears. c. Under Measurement point position, select the columns in the imported file that give the X-Coordinates and the Y-Coordinates of each point in the drive test data file. You can also identify the columns containing the XY coordinates of each point in the drive test data file by selecting them from the Field row of the table on the Setup tab.

d. If you are importing data that uses the ID as cell identifier: i.

Under Server identification, select By ID.

ii. In the By ID identifier box, enter a string found in the column name identifying the cell IDs of scanned cells. For example, if the string "Cell_ID" is found in the column names identifying the cell ID of scanned cells, enter it here. Atoll will then search for the column with this string in the column name. e. If you are importing data that uses scrambling codes as cell identifiers: i.

Under Server identification, select By scrambling code.

ii. In the Scrambling code identifier box, enter a string that is found in the column names identifying the scrambling code of scanned cells. For example, if the string "SC" is found in the column names identifying the scrambling code of scanned cells, enter it here. Atoll will then search for columns with this string in the column name. iii. In the Scrambling code format list, select the scrambling code format, "Decimal" or "Hexadecimal." iv. In the Scrambling code group identifier box, enter a string that must be found in the column names identifying the scrambling code group of scanned cells. For example, if the string "SC_Group" is found in the column names identifying the scrambling code group of scanned cells, enter it here. Atoll will then search for columns with this string in the column name. If there is no scrambling code group information contained in the drive test data file, leave the Scrambling code group identifier box empty. v. If you are importing drive test data for a specific carrier, select the carrier for which you are importing the drive test data in the Carrier number list. If you are importing drive test data for more than one carrier, select "All". f.

Click OK to close the Drive Test Data Setup dialog box.

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•

•

If you have correctly entered the information under File on the Setup tab, and the necessary values in the Drive Test Data Setup dialog box, Atoll should recognise all columns in the imported file. If not, you can click the name of the column in the table in the Field row and select the column name. For each field, you must ensure that each column has the correct data type in order for the data to be correctly interpreted. The default value under Type is "". If a column is marked with "", it will not be imported. The data in the file must be structured so that the columns identifying the scrambling code group and the scrambling code are placed before the data columns for each cell. Otherwise Atoll will not be able to properly import the file.

7. If you want to save the definition of the data structure so that you can use it again, you can save it as an import configuration: a. On the Setup tab, under Import configuration, click Save. The Configuration dialog box appears. b. By default, Atoll saves the configuration in a file called "NumMeasINIfile.ini" found in Atoll’s installation folder. If you cannot write into that folder, you can click the Browse button to choose a different location. c. Enter a Configuration Name and an Extension of the files that this import configuration will describe (for example, "*.csv"). d. Click OK. Atoll will now select this import configuration automatically every time you import a drive test data path file with the selected extension. If you import a file with the same structure but a different extension, you will be able to select this import configuration from the Configuration list. • •

•

You do not have to complete the import procedure to save the import configuration and have it available for future use. When importing a CW measurement file, you can expand the NumMeasINIfile.ini file by clicking the Expand button ( ) in front of the file under Import configuration to display all the available import configurations. When selecting the appropriate configuration, the associations are automatically made in the table at the bottom of the dialog box. You can delete an existing import configuration by selecting the import configuration under Import configuration and clicking the Delete button.

8. Click Import, if you are only importing a single file, or Import All, if you are importing more than one file. The mobile data is imported into the current Atoll document.

8.5.2 Displaying Drive Test Data When you have imported the drive test data into the current Atoll document, you can display it in the map window. Then, you can select individual drive test data points to see information about the active set at that location. To display information about a single drive test data point: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, select the display check box of the drive test data you want to display in the map window. The drive test data is displayed. 2. Click and hold the drive test data point on which you want active set information. Atoll displays an arrow pointing towards the serving cells (see Figure 8.19 on page 601), with a number identifying the server as numbered in the drive test data. If the transmitter display type is "Automatic," both the number and the arrow are displayed in the same colour as the transmitter. For information on changing the display type to "Automatic," see "Setting the Display Type" on page 52.

8.5.3 Defining the Display of a Drive Test Data Path You can manage the display of drive test data paths using the Display dialog box. The points on a drive test data path can be displayed according to any available attribute. You can also use the Display dialog box to manage permanent labels on the map, tip text and the legend. In other words, the display of measurement paths can be defined in the same way as for sites, transmitters, etc. To display the Display tab of a drive test data path’s Properties dialog box: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data path whose display you want to set, and select Properties from the context menu. The drive test data path Properties dialog box appears. 2. Click the Display tab.

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Each point can be displayed by a unique attribute or according to: • •

a text or integer attribute (discrete value) a numerical value (value interval).

In addition, you can display points by more than one criterion at a time using the Advanced option in the Display Type list. When you select Advanced from the Display Type list, a dialog box opens in which you can define the following display for each single point of the measurement path: • • •

a symbol according to any attribute a symbol colour according to any attribute a symbol size according to any attribute

You can, for example, display a signal level in a certain colour, choose a symbol type for Transmitter 1 (a circle, triangle, cross, etc.) and a symbol size according to the altitude. • • •

•

Fast Display forces Atoll to use the lightest symbol to display the points. This is particularly useful when you have a very large number of points. You can not use Advanced Display if the Fast Display check box has been selected. You can sort drive test data paths in alphabetical order in the Network explorer by right-clicking the Drive Test Data Path folder and selecting Sort Alphabetically from the context menu. You can save the display settings (such as colours and symbols) of a drive test data path in a user configuration file to make them available for use on another drive test data path. To save or load the user configuration file, click the Actions button on the Display tab of the path properties dialog box and select Save or Load from the Display Configuration submenu.

8.5.4 Network Verification The imported drive test data is used to verify the UMTS HSPA network. To improve the relevance of the data, Atoll allows you to filter out incompatible or inaccurate points. You can then use the data for coverage predictions, either by comparing the imported measurements with previously calculated coverage predictions, or by creating new coverage predictions using the imported drive test data. In this section, the following are explained: • • • • • •

"Filtering Measurement Points Along Drive Test Data Paths" on page 597 "Predicting Signal Level on Drive Test Data Points" on page 598 "Predicting Signal Level on Drive Test Data Points" on page 598 "Displaying Statistics Over a Drive Test Data Path" on page 600 "Extracting a Field From a Drive Test Data Path for a Transmitter" on page 600 "Analysing Measurement Variations Along the Path" on page 600.

8.5.4.1 Filtering Measurement Points Along Drive Test Data Paths When using a drive test data path, some measured points may present values that are too far outside of the median values to be useful in calibration. As well, test paths may include test points in areas that are not representative of the drive test data path as a whole. For example, a test path that includes two heavily populated areas might also include test points from the more lightly populated region between the two. In Atoll, you can filter out points that are incompatible with the points you are studying, either by filtering out the clutter classes where the incompatible points are located, or by filtering out points according to their properties. To filter out measurement points by clutter class: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data path on which you want to filter out measurement points, and select Filter from the context menu. The Drive Test Data Filter dialog box appears. 2. In the Clutter classes window, under Filter, clear the check boxes of the clutter classes you want to filter out. Only the clutter classes whose check box is selected will be taken into account. 3. If you want to keep the measurement points inside the focus zone, select the Use focus zone to filter check box. 4. If you want to permanently remove the measurement points outside the filter, select the Delete points outside filter check box. • •

You can apply a filter on all the drive test data paths in the Drive Test Data folder by selecting Filter from the context menu of the folder. If you want to use the measurement points that you permanently deleted, you must import the drive test data path again.

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To filter out measurement points using an advanced filter: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data path on which you want to filter out measurement points, and select Filter from the context menu. The Drive Test Data Filter dialog box appears. 2. Click More. The Filter dialog box appears. For more information on using the Filter dialog box, see "Advanced Data Filtering" on page 101. You can update heights (of the DTM, and clutter heights) and the clutter class of drive test data points after adding new geographic maps or modifying existing ones by selecting Refresh Geo Data from the context menu of the Drive Test Data folder.

8.5.4.2 Predicting Signal Level on Drive Test Data Points To predict the signal level on drive test data points: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data path on which you want to create the point prediction, and select Calculations > Create a New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box opens. 2. Under Point predictions, select Point Signal Level and click OK. The Point Signal Level Properties dialog box appears. The errors between measured and predicted signal levels can be calculated and added to the drive test data table. 3. If you want to calculate errors between measured and predicted signal levels, under Select signal levels for error calculations, select the names of the columns representing measured signal level values in the drive test data table for which you want to calculate the errors (see Figure 8.17). If you do not want to add this information to the drive test data table, continue with step 4.

Figure 8.17: Selecting Measured Signal Levels for which Errors will be Calculated 4. Click OK. A new point prediction is created for the selected drive test data path. 5. Right-click the drive test data path. The context menu appears. 6. Select Calculations > Calculate All the Predictions from the context menu. If you chose to have Atoll calculate the errors between measured and predicted signal levels, new columns are added to the drive test data table for the predicted point signal level from the serving cell and the errors between the measured and predicted values.

Figure 8.18: Drive Test Data Table after Point Signal Level Prediction (with Error Calculations) New columns are also added for the predicted point signal level from each neighbour cell and the errors between the predicted and measured values. The values stored in these columns can be displayed in the Drive Test Data analysis tool. For more information on the Drive Test Data analysis tool, see "Analysing Measurement Variations Along the Path" on page 600.

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The propagation model used to calculate the predicted point signal levels is the one assigned to the transmitter for the main matrix. For more information on propagation models, see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models.

8.5.4.3 Creating Coverage Predictions on Drive Test Data Paths You can create the following coverage predictions for all transmitters on each point of a drive test data path: • • • •

Coverage by Signal Level (DL) Pilot Quality Analysis (DL) Service Area Analysis (Eb⁄Nt) (DL) Service Area Analysis (Eb⁄Nt) (UL)

To create a coverage prediction along a drive test data path: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data path on which you want to create the coverage prediction, and select Calculations > Create a New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Under Standard Predictions, select one of the following coverage predictions and click OK: •

Coverage by Signal Level (DL): Click the Conditions tab. •

•

Pilot Quality Analysis (DL): Click the Conditions tab. •

•

• • • •

On the Conditions tab, you can select which simulation to study in the Load Conditions list. Or you can select a group of simulations and either select All to perform an average analysis of all simulations in the group based on a Probability (from 0 to 1) or select Average to perform statistical analysis of all simulations. If you want to perform the coverage prediction without a simulation, you can select "(Cells Table)" from Load conditions. In this case, Atoll calculates the coverage prediction using the UL load factor and the DL total power defined in the cell properties. You must select a Terminal, Service, and Mobility, as defined in "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. You must also select which Carrier is to be considered. If you want the pilot signal quality prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. You can select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

Service Area Analysis (Eb⁄Nt) (DL): Click the Conditions tab. •

•

• • • •

At the top of the Conditions tab, you can set the range of signal level to be calculated. Under Server, you can select whether to calculate the signal level from all transmitters, or only the best or second-best signal. If you choose to calculate the best or second-best signal, you can enter a Margin. If you select the Shadowing taken into account check box, you can change the Cell Edge Coverage Probability. You can select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. Finally, you can select the Carrier to be studied.

On the Conditions tab, you can select which simulation to study in the Load Conditions list. Or you can select a group of simulations and either select All to perform an average analysis of all simulations in the group based on a Probability (from 0 to 1) or select Average to perform statistical analysis of all simulations. If you want to perform the coverage prediction without a simulation, you can select "(Cells Table)" from Load conditions. In this case, Atoll calculates the coverage prediction using the UL load factor and the DL total power defined in the cell properties. You must select a Terminal, Service, and Mobility, as defined in "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. You must also select which Carrier is to be considered. If you want the service area (Eb/Nt) coverage prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. You can select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

Service Area Analysis (Eb⁄Nt) (UL): Click the Conditions tab. •

•

• • •

On the Conditions tab, you can select which simulation to study in the Load Conditions list. Or you can select a group of simulations and either select All to perform an average analysis of all simulations in the group based on a Probability (from 0 to 1) or select Average to perform statistical analysis of all simulations. If you want to perform the coverage prediction without a simulation, you can select "(Cells Table)" from Load conditions. In this case, Atoll calculates the coverage prediction using the UL load factor and the DL total power defined in the cell properties. You must select a Terminal, Service, and Mobility, as defined in "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. You must also select which Carrier is to be considered. If you want the service area (Eb/Nt) coverage prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. You can select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

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3. When you have finished setting the parameters for the coverage prediction, click OK. You can create a new coverage prediction by repeating step 1 and step 2 for each new coverage prediction. 4. When you have finished creating new coverage predictions for these drive test data, right-click the drive test data. The context menu appears. 5. Select Calculations > Calculate All the Predictions from the context menu. A new column for each coverage prediction is added in the table for the drive test data. The column contains the predicted values of the selected parameters for the transmitter. The propagation model used is the one assigned to the transmitter for the main matrix (for information on the propagation model, see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models). You can display the information in these new columns in the Drive Test Data window. For more information on the Drive Test Data window, see "Analysing Measurement Variations Along the Path" on page 600.

8.5.4.4 Displaying Statistics Over a Drive Test Data Path Assuming some predictions have been calculated along a drive test data path, you can display the statistics between the measured and the predicted values on a specific measurement path. To display the statistics for a specific drive test data path: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data from which you want to display comparative statistics, and select Display Statistics from the context menu. The Measurement and Prediction Fields Selection dialog box appears. 2. Select one or more transmitters from the For the following transmitters list. 3. Select the fields that you want to use for predictions from the Select the predicted values list. Only one type of value can be compared at a time (signal level or quality). 4. Select the fields that you want to use for predictions the Select the measured values list. Only one type of value can be compared at a time (signal level or quality). The measured and the selected values have to match up. 5. Enter the minimum and maximum Measured Values. Statistics are done with drive test data points where the measured values are within this specified range. 6. Click OK. Atoll opens a dialog box in which the global statistics between measurements and predictions are given over all the filtered (or not) points of the current drive test data path through the mean error, its standard deviation, the root mean square and the error correlation factor. The statistics are also given per clutter class.

8.5.4.5 Extracting a Field From a Drive Test Data Path for a Transmitter You can extract a specific field for a specific transmitter on each point of an existing drive test data path. The extracted information will be added to a new column in the table for the drive test data. To extract a field from a drive test data path: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data from which you want to extract a field, and select Focus on a Transmitter from the context menu. The Field Selection for a Given Transmitter dialog box appears. 2. Select a transmitter from the On the Transmitter list. 3. Click the For the Fields list. The list opens. 4. Select the check box beside the field you want to extract for the selected transmitter. Atoll can display the best server and up to six other servers in the active set. If you want to display for example, the point signal level, remember to select the check box for the point signal level for all servers in the For the Fields list. The new column will then display the point signal level for the selected transmitter for all servers if a value exists. 5. Click OK. Atoll creates a new column in the drive test data path table for the selected transmitters and with the selected values.

8.5.4.6 Analysing Measurement Variations Along the Path In Atoll, you can analyse variations in data along any drive test data path using the Drive Test Data window. You can also use the Drive Test Data window to see which cell is the serving cell for a given test point.

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To analyse measurement variations using the Drive Test Data analysis tool. 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data you want to analyse, and select Open the Analysis Tool from the context menu. The Drive Test Data window appears (see Figure 8.19).

Figure 8.19: The Drive Test Data window 2. Click Display at the top of the Drive Test Data window. The Display Parameters dialog box appears (see Figure 8.20).

Figure 8.20: The Drive Test Data window 3. In the Display Parameters dialog box: • • •

Select the check box next to any field you want to display in the Drive Test Data window. If you want, you can change the display colour by clicking the colour in the Colour column and selecting a new colour from the palette that appears. Click OK to close the Display Parameters dialog box. You can change the display status or the colour of more than one field at a time. You can select contiguous fields by clicking the first field, pressing Shift and clicking the last field you want to import. You can select non-contiguous fields by pressing Ctrl and clicking each field. You can then change the display status or the colour by right-clicking on the selected fields and selecting the choice from the context menu. The selected fields are displayed in the Drive Test Data window.

4. You can display the data in the drive test data path in two ways:

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• •

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Click the values in the Drive Test Data window. Click the points on the drive test data path in the map window.

The drive test data path appears in the map window as an arrow pointing towards the serving cell, with a number identifying the best server (see Figure 8.19 on page 601). If the transmitter display type is "Automatic," both the number and the arrow are displayed in the same colour as the transmitter. For information on changing the display type to "Automatic," see "Setting the Display Type" on page 52. 5. You can display a second Y-axis on the right side of the window in order to display the values of a variable with different orders of magnitude than the ones selected in the Display Parameters dialog box. You can select the secondary Y-axis from the right-hand list on the top of the Drive Test Data window. The selected values are displayed in the colours defined for this variable in the Display Parameters dialog box. 6. You can change the zoom level of the Drive Test Data window display in the Drive Test Data window in the following ways: •

Zoom in or out: i.

Right-click the Drive Test Data window.

ii. Select Zoom In or Zoom Out from the context menu. •

Select the data to zoom in on: i.

Right-click the Drive Test Data window on one end of the range of data you want to zoom in on.

ii. Select First Zoom Point from the context menu. iii. Right-click the Drive Test Data window on the other end of the range of data you want to zoom in on. iv. Select Last Zoom Point from the context menu. The Drive Test Data window zooms in on the data between the first zoom point and the last zoom point. 7. Click the data in the Drive Test Data window to display the selected point in the map window. Atoll will recentre the map window on the selected point if it is not presently visible. If you open the table for the drive test data you are displaying in the Drive Test Data window, Atoll will automatically display in the table the data for the point that is displayed in the map and in the Drive Test Data window (see Figure 8.19 on page 601).

8.5.5 Exporting a Drive Test Data Path You can export drive test data paths to vector files. To export a drive test data path to a vector file: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data path that you want to export, and select Export from the context menu. The Save As dialog box appears. 2. Enter a File name for the drive test data path and select a format from the Save as type list. 3. Click Save. The drive test data path is exported and saved in the file.

8.5.6 Extracting CW Measurements from Drive Test Data You can generate CW measurements from drive test data paths and extract the results to the CW Measurements folder. To generate CW measurement from a drive test data path: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data path from which you want to export CW measurements, and select Extract CW Measurements from the context menu. The CW Measurement Extraction dialog box appears. 2. Under Extract CW Measurements: a. Select one or more transmitters from the For the following transmitters list. b. Select the field that contains the information that you want to export to CW measurements from the Select the measured signal levels list. 3. Under Extraction Parameters of CW Measurement Paths: a. Enter the Min. number of points to extract per measurement path. CW measurements are not created for transmitters that have fewer points than this number. b. Enter the minimum and maximum Measured Signal Levels. CW measurements are created with drive test data points where the signal levels are within this specified range.

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4. Click OK. Atoll creates new CW measurements for transmitters satisfying the parameters set in the CW Measurement Extraction dialog box. For more information about CW measurements, see the Model Calibration Guide.

8.5.7 Printing and Exporting the Drive Test Data Window You can print or export the contents of the Drive Test Data window, using the context menu in the Drive Test Data window. To print or export the contents of the Drive Test Data window: 1. Select Tools > Drive Test Data from the menu bar. The Drive Test Data analysis tool appears. 2. Define the display parameters and zoom level as explained in "Analysing Measurement Variations Along the Path" on page 600. 3. Right-click the Drive Test Data analysis tool. The context menu appears. • •

To print the Drive Test Data analysis tool, select Print from the context menu. To export the Drive Test Data analysis tool, select Copy from the context menu, then paste.

8.6 Co-planning UMTS Networks with Other Networks Atoll is a multi-technology radio network planning tool. You can work on several technologies at the same time, and several network scenarios can be designed for any given area: a country, a region, a city, etc. For example, you can design a UMTS and a GSM network for the same area in Atoll, and then work with Atoll’s co-planning features to study the mutual impacts of the two networks. Before starting a co-planning project in Atoll, the Atoll administrator must perform the pre-requisite tasks that are relevant for your project as described in the Administrator Manual. Sectors of both networks can share the same sites database. You can display base stations (sites and sectors), geographic data, and coverage predictions, etc., of one network in the other network’s Atoll document. In addition, you can optimise the settings of the two networks using the Atoll Automatic Cell Planning (ACP) module. You can also study inter-technology handovers by performing inter-technology neighbour allocations, manually or automatically. Inter-technology neighbours are allocated on criteria such as the distance between sectors or overlapping coverage. In this section, the following are explained: • • • • • •

"Switching to Co-planning Mode" on page 603 "Working with Coverage Predictions in Co-Planning Mode" on page 605 "Creating a UMTS Sector From a Sector in the Other Network" on page 609 "Planning Neighbours in Co-planning Mode" on page 609 "Using ACP in a Co-planning Project" on page 610 "Ending Co-planning Mode" on page 611

8.6.1 Switching to Co-planning Mode Before starting a co-planning project, you must have two networks designed for a given area, i.e., you must have a UMTS Atoll document and an Atoll document for the other network. Atoll switches to co-planning mode as soon as the two documents are linked together. In the following sections, the UMTS document will be referred to as the main document, and the other document as the linked document. Atoll does not establish any restriction on which is the main document and which is the linked document. Before starting a co-planning project, make sure that your main and linked documents have the same geographic coordinate systems.

To switch to co-planning mode: 1. Open the main document. •

Select File > Open or File > New > From an Existing Database.

2. Link the other document with the open main document.

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a. Click the main document’s map window. The main document’s map window becomes active and the explorer window shows the contents of the main document. b. Select Document > Link With > Browse. The Link With dialog box appears. c. Select the document to be linked. d. Click Open. The selected document is opened in the same Atoll session as the main document and the two documents are linked. The explorer window of the main document now contains a folder named Transmitters in [linked document], where [linked document] is the name of the linked document and another folder named Predictions in [linked document]. By default, only the Transmitters and Predictions folders of the linked document appear in the main document. If you want the Sites folder of the linked document to appear in the main document as well, you can set an option in the Atoll.ini file. For information on setting options in the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual. As soon as a link is created between the two documents, Atoll switches to co-planning mode and Atoll’s co-planning features are now available. When you are working on a co-planning document, Atoll facilitates working on two different but linked documents by synchronising the display in the map window between both documents. Atoll syncronises the display for the following: • • • •

Geographic data: Atoll synchronises the display of geographic data such as clutter classes and the DTM. If you select or deselect one type of geographic data, Atoll makes the corresponding change in the linked document. Zones: Atoll synchronises the display of filtering, focus, computation, hot spot, printing, and geographic export zones. If you select or deselect one type of zone, Atoll makes the corresponding change in the linked document. Map display: Atoll co-ordinates the display of the map in the map window. When you move the map, or change the zoom level in one document, Atoll makes the corresponding changes in the linked document. Point analysis: When you use the Point Analysis tool, Atoll co-ordinates the display on both the working document and the linked document. You can select a point and view the profile in the main document and then switch to the linked document to make an analysis on the same profile but in the linked document.

Displaying Both Networks in the Same Atoll Document After you have switched to co-planning mode as explained in "Switching to Co-planning Mode" on page 603, transmitters and predictions from the linked document are displayed in the main document. If you want, you can display other items or folders from the explorer window of the linked document to the explorer window of the main document (e.g., you can display GSM sites and measurement paths in a UMTS document). To display sites from the linked document in the main document: 1. Click the linked document’s map window. The linked document’s map window becomes active and the explorer window shows the contents of the linked document. 2. Select the Network explorer. 3. Right-click the Sites folder. The context menu appears. 4. Select Make Accessible In from the context menu, and select the name of the main document from the submenu that opens. The Sites folder of the linked document is now available in the main document. The explorer window of the main document now contains a folder named Sites in [linked document], where [linked document] is the name of the linked document. If you want the Sites folder of the linked document to appear in the main document automatically, you can set an option in the Atoll.ini file. For information on setting options in the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual. The same process can be used to link other folders in one document, folders such as CW Measurements, Drive Test Data, Clutter classes, Traffic Maps, and DTM, etc., in the other document. Once the folders are linked, you can access their properties and the properties of the items in the folders from either of the two documents. Any changes you make in the linked document are taken into account in the both the linked and main documents. However, the only changes in the working document that are taken into account in the linked document are changes made to the linked folders (e.g., the Transmitters and Predictions folders). If you close the linked document, Atoll displays a warning icon ( ) in the main document’s explorer window, and the linked items are no longer accessible from the main document. You can load the linked document in Atoll again by right-clicking the linked item in the explorer window of the main document, and selecting Open Linked Document. The administrator can create and set a configuration file for the display parameters of linked and main document transmitters in order to enable you to distinguish them on the map and to be able to select them on the map using the mouse. If such a configuration file has not been set up, you can choose different symbols, sizes and colours for the linked and the main document transmitters. For more information on folder configurations, see "Folder Configurations" on page 107. You can also set

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the tip text to enable you to distinguish the objects and data displayed on the map. For more information on tip text, see "Associating a Tip Text to an Object" on page 54. In order to more easily view differences between the networks, you can also change the order of the folders or items in the explorer window. For more information on changing the order of items in the explorer window, see "Changing the Order of Layers" on page 51. Figure 8.21 shows an example of UMTS transmitters with labels, and GSM transmitter data displayed in tip text.

Figure 8.21: GSM and UMTS Transmitters displayed on the map

8.6.2 Working with Coverage Predictions in Co-Planning Mode Atoll provides you with features that enable you to work with coverage predictions in your co-planning project. You can modify the properties of coverage predictions in the linked document from within the main document, and calculate coverage predictions in both documents at the same time. You can also study and compare the coverage predictions of the two networks. In this section, the following are explained: • •

"Updating Coverage Predictions" on page 605 "Analysing Coverage Predictions" on page 606.

8.6.2.1 Updating Coverage Predictions You can access the properties of the coverage predictions in the linked Predictions folder in the main document’s explorer window. After modifying the linked coverage prediction properties, you can update them from the main document. To update a linked coverage prediction: 1. Click the main document’s map window. The main document’s map window becomes active and the explorer window shows the contents of the main document and the linked folders from the linked document. 2. Select the Network explorer. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Predictions in [linked document] folder, where [linked document] is the name of the linked document. 4. Right-click the linked coverage prediction whose properties you want to modify. The context menu appears. 5. Select Properties from the context menu. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 6. Modify the calculation and display parameters of the coverage prediction. 7. Click OK to save your settings. 8. Click the Calculate button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar.

When you click the Calculate button, Atoll first calculates uncalculated and invalid path loss matrices and then unlocked coverage predictions in the main and linked Predictions folders. When you have several unlocked coverage predictions defined in the main and linked Predictions folders, Atoll calculates them one after the other. For information on locking and unlocking coverage predictions, see "Locking and Unlocking Coverage Predictions" on page 207. If you want, you can make Atoll recalculate all path loss matrices, including valid ones, before calculating unlocked coverage predictions in the main and linked Predictions folders.

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To force Atoll to recalculate all path loss matrices before calculating coverage predictions: 1. Click the Force Calculate button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar.

When you click the Force Calculate button, Atoll first removes existing path loss matrices, recalculates them and then calculates unlocked coverages predictions defined in the main and linked Predictions folders. To prevent Atoll from calculating coverage predictions in the linked Predictions folder, you can set an option in the Atoll.ini file. For information on setting options in the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual.

8.6.2.2 Analysing Coverage Predictions In Atoll, you can analyse coverage predictions of the two networks together. You can display information about coverage predictions in the main and the linked documents in the Legend window, use tip text to get information on displayed coverage predictions, compare coverage areas by overlaying the coverage predictions in the map window, and study the differences between the coverage areas by creating coverage comparisons. If several coverage predictions are visible on the map, it might be difficult to clearly see the results of the coverage prediction you want to analyse. You can select which predictions to display or to hide by selecting or clearing the display check box. For information on managing the display, see "Displaying or Hiding Objects on the Map" on page 50. In this section, the following are explained: • • • • •

8.6.2.2.1

"Co-Planning Coverage Analysis Process" on page 606 "Displaying the Legend Window" on page 606 "Comparing Coverage Prediction Results Using Tip Text" on page 607 "Comparing Coverage Areas by Overlaying Coverage Predictions" on page 607 "Studying Differences Between Coverage Areas" on page 608.

Co-Planning Coverage Analysis Process The aim of coverage analysis in a co-planning project is to compare the coverage areas of the two networks and to analyse the impact of changes made in one network on the other. Changes made to the sectors of one network might also have an impact on sectors in the other network if the sectors in the two networks share some antenna parameters. You can carry out a coverage analysis with Atoll to find the impact of these changes. The recommended process for analysing coverage areas, and the effect of parameter modifications in one network on the other, is as follows: 1. Create and calculate a Coverage by Transmitter (DL) (best server with 0 dB overlap margin) coverage prediction and a Coverage by Signal Level (DL) coverage prediction in the main document. For more information, see "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter" on page 539 and "Studying Signal Level Coverage for a Single Base Station" on page 538. 2. Create and calculate a Coverage by Transmitter (DL) (best server with 0 dB overlap margin) coverage prediction and a Coverage by Signal Level (DL) coverage prediction in the linked document. 3. Choose display settings for the coverage predictions and tip text contents that will allow you to easily interpret the predictions displayed in the map window. This can help you to quickly assess information graphically and using the mouse. You can change the display settings of the coverage predictions on the Display tab of each coverage prediction’s Properties dialog box. 4. Make the two new coverage predictions in the linked document accessible in the main document as described in "Displaying Both Networks in the Same Atoll Document" on page 604. 5. Optimise the main network by changing parameters such as antenna azimuth and tilt or the cell power. You can use a tool such as the Atoll ACP to optimise the network. Changes made to the shared antenna parameters will be automatically propagated to the linked document. 6. Calculate the coverage predictions in the main document again to compare the effects of the changes you made with the linked coverage predictions. For information on comparing coverage predictions, see "Comparing Coverage Areas by Overlaying Coverage Predictions" on page 607 and "Studying Differences Between Coverage Areas" on page 608. 7. Calculate the linked coverage predictions again to study the effects of the changes on the linked coverage predictions.

8.6.2.2.2

Displaying the Legend Window When you create a coverage prediction, you can add the displayed values of the coverage prediction to the legend by selecting the Add to Legend check box on the Display tab.

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To display the Legend window: •

8.6.2.2.3

Select View > Legend Window. The Legend window is displayed, with the values for each displayed coverage prediction in the main and linked Predictions folders, identified by the name of the coverage prediction.

Comparing Coverage Prediction Results Using Tip Text You can compare coverage predictions by placing the pointer over an area of the coverage prediction to read the information displayed in the tip text. Atoll displays information for all displayed coverage predictions in both the working and the linked documents. The information displayed is defined by the settings you made on the Display tab when you created the coverage prediction (step 3. of "Analysing Coverage Predictions" on page 606). To get coverage prediction results in the form of tip text: •

In the map window, place the pointer over the area of the coverage prediction that you want more information on. After a brief pause, the tip text appears with the information defined on all displayed coverage predictions in both the working and the linked documents (see Figure 8.6). The tip text for the working document is on top and the tip text for the linked document, with the linked document identified by name is on the bottom.

Figure 8.22: Comparing coverage prediction results using tip text

8.6.2.2.4

Comparing Coverage Areas by Overlaying Coverage Predictions You can compare the coverage areas of the main and linked documents by overlaying coverage predictions in the map window. To compare coverage areas by overlaying coverage predictions in the map window: 1. Click the map window of the main document. 2. In the Network explorer, expand the Predictions folder, and select the visibility check box to the left of the coverage prediction of the main document you want to display in the map window. The coverage prediction is displayed on the map. 3. Right-click the coverage prediction and select Properties from the context menu. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 4. Click the Display tab. 5. Modify the display parameters of the coverage prediction. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 6. Expand the Predictions in [linked document] folder, where [linked document] is the name of the linked document and select the visibility check box to the left of the linked coverage prediction you want to display in the map window. The coverage prediction is displayed on the map. 7. Right-click the coverage prediction and select Properties from the context menu. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 8. Modify the display parameters of the coverage prediction. 9. Calculate the two coverage predictions again, if needed. Figure 8.23 and Figure 8.24 show an example of overlayed UMTS and GSM coverage predictions. To highlight differences between the coverage areas, you can also change the order of the Predictions folders in the explorer window. For more information on changing the order of items in the explorer window, see "Changing the Order of Layers" on page 51.

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Figure 8.23: UMTS coverage by transmitter – pink contours with no interior

Figure 8.24: GSM coverage by transmitter – high transparency with full interior coloured by BCCH, with BCCH/BSIC information available in tip text

8.6.2.2.5

Studying Differences Between Coverage Areas You can compare coverage predictions to find differences in coverage areas. To compare coverage predictions: 1. Click the map window of the main document. 2. In the Network explorer, expand the Predictions folder, right-click the coverage prediction of the main document you want to compare, and select Compare With > [linked coverage prediction] from the context menu, where [linked coverage prediction] is the linked coverage prediction you want to compare with the coverage prediction of the main document. The Comparison Properties dialog box opens. 3. Select the display parameters of the comparison and add a comment if you want. 4. Click OK. The two coverage predictions are compared and a comparison coverage prediction is added to the main document’s Predictions folder. For more information, see "Comparing Coverage Predictions" on page 215.

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8.6.3 Creating a UMTS Sector From a Sector in the Other Network You can create a new sector in the main document based on an existing sector in the linked document. To create a new sector in the main document based on an existing sector in the linked document: 1. Click the main document’s map window. 2. In the map window, right-click the linked transmitter from which you want to create a new UMTS transmitter and select Copy in [main document] from the context menu. The following parameters of the new sector in the main document will be the same as the sector in the linked document it was based on: antenna position relative to the site (Dx and Dy), antenna height, azimuth, and mechanical tilt. The new sector will be initialised with the radio parameters from the default station template in the main document. If the sector in the linked document is located at a site that does not exist in the main document, the site is created in the main document as well. If the sector in the linked document is located at a site that also exists in the main document, and the coordinates of the site in the linked and main documents are the same, the sector is created in the main document at the existing site. The site coordinates in the linked and main documents will always be the same if the Atoll administrator has set up site sharing in the database. For more information about site sharing in databases, see the Administrator Manual. If the sector in the linked document is located at a site that exists in the main document, but at a different location (geographic coordinates), the sector is not created in the main document. To update the display settings of the new sector: 1. Click the map window of the main document. 2. In the Network explorer, right-click the LTE Transmitters folder of the main document and select Refresh Folder Configuration from the context menu.

Figure 8.25: New sector – Before and after applying the configuration The azimuths and mechanical tilts of secondary antennas or remote antennas are not included when you select Refresh Folder Configuration and have to be set up manually.

8.6.4 Planning Neighbours in Co-planning Mode In co-planning mode, you can use Atoll to manually allocate neighbour relations to any cell in a network. You can also use Atoll to automatically allocate neighbour relations to a single cell, to all the cells of a base station, to all the cells in a transmitter group, or to all the cells in a network, based on predefined parameters. • •

UMTS-specific coverage conditions in automatic inter-technology neighbour allocation are described below. Other concepts that are specific to UMTS networks are explained in "Planning Neighbours" on page 560

8.6.4.1 Coverage Conditions In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, you either select or clear the Use coverage conditions check box. • •

When it is cleared, only the defined Distance will be used to allocate neighbours to a reference transmitter. When it is selected, click Define to open the Coverage Conditions dialog box: • •

Resolution: Enter the resolution to be used to calculate cells’ coverage areas during automatic neighbour allocation. Global min RSCP: Enter the minimum RSCP to be provided by the reference cell and the potential neighbour. Atoll uses the highest value between the Global min RSCP and the following: • If Global min RSCP is not defined, Atoll uses the Min RSCP in individual cells’ properties • If Global min RSCP is not defined and no Min RSCP is available in a cell’s properties, Atoll uses the Default min Pilot RSCP threshold defined on the Calculation Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box.

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Min Ec⁄Io: Enter the minimum Ec⁄Io which must be provided by reference cell A in an overlapping area. Reference cell A must also be the best server in terms of pilot quality in the overlapping area. Handover margin: Enter the maximum difference of Ec/Io between reference cell A and possible neighbour cell B in the overlapping area. You can select whether Atoll should use a Global value of the handover margin for all the cells, or the handover margins Defined per cell. Max Ec⁄Io: If you want, you can select this check box then enter the maximum difference of Ec⁄Io between reference cell A and potential neighbour cell B in the overlapping area. The Max Ec/Io field is not available when UMTS is the target technology.

• • •

DL load contributing to Io: You can select whether Atoll should use a Global value (% Pmax) of the downlink load for all the cells, or the downlink loads Defined per cell. Shadowing Taken into Account: If selected, enter a Cell edge coverage probability. Indoor Coverage: Select this check box to take indoor losses into acccount in calculations. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

8.6.4.2 Calculation Constraints In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, you can select the following calculation constraints: • •

Co-site neighbours: cells located on the same site as the reference transmitter will automatically be considered as neighbours. A transmitter/cell with no antenna cannot be considered as a co-site neighbour. Exceptional pairs: Select this check box to force the neighbour relations defined in the Inter-technology Exceptional pairs table. For more information, see "Exceptional Pairs" on page 223.

8.6.4.3 Reasons for Allocation In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, the reason for neighbour allocation is indicated under Cause in the Results table. It can be any of the following: Cause

Description

When

Distance

The neighbour is located within the defined maximum distance from the reference transmitter/ cell

Use coverage conditions is not selected

Coverage

The neighbour relation fulfils the defined coverage conditions

Use coverage conditions is selected and nothing is selected under Force

Co-Site

The neighbour is located on the same site as the reference transmitter/cell

Use coverage conditions is selected and Co-site neighbours is selected

Exceptional Pair

The neighbour relation is defined as an exceptional pair

Exceptional pairs is selected

Existing

The neighbour relation existed before automatic allocation

Delete existing neighbours is not selected

8.6.5 Using ACP in a Co-planning Project Atoll ACP enables you to automatically calculate the optimal network settings in terms of network coverage and capacity in co-planning projects where networks using different technologies, for example, UMTS and GSM, must both be taken into consideration. When you run an optimisation setup in a co-planning environment, you can display the sites and transmitters of both networks in the document in which you will run the optimisation process, as explained in "Switching to Co-planning Mode" on page 603. While this step is not necessary in order to create a co-planning optimisation setup, it will enable you to visually analyse the changes to both networks in the same document. Afterwards you can create the new optimisation setup, but when creating an optimisation setup in a co-planning environment, you can not run it immediately; you must first import the other network into the ACP setup. This section explains how to use ACP to optimise network settings in a co-planning project: • •

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"Creating a New Co-planning Optimisation Setup" on page 611 "Importing the Other Network into the Setup" on page 611.

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8.6.5.1 Creating a New Co-planning Optimisation Setup Once you have displayed both networks in the main document as explained in "Switching to Co-planning Mode" on page 603, you can create the new co-planning optimisation setup. To create a new co-planning optimisation setup: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the ACP - Automatic Cell Planning folder and select New from the context menu. A dialog box appears in which you can set the parameters for the optimisation process. For information on the parameters available, see "Defining Optimisation Parameters" on page 1320. 2. After defining the optimisation setup, click the Create Setup button to save the defined optimisation. The optimisation setup has now been created. The next step is to add the GSM network to the ACP optimisation setup you have just created.

8.6.5.2 Importing the Other Network into the Setup Once you have created the co-planning optimisation setup, you must import the linked network. To import the linked network: 1. Click the map window of the main document. 2. In the Network explorer, expand the ACP - Automatic Cell Planning folder, right-click the setup that you created, select Import Project from the context menu, and select the name of the linked document that you want to import into the newly created setup. You can modify the parameters for the optimisation setup by right-clicking it in the Network explorer and selecting Properties from the context menu. For information on the parameters available, see "Defining Optimisation Parameters" on page 1320. After defining the co-planning optimisation setup: •

Right-click the setup in the ACP - Automatic Cell Planning folder and select Run from the context menu to run the optimisation. For information on running the optimisation, see "Running an Optimisation Setup" on page 1359. For information on the optimisation results, see "Viewing Optimisation Results" on page 1362.

8.6.6 Ending Co-planning Mode once you have linked two Atoll documents for the purposes of co-planning, Atoll will maintain the link between them. However, you might want to unlink the two documents at some point, either because you want to use a different document in co-planning or because you want to restore the documents to separate, technology-specific documents. To unlink the documents and end co-planning mode: 1. Select File > Open to open the main document. Atoll informs you that this document is part of a multi-technology environment and asks whether you want to open the other document. 2. Click Yes to open the linked document as well. 3. Select Document > Unlink to unlink the documents and end co-planning mode. The documents are no longer linked and co-planning mode is ended.

8.7 Advanced Configuration In this section, the following advanced configuration options are explained: • • • • • • • • • • • •

"Modelling Inter-Carrier Interference" on page 612 "Defining Frequency Bands" on page 612 "The Global Network Settings" on page 613 "Defining Network Deployment Layers" on page 614 "Defining Radio Bearers" on page 615 "Defining Site Equipment" on page 616 "Defining Receiver Equipment" on page 618 "Defining HSDPA Schedulers" on page 620 "Multiple Input Multiple Output Systems" on page 621 "Best Serving Cell and Active Set Determination" on page 622 "Modelling Shadowing" on page 623 "Modelling Inter-technology Interference" on page 624.

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8.7.1 Modelling Inter-Carrier Interference If you want Atoll to take into account the interference between two carriers, you must create a carrier pair with an interference reduction factor. Atoll will take the interference reduction factor into account on both the uplink and the downlink. To create a pair of carriers with an interference reduction factor: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the UMTS Network Settings folder and the Frequencies folder, right-click the Intra-technology Interference Reduction Factors folder, and select Open Table from the context menu. The InterCarrier Interference Reduction Factor table appears. 2. For each carrier pair for which you want define inter-carrier interference: a. Enter the first carrier of the pair in the 1st Carrier column. b. Enter the second carrier of the pair in the 2nd Carrier column. c. Enter an interference reduction factor in the Reduction Factor (dB) column. When Atoll is calculating interference, it subtracts the interference reduction factor from the calculated interference. If the interference reduction factor is set to "0," Atoll assumes that the carriers in the defined pair generate as much interference as cells with the same carrier interference. The interference reduction factor must be a positive value.

For every pair of carriers that is not defined, Atoll assumes that there is no inter-carrier interference. d. Press ENTER to create the carrier pair and to create a new row in the table.

8.7.2 Defining Frequency Bands To define frequency bands: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the UMTS Network Settings folder and the Frequencies folder, right-click Bands, and select Open Table from the context menu. The Frequency Bands table appears. 2. In the Frequency Bands table, enter one frequency band per row. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. For each frequency band, enter: • • • • • • •

Name: Enter a name for the frequency, for example, "Band 2100." This name will appear in other dialog boxes when you select a frequency band. Bandwidth (MHz): Enter the bandwidth for each carrier in the frequency band. DL Start Frequency (MHz): Enter the downlink start frequency. First Carrier: Enter the number of the first carrier in this frequency band. Last Carrier: Enter the number of the last carrier in this frequency band. If this frequency band has only one carrier, enter the same number as entered in the First Carrier field. Step: Enter the step between any two consecutive carrier numbers in the frequency band. Excluded Carriers: Enter the carrier numbers which do not belong to the frequency band. You can enter non-consecutive carrier numbers separated with a comma, or you can enter a range of carrier numbers separating the first and last index with a hyphen (for example, entering "1-5" corresponds to "1, 2, 3, 4, 5"). When you have more than one frequency band, the carriers must be numbered sequentially, contiguously (i.e., you cannot skip numbers in a range of carriers, and the range of carriers in one band cannot overlap the range of carriers in another), and uniquely (i.e., you can only use each number once). For example: Band 2100: First carrier: 0; Last carrier 1 and Band 900: First carrier: 2 and Last carrier: 2

3. When you have finished adding frequency bands, click the Close button (

).

For example, if you wish to define the UTRA Band I and UARFCNs corresponding to the centre frequencies of the carriers (10562, 10587, 10612), you can set: • • • • •

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You can also access the properties dialog box of each individual frequency band by double-clicking the left margin of the row with the frequency band.

8.7.3 The Global Network Settings In the Network Settings Properties dialog box, you can define many calculation parameters that are used in predictions and in Monte Carlo simulations. This section explains the options available in the Network Settings Properties dialog box, and explains how to access the dialog box: • •

"Network Settings Properties" on page 613 "Modifying Global Network Settings" on page 614.

8.7.3.1 Network Settings Properties The Network Settings Properties dialog box has two tabs: the Global Parameters Tab and the Calculation Parameters tab. • •

"The Global Parameters Tab" on page 613 "The Calculation Parameters Tab" on page 614

The Global Parameters Tab The Global Parameters tab has the following options: •

DL Powers: Under DL Powers, you can define whether the power values on the downlink are Absolute or offset from the pilot (Pilot Offset). The power values affected are the synchronisation channel, other common channel, HS-SCCH, and HSUPA powers defined in the cell properties, as well as the minimum and maximum traffic channel powers per R99 radio bearer. Atoll automatically converts the power values defined in the cell properties (i.e., synchronisation channel, other common channel, HS-SCCH, and HSUPA powers) when you change the option. On the other hand, the values for the minimum and maximum traffic channel powers have to be modified manually.

•

DL Load: Under DL Load, you can define whether the total power values on the downlink are Absolute or a percentage of the maximum power (% Pmax). Atoll automatically converts the total power values when you change the option.

•

Interferences: Under Interferences, you can define the method used to calculate interference on the downlink (I0 and Nt): • I0: You can select "Total noise" and Atoll will calculate I0 using the noise generated by all transmitters plus thermal noise or you can select "Without pilot" and Atoll will calculate I0 using the total noise less the pilot signal and orthogonal part of traffic channels and other common channels. • Nt: You can select "Total noise" and Atoll will calculate Nt as the noise generated by all transmitters plus thermal noise or you can select "Without useful signal" and Atoll will calculate Nt as the total noise less the signal of the studied cell.

•

Handoff: Under Handoff, you can define the parameters used to model soft handoff on the uplink. •

•

•

Default UL Macro-Diversity Gain: You can set a default value for the uplink gain due to macro-diversity on soft and soft-soft handovers. If you clear the Shadowing taken into account check box on the Conditions tab when defining a coverage prediction or during a point analysis, Atoll uses this value. If you select the Shadowing taken into account check box on the Conditions tab, Atoll calculates the UL macro-diversity gain, based on the standard deviation value of Eb⁄Nt on the uplink defined per clutter class. +MRC (maximal ratio combining) in Softer/Soft: If you select the +MRC in Softer/Soft check box, Atoll selects the serving cell during a softer/soft handover by recombining the signal of co-site transmitters and multiplying the resulting signal by the rake efficiency factor and then comparing this value to the signal received at transmitters located on the other sites of the active set. Atoll chooses the greatest value and multiplies it by the macro-diversity gain.

Compressed Mode: Under Compressed Mode, you can define the parameters related to compressed mode. Compressed mode is used when a mobile supporting compressed mode is connected to a cell located on a site with a compressed-mode-capable equipment and either the pilot RSCP, or the received Ec⁄I0, or both of them are lower than the defined activation thresholds. • •

Pilot RSCP Activation Threshold: You can select the RSCP Active check box and enter a Pilot RSCP Activation Threshold. Ec⁄I0 Activation Threshold: You can select the Ec⁄I0 Active check box and enter a Ec⁄I0 Activation Threshold. You must select either the RSCP Active check box or the Ec⁄I0 Active check box or both.

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Eb⁄Nt UL and DL Target Increase: When compressed mode is activated, Eb⁄Nt requirements in UL and DL are increased. In order to take this into account, Atoll adds UL and DL Eb⁄Nt target increase values to the UL and DL Eb⁄Nt requirements set for each radio bearer.

HSDPA: Under HSDPA, you can define how total noise is calculated and how the CQI (Channel Quality Indicator) is evaluated for HSDPA. •

•

Nt: You can select "Total noise" and Atoll will calculate Nt as the noise generated by all transmitters plus thermal noise or you can select "Without useful signal" and Atoll will calculate Nt as the total noise less the signal of the studied cell. CQI: You can select “Based on CPICH quality” and Atoll will measure the CQI based on the pilot Ec⁄Nt or you can select “Based on HS-PDSCH quality” and Atoll will measure the CQI based on the HS-PDSCH Ec⁄Nt. Depending on the option selected, you will have to define either a CQI=f(CPICH Ec/Nt) graph, or a CQI=f(HS-PDSCH Ec/Nt) graph in the Properties dialog box of the terminal equipment. The calculated CQI will be used to determine the best bearer.

The Calculation Parameters Tab The Calculation Parameters tab has the following options: •

Calculation limitation: Under Calculation limitation, you can define the following data: •

•

Min. interferer reception threshold: This value is used by Atoll to limit the influence of interferers in calculations. The performance of UMTS-specific coverage predictions and Monte Carlo simulations can be improved by setting a high minimum interferer reception threshold. This value is used as a filter criterion on the signal level received from interferers. Atoll will discard all interferers with a signal level lower than this value. Default min. pilot RSCP threshold: The default minimum pilot RSCP required for a user to be connected to the cell. The RSCP is compared with this threshold to determine whether or not a user can be connected to the cell. A minimum pilot RSCP threshold can be defined at the cell level (in the cell Properties dialog box or in the Cells table). If defined, a cell-specific minimum pilot RSCP threshold will be used instead of the value entered here.

• •

Receiver: Under Receiver, you can enter the Height of the receiver. Default max range: The maximum coverage range of transmitters in the network.

8.7.3.2 Modifying Global Network Settings You can change global network settings in the Network Settings Properties dialog box. To change global network settings: 1. In the Parameters explorer, right-click the Network Settings folder and select Properties from the context menu. The Network Settings Properties dialog box appears. 2. Modify the parameters described in "Network Settings Properties" on page 613. 3. Click OK.

8.7.4 Defining Network Deployment Layers A UMTS network can be deployed in multiple layers of heterogeneous cells, i.e., of different sizes (macro, micro, small cells, etc.), and possibly using different frequencies. Such UMTS networks are referred to as HetNets, or heterogeneous networks. In Atoll, different network layers with different priorities can be defined for your UMTS network. Network layer priorities are taken into account to determine the best serving cell in predictions (i.e., AS analysis, multi-point analysis and coverage predictions). They are not used in simulations. To create a new network layer: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Network Settings folder, right-click Layers and select Open Table. The Layers table appears. 2. In the Layers table, each row describes a network layer. For the new network layer, enter: • • • •

Index: The layer index is automatically assigned by Atoll to each new layer that you create. Name: The name of the network layer. Priority: The priority of the network layer. Max speed (km/h): The highest speed of a mobile user that can connect to cells of this layer.

3. When you have finished adding network layers, click the Close button (

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8.7.5 Defining Radio Bearers Bearer services are used by the network for carrying information in the UMTS part of the network. The R99 Radio Bearer table lists all the available radio bearers. You can create new R99 radio bearers and modify existing ones by using the R99 Radio Bearer table. This section covers the following topics: • • •

"Defining R99 Radio Bearers" on page 615 "Defining HSDPA Radio Bearers" on page 615 "Defining HSUPA Radio Bearers" on page 616.

8.7.5.1 Defining R99 Radio Bearers Bearer services are used by the network for carrying information. The R99 Radio Bearer table lists all the available radio bearers. You can create new R99 radio bearers and modify existing ones by using the R99 Radio Bearer table. Only the following R99 radio bearer parameters are used in predictions: • •

Max TCH Power (dBm) The type of bearer.

To create or modify an R99 radio bearer: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the UMTS Network Settings folder and the Radio Bearers folder, right-click the R99 Radio Bearers folder, and select Open Table from the context menu. The R99 Radio Bearers table appears. 2. In the R99 Radio Bearers table, you can enter or modify the following fields: • • • • •

• • •

Name: You can modify the name of the bearer. If you are creating a new R99 radio bearer, enter a name in the row marked with the New Row icon ( ). Uplink Peak Throughput (Kbps): Enter or modify the uplink peak throughput in kilobytes per second. Downlink Peak Throughput (Kbps): Enter or modify the downlink peak throughput in kilobytes per second. Type: Select or modify the service type. There are four classes: Conversational, Streaming, Interactive, and Background. This field corresponds to the QoS (quality of service) class or traffic class that the bearer will belong to. UL DPCCH/DPCH Power Ratio: Enter or modify the uplink DPCCH (Dedicated Physical Control Channel)/DPCH (Dedicated Physical Channel) power ratio. The DPCH power is the combination of the DPCCH and the DPDCH (Dedicated Physical Data Channel) power. DL DPCCH/DPCH Power Ratio: Enter or modify the downlink DPCCH (Dedicated Physical Control Channel)/DPCH (Dedicated Physical Channel) power ratio. Min. TCH Power (dBm): Enter or modify the minimum traffic channel power. The minimum and maximum traffic channel power make up the dynamic range for downlink power control. Max TCH Power (dBm): Enter or modify the maximum traffic channel power. The maximum and minimum traffic channel powers can be either absolute values or values relative to the pilot power; this depends on the option defined on the Global Parameters tab of the UMTS Network Settings Properties dialog box. These values have to be manually modified when the option is changed.

• •

DL Spreading Factor (Active Users): Enter or modify the downlink spreading factor for active users. This parameter is used to estimate the number of OVSF codes required by an active user using the R99 radio bearer. DL Spreading Factor (Inactive Users): Enter or modify the downlink spreading factor for inactive users. This parameter is used to estimate the number of OVSF codes required by an inactive user with the R99 radio bearer.

8.7.5.2 Defining HSDPA Radio Bearers In each cell, the scheduler selects the HSDPA resource per UE and per TTI. This HSDPA resource is called a TFRC (Transport Format Resource Combination) and is the set of parameters such as the transport format, the modulation scheme, and the number of used HS-PDSCH channels. In Atoll, the TFRC are referred to as HSDPA radio bearers. During a simulation, and for the HSDPA coverage prediction, Atoll selects a suitable HSDPA radio bearer and uses its peak RLC throughput. The HSDPA radio bearer selection is based on UE capabilities (maximum number of HS-PDSCH channels, transport block size, modulation supported), cell capabilities (HSPA or HSPA+, MIMO system used, maximum number of HS-PDSCH channels), and reported CQI. The HSDPA Radio Bearers table lists the available HSDPA radio bearers. They can be classified into two categories: •

HSDPA bearers using QPSK and 16QAM modulations. They can be selected for users connected to HSPA and HSPA+ capable cells.

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HSDPA bearers using 64QAM modulation (following improvements introduced by release 7 of the 3GPP UTRA specifications, referred to as HSPA+). These HSDPA bearers can be allocated to users connected to cells with HSPA+ capabilities only.

You can create new HSDPA radio bearers and modify existing ones by using the HSDPA Radio Bearers table. To open the HSDPA Radio Bearers table: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the UMTS Network Settings folder and the Radio Bearers folder, right-click the HSDPA Radio Bearers folder, and select Open Table from the context menu. The HSDPA Radio Bearers table appears with the following information: • • • • •

Radio Bearer Index: The bearer index number. Transport Block Size (Bits): The transport block size in bits. Number of Used HS-PDSCH Channels: The number of HS-PDSCH channels used. Peak RLC Throughput (bps): The peak RLC throughput represents the peak throughput without coding (redundancy, overhead, addressing, etc.). Modulation: The modulation used. You can choose between QPSK, 16QAM or 64QAM.

8.7.5.3 Defining HSUPA Radio Bearers In each cell, the scheduler selects the HSUPA resource per UE, per Node B, and per user service. This HSUPA resource is called a TFC (Transport Format Combination) and requires a defined ratio of E-DPDCH power over DPCCH power. This ratio is modelled as the required E-DPDCH Ec⁄Nt. The combination of the TFC and the power offset is modelled in Atoll as HSUPA radio bearers. During a simulation, and for the HSUPA coverage prediction, Atoll selects a suitable HSUPA radio bearer. The HSUPA radio bearer selection is based on UE capabilities (maximum number of E-DPDCH codes, smallest spreading factor, TTI length, and modulation supported), cell capabilities (HSPA or HSPA+), and the required E-DPDCH Ec⁄Nt. The HSUPA Radio Bearers table lists the available HSUPA radio bearers. They can be classified into two categories: • •

HSUPA bearers using QPSK modulation. They can be selected for users connected to HSPA and HSPA+ capable cells. HSUPA bearers using 16QAM modulation (following improvements introduced by release 7 of the 3GPP UTRA specifications, referred to as HSPA+). These HSUPA bearers can be allocated to users connected to cells with HSPA+ capabilities only.

To open the HSUPA Radio Bearers table: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the UMTS Network Settings folder and the Radio Bearers folder, right-click the HSUPA Radio Bearers folder, and select Open Table from the context menu. The HSUPA Radio Bearers table appears with the following information: • • • • • • •

Radio Bearer Index: The bearer index number. TTI Duration (ms): The TTI duration in ms. The TTI can be 2 or 10 ms. Transport Block Size (Bits): The transport block size in bits. Number of E-DPDCH Codes: The number of E-DPDCH channels used. Min. Spreading Factor: The minimum spreading factor used. Peak RLC Throughput (bps): The peak RLC throughput represents the peak throughput without coding (redundancy, overhead, addressing, etc.). Modulation: The modulation used. You can choose between QPSK or 16QAM.

8.7.6 Defining Site Equipment In this section, the following are described: • • •

"Creating Site Equipment" on page 616 "Defining Resource Consumption per UMTS Site Equipment and R99 Radio Bearer" on page 617 "Defining Resource Consumption per UMTS Site Equipment and HSUPA Radio Bearer" on page 618.

8.7.6.1 Creating Site Equipment To create a new piece of UMTS site equipment: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the UMTS Network Settings folder and the Radio Resource Management folder, right-click Site Equipment, and select Open Table from the context menu. The Site Equipment table appears. 2. In the Equipment table, each row describes a piece of equipment. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. For the new piece of UMTS equipment you are creating, enter the following: • •

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•

•

MUD factor: Multi-User Detection (MUD) is a technology used to decrease intra-cell interference in the uplink. MUD is modelled by a coefficient from 0 to 1; this factor is considered in the UL interference calculation. In case MUD is not supported by equipment, enter 0 as value. Rake factor: The rake receiver efficiency factor enables Atoll to model the rake receiver on UL. Atoll uses this factor to calculate the uplink SHO gain and uplink signal quality in simulations, point-to-point handover analysis and coverage predictions. This parameter is considered in the uplink for softer and softer-softer handovers; it is applied to the sum of signals received on the same site. The factor value can be from 0 to 1. It models losses due to the imperfection of signal recombination. The rake receiver efficiency factor used to model the recombination in downlink can be set in terminal properties.

•

Carrier selection: Carrier selection refers to the carrier selection method used during the transmitter admission control in the mobile active set. The selected strategy is used in simulations when no carrier is specified in the properties of the service (all the carriers can be used for the service) or when the carrier specified for the service is not used by the transmitter. The specified carrier selection mode is not taken into account in predictions (AS analysis, multi-point analysis and coverage predictions). Choose one of the following: • • • •

•

• •

Min. UL Load Factor: The carrier with the minimum UL noise (carrier with the lowest UL load factor) is selected. Min. DL Total Power: The carrier with the minimum DL total power is selected. Random: The carrier is randomly chosen. Sequential: Carriers are sequentially loaded. The first carrier is selected as long as it is not overloaded. Then, when the maximum uplink load factor is reached, the second carrier is chosen and so on.

Downlink and Uplink Overhead Resources for Common Channels/Cell: The uplink and downlink overhead resources for common channels/cell correspond to the numbers of channel elements that a cell uses for common channels in the uplink and downlink. This setting is also used for OVSF code allocation; it indicates the number of OVSF codes to be allocated to control channels per cell. AS restricted to neighbours: Select this option if you want the other transmitters in the active set to belong to the neighbour list of the best server. Compressed Mode: If you select this option, cells located on sites with this equipment are able to manage compressed mode when radio conditions require it. Compressed mode is generally used to prepare the hard handover of users with single receiver terminals. By setting an option in the Atoll.ini file, you can prevent Atoll from allocating inter-carrier and inter-technology neighbours to cells located on sites whose equipment does not support the compressed mode. For more information, see the Administrator Manual.

• •

•

•

•

Overhead Iub Throughput/Cell (kbps): The overhead Iub throughput per cell corresponds to the Iub throughput required by the cell for common channels in the downlink. HSDPA Iub Backhaul Overhead (%): The HSDPA Iub backhaul overhead corresponds to the percentage of the HSDPA bearer peak RLC throughput to be added to the peak RLC throughput. The total value corresponds to the Iub backhaul throughput required by the HSDPA bearer user for HS Channels in the downlink. Throughput Supported per E1/T1/Ethernet Link (kbps): The throughput supported per E1/T1/Ethernet link corresponds to the throughput carried by an E1/T1/Ethernet link. This parameter is used to calculate the required Iub capacity, i.e. the number of E1/T1/Ethernet links required to provide the total throughput. Dual-band HSDPA: Select Active if the site supports the dual-band HSDPA mode. Otherwise, select Inactive. When dual-band HSDPA is active, HSDPA bearer users with suitable terminals can simultaneously connect to two co-site transmitters using different frequency bands. If the two co-site transmitters work on the same frequency band, then HSDPA bearer users can only connect to the HSDPA cells of one transmitter. Scheduler Algorithm: The scheduling technique used by the Node B to rank the HSDPA bearer users to be served when the Node B supports the multi-cell HSDPA mode. You can select the scheduler from the list of schedulers available in the Schedulers table. For more information, see "Defining HSDPA Schedulers" on page 620.

3. Click the Close button (

) to close the table.

8.7.6.2 Defining Resource Consumption per UMTS Site Equipment and R99 Radio Bearer The number of channel elements and the Iub backhaul throughput consumed by an R99 bearer user depend on the site equipment, on the R99 radio bearer, and on the link direction (up or down). The number of channel elements and the Iub backhaul throughput consumed can be defined for UMTS simulations.

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To define channel element and Iub backhaul throughput consumption during UMTS simulations: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the UMTS Network Settings folder and the Radio Resource Management folder, right-click R99 Resource Consumption, and select Open Table from the context menu. The R99 Resource Consumption table appears. 2. For each equipment-R99 radio bearer pair, enter in the R99 Resource Consumption table the number of UL and DL channel elements and the UL and DL Iub backhaul throughputs that Atoll will consume during the power control simulation.

8.7.6.3 Defining Resource Consumption per UMTS Site Equipment and HSUPA Radio Bearer The number of channel elements and the Iub backhaul throughput consumed by a HSUPA bearer user in the uplink depend on the site equipment and on the HSUPA radio bearer. The number of channel elements and the Iub backhaul throughput consumed can be defined for UMTS simulations. To define channel element and Iub backhaul throughput consumption during UMTS simulations: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the UMTS Network Settings folder and the Radio Resource Management folder, right-click HSUPA Resource Consumption, and select Open Table from the context menu. The HSUPA Resource Consumption table appears. 2. For each equipment-HSUPA radio bearer pair, enter in the HSUPA Resource Consumption table the number of UL channel elements and the UL Iub backhaul throughput that Atoll will consume during the power control simulation.

8.7.7 Defining Receiver Equipment In this section, the following are described: • • •

"Creating or Modifying Reception Equipment" on page 618 "HSDPA UE Categories" on page 620 "HSUPA UE Categories" on page 620.

8.7.7.1 Creating or Modifying Reception Equipment In Atoll, reception equipment models the reception characteristics of user terminals and is used when you create a terminal. The graphs defined for each reception equipment entry are used for quality predictions and for selecting HSDPA and HSUPA bearers. To create or modify reception equipment: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the UMTS Network Settings folder and the Reception Equipment folder. "Standard" is the default reception equipment type for all terminals. 2. Double-click the reception equipment type that you want to modify. The reception equipment type’s Properties dialog box appears. You can create a new reception equipment type by right-clicking the Reception Equipment folder and selecting New from the context menu.

3. Click the General tab. On the General tab, you can define the Name of the reception equipment. 4. Click the R99 Bearer Selection tab. On the R99 Bearer Selection tab, you can define downlink and uplink Eb⁄Nt requirements. These are the thresholds (in dB) that must be reached to provide users with the service. These parameters depend on the mobility type. Using transmit (Tx) and receive (Rx) diversity results in a quality gain on received downlink and uplink Eb⁄Nt. You can specify gains on received downlink and uplink Eb⁄Nt for each diversity configuration. Atoll will consider them when Tx or Rx diversity configurations are assigned to transmitters. • • • • • • •

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R99 Bearer: Select an R99 bearer from the list. Mobility: Select a mobility type from the list. UL Target (dB): Enter or modify the uplink (Eb⁄Nt) threshold. Uplink 2RX Diversity Gain (dB): Enter or modify the two-receiver uplink diversity gain in dB. Uplink 4RX Diversity Gain (dB): Enter or modify the four-receiver uplink diversity gain in dB. DL Target (dB): Enter or modify the downlink (Eb⁄Nt) threshold. Downlink Open Loop Diversity Gain (dB): Enter or modify the downlink open loop diversity gain in dB.

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Downlink Closed Loop Diversity Gain (dB): Enter or modify the downlink closed loop diversity gain in dB.

5. Click the Quality Graphs tab. 6. Ensure that a Quality Indicator has been chosen for each R99 Bearer. You can edit the values in the DL and UL Quality Indicator Tables by clicking directly on the table entry, or by selecting the Quality Indicator and clicking the Downlink Quality Graphs or the Uplink Quality Graphs buttons. The DL and UL Quality Indicator tables describe the variation of the quality indicator as a function of the measured parameter (as defined in the Quality Indicators table). The Uplink and Downlink Quality Graphs are used for quality predictions. 7. Click the HSDPA Bearer Selection tab. 8. Ensure that the values for each Mobility in the CQI Table and the Best HSDPA Bearer Table have been entered. You can edit the values in the CQI Table and the Best HSDPA Bearer Table by clicking directly on the table entry, or by selecting the Mobility and clicking the CQI Graph or the Best Bearer Graph buttons. The CQI table describes the variation of the CPICH CQI as a function of the CPICH Ec/Nt (or the variation of HS-PDSCH CQI as a function of the HS-PDSCH Ec/Nt); the values displayed depend on the calculation parameter you have selected in the Global Parameters tab of the UMTS Network Settings Properties dialog box (for more information, see "Network Settings Properties" on page 613). The HS-PDSCH CQI table describes the index of the best HSDPA bearer as a function of the HS-PDSCH CQI. The CQI graphs and best bearer graphs are used in the simulation and in the HSDPA prediction to model fast link adaptation (selection of the HSDPA bearer). The supplier RRM (radio resource management) strategy can be taken into account using the HS-PDSCH CQI table, for example: • • •

You can define several pieces of reception equipment with a separate table for each. You can reserve low bearer indexes for poor-performance reception equipment and higher bearer indexes for high-performance equipment. You can specify a graph for each mobility. Here, you can reserve low bearer indexes for high speeds and higher bearer indexes for low speeds. You can also give priority to either one user by assigning him a high bearer index or to all users by assigning them low bearer indexes.

9. Click the HSDPA Quality Graphs tab. 10. Ensure that a Quality Indicator has been chosen for each Radio Bearer Index. You can edit the values in the DL Quality Indicator Table by clicking directly on the table entry, or by selecting the Quality Indicator and clicking the Downlink Quality Graph button. The HSDPA BLER table describes the variation of the BLER as a function of the HS-PDSCH Ec⁄Nt. It is used to calculate the application throughput for the HSDPA coverage prediction. 11. Click the HSUPA Bearer Selection tab. 12. Ensure that, for each Radio Bearer Index and Mobility pair, you have entered a value for the Number of Retransmissions and for the Requested Ec⁄Nt Threshold. You can edit the values in the Early Termination Probabilities table by clicking directly on the table entry, or by selecting the Radio Bearer Index and clicking the Early Termination Probability Graph button. The Number of Retransmissions and the Requested Ec⁄Nt Threshold values are used in the simulation and in the HSUPA prediction to model noise rise scheduling and in the selection of the HSUPA radio bearer. The Early Termination Probabilities table describes the variation of the early termination probability as a function of the number of retransmissions. It is used in the HSUPA prediction to calculate the average RLC throughput and the average application throughput when HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request) is used. 13. Click the HSUPA Quality Graphs tab. 14. Ensure that a Quality Indicator has been chosen for each Radio Bearer Index and that there is a value defined for the Number of Retransmissions. You can edit the values in the UL Quality Indicator Table by clicking directly on the table entry, or by selecting the Quality Indicator and clicking the Uplink Quality Graph button. The HSUPA BLER table describes the variation of the BLER as a function of the E-DPDCH Ec⁄Nt. It is used to calculate the application throughput for the HSUPA coverage prediction. 15. Click the MIMO tab. 16. Ensure that, for each HSDPA Radio Bearer Index and Mobility pair, you have entered a value for the Number of Transmission Antennas Ports, for the Number of Reception Antennas Ports and for the Transmit Diversity Gain. You can edit the values in the Max Spatial Multiplexing Gains table by clicking directly on the table entry, or by selecting the Mobility and clicking the Max Spatial Multiplexing Gain Graph button.

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The Max Spatial Multiplexing Gains table describes the variation of the maximum spatial multiplexing gain as a function of the HS-PDSCH Ec/Nt (dB). For more information on the different MIMO systems, see "Multiple Input Multiple Output Systems" on page 621. RX No MIMO gain (diversity, spatial multiplexing) is applied if N TX Ant = N Ant = 1 .

17. Click OK to close the reception equipment type’s Properties dialog box.

8.7.7.2 HSDPA UE Categories HSDPA user equipment capabilities are standardised into 36 different categories according to 3GPP specifications. To edit a UE category: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the UMTS Network Settings folder and the UE Categories folder, right-click HSDPA UE Categories, and select Open Table from the context menu. The HSDPA User Equipment Categories table appears. 2. The HSDPA User Equipment Categories table has the following columns: • • • • • •

• •

Index: Each HSDPA UE category is a separate record in the table and has a unique index. Category Name: Name of the HSDPA UE category. Max. Number of HS-PDSCH Channels: The maximum number of HS-PDSCH channels allowed for the category. Min. Number of TTI Between Two Used TTI: The minimum number of TTI (Transmission Time Interval) between two TTI used. Max. Transport Block Size (bits): The maximum transport block size allowed for the category. Highest Modulation: Select the highest modulation supported by the category. You can choose between QPSK, 16QAM (if you select 16QAM, 16QAM and QPSK modulations can be used) or 64QAM (if you select 64QAM, 64QAM, 16QAM and QPSK modulations can be used). MIMO Support: Select whether the category supports MIMO systems or not. DL Multi-cell Mode: Select the type of multi-cell mode supported by the category, i.e., the maximum number of cells to which an HSDPA bearer user can simultaneously connect. If the category does not support multi-cell HSDPA, select None.

8.7.7.3 HSUPA UE Categories HSUPA user equipment capabilities are standardised into 9 different categories according to 3GPP specifications. To edit a UE category: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the UMTS Network Settings folder and the UE Categories folder, right-click HSUPA UE Categories, and select Open Table from the context menu. The HSUPA User Equipment Categories table appears. 2. The HSUPA User Equipment Categories table has the following columns: • • • • • • • • •

Index: Each HSUPA UE category is a separate record in the table and has a unique index. Category Name: Name of the HSUPA UE category. TTI 2 ms: Select the check box if a TTI of 2 ms is supported. If a 2 ms TTI is not selected, a 10 ms TTI is used. Min Spreading Factor: Enter the minimum spreading factor supported. Max Block Size for a 2 ms TTI (bits): The maximum transport block size allowed for a 2 ms TTI. Max Block Size for a 10 ms TTI (bits): The maximum transport block size allowed for a 10 ms TTI. Highest Modulation: Select the highest modulation supported by the category. You can choose between QPSK or16QAM. If 16QAM modulation is selected, 16QAM and QPSK modulations can be used. UL Multi-cell Mode: Select 2C (dual-cell) whether the category supports multi-cell. If the category does not support multi-cell, select None. Max Number of E-DPDCH Codes: The maximum number of E-DPDCH codes allowed for the category.

8.7.8 Defining HSDPA Schedulers The scheduler ranks the HSDPA bearer users to be served in the HSDPA section of the Monte Carlo simulation. The scheduler manages a single queue of users at the Node B. All users belonging to the transmitter, i.e., DC-HSPA and single-carrier HSDPA users, are ranked together in a single list. DC-HSPA users are considered twice in the list because they might be assigned two different HSDPA bearers in the two cells.

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Atoll supports the following algorithms: •

Max C/I: "n" HSDPA bearer users (where "n" corresponds to the sum of the maximum numbers of HSDPA bearer users defined for all HSDPA cells) are scheduled in the same order as in the simulation (i.e., in random order). Then, they are sorted in descending order by the channel quality indicator (CQI).

• •

Round Robin: HSDPA bearer users are scheduled in the same order as in the simulation (i.e., in random order). Proportional Fair: "n" HSDPA bearer users (where "n" corresponds to the maximum number of HSDPA bearer users defined) are scheduled in the same order as in the simulation (i.e., in random order). Then, they are sorted in descending order according to a random parameter which corresponds to a combination of the user rank in the simulation and the channel quality indicator (CQI). The random parameter is calculated by giving both the user simulation rank and the CQI a weight of 50%. You can change the default weights by setting the appropriate options in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual.

The Schedulers table lists the available schedulers. You can add, remove, and modify scheduler properties, if you want. To define schedulers: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the LTE Network Settings folder, right-click Schedulers, and select Open Table. The Schedulers table appears. 2. In the table, enter one scheduler per row. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. For each scheduler, enter: • •

Name: Enter a name for the scheduler. This name will appear in the cell properties. Scheduling method: Select the scheduling method used to rank the HSDPA bearer users to be served.

You can open a scheduler’s properties dialog box by double-clicking the corresponding row in the Schedulers table. In the properties dialog box, a MUG tab is available for Proportional fair schedulers. On the MUG tab, you can define the throughput gain due to multi-user diversity. The average cell throughput is higher with multiple users than with a single user. It is used to calculate the peak gross throughput per cell when the scheduling algorithm is "Proportional Fair" and if you have set the peak HSDPA throughput option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. Note that you can enter MUG graphs for different configurations in terms of numbers of cells to which the users are connected. 3. Click the Close button (

) to close the Schedulers table.

8.7.9 Multiple Input Multiple Output Systems Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) systems which are supported by some HSDPA bearers (following improvements introduced by release 7 of the 3GPP UTRA specifications, referred to as HSPA+) use different transmission and reception diversity techniques. MIMO diversity systems can be roughly divided into the types described in the following sections, all of which are modelled in Atoll. Transmit and Receive Diversity Transmit or receive diversity uses more than one transmission or reception antenna to send or receive more than one copy of the same signal. The signals are constructively combined (using optimum selection or maximum ratio combining) at the receiver to extract the useful signal. As the receiver gets more than one copy of the useful signal, the signal level at the receiver after combination of all the copies is more resistant to interference than a single signal would be. Therefore, diversity improves the quality at the receiver. It is often used for the regions of a cell that have bad quality conditions. In Atoll, you can define whether a cell supports transmit diversity by selecting HSPA+ and Transmit Diversity in cell properties (see "Cell Properties" on page 516). Diversity gains on downlink can be defined in the reception equipment for different numbers of transmission and reception antenna ports, mobility types and HSDPA bearers. For more information on downlink diversity gains, see "Creating or Modifying Reception Equipment" on page 618. Additional gain values can be defined per clutter class. For information on setting the additional downlink diversity gain for each clutter class or for all clutter classes, see "Defining Clutter Class Properties" on page 127. During calculations in Atoll, a user (mobile, pixel, or point receiver) using a MIMO-capable terminal, and connected to a cell that supports HSPA+ with transmit diversity, will benefit from the downlink diversity HS-PDSCH Ec/Nt gain. Spatial Multiplexing Spatial multiplexing uses more than one transmission antenna to send different signals (data streams) on each antenna. The receiver can also have more than one antenna for receiving different signals. When spatial multiplexing is used with M transmission and N reception antenna ports, the throughput over the transmitter-receiver link can be theoretically increased M or

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N times, depending on which is smaller, M or N. Spatial multiplexing improves the throughput (i.e., the channel capacity) for a given HS-PDSCH Ec/Nt, and is used for the regions of a cell that have sufficient HS-PDSCH Ec⁄Nt conditions. In Atoll, you can define whether a cell supports spatial multiplexing by selecting HSPA+ and Spatial Multiplexing in the cell properties (see "Cell Properties" on page 516). Spatial multiplexing capacity gains can be defined in the reception equipment for different numbers of transmission and reception antenna ports, mobility types, and HSDPA bearers. For more information on spatial multiplexing gains, see "Creating or Modifying Reception Equipment" on page 618. During calculations in Atoll, a user (mobile, pixel, or point receiver) using a MIMO-capable terminal, and connected to a cell that supports HSPA+ with spatial multiplexing, will benefit from the spatial multiplexing gain in its throughput depending on its HS-PDSCH Ec⁄Nt. Because spatial multiplexing improves the channel capacity or throughputs, the HS-PDSCH Ec⁄Nt of a user is determined first. Once the HS-PDSCH Ec⁄Nt is known, Atoll determines the corresponding CQI and calculates the user throughput based on the bearer available at the user location. The obtained user throughput is then increased according to the spatial multiplexing capacity gain and the Spatial Multiplexing Gain Factor of the user’s clutter class. The capacity gains defined in Max Spatial Multiplexing Gain graphs are the maximum theoretical capacity gains using spatial multiplexing. Spatial multiplexing requires a rich multipath environment, without which the gain is reduced. In the worst case, there is no gain. Therefore, you can define a Spatial Multiplexing Gain Factor per clutter class whose value can vary from 0 to 1 (0 = no gain, 1 = 100% gain). For information on setting the Spatial multiplexing Gain Factor for each clutter class or for all clutter classes, see "Defining Clutter Class Properties" on page 127. The spatial multiplexing capacity gain vs. HS-PDSCH Ec/Nt graphs available in Atoll by default have been generated based on the maximum theoretical spatial multiplexing capacity gains obtained using the following equations: CC MIMO G MIMO = --------------------CC SISO

Where CC MIMO =

TX Min  N Ant

RX N Ant 

 Ec   -------  Nt  HS – PDSCH    Log 2  1 + ------------------------------------------ is the channel capacity at a given HS-PDSCH Ec/Nt for a TX RX  Min  N Ant N Ant    Ec

TX RX  is the chanMIMO system using N Ant transmission and N Ant reception antenna ports. CCSISO = Log 2  1 +  ------- Nt HS – PDSCH nel capacity for a single antenna system at a given HS-PDSCH Ec⁄Nt. HS-PDSCH Ec⁄Nt is used as a ratio (and not dB) in these formulas. You can replace the default spatial multiplexing capacity gain graphs with graphs extracted from simulated or measured values.

8.7.10 Best Serving Cell and Active Set Determination The mobile active set is the list of the cells to which the mobile is connected. The active set may consist of one or more cells depending on whether the service supports soft handover and on the terminal active set size. The best serving cell and other cells of the active set must fulfil a set of conditions: • • •

They must use a frequency band with which the terminal is compatible. They must also belong to layers supported by the service and the terminal, and these layers must support a speed higher than the user mobility. In addition, the pilot signal level received from these cells must exceed the defined minimum RSCP threshold.

These cells are referred to as potential serving cells. The layer priority, the quality of the pilot (Ec⁄I0), the handover margin ( M HO ) and the cell individual offset ( CIO ) are considered to select the best serving cell. Among the potential serving cells, Atoll selects a list of candidate cells whose pilot quality exceeds the Ec/I0 threshold defined in the properties of the mobility type. The cell of the highest priority layer with the highest RSCP is considered as the best serving cell candidate. Atoll calculates the best server indicator ( I BS ) for the best serving cell candidate and the other candidate cells: I BS = Ec  I0 + M HO + C IO for the best serving cell candidate, I BS = Ec  I0 + CIO for the other candidate cells.

The candidate cells are ranked according to the best server indicator ( I BS ). The cell with the highest I BS is selected as the best serving cell. Each other cell of the active set is selected among the potential serving cells as follows: • • •

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It must use the same carrier as the best serving cell. The pilot quality difference between the cell and the best serving cell must not exceed the AS-threshold set per cell. If you have selected to restrict the active set to neighbours, the cell must be a neighbour of the best serving cell. You can restrict the active set to neighbours by selecting the AS Restricted to Neighbours option in the Site Equipment

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table. For an explanation of how to set the AS Restricted to Neighbours option, see "Creating Site Equipment" on page 616. The active set for HSDPA users is different in the following way: HSDPA physical channels do not support soft handover, therefore the user is never connected to more than one transmitter at a time. For a description of the properties of a cell, see "Cell Properties" on page 516. For information on accessing the parameters defined for a given cell, see "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 521. For more information on defining layers, see "Defining Network Deployment Layers" on page 614. You can return to the old best serving cell selection mechanism as in Atoll 3.2.1, by setting an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information about setting options in the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual.

8.7.11 Modelling Shadowing Shadowing, or slow fading, is signal loss along a path that is caused by obstructions not taken into consideration by the propagation model. Even when a receiver remains in the same location or in the same clutter class, there are variations in reception due to the surrounding environment. Normally, the signal received at any given point is spread on a gaussian curve around an average value and a specific standard deviation. If the propagation model is correctly calibrated, the average of the results it gives should be correct. In other words, in 50% of the measured cases, the result will be greater and in 50% of the measured cases, the result will be worse. Atoll uses a model standard deviation with the defined cell edge coverage probability to model the effect of shadowing and thereby create coverage predictions that are reliable more than fifty percent of the time. The additional losses or gains caused by shadowing are known as the shadowing margin. The shadowing margin is added to the path losses calculated by the propagation model. For example, a properly calibrated propagation model calculates a loss leading to a signal level of -70 dBm. You have set a cell edge coverage probability of 85%. If the calculated shadowing margin is 7 dB for a specific point, the target signal will be equal to or greater than -77 dBm 85% of the time. In UMTS projects, the standard deviation of the propagation model is used to calculate shadowing margins on signal levels. You can also calculate shadowing margins on Ec⁄I0 and Eb⁄Nt values and the macro-diversity gain. For information on setting the model standard deviation and the Ec⁄I0 and Eb⁄Nt standard deviations for each clutter class or for all clutter classes, see "Defining Clutter Class Properties" on page 127. Shadowing can be taken into consideration when Atoll calculates the signal level, Ec⁄I0, and Eb⁄Nt for: • •

A point analysis (see "Studying the Profile Around a Base Station" on page 526) A coverage prediction (see "Studying Signal Level Coverage for a Single Base Station" on page 538).

Atoll always takes shadowing into consideration when calculating a Monte Carlo-based UMTS simulation. You can display the shadowing margins and the macro-diversity gain per clutter class. To display the shadowing margins and macro-diversity gain per clutter class: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select Shadowing Margins from the context menu. The Shadowing Margins and Gains dialog box appears. 2. You can set the following parameters: • •

Cell Edge Coverage Probability: Enter the probability of coverage at the edge of the cell. The value you enter in this dialog box is for information only. Standard Deviation: Select the type of standard deviation to be used to calculate the shadowing margin or macrodiversity gains: • •

•

•

Model: The model standard deviation. Atoll will display the shadowing margin of the signal level. Ec⁄I0: The Ec⁄I0 standard deviation. Atoll will display the Ec⁄I0 shadowing margin and the resulting DL pilot macro-diversity gains. The macro-diversity gains will be calculated using the values you enter in 1st - 2nd Best Signal Difference and 2nd - 3rd Best Signal Difference. UL Eb⁄Nt: The Eb⁄Nt UL standard deviation. Atoll will display the Eb⁄Nt UL shadowing margin and the resulting UL macro-diversity gains. The macro-diversity gains will be calculated using the values you enter in 1st - 2nd Best Signal Difference and 2nd - 3rd Best Signal Difference. DL Eb⁄Nt: The Eb⁄Nt DL standard deviation. Atoll will display the Eb⁄Nt DL shadowing margin.

3. If you select "Ec⁄I0" or "Eb⁄Nt UL" as the standard deviation under Standard Deviation, you can enter the differences that will be used to calculate the macro-diversity gain under Macro-Diversity Parameters: •

1st - 2nd Best Signal Difference: If you selected "Ec⁄I0" as the standard deviation under Standard Deviation, enter the allowed Ec⁄I0 difference between the best server and the second one. This value is used to calculate DL macrodiversity gains. If you selected "Eb⁄Nt UL" as the standard deviation under Standard Deviation, enter the allowed

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Eb/Nt difference between the best server and the second one. This value is used to calculate UL macro-diversity gains. 2nd - 3rd Best Signal Difference: If you selected "Ec⁄I0" as the standard deviation under Standard Deviation, enter the allowed Ec⁄I0 difference between the second-best server and the third one. This value is used to calculate DL macro-diversity gains. If you selected "Eb⁄Nt UL" as the standard deviation under Standard Deviation, enter the allowed Eb/Nt difference between the second-best server and the third one. This value is used to calculate UL macro-diversity gains.

4. Click Calculate. The calculated shadowing margin is displayed. If you selected "Ec⁄I0" or "Eb⁄Nt UL" as the standard deviation under Standard Deviation, Atoll also displays the macro-diversity gains for two links and for three links. 5. Click Close to close the dialog box.

8.7.12 Modelling Inter-technology Interference Analyses of UMTS networks co-existing with other technology networks can be carried out in Atoll. Inter-technology interference may create considerable capacity reduction in a UMTS network. Atoll can take into account interference from co-existing networks in Monte Carlo simulations and coverage predictions. The following inter-technology interference scenarios are modelled in Atoll: •

Interference received by mobiles on the downlink: Interference can be received by mobiles in a UMTS network on the downlink from external base stations and mobiles in the vicinity. Interference from external base stations (also called downlink-to-downlink interference) can be created by the use of same or adjacent carriers, wideband noise (thermal noise, phase noise, modulation products, and spurious emissions), and intermodulation. In Atoll, you can define interference reduction factor (IRF) graphs for different technologies (CDMA, TDMA, OFDM). These graphs are then used for calculating the interference from the external base stations on mobiles. This interference is taken into account in all downlink interference-based calculations. Interference from external mobiles (also called uplink-to-downlink interference) can be created by insufficient separation between the uplink frequency used by the external network and the downlink frequency used by your UMTS network. Such interference may also come from co-existing TDD networks. The effect of this interference is modelled in Atoll using the Additional DL Noise Rise definable for each cell in the UMTS network. This noise rise is taken into account in all downlink interference-based calculations. However, this noise rise does not impact the calculation of the mobile reuse factor. For more information on the Additional DL Noise Rise, see "Cell Properties" on page 516. You can study the downlink inter-technology interference by carrying out an Inter-technology Downlink Interference coverage prediction as explained in "Studying Inter-technology Downlink Interference" on page 547.

Figure 8.26: Interference received by mobiles on the downlink •

Interference received by cells on the uplink: Interference can be received by cells of a UMTS network on the uplink from external base stations and mobiles in the vicinity. Interference from external base stations (also called downlink-to-uplink interference) can be created by insufficient separation between the downlink frequency used by the external network and the uplink frequency used by your UMTS network. Such interference may also come from co-existing TDD networks. Interference from external mobiles (also called uplink-to-uplink interference) can be created by the use of same or nearby frequencies for uplink in both networks. Unless the exact locations of external mobiles is known, it is not possible to separate interference received from external base stations and mobiles on the uplink. The effect of this interference is modelled in Atoll using the Additional UL Noise Rise definable for each cell in the UMTS network. This noise rise is taken into account in uplink interference-based calculations in the simulation. However, this noise rise is not taken into consideration in predictions (AS Analysis, multi-point analysis and coverage predictions) and does not have an impact on the calculation of the cell reuse factor. For more information on the Additional UL Noise Rise, see "Cell Properties" on page 516.

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Figure 8.27: Interference received by cells on the uplink Interference received from external base stations on mobiles of your UMTS network can be calculated by Atoll. Atoll uses inter-technology interference reduction factor (IRF) graphs for calculating the interference levels. An IRF graph represents the variation of the Adjacent Channel Interference Ratio (ACIR) as a function of frequency separation. ACIR is determined from the Adjacent Channel Suppression (ACS) and the Adjacent Channel Leakage Ratio (ACLR) parameters as follows: 1 ACIR = ------------------------------------1 1 ------------- + ----------------ACS ACLR

An IRF depends on: • • • •

The interfering technology (TDMA, CDMA, or OFDM) The interfering carrier bandwidth (kHz) The interfered carrier bandwidth (kHz) The frequency offset between both carriers (MHz).

IRFs are used by Atoll to calculate the interference from external base stations only if the Atoll document containing the external base stations is linked to your UMTS document, i.e. in co-planning mode or in a multi-RAT document. To define the inter-technology IRFs in the victim network: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Equipment folder, right-click Inter-technology Interference Reduction Factors and select Open Table from the context menu. The Inter-technology Interference Reduction Factors table appears. 2. In the table, enter one interference reduction factor graph per row. For each IRF graph, enter: • • • •

Technology: Select the technology used by the interfering network. Interferer Bandwidth (kHz): Enter the width in kHz of the channels (carriers) used by the interfering network. This channel width must be consistent with that used in the linked document. Victim Bandwidth (kHz): Enter the width in kHz of the channels (carriers) used by the interfered network. This channel width must be consistent with that used in the main document. Reduction Factors (dB): Click the cell corresponding to the Reduction Factors (dB) column and the current row in the table. The Reduction Factors (dB) dialog box appears. •

Enter the interference reduction factors in the Reduction (dB) column for different frequency separation, Freq. Delta (MHz), values relative to the centre frequency of the channel (carrier) used in the main document. • •

•

Reduction values must be positive. If you leave reduction factors undefined, Atoll assumes there is no interference.

Click OK. The interference reduction factors are stored.

You can, if you want, link more than one Atoll document with your main document following the procedure described in "Switching to Co-planning Mode" on page 603. If the linked documents model networks using different technologies, you can define the interference reduction factors in your main document for all these technologies, and Atoll will calculate interference from all the external base stations in all the linked documents.

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Chapter 9 CDMA2000 Networks This chapter covers the following topics:

This chapter provides information on using Atoll to design, analyse, and optimise a CDMA2000 network.

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"Planning and Optimising CDMA Base Stations" on page 629

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"Studying CDMA2000 Network Capacity" on page 685

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"Optimising Network Parameters Using ACP" on page 698

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"Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data" on page 701

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"Co-planning CDMA Networks with Other Networks" on page 713

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"Advanced Configuration" on page 722

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9 CDMA2000 Networks Atoll enables you to create and modify all aspects of CDMA2000 1xRTT (1st eXpansion Radio Telephone Technology) and CDMA2000 1xEV-DO (1xEvolution Data Only) Rev. 0, Rev. A and Rev. B networks. Once you have created the network, Atoll offers many tools to let you verify the network. Based on the results of your tests, you can modify any of the parameters defining the network. Planning the CDMA network and creating the network of base stations is explained in "Planning and Optimising CDMA Base Stations" on page 629. Allocating neighbours is explained in "Neighbour Planning" on page 223 and allocating PN offsets is explained in "Planning PN Offsets" on page 677. In this section, you will also find information on how you can display information on base stations on the map and how you can use the tools in Atoll to study base stations. In "Studying CDMA2000 Network Capacity" on page 685, using traffic maps to study network capacity is explained. Creating simulations using the traffic map information and analysing the results of simulations is also explained. Using drive test data paths to verify the network is explained in "Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data" on page 701. Filtering imported drive test data paths, and using the data in coverage predictions is also explained. A Note on the Terminology Used in This Chapter The terminology used in CDMA is slightly different from the standard terminology used in Atoll. Therefore, the terminology used in explanations reflects the standard CDMA terminology with the equivalent Atoll terminology given when references are made to the user interface. CDMA

Atoll

handoff

handover

radio configuration

terminal

reverse link

uplink (UL)

forward link

downlink (DL)

9.1 Planning and Optimising CDMA Base Stations As described in Chapter 1: Working Environment, you can start an Atoll document from a template, with no sites, or from a database with a set of sites. As you work on your Atoll document, you will still need to create sites and modify existing ones. In Atoll, a site is defined as a geographical point where one or more transmitters are located. Once you have created a site, you can add transmitters. In Atoll, a transmitter is defined as the antenna and any other additional equipment, such as the TMA, feeder cables, etc. In a CDMA project, you must also add cells to each transmitter. A cell refers to the characteristics of a carrier on a transmitter.

A n te n n a - A z im u t h - M e c h a n i c a l t i lt

TMA A n te n n a - H e ig h t

F e e d e r C a b le

T r a n s m it t e r - N o is e fig u r e - P ow er

S it e - X , Y c o o r d in a t e s

Figure 9.1: A transmitter

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Atoll lets you create one site, transmitter, or cell at a time, or create several at once by creating a station template. Using a station template, you can create one or more base stations at the same time. In Atoll, a base station refers to a site with its transmitters, antennas, equipment, and cells. Atoll allows you to make a variety of coverage predictions, such as signal level or transmitter coverage predictions. The results of calculated coverage predictions can be displayed on the map, compared, or analysed. Atoll enables you to model network traffic by allowing you to create services, users, user profiles, environments, and terminals. This data can be then used to make quality coverage predictions, such as effective service area, noise, or handoff status predictions, on the network. In this section, the following are explained: • • • • • • • • •

"Creating a CDMA Base Station" on page 630 "Creating a Group of Base Stations" on page 643 "Modifying Sites and Transmitters Directly on the Map" on page 644 "Display Tips for Base Stations" on page 644 "Creating a Dual-Band and Tri-Band CDMA Network" on page 645 "Creating a Repeater" on page 645 "Creating a Remote Antenna" on page 649 "Studying CDMA Base Stations" on page 652 "Planning PN Offsets" on page 677.

9.1.1 Creating a CDMA Base Station When you create a CDMA site, you create only the geographical point; you must add the transmitters and cells afterwards. The site, with the transmitters, antennas, equipment, and cells is called a base station. In this section, each element of a base station is described. If you want to add a new base station, see "Placing a New Station Using a Station Template" on page 638. If you want to create or modify one of the elements of a base station, see "Creating or Modifying a Base Station Element" on page 636. If you need to create a large number of base stations, Atoll allows you to import them from another Atoll document or from an external source. For information, see "Creating a Group of Base Stations" on page 643. This section explains the various parts of the base station process: • • • • •

"Definition of a Base Station" on page 630 "Creating or Modifying a Base Station Element" on page 636 "Placing a New Station Using a Station Template" on page 638 "Managing Station Templates" on page 638 "Duplicating an Existing Base Station" on page 641.

9.1.1.1 Definition of a Base Station A base station consists of the site, one or more transmitters, various pieces of equipment, and radio settings such as, for example, cells. You will usually create a new base station using a station template, as described in "Placing a New Station Using a Station Template" on page 638. This section describes the following elements of a base station and their parameters: • • •

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"Site Description" on page 631 "Transmitter Properties" on page 631 "Cell Properties" on page 633.

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9.1.1.1.1

Site Description The parameters of a site can be found in the site’s Properties dialog box. The Properties dialog box has two tabs: •

The General tab (see Figure 9.2):

Figure 9.2: New Site dialog box • •

Name: Atoll automatically enters a default name for each new site. You can modify the default name here. If you want to change the default name that Atoll gives to new sites, see the Administrator Manual. Position: By default, Atoll places the new site at the centre of the map window. You can modify the location of the site here. While this method allows you to place a site with precision, you can also place sites using the mouse and then position them precisely with this dialog box afterwards. For information on placing sites using the mouse, see "Moving a Site Using the Mouse" on page 57.

•

• •

Altitude: The altitude, as defined by the DTM for the location specified under Position, is given here. You can specify the actual altitude under Real, if you want. If an altitude is specified here, Atoll will use this value for calculations. Comments: You can enter comments in this field if you want.

The CDMA2000 tab: • • •

Max Number of Uplink Channel Elements per Carrier: The maximum number of physical radio resources on the reverse link per carrier for the current site. By default Atoll enters the maximum possible (256). Max Number of Downlink Channel Elements per Carrier: The maximum number of physical radio resources on the forward link per carrier for the current site. By default Atoll enters the maximum possible (256). Max Number of EV-DO Channel Elements per Carrier: The maximum number of EV-DO radio resources on the reverse link per carrier for the current site. This parameter is used only with CDMA2000 1xEV-DO. By default Atoll enters the maximum possible (96). With 1xEV-DO, only one user on the forward link can be served at a given time. This user consumes only one channel element. On the reverse link, there can be more than one user with each user consuming one channel element, therefore, the maximum number of EV-DO radio resources applies only to the reverse link.

•

Equipment: You can select equipment from the list. To create new site equipment, see "Creating Site Equipment" on page 727. If no equipment is assigned to the site, Atoll uses the following default values: • • • • •

9.1.1.1.2

Rake efficiency factor = 1 MUD factor = 0 Carrier selection = reverse link minimum noise Forward link and reverse link overhead resources for common channels = 0 The option AS Restricted to Neighbours is not selected, the option Pool of Shared CEs is not selected, the option Power Pooling Between Transmitters is not selected and Atoll uses one channel element on the forward link or reverse link for any service during power control simulation.

Transmitter Properties The parameters of a transmitter can be found in the transmitter’s Properties dialog box. When you create a transmitter, the Properties dialog box has two tabs: the General tab and the Transmitter tab. Once you have created a transmitter, its Prop-

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erties dialog box has three additional tabs: the Cells tab (see "Cell Properties" on page 633), the Propagation tab (see "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187), and the Display tab (see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51). The General tab •

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•

•

•

Name: By default, Atoll names the transmitter after the site it is on, adding an underscore and a number. You can enter a name for the transmitter, but for the sake of consistency, it is better to let Atoll assign a name. If you want to change the way Atoll names transmitters, see the Administrator Manual. Site: You can select the Site on which the transmitter will be located. Once you have selected the site, you can click the Browse button to access the properties of the site on which the transmitter will be located. For information on the site Properties dialog box, see "Site Description" on page 631. You can click the New button to create a new site on which the transmitter will be located. Frequency Band: You can select a Frequency Band for the transmitter. Once you have selected the frequency band, you can click the Browse button to access the properties of the band. For information on the frequency band Properties dialog box, see "Defining Frequency Bands" on page 723. Shared antenna: This field is used to identify the transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas located at the same site or on sites with the same position and that share the same antenna. The entry in the field must be the same for all transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas sharing the same antenna. When changes are made to the position offset (Dx, Dy), azimuth, antenna height, or mechanical tilt of one antenna, Atoll automatically synchronises the same changes to all other transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas defined as having a shared antenna. Under Antenna Position, you can modify the position of the antennas (main and secondary): • •

•

Relative to Site: Select this option if you want to enter the antenna positions as offsets with respect to the site location, and enter the x-axis and y-axis offsets, Dx and Dy, respectively. Coordinates: Select this option if you want to enter the coordinates of the antenna, and then enter the x-axis and y-axis coordinates of the antenna, X and Y, respectively.

Max Range: You can define a maximum coverage range from the transmitter.

The Transmitter tab •

Active: If this transmitter is to be active, you must select the Active check box. Active transmitters are displayed in red in the Transmitters folder of the Network explorer. Only active transmitters are taken into consideration during calculations.

•

Transmission/Reception: Under Transmission/Reception, you can define the total losses and the noise figure in the Real text boxes. Atoll can calculate losses and noise according to the characteristics of the equipment assigned to the transmitter; the calculated values are indicated in the Computed text boxes. Atoll always considers the values in the Real boxes in coverage predictions even if they are different from the values in the Computed boxes. You can update the values in the Real boxes with the values in the Computed text boxes. For information, see "Updating the Values for Total Losses and the Transmitter Equipment Noise Figure" on page 162. You can assign equipment by using the Equipment Specifications dialog box which appears when you click the Equipment button. For information on the Equipment Specifications dialog box, see "Assigning Equipment to a Transmitter" on page 637.

•

Antennas: •

•

Height/Ground: The Height/Ground box gives the height of the antenna above the ground. This is added to the altitude of the site as given by the DTM. If the transmitter is situated on a building, the height entered must include the height of building. Main Antenna: Under Main Antenna, the type of antenna is visible in the Model list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the antenna. Click the Select button to open the Antenna Selection Assistant. This assistant lists all the antennas that match the currently selected physical antenna and whose minimum and maximum operating frequencies include the operating frequency of the transmitter. For more information, see "Assigning Antennas to Transmitters" on page 159

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Mechanical Azimuth, Mechanical downtilt, Electrical Azimuth, Electrical Downtilt, and Additional electrical downtilt display additional antenna parameters.

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• • •

•

The Additional Electrical Downtilt can be made accessible through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide. The mechanical and additional electrical downtilts defined for the main antenna are also used for the calculations of smart antennas.

Under Secondary Antennas, you can select one or more secondary antennas in the Antenna column and enter their Azimuth, Mechanical Downtilt, Additional Electrical Downtilt, and % Power, which is the percentage of power reserved for this particular antenna. For example, for a transmitter with one secondary antenna, if you reserve 40% of the total power for the secondary antenna, 60% is available for the main antenna. • • •

The Additional Electrical Downtilt can be made accessible through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75.

Cell Tab When you create a transmitter, Atoll automatically creates a cell for the transmitter using the properties of the currently selected station template. The cell tab enables you to configure the properties for every cell of a transmitter. For more information on the properties of a cell, see "Cell Properties" on page 633. Propagation Tab Transmitters are taken into account during calculations. Therefore, you must specify their propagation parameters. On the Propagation tab, you can modify the following: the Propagation model, Radius, and Resolution for both the Main matrix and the Extended matrix. For information on propagation models, see "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187. Display Tab On the Display tab, you can modify how a transmitters are displayed. For information on changing display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51.

9.1.1.1.3

Cell Properties In Atoll, a cell is defined as a carrier, with all its characteristics, on a transmitter; the cell is the mechanism by which you can configure a CDMA multi-carrier network. In other words, a transmitter has one cell for every carrier. This section explains the Parameters of a CDMA cell. As you create a cell, Atoll calculates appropriate values for some fields based on the information you have entered. The properties of a CDMA cell are found on Cells tab of the Properties dialog box of the transmitter to which it is assigned. You can also display the properties of a cell by double-clicking the cell in the Site explorer.

The following 1xEV-DO Rev B options apply to all the 1xEV-DO cells of the transmitter: •

Under EV-DO Rev B, the following 1xEV-DO Rev B options are available: •

•

Multi-carrier support: You can define whether the transmitter supports the multi-carrier EV-DO operation. When multi-carrier EV-DO is active, multi-carrier EV-DO users can simultaneously connect with two or more EV-DO carriers of transmitters that support the mode (i.e., multi-carrier EV-DO users receive the data on several separate carriers. In Atoll, a multi-carrier EV-DO user is referred to as a user with multi-carrier EV-DO-based services and a multi-carrier terminal. MUG Table: You can access the MUG (Multi-User Gain) table by clicking the Browse button. The MUG table is a graph of gain as a function of the number of users. The average cell throughput is higher with multiple users than with a single user. This is modelled by the MUG graph. It is used to calculate the downlink average cell throughput. For transmitters that support multi-carrier EV-DO, this MUG graph is used in calculations instead of the MUG graph set per cell.

•

Min Ec/Nt (UL): You can enter or modify the minimum Ec/Nt to operate multi-carrier EV-DO in the reverse link.

The following parameters can be set for each individual cell of the transmitter:

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Name: By default, Atoll names the cell after its transmitter, adding the carrier number in parentheses. If you change transmitter name or carrier, Atoll does not update the cell name. You can enter a name for the cell, but for the sake of consistency, it is better to let Atoll assign a name. If you want to change the way Atoll names cells, see the Administrator Manual. ID: You can enter an ID for the cell. This is a user-definable network-level parameter for cell identification. Carrier: The number of the carrier and the type of carrier. You can choose 1xRTT or 1xEV-DO as the carrier type. Order: The display order of a cell within the transmitter. This value is used to determine the order in which information related to a cell will be displayed in the Network explorer and on the map. This field is automatically filled by Atoll but you can change these default values to display cells in a user-defined order. The consistency between values stored in this field is verified by Atoll. However, inconsistencies may arise when tools other than Atoll modify the database. You can check for inconsistencies in the cell display order and fix them by selecting Data Audit > Cell Display Order Check in the Document menu.

•

The following parameters are available for 1xRTT and 1xEV-DO carriers: • • • • • • •

Active: If this cell is active, you must select the Active check box. PN Offset Domain: The Pseudo Noise (PN) offset domain to which the cell belongs. The PN offset domain is a set of groups, with each group containing several PN offsets. Co-PN Reuse Distance (m): The distance within which the PN offset defined for this cell cannot be reused. PN Offset: The PN offset is a time offset used by a cell to shift a Pseudo Noise sequence. Ec/Io Threshold (dB): Enter the minimum Ec⁄I0 required from the cell to be the best server in the active set. T_Drop: Enter the minimum Ec⁄I0 required from the cell not to be rejected from the active set. Min RSCP (dBm): The minimum pilot RSCP required for a user to be connected to the cell. The pilot RSCP is compared with this threshold to determine whether or not a user can be connected to the cell. When this field is empty, Atoll uses the Default Min Pilot RSCP Threshold defined on the Calculation Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box.

•

•

• • • •

Additional UL Noise Rise: This noise rise represents the interference created by mobiles and base stations of an external network on this cell on the uplink. This noise rise will be taken into account in all uplink interferencebased calculations involving this cell in simulations. It is not used in predictions (AS Analysis and coverage predictions). In predictions, Atoll calculates the uplink total interference from the UL load factor which includes intertechnology uplink interference. For more information on inter-technology interference, see "Modelling Intertechnology Interference" on page 733. Additional DL Noise Rise: This noise rise represents the interference created by mobiles of an external network on the mobiles served by this cell on the downlink. This noise rise will be taken into account in all downlink interference-based calculations involving this cell. For more information on inter-technology interference, see "Modelling Inter-technology Interference" on page 733. Max Number of Intra-carrier Neighbours: The maximum number of intra-carrier neighbours for this cell. This value is used by the intra-carrier neighbour allocation algorithm. Max Number of Inter-carrier Neighbours: The maximum number of inter-carrier neighbours for this cell. This value is used by the inter-carrier neighbour allocation algorithm. Max Number of Inter-technology Neighbours: The maximum number of inter-technology neighbours for this cell. This value is used by the inter-technology neighbour allocation algorithm. Neighbours: You can access a dialog box in which you can set both intra-technology (intra-carrier and inter-carrier) and inter-technology neighbours by clicking the Browse button. For information on defining neighbours, see "Editing Neighbours in the Cell Properties" on page 228. The Browse button may not be visible in the Neighbours box if this is a new cell. You can make the Browse button appear by clicking Apply.

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The following parameters are available for 1xRTT carriers: • Max Power (dBm): The maximum available forward link power for the cell. • Pilot Power (dBm): The pilot power. • Synchro Power (dBm): The synchronisation power. • Paging Power (dBm): The paging power.

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By default, the synchronisation power and paging power are set as absolute values. You can set these values as relative to the pilot power by right-clicking the Network Settings folder in the Parameters explorer and selecting Properties from the context menu. Then, on the Global Parameters tab of the Properties dialog box, under DL Powers, you can select Relative to Pilot. The synchronisation power and paging power values are automatically converted and set as relative to the pilot power. •

•

•

Max DL Load (% Pmax): The percentage of the maximum forward link power (set in Max Power) not to be exceeded. This limit will be taken into account during the simulation if the options DL Load and Max DL Load defined per cell are selected. If these options are not selected during a simulation, this value is not taken into consideration. Max UL Load Factor (%): The maximum reverse link load factor not to be exceeded. This limit can be taken into account during the simulation. This limit will be taken into account during the simulation if the options UL Load Factor and Max UL Load Factor defined per cell are selected. If these options are not selected during a simulation, this value is not taken into consideration. Total Power (dBm or %): The total transmitted power on forward link. This value can be a simulation result or can be entered by the user. By default, the total power is set as absolute value. You can set this value as a percentage of the maximum power of the cell by right-clicking the Network Settings folder in the Parameters explorer and selecting Properties from the context menu. Then, on the Global Parameters tab of the Properties dialog box, under DL Load, you can select % Pmax. The total power value is automatically converted and set as a percentage of the maximum power.

•

•

•

UL Load Factor (%): The reverse link cell load factor. This factor corresponds to the ratio between the reverse link total interference and the reverse link total noise. This is the global value of reverse link load factor including the reverse link inter-technology interference. This value can be a simulation result or can be entered by the user. Power Reserved for Pooling (dB): The power reserved for pooling is the maximum amount of power that can be allocated to this cell by other transmitters on the site using the same carrier. This value is only used if the site equipment allows power pooling between transmitters.

The following parameters are available for 1xEV-DO carriers: •

• •

Max Power (dBm): The power transmitted by a 1xEV-DO cell when there is at least one user. For 1xEV-DO carriers, the transmitter equipment always transmits at maximum power (the DL maximum power) unless it has no user to support. When there is no user, the transmitter equipment transmits a very low level of power during idle traffic slots (DL maximum power + Idle gain). Idle Power Gain (dB): The gain applied to the DL power when there is no active user connected to the cell. It must be a negative value. MUG Table: You can access the MUG (Multi-User Gain) table by clicking the Browse button. The MUG table is a graph of gain as a function of the number of users. The average cell throughput is higher with multiple users than with a single user. This is modelled by the MUG graph. In transmitters that support multi-carrier EV-DO, this MUG graph is used in calculations instead of the MUG graph set per cell.

•

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•

•

•

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Noise Rise Threshold (dB): The noise rise threshold. The noise rise threshold and the acceptable noise rise margin are considered in the simulation during reverse link congestion. Atoll ensures that the cell reverse link noise rise is within a range defined by the noise rise threshold plus the margin and the noise rise threshold minus the margin. Acceptable Noise Rise Margin (dB): The acceptable noise rise margin. DRC Error Rate (%): The error rate as a percentage received by the cell on the Data Rate Control (DRC) channel. The cell may receive the DRC channel from a mobile incorrectly. If this happens, the mobile will not be scheduled for data transmission. This value is taken into account during rate control when Atoll calculates the average cell throughput on the forward link. EV-DO Timeslots Dedicated to BCMCS (%): The percentage of timeslots dedicated to Broadcast/Multicast Services (BCMCS). This parameter is taken into account during rate control when Atoll calculates the cell average forward link throughput. EV-DO Timeslots Dedicated to Control Channels (%): The percentage of timeslots dedicated to control channels (control, pilot, and ACK channels). This parameter is taken into account during rate control when Atoll calculates the cell average forward link throughput. BCMCS Throughput (kbps): The BCMCS throughput. Two throughput values are available: 204.8 kbps and 409.6 kbps. This parameter is taken into account during rate control when Atoll calculates the cell average forward link throughput. Max UL Load Factor (%): The maximum reverse link load factor not to be exceeded. This limit can be taken into account during the simulation.

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Total Power (dBm): The total transmitted power on forward link. This value can be a simulation result or can be entered by the user. UL Load Factor (%): The reverse link cell load factor. This factor corresponds to the ratio between the reverse link total interference and the reverse link total noise. This is the global value for the reverse link load factor including the reverse link inter-technology interference. This value can be a simulation result or can be entered by the user. Max No. of EV-DO Users: The maximum number of EV-DO carrier users that this cell can support at any given time. Multi-carrier EV-DO users are counted once in each cell they are connected to.

9.1.1.2 Creating or Modifying a Base Station Element A base station consists of the site, one or more transmitters, various pieces of equipment, and radio settings such as, for example, cells. This section describes how to create or modify the following elements of a base station: • • •

9.1.1.2.1

"Creating or Modifying a Site" on page 636 "Creating or Modifying a Transmitter" on page 636 "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 637.

Creating or Modifying a Site You can modify an existing site or you can create a new site. You can access the properties of a site, described in "Site Description" on page 631, through the site’s Properties dialog box. How you access the Properties dialog box depends on whether you are creating a new site or modifying an existing site. To create a new site: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Sites folder and select Add Site from the context menu. The mouse cursor changes and the coordinates of the mouse cursor are displayed in the status bar. 2. Click the map at the location where you want to place the new site. A new site is created with default values at the corresponding location. Alternatively, you can create a new site by entering its coordinates and properties as described in "Site Description" on page 631, by right-clicking the Sites folder and selecting New from the context menu.

To modify the properties of an existing site: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Sites folder and right-click the site, or right-click the site on the map. The context menu appears. 2. Select Properties from the context menu. The site’s Properties dialog box appears. 3. Modify the parameters described in "Site Description" on page 631. 4. Click OK. If you are creating several sites at the same time, or modifying several existing sites, you can do it quickly by editing or pasting the data directly in the Sites table. You can open the Sites table by right-clicking the Sites folder in the Network explorer and selecting Open Table from the context menu. For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83.

9.1.1.2.2

Creating or Modifying a Transmitter You can modify an existing transmitter or you can create a new transmitter. When you create a new transmitter, its initial settings are based on the default station template displayed in the Radio Planning toolbar. You can access the properties of a transmitter, described in "Transmitter Properties" on page 631, through the transmitter’s Properties dialog box. How you access the Properties dialog box depends on whether you are creating a new transmitter or modifying an existing transmitter. To create a transmitter: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder and select New from the context menu. The Transmitters: New Record Properties dialog box appears. 2. Modify the parameters as described in "Transmitter Properties" on page 631. 3. Click OK. When you create a new transmitter, Atoll automatically creates a cell based on the default station template. For information on creating a cell, see "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 637.

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To modify the properties of an existing transmitter: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Transmitters folder, right-click the transmitter you want to modify, and select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter’s Properties dialog box appears. 2. Modify the parameters described in "Transmitter Properties" on page 631. 3. Click OK. •

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9.1.1.2.3

If you are creating several transmitters at the same time, or modifying several existing transmitters, you can do it more quickly by editing or pasting the data directly in the Transmitters table. You can open the Transmitters table by rightclicking the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer and selecting Open Table from the context menu. For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83. If you want to add a transmitter to an existing site on the map, you can add the transmitter by right-clicking the site and selecting New Transmitter from the context menu.

Creating or Modifying a Cell You can modify an existing cell or you can create a new cell. You can access the properties of a cell, described in "Cell Properties" on page 633, through the Properties dialog box of the transmitter where the cell is located. How you access the Properties dialog box depends on whether you are creating a new cell or modifying an existing cell. To create or modify a cell: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Transmitters folder, right-click the transmitter on which you want to create a cell or whose cell you want to modify, and select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter’s Properties dialog box appears. 2. Select the Cells tab. 3. Modify the parameters described in "Cell Properties" on page 633. 4. Click OK. •

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9.1.1.2.4

If you are creating or modifying several cells at the same time, you can do it more quickly by editing the data directly in the Cells table. You can open the Cells table by right-clicking the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer and selecting Cells > Open Table from the context menu. You can either edit the data in the table, paste data into the table (see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83), or import data into the table (see "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88). If you want to add a cell to an existing transmitter on the map, you can add the cell by right-clicking the transmitter and selecting New Cell from the context menu.

Assigning Equipment to a Transmitter You can use the Equipment Specifications dialog box to assign a tower-mounted amplifier (TMA), feeders, and transmitter equipment to a transmitter. The gains and losses that you define are used to initialise total transmitter losses in the uplink and downlink. To assign equipment to a transmitter: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the LTE Transmitters folder, right-click the transmitter that you want to modify, and select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter Properties dialog box appears. 2. On the Transmitter tab, click the Equipment button. The Equipment Specifications dialog box opens. 3. Specify the following settings for the transmitter: • • •

• • •

TMA: You can select a tower-mounted amplifier (TMA) from the list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the TMA. For information on creating a TMA, see "Defining TMA Equipment" on page 161. Feeder: You can select a feeder cable from the list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the feeder. For information on creating a feeder cable, see "Defining Feeder Cables" on page 161. Transmitter: You can select transmitter equipment from the Transmitter list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the transmitter equipment. For information on creating transmitter equipment, see "Defining Transmitter Equipment" on page 162. Feeder Length: You can enter the feeder length at transmission and reception. Miscellaneous Losses: You can enter miscellaneous losses at transmission and reception. The value you enter must be positive. Receiver Antenna Diversity Gain: You can enter a receiver antenna diversity gain. The value you enter must be positive.

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Any loss related to the noise due to a transmitter’s repeater is included in the calculated reception losses.

4. Click OK.

9.1.1.3 Placing a New Station Using a Station Template In Atoll, a station is defined as a site with one or more transmitters sharing the same properties. With Atoll, you can create a network by placing stations based on station templates. This allows you to build your network quickly with consistent parameters, instead of building the network by first creating the site, then the transmitters, and finally by adding the cells. To place a new station using a station template: 1. In the Radio Planning toolbar, select a template from the list. 2. Click the New Transmitter or Station button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar.

3. In the map window, move the pointer over the map to where you would like to place the new station. The exact coordinates of the pointer’s current location are visible in the Status bar. 4. Click to place the station. •

•

To place the station more accurately, you can zoom in on the map before you click the New Station button. For information on using the zooming tools, see "Changing the Map Scale" on page 60. If you let the pointer rest over the station you have placed, Atoll displays its tip text with its exact coordinates, allowing you to verify that the location is correct.

Placing a Station on an Existing Site When you place a new station using a station template as explained in "Placing a New Station Using a Station Template" on page 638, the site is created at the same time as the station. However, you can also place a new station on an existing site. To place a station on an existing site: 1. In the Network explorer, clear the display check box beside the Hexagonal Design folder. 2. In the Radio Planning toolbar, select a template from the list. 3. Click the New Station button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar.

4. Move the pointer to the site on the map. When the frame appears around the site, indicating it is selected, click to place the station.

9.1.1.4 Managing Station Templates Atoll comes with CDMA station templates, but you can also create and modify station templates. The tools for working with station templates can be found on the Radio Planning toolbar (see Figure 9.3).

Figure 9.3: The Radio Planning toolbar In this section, the following are explained: • • • • • •

9.1.1.4.1

"Creating a Station Template" on page 640 "Modifying a Station Template" on page 640 "Copying Properties from One Station Template to Another" on page 640 "Modifying a Field in a Station Template" on page 641 "Deleting a Station Template" on page 641.

Station Template Properties The station template Properties dialog box contains the settings for templates that are used for creating new sites and transmitters. It consists of the following tabs: General Tab This tab contains general information about the station template:

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• • • • •

Name: Type the name of the station template. Sectors: Specify the number of transmitters on the site. Hexagon Radius: Specify the theoretical radius of the hexagonal area covered by each sector. Frequency Band: Specify the frequency band and the Max range of the station. Main antenna: Select the Model and specify the following settings: • • • •

1st sector mechanical azimuth from which the azimuth of the other sectors are offset to offer complete coverage of the area. Height/ground of the antennas from the ground (i.e., the height over the DTM; if the transmitter is situated on a building, the height entered must include the height of the building). Mechanical downtilt for the antennas. Electrical Azimuth, Electrical Downtilt, and Additional electrical downtilt display additional antenna parameters. • •

•

•

The Additional electrical downtilt can be made accessible through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide.

Under Path loss matrices, you can modify the following: the Main propagation model, the Main radius, and the Main resolution, and the Extended propagation model, the Extended radius, and the Extended resolution. For information on propagation models, see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models. Under Comments, you can add additional information. The information you enter will be the default information in the Comments field of any transmitter created using this station template.

Transmitter Tab •

Active: Select this option to specify whether the transmitter is active. Active transmitters are displayed in red in the CDMA Transmitters folder of the Network explorer. Only active transmitters are taken into consideration during calculations.

Click the Equipment button to modify the tower-mounted amplifier (TMA), feeder cables, or transmitter equipment. For information on the Equipment Specifications dialog box, see "Assigning Equipment to a Transmitter" on page 637. The Total losses (transmission and reception) and Noise figure (reception) in the Computed columns is calculated from the information that was entered in the Equipment Specifications dialog box. The Total losses (transmission and reception) Noise figure (reception) in the Real columns can be edited. Any value that you enter must be positive. Any loss related to the noise due to the repeater of a transmitter is included in the calculated losses. Atoll always considers the values in the Real boxes in coverage predictions even if they are different from the values in the Computed boxes. CDMA Tab On this tab, you can modify the specifications of the Carriers (each corresponding to a cell) that each transmitter supports. •

•

Carrier: You can select the numbers for each sector of the station template. To select the carriers to be added to the sectors of a base station created using this station template, click the Browse button and select the carriers to be created for each sector of the station. PN Offset: Define the Reuse Distance and the Domain of the pseudo noise offset. • Power: Specify the Pilot, the Paging, and the Synchro powers, and the Idle Power Gain. • Simulation Constraints: Specify the Max Power, the Max DL Load (defined as a percentage of the maximum power), and the Max UL Load Factor. • Load Conditions: Specify the Total Transmitted Power and the UL Load Factor. • Active Set: Specify the Min Ec/Io and the T-Drop. • Additional Interference: Set the DL Noise Rise and the UL Noise Rise. For more information on inter-technology interference, see "Modelling Inter-technology Interference" on page 733.

You can also modify the Number of Uplink and Downlink Channel Elements and select the Equipment. For information on carriers and cells, see "Cell Properties" on page 633.

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CDMA2000 Tab Use this tab to specify additional carrier parameters (each corresponding to a cell) that each transmitter supports. For information on carriers and cells, see "Cell Properties" on page 633. • • • • • •

Power Reserved for Pooling: Specify the power that is reserved for pooling. 1xRTT: Specify the Pilot Power, the Paging Power, and the Synchro Power. 1xEV-DO: Specify the Idle Power Gain, the Max. Number of EV-DO Channel Elements per Carrier, and you can modify the MUG (multi-user gain) table. Rev. 0: Specify the Noise Rise Threshold, the Acceptable Noise Rise Margin, and the DRC Error Rate. Rev. A: Set the Timeslot BCMCS, the Timeslot Control Channels, and the BCMCS Throughput. Rev. B: Select whether Multi-carrier EV-DO is supported and you can enter a MUG=f(No. Users) graph and define the min Ec/Nt (UL).

Neighbours Tab On this tab, you can modify the Max Number of Intra- and Inter-Carrier Neighbours and the Max Number of Intertechnology Neighbours. For information on defining neighbours, see "Neighbour Planning" on page 223. Other Properties Tab This tab only appears if you have defined additional fields in the Sites table, or if you have defined an additional field in the Station Template Properties dialog box.

9.1.1.4.2

Creating a Station Template When you create a station template, Atoll bases it on the station template selected in the Station Template Properties dialog box. The new station template has the same parameters as the one it is based on. Therefore, by selecting the existing station template that most closely resembles the station template you want to create, you can create a new template by only modifying the parameters that differ. To create a station template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the CDMA2000 Network Settings folder, right-click the Station Templates folder, and select Open Table from the context menu. The Station Templates table appears. 2. In the Station Templates table, right-click the station template that most closely resembles the station template you want to create and select Copy from the context menu. 3. Right-click the row marked with the New Row icon ( ) and select Paste from the context menu. The station template you copied in step 2. is pasted in the new row, with the Name of the new station template given as the same as the template copied but preceded by "Copy of". 4. Edit the station template properties as described in "Station Template Properties" on page 638. 5. Click OK.

9.1.1.4.3

Modifying a Station Template You can modify a station template directly in the Station Templates table, or you can open the Properties dialog box for that station template and modify the parameters in the dialog box. To modify a station template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the CDMA2000 Network Settings folder and the Station Templates folder. 2. Right-click the station template you want to modify and select Properties from the context menu. The station template Properties dialog box appears. 3. Edit the station template properties as described in "Station Template Properties" on page 638. 4. Click OK.

9.1.1.4.4

Copying Properties from One Station Template to Another You can copy properties from one template to another template by using the Station Templates table. To copy properties from one template to another template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the CDMA2000 Network Settings folder, right-click the Station Templates folder, and select Open Table from the context menu. The Station Templates table opens. 2. In the Stations Templates table, copy the settings in the row corresponding to the station template that you want to copy from and paste them into the row corresponding to the station template that you want to modify.

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9.1.1.4.5

Modifying a Field in a Station Template You can add, delete, and edit user-defined data table fields in the Station Templates table. If you want to add a user-defined field to the station templates, you must have already added it to the Sites table for it to appear as an option in the station template properties To modify a field in a station template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the CDMA2000 Network Settings folder, right-click the Station Templates folder, and select Properties from the context menu. The Station Template Properties dialog box opens. 2. Select the Table tab. 3. Add, delete, or edit the user-defined fields as described in "Adding, Deleting, and Editing Data Table Fields" on page 76. 4. Click OK.

9.1.1.4.6

Deleting a Station Template To delete a station template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the CDMA2000 Network Settings folder and the Station Templates folder, and right-click the station template that you want to delete. The context menu appears. 2. Select Delete from the context menu. The template is deleted.

9.1.1.5 Duplicating an Existing Base Station You can create new base stations by duplicating an existing base station. When you duplicate an existing base station, the base station you create will have the same transmitter, and cell parameter values as the original base station. If no site exists where you place the duplicated base station, Atoll will create a new site with the same parameters as the site of the original base station. Duplicating a base station allows you to: • •

Quickly create a new base station with the same settings as an original base station in order to study the effect of a new station on the coverage and capacity of the network, and Quickly create a new homogeneous network with stations that have the same characteristics.

To duplicate an existing base station: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Sites folder. 3. Right-click the site you want to duplicate. The context menu appears. 4. From the context menu, select one of the following: • •

Select Duplicate > Without Neighbours from the context menu, if you want to duplicate the base station without the intra- and inter-technology neighbours of its transmitters. Select Duplicate > With Neighbours from the context menu, if you want to duplicate the base station along with the lists of intra- and inter-technology neighbours of its transmitters.

5. Place the new base station on the map using the mouse: •

•

Creating a duplicate base station and site: In the map window, move the pointer over the map to where you would like to place the duplicate. The exact coordinates of the pointer’s current location are visible in the Status bar. Placing the duplicate base station on an existing site: In the map window, move the pointer over the existing site where you would like to place the duplicate. When the pointer is over the site, the site is automatically selected. The exact coordinates of the pointer’s current location are visible in the Status bar. •

•

To place the station more accurately, you can zoom in on the map before you select Duplicate from the context menu. For information on using the zooming tools, see "Changing the Map Scale" on page 60. If you let the pointer rest over the station you have placed, Atoll displays tip text with its exact coordinates, allowing you to verify that the location is correct.

6. Click to place the duplicate base station. A new base station is placed on the map. The site, transmitters, and cells of the new base station have the same names as the site, transmitters, and cells of the original base station with each name marked as "Copy of." The site, transmitters, and cells of the duplicate base station have the same settings as those of the original base station. All the remote antennas and repeaters of any transmitter on the original site are also duplicated.

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A new base station is placed on the map. If the duplicate base station was placed on a new site, the site, transmitters, and cells of the new base station have the same names as the site, transmitters, and cells of the original base station with each name marked as "Copy of." The site, transmitters, and cells of the duplicate base station have the same settings as those of the original base station. If the duplicate base station was placed on an existing site, the transmitters, and cells of the new base station have the same names as the transmitters, and cells of the original base station with each name preceded by the name of the site on which the duplicate was placed. All the remote antennas and repeaters of any transmitter on the original site are also duplicated. Any duplicated remote antennas and repeaters will retain the same donor transmitter as the original. If you want the duplicated remote antenna or repeater to use a transmitter on the duplicated base station, you must change the donor transmitter manually. You can also place a series of duplicate base stations by pressing and holding Ctrl in step 6. and clicking to place each duplicate base station. For more information on the site, transmitter, and cell properties, see "Definition of a Base Station" on page 630.

9.1.1.6 Studying the Profile Around a Base Station In Atoll, you can make a profile analysis to study obstacles along the path between a reference transmitter and any point on the map. Atoll displays the geographic profile between the transmitter and the receiver with clutter heights. An ellipsoid indicating the Fresnel zone is also displayed allowing you to study obstructions to radio signals along the path. You can also study propagation losses along the profile as well as the signal level received at the point. Before studying path loss along a profile, you must assign a propagation model to the transmitter. The propagation model takes the radio and geographic data into account and calculates losses along the transmitter-receiver path. The profile is calculated in real time, using the propagation model, allowing you to study the profile and get a prediction on the selected point. For information on assigning a propagation model, see "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187. To study the profile between a transmitter and a receiver: 1. In the map window, select the transmitter from which you want to make a point analysis. 2. Click the Point Analysis button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar. The Point Analysis window appears and the

pointer changes ( ) to represent the receiver. A line appears on the map connecting the selected transmitter and the current position. You can move the receiver on the map (see "Moving the Receiver on the Map" on page 203). 3. Select the Profile view.

Figure 9.4: Point Analysis Tool - Profile view The distance between the transmitter and the receiver is displayed at the top of the Profile view. The altitude is reported on the vertical axis and the receiver-transmitter distance on the horizontal axis. A blue ellipsoid indicates the Fresnel zone between the transmitter and the receiver. A green line indicates the line of sight (LOS) with the angle of the LOS read from the vertical antenna pattern. Along the profile, if the signal meets an obstacle, the obstacle causes attenuation with diffraction displayed by a red vertical line (if the used propagation model is able to calculate diffraction). The main diffraction edge is the one that

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intersects the Fresnel ellipsoid the most. Propagation models that use a 3 knife-edge Deygout diffraction method may also display two additional diffraction edges. The total attenuation is displayed above the main diffraction edge. The results of the analysis are displayed at the top of the Profile view: • • • •

The received signal strength from the selected transmitter for the cell with the highest reference signal power The propagation model used The shadowing margin and the indoor loss (if selected) The distance between the transmitter and the receiver.

4. If needed, select an other transmitter from the list. You can click the Properties button ( properties.

) to access the transmitter

5. Select the carrier to be analysed from the Carriers list. 6. Click the Options button ( • • • •

) to display the Calculation Options dialog box and change the following:

Change the X and Y coordinates to change the current position of the receiver. Select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a Cell edge coverage probability. For more information, see "Taking Shadowing into Account in Point Analyses" on page 204. Select Signal level, Path loss, or Total losses from the Result type list. You can select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. For more information, see "Taking Indoor Losses into Account" on page 203.

7. In the Profile view toolbar, you can use the following tools: •

Click the Geographic Profile button (

) to view the geographic profile between the transmitter and the receiver.

Click the Geographic Profile button ( receiver.

) again to view the radio signal path between the transmitter and the

•

Click the Link Budget button (

•

Click the Detailed Report button ( ) to display a text document with details on the displayed profile analysis. The detailed report is only available for the Standard Propagation Model. Click the Copy button ( ) to copy the content of the view and paste it as a graphic into a graphic editing or wordprocessing programme.

• • •

) to display a dialog box with the link budget.

Click the Print button ( ) to print the content of the view. Click the Centre on Map button ( ) to centre the map window on the receiver.

8. To end the point analysis, click the Point Analysis button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar again.

9.1.2 Creating a Group of Base Stations You can create base stations individually as explained in "Creating a CDMA Base Station" on page 630, or you can create one or several base stations by using station templates as explained in "Placing a New Station Using a Station Template" on page 638. However, if you have a large data-planning project and you already have existing data, you can import this data into your current Atoll document and create a group of base stations. When you import data into your current Atoll document, the coordinate system of the imported data must be the same as the display coordinate system used in the document. If you cannot change the coordinate system of your source data, you can temporarily change the display coordinate system of the Atoll document to match the source data. For information on changing the coordinate system, see "Setting a Coordinate System" on page 41. You can import base station data in the following ways: •

Copying and pasting data: If you have data in table form, either in another Atoll document or in a spreadsheet, you can copy this data and paste it into the tables in your current Atoll document. When you create a group of base stations by copying and pasting data, you must copy and paste site data in the Sites table, transmitter data in the Transmitters table, and cell data in the Cells table, in that order. The table you copy from must have the same column layout as the table you are pasting data into.

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For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83. •

Importing data: If you have data in text or comma-separated value (CSV) format, you can import it into the tables in the current document. If the data is in another Atoll document, you can first export it in text or CSV format and then import it into the tables of your current Atoll document. When you are importing, Atoll allows you to select what values you import into which columns of the table. When you create a group of base stations by importing data, you must import site data in the Sites table, transmitter data in the Transmitters table, and cell data in the Cells table, in that order. For information on exporting table data, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. For information on importing table data, see "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88. You can quickly create a series of base stations for study purposes using the Hexagonal Design tool on the Radio Planning toolbar. For information, see "Placing a New Station Using a Station Template" on page 638.

9.1.3 Modifying Sites and Transmitters Directly on the Map In Atoll, you can access the Properties dialog box of a site or transmitter using the context menu in the Network explorer. However, in a complex radio-planning project, it can be difficult to find the data object in the Network explorer, although it might be visible in the map window. Atoll lets you access the Properties dialog box of sites and transmitters directly from the map. You can also select a site to display all of the transmitters located on it in the Site explorer. When selecting a transmitter, if there there is more than one transmitter with the same azimuth, clicking the transmitters in the map window opens a context menu allowing you to select the transmitter. You can also change the position of the station by dragging it, or by letting Atoll find a higher location for it. Modifying sites and transmitters directly on the map is explained in detail in Chapter 1: Working Environment: • • • • •

"Selecting One out of Several Transmitters" on page 57 "Moving a Site Using the Mouse" on page 57 "Moving a Site to a Higher Location" on page 57 "Changing the Azimuth of the Antenna Using the Mouse" on page 57 "Changing the Antenna Position Relative to the Site Using the Mouse" on page 58.

9.1.4 Display Tips for Base Stations Atoll allows to you to display information about base stations in a number of different ways. This enables you not only to display selected information, but also to distinguish base stations at a glance. The following tools can be used to display information about base stations: •

•

•

•

Label: You can display information about each object, such as each site or transmitter, in the form of a label that is displayed with the object. You can display information from every field in that object type’s data table, including from fields that you add. The label is always displayed, so you should choose information that you would want to always be visible; too much information will lead to a cluttered display. For information on defining the label, see "Associating a Label to an Object" on page 53. Tip text: You can display information about each object, such as each site or transmitter, in the form of tip text that is only visible when you move the pointer over the object. You can choose to display more information than in the label, because the information is only displayed when you move the pointer over the object. You can display information from any field in that object type’s data table, including from fields that you add. For information on defining the tip text, see "Associating a Tip Text to an Object" on page 54. Transmitter colour: You can set the transmitter colour to display information about the transmitter. For example, you can select "Discrete Values" to distinguish transmitters by antenna type, or to distinguish inactive from active sites. You can also define the display type for transmitters as "Automatic." Atoll then automatically assigns a colour to each transmitter, ensuring that each transmitter has a different colour than the transmitters surrounding it. For information on defining the transmitter colour, see "Setting the Display Type" on page 52. Transmitter symbol: You can select one of several symbols to represent transmitters. For example, you can select a symbol that graphically represents the antenna half-power beamwidth (

). If you have two transmitters on the

same site with the same azimuth, you can differentiate them by selecting different symbols for each ( For information on defining the transmitter symbol, see "Setting the Display Type" on page 52.

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9.1.5 Creating a Dual-Band and Tri-Band CDMA Network In Atoll, you can model dual-band and tri-band CDMA networks in one document (e.g., network consisting of 1900 MHz and 700 MHz transmitters). Creating a dual-band or tri-band CDMA network consists of the following steps: 1. Defining the frequency bands in the document (see "Defining Frequency Bands" on page 723). 2. Selecting and calibrating a propagation model for each frequency band (see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models). 3. Assigning a frequency band, with its propagation model, to each transmitter (see "Transmitter Properties" on page 631). 4. Defining the frequency bands with which terminals are compatible (see "Modelling Terminals" on page 249).

9.1.6 Creating a Repeater A repeater receives, amplifies, and re-transmits the radiated or conducted RF carrier both in downlink and uplink. It has a donor side and a server side. The donor side receives the signal from a donor transmitter, repeater, or remote antenna. This signal can be carried by different types of links such as a radio link or a microwave link. The server side re-transmits the received signal. When Atoll models CDMA repeaters, the modelling focuses on: • •

The additional coverage these systems provide to transmitters in the downlink. The noise rise generated at the donor transmitter by the repeater.

In this section, the following are explained: • • • • • •

"Opening the Repeaters Table" on page 645 "Creating and Modifying Repeater Equipment" on page 645 "Placing a Repeater on the Map Using the Mouse" on page 646 "Creating Several Repeaters" on page 646 "Defining the Properties of a Repeater" on page 647 "Tips for Updating Repeater Parameters" on page 648 Broad-band repeaters are not modelled. Atoll assumes that all carriers from the 3G donor transmitter are amplified.

9.1.6.1 Opening the Repeaters Table Repeaters and their defining parameters are stored in the Repeaters table. To open the Repeaters table: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Repeaters > Open Table from the context menu. The Repeaters table appears.

9.1.6.2 Creating and Modifying Repeater Equipment You can define repeater equipment to be assigned to each repeater in the network. To create repeater equipment: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Radio Network Equipment folder. 3. In the Radio Network Equipment folder, right-click Repeater Equipment. The context menu appears. 4. Select Open Table from the context menu. The Repeater Equipment table appears. 5. Enter the following in the row marked with the New Row icon (

):

a. Enter a Name and Manufacturer for the new equipment. b. Enter a Noise Figure (dB). The repeater causes a rise in noise at the donor transmitter, so the noise figure is used to calculate the UL loss to be added to the donor transmitter UL losses. The noise figure must be a positive value. c. Enter minimum and maximum repeater amplification gains in the Min. Gain and Max Gain columns. These parameters enable Atoll to ensure that the user-defined amplifier gain is consistent with the limits of the equipment if there are any.

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d. Enter a Gain Increment. Atoll uses the increment value when you increase or decrease the repeater amplifier gain using the buttons to the right of the Amplification box ( box.

) on the General tab of the repeater Properties dialog

e. Enter the maximum power that the equipment can transmit on the downlink in the Maximum Downlink Power column. This parameter enables Atoll to ensure that the downlink power after amplification does not exceed the limit of the equipment. f. If desired, enter a Maximum Uplink Power, an Internal Delay and Comments. These fields are for information only and are not used in calculations. To modify repeater equipment: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Radio Network Equipment folder. 3. In the Radio Network Equipment folder, right-click Repeater Equipment. The context menu appears. 4. Select Open Table from the context menu. The Repeater Equipment table appears. 5. Change the parameters in the row containing the repeater equipment you want to modify.

9.1.6.3 Placing a Repeater on the Map Using the Mouse In Atoll, you can create a repeater and place it using the mouse. When you create a repeater, you can add it to an existing site, or have Atoll automatically create a new site. Atoll supports cascading repeaters, in other words, repeaters that extend the coverage of another repeater or of a remote antenna. To create a repeater and place it using the mouse: 1. Select the donor transmitter, repeater, or remote antenna. You can select it from the Transmitters folder of the Network explorer, or directly on the map. 2. Click the arrow next to New Repeater or Remote Antenna button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

3. Select Repeater from the menu. 4. Click the map to place the repeater. The repeater is placed on the map, represented by a symbol ( ) in the same colour as the donor transmitter, repeater, or remote antenna. If the repeater is inactive, it is displayed by an empty icon. By default, the repeater has the same azimuth as the donor. Its tip text and label display the same information as displayed for the donor. As well, its tip text identifies the repeater and the donor. In the Explorer window, the repeater is found in the Transmitters folder of the Network explorer under its donor transmitter, repeater, or remote antenna. For information on defining the properties of the new repeater, see "Defining the Properties of a Repeater" on page 647. •

•

When the donor is a transmitter, you can see to which base station the repeater is connected by clicking it; Atoll displays a link to the donor transmitter. You can hide the link by clicking it again. When the donor is a repeater or a remote antenna, Atoll displays a spider-type link showing the entire chain down to the donor transmitter. The same spider-type link is displayed when you click any of the items belonging to the chain is clicked (i.e., donor transmitter, any repeater, or any remote antenna).

9.1.6.4 Creating Several Repeaters In Atoll, the characteristics of each repeater are stored in the Repeaters table. If you have data in table form, either in another Atoll document or in a spreadsheet, you can copy this data and paste it into the Repeaters table in your current Atoll document. To paste the information into the Repeaters table: 1. Open the Repeaters table as explained in "Opening the Repeaters Table" on page 645. 2. Copy the data from the source document and paste it into the Repeaters table. The table you copy data from must have the same column layout as the table you are pasting data into.

For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83.

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9.1.6.5 Defining the Properties of a Repeater To define the properties of a repeater: 1. Right-click the repeater either directly on the map, or in the Repeaters table (for information on opening the Repeaters table, see "Opening the Repeaters Table" on page 645). The context menu appears. 2. Select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 3. Click the General tab. You can modify the following parameters: •

You can change the Name of the repeater. By default, repeaters are named "SiteX_Y_RepZ" where "X" is the donor site number, "Y" the donor transmitter number, and "Z" a number assigned to the repeater when it was created. If the donor is a remote antenna or another repeater, then "RepZ" is preceded by "RemA_" or "RepB_" where "A" and "B" identify the donor remote antenna and the donor repeater.

• • •

•

You can change the Donor by selecting it from the Donor list. The Donor can be a transmitter, a remote antenna, or another repeater. Clicking the Browse button opens the Properties dialog box of the selected donor. You can change the Site on which the repeater is located. Clicking the Browse button opens the Properties dialog box of the selected site. You can enter a value in the Shared antenna (coverage side) field for the repeater. This field is used to identify the transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas that are located at the same site or on sites with the same position and that share an antenna. The entry in the field must be the same for all such transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas. When changes are made to the position offset (Dx, Dy), azimuth, antenna height, or mechanical tilt of one antenna, Atoll automatically synchronises the same changes to all other transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas defined as having a shared antenna. Under Antenna Position, you can define the position of the repeater, if it is not located on the site itself: •

• •

Relative to Site: Select Relative to Site, if you want to define the position of the repeater relative to the site itself and then enter the XY offsets. • Coordinates: Select Coordinates, if you want to define the position of the repeater by its XY coordinates. You can select equipment from the Equipment list. Clicking the Browse button opens the Properties dialog box of the equipment. You can change the Amplifier Gain. Amplification gain is used in the link budget to evaluate the repeater total gain.

4. Click the Donor Side tab. You can modify the following parameters: •

Under Donor-Repeater Link, select a Link Type. • •

If you select Microwave Link, enter the Propagation Losses and continue with step 5. If you select Air, select a Propagation Model and enter the Propagation Losses or click Calculate to determine the actual propagation losses between the donor and the repeater. If you do not select a propagation model, the propagation losses between the donor transmitter and the repeater are calculated using the ITU 526-5 propagation model. When you create an off-air repeater, it is assumed that the link between the donor transmitter and the repeater has the same frequency as the network. If you want to create a remote antenna, you must select Optical Fibre Link.

•

If you selected Air under Donor-Repeater Link, enter the following information under Antenna: •

Model: The type of antenna is visible in the Model list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the antenna. Click the Select button to open the Antenna Selection Assistant. This assistant lists all the antennas that match the currently selected physical antenna and whose minimum and maximum operating frequencies include the operating frequency of the transmitter. For more information, see "Assigning Antennas to Transmitters" on page 159

•

•

Height/Ground: The Height/Ground box gives the height of the antenna above the ground. This is added to the altitude of the site as given by the DTM. If the repeater is situated on a building, the height entered must include the height of building. Mechanical Azimuth and Mechanical Downtilt display additional antenna parameters.

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You can click the Calculate button to update the mechanical azimuth and mechanical downtilt values after changing the repeater donor side antenna height or the repeater location. If you choose another site or change site coordinates in the General tab, click Apply before clicking the Calculate button. •

If you selected Air under Donor-Repeater Link, enter the following information under Feeders: i.

Select a Type of feeder from the list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the feeder.

ii. Enter the Length of the feeder cable at Transmission and at Reception. 5. Click the Coverage Side tab. You can modify the following parameters: • •

Select the Active check box. Only active repeaters (displayed in red in the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer) are calculated. Under Total Gain, enter the gain in the forward and reverse links (DL/UL) or click Calculate to determine the actual gain in the forward and reverse links. If you have modified any parameter in the General, Donor Side, or Coverage Side tabs, click Apply before clicking the Calculate button. • •

In the forward link, the total gain is applied to each power (pilot power, SCH power, etc.). In the reverse link, the total gain is applied to each terminal power.

The total gain takes into account losses between the donor transmitter and the repeater, donor characteristics (donor antenna gain, reception feeder losses), amplifier gain, and coverage characteristics (coverage antenna gain, transmission feeder losses). •

Under Antennas, you can modify the following parameters: •

•

Height/Ground: The Height/Ground box gives the height of the antenna above the ground. This is added to the altitude of the site as given by the DTM. If the repeater is situated on a building, the height entered must include the height of building. Main Antenna: Under Main Antenna, the type of antenna is visible in the Model list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the antenna. Click the Select button to open the Antenna Selection Assistant. This assistant lists all the antennas that match the currently selected physical antenna and whose minimum and maximum operating frequencies include the operating frequency of the transmitter. For more information, see "Assigning Antennas to Transmitters" on page 159

• •

Mechanical Azimuth, Mechanical downtilt, Electrical Azimuth, Electrical Downtilt, and Additional electrical downtilt display additional antenna parameters. Under Secondary Antennas, you can select one or more secondary antennas in the Antenna column and enter their Azimuth, Mechanical Downtilt, Additional Electrical Downtilt, and % Power. • • •

•

The Additional Electrical Downtilt can be made accessible through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75.

Under Feeders, you can modify the following information: i.

Select a Type of feeder from the list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the feeder.

ii. Enter the Length of the feeder cable at Transmission and at Reception. •

Under Losses, the Loss related to repeater noise rise is displayed and you can modify the following information: •

Misc. losses: You can specify additional losses in dB for Transmission and Reception.

6. Click the Propagation tab. Since repeaters are taken into account during calculations, you must set the propagation parameters. On the Propagation tab, you can modify the following: the Propagation Model, Radius, and Resolution for both the Main Matrix and the Extended Matrix. By default, the propagation characteristics of the repeater (model, calculation radius, and grid resolution) are the same as those of the donor transmitter. For information on propagation models, see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models.

9.1.6.6 Tips for Updating Repeater Parameters Atoll provides you with a few shortcuts that you can use to change certain repeater parameters: • •

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You can update the calculated azimuth and downtilt of the donor-side antennas of all repeaters by selecting Repeaters > Calculate Donor Side Azimuths and Tilts from the Transmitters context menu. You can update the reverse link and forward link total gains of all repeaters by selecting Repeaters > Calculate Gains from the Transmitters context menu.

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You can prevent Atoll from updating the UL and DL total gains of selected repeaters by creating a custom Boolean field named "FreezeTotalGain" in the Repeaters table and setting the value of the field to "True." Afterwards, when you select Repeaters > Calculate Gains from the Transmitters context menu, Atoll will only update the UL and DL total gains for repeaters with the custom field "FreezeTotalGain" set to "False". • •

You can update the propagation losses of all off-air repeaters by selecting Repeaters > Calculate Donor Side Propagation Losses from the Transmitters context menu. You can select a repeater on the map and change its azimuth (see "Changing the Azimuth of the Antenna Using the Mouse" on page 57) or its position relative to the site (see "Changing the Antenna Position Relative to the Site Using the Mouse" on page 58).

9.1.7 Creating a Remote Antenna Atoll allows you to create remote antennas to position antennas at locations that would normally require long runs of feeder cable. A remote antenna is connected to the base station with an optical fibre. Remote antennas allow you to ensure radio coverage in an area without a new base station. In Atoll, the remote antenna should be connected to a base station that does not have any antennas. It is assumed that a remote antenna, as opposed to a repeater, does not have any equipment and generates no amplification gain nor noise. In certain cases, you may want to model a remote antenna with equipment or a remote antenna connected to a base station that has antennas. This can be done by modelling a repeater. For information on creating a repeater, see "Creating a Repeater" on page 645. In this section, the following are explained: • • • • •

"Opening the Remote Antennas Table" on page 649 "Placing a Remote Antenna on the Map Using the Mouse" on page 649 "Creating Several Remote Antennas" on page 650 "Defining the Properties of a Remote Antenna" on page 650 "Tips for Updating Remote Antenna Parameters" on page 651.

9.1.7.1 Opening the Remote Antennas Table The remote antennas and their defining parameters are stored in the Remote Antennas table. To open the Remote Antennas table: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Remote Antennas > Open Table from the context menu. The Remote Antennas table appears.

9.1.7.2 Placing a Remote Antenna on the Map Using the Mouse In Atoll, you can create a remote antenna and place it using the mouse. When you create a remote antenna, you can add it to an existing base station without antennas, or have Atoll automatically create a new site. To create a remote antenna and place it using the mouse: 1. Select the donor transmitter. You can select it from the Transmitters folder of the Network explorer, or directly on the map. Ensure that the remote antenna’s donor transmitter does not have any antennas.

2. Click the arrow next to New Repeater or Remote Antenna button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

3. Select Remote Antenna from the menu. 4. Click the map to place the remote antenna. The remote antenna is placed on the map, represented by a symbol ( ) in the same colour as the donor transmitter. If the remote antenna is inactive, it is displayed by an empty icon. By default, the remote antenna has the same azimuth as the donor transmitter. Its tip text and label display the same information as displayed for the donor transmitter. As well, its tip text identifies the remote antenna and the donor transmitter. For information on defining the properties of the new remote antenna, see "Defining the Properties of a Remote Antenna" on page 650.

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•

•

When the donor is a transmitter, you can see to which base station the repeater is connected by clicking it; Atoll displays a link to the donor transmitter. You can hide the link by clicking it again. When the donor is a repeater or a remote antenna, Atoll displays a spider-type link showing the entire chain down to the donor transmitter. The same spider-type link is displayed when you click any of the items belonging to the chain is clicked (i.e., donor transmitter, any repeater, or any remote antenna).

9.1.7.3 Creating Several Remote Antennas In Atoll, the characteristics of each remote antenna are stored in the Remote Antennas table. If you have data in table form, either in another Atoll document or in a spreadsheet, you can copy this data and paste it into the Remote Antennas table in your current Atoll document. To paste the information into the Remote Antennas table: 1. Open the Remote Antennas table as explained in "Opening the Remote Antennas Table" on page 649. 2. Copy the data from the source document and paste it into the Remote Antennas table. The table you copy data from must have the same column layout as the table you are pasting data into.

For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83.

9.1.7.4 Defining the Properties of a Remote Antenna To define the properties of a remote antenna: 1. Right-click the remote antenna either directly on the map, or in the Remote Antennas table (for information on opening the Remote Antennas table, see "Opening the Remote Antennas Table" on page 649). The context menu appears. 2. Select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 3. Click the General tab. You can modify the following parameters: •

You can change the Name of the remote antenna. By default, remote antennas are named "SiteX_Y_RemZ" where "X" is the donor site number, "Y" the donor transmitter number, and "Z" a number assigned to the remote antenna when it was created. If the donor is a repeater or another remote antenna, then "RemZ" is preceded by "RepA_" or "RemB_" where "A" and "B" identify the donor repeater and the donor remote antenna.

• • •

•

You can change the Donor by selecting it from the Donor list. The Donor can be a transmitter, another remote antenna or a repeater. Clicking the Browse button opens the Properties dialog box of the selected donor. You can change the Site on which the remote antenna is located. Clicking the Browse button opens the Properties dialog box of the selected site. You can enter a value in the Shared Antenna (coverage side) field for the remote antenna. This field is used to identify the transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas that are located at the same site or on sites with the same position and that share an antenna. The entry in the field must be the same for all such transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas. When changes are made to the position offset (Dx, Dy), azimuth, antenna height, or mechanical tilt of one antenna, Atoll automatically synchronises the same changes to all other transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas defined as having a shared antenna. Under Antenna Position, you can define the position of the remote antenna, if it is not located on the site itself: • •

Relative to Site: Select Relative to Site, if you want to define the position of the remote antenna relative to the site itself and then enter the XY offsets. Coordinates: Select Coordinates, if you want to define the position of the remote antenna by its XY coordinates. A remote antenna does not have equipment.

4. Click the Donor Side tab. You can modify the following parameters:

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•

Under Donor-Repeater Link, select Optical Fibre Link and enter the Fibre Losses.

5. Click the Coverage Side tab. You can modify the following parameters: •

Select the Active check box. Only active remote antennas (displayed in red in the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer) are calculated.

•

Under Total Gain, enter the gain in the forward and reverse links (DL/UL) or click Calculate to determine the actual gain in the forward and reverse links. If you have modified any parameter in the General, Donor Side, or Coverage Side tabs, click Apply before clicking the Calculate button. • •

In the forward link, the total gain is applied to each power (pilot power, SCH power, etc.). In the reverse link, the total gain is applied to each terminal power.

The total gain takes into account losses between the donor transmitter and the remote antenna. •

Under Antennas, you can modify the following parameters: •

•

Height/Ground: The Height/Ground box gives the height of the antenna above the ground. This is added to the altitude of the site as given by the DTM. If the remote antenna is situated on a building, the height entered must include the height of the building. Main Antenna: Under Main Antenna, the type of antenna is visible in the Model list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the antenna. Click the Select button to open the Antenna Selection Assistant. This assistant lists all the antennas that match the currently selected physical antenna and whose minimum and maximum operating frequencies include the operating frequency of the transmitter. For more information, see "Assigning Antennas to Transmitters" on page 159

• •

Mechanical Azimuth, Mechanical downtilt, Electrical Azimuth, Electrical Downtilt, and Additional electrical downtilt display additional antenna parameters. Under Secondary Antennas, you can select one or more secondary antennas in the Antenna column and enter their Azimuth, Mechanical Downtilt, Additional Electrical Downtilt, and % Power. • • •

•

The Additional Electrical Downtilt can be made accessible through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75.

Under Feeders, you can modify the following information: i.

Select a Type of feeder from the list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the feeder.

ii. Enter the Length of the feeder cable at Transmission and at Reception. •

Under Losses, the Loss related to repeater noise rise is displayed and you can modify the following information: •

Misc. losses: You can specify additional losses in dB for Transmission and Reception.

6. Click the Propagation tab. Since remote antennas are taken into account during calculations, you must set propagation parameters, as with transmitters. On the Propagation tab, you can modify the following: the Propagation Model, Radius, and Resolution for both the Main Matrix and the Extended Matrix. By default, the propagation characteristics of the remote antenna (model, calculation radius, and grid resolution) are the same as those of the donor transmitter. For information on propagation models, see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models.

9.1.7.5 Tips for Updating Remote Antenna Parameters Atoll provides you with a few shortcuts that you can use to change certain remote antenna parameters: •

You can update the reverse link and forward link total gains of all remote antennas by selecting Remote Antennas > Calculate Gains from the Transmitters context menu. You can prevent Atoll from updating the UL and DL total gains of selected remote antennas by creating a custom Boolean field named "FreezeTotalGain" in the Remote Antennas table and setting the value of the field to "True." Afterwards, when you select Remote Antennas > Calculate Gains from the Transmitters context menu, Atoll will only update the UL and DL total gains for remote antennas with the custom field "FreezeTotalGain" set to "False."

•

You can select a remote antenna on the map and change its azimuth (see "Changing the Azimuth of the Antenna Using the Mouse" on page 57) or its position relative to the site (see "Changing the Antenna Position Relative to the Site Using the Mouse" on page 58).

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9.1.8 Studying CDMA Base Stations You can study one or several base stations to test the effectiveness of the set parameters. Coverage predictions on groups of base stations can take a large amount of time and consume a lot of computer resources. Restricting your coverage prediction to the base station you are currently working on allows you get the results quickly. You can expand your coverage prediction to a number of base stations once you have optimised the settings for each individual base station. Before studying a base station, you must assign a propagation model. The propagation model takes the radio and geographic data into account and calculates propagation losses along the transmitter-receiver path. This allows you to predict the received signal level at any given point. Any coverage prediction you make on a base station uses the propagation model to calculate its results. For more information, see "Preparing Base Stations for Calculations" on page 186. In this section, the following are explained: • • • • • •

"CDMA Prediction Properties" on page 652 "Signal Level Coverage Predictions" on page 653 "CDMA Coverage Predictions" on page 656 "Displaying Coverage Prediction Results" on page 665 "Analysing a Coverage Prediction Using the Point Analysis" on page 666 "Comparing Coverage Predictions" on page 670.

9.1.8.1 CDMA Prediction Properties You can configure the following parameters in the Properties dialog box. The General Tab The General tab allows you to specify the following settings for the prediction: • •

Name: Specify the assigned Name of the coverage prediction. Resolution: Specify the display resolution. To improve memory consumption and optimise the calculation times, you should set the display resolutions of coverage predictions according to the precision required. The following table lists the levels of precision that are usually sufficient: Size of the Coverage Prediction

Display Resolution

City Centre

5m

City

20 m

County

50 m

State

100 m

Country

Dependent on the size of the country

The resolution specified here is only for display purposes. The calculated resolution is independently specified in the propagation settings. For more information, see "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187. A read-only Unique ID is generated when you create a new coverage prediction. This ID can later be found between the and tags in the following files: • •

• •

"studies.XML" file created in the installation folder if at least one coverage prediction was saved using the Save as Customised Prediction command. ".XML" files (one per prediction) created in the following folder if coverage predictions were calculated with Display type = "Value intervals": C:\\.studies\{}

Receiver height: This displays the height of the receiver defined in the Calculation Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box Comments: Specify an optional description of comment for the prediction. Under Display Configuration, you can create a Filter to select which sites to display in the results. For information on filtering, see "Filtering Data" on page 99. The Group By and Sort buttons are not available when making a so-called "global" coverage prediction (e.g., signal level coverage prediction).

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The Group By and Sort buttons are not available when making a so-called "global" coverage prediction (e.g., signal level coverage prediction).

The Conditions Tab The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. • •

At the top of the Conditions tab, you can specify the range to be considered for the current prediction. Server: Select either All, Best Signal Level or Second Best Signal Level: • •

Select All to consider all servers. Select Best Signal Level or Second Best Signal Level to also specify an Overlap margin. Selecting All or Best Signal Level will give you the same results because Atoll displays the results of the best server in either case. Selecting Best Signal Level requires a longer calculation time.

• • •

Shadowing taken into account: Select this option to consider shadowing in the prediction. For more information, see "Modelling Shadowing" on page 730. If you select this option, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability. Indoor coverage: Select this option to consider indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. Carrier: Select the carrier to be studied or select the "Best" carrier of a frequency band or of all frequency bands. In CDMA2000, 1xEV-DO always transmits at full power, unlike 1xRTT. Therefore, if you select "Best", the values displayed will always be for the maximum power transmitted by the cell, in other words, the power for the 1xEV-DO carrier.

For more information, see the following sections: • •

"Signal Level Coverage Predictions" on page 653 "CDMA Coverage Predictions" on page 656

The Display Tab On the Display tab, you can modify how the results of the coverage prediction will be displayed. •

Under Display Type, select "Value Intervals." •

• • •

Under Field, select "Best Signal Level." "Best Signal Level." Selecting "All" or "Best Signal Level" on the Conditions tab will give you the same results because Atoll displays the results of the best server in either case. Selecting "Best Signal Level" necessitates, however, the longest time for calculation. You can change the value intervals and their displayed colour. For information on changing display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. You can create tip text with information about the coverage prediction by clicking the Browse button next to the Tip Text box and selecting the fields you want to display in the tip text. You can select the Add to Legend check box to add the displayed value intervals to the legend. If you change the display properties of a coverage prediction after you have calculated it, you may make the coverage prediction invalid. You will then have to recalculate the coverage prediction to obtain valid results.

9.1.8.2 Signal Level Coverage Predictions Atoll offers a series of standard coverage predictions that are common to all radio technologies. Coverage predictions specific to CDMA are covered in "CDMA Coverage Predictions" on page 656. Once you have created and calculated a coverage prediction, you can use the coverage prediction’s context menu to make the coverage prediction into a customised prediction which will appear in the Prediction Types dialog box. You can also select Duplicate from the coverage prediction’s context menu to create a copy. By duplicating an existing prediction that has the parameters you want to study, you can create a new coverage prediction more quickly than by creating a new coverage prediction. If you clone a coverage prediction, by selecting Clone from the context menu, you can create a copy of the coverage prediction with the calculated coverage. You can then change the display, providing that the selected parameter does not invalidate the calculated coverage prediction. You can also save the list of all defined coverage predictions in a user configuration, allowing you or other users to load it into a new Atoll document. When you save the list in a user configuration, the parameters of all existing coverage predictions are saved; not just the parameters of calculated or displayed ones. For information on exporting user configurations, see "Saving a User Configuration" on page 104. The following standard coverage predictions are explained in this section: • • •

"Studying Signal Level Coverage of a Single Base Station" on page 654 "Making a Coverage Prediction by Signal Level" on page 654 "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter" on page 655

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"Making a Coverage Prediction on Overlapping Zones" on page 655.

Studying Signal Level Coverage of a Single Base Station While you are building your radio-planning project, you might want to check the coverage of a new base station without having to calculate the entire project. You can do this by selecting the site with its transmitters and then creating a coverage prediction. This section explains how to calculate the signal level coverage of a single site. A signal level coverage prediction displays the strength of the best signal received at each pixel of the area studied. You can use the same procedure to study the signal level coverage of several sites by grouping the transmitters. For information on grouping transmitters, see "Grouping Data Objects by Property" on page 95. To study the signal level coverage of a single base station: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the CDMA Transmitters folder and select Group By > Sites from the context menu. The transmitters are now displayed in the CDMA Transmitters folder by the site on which they are situated. If you want to study only sites by their status, at this step you could group them by status.

2. Specify the propagation parameters as explained in "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187. 3. In the CDMA Transmitters folder, right-click the group of transmitters you want to study and select Calculations > Create a New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. The Prediction Types dialog box lists the coverage predictions available. They are divided into Standard Predictions, supplied with Atoll, and Customised Predictions. Unless you have already created some customised predictions, the Customised Predictions list will be empty. 4. Select Coverage by Signal Level (DL) and click OK. The Coverage by Signal Level (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 5. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "CDMA Prediction Properties" on page 652. The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. 6. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button ( ) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window. The signal level coverage prediction can be found in the Predictions folder in the Network explorer. Atoll automatically locks the results of a coverage prediction as soon as it is calculated, as indicated by the icon ( folder. When you click the Calculate button (

9.1.8.2.2

) beside the coverage prediction in the Predictions

), Atoll only calculates unlocked coverage predictions (

).

Making a Coverage Prediction by Signal Level A coverage prediction by signal level allows you to predict the best signal strength at each pixel. You can base the coverage on the signal level, path loss, or total losses within a defined range. To make a coverage prediction by signal level: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Coverage by Signal Level (DL) and click OK. The Coverage by Signal Level (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "CDMA Prediction Properties" on page 652. The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. 4. Click the Display tab.

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Choose to display the results by best signal level. The coverage prediction results will be in the form of thresholds. For information on adjusting the display, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. Selecting "All" or "Best Signal Level" on the Conditions tab will give you the same results because Atoll displays the results of the best server in either case. Selecting "Best Signal Level" necessitates, however, the longest time for calculation. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window. You can run a specific prediction study displaying a coverage by pilot signal level for a given terminal, service, mobility and carrier as explained in "Studying Pilot Signal Quality" on page 657.

9.1.8.2.3

Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter A coverage prediction by transmitter allows the user to predict which server is the best at each pixel. You can base the coverage on the signal level, path loss, or total losses within a defined range. To make a coverage prediction by transmitter: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Coverage by Transmitter (DL) and click OK. The Coverage by Transmitter (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "CDMA Prediction Properties" on page 652. The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. 4. Click the Display tab. For a coverage prediction by transmitter, the Display Type "Discrete Values" based on the Field "Transmitter" is selected by default. Each coverage zone will then be displayed with the same colour as that defined for each transmitter. For information on defining transmitter colours, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. When creating a coverage prediction by discrete values, you can not export the values per pixel.

5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window. You can also predict which server is the second best server on each pixel by selecting "Second best signal level" on the Conditions tab setting "Discrete Values" as the Display Type and "Transmitter" as the Field on the Display tab.

9.1.8.2.4

Making a Coverage Prediction on Overlapping Zones Overlapping zones (dl) are composed of pixels that are, for a defined condition, covered by the signal of at least two transmitters. You can base a coverage prediction of overlapping zones on the signal level, path loss, or total losses within a defined range.

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To make a coverage prediction on overlapping zones: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Overlapping zones (DL) and click OK. The Overlapping zones (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "CDMA Prediction Properties" on page 652. The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. 4. Click the Display tab. For a coverage prediction on overlapping zones, the Display Type "Value Intervals" based on the Field "Number of Servers" is selected by default. Each overlapping zone will then be displayed in a colour corresponding to the number of servers received per pixel. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window. By changing the parameters selected on the Conditions tab and by selecting different results to be displayed on the Display tab, you can calculate and display information other than that which has been explained in the preceding sections.

9.1.8.3 CDMA Coverage Predictions CDMA coverage predictions available in Atoll are used to analyse the signal quality and interference. For the purposes of these coverage predictions, each pixel is considered a non-interfering user with a defined service, mobility type, and terminal. For more information, see "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. In CDMA, the quality of the signal and the size of the area that can be covered are influenced by the network load. As the network load increases, the area a cell can effectively cover decreases. For this reason, the network load must be defined in order to calculate CDMA-specific coverage predictions. If you have traffic maps, you can do a Monte Carlo simulation to model power control and evaluate the network load for a generated user distribution. If you do not have traffic maps, Atoll can calculate the network load using the reverse link load factor and forward link total power defined for each cell. In this section, the CDMA-specific coverage predictions will be calculated using reverse link load factor and forward link total power parameters defined at the cell level. For the purposes of these coverage predictions, each pixel is considered a noninterfering user with a defined service, mobility type, and terminal. Before making a prediction, you will have to set the reverse link load factor and forward link total power and the parameters that define the services and users. These are explained in the following sections: •

"Setting the Reverse Link Load Factor and the Forward Link Total Power" on page 656.

This section explains the coverage predictions available for analysing the signal quality and interference. The following are explained: • • • • • • • • •

9.1.8.3.1

"Studying Pilot Signal Quality" on page 657 "Studying 1xRTT Forward and Reverse Link Service Areas (Eb⁄Nt)" on page 658 "Studying 1xEV-DO Reverse Link Service Area (Eb⁄Nt)" on page 659 "Studying the Effective Service Area" on page 660 "Making a Coverage Prediction by Quality Indicators" on page 661. "Studying Forward Link Total Noise" on page 662 "Studying Pilot Pollution" on page 663 "Studying Inter-technology Downlink Noise" on page 664 "Making a Handoff Status Coverage Prediction" on page 665

Setting the Reverse Link Load Factor and the Forward Link Total Power If you are setting the reverse link load factor and the forward link total power for a single transmitter, you can set these parameters on the Cells tab of the transmitter’s Properties dialog box. However, you can set the reverse link load factor and the forward link total power for all cells using the Cells table.

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To set the reverse link load factor and the forward link total power using the Cells table: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder and select Cells > Open Table from the context menu. The Cells table appears. 2. Enter a value in the following columns: • •

Total Power (dBm) UL Load Factor (%) For a definition of the values, see "Cell Properties" on page 633. To enter the same values in one column for all cells in the table by copying the contents of one cell into other cells, you can use the Fill Down and Fill Up commands. For more information on working with tables in Atoll, see "Data Tables" on page 75.

9.1.8.3.2

Studying Pilot Signal Quality A pilot signal quality prediction enables you to identify areas where there is at least one transmitter whose pilot quality is received sufficiently well to be added to the probe mobile active set. Atoll calculates the best pilot quality received on each pixel where the pilot signal level exceeds the defined minimum RSCP threshold. Then, Atoll compares this value to the Ec⁄I0 threshold required to be the best server (Min Ec/Io defined for the given cell plus the Delta Min Ec/Io value defined for the selected mobility type). The pixel is coloured if the condition is fulfilled (in other words, if the best Ec⁄I0 is higher than the Ec⁄I0 threshold. To make a pilot signal quality prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Pilot Quality Analysis (DL) and click OK. The Pilot Quality Analysis (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the general parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "CDMA Prediction Properties" on page 652. 4. Click the Conditions tab. Select "(Cells Table)" from Load Conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not based on load conditions taken from a simulation. Atoll will calculate the coverage prediction using the reverse link load factor and the forward link total power defined in the cell properties. When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load Conditions list.

You must select a Terminal, Service, and Mobility, as defined in "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. You must also select which Carrier is to be considered. You can make the coverage prediction for a specific carrier or for the "Best (All/Main/Second/Third band)" carrier selected according to the carrier selection method defined for the site equipment. If you want the pilot signal quality prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell Edge Coverage Probability text box. You can also select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 5. Click the Display tab. For a pilot signal quality prediction, the Display Type "Value Intervals" based on the Field "Ec⁄I0 (dB)" is selected by default. Each pixel is displayed in a colour corresponding to the pilot signal quality. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. You can also set parameters to display the following results: • • • •

Where at least one transmitter is in the active set: Select "Unique" as the Display Type. Where at least one transmitter is in the active set, with information on the best server: Select "Discrete Value" as the Display Type and "Transmitter" as the Field. The pilot signal level: Select "Value Intervals" as the Display Type and "Ec (dBm)" as the Field. The pilot quality relative to the Ec⁄I0 threshold: Select "Value Intervals" as the Display Type and "Ec⁄I0 Margin (dB)" as the Field.

6. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately.

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•

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OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

9.1.8.3.3

Studying 1xRTT Forward and Reverse Link Service Areas (Eb⁄Nt) Atoll calculates the traffic channel quality on FCH (as defined by Eb⁄Nt) when using the maximum power allowed. In the coverage prediction, the forward link service area is limited by the maximum traffic channel power allowable on FCH per cell and by the pilot quality. The reverse link service area is limited by the maximum terminal power allowable on FCH and by the pilot quality. On both the forward and reverse links, if the received pilot is below the set threshold on a given pixel, Atoll will not display the traffic channel quality. Mobile macro-diversity is taken in consideration to evaluate the traffic channel quality (Eb⁄Nt). Atoll combines the signal from each transmitter in the probe mobile active set. To make a coverage prediction on service area (Eb/Nt) forward link or reverse link: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select one of the following coverage predictions and click OK: • •

Service Area Analysis (Eb/Nt) (UL) Service Area Analysis (Eb/Nt) (DL)

The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the general parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "CDMA Prediction Properties" on page 652. 4. Click the Conditions tab. Select "(Cells Table)" from Load Conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not going to be based on load conditions taken from a simulation. Atoll will calculate the coverage prediction using the reverse link load factor and the forward link total power defined in the cell properties. When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load Conditions list.

You must select a 1xRTT-capable Terminal, a 1xRTT Service, and a Mobility, as defined in "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. You must also select a 1xRTT Carrier. If you want the service area (Eb⁄Nt) coverage prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell Edge Coverage Probability text box. You can also select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 5. Click the Display tab. For a service area (Eb/Nt) coverage prediction, the Display Type "Value Intervals" based on the Field "Max Eb⁄Nt (dB)" is selected by default. The Field you choose determines which information the service area (Eb⁄Nt) forward link or reverse link prediction makes available. Each pixel is displayed in a colour corresponding to the traffic channel quality. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. You can also set parameters to display the following results: • • • •

The traffic channel quality relative to the Eb⁄Nt threshold: Select "Value Intervals" as the Display Type and "Eb⁄Nt Margin (dB)" as the Field. The power required to reach the Eb⁄Nt threshold: Select "Value Intervals" as the Display Type and "Required Power (dB)" as the Field. Where traffic channel quality exceeds the Eb⁄Nt threshold for each mobility type: On the Conditions tab, select "All" as the Mobility Type. The parameters on the Display tab are automatically set. The throughput on the forward or reverse link: Select "Discrete values" as the Display Type and "Rate (Kbps)" as the Field.

6. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

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Studying the Forward Link EV-DO Throughput Atoll calculates the pilot channel quality (as defined by Ec⁄Nt) and, using the calculated Ec⁄Nt, Atoll calculates the maximum throughput that can be supplied. To make a forward link EV-DO throughput coverage prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Service Area Analysis (Eb/Nt) (DL) and click OK. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the general parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "CDMA Prediction Properties" on page 652. 4. Click the Conditions tab and select "(Cells Table)" from Load Conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not going to be based on load conditions taken from a simulation. Atoll will calculate the coverage prediction using the reverse link load factor and the forward link total power defined in the cell properties. When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load Conditions list.

You must select an EV-DO-capable Terminal, an EV-DO Service, and a Mobility, as defined in "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. You must also select an EV-DO Carrier. In order to model a multi-carrier EV-DO user, select an EV-DO Rev. B-capable Terminal, an EV-DO Rev. B Service with the "Best Effort" QoS and "Best (1xEV-DO)" as carrier. If you want the coverage prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell Edge Coverage Probability text box. You can also select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 5. Click the Display tab. By default, the Display Type "Value Intervals" based on the Field "Max Eb⁄Nt (dB)" is selected when you make a service area (Eb/Nt) coverage prediction. For a forward link EV-DO throughput coverage prediction, you can, however, change the display to one of the following: • •

•

The Ec⁄Nt ratio: Select "Value Intervals" as the Display Type and "C⁄I (dB)" as the Field. The throughput on the forward link: Select "Discrete values" as the Display Type and "Rate (Kbps)" as the Field. For multi-carrier EV-DO users, Atoll will calculate the throughput on each carrier and will display the total throughput (i.e., the sum of the throughputs obtained on each carrier) as prediction results. The average throughput on the forward link: This information is available when you model EV-DO Rev. A users, single-carrier and multi-carrier EV-DO Rev. B users. Select "Discrete values" as the Display Type and "Average Rate (Kbps)" as the Field. Atoll calculates the average EV-DO throughput on the forward link using the early termination probabilities, defined in the terminal’s reception equipment, to model HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request).

For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 6. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

9.1.8.3.4

Studying 1xEV-DO Reverse Link Service Area (Eb⁄Nt) Atoll calculates the reverse link EV-DO traffic channel quality (Eb⁄Nt) with an uplink data channel throughput of 9.6 kbps for EVDO Rev.0 users and 4.8 kbps for EVDO Rev. A and Rev. B users. The service area is limited by the maximum terminal power allowed and by the pilot quality. Mobile macro-diversity is taken in consideration to evaluate the traffic channel quality (Eb⁄Nt). Atoll combines the signal from each transmitter in the probe mobile active set. For multi-carrier EV-DO users, Atoll considers the best sub-active set. To make a coverage prediction on service area (Eb/Nt) reverse link: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Service Area Analysis (Eb/Nt) (UL) and click OK. The Service Area Analysis (Eb/Nt) (UL) Properties dialog box appears.

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3. Configure the general parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "CDMA Prediction Properties" on page 652. 4. Click the Conditions tab. Select "(Cells Table)" from Load Conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not going to be based on load conditions taken from a simulation. Atoll will calculate the coverage prediction using the reverse link load factor and the forward link total power defined in the cell properties. When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load Conditions list.

You must select an EV-DO-capable Terminal, an EV-DO Service, and a Mobility, as defined in "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. You must also select an EV-DO Carrier. In order to model a multi-carrier EV-DO user, select an EV-DO Rev. B-capable Terminal, an EV-DO Rev. B Service with the "Best Effort" QoS and "Best (1xEV-DO)" as carrier. If you want the service area (Eb⁄Nt) coverage prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell Edge Coverage Probability text box. You can also select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 5. Click the Display tab. For a service area (Eb/Nt) coverage prediction, the Display Type "Value Intervals" based on the Field "Max Eb⁄Nt (dB)" is selected by default. The Field you choose determines which information the service area (Eb⁄Nt) reverse link prediction makes available. Each pixel is displayed in a colour corresponding to the traffic channel quality with an uplink data channel throughput of 9.6 kbps for EVDO Rev.0 users and 4.8 kbps for EVDO Rev. A and Rev. B users. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. You can also set parameters to display the following results: • • • •

•

The traffic channel quality relative to the Eb⁄Nt threshold: Select "Value Intervals" as the Display Type and "Eb⁄Nt Margin (dB)" as the Field. The power required to reach the Eb⁄Nt threshold: Select "Value Intervals" as the Display Type and "Required Power (dB)" as the Field. Where traffic channel quality exceeds the Eb⁄Nt threshold for each mobility type: On the Conditions tab, select "All" as the Mobility Type. The parameters on the Display tab are automatically set. The throughput: Select "Discrete values" as the Display Type and "Rate (Kbps)" as the Field. For multi-carrier EVDO users, Atoll shares the available terminal power between each carrier in order to calculate the throughput obtained on each carrier. It displays the results for the best configuration among all combinations of carriers, i.e., the combination which provides the highest total throughput. The average EV-DO throughput: This information is available when you model EV-DO Rev. A users, single-carrier and multi-carrier EV-DO Rev. B users. Select "Discrete values" as the Display Type and "Average Throughput (Kbps)" as the Field. Atoll calculates the average EV-DO throughput on the reverse link using the early termination probabilities, defined in the terminal’s reception equipment, to model HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request).

6. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

9.1.8.3.5

Studying the Effective Service Area The effective service area is the intersection zone between the pilot reception area, and the reverse link and forward link service areas. In other words, the effective service area prediction calculates where a service actually is available for the probe mobile. To make an effective service area prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Effective Service Area Analysis (Eb/Nt) (DL+UL) and click OK. the coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the general parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "CDMA Prediction Properties" on page 652.

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4. Click the Conditions tab and select "(Cells Table)" from Load Conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not going to be based on load conditions taken from a simulation. Atoll will calculate the coverage prediction using the reverse link load factor and the forward link total power defined in the cell properties. When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load Conditions list.

You must select a Terminal, Service, and Mobility, as defined in "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. You must also select which Carrier is to be considered. You can make the coverage prediction for a specific carrier or for the "Best (All/Main/Second/Third band)" carrier selected according to the carrier selection method defined for the site equipment. If you want the effective service area prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell Edge Coverage Probability text box. You can also select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 5. Click the Display tab. For an effective service area prediction, the Display Type "Unique" is selected by default. The coverage prediction will display where a service actually is available for the probe mobile. In the calculations, Atoll considers 1xRTT users with the peak FCH throughput, EVDO Rev. A users with a data channel throughput of 9.6 kbps in the reverse link and 38.4 kbps in the forward link, and EVDO Rev. B users with a data channel throughput of 4.8 kbps in the reverse and the forward links. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 6. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

9.1.8.3.6

Making a Coverage Prediction by Quality Indicators You can create a quality coverage prediction based on a given quality indicators (BER, BLER, or FER). The coverage prediction will show for each pixel the measurement of the selected quality indicator. This type of coverage prediction is not available in the list of standard coverage predictions; you can, however, use quality indicators in a coverage prediction by first ensuring that the parameters of the quality indicators have been correctly set and then creating a coverage prediction, selecting display parameters that use these quality indicators. Before you define the quality coverage prediction, you must ensure that the parameters of the quality indicators have been correctly set. To check the parameters of the quality indicators: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Network Settings folder, right-click Quality Indicators, and select Open Table from the context menu. The Quality Indicators table appears. • • • •

Used for Packet Services: Select the Used for Packet Services check box if the quality indicator is to be used for data services (i.e., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO Rev. 0, or 1xEV-DO Rev. A). Used for Circuit Services: Select the Used for Circuit Services check box if the quality indicator is to be used for voice services. Measured Parameter for QI: From the list, select the parameter that will be measured to indicate quality. QI Interpolation: Select the QI Interpolation check box if you want Atoll to interpolate between two existing QI values. Clear the QI Interpolation check box if you want Atoll to take the closest QI value.

2. Close the Quality Indicators table. 3. In the Network Settings folder, right-click the Reception Equipment folder. The context menu appears. 4. Select Open Table from the context menu. The Reception Equipment table appears. "Standard" is the default reception equipment type for all terminals. 5. Double-click the reception equipment type for which you want to verify the correspondence between the measured quality and the quality indicator. The reception equipment type’s Properties dialog box appears. 6. Click the Quality Graphs tab.

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7. Ensure that a Quality Indicator has been chosen for each Service. You can edit the values in the DL and UL Quality Indicator Tables by clicking directly on the table entry, or by selecting the Quality Indicator and clicking the Downlink Quality Graphs or the Uplink Quality Graphs buttons. The graph gives the variation of the quality indicator as a function of the measured parameter. 8. Click OK to close the reception equipment type’s Properties dialog box. Once you have ensured that the parameters of the quality indicators have been correctly set, you can use the measured quality to create a quality coverage prediction. How you define a coverage prediction according to the measured quality indicator, depends several parameters: • • • •

The settings made in the Quality Indicators table The service you want to study The quality indicator you want to use (BER, BLER, or FER) The coverage prediction you want to use (Pilot Quality Analysis Downlink, the Service Area Analysis Downlink, or Service Area Analysis Uplink).

In the following example, you will create a quality coverage prediction showing BLER, for a user on foot, and with a 1xRTT data service. To create a quality coverage prediction showing BLER for a user on foot, and with a 1xRTT data service: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Service Area Analysis (Eb⁄Nt) (DL) and click OK. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the general parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "CDMA Prediction Properties" on page 652. 4. Click the Conditions tab and select "(Cells Table)" from Load Conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not going to be based on load conditions taken from a simulation. Atoll will calculate the coverage prediction using the reverse link load factor and the forward link total power defined in the cell properties. When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load Conditions list.

• • • •

Terminal: Select the appropriate radio configuration for mobile Internet access from the Terminal list. Service: Select "1xRTT Data" from the Service list. Mobility: Select "Pedestrian" from the Mobility list. Carrier: Select "1xRTT" from the Carrier list.

If you want the service area (Eb⁄Nt) downlink prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell Edge Coverage Probability text box. You can also select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 5. Click the Display tab. Select "Value intervals" as the Display Type and "BLER" as the Field. The exact of the field value will depend on the name given in the Quality Indicators table. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 6. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window. Atoll calculates for each pixel the forward link traffic channel quality (Eb⁄Nt) (provided when using the maximum traffic channel power allowed). Then, it calculates the corresponding BLER value from the quality graph (BLER=f(DL Eb⁄Nt)). The pixel is coloured if the condition is fulfilled (i.e., if BLER is evaluated as being higher than the specified threshold).

9.1.8.3.7

Studying Forward Link Total Noise In the forward link total noise prediction, Atoll calculates and displays the areas where the forward link total noise or the forward link noise rise exceeds a set threshold.

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To make a forward link total noise or forward link noise rise prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Total Noise Level Analysis (DL) and click OK. The Total Noise Level Analysis (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the general parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "CDMA Prediction Properties" on page 652. 4. Click the Conditions tab. Select "(Cells Table)" from Load Conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not going to be based on load conditions taken from a simulation. Atoll will calculate the coverage prediction using the reverse link load factor and the forward link total power defined in the cell properties. When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load Conditions list.

You must select a Terminal, Service, and Mobility, as defined in "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. You must also select which Carrier is to be considered. You can make the coverage prediction for a specific carrier or for the "Best" carrier selected according to the carrier selection method defined for the site equipment. You can also select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 5. Click the Display tab. For a forward link total noise prediction, the Display Type "Value Intervals" is selected by default. The Field you choose determines which information the forward link total noise prediction makes available. • • •

Min noise level Average noise level Max noise level

For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 6. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

9.1.8.3.8

Studying Pilot Pollution A transmitter which fulfils all the criteria to enter a mobile’s active set but which is not admitted because the active set limit has already been reached is considered a polluter. In the Pilot Pollution Analysis prediction, Atoll calculates and displays the areas where the probe mobile is interfered by the pilot signal from polluter transmitters. For 1xRTT, pilot pollution is the same on the forward and on the reverse links because 1xRTT can be connected to more than one transmitter on both the forward and on the reverse links. EV-DO, on the other hand, can only be connected to one transmitter on the forward link, but several on the reverse link. Therefore, pilot pollution for EV-DO will be different on the forward link and on the reverse link. The Pilot Pollution Analysis only calculates pilot pollution on the forward link. For multi-carrier EV-DO users, Atoll considers the active set associated with the best carrier. To make a pilot pollution prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Pilot Pollution Analysis (DL) and click OK. the coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the general parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "CDMA Prediction Properties" on page 652. 4. Click the Conditions tab. Select "(Cells Table)" from Load Conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not going to be based on load conditions taken from a simulation. Atoll will calculate the coverage prediction using the reverse link load factor and the forward link total power defined in the cell properties. When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load Conditions list.

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You must select a Terminal, Service, and Mobility as defined in "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. You must also select which Carrier is to be considered. You can make the coverage prediction for a specific carrier or for the "Best (All/Main/Second/Third band)" carrier selected according to the carrier selection method defined for the site equipment. If you want the Pilot Pollution Analysis to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell Edge Coverage Probability text box. You can also select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 5. Click the Display tab. For a Pilot Pollution Analysis, the Display Type "Value Intervals" and the Field "Number of Polluters" are selected by default. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 6. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

9.1.8.3.9

Studying Inter-technology Downlink Noise In the inter-technology downlink noise prediction, Atoll calculates and displays the areas where the downlink noise or noise rise from external base stations and mobiles exceeds a set threshold. For more information on modelling inter-technology interference, see "Modelling Inter-technology Interference" on page 733. To make an inter-technology downlink noise or noise rise prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Inter-technology Interference Level Analysis (DL) and click OK. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the general parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "CDMA Prediction Properties" on page 652. 4. Click the Conditions tab. Select "(Cells Table)" from Load Conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not going to be based on load conditions taken from a simulation. If you were going to base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load Conditions list. You must select a Terminal and a Service, as defined in "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. You must also select which Carrier is to be considered. You can make the coverage prediction for a specific carrier or for the "Best (All/ Main/Second/Third band)" carrier selected according to the carrier selection method defined for the site equipment. If you want the prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell Edge Coverage Probability text box. You can also select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 5. Click the Display tab. The Display Type "Value Intervals" is selected by default. The Field you choose determines which information the prediction makes available, Noise Level or Noise Rise. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 6. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

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9.1.8.3.10

Making a Handoff Status Coverage Prediction In the handoff status prediction, Atoll calculates and displays the zones where a handoff can be made. For a handoff to be possible, there must be a potential active transmitter, i.e., a transmitter that fulfils all the criteria to enter the mobile active set, and the service chosen by the user must be available. You can also use the handoff status coverage prediction to display the number of potential active transmitters. For 1xRTT, the handoff status is the same on the forward and on the reverse links because 1xRTT can be connected to more than one transmitter on both the forward and on the reverse links. EV-DO, on the other hand, can only be connected to one transmitter on the forward link, but several on the reverse link. Therefore, the handoff status coverage prediction for EV-DO is calculated on the reverse link. For multi-carrier EV-DO users, Atoll considers the active set associated with the best carrier. To make a handoff status coverage prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Handoff Zones (DL) and click OK. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the general parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "CDMA Prediction Properties" on page 652. 4. Click the Conditions tab. Select "(Cells Table)" from Load Conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not going to be based on load conditions taken from a simulation. Atoll will calculate the coverage prediction using the reverse link load factor and the forward link total power defined in the cell properties. When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load Conditions list.

You must select a Terminal, Service, and Mobility, as defined in "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. If you want the forward link total noise or forward link noise rise prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell Edge Coverage Probability text box. You can also select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 5. Click the Display tab. The settings you select on the Display tab determine the information that the coverage prediction will display. •

To display the handoff status: i.

Select "Discrete Values" from the Display Type list.

ii. Select "Status" from the Field list. The coverage prediction will display the number of cells the probe mobile is connected to and the number of sites these cells are located on. •

To display the number of potential active transmitters: i.

Select "Value Intervals" from the Display Type list.

ii. Select "Potential active transmitter nb" from the Field list. the coverage prediction will display the number of potential active transmitters. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 6. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

9.1.8.4 Displaying Coverage Prediction Results The results are displayed graphically in the map window according to the settings on the Display tab when you create the coverage prediction. If several coverage predictions are visible on the map, it can be difficult to clearly see the results of the coverage prediction you want to analyse. You can select which predictions to display or to hide by selecting or clearing the display check box. For information on managing the display, see "Displaying or Hiding Objects on the Map" on page 50. Once you have completed a prediction, you can also generate reports and statistics with the tools that Atoll provides. For more information, see "Generating Coverage Prediction Reports" on page 212 and "Displaying Coverage Prediction Statistics" on page 214.

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In this section, the following tools are explained: • • •

9.1.8.4.1

"Displaying the Legend Window" on page 666. "Displaying Coverage Prediction Results Using the Tip Text" on page 666. "Printing and Exporting Coverage Prediction Results" on page 666.

Displaying the Legend Window When you create a coverage prediction, you can add the displayed values of the coverage prediction to a legend by selecting the Add to Legend check box on the Display tab. To display the Legend window: •

9.1.8.4.2

Select View > Legend Window. The Legend window is displayed, with the values for each displayed coverage prediction identified by the name of the coverage prediction.

Displaying Coverage Prediction Results Using the Tip Text You can get information by placing the pointer over an area of the coverage prediction to read the information displayed in the tip text. The information displayed is defined by the settings on the Display tab when you create the coverage prediction. To get coverage prediction results in the form of tip text: •

In the map window, place the pointer over the area of the coverage prediction that you want more information on. After a brief pause, the tip text appears with the information defined in the Display tab of the coverage prediction properties (see Figure 9.5).

Figure 9.5: Displaying coverage prediction results using tip text

9.1.8.4.3

Printing and Exporting Coverage Prediction Results Once you have made a coverage prediction, you can print the results displayed on the map or save them in an external format. You can also export a selected area of the coverage as a bitmap. •

•

•

Printing coverage prediction results: Atoll offers several options allowing you to customise and optimise the printed coverage prediction results. Atoll supports printing to a variety of paper sizes, including A4 and A0. For more information on printing coverage prediction results, see "Printing a Map" on page 91. Defining a geographic export zone: If you want to export part of the coverage prediction as a bitmap, you can define a geographic export zone. After you have defined a geographic export zone, when you export a coverage prediction as a raster image, Atoll offers you the option of exporting only the area covered by the zone. For more information on defining a geographic export zone, see "Geographic Export Zone" on page 68. Exporting coverage prediction results: In Atoll, you can export the coverage areas of a coverage prediction in raster or vector formats. In raster formats, you can export in BMP, TIF, ArcView© grid, or Vertical Mapper (GRD and GRC) formats. When exporting in GRD or GRC formats, Atoll allows you to export files larger than 2 GB. In vector formats, you can export in ArcView©, MapInfo©, or AGD formats. For more information on exporting coverage prediction results, see "Exporting Coverage Prediction Results" on page 210.

9.1.8.5 Analysing a Coverage Prediction Using the Point Analysis Once you have completed a prediction, you can use the Point Analysis tool to verify it. If you do, before you make the point analysis, ensure the coverage prediction you want to verify is displayed on the map. In this section, the following are explained: • • •

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9.1.8.5.1

Studying Signal Reception The Reception view of the Point Analysis tool gives you information on the signal levels for any point on the map. The analysis is provided for a user-definable probe receiver which has a terminal, a mobility, and a service. The downlink and uplink load conditions can be taken from the Cells table or from Monte Carlo simulations. To make a reception analysis: 1. Click the Point Analysis button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar. The Point Analysis window opens and the pointer

changes ( ) to represent the receiver. A line appears on the map connecting the selected transmitter and the current position. You can move the receiver on the map ("Moving the Receiver on the Map" on page 203). 2. Select the Reception view (

).

The predicted signal level from the transmitters is reported in the Reception view in the form of a bar chart, from the highest predicted signal level on the top to the lowest one on the bottom. The name of the transmitter is followed by the carrier number (between parentheses). Each bar is displayed in the colour of the transmitter it represents. In the map window, arrows from the pointer to each transmitter are displayed in the colour of the transmitters they represent. A thick black line from the pointer to its best server is also displayed in the map window. The best server of the pointer is the transmitter from which the pointer receives the highest signal level. If you let the pointer rest, the signal level received from the corresponding transmitter at the pointer location is displayed in the tip text. 3. At the top of the Reception view, select the carrier to be analysed. You can make the prediction for a specific carrier, or select "Best (All Bands/Specific Band)" to consider the best carrier of all bands or the best carrier of a particular band.

Figure 9.6: Point Analysis Tool - Reception view 4. Click the Options button ( • • •

) to display the Calculation Options dialog box and change the following:

Change the X and Y coordinates to change the present position of the receiver. Select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a Cell Edge Coverage Probability. For more information, see "Taking Shadowing into Account in Point Analyses" on page 204. You can select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. For more information, see "Taking Indoor Losses into Account" on page 203.

5. In the Reception view toolbar, you can use the following tools: •

Click the Copy button ( processing programme.

) to copy the content of the view and paste it as a graphic into a graphic editing or word-

• •

Click the Print button ( ) to print the content of the view. Click the Centre on Map button ( ) to centre the map window on the receiver.

6. To get the details about the received signal levels and quality in the form of a table, you can use the Details view of the Point Analysis tool (see "Obtaining Numerical Values of Signal Levels and Signal Quality" on page 669). You can display a point analysis that uses the settings from an existing prediction by right-clicking the prediction in the Network explorer and selecting Open Point Analysis from the context menu.

9.1.8.5.2

Making an Active Set Analysis The AS Analysis view of the Point Analysis window gives you information on the pilot quality (Ec⁄I0) (which is the main parameter used to define the mobile active set), the connection status, and the active set of the probe mobile. Results are displayed for any point of the map where the pilot signal level exceeds the defined minimum RSCP. The analysis is provided for a userdefinable probe receiver which has a terminal, a mobility and a service. For information on the criteria for belonging to the active set, see "Conditions for Entering the Active Set" on page 730.

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To make an active set analysis: 1. Click the Point Analysis button (

) on the toolbar. The Point Analysis window appears.

2. Select the AS Analysis view. 3. Select "Cells Table" from the Loads list. 4. If you are making an AS analysis to verify a coverage prediction, you can recreate the conditions of the coverage prediction: a. Select the same Carrier, Terminal, Service, Mobility, DL Rate, and UL Rate studied in the coverage prediction. If the coverage prediction was for 1xRTT, you must select "FCH" for both the DL Rate and UL Rate. If the coverage prediction was for EV-DO Rev.0, you must select "9.6 kbps" for the UL Rate. If the coverage prediction was for EV-DO Rev. A or Rev. B, you must select "4.8 kbps" for the UL Rate. b. Click the Options button ( • • •

) to display the Calculation Options dialog box.

Change the X and Y coordinates to change the present position of the receiver. Select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a Cell Edge Coverage Probability. For more information, see "Taking Shadowing into Account in Point Analyses" on page 204. Select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. For more information, see "Taking Indoor Losses into Account" on page 203.

c. Click OK in the Calculation Options dialog box. 5. Move the pointer over the map to make an active set analysis for the current location of the pointer. As you move the pointer, Atoll indicates on the map which is the best server for the current position.

Figure 9.7: Point analysis on the map Information on the current position is given in the AS Analysis view of the Point Analysis window. See Figure 9.8 on page 668 for an explanation of the displayed information.

Figure 9.8: Point Analysis - AS Analysis view The bar graph displays the following information: • •

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The pilot quality (Ec⁄I0) of all transmitters using the selected carrier (the colour of the bar corresponds to the colour of the transmitter on the map). The thresholds required to enter the active set as best server and not to be rejected from the active set. The portion of the graph with the grey background indicates the transmitters in the active set.

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•

The pilot and the availability of service on the reverse link and forward link.

If there is at least one successful connection (for pilot, forward link, or reverse link), double-clicking the icons in the right-hand frame will open a dialog box with additional information. 6. Click the map to leave the point analysis pointer at its current position. To move the pointer again, click the point analysis pointer on the map and drag it to a new position. 7. In the AS Analysis view toolbar, you can use the following tools: •

Click the Report button ( ) to generate a report that contains the information from the Point Analysis window. The Analysis Report dialog box opens.

•

Click the Copy button ( processing programme.

• •

Click the Print button ( ) to print the content of the view. Click the Centre on Map button ( ) to centre the map window on the receiver.

) to copy the content of the view and paste it as a graphic into a graphic editing or word-

8. Click the Point Analysis button (

) again to end the point analysis.

You can display a point analysis that uses the settings from an existing prediction by right-clicking the prediction in the Network explorer and selecting Open Point Analysis from the context menu.

9.1.8.5.3

Obtaining Numerical Values of Signal Levels and Signal Quality In Atoll, you can get details about the servers in the form of a table using the Point Analysis tool. The Details view gives you information on signal levels, Ec/Io, and Eb/Nt on any point on the map. The analysis is provided for a user-definable probe receiver which has a terminal, a mobility, and a service. The downlink and uplink load conditions can be taken from the Cells table or from Monte Carlo simulations. To make a detailed analysis: 1. Click the Point Analysis button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar. The Point Analysis window opens and the pointer

changes ( ) to represent the receiver. A line appears on the map connecting the selected transmitter and the current position. You can move the receiver on the map ("Moving the Receiver on the Map" on page 203). 2. Select the Details view. 3. Select "Cells table" from the Loads list. 4. If you are making a detailed analysis to verify a coverage prediction, you can recreate the conditions of the coverage prediction: a. Select the same Terminal, Mobility, Service, Carrier, DL Rate, and UL Rate studied in the coverage prediction. b. Select the Carrier to be considered. You can make the AS analysis for a specific carrier or for the "Best (All/Main/ Second/Third band)" carrier selected according to the carrier selection method defined for the site equipment. c. Click the Options button ( • • •

) to display the Calculation Options dialog box.

Change the X and Y coordinates to change the present position of the receiver. Select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a Cell Edge Coverage Probability. For more information, see "Taking Shadowing into Account in Point Analyses" on page 204. Select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. For more information, see "Taking Indoor Losses into Account" on page 203.

d. Click OK in the Calculation Options dialog box. 5. Move the pointer over the map to make a detailed analysis for the current location of the pointer. The Details view displays the following information in the form of a table: • • • • • •

Cell: The name of the cell from which the received signal levels are displayed. The cells are listed in decreasing order of RSCP. Distance (m): The distance from the transmitter to the current location of the pointer on the map. Path Loss (dB): The path loss from the transmitter to the current location of the pointer on the map. RSCP (dBm): The received pilot signal level from the transmitter to the current location of the pointer on the map. Ec/Io (dB): The Ec/Io from the transmitter to the current location of the pointer on the map. PN Offset: The PN offset of the transmitter. For Speech type services:

•

DL Eb/Nt (dB): The downlink Eb/Nt from the transmitter to the current location of the pointer on the map.

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UL Eb/Nt (dB): The uplink Eb/Nt from the transmitter to the current location of the pointer on the map. For 1xRTT Data type services:

• • • •

DL FCH Eb/Nt (dB): The downlink Eb/Nt over the FCH from the transmitter to the current location of the pointer on the map. UL FCH Eb/Nt (dB): The uplink Eb/Nt over the FCH from the transmitter to the current location of the pointer on the map. DL SCH Eb/Nt (dB): The downlink Eb/Nt over the SCH from the transmitter to the current location of the pointer on the map. UL SCH Eb/Nt (dB): The uplink Eb/Nt over the SCH from the transmitter to the current location of the pointer on the map. For 1xEV-DO Rev.0 Data, 1xEV-DO Rev.A Data, and 1xEV-DO Rev.B Data type services:

• •

C/I (dB): The downlink C/I from the transmitter to the current location of the pointer on the map. UL Eb/Nt (dB): The uplink Eb/Nt from the transmitter to the current location of the pointer on the map.

6. In the Details view toolbar, you can use the following tools: •

Click the Display Columns button ( view.

•

Click the Copy button ( ) to copy the content of the table or of a cell selection and paste it as a graphic into a graphic editing or word-processing programme. Click the Centre on Map button ( ) to centre the map window on the receiver.

•

7. Click the Point Analysis button (

) to select the columns to be displayed or hidden in the table of the Details

) on the Radio Planning toolbar again to end the point analysis.

9.1.8.6 Comparing Coverage Predictions Atoll allows you to compare two similar predictions to see the differences between them. This enables you to quickly see how changes you make affect the network. In this section, there are two examples to explain how you can compare two similar predictions. You can display the results of the comparison in one of the following ways: • • •

•

•

Intersection: This display shows the area where both coverage predictions overlap (for example, pixels covered by both predictions are displayed in red). Merge: This display shows the area that is covered by either of the coverage predictions (for example, pixels covered by at least one of the predictions are displayed in red). Union: This display shows all pixels covered by both coverage predictions in one colour and pixels covered by only one coverage prediction in a different colour (for example, pixels covered by both predictions are red and pixels covered by only one prediction are blue). Difference: This display shows all pixels covered by both coverage predictions in one colour, pixels covered by only the first prediction with another colour and pixels covered only by the second prediction with a third colour (for example, pixels covered by both predictions are red, pixels covered only by the first prediction are green, and pixels covered only by the second prediction are blue). Value Difference: This display shows the dB difference between any two coverage predictions by signal level. This display option will not be available if the coverage predictions were calculated using different resolutions.

To compare two similar coverage predictions: 1. Create and calculate a coverage prediction of the existing network. 2. Examine the coverage prediction to see where coverage can be improved. 3. Make the changes to the network to improve coverage. 4. Duplicate the original coverage prediction (in order to leave the first coverage prediction unchanged). 5. Calculate the duplicated coverage prediction. 6. Compare the original coverage prediction with the new coverage prediction. Atoll displays differences in coverage between them. In this section, the following examples are explained: • •

"Example 1: Studying the Effect of a New Base Station" on page 670 "Example 2: Studying the Effect of a Change in Transmitter Tilt" on page 672.

Example 1: Studying the Effect of a New Base Station If you have an area in a network that is poorly covered by current transmitters, you have several options for increasing coverage. In this example, you can verify if a newly added base station improves coverage.

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A signal level coverage prediction of the current network is made as described in "Making a Coverage Prediction by Signal Level" on page 654. The results are displayed in Figure 9.9. An area with poor coverage is visible on the right side of the figure.

Figure 9.9: Signal level coverage prediction of existing network A new site is added, either by creating the site and adding the transmitters, as explained in "Creating a CDMA Base Station" on page 630, or by placing a station template, as explained in "Placing a New Station Using a Station Template" on page 638. Once the new base station has been added, the original coverage prediction can be recalculated, but then it would be impossible to compare the results. Instead, the original signal level coverage prediction can be copied by selecting Duplicate from its context menu. The copy is then calculated to show the effect of the new base station (see Figure 9.10).

Figure 9.10: Signal level coverage prediction of network with new base station Now you can compare the two predictions. To compare two predictions: 1. Right-click one of the two predictions. The context menu appears. 2. From the context menu, select Compare with and, from the menu that opens, select the coverage prediction you want to compare with the first. The Comparison Properties dialog box appears. 3. Click the General tab. You can change the Name of the comparison and add Comments. The General tab contains information about the coverage predictions being compared, including their name and resolution. 4. Click the Display tab. On the Display tab, you can choose how you want the results of the comparison to be displayed. You can choose among:

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Intersection Merge Union Difference

In order to see what changes adding a new base station made, you should choose Difference. 5. Click OK to create the comparison. The comparison in Figure 9.11, shows clearly the area covered only by the new site.

Figure 9.11: Comparison of both signal level coverage predictions Example 2: Studying the Effect of a Change in Transmitter Tilt If you have an area in a network that is poorly covered by current transmitters, you have several options for increasing coverage. In this example, you can see how modifying transmitter tilt can improve coverage. A coverage prediction by transmitter of the current network is made as described in "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter" on page 655. The results are displayed in Figure 9.12. The coverage prediction shows that one transmitter is covering its area poorly. The area is indicated by a red oval in Figure 9.12.

Figure 9.12: Coverage prediction by transmitter of existing network You can try modifying the tilt on the transmitter to improve the coverage. The properties of the transmitter can be accessed by right-clicking the transmitter in the map window and selecting Properties from the context menu. The mechanical and electrical tilt of the antenna are defined on the Transmitter tab of the Properties dialog box. Once the tilt of the antenna has been modified, the original coverage prediction can be recalculated, but then it would be impossible to compare the results. Instead, the original coverage prediction by can be copied by selecting Duplicate from its context menu. The copy is then calculated, to show how modifying the antenna tilt has affected coverage (see Figure 9.13).

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Figure 9.13: Coverage prediction by transmitter of network after modifications As you can see, modifying the antenna tilt increased the coverage of the transmitter. However, to see exactly the change in coverage, you can compare the two predictions. To compare two predictions: 1. Right-click one of the two predictions. The context menu appears. 2. From the context menu, select Compare with and, from the menu that opens, select the coverage prediction you want to compare with the first. The Comparison Properties dialog box appears. 3. Click the General tab. You can change the Name of the comparison and add Comments. The General tab contains information about the coverage predictions being compared, including their name and resolution. 4. Click the Display tab. On the Display tab, you can choose how you want the results of the comparison to be displayed. You can choose among: • • • •

Intersection Merge Union Difference

In order to see what changes modifying the antenna tilt made, you can choose Union. This will display all pixels covered by both predictions in one colour and all pixels covered by only one prediction in another colour. The increase in coverage, seen in only the second coverage prediction, will be immediately clear. 5. Click OK to create the comparison. The comparison in Figure 9.14, shows clearly the increase in coverage due at the change in antenna tilt.

Figure 9.14: Comparison of both transmitter coverage predictions

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9.1.9 Planning Neighbours You can use Atoll to manually allocate neighbour relations to any cell in a network. You can also use Atoll to automatically allocate neighbour relations to a single cell, to all the cells of a base station, to all the cells in a transmitter group, or to all the cells in a network, based on predefined parameters. In this section, only the concepts that are specific to automatic neighbour allocation in CDMA networks are explained. For more information on neighbour planning, see the following sections: For general information about neighbour planning, see "Neighbour Planning" on page 223. This section covers the following topics: • • •

"Coverage Conditions" on page 674 "Calculation Constraints" on page 676 "Reasons for Allocation" on page 676

Figure 9.15: CDMA intra-carrier handover area between a reference cell and a potential neighbour

Figure 9.16: CDMA inter-carrier handover area between a reference cell and a potential neighbour

9.1.9.1 Coverage Conditions There are two tabs in the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box for CDMA: Intra-carrier Neighbours and Inter-carrier Neighbours.The coverage conditions are defined separately for automatic intra-carrier neighbour allocation and automatic inter-carrier neighbour allocation.

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Figure 9.17: Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box in CDMA

9.1.9.1.1

Coverage Conditions for Automatic Intra-carrier Neighbour Allocation On the Intra-carrier Neighbours tab of the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, you either select or clear the Use coverage conditions check box. • •

When it is cleared, only the defined Distance will be used to allocate neighbours to a reference transmitter. When it is selected, click Define to open the Coverage Conditions dialog box:

Figure 9.18: CDMA coverage conditions for automatic intra-carrier neighbour allocation • •

•

Resolution: Enter the resolution to be used to calculate cells’ coverage areas during automatic neighbour allocation. Global min RSCP: Enter the minimum RSCP to be provided by the reference cell and the potential neighbour. Atoll uses the highest value between the Global min RSCP and the following: • If Global min RSCP is not defined, Atoll uses the Min RSCP in individual cells’ properties • If Global min RSCP is not defined and no Min RSCP is available in a cell’s properties, Atoll uses the Default min Pilot RSCP threshold defined on the Calculation Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box. Min Ec⁄Io: Enter the minimum Ec⁄Io which must be provided by reference cell A in an overlapping area. Reference cell A must also be the best server in terms of pilot quality in the overlapping area.

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T_Drop (Intra-carrier Neighbours tab): Enter the maximum difference of Ec⁄Io between reference cell A and potential neighbour cell B in the overlapping area. DL load contributing to Io: You can select whether Atoll should use a Global value (% Pmax) of the downlink load for all the cells, or the downlink loads Defined per cell. Shadowing Taken into Account: If selected, enter a Cell edge coverage probability. Indoor Coverage: Select this check box to take indoor losses into acccount in calculations. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

Coverage Conditions for Automatic Inter-carrier Neighbour Allocation On the Intra-carrier Neighbours tab of the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, you either select or clear the Use coverage conditions check box. • •

When it is cleared, only the defined Distance will be used to allocate neighbours to a reference transmitter. When it is selected, click Define to open the Coverage Conditions dialog box:

Figure 9.19: CDMA coverage conditions for automatic inter-carrier neighbour allocation • •

• • •

Resolution: Enter the resolution to be used to calculate cells’ coverage areas during automatic neighbour allocation. Global min RSCP: Enter the minimum RSCP to be provided by the reference cell and the potential neighbour. Atoll uses the highest value between the Global min RSCP and the following: • If Global min RSCP is not defined, Atoll uses the Min RSCP in individual cells’ properties • If Global min RSCP is not defined and no Min RSCP is available in a cell’s properties, Atoll uses the Default min Pilot RSCP threshold defined on the Calculation Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box. Margin: Enter the handover margin for all cells. Shadowing Taken into Account: If selected, enter a Cell edge coverage probability. Indoor Coverage: Select this check box to take indoor losses into acccount in calculations. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

9.1.9.2 Calculation Constraints In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, you can select the following calculation constraints: • •

• •

Co-site cells as neighbours: When selected, the cells located on the same site as the reference cell will be automatically considered as neighbours. A cell with no antenna cannot be considered as a co-site neighbour. Adjacent cells as neighbours: When selected, the cells that are adjacent to the reference cell will be automatically considered as neighbours. A cell is considered adjacent if there is at least one pixel in the reference cell’s coverage area where the potential neighbour cell is the best server, or where the potential neighbour cell is the second best server respecting the handover end. Symmetric relations: Select this check box if you want the neighbour relations to be reciprocal, i.e. any reference transmitter/cell is a potential neighbour of all the cells that are its neighbours. Exceptional pairs: Select this check box to force the neighbour relations defined in the Intra-technology Exceptional pairs table. For information on exceptional pairs, see "Exceptional Pairs" on page 223.

9.1.9.3 Reasons for Allocation In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, the reason for neighbour allocation is indicated under Cause in the Results table. It can be any of the following:

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Cause

Description

When

Distance

The neighbour is located within the defined maximum distance from the reference cell

Use coverage conditions is not selected

Coverage

The neighbour relation fulfils the defined coverage conditions

Use coverage conditions is selected and nothing is selected under Force

Co-Site

The neighbour is located on the same site as the reference cell

Use coverage conditions and Co-site cells as neighbours is selected

Adjacent (intra-carrier)

The neighbour is adjacent to the reference cell

Use coverage conditions is selected and Adjacent cells as neighbours is selected

Symmetry

The neighbour relation between the reference cell and the neighbour is symmetrical

Use coverage conditions is selected and Symmetric relations is selected

Exceptional Pair

The neighbour relation is defined as an exceptional pair

Exceptional pairs is selected

Existing

The neighbour relation existed before automatic allocation

Delete existing neighbours is not selected

9.1.10 Planning PN Offsets In CDMA, 512 pseudo noise (PN) offsets are available, numbered from 0 to 511. Atoll facilitates the management of available PN offsets during automatic allocation with the pilot PN sequence offset index increment (PILOT_INC) parameter. For example, if you set PILOT_INC to "4," all PN offsets from 4 to 508 with a separation interval of 4 can be allocated. If you need to restrict the range of PN offsets available further, you can create groups of PN offsets and domains, where each domain is a defined set of groups. You can also assign PN offsets manually or automatically to any cell in the network. Once allocation is completed, you can audit the PN offsets, view PN offset reuse on the map, and made an analysis of PN offset distribution. The procedure for planning PN offsets for a CDMA project is: •

Preparing for PN offset allocation • "Creating PN Offset Domains and Groups for PN Offset Allocation" on page 732. This step is needed only if you must restrict the range of PN offsets. • "Defining Exceptional Pairs for PN Offset Allocation" on page 677.

•

Allocating PN offsets • •

"Automatically Allocating PN Offsets to CDMA Cells" on page 678 "Allocating PN Offsets to CDMA Cells Manually" on page 680.

•

"Checking the Consistency of the PN Offset Plan" on page 681.

•

Displaying the allocation of PN offsets • • • • • •

"Using Find on Map to Display PN Offset Allocation" on page 682 "Displaying PN Offset Allocation Using Transmitter Display Settings" on page 682 "Grouping Transmitters by PN Offset" on page 682 "Displaying the PN Offset Allocation Histogram" on page 683 "Making a PN Offset Collision Zone Prediction" on page 683. "Making a PN Offset Collision Analysis" on page 684 Within the context of PN offset allocation, "neighbours" refer to intra-carrier neighbours.

9.1.10.1 Defining Exceptional Pairs for PN Offset Allocation You can also define pairs of cells which cannot have the same primary PN offset. These pairs are referred to as exceptional pairs. Exceptional pairs are used along with other constraints, such as neighbours, reuse distance, and domains, in allocating PN offsets.

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To create a pair of cells that cannot have the same PN offset: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select PN Offsets > Exceptional Pairs. The Exceptional Separation Constraints table appears. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. 4. In the row marked with the New Row icon ( ), select one cell of the new exceptional pair in the Cell column and the second cell of the new exceptional pair from the Cell_2 column. 5. Click in another cell of the table to create the new exceptional pair and add a new blank row to the table.

9.1.10.2 Allocating PN Offsets Atoll can automatically assign PN offsets to the cells of a CDMA network according to set parameters. For example, it takes into account any constraints imposed by neighbours, minimum PN offset reuse distance, the selected PN offset allocation strategy (PN offset per cell, Adjacent PN-clusters per site, Distributed PN-clusters per site) and the definition of groups and domains of PN offsets. You can also allocate PN offsets manually to the cells of a CDMA network. In this section, the following methods of allocating PN offsets are described: • • •

"Defining Automatic Allocation Constraint Costs" on page 678 "Automatically Allocating PN Offsets to CDMA Cells" on page 678 "Allocating PN Offsets to CDMA Cells Manually" on page 680.

Defining Automatic Allocation Constraint Costs You can define the costs of the different types of constraints used in the automatic PN offset allocation algorithm. To define the different constraint costs: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select PN Offsets > Constraint Costs. The Allocation Constraint Costs dialog box appears. In this dialog box you can define the following costs of constraint violations for the automatic allocation process (the cost is a value from 0 to 1): • • • •

Max 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Order Neighbours: Enter the maximum costs for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd order neighbour constraint violations. Co-planning Share: Enter the cost for inter-technology neighbour constraint violations. In 3GPP2 multi-RAT documents, this cost applies to CDMA neighbours of the same LTE cell. Max Reuse Distance: Enter the maximum cost for reuse distance constraint violations. Exceptional Pair: Enter the cost for exceptional pair constraint violations.

4. Click OK. The allocation constraint costs are stored and will be used in the automatic allocation. Automatically Allocating PN Offsets to CDMA Cells The allocation algorithm enables you to automatically allocate PN offsets to cells in the current network. You can choose among several automatic allocation strategies. The actual automatic allocation strategies available will depend on your network and options selected in the Atoll.ini file. For more information on the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on automatic allocation strategies, see the Technical Reference Guide. • •

•

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PN Offset per Cell: The purpose of this strategy is to reduce the spectrum of allocated PN offsets the maximum possible. Atoll will allocate the first possible PN offsets in the domain. Adjacent PN-Clusters per Site: This strategy consists of allocating one cluster of adjacent PN offsets to each base station, then, one PN offset of the cluster to each cell of each transmitter according to its azimuth. When all the clusters have been allocated and there are still base stations remaining to be allocated, Atoll reuses the clusters at another base station. Distributed PN-Clusters per Site: This strategy consists of allocating one cluster of PN offsets to each base station in the network, then, one PN offset of the cluster to each cell of each transmitter according to its azimuth. With this strategy, the cluster is made of PN offsets separated as much as possible. When all the clusters have been allocated and there are still base stations remaining to be allocated, Atoll reuses the clusters at another base station.

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Within the context of PN offset allocation, the term "PN-cluster" refers to a sub-group of PN offsets that Atoll assigns to base stations during the allocation process. Atoll allows you to change the number of PN offsets in a PN-cluster. The following example explains the difference between "Adjacent PN-clusters" and "Distributed PN-clusters". The PILOT_INC has been set to 4 and the PN-cluster size to 3. There are: • •

128 PN offsets that can be allocated: they are from 4 to 508 with a separation interval of 4. Each PN-cluster consists of three PN offsets. Therefore, there are 42 PN-clusters available.

If you select "Adjacent PN-cluster per site" as allocation strategy, Atoll will consider PNclusters consisted of adjacent PN offsets (e.g., {4,8,12}, {16,20,24}, ..., {496,500,504}). If you select "Distributed PN-cluster per site" as allocation strategy, Atoll will consider PNclusters consisted of PN offsets separated as much as possible (e.g., {4,172,340}, {8,176,344}, ..., {168,336,504}). To automatically allocate PN offsets: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select PN Offsets > Automatic Allocation. The PN Offsets dialog box appears. 4. Set the following parameters in the PN Offsets dialog box: •

Under Constraints, you can set the constraints on automatic PN offset allocation. •

PILOT_INC: The pilot PN sequence offset index increment. It is the interval between pilots, in units of 64 PNchips, of cells. The PILOT_INC value must be from 1 to 15. Atoll uses this parameter to determine the pool of possible PN offsets (512 divided by PILOT_INC value). The first PN offset is PILOT_INC and other ones are multiples of this value. For example: When PILOT_INC is set to 4, the pool of possible PN offsets consists of PN offsets from 4 to 508 with a separation interval of 4 (i.e., [4,8,12,16,...508]).

•

Existing Neighbours: Select the Existing Neighbours check box if you want to consider intra-carrier neighbour relations and then choose the neighbourhood level to take into account: Neighbours of a cell are referred to as the first order neighbours, neighbours’ neighbours are referred to as the second order neighbours and neighbours’ neighbours’ neighbours as the third order neighbours. First Order: No cell will be allocated the same PN offset as its neighbours. Second Order: No cell will be allocated the same PN offset as its neighbours or its second order neighbours. Third Order: No cell will be allocated the same PN offset as its neighbours or its second order neighbours or third order neighbours. Atoll can only consider neighbour relations if neighbours have already been allocated. For information on allocating neighbours, see "Neighbour Planning" on page 223. In 3GPP2 multi-RAT documents, Atoll also attempts to allocate different PN offsets to CDMA cells that are neighbours of a common LTE cell.

•

Additional Overlapping Conditions: Select the Additional Overlapping Conditions check box, if you want to set overlapping coverage criteria. If cells meet the overlapping conditions to enter the reference cell’s active set, they will be not allocated the same PN offset as the reference cell. Click Define to change the overlapping conditions. In the Coverage Conditions dialog box, you can change the following parameters: Min. Pilot Signal Level: Enter the minimum pilot signal level which must be provided by reference cell A and possible neighbour cell B. Min. Ec⁄I0: Enter the minimum Ec⁄I0 which must be provided by reference cell A in an area with overlapping coverage. Reference cell A must also be the best server in terms of pilot quality in the area with overlapping coverage. T_Drop: Enter or modify the minimum Ec⁄I0 required from a transmitter not to be rejected from the active set. DL Load Contributing to I0: You can let Atoll base the interference ratio on the total power used as defined in the properties for each cell (Defined per Cell) or on a percentage of the maximum power (Global Value). Shadowing taken into account: If desired, select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a Cell Edge Coverage Probability.

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Indoor Coverage: Select the Indoor Coverage check box if you want to use indoor losses in the calculations. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. •

Reuse Distance: Select the Reuse Distance check box if you want to the automatic allocation process to consider the reuse distance constraint. Enter the Default reuse distance within which two cells on the same carrier cannot have the same PN offset. A reuse distance can be defined at the cell level (in the cell Properties dialog box or in the Cells table). If defined, a cell-specific reuse distance will be used instead of the value entered here.

• •

From the Strategy list, you can select an automatic allocation strategy: • • •

• •

•

•

•

Exceptional Pairs: Select the Exceptional Pairs check box if you want the automatic allocation process to consider the exceptional pair constraints. PN Offset per Cell Adjacent PN-Clusters per Site Distributed PN-Clusters per Site

Carrier: Select the Carrier on which you want to run the allocation. You may choose one carrier (Atoll will assign PN offsets to transmitters using the selected carrier) or all of them. PN-Cluster Size: The number of PN offsets per cluster. This parameter is used only by the Adjacent PN-Clusters per Site and Distributed PN-Clusters per Site allocation strategies. It should correspond to the average number of transmitters located on a site. Use a Max of Codes: Select the Use a Max of Codes check box to make Atoll use the maximum number of PN offsets. For example, if there are two cells using the same domain with two PN offsets, Atoll will assign the remaining PN offset to the second cell even if there are no constraints between these two cells (for example, neighbour relations, reuse distance, etc.). If you do not select this option, Atoll only checks the constraints, and allocates the first ranked PN offset in the list. Delete Existing PN Offsets: Select the Delete Existing PN Offsets check box if you want Atoll to delete currently allocated PN offsets and recalculate all PN offsets. If you do not select this option, Atoll will keep currently allocated PN offsets and will only allocate PN offsets to cells that do not yet have PN offsets allocated. Allocate Carriers Identically: Select the Allocate Carriers Identically check box if you want Atoll to allocate the same PN offset to each carrier of a transmitter. If you do not select this option, Atoll allocates PN offsets independently for each carrier.

5. Click Run. Atoll begins the process of allocating PN offsets. Once Atoll has finished allocating PN offsets, they are visible under Results. Atoll only displays newly allocated PN offsets. The Results table contains the following information. • • •

Site: The name of the base station. Cell: The name of the cell. Code: The PN offset allocated to the cell.

6. Click Commit. The PN offsets are committed to the cells. You can save automatic PN offset allocation parameters in a user configuration. For information on saving automatic PN offset allocation parameters in a user configuration, see "Saving a User Configuration" on page 104.

•

•

If you need to allocate PN offsets to the cells on one transmitter, you can allocate them automatically by selecting Allocate PN Offsets from the transmitter’s context menu. If you need to allocate PN offsets to all the cells on group of transmitters, you can allocate them automatically by selecting Cells > PN Offsets > Automatic Allocation from the transmitter group’s context menu.

Allocating PN Offsets to CDMA Cells Manually When you allocate PN offsets to a large number of cells, it is easiest to let Atoll allocate PN offsets automatically, as described in "Automatically Allocating PN Offsets to CDMA Cells" on page 678. However, if you want to add a PN offset to one cell or to modify the PN offset of a cell, you can do it by accessing the properties of the cell.

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To allocate a PN offset to a CDMA cell manually: 1. On the map, right-click the transmitter to whose cell you want to allocate a PN offset. The context menu appears. 2. Select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter’s Properties dialog box appears. 3. Select the Cells tab. 4. Enter a PN offset in the cell’s column. 5. Click OK.

9.1.10.3 Checking the Consistency of the PN Offset Plan Once you have completed allocating PN offsets, you can verify whether the allocated PN offsets respect the specified constraints by performing an audit of the plan. The PN offset audit also enables you to check for inconsistencies if you have made some manual changes to the allocation plan. The cells that are checked in a PN offset audit: • • • •

belong to the folder or sub-folder from which the audit is launched are located inside the Focus Zone, if any is defined are located inside the Computation Zone, if any is defined (and if no Focus Zone is defined) are the activated cells in the Filtering Zone, if any is defined •

Transmitters and cells involved in a PN offset collision are not necessarily located inside the Focus Zone or Computation Zone, when any is defined.

•

It is highly recommended to run PN offset audits on a regular basis.

To perform an audit of the allocation plan: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select PN Offsets > Audit. The Code Audit dialog box appears. 4. In the Code Audit dialog box, select the allocation criteria that you want to check: •

Neighbours: Select Neighbours in order to check PN offset constraints between cells and their neighbours and then choose the neighbourhood level to take into account. First Order: Atoll will check that no cell has the same PN offset as any of its neighbours. Second Order: Atoll will check that no cell has the same PN offset as any of its neighbours or any of the neighbours of its neighbours. Third Order: Atoll will check that no cell has the same PN offset as any of its neighbours or any of the neighbours of its neighbours or any of the neighbours of its second order neighbours. The report will list the cells and the neighbours that do not meet one of these constraints. In addition, it will indicate the allocated PN offset and the neighbourhood level.

•

•

•

Domain Compliance: If you select the Domain Compliance check box, Atoll will check if allocated PN offsets belong to domains assigned to cells. The report will list any cells with PN offsets that do not belong to domains assigned to the cell. Distance: If you select the Distance check box and set a reuse distance, Atoll will check for and list the cell pairs that do not respect the reuse distance condition. For any cell pair, Atoll uses the lowest of the reuse distance values among the values defined for the two cells in their properties and the value that you set in the Code Audit dialog box. Cell pairs that do not respect the reuse distance condition are listed in increasing order of the distance between them. The PN offset and the reuse distance are also listed for each cell pair. Exceptional Pairs: If you select the Exceptional Pairs check box, Atoll will check for and display pairs of cells that are listed as exceptional pairs but still use the same PN offsets.

5. Click OK. Atoll displays the results of the audit in a text file called CodeCheck.txt, which opens at the end of the audit. For each selected criterion, Atoll gives the number of detected inconsistencies and details each of them.

9.1.10.4 Displaying the Allocation of PN Offsets Once you have completed allocating PN offsets, you can verify several aspects of PN offset allocation. You have several options for displaying PN offsets: • • • •

"Using Find on Map to Display PN Offset Allocation" on page 682 "Displaying PN Offset Allocation Using Transmitter Display Settings" on page 682 "Grouping Transmitters by PN Offset" on page 682 "Displaying the PN Offset Allocation Histogram" on page 683

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• •

© 2016 Forsk. All Rights Reserved.

"Making a PN Offset Collision Zone Prediction" on page 683. "Making a PN Offset Collision Analysis" on page 684

Using Find on Map to Display PN Offset Allocation In Atoll, you can search for PN offsets and PN offset groups using the Find on Map tool. Results are displayed in the map window in red. If you have already calculated and displayed a coverage prediction by transmitter based on the best server, with the results displayed by transmitter, the search results will be displayed by transmitter coverage. PN offsets and PN offset groups and any potential problems will then be clearly visible. For information on coverage predictions by transmitter, see "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter" on page 655. To find PN offsets or PN offset groups using the Find on Map tool: 1. Click Tools > Find on Map. The Find on Map window appears. 2. From the Find list, select "PN offset." 3. Select what you what you want to search for: • •

PN Offset: If you want to find a PN offset, select PN Offset and select it from the list. PN Offset Group: If you want to find a PN offset group, select PN Offset Group and select it from the list.

4. Select the carrier you want to search on from the For carrier list, or select "(All)" to search in all carriers. 5. Click Search. Transmitters with cells matching the search criteria are displayed in red. Transmitters that do not match the search criteria are displayed as grey lines. To restore the initial transmitter colours, click the Reset Display button in the Find on Map tool. Displaying PN Offset Allocation Using Transmitter Display Settings You can use the display characteristics of transmitters to display PN offset-related information. To display PN offset-related information on the map: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 4. Click the Display tab. You can display the following information per transmitter: • • •

PN Offset: To display the PN offset of a transmitter’s cell, select "Discrete values" as the Display Type and "Cells: PN Offset" as the Field. Ranges of PN Offsets: To display ranges of PN offsets, select "Value intervals" as the Display Type and "Cells: PN Offset" as the Field. PN Offset domain: To display the PN offset domain of a transmitter’s cell, select "Discrete values" as the Display Type and "Cells: PN Offset Domain" as the Field.

You can display the following information in the transmitter label or tip text: • •

PN Offset: To display the PN offset of a transmitter’s cell in the transmitter label or tip text, "Cells: PN Offset" from the Label or Tip Text Field Definition dialog box. PN Offset domain: To display the PN offset domain of a transmitter’s cell in the transmitter label or tip text, "Cells: PN Offset Domain" from the Label or Tip Text Field Definition dialog box.

5. Click OK. For information on display options, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. Grouping Transmitters by PN Offset You can group transmitters in the Network explorer by their PN offset or by their PN offset domain. To group transmitters by PN offset: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 4. On the General tab, click Group by. The Group dialog box appears. 5. Under Available Fields, scroll down to the Cell section. 6. Select the parameter you want to group transmitters by:

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• •

PN Offset PN Offset Domain

7. Click to add the parameter to the Group these fields in this order list. The selected parameter is added to the list of parameters on which the transmitters will be grouped. For more information on grouping objects, see "Advanced Grouping of Data Objects" on page 96. 8. Click OK to save your changes and close the Group dialog box. If a transmitter has more than one cell, Atoll cannot arrange the transmitter by cell. Transmitters that cannot be grouped by cell are arranged in a separate folder under the Transmitters folder. Displaying the PN Offset Allocation Histogram You can use a histogram to analyse the use of allocated PN offsets in a network. The histogram represents the PN offsets as a function of the frequency of their use. To display the PN offset histogram: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder and select PN Offset > PN Offset Distribution from the context menu appears. The Distribution Histograms dialog box appears. Each bar represents a PN offset, its height depending on the frequency of its use. 2. Move the pointer over the histogram to display the frequency of use of each PN offset. The results are highlighted simultaneously in the Zoom on selected values list. You can zoom in on values by clicking and dragging in the Zoom on selected values list. Atoll will zoom in on the selected values. Making a PN Offset Collision Zone Prediction You can make a PN offset collision zone prediction to view areas covered by cells using the same PN offset. For each pixel, Atoll checks if the best serving cell and the cells that fulfil all criteria to enter the active set (without any active set size limitation) have the same PN offset. If so, Atoll considers that there is a PN offset collision. To make a PN offset collision zone prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select PN Offset Collision Zones (DL) and click OK. 3. Click the General tab. On the General tab, you can change the assigned Name of the coverage prediction, the Resolution, and you can add a Comment. The Receiver height corresponds to the height of the receiver defined in the Calculation Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box. A read-only Unique ID is generated when you create a new coverage prediction. This ID can later be found between the and tags in the following files: • •

"studies.XML" file created in the installation folder if at least one coverage prediction was saved using the Save as Customised Prediction command. ".XML" files (one per prediction) created in the following folder if coverage predictions were calculated with Display type = "Value intervals": C:\\.studies\{}

Under Display Configuration, you can create a Filter to select which sites to display in the results. You can also display the results grouped in the Network explorer by one or more characteristics by clicking the Group By button, or you can display the results sorted by clicking the Sort button. For information on filtering, see "Filtering Data" on page 99; for information on grouping, see "Advanced Grouping of Data Objects" on page 96; for information on sorting, see "Advanced Sorting" on page 98. 4. Click the Conditions tab. Select "(Cells Table)" from Load Conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not going to be based on load conditions taken from a simulation. Atoll will calculate the coverage prediction using the reverse link load factor and the forward link total power defined in the cell properties. When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load Conditions list.

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You must select a Terminal, Service, and Mobility, as defined in "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. You must also select which Carrier is to be considered. If you want the PN offset collision zone prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell Edge Coverage Probability text box. You can also select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 5. Click the Display tab. For a PN offset collision zone prediction, the Display Type "Discrete Values" based on the Field "Transmitter" is selected by default. Each pixel with PN offset collision is displayed with the same colour as that defined for the interfered transmitter. In the Explorer window, the coverage prediction results are ordered first by interfered transmitter and then by interferer. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. You can also set parameters to display the following results: •

•

The number of interferers for each transmitter: Select "Value Intervals" as the Display Type and "Number of Interferers per Transmitter" as the Field. In the Explorer window, the coverage prediction results are arranged by interfered transmitter. The total number of interferers on one pixel: Select "Value Intervals" as the Display Type and "Number of Interferers" as the Field. In the Explorer window, the coverage prediction results are arranged according to the number of interferers.

6. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can run it immediately or you can save it and run it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window. Making a PN Offset Collision Analysis The PNO Collisions view of the Point Analysis window gives you information on the reception for any point on the map where there is PN offset collision. PN offset collision occurs when the best serving cell and the cells that fulfil all criteria to enter the active set (without any active set size limitation) have the same PN offset. When there is a PN offset collision, Atoll displays the pilot quality (Ec⁄I0) received from interfered and interferer transmitters. Analysis is based on the UL load percentage and the DL total power of cells. The analysis is provided for a user-definable probe receiver which has a terminal, a mobility and a service. You can make a PN offset collision analysis to review the PN offset collision zone coverage prediction. In this case, before you make the PN offset collision analysis, you should ensure that the coverage prediction you want to use in the PN offset collision analysis is displayed on the map. To make a PN offset collision analysis: 1. Click the Point Analysis button (

) on the toolbar. The Point Analysis window appears.

2. Select the PNO Collisions view. 3. Select "Cells table" from the Loads list. 4. If you are making a PN offset collision analysis to verify a coverage prediction, you can recreate the conditions of the coverage prediction: a. Select the Terminal, Service, and Mobility studied in the coverage prediction. b. Click the Options button ( • • •

) to display the Calculation Options dialog box.

Change the X and Y coordinates to change the present position of the receiver. Select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a Cell Edge Coverage Probability. For more information, see "Taking Shadowing into Account in Point Analyses" on page 204. Select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. For more information, see "Taking Indoor Losses into Account" on page 203.

c. Click OK in the Calculation Options dialog box. If you are making a PN offset collision analysis to make a coverage prediction on a defined point, you can use the instructions in this step to define a user.

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5. Move the pointer over the map to make a PN offset collision analysis for the current location of the pointer. 6. Click the map to leave the point analysis pointer at its current position. To move the pointer again, click the point analysis pointer on the map and drag it to a new position. 7. Click the Point Analysis button (

) again to end the point analysis.

9.2 Studying CDMA2000 Network Capacity A CDMA network automatically regulates power with the objective of minimising interference and maximising network capacity. In the case of CDMA2000 1xRTT, fast power control is made on both the forward and reverse links (uplink and downlink, respectively). In CDMA2000 1xRTT, power control can be performed on either the FCH and SCH or on the pilot channel. In CDMA2000 EV-DO, rate control is used instead of power control on the forward link. On the reverse link, power control is made on the pilot channel. Atoll can simulate these network regulation mechanisms, thereby enabling you to study the capacity of the CDMA network. In Atoll, a simulation is based on a realistic distribution of users at a given point in time. The distribution of users at a given moment is referred to as a snapshot. Based on this snapshot, Atoll calculates various network parameters such as the active set for each mobile, the required power of the mobile, SHO gain, the total forward link power and forward link throughput per cell, and the reverse link load per cell. Simulations are calculated in an iterative fashion. When several simulations are performed at the same time using the same traffic information, the distribution of users will be different, according to a Poisson distribution. Consequently you can have variations in user distribution from one snapshot to another. To create snapshots, services and users must be modelled. As well, certain traffic information in the form of traffic maps must be provided. Once services and users have been modelled and traffic maps have been created, you can make simulations of the network traffic. For information on studying network capacity in Atoll, see Chapter 6: Traffic and Capacity Planning. This section covers the following topics for LTE networks: • • •

"Defining Multi-service Traffic Data" on page 685 "Calculating CDMA2000 Traffic Simulations" on page 685 "Analysing the Results of a Simulation" on page 696.

9.2.1 Defining Multi-service Traffic Data The first step in making a simulation is defining how the network is used. In Atoll, this is accomplished by creating all of the parameters used in the network, in terms of services, users, and equipment used. The following services and users are modelled in Atoll in order to create simulations: • •

•

Services: Services are the various services, such as voice, mobile internet access, etc., available to subscribers. For information on modelling end-user services, see "Modelling Services" on page 241. Mobility type: In CDMA, information about receiver mobility is important to efficiently manage the active set: a mobile used by a driver moving quickly or a pedestrian will not necessarily be connected to the same transmitters. Ec⁄I0 requirements and Eb⁄Nt targets per radio bearer and per link (forward or reverse) are largely dependent on mobile speed. For information on creating a mobility type, see "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 247. Radio configuration: In CDMA, a radio configuration is the user equipment that is used in the network, for example, a mobile phone, a PDA, or a car’s on-board navigation device. In Atoll, radio configurations are modelled using terminals. For information on creating a terminal, see "Modelling Terminals" on page 249.

9.2.2 Calculating CDMA2000 Traffic Simulations Once you have modelled the network services and users and have created traffic maps, you can create simulations. The simulation process consists of two steps: 1. Obtaining a realistic user distribution: Atoll generates a user distribution using a Monte Carlo algorithm; this user distribution is based on the traffic database and traffic maps and is weighted by a Poisson distribution between simulations of a same group. Each user is assigned a service, a mobility type, and an activity status by random trial, according to a probability law that uses the traffic database. The user activity status is an important output of the random trial and has direct consequences on the next step of the simulation and on network interference. A user can be either active or inactive. Both active and inactive users consume radio resources and create interference.

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Then, Atoll randomly assigns a shadowing error to each user using the probability distribution that describes the shadowing effect. Finally, another random trial determines user positions in their respective traffic zone (possibly according to the clutter weighting and the indoor ratio per clutter class). 2. Modelling network power control: Atoll uses a power control algorithm for CDMA2000 1xRTT users, and performs the forward link power control on the FCH and SCH and the reverse link power control on either the pilot channel or on the FCH and SCH for 1xRTT users. For users of 1xEV-DO, Atoll performs the reverse link power control on the pilot channel. On the forward link, Atoll performs rate control based on the C⁄I ratio calculated for the mobile. The power control simulation algorithm is described in "The Power Control Simulation Algorithm" on page 686. This section explains the specific mechanisms that are used to calculation CDMA2000 traffic simulations. For information on working with traffic simulations in Atoll, see "Simulations" on page 265

9.2.2.1 The Power Control Simulation Algorithm The power control algorithm simulates the way a CDMA network regulates itself by using forward link and reverse link power controls or, for CDMA2000 1xEV-DO, rate control in the forward link and power control in the reverse link in order to minimise interference and maximise capacity. Atoll simulates the network regulation mechanisms for each user distribution. During each iteration of the algorithm, all the mobiles (voice, 1xRTT data, and EV-DO data service users) selected during the user distribution generation attempt to connect one by one to network transmitters. The process is repeated until the network is balanced, i.e., until the convergence criteria (on the forward and the reverse link) are satisfied. The CDMA2000 1xRTT Power Control Simulation Algorithm The CDMA2000 1xRTT power control simulation algorithm (see Figure 9.20) simulates the power control, congestion, and radio resource control performed for CDMA2000 1xRTT users. Atoll considers each user in the order established during the generation of the user distribution, determines his best server and his active set. Atoll performs the forward link power control on the FCH and SCH and the reverse link power control on either the pilot channel or on the FCH and SCH, depending on the option selected under UL 1xRTT Power Control Based On on the Global Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box (see "CDMA Network Settings Properties" on page 724). After performing power control, Atoll updates the reverse link load factor and the total forward link transmitted power. Atoll then carries out congestion and radio resource control, verifying the cell reverse link load, the forward link load, and the number of channel elements and Walsh codes consumed by the cell.

Figure 9.20: Power control simulation for CDMA2000 1xRTT The SCH throughput on the forward and the reverse links can be downgraded. Atoll will downgrade the forward link SCH throughput until: •

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The required forward link quality level on SCH is reached,

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• • •

The total forward link power of a cell is lower than the maximum power allowed, The number of channel elements consumed on the forward link by a site is lower than the maximum number of channel elements allowed, The number of Walsh codes used by a cell is lower than the maximum number of Walsh codes available per cell.

Atoll will downgrade the reverse link SCH throughput until: • •

The required reverse link quality level on SCH or on pilot is reached, The number of channel elements consumed on the reverse link by a site is lower than the maximum number of channel elements allowed.

Downgraded SCH throughputs cannot be lower than the FCH peak throughput. When downgrading the SCH throughput does not solve the problem, the SCH is not allocated to the mobile. In this case, if the requirements of a mobile cannot be met by using the FCH alone, the mobile is rejected. At this point, users can be either connected or rejected. They are rejected if: •

The signal quality is not sufficient: • • •

•

On the forward link, either the pilot signal level is lower than the defined minimum RSCP threshold or the pilot quality is not high enough (no cell in the user active set): status is "Ec⁄I0 < (Ec⁄I0)min." On the reverse link, there is not enough power to transmit: the status is "Pmob > PmobMax." On the forward link, the quality of the received signal is not high enough on the traffic channel: the status is "Ptch > PtchMax."

The network is saturated: • • • •

The maximum reverse link load factor is exceeded (at admission or during congestion control): the status is either "Admission Rejection" or "UL Load Saturation." There are not enough available channel elements on the site: the status is "Ch. Elts Saturation." There is not enough power for cells: the status is "DL Load Saturation." There are no more Walsh codes available: the status is "Walsh Code Saturation."

The CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rate and Power Control Simulation Algorithm The CDMA2000 1xEV-DO simulation algorithm (see Figure 9.21) simulates the power and rate controls, congestion, and radio resource control performed for CDMA2000 1xEV-DO users (i.e. 1xEV-DO Rev.0, 1xEV-DO Rev. A and 1xEV-DO Rev. B service users). Atoll considers the guaranteed bit rate service users first, in the order established during the generation of the user distribution, and then, it processes the variable bit rate service users, in the order established during the generation of the user distribution. It determines the best server and the active set of each user, and performs the reverse link power control on the pilot channel. On the forward link, there is no power control; the transmitter transmits at full power. Instead, Atoll performs rate control based on the C⁄I ratio calculated for the mobile. After performing rate and power control, Atoll updates the reverse link load factor. Atoll then carries out congestion and radio resource control, verifying the cell reverse link load and the number of channel elements and MAC indexes consumed by the cell. Guaranteed bit rate service users have the highest priority and are processed first, in the order established during the generation of the user distribution. Atoll determines the 1xEV-DO bearer for each user in the forward link and in the reverse link. The selected 1xEV-DO bearer must provide a peak RLC throughput higher than the guaranteed bit rate defined for the service. To achieve the highest cell capacity, 1xEV-DO Rev. A has a multi-user packet that combines packets from several users into a single physical-layer packet. Atoll models the multi-user packet by allowing several guaranteed bit rate service users to share the same 1xEV-DO radio bearer. Then, Atoll calculates the 1xEV-DO bearer consumption for each user and takes into account this parameter when it determines the resources consumed by the user (i.e., the terminal power used, the number of MAC indexes, and the number of channel elements). Atoll checks if enough MAC indexes and channel elements are available for the user (taking into account the maximum number of MAC indexes defined for the cell and the maximum number of channel elements allowed on the site in the downlink). If not enough indexes or channel elements are available, the user is rejected. A multi-carrier EV-DO user is managed as several single-carrier users. The user has several allocated 1xEV-DO radio bearers and consumes resources in each cell he is connected to. In the reverse link, load balancing between carriers is modelled. The user can simultaneously transmit on all carriers. Atoll shares the available terminal power between each carrier and determines the uplink 1xEV-DO radio bearer obtained on each carrier, without exceeding the available resources (channel elements, MAC index, and UL load factor). Atoll selects the best configuration among all combinations of carriers, i.e., the combination which provides the highest total throughput. If, with the selected configuration, the total throughput exceeds the original throughput demand, Atoll adjusts the 1xEV-DO radio bearers on each carrier until the user obtains the requested throughput. In the forward link, Atoll performs rate control on each carrier. Atoll calculates the C/I ratio received by the mobile on each carrier and determines the downlink 1xEV-DO radio bearer obtained on each carrier. The user downlink throughput corresponds to the sum of the throughputs obtained on each carrier.

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Figure 9.21: Power control simulation for CDMA2000 1xEV-DO During reverse link power control, if the service supports downgrading, Atoll might downgrade the peak throughput of 1xEVDO Rev. 0 service users on the reverse link traffic data channel until the required reverse link quality level is reached. If downgrading does not allow the quality level to be met, the mobile is rejected. During congestion control, if the service supports downgrading, Atoll might adjust the peak throughput of 1xEV-DO Rev. 0 service users on the reverse link traffic data channel until the reverse link cell noise rise is between the noise rise threshold plus the acceptable noise rise margin and the noise rise threshold minus the acceptable noise rise margin. If the noise rise is too high, Atoll downgrades all 1xEV-DO Rev. 0 users that can be downgraded. When the noise rise is too low, it upgrades all 1xEV-DO Rev. 0 users that can be upgraded. A 1xEV-DO Rev. 0 user can be downgraded or upgraded if the transition flag of his peak throughput was set to "True" during the generation of the user distribution. 1xEV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B service users are not downgraded. They are rejected when the cell noise rise threshold is exceeded. At this point, users can be either connected or rejected. They are rejected if: •

The signal quality is not sufficient: • •

On the forward link, either the pilot signal level is lower than the defined minimum RSCP threshold or the pilot quality is not high enough (no cell in the user active set): status is "Ec⁄I0 pilot < Ec⁄I0 min. pilot". On the reverse link, there is not enough power to transmit: the status is "Pmob > Pmob max".

•

The obtained downlink bit rate is lower than the downlink guaranteed bit rate: the status is "Obtained DL throughput < Guaranteed DL bit rate". This rejection cause applies to guaranteed bit rate service users only.

•

The network is saturated: • • •

The maximum reverse link load factor is exceeded (at admission or during congestion control): the status is either "Admission rejection" or "UL load saturation". There are not enough available channel elements on the site: the status is "channel element saturation". There are not enough MAC indexes per cell or the maximum number of EV-DO users per cell is exceeded during the radio resource control: the status is "1xEV-DO resources saturation".

9.2.2.2 CDMA2000 Simulation Results After you have created a simulation, as explained in "Creating Simulations" on page 266, you can either display the results as a distribution map or you can access the actual values of the simulation. Actual values can be displayed either for a single simulation or as average values for a group of simulations. To display distribution maps of a simulation, see "Displaying Simulation Results on the Map" on page 270. Actual values can be displayed either for a single simulation or as average values for a group of simulations. This section covers the following topics: • •

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"Displaying the Results of a Single Simulation" on page 689 "Displaying the Average Results of a Group of Simulations" on page 694

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9.2.2.2.1

Displaying the Results of a Single Simulation To access the result values of a simulation: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Simulations folder, and expand the folder of the simulation group containing the simulation whose results you want to access. 2. Right-click the simulation and select Properties from the context menu. A simulation properties dialog box appears. One tab gives statistics of the results of the simulation. Other tabs in the simulation properties dialog box contain simulation results as identified by the tab title. A final tab lists the initial conditions of the simulation. The amount of detail available when you display the results depends on the level of detail you selected from the Information to retain list on the General tab of the properties dialog box for the group of simulations. For more information on the different options, see "Creating Simulations" on page 266. The Statistics tab: The Statistics tab contains the following two sections: •

Request: Under Request, you will find data on the connection requests: • •

• •

Atoll calculates the total number of users who try to connect. This number is the result of the first random trial; power control has not yet started. The result depends on the traffic description and traffic input. During the first random trial, each user is assigned a service and an activity status. The number of users per activity status and the reverse link and forward link throughputs that all users could theoretically generate are provided. The breakdown per service (total number of users, number of users per activity status, and reverse link and forward link throughputs) is given.

Results: Under Results, you will find data on the connection results: • • •

•

The number of iterations that were run in order to converge. The number and the percentage of rejected users is given along with the reason for rejection. These figures are determined at the end of the simulation and depend on the network design. The number and percentage of users connected to a cell, the number of users per frequency band for a multiband network, the number of users per activity status, and the reverse link and forward link throughputs they generate. The breakdown per service (total number of users, number of users per frequency band for a multi-band network, number of users per activity status, and reverse link and forward link throughputs) is given.

The Sites tab: The Sites tab contains the following information per site: • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

•

Max No. of DL and UL CEs per Carrier: The maximum number of channel elements available per 1xRTT carrier on the forward and reverse links. Max No. of EV-DO CEs per Carrier: The maximum number of channel elements available per 1xEV-DO carrier. No. of DL and UL FCH CEs: The number of channel elements used by the FCH on the forward and reverse links by the site. No. of DL and UL SCH CEs: The number of channel elements used by the SCH on the forward and reverse links by the site. No. EV-DO CEs: The number of channel elements used by EV-DO users. No. of DL and UL FCH CEs Due to SHO Overhead: The number of extra channel elements due to soft handoff, on reverse link and forward link for CDMA2000 1xRTT users. No. of DL and UL SCH CEs Due to SHO Overhead: The number of extra channel elements due to soft handoff, on reverse link and forward link for CDMA2000 1xRTT users. No. of EV-DO CEs Due to SHO Overhead: The number of extra channel elements due to soft handoff, on reverse link and forward link for CDMA2000 1xEV-DO users. Carrier Selection: The carrier selection method defined on the site equipment. AS Restricted to Neighbours: Whether the active set is restricted to neighbours of the reference cell. This option is selected on the site equipment. Rake Factor: The rake factor, defined on the site equipment, enables Atoll to model a rake receiver on the reverse link. MUD Factor: The multi-user detection factor, defined on the site equipment, is used to decrease intra-cell interference on the reverse link. Peak UL Throughput per 1xEV-DO service (kbps): The peak uplink throughput in kbits⁄s for each 1xEV-DO data service (rev. 0, rev. A, rev. B). Peak DL FCH Throughput per service (Uplink and Downlink) (kbps): The peak throughput in kbits⁄s for speech service and each 1xRTT data service on the FCH. The result is detailed on the forward and reverse link only when relevant. Peak DL SCH Throughput per service (Uplink and Downlink) (kbps): The throughput in kbits⁄s for each 1xRTT data service on the SCH. The result is detailed on the forward and reverse link only when relevant.

The Cells (1xRTT) tab: The Cells (1xRTT) tab contains the following information, per site, transmitter, and 1xRTT carrier: •

Max Power (dBm): The maximum power as defined in the cell properties.

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•

• •

•

• • • • • • • •

• • • • • • • •

•

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Pilot Power (dBm): The pilot power as defined in the cell properties. Synchro Power (dBm): The synchro power as defined in the cell properties. Paging Power (dBm): The paging power as defined in the cell properties. Gain (dBi): The gain as defined in the antenna properties for that transmitter. Reception Loss (dB): The reception loss as defined in the transmitter properties. Transmission Loss (dB): The transmission loss as defined in the transmitter properties. Noise Figure (dB): The noise figure as defined in the transmitter properties Total Transmitted DL Power (dBm): The total transmitted power on the forward link. Total Transmitted DL FCH Power (dBm): The total power used on the forward link for the FCH. Total Transmitted DL SCH Power (dBm): The total power used on the forward link for the SCH. UL Total Noise (dBm): The total noise on the reverse link. UL Load Factor (%): The cell load factor on the reverse link corresponds to the ratio between the total interference on the reverse link and the total noise on the reverse link. If the constraint "UL Load Factor" has been selected, the cell load factor on the reverse link is not allowed to exceed the user-defined maximum load factor on the reverse link (defined either in the cell properties, or in the simulation creation dialog box). DL Load Factor (%): The load factor of the cell i on the forward link corresponds to the ratio (average interference on the forward link [due to transmitter signals on the same carrier] for terminals in the transmitter i area) ⁄ (average total noise on the forward link [due to transmitter signals and to thermal noise of terminals] for terminals in the transmitter i area). DL Noise Rise (dB): The noise rise on the forward link is calculated from the load factor on the forward link. These data indicate signal degradation due to cell load (interference margin in the link budget). DL Load (% Pmax): The percentage of power used is determined by the total transmitted power-maximum power ratio (power stated in W). When the constraint "DL load" is set, the DL Load can not exceed the user-defined Max DL Load (defined either in the cell properties, or in the simulation). Number of UL and DL Radio Links: The number of radio links corresponds to the number of user-transmitter links on the same carrier. This data is calculated on the forward and reverse links and indicates the number of users connected to the cell on the forward and reverse links. Because of handover, a single user can use several radio links. Connection Success Rate (%): The connection success rate gives the ratio of connected users over the total number of users in the cell. UL Noise Rise (dB): The noise rise on the reverse link is calculated from the load factor on the reverse link. These data indicate signal degradation due to cell load (interference margin in the link budget). UL Reuse Factor: The reverse link reuse factor is the ratio between the reverse link total interference and the intracell interference. UL Reuse Efficiency Factor: The reuse efficiency factor on the reverse link is the reciprocal of the reuse factor on the reverse link. No. of Codes (128 bits): The total number of 128-bit Walsh codes used by cell. No. of FCH Codes (128 bits): The total number of 128-bit Walsh codes used by the FCH of the cell. No. of SCH Codes (128 bits): The total number of 128-bit Walsh codes used by the SCH of the cell. The Types of Handoff as a Percentage: Atoll estimates the percentages of handoff types for each transmitter. Atoll only lists the results for the following handoff status, no handoff (1⁄1), softer (1⁄2), soft (2⁄2), softer-soft (2⁄3) and soft-soft (3⁄3) handoffs; the other handoff status (other HO) are grouped. No. of DL and UL FCH CEs: The number of channel elements used by the FCH on the forward and reverse links. No. of DL and UL SCH CEs: The number of channel elements used by the SCH on the forward and reverse links. FCH Throughput (Uplink and Downlink) (kbps): The throughput of the FCH on the forward and reverse links. SCH Throughput (Uplink and Downlink) (kbps): The throughput of the SCH on the forward and reverse links. Min TCH Pwr (dBm): The minimum power allocated to a traffic channel for supplying services. Max TCH Pwr (dBm): The maximum power allocated to a traffic channel for supplying services. Avg TCH Pwr (dBm): The average power allocated to a traffic channel for supplying services. Rejected Users: The number of rejected users per cell are sorted by the following reasons: Pmob > PmobMax, Ptch > PtchMax, Ec⁄Io < (Ec⁄Io)min, UL Load Saturation, Ch. Elts Saturation, DL Load Saturation, Walsh Code Saturation, and Admission Rejection. Connection Success Rate (%) for Each Service: For each service, the connection success rate gives the ratio of connected users over the total number of users of that service in the cell.

The Cells (1xEV-DO) tab: The Cells (1xEV-DO) tab contains the following information, per site, transmitter, and 1xEV-DO carrier: • • • • • • • •

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Max Power (dBm): The maximum power as defined in the cell properties. Idle Power Gain (dB): The idle power gain as defined in the cell properties. Gain (dBi): The gain as defined in the antenna properties for that transmitter. Reception Loss (dB): The reception loss as defined in the transmitter properties. Transmission Loss (dB): The transmission loss as defined in the transmitter properties. Noise Figure (dB): The noise figure as defined in the transmitter properties. UL Total Noise (dBm): The total noise received by the cell on the reverse link. UL Load Factor (%): The cell load factor on the reverse link corresponds to the ratio between the total interference on the reverse link and the total noise on the reverse link. If the constraint "UL Load Factor" has been selected,

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•

the cell load factor on the reverse link is not allowed to exceed the user-defined maximum load factor on the reverse link (defined either in the cell properties or in the simulation creation dialog box). UL Noise Rise (dB): The noise rise on the reverse link is calculated from the load factor on the reverse link. These data indicate signal degradation due to cell load (interference margin in the link budget). UL Reuse Factor: The reverse link reuse factor is the ratio between the reverse link total interference and the intracell interference. UL Reuse Efficiency Factor: The reuse efficiency factor on the reverse link is the reciprocal of the reuse factor on the reverse link. Number of UL Radio Links: The number of radio links on the reverse link. Multi-carrier users are counted once in each cell they are connected to. No. of Active Users: The number of active users connected to the cell. Multi-carrier users are counted once in each cell they are connected to. No. of Inactive Users: The number of inactive users among the users connected to the cell. Multi-carrier users are counted once in each cell they are connected to. Connection Success Rate (%): The percentage of connections that are successfully made. The Types of Handoff as a Percentage: Atoll estimates the percentages of handoff types for each transmitter on the reverse link. Atoll only lists the results for the following handoff status, no handoff (1⁄1), softer (1⁄2), soft (2⁄2), softer-soft (2⁄3) and soft-soft (3⁄3) handoffs; the other handoff status (other HO) are grouped. UL and DL Throughput (kbps): The throughput on the forward and reverse links. No. of MAC Index: The number of MAC indexes used by the cell. Rejected Users: The number of rejected users per cell are sorted by the following reasons: Pmob > PmobMax, Ptch > PtchMax, Ec⁄Io < (Ec⁄Io)min, UL Load Saturation, Ch. Elts Saturation, DL Load Saturation, Walsh Code Saturation, Admission Rejection, and 1xEV-DO Resources Saturation. Connection Success Rate (%) For Each Service: For each service, the connection success rate gives the percentage of connected users from the total number of users of that service in the cell.

The Mobiles (1xRTT) tab: The Mobiles (1xRTT) tab contains the following information for CDMA2000 1xRTT users: The Mobiles (1xRTT) tab only appears if, when creating the simulation as explained in "Creating Simulations" on page 266, you select either "Standard information about mobiles" or "Detailed information about mobiles" under Information to Retain. • • • • • • • •

• • • • • • •

• • • • •

X and Y: The coordinates of users who attempt to connect (the geographic position is determined by the second random trial). Service: The service assigned during the first random trial during the generation of the user distribution. Terminal: The assigned radio configuration. User Profile: The assigned user profile. Mobility: The mobility type assigned during the first random trial during the generation of the user distribution. Activity Status: The activity status assigned during the first random trial during the generation of the user distribution. DL and UL Requested Throughput (kbps): The downlink and uplink requested throughputs correspond to the forward and reverse throughputs requested by the user before power control. DL and UL Obtained Throughput (kbps): The obtained throughputs are the same as the requested throughputs if the user is connected without being downgraded. If the user has been downgraded, the throughput is calculated using the downgrading factor. If the user was rejected, the obtained throughput is zero. Carrier: The carrier used for the mobile-transmitter connection. Frequency Band: The frequency band used for the mobile-transmitter connection. Mobile Total Power (dBm): This value corresponds to the total power transmitted by the terminal. Uplink Pilot Power (dBm): The power transmitted by the terminal on the reverse pilot channel. Mobile FCH Power (dBm): The power transmitted by the terminal on the FCH channel. Mobile SCH Power (dBm): power transmitted by the terminal on the SCH channel. Connection Status: The connection status indicates whether the user is connected or rejected at the end of the simulation. If connected, the connection status corresponds to the activity status. If rejected, the rejection cause is given. Best Server: The best server among the transmitters in the mobile active set. HO Status (Sites/No. Transmitters Act. Set): The HO status is the number of sites compared to the number of transmitters in the active set. AS1, AS2, AS3, AS4, AS5, AS6: The name of the cell that is the best server, the second-best server, and so on is given in a separate column for each cell in the active set. Ec/Io AS1, AS2, AS3, AS4, AS5, AS6 (dB): Ec⁄I0 is given in a separate column for each cell in the active set. The Ec/ Io AS1 column lists the Ec/Io from the best server for the rejected mobiles as well. Indoor: This field indicates whether indoor losses have been added or not.

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The following columns only appear if, when creating the simulation as explained in "Creating Simulations" on page 266, you select "Detailed Information About Mobiles" under Information to retain: •

• • • •

• •

•

DL and UL Downgrading Factor (SCH): The downgrading factor for the SCH on both the forward and the reverse links. The downgrading factor is used to calculated how much the SCH throughput will be downgraded if the requested throughput cannot be provided. DL Ntot AS1, AS2, AS3, AS4, AS5, AS6 (dBm): The total noise on the forward link for each link between the mobile and a transmitter in the active set. Cell FCH Power AS1, AS2, AS3, AS4, AS5, AS6 (DL) (dBm): The cell power transmitted on the FCH forward link is given for each link between the mobile and a transmitter in the active set. Cell SCH Power AS1, AS2, AS3, AS4, AS5, AS6 (DL) (dBm): The cell power transmitted on the SCH forward link is given for each link between the mobile and a transmitter in the active set. Load Factor AS1, AS2, AS3, AS4, AS5, AS6 (DL) (%): The load factor on the forward link for each link between the mobile and a transmitter in the active set. It corresponds to the ratio between the total interference on the forward link and total noise at the terminal. Noise Rise AS1, AS2, AS3, AS4, AS5, AS6 (DL) (dB): The noise rise on the forward link for each link between the mobile and a transmitter in the active set. Reuse Factor AS1, AS2, AS3, AS4, AS5, AS6 (DL): The forward link reuse factor is the ratio between the forward link total interference and the intra-cell interference. It is calculated for each link between the mobile and a transmitter in the active set. Iintra AS1, AS2, AS3, AS4, AS5, AS6 (DL) (dBm): The intra-cell interference on the forward link for each cell (I) of the active set. DL

DL

I Intra  ic  =  1 – F Ortho   P tot  ic  txi

•

Iextra AS1, AS2, AS3, AS4, AS5, AS6 (DL) (dBm): The extra-cell interference on the forward link for each cell (I) of the active set. DL

I extra  ic  =



DL

P tot  ic 

txj j  i

• • • • • •

•

Total Loss AS1, AS2, AS3, AS4, AS5, AS6 (dB): The total attenuation for each link between the mobile and a transmitter in the active set. Name: The name of the mobile, as assigned during the random user generation. Clutter: The clutter class on which the mobile is located. Orthogonality Factor: The orthogonality factor used in the simulation. The orthogonality factor is the remaining orthogonality of the Walsh codes at reception. The value used is the orthogonality factor set in the clutter classes. % Pilot Finger: The percentage pilot finger used in the simulation, defined per clutter class or globally for all clutter classes. DL and UL FCH SHO Gain (dB): The soft handoff gain for the FCH on the forward and the reverse link. The soft handoff gain on the forward link is calculated if mobile receivers are connected either on the forward link or on the forward link and the reverse link. DL and UL SCH SHO Gain (dB): The soft handoff gain for the SCH on the forward and the reverse link. The soft handoff gain on the forward link is calculated if mobile receivers are connected either on the forward link or on the forward link and the reverse link.

The Mobiles (1xEV-DO) tab: The Mobiles (1xEV-DO) tab contains the following information for CDMA2000 1xEV-DO users: The Mobiles (1xEV-DO) tab only appears if, when creating the simulation as explained in "Creating Simulations" on page 266, you select either "Standard information about mobiles" or "Detailed information about mobiles" under Information to Retain. • • • • • • • •

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X and Y: The coordinates of users who attempt to connect (the geographic position is determined by the second random trial). Service: The service assigned during the first random trial during the generation of the user distribution. Terminal: The assigned radio configuration. User: The assigned user profile. Mobility: The mobility type assigned during the first random trial during the generation of the user distribution. Activity Status: The activity status assigned during the first random trial during the generation of the user distribution. UL Requested Throughput (kbps): The UL Requested Throughput corresponds to the throughput, including the control channel throughput, requested by the user before power control. UL Obtained Throughput (kbps): For a 1xEV-DO Rev. 0 service user, the obtained throughput is the same as the requested throughput if the user is connected without being downgraded. If the user has been downgraded, the uplink throughput is calculated using the downgrading factor. If the user was rejected, the obtained throughput is "0".

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The uplink total throughput obtained by the 1xEV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B service users depends on the service QoS class (i.e., whether this is a guaranteed bit rate or a variable bit rate service). For a guaranteed bit rate service user, when the user is connected, the uplink obtained throughput equals the guaranteed bit rate defined for the service. For variable bit rate service users, the uplink obtained throughput is the same as the requested throughput. If the user is rejected, the uplink obtained throughput is throughput is "0". • •

• • •

• • • • • •

DL Peak Throughput: The maximum throughput on the forward link depends on the value of C⁄I at the terminal. Atoll calculates this value from the Peak throughput=f(C⁄I) graph specified in the mobility type properties. Carrier: The carrier used for the mobile-transmitter connection. Multi-carrier users are connected to several carriers. Details can be displayed per carrier by clicking the Actions button and then selecting Detailed Display from the menu. Frequency Band: The frequency band used for the mobile-transmitter connection. Mobile Total Power (dBm): The mobile total power corresponds to the total power transmitted by the terminal. For constant bit rate service users, the percentage of bearer consumption is taken into account. Connection Status: The connection status indicates whether the user is connected or rejected at the end of the simulation. If connected, the connection status corresponds to the activity status. If rejected, the rejection cause is given. Best Server: The best server among the transmitters in the mobile active set. HO Status (Sites/No. Transmitters Act. Set): The HO status is the number of sites compared to the number of transmitters in the active set. AS1, AS2, AS3, AS4, AS5, AS6: The name of the cell that is the best server, the second-best server, and so on is given in a separate column for each cell in the active set. Ec/Io AS1, AS2, AS3, AS4, AS5, AS6 (dB): Ec⁄I0 is given in a separate column for each cell in the active set. The Ec/ Io AS1 column lists the Ec/Io from the best server for the rejected mobiles as well. DL C/I: The C⁄I for the pilot on the forward link. Indoor: This field indicates whether indoor losses have been added or not.

The following columns only appear if, when creating the simulation as explained in "Creating Simulations" on page 266, you select "Detailed information about mobiles" under Information to Retain: • • •

UL Throughput due to TCP (kbps): The uplink throughput due to TCP aknowledgements. UL Requested Peak Throughput (kbps): The uplink requested peak throughput corresponds to the throughput requested by the user before power control. UL Obtained Peak Throughput (kbps): For a 1xEV-DO Rev. 0 service user, the uplink obtained peak throughput is the same as the requested peak throughput if the user is connected without being downgraded. If the user has been downgraded, it is calculated using the downgrading factor. If the user was rejected, the obtained peak throughput is zero. The uplink peak throughput obtained by the 1xEV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B service users depends on the service QoS class (i.e., whether this is a guaranteed bit rate or a variable bit rate service). For a guaranteed bit rate service user, when the user is connected, the uplink obtained peak throughput equals the guaranteed bit rate defined for the service. For variable bit rate service users, the uplink obtained peak throughput is the same as the uplink requested peak throughput. If the user is rejected, the uplink obtained peak throughput is "0".

• • • • • • • • • • •

UL Downgrading Factor: The downgrading factor on the reverse link. The downgrading factor is used to calculated how much the throughput will be downgraded if the requested throughput cannot be provided. DL Ntot (Data) (dBm): The total noise on the forward link. DL Load Factor (%): The load factor on the forward link. It corresponds to the ratio between the total interference on the forward link and total noise at the terminal. DL Noise Rise (dB): The noise rise on the forward link. Total Loss AS1, AS2, AS3, AS4, AS5, AS6 (dB): The total attenuation for each link between the mobile and a transmitter in the active set. Name: The name of the mobile, as assigned during the random user generation. Clutter: The clutter class on which the mobile is located. Orthogonality Factor: The orthogonality factor used in the simulation. The orthogonality factor is the remaining orthogonality of the Walsh codes at reception. The value used is the orthogonality factor set in the clutter classes. % Pilot Finger: The percentage pilot finger used in the simulation, defined per clutter class or globally for all clutter classes. UL SHO Gain (dB): The soft handoff gain on the reverse link. Transition flags (Upgrading 9.6k->19.2k, Upgrading 19.2k->38.4k, Upgrading 38.4k->76.8k, Upgrading 76.8k->153.6k, Downgrading 19.2k->9.6k, Downgrading 38.4k->19.2k, Downgrading 76.8k->38.4k, Downgrading 153.6k->76.8k): The boolean transition flags ("True" or "False") generated by Atoll for each throughput transition and for each 1xEV-DO user. If the flag for a throughput transition is "True," the throughput can be upgraded or downgraded if necessary during the uplink load control.

The Mobiles (Shadowing Values) tab: The Mobiles (Shadowing Values) tab contains information on the shadowing margin for each link between the receiver and up to ten potential transmitters. Atoll selects the transmitters which

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have the receiver in their propagation zone and have the lowest path losses. The ten transmitters with the lowest path losses are selected and sorted in ascending order by path loss. The Mobiles (Shadowing Values) tab only appears if, when creating the simulation as explained in "Creating Simulations" on page 266, you select "Detailed information about mobiles" under Information to Retain. • • • • •

Name: The name assigned to the mobile. Value at Receiver (dB): The value of the shadowing error at the receiver. This value is the same for a given receiver for each given receiver-potential transmitter link. The value is generated randomly. Clutter: The clutter class on which the mobile is located. Path To: The name of the potential transmitter. Value (dB): The shadowing error for the receiver-potential transmitter link in the corresponding Path To column. These values are generated randomly.

The Initial Conditions tab: The Initial Conditions tab contains the following information: •

The global transmitter parameters: • • • • • •

•

The input parameters specified when creating the simulation: • • • • • •

•

9.2.2.2.2

The spreading width Whether the power values on the forward link are absolute or relative to the pilot The default reverse link soft handoff gain Whether the MRC in softer/soft is defined or not The method used to calculate Nt Whether the reverse link 1xRTT power control is based on the traffic quality or the pilot quality. The maximum number of iterations The global scaling factor The generator initialisation value The reverse link and forward link convergence thresholds The simulation constraints such as maximum power, the maximum number of channel elements, the reverse link load factor and the maximum load The name of the traffic maps used.

The parameters related to the clutter classes, including the default values.

Displaying the Average Results of a Group of Simulations To access the averaged results of a group of simulations: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the SimulationsSimulations folder. 3. Right-click the group of simulations whose results you want to access. 4. Select Average Simulation from the context menu. A properties dialog box appears. One tab gives statistics of the results of the group of simulations. Other tabs in the properties dialog box contain simulation results for all simulations, both averaged and as a standard deviation. The Statistics tab: The Statistics tab contains the following two sections: •

Request: Under Request, you will find data on the connection requests: • •

• •

Results: Under Results, you will find data on the connection results: • • •

•

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Atoll calculates the total number of users who try to connect. This number is the result of the first random trial; power control has not yet started. The result depends on the traffic description and traffic input. During the first random trial, each user is assigned a service and an activity status. The number of users per activity status and the reverse link and forward link throughputs that all users could theoretically generate are provided. The breakdown per service (total number of users, number of users per activity status, and reverse link and forward link throughputs) is given. The number of iterations that were run in order to converge. The number and the percentage of rejected users is given along with the reason for rejection. These figures are determined at the end of the simulation and depend on the network design. The number and percentage of users connected to a cell, the number of users per frequency band for multiband networks, the number of users per activity status, and the reverse link and forward link throughputs they generate. The breakdown per service (total number of users, number of users per frequency band for multi-band networks, number of users per activity status, and reverse link and forward link throughputs) is given.

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The Cells (Average - 1xRTT) and Cells (Standard Deviation - 1xRTT) tabs: The Cells (Average - 1xRTT) and Cells (Standard Deviation - 1xRTT) tabs contain the following average and standard deviation information, respectively, per site, transmitter, and 1xRTT carrier: •

•

• • • •

• • •

•

• • •

• • • • • •

•

UL Total Noise (dBm): The total noise on the reverse link takes into account the total signal received at the transmitter on a carrier from intra and extra-cell terminals using the same carrier and adjacent carriers (total interference on the reverse link) and the thermal noise. UL Load Factor (%): The cell load factor on the reverse link corresponds to the ratio between the total interference on the reverse link and the total noise on the reverse link. If the constraint "UL Load Factor" has been selected, the cell load factor on the reverse link is not allowed to exceed the user-defined maximum load factor on the reverse link (defined either in the cell properties, or in the simulation creation dialog box). UL Noise Rise (dB): The noise rise on the reverse link is calculated from the load factor on the reverse link. These data indicate signal degradation due to cell load (interference margin in the link budget). UL Reuse Factor: The reverse link reuse factor is the ratio between the reverse link total interference and the intracell interference. UL Reuse Efficiency Factor: The reverse link reuse efficiency factor is the reciprocal of the reverse link reuse factor. DL Load Factor (%): The forward link load factor of the cell i corresponds to the ratio (forward link average interference [due to transmitter signals on the same carrier] for terminals in the transmitter i area) ⁄ (forward link average total noise [due to transmitter signals and to thermal noise of terminals] for terminals in the transmitter i area). DL Noise Rise (dB): The forward link noise rise is calculated from the forward link load factor. These data indicate signal degradation due to cell load (interference margin in the link budget). Total Transmitted DL Power (dBm): The total power transmitted on the forward link. DL Load (% Pmax): The percentage of power used is determined by the total transmitted power-maximum power ratio (power stated in W). When the constraint "DL load" is set, the DL Load can not exceed the user-defined Max DL Load (defined either in the cell properties, or in the simulation). Number of UL and DL Radio Links: The number of radio links corresponds to the number of user-transmitter links on the same carrier. This data is calculated on the forward and reverse links and indicates the number of users connected to the cell on the forward and reverse links. Because of handover, a single user can use several radio links. Connection Success Rate (%): The connection success rate gives the ratio of connected users over the total number of users in the cell. No. of Codes (128 bits): The average number of 128-bit Walsh codes used per cell. The types of handoff as a percentage: Atoll estimates the percentages of handoff types for each transmitter. Atoll only lists the results for the following handoff status, no handoff (1⁄1), softer (1⁄2), soft (2⁄2), softer-soft (2⁄3) and soft-soft (3⁄3) handoffs; the other handoff status (other HO) are grouped. FCH Throughput (Uplink and Downlink) (kbps): The throughput of the FCH on the forward and reverse links. SCH Throughput (Uplink and Downlink) (kbps): The throughput of the SCH on the forward and reverse links. Min TCH Pwr (dBm): The minimum power allocated to a traffic channel for supplying services. Max TCH Pwr (dBm): The maximum power allocated to a traffic channel for supplying services. Avg TCH Pwr (dBm): The average power allocated to a traffic channel for supplying services. Rejected Users: The number of rejected users per cell are sorted by the following reasons: Pmob > PmobMax, Ptch > PtchMax, Ec⁄Io < (Ec⁄Io)min, UL Load Saturation, Ch. Elts Saturation, DL Load Saturation, Walsh Code Saturation, and Admission Rejection. Connection Success Rate (%) for Each Service: For each service, the connection success rate gives the ratio of connected users over the total number of users of that service in the cell.

The Cells (Average - 1xEV-DO) and Cells (Standard Deviation - 1xEV-DO) tabs: The Cells (Average - 1xEV-DO) and Cells (Standard Deviation - 1xEV-DO) tabs contain the following average and standard deviation information, respectively, per site, transmitter, and 1xEV-DO carrier: •

•

• • • • • •

UL Total Noise (dBm): The total noise on the reverse link takes into account the total signal received at the transmitter on a carrier from intra and extra-cell terminals using the same carrier and adjacent carriers (total interference on the reverse link) and the thermal noise. UL Load Factor (%): The cell load factor on the reverse link corresponds to the ratio between the total interference on the reverse link and the total noise on the reverse link. If the constraint "UL Load Factor" has been selected, the cell load factor on the reverse link is not allowed to exceed the user-defined maximum load factor on the reverse link (defined either in the cell properties, or in the simulation creation dialog box). UL Noise Rise (dB): The noise rise on the reverse link is calculated from the load factor on the reverse link. These data indicate signal degradation due to cell load (interference margin in the link budget). UL Reuse Factor: The reverse link reuse factor is the ratio between the reverse link total interference and the intracell interference. UL Reuse Efficiency Factor: The reverse link reuse efficiency factor is the reciprocal of the reverse link reuse factor. Number of UL Radio Links: The number of radio links on the reverse link. Connection Success Rate (%): The percentage of connections that are successfully made. The types of handoff as a percentage: Atoll estimates the percentages of handoff types for each transmitter. Atoll only lists the results for the following handoff status, no handoff (1⁄1), softer (1⁄2), soft (2⁄2), softer-soft (2⁄3) and soft-soft (3⁄3) handoffs; the other handoff status (other HO) are grouped.

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• • •

•

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UL and DL Throughput (kbps): The throughput on the forward and reverse links. No. of MAC Index: The number of MAC indexes used by the cell. Rejected Users: The number of rejected users per cell are sorted by the following reasons: Pmob > PmobMax, Ptch > PtchMax, Ec⁄Io < (Ec⁄Io)min, UL Load Saturation, Ch. Elts Saturation, DL Load Saturation, Walsh Code Saturation, Admission Rejection, and 1xEV-DO Resources Saturation. Connection Success Rate (%) for Each Service: For each service, the connection success rate gives the ratio of connected users over the total number of users of that service in the cell.

The Initial Conditions tab: The Initial Conditions tab contains the following information: •

The global transmitter parameters: • • • • • •

•

The input parameters specified when creating the group of simulations: • • • • • •

•

The spreading width Whether the power values on the forward link are absolute or relative to the pilot The default reverse link soft handoff gain Whether the MRC in softer/soft is defined or not The method used to calculate Nt Whether the reverse link 1xRTT power control is based on the traffic quality or the pilot quality. The maximum number of iterations The global scaling factor The generator initialisation value The reverse link and forward link convergence thresholds The simulation constraints such as maximum power, the maximum number of channel elements, the reverse link load factor and the maximum load The name of the traffic maps used.

The parameters related to the clutter classes, including the default values.

9.2.3 Analysing the Results of a Simulation In Atoll, you have several methods available to help you analyse simulation results. You can make an active set analysis of a real-time probe user or you can make a coverage prediction where each pixel is considered as a probe user with a defined terminal, mobility, and service. The analyses are based on a single simulation or on an averaged group of simulations. You can find information on the analysis methods in the following sections: • •

"Making an AS Analysis of Simulation Results" on page 696 "Making Coverage Predictions Using Simulation Results" on page 697.

9.2.3.1 Making an AS Analysis of Simulation Results The Point Analysis window gives you information on reception for any point on the map. The AS Analysis view gives you information on the pilot quality (Ec⁄I0) (which is the main parameter used to define the mobile active set), the connection status, and the active set of the probe mobile. Analysis is based on the reverse link load factor and the forward link total power of cells. In this case, these parameters can be either outputs of a given simulation, or average values calculated from a group of simulations. The analysis is provided for a user-definable probe receiver which has a terminal, a mobility and a service. For information on the criteria for belonging to the active set, see "Conditions for Entering the Active Set" on page 730. Before you make an AS analysis: • •

Ensure the simulation or group of simulations you want to use in the AS analysis is displayed on the map. Replay the simulation or group of simulations you want to use if you have modified radio parameters since you made the simulation. The AS analysis does not take possible network saturation into account. Therefore, there is no guarantee that a simulated mobile with the same receiver characteristics can verify the point analysis, simply because the simulated network can be saturated.

To make an AS analysis of simulation results: 1. Click the Point Analysis button (

) on the toolbar. The Point Analysis window appears.

2. Select the AS Analysis view at the top of the Point Analysis window. 3. At the top of the AS Analysis view, select the simulation or group of simulations you want to base the AS analysis on from the Load Conditions list. 4. Select the Terminal, Service, Mobility, Carrier, and DL and UL Throughputs.

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5. Click the Options button (

) to display the Calculation Options dialog box.

6. Select or clear the following options: • •

Whether shadowing is to be taken into account (and, if so, the cell edge coverage probability). Whether indoor coverage is to be taken into account.

7. Click OK to close the Calculation Options dialog box. 8. Move the pointer over the map to make an active set analysis for the current location of the pointer. As you move the pointer, Atoll indicates on the map which is the best server for the current position (see Figure 9.7 on page 668). Information on the current position is given in the AS Analysis view of the Point Analysis window. See Figure 9.8 on page 668 for an explanation of the displayed information. 9. Click the map to leave the point analysis pointer at its current position. To move the pointer again, click the point analysis pointer on the map and drag it to a new position. 10. Click the Point Analysis button (

) on the toolbar again to end the point analysis.

9.2.3.2 Making Coverage Predictions Using Simulation Results When no simulations are available, Atoll uses the reverse link load factor, the total forward link power defined for each cell to make coverage predictions. For information on cell properties, see "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 637; for information on modifying cell properties, see "Cell Properties" on page 633. Once you have made simulations, Atoll can use this information instead of the defined parameters in the cell properties to make coverage predictions where each pixel is considered as a probe user with a terminal, mobility, profile, and service. For each coverage prediction based on simulation results, you can base the coverage prediction on a selected simulation or on a group of simulations, choosing either an average analysis of all simulations in the group or a statistical analysis based on a defined probability. The coverage predictions that can use simulation results are: •

Coverage predictions on the pilot or on a service: • •

•

• •

Coverage predictions on noise and interference: • •

•

Pilot Quality Analysis (DL): For information on making a Pilot Quality Analysis, see "Studying Pilot Signal Quality" on page 657. Service Area Analysis (Eb/Nt) (DL): For information on making a coverage prediction on the forward link service area, see "Studying 1xRTT Forward and Reverse Link Service Areas (Eb⁄Nt)" on page 658 or "Studying the Forward Link EV-DO Throughput" on page 659. Service Area Analysis (Eb/Nt) (UL): For information on making a coverage prediction on the reverse link service area, see "Studying 1xRTT Forward and Reverse Link Service Areas (Eb⁄Nt)" on page 658 or "Studying 1xEV-DO Reverse Link Service Area (Eb⁄Nt)" on page 659. Effective Service Area Analysis (Eb/Nt) (DL+UL): For information on making a pilot pollution coverage analysis, see "Studying the Effective Service Area" on page 660. Coverage by Total Noise Level (DL): For information on making a forward link total noise coverage prediction, see "Studying Forward Link Total Noise" on page 662. Pilot Pollution Analysis (DL): For information on making a pilot pollution coverage analysis, see "Studying Pilot Pollution" on page 663.

A handoff status coverage prediction to analyse macro-diversity performance: •

Handoff Zones (DL): For information on making a handoff status coverage prediction, see "Making a Handoff Status Coverage Prediction" on page 665.

The procedures for the coverage predictions assume that simulation results are not available. When no simulations are available, you select "(Cells Table)" from the Load Conditions list, on the Conditions tab. However, when simulations are available you can base the coverage prediction on one simulation or a group of simulations. To base a coverage prediction on a simulation or group of simulations, when setting the parameters: 1. Click the Conditions tab. 2. From the Load Conditions list, select the simulation or group of simulations on which you want to base the coverage prediction. 3. If you select a group of simulations from the Load Conditions list, select one of the following: •

•

All: Select All to make a statistical analysis of all simulations based on the defined Probability (the probability must be from 0 to 1). This will make a global analysis of all simulations in a group and with an evaluation of the network stability in terms of fluctuations in traffic. Average: Select Average make the coverage prediction on the average of the simulations in the group.

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9.3 Optimising Network Parameters Using ACP The ACP (Automatic Cell Planning) module enables radio engineers designing CDMA networks to automatically calculate the optimal network settings in terms of network coverage and quality. ACP can also be used to add sites from a list of candidate sites or to remove unnecessary sites or sectors. ACP can also be used in co-planning projects where networks using different radio access technologies must be taken into consideration when calculating the optimal network settings. ACP is primarily intended to improve existing network deployment by reconfiguring the main parameters that can be remotely controlled by operators: antenna electrical tilt and cell pilot power. ACP can also be used during the initial planning stage of a CDMA network by enabling the selection of the antenna, and its azimuth, height, and mechanical tilt. ACP not only takes transmitters into account in optimisations but also any repeaters and remote antennas. ACP can also be used to measure and optimise the EMF exposure created by the network. This permits the optimisation of power and antenna settings to reduce excessive EMF exposure in existing networks and optimal site selection for new transmitters. ACP uses user-defined objectives to evaluate the optimisation, as well as to calculate its implementation cost. Once you have defined the objectives and the network parameters to be optimised, ACP uses an efficient global search algorithm to test many network configurations and propose the reconfigurations that best meet the objectives. ACP presents the changes ordered from the most to the least beneficial, allowing phased implementation or implementation of just a subset of the suggested changes. ACP is technology-independent and can be used to optimise networks using different radio access technologies. Chapter 17: Automatic Cell Planning explains how you configure the ACP module, how you create and run an optimisation setup, and how you can view the results of an optimisation. In this section, only the concepts specific to CDMA networks are explained: • • •

"CDMA2000 Optimisation Objectives" on page 698 "CDMA2000 Quality Parameters" on page 699 "CDMA2000 Quality Analysis Predictions" on page 700.

9.3.1 CDMA2000 Optimisation Objectives ACP optimises the network using user-defined objectives to evaluate the quality of the network reconfiguration. The objectives are dependent on the technology used by the project and are consistent with the corresponding coverage predictions in Atoll. In projects using CDMA2000, either alone, or in a co-planning or multi-RAT mode, the following objectives are proposed by default: • • • •

CDMA 1xRTT Coverage CDMA 1xRTT EcIo CDMA 1xEv-DO Coverage CDMA 1xEv-DO EcIo

You can also create the following objectives from the context menu of Objectives in the left-hand pane of the Objectives tab: • • • • •

CDMA 1xRTT Pilot Pollution CDMA 1xRTT Soft Handover CDMA 1xRTT 1st-Nth Difference CDMA 1xEv-DO 1st-Nth Difference Custom Coverage

You define the optimisation objectives using the Objectives tab of the ACP Setup dialog box. For information on setting objective parameters, see "Setting Objective Parameters" on page 1329.

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Figure 9.22: Running ACP Optimisation for a CDMA Network

9.3.2 CDMA2000 Quality Parameters When you create an optimisation setup, you define how ACP evaluates the objectives. The quality parameters are technology dependent. You can base the evaluation of the objectives on a calculated coverage prediction or on manual configuration. If you base the coverage prediction settings on a calculated coverage prediction, ACP will use the ranges and colours defined in the selected coverage prediction as the default for its own predictions. However, if you have saved the display options of an ACP prediction as default, or if you are using a configuration file for ACP, these defined ranges and colours will be used as the default, overriding the settings in the selected coverage prediction. In projects using CDMA2000, either alone, or in a co-planning or multi-RAT mode, the following Quality parameters are proposed in the Pixel Rules frame of the objectives’ properties pages: • • • • • •

Signal level EcIo Overlap Best Server Distance 1st-2nd Difference 1st-Nth Difference

To define the ACP quality parameters for CDMA: 1. Open the dialog box used to define the optimisation as explained in "Creating an ACP Setup" on page 1319. 2. Click the Objectives tab. 3. Under Parameters, expand the CDMA folder. The list of available quality parameters appears. You can base the evaluation of a qualiy analysis prediction on a calculated Atoll prediction, if any, or on a manual configuration. •

If you base the evaluation of a qualiy analysis prediction on a calculated Atoll prediction, ACP will use the display settings of the calculated Atoll prediction in the qualiy analysis prediction calculated for that objective.

•

If you saved the display settings of a qualiy analysis prediction as defaults, or if you are using a configuration file for ACP, these display settings will be used by default and will override the display settings of the calculated Atoll prediction. For more information on changing the display settings of a quality analysis prediction, see "Changing the Display Properties of ACP Predictions" on page 1379.

Signal Level Click this parameter to define in the right-hand pane how ACP will evaluate coverage by signal level. •

•

Base prediction settings on > "Coverage by Signal Level (DL)": ACP will evaluate coverages by signal level based on the parameters used to calculate the selected "Coverage by Signal Level (DL)" prediction in Atoll. Only the coverage predictions displaying a "Best Signal Level" per pixel can be accessed by the ACP. Base prediction settings on > "Manual configuration": if you select this option, you can Enable shadowing margin and define a Cell edge coverage probability. The standard deviations defined in the Atoll clutter are used or, if no clutter information available, default values are used.

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EcIo Click this parameter to define in the right-hand pane how ACP will evaluate coverage by Ec/Io. • •

Base prediction settings on > "Pilot Quality Analysis (DL)": ACP will evaluate coverages by signal level based on the parameters used to calculate the selected "Pilot Quality Analysis (DL)" prediction in Atoll. Base prediction settings on > Manual configuration: If you select this option, you can Enable shadowing margin and define a Cell edge coverage probability. The standard deviations defined in the Atoll clutter are used or, if no clutter information is available, default values are used. Additionally, you can specify: • Service and Terminal that will be used during the calculation of Ec⁄Io through gain and losses (i.e., the service body loss, the gain and loss of the terminal antenna, and the terminal noise factor).

Overlap / 1st-Nth Click this parameter to define in the right-hand pane how ACP will evaluate coverage by overlapping zones or by 1stNth difference. Overlap •

•

Base prediction settings on > "Overlapping Zones (DL)": ACP will evaluate coverages by overlapping based on the parameters used to calculate the selected "Overlapping Zones (DL)" prediction in Atoll. Only the Atoll predictions displaying a "Number of Servers" per pixel can be accessed by the ACP. Base prediction settings on > "Manual configuration": If you select this option, you can set a Minimum signal level and a Threshold margin.

1st-Nth •

•

Base prediction settings on > "Overlapping Zones (DL)": ACP will evaluate coverages by 1st-Nth difference based on the parameters used to calculate the selected "Overlapping Zones (DL)" prediction in Atoll. Since there are no Atoll prediction types equivalent to ACP’s CDMA 1xRTT 1st-Nth Difference and CDMA EvDO 1st-Nth Difference objectives, the parameters recovered by ACP from the selected Atoll predictions are limited to the minimum signal level and the shading. The number of servers must always be specified manually next to No. servers. Manual configuration: If you select this option, specify a Minimum signal level and the No. servers. In both cases, the value you specify next to No. servers determines "Nth" in the CDMA 1xRTT 1st-Nth Difference and CDMA Ev-DO 1st-Nth Difference objectives. For instance if you set No. servers to 4, then the "1st4th Difference" quality parameter will be automatically selected by default in the Quality column of the CDMA 1xRTT 1st-Nth Difference and CDMA Ev-DO 1st-Nth Difference properties pages. - Allowed values for No. servers range from 3 to 100, with only one value available per technology. - The "1st-2nd Difference" quality parameter (based on No. servers = 2) is provided by default.

9.3.3 CDMA2000 Quality Analysis Predictions ACP quality analysis predictions can be displayed in the Atoll map window. The same predictions are displayed by default on the Quality tab of an optimisation’s results window.

Figure 9.23: ACP Quality Analysis Prediction Types for a CDMA Network

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ACP quality analysis predictions are equivalent to some of Atoll’s coverage predictions. The following table lists the quality analysis predictions available in ACP for LTE and the equivalent LTE coverage predictions in Atoll.

ACP Quality Analysis Prediction Type

Atoll Coverage Prediction Type "Display type" / "Field"

Signal Level

Coverage by Signal Level (DL) (1) "Value Intervals" / "Best Signal Level (dBm)"

EcIo

Pilot Quality Analysis (DL) (2) "Value Intervals" / "Ec/Io (dB)"

Overlap

Overlapping Zones (DL) (3) "Value Intervals" / "Number of Servers"

1st-Nth Difference

N/A

(1) For more information, see "Making a Coverage Prediction by Signal Level" on page 654. (2) For more information, see "Creating Coverage Predictions on Drive Test Data Paths" on page 708. (3) For more information, see "Making a Coverage Prediction on Overlapping Zones" on page 655.

Making these predictions available within ACP enables you to quickly validate the optimisation results without having to commit the results and then calculate a coverage prediction in Atoll. ACP predictions display results very similar to those that Atoll would display if you committed the optimisation results and calculated Atoll coverage predictions, however, before basing any decision to commit the optimisation results on the predictions produced by ACP, you should keep the following recommendations in mind: • • • •

You should verify the results with a different Atoll coverage prediction, such as the pilot pollution analysis. ACP-generated predictions are generated using the entire set of proposed changes. They do not take into account the change subset defined on the Change Details tab. Multiple-carrier optimisation is supported in CDMA. However the predictions are provided separately for each carrier. Even after committing the optimisation results, differences can remain between ACP and Atoll predictions.

You can view the exact signal level and Ec⁄Io values on any pixel by letting the pointer rest over the pixel. The signal level or Ec⁄Io value is then displayed in tip text. For ACP overlapping zones predictions, you can: •

Specify a best server threshold: • by entering a value next to Minimum Signal Level in the Overlap / 1st-Nth properties page, • or by setting the param.cdma.overlap.minRxLevel option with the same value in the [ACPTplObjectivePage] section of the ACP.ini file.

•

Specify a threshold margin: • by entering a value next to Threshold margin in the Overlap / 1st-Nth properties page, • or by setting the param.cdma.overlap.margin option with the same value in the [ACPTplObjectivePage] section of the ACP.ini file.

For each network quality coverage prediction, ACP offers a prediction showing the initial network state, the final network state, and a prediction showing the changes between the initial and final state.

9.4 Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data An important step in the process of creating a CDMA2000 network is to analyse the network’s performance using drive test data. This is done using measurements of the strength of the pilot signal and other parameters in different locations within the area covered by the network. This collection of measurements is called a drive test data path. The data contained in a drive test data path is used to verify the accuracy of current network parameters and to optimise the network. In this section, the following are explained: • • • • •

"Importing a Drive Test Data Path" on page 702 "Displaying Drive Test Data" on page 704 "Defining the Display of a Drive Test Data Path" on page 704 "Network Verification" on page 705 "Exporting a Drive Test Data Path" on page 712

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"Extracting CW Measurements from Drive Test Data" on page 712 "Printing and Exporting the Drive Test Data Window" on page 713.

9.4.1 Importing a Drive Test Data Path In Atoll, you can analyse drive tests by importing drive test data in the form of ASCII text files (with tabs, commas, semi-colons, or spaces as separator), TEMS FICS-Planet export files (with the extension PLN), or TEMS text export files (with the extension FMT). For Atoll to be able to use the data in imported files, the imported files must contain the following information: • •

The position of drive test data points. When you import the data, you must indicate which columns give the abscissa and ordinate (XY coordinates) of each point. Information that identifies scanned cells (for example, serving cells, neighbour cells, or any other cells). Cells may be identified by their IDs or PN offsets.

The data in the file must be structured so that the columns identifying the PN offset group and the PN offset are placed before the data columns for each cell. Otherwise Atoll will not be able to properly import the file. You can import a single drive test data file or several drive test data files at the same time. If you regularly import drive test data files of the same format, you can create an import configuration. The import configuration contains information that defines the structure of the data in the drive test data file. By using the import configuration, you will not need to define the data structure each time you import a new drive test data file. To import one or several drive test data files: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Drive Test Data folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Import from the context menu. The Open dialog box appears. 4. You can import one or several files. Select the file or files you want to open. If you are importing more than one file, you can select contiguous files by clicking the first file you want to import, pressing Shift and clicking the last file you want to import. You can select non-contiguous files by pressing Ctrl and clicking each file you want to import. 5. Click Open. The Import of Measurement Files dialog box appears. Files with the extension PLN, as well as some FMT files (created with previous versions of TEMS) are imported directly into Atoll; you will not be asked to define the data structure using the Import of Measurement Files dialog box. 6. If you already have an import configuration defining the data structure of the imported file or files, you can select it from the Import configuration list on the Setup tab of the Import of Measurement Files dialog box. If you do not have an import configuration, continue with step 7. a. Under Import configuration, select an import configuration from the Import configuration list. b. Continue with step 10. •

•

When importing a drive test data path file, existing configurations are available in the Files of type list of the Open dialog box, sorted according to their date of creation. After you have selected a file and clicked Open, Atoll automatically proposes a configuration, if it recognises the extension. if several configurations are associated with an extension, Atoll chooses the first configuration in the list. The defined configurations are stored, by default, in the file "NumMeasINIFile.ini", located in the directory where Atoll is installed. For more information on the NumMeasINIFile.ini file, see the Administrator Manual.

7. Click the General tab. On the General tab, you can set the following parameters: • • •

Name: By default, Atoll names the new drive test data path after the imported file. You can change this name if desired. Under Receiver, set the Height of the receiver antenna and the Gain and Losses. Under Measurement Conditions, • •

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Units: Select the measurement units used. Coordinates: By default, Atoll imports the coordinates using the display system of the Atoll document. If the coordinates used in the file you are importing are different than the coordinates used in the Atoll document,

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you must click the Browse button and select the coordinate system used in the drive test data file. Atoll will then convert the data imported to the coordinate system used in the Atoll document. 8. Click the Setup tab (see Figure 9.24).

Figure 9.24: The Setup tab of the Import of Measurement Files dialog box a. Under File, enter the number of the 1st Measurement Row, select the data Separator, and select the Decimal Symbol used in the file. b. Click the Setup button to link file columns and internal Atoll fields. The Drive Test Data Setup dialog box appears. c. Under Measurement point position, select the columns in the imported file that give the X-Coordinates and the Y-Coordinates of each point in the drive test data file. You can also identify the columns containing the XY coordinates of each point in the drive test data file by selecting them from the Field row of the table on the Setup tab.

d. If you are importing data that uses the ID as cell identifier: i.

Under Server identification, select By ID.

ii. In the By ID identifier box, enter a string found in the column name that identifies the cell Ids of scanned cells. For example, if the string "Cell_ID" is found in the column names that identify the cell ID of scanned cells, enter it here. Atoll will then search for the column with this string in the column name. e. If you are importing data that uses the PN offset as cell identifier: i.

Under Server identification, select By PN offset.

ii. In the PN offset identifier box, enter a string that is found in the column names identifying the PN offset of scanned cells. For example, if the string "PN" is found in the column names identifying the PN offset of scanned cells, enter it here. Atoll then searches for columns with this string in the column name. iii. In the PN offset format list, select the PN offset format, "Decimal" or "Hexadecimal." iv. In the PN offset group identifier box, enter a string that must be found in the column names identifying the PN offset group of scanned cells. For example, if the string "PN_Group" is found in the column names identifying the PN offset group of scanned cells, enter it here. Atoll will then search for columns with this string in the column name. If there is no PN offset group information contained in the drive test data file, leave the PN offset group identifier box empty.

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v. If you are importing drive test data for a specific carrier, select the carrier for which you are importing the drive test data in the Carrier number list. If you are importing drive test data for more than one carrier, select "All". f. Click OK to close the Drive Test Data Setup dialog box. If you have correctly entered the information under File on the Setup tab, and the necessary values in the Drive Test Data Setup dialog box, Atoll should recognise all columns in the imported file. If not, you can click the name of the column in the table in the Field row and select the column name. For each field, you must ensure that each column has the correct data type in order for the data to be correctly interpreted. The default value under Type is "". If a column is marked with "", it will not be imported. 9. If you want to save the definition of the data structure so that you can use it again, you can save it as an import configuration: a. On the Setup tab, under Import configuration, click Save. The Configuration dialog box appears. b. By default, Atoll saves the configuration in a file called "NumMeasINIfile.ini" found in Atoll’s installation folder. If you cannot write into that folder, you can click the Browse button to choose a different location. c. Enter a Configuration Name and an Extension of the files that this import configuration will describe (for example, "*.csv"). d. Click OK. Atoll will now select this import configuration automatically every time you import a drive test data path file with the selected extension. If you import a file with the same structure but a different extension, you will be able to select this import configuration from the Configuration list. • •

•

You do not have to complete the import procedure to save the import configuration and have it available for future use. When importing a measurement file, you can expand the NumMeasINIfile.ini file by clicking the Expand button ( ) in front of the file under Import configuration to display all the available import configurations. When selecting the appropriate configuration, the associations are automatically made in the table at the bottom of the dialog box. You can delete an existing import configuration by selecting the import configuration under Import configuration and clicking the Delete button.

10. Click Import, if you are only importing a single file, or Import All, if you are importing more than one file. The mobile data are imported into the current Atoll document.

9.4.2 Displaying Drive Test Data When you have imported the drive test data into the current Atoll document, you can display it in the map window. Then, you can select individual drive test data points to see information about the active set at that location. To display information about a single drive test data point: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Drive Test Data folder. 3. Select the display check box beside the drive test data you want to display in the map window. The drive test data is displayed. 4. Click and hold the drive test data point on which you want active set information. Atoll displays an arrow pointing towards the serving cells (see Figure 9.29 on page 711), with a number identifying the server as numbered in the drive test data. If the transmitter display type is "Automatic," both the number and the arrow are displayed in the same colour as the transmitter. For information on changing the display type to "Automatic," see "Setting the Display Type" on page 52.

9.4.3 Defining the Display of a Drive Test Data Path You can manage the display of drive test data paths using the Display dialog box. The points on a drive test data path can be displayed according to any available attribute. You can also use the Display dialog box to manage permanent labels on the map, tip texts and the legend. In other words, the display of measurement path are managed in the same way as sites, transmitters, etc.

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To display the Display tab of a drive test data path’s Properties dialog box: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Drive Test Data folder. 3. Right-click the drive test data path whose display you want to manage. The context menu appears. 4. Select Properties from the context menu, 5. Click the Display tab. Each point can be displayed by a unique attribute or according to: • •

a text or integer attribute (discrete value) a numerical value (value interval).

In addition, you can display points by more than one criterion at a time using the Advanced option in the Display Type list. When you select Advanced from the Display Type list, a dialog box opens in which you can define the following display for each single point of the measurement path: • • •

a symbol according to any attribute a symbol colour according to any attribute a symbol size according to any attribute.

You can, for example, display a signal level in a certain colour, choose a symbol type for Transmitter 1 (a circle, triangle, cross, etc.) and a symbol size according to the altitude. • • •

•

Fast Display forces Atoll to use the lightest symbol to display the points. This is particularly useful when you have a very large number of points. You can not use Advanced Display if the Fast Display check box has been selected. You can sort drive test data paths in alphabetical order in the Network explorer by right-clicking the Drive Test Data Path folder and selecting Sort Alphabetically from the context menu. You can save the display settings (such as colours and symbols) of a drive test data path in a user configuration file to make them available for use on another drive test data path. To save or load the user configuration file, click the Actions button on the Display tab of the path properties dialog box and select Save or Load from the Display Configuration submenu.

9.4.4 Network Verification The imported drive test data is used to verify the CDMA network. To improve the relevance of the data, Atoll allows you to filter out incompatible or inaccurate points. You can then compare the imported measurements with previously calculated coverage predictions. In this section, the following are explained: • • • • •

"Filtering Incompatible Points Along Drive Test Data Paths" on page 705 "Creating Coverage Predictions on Drive Test Data Paths" on page 708 "Displaying Statistics Over a Drive Test Data Path" on page 709 "Extracting a Field From a Drive Test Data Path for a Transmitter" on page 710 "Analysing Data Variations Along the Path" on page 710.

9.4.4.1 Filtering Incompatible Points Along Drive Test Data Paths When using a drive test data path, some measured points may present values that are too far outside of the median values to be useful. As well, test paths may include test points in areas that are not representative of the drive test data path as a whole. For example, a test path that includes two heavily populated areas might also include test points from the more lightly populated region between the two. In Atoll, you can filter out points that are incompatible with the points you are studying, either by filtering out the clutter classes where the incompatible points are located, or by filtering out points according to their properties. To filter out incompatible points by clutter class: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. In the Network explorer, right-click the drive test data on which you want to filter out incompatible points: • •

All drive test data measurements: Right-click the Drive Test Data folder. Only one drive test data path: Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Drive Test Data folder and right-click the drive test path.

The context menu appears.

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3. Select Filter from the context menu. The Drive Test Data Filter dialog box appears. 4. In the Per Clutter window, under Filter, clear the check boxes of the clutter classes you want to filter out. Only the clutter classes whose check box is selected will be taken into account. 5. If you want to keep the measurement points inside the focus zone, select the Use focus zone to filter check box. 6. If you want to permanently remove the measurement points outside the filter, select the Delete Points Outside Filter check box. If you permenantly delete measurement points and later want to use them, you will have to re-import the original measurement data. To filter out incompatible points using a filter: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. In the Network explorer, right-click the Drive Test Data on which you want to filter out incompatible points: • •

All Drive Test Data measurements: Right-click the Drive Test Data folder. Only one Drive Test Data path: Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Drive Test Data folder.

The context menu appears. 3. Select Filter from the context menu. The Drive Test Data Filter dialog box appears. 4. Click More. The Filter dialog box appears. 5. Click the Filter tab: a. Select a Field from the list. b. Under Values to Include, you will find all the values represented in the selected field. Select the check boxes next to the values you want to include in the filter. Click Clear All to clear all check boxes. 6. Click the Advanced tab: a. In the Column row, select the name of the column to be filtered on from the list. Select as many columns as you want (see Figure 9.25).

Figure 9.25: The Filter dialog box - Advanced tab b. Underneath each column name, enter the criteria on which the column will be filtered as explained in the following table:

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Formula

Data are kept in the table only if

=X

value equal to X (X can be a number or characters)

X

value not equal to X (X can be a number or characters)

X

numerical value is greater than X

=X

numerical value is greater than or equal to X

*X*

text objects which contain X

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Formula

Data are kept in the table only if

*X

text objects which end with X

X*

text objects which start with X

7. Click OK to filter the data according to the criteria you have defined. Filters are combined first horizontally, then vertically. For more information on how filters work, see "Advanced Data Filtering" on page 101. You can permanently delete the points that do not fulfil the filter conditions by selecting the Delete points outside the filter check box.

8. Click OK to apply the filter and close the dialog box.

9.4.4.2 Predicting Signal Level on Drive Test Data Points To predict the signal level on drive test data points: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Drive Test Data folder. 3. Right-click the drive test data path on which you want to create the point prediction. The context menu appears. 4. Select Calculations > Create a New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 5. Under Point predictions, select Point Signal Level and click OK. The Point Signal Level Properties dialog box appears (see Figure 9.26).

Figure 9.26: Point Signal Level Properties dialog box The errors between measured and predicted signal levels can be calculated and added to the drive test data table. 6. If you want to calculate errors between measured and predicted signal levels, under Select signal levels for error calculations, select the names of the columns representing measured signal level values in the drive test data table for which you want to calculate the errors (see Figure 9.27). If you do not want to add this information to the drive test data table, continue with step 7.

Figure 9.27: Selecting measured signal levels for which errors will be calculated 7. Click OK. A new point prediction is created for the selected drive test data path. 8. Right-click the drive test data path. The context menu appears. 9. Select Calculations > Calculate All the Predictions from the context menu.

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If you chose to have Atoll calculate the errors between measured and predicted signal levels, new columns are added to the drive test data table for the predicted point signal level from the serving cell and the errors between the measured and predicted values.

Figure 9.28: Drive Test Data table after Point Signal Level Prediction (with error calculations) New columns are also added for the predicted point signal level from each neighbour cell and the errors between the predicted and measured values. The values stored in these columns can be displayed in the Drive Test Data analysis tool. For more information on the Drive Test Data analysis tool, see "Analysing Data Variations Along the Path" on page 710. The propagation model used to calculate the predicted point signal levels is the one assigned to the transmitter for the main matrix. For more information on propagation models, see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models.

9.4.4.3 Creating Coverage Predictions on Drive Test Data Paths You can create the following coverage predictions for all transmitters on each point of a drive test data path: • • • •

Coverage by Signal Level (DL) Pilot Quality Analysis (DL) Service Area Analysis (Eb⁄Nt) (DL) Service Area Analysis (Eb⁄Nt) (UL)

To create a coverage prediction along a drive test data path: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Drive Test Data folder. 3. Right-click the drive test data to which you want to add a coverage prediction. The context menu appears. 4. Select Calculations > Create a New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 5. Under Standard Predictions, select one of the following coverage predictions and click OK: •

Coverage by Signal Level (DL): Click the Conditions tab. •

•

Pilot Quality Analysis (DL): Click the Conditions tab. •

•

• • • •

On the Conditions tab, you can select which simulation to study in the Load Conditions list. Or you can select a group of simulations and either select All to perform an average analysis of all simulations in the group based on a Probability (from 0 to 1) or select Average to perform statistical analysis of all simulations. If you want to perform the coverage prediction without a simulation, you can select "(Cells Table)" from Load Conditions. In this case, Atoll calculates the coverage prediction using the UL load factor and the DL total power defined in the cell properties. You must select a Terminal, Service, and Mobility, as defined in "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. You must also select which Carrier is to be considered. If you want the pilot signal quality prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell Edge Coverage Probability text box. You can select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

Service Area Analysis (Eb⁄Nt) Downlink: Click the Conditions tab. •

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At the top of the Conditions tab, you can set the range of signal level to be calculated. Under Server, you can select whether to calculate the signal level from all transmitters, or only the best or second-best signal. If you choose to calculate the best or second-best signal, you can enter an Overlap margin. If you select the Shadowing taken into account check box, you can change the Cell Edge Coverage Probability. You can select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. Finally, you can select the Carrier to be studied.

On the Conditions tab, you can select which simulation to study in the Load Conditions list. Or you can select a group of simulations and either select All to perform an average analysis of all simulations in the group based on a Probability (from 0 to 1) or select Average to perform statistical analysis of all simulations.

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•

• • • •

If you want to perform the coverage prediction without a simulation, you can select "(Cells Table)" from Load Conditions. In this case, Atoll calculates the coverage prediction using the UL load factor and the DL total power defined in the cell properties. You must select a Terminal, Service, and Mobility, as defined in "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. You must also select which Carrier is to be considered. If you want the service area (Eb/Nt) coverage prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell Edge Coverage Probability text box. You can select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

Service Area Analysis (Eb⁄Nt) Uplink: Click the Conditions tab. •

•

• • •

On the Conditions tab, you can select which simulation to study in the Load Conditions list. Or you can select a group of simulations and either select All to perform an average analysis of all simulations in the group based on a Probability (from 0 to 1) or select Average to perform statistical analysis of all simulations. If you want to perform the coverage prediction without a simulation, you can select "(Cells Table)" from Load Conditions. In this case, Atoll calculates the coverage prediction using the UL load factor and the DL total power defined in the cell properties. You must select a Terminal, Service, and Mobility, as defined in "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. You must also select which Carrier is to be considered. If you want the service area (Eb/Nt) coverage prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell Edge Coverage Probability text box. You can select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

6. When you have finished setting the parameters for the coverage prediction, click OK. You can create a new coverage prediction by repeating the procedure from step 1. to step 6. for each new coverage prediction. 7. When you have finished creating new coverage predictions for these drive test data, right-click the drive test data. The context menu appears. 8. Select Calculations > Calculate All the Predictions from the context menu. A new column for each coverage prediction is added in the table for the drive test data. The column contains the predicted values of the selected parameters for the transmitter. The propagation model used is the one assigned to the transmitter for the main matrix (for information on the propagation model, see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models). You can display the information in these new columns in the Drive Test Data window. For more information on the Drive Test Data window, see "Analysing Data Variations Along the Path" on page 710.

9.4.4.4 Displaying Statistics Over a Drive Test Data Path Assuming some predictions have been calculated along a Drive Test Data path, you can display the statistics between the measured and the predicted values on a specific measurement path. To display the statistics for a specific Drive Test Data path: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Drive Test Data folder. 3. Right-click the drive test data from which you want to display comparative statistics. The context menu appears. 4. Select Display Statistics from the context menu. The Measurement and Prediction Fields Selection dialog box appears. 5. Select one or more transmitters from the For the Transmitters list. 6. Select the fields that contain the previously predicted values that you want to use for predictions. Only one type of value can be compared at a time (signal level or quality). 7. Select the fields that contain the measured values that you want to use for predictions. Only one type of value can be compared at a time (signal level or quality). The measured and the selected values have to match up. 8. Enter the minimum and maximum measured values. Statistics are done with drive test data points where the measured values are within this specified range. 9. Click OK. Atoll opens a popup in which the global statistics between measurements and predictions are given over all the filtered (or not) points of the current drive test data path through the mean error, its standard deviation, the root mean square and the error correlation factor. The statistics are also given per clutter class.

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9.4.4.5 Extracting a Field From a Drive Test Data Path for a Transmitter Assuming some predictions have been calculated along a Drive Test Data path, you can display the statistics between the measured and the predicted values on a specific measurement path. To display the statistics for a specific Drive Test Data path: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Drive Test Data folder. 3. Right-click the drive test data from which you want to display comparative statistics. The context menu appears. 4. Select Display Statistics from the context menu. The Measurement and Prediction Fields Selection dialog box appears. 5. Select one or more transmitters from the For the Transmitters list. 6. Select the fields that contain the previously predicted values that you want to use for predictions. Only one type of value can be compared at a time (signal level or quality). 7. Select the fields that contain the measured values that you want to use for predictions. Only one type of value can be compared at a time (signal level or quality). The measured and the selected values have to match up. 8. Enter the minimum and maximum measured values. Statistics are done with drive test data points where the measured values are within this specified range. 9. Click OK. Atoll opens a popup in which the global statistics between measurements and predictions are given over all the filtered (or not) points of the current drive test data path through the mean error, its standard deviation, the root mean square and the error correlation factor. The statistics are also given per clutter class.

9.4.4.6 Extracting a Field From a Drive Test Data Path for a Transmitter You can extract the information from a specific field for a given transmitter on each point of an existing drive test data path. The extracted information will be added to a new column in the drive test data table. To extract a field from a drive test data path: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Drive Test Data folder. 3. Right-click the drive test data from which you want to extract a field. The context menu appears. 4. Select Focus on a Transmitter from the context menu. The Field Selection for a Given Transmitter dialog box appears. 5. Select a transmitter from the On the Transmitter list. 6. Click the For the Fields list. The list opens. 7. Select the check box beside the field you want extract for the selected transmitter. 8. Click OK. Atoll creates a new column in the drive test data path table for the selected transmitters and with the selected values.

9.4.4.7 Analysing Data Variations Along the Path In Atoll, you can analyse variations in data along any drive test data path using the Drive Test Data window. You can also use the Drive Test Data window to see which cell is the serving cell for a given test point. To analyse data variations using the Drive Test Data window. 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Drive Test Data folder. 3. Right-click the drive test data you want to analyse. The context menu appears. 4. Select Open the Analysis Tool from the context menu. The Drive Test Data window appears (see Figure 9.29).

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Figure 9.29: The Drive Test Data window 5. Click Display at the top of the Drive Test Data window. The Display Parameters dialog box appears (see Figure 9.30).

Figure 9.30: The Drive Test Data window 6. In the Display Parameters dialog box: • • •

Select the check box next to any field you want to display in the Drive Test Data window. If you want, you can change the display colour by clicking the colour in the Colour column and selecting a new colour from the palette that appears. Click OK to close the Display Parameters dialog box. You can change the display status or the colour of more than one field at a time. You can select contiguous fields by clicking the first field, pressing Shift and clicking the last field you want to import. You can select non-contiguous fields by pressing Ctrl and clicking each field. You can then change the display status or the colour by right-clicking on the selected fields and selecting the choice from the context menu. The selected fields are displayed in the Drive Test Data window.

7. You can display the data in the drive test data path in two ways: • •

Click the values in the Drive Test Data window. Click the points on the drive test path in the map window.

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The drive test data path appears in the map window as an arrow pointing towards the serving cell, with a number identifying the best server (see Figure 9.29 on page 711). If the transmitter display type is "Automatic," both the number and the arrow are displayed in the same colour as the transmitter. For information on changing the display type to "Automatic," see "Setting the Display Type" on page 52. 8. You can display a second Y-axis on the right side of the window in order to display the values of a variable with different orders of magnitude than the ones selected in the Display Parameters dialog box. You can select the secondary Y-axis from the right-hand list on the top of the Drive Test Data window. The selected values are displayed in the colours defined for this variable in the Display Parameters dialog box. 9. You can change the zoom level of the Drive Test Data window display in the Drive Test Data window in the following ways: •

Zoom in or out: i.

Right-click the Drive Test Data window.

ii. Select Zoom In or Zoom Out from the context menu. •

Select the data to zoom in on: i.

Right-click the Drive Test Data window on one end of the range of data you want to zoom in on.

ii. Select First Zoom Point from the context menu. iii. Right-click the Drive Test Data window on the other end of the range of data you want to zoom in on. iv. Select Last Zoom Point from the context menu. The Drive Test Data window zooms in on the data between the first zoom point and the last zoom point. 10. Click the data in the Drive Test Data window to display the selected point in the map window. Atoll will recentre the map window on the selected point if it is not presently visible. If you open the table for the drive test data you are displaying in the Drive Test Data window, Atoll will automatically display in the table the data for the point that is displayed in the map and in the Drive Test Data window (see Figure 9.29 on page 711).

9.4.5 Exporting a Drive Test Data Path You can export drive test data paths to vector files. To export a drive test data path to a vector file: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Drive Test Data folder. 3. Right-click the drive test data path you want to export. The context menu appears. 4. Select Export from the context menu. The Save As dialog box appears. 5. Enter a File name for the drive test data path and select a format from the Save as type list. 6. Click Save. The drive test data path is exported and saved in the file.

9.4.6 Extracting CW Measurements from Drive Test Data You can generate CW measurements from drive test data paths and extract the results to the CW Measurements folder. To generate CW measurement from a drive test data path: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Drive Test Data folder. 3. Right-click the drive test data path you want to export. The context menu appears. 4. Select Extract CW Measurements from the context menu. The CW Measurement Extraction dialog box appears. 5. Under Extract CW Measurements: a. Select one or more transmitters from the For the Transmitters list. b. Select the field that contains the information that you want to export to CW measurements from the For the Fields list.

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6. Under CW Measurement Creation Parameters: a. Enter the Min. Number of Points to Extract per Measurement Path. CW measurements are not created for transmitters that have fewer points than this number. b. Enter the minimum and maximum Measured Signal Levels. CW measurements are created with drive test data points where the signal levels are within this specified range. 7. Click OK. Atoll creates new CW measurements for transmitters satisfying the parameters set in the CW Measurement Extraction dialog box. For more information about CW measurements, see the Model Calibration Guide.

9.4.7 Printing and Exporting the Drive Test Data Window You can print or export the contents of the Drive Test Data window, using the context menu in the Drive Test Data window. To print or export the contents of the Drive Test Data window: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Drive Test Data folder. 3. Right-click the drive test data you want to analyse. The context menu appears. 4. Select Open the Analysis Tool from the context menu. The Drive Test Data window appears (see Figure 9.29 on page 711). 5. Define the display parameters and zoom level as explained in "Analysing Data Variations Along the Path" on page 710. 6. Right-click the Drive Test Data window. The context menu appears. To export the Drive Test Data window: a. Select Copy from the context menu. b. Open the document into which you want to paste the contents of the Drive Test Data window. c. Paste the contents of the Drive Test Data window into the new document. To print the Drive Test Data window: a. Select Print from the context menu. The Print dialog box appears. b. Click OK to print the contents of the Drive Test Data window.

9.5 Co-planning CDMA Networks with Other Networks Atoll is a multi-technology radio network planning tool. You can work on several technologies at the same time, and several network scenarios can be designed for any given area: a country, a region, a city, etc. For example, you can design a CDMA and a GSM network for the same area in Atoll, and then work with Atoll’s co-planning features to study the mutual impacts of the two networks. Before starting a co-planning project in Atoll, the Atoll administrator must perform the pre-requisite tasks that are relevant for your project as described in the Administrator Manual. Sectors of both networks can share the same sites database. You can display base stations (sites and sectors), geographic data, and coverage predictions, etc., of one network in the other network’s Atoll document. In addition, you can optimise the settings of the two networks using the Atoll Automatic Cell Planning (ACP) module. You can also study inter-technology handovers by performing inter-technology neighbour allocations, manually or automatically. Inter-technology neighbours are allocated on criteria such as the distance between sectors or overlapping coverage. In this section, the following are explained: • • • • • •

"Switching to Co-planning Mode" on page 714 "Working with Coverage Predictions in a Co-Planning Project" on page 715 "Creating a CDMA Sector From a Sector in the Other Network" on page 718 "Planning Neighbours in Co-planning Mode" on page 719 "Using ACP in a Co-planning Project" on page 721 "Ending Co-planning Mode" on page 722

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9.5.1 Switching to Co-planning Mode Before starting a co-planning project, you must have two networks designed for a given area, i.e., you must have a CDMA Atoll document and another Atoll document for the other network. Atoll switches to co-planning mode as soon as the two documents are linked together. In the following sections, the CDMA document will be referred to as the main document, and the other document as the linked document. Atoll does not establish any restriction on which is the main document and which is the linked document. Before starting a co-planning project, make sure that your main and linked documents have the same geographic coordinate systems.

To switch to co-planning mode: 1. Open the main document. •

Select File > Open or File > New > From an Existing Database.

2. Link the other document with the open main document. a. Click the main document’s map window. The main document’s map window becomes active and the Explorer window shows the contents of the main document. b. Select Document > Link With > Browse. The Link With dialog box appears. c. Select the document to be linked. d. Click Open. The selected document is opened in the same Atoll session as the main document and the two documents are linked. The Explorer window of the main document now contains a folder named Transmitters in [linked document], where [linked document] is the name of the linked document and another folder named Predictions in [linked document]. By default, only the Transmitters and Predictions folders of the linked document appear in the main document. If you want the Sites folder of the linked document to appear in the main document as well, you can set an option in the Atoll.ini file. For information on setting options in the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual. As soon as a link is created between the two documents, Atoll switches to co-planning mode and Atoll’s co-planning features are now available. When you are working on a co-planning document, Atoll facilitates working on two different but linked documents by synchronising the display in the map window between both documents. Atoll syncronises the display for the following: • • • •

Geographic data: Atoll synchronises the display of geographic data such as clutter classes and the DTM. If you select or deselect one type of geographic data, Atoll makes the corresponding change in the linked document. Zones: Atoll synchronises the display of filtering, focus, computation, hot spot, printing, and geographic export zones. If you select or deselect one type of zone, Atoll makes the corresponding change in the linked document. Map display: Atoll co-ordinates the display of the map in the map window. When you move the map, or change the zoom level in one document, Atoll makes the corresponding changes in the linked document. Point analysis: When you use the Point Analysis tool, Atoll co-ordinates the display on both the working document and the linked document. You can select a point and view the profile in the main document and then switch to the linked document to make an analysis on the same profile but in the linked document.

Displaying Both Networks in the Same Atoll Document After you have switched to co-planning mode as explained in "Switching to Co-planning Mode" on page 714, transmitters and predictions from the linked document are displayed in the main document. If you want, you can display other items or folders from the Explorer window of the linked document to the Explorer window of the main document (e.g., you can display GSM sites and measurement paths in a CDMA document). To display sites from the linked document in the main document: 1. Click the linked document’s map window. The linked document’s map window becomes active and the Explorer window shows the contents of the linked document. 2. Select the Network explorer. 3. Right-click the Sites folder. The context menu appears. 4. Select Make Accessible In from the context menu, and select the name of the main document from the submenu that opens.

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The Sites folder of the linked document is now available in the main document. The Explorer window of the main document now contains a folder named Sites in [linked document], where [linked document] is the name of the linked document. If you want the Sites folder of the linked document to appear in the main document automatically, you can set an option in the Atoll.ini file. For information on setting options in the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual. The same process can be used to link other folders in one document, folders such as CW Measurements, Drive Test Data, Clutter classes, Traffic, and DTM, etc., in the other document. Once the folders are linked, you can access their properties and the properties of the items in the folders from either of the two documents. Any changes you make in the linked document are taken into account in the both the linked and main documents. However, because working document is the main document, any changes made in the main document are not automatically taken into account in the linked document. If you close the linked document, Atoll displays a warning icon ( ) in the main document’s Explorer window, and the linked items are no longer accessible from the main document. You can load the linked document in Atoll again by right-clicking the linked item in the Explorer window of the main document, and selecting Open Linked Document. The administrator can create and set a configuration file for the display parameters of linked and main document transmitters in order to enable you to distinguish them on the map and to be able to select them on the map using the mouse. If such a configuration file has not been set up, you can choose different symbols, sizes and colours for the linked and the main document transmitters. For more information on folder configurations, see "Folder Configurations" on page 107. You can also set the tip text to enable you to distinguish the objects and data displayed on the map. For more information on tip text, see "Associating a Tip Text to an Object" on page 54. In order to more easily view differences between the networks, you can also change the order of the folders or items in the Explorer window. For more information on changing the order of items in the Explorer window, see "Changing the Order of Layers" on page 51. Figure 9.31 shows an example of CDMA transmitters with labels and displayed in the Legend window, and GSM transmitter data displayed in tip text.

Figure 9.31: GSM and CDMA Transmitters displayed on the map

9.5.2 Working with Coverage Predictions in a Co-Planning Project Atoll provides you with features that enable you to work with coverage predictions in your co-planning project. You can modify the properties of coverage predictions in the linked document from within the main document, and calculate coverage predictions in both documents at the same time. You can also study and compare the coverage predictions of the two networks. In this section, the following are explained: • •

"Updating Coverage Predictions" on page 715 "Analysing Coverage Predictions" on page 716.

9.5.2.1 Updating Coverage Predictions You can access the properties of the coverage predictions in the linked Predictions folder in the main document’s Explorer window. After modifying the linked coverage prediction properties, you can update them from the main document.

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To update a linked coverage prediction: 1. Click the main document’s map window. The main document’s map window becomes active and the Explorer window shows the contents of the main document and the linked folders from the linked document. 2. Select the Network explorer. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Predictions in [linked document] folder, where [linked document] is the name of the linked document. 4. Right-click the linked coverage prediction whose properties you want to modify. The context menu appears. 5. Select Properties from the context menu. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 6. Modify the calculation and display parameters of the coverage prediction. 7. Click OK to save your settings. 8. Click the Calculate button (

) in the toolbar.

When you click the Calculate button, Atoll first calculates uncalculated and invalid path loss matrices and then unlocked coverage predictions in the main and linked Predictions folders. When you have several unlocked coverage predictions defined in the main and linked Predictions folders, Atoll calculates them one after the other. For information on locking and unlocking coverage predictions, see "Locking and Unlocking Coverage Predictions" on page 207. If you want, you can make Atoll recalculate all path loss matrices, including valid ones, before calculating unlocked coverage predictions in the main and linked Predictions folders. To force Atoll to recalculate all path loss matrices before calculating coverage predictions: •

Click the Force Calculate button (

) in the toolbar.

When you click the Force Calculate button, Atoll first removes existing path loss matrices, recalculates them and then calculates unlocked coverages predictions defined in the main and linked Predictions folders. To prevent Atoll from calculating coverage predictions in the linked Predictions folder, you can set an option in the Atoll.ini file. For information on setting options in the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual.

9.5.2.2 Analysing Coverage Predictions In Atoll, you can analyse coverage predictions of the two networks together. You can display information about coverage predictions in the main and the linked documents in the Legend window, use tip text to get information on displayed coverage predictions, compare coverage areas by overlaying the coverage predictions in the map window, and study the differences between the coverage areas by creating coverage comparisons. If several coverage predictions are visible on the map, it might be difficult to clearly see the results of the coverage prediction you want to analyse. You can select which coverage predictions to display or to hide by selecting or clearing the display check box. For information on managing the display, see "Displaying or Hiding Objects on the Map" on page 50. In this section, the following are explained: • • • • •

9.5.2.2.1

"Co-Planning Coverage Analysis Process" on page 716 "Displaying the Legend Window" on page 717 "Comparing Coverage Prediction Results Using Tip Text" on page 717 "Comparing Coverage Areas by Overlaying Coverage Predictions" on page 717 "Studying Differences Between Coverage Areas" on page 718.

Co-Planning Coverage Analysis Process The aim of coverage analysis in a co-planning project is to compare the coverage areas of the two networks and to analyse the impact of changes made in one network on the other. Changes made to the sectors of one network might also have an impact on sectors in the other network if the sectors in the two networks share some antenna parameters. You can carry out a coverage analysis with Atoll to find the impact of these changes. The recommended process for analysing coverage areas, and the effect of parameter modifications in one on the other, is as follows: 1. Create and calculate a Coverage by Transmitter (DL) (best server with 0 dB overlap margin) coverage prediction and a Coverage by Signal Level (DL) coverage prediction in the main document. For more information, see "Making a

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Coverage Prediction by Transmitter" on page 655 and "Studying Signal Level Coverage of a Single Base Station" on page 654. 2. Create and calculate a Coverage by Transmitter (DL) (best server with 0 dB overlap margin) coverage prediction and a Coverage by Signal Level (DL) coverage prediction in the linked document. 3. Choose display settings for the coverage predictions and tip text contents that will allow you to easily interpret the predictions displayed in the map window. This can help you to quickly assess information graphically and using the mouse. You can change the display settings of the coverage predictions on the Display tab of each coverage prediction’s Properties dialog box. 4. Make the two new coverage predictions in the linked document accessible in the main document as described in "Displaying Both Networks in the Same Atoll Document" on page 714. 5. Optimise the main network by changing parameters such as antenna azimuth and tilt or the pilot power. Changes made to the shared antenna parameters will be automatically propagated to the linked document. 6. Calculate the coverage predictions in the main document again to compare the effects of the changes you made with the linked coverage predictions. For information on comparing coverage predictions, see "Comparing Coverage Areas by Overlaying Coverage Predictions" on page 717 and "Studying Differences Between Coverage Areas" on page 718. 7. Calculate the linked coverage predictions again to study the effects of the changes on the linked coverage predictions.

9.5.2.2.2

Displaying the Legend Window When you create a coverage prediction, you can add the displayed values of the coverage prediction to the legend by selecting the Add to Legend check box on the Display tab. To display the Legend window: •

9.5.2.2.3

Select View > Legend Window. The Legend window is displayed, with the values for each displayed coverage prediction in the main and linked Predictions folders, identified by the name of the coverage prediction.

Comparing Coverage Prediction Results Using Tip Text You can compare coverage predictions by by placing the pointer over an area of the coverage prediction to read the information displayed in the tip text. Atoll displays information for all displayed coverage predictions in both the working and the linked documents. The information displayed is defined by the settings you made on the Display tab when you created the coverage prediction (step 3. of "Co-Planning Coverage Analysis Process" on page 716). To get coverage prediction results in the form of tip text: •

In the map window, place the pointer over the area of the coverage prediction that you want more information on. After a brief pause, the tip text appears with the information defined on all displayed coverage predictions in both the working and the linked documents (see Figure 9.5). The tip text for the working document is on top and the tip text for the linked document, with the linked document identified by name is on the bottom.

Figure 9.32: Comparing coverage prediction results using tip text

9.5.2.2.4

Comparing Coverage Areas by Overlaying Coverage Predictions You can compare the coverage areas of the main and linked documents by overlaying coverage predictions in the map window.

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To compare coverage areas by overlaying coverage predictions in the map window: 1. Click the main document’s map window. The main document’s map window becomes active and the Explorer window shows the contents of the main document and the linked folders from the linked document. 2. Select the Network explorer. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Predictions folder. 4. Select the visibility check box to the left of the coverage prediction of the main document you want to display in the map window. The coverage prediction is dislayed on the map. 5. Right-click the coverage prediction. The context menu appears. 6. Select Properties from the context menu. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 7. Click the Display tab. 8. Modify the display parameters of the coverage prediction. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 9. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Predictions in [linked document] folder, where [linked document] is the name of the linked document. 10. Select the visibility check box to the left of the linked coverage prediction you want to display in the map window. The coverage prediction is dislayed on the map. 11. Right-click the coverage prediction. The context menu appears. 12. Select Properties from the context menu. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 13. Modify the display parameters of the coverage prediction. 14. Calculate the two coverage predictions again, if needed. To more easily view differences between the coverage areas, you can also change the order of the Predictions folders in the Explorer window. For more information on changing the order of items in the Explorer window, see "Changing the Order of Layers" on page 51.

9.5.2.2.5

Studying Differences Between Coverage Areas You can compare coverage predictions to find differences in coverage areas. To compare coverage predictions: 1. Click the main document’s map window. The main document’s map window becomes active and the Explorer window shows the contents of the main document and the linked folders from the linked document. 2. Select the Network explorer. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Predictions folder. 4. Right-click the coverage prediction of the main document you want to compare. The context menu appears. 5. Select Compare With > [linked coverage prediction] from the context menu, where [linked coverage prediction] is the linked coverage prediction you want to compare with the coverage prediction of the main document. The Comparison Properties dialog box opens. 6. Select the display parameters of the comparison and add a comment if you want. 7. Click OK. The two coverage predictions are compared and a comparison coverage prediction is added to the main document’s Predictions folder. For more information on coverage prediction comparison, see "Comparing Coverage Predictions" on page 670.

9.5.3 Creating a CDMA Sector From a Sector in the Other Network You can create a new sector in the main document based on an existing sector in the linked document. To create a new sector in the main document based on an existing sector in the linked document: 1. Click the main document’s map window. 2. In the map window, right-click the linked transmitter based on which you want to create a new CDMA transmitter. The context menu appears. 3. Select Copy in [main document] from the context menu. The following parameters of the new sector in the main document will be the same as the sector in the linked document it was based on: antenna position relative to the site (Dx and Dy), antenna height, azimuth, and mechanical tilt. The new sector will be initialised with the radio parameters from the default station template in the main document.

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If the sector in the linked document is located at a site that does not exist in the main document, the site is created in the main document as well. If the sector in the linked document is located at a site that also exists in the main document, and the coordinates of the site in the linked and main documents are the same, the sector is created in the main document at the existing site. The site coordinates in the linked and main documents will always be the same if the Atoll administrator has set up site sharing in the database. For more information about site sharing in databases, see the Administrator Manual. If the sector in the linked document is located at a site that exists in the main document, but at a different location (geographic coordinates), the sector is not created in the main document. To update the display settings of the new sector: 1. Click the main document’s map window. 2. Select the Network explorer. 3. Right-click the Transmitters folder of the main document. The context menu appears. 4. Select Apply Current Configuration from the context menu.

Figure 9.33: New sector – Before and after applying the configuration The azimuths and mechanical tilts of secondary antennas or remote antennas are not included when you select Apply Configuration and have to be set up manually.

9.5.4 Planning Neighbours in Co-planning Mode In co-planning mode, you can use Atoll to manually allocate neighbour relations to any cell in a network. You can also use Atoll to automatically allocate neighbour relations to a single cell, to all the cells of a base station, to all the cells in a transmitter group, or to all the cells in a network, based on predefined parameters. For general information about neighbour planning, see "Neighbour Planning" on page 223. Other concepts that are specific to CDMA2000 networks are explained in "Planning Neighbours" on page 674. This section covers the following topics: • • •

"Coverage Conditions" on page 719 "Calculation Constraints" on page 720 "Reasons for Allocation" on page 721

9.5.4.1 Coverage Conditions In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, you either select or clear the Use coverage conditions check box. • •

When it is disabled, only the defined Distance will be used to allocate neighbours to a reference transmitter. When it is enabled, there are two cases: • "Coverage Conditions when CDMA is the Source Technology" on page 720 • "Coverage Conditions when CDMA is the Target Technology" on page 720

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Coverage Conditions when CDMA is the Source Technology

Figure 9.34: CDMA coverage conditions for automatic inter-technology neighbour allocation (CDMA is source technology) • •

• •

• • • •

9.5.4.1.2

Resolution: Enter the resolution to be used to calculate cells’ coverage areas during automatic neighbour allocation. Global min RSCP: Enter the minimum RSCP to be provided by the reference cell and the potential neighbour. Atoll uses the highest value between the Global min RSCP and the following: • If Global min RSCP is not defined, Atoll uses the Min RSCP in individual cells’ properties • If Global min RSCP is not defined and no Min RSCP is available in a cell’s properties, Atoll uses the Default min Pilot RSCP threshold defined on the Calculation Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box. Min Ec⁄Io: Enter the minimum Ec⁄Io which must be provided by reference cell A in an overlapping area. Reference cell A must also be the best server in terms of pilot quality in the overlapping area. Handover margin: Enter the maximum difference of Ec/Io between reference cell A and possible neighbour cell B in the overlapping area. You can select whether Atoll should use a Global value of the handover margin for all the cells, or the handover margins Defined per cell. Max Ec⁄Io: If you want, you can select this check box then enter the maximum difference of Ec⁄Io between reference cell A and potential neighbour cell B in the overlapping area. DL load contributing to Io: You can select whether Atoll should use a Global value (% Pmax) of the downlink load for all the cells, or the downlink loads Defined per cell. Shadowing Taken into Account: If selected, enter a Cell edge coverage probability. Indoor Coverage: Select this check box to take indoor losses into acccount in calculations. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

Coverage Conditions when CDMA is the Target Technology

Figure 9.35: CDMA coverage conditions for automatic inter-technology neighbour allocation (CDMA is target technology) Similar to "Coverage Conditions when CDMA is the Source Technology" on page 720 without the Max Ec/Io field.

9.5.4.2 Calculation Constraints In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, you can select the following calculation constraints: •

720

Co-site neighbours: cells located on the same site as the reference transmitter will automatically be considered as neighbours. A transmitter/cell with no antenna cannot be considered as a co-site neighbour.

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•

Exceptional pairs: Select this check box to force the neighbour relations defined in the Inter-technology Exceptional pairs table. For more information, see "Exceptional Pairs" on page 223.

9.5.4.3 Reasons for Allocation In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, the reason for neighbour allocation is indicated under Cause in the Results table. It can be any of the following: Cause

Description

When

Distance

The neighbour is located within the defined maximum distance from the reference transmitter/ cell

Use coverage conditions is not selected

Coverage

The neighbour relation fulfils the defined coverage conditions

Use coverage conditions is selected and nothing is selected under Force

Co-Site

The neighbour is located on the same site as the reference transmitter/cell

Use coverage conditions is selected and Co-site neighbours is selected

Exceptional Pair

The neighbour relation is defined as an exceptional pair

Exceptional pairs is selected

Existing

The neighbour relation existed before automatic allocation

Delete existing neighbours is not selected

9.5.5 Using ACP in a Co-planning Project Atoll ACP enables you to automatically calculate the optimal network settings in terms of network coverage and capacity in co-planning projects where networks using different technologies, for example, CDMA and GSM, must both be taken into consideration. When you run an optimisation setup in a co-planning environment, you can display the sites and transmitters of both networks in the document in which you will run the optimisation process, as explained in "Switching to Co-planning Mode" on page 714. While this step is not necessary in order to create a co-planning optimisation setup, it will enable you to visually analyse the changes to both networks in the same document. Afterwards you can create the new optimisation setup, but when creating an optimisation setup in a co-planning environment, you can not run it immediately; you must first import the other network into the ACP setup. This section explains how to use ACP to optimise network settings in a co-planning project: • •

"Creating a New Co-planning Optimisation Setup" on page 721 "Importing the Other Network into the Setup" on page 722.

9.5.5.1 Creating a New Co-planning Optimisation Setup Once you have displayed both networks in the main document as explained in "Switching to Co-planning Mode" on page 714, you can create the new co-planning optimisation setup. To create a new co-planning optimisation setup: 1. Click the main document’s map window. 2. Select the Network explorer. 3. Right-click the ACP - Automatic Cell Planning folder. The context menu appears. 4. Select New from the context menu. A dialog box appears in which you can set the parameters for the optimisation process. For information on the parameters available, see "Defining Optimisation Parameters" on page 1320. 5. After defining the optimisation setup, click the Create Setup button to save the defined optimisation. The optimisation setup has now been created. The next step is to add the GSM network to the ACP optimisation setup you have just created.

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9.5.5.2 Importing the Other Network into the Setup Once you have created the co-planning optimisation setup, you must import the linked network. To import the linked network: 1. Click the main document’s map window. 2. Select the Network explorer. 3. Click the Expand button (

) to expand the ACP - Automatic Cell Planning folder.

4. Right-click the setup you created in "Creating a New Co-planning Optimisation Setup" on page 721. The context menu appears. 5. Select Import Project from the context menu and select the name of the linked document you want to import into the newly created setup.

The setup has been modified to include the linked network. You can modify the parameters for the optimisation setup by right-clicking it in the Network explorer and selecting Properties from the context menu. For information on the parameters available, see "Defining Optimisation Parameters" on page 1320. After defining the co-planning optimisation setup: •

Right-click the setup in the ACP - Automatic Cell Planning folder and select Run from the context menu to run the optimisation. For information on running the optimisation, see "Running an Optimisation Setup" on page 1359. For information on the optimisation results, see "Viewing Optimisation Results" on page 1362.

9.5.6 Ending Co-planning Mode once you have linked two Atoll documents for the purposes of co-planning, Atoll will maintain the link between them. However, you might want to unlink the two documents at some point, either because you want to use a different document in co-planning or because you want to restore the documents to separate, technology-specific documents. To unlink the documents and end co-planning mode: 1. Select File > Open to open the main document. Atoll informs you that this document is part of a multi-technology environment and asks whether you want to open the other document. 2. Click Yes to open the linked document as well. 3. Select File > Unlink to unlink the documents and end co-planning mode. The documents are no longer linked and coplanning mode is ended.

9.6 Advanced Configuration In this section, the following advanced configuration options are explained: • • • • • • • • • •

722

"Modelling Inter-carrier Interference" on page 723 "Defining Frequency Bands" on page 723 "Defining Carrier Types" on page 724 "Global Network Settings" on page 724 "Throughputs Available for Services in CDMA" on page 725 "The 1xEV-DO Radio Bearers" on page 726 "Site Equipment" on page 727 "Receiver Equipment" on page 728 "Conditions for Entering the Active Set" on page 730 "Modelling Shadowing" on page 730

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• •

"Creating PN Offset Domains and Groups for PN Offset Allocation" on page 732 "Modelling Inter-technology Interference" on page 733.

9.6.1 Modelling Inter-carrier Interference If you want Atoll to take into account the interference between two carriers, you must create a carrier pair with an interference reduction factor. Atoll will take the interference reduction factor into account on both the reverse link and the forward link. To create a pair of carriers with an interference reduction factor: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Network Settings folder. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Frequencies folder. 4. In the Frequencies folder, right-click Inter-carrier Interference Reduction Factors. The context menu appears. 5. Select Open Table. The Inter-carrier Interference Reduction Factors table appears. 6. For each carrier pair for which you want define inter-carrier interference: a. Enter the first carrier of the pair in the 1st Carrier column. b. Enter the second carrier of the pair in the 2nd Carrier column. c. Enter an interference reduction factor in the Reduction Factor (dB) column. When Atoll is calculating interference, it subtracts the interference reduction factor from the calculated interference. If the interference reduction factor is set to "0," Atoll assumes that the carriers in the defined pair generate as much interference as cells with the same carrier interference. The interference reduction factor must be a positive value.

For every pair of carriers that is not defined, Atoll assumes that there is no inter-carrier interference. d. Press ENTER to create the carrier pair and to create a new row in the table.

9.6.2 Defining Frequency Bands To define a frequency band: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Network Settings folder. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Frequencies folder. 4. In the Frequencies folder, right-click Bands. The context menu appears. 5. Select Open Table. The Frequency Bands table appears. 6. In the Frequency Bands table, enter one frequency band per row. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. For each frequency band, enter: • • • • • • •

Name: Enter a name for the frequency, for example, "Band 1900." This name will appear in other dialog boxes when you select a frequency band. Bandwidth (MHz): Enter the bandwidth for each carrier in the frequency band. DL Start Frequency (MHz): Enter the downlink start frequency. First Carrier: Enter the number of the first carrier in this frequency band. Last Carrier: Enter the number of the last carrier in this frequency band. If this frequency band has only one carrier, enter the same number as entered in the First Carrier field. Step: Enter the step between any two consecutive carrier numbers in the frequency band. Excluded Carriers: Enter the carrier numbers which do not belong to the frequency band. You can enter non-consecutive carrier numbers separated with a comma, or you can enter a range of carrier numbers separating the first and last index with a hyphen (for example, entering "1-5" corresponds to "1, 2, 3, 4, 5").

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When you have more than one frequency band, the carriers must be numbered sequentially, contiguously (i.e., you cannot skip numbers in a range of carriers, and the range of carriers in one band cannot overlap the range of carriers in another), and uniquely (i.e., you can only use each number once). For example: Band 1900: First carrier: 0; Last carrier 1 and Band 700: First carrier: 2 and Last carrier: 2 7. When you have finished adding frequency bands, click the Close button (

).

For example, if you wish to define the 1900 MHz Band and the corresponding CDMA channel numbers (25, 50, 75), you can set: • • • • •

Name: 1900 MHz DL start frequency: 1930 First carrier: 25 Last carrier: 75 Step: 25

You can also access the properties dialog box of each individual frequency band by double-clicking the left margin of the row with the frequency band.

9.6.3 Defining Carrier Types To define CDMA carrier types: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Network Settings folder, the Frequencies folder, right-click Carrier Types and select Open Table. The Carrier Types table appears. 2. In the Carrier Types table, define which carriers are 1xRTT and 1xEV-DO. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. 3. When you have finished defining carriers types, click Close.

9.6.4 Global Network Settings In the Network Settings Properties dialog box, you can define many calculation parameters that are used in predictions and in Monte Carlo simulations. This section explains the options available in the Network Settings Properties dialog box, and explains how to access the dialog box: • •

"CDMA Network Settings Properties" on page 724 "Modifying Global Network Settings" on page 725.

9.6.4.1 CDMA Network Settings Properties The Network Settings Properties dialog box has two tabs: the Global Parameters Tab and the Calculation Parameters tab. The Global Parameters Tab The Global Parameters tab has the following options:

724

•

DL Powers: Under DL Powers, you can define whether the power values on the forward link are Absolute or Relative to Pilot. The power values affected are the synchronisation power and the paging power defined in the cell properties and the TCH power in 1xRTT and Speech service properties. Atoll automatically converts the power values defined in the cell properties (i.e., synchronisation channel and paging powers) when changing the option. On the other hand, the values for the TCH powers have to be modified manually.

•

DL Load: Under DL Load, you can define whether the total power values on the forward link are Absolute or a percentage of the maximum power (% Pmax). Atoll automatically converts the total power values when changing the option.

•

UL 1xRTT Power Control Based On: Under UL 1xRTT Power Control Based On, you can define whether the reverse link power control for the 1xRTT network is based on Traffic Quality or Pilot Quality.

•

Interferences: Under Interferences, you can define the method used to calculate interference on the forward link (Nt):

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•

•

Nt: You can select "Total noise" and Atoll will calculate Nt as the noise generated by all transmitters plus thermal noise or you can select "Without useful signal" and Atoll will calculate Nt as the total noise less the signal of the studied cell.

Handoff: Under Handoff, you can define the parameters used to model soft handoff on the reverse link. •

•

Default UL Macro-Diversity Gain: You can set a default value for the reverse link gain due to macro-diversity on soft and soft-soft handoffs. If you clear the Shadowing taken into account check box on the Conditions tab when defining a coverage prediction or during a point analysis, Atoll uses this value. If you select the Shadowing taken into account check box on the Conditions tab, Atoll calculates the reverse link macro-diversity gain, based on the standard deviation value of Eb⁄Nt on the reverse link defined per clutter class. +MRC in Softer/Soft: If you select the +MRC (maximal ratio combining) in Softer/Soft check box, Atoll selects the serving cell during a softer/soft handoff by recombining the signal of co-site transmitters and multiplying the resulting signal by the rake efficiency factor and then comparing this value to the signal received at transmitters located on the other sites of the active set. Atoll chooses the greatest value and multiplies it by the macro-diversity gain.

Calculation Parameters Tab The Calculation Parameters tab has the following options: •

Calculation limitation: Under Calculation limitation, you can define the following data: •

•

Min. interferer reception threshold: This value is used by Atoll to limit the input of interferers in calculations. The performance of CDMA-specific coverage predictions and Monte Carlo simulations can be improved by setting a high value for the minimum interferer reception threshold. This value is used as a filter criterion on the signal level received from interferers. Atoll will discard all interferers with a signal level lower than this value. Default min. pilot RSCP threshold: The default minimum pilot RSCP required for a user to be connected to the cell. The pilot RSCP is compared with this threshold to determine whether or not a user can be connected to the cell. A minimum pilot RSCP threshold can be defined at the cell level (in the cell Properties dialog box or in the Cells table). If defined, a cell-specific minimum pilot RSCP threshold will be used instead of the value entered here.

• •

Receiver: Under Receiver, you can enter the Height of the receiver. Default max range: The maximum coverage range of transmitters in the network.

9.6.4.2 Modifying Global Network Settings You can change global network settings in the Network Settings Properties dialog box.

To change global network settings: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Right-click the Network Settings folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Properties from the context menu. The Network Settings Properties dialog box appears. 4. Modify the parameters described in "CDMA Network Settings Properties" on page 724. 5. Click OK.

9.6.5 Throughputs Available for Services in CDMA The different services offered by a CDMA network require different throughputs. CDMA responds to the differing throughput requirements with a range of carriers. For example, CDMA2000 can provide voice using 1xRTT. Data services, which require higher throughputs than voice, can be provided using 1xRTT or 1xEV-DO Rev. 0 or Rev. A. The following table gives the throughputs available for voice, 1xRTT, and 1xEV-DO Rev. 0 and Rev. A.

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Service

Reverse Link

Forward Link

Speech

N FCH *

N FCH

1xRTT Data

N FCH

N FCH

3 X N FCH

3 X N FCH

5 X N FCH

5 X N FCH

9 X N FCH

9 X N FCH

17 X N FCH

17 X N FCH

9.6

38.4

19.2

76.8

38.4

153.6

76.8

307.6

153.6

614.4

For 1xRTT, N FCH can be 9.6 or 14.4 kbps on either the forward or reverse link. 1xEV-DO Rev. 0 Data

921.6 1228.8 1843.2 2457.6 1xEV-DO Rev. A Data

4.8

4.8

9.6

9.6

19.2

19.2

38.4

38.4

76.8

76.8

115.2

115.2

153.6

153.6

230.4

230.4

307.2

307.2

460.8

460.8

614.4

614.4

921.6

921.6

1228.8

1228.8

1848.2

1848.2 2457.6 3072.0

* N FCH is the peak throughput of FCH.

9.6.6 The 1xEV-DO Radio Bearers In Atoll, the throughputs available for 1xEV-DO Rev. A and 1xEV-DO Rev. B based services are modelled using radio bearers. The 1xEV-DO Radio Bearers tables list the 1xEV-DO radio bearers with their peak RLC throughput, index numbers, and transport block size.You must define 1xEV-DO radio bearers before you can model services using them.

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In this section, the following are explained: • •

"Defining the Forward Link 1xEV-DO Radio Bearers" on page 727 "Defining the Reverse Link 1xEV-DO Radio Bearers" on page 727.

9.6.6.1 Defining the Forward Link 1xEV-DO Radio Bearers The Downlink 1xEV-DO Radio Bearers table lists the different transport block sizes that can be transmitted in one timeslot and the corresponding peak RLC throughputs. To create or modify a 1xEV-DO forward link radio bearer: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Network Settings folder. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Radio Bearers folder. 4. In the Radio Bearers folder, right-click Downlink 1xEV-DO Radio Bearers. The context menu appears. 5. Select Open Table. The Downlink 1xEV-DO Radio Bearers table appears. 6. In the Downlink 1xEV-DO Radio Bearers table, you can enter or modify the following fields: •

• •

Radio Bearer Index: You can modify the index number of the radio bearer. This index number is used to identify the 1xEV-DO forward link radio bearer. If you are creating a new 1xEV-DO forward link radio bearer, enter an index number in the row marked with the New Row icon ( ). Transport Block Size (bits): Enter or modify the packet size in bits transmitted in one timeslot. Peak RLC Throughput (kbps): Enter or modify the peak RLC throughput in kbits per second.

9.6.6.2 Defining the Reverse Link 1xEV-DO Radio Bearers The Uplink 1xEV-DO Radio Bearer table lists the different transport block sizes that can be transmitted in one subframe (i.e., 4 timeslots) and the corresponding peak RLC throughputs. To create or modify a 1xEV-DO reverse link radio bearer: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Network Settings folder. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Radio Bearers folder. 4. In the Radio Bearers folder, right-click Uplink 1xEV-DO Radio Bearers. The context menu appears. 5. Select Open Table. The Uplink 1xEV-DO Radio Bearers table appears. 6. In the Uplink 1xEV-DO Radio Bearer table, you can enter or modify the following fields: •

• •

Radio Bearer Index: You can modify the index number of the radio bearer. This index number is used to identify the 1xEV-DO reverse link radio bearer. If you are creating a new 1xEV-DO reverse link radio bearer, enter an index number in the row marked with the New Row icon ( ). Transport Block Size (bits): Enter or modify the packet size in bits transmitted in one subframe (4 timeslots). Peak RLC Throughput (kbps): Enter or modify the peak RLC throughput in kbits per second.

9.6.7 Site Equipment In this section, the following are explained: • •

"Creating Site Equipment" on page 727 "Defining Channel Element Consumption per CDMA Site Equipment and Radio Configuration" on page 728.

9.6.7.1 Creating Site Equipment To create a new piece of CDMA site equipment: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Network Settings folder. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Radio Resource Management folder. 4. Right-click Site Equipment. The context menu appears. 5. Select Open Table from the context menu. The Site Equipment table appears. 6. In the Equipment table, each row describes a piece of equipment. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. For the new piece of CDMA equipment you are creating, enter the following: •

Name: The name you enter will be the one used to identify this piece of equipment.

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• •

•

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Manufacturer: The name of the manufacturer of this piece of equipment. MUD Factor: Multi-User Detection (MUD) is a technology used to decrease intra-cell interference on the reverse link. MUD is modelled by a coefficient from 0 to 1; this factor is considered in the reverse link interference calculation. In case MUD is not supported by equipment, enter 0 as value. Rake Factor: This factor enables Atoll to model the rake receiver on the reverse link. Atoll uses this factor to calculate the reverse link signal quality in simulations, point analysis and coverage predictions. This parameter is considered on the reverse link for softer and softer-softer handoffs; it is applied to the sum of signals received on the same site. The factor value can be from 0 to 1. It models losses due to the imperfection of signal recombination. You can define the rake efficiency factor used to model the recombination on the forward link in terminal properties.

•

Carrier Selection: Carrier selection refers to the carrier selection method used during the transmitter admission control in the mobile active set. The selected strategy is used in simulations when no carrier is specified in the properties of the service (when all the carriers can be used for the service) or when the carrier specified for the service is not used by the transmitter. On the other hand, the specified carrier selection mode is always taken into account in coverage predictions (AS analysis and coverage predictions). Choose one of the following: • • • •

•

• • •

Min. UL Load Factor: The carrier with the minimum reverse link noise (carrier with the lowest reverse link load factor) is selected. Min. DL Total Power: The carrier with the minimum forward link total power is selected. Random: The carrier is randomly chosen. Sequential: Carriers are sequentially loaded. The first carrier is selected as long as it is not overloaded. Then, when the maximum reverse link load factor is reached, the second carrier is chosen and so on.

Downlink and Uplink Overhead Resources for Common Channels/Cell: The reverse link and forward link overhead resources for common channels/cell correspond to the number of channel elements that a cell uses for common channels in the forward and the reverse link. This setting is also used for Walsh code allocation; it indicates the number of Walsh codes to be allocated to control channels per cell. AS Restricted to Neighbours: Select this option if you want the other transmitters in the active set to belong to the neighbour list of the best server. Pool of Shared CEs: Select this option if you want all cells on the site to share channel elements. Power Pooling Between Transmitters: Select this option if you want all cells on the site to share power on the traffic channels.

7. Click the Close button (

) to close the table.

9.6.7.2 Defining Channel Element Consumption per CDMA Site Equipment and Radio Configuration The number of channel elements consumed by a user depends on the site equipment, on the radio configuration, and the link direction (forward or reverse). The number of channel elements consumed can be defined for CDMA simulations. To define channel element consumption during CDMA simulations: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Network Settings folder. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Radio Resource Management folder. 4. Right-click CE Consumption. The context menu appears. 5. Select Open Table from the context menu. The CE Consumption table appears. 6. For each equipment-radio configuration pair, enter in the CE Consumption table the number of reverse link and forward link channel elements that Atoll will consume during the power control simulation. 7. Click the Close button (

) to close the table.

9.6.8 Receiver Equipment In this section, the following are explained: • •

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"Setting Receiver Height" on page 729 "Creating or Modifying Reception Equipment" on page 729.

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9.6.8.1 Setting Receiver Height When you make CDMA coverage predictions, you can define the height of the receiver. To define the height of the receiver: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Right-click the Network Settings folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Properties from the context menu. The Network Settings Properties dialog box appears. 4. Click the Calculation Parameters tab. 5. Under Receiver, enter a Height. This value will be used when calculating a CDMA coverage predictions and during a point analysis. 6. Click OK.

9.6.8.2 Creating or Modifying Reception Equipment In Atoll, reception equipment is used when you create a terminal. The graphs defined for each reception equipment entry are used for quality coverage predictions and for selecting 1xEV-DO radio bearers. To create or modify reception equipment: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Network Settings folder. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Reception Equipment folder. "Standard" is the default reception equipment type for all terminals. 4. Double-click the reception equipment type you want to modify. The reception equipment type’s Properties dialog box appears. You can create a new reception equipment type by entering a name in the row marked with the New Row icon ( ) and pressing ENTER.

5. Click the General tab. On the General tab, you can define the Name of the reception equipment. 6. Click the Quality Graphs tab. 7. Ensure that a Quality Indicator has been chosen for each Service. You can edit the values in the DL and UL Quality Indicator Tables by clicking directly on the table entry, or by selecting the Quality Indicator and clicking the Downlink Quality Graphs or the Uplink Quality Graphs buttons. The DL and UL Quality Indicator tables describe the variation of the quality indicator as a function of the measured parameter (as defined in the Quality Indicators table). The Uplink and Downlink Quality Graphs are used for quality coverage predictions. 8. Click the 1xEV-DO Radio Bearer Selection (Downlink) tab. 9. Enter the Required C⁄I (dB), the Modulation used (you can choose between QPSK, 8PSK, 16QAM, or 64QAM) and the Early Termination Probabilities for each Radio Bearer Index, with Mobility and No. of Slots. The radio bearer index with the number of timeslots and the modulation indicates the downlink transmission format. The Required C/I values are used in simulations and in the Service Area Analysis (Eb/Nt) (DL) coverage prediction to select the downlink 1xEV-DO radio bearer and then to calculate the throughput provided on downlink. A downlink 1xEV-DO radio bearer is selected only if the user terminal supports the modulation required by the radio bearer. 1xEVDO Rev. A-capable terminals support 16QAM modulation while 1xEV-DO Rev. B-capable terminals can support 16QAM and 64QAM modulations. The Early Termination Probabilities are used in the Service Area Analysis (Eb/Nt) (DL) coverage prediction to calculate the average 1xEV-DO throughput when HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request) is used. 10. Click the 1xEV-DO Radio Bearer Selection (Uplink) tab. 11. Enter the following for each Radio Bearer Index with Mobility and No. of Subframes: • • • •

Required Ec⁄Nt (High Capacity) (dB): The Ec/Nt required for services with high capacity uplink mode. Required Ec⁄Nt (Low Latency) (dB): Ec/Nt required for services with low latency uplink mode. Early Termination Probabilities Modulation: The modulation used. You can choose between QPSK, 8PSK, 16QAM or 64QAM.

The Required Ec/Nt values are used in simulations and in the Service Area Analysis (Eb/Nt) (UL) coverage prediction to select the uplink 1xEV-DO radio bearer and then to calculate the throughput provided on uplink. An uplink 1xEV-DO

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radio bearer is selected only if the user terminal supports the modulation required by the radio bearer. 1xEV-DO Rev. A-capable terminals support 16QAM modulation while 1xEV-DO Rev. B-capable terminals support the 16QAM and 64QAM modulations. The Early Termination Probabilities are used in the Service Area Analysis (Eb/Nt) (UL) coverage prediction to calculate the average 1xEV-DO throughput when HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request) is used. 12. Click OK to close the reception equipment type’s Properties dialog box.

9.6.9 Conditions for Entering the Active Set The mobile active set is the list of the transmitters to which the mobile is connected. The active set may consist of one or more transmitters; depending on whether the service supports soft handoff and on the terminal active set size. Transmitters in the mobile active set must use a frequency band with which the terminal is compatible and the same carrier. In addition, the pilot signal level received from these transmitters must exceed the defined minimum RSCP threshold. It is, however, the quality of the pilot (Ec⁄I0) that finally determines whether or not a transmitter can belong to the active set. In order for a given transmitter to enter the mobile active set as best server, the quality of this transmitter’s pilot must be the highest one and it must exceed an upper threshold equal to the sum of the minimum Ec/Io defined in the properties of the best serving cell and the Delta minimum Ec/Io defined in the properties of the mobility type. The upper threshold is set for the carrier as defined in the cell properties and can also take into account the user mobility type if the Delta minimum Ec/Io defined in the mobility type is different from 0. The carrier used by the transmitters in the active set corresponds to the best carrier of the best server. For information on best carrier selection, see the Technical Reference Guide. In order for a transmitter to enter the active set: •

•

•

It must use the same carrier as the best server transmitter. In Atoll, carriers are modelled using cells. For information on accessing cell properties, see "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 637. For a description of the properties of a cell, see "Cell Properties" on page 633. The pilot quality of the transmitter must exceed a threshold. The threshold depends both on the type of carrier and the mobility type. It is equal to the sum of T_Drop defined in the properties of the best server and the Delta T_Drop defined in the properties of the mobility type. If you have selected to restrict the active set to neighbours, the transmitter must be a neighbour of the best server. You can restrict the active set to neighbours by selecting the AS Restricted to Neighbours option in the Site Equipment table. For an explanation of how to set the AS Restricted to Neighbours option, see "Creating Site Equipment" on page 727.

For multi-carrier EVDO Rev. B users, the active set can consist of several sub-active sets, each one being associated with one carrier. The number of sub-active sets depends on the maximum number of carriers supported by the terminal. As described earlier, the quality of the pilot (Ec⁄I0) determines whether or not a transmitter can belong to a sub-active set. The sub-active set associated with the best carrier is the same as the active set of a single-carrier user. For other carriers, the uplink Ec⁄Nt received by the best server on the best carrier and on the studied carrier determines whether or not a carrier can have a subactive set, and the transmitters in the sub-active sets depend on the mode supported by the terminal (locked mode or unlocked mode): •

The Ec/Nt received by the best serving transmitter on the best carrier must exceed the minimum uplink Ec/Nt.

• •

The Ec/Nt received by the best serving transmitter on the studied carrier must exceed the minimum uplink Ec/Nt. When locked mode is used, the serving transmitters must be the same in all sub-active sets. With unlocked mode, the serving transmitters can be different from one sub-active set to another.

9.6.10 Modelling Shadowing Shadowing, or slow fading, is signal loss along a path that is caused by obstructions not taken into consideration by the propagation model. Even when a receiver remains in the same location or in the same clutter class, there are variations in reception due to the surrounding environment. Normally, the signal received at any given point is spread on a gaussian curve around an average value with a specific standard deviation. If the propagation model is correctly calibrated, the average of the results it gives should be correct. In other words, in 50% of the measured cases, the result will be greater and in 50% of the measured cases, the result will be worse. Atoll uses a model standard deviation with the defined cell edge coverage probability to model the effect of shadowing and thereby create coverage predictions that are reliable more than fifty percent of the time. The additional losses or gains caused by shadowing are known as the shadowing margin. The shadowing margin is added to the path losses calculated by the propagation model. For example, a properly calibrated propagation model calculates a loss leading to a signal level of -70 dBm. You have set a cell edge coverage probability of 85%. If the calculated shadowing margin is 7 dB for a specific point, the target signal will be equal to or greater than -77 dBm 85% of the time. In CDMA projects, the standard deviation of the propagation model is used to calculate shadowing margins on signal levels. You can also calculate shadowing margins on Ec⁄I0 and Eb⁄Nt values and the macro-diversity gain. For information on setting

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the model standard deviation and the Ec⁄I0 and Eb⁄Nt standard deviations for each clutter class or for all clutter classes, see "Defining Clutter Class Properties" on page 127. Shadowing can be taken into consideration when Atoll calculates the signal level, Ec⁄I0, and Eb⁄Nt for: • •

A point analysis (see "Studying the Profile Around a Base Station" on page 642) A coverage prediction (see "Studying Signal Level Coverage of a Single Base Station" on page 654).

Atoll always takes shadowing into consideration when calculating a Monte Carlo-based CDMA simulation. You can display the shadowing margins and the macro-diversity gain per clutter class. For information, see "Displaying the Shadowing Margins and Macro-diversity Gain per Clutter Class" on page 731.

9.6.10.1 Displaying the Shadowing Margins and Macro-diversity Gain per Clutter Class To display the shadowing margins and macro-diversity gain per clutter class: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Predictions folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Shadowing Margins from the context menu. The Shadowing Margins and Gains dialog box appears (see Figure 9.36). 4. You can set the following parameters: • •

Cell Edge Coverage Probability: Enter the probability of coverage at the edge of the cell. The value you enter in this dialog box is for information only. Standard Deviation: Select the type of standard deviation to be used to calculate the shadowing margin or macrodiversity gains: • •

•

•

From Model: The model standard deviation. Atoll will display the shadowing margin of the signal level. Ec⁄I0: The Ec⁄I0 standard deviation. Atoll will display the Ec⁄I0 shadowing margin and the resulting forward link pilot macro-diversity gains. The macro-diversity gains will be calculated using the values you enter in 1st - 2nd Best Signal Difference and 2nd - 3rd Best Signal Difference. UL Eb⁄Nt: The Eb⁄Nt reverse link standard deviation. Atoll will display the Eb⁄Nt reverse link shadowing margin and the resulting reverse link macro-diversity gains. The macro-diversity gains will be calculated using the values you enter in 1st - 2nd Best Signal Difference and 2nd - 3rd Best Signal Difference. DL Eb⁄Nt: The Eb⁄Nt forward link standard deviation. Atoll will display the Eb⁄Nt forward link shadowing margin.

5. If you select "Ec⁄I0" or "Eb⁄Nt UL" as the standard deviation under Standard Deviation, you can enter the differences that will be used to calculate the macro-diversity gain under Macro-Diversity Parameters: •

•

1st - 2nd Best Signal Difference: If you selected "Ec⁄I0" as the standard deviation under Standard Deviation, enter the allowed Ec⁄I0 difference between the best server and the second one. This value is used to calculate forward link macro-diversity gains. If you selected "Eb⁄Nt UL" as the standard deviation under Standard Deviation, enter the allowed Eb/Nt difference between the best server and the second one. This value is used to calculate reverse link macro-diversity gains. 2nd - 3rd Best Signal Difference: If you selected "Ec⁄I0" as the standard deviation under Standard Deviation, enter the allowed Ec⁄I0 difference between the second-best server and the third one. This value is used to calculate forward link macro-diversity gains. If you selected "Eb⁄Nt UL" as the standard deviation under Standard Deviation, enter the allowed Eb⁄Nt difference between the second-best server and the third one. This value is used to calculate reverse link macro-diversity gains.

6. Click Calculate. The calculated shadowing margin is displayed. If you selected "Ec⁄I0" or "Eb⁄Nt UL" as the standard deviation under Standard Deviation, Atoll also displays the macro-diversity gains for two links and for three links. 7. Click Close to close the dialog box.

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Figure 9.36: The Shadowing Margins and Gains dialog box

9.6.11 Creating PN Offset Domains and Groups for PN Offset Allocation Atoll facilitates the management of available PN offsets during automatic allocation with the pilot PN sequence offset index increment (PILOT_INC) parameter. For example, if you set PILOT_INC to "4," all PN offsets from 4 to 508 with a separation interval of 4 can be allocated. If you need to restrict the range of PN offsets available further, you can create groups of PN offsets and domains, where each domain is a defined set of groups. Using PN offsets groups and domains is recommended for this purpose only. The procedure for managing PN offsets in a CDMA document consists of the following steps: 1. Creating a PN offset domain, as explained in this section. 2. Creating groups, each containing a range of PN offsets, and assigning them to a domain, as explained in this section. 3. Assigning a PN offset domain to a cell or cells. If there is no PN offset domain, Atoll will consider the PILOT_INC parameter only to determine the possible PN offsets when assigning PN offsets (e.g., If PILOT_INC is set to 4, all PN offsets from 4 to 508 with a separation interval of 4 can be allocated). To create a PN offset domain: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Network Settings folder. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the PN Offsets folder. 4. Right-click Domains in the PN Offsets folder. The context menu appears. 5. Select Open Table from the context menu. The Domains table appears. 6. In the row marked with the New Row icon (

), enter a Name for the new domain.

7. Click another cell of the table to create the new domain and add a new blank row to the table. 8. Double-click the domain to which you want to add a group. The domain’s Properties dialog box appears. 9. Under Groups, enter the following information for each group you want to create. The definition of the group must be consistent with the default domain defined using the PILOT_INC parameter. • • • • • •

Group: Enter a name for the new PN offset group. Min.: Enter the lowest available PN offset in this group’s range. Max: Enter the highest available PN offset in this group’s range. Step: Enter the separation interval between each PN offset. It must be the same as the PILOT_INC value. Excluded: Enter the PN offsets in this range that you do not want to use. Extra: Enter any additional PN offsets (i.e., outside the range defined by the Min. and Max fields) you want to add to this group. You can enter a list of PN offsets separated by either a comma, semi-colon, or a space. You can also enter a range of PN offsets separated by a hyphen. For example, entering, "1, 2, 3-5" means that the extra PN offsets are "1, 2, 3, 4, 5."

10. Click in another cell of the table to create the new group and add a new blank row to the table.

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9.6.12 Modelling Inter-technology Interference Analyses of CDMA networks co-existing with other technology networks can be carried out in Atoll. Inter-technology interference may create considerable capacity reduction in a CDMA network. Atoll can take into account interference from co-existing networks in Monte Carlo simulations and coverage predictions. The following inter-technology interference scenarios are modeled in Atoll: •

Interference received by mobiles on the downlink: Interference can be received by mobiles in a CDMA network on the downlink from external base stations and mobiles in the vicinity. Interference from external base stations (also called downlink-to-downlink interference) can be created by the use of same or adjacent carriers, wideband noise (thermal noise, phase noise, modulation products, and spurious emissions), and intermodulation. In Atoll, you can define interference reduction factor (IRF) graphs for different technologies (CDMA, TDMA, OFDM). These graphs are then used for calculating the interference from the external base stations on mobiles. This interference is taken into account in all downlink interference-based calculations. Interference from external mobiles (also called uplink-to-downlink interference) can be created by insufficient separation between the uplink frequency used by the external network and the downlink frequency used by your CDMA network. Such interference may also come from co-existing TDD networks. The effect of this interference is modelled in Atoll using the Additional DL Noise Rise definable for each cell in the CDMA network. This noise rise is taken into account in all downlink interference-based calculations. However, this noise rise does not impact the calculation of the mobile reuse factor. For more information on the Additional DL Noise Rise, see "Cell Properties" on page 633. You can study the downlink inter-technology interference by carrying out an Inter-technology Downlink Interference coverage prediction as explained in "Studying Inter-technology Downlink Noise" on page 664.

Figure 9.37: Interference received by mobiles on the downlink •

Interference received by cells on the uplink: Interference can be received by cells of a CDMA network on the uplink from external base stations and mobiles in the vicinity. Interference from external base stations (also called downlink-to-uplink interference) can be created by insufficient separation between the downlink frequency used by the external network and the uplink frequency used by your CDMA network. Such interference may also come from co-existing TDD networks. Interference from external mobiles (also called uplink-to-uplink interference) can be created by the use of same or nearby frequencies for uplink in both networks. Unless the exact locations of external mobiles is known, it is not possible to separate interference received from external base stations and mobiles on the uplink. The effect of this interference is modelled in Atoll using the Additional UL Noise Rise definable for each cell in the CDMA network. This noise rise is taken into account in uplink interference-based calculations in the simulation. However, this noise rise is not taken into consideration in predictions (AS Analysis and coverage predictions) and does not have an impact on the calculation of the cell reuse factor. For more information on the Additional UL Noise Rise, see "Cell Properties" on page 633.

Figure 9.38: Interference received by cells on the uplink

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Interference received from external base stations on mobiles of your CDMA network can be calculated by Atoll. Atoll uses the inter-technology interference reduction factor (IRF) graphs for calculating the interference levels. An IRF graph represents the variation of the Adjacent Channel Interference Ratio (ACIR) as a function of frequency separation. ACIR is determined from the Adjacent Channel Suppression (ACS) and the Adjacent Channel Leakage Ratio (ACLR) parameters as follows: 1 ACIR = ------------------------------------1 1 ------------- + ----------------ACS ACLR

An IRF depends on: • • • •

The interfering technology (TDMA, CDMA, and OFDM) The interfering carrier bandwidth (kHz) The interfered carrier bandwidth (kHz) The frequency offset between both carriers (MHz).

IRFs are used by Atoll to calculate the interference from external base stations only if the Atoll document containing the external base stations is linked to your CDMA document, i.e. in co-planning mode or in a multi-RAT document. To define the inter-technology IRFs in the victim network: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Equipment folder, right-click Inter-technology Interference Reduction Factors, and select Open Table. The Inter-technology Interference Reduction Factors table appears. 2. In the table, enter one interference reduction factor graph per row. For each IRF graph, enter: • • • •

Technology: Select the technology used by the interfering network. Interferer Bandwidth (kHz): Enter the width in kHz of the channels (carriers) used by the interfering network. This channel width must be consistent with that used in the linked document. Victim Bandwidth (kHz): Enter the width in kHz of the channels (carriers) used by the interfered network. This channel width must be consistent with that used in the main document. Reduction Factors (dB): Click the cell corresponding to the Reduction Factors (dB) column and the current row in the table. The Reduction Factors (dB) dialog box appears. •

Enter the interference reduction factors in the Reduction (dB) column for different frequency separations, Freq. Delta (MHz), values relative to the centre frequency of the channel (carrier) used in the main document. • •

Reduction values must be positive. If you leave reduction factors undefined, Atoll assumes there is no interference.

3. When you have finished defining interference reduction factors, click OK. You can, if you want, link more than one Atoll document with your main document following the procedure described in "Switching to Co-planning Mode" on page 714. If the linked documents model networks using different technologies, you can define the interference reduction factors in your main document for all these technologies, and Atoll will calculate interference from all the external base stations in all the linked documents.

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Chapter 10 TD-SCDMA Networks This chapter covers the following topics:

This chapter provides information on using Atoll to design, analyse, and optimise a TD-SCDMA network.

•

"Designing a TD-SCDMA Network" on page 737

•

"Planning and Optimising TD-SCDMA Base Stations" on page 738

•

"Studying TD-SCDMA Network Capacity" on page 798

•

"Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data" on page 811

•

"Co-planning TD-SCDMA Networks with Other Networks" on page 820

•

"Advanced Configuration" on page 827

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10 TD-SCDMA Networks Atoll enables you to create and modify all aspects of a TD-SCDMA network. Once you have created the network, Atoll offers many tools to let you verify it. Based on the results of your tests, you can modify any of the parameters defining the network. The process of planning and creating a TD-SCDMA network is outlined in "Designing a TD-SCDMA Network" on page 737. Creating the network of base stations is explained in "Planning and Optimising TD-SCDMA Base Stations" on page 738. Allocating neighbours is explained in "Planning Neighbours" on page 788. In this section, you will also find information on how you can display information about base stations on the map and how you can use the tools in Atoll to study base stations. In "Studying TD-SCDMA Network Capacity" on page 798, using traffic maps to study network capacity is explained. Creating simulations using traffic map information and analysing the results of simulations is also explained. Using drive test data paths to verify the network is explained in "Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data" on page 811. Filtering imported drive test data paths, and using the data in coverage predictions is also explained.

10.1 Designing a TD-SCDMA Network The following diagram depicts the process of planning and creating a TD-SCDMA network.

Figure 10.1: Planning a TD-SCDMA network - workflow The steps involved in planning a TD-SCDMA network are described below. The numbers refer to Figure 10.1. 1. Open an existing radio-planning document or create a new one ( • •

1

).

You can open an existing Atoll document by selecting File > Open. Creating a new Atoll document is explained in Chapter 1: Working Environment.

2. Configure the network by adding network elements and changing parameters (

2

).

You can add and modify the following elements of base stations: • • •

"Creating or Modifying a Site" on page 745 "Creating or Modifying a Transmitter" on page 745 "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 746.

You can also add base stations using a base station template (see "Placing a New Base Station Using a Station Template" on page 747).

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3. Carry out basic coverage predictions ( •

)

"Signal Level Coverage Predictions" on page 763

4. Allocate neighbours ( •

3

4

).

"Planning Neighbours" on page 788.

5. Before making more advanced coverage predictions, you need to define cell load conditions (

5

).

You can define cell load conditions in the following ways: • •

You can generate realistic cell load conditions by creating a simulation based on a traffic map ( 5a and 5b ) (see "Studying TD-SCDMA Network Capacity" on page 798). You can define them manually either on the Cells tab of each transmitter’s Properties dialog box or in the Cells table (see "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 746) (

5c

).

6. Make TD-SCDMA-specific coverage predictions using the defined cell load conditions ( • •

).

"Signal Quality Coverage Predictions" on page 769 "HSDPA Coverage Predictions" on page 778.

7. Allocate scrambling codes ( •

6

7

).

"Planning Scrambling Codes" on page 789.

10.2 Planning and Optimising TD-SCDMA Base Stations As described in Chapter 1: Working Environment, you can start an Atoll document from a template, with no base stations, or from a database with an existing set of base stations. As you work on your Atoll document, you still need to create base stations and modify existing ones. In Atoll, a site is defined as a geographical point where one or more transmitters are located. Once you have created a site, you can add transmitters. In Atoll, a transmitter is defined as the antenna and any additional equipment, such as the TMA, feeder cables, etc. In a TD-SCDMA project, you must also add cells to each transmitter. A cell refers to the characteristics of an RF carrier on a transmitter. Atoll lets you create one site, transmitter, or cell at a time, or create several at once using station templates. In Atoll, a base station refers to a site with its transmitters, antennas, equipment, and cells. In Atoll, you can study a single base station or a group of base stations using coverage predictions. Atoll allows you to make a variety of coverage predictions, such as signal level or signal quality coverage predictions. The results of calculated coverage predictions can be displayed on the map, compared, and studied. Atoll enables you to model network traffic by creating services, users, user profiles, traffic environments, and terminals. These can be then used to make signal quality coverage predictions, such as effective service area, noise, or interference predictions, on the network. In this section, the following are explained: • • • • • • • • • •

"Creating a TD-SCDMA Base Station" on page 738. "Creating a Group of Base Stations" on page 753. "Modifying Sites and Transmitters Directly on the Map" on page 753. "Display Tips for Base Stations" on page 753. "Creating a Dual-Band TD-SCDMA Network" on page 754. "Creating a Repeater" on page 754. "Creating a Remote Antenna" on page 758. "Studying TD-SCDMA Base Stations" on page 761. "Planning Frequencies" on page 785. "Planning Scrambling Codes" on page 789.

10.2.1 Creating a TD-SCDMA Base Station When you create a site, you create only the geographical point; you must add the transmitters and cells afterwards. The site, with the transmitters, antennas, equipment, and cells is called a base station. In this section, each element of a base station is described. If you want to add a new base station, see "Placing a New Base Station Using a Station Template" on page 747. If you want to create or modify one of the elements of a base station, see "Creating or Modifying a Base Station Element" on page 745. If you need to create a large number of base stations, Atoll allows you to import them from another Atoll document or from an external source. For information, see "Creating a Group of Base Stations" on page 753.

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This section explains the various parts of the base station process: • • • • •

"Definition of a Base Station" on page 739. "Creating or Modifying a Base Station Element" on page 745. "Placing a New Base Station Using a Station Template" on page 747. "Managing Station Templates" on page 747. "Duplicating an Existing Base Station" on page 750.

10.2.1.1 Definition of a Base Station A base station consists of the site, one or more transmitters, various pieces of equipment, and radio settings such as, for example, cells. You will usually create a new base station using a station template, as described in "Placing a New Base Station Using a Station Template" on page 747. This section describes the following elements of a base station and their parameters: • • •

10.2.1.1.1

"Site Properties" on page 739. "Transmitter Properties" on page 739. "Cell Properties" on page 742.

Site Properties The parameters of a site can be found in the site’s Properties dialog box. The Properties dialog box has the following tabs: The General tab • •

Name: Atoll automatically enters a default name for each new site. You can modify the default name here. If you want to change the default name that Atoll gives to new sites, see the Administrator Manual. Position: By default, Atoll places the new site at the centre of the map window. You can modify the location of the site here. While this method allows you to place a site with precision, you can also place sites using the mouse and then position them precisely with this dialog box afterwards. For information on placing sites using the mouse, see "Moving a Site Using the Mouse" on page 57.

•

•

Altitude: The altitude, as defined by the DTM for the location specified under Position, is given here. You can specify the actual altitude under Real, if you want. If an altitude is specified here, Atoll will use this value for calculations. Comments: You can enter comments in this field if you want.

The TD-SCDMA tab •

10.2.1.1.2

Equipment: You can select equipment from the list. To create new site equipment, see "Creating Site Equipment" on page 837. If no equipment is assigned to the site, Atoll considers that the JD factor and MCJD factor have a value of "0".

Transmitter Properties The parameters of a transmitter can be found in the transmitter’s Properties dialog box. When you create a transmitter, the Properties dialog box has two tabs: the General tab and the Transmitter tab. Once you have created a transmitter, its Properties dialog box has three additional tabs: the Cells tab (see "Cell Properties" on page 742), the Propagation tab (see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models), and the Display tab (see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51). The General tab •

•

•

Name: By default, Atoll names the transmitter after the site it is on, adding an underscore and a number. You can enter a name for the transmitter, but for the sake of consistency, it is better to let Atoll assign a name. If you want to change the way Atoll names transmitters, see the Administrator Manual. Site: You can select the Site on which the transmitter will be located. Once you have selected the site, you can click the Browse button to access the properties of the site. For information on the site Properties dialog box, see "Site Properties" on page 739. You can click the New button to create a new site for the transmitter. Shared antenna: This field is used to identify the transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas located at the same site or on sites with the same position and that share the same antenna. The entry in the field must be the same for all transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas sharing the same antenna. When changes are made to the position offset (Dx, Dy), azimuth, antenna height, or mechanical tilt of one antenna, Atoll automatically synchronises the same changes to all other transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas defined as having a shared antenna. This field is also used for dual-band transmitters to synchronise antenna parameters for different frequency bands.

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•

•

Frequency band: You can select a Frequency band for the transmitter. Once you have selected the frequency band, you can click the Browse button to access the properties of the frequency band. For information on the frequency band Properties dialog box, see "Defining Frequency Bands" on page 828. Under Antenna position, you can modify the position of the antennas (main and secondary): • •

•

© 2016 Forsk. All Rights Reserved.

Relative to site: Select this option if you want to enter the antenna positions as offsets with respect to the site location, and then enter the x-axis and y-axis offsets, Dx and Dy, respectively. Coordinates: Select this option if you want to enter the coordinates of the antenna, and then enter the x-axis and y-axis coordinates of the antenna, X and Y, respectively.

Max Range: You can define a maximum coverage range for the current transmitter.

The Transmitter tab •

Active: If this transmitter is to be active, you must select the Active check box. Active transmitters are displayed in red in the Transmitters folder of the Network explorer. Only active transmitters are taken into consideration during calculations.

•

• •

Transmission⁄Reception: Under Transmission⁄Reception, you can see the total losses and the noise figure of the transmitter. Atoll calculates losses and noise according to the characteristics of the equipment assigned to the transmitter. Click the Equipment button to modify the tower-mounted amplifier (TMA), feeder cables, or transmitter equipment. For information on the Equipment Specifications dialog box, see "Assigning Equipment to a Transmitter" on page 746. Antennas: •

•

Height⁄ground: The Height⁄ground box gives the height of the antenna above the ground. This is added to the altitude of the site as given by the DTM. If the transmitter is situated on a building, the height entered must include the height of building. Main antenna: Under Main antenna, the type of antenna is visible in the Model list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the antenna. Click the Select button to open the Antenna Selection Assistant. This assistant lists all the antennas that match the currently selected physical antenna and whose minimum and maximum operating frequencies include the operating frequency of the transmitter. For more information, see "Assigning Antennas to Transmitters" on page 159

•

Mechanical Azimuth, Mechanical Downtilt, Electrical Azimuth, Electrical Downtilt, and Additional electrical downtilt display additional antenna parameters. • • •

The Additional electrical downtilt can be made accessible through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide. The mechanical and additional electrical downtilts defined for the main antenna are also used for the calculations of smart antennas.

•

Diversity: Under Diversity, you can select the No. of ports on the Transmission and Reception sides, as well as the Type of diversity, if there is more than one port on the Transmission side.

•

Smart antenna: Under Smart antenna, the available smart antenna equipment are visible in the Equipment list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the smart antenna equipment. When you click the Browse button, the Smart Antenna Equipment Properties dialog box appears. If you are using a grid of beams or an adaptive beam, under Smart antenna model, clicking the Parameters button opens the Grid of Beams (GOB) Modelling or Adaptive Beam Modelling dialog box. Under Patterns, clicking the Combined button opens a dialog box displaying the combined antenna patterns of all the smart antenna beams and the main antenna (see Figure 10.2). For more information on smart antenna equipment, see "Smart Antenna Equipment" on page 834. The smart antenna has the same height and tilt as the main antenna. If you have smart antenna equipment based on Grid of Beams (GOB) or Adaptive Beam modelling, it is recommended to verify that the smart antenna beams be consistent with the main antenna pattern. You can use the combined antenna pattern display to understand any inconsistencies in smart antenna results. If the gird of beams and the main antenna do not have the same gains, the smart antenna could provide worse results than the main antenna for traffic timeslots.

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Figure 10.2: Smart antenna and main antenna patterns •

Under Secondary antennas, you can select one or more secondary antennas in the Antenna column and enter their Azimuth, Mechanical downtilt, and % Power, which is the percentage of power reserved for this particular antenna. For example, for a transmitter with one secondary antenna, if you reserve 40% of the total power for the secondary antenna, 60% is available for the main antenna. The Additional electrical downtilt can be made accessible through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75.

The transmission power is distributed among the main and secondary antennas. This is not compatible with smart antennas. You must not assign smart antennas to transmitters with secondary antennas, and vice versa. In calculations, repeaters and remote antennas are transparent to the donor transmitters and the served users. For example, beam forming smart antennas on donor transmitters create beams directly towards the served users, and not towards the repeater or remote antenna that covers the users. This results in a combined signal level received from the transmitter using the smart antenna and from the repeater or remote antenna. If this approach does not match how your equipment works, you must not assign smart antennas to transmitters with repeaters and remote antennas, and vice versa. The main antenna is used to transmit the pilot signals. Coverage predictions based on the P-CCPCH signal are performed using the main antenna. It is also used for traffic signals if there is no smart antenna equipment selected for the transmitter. If there is smart antenna equipment assigned to the transmitter, traffic data is transmitted and received using the smart antenna, while the pilot and other common channels are transmitted using the main antenna. Cell Tab When you create a transmitter, Atoll automatically creates a cell for the transmitter using the properties of the currently selected station template. The cell tab enables you to configure the properties for every cell of a transmitter. For more information on the properties of a cell, see "Cell Properties" on page 742. Propagation Tab Transmitters are taken into account during calculations. Therefore, you must specify their propagation parameters. On the Propagation tab, you can modify the following: the Propagation model, Radius, and Resolution for both the Main matrix and the Extended matrix. For information on propagation models, see "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187. Display Tab On the Display tab, you can modify how a transmitters are displayed. For information on changing display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51.

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Cell Properties In Atoll, a cell is defined as an RF carrier, with all its characteristics, on a transmitter; the cell is the mechanism by which you can configure a TD-SCDMA multi-carrier network. In other words, a transmitter has one cell for every carrier. This section describes the parameters of a TD-SCDMA cell. The properties of a TD-SCDMA cell are found on Cells tab of the Properties dialog box of the transmitter to which it belongs. You can also display the properties of a cell by double-clicking the cell in the Site explorer.

The Cells tab has the following options: •

•

• • •

N-Frequency mode: If the transmitter is compatible with N-frequency mode, you must select the N-Frequency mode check box. Transmitters compatible with the N-frequency mode have one master carrier, and may have one or more slave carriers. Transmitters which are not compatible with the N-frequency mode have stand-alone carriers. Master carriers have P-CCPCH, DwPCH, and other CCH powers defined, while slave carriers do not. For more information on the N-frequency mode and allocation of carrier types, see "Planning Frequencies" on page 785. Name: By default, Atoll names the cell after its transmitter, adding the carrier number in parentheses. If you change transmitter name or carrier, Atoll does not update the cell name. You can enter a name for the cell, but for the sake of consistency, it is better to let Atoll assign a name. If you want to change the way Atoll names cells, see the Administrator Manual. Active: If this cell is to be active, you must select the Active check box. Carrier: The number of the carrier. Order: The display order of a cell within the transmitter. This value is used to determine the order in which information related to a cell will be displayed in the Network explorer and on the map. This field is automatically filled by Atoll but you can change these default values to display cells in a user-defined order. The consistency between values stored in this field is verified by Atoll. However, inconsistencies may arise when tools other than Atoll modify the database. You can check for inconsistencies in the cell display order and fix them by selecting Data Audit > Cell Display Order Check in the Document menu.

• • • • • • •

Carrier type: The type of carrier, i.e., Standalone, Master, or Slave. ID: You can enter an ID for the cell. This is a user-definable network-level parameter for cell identification. Scrambling code: The scrambling code allocated to the cell. Scrambling code domain: The scrambling code domain to which the allocated scrambling code belongs. This and the scrambling code reuse distance are used by the automatic scrambling code allocation algorithm. SC reuse distance: The scrambling code reuse distance. This and the scrambling code domain are used by the scrambling code planning algorithm. SC locked: If you select the SC locked check box, the scrambling code will not be modified during automatic scrambling code allocation. Max power [Traffic TS] (dBm): The maximum available power for each downlink traffic timeslot of the cell. For a transmitter using N-Frequency mode, only the master carrier transmits the P-CCPCH, DwPCH, and other CCH. The traffic power is shared between the master and its slave carriers. This means that the Max power [Traffic TS] (dBm) can be greater than the P-CCPCH, DwPCH, and other CCH powers because it will be shared among the master and all its slave carriers.

• •

•

P-CCPCH power [TS0] (dBm): The power of the P-CCPCH channel transmitted on TS0. Other CCH power [TS0] (dBm): The average power of the control channels (including S-CCPCH) that are not transmitted continuously on TS0. For example, if P dBm is transmitted during 1 s every 10 s , you should enter P⁄10 dBm in order to correctly represent the average interference from these channels. DwPCH power [DwPTS] (dBm): The power transmitted on the DwPTS timeslot. By default, the DwPCH power and the other CCH power are set as absolute values. You can set these values as relative to the pilot power in the Global Parameters. For more information, see "Global Network Settings" on page 828.

•

•

742

P-CCPCH RSCP T_Comp [TS0] (dB): The P-CCPCH RSCP comparative threshold for determining the transmitters to keep in the list of potential servers. This parameter is used in the baton handover coverage prediction along with P-CCPCH RSCP T_Add and P-CCPCH RSCP T_Drop parameters set for different mobility types. Min RSCP (dBm): The minimum P-CCPCH RSCP required for a user to be connected to the cell. The P-CCPCH RSCP is compared with this threshold to determine whether or not a user can be connected to the cell.

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•

Timeslot configuration: The configuration of the traffic timeslots in the frame. When the UpPCH channel is present in the UpPTS timeslot, you can select from five possible timeslot configurations, i.e., (D)UDDDDD, (D)UUDDDD, (D)UUUDDD, (D)UUUUDD, and (D)UUUUUD. When the UpPCH is shifted to TS1, you can select from two more timeslot configurations, i.e., (D)UpUDDDD, (D)UpUUDDD. When UpPCH is shifted, TS1 is blocked, i.e., it is not used to carry traffic. For more information on UpPCH shifting and studying the interference on the UpPCH, see Figure 10.2.8.3.9"Studying UpPCH Interference" on page 776. There are two switching points in the frame, one after the first mandatory downlink timeslot (D), and the other can be after 1 to 5 uplink timeslots. The symmetric configuration is selected by default.

• •

• •

Required UL resource units: The number of resource units required in the uplink. Required DL resource units: The number of resource units required in the downlink. Atoll can calculate the number of required resource units in the uplink and downlink. For information on calculating network capacity, see "Calculating TD-SCDMA Network Capacity" on page 798. Comments: If desired, you can enter any comments in this field. HSPA Support: The HSPA functionality supported by the cell. You can choose between None (i.e., R99 only), HSDPA, or HSPA (i.e., HSDPA and HSUPA). When HSDPA is supported, the following fields are available: •

HS-PDSCH power dynamic allocation: If you are modelling dynamic power allocation, you should select this check box. During simulations, Atoll first allocates power to R99 users and then dynamically allocates the remaining power of the cell to the HS-PDSCH channels of HSDPA users. At the end of the simulation, you can commit the calculated HS-PDSCH power and total power values to each cell and timeslot. In the context of dynamic power allocation, the total power is the maximum power minus the power headroom.

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

Available HS-PDSCH power per DL TS (dBm): When you are modelling static power allocation, the HS-PDSCH power dynamic allocation check box is cleared and the HS-PDSCH power available for each downlink timeslot is entered in this box. This is the default value of power available per timeslot for the HS-PDSCH channels of HSDPA users. In case of dynamic HS-PDSCH power allocation, the value entered here represents the maximum power for the HS-PDSCH of HSDPA users per timeslot. Power headroom (dB): The power headroom is a reserve of power that Atoll keeps for Dedicated Physical Channels (DPCH) in case of fast fading. During simulation, HSDPA users will not be connected if the cell power remaining after serving R99 users is less than the power headroom value. HS-SCCH dynamic power allocation: If you are modelling dynamic power allocation, you should select this check box and enter a value in HS-SCCH power per DL TS (dBm). The HS-SCCH power calculated for HS-SCCH channel during a simulation cannot exceed the value defined in HS-SCCH power per DL TS (dBm). During power control, Atoll controls HS-SCCH power in order to meet the minimum quality threshold (as defined for each mobility type). HS-SCCH power per DL TS (dBm): When you are modelling static power allocation, the HS-SCCH dynamic power allocation check box is cleared and the actual power per HS-SCCH channel is entered in this box. In case of dynamic HS-SCCH power allocation, the value entered here represents the maximum power for the HS-SCCH channel per HSDPA user. Number of HS-SCCH channels: The maximum number of HS-SCCH channels for this cell. Each Packet (HSDPA) and Packet (HSPA) user consumes one HS-SCCH channel. Therefore, at any given time (over a transmission time interval), the number of HSDPA users cannot exceed the number of HS-SCCH channels per cell. HS-SICH dynamic power allocation: If you are modelling dynamic power allocation, you should select this check box. During power control, Atoll controls HS-SICH power of the HSDPA-capable terminal in order to meet the minimum quality threshold (as defined for each mobility type) in the uplink. Number of HS-SICH channels: The maximum number of HS-SICH channels for this cell. Each Packet (HSDPA) and Packet (HSPA) user consumes one HS-SICH channel. Therefore, at any given time (over a transmission time interval), the number of HSPA users cannot exceed the number of HS-SICH channels per cell. Min number of HS-PDSCH codes per DL TS: The minimum number of OVSF codes available for HS-PDSCH channels for each downlink timeslot. This value will be taken into account during simulations in order to find a suitable bearer. Max number of HS-PDSCH codes per DL TS: The maximum number of OVSF codes available for HS-PDSCH channels for each downlink timeslot. This value will be taken into account during simulations and coverage predictions in order to find a suitable bearer. HSDPA scheduler algorithm: The scheduling technique that will be used to rank the HSDPA users to be served: • Max C/I: "n" HSDPA users (where "n" corresponds to the maximum number of HSDPA users defined) are scheduled in the same order as in the simulation (i.e., in random order). Then, they are sorted in descending order by the channel quality indicator (CQI). • Round robin: HSDPA users are scheduled in the same order as in the simulation (i.e., in random order). • Proportional fair: "n" HSDPA users (where "n" corresponds to the maximum number of HSDPA users defined) are scheduled in the same order as in the simulation (i.e., in random order). Then, they are sorted in descend-

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ing order according to a random parameter which corresponds to a combination of the user rank in the simulation and the channel quality indicator (CQI). The random parameter is calculated by giving both the user simulation rank and the CQI a weight of 50%. You can change the default weights by setting the appropriate options in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. • •

Max number of HSDPA users: The maximum number of HSDPA bearer users (i.e., Packet (HSDPA) users and Packet (HSPA) users users) that this cell can support at any given time. Number of HSDPA users: The number of HSDPA bearer users is an average and can be used for certain coverage predictions. You can enter this value yourself, or have the value calculated by Atoll using a simulation.

When HSUPA is supported, the following fields are also available: •

• • •

•

DL HSUPA Power: The power (in dBm) allocated to HSUPA DL channels (E-AGCH, E-RGCH, and E-HICH). This value must be entered by the user. • Max number of HSUPA users: The maximum number of HSUPA bearer users (i.e., Packet (HSPA) users) that this cell can support at any given time. • Number of HSUPA users: The number of HSUPA bearer users is an average and can be used for certain coverage predictions. This value can be a simulation result or can be entered by the user. • E-DCH dynamic power allocation: If you are modelling dynamic power allocation, you should select this check box and enter a value in E-DCH power per DL TS (dBm). The E-DCH power calculated for E-DCH channel during a simulation cannot exceed the value defined in E-DCH power per DL TS (dBm). During power control, Atoll controls E-DCH power in order to meet the minimum quality threshold (as defined for each mobility type). • E-DCH power per DL TS (dBm): When you are modelling static power allocation, the E-DCH dynamic power allocation check box is cleared and the actual power per E-DCH channel is entered in this box. In case of dynamic EDCH power allocation, the value entered here represents the maximum power for the E-DCH channel per HSUPA user. • UL load factor due to HSUPA (%): The uplink cell load contribution due to HSUPA. This value can be a simulation result or can be entered by the user. Max Number of Intra-technology Neighbours: The maximum number of intra-technology neighbours for this cell. This value is used by the intra-technology neighbour allocation algorithm. Max Number of Inter-technology Neighbours: The maximum number of inter-technology neighbours for this cell. This value is used by the inter-technology neighbour allocation algorithm. Neighbours: You can access a dialog box in which you can set both intra-technology and inter-technology neighbours by clicking the Browse button. For information on defining neighbours, see "Editing Neighbours in the Cell Properties" on page 228. Timeslots: You can access information about the cell’s traffic timeslots, i.e, for each of the six traffic timeslots, by clicking the Browse button.

The Browse buttons ( ) might not be visible in the Neighbours and Timeslot boxes if this is a new cell. You can make the Browse buttons appear by clicking Apply.

The timeslot Properties dialog box has the following options: • • •

• •

• •

• •

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Blocked: If this timeslot is to be blocked, i.e., not used for traffic, you must select the Blocked check box. A blocked timeslot is not used by the Dynamic Channel Allocation (DCA) algorithm and does not carry any traffic. Timeslot type: The type of traffic that the timeslot can carry, i.e., R99, HSDPA, HSUPA, etc. Other CCH power (dBm): The power of other common channels (S-CCPCH, FPACH, and PICH) on the traffic timeslot. Other common control channels can be transmitted on a downlink traffic timeslot using the main antenna. DL traffic power (dBm): The traffic power transmitted on downlink is the power necessary to serve users on the downlink timeslots. This value can be a simulation result or can be entered by the user. UL load factor (%): The uplink load factor for uplink timeslots. This factor corresponds to the ratio between the uplink total interference and the uplink total noise. This value can be a simulation result or can be entered by the user. Angular distribution of UL and DL loads: The angular distribution of downlink transmitted power and uplink loads calculated for cells whose transmitters have smart antenna equipment. This value is a simulation result. Resource units overhead: The number of resource units corresponding to overhead. This overhead is used in network dimensioning. For information on calculating network capacity, see "Calculating TD-SCDMA Network Capacity" on page 798. Max DL load (% Pmax): The percentage of the maximum downlink power (set in Max power [Traffic TS]) not to be exceeded. This limit can be taken into account during simulations. Max UL load factor (%): The maximum uplink load factor not to be exceeded. This limit can be taken into account during simulations.

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•

•

•

Available HS-PDSCH power (dBm): When you are modelling static power allocation, the HS-PDSCH dynamic power allocation check box in the Cells tab is cleared and the HS-PDSCH power available for the downlink timeslot is entered in this box. This power is available for the HS-PDSCH channels of HSDPA users. In case of dynamic HSPDSCH power allocation, the value entered here represents the maximum power for the HS-PDSCH of HSDPA users. Min number of HS-PDSCH codes: The minimum number of OVSF codes available for HS-PDSCH channels. This value will be taken into account during simulations in order to find a suitable bearer. If no value is defined here, the value defined for the cell is considered for the timeslot. Max number of HS-PDSCH codes: The maximum number of OVSF codes available for HS-PDSCH channels. This value will be taken into account during simulations and coverage predictions in order to find a suitable bearer. If no value is defined here, the value defined for the cell is considered for the timeslot.

10.2.1.2 Creating or Modifying a Base Station Element A base station consists of the site, one or more transmitters, various pieces of equipment, and radio settings such as, for example, cells. This section describes how to create or modify the following elements of a base station: • • •

10.2.1.2.1

"Creating or Modifying a Site" on page 745. "Creating or Modifying a Transmitter" on page 745. "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 746.

Creating or Modifying a Site You can modify an existing site or you can create a new site. You can access the properties of a site, described in "Site Properties" on page 739, through the site’s Properties dialog box. How you access the Properties dialog box depends on whether you are creating a new site or modifying an existing site. To create a new site: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Sites folder and select Add Site from the context menu. The mouse cursor changes and the coordinates of the mouse cursor are displayed in the status bar. 2. Click the map at the location where you want to place the new site. A new site is created with default values at the corresponding location. Alternatively, you can create a new site by entering its coordinates and properties as described in "Site Properties" on page 739, by right-clicking the Sites folder and selecting New from the context menu.

To modify the properties of an existing site: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Sites folder and right-click the site, or right-click the site on the map. The context menu appears. 2. Select Properties from the context menu. The site’s Properties dialog box appears. 3. Modify the parameters described in "Site Properties" on page 739. 4. Click OK. If you are creating several sites at the same time, or modifying several existing sites, you can do it quickly by editing or pasting the data directly in the Sites table. You can open the Sites table by right-clicking the Sites folder in the Network explorer and selecting Open Table from the context menu. For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83.

10.2.1.2.2

Creating or Modifying a Transmitter You can modify an existing transmitter or you can create a new transmitter. When you create a new transmitter, its initial settings are based on the default station template displayed in the Radio Planning toolbar. You can access the properties of a transmitter, described in "Transmitter Properties" on page 739, through the transmitter’s Properties dialog box. How you access the Properties dialog box depends on whether you are creating a new transmitter or modifying an existing transmitter. To create or modify a transmitter: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select New from the context menu. The Transmitters: New Record Properties dialog box appears. 4. Modify the parameters described in "Transmitter Properties" on page 739.

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5. Click OK. To modify the properties of an existing transmitter: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Transmitters folder. 3. Right-click the transmitter you want to modify. The context menu appears. 4. Select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter’s Properties dialog box appears. 5. Modify the parameters described in "Transmitter Properties" on page 739. 6. Click OK. If you are creating a new transmitter, Atoll automatically creates a cell based on the default station template. For information on creating a cell, see "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 746. •

•

10.2.1.2.3

If you are creating several transmitters at the same time, or modifying several existing transmitters, you can do it more quickly by editing or pasting the data directly in the Transmitters table. You can open the Transmitters table by rightclicking the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer and selecting Open Table from the context menu. For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83. If you want to add a transmitter to an existing site on the map, you can add the transmitter by right-clicking the site and selecting New Transmitter from the context menu.

Assigning Equipment to a Transmitter You can use the Equipment Specifications dialog box to assign a tower-mounted amplifier (TMA), feeders, and transmitter equipment to a transmitter. The gains and losses that you define are used to initialise total transmitter losses in the uplink and downlink. To assign equipment to a transmitter: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the LTE Transmitters folder, right-click the transmitter that you want to modify, and select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter Properties dialog box appears. 2. On the Transmitter tab, click the Equipment button. The Equipment Specifications dialog box opens. 3. Specify the following settings for the transmitter: • • •

• • •

TMA: You can select a tower-mounted amplifier (TMA) from the list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the TMA. For information on creating a TMA, see "Defining TMA Equipment" on page 161. Feeder: You can select a feeder cable from the list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the feeder. For information on creating a feeder cable, see "Defining Feeder Cables" on page 161. Transmitter: You can select transmitter equipment from the Transmitter list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the transmitter equipment. For information on creating transmitter equipment, see "Defining Transmitter Equipment" on page 162. Feeder Length: You can enter the feeder length at transmission and reception. Miscellaneous Losses: You can enter miscellaneous losses at transmission and reception. The value you enter must be positive. Receiver Antenna Diversity Gain: You can enter a receiver antenna diversity gain. The value you enter must be positive.

4. Click OK.

10.2.1.2.4

Creating or Modifying a Cell You can modify an existing cell or you can create a new cell. You can access the properties of a cell, described in "Cell Properties" on page 742, through the Properties dialog box of the transmitter where the cell is located. How you access the Properties dialog box depends on whether you are creating a new cell or modifying an existing cell. To create or modify a cell: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Transmitters folder. 3. Right-click the transmitter on which you want to create a cell or whose cell you want to modify. The context menu appears. 4. Select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter’s Properties dialog box appears. 5. Select the Cells tab. 6. Modify the parameters described in "Cell Properties" on page 742.

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7. Click OK. •

•

If you are creating or modifying several cells at the same time, you can do it more quickly by editing the data directly in the Cells table. You can open the Cells table by right-clicking the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer and selecting Cells > Open Table from the context menu. You can either edit the data in the table, paste data into the table (see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83), or import data into the table (see "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88). If you want to add a cell to an existing transmitter on the map, you can add the cell by right-clicking the transmitter and selecting New Cell from the context menu.

10.2.1.3 Placing a New Base Station Using a Station Template In Atoll, a base station is defined as a site with one or more transmitters sharing the same properties. With Atoll, you can create a network by placing base stations based on station templates. This allows you to build your network quickly with consistent parameters, instead of building the network by first creating the site, then the transmitters, and finally by adding the cells. To place a new station using a station template: 1. In the Radio Planning toolbar, select a template from the list. 2. Click the New Transmitter or Station button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar.

3. In the map window, move the pointer over the map to where you would like to place the new station. The exact coordinates of the pointer’s current location are visible in the Status bar. 4. Click to place the station. •

•

To place the base station more accurately, you can zoom in on the map before you click the New Station button. For information on using the zooming tools, see "Changing the Map Scale" on page 60. If you let the pointer rest over the base station you have placed, Atoll displays its tip text with its exact coordinates, allowing you to verify that the location is correct.

Placing a Base Station on an Existing Site When you place a new base station using a station template as explained in "Placing a New Base Station Using a Station Template" on page 747, the site is created at the same time as the base station. However, you can also place a new base station on an existing site. To place a base station on an existing site: 1. In the Network explorer, clear the display check box beside the Hexagonal Design folder. 2. In the Radio Planning toolbar, select a template from the list. 3. Click the New Station button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar.

4. Move the pointer to the site on the map. When the frame appears around the site, indicating it is selected, click to place the base station.

10.2.1.4 Managing Station Templates Atoll comes with TD-SCDMA station templates, but you can also create and modify station templates. The tools for working with station templates can be found on the Radio Planning toolbar (see Figure 10.3).

Figure 10.3: The Radio Planning toolbar In this section, the following are explained: • • • • • •

"Station Template Properties" on page 748 "Creating a Station Template" on page 749 "Modifying a Station Template" on page 749 "Copying Properties from One Station Template to Another" on page 750 "Modifying a Field in a Station Template" on page 750 "Deleting a Station Template" on page 750.

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Station Template Properties The station template Properties dialog box contains the settings for templates that are used for creating new sites and transmitters. General Tab This tab contains general information about the station template: • • • • •

Name: Type the name of the station template. Sectors: Specify the number of transmitters on the site. Hexagon Radius: Specify the theoretical radius of the hexagonal area covered by each sector. Frequency Band: Specify the frequency band and the Max range of the station. Main antenna: Select the Model and specify the following settings: • • • •

1st sector mechanical azimuth from which the azimuth of the other sectors are offset to offer complete coverage of the area. Height/ground of the antennas from the ground (i.e., the height over the DTM; if the transmitter is situated on a building, the height entered must include the height of the building). Mechanical downtilt for the antennas. Electrical Azimuth, Electrical Downtilt, and Additional electrical downtilt display additional antenna parameters. • •

•

•

The Additional electrical downtilt can be made accessible through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide.

Under Path loss matrices, you can modify the following: the Main propagation model, the Main radius, and the Main resolution, and the Extended propagation model, the Extended radius, and the Extended resolution. For information on propagation models, see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models. Under Comments, you can add additional information. The information you enter will be the default information in the Comments field of any transmitter created using this station template.

Transmitter Tab •

Active: Select this option to specify whether the transmitter is active. Active transmitters are displayed in red in the CDMA Transmitters folder of the Network explorer. Only active transmitters are taken into consideration during calculations.

Click the Equipment button to modify the tower-mounted amplifier (TMA), feeder cables, or transmitter equipment. For information on the Equipment Specifications dialog box, see "Assigning Equipment to a Transmitter" on page 746. The Total losses (transmission and reception) and Noise figure (reception) in the Computed columns is calculated from the information that was entered in the Equipment Specifications dialog box. The Total losses (transmission and reception) Noise figure (reception) in the Real columns can be edited. Any value that you enter must be positive. Any loss related to the noise due to the repeater of a transmitter is included in the calculated losses. Atoll always considers the values in the Real boxes in coverage predictions even if they are different from the values in the Computed boxes. •

Diversity: Select the No. of ports on the Transmission and Reception sides, as well as the Type of diversity, if there is more than one port on the Transmission side.

TD-SCDMA Tab On this tab, you can modify the specifications of the Carriers (each corresponding to a cell) that each transmitter supports. •

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N-frequency mode: Select whether the transmitters created with this template are compatible with N-frequency mode. If you select this option, the transmitters created using this station template will have at least one master carrier with P-CCPCH, DwPCH, and Other CCH powers. If there is more than one carrier on the transmitters, the rest of the carriers will be slave carriers. Slave carriers will not have any P-CCPCH, DwPCH, or Other CCH powers. If this option is disabled, the transmitters created using this template will have stand-alone carriers.

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•

• • • •

Carrier: You can select the numbers for each sector of the station template. To select the carriers to be added to the sectors of a base station created using this station template, click the Browse button and select the carriers to be created for each sector of the station. Primary scrambling code: Specify the Reuse distance and the scrambling code Domain. Power: Specify the Max, P-CCPCH, DwPCH, and the Other CCH powers. Timeslots: Select a default Timeslot configuration for the cells and set the numbers of UL required resource units and DL required resource units. Equipment: Specify a default equipment for the sites.

HSPA Tab Use this tab to specify additional carrier parameters (each corresponding to a cell) that each transmitter supports. For information on carriers and cells, see "Cell Properties" on page 742. •

HSPA support: Choose between None (i.e., R99 only), HSDPA, or HSPA (i.e., HSDPA and HSUPA). If you select HSDPA as HSPA support, you can set the following HSDPA parameters: • •

HSDPA: Specify the Power headroom. HS-SICH: Select either Static or Dynamic allocation strategy for HS-SICH power and define the Number of channels for HS-SICH.

•

HS-PDSCH: Select either Static or Dynamic allocation strategy for HS-PDSCH power, enter the Fixed power, if you selected Static power allocation, and enter the Min. and Max number of codes for HS-PDSCH.

•

HS-SCCH: Select either Static or Dynamic allocation strategy for HS-SCCH power, enter the HS-SCCH power for HS-SCCH, if you selected Static power allocation, and define the Number of channels for HS-SCCH.

•

Scheduler: Select the scheduler Algorithm and enter the Max number of users.

When you create an HSDPA-capable base station using a station template, the timeslots of all the cells created automatically are by default set to support R99 and HSDPA. If you select HSDPA as HSPA support, you can also set the following HSUPA parameters: •

HSDPA: Select Dynamic allocation strategy for E-DCH power and enter the Max number of users.

When you create an HSPA-capable base station using a station template, the timeslots of all the cells created automatically are by default set to support R99 and HSPA. Neighbours Tab On this tab, you can modify the Max Number of Intra- and Inter-Carrier Neighbours and the Max Number of Intertechnology Neighbours. For information on defining neighbours, see "Neighbour Planning" on page 223. Other Properties Tab This tab only appears if you have defined additional fields in the Sites table, or if you have defined an additional field in the Station Template Properties dialog box.

10.2.1.4.2

Creating a Station Template When you create a station template, you can do so by selecting an existing station template that most closely resembles the station template you want to create and making a copy. Then you can modify the parameters that differ. To create a station template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Network Settings folder, right-click the Station Templates folder, and select Open Table from the context menu. The Station Templates table appears. 2. In the Station Templates table, right-click the station template that most closely resembles the station template you want to create and select Copy from the context menu. 3. Right-click the row marked with the New Row icon ( ) and select Paste from the context menu. The station template you copied in step 2. is pasted in the new row, with the Name of the new station template given as the same as the template copied but preceded by "Copy of". 4. Edit the station template properties as described in "Station Template Properties" on page 748. 5. Click OK.

10.2.1.4.3

Modifying a Station Template You can modify a station template directly in the Station Templates table, or you can open the Properties dialog box for that station template and modify the parameters in the dialog box.

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To modify a station template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Network Settings folder and the Station Templates folder. 2. Right-click the station template you want to modify and select Properties from the context menu. The station template Properties dialog box appears. 3. Edit the station template properties as described in "Station Template Properties" on page 748. 4. Click OK.

10.2.1.4.4

Copying Properties from One Station Template to Another You can copy properties from one template to another template by using the Station Templates table. To copy properties from one template to another template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the UMTS Network Settings folder, right-click the Station Templates folder, and select Open Table from the context menu. The Station Templates table opens. 2. In the Stations Templates table, copy the settings in the row corresponding to the station template that you want to copy from and paste them into the row corresponding to the station template that you want to modify.

10.2.1.4.5

Modifying a Field in a Station Template You can add, delete, and edit user-defined data table fields in the Station Templates table. If you want to add a user-defined field to the station templates, you must have already added it to the Sites table for it to appear as an option in the station template properties To modify a field in a station template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the UMTS Network Settings folder, right-click the Station Templates folder, and select Properties from the context menu. The Station Template Properties dialog box opens. 2. Select the Table tab. 3. Add, delete, or edit the user-defined fields as described in "Adding, Deleting, and Editing Data Table Fields" on page 76. 4. Click OK.

10.2.1.4.6

Deleting a Station Template To delete a station template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the UMTS Network Settings folder and the Station Templates folder, and rightclick the station template that you want to delete. The context menu appears. 2. Select Delete from the context menu. The template is deleted.

10.2.1.5 Duplicating an Existing Base Station You can create new base stations by duplicating an existing base station. When you duplicate an existing base station, the base station you create will have the same transmitter, cell, and timeslot parameter values as the original base station. If no site exists where you place the duplicated base station, Atoll will create a new site with the same parameters as the site of the original base station. Duplicating a base station allows you to: • •

Quickly create a new base station with the same settings as an original one in order to study the effect of a new station on the coverage and capacity of the network, and Quickly create a new homogeneous network with stations that have the same characteristics.

To duplicate an existing base station: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Sites folder. 3. Right-click the site you want to duplicate. The context menu appears. 4. From the context menu, select one of the following: • •

Select Duplicate > Without Neighbours from the context menu, if you want to duplicate the base station without the intra- and inter-technology neighbours of its transmitters. Select Duplicate > With Neighbours from the context menu, if you want to duplicate the base station along with the lists of intra- and inter-technology neighbours of its transmitters.

5. Place the new base station on the map using the mouse: •

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Creating a duplicate base station and site: In the map window, move the pointer over the map to where you would like to place the duplicate. The exact coordinates of the pointer’s current location are visible in the Status bar.

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•

Placing the duplicate base station on an existing site: In the map window, move the pointer over the existing site where you would like to place the duplicate. When the pointer is over the site, the site is automatically selected. The exact coordinates of the pointer’s current location are visible in the Status bar.

Figure 10.4: Placing the duplicate base station on an existing site •

•

To place the station more accurately, you can zoom in on the map before you select Duplicate from the context menu. For information on using the zooming tools, see "Changing the Map Scale" on page 60. If you let the pointer rest over the station you have placed, Atoll displays tip text with its exact coordinates, allowing you to verify that the location is correct.

6. Click to place the duplicate base station. A new base station is placed on the map. If the duplicate base station was placed on a new site, the site, transmitters, and cells of the new base station have the same names as the site, transmitters, and cells of the original base station with each name marked as "Copy of." The site, transmitters, cells, and timeslots of the duplicate base station have the same settings as those of the original base station. If the duplicate base station was placed on an existing site, the transmitters, and cells of the new base station have the same names as the transmitters, and cells of the original base station with each name preceded by the name of the site on which the duplicate was placed. All the remote antennas and repeaters of any transmitter on the original site are also duplicated. Any duplicated remote antennas and repeaters will retain the same donor transmitter as the original. If you want the duplicated remote antenna or repeater to use a transmitter on the duplicated base station, you must change the donor transmitter manually. You can also place a series of duplicate base stations by pressing and holding Ctrl in step 6. and clicking to place each duplicate base station. For more information on the site, transmitter, cell, and timeslot properties, see "Definition of a Base Station" on page 739.

10.2.1.6 Studying the Profile Around a Base Station In Atoll, you can make a profile analysis to study obstacles along the path between a reference transmitter and any point on the map. Atoll displays the geographic profile between the transmitter and the receiver with clutter heights. An ellipsoid indicating the Fresnel zone is also displayed allowing you to study obstructions to radio signals along the path. You can also study propagation losses along the profile as well as the signal level received at the point. Before studying path loss along a profile, you must assign a propagation model to the transmitter. The propagation model takes the radio and geographic data into account and calculates losses along the transmitter-receiver path. The profile is calculated in real time, using the propagation model, allowing you to study the profile and get a prediction on the selected point. For information on assigning a propagation model, see "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187. To study the profile between a transmitter and a receiver: 1. In the map window, select the transmitter from which you want to make a point analysis. 2. Click the Point Analysis button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar. The Point Analysis window opens and the pointer

changes ( ) to represent the receiver. A line appears on the map connecting the selected transmitter and the receiver. You can move the receiver on the map (see "Moving the Receiver on the Map" on page 203). Select the Profile view. The Profile view displays the profile between the transmitter and the receiver with the terrain and clutter heights.

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Figure 10.5: Point Analysis - Profile view The distance between the transmitter and the receiver is displayed at the top of the Profile view. The altitude is reported on the vertical axis and the receiver-transmitter distance on the horizontal axis. A blue ellipsoid indicates the Fresnel zone between the transmitter and the receiver. A green line indicates the line of sight (LOS) with the angle of the LOS as read from the vertical antenna pattern. Along the profile, if the signal meets an obstacle, the obstacle causes attenuation with diffraction displayed by a red vertical line (if the used propagation model is able to calculate diffraction). The main diffraction edge is the one that intersects the Fresnel ellipsoid the most. Propagation models that use a 3 knife-edge Deygout diffraction method may also display two additional diffraction edges. The total attenuation is displayed above the main diffraction edge. The results of the analysis are displayed at the top of the Profile view: • • • •

The received signal strength from the selected transmitter for the cell with the highest reference signal power The propagation model used The shadowing margin and the indoor loss (if selected) The distance between the transmitter and the receiver.

3. If needed, select an other transmitter from the list. You can click the Properties button ( properties.

) to access the transmitter

4. Select the carrier to be analysed from the Carriers list. 5. Click the Options button ( • • • •

) to display the Calculation Options dialog box and change the following:

Change the X and Y coordinates to change the current position of the receiver. Select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a Cell edge coverage probability. For more information, see "Taking Shadowing into Account in Point Analyses" on page 204. Select Signal level, Path loss, or Total losses from the Result type list. You can select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. For more information, see "Taking Indoor Losses into Account" on page 203.

6. In the Profile view toolbar, you can use the following tools: •

Click the Geographic Profile button ( Click the Geographic Profile button ( receiver.

) to view the geographic profile between the transmitter and the receiver. ) again to view the radio signal path between the transmitter and the

•

Click the Link Budget button (

•

Click the Detailed Report button ( ) to display a text document with details on the displayed profile analysis. The detailed report is only available for the Standard Propagation Model. ) to copy the content of the view and paste it as a graphic into a graphic editing or wordClick the Copy button ( processing programme.

• • •

) to display a dialog box with the link budget.

Click the Print button ( ) to print the content of the view. Click the Centre on Map button ( ) to centre the map window on the receiver.

7. To end the point analysis, click the Point Analysis button (

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10.2.2 Creating a Group of Base Stations You can create base stations individually as explained in "Creating a TD-SCDMA Base Station" on page 738, or you can create one or several base stations by using station templates as explained in "Placing a New Base Station Using a Station Template" on page 747. However, if you have a large project and you already have existing data, you can import this data into your current Atoll document and create a group of base stations. When you import data into your current Atoll document, the coordinate system of the imported data must be the same as the display coordinate system used in the document. If you cannot change the coordinate system of your source data, you can temporarily change the display coordinate system of the Atoll document to match the source data. For information on changing the coordinate system, see "Setting a Coordinate System" on page 41. You can import base station data in the following ways: •

Copying and pasting data: If you have data in table form, either in another Atoll document or in a spreadsheet, you can copy this data and paste it into the tables in your current Atoll document. When you create a group of base stations by copying and pasting data, you must copy and paste site data in the Sites table, transmitter data in the Transmitters table, and cell data in the Cells table, in that order. The table you copy data from must have the same column layout as the table you are pasting data into.

For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83. •

Importing data: If you have data in text or comma-separated value (CSV) format, you can import it into the tables in the current document. If the data is in another Atoll document, you can first export it in text or CSV format and then import it into the tables of your current Atoll document. When you are importing, Atoll allows you to select what values you import into which columns of the table. When you create a group of base stations by importing data, you must import site data in the Sites table, transmitter data in the Transmitters table, and cell data in the Cells table, in that order. For information on exporting table data, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. For information on importing table data, see "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88. You can quickly create a series of base stations for study purposes using the Hexagonal Design tool on the Radio Planning toolbar. For information, see "Placing a New Base Station Using a Station Template" on page 747.

10.2.3 Modifying Sites and Transmitters Directly on the Map In Atoll, you can access the Properties dialog box of a site or transmitter using the context menu in the Network explorer. However, in a complex radio-planning project, it can be difficult to find the data object in the Network explorer, although it might be visible in the map window. Atoll lets you access the Properties dialog box of sites and transmitters directly from the map. You can also select a site to display all of the transmitters located on it in the Site explorer. When selecting a transmitter, if there is more than one transmitter with the same azimuth, clicking the transmitters in the map window opens a context menu allowing you to select the transmitter. You can also change the position of the station by dragging it, or by letting Atoll find a higher location for it. Modifying sites and transmitters directly on the map is explained in detail in Chapter 1: Working Environment: • • • • •

"Selecting One out of Several Transmitters" on page 57 "Moving a Site Using the Mouse" on page 57 "Moving a Site to a Higher Location" on page 57 "Changing the Azimuth of the Antenna Using the Mouse" on page 57 "Changing the Antenna Position Relative to the Site Using the Mouse" on page 58.

10.2.4 Display Tips for Base Stations Atoll allows to you to display information about base stations in a number of different ways. This enables you not only to display selected information, but also to distinguish base stations at a glance. The following tools can be used to display information about base stations:

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Label: You can display information about each object, such as each site or transmitter, in the form of a label that is displayed with the object. You can display information from every field in that object type’s data table, including from fields that you add. The label is always displayed, so you should choose information that you would want to always be visible; too much information will lead to a cluttered display. For information on defining the label, see "Associating a Label to an Object" on page 53. Tip text: You can display information about each object, such as each site or transmitter, in the form of tip text that is only visible when you move the pointer over the object. You can choose to display more information than in the label, because the information is only displayed when you move the pointer over the object. You can display information from any field in that object type’s data table, including from fields that you add. For information on defining the tip text, see "Associating a Tip Text to an Object" on page 54. Transmitter colour: You can set the transmitter colour to display information about the transmitter. For example, you can select "Discrete Values" to distinguish transmitters by antenna type, or to distinguish inactive from active sites. You can also define the display type for transmitters as "Automatic." Atoll then automatically assigns a colour to each transmitter, ensuring that each transmitter has a different colour than the transmitters surrounding it. For information on defining the transmitter colour, see "Setting the Display Type" on page 52. Transmitter symbol: You can select one of several symbols to represent transmitters. For example, you can select a symbol that graphically represents the antenna half-power beamwidth (

). If you have two transmitters on the

same site with the same azimuth, you can differentiate them by selecting different symbols for each ( For information on defining the transmitter symbol, see "Setting the Display Type" on page 52.

and

).

10.2.5 Creating a Dual-Band TD-SCDMA Network In Atoll, you can model a dual-band TD-SCDMA network, i.e., a network consisting of 2100 MHz and 900 MHz transmitters, in one document. Creating a dual-band TD-SCDMA network consists of the following steps: 1. Defining the two frequency bands in the document (see "Defining Frequency Bands" on page 828). 2. Selecting and calibrating a propagation model for each frequency band (see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models). 3. Assigning a frequency band, with its propagation model, to each transmitter (see "Transmitter Properties" on page 739).

10.2.6 Creating a Repeater A repeater receives, amplifies, and re-transmits the radiated or conducted RF carrier both in downlink and uplink. It has a donor side and a server side. The donor side receives the signal from a donor transmitter, repeater, or remote antenna. This signal can be carried by different types of links such as a radio link or a microwave link. The server side re-transmits the received signal. When Atoll models TD-SCDMA repeaters, the modelling focuses on: • •

The additional coverage these systems provide to transmitters in the downlink. The noise rise generated at the donor transmitter by the repeater. •

Broadband repeaters are not modelled. Atoll assumes that all carriers of 3G donor transmitters are amplified.

In calculations, repeaters are transparent to the donor transmitters and the served users. For example, beamforming smart antennas at donor transmitters create beams directly towards the served users, and not towards the repeater that covers the users. This results in a combined signal level received from the transmitter using the smart antenna and from the repeater. If this approach does not match how your equipment works, you must not assign smart antennas to transmitters with repeaters and vice versa. In this section, the following are explained: • • • • • •

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"Opening the Repeaters Table" on page 755. "Creating and Modifying Repeater Equipment" on page 755 "Placing a Repeater on the Map Using the Mouse" on page 755. "Creating Several Repeaters" on page 756. "Defining the Properties of a Repeater" on page 756. "Tips for Updating Repeater Parameters" on page 758.

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10.2.6.1 Opening the Repeaters Table Repeaters and their defining parameters are stored in the Repeaters table. To open the Repeaters table: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Repeaters > Open Table from the context menu. The Repeaters table appears.

10.2.6.2 Creating and Modifying Repeater Equipment You can define repeater equipment to be assigned to each repeater in the network. To create or modify repeater equipment: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Radio Network Equipment folder. 3. In the Radio Network Equipment folder, right-click Repeater Equipment. The context menu appears. 4. Select Open Table from the context menu. The Repeater Equipment table appears. 5. Define the following in an existing record or in the row marked with the New row icon (

):

a. Enter a Name and Manufacturer for the new equipment. b. Enter a Noise figure (dB). The repeater causes a rise in noise at the donor transmitter, so the noise figure is used to calculate the UL loss to be added to the donor transmitter UL losses. The noise figure must be a positive value. c. Enter minimum and maximum repeater amplification gains in the Min gain and Max gain columns. These parameters enable Atoll to ensure that the user-defined amplifier gain is consistent with the limits of the equipment if there are any. d. Enter a Gain increment. Atoll uses the increment value when you increase or decrease the repeater amplifier gain using the buttons to the right of the Amplifier gain box ( box.

) on the General tab of the repeater Properties dialog

e. Enter the maximum power that the equipment can transmit on the downlink in the Max downlink power column. This parameter enables Atoll to ensure that the downlink power after amplification does not exceed the limit of the equipment. f.

If desired, enter a Max uplink power, an Internal delay and Comments. These fields are for information only and are not used in calculations.

10.2.6.3 Placing a Repeater on the Map Using the Mouse In Atoll, you can create a repeater and place it using the mouse. When you create a repeater, you can add it to an existing site, or have Atoll automatically create a new site. Atoll supports cascading repeaters, in other words, repeaters that extend the coverage of another repeater or of a remote antenna. To create a repeater and place it using the mouse: 1. Select the donor transmitter, repeater, or remote antenna. You can select it from the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer, or directly on the map. 2. Click the arrow next to New Repeater or Remote Antenna button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

3. Select Repeater from the menu. 4. Click the map to place the repeater. The repeater is placed on the map, represented by a symbol ( ) in the same colour as the donor transmitter, repeater, or remote antenna. If the repeater is inactive, it is displayed by an empty icon. By default, the repeater has the same azimuth as the donor. Its tip text and label display the same information as displayed for the donor. As well, its tip text identifies the repeater and the donor. In the explorer window, the repeater is found in the Transmitters folder of the Network explorer under its donor transmitter, repeater, or remote antenna. For information on defining the properties of the new repeater, see "Defining the Properties of a Repeater" on page 756.

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When the donor is a transmitter, you can see to which base station the repeater is connected by clicking it; Atoll displays a link to the donor transmitter. You can hide the link by clicking it again. When the donor is a repeater or a remote antenna, Atoll displays a spider-type link showing the entire chain down to the donor transmitter. The same spider-type link is displayed when you click any of the items belonging to the chain is clicked (i.e., donor transmitter, any repeater, or any remote antenna).

10.2.6.4 Creating Several Repeaters In Atoll, the characteristics of each repeater are stored in the Repeaters table. If you have data in table form, either in another Atoll document or in a spreadsheet, you can copy this data and paste it into the Repeaters table in your current Atoll document. To paste the information into the Repeaters table: 1. Open the Repeaters table as explained in "Opening the Repeaters Table" on page 755. 2. Copy the data from the source document and paste it into the Repeaters table. The table you copy data from must have the same column layout as the table you are pasting data into.

For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83.

10.2.6.5 Defining the Properties of a Repeater To define the properties of a repeater: 1. Right-click the repeater either directly on the map, or in the Repeaters table (for information on opening the Repeaters table, see "Opening the Repeaters Table" on page 755). The context menu appears. 2. Select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 3. Click the General tab. You can modify the following parameters: •

You can change the Name of the repeater. By default, repeaters are named "SiteX_Y_RepZ" where "X" is the donor site number, "Y" the donor transmitter number, and "Z" a number assigned to the repeater when it was created. If the donor is a remote antenna or another repeater, then "RepZ" is preceded by "RemA_" or "RepB_" where "A" and "B" identify the donor remote antenna and the donor repeater.

• • •

•

You can change the Donor by selecting it from the Donor list. The Donor can be a transmitter, a remote antenna, or another repeater. Clicking the Browse button opens the Properties dialog box of the selected donor. You can change the Site on which the repeater is located. Clicking the Browse button opens the Properties dialog box of the selected site. You can enter a value in the Shared antenna (coverage side) field for the repeater. This field is used to identify the transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas that are located at the same site or on sites with the same position and that share an antenna. The entry in the field must be the same for all such transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas. When changes are made to the position offset (Dx, Dy), azimuth, antenna height, or mechanical tilt of one antenna, Atoll automatically synchronises the same changes to all other transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas defined as having a shared antenna. Under Antenna position, you can define the position of the repeater, if it is not located on the site itself: •

• •

Relative to site: Select Relative to site, if you want to define the position of the repeater relative to the site itself and then enter the XY offsets. • Coordinates: Select Coordinates, if you want to define the position of the repeater by its XY coordinates. You can select equipment from the Equipment list. Clicking the Browse button opens the Properties dialog box of the equipment. You can change the Amplifier gain. The amplifier gain is used in the link budget to evaluate the repeater total gain.

4. Click the Donor Side tab. You can modify the following parameters: •

Under Donor-repeater link, select a Link type. • •

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If you select Microwave link, enter the Propagation losses and continue with step 5. If you select Air, select a Propagation model and enter the Propagation losses or click Calculate to determine the actual propagation losses between the donor and the repeater. If you do not select a propagation model,

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the propagation losses between the donor transmitter and the repeater are calculated using the ITU 526-5 propagation model. When you create an off-air repeater, it is assumed that the link between the donor transmitter and the repeater has the same frequency as the network. If you want to create a remote antenna, you must select Optical fibre link.

•

If you selected Air under Donor-repeater link, enter the following information under Antenna: •

Model: The type of antenna is visible in the Model list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the antenna. Click the Select button to open the Antenna Selection Assistant. This assistant lists all the antennas that match the currently selected physical antenna and whose minimum and maximum operating frequencies include the operating frequency of the transmitter. For more information, see "Assigning Antennas to Transmitters" on page 159

•

•

Height/ground: The Height/ground box gives the height of the antenna above the ground. This is added to the altitude of the site as given by the DTM. If the repeater is situated on a building, the height entered must include the height of building. Mechanical Azimuth and Mechanical Downtilt display additional antenna parameters. You can click the Calculate button to update the mechanical azimuth and mechanical downtilt values after changing the repeater donor side antenna height or the repeater location. If you choose another site or change site coordinates in the General tab, click Apply before clicking the Calculate button.

•

If you selected Air under Donor-repeater link, enter the following information under Feeders: i.

Select a Type of feeder from the list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the feeder.

ii. Enter the Length of the feeder cable at Transmission and at Reception. 5. Click the Coverage side tab. You can modify the following parameters: • •

Select the Active check box. Only active repeaters (displayed in red in the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer) are calculated. Total Gain: enter the gain (in downlink and uplink) or click Calculate to determine the actual gain in both directions. If you have modified any parameter in the General, Donor Side, or Coverage Side tabs, click Apply before clicking the Calculate button. • •

In downlink, the total gain is applied to each power (P-CCPCH power, DwPCH power, etc.). In uplink, the total gain is applied to each terminal power.

The total gain considers losses between the donor transmitter and the repeater, donor characteristics (donor antenna gain, reception feeder losses), amplifier gain, and coverage characteristics (coverage antenna gain, transmission feeder losses). •

Under Antennas, you can modify the following parameters: •

•

Height/ground: The Height/ground box gives the height of the antenna above the ground. This is added to the altitude of the site as given by the DTM. If the repeater is situated on a building, the height entered must include the height of building. Main antenna: Under Main antenna, the type of antenna is visible in the Model list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the antenna. Click the Select button to open the Antenna Selection Assistant. This assistant lists all the antennas that match the currently selected physical antenna and whose minimum and maximum operating frequencies include the operating frequency of the transmitter. For more information, see "Assigning Antennas to Transmitters" on page 159

• • •

Mechanical Azimuth, Mechanical Downtilt, and Additional Electrical Downtilt display additional antenna parameters. Mechanical Azimuth, Mechanical downtilt, Electrical Azimuth, Electrical Downtilt, and Additional electrical downtilt display additional antenna parameters. Under Secondary antennas, you can select one or more secondary antennas in the Antenna column and enter their Azimuth, Mechanical downtilt, Additional electrical downtilt, and % Power.

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• • • •

The Additional electrical downtilt can be made accessible through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75.

Under Feeders, you can modify the following information: i.

Select a Type of feeder from the list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the feeder.

ii. Enter the Length of the feeder cable at Transmission and at Reception. •

Under Losses, the Loss related to repeater noise rise is displayed and you can modify the following information: •

Misc. losses: You can specify additional losses in dB for Transmission and Reception.

6. Click the Propagation tab. Since repeaters are taken into account during calculations, you must set the propagation parameters. On the Propagation tab, you can modify the Propagation model, Radius, and Resolution for both the Main matrix and the Extended matrix. By default, the propagation characteristics of the repeater (model, calculation radius, and grid resolution) are the same as those of the donor transmitter. For information on propagation models, see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models.

10.2.6.6 Tips for Updating Repeater Parameters Atoll provides you with a few shortcuts that you can use to change certain repeater parameters: • •

You can update the calculated azimuths and downtilts of the donor-side antennas of all repeaters by selecting Repeaters > Calculate Donor Side Azimuths and Tilts from the Transmitters context menu. You can update the UL and DL total gains of all repeaters by selecting Repeaters > Calculate Gains from the Transmitters context menu. You can prevent Atoll from updating the UL and DL total gains of selected repeaters by creating a custom Boolean field named "FreezeTotalGain" in the Repeaters table and setting the value of the field to "True." Afterwards, when you select Repeaters > Calculate Gains from the Transmitters context menu, Atoll will only update the UL and DL total gains for repeaters with the custom field "FreezeTotalGain" set to "False."

• •

You can update the propagation losses of all off-air repeaters by selecting Repeaters > Calculate Donor Side Propagation Losses from the Transmitters context menu. You can select a repeater on the map and change its azimuth (see "Changing the Azimuth of the Antenna Using the Mouse" on page 57) or its position relative to the site (see "Changing the Antenna Position Relative to the Site Using the Mouse" on page 58).

10.2.7 Creating a Remote Antenna Atoll allows you to create remote antennas to position antennas at locations that would normally require long runs of feeder cable. A remote antenna is connected to the base station with an optical fibre. Remote antennas allow you to ensure radio coverage in an area without a new base station. In Atoll, the remote antenna should be connected to a base station that does not have any antennas. It is assumed that a remote antenna, as opposed to a repeater, does not have any equipment and generates no amplification gain nor noise. In certain cases, you may want to model a remote antenna with equipment or a remote antenna connected to a base station that has antennas. This can be done by modelling a repeater. For information on creating a repeater, see "Creating a Repeater" on page 754. In calculations, remote antennas are transparent to the donor transmitters and the served users. For example, beamforming smart antennas at donor transmitters create beams directly towards the served users, and not towards the remote antenna that covers the users. This results in a combined signal level received from the transmitter using the smart antenna and from the remote antenna. If this approach does not match how your equipment works, you must not assign smart antennas to transmitters with remote antennas and vice versa. In this section, the following are explained: • •

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"Opening the Remote Antennas Table" on page 759. "Placing a Remote Antenna on the Map Using the Mouse" on page 759.

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"Creating Several Remote Antennas" on page 759. "Defining the Properties of a Remote Antenna" on page 760. "Tips for Updating Remote Antenna Parameters" on page 761.

10.2.7.1 Opening the Remote Antennas Table Repeaters and their defining parameters are stored in the Remote Antennas table. To open the Remote Antennas table: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Remote Antennas > Open Table from the context menu. The Remote Antennas table appears.

10.2.7.2 Placing a Remote Antenna on the Map Using the Mouse In Atoll, you can create a remote antenna and place it using the mouse. When you create a remote antenna, you can add it to an existing base station without antennas, or have Atoll automatically create a new site. To create a remote antenna and place it using the mouse: 1. Select the donor transmitter. You can select it from the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer, or directly on the map. Ensure that the remote antenna’s donor transmitter does not have any antennas.

2. Click the arrow next to the New Repeater or Remote Antenna button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

3. Select Remote Antenna from the menu. 4. Click the map to place the remote antenna. The remote antenna is placed on the map, represented by the same symbol and colour as the donor transmitter. If the remote antenna is inactive, it is displayed by an empty icon. By default, the remote antenna has the same azimuth as the donor transmitter. Its tip text and label display the same information as displayed for the donor transmitter. As well, its tip text identifies the remote antenna and the donor transmitter. For information on defining the properties of the new remote antenna, see "Defining the Properties of a Remote Antenna" on page 760. •

•

When the donor is a transmitter, you can see to which base station the repeater is connected by clicking it; Atoll displays a link to the donor transmitter. You can hide the link by clicking it again. When the donor is a repeater or a remote antenna, Atoll displays a spider-type link showing the entire chain down to the donor transmitter. The same spider-type link is displayed when you click any of the items belonging to the chain is clicked (i.e., donor transmitter, any repeater, or any remote antenna).

10.2.7.3 Creating Several Remote Antennas In Atoll, the characteristics of each remote antenna are stored in the Remote Antennas table. If you have data in table form, either in another Atoll document or in a spreadsheet, you can copy this data and paste it into the Remote Antennas table in your current Atoll document. To paste the information into the Remote Antennas table: 1. Open the Remote Antennas table as explained in "Opening the Remote Antennas Table" on page 759. 2. Copy the data from the source document and paste it into the Remote Antennas table. The table you copy data from must have the same column layout as the table you are pasting data into.

For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83.

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10.2.7.4 Defining the Properties of a Remote Antenna To define the properties of a remote antenna: 1. Right-click the remote antenna either directly on the map, or in the Remote Antennas table (for information on opening the Remote Antennas table, see "Opening the Remote Antennas Table" on page 759). The context menu appears. 2. Select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 3. Click the General tab. You can modify the following parameters: •

You can change the Name of the remote antenna. By default, remote antennas are named "SiteX_Y_RemZ" where "X" is the donor site number, "Y" the donor transmitter number, and "Z" a number assigned as the remote antenna is created. If the donor is a repeater or another remote antenna, then "RemZ" is preceded by "RepA_" or "RemB_" where "A" and "B" identify the donor repeater and the donor remote antenna.

• • •

•

You can change the Donor by selecting it from the Donor list. The Donor can be a transmitter, another remote antenna or a repeater. Clicking the Browse button opens the Properties dialog box of the selected donor. You can change the Site on which the remote antenna is located. Clicking the Browse button opens the Properties dialog box of the selected site. You can enter a value in the Shared Antenna (coverage side) field for the remote antenna. This field is used to identify the transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas that are located at the same site or on sites with the same position and that share an antenna. The entry in the field must be the same for all such transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas. When changes are made to the position offset (Dx, Dy), azimuth, antenna height, or mechanical tilt of one antenna, Atoll automatically synchronises the same changes to all other transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas defined as having a shared antenna. Under Antenna position, you can define the position of the remote antenna, if it is not located on the site itself: • •

Relative to site: Select Relative to site, if you want to define the position of the remote antenna relative to the site itself and then enter the XY offsets. Coordinates: Select Coordinates, if you want to define the position of the remote antenna by its XY coordinates. A remote antenna does not have equipment.

4. Click the Donor Side tab. You can modify the following parameters: •

Under Donor-repeater link, select Optical fibre link and enter the Fibre losses.

5. Click the Coverage Side tab. You can modify the following parameters: • •

Select the Active check box. Only active remote antennas (displayed with in red in the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer) are calculated. Total Gain: enter the gain (in downlink and uplink) or click Calculate to determine the actual gain in both directions. If you have modified any parameter in the General, Donor Side, or Coverage Side tabs, click Apply before clicking the Calculate button. • •

In downlink, the total gain is applied to each power (P-CCPCH power, DwPCH power, etc.). In uplink, the total gain is applied to each terminal power.

The total gain considers losses between the donor transmitter and the remote antenna. •

Under Antennas, you can modify the following parameters: •

•

Height/ground: The Height/ground box gives the height of the antenna above the ground. This is added to the altitude of the site as given by the DTM. If the remote antenna is situated on a building, the height entered must include the height of the building. Main antenna: Under Main antenna, the type of antenna is visible in the Model list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the antenna. Click the Select button to open the Antenna Selection Assistant. This assistant lists all the antennas that match the currently selected physical antenna and whose minimum and maximum operating frequencies include the operating frequency of the transmitter. For more information, see "Assigning Antennas to Transmitters" on page 159

•

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Mechanical Azimuth, Mechanical downtilt, Electrical Azimuth, Electrical Downtilt, and Additional electrical downtilt display additional antenna parameters.

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•

Under Secondary antennas, you can select one or more secondary antennas in the Antenna column and enter their Azimuth, Mechanical downtilt, Additional electrical downtilt, and % Power. • • •

•

The Additional electrical downtilt can be made accessible through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75.

Under Feeders, you can modify the following information: i.

Select a Type of feeder from the list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the feeder.

ii. Enter the Length of the feeder cable at Transmission and at Reception. •

Under Losses, the Loss related to repeater noise rise is displayed and you can modify the following information: •

Misc. losses: You can specify additional losses in dB for Transmission and Reception.

6. Click the Propagation tab. As remote antennas are taken into account during calculations, you must set propagation parameters as with transmitters. On the Propagation tab, you can modify the Propagation model, Radius, and Resolution for both the Main matrix and the Extended matrix. By default, the propagation characteristics of the remote antenna (model, calculation radius, and grid resolution) are the same as those of the donor transmitter. For information on propagation models, see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models.

10.2.7.5 Tips for Updating Remote Antenna Parameters Atoll provides you with a few shortcuts that you can use to change certain remote antenna parameters: •

You can update the UL and DL total gains of all remote antennas by selecting Remote Antennas > Calculate Gains from the Transmitters context menu. You can prevent Atoll from updating the UL and DL total gains of selected remote antennas by creating a custom Boolean field named "FreezeTotalGain" in the Remote Antennas table and setting the value of the field to "True." Afterwards, when you select Remote Antennas > Calculate Gains from the Transmitters context menu, Atoll will only update the UL and DL total gains for remote antennas with the custom field "FreezeTotalGain" set to "False."

•

You can select a remote antenna on the map and change its azimuth (see "Changing the Azimuth of the Antenna Using the Mouse" on page 57) or its position relative to the site (see "Changing the Antenna Position Relative to the Site Using the Mouse" on page 58).

10.2.8 Studying TD-SCDMA Base Stations You can study one or several base stations to test the effectiveness of the set parameters. Coverage predictions on groups of base stations can take a large amount of time and consume a lot of computer resources. Restricting your coverage prediction to the base station you are currently working on allows you get the results quickly. You can expand your coverage prediction to a number of base stations once you have optimised the settings for each individual base station. Before studying a base station, you must assign a propagation model. The propagation model takes the radio and geographic data into account and calculates propagation losses along the transmitter-receiver path. This allows you to predict the received signal level at any given point. Any coverage prediction you make on a base station uses the propagation model to calculate its results. For more information, see "Preparing Base Stations for Calculations" on page 186. In this section, the following are explained: • • • • • • •

"TD-SCDMA Prediction Properties" on page 761 "Signal Level Coverage Predictions" on page 763 "Signal Quality Coverage Predictions" on page 769 "HSDPA Coverage Predictions" on page 778 "Displaying Coverage Prediction Results" on page 780 "Analysing a Coverage Prediction Using the Point Analysis" on page 781 "Comparing Coverage Predictions" on page 781

10.2.8.1 TD-SCDMA Prediction Properties You can configure the following parameters in the Properties dialog box.

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The General Tab The General tab allows you to specify the following settings for the prediction: • •

Name: Specify the assigned Name of the coverage prediction. Resolution: Specify the display resolution. To improve memory consumption and optimise the calculation times, you should set the display resolutions of coverage predictions according to the precision required. The following table lists the levels of precision that are usually sufficient: Size of the Coverage Prediction

Display Resolution

City Centre

5m

City

20 m

County

50 m

State

100 m

Country

Dependent on the size of the country

The resolution specified here is only for display purposes. The calculated resolution is independently specified in the propagation settings. For more information, see "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187. A read-only Unique ID is generated when you create a new coverage prediction. This ID can later be found between the and tags in the following files: • •

• •

"studies.XML" file created in the installation folder if at least one coverage prediction was saved using the Save as Customised Prediction command. ".XML" files (one per prediction) created in the following folder if coverage predictions were calculated with Display type = "Value intervals": C:\\.studies\{}

Receiver height: This displays the height of the receiver defined in the Calculation Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box. Comments: Specify an optional description of comment for the prediction. Under Display Configuration, you can create a Filter to select which sites to display in the results. For information on filtering, see "Filtering Data" on page 99. The Group By and Sort buttons are not available when making a so-called "global" coverage prediction (e.g., signal level coverage prediction). The Group By and Sort buttons are not available when making a so-called "global" coverage prediction (e.g., signal level coverage prediction).

The Conditions Tab The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. The contents of this tab depends on the type of prediction. For more information, see the following sections: • • •

"Signal Level Coverage Predictions" on page 763 "Signal Quality Coverage Predictions" on page 769 "HSDPA Coverage Predictions" on page 778

The Display Tab On the Display tab, you can modify how the results of the coverage prediction will be displayed. •

762

Under Display Type, select "Value Intervals." • Under Field, select "Best Signal Level." "Best Signal Level." Selecting "All" or "Best Signal Level" on the Conditions tab will give you the same results because Atoll displays the results of the best server in either case. Selecting "Best Signal Level" necessitates, however, the longest time for calculation. • You can change the value intervals and their displayed colour. For information on changing display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. • You can create tip text with information about the coverage prediction by clicking the Browse button next to the Tip Text box and selecting the fields you want to display in the tip text. • You can select the Add to Legend check box to add the displayed value intervals to the legend.

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If you change the display properties of a coverage prediction after you have calculated it, you may make the coverage prediction invalid. You will then have to recalculate the coverage prediction to obtain valid results.

10.2.8.2 Signal Level Coverage Predictions Atoll offers a series of coverage predictions that are based on the received signal code power (RSCP) level per pixel. The RSCP can be the P-CCPCH RSCP on TS0, the DwPCH RSCP on the DwPTS timeslot, or the UpPCH RSCP on the UpPTS timeslot. Coverage predictions based on interference and network load conditions are covered in "Signal Quality Coverage Predictions" on page 769, and "HSDPA Coverage Predictions" on page 778. For the purposes of these coverage predictions, each pixel is considered a non-interfering user with a defined timeslot, service, mobility type, and terminal. Before making a coverage prediction, you will have to set the parameters that define the services and users. These are explained in the following section: •

"Service and User Modelling" on page 241.

Once you have created and calculated a coverage prediction, you can use the coverage prediction’s context menu to make the coverage prediction into a customised prediction which will appear in the Prediction Types dialog box. You can also select Duplicate from the coverage prediction’s context menu to create a copy. By duplicating an existing prediction that has the parameters you want to study, you can create a new coverage prediction more quickly than by creating a new coverage prediction. If you clone a coverage prediction, by selecting Clone from the context menu, you can create a copy of the coverage prediction with the calculated coverage. You can then change the display, providing that the selected parameter does not invalidate the calculated coverage prediction. You can also save the list of all defined coverage predictions in a user configuration, allowing you or other users to load it into a new Atoll document. When you save the list in a user configuration, the parameters of all existing coverage predictions are saved; not just the parameters of calculated or displayed ones. For information on exporting user configurations, see "Saving a User Configuration" on page 104. The following standard coverage predictions are explained in this section: • • • • • •

10.2.8.2.1

"Studying P-CCPCH RSCP for a Single Base Station" on page 763 "Making a Coverage Prediction by P-CCPCH RSCP" on page 764. "Making a Coverage Prediction by P-CCPCH Best Server" on page 765. "Making a P-CCPCH Pollution Coverage Prediction" on page 766. "Making a Coverage Prediction by DwPCH RSCP" on page 767. "Making a Coverage Prediction by UpPCH RSCP" on page 768.

Studying P-CCPCH RSCP for a Single Base Station As you are building your radio-planning project, you may want to check the coverage of a new base station without having to calculate the entire project. You can do this by selecting the site with its transmitters and then creating a new coverage prediction. This section explains how to calculate the signal level coverage of a single base station. A signal level coverage prediction displays the signal of the best server for each pixel of the area studied. You can use the same procedure to study the signal level coverage of several sites by grouping the transmitters. For information on grouping transmitters, see "Grouping Data Objects by Property" on page 95. To study the signal level coverage of a single base station: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder and select Group By > Site from the context menu. The transmitters are now displayed in the Transmitters folder by the site on which they are situated. If you want to study only sites by their status, you can group them by status.

2. Select the propagation parameters to be used in the coverage prediction: a. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Transmitters folder. b. Right-click the group of transmitters you want to study. The context menu appears. c. Select Open Table from the context menu. A table appears with the properties of the selected group of transmitters.

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d. In the table, you can configure two propagation models: one for the main matrix, with a shorter radius and a higher resolution, and another for the extended matrix, with a longer radius and a lower resolution. By calculating two matrices you can reduce the time of calculation by using a lower resolution for the extended matrix and you can obtain more accurate results by using propagation models best suited for the main and extended matrices. e. In the Main matrix column: • •

Select a Propagation model. Enter a Radius and Resolution.

f. If desired, in the Extended matrix column: • •

Select a Propagation model. Enter a Radius and Resolution.

g. Close the table. 3. In the Transmitters folder, right-click the group of transmitters you want to study and select Calculations > Create a New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. The Prediction Types dialog box lists the coverage predictions available. They are divided into Standard Predictions, supplied with Atoll, and Customised Predictions. Unless you have already created some customised coverage predictions, the Customised Predictions list will be empty. 4. Select Coverage by P-CCPCH RSCP (DL) and click OK. The Coverage by P-CCPCH RSCP (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 5. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "TD-SCDMA Prediction Properties" on page 761. The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. You can set the following options: • • • •

Terminal: The terminal to be considered in the coverage prediction. The gain and losses defined in the terminal properties are used. Service: The service to be considered in the coverage prediction. The body loss defined in the service properties is used. Mobility: The mobility type to be considered in the coverage prediction. The P-CCPCH RSCP T_Add (P-CCPCH RSCP threshold) defined in the mobility properties is used as the minimum requirement for the coverage prediction. Carrier: You can select the carrier to be studied, or select "Best". For each pixel, the serving base station is determined according to the P-CCPCH RSCP from the carrier with the highest P-CCPCH power, or from the master carrier in case of N-frequency mode compatible transmitters. Afterwards, the coverage prediction is calculated for the selected carrier. If the selected carrier does not exist in a transmitter, there will not be any pixels covered by this transmitter. If you select "Best", Atoll will display the coverage prediction for the preferred carrier of the selected service. If no preferred carrier is defined in the service properties, Atoll will display the coverage prediction for the carrier with the highest P-CCPCH power, or the master carrier in case of N-frequency mode compatible transmitters.

• • •

Timeslot: The coverage prediction by P-CCPCH RSCP is performed for TS0. If you select the Shadowing taken into account check box, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability. You can select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

6. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window. The P-CCPCH RSCP coverage prediction can be found in the Predictions folder in the Network explorer. Atoll automatically locks the results of a coverage prediction as soon as it is calculated, as indicated by the icon ( folder. When you click the Calculate button (

10.2.8.2.2

) beside the coverage prediction in the Predictions

), Atoll only calculates unlocked coverage predictions (

).

Making a Coverage Prediction by P-CCPCH RSCP A coverage prediction by P-CCPCH RSCP allows you to predict the signal strength (received signal code power) of the pilot channel (TS0) using the main antenna of the transmitter at each pixel. You can base the coverage on the signal level, path loss, or total losses within a defined range.

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To make a coverage prediction by P-CCPCH RSCP: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Coverage by P-CCPCH RSCP (DL) and click OK. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "TD-SCDMA Prediction Properties" on page 761. The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. You can set the following: • • • •

Terminal: The terminal to be considered in the coverage prediction. The gain and losses defined in the terminal properties are used. Service: The service to be considered in the coverage prediction. The body loss defined in the service properties is used. Mobility: The mobility type to be considered in the coverage prediction. The P-CCPCH RSCP T_Add (P-CCPCH RSCP threshold) defined in the mobility properties is used as the minimum requirement for the coverage prediction. Carrier: You can select the carrier to be studied, or select "Best". For each pixel, the serving base station is determined according to the P-CCPCH RSCP from the carrier with the highest P-CCPCH power, or from the master carrier in case of N-frequency mode compatible transmitters. Afterwards, the coverage prediction is calculated for the selected carrier. If the selected carrier does not exist on a transmitter, there will not be any pixels covered by this transmitter. If you select "Best", Atoll will display the coverage prediction for the preferred carrier of the selected service. If no preferred carrier is defined in the service properties, Atoll will display the coverage prediction for the carrier with the highest P-CCPCH power, or the master carrier in case of N-frequency mode compatible transmitters.

• • •

Timeslot: The coverage prediction by P-CCPCH RSCP is performed for TS0. If you select the Shadowing taken into account check box, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability. You can select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

4. Click the Display tab. For a coverage prediction by P-CCPCH RSCP, the Display type "Value intervals" based on the Field "Best signal level" is selected by default. The Field you choose determines which information the coverage prediction makes available. Each pixel is displayed in a colour corresponding to the P-CCPCH RSCP level. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. You can also set parameters to display the following results: • •

RSCP margin: Select "Value intervals" as the Display type and "RSCP margin" as the Field. RSCP Margin is the margin between the calculated P-CCPCH RSCP and the P-CCPCH RSCP T_Add given for the selected mobility. Cell edge coverage probability: Select "Value intervals" as the Display type and "Cell edge coverage probability" as the Field.

5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

10.2.8.2.3

Making a Coverage Prediction by P-CCPCH Best Server A P-CCPCH best server coverage prediction allows you to predict which transmitter has the highest P-CCPCH RSCP at each pixel. The coverage prediction is performed for TS0 using the main antenna of the transmitter. You can base the coverage on the signal level, path loss, or total losses within a defined range. To make a coverage prediction by P-CCPCH best server: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Coverage by P-CCPCH Best Server (DL) and click OK. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "TD-SCDMA Prediction Properties" on page 761. On the Conditions tab, you can define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. On the Conditions tab, you can set: •

Terminal: The terminal to be considered in the coverage prediction. The gain and losses defined in the terminal properties are used.

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• • •

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Service: The service to be considered in the coverage prediction. The body loss defined in the service properties is used. Mobility: The mobility type to be considered in the coverage prediction. The P-CCPCH RSCP T_Add (P-CCPCH RSCP threshold) defined in the mobility properties is used as the minimum requirement for the coverage prediction. Carrier: You can select the carrier to be studied, or select "Best". For each pixel, the serving base station is determined according to the P-CCPCH RSCP from the carrier with the highest P-CCPCH power, or from the master carrier in case of N-frequency mode compatible transmitters. Afterwards, the coverage prediction is calculated for the selected carrier. If the selected carrier does not exist in a transmitter, there will not be any pixels covered by this transmitter. If you select "Best", Atoll will display the coverage prediction for the preferred carrier of the selected service. If no preferred carrier is defined in the service properties, Atoll will display the coverage prediction for the carrier with the highest P-CCPCH power, or the master carrier in case of N-frequency mode compatible transmitters.

• • •

Timeslot: The coverage prediction by P-CCPCH best server is performed for TS0. If you select the Shadowing taken into account check box, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability. You can select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

Figure 10.6: Condition settings for a coverage prediction by P-CCPCH best server 4. Click the Display tab. For a coverage prediction by transmitter, the Display type "Discrete values" based on the Field "Transmitter" is selected by default. Each coverage zone will then be displayed with the same colour as that defined for each transmitter. For information on defining transmitter colours, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

10.2.8.2.4

Making a P-CCPCH Pollution Coverage Prediction A P-CCPCH pollution coverage prediction calculates the pixels that are, for a defined condition, covered by the P-CCPCH signal of at least two transmitters. The coverage prediction considers the P-CCPCH RSCP (TS0) transmitted using the main antenna of the transmitters. To make a P-CCPCH pollution coverage prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select P-CCPCH Pollution Analysis (DL) and click OK. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "TD-SCDMA Prediction Properties" on page 761. On the Conditions tab, you can define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. On the Conditions tab, you can set:

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• • • •

Terminal: The terminal to be considered in the coverage prediction. The gain and losses defined in the terminal properties are used. Service: The service to be considered in the coverage prediction. The body loss defined in the service properties is used. Mobility: The mobility type to be considered in the coverage prediction. The P-CCPCH RSCP T_Add (P-CCPCH RSCP threshold) defined in the mobility properties is used as the minimum requirement for the coverage prediction. Carrier: You can select the carrier to be studied, or select "Best". For each pixel, the serving base station is determined according to the P-CCPCH RSCP from the carrier with the highest P-CCPCH power, or from the master carrier in case of N-frequency mode compatible transmitters. Afterwards, the coverage prediction is calculated for the selected carrier. If the selected carrier does not exist in a transmitter, there will not be any pixels covered by this transmitter. If you select "Best," Atoll will display the coverage prediction for the preferred carrier of the selected service. If no preferred carrier is defined in the service properties, Atoll will display the coverage prediction for the carrier with the highest P-CCPCH power, or the master carrier in case of N-frequency mode compatible transmitters.

• • • •

Timeslot: The P-CCPCH pollution coverage prediction is performed for TS0. If you select the Shadowing taken into account check box, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability. You can select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. Pollution margin: The margin for determining which signals to consider. Atoll considers signal levels which are within the defined margin of the best signal level.

4. Click the Display tab. For a P-CCPCH pollution coverage prediction, the Display type "Value intervals" based on the Field "Number of servers" is selected by default. Each pixel experiencing P-CCPCH pollution will then be displayed in a colour corresponding to the number of servers received per pixel. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

10.2.8.2.5

Making a Coverage Prediction by DwPCH RSCP A coverage prediction by DwPCH RSCP allows you to predict the signal strength of the DwPCH channel (DwPTS timeslot) using the main antenna of the transmitter at each pixel. You can base the coverage on the signal level, path loss, or total losses within a defined range. To make a coverage prediction by DwPCH RSCP: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Coverage by DwPCH RSCP (DL) and click OK. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "TD-SCDMA Prediction Properties" on page 761. The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. You can set: • • • •

Terminal: The terminal to be considered in the coverage prediction. The gain and losses defined in the terminal properties are used. Service: The service to be considered in the coverage prediction. The body loss defined in the service properties is used. Mobility: The mobility type to be considered in the coverage prediction. The DwPCH RSCP threshold defined in the mobility properties is used as the minimum requirement for the coverage prediction. Carrier: You can select the carrier to be studied, or select "Best". For each pixel, the serving base station is determined according to the P-CCPCH RSCP from the carrier with the highest DwPCH power, or from the master carrier in case of N-frequency mode compatible transmitters. Afterwards, the coverage prediction is calculated for the selected carrier. If the selected carrier does not exist in a transmitter, there will not be any pixels covered by this transmitter. If you select "Best", Atoll will display the coverage prediction for the preferred carrier of the selected service. If no preferred carrier is defined in the service properties, Atoll will display the coverage prediction for the carrier with the highest P-CCPCH power, or the master carrier in case of N-frequency mode compatible transmitters.

• •

Timeslot: The coverage prediction by DwPCH RSCP is performed for DwPTS timeslot. If you select the Shadowing taken into account check box, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability.

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You can select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

Figure 10.7: Condition settings for a coverage prediction by DwPCH RSCP 4. Click the Display tab. For a coverage prediction by DwPCH RSCP, the Display type "Value intervals" based on the Field "DwPCH RSCP" is selected by default. The Field you choose determines which information the DwPCH prediction makes available. Each pixel is displayed in a colour corresponding to the DwPCH RSCP level. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. You can also set parameters to display the following results: • •

RSCP margin: Select "Value Intervals" as the Display type and "RSCP margin" as the Field. RSCP margin is the margin between the calculated DwPCH RSCP and the DwPCH RSCP threshold given for the selected mobility. Cell edge coverage probability: Select "Value Intervals" as the Display type and "Cell edge coverage probability" as the Field.

5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

10.2.8.2.6

Making a Coverage Prediction by UpPCH RSCP A coverage prediction by UpPCH RSCP allows you to predict the signal strength of the UpPCH channel (UpPTS timeslot) using the main antenna of the transmitter at each pixel. You can base the coverage on the signal level, path loss, or total losses within a defined range. To make a coverage prediction by UpPCH RSCP: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Coverage by UpPCH RSCP (UL) and click OK. The Coverage by UpPCH RSCP (UL) Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "TD-SCDMA Prediction Properties" on page 761. The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. You can set: • • • •

768

Terminal: The terminal to be considered in the coverage prediction. The UpPCH power, gains, and losses defined in the terminal properties are used. Service: The service to be considered in the coverage prediction. The body loss defined in the service properties is used. Mobility: The mobility type to be considered in the coverage prediction. UpPCH RSCP threshold defined in the mobility properties is used as the minimum requirement for the coverage prediction. Carrier: You can select the carrier to be studied, or select "Best".

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For each pixel, the serving base station is determined according to the P-CCPCH RSCP from the carrier with the highest P-CCPCH power, or from the master carrier in case of N-frequency mode compatible transmitters. Afterwards, the coverage prediction is calculated for the selected carrier. If the selected carrier does not exist in a transmitter, there will not be any pixels covered by this transmitter. If you select "Best," Atoll will display the coverage prediction for the preferred carrier of the selected service. If no preferred carrier is defined in the service properties, Atoll will display the coverage prediction for the carrier with the highest P-CCPCH power, or the master carrier in case of N-frequency mode compatible transmitters. • • •

Timeslot: The coverage prediction by UpPCH RSCP is performed for UpPTS timeslot. If you select the Shadowing taken into account check box, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability. You can select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

4. Click the Display tab. For a coverage prediction by UpPCH RSCP, the Display type "Value intervals" based on the Field "UpPCH RSCP" is selected by default. The Field you choose determines which information the coverage prediction by UpPCH RSCP makes available. Each pixel is displayed in a colour corresponding to the UpPCH RSCP level. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. You can also set parameters to display the following results: • •

RSCP margin: Select "Value intervals" as the Display type and "RSCP margin" as the Field. RSCP margin is the margin between the calculated UpPCH RSCP and the UpPCH RSCP threshold given for the selected mobility. Cell edge coverage probability: Select "Value intervals" as the Display type and "Cell edge coverage probability" as the Field.

5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

10.2.8.3 Signal Quality Coverage Predictions In TD-SCDMA, the quality of the signal and the size of the area that can be covered are influenced by the network load. As the network load increases, the area a cell can effectively cover decreases. For this reason, the network load must be defined in order to calculate signal quality coverage predictions. If you have traffic maps, you can do a Monte Carlo simulation to model power control and evaluate the network load for a generated user distribution. You can base a coverage prediction on simulation results by committing the results of a simulation to cell properties. If you do not have traffic maps, you can enter these values manually in the Cells and Cell Parameters per Timeslot tables. Atoll calculates the network load using the UL load factor and DL traffic power defined for each timeslot of each cell. In this section, the signal quality coverage predictions will be calculated using UL load factor and DL traffic power parameters defined at the timeslot level for each cell. Before making a coverage prediction, you will have to set the UL load factor and DL traffic power. These are explained in the following sections: •

"Setting the UL Load Factor and the DL Traffic Power" on page 770.

Several different types of signal quality coverage predictions, based either on Eb⁄Nt, C⁄I, or traffic channel quality, are explained in this section: • • • • • • • • •

"Making a Pilot Signal Quality Prediction" on page 770. "Making a DwPCH Signal Quality Prediction" on page 771. "Studying Downlink and Uplink Traffic Channel Coverage" on page 771. "Studying Downlink and Uplink Service Areas" on page 772. "Studying the Effective Service Area" on page 774. "Studying Downlink Total Noise" on page 774. "Studying Cell-to-Cell Interference" on page 775. "Studying UpPCH Interference" on page 776. "Making a Baton Handover Coverage Prediction" on page 777.

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Setting the UL Load Factor and the DL Traffic Power If you are setting the UL load factor and the DL traffic power for a single transmitter, you can set these parameters on the timeslot properties dialog box available from the Cells tab of the transmitter’s Properties dialog box. However, you can set the UL load factor and the DL traffic power for all the timeslots of all cells using the Cell Parameters per Timeslot table. To set the UL load factor and the DL traffic power using the Cell Parameters per Timeslot table: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder and select Cells > Open Timeslots Table from the context menu. The Cell Parameters per Timeslot table appears. 2. Enter the following values: • •

DL traffic power (dBm): The value of downlink traffic power for downlink timeslots. UL load factor (%): The value of uplink load factor for uplink timeslots.

You can see the configuration of the uplink and downlink timeslots by referring to the cell’s timeslot configuration. For a definition of the values, see "Cell Properties" on page 742.

10.2.8.3.2

Making a Pilot Signal Quality Prediction A pilot signal quality prediction enables you to identify areas where there is at least one transmitter whose pilot quality is received sufficiently well. Atoll calculates the best pilot quality received on each pixel where the P-CCPCH RSCP exceeds the defined minimum P-CCPCH RSCP threshold. Then, depending on the prediction definition, it compares this value either to the P-CCPCH Eb⁄Nt or C⁄I threshold defined for the selected mobility type. The pixel is coloured if the condition is fulfilled (in other words, if the received pilot quality is better than the P-CCPCH Eb⁄Nt or C⁄I threshold). The total noise, Nt, includes the pilot power (P-CCPCH power). The processing gain used for the Eb⁄Nt coverage prediction is the one defined on the Global Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box. For more information on the global parameters, see "Global Network Settings" on page 828. The coverage prediction is limited by the P-CCPCH RSCP threshold of the selected mobility type. To make a pilot signal quality prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folderand select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select P-CCPCH Quality Analysis (Eb⁄Nt) (DL) or P-CCPCH Quality Analysis (C⁄I) (DL) and click OK. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "TD-SCDMA Prediction Properties" on page 761. The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. You can set: • • • •

Terminal: The terminal to be considered in the coverage prediction. The gain and losses defined in the terminal properties are used. Service: The service to be considered in the coverage prediction. The body loss defined in the service properties is used. Mobility: The mobility type to be considered in the coverage prediction. The P-CCPCH Eb⁄Nt threshold or P-CCPCH C⁄I threshold defined in the mobility properties is used as the minimum requirement for the coverage prediction. Carrier: You can select the carrier to be studied, or select "Best". For each pixel, the serving base station is determined according to the P-CCPCH RSCP from the carrier with the highest P-CCPCH power, or from the master carrier in case of N-frequency mode compatible transmitters. Afterwards, the coverage prediction is calculated for the selected carrier. If the selected carrier does not exist in a transmitter, there will not be any pixels covered by this transmitter. If you select "Best," Atoll will display the coverage prediction for the preferred carrier of the selected service. If no preferred carrier is defined in the service properties, Atoll will display the coverage prediction for the carrier with the highest P-CCPCH power, or the master carrier in case of N-frequency mode compatible transmitters.

• • •

Timeslot: The P-CCPCH reception analysis predictions are performed for TS0. If you select the Shadowing taken into account check box, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability. You can select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

4. Click the Display tab. For a pilot signal quality prediction, the Display type "Value intervals" based on the Field "Eb⁄Nt (dB)" or "C⁄I (dB)" is selected by default. Each pixel is displayed in a colour corresponding to the pilot signal quality. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: •

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•

OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

10.2.8.3.3

Making a DwPCH Signal Quality Prediction Atoll calculates the best DwPCH signal quality received on each pixel. Then, depending on the prediction definition, it compares this value with the DwPCH C⁄I threshold defined for the selected mobility type. The pixel is coloured if the condition is fulfilled (in other words, if the received DwPCH signal quality is better than the DwPCH C⁄I threshold). The coverage prediction is limited by the DwPCH RSCP threshold of the selected mobility type. To make a DwPCH signal quality prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select DwPCH Quality Analysis (C⁄I) (DL) and click OK. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "TD-SCDMA Prediction Properties" on page 761. The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. You can set: • • • •

Terminal: The terminal to be considered in the coverage prediction. The gain and losses defined in the terminal properties are used. Service: The service to be considered in the coverage prediction. The body loss defined in the service properties is used. Mobility: The mobility type to be considered in the coverage prediction. The DwPCH C⁄I threshold defined in the mobility properties is used as the minimum requirement for the coverage prediction. Carrier: You can select the carrier to be studied, or select "Best". For each pixel, the serving base station is determined according to the P-CCPCH RSCP from the carrier with the highest P-CCPCH power, or from the master carrier in case of N-frequency mode compatible transmitters. Afterwards, the coverage prediction is calculated for the selected carrier. If the selected carrier does not exist in a transmitter, there will not be any pixels covered by this transmitter. If you select "Best", Atoll will display the coverage prediction for the preferred carrier of the selected service. If no preferred carrier is defined in the service properties, Atoll will display the coverage prediction for the carrier with the highest P-CCPCH power, or the master carrier in case of N-frequency mode compatible transmitters.

• • •

Timeslot: The DwPCH reception analysis (C⁄I) predictions are performed for DwPTS. If you select the Shadowing taken into account check box, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability. You can select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

4. Click the Display tab. For a DwPCH signal quality prediction, the Display type "Value intervals" based on the Field "C⁄I (dB)" is selected by default. Each pixel is displayed in a colour corresponding to the DwPCH signal quality. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

10.2.8.3.4

Studying Downlink and Uplink Traffic Channel Coverage Atoll calculates the received traffic channel power on the uplink or on the downlink taking into consideration the effect of any smart antenna equipment assigned to transmitters, and the smart antenna simulation results stored for the selected timeslot. The coverage prediction is limited by the minimum P-CCPCH RSCP threshold.

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To make an effective service area prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select one of the following coverage predictions and click OK: • •

Coverage by TCH RSCP (DL) Coverage by TCH RSCP (UL)

The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "TD-SCDMA Prediction Properties" on page 761. The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. You can set: •

•

•

•

Terminal: The terminal to be considered in the coverage prediction. The gain and losses defined in the terminal properties are used. For the uplink traffic channel coverage prediction, Atoll calculates the RSCP using the maximum power defined for the selected terminal. Service: The R99 service to be considered in the coverage prediction. The uplink TCH RSCP threshold or downlink TCH RSCP threshold defined in the properties of the R99 radio bearer of the service is used as the minimum requirement for the coverage prediction. The body loss defined in the service properties is also used. For the downlink traffic channel, Atoll calculates the RSCP using the maximum allowed downlink traffic channel power defined for the R99 bearer of the selected service. Mobility: The mobility type to be considered in the coverage prediction. The uplink TCH RSCP threshold or the downlink TCH RSCP threshold defined in the selected service’s R99 bearer and corresponding to the selected mobility type is used as the minimum requirement for the coverage prediction. Carrier: You can select the carrier to be studied, or select "Best". For each pixel, the serving base station is determined according to the P-CCPCH RSCP from the carrier with the highest P-CCPCH power, or from the master carrier in case of N-frequency mode compatible transmitters. Afterwards, the coverage prediction is calculated for the selected carrier. If the selected carrier does not exist in a transmitter, there will not be any pixels covered by this transmitter. If you select "Best," Atoll will display the coverage prediction for the preferred carrier of the selected service. If no preferred carrier is defined in the service properties, Atoll will display the coverage prediction for the carrier with the highest P-CCPCH power, or the master carrier in case of N-frequency mode compatible transmitters.

• • •

Timeslot: The coverage predictions by TCH RSCP can be performed for any downlink or uplink timeslot. If you select the Shadowing taken into account check box, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability. You can select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

4. Click the Display tab. For a downlink or uplink traffic channel coverage area prediction, the Display type "Value intervals" based on the Field "DL TCH RSCP" or "UL TCH RSCP" is selected by default. The Field you choose determines which information the TCH prediction makes available. Each pixel is displayed in a colour corresponding to the DL or UL TCH RSCP level. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. You can also set parameters to display the following results: •

•

RSCP Margin: Select "Value Intervals" as the Display type and "RSCP margin" as the Field. The RSCP margin is the margin between the calculated DL or UL TCH RSCP and the DL or UL TCH RSCP threshold, respectively, given for the selected service’s R99 bearer. Cell Edge Coverage Probability: Select "Value intervals" as the Display type and "Cell edge coverage probability" as the Field.

5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

10.2.8.3.5

Studying Downlink and Uplink Service Areas Atoll calculates the traffic channel quality, as defined by Eb⁄Nt or C⁄I, on the uplink or on the downlink considering the effect of any smart antenna equipment assigned to transmitters, and the smart antenna simulation results stored for the selected timeslot. The coverage prediction is limited by the minimum P-CCPCH RSCP threshold.

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To make a prediction on downlink or uplink service area (Eb⁄Nt or C⁄I): 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder, select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select one of the following coverage predictions and click OK: • • • •

Service Area Analysis (Eb⁄Nt) (DL) Service Area Analysis (C⁄I) (DL) Service Area Analysis (Eb⁄Nt) (UL) Service Area Analysis (C⁄I) (UL)

The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "TD-SCDMA Prediction Properties" on page 761. The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. You can set: •

•

•

•

Terminal: The terminal to be considered in the coverage prediction. The gain and losses defined in the terminal properties are used. For the uplink service area coverage prediction, Atoll calculates the Eb⁄Nt or C⁄I using the maximum power defined for the selected terminal. Service: The R99 service to be considered in the coverage prediction. The uplink TCH Eb⁄Nt threshold and downlink TCH Eb⁄Nt threshold (or uplink TCH C⁄I threshold and downlink TCH C⁄I threshold) defined for the service’s R99 radio bearer are used as the minimum requirement for the coverage prediction. The body loss defined in the service properties is also used. For the downlink traffic channel, Atoll calculates the Eb⁄Nt or C⁄I using the maximum allowed downlink traffic channel power defined for the R99 bearer of the selected service. The processing gains are also used for the Eb⁄Nt coverage predictions. Mobility: The mobility type to be considered in the coverage prediction. The uplink and downlink TCH Eb⁄Nt thresholds (or uplink or downlink TCH C⁄I thresholds), defined in the service selected above, corresponding to the selected mobility type are used as the minimum requirement for the coverage prediction. Carrier: You can select the carrier to be studied, or select "Best". For each pixel, the serving base station is determined according to the P-CCPCH RSCP from the carrier with the highest P-CCPCH power, or from the master carrier in case of N-frequency mode compatible transmitters. Afterwards, the coverage prediction is calculated for the selected carrier. If the selected carrier does not exist in a transmitter, there will not be any pixels covered by this transmitter. If you select "Best" Atoll will display the coverage prediction for the preferred carrier of the selected service. If no preferred carrier is defined in the service properties, Atoll will display the coverage prediction for the carrier with the highest P-CCPCH power, or the master carrier in case of N-frequency mode compatible transmitters.

• • •

Timeslot: The service area coverage predictions can be performed for any downlink or uplink timeslot. If you select the Shadowing taken into account check box, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability. You can select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

4. Click the Display tab. For a service area prediction, the Display type "Value intervals" based on the Field "Max Eb⁄Nt (dB)" or "Max C⁄I (dB)" is selected by default. The Field you choose determines which information the service area downlink or uplink coverage prediction makes available. Each pixel is displayed in a colour corresponding to traffic channel quality. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. You can also set parameters to display the following results: • • •

The traffic channel quality relative to the Eb⁄Nt or C⁄I threshold: Select "Value intervals" as the Display type and "Eb⁄Nt margin (dB)" or "C⁄I margin (dB)" as the Field. The power required to reach the Eb⁄Nt or C⁄I threshold: Select "Value intervals" as the Display type and "Required power (dB)" as the Field. Where traffic channel quality exceeds the Eb⁄Nt or C⁄I threshold for each mobility type: On the Conditions tab, select "All" as the Mobility type. The parameters on the Display tab are automatically set.

5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

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Studying the Effective Service Area The goal of this coverage prediction is to identify the areas where there might be coverage problems for a service either on the downlink or on the uplink. Atoll calculates the traffic channel quality, as defined by Eb⁄Nt or C⁄I, on the uplink and on the downlink taken into consideration the effect of any smart antenna equipment assigned to transmitters, and the smart antenna simulation results stored for the selected timeslot. The effective service area is the intersection zone between the uplink and downlink service areas. The coverage prediction is limited by the minimum P-CCPCH RSCP threshold. To make an effective service area prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Effective Service Area Analysis (Eb⁄Nt) (DL+UL) or Effective Service Area Analysis (C⁄I) (DL+UL) and click OK. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "TD-SCDMA Prediction Properties" on page 761. The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. You can define the following parameters: •

•

•

•

Terminal: The terminal to be considered in the coverage prediction. The gain and losses defined in the terminal properties are used. For the uplink, Atoll calculates the Eb⁄Nt or C⁄I using the maximum power defined for the selected terminal. Service: The R99 service to be considered in the coverage prediction. The uplink TCH Eb⁄Nt threshold and downlink TCH Eb⁄Nt threshold (or uplink TCH C⁄I threshold and downlink TCH C⁄I threshold) defined for the service’s R99 radio bearer are used as the minimum requirement for the coverage prediction. The body loss defined in the service properties is also used. For the downlink traffic channel, Atoll calculates the Eb⁄Nt or C⁄I using the maximum allowed downlink traffic channel power defined for the R99 bearer of the selected service. The processing gains are also used for the Eb⁄Nt coverage predictions. Mobility: The mobility type to be considered in the coverage prediction. The uplink TCH Eb⁄Nt threshold and downlink TCH Eb⁄Nt threshold (or uplink TCH C⁄I threshold and downlink TCH C⁄I threshold), defined in the selected service’s R99 bearer, corresponding to the selected mobility type are used as the minimum requirement for the coverage prediction. Carrier: You can select the carrier to be studied, or select "Best". For each pixel, the serving base station is determined according to the P-CCPCH RSCP from the carrier with the highest P-CCPCH power, or from the master carrier in case of N-frequency mode compatible transmitters. Afterwards, the coverage prediction is calculated for the selected carrier. If the selected carrier does not exist in a transmitter, there will not be any pixels covered by this transmitter. If you select "Best," Atoll will display the coverage prediction for the preferred carrier of the selected service. If no preferred carrier is defined in the service properties, Atoll will display the coverage prediction for the carrier with the highest P-CCPCH power, or the master carrier in case of N-frequency mode compatible transmitters.

• • •

Timeslot: The effective service area coverage predictions are performed for all downlink and uplink timeslots. If you select the Shadowing taken into account check box, you can change the Cell Edge Coverage Probability. You can select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

4. Click the Display tab. For an effective service area prediction, the Display type "Unique" is selected by default. The coverage prediction will display where a service actually is available for the probe mobile. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

10.2.8.3.7

Studying Downlink Total Noise This coverage prediction enables you to study the downlink total noise. In the Coverage by Total Noise Level (DL) prediction, Atoll calculates and displays the areas where the downlink total noise exceeds a set threshold. The downlink total noise is based on the cumulate effect of all downlink powers, including P-CCPCH.

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To make a downlink total noise prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Total Noise Level Analysis (DL) and click OK. The Total Noise Level Analysis (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "TD-SCDMA Prediction Properties" on page 761. The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. You can set: • • • •

Terminal: The terminal to be considered in the coverage prediction. The gain and losses defined in the terminal properties are used. Service: The service to be considered in the coverage prediction. The body loss defined in the service properties is used. Mobility: The downlink total noise calculation does not depend on the mobility type. Carrier: You can select the carrier to be studied, or select "Best". For each pixel, the serving base station is determined according to the P-CCPCH RSCP from the carrier with the highest P-CCPCH power, or from the master carrier in case of N-frequency mode compatible transmitters. Afterwards, the coverage prediction is calculated for the selected carrier. If the selected carrier does not exist in a transmitter, there will not be any pixels covered by this transmitter. If you select "Best", Atoll will display the coverage prediction for the preferred carrier of the selected service. If no preferred carrier is defined in the service properties, Atoll will display the coverage prediction for the carrier with the highest P-CCPCH power, or the master carrier in case of N-frequency mode compatible transmitters.

• • •

Timeslot: The downlink total noise coverage predictions can be performed for any downlink timeslot. If you select the Shadowing taken into account check box, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability. You can select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

4. Click the Display tab. Select "Value intervals" as the Display type and one of the following options as Field: • • •

Min noise level Average noise level Max noise level

For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

10.2.8.3.8

Studying Cell-to-Cell Interference If cells have different timeslot configurations assigned to them, the difference in the switching point between the uplink and the downlink parts of the subframe might cause interference between the two links, up and down, i.e., on the same timeslot, a cell receiving data in the uplink is interfered by nearby cells transmitting in the downlink. The Cell to Cell Interference Zones coverage prediction displays the level of interference received by a cell. The coverage prediction sums the interfering signals in the downlink received by the victim cell in the uplink over the selected timeslot. Interference is calculated using the total transmitted power of the timeslot. To make a cell-to-cell interference zones coverage prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Cell to Cell Interference Zones and click OK. The Cell to Cell Interference Zones Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "TD-SCDMA Prediction Properties" on page 761. The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. You can set: • •

Terminal: The terminal to be considered in the coverage prediction. The gain and losses defined in the terminal properties are used. Service: The R99 service to be considered in the coverage prediction. The body loss defined in the service properties is used.

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• •

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Mobility: The mobility type to be considered in the coverage prediction. Carrier: You can select the carrier to be studied, or select "Best". For each pixel, the serving base station is determined according to the P-CCPCH RSCP from the carrier with the highest P-CCPCH power, or from the master carrier in case of N-frequency mode compatible transmitters. Afterwards, the coverage prediction is calculated for the selected carrier. If the selected carrier does not exist in a transmitter, there will not be any pixels covered by this transmitter. If you select "Best," Atoll will display the coverage prediction for the preferred carrier of the selected service. If no preferred carrier is defined in the service properties, Atoll will display the coverage prediction for the carrier with the highest P-CCPCH power, or the master carrier in case of N-frequency mode compatible transmitters.

• • •

Timeslot: The cell-to-cell interference coverage prediction can be performed for any timeslot. If you select the Shadowing taken into account check box, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability. You can select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

•

Click the Display tab. For a cell-to-cell coverage prediction, the Display type "Value intervals" and the Field "Max interference level" are selected by default. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51.

4. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

10.2.8.3.9

Studying UpPCH Interference UpPCH is used for uplink synchronisation (SYNC_UL). This channel is usually carried by the UpPTS timeslot. However, if the interference on UpPTS is high, there is a risk of uplink synchronisation failure, i.e., the SYNC_UL might not be detected. Unsynchronised DwPTS or TS0 timeslots of other cells might cause interference on UpPTS. Lack of synchronisation between the DwPTS or TS0 and UpPTS occurs in wide and flat areas where there are no obstacles to wave propagation. For cells located in such areas, it is possible to shift the UpPCH channel from the UpPTS to any other uplink timeslot which might be less interfered. This is called UpPCH shifting. Without shifting, the UpPCH, or UpPTS, starts at the 96th chip after the DwPCH on DwPTS. The UpPCH can be shifted to TS1, TS2, or TS3. However, in Atoll, the UpPCH can only be shifted to TS1 on the uplink. It can be shifted by selecting the corresponding timeslot configuration at cell level. If some cells in a network use UpPCH shifting, you can use this coverage prediction to study the interference generated by traffic on other cells, in other words, the mobiles connected to the TS1 uplink timeslot of other cells, on the shifted UpPCH of these cells. Atoll calculates and displays the areas where the interference on the TS1 uplink timeslot, which is used for the UpPCH, exceeds a set threshold. To make an UpPCH interference zones prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select UpPCH Interference Zones and click OK. The UpPCH Interference Zones Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "TD-SCDMA Prediction Properties" on page 761. The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. You can set: • • •

Terminal: The terminal to be considered in the coverage prediction. Service: The service to be considered in the coverage prediction. Mobility: The mobility type to be considered in the coverage prediction. The terminal, service, and mobility type are not used for the calculation of interference. The gains and losses defined for these parameters are used to calculate the P-CCPCH coverage of the cells that are using UpPCH shifting.

•

Carrier: You can select the carrier to be studied, or select "Best". For each pixel, the serving base station is determined according to the P-CCPCH RSCP from the carrier with the highest P-CCPCH power, or from the master carrier in case of N-frequency mode compatible transmitters. Afterwards, the coverage prediction is calculated for the selected carrier. If the selected carrier does not exist in a transmitter, there will not be any pixels covered by this transmitter. If you select "Best," Atoll will display the coverage prediction for the preferred carrier of the selected service. If no preferred carrier is defined in the service proper-

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ties, Atoll will display the coverage prediction for the carrier with the highest P-CCPCH power, or the master carrier in case of N-frequency mode compatible transmitters. • • •

Timeslot: The UpPCH interference coverage predictions are performed for TS1 uplink timeslot for UpPCH shifting. If you select the Shadowing taken into account check box, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability. You can select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

Figure 10.8: Condition settings for an UpPCH interference zones coverage prediction 4. Click the Display tab. Select "Value intervals" as the Display type and one of the following options from the Field list: • • •

Min noise level Average noise level Max noise level

For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

10.2.8.3.10

Making a Baton Handover Coverage Prediction In the baton handover coverage prediction, Atoll calculates and displays the zones where a baton handover can be made. For a handover to be possible, there must be a potential serving transmitter, and the service chosen by the user must be available. The serving cell is first determined for each pixel. The serving cell is the one whose P-CCPCH RSCP at a given pixel is above the P-CCPCH RSCP T_Add and is the highest among all the cells that satisfy the T_Add criterion. Then, all the cells whose P-CCPCH RSCP are higher than the P-CCPCH RSCP T_Drop are added to a preliminary handover set. Next, from among the cells listed in the preliminary handover set using the P-CCPCH RSCP T_Drop, only the cells whose P-CCPCH RSCP is within the range defined by the P-CCPCH RSCP from the best server and the P-CCPCH RSCP T_Comp margin are kept in the handover set. The number of potential neighbours per pixel displayed on the map is calculated from this set. The P-CCPCH RSCP T_Comp is set per cell. To make a baton handover coverage prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Baton Handover Zones (DL) and click OK. The prediction Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "TD-SCDMA Prediction Properties" on page 761. The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. You can set: • •

Terminal: The terminal to be considered in the coverage prediction. The gain and losses defined in the terminal properties are used. Service: The service to be considered in the coverage prediction. The body loss defined in the service properties is used.

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•

•

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Mobility: The mobility type to be considered in the coverage prediction. P-CCPCH RSCP T_Add, and P-CCPCH RSCP T_Drop defined in the mobility properties are used to define the signal level range for transmitters to enter the preliminary handover set. Carrier: You can select the carrier to be studied, or select "Best". For each pixel, the serving base station is determined according to the P-CCPCH RSCP from the carrier with the highest P-CCPCH power, or from the master carrier in case of N-frequency mode compatible transmitters. Afterwards, the coverage prediction is calculated for the selected carrier. If the selected carrier does not exist in a transmitter, there will not be any pixels covered by this transmitter. If you select "Best," Atoll will display the coverage prediction for the preferred carrier of the selected service. If no preferred carrier is defined in the service properties, Atoll will display the coverage prediction for the carrier with the highest P-CCPCH power, or the master carrier in case of N-frequency mode compatible transmitters.

• • •

Timeslot: The baton handover coverage prediction is performed for TS0. If you select the Shadowing taken into account check box, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability. You can select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

4. Click the Display tab. The settings you select on the Display tab determine the information that the prediction will display. For a baton handover analysis, the Display type "Value intervals" and the Field "Number of potential neighbours" are selected by default. You can also display only the baton handover coverage surface area by selecting "Unique" as the Display type. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

10.2.8.4 HSDPA Coverage Predictions The HSDPA coverage prediction allows you to study HSDPA-related parameters. The parameters used as input for the HSDPA coverage prediction are the HSDPA power, and the total transmitted power for each timeslot. For information about the cell and timeslot parameters, see "Cell Properties" on page 742. For information on the formulas used to calculate different throughputs, see the Technical Reference Guide. To make an HSDPA coverage prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select HSDPA Quality and Throughput Analysis (DL) and click OK. The HSDPA Quality and Throughput Analysis (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "TD-SCDMA Prediction Properties" on page 761. The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. You can set: • • • •

Terminal: The HSDPA-compatible terminal to be considered in the coverage prediction. The gain, losses, and HSDPA UE category defined in the terminal properties are used. Service: The HSDPA-compatible service to be considered in the coverage prediction. The body loss defined in the service properties is used. Mobility: The mobility type to be considered in the coverage prediction. The downlink HS-SCCH Ec⁄Nt threshold defined in the mobility properties is used as the minimum requirement for the coverage prediction. Carrier: You can select the carrier to be studied, or select "Best". For each pixel, the serving base station is determined according to the P-CCPCH RSCP from the carrier with the highest P-CCPCH power, or from the master carrier in case of N-frequency mode compatible transmitters. Afterwards, the coverage prediction is calculated for the selected carrier. If the selected carrier does not exist in a transmitter, there will not be any pixels covered by this transmitter. If you select "Best," Atoll will display the coverage prediction for the preferred carrier of the selected service. If no preferred carrier is defined in the service properties, Atoll will display the coverage prediction for the carrier with the highest P-CCPCH power, or the master carrier in case of N-frequency mode compatible transmitters.

•

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Timeslot: The HSDPA coverage prediction can be performed for any downlink or all timeslots. If you select "All" timeslots, you can select an HSDPA bearer for which the prediction will be carried out.

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•

• •

HSDPA radio bearer: The HSDPA bearer for which the coverage prediction is to be performed. Accessing an HSDPA radio bearer requires at least two timeslots. Therefore, this option can only be selected when "All" timeslots are selected. If you select the Shadowing taken into account check box, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability. You can select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

4. Click the Display tab. The settings you select on the Display tab determine the information that the coverage prediction will display. If you have selected "All" timeslots in the Conditions tab, you can set the following parameters: •

The HS-PDSCH RSCP relative to the RSCP threshold: Select one of the following in the Field list: • • •

•

Min HS-PDSCH RSCP Average HS-PDSCH RSCP Max HS-PDSCH RSCP

The HS-PDSCH Ec⁄Nt relative to the Ec⁄Nt threshold: Select one of the following in the Field list: • • •

Min. HS-PDSCH Ec⁄Nt Average HS-PDSCH Ec⁄Nt Max HS-PDSCH Ec⁄Nt

•

The peak RLC throughput relative to the threshold: Select "peak RLC throughput (kbps)" as the Field. Atoll displays the peak RLC throughput that the selected HSDPA bearer can provide. The peak RLC throughput is a characteristic of the HSDPA bearer.

•

The peak MAC throughput relative to the threshold: Select "Peak MAC throughput (kbps)" as the Field. Atoll calculates the peak MAC throughput from the transport block size of the selected HSDPA bearer.

If you have selected a particular timeslot in the Conditions tab, you can set the following parameters: •

The uplink and downlink A-DPCH qualities: Select one of the following in the Field list: • •

•

The HS-SCCH power, reception level, or quality: Select one of the following in the Field list: •

•

• •

HS-SCCH power: Atoll determines the HS-SCCH power required per pixel to get an HS-SCCH Ec/Nt better than the minimum required HS-SCCH Ec/Nt. The coverage is limited by the HS-SCCH Ec/Nt threshold defined for the selected mobility type. HS-SCCH RSCP: Atoll determines the HS-SCCH RSCP using the HS-SCCH power required per pixel to get an HSSCCH Ec/Nt better than the minimum required HS-SCCH Ec/Nt. The coverage is limited by the HS-SCCH Ec/Nt threshold defined for the selected mobility type. HS-SCCH Ec/Nt: Atoll determines the HS-SCCH Ec/Nt per pixel. The coverage is limited by the HS-SCCH Ec/Nt threshold defined for the selected mobility type.

The HS-SICH power, reception level, or quality: Select one of the following in the Field list: •

•

• •

Max DL A-DPCH Eb⁄Nt (dB): Atoll determines downlink A-DPCH quality at the receiver for the maximum traffic channel power allowed for the selected timeslot. Max UL A-DPCH Eb⁄Nt (dB): Atoll determines uplink A-DPCH quality at the receiver for the maximum terminal power allowed.

HS-SICH power: Atoll determines the HS-SICH power required per pixel to get an HS-SICH Ec/Nt better than the minimum required HS-SICH Ec/Nt. The coverage is limited by the HS-SICH Ec/Nt threshold defined for the selected mobility type. HS-SICH RSCP: Atoll determines the HS-SICH RSCP using the HS-SICH power required per pixel to get an HSSICH Ec/Nt better than the minimum required HS-SICH Ec/Nt. The coverage is limited by the HS-SICH Ec/Nt threshold defined for the selected mobility type. HS-SICH Ec/Nt: Atoll determines the HS-SICH Ec/Nt per pixel. The coverage is limited by the HS-SICH Ec/Nt threshold defined for the selected mobility type.

The HS-PDSCH reception level or quality: Select one of the following in the Field list: • •

HS-PDSCH RSCP: Atoll determines the HS-PDSCH RSCP using the HS-PDSCH power of the timeslot. HS-PDSCH Ec/Nt: Atoll determines the HS-PDSCH Ec/Nt using the HS-PDSCH power of the timeslot.

For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

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10.2.8.5 Displaying Coverage Prediction Results The results are displayed graphically in the map window according to the settings you made on the Display tab when you created the coverage prediction (step 5. of "Studying P-CCPCH RSCP for a Single Base Station" on page 763). If several coverage predictions are displayed on the map, it can be difficult to clearly see the results of the coverage prediction you want to analyse. You can select which predictions to display or to hide by selecting or clearing the display check box. For information on managing the display, see "Displaying or Hiding Objects on the Map" on page 50. Once you have completed a prediction, you can also generate reports and statistics with the tools that Atoll provides. For more information, see "Generating Coverage Prediction Reports" on page 212 and "Displaying Coverage Prediction Statistics" on page 214. In this section, the following tools are explained: • • •

10.2.8.5.1

"Displaying the Legend Window" on page 780. "Displaying Coverage Prediction Results Using Tip Text" on page 780. "Printing and Exporting Coverage Prediction Results" on page 780.

Displaying the Legend Window When you create a coverage prediction, you can add the displayed values of the coverage prediction to a legend by selecting the Add to Legend check box on the Display tab. To display the Legend window: •

10.2.8.5.2

Select View > Legend Window. The Legend window is displayed, with the values for each displayed coverage prediction identified by the name of the coverage prediction.

Displaying Coverage Prediction Results Using Tip Text You can get information by placing the pointer over an area of the coverage prediction to read the information displayed in the tip text. The information displayed is defined by the settings you made on the Display tab when you created the coverage prediction (step 5. of "Studying P-CCPCH RSCP for a Single Base Station" on page 763). To get coverage prediction results in the form of tip text: •

In the map window, place the pointer over the area of the coverage prediction that you want more information on. After a brief pause, the tip text appears with the information defined in the Display tab of the coverage prediction properties (see Figure 10.9).

Figure 10.9: Displaying coverage prediction results using tip text

10.2.8.5.3

Printing and Exporting Coverage Prediction Results Once you have made a coverage prediction, you can print the results displayed on the map or save them in an external format. You can also export a selected area of the coverage as a bitmap. •

•

•

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Printing coverage prediction results: Atoll offers several options allowing you to customise and optimise the printed coverage prediction results. Atoll supports printing to a variety of paper sizes, including A4 and A0. For more information on printing coverage prediction results, see "Printing a Map" on page 91. Defining a geographic export zone: If you want to export part of the coverage prediction as a bitmap, you can define a geographic export zone. After you have defined a geographic export zone, when you export a coverage prediction as a raster image, Atoll offers you the option of exporting only the area covered by the zone. For more information on defining a geographic export zone, see "Geographic Export Zone" on page 68. Exporting coverage prediction results: In Atoll, you can export the coverage areas of a coverage prediction in raster or vector formats. In raster formats, you can export in BMP, TIF, JPEG 2000, ArcView© grid, or Vertical Mapper (GRD and GRC) formats. When exporting in GRD or GRC formats, Atoll allows you to export files larger than 2 GB. In vector formats, you can export in ArcView©, MapInfo©, or AGD formats. For more information on exporting coverage prediction results, see "Exporting Coverage Prediction Results" on page 210.

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10.2.8.6 Analysing a Coverage Prediction Using the Point Analysis Once you have completed a prediction, you can use the Point Analysis tool to verify it. If you do, before you make the point analysis, ensure the coverage prediction you want to verify is displayed on the map. The Reception view of the Point Analysis tool gives you information on the reference signal, SS, PBCH, PDSCH, PDCCH, and PUSCH and PUCCH signal levels, C/(I+N), bearers, and throughputs, etc., for any point on the map. The analysis is provided for a user-definable probe receiver which has a terminal, a mobility, and a service. The downlink and uplink load conditions can be taken from the Cells table or from Monte Carlo simulations. To make a reception analysis: 1. Click the Point Analysis button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar. The Point Analysis window opens and the pointer

changes ( ) to represent the receiver. A line appears on the map connecting the selected transmitter and the current position. You can move the receiver on the map ("Moving the Receiver on the Map" on page 203). 2. At the top of the Point Analysis window, select the Reception view (see Figure 10.10). The predicted signal level from different transmitters is reported in the Reception view in the form of a bar chart, from the highest predicted signal level on the top to the lowest one on the bottom. Each bar is displayed in the colour of the transmitter it represents. In the map window, arrows from the pointer to each transmitter are displayed in the colour of the transmitters they represent. A thick black line from the receiver to its best server is also displayed in the map window. The best server of the receiver is the transmitter from which the receiver receives the highest signal level. If you let the pointer rest, the signal level received from the corresponding transmitter at the pointer location is displayed in the tip text. 3. In the Reception view, select the carrier to be analysed.

Figure 10.10: Point Analysis - Reception view 4. Click the Options button ( • • •

) to display the Calculation Options dialog box and change the following:

Change the X and Y coordinates to change the current position of the receiver. Select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a Cell Edge Coverage Probability. For more information, see "Taking Shadowing into Account in Point Analyses" on page 204. Select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. For more information, see "Taking Indoor Losses into Account" on page 203.

5. In the Reception view toolbar, you can use the following tools: •

Click the Copy button ( processing programme.

) to copy the content of the view and paste it as a graphic into a graphic editing or word-

• •

Click the Print button ( ) to print the content of the view. Click the Centre on Map button ( ) to centre the map window on the receiver.

6. Click the Point Analysis button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar again to end the point analysis.

You can display a point analysis that uses the settings from an existing prediction by right-clicking the prediction in the Network explorer and selecting Open Point Analysis from the context menu.

10.2.8.7 Comparing Coverage Predictions Atoll allows you to compare two similar predictions to see the differences between them. This enables you to quickly see how changes you make affect the network.

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In this section, there are two examples to explain how you can compare two similar predictions. You can display the results of the comparison in one of the following ways: • • •

•

Intersection: This display shows the area where both coverage predictions overlap (for example, pixels covered by both predictions are displayed in red). Merge: This display shows the area that is covered by either of the coverage predictions (for example, pixels covered by at least one of the predictions are displayed in red). Union: This display shows all pixels covered by both coverage predictions in one colour and pixels covered by only one coverage prediction in a different colour (for example, pixels covered by both predictions are red and pixels covered by only one prediction are blue). Difference: This display shows all pixels covered by both coverage predictions in one colour, pixels covered by only the first prediction with another colour and pixels covered only by the second prediction with a third colour (for example, pixels covered by both predictions are red, pixels covered only by the first prediction are green, and pixels covered only by the second prediction are blue).

To compare two similar coverage predictions: 1. Create and calculate a coverage prediction of the existing network. 2. Examine the coverage prediction to see where coverage can be improved. 3. Make the changes to the network to improve coverage. 4. Duplicate the original coverage prediction (in order to leave the first coverage prediction unchanged). 5. Calculate the duplicated coverage prediction. 6. Compare the original coverage prediction with the new coverage prediction. Atoll displays differences in coverage between them. In this section, the following examples are explained: • •

"Example 1: Studying the Effect of a New Base Station" on page 782. "Example 2: Studying the Effect of a Change in Transmitter Tilt" on page 784.

Example 1: Studying the Effect of a New Base Station If you have an area in a network that is poorly covered by current transmitters, you have several options for increasing coverage. In this example, you can verify if a newly added base station improves coverage. A coverage prediction by P-CCPCH RSCP for the current network is made as described in "Making a Coverage Prediction by PCCPCH RSCP" on page 764. The results are displayed in Figure 10.11. An area with poor coverage is visible on the right side of the figure.

Figure 10.11: Coverage prediction by P-CCPCH RSCP for existing network A new base station is added, either by creating the site and adding the transmitters, as explained in "Creating a TD-SCDMA Base Station" on page 738, or by using a station template, as explained in "Placing a New Base Station Using a Station Template" on page 747. Once the new base station has been added, the original coverage prediction can be recalculated, but then it would be impossible to compare the results. Instead, the original coverage prediction by P-CCPCH RSCP can be copied by selecting Duplicate from its context menu. The copy is then calculated to show the effect of the new base station (see Figure 10.12).

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Figure 10.12: Coverage prediction by P-CCPCH RSCP of the network with a new base station Now you can compare the two predictions. To compare two predictions: 1. Right-click one of the two predictions. The context menu appears. 2. From the context menu, select Compare with and, from the menu that opens, select the coverage prediction you want to compare with the first. The Comparison Properties dialog box appears. 3. Click the General tab. You can change the Name of the comparison and add Comments. The General tab contains information about the coverage predictions being compared, including their name and resolution. 4. Click the Display tab. On the Display tab, you can choose how you want the results of the comparison to be displayed. You can choose among: • • • •

Intersection Merge Union Difference

In order to see what changes adding a new base station made, you should choose Difference. 5. Click OK to create the comparison. The comparison in Figure 10.13, shows clearly the area covered only by the new base station.

Figure 10.13: Comparison of both coverage predictions by P-CCPCH RSCP

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Example 2: Studying the Effect of a Change in Transmitter Tilt If you have an area in a network that is poorly covered by current transmitters, you have several options for increasing coverage. In this example, you can see how modifying transmitter tilt can improve coverage. A coverage prediction by P-CCPCH best server for the current network is made as described in "Making a Coverage Prediction by P-CCPCH Best Server" on page 765. The results are displayed in Figure 10.14. The coverage prediction shows that one transmitter is covering its area poorly. The area is indicated by a red oval in Figure 10.14.

Figure 10.14: Coverage prediction by P-CCPCH best server for the existing network You can try modifying the tilt on the transmitter to improve the coverage. The properties of the transmitter can be accessed by right-clicking the transmitter in the map window and selecting Properties from the context menu. The mechanical and electrical tilt of the antenna are defined on the Transmitter tab of the Properties dialog box. Once the tilt of the antenna has been modified, the original coverage prediction can be recalculated, but then it would be impossible to compare the results. Instead, the original coverage prediction by can be copied by selecting Duplicate from its context menu. The copy is then calculated, to show how modifying the antenna tilt has affected coverage (see Figure 10.15).

Figure 10.15: Coverage prediction by P-CCPCH best server of the network after modifications As you can see, modifying the antenna tilt increased the coverage of the transmitter. However, to see exactly the change in coverage, you can compare the two predictions. To compare two predictions: 1. Right-click one of the two predictions. The context menu appears. 2. From the context menu, select Compare with and, from the menu that opens, select the coverage prediction you want to compare with the first. The Comparison Properties dialog box appears. 3. Click the General tab. You can change the Name of the comparison and add Comments. The General tab contains information about the coverage predictions being compared, including their name and resolution. 4. Click the Display tab. On the Display tab, you can choose how you want the results of the comparison to be displayed. You can choose among: • • • •

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In order to see what changes modifying the antenna tilt made, you can choose Union. This will display all pixels covered by both predictions in one colour and all pixels covered by only one prediction in another colour. The increase in coverage, seen in only the second coverage prediction, will be immediately clear. 5. Click OK to create the comparison. The comparison in Figure 10.16, shows clearly the increase in coverage due at the change in antenna tilt.

Figure 10.16: Comparison of both coverage predictions by P-CCPCH best server

10.2.9 Planning Frequencies TD-SCDMA networks can work in single-carrier as well as multi-carrier modes. In single-carrier mode, each transmitter has only one cell (carrier), which is considered a stand-alone carrier. In multi-carrier mode, each transmitter can have up to six carriers, with one master carrier and several slave carriers. The master carrier is used for P-CCPCH broadcast, scrambling code broadcast, and handover management, whereas the slave carriers are only used for carrying traffic. The multi-carrier mode is called N-Frequency Mode in Atoll. You can set the type of carrier for each cell of a transmitter manually, or you can let Atoll automatically allocate carrier types to cells on transmitters that support the N-frequency mode. Allocating frequencies to the cells of an N-frequency compatible transmitter means assigning a carrier type to each cell of that transmitter. You can use automatic allocation on all cells in the document, or you can define a group of cells either by using a focus zone or by grouping transmitters in the explorer window. For information on creating a focus zone, see "Focus Zone and Hot Spots" on page 68. For information on grouping transmitters in the explorer window, see "Grouping Data Objects" on page 94. In this section, the following are explained: • • • • •

"Setting up N-Frequency Mode" on page 785. "Allocating Frequencies Automatically" on page 785. "Checking Automatic Frequency Allocation Results" on page 786. "Allocating Carrier Types per Transmitter" on page 787. "Checking the Consistency of the Frequency Allocation Plan" on page 787.

10.2.9.1 Setting up N-Frequency Mode In Atoll, you can define whether transmitters are compatible with the N-frequency mode or not. To set up N-frequency mode: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Open Table from the context menu. The Transmitters table appears. 4. In the Transmitters table, select the N-frequency mode check box for transmitters that are compatible with the Nfrequency mode and will be taken into account in the automatic frequency allocation. For more information on transmitter properties, see "Transmitter Properties" on page 739. 5. Click the Close button (

) to close the table.

For more information on automatic frequency allocation, see "Allocating Frequencies Automatically" on page 785.

10.2.9.2 Allocating Frequencies Automatically Atoll can automatically allocate master and slave carriers to N-frequency mode compatible transmitters in a TD-SCDMA network. Atoll allocates carriers to transmitters according to the distance between transmitters and their orientation (azimuths). Two automatic allocation features are available: one for the allocation of all the carriers in co-N-frequency and diff-N-frequency modes, and another for the allocation of master carriers.

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To automatically allocate all carriers: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select N-Frequency Mode > Automatic Allocation of All Carriers from the context menu. The Automatic Carrier Allocation dialog box appears. 4. Select the carrier allocation strategy: •

Co-N-frequency allocation: The same carriers are allocated to cells of N-frequency mode compatible co-site transmitters. Co-site transmitters using different frequency bands are not allocated carriers in co-N-frequency mode.

•

Diff-N-frequency allocation: Different carriers are allocated to cells of N-frequency mode compatible co-site transmitters.

5. Click Calculate. Atoll allocates carriers to N-frequency mode compatible transmitters. Under Results, Atoll lists the transmitters to which it has allocated carriers in the Transmitters column, the carriers allocated to cells of each transmitter in the Carriers column, and the carrier number of the transmitter’s master carrier in the Master carrier column. Carrier numbers available for allocation are read from the definition of the frequency band assigned to each Nfrequency mode compatible transmitter. Carrier numbers allocated to inactive cells are considered frozen, and are not used for allocation to active cells. The number of allocated carriers corresponds to the number of active cells in each N-frequency mode compatible transmitter. 6. Click Commit to apply the allocation to the transmitters listed in the Transmitters column. 7. Click Close to close the Automatic Carrier Allocation dialog box. To automatically allocate master carriers: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select N-Frequency Mode > Automatic Allocation of Master Carriers from the context menu. The Automatic Master Carrier Allocation dialog box appears. 4. Select the Delete existing allocation check box if you want Atoll to delete the existing master carrier allocation before allocating. 5. Click Calculate. Atoll allocates master carriers to N-frequency mode compatible transmitters. Under Results, Atoll lists the transmitters to which it has allocated master carriers in the Transmitters column and the carrier number of the transmitter’s master carrier in the Master carrier column. 6. Click Commit to apply the allocation to the transmitters listed in the Transmitters column. 7. Click Close to close the Automatic Master Carrier Allocation dialog box.

10.2.9.3 Checking Automatic Frequency Allocation Results You can verify the results of automatic frequency allocation in the following ways: • •

10.2.9.3.1

"Displaying Frequency Allocation on the Map" on page 786. "Displaying the Coverage of the Master Carrier" on page 787.

Displaying Frequency Allocation on the Map You can view the master carrier allocation directly on the map. Atoll can display the master carrier number for every Nfrequency compatible transmitter. To display the master carrier number on the map: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Properties from the context menu. 4. Click the Display tab. 5. Select "Discrete values" as Display type and "Cells: Carrier type" as Field. 6. Select "Cells: Carrier type" as Label. 7. Click OK.

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The transmitters are coloured according to the carrier type, and the master carrier number is displayed on the map with each transmitter.

10.2.9.3.2

Displaying the Coverage of the Master Carrier By combining the display characteristics of a coverage prediction with the carrier type display options, Atoll can display the coverage areas of a transmitter’s master carrier. To display the coverage of the master carrier of a transmitter: •

Create, calculate, and display a coverage prediction by P-CCPCH best server, with the Display type set to "Discrete values" and the Field set to "Cells: Carrier type". For information on creating a coverage by transmitter prediction, see "Making a Coverage Prediction by P-CCPCH Best Server" on page 765.

10.2.9.4 Allocating Carrier Types per Transmitter Although you can let Atoll allocate frequencies and carrier types automatically, you can adjust the overall allocation of carriers by allocating carrier types to transmitters using the Cells tab of the Transmitter Properties dialog box. To allocate TD-SCDMA carrier types using the Cells tab of the transmitter’s Properties dialog box: 1. On the map, right-click the transmitter whose carrier types you want to change. The context menu appears. 2. Select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter’s Properties dialog box appears. 3. Click the Cells tab. 4. On the Cells tab, there is a column for each cell. Select the carrier type for each cell of the transmitter from the Carrier type list. 5. Click OK.

10.2.9.5 Checking the Consistency of the Frequency Allocation Plan You can perform an audit of the current frequency allocation plan. To perform an audit of the allocated frequency plan: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appear. 3. Select N-Frequency Mode > Audit from the context menu. The N-Frequency Mode Audit dialog box appears. 4. The audit checks the following points: •

Master carriers: • • •

•

Stand-alone carriers: •

•

Transmitters in N-frequency mode: The transmitters that are not N-frequency mode compatible. One master carrier per transmitter: The transmitters that have either no or more than one master carrier. Defined P-CCPCH power: The transmitters whose master carriers do not have a P-CCPCH power defined. Defined P-CCPCH power: The transmitters whose stand-alone carriers do not have a P-CCPCH power defined.

Slave Carriers: • • •

Linked to a master carrier: The transmitters whose slave carriers are not linked to any master carrier. In other words, the transmitters that do not have any master carrier, but have slave carriers. P-CCPCH, DwPCH, and Other CCH fields empty: The transmitters whose slave carriers have P-CCPCH, DwPCH, and other CCH powers defined. Timeslot configurations, Scrambling codes, and Neighbours same as the master carrier: Select this check box if you want the audit to check for slave carriers that do not have the same timeslot configurations, scrambling codes, and neighbours as the master carrier.

5. Click Calculate. Atoll performs the audit and lists the results under Problems occurred during the audit: X transmitters have inconsistencies, where X is the number of transmitters with problems. The list includes: • • • • • • •

Several master carriers: Transmitters that have more than one master carrier. Master P-CCPCH power not defined: Transmitters whose master carrier does not have a P-CCPCH power defined. Stand-alone P-CCPCH power not defined: Transmitters whose stand-alone carriers do not have P-CCPCH powers defined. Slaves without masters: Transmitters that have only slave carriers and no master carrier. Slave power defined: Transmitters whose slave carriers have P-CCPCH, DwPCH, or other CCH powers defined. Master-slave attribute differences: Transmitters whose slave carriers have different timeslot configurations, scrambling codes, and neighbours than the master carrier. Inconsistency: N-frequency mode⁄carrier types: Transmitters that are not N-frequency mode compatible.

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6. Click Resolve to resolve the inconsistencies found by the audit. Atoll makes the timeslot configurations and scrambling codes of the slave carriers the same as the master carrier. It also empties the neighbour list of the slave carriers. 7. Click Close to close the N-Frequency Mode Audit dialog box.

10.2.10 Planning Neighbours You can use Atoll to manually allocate neighbour relations to any cell in a network. You can also use Atoll to automatically allocate neighbour relations to a single cell, to all the cells of a base station, to all the cells in a transmitter group, or to all the cells in a network, based on predefined parameters. In this section, only the concepts that are specific to automatic neighbour allocation in TD-SCDMA networks are explained. For general information about neighbour planning, see "Neighbour Planning" on page 223. This section covers the following topics: • • •

"Coverage Conditions" on page 788 "Calculation Constraints" on page 788 "Reasons for Allocation" on page 789

10.2.10.1 Coverage Conditions In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, you either select or clear the Use coverage conditions check box. • •

When it is cleared, only the defined Distance will be used to allocate neighbours to a reference transmitter. When it is selected, click Define to open the Coverage Conditions dialog box:

Figure 10.17: TD-SCDMA coverage conditions for automatic intra-technology neighbour allocation • •

When it is cleared, only the defined Distance will be used to allocate neighbours to a reference transmitter. When it is selected, click Define to open the Coverage Conditions dialog box and change the parameters below: • •

• •

• •

Resolution: Enter the resolution to be used to calculate cells’ coverage areas during automatic neighbour allocation. P-CCPCH RSCP T_Add: Enter the minimum P-CCPCH RSCP required for a serving transmitter. If there is more than one transmitter whose P-CCPCH RSCP is higher than P-CCPCH RSCP T_Add, the transmitter with the highest PCCPCH RSCP is kept as the serving transmitter. P-CCPCH RSCP T_Drop: Enter the minimum P-CCPCH RSCP required for transmitters to enter a preliminary handover set. All the transmitters whose P-CCPCH RSCP is higher than P-CCPCH RSCP T_Drop are added to the set. P-CCPCH RSCP T_Comp: Enter the handover set limit. From among the transmitters listed in the preliminary handover set using the P-CCPCH RSCP T_Drop, only the transmitters whose P-CCPCH RSCP is within the range defined by the P-CCPCH RSCP from the best server and the P-CCPCH RSCP T_Comp margin are kept in the handover set. Shadowing Taken into Account: If selected, enter a Cell edge coverage probability. Indoor Coverage: Select this check box to take indoor losses into acccount in calculations. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

10.2.10.2 Calculation Constraints In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, you can select the following calculation constraints: • •

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Co-site cells as neighbours: When selected, the cells located on the same site as the reference cell will be automatically considered as neighbours. A cell with no antenna cannot be considered as a co-site neighbour. Adjacent cells as neighbours (Intra-carrier Neighbours tab only): When selected, the cells that are adjacent to the reference cell will be automatically considered as neighbours. A cell is considered adjacent if there is at least one pixel in

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• •

the reference cell’s coverage area where the potential neighbour cell is the best server, or where the potential neighbour cell is the second best server respecting the handover end. Symmetric relations: Select this check box if you want the neighbour relations to be reciprocal, i.e. any reference transmitter/cell is a potential neighbour of all the cells that are its neighbours. Exceptional pairs: Select this check box to force the neighbour relations defined in the Intra-technology Exceptional pairs table. For information on exceptional pairs, see "Exceptional Pairs" on page 223.

10.2.10.3 Reasons for Allocation In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, the reason for neighbour allocation is indicated under Cause in the Results table. It can be any of the following: Cause

Description

When

Distance

The neighbour is located within the defined maximum distance from the reference cell

Use coverage conditions is not selected

Coverage

The neighbour relation fulfils the defined coverage conditions

Use coverage conditions is selected and nothing is selected under Force

Co-Site

The neighbour is located on the same site as the reference cell

Use coverage conditions and Co-site cells as neighbours is selected

Adjacent

The neighbour is adjacent to the reference cell

Use coverage conditions is selected and Adjacent cells as neighbours is selected

Symmetry

The neighbour relation between the reference cell and the neighbour is symmetrical

Use coverage conditions is selected and Symmetric relations is selected

Exceptional Pair

The neighbour relation is defined as an exceptional pair

Exceptional pairs is selected

Existing

The neighbour relation existed before automatic allocation

Delete existing neighbours is not selected

10.2.11 Planning Scrambling Codes In TD-SCDMA, 128 scrambling codes (or P-CCPCH midamble codes) of 16-bit lengths are available, numbered from 0 to 127. Although TD-SCDMA scrambling codes are displayed in decimal format by default, they can also be displayed and calculated in hexadecimal format, in other words using the numbers 0 to 9 and the letters A to F. Atoll facilitates the management of scrambling codes by letting you create groups of scrambling codes and domains, where each domain is a defined set of groups. You can also assign scrambling codes manually or automatically to any cell in the network. Once allocation is complete, you can audit the scrambling codes, view scrambling code reuse on the map, and analyse the distribution of scrambling codes. Downlink synchronisation, SYNC_DL, codes are assigned to cells in order to distinguish nearby cells, and for synchronization purposes. There are 32 different SYNC_DL codes of 64 bit lengths defined for the whole system in downlink. According to 3GPP specifications, the 127 possible scrambling codes can be broken down into 32 groups, each containing 4 codes. Because the term "group" in Atoll refers to user-defined sets of scrambling codes, these groups of 4 codes each are referred to as "clusters" in Atoll. Each cluster of scrambling codes is related to a SYNC_DL code used by a base station. For N-frequency mode compatible transmitters, scrambling codes are only allocated and stored for master carriers. The slave carriers have the same scrambling codes as their master carrier. The procedure of planning scrambling codes for a TD-SCDMA project is: •

Preparing for scrambling code allocation • • • •

•

"Defining the Scrambling Code Format" on page 790. "Creating Scrambling Code Domains and Groups" on page 790. "Defining Exceptional Pairs for Scrambling Code Allocation" on page 791. "Defining Scrambling Code Relativity Clusters" on page 791.

Allocating scrambling codes • •

"Automatically Allocating Scrambling Codes to TD-SCDMA Cells" on page 792. "Allocating Scrambling Codes to TD-SCDMA Cells Manually" on page 794.

•

"Checking the Consistency of the Scrambling Code Plan" on page 794.

•

Displaying the allocation of scrambling codes

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"Using Find on Map to Display Scrambling Code Allocation" on page 795. "Displaying Scrambling Code Allocation Using Transmitter Display Settings" on page 795. "Grouping Transmitters by Scrambling Code" on page 796. "Displaying the Scrambling Code Allocation Histogram" on page 796. "Studying Scrambling Code Collision" on page 797.

10.2.11.1 Defining the Scrambling Code Format Scrambling codes can be displayed in decimal or hexadecimal format. The selected format is used to display scrambling codes in dialog boxes and tables such as in the Domains and Groups tables, the Cells table, and the Scrambling Code Allocation dialog box. The decimal format is the default format in Atoll. The accepted decimal values are from 0 to 127. The decimal format is also used, even if you have chosen the hexadecimal format, to store scrambling codes in the database and to display scrambling code distribution or the results of a scrambling code audit. The hexadecimal format uses the numbers 0 to 9 and the letters A to F for its base characters. In Atoll, hexadecimal values are indicated by a lower-case "h" following the value. For example, the hexadecimal value "3Fh" is "63" as a decimal value. You can convert a hexadecimal value to a decimal value with the following equation, where X, Y, and Z are decimal values within the hexadecimal index ranges: 2

X  16 + Y  16 + Z

For example, the hexadecimal value "3Fh" would be calculated as shown below: 2

0  16 + 3  16 + 15 = 63

To define the scrambling code format for an Atoll document: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Network Settings folder. 3. Right-click the Scrambling Codes folder. The context menu appears. 4. Select Format from the context menu and select either Decimal or Hexadecimal.

10.2.11.2 Creating Scrambling Code Domains and Groups Atoll facilitates the management of scrambling codes by letting you create domains, each containing groups of scrambling codes. The procedure for managing scrambling codes in a TD-SCDMA document consists of the following steps: 1. Creating a scrambling code domain, as explained in this section. 2. Creating groups, each containing a range of scrambling codes, and assigning them to a domain, as explained in this section. 3. Assigning a scrambling code domain to a cell or cells. If there is no scrambling code domain, Atoll will consider all 128 possible scrambling codes when assigning codes. To create a scrambling code domain: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Network Settings folder. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Scrambling Codes folder. 4. Right-click Domains in the Scrambling Codes folder. The context menu appears. 5. Select Open Table from the context menu. The Domains table appears. 6. In the row marked with the New row icon (

), enter a Name for the new domain.

7. Click another cell of the table to create the new domain and add a new blank row to the table. 8. Double-click the domain to which you want to add a group. The domain’s Properties dialog box appears. 9. Under Groups, enter the following information for each group you want to create. • •

• •

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Name: Enter a name for the new scrambling code group. Min: Enter the lowest available scrambling code in this group’s range. The minimum and maximum scrambling codes must be entered in the format, decimal or hexadecimal, set for the Atoll document. For information on setting the scrambling code format, see "Defining the Scrambling Code Format" on page 790. Max: Enter the highest available scrambling code in this group’s range. Step: Enter the separation interval between each scrambling code.

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• •

Excluded: Enter the scrambling codes within the range defined by the Min and Max fields that you do not want to use. Extra: Enter any additional scrambling codes (i.e., outside the range defined by the Min and Max fields) you want to add to this group. You can enter a list of codes separated by either a comma, semi-colon, or a space. You can also enter a range of scrambling codes separated by a hyphen. For example, entering, "1, 2, 3–6" means that the extra scrambling codes are "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6".

10. Click another cell of the table to create the new group and add a new blank row to the table.

10.2.11.3 Defining Exceptional Pairs for Scrambling Code Allocation You can also define pairs of cells which cannot have the same scrambling code. These pairs are referred to as exceptional pairs. Exceptional pairs are used along with other constraints, such as neighbours, reuse distance, and domains, in allocating scrambling codes. To create a pair of cells that cannot have the same scrambling code: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Scrambling Codes > Exceptional Pairs. The Exceptional Separation Constraints table appears. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. 4. In the row marked with the New Row icon ( ), select one cell of the new exceptional pair in the Cell column and the second cell of the new exceptional pair from the Cell_2 column. 5. Click another cell of the table to create the new exceptional pair and add a new blank row to the table.

10.2.11.4 Defining Scrambling Code Relativity Clusters Some of the scrambling codes are not fully mutually orthogonal. Some may have a relatively high correlation and may interfere each other. The principal aim of scrambling code planning is to allocate scrambling codes to cells in such a manner so as to avoid any confusion in the detection of these scrambling codes by user equipment. In other words, geographically adjacent cells should be allocated highly orthogonal scrambling codes in order to avoid any error in scrambling code detection. Scrambling codes with relatively high correlation (less orthogonality) can be grouped into clusters, called Relativity Clusters. Nearby cells, or close neighbours, are then allocated scrambling codes from different relativity clusters in order to avoid interference between scrambling codes. Close neighbours are first-order neighbours whose importance is higher than a certain value and are located within a certain distance from the studied cell. To define scrambling code relativity clusters: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Scrambling Codes > Relativity Clusters. The Relativity Clusters table appears. 4. In the row marked with the New row icon (

), enter a Name for the new relativity cluster.

5. In the Code list column, enter the list of scrambling codes belonging to the new relativity cluster. Scrambling codes in the code list must be separated by a single space. 6. Click another line of the table to create the new relativity cluster.

10.2.11.5 Allocating Scrambling Codes Atoll can automatically assign scrambling codes to the cells of a TD-SCDMA network according to set parameters. For example, it takes into account the definition of groups and domains of scrambling codes, the selected scrambling code allocation strategy (clustered, distributed per cell, distributed per site, and one SYNC_DL per site), minimum code reuse distance, and any constraints imposed by neighbours. You can also allocate scrambling codes manually to the cells of a TD-SCDMA network. In this section, the following methods of allocating scrambling codes are described: • • •

"Defining Automatic Allocation Constraint Violation Costs" on page 791 "Automatically Allocating Scrambling Codes to TD-SCDMA Cells" on page 792. "Allocating Scrambling Codes to TD-SCDMA Cells Manually" on page 794.

Defining Automatic Allocation Constraint Violation Costs You can define the costs of the different types of constraints used in the automatic scrambling code allocation algorithm.

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To define the different constraint violation costs: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Scrambling Codes > Constraint Costs. The Constraint Violation Costs dialog box appears. In this dialog box you can define the following costs of constraint violations for the automatic allocation process (the cost is a value from 0 to 1): •

• • • •

Under Intra-technology neighbours, you can set the constraint violation costs for Close neighbours, 1st order, 2nd order, and 3rd order neighbours. The close neighbour constraint violation cost should be higher than the 1st order neighbour constraint violation cost, which should be higher than the 2nd order and the 3rd order should be the lowest among all of these costs. Under Distributed per site strategy, you can set the constraint violation cost for intra-technology neighbours that are 1st or 2nd order using the same cluster. Reuse distance: Enter the maximum cost for reuse distance constraint violations. Exceptional pair: Enter the cost for exceptional pair constraint violations. Common inter-technology neighbour: Enter the cost for inter-technology neighbour constraint violations.

4. Click OK. The constraint violation costs are stored and will be used in the automatic allocation. Automatically Allocating Scrambling Codes to TD-SCDMA Cells The allocation algorithm enables you to automatically allocate scrambling code to cells in the current network. You can choose among several automatic allocation strategies. The actual automatic allocation strategies available will depend on your network and options selected in the Atoll.ini file. For more information on the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on automatic allocation strategies, see the Technical Reference Guide. • • •

•

Clustered: The purpose of this strategy is to choose for a group of mutually constrained cells, scrambling codes among a minimum number of clusters. In this case, Atoll will preferentially allocate all the codes from the same cluster. Distributed per cell: This strategy consists in using as many clusters as possible. Atoll will preferentially allocate codes from different clusters. One SYNC_DL code per site: This strategy allocates one SYNC_DL code to each base station, then, one code of the cluster associated with the SYNC_DL code to each cell of each base station. When all the SYNC_DL codes have been allocated and there are still base stations remaining to be allocated, Atoll reuses the SYNC_DL codes at another base station. Select this strategy if you want to allocate the same scrambling code to the master and the slave carriers. For more information on master and slave carriers, see "Planning Frequencies" on page 785. Distributed per site: This strategy allocates a group of adjacent clusters to each base station in the network, then, one cluster to each transmitter of the base station, according to its azimuth, and finally one code of the cluster to each cell of each transmitter. The number of adjacent clusters per group depends on the number of transmitters per base station you have in your network; this information is required to start allocation based on this strategy. When all the groups of adjacent clusters have been allocated and there are still base stations remaining to be allocated, Atoll reuses the groups of adjacent clusters at another base station.

To automatically allocate scrambling codes: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Scrambling Codes > Automatic Allocation. The Scrambling Codes and SYNC_DL Codes dialog box appears. 4. Set the following parameters in the Scrambling Codes and SYNC_DL Codes dialog box: •

Under Constraints, you can set the constraints on automatic scrambling code allocation. •

Existing neighbours: Select the Existing neighbours check box if you want to consider neighbour relations and then choose the neighbourhood level to take into account: Neighbours of a cell are referred to as first order neighbours, neighbours’ neighbours are referred to as second order neighbours and neighbours’ neighbours’ neighbours as third order neighbours. First order: No cell will be allocated the same scrambling code as its neighbours. Second order: No cell will be allocated the same scrambling code as its neighbours or its second order neighbours. Third order: No cell will be allocated the same scrambling code as its neighbours or its second order neighbours or its third order neighbours. Atoll can only consider neighbour relations if neighbours have already been allocated. For information on allocating neighbours, see "Neighbour Planning" on page 223.

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Atoll can take into account inter-technology neighbour relations as constraints to allocate different scrambling codes to the TD-SCDMA neighbours of a GSM transmitter. In order to consider inter-technology neighbour relations in scrambling code allocation, you must make the Transmitters folder of the GSM Atolldocument accessible in the TD-SCDMA Atoll document. For information on making links between GSM and TD-SCDMA Atoll documents, see "Creating a TD-SCDMA Sector From a Sector in the Other Network" on page 825. •

Reuse distance: Select the Reuse distance check box, if you want to the automatic allocation process to consider the reuse distance constraint. Enter the Default reuse distance within which two cells on the same carrier cannot have the same scrambling code. A reuse distance can be defined at the cell level (in the cell Properties dialog box or in the Cells table). If defined, a cell-specific reuse distance will be used instead of the value entered here.

• •

Exceptional pairs: Select the Exceptional pairs check box if you want the automatic allocation process to consider the exceptional pair constraints. Close neighbours: Select the Close neighbours check box if you want to take into account the scrambling code relativity clusters in the automatic allocation. Enter the minimum Importance value and the maximum Distance for determining the close neighbours. Close neighbours are first order neighbours whose importance is higher than the minimum importance value and are located within the maximum distance from the studied cell. Atoll will assign scrambling codes from different relativity clusters to close neighbours. The Close neighbours constraint can be taken into account in Clustered and Distributed per cell allocation strategies. For more information on scrambling code relativity clusters, see "Defining Scrambling Code Relativity Clusters" on page 791.

•

From the Strategy list, you can select an automatic allocation strategy: • • • •

• •

Clustered Distributed per cell One SYNC_DL code per site Distributed per site

Carrier: Select the carrier on which you want to run the allocation. You may choose one carrier (Atoll will assign scrambling codes to transmitters using the selected carrier) or all of them. No. of codes per SYNC_DL: According to 3GPP specifications, the number of scrambling codes per SYNC_DL is 4. If you want, you can change the number of codes per SYNC_DL. When the allocation is based on a distributed strategy (distributed per cell or distributed per site), this parameter can also be used to define the interval between the scrambling codes assigned to cells on a same site. The defined interval is applied by setting an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information about setting options in the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual.

•

•

Use a max of codes: Select the Use a max of codes check box to make Atoll use the maximum number of codes. For example, if there are two cells using the same domain with two scrambling codes, Atoll will assign the remaining code to the second cell even if there are no constraints between these two cells (for example, neighbour relations, reuse distance, etc.). If you do not select this option, Atoll only checks the constraints, and allocates the first ranked code in the list. Delete existing codes: Select the Delete existing codes check box if you want Atoll to delete currently allocated scrambling codes and recalculate all scrambling codes. If you do not select this option, Atoll keeps the currently allocated scrambling codes and only allocates scrambling codes to cells that do not yet have codes allocated.

5. Click Calculate. Atoll begins the process of allocating scrambling codes. If you have selected the "Distributed per Site" allocation strategy, a Distributed per Site Allocation Parameters dialog box appears. a. In the Distributed per Site Allocation Parameters dialog box, enter the Max number of transmitters per site. b. Select the Neighbours in other SYNC_DL or Secondary neighbours in other SYNC_DL check boxes in the Additional constraints section, if you want the automatic allocation to consider constraints related to first order and second order neighbours. c. Click OK. Once Atoll has finished allocating scrambling codes, the codes are visible under Results. Atoll only displays newly allocated scrambling codes. The Results table contains the following information.

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Site: The name of the base station. Cell: The name of the cell. Code: The scrambling code proposed for allocation to the cell. SYNC_DL: The SYNC_DL to which the new scrambling code belongs. Initial Code: The scrambling code initially allocated to the cell. Atoll allocates the same scrambling code to each carrier of a transmitter.

6. Click Commit. The scrambling codes are stored in the cell properties. You can save automatic scrambling code allocation parameters in a user configuration. For information on saving automatic scrambling code allocation parameters in a user configuration, see "Saving a User Configuration" on page 104.

•

•

If you need to allocate scrambling codes to the cells on a single transmitter, you can allocate them automatically by selecting Allocate Scrambling Codes from the transmitter’s context menu. If you need to allocate scrambling codes to all the cells in a group of transmitters, you can allocate them automatically by selecting Scrambling Codes > Automatic Allocation from the transmitter group’s context menu.

Allocating Scrambling Codes to TD-SCDMA Cells Manually When you allocate scrambling codes to a large number of cells, it is easiest to let Atoll allocate scrambling codes automatically, as described in "Automatically Allocating Scrambling Codes to TD-SCDMA Cells" on page 792. However, if you want to add a scrambling code to one cell or to modify the scrambling code of a cell, you can do it by accessing the properties of the cell. After allocation, you can use the audit tool to check the reuse scrambling code distances between cells and the compatibility of the domains of the cells for each base station. To allocate a scrambling code to a TD-SCDMA cell manually: 1. On the map, right-click the transmitter to whose cell you want to allocate a scrambling code. The context menu appears. 2. Select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter’s Properties dialog box appears. 3. Select the Cells tab. 4. Enter a Scrambling code in the cell’s column. 5. Click OK.

10.2.11.6 Checking the Consistency of the Scrambling Code Plan Once you have completed allocating scrambling codes, you can verify whether the allocated scrambling codes respect the specified constraints by performing an audit of the plan. The scrambling code audit also enables you to check for inconsistencies if you have made some manual changes to the allocation plan. To perform an audit of the allocation plan: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Scrambling Codes > Audit. The Code and SYNC_DL Audit dialog box appears. 4. In the Code and SYNC_DL Audit dialog box, select the allocation criteria that you want to check: • •

No. of codes per SYNC_DL: Enter the number of scrambling codes per SYNC_DL. This number is set to 4 by default, which is the number of scrambling codes attached to each SYNC_DL. Neighbours: Select Neighbours in order to check scrambling code constraints between cells and their neighbours and then choose the neighbourhood level to take into account. First order: Atoll will check that no cell has the same scrambling code as any of its neighbours. Second order: Atoll will check that no cell has the same scrambling code as any of its neighbours or any of the neighbours of its neighbours. Third order: Atoll will check that no cell has the same scrambling code as any of its neighbours or any of the neighbours of its neighbours or any of the neighbours of its second order neighbours.

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The report will list the cells and the neighbours that do not meet one of these constraints. In addition, it will indicate the allocated primary scrambling code and the neighbourhood level. •

•

•

• •

•

Neighbours in different SYNC_DLs: If you select the Neighbours in different SYNC_DLs check box, Atoll will check that neighbour cells have scrambling codes from different SYNC_DLs. The report will list any neighbour cells that has scrambling codes from the same SYNC_DL. Domain compliance: If you select the Domain compliance check box, Atoll will check if allocated scrambling codes belong to domains assigned to cells. The report will list any cells with scrambling codes that do not belong to domains assigned to the cell. Site domains not empty: If you select the Site domains not empty check box, Atoll will check for and list base stations for which the allocation domain (i.e., the list of possible scrambling codes, with respect to the configured allocation constraints) is empty. One SYNC_DL per site: If you select the One SYNC_DL per site check box, Atoll will check for and list base stations whose cells have scrambling codes coming from more than one SYNC_DL. Distance: If you select the Distance check box and set a reuse distance, Atoll will check for and list the cell pairs that do not respect the reuse distance condition. For any cell pair, Atoll uses the lowest of the reuse distance values among the ones defined for the two cells in their properties and the value that you set in the Code and SYNC_DL Audit dialog box. Cell pairs that do not respect the reuse distance condition are listed according to the distance between them, from the closest to the furthest away. The scrambling code and the reuse distance are also listed for each cell pair. Exceptional pairs: If you select the Exceptional pairs check box, Atoll will check for and display pairs of cells that are listed as exceptional pairs but have the same scrambling code allocated.

5. Click OK. Atoll displays the results of the audit in a text file called CodeCheck.txt. For each selected criterion, Atoll gives the number of detected inconsistencies and the details of each.

10.2.11.7 Displaying the Allocation of Scrambling Codes Once you have completed allocating scrambling codes, you can verify several aspects of scrambling code allocation. You have several options for displaying scrambling codes: • • • • •

"Using Find on Map to Display Scrambling Code Allocation" on page 795. "Displaying Scrambling Code Allocation Using Transmitter Display Settings" on page 795. "Grouping Transmitters by Scrambling Code" on page 796. "Displaying the Scrambling Code Allocation Histogram" on page 796. "Studying Scrambling Code Collision" on page 797.

Using Find on Map to Display Scrambling Code Allocation In Atoll, you can search for scrambling codes and scrambling code groups using the Find on Map tool. Results are displayed in the map window in red. If you have already calculated and displayed a coverage prediction by transmitter based on the best server P-CCPCH, with the results displayed by transmitter, the search results will be displayed by transmitter coverage. For information, see "Making a Coverage Prediction by P-CCPCH Best Server" on page 765. Scrambling codes and scrambling code groups and any potential problems will then be clearly visible. To find scrambling codes or scrambling code groups using the Find on Map tool: 1. Click Tools > Find on Map. The Find on Map window appears. 2. From the Find list, select "Scrambling Code." 3. Select what you what you want to search for: • •

Scrambling code: If you want to find a scrambling code, select Scrambling code and select it from the list. SC group: If you want to find a scrambling code group, select SC group and select it from the list.

4. Select the carrier you want to search on from the For carrier list, or select "(All)" to search in all carriers. 5. Click Search. Transmitters with cells matching the search criteria are displayed in red. Transmitters that do not match the search criteria are displayed as grey lines. To restore the initial transmitter colours, click the Reset display button in the Find on Map window. Displaying Scrambling Code Allocation Using Transmitter Display Settings You can use the display characteristics of transmitters to display scrambling code-related information. To display scrambling code-related information on the map: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears.

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4. Click the Display tab. You can display the following information per transmitter: • • •

Scrambling code: Select "Discrete values" as the Display type and "Cells: Scrambling code" as the Field. Ranges of scrambling codes: Select "Value intervals" as the Display type and "Cells: Scrambling code" as the Field. Scrambling code domain: Select "Discrete values" as the Display type and "Cells: Scrambling code domain" as the Field.

You can display the following information in the transmitter label or tip text by clicking the Label or Tip text browse button: • •

Scrambling code: Select "Cells: Scrambling Code" from the Label or Tip Text Field Definition dialog box. Scrambling code domain: Select "Cells: Scrambling Code Domain" from the Label or Tip Text Field Definition dialog box.

5. Click OK. For information on display options, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. Grouping Transmitters by Scrambling Code You can group transmitters in the Network explorer by their scrambling code or scrambling code domain. To group transmitters by scrambling code: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 4. On the General tab, click Group by. The Group dialog box appears. 5. Under Available fields, scroll down to the Cell section. 6. Select the parameter you want to group transmitters by: • •

Scrambling code domain Scrambling code

7. Click to add the parameter to the Grouping fields list. The selected parameter is added to the list of parameters on which the transmitters will be grouped. 8. If you do not want the transmitters to be sorted by a certain parameter, select it in the Grouping fields list and click . The selected parameter is removed from the list of parameters on which the transmitters will be grouped. 9. Arrange the parameters in the Grouping fields list in the order in which you want the transmitters to be grouped: a. Select a parameter and click

to move it up to the desired position.

b. Select a parameter and click

to move it down to the desired position.

10. Click OK to save your changes and close the Group dialog box. If a transmitter has more than one cell, Atoll cannot arrange the transmitter by cell. Transmitters that cannot be grouped by cell are arranged in a separate folder under the Transmitters folder. Displaying the Scrambling Code Allocation Histogram You can use a histogram to analyse the use of allocated scrambling codes in a network. The histogram represents the scrambling codes or SYNC_DLs as a function of the frequency of their use. To display the scrambling code histogram: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Scrambling Codes > Code Distribution. The Distribution Histograms dialog box appears. Each bar represents a scrambling code or a SYNC_DL code, its height depending on the frequency of its use. 4. Select Scrambling codes to display scrambling code use and Clusters to display SYNC_DL code use. 5. Move the pointer over the histogram to display the frequency of use of each scrambling code or SYNC_DL. The results are highlighted simultaneously in the Zoom on selected values list.

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You can zoom in on values by clicking and dragging in the Zoom on selected values list. Atoll will zoom in on the selected values. Studying Scrambling Code Collision You can make a scrambling code collision zones coverage prediction to view areas covered by cells using the same scrambling code. For each pixel, Atoll checks if the best serving cell and the cells that fulfil all criteria to enter the active set (without any active set size limitation) have the same scrambling code. If so, Atoll considers that there is a scrambling code collision. To make a scrambling code collision zone coverage prediction: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Predictions folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 4. Select Scrambling Code Collision Zones (DL) and click OK. The prediction Properties dialog box appears. 5. Click the General tab. On the General tab, you can change the assigned Name of the coverage prediction, the Resolution, and you can add a Comment. The Receiver height corresponds to the height of the receiver defined in the Calculation Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box. A read-only Unique ID is generated when you create a new coverage prediction. This ID can later be found between the and tags in the following files: • •

"studies.XML" file created in the installation folder if at least one coverage prediction was saved using the Save as Customised Prediction command. ".XML" files (one per prediction) created in the following folder if coverage predictions were calculated with Display type = "Value intervals": C:\\.studies\{}

Under Display Configuration, you can create a Filter to select which sites to display in the results. For information on filtering, see "Filtering Data" on page 99. 6. Click the Conditions tab (see Figure 10.18). The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. You can set: • • • •

Terminal: The terminal to be considered in the coverage prediction. The gain and losses defined in the terminal properties are used. Service: The service to be considered in the coverage prediction. The body loss defined in the service properties is used. Mobility: The mobility type to be considered in the coverage prediction. The P-CCPCH RSCP threshold defined in the mobility properties is used as the minimum requirement for the coverage prediction. Carrier: The carrier to be considered in the coverage prediction. For each pixel, the serving base station is determined according to the P-CCPCH RSCP from the carrier with the highest P-CCPCH power, or from the master carrier in case of N-frequency mode compatible transmitters. Afterwards, the coverage prediction is calculated for the selected carrier. If the selected carrier does not exist in a transmitter, there will not be any pixels covered by this transmitter.

• • • •

Timeslot: The scrambling code collision coverage prediction is performed for TS0. If you select the Shadowing taken into account check box, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability. You can select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. Pollution margin: The margin for determining which signals to consider. Atoll considers signal levels which are within the defined margin of the best signal level.

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Figure 10.18: Condition settings for a Scrambling Code Collision Zones coverage prediction 7. Click the Display tab. For a scrambling code collision analysis coverage prediction, the Display type "Value intervals" based on the Field "Interfered scrambling code" is available. Each interference zone will then be displayed in a colour corresponding to the interfered scrambling code per pixel. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 8. Click OK to save your settings. 9. Click the Calculate button ( ) in the Radio Planning toolbar to calculate the scrambling code collision zone coverage prediction. The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window. A specific colour is assigned to areas where more than one scrambling code has interference. You can analyse these areas in more detail using the Find on Map tool. For more information on using the Find on Map tool for scrambling code collision analysis, see "Using Find on Map to Display Scrambling Code Allocation" on page 795.

10.3 Studying TD-SCDMA Network Capacity A TD-SCDMA network automatically regulates power on both uplink and downlink with the objective of minimising interference and maximising network capacity. In the case of HSDPA, the network uses fast link adaptation (in other words, the selection of an HSDPA bearer) in the downlink. Atoll can simulate these network regulation mechanisms, thereby enabling you to study the capacity of the TD-SCDMA network. In Atoll, a simulation is based on a realistic distribution of users at a given point in time. The distribution of users at a given moment is referred to as a snapshot. Based on this snapshot, Atoll calculates various network parameters such as the active set for each mobile, the required power of the mobile, the total DL power, and the UL load. Simulations are calculated in an iterative fashion. When several simulations are performed at the same time using the same traffic information, the distribution of users will be different, according to a Poisson distribution. Consequently you can have variations in user distribution from one snapshot to another. To create snapshots, services and users must be modelled. As well, certain traffic information in the form of traffic maps must be provided. Once services and users have been modelled and traffic maps have been created, you can make simulations of the network traffic. In this section, the following are explained: • • • •

"Calculating TD-SCDMA Network Capacity" on page 798. "Defining Multi-service Traffic Data" on page 800. "Calculating TD-SCDMA Traffic Simulations" on page 801. "Making Coverage Predictions Using Simulation Results" on page 810.

10.3.1 Calculating TD-SCDMA Network Capacity TD-SCDMA cell capacity is the number of resource units available on the uplink and downlink. There can be a maximum of 16 users (16 OVSF codes) per timeslot. This means that each timeslot has 16 resource units. With 6 timeslots per subframe, which can be used in uplink or downlink, different combinations of uplink and downlink timeslots are possible. These combinations are referred to as timeslot configurations that can be defined per cell. The following table lists the capacity of a cell for different possible timeslot configurations:

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Timeslot Configuration

Resource Units in Uplink

Resource Units in Downlink

UDDDDD

16

80

UUDDDD

32

64

UUUDDD

48

48

UUUUDD

64

32

UUUUUD

80

16

UpUDDDD

16

64

UpUUDDD

32

48

TS0 is not used for traffic. TS1 is not used for traffic either in case of UpPCH shifting.

Assuming ideal dynamic channel allocation (DCA), all the resource units within a subframe, i.e., 6 x 16 = 96, can be allocated and used. The total resource units in a network, i.e., the network capacity, is given by: Network Capacity = Number of Timeslots per Subframe  Number of Codes per Timeslot  Number of Carriers

Resource units from different carriers can be shared and allocated to the same mobile connected to an N-frequency mode compatible transmitter. This section explains the network capacity and network dimensioning analysis tools: • • •

"Calculating Available Network Capacity" on page 799. "Calculating Required Network Capacity" on page 799. "Displaying the Network Capacity on the Map" on page 800.

10.3.1.1 Calculating Available Network Capacity You can calculate the available capacity of your TD-SCDMA network in Atoll using the Network Capacity Estimation dialog box. To calculate the available network capacity: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Calculations > Network Capacity from the context menu. The Network Capacity Estimation dialog box appears. The dialog box lists the numbers of uplink and downlink resource units for each cell. The last row in this dialog box displays the total uplink and downlink resource units. The uplink and downlink resource units overhead defined for each timeslot for each cell is considered when calculating the number of available resource units. 4. Click Close to close the dialog box.

10.3.1.2 Calculating Required Network Capacity You can calculate the number of required resource units according to a given traffic demand, compare it with the network capacity (see "Calculating Available Network Capacity" on page 799), and analyse how many resource units each cell requires using the dimensioning tool. The dimensioning tool takes traffic data from the selected traffic maps as input before calculating the number of required resources. To calculate the required network capacity: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Calculations > Network Dimensioning from the context menu. The Dimensioning dialog box appears. On the Source Traffic tab, enter: •

Global scaling factor: If desired, enter a scaling factor to increase user density.

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The global scaling factor enables you to increase user density without changing traffic parameters or traffic maps. For example, setting the global scaling factor to 2 is the same as doubling the initial number of users (for environment and user profile traffic maps) or the rates per users (for live traffic maps per sector). • •

Select traffic maps to be used: Select the traffic maps you want to use for dimensioning. Under Coverage, select the P-CCPCH best server coverage prediction to be used to distribute the traffic among the cells of the network.

4. Click Calculate. Atoll distributes the traffic among cells using the information from traffic maps and the coverage prediction, calculates the capacity of each cell, and displays the results in the Results per Cell tab. The Results per Cell tab has five columns which list the names of the cells in the network, and the numbers of uplink and downlink resource units available and required per cell. The last row in this dialog box displays the total uplink and downlink resource units, required and available. Cells for which the required resource units exceed the available units are displayed in red. The uplink and downlink resource units overhead defined for each timeslot per cell is considered when calculating the number of available resource units. 5. Click Commit to store the number of required resource units per cell in the Cells table. 6. Click Close to close the dialog box. Changing transmitter parameters does not affect the dimensioning results if you have not updated the coverage by P-CCPCH best server used for the dimensioning calculations. If you want to compare dimensioning results after modifying some transmitter parameters, you will have to calculate the coverage by P-CCPCH best server again and run the dimensioning calculations based on the new coverage prediction.

10.3.1.3 Displaying the Network Capacity on the Map You can create a coverage prediction by P-CCPCH best server in order to display the available network capacity, required network capacity, or the resource unit usage of your TD-SCDMA network on the map. To display the available or required capacity on the map: 1. Create a coverage by P-CCPCH best server, as explained in "Making a Coverage Prediction by P-CCPCH Best Server" on page 765, with the following display parameters: 2. In step 4., set the Display type to "Value intervals" and depending on what you would like to display, set the Field to "Available DL Resource Units", "Available UL Resource Units", "Cells: Required DL Resource Units", "Cells: Required UL Resource Units", "Required DL Resource Units (%)", or "Required UL Resource Units (%)". Each coverage zone will then be displayed according to the number of available, required, or used resource units for the cell (carrier used for the coverage prediction). A high percentage of resource unit usage percentage can indicate dimensioning problems.

Figure 10.19: Network capacity coverage prediction (Display tab) When Atoll has finished calculating the prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

10.3.2 Defining Multi-service Traffic Data The first step in making a simulation is defining how the network is used. In Atoll, this is accomplished by creating all of the parameters of network use, in terms of services, users, and equipment used.

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The following services and users are modelled in Atoll in order to create simulations: •

•

•

•

R99 radio bearers: Bearer services are used by the network for carrying information. The R99 Radio Bearer table lists all the available radio bearers. You can create new R99 radio bearers and modify existing ones using the R99 Radio Bearer table. For information on defining R99 radio bearers, see "Defining R99 Radio Bearers" on page 835. Services: Services are the various services, such as voice, mobile internet access, etc., available to subscribers. These services can be either circuit-switched or packet-switched. For information on modelling end-user services, see "Modelling Services" on page 241. Mobility types: In TD-SCDMA, information about receiver mobility is important to accurately model the channel characteristics: a mobile used in a speeding car or by a pedestrian will not necessarily undergo the same radio wave behaviour. Eb⁄Nt or C⁄I targets for uplink and downlink are largely dependent on mobile speed. For information on creating a mobility type, see "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 247. Terminals: In TD-SCDMA, a terminal is the user equipment that is used in the network, for example, a mobile phone, a PDA, or a car’s on-board navigation device. For information on creating a terminal, see "Modelling Terminals" on page 249.

10.3.3 Calculating TD-SCDMA Traffic Simulations Once you have modelled the network services and users and have created traffic maps, you can create simulations. The simulation process consists of two steps: 1. Obtaining a realistic user distribution: Atoll generates a user distribution using a Monte Carlo algorithm; this user distribution is based on the traffic database and traffic maps and is weighted by a Poisson distribution between simulations of a same group. Each user is assigned a service, a mobility type, and an activity status by random trial, according to a probability law that uses the traffic database. The user activity status is an important output of the random trial and has direct consequences on the next step of the simulation and on the network interferences. A user can be either active or inactive. Both active and inactive users consume radio resources and create interference. Then, Atoll randomly assigns a shadowing error to each user using the probability distribution that describes the shadowing effect. Finally, another random trial determines user positions in their respective traffic zone (according to the clutter weighting and the indoor ratio per clutter class). 2. Modelling dynamic channel allocation and power control: Atoll performs dynamic channel allocation and power control for mobiles generated in the previous step. The power control simulation algorithm is described in "The Monte Carlo Simulation Algorithm" on page 801. This section explains the specific mechanisms that are used to calculate TD-SCDMA traffic simulations. For information on working with traffic simulations in Atoll, see "Simulations" on page 265

10.3.3.1 The Monte Carlo Simulation Algorithm The dynamic channel allocation (DCA) simulates the way a TD-SCDMA network allocates resource units to users accessing different services. The power control algorithm (see Figure 10.20) simulates the way a TD-SCDMA network regulates itself by using uplink and downlink power control in order to minimise interference and maximise capacity. HSDPA users (i.e., Packet (HSDPA) and Packet (HSPA) service users) are linked to the A-DPCH radio bearer (an R99 radio bearer). Therefore, the network uses uplink and downlink power control on A-DPCH, and then performs fast link adaptation on downlink in order to select an HSDPA radio bearer. Atoll simulates these network regulation mechanisms for each user distribution. During each iteration of the algorithm, all the mobiles selected during the user distribution generation attempt to connect one by one to network transmitters. The process is repeated until the network is balanced, i.e., until the convergence criteria (on UL and DL) are satisfied.

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Figure 10.20: Schematic view of simulation algorithm As shown in Figure 10.20, the simulation algorithm is divided in three parts. All users are evaluated by the R99 part of the algorithm. HSDPA bearer users, unless they have been rejected during the R99 part of the algorithm, are then evaluated by the HSDPA part of the algorithm. Description of the R99 Part of the Simulation The R99 part of the algorithm simulates power control, congestion and radio resource control performed for R99 bearers for both R99 and HSDPA users. Atoll considers each user in the order in which the users are generated, and determines his best server. Atoll then selects the cell and the timeslot to be allocated to each user as follows: •

Atoll selects the preferred carrier defined in the properties of the service being used by the user if the preferred carrier is available on the best server and if there are enough resources available on it to accommodate the user. Otherwise, Atoll selects the carrier according to the selected DCA strategy.

•

Load: The least loaded cell or timeslot is selected. •

• •

Available RUs: The cell or timeslot with the most available resource units is selected. • •

•

Cell: Atoll calculates the number of available resource units for all the timeslots of all the cells of the user’s best server. Next, Atoll selects the carrier with most number of available resource units. Timeslot: Atoll selects the timeslots with the most available resource units.

Direction of Arrival: The cell or timeslot selected is the one which does not have an interfering mobile located nearby at the same angle as the direction of arrival of the targeted mobile. •

802

Cell: Atoll calculates the ISCP (Interference Signal Code Power) for all the timeslots of all the cells of the user’s best server considering the effect of smart antenna equipment, if any. Next, Atoll selects the carrier with the lowest ISCP and the lowest load that has enough free timeslots to support the user’s service. Timeslot: Atoll selects the least loaded timeslots that have enough free OVSF codes for the user’s service.

Cell: Atoll calculates the number of interfering mobiles which are located in the same direction as the targeted user for all the timeslots of all the cells of the user’s best server. Next, Atoll selects the carrier with the lowest number of interfering mobiles in the direction of the targeted user.

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• •

Timeslot: Atoll selects the timeslots with the lowest number of interfering mobiles in the direction of the targeted user.

Sequential: Cells and timeslots are selected in a sequential order. • •

Cell: Atoll allocates the carriers to users one by one. For example, if there are 3 carriers, Atoll allocates carrier 0 to user 0, carrier 1 to user 1, carrier 2 to user 2, carrier 0 to user 3, and so on. Timeslot: Atoll allocates timeslots to users one by one.

DCA reduces interference and maximises the usage of resource units. Resource units from different carriers can be shared and allocated to the same mobile connected to an N-frequency mode compatible transmitter. In TD-SCDMA networks, interference for a given timeslot can be of the following four types: • • • •

DL – DL: Cell A and cell B both transmitting in downlink. UL – UL: Cell A and cell B both receiving in uplink. DL – UL: Cell A receiving in uplink and cell B transmitting in downlink. UL – DL: Cell A transmitting in downlink and cell B receiving in uplink.

Next, Atoll performs uplink and downlink power control considering the effect of smart antenna equipment, if any. Atoll first calculates the required terminal power in order to reach the Eb⁄Nt or C⁄I threshold required by the service in the uplink, followed by the required traffic channel power in order to reach the Eb⁄Nt or C⁄I threshold required by the service in the downlink. Atoll updates the downlink and uplink ISCP for all the users. After carrying out power control, Atoll updates the cell load parameters. For each cell whose transmitter has smart antenna equipment assigned, Atoll updates the geometrical distribution of power transmitted using the smart antenna in the downlink for each timeslot, which has to be updated for each user. Atoll also saves the geometrical distribution of uplink loads calculated using the smart antenna in the uplink. Atoll then carries out congestion and radio resource control, verifying the UL load, the total transmitted power, the number of resource units, and OVSF codes consumed considering the services which require several timeslots. At this point, the users can be either connected or rejected. They are rejected if: •

The signal quality is not sufficient: • • •

•

On the downlink, the P-CCPCH RSCP is not high enough: status is "P-CCPCH RSCP < Min. P-CCPCH RSCP" On the downlink, the power required to reach the user is greater than the maximum allowed: the status is "Ptch > Max Ptch" On the uplink, there is not enough power to transmit: the status is "Pmob > Max Pmob"

Even if constraints above are respected, the network (cell and timeslot) can be saturated: • • •

The maximum uplink load factor is exceeded (at admission or congestion): the status is either "Admission Rejection" or "UL Load Saturation" There are not enough resource units in the cell: the status is "RU Saturation" There is not enough power for cells: the status is "DL Load Saturation"

Description of the HSDPA Part of the Simulation In the HSDPA part, Atoll processes all HSDPA bearer users. The HSDPA part of the algorithm simulates fast link adaptation, the scheduling of HSDPA users, and radio resource control on downlink. Two fast link adaptations are done, one before mobile scheduling and one after. HSDPA bearer selection is based on look-up tables available in the HSDPA Bearer Selection tab of the reception equipment properties. The HSDPA and HS-SCCH powers of a cell are evaluated before calculating HS-PDSCH Ec⁄Nt. The HSDPA power (the power dedicated to HS-SCCH and HS-PDSCH of HSDPA bearer users) of a cell can be either fixed (statically allocated) or dynamically allocated. If it is dynamically allocated, the power allocated to HSDPA depends on how much power is required to serve R99 traffic. In other words, the power available after all common channels and all R99 traffic have been served is allocated to HS-PDSCH and HS-SCCH of HSDPA bearer users. Similarly, the power per HS-SCCH can be either fixed or dynamically allocated in order to attain the HS-SCCH Ec⁄Nt threshold. Using the HS-SCCH and HSDPA powers, Atoll evaluates the HS-PDSCH power (the difference between the HSDPA power and the HS-SCCH power), calculates the HS-PDSCH Ec⁄Nt and, from that, the HSDPA bearer defined for the terminal reception equipment and the user mobility). Similarly, the terminal power per HS-SICH in the uplink can be either fixed or dynamically allocated in order to attain the HS-SICH Ec⁄Nt threshold. Before mobile scheduling, each user is processed as if he is the only user in the cell. This means that Atoll determines the HSDPA bearer for each HSDPA user by considering the entire HSDPA power available of the cell. During scheduling, cell radio resources are shared between HSDPA users by the scheduler. The scheduler simultaneously manages the maximum number of users within each cell and ranks them according to the selected scheduling technique: •

• •

Max C/I: "n" HSDPA users (where "n" corresponds to the maximum number of HSDPA users defined) are scheduled in the same order as in the simulation (i.e., in random order). Then, they are sorted in descending order by the HS-PDSCH Ec⁄Nt. Round Robin: HSDPA users are scheduled in the same order as in the simulation (i.e., in random order). Proportional Fair: "n" HSDPA users (where "n" corresponds to the maximum number of HSDPA users defined) are scheduled in the same order as in the simulation (i.e., in random order). Then, they are sorted in descending order

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according to a random parameter which corresponds to a combination of the user rank in the simulation and the HS-PDSCH Ec⁄Nt. After mobile scheduling, Atoll carries out a second fast link adaptation. HSDPA users are processed in the order defined by the scheduler and the cell’s HSDPA power is shared among them.

10.3.3.2 TD-SCDMA Simulation Results After you have created a simulation, as explained in "Creating Simulations" on page 266, you can either display the results as a distribution map or you can access the actual values of the simulation. Actual values can be displayed either for a single simulation or as average values for a group of simulations. To display distribution maps of a simulation, see "Displaying Simulation Results on the Map" on page 270. Actual values can be displayed either for a single simulation or as average values for a group of simulations. This section covers the following topics: • •

10.3.3.2.1

"Displaying the Results of a Single Simulation" on page 804 "Displaying the Average Results of a Group of Simulations" on page 808

Displaying the Results of a Single Simulation To access the result values of a simulation: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Simulations folder, and expand the folder of the simulation group containing the simulation whose results you want to access. 2. Right-click the simulation and select Properties from the context menu. A simulation properties dialog box appears. One tab gives statistics of the results of the simulation. Other tabs in the simulation properties dialog box contain simulation results as identified by the tab title. A final tab lists the initial conditions of the simulation. The Statistics tab: The Statistics tab contains the following two sections: •

Request: Under Request, you will find data on the connection requests: • • •

•

Atoll calculates the total number of users who try to connect. This number is the result of the first random trial; power control has not yet finished. The result depends on the traffic description and traffic input. During the first random trial, each user is assigned a service and an activity status. The number of users per activity status and the UL and DL throughputs that all users could theoretically generate are provided. The breakdown per service (total number of users, number of users per activity status, and UL and DL throughputs) is given.

Results: Under Results, you will find data on connection results: • •

• •

•

The number of iterations that were run in order to converge. The number and the percentage of rejected users is given along with the reason for rejection. These figures include rejected users only. These figures are determined at the end of the simulation and depend on the network design. The number and the percentage of delayed users is given along with the reason for delay. The number and percentage of R99 bearer users connected to a cell, the number of users per activity status, and the UL and DL total throughputs they generate. These figures include R99 users as well as HSDPAbearer users (since all of them request an R99 bearer); they are determined in the R99 part of the algorithm. This data is also provided by service. The total number and the percentage of connected users with an HSDPA bearer, the number of users per activity status, and the DL total throughput that they generate. Packet (HSDPA), and Packet (HSPA) service users are considered because they all request an HSDPA bearer.

The Sites tab: The Sites tab contains the following information per site: • • • • •

JD Factor: The joint detection factor, defined in the site equipment, is used to decrease intra-cellular interference in uplink. MCJD Factor: The multi-cell joint detection factor, defined in the site equipment, is used to decrease uplink interference from mobiles in other cells. Instantaneous HSDPA throughput (kbps): The instantaneous HSDPA throughput in kbps. DL throughput (kbps): For each service, the aggregate downlink throughput of all the transmitters at each site. UL throughput (kbps): For each service, the aggregate uplink throughput of all the transmitters at each site.

The Cells tab: Cell level results are determined from the results calculated per timeslot. The Cells tab contains the following information, per site, transmitter, carrier: • • • • •

804

Gain (dBi): The gain as defined in the antenna properties for that transmitter. Reception loss (dB): The reception loss as defined in the transmitter properties. Transmission loss (dB): The transmission loss as defined in the transmitter properties. Noise figure (dB): The noise figure as defined in the transmitter properties. Max power [Traffic TS] (dBm): The maximum power per traffic timeslot as defined in the cell properties.

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• • • •

P-CCPCH power [TS0] (dBm): The P-CCPCH power as defined in the cell properties. DwPCH power [DwPTS] (dBm): The DwPCH power as defined in the cell properties. Other CCH power [DL Traffic TS] (dBm): The power of other common channels per timeslot. DL load (% Pmax): The percentage of the maximum power used is determined by the ratio of the total transmitted power and the maximum power (powers stated in W). When the constraint "DL load" is set, the DL Load cannot Used exceed the user-defined maximum DL load. P Cell =

 PTimeslot Used

i

i  DL

• •

DL traffic power (dBm): The DL traffic power is the power transmitted by the cell on a downlink traffic timeslot. UL load factor (%): The uplink load factor for uplink timeslots. This factor corresponds to the ratio between the UL – Load UL – Load = Avg  F Timeslot  uplink total interference and the uplink total noise. F Cell i  UL

• •

i

UL noise rise (dB): The uplink noise rise is calculated from the uplink load factor. It indicates the signal degradation due to cell load (interference margin in the link budget). DL load factor (%): The downlink load factor for downlink timeslots. This factor corresponds to the ratio between DL – Load DL – Load = Avg  F Timeslot  the downlink total interference and the downlink total noise. F Cell i  DL

• •

•

• • • • • • • • • •

i

DL noise rise (dB): The downlink noise rise is calculated from the downlink load factor. It indicates the signal degradation due to cell load (interference margin in the link budget). Number of DL radio links: The number of downlink radio links corresponds to the number of user-transmitter links on the same carrier (i.e., the sum of the number of connected mobiles and the number of inactive mobiles). This data indicates the number of users connected to the cell on the downlink. Number of UL radio links: The number of uplink radio links corresponds to the number of user-transmitter links on the same carrier (i.e., the sum of the number of connected mobiles and the number of inactive mobiles). This data indicates the number of users connected to the cell on the uplink. Connection success rate (%): The connection success rate gives the ratio of connected users to the total number of users in the cell. UL total requested throughput (kbps): The sum of all the uplink throughputs requested by the mobiles attempting to connect to a carrier. DL total requested rhroughput (kbps): The sum of all the downlink throughputs requested by mobiles attempting to connect to a carrier. UL total obtained throughput (kbps): The traffic carried by the cell in terms of throughput in the uplink. DL total obtained throughput (kbps): The traffic carried by the cell in terms of throughput in the downlink. Required UL resource units: The number of resource units required to carry the traffic demand in the uplink. UL resource units: The number of resource units used in the cell in the uplink. Required DL resource units: The number of resource units required to carry the traffic demand in the downlink. DL resource units: The number of resource units used in the cell in the downlink. Connection success rate (%) for each service: For each service, the connection success rate gives the ratio of connected users to the total number of users of that service in the cell.

The Timeslots tab: The Timeslots tab contains the following information, per site, transmitter, carrier, and timeslot: • • • • • • • • • •

•

•

• •

Gain (dBi): The gain as defined in the antenna properties for that transmitter. Reception loss (dB): The reception loss as defined in the transmitter properties. Transmission loss (dB): The transmission loss as defined in the transmitter properties. Noise figure (dB): The noise figure as defined in the transmitter properties. Max power [Traffic TS] (dBm): The maximum power per traffic timeslot as defined in the cell properties. P-CCPCH power [TS0] (dBm): The P-CCPCH power as defined in the cell properties. Resource units: The number of resource units on a timeslot for carrying traffic. Each timeslot can have a maximum of 16 resource units. Other CCH power (dBm): The power of other common channels per timeslot. DL traffic power (dBm): The DL traffic power is the power transmitted by the cell on a downlink traffic timeslot. Available HS-PDSCH power (dBm): The available HS-PDSCH power as defined in the timeslot properties. This is the power available for the HS-PDSCH of HSDPA users. The value is either defined when the HS-PDSCH power is allocated statically, or determined by a simulation when the option HS-PDSCH dynamic power allocation is selected. Transmitted HSDPA power (dBm): The power transmitted by the cell to serve users connected to HSDPA radio bearers. If HSDPA power is allocated statically, the transmitted HSDPA power is equal to the available HSDPA power. If HSDPA power is allocated dynamically, the transmitted HSDPA power is the remaining power after allocation of power to the users connected to R99 radio bearers, and the power headroom. Angular distribution of UL and DL loads: The angular distribution of downlink transmitted power and uplink loads computed for cells whose transmitters have smart antenna equipment. This field contains binary data if you are using a third-party smart antenna model. Max DL load (% Pmax): The maximum percentage of downlink power that a cell can use. It is defined either in the cell properties or in the simulation creation dialog box. DL load (% Pmax): The percentage of the maximum power used is determined by the ratio of the total transmitted power and the maximum power (powers stated in W). When the constraint "DL Load" is set, the DL Load cannot exceed the user-defined Max DL Load.

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• • • •

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Max UL load factor (%): The maximum uplink load factor not to be exceeded. This limit is taken into account during the simulation if the option UL Load is selected. If the UL load option is not selected during a simulation, this value is not taken into consideration. UL load factor (%): The uplink load factor for uplink timeslots. This factor corresponds to the ratio between the uplink total interference and the uplink total noise. UL noise rise (dB): The uplink noise rise is calculated from the uplink load factor. It indicates the signal degradation due to cell load (interference margin in the link budget). DL load factor (%): The downlink load factor for downlink timeslots. This factor corresponds to the ratio between the downlink total interference and the downlink total noise. DL noise rise (dB): The downlink noise rise is calculated from the downlink load factor. It indicates the signal degradation due to cell load (interference margin in the link budget).

The Mobiles tab: The Mobiles tab contains the following information: • • • • • • • • • •

• • • •

•

•

Name: The name of the mobile as assigned during the random user generation. X and Y: The coordinates of users who attempt to connect (the geographic position is determined by the second random trial). Service: The service assigned during the first random trial, during the generation of the user distribution. Terminal: The assigned terminal. Atoll uses the assigned service and activity status to determine the terminal and the user profile. User profile: The assigned user profile. Atoll uses the assigned service and activity status to determine the terminal and the user profile. Mobility: The mobility type assigned during the first random trial during the generation of the user distribution. DL activity status: The activity status on the downlink assigned during the first random trial, during the generation of the user distribution. UL activity status: The activity status on the uplink assigned during the first random trial, during the generation of the user distribution. Indoor: This field indicates whether indoor losses have been added or not. Connection status: The connection status indicates whether the user is connected or rejected at the end of the simulation. If connected, the connection status corresponds to the activity status. If rejected, the rejection cause is given. HSDPA connection status: The connection status indicates whether the user is connected to an HSDPA radio bearer, delayed, or rejected at the end of the simulation. Best server: The user’s best server. P-CCPCH RSCP: The received signal code power on the P-CCPCH pilot channel. UL total requested throughput (kbps): For an R99 user, the uplink total requested throughput corresponds to the uplink peak throughput of the R99 bearer associated to the service. For an HSDPA user, the uplink total requested throughput corresponds to the peak throughput of ADPCH-UL64 R99 bearer. DL total requested throughput (kbps): For an R99 user, the downlink total requested throughput corresponds to the downlink peak throughput of the R99 bearer associated to the service. For an HSDPA user, the downlink total requested throughput is the sum of the ADPCH-UL64 radio bearer peak throughput and the peak RLC throughput that the selected HSDPA radio bearer can provide. UL total obtained throughput (kbps): For an R99 user, the total obtained throughput is the same as the total requested throughput if he is connected. If the user was rejected, the total obtained throughput is zero. For an HSDPA user connected to an HSDPA bearer, the uplink total obtained throughput equals the total requested throughput. If the HSDPA user is delayed (he is only connected to an R99 radio bearer), the uplink total obtained throughput corresponds to the uplink peak throughput of ADPCH-UL64 radio bearer. Finally, if the HSDPA user is rejected either in the R99 part or in the HSDPA part (because the HSDPA scheduler is saturated), the uplink total obtained throughput is zero.

•

DL total obtained throughput (kbps): For an R99 user, the total obtained throughput is the same as the total requested throughput if he is connected. If the user was rejected, the total obtained throughput is zero. For an HSDPA user connected to an HSDPA bearer, the downlink total obtained throughput corresponds to the instantaneous throughput; this is the sum of the ADPCH-UL64 radio bearer peak throughput and the peak RLC throughput provided by the selected HSDPA radio bearer after scheduling and radio resource control. If the HSDPA user is delayed (he is only connected to an R99 radio bearer), the downlink total obtained throughput corresponds to the downlink peak throughput of ADPCH-UL64 radio bearer. Finally, if the HSDPA user is rejected either in the R99 part or in the HSDPA part (because the HSDPA scheduler is saturated), the downlink total obtained throughput is zero.

•

•

806

1st, 2nd, 3rd DL TS rank (carrier): A mobile can have at most three timeslots allocated for traffic. These timeslots can be located on different carriers (cells) of the same transmitter. These columns list the numbers of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd timeslot assigned to a user, and the carrier number on which the timeslots are located. For example, if a user is assigned two downlink timeslots, 4 and 6, on the carriers 0 and 2, the 1st DL TS Rank (Carrier) will be "4 (0)" and 2nd DL TS Rank (Carrier) will be "6 (2)". 1st, 2nd, 3rd UL TS rank (carrier): A mobile can have at most three timeslots allocated for traffic. These timeslots can be located on different carriers (cells) of the same transmitter. These columns list the numbers of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd timeslot assigned to a user, and the carrier number on which the timeslots are located. For example, if a

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• •

user is assigned two uplink timeslots, 2 and 3, on the carriers 0 and 2, the 1st UL TS Rank (Carrier) will be "2 (0)" and 2nd UL TS Rank (Carrier) will be "3 (2)". 1st, 2nd, 3rd TS mobile total power (UL) (dBm): The total mobile power corresponds to the total power transmitted by the terminal on the uplink and on the timeslots assigned to the mobile. 1st, 2nd, 3rd TS cell total power (DL) (dBm): The cell traffic power corresponds to the power transmitted by the cell on the downlink for a mobile on the timeslots assigned to the mobile.

The following columns only appear if, when creating the simulation as explained in "Creating Simulations" on page 266, you select "Detailed information about mobiles" under Information to retain: •

• • • • • • •

•

1st, 2nd, 3rd TS extra interference of UL mobiles (DL) (dBm): The interference received on downlink timeslots from mobiles transmitting in the uplink. This interference is calculated if you select the Calculate Interference Between Mobiles option when creating the simulation. 1st, 2nd, 3rd TS required HSDPA power (dBm): This is the HSDPA power required to provide the HSDPA bearer user with the downlink requested throughput. 1st, 2nd, 3rd TS obtained HSDPA power (dBm): This is the HSDPA power required to provide the HSDPA bearer user with the downlink obtained throughput. 1st, 2nd, 3rd HSDPA TS rank (carrier): These columns list the numbers of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd timeslot assigned to an HSDPA user, and the carrier number on which the timeslots are located. Requested HSDPA bearer index: The HSDPA bearer requested by an HSDPA user. Obtained HSDPA bearer index: The HSDPA bearer assigned to an HSDPA user by the DCA and resource allocation algorithm. Clutter: The clutter class on which the mobile is located. DL and UL orthogonality factor: The orthogonality factor used in the simulation. The orthogonality factor is the remaining orthogonality of the OVSF codes at reception. The value used is the orthogonality factor set in the clutter classes. Spreading angle (°): The spreading angle used in the simulation. The value used is the spreading angle set in the clutter classes.

The Mobiles (Shadowing Values) tab: The Mobiles (Shadowing Values) tab contains information on the shadowing margin for each link between the receiver and up to ten closest potential transmitters: The Mobiles (Shadowing Values) tab only appears if, when creating the simulation as explained in "Creating Simulations" on page 266, you select "Detailed information about mobiles" under Information to retain. • • • • •

Name: The name assigned to the mobile. Value at receiver (dB): The value of the shadowing margin at the receiver. Clutter: The clutter class on which the mobile is located. Path to: The name of the potential transmitter. Value (dB): The shadowing value for the potential link in the corresponding Path to column. These values depend on the model standard deviation per clutter type on which the receiver is located and are randomly distributed on a gaussian curve.

The Initial Conditions tab: The Initial Conditions tab contains the following information: •

The global transmitter parameters: • • • •

•

The input parameters specified when creating the simulation: • • • • • • •

•

The spreading width The quality threshold type The method used to calculate Nt The method used to calculate Nt for HSDPA. The maximum number of iterations The global scaling factor The generator initialisation value The uplink and downlink convergence thresholds The simulation constraints such as maximum DL load and the maximum UL load factor The name of the traffic maps used The parameters defined per clutter class, such as the uplink and downlink orthogonality factors, indoor loss, spreading angle, and the various standard deviations (Model, P-CCPCH Eb⁄Nt or C⁄I, DL Eb⁄Nt or C⁄I, and UL Eb⁄Nt or C⁄I).

The parameters related to the clutter classes, including the default values.

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Displaying the Average Results of a Group of Simulations To access the averaged results of a group of simulations: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Traffic Parameters folder. 3. Right-click the group of simulations whose results you want to access. 4. Select Average Simulation from the context menu. A properties dialog box appears. One tab gives statistics of the results of the group of simulations. Other tabs in the properties dialog box contain simulation results for all simulations, both averaged and as a standard deviation. The Statistics tab: The Statistics tab contains the following two sections: •

Request: Under Request, you will find data on the connection requests: • • •

•

Atoll calculates the total number of users who try to connect. This number is the result of the first random trial; power control has not yet finished. The result depends on the traffic description and traffic input. During the first random trial, each user is assigned a service and an activity status. The number of users per activity status and the UL and DL throughputs that all users could theoretically generate are provided. The breakdown per service (total number of users, number of users per activity status, and UL and DL throughputs) is given.

Results: Under Results, you will find data on connection results: • •

• •

•

The number of iterations that were run in order to converge. The number and the percentage of rejected users is given along with the reason for rejection. These figures include rejected users only. These figures are determined at the end of the simulation and depend on the network design. The number and the percentage of delayed users is given along with the reason for delay. The number and percentage of R99 bearer users connected to a cell, the number of users per activity status, and the UL and DL total throughputs they generate. These figures include R99 users as well as HSDPA bearer users (since all of them request an R99 bearer); they are determined in the R99 part of the algorithm. This data is also provided by service. The total number and the percentage of connected users with an HSDPA bearer, the number of users per activity status, and the DL total throughput that they generate. Packet (HSDPA), and Packet (HSPA) service users are considered because they all request an HSDPA bearer.

The Sites tab: The Sites tab contains the following information per site: • • • • •

JD Factor: The joint detection factor, defined in the site equipment, is used to decrease intra-cellular interference in uplink. MCJD Factor: The multi-cell joint detection factor, defined in the site equipment, is used to decrease uplink interference from mobiles in other cells. Instantaneous HSDPA throughput (kbps): The instantaneous HSDPA throughput in kbps. DL throughput (kbps): For each service, the aggregate downlink throughput of all the transmitters at each site. UL throughput (kbps): For each service, the aggregate uplink throughput of all the transmitters at each site.

The Cells tab: Cell level results are determined from the results calculated per timeslot. The Cells tab contains the following information, per site, transmitter, carrier: • • • • • • • • •

Gain (dBi): The gain as defined in the antenna properties for that transmitter. Reception loss (dB): The reception loss as defined in the transmitter properties. Transmission loss (dB): The transmission loss as defined in the transmitter properties. Noise figure (dB): The noise figure as defined in the transmitter properties. Max power [Traffic TS] (dBm): The maximum power per traffic timeslot as defined in the cell properties. P-CCPCH power [TS0] (dBm): The P-CCPCH power as defined in the cell properties. DwPCH power [DwPTS] (dBm): The DwPCH power as defined in the cell properties. Other CCH power [DL Traffic TS] (dBm): The power of other common channels per timeslot. DL load (% Pmax): The percentage of the maximum power used is determined by the ratio of the total transmitted power and the maximum power (powers stated in W). When the constraint "DL load" is set, the DL Load cannot Used

exceed the user-defined maximum DL load. P Cell =

 PTimeslot Used

i

i  DL

• •

DL traffic power (dBm): The DL traffic power is the power transmitted by the cell on a downlink traffic timeslot. UL load factor (%): The uplink load factor for uplink timeslots. This factor corresponds to the ratio between the UL – Load UL – Load = Avg  F Timeslot  uplink total interference and the uplink total noise. F Cell i  UL

•

808

i

UL noise rise (dB): The uplink noise rise is calculated from the uplink load factor. It indicates the signal degradation due to cell load (interference margin in the link budget).

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DL load factor (%): The downlink load factor for downlink timeslots. This factor corresponds to the ratio between DL – Load DL – Load = Avg  F Timeslot  the downlink total interference and the downlink total noise. F Cell i  DL

• •

•

• • • • • • • • • •

i

DL noise rise (dB): The downlink noise rise is calculated from the downlink load factor. It indicates the signal degradation due to cell load (interference margin in the link budget). Number of DL radio links: The number of downlink radio links corresponds to the number of user-transmitter links on the same carrier (i.e., the sum of the number of connected mobiles and the number of inactive mobiles). This data indicates the number of users connected to the cell on the downlink. Number of UL radio links: The number of uplink radio links corresponds to the number of user-transmitter links on the same carrier (i.e., the sum of the number of connected mobiles and the number of inactive mobiles). This data indicates the number of users connected to the cell on the uplink. Connection success rate (%): The connection success rate gives the ratio of connected users to the total number of users in the cell. UL total requested throughput (kbps): The sum of all the uplink throughputs requested by the mobiles attempting to connect to a carrier. DL total requested rhroughput (kbps): The sum of all the downlink throughputs requested by mobiles attempting to connect to a carrier. UL total obtained throughput (kbps): The traffic carried by the cell in terms of throughput in the uplink. DL total obtained throughput (kbps): The traffic carried by the cell in terms of throughput in the downlink. Required UL resource units: The number of resource units required to carry the traffic demand in the uplink. UL resource units: The number of resource units used in the cell in the uplink. Required DL resource units: The number of resource units required to carry the traffic demand in the downlink. DL resource units: The number of resource units used in the cell in the downlink. Connection success rate (%) for each service: For each service, the connection success rate gives the ratio of connected users to the total number of users of that service in the cell.

The Timeslots tab: The Timeslots tab contains the following information, per site, transmitter, carrier, and timeslot: • • • • • • • • • •

•

•

• •

•

• • • •

Gain (dBi): The gain as defined in the antenna properties for that transmitter. Reception loss (dB): The reception loss as defined in the transmitter properties. Transmission loss (dB): The transmission loss as defined in the transmitter properties. Noise figure (dB): The noise figure as defined in the transmitter properties. Max power [Traffic TS] (dBm): The maximum power per traffic timeslot as defined in the cell properties. P-CCPCH power [TS0] (dBm): The P-CCPCH power as defined in the cell properties. Resource units: The number of resource units on a timeslot for carrying traffic. Each timeslot can have a maximum of 16 resource units. Other CCH power (dBm): The power of other common channels per timeslot. DL traffic power (dBm): The DL traffic power is the power transmitted by the cell on a downlink traffic timeslot. Available HS-PDSCH power (dBm): The available HS-PDSCH power as defined in the timeslot properties. This is the power available for the HS-PDSCH of HSDPA users. The value is either defined when the HS-PDSCH power is allocated statically, or determined by a simulation when the option HS-PDSCH dynamic power allocation is selected. Transmitted HSDPA power (dBm): The power transmitted by the cell to serve users connected to HSDPA radio bearers. If HSDPA power is allocated statically, the transmitted HSDPA power is equal to the available HSDPA power. If HSDPA power is allocated dynamically, the transmitted HSDPA power is the remaining power after allocation of power to the users connected to R99 radio bearers, and the power headroom. Angular distribution of UL and DL loads: The angular distribution of downlink transmitted power and uplink loads computed for cells whose transmitters have smart antenna equipment. This field contains binary data if you are using a third-party smart antenna model. Max DL load (% Pmax): The maximum percentage of downlink power that a cell can use. It is defined either in the cell properties or in the simulation creation dialog box. DL load (% Pmax): The percentage of the maximum power used is determined by the ratio of the total transmitted power and the maximum power (powers stated in W). When the constraint "DL Load" is set, the DL Load cannot exceed the user-defined Max DL Load. Max UL load factor (%): The maximum uplink load factor not to be exceeded. This limit is taken into account during the simulation if the option UL Load is selected. If the UL load option is not selected during a simulation, this value is not taken into consideration. UL load factor (%): The uplink load factor for uplink timeslots. This factor corresponds to the ratio between the uplink total interference and the uplink total noise. UL noise rise (dB): The uplink noise rise is calculated from the uplink load factor. It indicates the signal degradation due to cell load (interference margin in the link budget). DL load factor (%): The downlink load factor for downlink timeslots. This factor corresponds to the ratio between the downlink total interference and the downlink total noise. DL noise rise (dB): The downlink noise rise is calculated from the downlink load factor. It indicates the signal degradation due to cell load (interference margin in the link budget).

The Initial Conditions tab: The Initial Conditions tab contains the following information: •

The global transmitter parameters:

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The spreading width The quality threshold type The method used to calculate Nt The method used to calculate Nt for HSDPA.

The input parameters specified when creating the simulation: • • • • • • •

•

© 2016 Forsk. All Rights Reserved.

The maximum number of iterations The global scaling factor The generator initialisation value The uplink and downlink convergence thresholds The simulation constraints such as maximum DL load and the maximum UL load factor The name of the traffic maps used The parameters defined per clutter class, such as the uplink and downlink orthogonality factors, indoor loss, spreading angle, and the various standard deviations (Model, P-CCPCH Eb⁄Nt or C⁄I, DL Eb⁄Nt or C⁄I, and UL Eb⁄Nt or C⁄I).

The parameters related to the clutter classes, including the default values.

10.3.4 Making Coverage Predictions Using Simulation Results When no simulations are available, Atoll uses the UL load factor, the DL total power, the UL reuse factor, the available HSDPA power, and the number of HSDPA users defined for each cell to make coverage predictions. For information on cell properties, see "Cell Properties" on page 742; for information on modifying cell properties, see "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 746. Once you have made simulations, Atoll can use this information instead of the user-defined parameters in the cell properties to make coverage predictions where each pixel is considered as a probe user with a terminal, mobility, user profile, and service. To base a coverage prediction on a simulation or group of simulations, store the results of a simulation or the average results of a group of simulations in the Cells and Cell Parameters per Timeslot tables as explained in: •

"Updating Cell Values With Simulation Results" on page 272.

To be able to base a coverage prediction on a simulation or group of simulations, the simulation must have converged. The coverage predictions that can use simulation results are: •

Coverage predictions on P-CCPCH Eb⁄Nt or C⁄I, or on a service Eb⁄Nt or C⁄I: • • • • •

•

Coverage predictions on noise and interference: • • •

•

Baton Handover Zones (DL): For information on making a baton handover coverage prediction, see "Making a Baton Handover Coverage Prediction" on page 777.

An HSDPA coverage prediction to analyse HS-PDSCH quality and HSDPA throughput: •

810

Total Noise Level Analysis (DL): For information on making a downlink total noise coverage prediction, see "Studying Downlink Total Noise" on page 774. Cell to Cell Interference Zones: For information on making a coverage analysis for cell-to-cell interference, see "Studying Cell-to-Cell Interference" on page 775. UpPCH Interference Zones: For information on making a coverage analysis for UpPCH interference in case of UpPCH shifting, see "Studying UpPCH Interference" on page 776.

A coverage prediction for baton handover analysis: •

•

P-CCPCH Quality Analysis (Eb⁄Nt) (DL) or P-CCPCH Quality Analysis (C⁄I) (DL): For information on making a PCCPCH reception analysis, see "Making a Pilot Signal Quality Prediction" on page 770. DwPCH Quality Analysis (C⁄I) (DL): For information on making a DwPCH reception analysis, see "Making a DwPCH Signal Quality Prediction" on page 771. Service Area Analysis (Eb⁄Nt) (DL) or Service Area Analysis (C⁄I) (DL): For information on making a coverage prediction the downlink service area, see "Studying Downlink and Uplink Service Areas" on page 772. Service Area Analysis (Eb⁄Nt) (UL) or Service Area Analysis (C⁄I) (UL): For information on making a coverage prediction the uplink service area, see "Studying Downlink and Uplink Service Areas" on page 772. Effective Service Area Analysis (Eb⁄Nt) or Effective Service Area Analysis (C⁄I): For information on making a coverage analysis for the effective service area, see "Studying the Effective Service Area" on page 774.

HSDPA Quality and Throughput Analysis (DL): For information on making an HSDPA coverage prediction, see "HSDPA Coverage Predictions" on page 778.

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10.4 Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data An important step in the process of creating a TD-SCDMA network is to analyse the network’s performance using drive test data. This is done using measurements of the P-CCPCH RSCP in different locations within the area covered by the network. This collection of measurements is called a drive test data path. The data contained in a drive test data path is used to verify the accuracy of current network parameters and to optimise the network. In this section, the following are explained: • • • • • • •

"Importing a Drive Test Data Path" on page 811 "Displaying Drive Test Data" on page 813 "Defining the Display of a Drive Test Data Path" on page 814 "Network Verification" on page 814 "Exporting a Drive Test Data Path" on page 819 "Extracting CW Measurements from Drive Test Data" on page 819 "Printing and Exporting the Drive Test Data Analysis Tool" on page 820.

10.4.1 Importing a Drive Test Data Path In Atoll, you can analyse drive tests by importing drive test data in the form of ASCII text files (with tabs, commas, semi-colons, or spaces as separator), TEMS FICS-Planet export files (with the extension PLN), or TEMS text export files (with the extension FMT). For Atoll to be able to use the data in imported files, the imported files must contain the following information: • •

The position of drive test data points. When you import the data, you must indicate which columns give the abscissa and ordinate (XY coordinates) of each point. Information identifying scanned cells (for example, serving cells, neighbour cells, or any other cells). Cells may be identified by their IDs or scrambling codes.

You can import a single drive test data file or several drive test data files at the same time. If you regularly import drive test data files of the same format, you can create an import configuration. The import configuration contains information that defines the structure of the data in the drive test data file. By using the import configuration, you will not need to define the data structure each time you import a new drive test data file. To import one or several drive test data files: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Drive Test Data folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Import from the context menu. The Open dialog box appears. 4. Select the file or files you want to open. You can import one or several files. If you are importing more than one file, you can select contiguous files by clicking the first file you want to import, pressing Shift and clicking the last file you want to import. You can select non-contiguous files by pressing Ctrl and clicking each file you want to import. 5. Click Open. The Import of Measurement Files dialog box appears. Files with the extension PLN, as well as some FMT files (created with previous versions of TEMS) are imported directly into Atoll; you will not be asked to define the data structure using the Import of Measurement Files dialog box. 6. If you already have an import configuration defining the data structure of the imported file or files, you can select it from the Import configuration list on the Setup tab of the Import of Measurement Files dialog box. If you do not have an import configuration, continue with step 7. a. Under Import configuration, select an import configuration from the Import configuration list. b. Continue with step 9.

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•

•

When importing a drive test data path file, existing configurations are available in the Files of type list of the Open dialog box, sorted according to their date of creation. After you have selected a file and clicked Open, Atoll automatically proposes a configuration, if it recognises the extension. If several configurations are associated with an extension, Atoll chooses the first configuration in the list. The defined configurations are stored, by default, in the file "NumMeasINIFile.ini", located in the directory where Atoll is installed. For more information on the NumMeasINIFile.ini file, see the Administrator Manual.

7. Click the General tab. On the General tab, you can set the following parameters: • • •

Name: By default, Atoll names the new drive test data path after the imported file. You can change this name if desired. Under Receiver, set the Height of the receiver antenna and the Gain and Losses. Under Measurement conditions, • •

Units: Select the measurement units used. Coordinates: By default, Atoll imports the coordinates using the display system of the Atoll document. If the coordinates used in the file you are importing are different than the coordinates used in the Atoll document, you must click the Browse button and select the coordinate system used in the drive test data file. Atoll will then convert the data imported to the coordinate system used in the Atoll document.

8. Click the Setup tab (see Figure 10.21).

Figure 10.21: The Setup tab of the Import of Measurement Files dialog box a. Under File, enter the number of the 1st measurement row, select the data Separator, and select the Decimal symbol used in the file. b. Click the Setup button to link file columns and internal Atoll fields. The Drive Test Data Setup dialog box appears. c. Under Measurement point position, select the columns in the imported file that give the X-Coordinates and the Y-Coordinates of each point in the drive test data file. You can also identify the columns containing the XY coordinates of each point in the drive test data file by selecting them from the Field row of the table on the Setup tab.

d. If you are importing data using ID as cell identifiers: i.

Under Server identification, select By ID.

ii. In the By ID identifier box, enter a string found in the column name identifying the cell IDs of scanned cells. For example, if the string "Cell_ID" is found in the column names identifying the cell ID of scanned cells, enter it here. Atoll will then search for the column with this string in the column name.

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e. If you are importing data using scrambling codes as cell identifiers: i.

Under Server identification, select By scrambling code.

ii. In the Scrambling code identifier box, enter a string that is found in the column names that identify the scrambling code of scanned cells. For example, if the string "SC" is found in the column names that identify the scrambling code of scanned cells, enter it here. Atoll then searches for columns with this string in the column name. iii. In the Scrambling code format list, select the scrambling code format, "Decimal" or "Hexadecimal." iv. In the Scrambling code group identifier box, enter a string that must be found in the column names that identify the scrambling code group of scanned cells. For example, if the string "SC_Group" is found in the column names that identify the scrambling code group of scanned cells, enter it here. Atoll will then search for columns with this string in the column name. If there is no scrambling code group information contained in the drive test data file, leave the Scrambling code group identifier box empty. f.

Click OK to close the Drive Test Data Setup dialog box. •

•

If you have correctly entered the information under File on the Setup tab, and the necessary values in the Drive Test Data Setup dialog box, Atoll should recognise all columns in the imported file. If not, you can click the name of the column in the table in the Field row and select the column name. For each field, you must ensure that each column has the correct data type in order for the data to be correctly interpreted. The default value under Type is "". If a column is marked with "", it will not be imported. The data in the file must be structured so that the columns identifying the scrambling code group and the scrambling code are placed before the data columns for each cell. Otherwise Atoll will not be able to properly import the file.

If you want to save the definition of the data structure so that you can use it again, you can save it as an import configuration: a. On the Setup tab, under Import configuration, click Save. The Configuration dialog box appears. b. By default, Atoll saves the configuration in a file called "NumMeasINIfile.ini" found in Atoll’s installation folder. If you cannot write into that folder, you can click the Browse button to choose a different location. c. Enter a Configuration name and an Extension of the files that this import configuration will describe (for example, "*.csv"). d. Click OK. Atoll will now select this import configuration automatically every time you import a drive test data path file with the selected extension. If you import a file with the same structure but a different extension, you will be able to select this import configuration from the Import configuration list. • •

•

You do not have to complete the import procedure to save the import configuration and have it available for future use. When importing a measurement file, you can expand the NumMeasINIfile.ini file by clicking the Expand button ( ) in front of the file under Import configuration to display all the available import configurations. When selecting the appropriate configuration, the associations are automatically made in the table at the bottom of the dialog box. You can delete an existing import configuration by selecting the import configuration under Import configuration and clicking the Delete button.

9. Click Import, if you are only importing a single file, or Import All, if you are importing more than one file. The drive test data is imported into the current Atoll document.

10.4.2 Displaying Drive Test Data When you have imported the drive test data into the current Atoll document, you can display it in the map window. Then, you can select individual drive test data points to see information about the active set at that location. To display information about a single drive test data point: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Drive Test Data folder.

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3. Select the display check box beside the drive test data you want to display in the map window. The drive test data is displayed. 4. Click and hold the drive test data point on which you want active set information. Atoll displays an arrow pointing towards the serving cells (see Figure 10.25 on page 818), with a number identifying the server as numbered in the drive test data. If the transmitter display type is "Automatic," both the number and the arrow are displayed in the same colour as the transmitter. For information on changing the display type to "Automatic," see "Setting the Display Type" on page 52.

10.4.3 Defining the Display of a Drive Test Data Path You can manage the display of drive test data paths using the Display dialog box. The points on a drive test data path can be displayed according to any available attribute. You can also use the Display dialog box to manage permanent labels on the map, tip text and the legend. In other words, the display of measurement path are managed in the same way as sites, transmitters, etc. To display the Display tab of a drive test data path’s Properties dialog box: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Drive Test Data folder. 3. Right-click the drive test data path whose display you want to manage. The context menu appears. 4. Select Properties from the context menu, 5. Click the Display tab. Each point can be displayed by a unique attribute or according to: • •

a text or integer attribute (discrete value) a numerical value (value interval).

In addition, you can display points by more than one criterion at a time using the Advanced option in the Display Type list. When you select Advanced from the Display type list, a dialog box opens in which you can define the following display for each single point of the measurement path: • • •

a symbol according to any attribute a symbol colour according to any attribute a symbol size according to any attribute

You can, for example, display a signal level in a certain colour, choose a symbol type for Transmitter 1 (a circle, triangle, cross, etc.) and a symbol size according to the altitude. • • •

•

Fast display forces Atoll to use the lightest symbol to display the points. This is useful when you have a very large number of points. You can not use Advanced if the Fast display check box has been selected. You can sort drive test data paths in alphabetical order in the Network explorer by right-clicking the drive test data path and selecting Sort Alphabetically from the context menu. You can save the display settings (such as colours and symbols) of a drive test data path in a user configuration file to make them available for use on another drive test data path. To save or load the user configuration file, click the Actions button on the Display tab of the path properties dialog box and select Save or Load from the Display Configuration submenu.

10.4.4 Network Verification The imported drive test data is used to verify the TD-SCDMA network. To improve the relevance of the data, Atoll allows you to filter out incompatible or inaccurate points. You can then compare the drive test measurements with coverage predictions. To compare drive test data with coverage predictions, you overlay coverage predictions calculated by Atoll with the drive test data path displayed using the same parameter as that used to calculate the coverage prediction. In this section, the following are explained: • • • • •

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"Filtering Incompatible Points Along Drive Test Data Paths" on page 815 "Predicting the Signal Level on Drive Test Data Points" on page 815 "Displaying Statistics Over a Drive Test Data Path" on page 816 "Extracting a Field From a Drive Test Data Path for a Transmitter" on page 817 "Analysing Data Variations Along the Path" on page 817.

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10.4.4.1 Filtering Incompatible Points Along Drive Test Data Paths When using a drive test data path, some measured points may present values that are too far outside the median values to be useful. As well, drive test data paths may include test points in areas that are not representative of the drive test data path as a whole. For example, a test path that includes two heavily populated areas might also include test points from the more lightly populated region between the two. You can filter out unreliable measurement points from the drive test data path you are studying either geographically, by filtering by clutter classes and the focus zone, or by using an advanced filter. To filter out measurement points by clutter class: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Drive Test Data folder. 3. Right-click the drive test data path on which you want to filter out measurement points. The context menu appears. 4. Select Filter from the context menu. The Drive Test Data Filter dialog box appears. 5. Under Clutter classes, clear the check boxes of the clutter classes you want to exclude. Measurement points located on the excluded clutter classes will be filtered out. 6. Select the Use focus zone to filter check box to use the focus zone as part of the filter. Measurement points located outside the focus zone will be filtered out. 1. If you want to permanently delete the measurement points outside the filter, select the Delete points outside the filter check box. • •

You can apply a filter on all the drive test data paths in the Drive Test Data folder by selecting Filter from the context menu of the folder. If you want to use the measurement points that you permanently deleted, you will have to import the drive test data path again.

To filter out measurement points using an advanced filter: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Drive Test Data folder. 3. Right-click the drive test data path on which you want to filter out measurement points. The context menu appears. 4. Select Filter from the context menu. The Drive Test Data Filter dialog box appears. 5. Click More. The Filter dialog box appears. For more information on using the Filter dialog box, see "Advanced Data Filtering" on page 101. You can update heights (of the DTM, and clutter heights) and the clutter class of drive test data points after adding new geographic maps or modifying existing ones by selecting Refresh Geo Data from the context menu of the Drive Test Data Paths folder.

10.4.4.2 Predicting the Signal Level on Drive Test Data Points To predict the signal level on drive test data points: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Drive Test Data folder. 3. Right-click the drive test data path on which you want to create the point prediction. The context menu appears. 4. Select Calculations > Create a New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 5. Under Point predictions, select Point Signal Level and click OK. The Point Signal Level Properties dialog box appears (see Figure 10.22).

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Figure 10.22: Point Signal Level Properties dialog box The errors between measured and predicted signal levels can be calculated and added to the drive test data table. 6. If you want to calculate errors between measured and predicted signal levels, under Select signal levels for error calculations, select the names of the columns representing measured signal level values in the drive test data table for which you want to calculate the errors (see Figure 10.23). If you do not want to add this information to the drive test data table, continue with step 7.

Figure 10.23: Selecting Measured Signal Levels for which Errors will be Calculated 7. Click OK. A new point prediction is created for the selected drive test data path. 8. Right-click the drive test data path. The context menu appears. 9. Select Calculations > Calculate All the Predictions from the context menu. If you chose to have Atoll calculate the errors between measured and predicted signal levels, new columns are added to the drive test data table for the predicted point signal level from the serving cell and the errors between the measured and predicted values.

Figure 10.24: Drive Test Data Table after Point Signal Level Prediction (with Error Calculations) New columns are also added for the predicted point signal level from each neighbour cell and the errors between the predicted and measured values. The values stored in these columns can be displayed in the Drive Test Data analysis tool. For more information on the Drive Test Data analysis tool, see "Analysing Data Variations Along the Path" on page 817. The propagation model used to calculate the predicted point signal levels is the one assigned to the transmitter for the main matrix. For more information on propagation models, see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models.

10.4.4.3 Displaying Statistics Over a Drive Test Data Path Assuming some predictions have been calculated along a Drive Test Data path, you can display the statistics between the measured and the predicted values on a specific measurement path.

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To display the statistics for a specific Drive Test Data path: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Drive Test Data folder. 3. Right-click the drive test data from which you want to display comparative statistics. The context menu appears. 4. Select Display Statistics from the context menu. The Measurement and Prediction Fields Selection dialog box appears. 5. Under For the following transmitters, select one or more transmitters to include in the statistics. 6. Under Select the predicted values, select the fields that contain the predicted values that you wish to use in the statistics. 7. Under Select the measured values, select the fields that contain the measured values that you wish to use in the statistics. 8. Enter the Measured values range for the statistics. Only the measured values within this range will be included in the statistics. 9. Click OK. Atoll opens a window listing statistics of comparison between measured and predicted values.

10.4.4.4 Extracting a Field From a Drive Test Data Path for a Transmitter You can extract a specific field for a specific transmitter on each point of an existing drive test data path. The extracted information will be added to a new column in the table for the drive test data. To extract a field from a drive test data path: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Drive Test Data folder. 3. Right-click the drive test data from which you want to extract a field. The context menu appears. 4. Select Focus on a Transmitter from the context menu. The Field Selection for a Given Transmitter dialog box appears. 5. Under On the transmitter, select the transmitter for which you wish to extract a field. 6. Under For the fields, select the fields that you wish to extract for the selected transmitter. 7. Click OK. Atoll creates a new column in the drive test data path table for the selected transmitter and with the selected values.

10.4.4.5 Analysing Data Variations Along the Path In Atoll, you can analyse variations in data along any drive test data path using the Drive Test Data analysis tool. You can also use the Drive Test Data analysis tool to see which cell is the serving cells of points.

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To analyse data variations using the Drive Test Data analysis tool. 1. Select Tools > Drive Test Data from the menu bar. The Drive Test Data analysis tool appears (see Figure 10.25).

Figure 10.25: The Drive Test Data analysis tool 2. In the Drive Test Data analysis tool, click the Display button. The Display Parameters dialog box appears (see Figure 10.26).

Figure 10.26: Drive test data display parameters 3. In the Display Parameters dialog box: • • •

Select the check box next to each field you want to display in the Drive Test Data analysis tool. If you want, you can change the display colour by clicking the colour in the Colour column and selecting a new colour from the palette that appears. Click OK to close the Display Parameters dialog box. You can change the display status or the colour of more than one field at the same time by selecting several fields. You can select contiguous fields by clicking the first field, pressing Shift and clicking the last field. You can select non-contiguous fields by pressing Ctrl and clicking each field. You can then change the display status or the colour by right-clicking on the selected fields and selecting the choice from the context menu. The selected fields are displayed in the Drive Test Data analysis tool.

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4. You can display the data in the drive test data path in the following ways: • •

Click the values in the Drive Test Data analysis tool. Click the points on the drive test data path in the map window.

5. The drive test data path appears in the map window as an arrow pointing towards the serving cell, with a number identifying the best server (see Figure 10.25 on page 818). If the transmitter display type is "Automatic," both the number and the arrow are displayed in the same colour as the transmitter. For information on changing the display type to "Automatic," see "Setting the Display Type" on page 52. 6. You can display a secondary Y-axis on the right side of the window in order to display the values of a variable with different orders of magnitude than the ones selected in the Display Parameters dialog box. You select the value to be displayed from the right-hand list at the top of the Drive Test Data analysis tool. The values are displayed in the colour defined in the Display Parameters dialog box. 7. You can zoom in on the graph displayed in the Drive Test Data analysis tool in the following ways: •

Zoom in or out: i.

Right-click the Drive Test Data analysis tool. The context menu appears.

ii. Select Zoom In or Zoom Out from the context menu. •

Select the data to zoom in on: i.

Right-click the Drive Test Data analysis tool on one end of the range of data you want to zoom in on. The context menu appears.

ii. Select First Zoom Point from the context menu. iii. Right-click the Drive Test Data analysis tool on the other end of the range of data you want to zoom in on. The context menu appears. iv. Select Last Zoom Point from the context menu. The Drive Test Data analysis tool zooms in on the data between the first zoom point and the last zoom point. 8. Click the data in the Drive Test Data analysis tool to display the selected point in the map window. Atoll will centre the map window on the selected point if it is not presently visible. If you open the table for the drive test data you are displaying in the Drive Test Data analysis tool, Atoll will automatically display in the table the data for the point that is displayed in the map and in the Drive Test Data analysis tool (see Figure 10.25 on page 818).

10.4.5 Exporting a Drive Test Data Path You can export drive test data paths to vector files. To export a drive test data path to a vector file: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Drive Test Data folder. 3. Right-click the drive test data path you want to export. The context menu appears. 4. Select Export from the context menu. The Save As dialog box appears. 5. Enter a File name for the drive test data path and select a format from the Save as type list. 6. Click Save. The drive test data path is exported and saved in the file.

10.4.6 Extracting CW Measurements from Drive Test Data You can generate CW measurements from drive test data paths and extract the results to the CW Measurements folder. To generate CW measurement from a drive test data path: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Drive Test Data folder. 3. Right-click the drive test data path from which you wish to export CW measurements. The context menu appears. 4. Select Extract CW Measurements from the context menu. The CW Measurement Extraction dialog box appears.

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5. Under Extract CW measurements: a. Select one or more transmitters from the For the transmitters list. b. Select the field that contains the information that you want to export to CW measurements from the For the fields list. 6. Under Extraction parameters of CW measurement paths: a. Enter the Min. number of points to extract per measurement path. CW measurements are not created for transmitters that have fewer points than this number. b. Enter the minimum and maximum Measured signal levels. CW measurements are created with drive test data points where the signal levels are within this specified range. 7. Click OK. Atoll creates new CW measurements for transmitters satisfying the parameters set in the CW Measurement Extraction dialog box. For more information about CW measurements, see the Model Calibration Guide.

10.4.7 Printing and Exporting the Drive Test Data Analysis Tool You can print and export the contents of the Drive Test Data analysis tool. To print or export the contents of the Drive Test Data analysis tool: 1. Select Tools > Drive Test Data from the menu bar. The Drive Test Data analysis tool appears (see Figure 10.25 on page 818). 2. Define the display parameters and zoom level as explained in "Analysing Data Variations Along the Path" on page 817. 3. Right-click the Drive Test Data analysis tool. The context menu appears. • •

To print the Drive Test Data analysis tool, select Print from the context menu. To export the Drive Test Data window, select Copy from the context menu, then paste.

10.5 Co-planning TD-SCDMA Networks with Other Networks Atoll is a multi-technology radio network planning tool. You can work on several technologies at the same time, and several network scenarios can be designed for any given area: a country, a region, a city, etc. For example, you can design a TD-SCDMA and a GSM network for the same area in Atoll, and then work with Atoll’s co-planning features to study the mutual impacts of the two networks. Before starting a co-planning project in Atoll, the Atoll administrator must perform the pre-requisite tasks that are relevant for your project as described in the Administrator Manual. Sectors of both networks can share the same sites database. You can display base stations (sites and sectors), geographic data, and coverage predictions, etc., of one network in the other network’s Atoll document. You can also study inter-technology handovers by performing inter-technology neighbour allocations, manually or automatically. Inter-technology neighbours are allocated on criteria such as the distance between sectors or overlapping coverage. In this section, the following are explained: • • • • •

"Switching to Co-planning Mode" on page 820. "Working with Coverage Predictions in a Co-Planning Project" on page 822. "Creating a TD-SCDMA Sector From a Sector in the Other Network" on page 825. "Planning Neighbours in Co-planning Mode" on page 826. "Ending Co-planning Mode" on page 827.

10.5.1 Switching to Co-planning Mode Before starting a co-planning project, you must have two networks designed for a given area, i.e., you must have a TD-SCDMA Atoll document and another Atoll document for the other network. Atoll switches to co-planning mode as soon as the two documents are linked together. In the following sections, the TD-SCDMA document will be referred to as the main document, and the other document as the linked document. Atoll does not establish any restriction on which is the main document and which is the linked document.

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Before starting a co-planning project, make sure that your main and linked documents have the same geographic coordinate systems.

To switch to co-planning mode: 1. Open the main document. •

Select File > Open or File > New > From an Existing Database.

2. Link the other document with the open main document. a. Click the main document’s map window. The main document’s map window becomes active and the explorer window shows the contents of the main document. b. Select Document > Link With. The Link With dialog box appears. c. Select the document to be linked. d. Click Open. The selected document is opened in the same Atoll session as the main document and the two documents are linked. The explorer window of the main document now contains a folder named Transmitters in [linked document], where [linked document] is the name of the linked document and another folder named Predictions in [linked document]. By default, only the Transmitters and Predictions folders of the linked document appear in the main document. If you want the Sites folder of the linked document to appear in the main document as well, you can set an option in the Atoll.ini file. For information on setting options in the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual. As soon as a link is created between the two documents, Atoll switches to co-planning mode and Atoll’s co-planning features are now available. When you are working on a co-planning document, Atoll facilitates working on two different but linked documents by synchronising the display in the map window between both documents. Atoll synchronises the display for the following: • • • •

Geographic data: Atoll synchronises the display of geographic data such as clutter classes and the DTM. If you select or deselect one type of geographic data, Atoll makes the corresponding change in the linked document. Zones: Atoll synchronises the display of filtering, focus, computation, hot spot, printing, and geographic export zones. If you select or deselect one type of zone, Atoll makes the corresponding change in the linked document. Map display: Atoll co-ordinates the display of the map in the map window. When you move the map, or change the zoom level in one document, Atoll makes the corresponding changes in the linked document. Point analysis: When you use the Point Analysis tool, Atoll co-ordinates the display on both the working document and the linked document. You can select a point and view the profile in the main document and then switch to the linked document to make an analysis on the same profile but in the linked document.

Displaying Both Networks in the Same Atoll Document After you have switched to co-planning mode as explained in "Switching to Co-planning Mode" on page 820, transmitters and predictions from the linked document are displayed in the main document. If you want, you can display other items or folders from the explorer window of the linked document to the explorer window of the main document (e.g., you can display GSM sites and measurement paths in a TD-SCDMA document). To display sites from the linked document in the main document: 1. Click the linked document’s map window. The linked document’s map window becomes active and the explorer window shows the contents of the linked document. 2. Select the Network explorer. 3. Right-click the Sites folder. The context menu appears. 4. Select Make Accessible In from the context menu, and select the name of the main document from the submenu that opens. The Sites folder of the linked document is now available in the main document. The explorer window of the main document now contains a folder named Sites in [linked document], where [linked document] is the name of the linked document. If you want the Sites folder of the linked document to appear in the main document automatically, you can set an option in the Atoll.ini file. For information on setting options in the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual. The same process can be used to link other folders in one document, folders such as CW Measurements, Drive Test Data, Clutter Classes, Traffic, and Digital Terrain Model, etc., in the other document. Once the folders are linked, you can access their properties and the properties of the items in the folders from either of the two documents. Any changes you make in the linked document are taken into account in the both the linked and main docu-

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ments. However, because working document is the main document, any changes made in the main document are not automatically taken into account in the linked document. If you close the linked document, Atoll displays a warning icon (

) in the main document’s explorer window, and the linked

items are no longer accessible from the main document. You can load the linked document in Atoll again by right-clicking the linked item in the explorer window of the main document, and selecting Open Linked Document. The administrator can create and set a configuration file for the display parameters of linked and main document transmitters in order to enable you to distinguish them on the map and to be able to select them on the map using the mouse. If such a configuration file has not been set up, you can choose different symbols, sizes and colours for the linked and the main document transmitters. For more information on folder configurations, see "Folder Configurations" on page 107. You can also set the tip text to enable you to distinguish the objects and data displayed on the map. For more information on tip text, see "Associating a Tip Text to an Object" on page 54. In order to more easily view differences between the networks, you can also change the order of the folders or items in the explorer window. For more information on changing the order of items in the explorer window, see "Changing the Order of Layers" on page 51. Figure 10.27 shows an example of TD-SCDMA transmitters with labels and displayed in the Legend window, and GSM transmitter data displayed in tip text.

Figure 10.27: GSM and TD-SCDMA Transmitters displayed on the map

10.5.2 Working with Coverage Predictions in a Co-Planning Project Atoll provides you with features that enable you to work with coverage predictions in your co-planning project. You can modify the properties of coverage predictions in the linked document from within the main document, and calculate coverage predictions in both documents at the same time. You can also study and compare the coverage predictions of the two networks. In this section, the following are explained: • •

"Updating Coverage Predictions" on page 822 "Analysing Coverage Predictions" on page 823.

10.5.2.1 Updating Coverage Predictions You can access the properties of the coverage predictions in the linked Predictions folder in the main document’s explorer window. After modifying the linked coverage prediction properties, you can update them from the main document. To update a linked coverage prediction: 1. Click the main document’s map window. The main document’s map window becomes active and the explorer window shows the contents of the main document and the linked folders from the linked document. 2. Select the Network explorer. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Predictions in [linked document] folder, where [linked document] is the name of the linked document. 4. Right-click the linked coverage prediction whose properties you want to modify. The context menu appears. 5. Select Properties from the context menu. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears.

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6. Modify the calculation and display parameters of the coverage prediction. 7. Click OK to save your settings. 8. Click the Calculate button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar.

When you click the Calculate button, Atoll first calculates uncalculated and invalid path loss matrices and then unlocked coverage predictions in the main and linked Predictions folders. When you have several unlocked coverage predictions defined in the main and linked Predictions folders, Atoll calculates them one after the other. For information on locking and unlocking coverage predictions, see "Locking and Unlocking Coverage Predictions" on page 207. If you want, you can make Atoll recalculate all path loss matrices, including valid ones, before calculating unlocked coverage predictions in the main and linked Predictions folders. To force Atoll to recalculate all path loss matrices before calculating coverage predictions: •

Click the Force Calculate button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar.

When you click the Force Calculate button, Atoll first removes existing path loss matrices, recalculates them and then calculates unlocked coverages predictions defined in the main and linked Predictions folders. To prevent Atoll from calculating coverage predictions in the linked Predictions folder, you can set an option in the Atoll.ini file. For information on setting options in the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual.

10.5.2.2 Analysing Coverage Predictions In Atoll, you can analyse coverage predictions of the two networks together. You can display information about coverage predictions in the main and the linked documents in the Legend window, use tip text to get information on displayed coverage predictions, compare coverage areas by overlaying the coverage predictions in the map window, and study the differences between the coverage areas by creating coverage comparisons. If several coverage predictions are visible on the map, it might be difficult to clearly see the results of the coverage prediction you want to analyse. You can select which coverage predictions to display or to hide by selecting or clearing the display check box. For information on managing the display, see "Displaying or Hiding Objects on the Map" on page 50. In this section, the following are explained: • • • • •

10.5.2.2.1

"Co-Planning Coverage Analysis Process" on page 823 "Displaying the Legend Window" on page 824 "Comparing Coverage Prediction Results Using Tip Text" on page 824 "Comparing Coverage Areas by Overlaying Coverage Predictions" on page 824 "Studying Differences Between Coverage Areas" on page 825.

Co-Planning Coverage Analysis Process The aim of coverage analysis in a co-planning project is to compare the coverage areas of the two networks and to analyse the impact of changes made in one network on the other. Changes made to the sectors of one network might also have an impact on sectors in the other network if the sectors in the two networks share some antenna parameters. You can carry out a coverage analysis with Atoll to find the impact of these changes. The recommended process for analysing coverage areas, and the effect of parameter modifications in one network on the other, is as follows: 1. Create and calculate a Coverage by P-CCPCH Best Server coverage prediction and a Coverage by P-CCPCH RSCP coverage prediction in the main document. For more information, see "Making a Coverage Prediction by P-CCPCH Best Server" on page 765 and "Making a Coverage Prediction by P-CCPCH RSCP" on page 764. 2. Create and calculate a Coverage by Transmitter (DL) (best server with 0 dB overlap margin) coverage prediction and a Coverage by Signal Level (DL) coverage prediction in the linked document. 3. Choose display settings for the coverage predictions and tip text contents that will allow you to easily interpret the predictions displayed in the map window. This can help you to quickly assess information graphically and using the mouse. You can change the display settings of the coverage predictions on the Display tab of each coverage prediction’s Properties dialog box. 4. Make the two new coverage predictions in the linked document accessible in the main document as described in "Displaying Both Networks in the Same Atoll Document" on page 821. 5. Optimise the main network by changing parameters such as antenna azimuth and tilt or the pilot power. Changes made to the shared antenna parameters will be automatically propagated to the linked document.

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6. Calculate the coverage predictions in the main document again to compare the effects of the changes you made with the linked coverage predictions. For information on comparing coverage predictions, see "Comparing Coverage Areas by Overlaying Coverage Predictions" on page 824 and "Studying Differences Between Coverage Areas" on page 825. 7. Calculate the linked coverage predictions again to study the effects of the changes on the linked coverage predictions.

10.5.2.2.2

Displaying the Legend Window When you create a coverage prediction, you can add the displayed values of the coverage prediction to the legend by selecting the Add to Legend check box on the Display tab. To display the Legend window: •

10.5.2.2.3

Select View > Legend Window. The Legend window is displayed, with the values for each displayed coverage prediction in the main and linked Predictions folders, identified by the name of the coverage prediction.

Comparing Coverage Prediction Results Using Tip Text You can compare coverage predictions by by placing the pointer over an area of the coverage prediction to read the information displayed in the tip text. Atoll displays information for all displayed coverage predictions in both the working and the linked documents. The information displayed is defined by the settings you made on the Display tab when you created the coverage prediction (step 3. of "Co-Planning Coverage Analysis Process" on page 823). To get coverage prediction results in the form of tip text: •

In the map window, place the pointer over the area of the coverage prediction that you want more information on. After a brief pause, the tip text appears with the information defined on all displayed coverage predictions in both the working and the linked documents (see Figure 10.9). The tip text for the working document is on top and the tip text for the linked document, with the linked document identified by name is on the bottom.

Figure 10.28: Comparing coverage prediction results using tip text

10.5.2.2.4

Comparing Coverage Areas by Overlaying Coverage Predictions You can compare the coverage areas of the main and linked documents by overlaying coverage predictions in the map window. To compare coverage areas by overlaying coverage predictions in the map window: 1. Click the main document’s map window. The main document’s map window becomes active and the explorer window shows the contents of the main document and the linked folders from the linked document. 2. Select the Network explorer. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Predictions folder. 4. Select the visibility check box to the left of the coverage prediction of the main document you want to display in the map window. The coverage prediction is dislayed on the map. 5. Right-click the coverage prediction. The context menu appears. 6. Select Properties from the context menu. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 7. Click the Display tab. 8. Modify the display parameters of the coverage prediction. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 9. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Predictions in [linked document] folder, where [linked document] is the name of the linked document.

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10. Select the visibility check box to the left of the linked coverage prediction you want to display in the map window. The coverage prediction is dislayed on the map. 11. Right-click the coverage prediction. The context menu appears. 12. Select Properties from the context menu. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 13. Modify the display parameters of the coverage prediction. 14. Calculate the two coverage predictions again, if needed. To more easily view differences between the coverage areas, you can also change the order of the Predictions folders in the explorer window. For more information on changing the order of items in the explorer window, see "Changing the Order of Layers" on page 51.

10.5.2.2.5

Studying Differences Between Coverage Areas You can compare coverage predictions to find differences in coverage areas. To compare coverage predictions: 1. Click the main document’s map window. The main document’s map window becomes active and the explorer window shows the contents of the main document and the linked folders from the linked document. 2. Select the Network explorer. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Predictions folder. 4. Right-click the coverage prediction of the main document you want to compare. The context menu appears. 5. Select Compare With > [linked coverage prediction] from the context menu, where [linked coverage prediction] is the linked coverage prediction you want to compare with the coverage prediction of the main document. The Comparison Properties dialog box opens. 6. Select the display parameters of the comparison and add a comment if you want. 7. Click OK. The two coverage predictions are compared and a comparison coverage prediction is added to the main document’s Predictions folder. For more information on coverage prediction comparison, see "Comparing Coverage Predictions" on page 781.

10.5.3 Creating a TD-SCDMA Sector From a Sector in the Other Network You can create a new sector in the main document based on an existing sector in the linked document. To create a new sector in the main document based on an existing sector in the linked document: 1. Click the main document’s map window. 2. In the map window, right-click the linked transmitter based on which you want to create a new TD-SCDMA transmitter. The context menu appears. 3. Select Copy in [main document] from the context menu. The following parameters of the new sector in the main document will be the same as the sector in the linked document it was based on: antenna position relative to the site (Dx and Dy), antenna height, azimuth, and mechanical tilt. The new sector will be initialised with the radio parameters from the default station template in the main document. If the sector in the linked document is located at a site that does not exist in the main document, the site is created in the main document as well. If the sector in the linked document is located at a site that also exists in the main document, and the coordinates of the site in the linked and main documents are the same, the sector is created in the main document at the existing site. The site coordinates in the linked and main documents will always be the same if the Atoll administrator has set up site sharing in the database. For more information about site sharing in databases, see the Administrator Manual. If the sector in the linked document is located at a site that exists in the main document, but at a different location (geographic coordinates), the sector is not created in the main document. To update the display settings of the new sector: 1. Click the main document’s map window. 2. Select the Network explorer. 3. Right-click the Transmitters folder of the main document. The context menu appears. 4. Select Refresh Folder Configuration from the context menu.

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Figure 10.29: New sector – Before and after applying the configuration The azimuths and mechanical tilts of secondary antennas or remote antennas are not included when you select Refresh Folder Configuration and have to be set up manually.

10.5.4 Planning Neighbours in Co-planning Mode In co-planning mode, you can use Atoll to manually allocate neighbour relations to any cell in a network. You can also use Atoll to automatically allocate neighbour relations to a single cell, to all the cells of a base station, to all the cells in a transmitter group, or to all the cells in a network, based on predefined parameters. For general information about neighbour planning, see "Neighbour Planning" on page 223. Other concepts that are specific to CDMA2000 networks are explained in "Planning Neighbours" on page 788. This section covers the following topics: • • •

"Coverage Conditions" on page 826 "Coverage Conditions" on page 826 "Reasons for Allocation" on page 827

10.5.4.1 Coverage Conditions In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, you either select or clear the Use coverage conditions check box. • •

When it is cleared, only the defined Distance will be used to allocate neighbours to a reference transmitter. When it is selected, click Define for TD-SCDMA to open the corresponding Coverage Conditions dialog box:

Figure 10.30: TD-SCDMA coverage conditions for automatic inter-technology neighbour allocation • • • • • •

Resolution: Enter the resolution to be used to calculate cells’ coverage areas during automatic neighbour allocation. Min pilot signal level: Enter a minimum pilot signal level. Margin: Enter a handover margin. DL load contributing to Io: You can select whether Atoll should use a Global value (% Pmax) of the downlink load for all the cells, or the downlink loads Defined per cell. Shadowing Taken into Account: If selected, enter a Cell edge coverage probability. Indoor Coverage: Select this check box to take indoor losses into acccount in calculations. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

10.5.4.2 Calculation Constraints In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, you can select the following calculation constraints:

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• •

Co-site neighbours: cells located on the same site as the reference transmitter will automatically be considered as neighbours. A transmitter/cell with no antenna cannot be considered as a co-site neighbour. Exceptional pairs: Select this check box to force the neighbour relations defined in the Inter-technology Exceptional pairs table. For more information, see "Exceptional Pairs" on page 223.

10.5.4.3 Reasons for Allocation In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, the reason for neighbour allocation is indicated under Cause in the Results table. It can be any of the following: Cause

Description

When

Distance

The neighbour is located within the defined maximum distance from the reference transmitter/ cell

Use coverage conditions is not selected

Coverage

The neighbour relation fulfils the defined coverage conditions

Use coverage conditions is selected and nothing is selected under Force

Co-Site

The neighbour is located on the same site as the reference transmitter/cell

Use coverage conditions is selected and Co-site neighbours is selected

Exceptional Pair

The neighbour relation is defined as an exceptional pair

Exceptional pairs is selected

Existing

The neighbour relation existed before automatic allocation

Delete existing neighbours is not selected

10.5.5 Ending Co-planning Mode once you have linked two Atoll documents for the purposes of co-planning, Atoll will maintain the link between them. However, you might want to unlink the two documents at some point, either because you want to use a different document in co-planning or because you want to restore the documents to separate, technology-specific documents. To unlink the documents and end co-planning mode: 1. Select File > Open to open the main document. Atoll informs you that this document is part of a multi-technology environment and asks whether you want to open the other document. 2. Click Yes to open the linked document as well. 3. Select Document > Unlink to unlink the documents and end co-planning mode. The documents are no longer linked and co-planning mode is ended.

10.6 Advanced Configuration In this section, the following advanced configuration options are explained: • • • • • • • •

"Modelling Inter-carrier Interference" on page 827 "Defining Frequency Bands" on page 828 "Global Network Settings" on page 828 "Smart Antenna Systems" on page 831 "Defining HSDPA Radio Bearers" on page 836 "Creating Site Equipment" on page 837 "Receiver Equipment" on page 837 "Modelling Shadowing" on page 839.

10.6.1 Modelling Inter-carrier Interference If you want Atoll to take into account the interference between two carriers, you must create a carrier pair with an interference reduction factor. Atoll will take the interference reduction factor into account on both the uplink and the downlink. To define the interference reduction factor between a pair of carriers: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Network Settings folder.

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3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Frequencies folder. 4. In the Frequencies folder, right-click Inter-carrier Interference Reduction Factors. The context menu appears. 5. Select Open Table. The Inter-carrier Interference Reduction Factors table appears. 6. For each carrier pair for which you want define inter-carrier interference: a. Enter the first carrier of the pair in the 1st carrier column. b. Enter the second carrier of the pair in the 2nd carrier column. c. Enter an interference reduction factor in the Reduction factor (dB) column. When Atoll calculates interference, it subtracts the interference reduction factor from the calculated interference. An interference reduction factor of 0 dB means that the interference between the pair of carriers is the same as between cells using the same carrier. The interference reduction factor must be a positive value.

For every pair of carriers that is not defined, Atoll assumes that there is no inter-carrier interference. d. Press Enter to create the carrier pair and to create a new row.

10.6.2 Defining Frequency Bands To define frequency bands: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Network Settings folder. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Frequencies folder. 4. In the Frequencies folder, right-click Bands. The context menu appears. 5. Select Open Table. The Frequency Bands table appears. 6. In the Frequency Bands table, enter one frequency band per row. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. For each frequency band, enter: • • • •

Name: Enter a name for the frequency, for example, "Band 2010." This name will appear in other dialog boxes when you select a frequency band. DL Start Frequency (MHz): Enter the downlink start frequency. First Carrier: Enter the number of the first carrier in this frequency band. Last Carrier: Enter the number of the last carrier in this frequency band. If this frequency band has only one carrier, enter the same number as entered in the First carrier field. When you have more than one frequency band, the carriers must be numbered sequentially, contiguously (i.e., you cannot skip numbers in a range of carriers, and the range of carriers in one band cannot overlap the range of carriers in another), and uniquely (i.e., you can only use each number once). For example: Band 2010: First carrier: 0; Last carrier 1 and Band 900: First carrier: 2; Last carrier: 2

7. When you have finished adding frequency bands, click the Close button (

).

You can also access the properties dialog box of each individual frequency band by double-clicking the left margin of the row with the frequency band.

10.6.3 Global Network Settings Atoll allows you to set network level parameters which are common to all the transmitters and cells in the network. These parameters are used in coverage predictions as well as during Monte Carlo simulations by the radio resource management and scheduling algorithms. • •

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10.6.3.1 TD-SCDMA Network Settings Properties This section explains the options available on the Global Parameters and Calculation Parameters tabs of the Network Settings folder properties, and explains how to access the tabs. Global Parameters Tab The global TD-SCDMA parameters include: •

•

DL powers: Under DL powers, you can define whether the power values on the downlink are Absolute or Relative to pilot. The power values affected are the DwPCH powers and other common channel powers defined in the cell properties for TS0 and for each timeslot, as well as the minimum and maximum traffic channel powers defined for services. Atoll converts the power values defined in the cell properties (i.e., DwPCH and other common channel powers) when you change the option. On the other hand, the values for the minimum and maximum traffic channel powers have to be modified manually. Quality threshold type: Under Quality threshold type, you can select whether the signal quality thresholds entered in the mobility types and radio bearers are Eb⁄Nt or C⁄I. Atoll ensures consistency between the quality threshold parameter and the parameter which is calculated during coverage predictions and Monte Carlo simulations. For example, if you set the Quality threshold type to Eb⁄Nt, all the signal quality thresholds are considered to be defined in terms of Eb⁄Nt. If you calculate a C⁄I-based coverage prediction or simulation, Atoll converts the thresholds from Eb⁄Nt to C⁄I, by removing the processing gain from the Eb⁄Nt values, in order to calculate and compare C⁄I. Similarly, if the Quality threshold type is set to C⁄I, and the calculations are performed for Eb/Nt, Atoll converts all C⁄I thresholds to Eb⁄Nt for the calculations.

• •

Spreading rate: The chip rate used in TD-SCDMA for spreading the user signals (1.28 Mcps by default). P-CCPCH processing gain: The processing gain is the ratio of the spread bandwidth to the unspread bandwidth. It is set to 13.8 dB (= 24 times) by default. Processing Gain Calculation Example The processing gain is the ratio between the chip rate transmitted on the air interface and the throughput of a service. W G P = Processing Gain = ----R

Where W is the chip rate for TD-SCDMA, and R is the throughput per timeslot of the service. TS

The chip rate is calculated from the number of data chips per timeslot ( N Data Chips ) and the subframe duration ( D Subframe ): TS

N Data Chips 704 W = -------------------------= --------------- = 140800 bps 0,005 D Subframe

If the downlink and uplink throughputs of a service are 384 kbps and 64 kbps respectively, the service throughputs per timeslot can be calculated by dividing by the number of timeslots (here, 3 in downlink and 1 in uplink): R

DL

UL 384000 64000 = -------------------- = 128000 bps and R = ---------------- = 64000 bps 3 1

The uplink and downlink processing gains will be: DL

GP

•

•

•

UL 140800 140800 = -------------------- = 1,1 = 0,414 dB and G P = -------------------- = 2,2 = 3,4242 dB 128000 64000

Spreading factor: Under Spreading factor, you have the minimum and maximum spreading factors allowed in TD-SCDMA: • Min: The lowest spreading factor that can be used (1). • Max: The highest spreading factor that can be used (16). Interference: Under Interference, you can define the parameter used to calculate interference on the downlink. • Nt: You can select "Total noise" and Atoll will calculate Nt as the noise generated by all transmitters plus thermal noise, or you can select "Without useful signal" and Atoll will calculate Nt as the total noise less the signal of the studied cell. HSDPA: Under HSDPA, you can define how total noise is calculated for HSDPA. • Nt: You can select "Total noise" and Atoll will calculate Nt as the noise generated by all transmitters plus thermal noise or you can select "Without useful signal" and Atoll will calculate Nt as the total noise less the signal of the studied cell.

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Other non-modifiable parameters are shown for information: •

Frame: Under Frame, you have all the frame and subframe parameters: • Number of timeslots per subframe: There are 7 timeslots in a TD-SCDMA subframe. These timeslots can be used for uplink or downlink according to the timeslot configuration selected for each cell. • Duration: Under Duration, you have the frame and subframe duration: • Subframe: The duration of a TD-SCDMA subframe (5 ms). • Frame: The duration of a TD-SCDMA frame (10 ms). A frame includes two subframes of equal duration. • Number of chips per timeslot: Under Number of chips per timeslot, you have the number of chips corresponding to the data, midamble, and the guard periods. • Guard period: The number of chips in the guard period of each timeslot (16). • Data: The number of data chips in each timeslot (704). • Midamble: The number of midamble chips in each timeslot (144). The subframe duration, the number of timeslots per subframe, and the numbers of chips per timeslot are used to calculate the processing gain for each service (see example below). •

Number of pilot chips: Under Number of pilot chips, you have the description of the pilot timeslot: • Guard period: The number of chips in the guard period between DwPTS and UpPTS (96). • DwPTS: The Total number of chips used in the DwPTS timeslot (96), which are divided into a Guard period (32) and a Synch period (64). • UpPTS: The Total number of chips used in the UpPTS timeslot (160), which are divided into a Guard period (32) and a Synch period (128).

Calculation Parameters Tab The Calculation Parameters tab has the following options: •

•

Min interferer reception threshold: This value is used by Atoll to limit the input of interferers in calculations. The performance of TD-SCDMA-specific coverage predictions and Monte Carlo simulations can be improved by setting a high value of the minimum interferer reception threshold. This value is used as a filter criterion on the signal level received from interferers. Atoll will discard all interferers with a signal level lower than this value. Min P-CCPCH RSCP threshold: The default minimum P-CCPCH RSCP required for a user to be connected to the cell. The P-CCPCH RSCP is compared with this threshold to determine whether or not a user can be connected to the cell. A minimum P-CCPCH RSCP threshold can be defined at the cell level (in the cell Properties dialog box or in the Cells table). If defined, a cell-specific minimum P-CCPCH RSCP threshold will be used instead of the value entered here.

• •

Height: The receiver height at which the path loss matrices and coverage predictions are calculated. Calculations made on mobile users (from traffic maps) in Monte Carlo simulations are also carried out at this receiver height. Default max range: The maximum coverage range of transmitters in the network. Each transmitter in a TDD network has a maximum coverage range. This maximum system range is defined by the distance after which the uplink and downlink signals can interfere with each other. The default value for the maximum system range is 11250 m, which is the distance corresponding to the duration of the guard period in the pilot timeslot. The maximum system range can be calculated as follows: Each subframe of 5 ms duration contains 1 pilot timeslot and 7 downlink or uplink timeslots. The pilot timeslot is divided into a downlink pilot timeslot (DwPTS), a guard period (GP), and uplink pilot timeslot (UpPTS). The lengths of DwPTS, GP, and UpPTS are 96, 96, and 160 chips, respectively. Each of the other 7 timeslots contains 704 data chips, 144 midamble chips, and 16 guard period chips. All in all, a 5 ms subframe contains 6400 chips. The duration of the guard period of the pilot can be calculated as: 0,005 D GP = ---------------  96 = 75 s 6400

The maximum system range is half the distance that the RF signal can travel in DGP: 8

75 s  3  10 m/s R System = ----------------------------------------------------- = 11250 m 2

10.6.3.2 Modifying Global Network Settings You can change global network settings in the Network Settings Properties dialog box. To change global network settings: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Right-click the Network Settings folder. The context menu appears.

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3. Select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 4. Select the Global Parameters tab. In this tab you can set the following parameters: DL powers (Absolute or Relative to pilot), Quality threshold type (Eb/Nt or C/I), Spreading rate, P-CCPCH processing gain, Spreading factor (Min and Max), Nt in Interference calculations (Total noise or Without useful signal). 5. Select the Calculation Parameters tab. On this tab you can set the following parameters: • • •

Calculation limitation: In the Calculation limitation section, you can enter the Min interferer reception threshold and Min P-CCPCH RSCP threshold. Receiver: In the Receiver section, you can enter the receiver Height. System: In the System section, select the Default max range check box if you want to apply a maximum system range limit, and enter the maximum system range in the text box to the right.

For more information on the global network settings, see "TD-SCDMA Network Settings Properties" on page 829.

10.6.4 Smart Antenna Systems Smart antenna systems use digital signal processing with more than one antenna element in order to locate and track various types of signals to dynamically minimise interference and maximise the useful signal reception. Different types of smart antenna modelling techniques exist, including beam switching, beam steering, beamforming, etc. Adaptive antenna systems are capable of using adaptive algorithms to cancel out interfering signals. Atoll includes the following smart antenna models: •

Beam-switching smart antennas Also referred to as grid of beams (GOB). For more information, see "Grid of Beams (GOB)" on page 831.

•

Beam-steering smart antennas For more information, see "Adaptive Beam Model" on page 833.

•

Beamforming smart antennas For more information, see "Conventional Beamformer" on page 833 and "Optimum Beamformer" on page 833

•

Other smart antenna models For more information on statistical modelling, see "Statistical Model" on page 834, and for more information on 3rdparty smart antenna modelling, see "Third-Party Smart Antenna Models" on page 834.

Grid of beams, optimum beamformer, conventional beamformer, adaptive beam, and third-party models require Monte Carlo simulations to simulate the effect of the dynamic channel allocation (DCA) and power control. The results generated by the Monte Carlo simulations using the smart antenna equipment based on any of these methods are stored in the TD-SCDMA document, and can be reused for coverage predictions. The statistical model does not require Monte Carlo simulations. Statistical modelling is based on simulation results in terms of probabilities of C⁄I gains, and can be used directly in coverage predictions. The smart antenna equipment that uses statistical modelling contains a list of C⁄I gain graphs that depend on the spreading angle. The following section explains how to work with smart antenna equipment in Atoll: •

"Smart Antenna Equipment" on page 834.

How smart antennas are used in dynamic channel allocation (DCA) during the Monte Carlo simulations is described in "The Monte Carlo Simulation Algorithm" on page 801.

10.6.4.1 Grid of Beams (GOB) In Atoll TD-SCDMA, a list of beams (antenna patterns) can be used to create grid of beams smart antenna equipment. A GOB in Atoll comprises a list of antenna patterns. Each antenna pattern usually has a different azimuth. All the antenna patterns are stored in the Antennas table, and can be accessed individually from the Antennas folder. The lists of antennas forming the GOBs are accessible in the Antenna Lists dialog box from the Antennas folder’s context menu. During Monte Carlo simulations, Atoll selects the best suited beam from the GOB for each mobile generated. The best suited beam is the one which provides the highest gain in the direction of the mobile. In downlink, all the interfering signals received at each mobile are attenuated according to the antenna pattern of the selected beam. If the targeted and interfered users are in the same direction with respect to the beam selected for the targeted user, the interference will be high. Otherwise, the interfering signals will be attenuated. In uplink, the interfering signals received at the cell are attenuated according to the antenna pattern of the selected beam.

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Although the number of beams in a GOB is not limited, calculation times with a large number of beams will be longer.

10.6.4.1.1

Working with Grid of Beams (GOB) The following sections explain how to create and import grids of beams: • • • •

"Creating a Grid of Beams (GOB)" on page 832. "Adding Antennas to a Grid of Beams (GOB)" on page 832. "Importing a Grid of Beams (GOB)" on page 832. "The Grid of Beams (GOB) Import Format" on page 833.

Creating a Grid of Beams (GOB) In Atoll, a grid of beams is a list of antennas. A list of antennas can include any number of antennas listed in the Antennas folder. To create an antenna list: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Radio Network Equipment folder. 3. Right-click the Antennas folder. The context menu appears. 4. Select Antenna List > Open Table from the context menu. The Antenna Lists table appears. 5. Create a new antenna list in the row marked with the New row icon (

).

6. Click the Properties button. The New Antenna List Properties dialog box appears. 7. Select the antennas from the Antennas column to add to the antenna list in each new row. 8. Click OK. 9. Click the Close button (

) to close the Antenna Lists table.

You can also export an antenna list to an external file by clicking the Export button, or import an existing antenna list by clicking the Import button in the New Antenna List Properties dialog box. Adding Antennas to a Grid of Beams (GOB) You can add antennas, or beams, from the antennas folder to an existing grid of beams or antenna list. To add antennas to an antenna list: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Radio Network Equipment folder. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Antennas folder. 4. Right-click the antenna that you want to add to an antenna list. The context menu appears. 5. Select Add the Antenna to a List from the context menu. The Antenna Addition in a List dialog box appears. 6. Select the antenna list to which you want to add the antenna from the Antenna list. 7. Click OK to add the antenna to the list. You can also add all the antennas in the Antennas folder or a view to an antenna list by selecting Antenna List > Add Antennas to a List from the folder’s context menu. Importing a Grid of Beams (GOB) You can import existing antenna lists to be used as grids of beams in Atoll. To import an antenna list: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Radio Network Equipment folder. 3. Right-click the Antennas folder. The context menu appears. 4. Select Antenna List > Import Antennas from a List from the context menu. The Open dialog box appears. 5. Select an Index file to import. 6. Click Open to import the antenna list to Atoll. The Import of antennas from a list dialog box appears. 7. Enter a name for the new antenna list.

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8. Click OK to import the antenna list. Atoll adds the antennas referred to in the index file to the Antennas folder, and adds the new antenna list to the Antenna Lists table. The Grid of Beams (GOB) Import Format Atoll supports standard, Planet-like antenna list format for export and import. An index file contains the list of files containing the horizontal antenna patterns and a file containing the vertical antenna pattern. The horizontal antenna pattern files have the following format: • • • • • • • •

NAME: Name of the antenna MAKE: Name of manufacturer FREQUENCY: Operating frequency (in MHz) H_WIDTH: Horizontal beamwidth (in degrees) FRONT_TO_BACK: Front to back gain ratio (in dB) GAIN: Antenna gain (in dBi) HORIZONTAL: Horizontal pattern range (in degrees) DEGREE: Attenuation (this row is repeated for every degree value)

The vertical antenna pattern file has the following format: • • • •

NAME: Name of the antenna V_WIDTH: Vertical beamwidth (in degrees) VERTICAL: Vertical pattern range (in degrees) DEGREE: Attenuation (this row is repeated for every degree value)

10.6.4.2 Adaptive Beam Model The ideal adaptive beam model available in Atoll TD-SCDMA makes use of a selected beam (antenna) pattern. You can create adaptive beam smart antenna equipment and assign it an antenna pattern from the antennas available in the Antennas folder. During Monte Carlo simulations, Atoll orients the selected antenna pattern horizontally towards each mobile generated in order to maximise the received signal. In downlink, all the interfering signals received at each mobile are attenuated according to the antenna pattern of the adaptive beam. If the targeted and interfered users are in the same direction with respect to the beam directed towards the targeted user, the interference will be high. Otherwise, the interfering signals will be attenuated. In uplink, the interfering signals received at the cell are attenuated according to the antenna pattern of the adaptive beam. The results given by adaptive beam modelling correspond to those that would be obtained under ideal conditions. The targeted user will have maximum gain and all the interference will be successfully cancelled.

10.6.4.3 Conventional Beamformer The conventional beamformer performs beamforming in downlink and uplink. The smart antenna model dynamically calculates and applies weights on each antenna element in order to create beams in the direction of served users. The antenna patterns created for transmission and reception have a main beam pointed in the direction of the useful signal. The smart antenna model supports linear adaptive array systems. You can create smart antenna equipment by defining how many antenna elements the equipment has and assigning it a single element pattern from the antennas available in the Antennas folder. During Monte Carlo simulations, smart antenna equipment using this model form beams towards each served mobile by calculating the complex weights of the steering vector.

10.6.4.4 Optimum Beamformer The optimum beamformer performs beamforming in downlink, and beamforming and interference cancellation in the uplink using an MMSE (Minimum Mean Square Error) algorithm. The smart antenna model dynamically calculates and applies weights on each antenna element in order to create beams in the direction of served users. In uplink, the Minimum Mean Square Error algorithm models the effect of null steering towards interfering mobiles. The antenna patterns created for downlink transmission have a main beam pointed in the direction of the useful signal. In the uplink, in addition to the main beam pointed in the direction of the useful signal, there can also be one or more nulls in the directions of the interfering signals. If the optimum beamformer uses L antenna elements, it is possible to create L–1 nulls and, thereby, cancel L–1 interfering signals. In a mobile environment where the sources of interference are not stationary, the antenna patterns are adjusted so that the nulls remain in the direction of the moving interference sources. The smart antenna model supports linear adaptive array systems.

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You can create smart antenna equipment by defining how many antenna elements the equipment has and assigning it a single element pattern from the antennas available in the Antennas folder. During Monte Carlo simulations, smart antenna equipment using this model form a beam towards each served mobile in the downlink by calculating the complex weights of the steering vector. In the uplink, apart from forming a beam in the direction of each served mobile, the smart antenna equipment is also capable of cancelling interference by steering nulls (high attenuation points formed by the smart antenna) towards the interferers.

10.6.4.5 Statistical Model The statistical modelling approach is designed to provide a fast and reliable coverage and capacity analysis without the need of accurate traffic inputs or Monte Carlo simulations. Statistical modelling is based on the cumulative distribution functions of C⁄I gains for spreading angles. Spreading angles can be defined for each clutter class. For transmitters that have statistical smart antenna equipment assigned, all coverage predictions, including those carried out for traffic timeslots, are calculated using the main antenna. During the calculation of coverage predictions, Atoll reads the spreading angle for each pixel from the corresponding clutter class. Then, for each pixel and spreading angle, Atoll reads the C⁄I gain to take into account in the prediction. The C⁄I gain considered in the coverage prediction is determined using the probability threshold set. The C⁄I gain used corresponds to the cumulative probability, i.e., 100% less the probability threshold entered. For example, for a probability threshold of 80%, the cumulative probability is 20%. If an exact value of C⁄I gain is not available for the calculated cumulative probability, Atoll performs linear interpolation between the two available values on either side. If no C⁄I gain graph is available, the main antenna is used Monte Carlo simulations and coverage predictions. Two types of default smart antenna equipment using statistical modelling are available in Atoll, ULA4 and ULA8 for 4 and 8 antenna elements, respectively. In the sample equipment, antenna elements have been considered to be half a wavelength apart. The cumulative distribution functions (CDF) of the C⁄I gains are the results of a number of simulations performed for two values of spreading angles (0° and 10°) using the Optimum Combining algorithm which maximises the signal to noise and interference ratio (SNIR).

10.6.4.6 Third-Party Smart Antenna Models If you have a third-party smart antenna model available, you can use it in Atoll TD-SCDMA using Atoll’s smart antenna API. Atoll’s smart antenna enables you to interface with any external smart antenna module with Atoll. Any external smart antenna models available are listed in the Smart Antenna Models folder in the Parameters explorer. Atoll is fully capable of using the features of any external smart antenna model, MMSE-based (Minimum Mean Square Error), EBBbased (Eigen-Beam Beamforming), etc.

10.6.4.7 Smart Antenna Equipment The Atoll TD-SCDMA project template contains sample smart antenna equipment. You should create smart antenna equipment according to the specifications of your equipment supplier, or import them in Atoll, in order to use real data in calculations. You can use several types of smart antenna equipment in your TD-SCDMA document based on different smart antenna modelling methods. To create new smart antenna equipment: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Radio Network Equipment folder. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Smart Antennas folder. 4. Right-click Smart Antenna Equipment. The context menu appears. 5. Select Open Table. The Smart Antenna Equipment table appears. 6. In the table, create one piece of smart antenna equipment per row. For information on using data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. For each piece of smart antenna equipment, enter a Name and some Comments, if you want, and select an Smart antenna model. The available smart antenna models are Grid of Beams (GOB), Adaptive Beam, Optimum Beamformer, Conventional Beamformer, Statistical, and any 3rd-party models that you might have installed. If you selected Grid of Beams (GOB), Adaptive Beam, Optimum Beamformer, Conventional Beamformer, or Statistical as the Smart Antenna Model, continue with step 7. If you selected any 3rd party model as the Smart Antenna Model, continue with step 12. 7. Right-click a smart antenna equipment in the table. The context menu appears.

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8. Select Record Properties. The smart antenna properties dialog box appears. 9. On the General tab of this dialog box, you can modify the Name, Smart antenna model, and Comments. 10. Under Smart antenna model, click the Parameters button. A dialog box opens with the parameters specific to the selected smart antenna model. •

If you selected Grid of Beams (GOB) or Adaptive Beam as smart antenna model, this dialog box lets you select the downlink and uplink beam patterns (from the Antennas Lists table). You can also view the beam patterns. •

•

•

You can use the combined antenna pattern display to understand any inconsistencies in smart antenna results. If the beams and the main antenna do not have the same gains, the smart antenna could provide worse results than the main antenna for traffic timeslots.

If you selected Conventional Beamformer or Optimum Beamformer as the smart antenna model, this lets you define the number of elements in the smart antenna array and select a single element pattern to be used in downlink as well as uplink. If you selected Statistic as smart antenna model, this dialog box lets you define the probability threshold used to read the C⁄I gain graphs, and the C⁄I gain graphs for different spreading angles.

11. Click OK to close the smart antenna properties dialog box. 12. Click the Close button (

) to close the Smart Antenna Equipment table.

Properties of external third-party smart antenna models may vary. You can access their properties from the Smart Antenna Models folder in the Parameters explorer.

10.6.5 Radio Bearers Bearers are used by the network for carrying information. In this section, the following are explained: • •

"Defining R99 Radio Bearers" on page 835 "Defining HSDPA Radio Bearers" on page 836

10.6.5.1 Defining R99 Radio Bearers Bearer services are used by the network for carrying information. The R99 Radio Bearer table lists all the available radio bearers. You can create new R99 radio bearers and modify existing ones by using the R99 Radio Bearer table. Only the following R99 radio bearer parameters are used in predictions: • • • •

Max TCH power Uplink and downlink TCH RSCP thresholds per mobility Uplink and downlink TCH Eb/Nt thresholds or uplink and downlink TCH C/I thresholds per mobility The type of bearer. You can select whether the TCH thresholds you define are Eb/Nt or C/I thresholds. For more information, see "Global Network Settings" on page 828.

To create or modify an R99 radio bearer: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Network Settings folder. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Radio Bearers folder. 4. Right-click the R99 Radio Bearers folder. The context menu appears. 5. Select Open Table from the context menu. The R99 Radio Bearers table appears. 6. In the R99 Radio Bearer table, you can enter or modify the following fields: • • •

Name: You can modify the name of the bearer. If you are creating a new R99 radio bearer, enter a name in the row marked with the New row icon ( ). Uplink peak throughput (kbps): Enter or modify the uplink peak throughput. Downlink peak throughput (kbps): Enter or modify the downlink peak throughput.

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Type: Select or modify the service type. There are four classes: Conversational, Streaming, Interactive, and Background. This field corresponds to the QoS (quality of service) class or traffic class that the bearer will belong to. Min TCH power (dBm): Enter the minimum downlink traffic channel power. The minimum and maximum traffic channel power make up the dynamic range for downlink power control. Max TCH power (dBm): Enter the maximum downlink traffic channel power. The maximum and minimum traffic channel powers can be either absolute values or values relative to the pilot power. For more information, see "Global Network Settings" on page 828.

• • • •

UL processing gain: Enter or modify the uplink processing gain. DL processing gain: Enter or modify the downlink processing gain. Number of downlink TS: Enter the downlink resource unit consumption in terms of downlink timeslots. Number of uplink TS: Enter the uplink resource unit consumption in terms of uplink timeslots.

To define the number of downlink and uplink timeslots for different spreading factors: 7. Right-click an R99 bearer in the table. The context menu appears. 8. Select Record Properties. The R99 bearer’s properties dialog box appears. 9. Under Resource units, click the Browse button to the right of the timeslot field. The Resource Unit Consumption dialog box appears. 10. In the Resource Unit Consumption dialog box, you can enter the number of OVSF codes of each length used for each timeslot. This information is used to carry out network dimensioning and to simulate the Dynamic Channel Allocation (DCA) algorithm. For information on calculating network capacity, see "Calculating TD-SCDMA Network Capacity" on page 798. For information on the dynamic channel allocation, see "The Monte Carlo Simulation Algorithm" on page 801. 11. Click OK. 12. Click the Close button (

) to close the table.

10.6.5.2 Defining HSDPA Radio Bearers In each cell, the scheduler selects the HSDPA resource per UE and per TTI (Transmission Time Interval). This HSDPA resource is called a TFRC (Transport Format Resource Combination) and is the set of parameters such as the transport format, the modulation scheme, and the number of used HS-PDSCH channels. In Atoll, the TFRC are referred to as HSDPA radio bearers. During a simulation, and for the HSDPA coverage prediction, Atoll selects a suitable HSDPA radio bearer and uses its peak RLC throughput. The HSDPA radio bearer selection is based on UE capabilities (maximum number of HS-PDSCH channels, transport block size, modulation supported), cell capabilities (maximum number of HS-PDSCH channels), and reported CQI. The HSDPA Radio Bearer table lists the available HSDPA radio bearers. You can create new HSDPA radio bearers and modify existing ones by using the HSDPA Radio Bearer table. To open the HSDPA Radio Bearer table: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Network Settings folder. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Radio Bearers folder. 4. Right-click the HSDPA Radio Bearers folder. The context menu appears. 5. Select Open Table from the context menu. The HSDPA Radio Bearers table appears with the following information: • • • • • • •

Radio bearer index: The bearer index number. Transport block size (Bits): The transport block size in bits. Modulation: The modulation used. You can choose between QPSK or 16QAM. Number of HS-PDSCH channels used per TS: The number of HS-PDSCH channels used per used timeslot. peak RLC throughput (bps): The peak RLC throughput represents the peak throughput without coding (redundancy, overhead, addressing, etc.). Number of timeslots used: The number of timeslots used by the HSDPA radio bearer. UE category: The HSDPA user equipment category that supports the HSDPA radio bearer.

6. Click the Close button (

) to close the table.

10.6.5.3 Defining HSUPA Radio Bearers The HSUPA Radio Bearers table lists the available HSUPA radio bearers. You can create new HSUPA radio bearers and modify existing ones by using the HSUPA Radio Bearer table.

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To open the HSUPA Radio Bearers table: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Network Settings folder. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Radio Bearers folder. 4. Right-click the HSUPA Radio Bearers folder. The context menu appears. 5. Select Open Table from the context menu. The HSUPA Radio Bearers table appears with the following information: • • • • • • •

Radio bearer index: The bearer index number. Transport block size (Bits): The transport block size in bits. Number of E-PUCH channels used per TS: The number of E-PUCH channels used per used timeslot. peak RLC throughput (bps): The peak RLC throughput represents the peak throughput without coding (redundancy, overhead, addressing, etc.). Number of timeslots used: The number of timeslots used by the HSUPA radio bearer. HSUPA UE category: The HSUPA user equipment category that supports the HSUPA radio bearer. Modulation: The modulation used. You can choose between QPSK or 16QAM.

6. Click the Close button (

) to close the table.

10.6.6 Creating Site Equipment To create a new piece of TD-SCDMA site equipment: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Network Settings folder. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Radio Resource Management folder. 4. Right-click Site Equipment. The context menu appears. 5. Select Open Table from the context menu. The Site Equipment table appears. 6. In the Equipment table, each row describes a piece of equipment. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. For the new piece of TD-SCDMA equipment you are creating, enter the following: • • •

•

Name: The name you enter will be the one used to identify this piece of equipment. Manufacturer: The name of the manufacturer of this piece of equipment. JD factor: Joint Detection (JD) is a technology used to decrease intra-cellular interference in the uplink. JD is modelled by a coefficient from 0 to 1; this factor is considered in the UL interference calculation. In case JD is not supported by equipment, enter 0 as value. MCJD factor: Multi-Cell Joint Detection (MCJD) is used to decrease uplink interference from mobiles in other cells. MCJD is modelled by a coefficient from 0 to 1; this factor is considered in the UL interference calculation. If MCJD is not supported by the equipment, enter 0 as value.

7. Click the Close button (

) to close the table.

10.6.7 Receiver Equipment Mobile terminals have different categories, reception characteristics, and behaviour under different speeds. In Atoll these characteristics are modelled by reception equipment and UE categories. In this section the following are explained: • • •

"Creating or Modifying Reception Equipment" on page 837. "HSDPA UE Categories" on page 838. "HSUPA UE Categories" on page 838.

10.6.7.1 Creating or Modifying Reception Equipment In Atoll, reception equipment models the reception characteristics of user terminals and is used when you create a terminal. The graphs defined for each reception equipment are used for quality predictions and for selecting bearers. To create or modify reception equipment: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Network Settings folder. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Reception Equipment folder. 4. Double-click the reception equipment type you want to modify. The reception equipment type’s Properties dialog box appears.

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You can create a new reception equipment type by right-clicking the Reception Equipment folder and selecting New from the context menu.

5. Click the General tab. On the General tab, you can define the Name of the reception equipment. 6. Click the R99 Bearer Selection tab. On the R99 Bearer Selection tab, you can define downlink and uplink Eb⁄Nt or C⁄I requirements (in dB) and the TCH thresholds (in dBm). The Eb⁄Nt, or C⁄I, quality targets are used to determine the coverage area for the service, and the TCH thresholds must be reached to provide users with the service. These parameters depend on the mobility type. Using Transmission and Reception diversity results in a quality gain on received downlink and uplink Eb⁄Nt or C⁄I. You can specify gains on received downlink and uplink Eb⁄Nt or C⁄I for each diversity configuration. Atoll considers them when transmission and reception diversity configurations are assigned to transmitters. • • • • • • • • • •

R99 bearer: Select an R99 bearer from the list. Mobility: Select a mobility type from the list. Uplink TCH Eb/Nt Threshold (dB) or Uplink TCH C/I Threshold (dB): Enter or modify the uplink Eb⁄Nt or C/I threshold. Uplink TCH RSCP Threshold (dBm): Enter or modify the uplink RSCP threshold for the traffic channel. Uplink 2RX diversity gain (dB): Enter or modify the two-receiver uplink diversity gain in dB. Uplink 4RX diversity gain (dB): Enter or modify the four-receiver uplink diversity gain in dB. Downlink TCH Eb/Nt Threshold (dB) or Downlink TCH C/I Threshold (dB): Enter or modify the downlink Eb⁄Nt or C/I threshold. Downlink TCH RSCP Threshold (dBm): Enter or modify the downlink RSCP threshold for the traffic channel. Downlink open loop diversity gain (dB): Enter or modify the downlink open loop diversity gain in dB. Downlink closed loop diversity gain (dB): Enter or modify the downlink closed loop diversity gain in dB.

7. Click the HSDPA Bearer Selection tab. On the HSDPA Bearer Selection tab, you can enter the values of the Required HS-PDSCH Ec/Nt for the Radio bearer index of each HSDPA radio bearer for different Mobility types. If you leave the Mobility column empty, the same value will be considered valid for all mobility types. 8. Click the HSUPA Bearer Selection tab. On the HSUPA Bearer Selection tab, you can enter the values of the Required E-PUCH Ec/Nt for the Radio bearer index of each HSDPA radio bearer for different Mobility types. If you leave the Mobility column empty, the same value will be considered valid for all mobility types. 9. Click OK to close the reception equipment type’s Properties dialog box.

10.6.7.2 HSDPA UE Categories HSDPA user equipment capabilities are standardised into 15 different categories according to 3GPP specifications. To edit an HSDPA user equipment category: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Network Settings folder. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the UE Categories folder. 4. Right-click HSDPA UE Categories. The context menu appears. 5. Select Open Table from the context menu. The HSDPA UE Categories table appears. 6. The HSDPA UE Categories table has the following columns: • • • • • •

Index: Each HSDPA UE category is a separate record in the table and has a unique index. Category name: Name of the HSDPA UE category. Max number of HS-PDSCH channels used by HSDPA TS: The maximum number of HS-PDSCH channels allowed to be used by HSDPA timeslots for the category. Max transport block size (bits): The maximum transport block size allowed for the category. Highest modulation: The highest modulation supported by the UE category. Max number of HS-PDSCH TS per TTI: The maximum number of HS-PDSCH timeslots allowed within a TTI (transmission time interval).

10.6.7.3 HSUPA UE Categories HSUPA user equipment capabilities are standardised into 6 different categories according to 3GPP specifications. To edit an HSUPA user equipment category: 1. Select the Parameters explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Network Settings folder. 3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the UE Categories folder.

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4. Right-click HSUPA UE Categories. The context menu appears. 5. Select Open Table from the context menu. The HSUPA UE Categories table appears. 6. The HSUPA UE Categories table has the following columns: • • • • • •

Index: Each HSUPA UE category is a separate record in the table and has a unique index. Category name: Name of the HSUPA UE category. Max number of E-PUCH channels used by HSUPA TS: The maximum number of E-PUCH channels allowed to be used by HSUPA timeslots for the category. Max transport block size (bits): The maximum transport block size allowed for the category. Highest modulation: The highest modulation supported by the UE category. Max number of HS-PUCH TS per TTI: The maximum number of E-PUCH timeslots allowed within a TTI (transmission time interval).

10.6.8 Modelling Shadowing Shadowing, or slow fading, is signal loss along a path that is caused by obstructions not taken into consideration by the propagation model. Even when a receiver remains in the same location or in the same clutter class, there are variations in reception due to the surrounding environment. Normally, the signal received at any given point is spread on a gaussian curve around an average value with a specific standard deviation. If the propagation model is correctly calibrated, the average of the results it gives should be correct. In other words, in 50% of the measured cases, the result will be better and in 50% of the measured cases, the result will be worse. Atoll uses a model standard deviation with the defined cell edge coverage probability to model the effect of shadowing and thereby create coverage predictions that are reliable more than fifty percent of the time. The additional losses or gains caused by shadowing are known as the shadowing margin. The shadowing margin is added to the path losses calculated by the propagation model. For example, a properly calibrated propagation model calculates a loss leading to a signal level of -70 dBm. You have set a cell edge coverage probability of 85%. If the calculated shadowing margin is 7 dB for a specific point, the target signal will be equal to or greater than -77 dBm 85% of the time. In TD-SCDMA projects, the model standard deviation is used to calculate shadowing margins on signal levels. You can also calculate shadowing margins on Eb⁄Nt values. For information on setting the model standard deviation and the Eb⁄Nt standard deviations for each clutter class or for all clutter classes, see "Defining Clutter Class Properties" on page 127. Shadowing can be taken into consideration when Atoll calculates the signal level and Eb⁄Nt for: • •

A point analysis (see "Studying the Profile Around a Base Station" on page 751). A coverage prediction (see "Studying P-CCPCH RSCP for a Single Base Station" on page 763).

Atoll always takes shadowing into consideration when calculating a Monte Carlo-based TD-SCDMA simulation. You can display the shadowing margins per clutter class. For information, see "Displaying the Shadowing Margins per Clutter Class" on page 839.

10.6.8.1 Displaying the Shadowing Margins per Clutter Class To display the shadowing margins per clutter class: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Predictions folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Shadowing Margins from the context menu. The Shadowing Margins dialog box appears. 4. You can set the following parameters: • •

Cell edge coverage probability: Enter the probability of coverage at the edge of the cell. The value you enter in this dialog box is for information only. Standard deviation: Select the type of standard deviation to be used to calculate the shadowing margin or macrodiversity gains: • • • •

From model: The model standard deviation. Atoll will display the shadowing margin of the signal level. P-CCPCH Eb⁄Nt or C⁄I: The P-CCPCH Eb⁄Nt or C⁄I standard deviation. Atoll will display the P-CCPCH Eb⁄Nt or C/ I shadowing margin. DL Eb⁄Nt or C⁄I: The DL Eb⁄Nt or C⁄I standard deviation. Atoll will display the DL Eb⁄Nt or C⁄I shadowing margin. UL Eb⁄Nt or C⁄I: The UL Eb⁄Nt or C⁄I standard deviation. Atoll will display the UL Eb⁄Nt or C⁄I shadowing margin

5. Click Calculate. The calculated shadowing margin is displayed. 6. Click Close to close the dialog box.

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Chapter 11 LTE Networks This chapter provides information on using Atoll to design, analyse, and optimise an LTE network.

This chapter covers the following topics: •

"Designing an LTE Network" on page 843

•

"Planning and Optimising LTE Base Stations" on page 844

•

"Configuring Network Parameters Using the AFP" on page 905

•

"Studying LTE Network Capacity" on page 924

•

"Optimising Network Parameters Using ACP" on page 936

•

"Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data" on page 942

•

"Co-planning LTE Networks with Other Networks" on page 950

•

"Advanced Configuration" on page 958

•

"Tips and Tricks" on page 977

•

"Glossary of LTE Terms" on page 984

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11 LTE Networks LTE (Long Term Evolution) refers to the set of 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) Release 8 and later specifications that describe the next steps, or evolution, of the existing GERAN (GSM EDGE Radio Access Networks) and UTRAN (UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Networks) specifications. The 3GPP LTE specifications describe the building blocks of E-UTRA (Evolved UTRA) networks. LTE uses SOFDMA (Scalable Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) and SC-FDMA (Single-Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access) technologies in the downlink and the uplink, respectively. The aim of LTE is to provide mobile broadband wireless access that supports handovers between LTE cells as well as between LTE and UMTS/GSM cells at high user speeds. The Atoll LTE module enables you to design and optimise LTE broadband wireless access networks. You can use Atoll to predict radio coverage, manage mobile and fixed subscriber data, and evaluate network capacity. The LTE module also supports smart antennas, MIMO, carrier aggregation, and coordinated multipoint transmission and reception (CoMP). With Atoll, you can model fixed and mobile users in LTE environments. The data input corresponding to mobile users and fixed subscribers is modelled through comprehensive support of mobile user traffic maps and subscriber databases. You can carry out calculations on fixed subscriber locations as well as base your calculations on mobile user scenarios during Monte Carlo simulations. You can also perform interference predictions, resource allocation, and other calculations on mobile users. Atoll uses Monte Carlo simulations to generate realistic network scenarios (snapshots) using a Monte Carlo statistical engine for scheduling and resource allocation. Realistic user distributions can be generated using different types of traffic maps. Atoll uses these user distributions as input for the simulations. You can create coverage predictions to analyse the following and other parameters for LTE channels in downlink and in uplink: • • • •

Signal levels Carrier-to-interference-and-noise ratio Service areas and radio bearer coverage Cell capacity and throughputs per cell

Coverage predictions that depend on network traffic loads can be created from either Monte Carlo simulation results or from a user-defined network load configuration (uplink and downlink traffic loads, and uplink noise rise). GSM GPRS EDGE, UMTS HSPA, CDMA2000, TD-SCDMA, and WiMAX networks can be planned in the same Atoll session. Before working with the LTE module for the first time, it is highly recommended to go through the "Glossary of LTE Terms" on page 984. This will help you get accustomed to the terminology used by the 3GPP and in the product.

11.1 Designing an LTE Network The following diagram depicts the process of creating and planning an LTE network. The steps involved in planning an LTE network are described below. The numbers refer to Figure 11.1. 1. Open an existing radio-planning document or create a new one ( 1 ). • •

You can open an existing Atoll document by selecting File > Open. You can create a new Atoll document as explained in Chapter 1: Working Environment.

2. Configure the network by adding network elements and changing parameters ( 2 ). You can add and modify the following elements of base stations: • • •

"Creating a Site" on page 853. "Creating or Modifying a Transmitter" on page 854. "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 855.

You can also add base stations using a base station template (see "Placing a New Base Station Using a Station Template" on page 855) and study the terrain profile in different directions from a base station (see "Studying the Profile Around a Base Station" on page 859). 3. Carry out basic coverage predictions ( 3 ). •

"Signal Level Coverage Predictions" on page 875.

4. Allocate neighbours ( 4 ). •

"Planning Neighbours" on page 904.

5. Allocate frequencies ( 5 ).

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"Planning Frequencies" on page 909.

6. Allocate physical cell IDs and PRACH root sequence indexes ( 6 ). • •

"Planning Physical Cell IDs" on page 911. "Planning PRACH RSIs" on page 913

7. Before making more advanced coverage predictions, you need to define cell load conditions ( 7 ). You can define cell load conditions in the following ways: • •

You can generate realistic cell load conditions by creating a simulation based on traffic maps ( 7a , 7b , and 7c ) (see "Studying LTE Network Capacity" on page 924). You can define cell load conditions manually either on the Cells tab of each transmitter Properties dialog box or in the Cells table (see "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 855) ( 7d ).

8. Make LTE-specific signal quality coverage predictions using the defined cell load conditions ( 8 ). •

"LTE Coverage Predictions" on page 879.

9. If necessary, modify network parameters to study the network with a different frequency plan ( 10 ). After modifying the network’s frequency plan, you must perform steps 7 and 8 again. 1

2

3

4

5

6

7a

7d

7c 7b

7

8

9

10

Figure 11.1: Planning an LTE network - workflow

11.2 Planning and Optimising LTE Base Stations As described in Chapter 1: Working Environment, you can create an Atoll document from a template, with no base stations, or from a database with an existing set of base stations. As you work on your Atoll document, you will still need to create base stations and modify existing ones. In Atoll, a site is defined as a geographical point where one or more transmitters are located. Once you have created a site, you can add transmitters. In Atoll, a transmitter is defined as the antenna and any additional equipment, such as the TMA,

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feeder cables, and so on. In an LTE project, you must also add cells to each transmitter. A cell refers to the characteristics of an RF channel on a transmitter. Atoll lets you create one site, transmitter, or cell at a time, or create several at once using station templates. In Atoll, a base station refers to a site and a transmitter with its antennas, equipment, and cells. In Atoll, you can study a single base station or a group of base stations using coverage predictions. You can make a variety of coverage predictions, such as signal level or signal quality coverage predictions. The results of calculated coverage predictions can be displayed on the map, compared, and studied. Atoll enables you to model network traffic by creating services, users, user profiles, traffic environments, and terminals. This data can be then used to make coverage predictions that depend on network load, such as C/(I+N), service area, radio bearer, and throughput coverage predictions. This section covers the following topics: • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

"Definition of an LTE Base Station" on page 845 "Creating LTE Base Stations" on page 853 "Creating a Group of Base Stations" on page 860 "Modifying Sites and Transmitters Directly on the Map" on page 861 "Display Tips for Base Stations" on page 861 "Creating Multi-band LTE Networks" on page 861 "Working With Cell Groups" on page 862 "Creating Repeaters" on page 866 "Creating Remote Antennas" on page 870 "Creating a Relay Node" on page 873 "Studying LTE Base Stations" on page 874 "Planning Frequencies" on page 909 "Planning Physical Cell IDs" on page 911. "Planning PRACH RSIs" on page 913

11.2.1 Definition of an LTE Base Station A base station consists of the site, one or more transmitters, various pieces of equipment, and radio settings such as, for example, cells. You will usually create a new base station using a station template, as described in "Placing a New Base Station Using a Station Template" on page 855. This section describes the following elements of a base station and their parameters: • • •

"Site Properties" on page 845 "Transmitter Properties" on page 846 "Cell Properties" on page 848.

11.2.1.1 Site Properties The parameters of a site can be found in the site Properties dialog box. The Properties dialog box consists of the following tabs: General Tab • •

Name: A default name is proposed for each new site. You can modify the default name here. If you want to change the default name, see the Administrator Manual. Position: By default, Atoll places the new site at the centre of the map window. You can modify the location of the site here. While this method allows you to place a site with precision, you can also place sites using the mouse and then position them precisely with this dialog box afterwards. For information on placing sites using the mouse, see "Moving a Site Using the Mouse" on page 57.

• •

Altitude: The altitude, as defined by the DTM for the location specified under Position, is given here. You can specify the actual altitude under Real, if you want. If an altitude is specified here, Atoll will use this value for calculations. Comments: You can enter comments in this field if you want.

LTE Tab •

S1 interface throughputs: You can enter the maximum S1 interface throughputs supported in downlink and uplink by the site. The S1 interface connects eNode-Bs to the evolved packet core (EPC) entities, the mobility management entity (MME) and the serving gateway (S-GW). The capacity of the S1 interface between the eNode-B and the serving gateway imposes a limit on the cumulated throughput served by the cells of the same eNode-B (site in Atoll). Hence, this limit also imposes a limit on the throughput of each individual user served by the eNode-B. Here you must enter the capacity of the S1-U interface (S1-U is the user-plane interface between eNode-Bs and the serving gateways). The

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maximum S1 interface throughputs that you enter here can be taken into account in Monte Carlo simulations as backhaul constraints. Relay Link: If the site is a relay node, click the Relay Link button to define the relay-to-donor backhaul parameters. For more information on relay links, see "Creating a Relay Node" on page 873.

11.2.1.2 Transmitter Properties The parameters of an LTE transmitter can be found in the transmitter Properties dialog box. When you create a transmitter, the Properties dialog box has two tabs: the General tab and the Transmitter tab. Once you have created a transmitter, its Properties dialog box has three additional tabs: the Cells tab (see "Cell Properties" on page 848), the Propagation tab (see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models), and the Display tab (see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51). General Tab •

Name: By default, the transmitter is named after the site it is on, suffixed with an underscore and a number. You can enter a name for the transmitter. However, it is better to use the name assigned by Atoll to ensure consistency. To change the way Atoll names transmitters, see the Administrator Manual.

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Site: You can select the Site on which the transmitter will be located. Once you have selected the site, you can click the Browse button to access the properties of the site. For information on the site Properties dialog box, see "Site Properties" on page 845. You can click the New button to create a new site for the transmitter. Shared antenna: This field identifies the transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas that are located at the same site or on sites with the same position and that share the same antenna. The entry in the field must be the same for all transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas that share the same antenna. When changes are made to the position offset (Dx, Dy), azimuth, antenna height, or mechanical tilt of one antenna, Atoll automatically synchronises the same changes to all other transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas that are defined as having a shared antenna. Under Antenna position, you can modify the position of the antennas (main and secondary): • •

Relative to site: Select this option if you want to enter the antenna positions as offsets relative to the site coordinates, and enter the x-axis and y-axis offsets, Dx and Dy, respectively. Coordinates: Select this option if you want to enter the coordinates of the antenna, and then enter the x-axis and y-axis coordinates of the antenna, X and Y, respectively.

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Active: Select this option to specify whether the transmitter is active or inactive. Transmitters are displayed in the Network explorer with an active ( ) or inactive ( )icon. Only active transmitters are taken into consideration during calculations.

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Transmitter type: Specify whether the transmitter is to be considered as a server. This enables you to model the coexistence of different networks in the same geographic area. • •

If the transmitter is a potential server as well as an interferer, set the transmitter type to Intra-network (Server and interferer). If the transmitter is to be considered only as an interferer, set the type to Inter-network (Interferer only). Interferer-only transmitters are ignored by coverage calculations and do not serve any mobile in Monte Carlo simulations.

For more information on how to study interference between co-existing networks, see "Modelling the Co-existence of Networks" on page 980. •

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Transmission/Reception: This area displays the total losses and the noise figure of the transmitter. Losses and noise are calculated according to the characteristics of the equipment that is assigned to the transmitter. To assign equipment, open the Equipment Specifications window by clicking the Equipment button. For more information about assigning equipment to a transmitter, see "Assigning Equipment to a Transmitter" on page 854.

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Any loss related to the noise due to a transmitter’s repeater is included in the calculated losses. Atoll always considers the values in the Real boxes in coverage predictions even if they are different from the values in the Computed boxes. The information in the real Noise figure box is calculated from the information you entered in the Equipment Specifications dialog box. You can modify the real Total losses at transmission and reception and the real Noise figure at reception. Any value you enter must be positive. •

Antennas: •

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Height/ground: The Height/ground box gives the height of the antenna above the ground. This is added to the altitude of the site as given by the DTM. If the transmitter is situated on a building, the height entered must include the height of building. Main antenna: Under Main antenna, the type of antenna is visible in the Model list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the antenna. Click the Select button to open the Antenna Selection Assistant. This assistant lists all the antennas that match the currently selected physical antenna and whose minimum and maximum operating frequencies include the operating frequency of the transmitter. For more information, see "Assigning Antennas to Transmitters" on page 159

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Mechanical Azimuth, Mechanical Downtilt, Electrical Azimuth, Electrical Downtilt, and Additional electrical downtilt display additional antenna parameters. • • •

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The Additional electrical downtilt can be made accessible through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide. The mechanical and additional electrical downtilts defined for the main antenna are also used for the calculations of smart antennas.

Smart antenna: Under Smart antenna, the smart antenna equipment is available in the Equipment list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the smart antenna equipment. When you select smart antenna equipment, you can choose whether to keep the current main antenna model or to replace it with the main antenna model defined for the selected smart antenna equipment, if any. For more information on smart antenna equipment, see "Smart Antenna Systems" on page 970. Number of antenna ports: Select the number of antenna ports used for MIMO in the Transmission and Reception fields. For more information on how the number of antenna ports are used, see "Multiple Input Multiple Output Systems" on page 972. Under Secondary antennas, you can select one or more secondary antennas in the Antenna column and enter their Azimuth, Mechanical downtilt, and % Power, which is the percentage of power reserved for this particular antenna. For example, for a transmitter with one secondary antenna, if you reserve 40% of the total power for the secondary antenna, 60% is available for the main antenna. • • •

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The Additional electrical downtilt can be made accessible through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75.

The transmission power is divided among the main and secondary antennas. This is not compatible with smart antennas. You must not assign smart antennas to transmitters with secondary antennas, and vice versa. In calculations, repeaters and remote antennas are transparent to the donor transmitters and the served users. For example, smart antennas at donor transmitters target the served users directly and not the repeater or remote antenna that covers the users. This results in a combined signal level received from the transmitter using the smart antenna and from the repeater or remote antenna. If this approach does not match how your equipment works, you must not assign smart antennas to transmitters with repeaters and remote antennas, and vice versa. This is also true for MIMO.

The main antenna is used to transmit the control channels. Coverage predictions based on the reference signals are performed using the main antenna. The main antenna is also used for traffic if there is no smart antenna equipment selected for the transmitter, or if the cells do not support AAS.

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If smart antenna equipment is assigned to the transmitter and the cells support AAS, traffic data is transmitted and received using the smart antenna, whereas the control channels are transmitted using the main antenna. Cell Tab When you create a transmitter, Atoll automatically creates a cell for the transmitter using the properties of the currently selected station template. The cell tab enables you to configure the properties for every cell of a transmitter. For more information on the properties of a cell, see "Cell Properties" on page 848. Propagation Tab Transmitters are taken into account during calculations. Therefore, you must specify their propagation parameters. On the Propagation tab, you can modify the following: the Propagation model, Radius, and Resolution for both the Main matrix and the Extended matrix. For information on propagation models, see "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187. Display Tab On the Display tab, you can modify how a transmitter will be displayed. For information on changing display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51.

11.2.1.3 Cell Properties In Atoll, a cell is defined as an RF channel, with all its characteristics, on a transmitter; the cell is the mechanism by which you can configure a multi-carrier LTE network. This section explains the parameters of an LTE cell. You can, if you want, modify these values. The properties of an LTE cell are found on Cells tab of the Properties dialog box of the transmitter to which it belongs. You can also display the properties of a cell by double-clicking the cell in the Site explorer.

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Name: By default, Atoll names the cell after its transmitter, adding a suffix in parentheses. If you change transmitter name, Atoll does not update the cell name. You can enter a name for the cell, but for the sake of consistency, it is better to let Atoll assign a name. If you want to change the way Atoll names cells, see the Administrator Manual. ID: You can enter an ID for the cell. This is a user-definable network-level parameter for cell identification. Active: If this cell is to be active, you must select the Active check box. Layer: The network layer to which the cell belongs. This information is used in determining the serving cell. For more information on defining layers, see "Defining Network Deployment Layers" on page 962. For more information on the cell selection options, see "Global Network Settings" on page 959. Cell type: This indicates whether the cell supports LTE (3GPP releases 8 and 9) or LTE-Advanced (3GPP releases 10 and later) including carrier aggregation and CoMP. A cell can support LTE as well as LTE-A, so it can be configured as an LTE cell, an LTE-A PCell (primary cell), or an LTE-A SCell (secondary cell). Both LTE and LTE-A users can connect to LTE-only cells without the possibility of performing carrier aggregation or CoMP. Cells that only support LTE-A, and not LTE, can only serve LTE-A users. The process of only allowing LTE-A users to connect to a cell and excluding all LTE users is called cell barring. If the cell type is left empty, the cell is considered LTE-only. A cell must be an LTE-A SCell in downlink in order to also be an LTE-A SCell in uplink. For more information on carrier aggregation modes and groups, see "Working With Cell Groups" on page 862. Only cells of type LTE-A PCell can perform coordinated multipoint transmission and reception (CoMP). Whether an LTE-A PCell performs CoMP is defined through CoMP cell groups, or CoMP sets. For more information, see "Working With Cell Groups" on page 862.

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Frequency band: The cell’s frequency band from the frequency band list. Channel number: The number of the channel from the list of available channels. For calculating path loss matrices of a multi-cell transmitter, Atoll uses the downlink start frequency of the frequency band assigned to the cell with the highest priority layer.

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Order: The display order of a cell within the transmitter. This value is used to determine the order in which information related to a cell is displayed in the Network explorer and on the map. This field is automatically filled by Atoll but you can change these default values to display cells in a different order. The consistency between cell order values is verified by Atoll. However, inconsistencies may arise if other tools modify the database. You can check for inconsistencies in the cell display order and fix them by selecting Data Audit > Cell Display Order Check in the Document menu.

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Channel allocation status: The status of the current channel allocated to the cell: • Not allocated: The AFP considers a Not allocated channel modifiable without cost. • Allocated: The AFP considers an Allocated channel modifiable but only if absolutely necessary. • Locked: The AFP considers a Locked channel not modifiable. For more information on the AFP, see "Configuring Network Parameters Using the AFP" on page 905.

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Physical cell ID: The physical cell ID of the cell. It is an integer value from 0 to 503. The physical cell IDs are defined in the 3GPP specifications. There are 504 unique physical-layer cell identities. The physical cell IDs are grouped into 168 unique cell ID groups (called SSS IDs in Atoll), with each group containing 3 unique identities (called PSS IDs in Atoll). An SSS ID is thus uniquely defined by a number from 0 to 167, and a PSS ID is defined by a number from 0 to 2. Each cell’s reference signals transmit a pseudo-random sequence corresponding to the physical cell ID of the cell. Physical cell IDs also indicate the subcarriers being used for reference signal transmission in the downlink. Reference signal hopping, or v-shifting, is the calculation of the index of the subcarrier being used for reference signal resource elements. The v-shifting index is calculated as (PCI)Mod 6 for single-antenna transmitters and as (PCI)Mod 3 for multiantenna transmitters.

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PSS ID: The PSS ID corresponding to the current physical cell ID. This value is determined automatically from the physical cell ID. PSS ID status: The status of the PSS ID currently assigned to the cell: • Not allocated: The AFP considers a Not allocated PSS ID modifiable without cost. • Allocated: The AFP considers an Allocated PSS ID modifiable but only if absolutely necessary. • Locked: The AFP considers a Locked PSS ID not modifiable. SSS ID: The SSS ID corresponding to the current physical cell ID. This value is determined automatically from the physical cell ID. SSS ID status: The status of the SSS ID currently assigned to the cell: • Not allocated: The AFP considers a Not allocated SSS ID as modifiable without cost. • Allocated: The AFP considers an Allocated SSS ID as modifiable only if absolutely necessary. • Locked: The AFP considers a Locked SSS ID as not modifiable. To lock the physical cell ID assigned to a cell, you must set both PSS ID status and SSS ID status to Locked.

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Physical cell ID domain: The physical cell ID domain to which the allocated physical cell ID belongs. This and the reuse distance are used by the AFP for physical cell ID allocation. PRACH Root Sequences: The logical PRACH root sequences allocated to the cell. The assigned logical PRACH RSIs are always consecutive values and are listed using the convention "X-Y" with X being the smallest logical PRACH RSI in the list and Y the largest. Number of Required PRACH RSI: The number of required PRACH RSIs for this cell. The number or PRACH RSIs needed for any cell depends on the used PRACH preamble format and the cell size. For theoretical values of the required numbers of PRACH RSIs mapped to various cell sizes, see "Mapping of Cell Size to Required Numbers of PRACH RSIs" on page 981. The minimum value for the required number of PRACH RSIs is 1. If you enter 0, it will be considered as 1 by the AFP. PRACH RSI Allocation Status: The status of the current PRACH root sequence indexes allocated to the cell: • Not allocated: The AFP considers a Not allocated PRACH RSIs as modifiable without cost. • Allocated: The AFP considers an Allocated PRACH RSIs as modifiable only if absolutely necessary. • Locked: The AFP considers a Locked PRACH RSIs as not modifiable. PRACH RSI domain: The PRACH RSI domain to which the allocated PRACH root sequences belong. This is used, alongside the reuse distance, by the AFP for PRACH RSI allocation. Reuse distance: The minimum reuse distance after which the channel, physical cell ID, or PRACH root sequence indexes assigned to this cell can be assigned to another cell by the AFP. For more information on the AFP, see "Configuring Network Parameters Using the AFP" on page 905.

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Max power (dBm): The cell’s maximum transmission power. You can enter or modify this value if the RS EPRE option under the Advanced options on the Global Parameters tab of the LTE Network Settings folder’s Properties dialog box is set to any of the following:

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Calculated (equal distribution of unused EPRE) Calculated (with boost): This option corresponds to a 3 dB boost in the RS EPRE with 2 transmission antenna ports and 6 dB boost with 4 ports. Calculated (without boost) Independent of max power

The transmission powers corresponding to different channels are calculated using Max power, the energy per resource element offsets defined for the SS, PBCH, PDSCH, and PDCCH, and the number of resource elements corresponding to each channel, all of which are also calculated by Atoll. Max power is calculated by Atoll from the user-defined RS EPRE value if the RS EPRE option in the Global Parameters of the LTE Network Settings folder is set to User-defined. •

RS EPRE per antenna port (dBm): The reference signal energy per resource element. You can enter or modify this value if the RS EPRE option under the Advanced options on the Global Parameters tab of the LTE Network Settings folder’s Properties dialog box is set to User-defined or Independent of max power. This value is calculated by Atoll from the user-defined max power value if the RS EPRE option under the Advanced options on the Global Parameters tab of the LTE Network Settings folder’s Properties dialog box is set to any of the following: • • •

Calculated (equal distribution of unused EPRE) Calculated (with boost): This option corresponds to a 3 dB boost in the RS EPRE with 2 transmission antenna ports and 6 dB boost with 4 ports. Calculated (without boost)

For more information, see "Global Network Settings" on page 959. •

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SS EPRE Offset/RS (dB): The difference in the energy of a resource element belonging to the synchronisation signals with respect to the energy of a reference signal resource element. This value is used to calculate the transmission power corresponding to the primary and secondary synchronisation signals (PSS, SSS). PBCH EPRE Offset/RS (dB): The difference in the energy of a resource element belonging to the PBCH with respect to the energy of a reference signal resource element. This value is used to calculate the transmission power corresponding to the physical broadcast channel (PBCH). PDCCH EPRE Offset/RS (dB): The difference in the energy of a resource element belonging to the PDCCH with respect to the energy of a reference signal resource element. This value is used to calculate the transmission power corresponding to the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). PDSCH EPRE Offset/RS (dB): The difference in the energy of a resource element belonging to the PDSCH with respect to the energy of a reference signal resource element. This value is used to calculate the transmission power corresponding to the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). Atoll first calculates the energy per resource element corresponding to the reference signal resource elements, the SS, PBCH, PDSCH, and PDCCH. Once the energies available for each of these resource element types are known, they are converted into transmission powers for further calculations. In the offset fields above, you must enter the offsets, i.e., the difference in the energy levels, for one resource element of each type. For example, if a resource element belonging to the SS has 3 dB less energy than a resource element of the downlink reference signals, you should enter -3 dB in the SS EPRE Offset. Atoll will then calculate the actual transmission power of the SS, i.e., all the resource elements of the SS, from this offset and the number of SS resource elements per frame.

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Instantaneous RS power (dBm): The instantaneous reference signal transmission power calculated from the maximum power or RS EPRE and the EPRE offsets. Instantaneous SS power (dBm): The instantaneous SS transmission power calculated from the maximum power or RS EPRE and the EPRE offsets. Instantaneous PBCH power (dBm): The instantaneous PBCH transmission power calculated from the maximum power or RS EPRE and the EPRE offsets. Average PDCCH power (dBm): The average PDCCH transmission power calculated from the maximum power or RS EPRE and the EPRE offsets. Average PDSCH power (dBm): The average PDSCH transmission power calculated from the maximum power or RS EPRE and the EPRE offsets. If the cell’s transmitter has a beamforming smart antenna equipment assigned to it, the transmission powers of the cell increase by 10  Log  n  (in dB), where n is the number of antenna elements of the beamforming smart antenna. This gain in transmission powers is referred to as the AAS power combining gain.

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Min RSRP (dBm): The minimum RSRP required for a user to be connected to the cell. The RSRP is compared with this threshold to determine whether or not a user is within the cell’s coverage or not. Cell selection threshold (dB): You can define the cell selection threshold to use for cell selection based on layer priority. The cell selection threshold is used in LTE networks in order to adjust the Min RSRP threshold of cells belonging to different priority layers. This cell-level parameter is also known as "ThreshHighx,p". Cell individual offset (dB): Specify the cell individual offset (CIO) to use for cell selection. The CIO is used in LTE networks in order to tune or bias the ranking of potential servers for cell selection in connected mode.

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When opening an existing Atoll 3.2.1 document in Atoll 3.3.2, the Cell individual offset (dB) field is automatically filled using the contents of the custom field CELL_RESELECT_OFFSET if it had been added to the Cells table in Atoll 3.2.1. CELL_RESELECT_OFFSET (also known as Qoffset) is no longer used in calculations as these have been enhanced to model the connected mode mobility rather than the idle mode cell selection. If you want to return to the cell selection mechanism based on the CELL_RESELECT_OFFSET as in Atoll 3.2.1, you must add a custom field named CELL_RESELECT_OFFSET of type float to the Cells table. • • •

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Handover margin (dB): Specify the handover margin to use for cell selection. The handover margin is used in LTE networks to avoid handover ping-pong between cells. Reception equipment: You can select the cell’s reception equipment from the reception equipment list. For more information, see "Defining LTE Reception Equipment" on page 965. Scheduler: The scheduler used by the cell for bearer selection and resource allocation. You can select the scheduler from the list of schedulers available in the Schedulers table. For more information see "Defining LTE Schedulers" on page 968. Max number of users: The maximum number of simultaneous connected users supported by the cell. No. of users (DL): The number of users connected to the cell in the downlink. This can be user-defined or an output of Monte Carlo simulations. No. of users (UL): The number of users connected to the cell in the uplink. This can be user-defined or an output of Monte Carlo simulations. TDD subframe configuration: The subframe configuration used by the cell when the cell’s frequency band is TDD. You can select a subframe configuration of type DSUUU-DSUUU, DSUUD-DSUUD, DSUDD-DSUDD, DSUUU-DSUUD, DSUUU-DDDDD, DSUUD-DDDDD, or DSUDD-DDDDD. TDD subframe configuration is hidden when there is no TDD frequency band defined in the Frequency Bands table (see "Defining Frequency Bands" on page 958.

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Diversity support (DL): The type of antenna diversity technique (none, transmit diversity, SU-MIMO, MU-MIMO, and AAS) supported by the cell in downlink. Diversity support (UL): The type of antenna diversity technique (none, receive diversity, SU-MIMO. and MU-MIMO) supported by the cell in uplink. Specific calculations are performed (and gains applied) for terminals supporting AAS and MIMO.

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Number of co-scheduled MU-MIMO users (DL): The average number of MU-MIMO users that share the same resources on the downlink. This can be either user-defined or an output of Monte Carlo simulations. In downlink throughput coverage predictions, cell capacity is multiplied by this gain on pixels where MU-MIMO is used. Number of co-scheduled MU-MIMO users (UL): The average number of MU-MIMO users that share the same resources on the uplink. This can be either user-defined or an output of Monte Carlo simulations. In uplink throughput coverage predictions, cell capacity is multiplied by this gain on pixels where MU-MIMO is used. Fractional power control factor: This factor is used for path loss compensation when performing fractional power control on the uplink. For example, if this factor is set to 0.8, only 80% of the actual path loss will be considered when estimating the received power. Therefore, the received power from any mobile on the uplink will be estimated to be higher than it would actually be (using 100% of the path loss), which will be interpreted by the mobile as a need to reduce its transmission power. This factor is represented by  in 3GPP specifications. This factor represents the influence of the serving cell on the fractional power of any mobile. Max PUSCH C/(I+N) (dB): This value is used for power control on the uplink. The difference between the Max PUSCH C/(I+N) and the uplink noise rise of the cell corresponds to the nominal PUSCH power for the cell. The nominal PUSCH power is a cell-specific parameter from which a limit on the uplink transmission powers of mobiles in the cell can be extracted. This factor is represented by P O_PUSCH in 3GPP specifications. Max PUSCH C/(I+N) is updated during uplink noise rise control in Monte Carlo simulations based on the maximum noise rise constraints of the neighbouring cells. Almost Blank Subframe (ABS) Pattern: The transmission pattern of normal and almost blank subframes. Almost blank subframes do not carry any traffic. Only reference signals are transmitted over an ABS. The ABS pattern is a bit map, i.e., a series of 0’s and 1’s where each bit corresponds to one subframe. In an ABS pattern, each 0 signifies a normal subframe and 1 implies an almost blank subframe. For example, the ABS pattern "0100001000" means that subframes 1 and 6 are almost blank subframes whereas all the other subframes are normal subframes carrying traffic. ABS patterns are used in conjunction with cell range expansion for eICIC (enhanced inter-cell interference coordination, also known as time-domain ICIC) in an effort to minimise cell-edge interference between macro and small cells in heterogeneous LTE networks (HetNets).

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The ABS pattern specified here is applicable to downlink as well as uplink, and does not depend on the ICIC mode specified in the cell’s frame configuration. The ICIC mode defined in the frame configurations is exclusively used for frequency domain ICIC. The standard lengths of the ABS pattern bit maps as defined by the 3GPP are as follows: • FDD cells: 40 bits • TDD cells using the frame configuration 0: 70 bits • TDD cells using the frame configuration 1 through 5: 20 bits • TDD cells using the frame configuration 6: 60 bits Atoll uses the same ABS pattern format as the LTE eNode-B information element format. Therefore, ABS patterns can be directly imported from the network into Atoll. You are not required to enter all the bits in the pattern to match the standard lengths. You can define non-repeating and repeating ABS patterns using the asterisk as in the following example (for FDD cells): •

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Interference coordination support: The frequency-domain inter-cell interference coordination (ICIC) technique supported by the cell. You can select Static DL or Static UL. You can select from various ICIC modes available in the cell’s frame configurations. This frequency-domain inter-cell interference coordination method can be used in addition to the eICIC ABS patterns. Frame configuration: The frame configuration used by the cell in downlink and uplink. Among other frame structure parameters, this configuration also defines ICIC settings for a cell supporting Static DL or Static UL inter-cell interference coordination. For more information, see "Defining Frame Configurations" on page 963. Cell Edge Margin (dB): The maximum difference between the path loss of the second best server and the path loss of the best server to be considered at cell edge. Certain interference management actions are carried out on cell-edge regions, such as ICIC, eICIC, and CoMP. •

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Non-repeating ABS pattern: The ABS pattern "0100001000" is interpreted by Atoll as "0100001000000000000000000000000000000000" over standard 40 bits • Repeating ABS pattern: The ABS pattern "0100010000*" is interpreted by Atoll as "0100001000010000100001000010000100001000" over standard 40 bits An empty ABS pattern means that there are no almost blank subframes defined and all the subframes can carry traffic. It is possible to create a choice list of predefined ABS patterns in the database using the CustomFields table. For more information, see the Administrator Manual.

You can change the cell-edge determination method by using the CellEdgeMethod option in the [LTE] section of the Atoll.ini file. This option allows you to determine the cell-edge areas based on the difference between the highest and second highest RSRP values rather than the lowest and the second lowest path loss values. For more information, see the Administrator Manual and the Technical Reference Guide. If you set the cell edge calculation method to use RSRP rather than path losses, Atoll calculates the cell-edge regions for CoMP by comparing the cell-edge margin with the difference between the best server RSRP and the second best server RSRP belonging to the same CoMP set.

Max traffic load (DL) (%): The downlink traffic load not to be exceeded. This limit can be taken into account during Monte Carlo simulations. If the cell traffic load is limited by this value, the cell will not be allowed to have a downlink traffic load greater than this maximum. Traffic load (DL) (%): The downlink traffic load percentage. This can be user-defined or an output of Monte Carlo simulations. Cell-edge traffic ratio (DL) (%): You can set the percentage of the total downlink traffic load that corresponds to the resources allocated to cell-edge users. For example, if the downlink traffic load is 80%, and you set the cell-edge traffic ratio to 50%, it means that 40% of the downlink traffic load corresponds to cell-edge users and 40% to the cell-centre users. This can be user-defined or an output of Monte Carlo simulations. Max traffic load (UL) (%): The uplink traffic load not to be exceeded. This limit can be taken into account during Monte Carlo simulations. If the cell traffic load is limited by this value, the cell will not be allowed to have an uplink traffic load greater than this maximum. Traffic load (UL) (%): The uplink traffic load percentage. This can be user-defined or an output of Monte Carlo simulations.

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•

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UL noise rise (dB): The uplink noise rise in dB. This can be user-defined or an output of Monte Carlo simulations. This is the global value of uplink noise rise including the inter-technology uplink noise rise. ICIC UL noise rise (dB): The uplink noise rise of the cell resources covering cell-edge users. This noise rise is only used when the ICIC support for the cell includes Static UL. This can be user-defined or an output of Monte Carlo simulations. Max UL noise rise (dB): The upper limit on both uplink noise rise values, i.e., the UL noise rise and the ICIC UL noise rise. It is used for uplink noise rise control during Monte Carlo simulations. This parameter represents the maximum interference that a cell can tolerate on the uplink. Angular distributions of interference (AAS): The Monte Carlo simulation results generated for transmitters using a smart antenna. These results are the angular distributions of the downlink traffic power spectral density. AAS usage (DL) (%): The total downlink traffic load that corresponds to the traffic loads of the users supported by the smart antenna. For example, if the downlink traffic load is 80%, and you set the AAS usage to 50%, it means that 40% downlink traffic load is supported by the smart antenna equipment while the other 40% is supported by the main antenna. AAS usage is calculated during Monte Carlo simulations, and cannot be modified manually because the AAS usage values correspond to the angular distributions of interference. Additional UL noise rise: This noise rise represents the interference created by mobiles and base stations of an external network on this cell on the uplink. This noise rise will be taken into account in all uplink interference-based calculations involving this cell in Monte Carlo simulations. It is not used in predictions where Atoll calculates the uplink total interference from the uplink noise rise which includes inter-technology uplink interference. For more information on inter-technology interference, see "Modelling Inter-technology Interference" on page 975. Additional DL noise rise: This noise rise represents the interference created by mobiles of an external network on the mobiles served by this cell on the downlink. This noise rise will be taken into account in all downlink interferencebased calculations involving this cell. For more information on inter-technology interference, see "Modelling Intertechnology Interference" on page 975. Max number of intra-technology neighbours: The maximum number of LTE neighbours that the cell can have. Max number of inter-technology neighbours: The maximum number of other technology neighbours that the cell can have. Neighbours: You can access a dialog box in which you can set both intra-technology and inter-technology neighbours by clicking the Browse button. For information on defining neighbours, see "Configuring Network Parameters Using the AFP" on page 905. The Browse button may not be visible in the Neighbours box if this is a new cell. You can make the Browse button appear by clicking Apply.

11.2.2 Creating LTE Base Stations When you create a site, you create only the geographical point; you must add the transmitters and cells afterwards. The site, with the transmitters, antennas, equipment, and cells is called a base station. In this section, each element of a base station is described. If you want to add a new base station, see "Placing a New Base Station Using a Station Template" on page 855. If you want to create or modify one of the elements of a base station, see "Creating LTE Base Stations" on page 853. If you need to create a large number of base stations, Atoll allows you to import them from another Atoll document or from an external source. For information, see "Creating a Group of Base Stations" on page 860. This section explains the various parts of the base station creation process: • • • • • • • •

"Creating a Site" on page 853 "Creating or Modifying a Transmitter" on page 854 "Assigning Equipment to a Transmitter" on page 854 "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 855 "Placing a New Base Station Using a Station Template" on page 855 "Managing Station Templates" on page 856 "Duplicating an Existing Base Station" on page 858 "Studying the Profile Around a Base Station" on page 859

11.2.2.1 Creating a Site You can create a site by adding it to the map. This creates a site with the default settings. To create a new site: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Sites folder and select Add Sites from the context menu. The mouse cursor changes (

)and the coordinates of the mouse cursor are displayed in the status bar.

2. Click the map at the location where you want to place the new site. A new site is created with default settings at the corresponding location.

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Alternatively, you can create a new site by entering its coordinates and properties as described in "Site Properties" on page 845, by right-clicking the Sites folder and selecting New from the context menu.

11.2.2.2 Modifying a Site Once you have created a site, you can edit the site through the site Properties dialog box. To modify the properties of an existing site: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Sites folder and right-click the site, or right-click the site on the map. The context menu appears. 2. Select Properties from the context menu. The site Properties dialog box appears. 3. Modify the parameters described in "Site Properties" on page 845. 4. Click OK.

11.2.2.3 Creating or Modifying a Transmitter You can modify an existing transmitter or you can create a new transmitter. When you create a new transmitter, its initial settings are based on the default station template displayed in the Radio Planning toolbar. You can access the properties of a transmitter, described in "Transmitter Properties" on page 846, through the transmitter’s Properties dialog box. How you access the Properties dialog box depends on whether you are creating a transmitter or modifying an existing transmitter. To create or modify a transmitter: 1. In the Network explorer, perform one of the following actions. • •

To create a transmitter, right-click the LTE Transmitters and select New from the context menu. To modify an existing transmitter, expand the LTE Transmitters folder, right-click the transmitter that you want to modify, and select Properties from the context menu.

The Transmitters: New Record Properties dialog box appears. 2. Modify the parameters as described in "Transmitter Properties" on page 846. 3. Click OK. When you create a new transmitter, Atoll automatically creates a cell based on the default station template. For information on creating a cell, see "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 855. An alternative way of creating several transmitters at the same time, or modifying several existing transmitters, is to edit or paste the data directly in the Transmitters table. You can open the Transmitters table by right-clicking the LTE Transmitters folder in the Network explorer and selecting Open Table from the context menu. For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83. If you want to add a transmitter to an existing site on the map, you can add the transmitter by right-clicking the site and selecting New Transmitter from the context menu.

11.2.2.4 Assigning Equipment to a Transmitter You can use the Equipment Specifications dialog box to assign a tower-mounted amplifier (TMA), feeders, and transmitter equipment to a transmitter. The gains and losses that you define are used to initialise total transmitter losses in the uplink and downlink. To assign equipment to a transmitter: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the LTE Transmitters folder, right-click the transmitter that you want to modify, and select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter Properties dialog box appears. 2. On the Transmitter tab, click the Equipment button. The Equipment Specifications dialog box opens. 3. Specify the following settings for the transmitter: • • •

854

TMA: Select a tower-mounted amplifier (TMA) from the list. Click the Browse button to access the properties of the TMA. For information on creating a TMA, see "Defining TMA Equipment" on page 161. Feeder: Select a feeder cable from the list. Click the Browse button to access the properties of the feeder. For information on creating a feeder cable, see "Defining Feeder Cables" on page 161. Transmitter: Select a transmitter equipment from the Transmitter list. Click the Browse button to access the properties of the transmitter equipment. For information on creating a transmitter equipment, see "Defining Transmitter Equipment" on page 162.

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• •

Feeder length: Enter the feeder length at transmission and reception. Miscellaneous losses: Enter any additional losses at transmission and reception. The value must be positive.

4. Click OK.

11.2.2.5 Creating or Modifying a Cell You can modify an existing cell or you can create a new cell. You can access the properties of a cell, described in "Cell Properties" on page 848, through the Properties dialog box of the transmitter where the cell is located. How you access the Properties dialog box depends on whether you are creating a cell or modifying an existing cell. To create or modify a cell: 1. In the Network explorer expand the LTE Transmitters folder, right-click the transmitter on which you want to create a cell or whose cell you want to modify, and select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter’s Properties dialog box appears. 2. Select the Cells tab. 3. Modify the parameters described in "Cell Properties" on page 848. 4. Click OK. An alternative way of creating or modifying several cells at the same time is to edit or paste the data directly in the Cells table. You can open the Cells table by right-clicking the LTE Transmitters folder in the Network explorer and selecting Cells > Open Table from the context menu. You can either edit the data in the table, paste data into the table (see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83), or import data into the table (see "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88). If you want to add a cell to an existing transmitter on the map, you can add the cell by rightclicking the transmitter and selecting New Cell from the context menu.

11.2.2.6 Placing a New Base Station Using a Station Template In Atoll, a base station is defined as a site with one or more transmitters sharing the same properties. You can create a network by placing base stations based on station templates. This allows you to build your network quickly with consistent parameters, instead of building the network by first creating the site, then the transmitters, and finally by adding the cells. To place a new station using a station template: 1. In the Radio Planning toolbar, select a template from the list. 2. Click the New Transmitter or Station button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar.

3. In the map window, move the pointer over the map to where you would like to place the new station. The exact coordinates of the pointer’s current location are visible in the Status bar. 4. Click to place the station. To place the base station more accurately, you can zoom in on the map before you click the New Transmitter or Station button ( ). For information on using the zooming tools, see "Changing the Map Scale" on page 60. If you let the pointer rest over the base station you have placed, Atoll displays its tip text with its exact coordinates, allowing you to verify that the location is correct.

11.2.2.7 Placing a Station on an Existing Site When you place a new station using a station template as explained in "Placing a New Base Station Using a Station Template" on page 855, the site is created at the same time as the station. However, you can also place a new station on an existing site. To place a base station on an existing site: 1. In the Radio Planning toolbar, select a template from the list. 2. Click the New Transmitter or Station button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar.

3. Move the pointer to the site on the map. When the frame appears around the site, indicating it is selected, click to place the station.

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11.2.2.8 Managing Station Templates Atoll comes with several LTE station templates, but you can also create and modify station templates. The tools for working with station templates are on the Radio Planning toolbar (see Figure 11.2).

Figure 11.2: The Radio Planning toolbar This section covers the following topics: • • • • • •

11.2.2.8.1

"Station Template Properties" on page 856 "Creating a Station Template" on page 857 "Modifying a Station Template" on page 857 "Copying Properties from One Station Template to Another" on page 858 "Modifying a Field in a Station Template" on page 858 "Deleting a Station Template" on page 858.

Station Template Properties The station template Properties dialog box contains the settings for templates that are used for creating new sites and transmitters. It consists of the following tabs: General Tab This tab contains general information about the station template: •

•

•

The Name of the station template, the number of Sectors, each with a transmitter, the Hexagon radius, i.e., the theoretical radius of the hexagonal area covered by each sector, and the Transmitter type, i.e., whether the transmitter belongs to your network or to an external network. Under Antennas, you can modify the following: 1st sector azimuth, from which the azimuth of the other sectors are offset to offer complete coverage of the area, the Height/ground of the antennas from the ground (i.e., the height over the DTM; if the transmitter is situated on a building, the height entered must include the height of the building), and the Mechanical downtilt for the antennas. Electrical Azimuth, Electrical Downtilt, and Additional electrical downtilt display additional antenna parameters. • •

•

•

•

The Additional electrical downtilt can be made accessible through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide.

Under Main antenna, you can select the main antenna Model, under Smart antenna, you can select the smart antenna Equipment used by the transmitter, and under Number of antenna ports, you can enter the number of antennas used for Transmission and for Reception for MIMO. Under Path loss matrices, you can modify the following: the Main propagation model, the Main radius, and the Main resolution, and the Extended propagation model, the Extended radius, and the Extended resolution. For information on propagation models, see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models. Under Comments, you can add additional information. The information you enter will be the default information in the Comments field of any transmitter created using this station template.

Transmitter Tab Use this tab to modify the following settings: •

Active: Select this option to specify whether the transmitter is active. Active transmitters are displayed in red in the LTE Transmitters folder of the Network explorer. Only active transmitters are taken into consideration during calculations.

You can click the Equipment button to modify the tower-mounted amplifier (TMA), feeder cables, or transmitter equipment. For information on the Equipment Specifications dialog box, see "Assigning Equipment to a Transmitter" on page 854.

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The Total losses (transmission and reception) and Noise figure (reception) in the Computed columns is calculated from the information that was entered in the Equipment Specifications dialog box. The Total losses (transmission and reception) Noise figure (reception) in the Real columns can be edited. Any value that you enter must be positive. Any loss related to the noise due to the repeater of a transmitter is included in the calculated losses. Atoll always considers the values in the Real boxes in coverage predictions even if they are different from the values in the Computed boxes. Cell Tab • •

Power and EPRE offsets relative to the reference signals EPRE: You can modify the Max power, RS EPRE, and the EPRE offsets for the SS, PBCH, PDSCH, and PDCCH in SS offset, PBCH offset, PDCCH offset, and PDSCH offset. Cell definition per sector: Click this button to open the Cell Definition per Sector, where you can assign channel and physical cell ID per cell per sector. • Sector: Select the sector for which you want to define cell parameters, including the channel number and physical cell ID. • Number of cells: Enter the number of celles that the selected sector will have. The number of rows in the grid below depends on the number of cells that you enter. For each sector, assign layers, channels, and physical cell ID to each cell.

•

• • •

Frequency band, Reuse distance, Reception equipment, Cell type, Min RSRP, Cell selection threshold, Cell individual offset, Handover margin, Scheduler, Max number of users, TDD subframe configuration, and the Number of required PRACH RSIs. Antenna diversity: Select the Diversity support in downlink and uplink. Default loads: Enter the default values for DL traffic load, UL traffic load, UL noise rise, and the Max DL traffic load and Max UL traffic load. Additional interference: Set the DL noise rise and the UL noise rise. For more information on inter-technology interference, see "Modelling Inter-technology Interference" on page 975.

Neighbours Tab Max number of neighbours: Set the maximum numbers of Intra-technology and Inter-technology neighbours. For information on defining neighbours, see "Planning Neighbours" on page 904. Other Properties Tab This tab only appears if you have defined additional fields in the Sites table, or if you have defined an additional field in the Station Template Properties dialog box.

11.2.2.8.2

Creating a Station Template When you create a station template, you can do so by selecting an existing station template that most closely resembles the station template you want to create and making a copy. Then you can modify the parameters that differ. To create a station template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the LTE Network Settings folder, right-click the Station Templates folder, and select Open Table from the context menu. The Station Templates table appears. 2. In the Station Templates table, right-click the station template that most closely resembles the station template you want to create and select Copy from the context menu. 3. Right-click the row marked with the New row icon ( ) and select Paste from the context menu. The station template you copied in step 2. is pasted in the new row, with the Name of the new station template given as the same as the template copied but preceded by "Copy of". 4. Modify the station template parameters as described in "Station Template Properties" on page 856 5. Click OK.

11.2.2.8.3

Modifying a Station Template You can modify a station template directly in the Station Templates table, or you can open the Properties dialog box for that station template and modify the parameters in the dialog box. To modify a station template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the LTE Network Settings folder, right-click the Station Templates folder, and select Open Table from the context menu. The Station Templates table opens. 2. Right-click the station template that you want to modify and select Record Properties from the context menu. The station template’s Properties dialog box appears.

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3. Modify the station template parameters as described in "Station Template Properties" on page 856 4. Click OK.

11.2.2.8.4

Copying Properties from One Station Template to Another You can copy properties from one template to another template by using the Station Templates table. To copy properties from one template to another template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the LTE Network Settings folder, right-click the Station Templates folder, and select Open Table from the context menu. The Station Templates table opens. 2. In the Stations Templates table, copy the settings in the row corresponding to the station template that you want to copy from and paste them into the row corresponding to the station template that you want to modify.

11.2.2.8.5

Modifying a Field in a Station Template You can add, delete, and edit user-defined data table fields in the Station Templates table. If you want to add a user-defined field to the station templates, you must have already added it to the Sites table for it to appear as an option in the station template properties To modify a field in a station template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the LTE Network Settings folder, right-click the Station Templates folder, and select Properties from the context menu. The Station Template Properties dialog box opens. 2. Select the Table tab. 3. Add, delete, or edit the user-defined fields as described in "Adding, Deleting, and Editing Data Table Fields" on page 76. 4. Click OK.

11.2.2.8.6

Deleting a Station Template To delete a station template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the LTE Network Settings folder and the Station Templates folder, and right-click the station template that you want to delete. The context menu appears. 2. Select Delete from the context menu. The template is deleted.

11.2.2.9 Duplicating an Existing Base Station You can create base stations by duplicating an existing base station. When you duplicate an existing base station, the base station you create will have the same transmitter, and cell parameter values as the original base station. If no site exists where you place the duplicated base station, Atoll will create a site with the same parameters as the site of the original base station. Duplicating a base station allows you to: • •

Quickly create a base station with the same settings as an original one in order to study the effect of a new station on the coverage and capacity of the network, and Quickly create a homogeneous network with base stations that have the same characteristics.

To duplicate an existing base station: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Sites folder, and right-click the site you want to duplicate. The context menu appears. 2. From the context menu, select either of the following commands: • •

If you want to duplicate the base station without the intra- and inter-technology neighbours of its transmitters, select Duplicate > Without Neighbours. If you want to duplicate the base station along with the lists of intra- and inter-technology neighbours of its transmitters, select Duplicate > With Outward Neighbours.

3. In the map window, place the new base station on the map using the mouse: • •

858

To create a duplicate base station and site, move the pointer over the map to where you would like to place the duplicate. The exact coordinates of the pointer’s current location are visible in the Status bar. To place the duplicate base station on an existing site, move the pointer over the existing site where you would like to place the duplicate. When the pointer is over the site, the site is automatically selected. The exact coordinates of the pointer’s current location are visible in the Status bar.

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To place the station more accurately, you can zoom in on the map before you select Duplicate from the context menu. For information on using the zooming tools, see "Changing the Map Scale" on page 60. If you let the pointer rest over the station you have placed, Atoll displays tip text with its exact coordinates, allowing you to verify that the location is correct. 4. Click to place the duplicate base station. A new base station is placed on the map. If the duplicate base station was placed on a new site, the site, transmitters, and cells of the new base station have the same names as the site, transmitters, and cells of the original base station with each name marked as "Copy of." The site, transmitters, and cells of the duplicate base station have the same settings as those of the original base station. If the duplicate base station was placed on an existing site, the transmitters, and cells of the new base station have the same names as the transmitters, and cells of the original base station with each name preceded by the name of the site on which the duplicate was placed. All the remote antennas and repeaters of any transmitter on the original site are also duplicated. Any duplicated remote antennas and repeaters will retain the same donor transmitter as the original. If you want the duplicated remote antenna or repeater to use a transmitter on the duplicated base station, you must change the donor transmitter manually. You can also place a series of duplicate base stations by pressing and holding Ctrl in step 4. and clicking to place each duplicate station. For more information on the site, transmitter, and cell properties, see "Definition of an LTE Base Station" on page 845.

11.2.2.10 Studying the Profile Around a Base Station In Atoll, you can make a profile analysis to study obstacles along the path between a reference transmitter and any point on the map. Atoll displays the geographic profile between the transmitter and the receiver with clutter heights. An ellipsoid indicating the Fresnel zone is also displayed allowing you to study obstructions to radio signals along the path. You can also study propagation losses along the profile as well as the signal level received at the point. Before studying path loss along a profile, you must assign a propagation model to the transmitter. The propagation model takes the radio and geographic data into account and calculates losses along the transmitter-receiver path. The profile is calculated in real time, using the propagation model, allowing you to study the profile and get a prediction on the selected point. For information on assigning a propagation model, see "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187. To study the profile between a transmitter and a receiver: 1. In the map window, select the transmitter from which you want to make a point analysis. 2. Click the Point Analysis button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar. The Point Analysis window opens and the pointer

changes ( ) to represent the receiver. A line appears on the map connecting the selected transmitter and the receiver. You can move the receiver on the map (see "Moving the Receiver on the Map" on page 203). 3. Select the Profile view. The Profile view displays the profile between the transmitter and the receiver with the terrain and clutter heights. Transmitter selection list.

Display area including: received signal, shadowing margin, cell edge coverage probability, propagation model used, and transmitter-receiver distance.

Fresnel ellipsoid

Line of sight

Attenuation with diffraction

Figure 11.3: Point Analysis - Profile view

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The distance between the transmitter and the receiver is displayed at the top of the Profile view. The altitude is reported on the vertical axis and the receiver-transmitter distance on the horizontal axis. A blue ellipsoid indicates the Fresnel zone between the transmitter and the receiver. A green line indicates the line of sight (LOS) with the angle of the LOS as read from the vertical antenna pattern. Along the profile, if the signal meets an obstacle, the obstacle causes attenuation with diffraction displayed by a red vertical line (if the selected propagation model is able to calculate diffraction). The main diffraction edge is the one that intersects the Fresnel ellipsoid the most. Propagation models that use a 3 knife-edge Deygout diffraction method may also display two additional diffraction edges. The total attenuation is displayed above the main diffraction edge. The results of the analysis are displayed at the top of the Profile view: • • • •

The received signal strength from the selected transmitter for the cell with the highest reference signal power The propagation model used The shadowing margin and the indoor loss (if selected) The distance between the transmitter and the receiver.

4. If needed, select an other transmitter from the list. You can click the Properties button ( properties. 5. Click the Options button ( • • • •

) to access the transmitter

) to display the Calculation Options dialog box and change the following:

Change the X and Y coordinates to change the current position of the receiver. Select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a Cell edge coverage probability. For more information, see "Taking Shadowing into Account in Point Analyses" on page 204. Select Signal level, Path loss, or Total losses from the Result type list. You can select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. For more information, see "Taking Indoor Losses into Account" on page 203.

6. In the Profile view toolbar, you can use the following tools: •

Click the Geographic Profile button ( Click the Geographic Profile button ( receiver.

) to view the geographic profile between the transmitter and the receiver. ) again to view the radio signal path between the transmitter and the

•

Click the Link Budget button (

•

Click the Detailed Report button ( ) to display a text document with details on the displayed profile analysis. The detailed report is only available for the Standard Propagation Model. Click the Copy button ( ) to copy the content of the view and paste it as a graphic into a graphic editing or wordprocessing programme.

• • •

) to display a dialog box with the link budget.

Click the Print button ( ) to print the content of the view. Click the Centre on Map button ( ) to centre the map window on the receiver.

7. To end the point analysis, click the Point Analysis button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar again.

11.2.3 Creating a Group of Base Stations You can create base stations individually as explained in "Creating LTE Base Stations" on page 853, or you can create one or several base stations by using station templates as explained in "Placing a New Base Station Using a Station Template" on page 855. However, if you have a large project and you already have existing data, you can import this data into your Atoll document and create a group of base stations. When you import data into your current Atoll document, the coordinate system of the imported data must be the same as the display coordinate system used in the document. If you cannot change the coordinate system of your source data, you can temporarily change the display coordinate system of the Atoll document to match the source data. For information on changing the coordinate system, see "Setting a Coordinate System" on page 41. You can import base station data in the following ways: •

860

Copying and pasting data: If you have data in table form, either in another Atoll document or in a spreadsheet, you can copy this data and paste it into the tables in your current Atoll document. When you create a group of base stations by copying and pasting data, you must copy and paste site data in the Sites table, transmitter data in the Transmitters table, and cell data in the Cells table, in that order.

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The table you copy from must have the same column layout as the table you are pasting data into.

For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83. •

Importing data: If you have base station data in text or comma-separated value (CSV) format, you can import it into the tables in the current document. If the data is in another Atoll document, you can first export it in text or CSV format and then import it into the tables of your current Atoll document. When you are importing, Atoll allows you to select what values you import into which columns of the table. When you create a group of base stations by importing data, you must import site data in the Sites table, transmitter data in the Transmitters table, and cell data in the Cells table, in that order. For information on exporting table data, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. For information on importing table data, see "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88.

11.2.4 Modifying Sites and Transmitters Directly on the Map You can access the Properties dialog box of a site or transmitter using the context menu in the Network explorer. However, in a complex radio-planning project, it can be difficult to find the data object in the Network explorer, although it might be visible in the map window. Atoll lets you access the Properties dialog box of sites and transmitters directly from the map. You can also select a site to display all of the transmitters located on it in the Site explorer. When selecting a transmitter, if there is more than one transmitter with the same azimuth, clicking the transmitters in the map window opens a context menu allowing you to select the transmitter. You can also change the position of the station by dragging it, or by letting Atoll find a higher location for it. Modifying sites and transmitters directly on the map is explained in detail in Chapter 1: Working Environment: • • • • •

"Selecting One out of Several Transmitters" on page 57 "Moving a Site Using the Mouse" on page 57 "Moving a Site to a Higher Location" on page 57 "Changing the Azimuth of the Antenna Using the Mouse" on page 57 "Changing the Antenna Position Relative to the Site Using the Mouse" on page 58.

11.2.5 Display Tips for Base Stations Atoll allows to you to display information about base stations in a number of ways. This enables you not only to display selected information, but also to distinguish base stations at a glance. The following tools can be used to display information about base stations: •

•

•

•

Label: You can display information about each object, such as each site or transmitter, in the form of a label that is displayed with the object. You can display information from every field in that object type’s data table, including from fields that you add. The label is always displayed, so you should choose information that you would want to always be visible; too much information in the label will make it harder to distinguish the information you are looking for. For information on defining the label, see "Associating a Label to an Object" on page 53. Tip text: You can display information about each object, such as each site or transmitter, in the form of tip text that is only visible when you move the pointer over the object. You can choose to display more information than in the label, because the information is only displayed when you move the pointer over the object. You can display information from any field in that object type’s data table, including from fields that you add. For information on defining the tip text, see "Associating a Tip Text to an Object" on page 54. Transmitter colour: You can set the transmitter colour to display information about the transmitter. For example, you can select "Discrete Values" to distinguish transmitters by antenna type, or to distinguish inactive from active transmitters. You can also define the display type for transmitters as "Automatic." Atoll then automatically assigns a colour to each transmitter, ensuring that each transmitter has a different colour than the transmitters surrounding it. For information on defining the transmitter colour, see "Setting the Display Type" on page 52. Transmitter symbol: You can select one of several symbols to represent transmitters. For example, you can select a symbol that graphically represents the antenna half-power beamwidth ( ). If you have two transmitters on the same site with the same azimuth, you can differentiate them by selecting different symbols for each (

and

).

For information on defining the transmitter symbol, see "Setting the Display Type" on page 52.

11.2.6 Creating Multi-band LTE Networks You can model multi-band LTE networks, for example, a network consisting of 900 MHz and 2.1 GHz, in a single document. Creating a multi-band LTE network consists of the following steps: •

Defining the frequency bands in the document (see "Defining Frequency Bands" on page 958).

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Selecting and calibrating a propagation model for each frequency band (see "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187). Assigning a frequency band to each cell and a relevant propagation model to each transmitter (see "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 855 and "Creating or Modifying a Transmitter" on page 854). Defining the frequency bands with which terminals are compatible (see "Modelling Terminals" on page 249).

11.2.7 Working With Cell Groups In Atoll, you can create groups of cells related to each other in any given way. For example, you can create: • •

Groups of cells that perform carrier aggregation with each other, and Groups of cells that perform coordinated multipoint transmission and reception (CoMP) with each other.

In multi-user environments, cell groups can be stored in the database. When you open a document from a database, Atoll loads all the cell groups by default. If you want Atoll to only load cell groups relevant to the cells being loaded, you must set the option FilterUsedGroups option in the [LTE] section of the Atoll.ini file. In a large radio-planning project, this may allow you to more effectively manage cell groups by reducing the unnecessary data you retrieve from the database. • •

The items in the LTE Transmitters folder can be grouped by cell groups. For more information, see "Grouping, Sorting, and Filtering Data" on page 94. The LTE transmitter display settings can be based on cell groups. For more information, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51.

This section covers the following topics: • • • • • •

"Creating or Modifying Carrier Aggregation Groups" on page 862 "Creating or Modifying CoMP Sets" on page 863 "Adding Cells to a Group From the Network Explorer" on page 864 "Adding Cells to a Group From the Map Window" on page 864 "Adding Cells to a Group Using a Zone" on page 865 "Using the Find on Map Tool to Display Cell Groups" on page 865

11.2.7.1 Creating or Modifying Carrier Aggregation Groups Atoll supports different modes of carrier aggregation: •

Intra-eNode-B carrier aggregation (default) implies that only cells that belong to the same site can perform carrier aggregation with each other.

•

Multi-eNode-B carrier aggregation means that cells belonging to any site can perform carrier aggregation with each other.

•

Group-based carrier aggregation means that cells belonging to the same group can perform carrier aggregation with each other.

You can switch between these carrier aggregation modes using the following Atoll.ini option: [LTE] CAWithinENB = 0; For multi-eNode-B carrier aggregation CAWithinENB = 1; For intra-eNode-B carrier aggregation (default) CAWithinENB = 2; For group-based carrier aggregation If you want to work with group-based carrier aggregation, you must define groups of cells that can perform carrier aggregation with each other. To create carrier aggregation groups: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the LTE Transmitters folder and select Cells > CA Groups > Open Table from the context menu. The CA Groups table appears. 2. In the CA Groups table, enter one carrier aggregation group per row. This table lists the carrier aggregation groups that exist in your document and shows the number of cells that belong to each group. If you delete a carrier aggregation group in this table, it will also delete all the corresponding records in the Cell-to-Group Mappings table.

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To define cells belonging to carrier aggregation groups: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the LTE Transmitters folder and select Cells > CA Groups > Cell-to-Group Mappings from the context menu. The Cell-to-CA Group Mappings table appears. 2. In the Cell-to-CA Group Mappings table, enter one cell-to-group mapping per row. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. To add a cell to a carrier aggregation group: a. Select the name of the cell that you want to add to a group from the list in the Member Cell column. b. Select the name of an existing carrier aggregation group from the list in the CA Group column. c. Press Enter or click outside of the row being edited. The cell is added to the selected group. To remove a cell from a carrier aggregation group: •

Delete the row containing the cell-to-group name mapping. Even if you delete the cell-to-group mapping records in this table, the associated CA group is not deleted in the CA Groups table. To delete a CA group permanently, you must also delete it in the CA Groups table.

11.2.7.2 Creating or Modifying CoMP Sets Atoll supports different modes of CoMP: • • • • •

Downlink coordinated scheduling Downlink joint transmission (coherent) Downlink joint transmission (non-coherent) Downlink dynamic point selection Uplink coordinated scheduling

Coordinated multipoint transmission and reception is performed between co-channel cells within the cell-edge regions defined by the Cell Edge Margin. If you set the cell edge calculation method to use RSRP rather than path losses, Atoll calculates the cell-edge regions for CoMP by comparing the cell-edge margin with the difference between the best server RSRP and the second best server RSRP belonging to the same CoMP set. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For CoMP, the definition of co-channel cells is the same as that of intra-frequency cells according to the 3GPP: cells using frequency channels with the same centre frequency irrespective of their channel widths. You can define groups of cells that can coordinate with each other, i.e., CoMP sets, as well as the CoMP mode applicable to each CoMP set in the CoMP sets definition tables. To create CoMP sets: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the LTE Transmitters folder and select Cells > CoMP Sets > Open Table from the context menu. The CoMP Sets table appears. 2. In the CoMP Sets table, enter one CoMP set per row. This table lists the CoMP sets that exist in your document and shows the number of cells that belong to each CoMP set. For each CoMP set, you can define: • • • • • •

•

Name: The name of the CoMP set. CoMP Transmission Set Size (DL): The maximum number of CoMP cells that can be coordinated in the downlink. CoMP Reception Set Size (UL): The maximum number of CoMP cells that can be coordinated in the uplink. CoMP Mode (DL): The CoMP scheme used by the CoMP set in the downlink. CoMP Mode (UL): The CoMP scheme used by the CoMP set in the uplink. CoMP Collision Probability (DL): For downlink coordinated scheduling, the graph of resource block collision probabilities as a function of the combined average downlink traffic loads of all the coordinated cells. If empty, the resource block collision probabilities are considered to be the same as the combined average downlink traffic loads of the coordinated cells. CoMP Collision Probability (UL): For uplink coordinated scheduling, the graph of resource block collision probabilities as a function of the combined average uplink traffic loads of all the coordinated cells. If empty, the resource block collision probabilities are considered to be the same as the combined average uplink traffic loads of the coordinated cells. If you delete a CoMP set in this table, all the corresponding records in the Cell-to-CoMP Set Mappings table will also be deleted.

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To define cells belonging to CoMP groups: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the LTE Transmitters folder and select Cells > CoMP Sets > Cell-to-Set Mappings from the context menu. The Cell-to-CoMP Set Mappings table appears. 2. In the Cell-to-CoMP Set Mappings table, enter one cell-to-CoMP set mapping per row. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. To add a cell to a CoMP set: a. Select the name of the cell that you want to add to a CoMP set from the list in the Member Cell column. b. Select the name of an existing CoMP set from the list in the CoMP Set column. c. Press Enter or click outside of the row being edited. The cell is added to the selected set. In the Cell-to-CoMP Set Mappings table, the following columns are available for information: CoMP Transmission Set Size (DL), CoMP Reception Set Size (UL), CoMP Mode (DL), CoMP Mode (UL), CoMP Collision Probability (DL), CoMP Collision Probability (UL). You can edit these values in the CoMP Sets table as described below. To remove a cell from a CoMP set: •

Delete the row containing the cell-to-set name mapping. • •

Only cells of type LTE-A PCell can perform coordinated multipoint transmission and reception (CoMP). Even if you delete the cell-to-CoMP set mapping records in this table, the associated CoMP set is not deleted in the CoMP Sets table. To delete a CoMP set permanently, you must also delete it in the CoMP Sets table.

11.2.7.3 Adding Cells to a Group From the Network Explorer You can add cells to a group by selecting the corresponding transmitters from the Network explorer. To add cells to a group: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the LTE Transmitters and right-click a transmitter or a transmitters folder whose cells you want to add to a group. The context menu appears. To add cells to a carrier aggregation group: a. Select Cells > Carrier Aggregation Groups > Add Cells to a Group from the context menu. A dialog box appears. b. Select the name of the carrier aggregation group from the dialog box. You can create a new group by entering a name in the list instead of selecting the name from the list. The cells of the selected transmitter will be added to the new group.

c. Click OK. The cells are added to the selected group. To add cells to a CoMP set: a. Select Cells > CoMP Sets > Add Cells to a Set from the context menu. A dialog box appears. b. Select the name of the CoMP set from the dialog box. c. Click OK. The cells are added to the selected CoMP set.

11.2.7.4 Adding Cells to a Group From the Map Window You can add cells to a group by selecting the corresponding transmitters from the map window. To add cells to a carrier aggregation group: 1. In the map window, right-click the transmitter whose cells you want to add to a carrier aggregation group. The context menu appears. 2. Select Cells > Add Cells to a CA Group from the context menu. A dialog box appears. 3. Select the name of the group from the dialog box.

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You can create a new group by entering a name in the list instead of selecting the name from the list. The cells of the selected transmitter will be added to the new group.

4. Click OK. The cells of the selected transmitter are added to the group. To add cells to a CoMP set: 1. In the map window, right-click the transmitter whose cells you want to add to a CoMP set. The context menu appears. 2. Select Cells > Add Cells to a CoMP Set from the context menu. A dialog box appears. 3. Select the name of the CoMP set from the dialog box. 4. Click OK. The cells of the selected transmitter are added to the CoMP set.

11.2.7.5 Adding Cells to a Group Using a Zone You can add the cells contained in a zone to a group. To add the cells contained in a zone to a carrier aggregation group: 1. In the Geo explorer, right-click the filtering, computation, focus, printing, or geographic export zone, or a hot spot. The context menu appears. 2. Select Add > Add Cells to a CA Group from the context menu. A dialog box appears. 3. Select the name of the group from the dialog box. You can create a new group by entering a name in the list instead of selecting the name from the list. The cells of the selected transmitter will be added to the new group.

4. Click OK. The cells contained in the zone are added to the selected group. To add the cells contained in a zone to a CoMP set: 1. In the Geo explorer, right-click the filtering, computation, focus, printing, or geographic export zone, or a hot spot. The context menu appears. 2. Select Add > Add Cells to a CoMP Set from the context menu. A dialog box appears. 3. Select the name of the CoMP Set from the dialog box. 4. Click OK. The cells contained in the zone are added to the selected CoMP set.

11.2.7.6 Using the Find on Map Tool to Display Cell Groups You can search for cell groups using the Find on Map tool. To find a cell group using Find on Map: 1. Select Tools > Find on Map. The Find on Map window appears. 2. To find a carrier aggregation group: a. From the Find list, select "Carrier Aggregation Group." b. In Group, either select a carrier aggregation cell group from the list or enter a group name. 3. To find a CoMP set: a. From the Find list, select "CoMP Set." b. In Set, either select a CoMP set from the list or enter a CoMP set name. 4. Click Search. Transmitters whose cells belong to the cell group you selected are displayed in red in the map window and are listed under Results in the Find on Map window. Other transmitters are displayed in grey in the map window. If you have a coverage prediction by transmitter calculated and displayed on the map, transmitter coverage areas are coloured according to the search results. The coverage footprint of the cell group is clearly visible. For information on coverage predictions by transmitter, see "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter" on page 877. To restore the initial transmitter colours, click the Reset Display button in the Find on Map window.

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11.2.8 Creating Repeaters A repeater receives, amplifies, and re-transmits the radiated or conducted RF carrier both in downlink and uplink. It has a donor side and a server side. The donor side receives the signal from a donor transmitter, repeater, or remote antenna. This signal can be carried by different types of links such as radio link or microwave link. The server side re-transmits the received signal. When Atoll models LTE repeaters, the modelling focuses on: • •

The additional coverage these systems provide to transmitters in the downlink. The noise rise generated at the donor transmitter by the repeater. In calculations, repeaters are transparent to the donor transmitters and the served users. For example, smart antennas at donor transmitters target the served users directly and not the repeater that covers the users. This results in a combined signal level received from the transmitter using the smart antenna and from the repeater. If this approach does not match how your equipment works, you must not assign smart antennas to transmitters with repeaters and vice versa. This is also true for MIMO.

Repeaters are defined in the Repeaters table. Each repeater is assigned repeater equipment with specific noise, gain, and power characteristics, which are specified in the Repeater Equipment table. This section covers the following topics: • • • • • •

"Repeater Properties" on page 866 "Opening the Repeaters Table" on page 868 "Creating and Modifying Repeater Equipment" on page 868 "Placing a Repeater on the Map" on page 869 "Modifying the Properties of a Repeater" on page 869 "Tips for Updating Repeater Parameters" on page 869. Atoll assumes that all carriers from the LTE donor transmitter are amplified.

11.2.8.1 Repeater Properties You can edit the properties of a repeater in the repeater Properties dialog box. General Tab •

Name: Specify the Name of the repeater. By default, repeaters are named "SiteX_Y_RepZ" where "X" is the donor site number, "Y" the donor transmitter number, and "Z" a number assigned to the repeater when it was created. •

•

• • •

•

Donor: Select the donor of the repeater, which can be a transmitter, a remote antenna, or another repeater. Click Browse to access the Properties of the donor. Site: Specify the site on which the repeater is located. Click Browse to access the Properties of the site. Shared antenna: Specify the identifier (coverage side) of the transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas that are located at the same site or on sites with the same position and that share an antenna. The identifier must be the same for all such transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas. When changes are made to the position offset (Dx, Dy), azimuth, antenna height, or mechanical tilt of one antenna, Atoll automatically synchronises the same changes to all other transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas defined as having a shared antenna. Antenna position: If the repeater is not located exactly on the site, you can specify its location. •

• •

866

If the donor is a remote antenna or another repeater, then "RepZ" is preceded by "RemA_" or "RepB_" where "A" and "B" identify the donor remote antenna and the donor repeater. In Multi-RAT documents, a repeater’s name is "SiteX_T_Y_RepZ" where "T" stands for the technology (either GSM, UMTS, or LTE)..

Relative to site: Select this option to specify the position of the repeater relative to the site itself and then enter the Dx and Dy offsets. • Coordinates: Select this option to specify the position of the repeater by its X and Y absolute coordinates. Equipment: Select an equipment from the list. Click Browse to access the Properties of the equipment. Amplifier Gain: Specify a gain for the amplifier. The amplifier gain is used in the link budget to evaluate the repeater total gain.

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Donor Tab •

Donor-repeater link, specify the type of link between the donor and the repeater: •

Air: Select this option to specify an off-air repeater. Select a Propagation model and either enter the Propagation losses between the donor and the repeater or click Calculate to determine the actual propagation losses based on the propagation model. If you do not select a propagation model, the propagation losses between the donor transmitter and the repeater are calculated using the ITU 526-5 propagation model. When you create an off-air repeater, it is assumed that the link between the donor transmitter and the repeater has the same frequency as the network.

• •

Microwave link: Select this option to specify a microwave link. Specify the total Link losses for the link between the donor transmitter and the repeater. Optical fibre link: Select this option to specify an optical fibre link. Specify the total Fibre losses for the link between the donor transmitter and the repeater If you want to create a remote antenna, you must select Optical fibre link.

•

If you select Air under Donor-repeater link, enter the following information under Antenna: •

Model: Select the antenna model from the list. Click Browse to open the antenna properties. Click Select to open the Antenna Selection Assistant. This assistant lists all the antennas that match the currently selected physical antenna and whose minimum and maximum operating frequencies include the operating frequency of the transmitter. For more information, see "Assigning Antennas to Transmitters" on page 159

•

•

Height/ground: Specify the height of the antenna above the ground. This is added to the altitude of the site as given by the DTM. If the repeater is situated on a building, the height entered must include the height of the building. Mechanical Azimuth and Mechanical Downtilt: Specify additional antenna parameters. You can click the Calculate button to update the mechanical azimuth and mechanical downtilt values after changing the repeater donor side antenna height or the repeater location. If you choose another site or change site coordinates in the General tab, click Apply before clicking the Calculate button.

•

If you select Air under Donor-repeater link, enter the following information under Feeders: • •

Type: Select the type of feeder from the list. Click Browse to open the feeder properties. Length: Enter the Length of the repeater feeder cable for Transmission and Reception.

Coverage Side • •

Active: specify whether the repeater is active. Only active repeaters (displayed in red in the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer) are calculated. Total gain: Specify the total gain in downlink and uplink) or click Calculate to determine the actual gain in both directions. If you have modified any settings in the General, Donor Side, or Coverage Side tabs, click Apply before clicking the Calculate button. • •

In downlink, the total gain is applied to RS, SS, PBCH, PDCCH, and PDSCH powers and EPREs. In uplink, the total gain is applied to the PUCCH and PUSCH powers.

The total gain takes into account losses between the donor transmitter and the repeater, donor characteristics (donor antenna gain, reception feeder losses), amplifier gain, and coverage characteristics (coverage antenna gain, transmission feeder losses). •

Under Antennas, you can modify the following parameters: •

•

Height/ground: Specify the height of the antenna above the ground. This is added to the altitude of the site as provided by the DTM. If the repeater is located on a building, the height entered must include the height of building. Model: Select antenna model from the list. Click Browse to open the antenna properties. Click Select to open the Antenna Selection Assistant. This assistant lists all the antennas that match the currently selected physical antenna and whose minimum and maximum operating frequencies include the operating frequency of the transmitter. For more information, see "Assigning Antennas to Transmitters" on page 159

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Mechanical Azimuth, Mechanical Downtilt, Electrical Azimuth, Electrical Downtilt, and Additional electrical downtilt: Specify the additional antenna parameters. Secondary antennas: Select one or more secondary antennas in the Antenna column and enter their Azimuth, Mechanical downtilt, Additional electrical downtilt, and % Power. • • •

•

•

The Additional electrical downtilt can be made available through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75.

Under Feeders, specify the following settings: • Type: Select a type of feeder from the list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the feeder. • Enter the Length of the feeder cable at Transmission and at Reception. Under Losses, the Loss related to repeater noise rise is displayed and you can specify any additional Misc. Losses in dB for Transmission and Reception.

Propagation Tab Repeaters are taken into account during calculations. Therefore, you must specify their propagation parameters. On the Propagation tab, you can modify the following: the Propagation model, Radius, and Resolution for both the Main matrix and the Extended matrix. By default, the propagation characteristics of the repeater (model, calculation radius, and grid resolution) are the same as those of the donor transmitter. For information on propagation models, see "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187.

11.2.8.2 Opening the Repeaters Table IThe characteristics of each repeater are stored in the Repeaters table. To open the Repeaters table: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the LTE Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 2. Select Repeaters > Open Table from the context menu. The Repeaters table appears. If you have data in table form, either in another Atoll document or in a spreadsheet, you can copy this data and paste it into the Repeaters table in your current Atoll document to create several repeaters. The table you copy data from must have the same column layout as the table you are pasting data into. You can also use this method to create a large number of repeaters in a single operation. For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83.

11.2.8.3 Creating and Modifying Repeater Equipment You can define the repeater equipment that can be assigned to repeaters in the network. To create or modify repeater equipment: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Equipment folder, right-click Repeater Equipment, and select Open Table from the context menu. The Repeater Equipment table appears. 2. Specify the following settings in an existing record or in a new row marked with the New row icon (

):

a. Enter a Name and Manufacturer for the new equipment. b. Enter a Noise figure (dB). The repeater causes a rise in noise at the donor transmitter, so the noise figure is used to calculate the UL loss to be added to the donor transmitter UL losses. The noise figure must be a positive value. c. Enter minimum and maximum repeater amplification gains in the Min. gain and Max gain columns. These parameters enable Atoll to ensure that the user-defined amplifier gain is consistent with the limits of the equipment if there are any. d. Enter a Gain increment. Atoll uses the increment value when you increase or decrease the repeater amplifier gain by using the buttons to the right of the Amplifier gain box ( ) on the General tab of the repeater Properties dialog box. e. Enter the maximum power that the equipment can transmit on the downlink in the Max downlink power column. This parameter enables Atoll to ensure that the downlink power after amplification does not exceed the limit of the equipment.

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f.

If necessary, enter a Max uplink power, an Internal delay and Comments. These fields are for information only and are not used in calculations.

11.2.8.4 Placing a Repeater on the Map In Atoll, you can create a repeater and place it using the mouse. When you create a repeater, you can add it to an existing site, or have Atoll automatically create a new site. Atoll supports cascading repeaters, in other words, repeaters that extend the coverage of another repeater or of a remote antenna. To create a repeater on the map with the mouse: 1. Select the donor transmitter, repeater, or remote antenna. You can select it from the LTE Transmitters folder in the Network explorer, or directly on the map. 2. Click the arrow next to New Repeater or Remote Antenna button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

3. Select Repeater from the menu. 4. Click the map to place the repeater. The repeater is placed on the map, represented by a symbol ( ) of the same colour as the donor transmitter, repeater, or remote antenna. If the repeater is inactive, it is displayed by an empty icon. By default, the repeater has the same azimuth as the donor. Its tip text and label display the same information as displayed for the donor. As well, its tip text identifies the repeater and the donor. In the explorer window, the repeater is found in the LTE Transmitters folder of the Network explorer under its donor transmitter, repeater, or remote antenna. For information on defining the properties of the new repeater, see "Modifying the Properties of a Repeater" on page 869. •

•

When the donor is a transmitter, you can see to which base station the repeater is connected by clicking it; Atoll displays a link to the donor transmitter. You can hide the link by clicking it again. When the donor is a repeater or a remote antenna, Atoll displays a spider-type link showing the entire chain down to the donor transmitter. The same spider-type link is displayed when you click any of the items belonging to the chain is clicked (i.e., donor transmitter, any repeater, or any remote antenna).

11.2.8.5 Modifying the Properties of a Repeater You can edit repeaters in the Repeater Properties dialog box. To define the properties of a repeater: 1. Right-click the repeater either directly on the map, or in the Repeaters table (for information on opening the Repeaters table, see "Opening the Repeaters Table" on page 868), and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. Edit the properties of the repeater as described in "Repeater Properties" on page 866. 3. Click OK.

11.2.8.6 Tips for Updating Repeater Parameters Atoll provides you with a few shortcuts that you can use to change certain repeater parameters: • •

You can update the calculated azimuth and downtilt of the donor-side antennas of all repeaters by selecting Repeaters > Calculate Donor Side Azimuths and Tilts from the Transmitters context menu. You can update the UL and DL total gains of all repeaters by selecting Repeaters > Calculate Gains from the Transmitters context menu. You can prevent Atoll from updating the UL and DL total gains of selected repeaters by creating a custom Boolean field named "FreezeTotalGain" in the Repeaters table and setting the value of the field to "True." Afterwards, when you select Repeaters > Calculate Gains from the Transmitters context menu, Atoll will only update the UL and DL total gains for repeaters with the custom field "FreezeTotalGain" set to "False."

• •

You can update the propagation losses of all off-air repeaters by selecting Repeaters > Calculate Donor Side Propagation Losses from the Transmitters context menu. You can select a repeater on the map and change its azimuth (see "Changing the Azimuth of the Antenna Using the Mouse" on page 57) or its position relative to the site (see "Changing the Antenna Position Relative to the Site Using the Mouse" on page 58).

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11.2.9 Creating Remote Antennas Atoll allows you to create remote antennas to position antennas at locations that would normally require long runs of feeder cable. A remote antenna is connected to the base station with an optical fibre. Remote antennas allow you to ensure radio coverage in an area without a new base station. In Atoll, the remote antenna should be connected to a base station that does not have any antennas. It is assumed that a remote antenna, as opposed to a repeater, does not have any equipment and generates no amplification gain nor noise. In certain cases, you may want to model a remote antenna with equipment or a remote antenna connected to a base station that has antennas. This can be done by modelling a repeater. For information on creating a repeater, see "Creating Repeaters" on page 866. In calculations, remote antennas are transparent to the donor transmitters and the served users. For example, smart antennas at donor transmitters target the served users directly and not the remote antenna that covers the users. This results in a combined signal level received from the transmitter using the smart antenna and from the remote antenna. If this approach does not match how your equipment works, you must not assign smart antennas to transmitters with remote antennas and vice versa. This is also true for MIMO. This section covers the following topics: • • • •

"Opening the Remote Antennas Table" on page 871 "Placing a Remote Antenna on the Map Using the Mouse" on page 872 "Modifying the Properties of a Remote Antenna" on page 872 "Tips for Updating Remote Antenna Parameters" on page 872.

11.2.9.1 Remote Antenna Properties You can edit the properties of a remote antenna in the Remote Antenna Properties dialog box. General Tab •

Name: You can change the Name of the remote antenna. By default, remote antennas are named "SiteX_Y_RepZ" where "X" is the donor site number, "Y" the donor transmitter number, and "Z" a number assigned to the remote antenna when it was created. •

•

• • •

•

If the donor is a remote antenna or another repeater, then "RepZ" is preceded by "RemA_" or "RepB_" where "A" and "B" identify the donor remote antenna and the donor repeater. In Multi-RAT documents, a remote antennas are named "SiteX_T_Y_RepZ" where "T" stands for the technology (either GSM, UMTS, or LTE)..

Donor: Specify whether the donor of the remote antenna is a transmitter, another remote antenna, or a repeater. Click Browse to access the Properties of the donor. Site: Specify the site on which the remote antenna is located. Click Browse to access the Properties of the site. Shared antenna: Specify the identifier (coverage side) of the transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas that are located at the same site or on sites with the same position and that share an antenna. The identifier must be the same for all such transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas. When changes are made to the position offset (Dx, Dy), azimuth, antenna height, or mechanical tilt of one antenna, Atoll automatically synchronises the same changes to all other transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas defined as having a shared antenna. Antenna position: If the remote antenna is not located exactly on the site, you can specify its location. • •

Relative to site: Select this option to specify the position of the remote antenna relative to the site itself and then enter the Dx and Dy offsets. Coordinates: Select this option to specify the position of the remote antenna by its X and Y absolute coordinates. Remote antennas do not have assigned equipment.

Donor Tab •

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Donor-repeater link: specify Optical fibre link. Specify the total Fibre losses for the link between the donor transmitter and the repeater

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For remote antennas, you must select Optical fibre link. Do not select Air or Microwave link.

Coverage Side Tab • •

Active: Specify whether the remote antenna is active. Only active remote antennas (displayed in red in the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer) are calculated. Total gain: Specify the total gain (in downlink and uplink). You can click Calculate to determine the actual gain in both directions. If you have modified any settings in the General, Donor Side, or Coverage Side tabs, click Apply before clicking the Calculate button. • •

In downlink, the total gain is applied to RS, SS, PBCH, PDCCH, and PDSCH powers and EPREs. In uplink, the total gain is applied to the PUCCH and PUSCH powers.

The total gain takes into account losses between the donor transmitter and the remote antenna, donor characteristics (donor antenna gain, reception feeder losses), amplifier gain, and coverage characteristics (coverage antenna gain, transmission feeder losses). •

Under Antennas, you can modify the following parameters: •

•

Height/ground: Specify the height of the antenna above the ground. This is added to the altitude of the site as provided by the DTM. If the remote antenna is located on a building, the height entered must include the height of building. Model: Select an antenna model from the list. Click Browse to access the antenna properties. Click Select to open the Antenna Selection Assistant. This assistant lists all the antennas that match the currently selected physical antenna and whose minimum and maximum operating frequencies include the operating frequency of the transmitter. For more information, see "Assigning Antennas to Transmitters" on page 159

• •

Mechanical Azimuth, Mechanical Downtilt, Electrical Azimuth, Electrical Downtilt, and Additional electrical downtilt: Specify the corresponding additional antenna parameters. Secondary antennas: Select one or more secondary antennas in the Antenna column and enter their Azimuth, Mechanical downtilt, Additional electrical downtilt, and % Power. • • •

•

•

The Additional electrical downtilt can be made available through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75.

Under Feeders, specify the following settings: • Type: Select a type of feeder from the list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the feeder. • Enter the Length of the feeder cable at Transmission and at Reception. Under Losses, the Loss related to repeater noise rise is displayed and you can specify any additional Misc. Losses in dB for Transmission and Reception.

Propagation Tab Remote antennas are taken into account during calculations in the same way as transmitters. Therefore, you must specify their propagation parameters. On the Propagation tab, you can modify the Propagation model, Radius, and Resolution for both the Main matrix and the Extended matrix. By default, the propagation characteristics of the remote antenna (model, calculation radius, and grid resolution) are the same as those of the donor transmitter. For information on propagation models, see "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187.

11.2.9.2 Opening the Remote Antennas Table The remote antennas and their defining parameters are stored in the Remote Antennas table. To open the Remote Antennas table: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the LTE Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 2. Select Remote Antennas > Open Table from the context menu. The Remote Antennas table opens.

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If you have data in table form, either in another Atoll document or in a spreadsheet, you can copy this data and paste it into the Remote Antennas table in your current Atoll document to create several repeaters. The table you copy data from must have the same column layout as the table you are pasting data into. You can also use this method to create a large number of remote antennas in a single operation. For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83.

11.2.9.3 Placing a Remote Antenna on the Map Using the Mouse In Atoll, you can create a remote antenna and place it using the mouse. When you create a remote antenna, you can add it to an existing base station without antennas, or have Atoll automatically create a new site. To create a remote antenna on the map with the mouse: 1. Select the donor transmitter. You can select it from the LTE Transmitters folder in the Network explorer, or directly on the map. Ensure that the remote antenna’s donor transmitter does not have any antennas.

2. Click the arrow next to New Repeater or Remote Antenna button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

3. Select Remote Antenna from the menu. 4. Click the map to place the remote antenna. The remote antenna is placed on the map, represented by the same symbol and colour as the donor transmitter. If the remote antenna is inactive, it is displayed by an empty icon. By default, the remote antenna has the same azimuth as the donor transmitter. Its tip text and label display the same information as displayed for the donor transmitter. As well, its tip text identifies the remote antenna and the donor transmitter. For information on defining the properties of the new remote antenna, see "Modifying the Properties of a Remote Antenna" on page 872. •

•

When the donor is a transmitter, you can see to which base station the repeater is connected by clicking it; Atoll displays a link to the donor transmitter. You can hide the link by clicking it again. When the donor is a repeater or a remote antenna, Atoll displays a spider-type link showing the entire chain down to the donor transmitter. The same spider-type link is displayed when you click any of the items belonging to the chain is clicked (i.e., donor transmitter, any repeater, or any remote antenna).

11.2.9.4 Modifying the Properties of a Remote Antenna 1. Right-click the repeater either directly on the map, or in the Remote Antennas table (for information on opening the Remote Antennas table, see "Opening the Remote Antennas Table" on page 871), and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. Edit the properties of the repeater as described in "Remote Antenna Properties" on page 870. 3. Click OK.

11.2.9.5 Tips for Updating Remote Antenna Parameters Atoll provides you with a few shortcuts that you can use to change certain remote antenna parameters: •

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You can update the UL and DL total gains of all remote antennas by selecting Remote Antennas > Calculate Gains from the Transmitters context menu.

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You can prevent Atoll from updating the UL and DL total gains of selected remote antennas by creating a custom Boolean field named "FreezeTotalGain" in the Remote Antennas table and setting the value of the field to "True." Afterwards, when you select Remote Antennas > Calculate Gains from the Transmitters context menu, Atoll will only update the UL and DL total gains for remote antennas with the custom field "FreezeTotalGain" set to "False." •

You can select a remote antenna on the map and change its azimuth (see "Changing the Azimuth of the Antenna Using the Mouse" on page 57) or its position relative to the site (see "Changing the Antenna Position Relative to the Site Using the Mouse" on page 58).

11.2.10 Creating a Relay Node Relay Nodes (RN) are low power base stations that provide enhanced coverage and capacity at cell edges and traffic hotspots. Relay nodes can also be used to connect to remote areas without a fibre backhaul connection. Relay nodes are connected to the donor eNB (DeNB) via a radio interface Un which is an extension of the E-UTRAN air interface Uu. The donor cell provides LTE-based radio backhaul to its relay nodes, which means that the donor cell’s radio resources are shared between its served users and its relay nodes. When Uu and Un use different frequencies the relay node is referred to as a Type 1a RN. Uu and Un of Type 1 relay nodes use the same frequencies. Atoll allows you to create relay nodes connected to donor cells through the LTE air interface. Apart from the off-air backhaul link with the donor cell, relay nodes are independent LTE cells. This section covers the following topics: • •

"Defining a Relay Link" on page 873 "Creating Several Relay Links" on page 873

11.2.10.1 Defining a Relay Link Apart from the off-air backhaul link with the donor cell, relay nodes are independent LTE base stations. This section describes the relay-to-donor backhaul parameters. For more information on the definition of LTE base stations, see "Definition of an LTE Base Station" on page 845. To define the backhaul properties of a relay node: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Sites folder, right-click the relay node site, and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. On the LTE tab, click the Relay Link button. The Relay Link dialog box appears. You can modify the following parameters: • • •

Donor cell: Select the donor cell of the relay node. Propagation model: Select a Propagation model to use for the relay-to-donor backhaul link. Under Antenna, you can set the following parameters: • Height/ground: The Height/ground box gives the height of the antenna above the ground. This is added to the altitude of the site as given by the DTM. If the realy node is situated on a building, the height entered must include the height of the building. •

• •

Model: The type of antenna is visible in the Model list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the antenna. Click the Select button to open the Antenna Selection Assistant. For more information, see "Assigning Antennas to Transmitters" on page 159 Mechanical Azimuth and Mechanical Downtilt show the orientation of the antenna towards the donor cell. Electrical Azimuth and Electrical Downtilt display additional antenna information. You can click the Calculate Angles button to update the mechanical azimuth and mechanical downtilt values.

•

Under Feeders, you can set the following parameters: • •

Select a Type of feeder from the list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the feeder. Enter the Length of the feeder cable at Transmission and at Reception.

11.2.10.2 Creating Several Relay Links In Atoll, the backhaul characteristics of each relay node are stored in the Relay Links table. If you have data in table form, either in another Atoll document or in a spreadsheet, you can copy this data and paste it into the Relay Links table in your current Atoll document.

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To paste the information into the Relay Links table: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Sites folder, and select Relay Links > Open Table from the context menu. The Relay Links table appears. 2. Copy the data from the source document and paste it into the Relay Links table. The table you copy data from must have the same column layout as the table you are pasting data into.

For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83.

11.2.11 Studying LTE Base Stations You can study one or several base stations to test the effectiveness of the set parameters. Coverage predictions on groups of base stations can take a large amount of time and consume a lot of computer resources. Restricting your coverage prediction to the base station you are currently working on allows you get the results quickly. You can expand your coverage prediction to a number of base stations once you have optimised the settings for each individual base station. Before studying a base station, you must assign a propagation model. The propagation model takes the radio and geographic data into account and calculates propagation losses along the transmitter-receiver path. This allows you to predict the received signal level at any given point. Any coverage prediction you make on a base station uses the propagation model to calculate its results. For more information, see "Preparing Base Stations for Calculations" on page 186. This section covers the following topics: • • • • • • •

"LTE Prediction Properties" on page 874 "Signal Level Coverage Predictions" on page 875 "LTE Coverage Predictions" on page 879 "Displaying Coverage Prediction Results" on page 893 "Printing and Exporting Coverage Prediction Results" on page 894 "Analysing a Coverage Prediction Using the Point Analysis" on page 894 "Multi-point Analyses" on page 899

11.2.11.1 LTE Prediction Properties You can configure the following parameters in the Properties dialog box. The General Tab The General tab allows you to specify the following settings for the prediction: • •

Name: Specify the assigned Name of the coverage prediction. Resolution: Specify the display resolution. To improve memory consumption and optimise the calculation times, you should set the display resolutions of coverage predictions according to the precision required. The following table lists the levels of precision that are usually sufficient: Size of the Coverage Prediction

Display Resolution

City Centre

5m

City

20 m

County

50 m

State

100 m

Country

Dependent on the size of the country

The resolution specified here is only for display purposes. The calculated resolution is independently specified in the propagation settings. For more information, see "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187.

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A read-only Unique ID is generated when you create a new coverage prediction. This ID can later be found between the and tags in the following files: • •

• •

"studies.XML" file created in the installation folder if at least one coverage prediction was saved using the Save as Customised Prediction command. ".XML" files (one per prediction) created in the following folder if coverage predictions were calculated with Display type = "Value intervals": C:\\.studies\{}

Receiver height: This displays the height of the receiver defined in the Calculation Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box Comments: Specify an optional description of comment for the prediction. Under Display Configuration, you can create a Filter to select which sites to display in the results. For information on filtering, see "Filtering Data" on page 99. The Group By and Sort buttons are not available when making a "global" coverage prediction (for example, a signal level coverage prediction).

The Conditions Tab The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. • •

At the top of the Conditions tab, you can specify the range to be considered for the current prediction. Server: Select either All, Best Signal Level or Second Best Signal Level: • •

Select All to consider all servers. Select Best Signal Level or Second Best Signal Level to also specify an Overlap margin. Selecting All or Best Signal Level will give you the same results because Atoll displays the results of the best server in either case. Selecting Best Signal Level requires a longer calculation time.

•

• •

Shadowing taken into account: Select this option to consider shadowing in the prediction. For more information, see "Modelling Shadowing in LTE" on page 974. If you select this option, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability. Indoor coverage: Select this option to consider indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. Channel: Select All or select one or several channels to carry out the prediction for the best channel among several selected channels. For any transmitter, the best channel is the one whose cell has the highest maximum power, reference signal power, or reference signal EPRE depending on the related Atoll.ini options. For more information, see the Administrator Manual.

For more information, see the following sections: • •

"Signal Level Coverage Predictions" on page 875 "LTE Coverage Predictions" on page 879

The Display Tab On the Display tab, you can modify how the results of the coverage prediction will be displayed. •

Under Display Type, select "Value Intervals." • Under Field, select "Best Signal Level." "Best Signal Level." Selecting "All" or "Best Signal Level" on the Conditions tab will give you the same results because Atoll displays the results of the best server in either case. Selecting "Best Signal Level" necessitates, however, the longest time for calculation. • You can change the value intervals and their displayed colour. For information on changing display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. • You can create tip text with information about the coverage prediction by clicking the Browse button next to the Tip Text box and selecting the fields you want to display in the tip text. • You can select the Add to Legend check box to add the displayed value intervals to the legend. If you change the display properties of a coverage prediction after you have calculated it, you can make the coverage prediction invalid. You will then have to recalculate the coverage prediction to obtain valid results.

11.2.11.2 Signal Level Coverage Predictions Atoll offers a series of standard coverage predictions based on the measured signal level at each pixel; other factors, such as interference, are not taken into consideration. Once you have created and calculated a coverage prediction, you can use the coverage prediction’s context menu to make the coverage prediction into a customised prediction which will appear in the Prediction Types dialog box. You can also select Duplicate from the coverage prediction’s context menu to create a copy. By duplicating an existing prediction that has the

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parameters you want to study, you can create a new coverage prediction more quickly than by creating a coverage prediction. If you clone a coverage prediction, by selecting Clone from the context menu, you can create a copy of the coverage prediction with the calculated coverage. You can then change the display, providing that the selected parameter does not invalidate the calculated coverage prediction. You can also save the list of all defined coverage predictions in a user configuration, allowing you or other users to load it into a new Atoll document. When you save the list in a user configuration, the parameters of all existing coverage predictions are saved; not just the parameters of calculated or displayed ones. For information on exporting user configurations, see "Saving a User Configuration" on page 104. The following standard coverage predictions are explained in this section: • • • •

"Studying Signal Level Coverage for a Single Base Station" on page 876 "Making a Coverage Prediction by Signal Level" on page 877 "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter" on page 877 "Making a Coverage Prediction on Overlapping Zones" on page 878.

Coverage predictions specific to LTE are covered in "LTE Coverage Predictions" on page 879.

11.2.11.2.1

Studying Signal Level Coverage for a Single Base Station While you are building your radio-planning project, you might want to check the coverage of a new base station without having to calculate the entire project. You can do this by selecting the site with its transmitters and then creating a coverage prediction. This section explains how to calculate the signal level coverage of a single base station. A signal level coverage prediction displays the signal of the best server for each pixel of the area studied. For a transmitter with more than one cell, the signal level is calculated for the cell with the highest reference signal power. You can use the same procedure to study the signal level coverage of several base stations by grouping the transmitters. For information on grouping transmitters, see "Grouping Data Objects by Property" on page 95. To study the signal level coverage of a single base station: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the LTE Transmitters folder and select Group By > Sites from the context menu. The transmitters are now displayed in the LTE Transmitters folder by the site on which they are situated. If you want to study only sites by their status, at this step you could group them by status.

2. Specify the propagation parameters as explained in "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187. 3. In the LTE Transmitters folder, right-click the group of transmitters that you want to study and select Calculations > Create a New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. The Prediction Types dialog box lists the coverage prediction types available. They are divided into Standard Predictions, supplied with Atoll, and Customised Prediction. Unless you have already created some customised predictions, the Customised Prediction list will be empty. 4. Select Coverage by Signal Level (DL) and click OK. The Coverage by Signal Level (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 5. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "LTE Prediction Properties" on page 874. The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. 6. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button ( ) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window. The signal level coverage prediction can be found in the Predictions folder in the Network explorer. Atoll automatically locks the results of a coverage prediction as soon as it is calculated, as indicated by the icon ( ) beside the coverage prediction in the Predictions folder. When you click the Calculate button ( ), Atoll only calculates unlocked coverage predictions ( ).

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11.2.11.2.2

Making a Coverage Prediction by Signal Level A coverage prediction by signal level allows you to predict coverage zones by the transmitter signal strength at each pixel. You can base the coverage on the signal level, path loss, or total losses within a defined range. For a transmitter with more than one cell, the coverage is calculated for the cell with the highest reference signal power. To make a coverage prediction by signal level: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Coverage by Signal Level (DL) and click OK. The Coverage by Signal Level (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "LTE Prediction Properties" on page 874. The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. 4. Click the Display tab. If you choose to display the results by best signal level, the coverage prediction results will be in the form of thresholds. If you choose to display the results by signal level, the coverage prediction results will be arranged according to transmitter. For information on adjusting the display, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window (see Figure 11.4).

Figure 11.4: Coverage prediction by signal level

11.2.11.2.3

Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter A coverage prediction by transmitter allows the user to predict coverage zones by transmitter at each pixel. You can base the coverage on the signal level, path loss, or total losses within a defined range. For a transmitter with more than one cell, the coverage is calculated for the cell with the highest reference signal power. To make a coverage prediction by transmitter: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Coverage by Transmitter (DL) and click OK. The Coverage by Transmitter (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "LTE Prediction Properties" on page 874.

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The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. 4. Click the Display tab. For a coverage prediction by transmitter, the Display type "Discrete values" based on the Field "Transmitter" is selected by default. Each coverage zone will then be displayed with the same colour as that defined for each transmitter. For information on defining transmitter colours, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window (see Figure 11.5).

Figure 11.5: Coverage prediction by transmitter

11.2.11.2.4

Making a Coverage Prediction on Overlapping Zones Overlapping zones (dl) are composed of pixels that are, for a defined condition, covered by the signal of at least two transmitters. You can base a coverage prediction on overlapping zones on the signal level, path loss, or total losses within a defined range. For a transmitter with more than one cell, the coverage is calculated for the cell with the highest reference signal power. To make a coverage prediction on overlapping zones: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Overlapping zones (DL) and click OK. The Overlapping zones (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "LTE Prediction Properties" on page 874. The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. 4. Click the Display tab. For a coverage prediction on overlapping zones, the Display type "Value intervals" based on the Field "Number of servers" is selected by default. Each overlapping zone will then be displayed in a colour corresponding to the number of servers received per pixel. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: •

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Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately.

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•

OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window (see Figure 11.6).

Figure 11.6: Coverage prediction on overlapping zones

11.2.11.3 LTE Coverage Predictions LTE coverage predictions available in Atoll are used to analyse the effective signal levels, signal quality, and throughputs. For the purposes of these coverage predictions, each pixel is considered a non-interfering user with a defined service, mobility type, and terminal. For more information, see "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. The downlink interference received from different cells of the network depends on the cells’ frequency channel and physical cell IDs as well as their downlink traffic loads. The measure of uplink interference for each cell is provided by the uplink noise rise. If you have traffic maps, you can do a Monte Carlo simulation to determine the downlink traffic loads and the uplink noise rise values for a generated user distribution. If you do not have traffic maps, Atoll can calculate these coverage predictions using the downlink traffic loads and the uplink noise rise values defined for each cell. In this section, these coverage predictions are calculated using downlink traffic loads and the uplink noise rise values defined at the cell level. Before making a prediction, you must set the downlink traffic loads and the uplink noise rise, and the parameters that define the services and users. For more information, see "Setting Cell Loads and Noise Rise Values" on page 879. This section describes the coverage predictions that are available for analysing the effective signal level and signal quality. The following are explained: • • • • • • •

11.2.11.3.1

"Studying LTE-Specific Signal Levels, Best Servers, and Cell Edge Areas" on page 880. "Studying Interference and C/(I+N) Levels" on page 882. "Studying Downlink and Uplink Service Areas" on page 884. "Studying the Effective Service Area" on page 886. "Making a Coverage Prediction by Throughput" on page 888. "Making a Cumulated Throughput Coverage Prediction Using Simulation Results" on page 891. "Making a Coverage Prediction by Quality Indicator" on page 891.

Setting Cell Loads and Noise Rise Values If you are setting the traffic loads and the uplink noise rise for a single transmitter, you can set these parameters on the Cells tab of the transmitter’s Properties dialog box. However, you can set the traffic loads and the uplink noise rise for all the cells using the Cells table. To set the traffic loads and the uplink noise rise using the Cells table: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the LTE Transmitters folder. The context menu appears.

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3. Select Cells > Open Table from the context menu. The Cells table appears. 4. Enter a value in the following columns: • • • •

Traffic load (DL) (%) Cell-edge traffic ratio (DL) (%) UL noise rise (dB) ICIC UL noise rise (dB)

Although, you can also set a value for the Traffic load (UL) (%) column as an indication of cells’ uplink loads, this parameter is not used in the coverage prediction calculations. The measure of interference in the uplink is given by the uplink noise rise values. For a definition of the values, see "Cell Properties" on page 848. To enter the same values in one column for all cells in the table by copying the contents of one cell into other cells, you can use the Fill Down and Fill Up commands. For more information on working with tables in Atoll, see "Data Tables" on page 75.

11.2.11.3.2

Studying LTE-Specific Signal Levels, Best Servers, and Cell Edge Areas Downlink and uplink effective signal analysis coverage predictions predict the effective signal levels of different types of LTE signals, such as reference signals, SS, PBCH, PDCCH, PDSCH, and PUSCH, in the part of the network being studied. These predictions can also be used to predict the best servers and cell-edge areas for these servers. This section explains the effective signal analysis coverage predictions. Atoll determines the serving cell for each pixel using the standard cell selection mechanism (see the Technical Reference Guide). Then, depending on the prediction definition, it calculates the required effective signal or parameter. Pixels are coloured if the display threshold condition is fulfilled. To make an effective signal analysis coverage prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Effective Signal Analysis (DL) or Effective Signal Analysis (UL) and click OK. The coverage prediction’s Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "LTE Prediction Properties" on page 874. 4. Click the Conditions tab. a. Select "(Cells table)" from Load conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not based on load conditions taken from a simulation. The coverage prediction is calculated using the cell load that is stored in the cell properties. •

•

•

When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load conditions list. The Effective Signal Analysis (DL) and Effective Signal Analysis (UL) coverage predictions use load conditions to calculate interference for diversity mode selection if the SU-MIMO criterion, MU-MIMO criterion, or AAS criterion, in the Advanced Parameters dialog box of the LTE Network Settings, is based on C/(I+N). The uplink signal level calculation in Effective Signal Analysis (UL) coverage predictions also depends on the load conditions due to uplink power control.

b. Select the network Layers that you want the calculations to take into account. You can also calculate the prediction for all layers. c. Select the frequency Channels that you want the calculations to take into account. You can also calculate the prediction for all channels. d. Select the Cell type, LTE/LTE-A PCell or an LTE-A SCell, for which you want to calculate the coverage prediction. e. Select a Terminal, a Mobility type, and a Service. The Noise figure defined in the terminal type’s properties dialog box is used in the coverage prediction to determine the total noise in the downlink, and the Noise figure of the transmitter is used to determine the total noise in the uplink. For more information on services, terminals, mobility types, and reception equipment, see "Service and User Modelling" on page 241, and "Defining LTE Reception Equipment" on page 965, respectively. If the selected terminal supports CoMP, the coverage prediction considers the coordinated multipoint transmission and reception characteristics of the CoMP set definitions of the cells. •

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For coordinated scheduling, interference from coordinated CoMP cells is weighted by the CoMP collision probability.

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• • • f.

For coherent joint transmission, signals from CoMP servers are constructively combined resulting in an additive as well as probabilistic macro-diversity gain. For non-coherent joint transmission, the CoMP servers allocate resources to the CoMP user resulting in aggregated throughput. For dynamic point selection, a macro-diversity gain is calculated and applied to reduce the required shadowing margin. For more information, see the Technical Reference Guide.

If you want the coverage prediction to consider shadowing, select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. The shadowing margin is based on the C/I standard deviation.

g. You can also have the coverage prediction take Indoor coverage into consideration. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 5. Click the Display tab. a. From the Display type list of an Effective Signal Analysis (DL) coverage prediction, select "Value intervals" to display the coverage prediction by RSRP, signal levels, C/N levels, or cell edge margin, or select "Discrete values" to display the coverage prediction by transmitter, cell-edge areas, CoMP sets, or number of CoMP servers. b. From the Display type list of an Effective Signal Analysis (UL) coverage prediction, select "Value intervals" to display the coverage prediction by PUSCH & PUCCH signal level or C/N level, or select "Discrete values" to display the coverage prediction by CoMP sets or number of CoMP servers. For information on adjusting the display, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 6. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window (see Figure 11.7 and Figure 11.8).

Figure 11.7: PDSCH C/N coverage prediction

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Figure 11.8: PUSCH & PUCCH C/N coverage prediction

11.2.11.3.3

Studying Interference and C/(I+N) Levels Downlink and uplink coverage predictions by C/(I+N) level predict the interference levels and signal-to-interference levels in the part of the network being studied. Atoll determines the serving cell for each pixel from the selected layer, or all the layers when the prediction is calculated for the "Best" layer. Then, depending on the prediction definition, it calculates the interference from other cells, and finally calculates the C/(I+N). The pixel is coloured if the display threshold condition is fulfilled (in other words, if the C/(I+N) is higher than C/(I+N) threshold). 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. For more information on frequency bands, see "Defining Frequency Bands" on page 958. C/(I+N) in the downlink is calculated for different channels using their respective transmission powers and by calculating the interference received by the resource elements that correspond to those channels from interfering cells. Downlink C/(I+N) calculations are made using the main antenna, except for PDSCH C/(I+N) which can be calculated using the smart antenna equipment. C/(I+N) in the uplink is calculated using the terminal power calculated after power control and the uplink noise rise values stored either in the cell properties or in the selected simulation results. Enhanced inter-cell interference coordination (eICIC or time-domain ICIC) is performed for cells that have ABS patterns. In this case, interference calculation is based on the collisions between normal and blank subframes that are used by the different cells. Frequency domain inter-cell interference coordination is performed for cells that support static ICIC. In this case, interference calculation is based on the probabilities of collision between the cell-centre and cell-edge resources used by the different cells. To make a coverage prediction by C/(I+N) level: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Coverage by C/(I+N) Level (DL) or Coverage by C/(I+N) Level (UL) and click OK. The coverage prediction’s Properties dialog box appears. 3. Click the General tab. On the General tab, you can change the assigned Name of the coverage prediction, the Resolution, and you can add a Comment. The Receiver height corresponds to the height of the receiver defined in the Calculation Parameters tab of the LTE Network Settings Properties dialog box.

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A read-only Unique ID is generated when you create a new coverage prediction. This ID can later be found between the and tags in the following files: • •

"studies.XML" file created in the installation folder if at least one coverage prediction was saved using the Save as Customised Prediction command. ".XML" files (one per prediction) created in the following folder if coverage predictions were calculated with Display type = "Value intervals": C:\\.studies\{}

Under Display Configuration, you can create a Filter to select which sites to display in the results. For information on filtering, see "Filtering Data" on page 99. 4. Click the Conditions tab. On the Conditions tab: a. Select "(Cells table)" from Load conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not going to be based on load conditions taken from a simulation. Atoll will calculate the coverage prediction using the cell loads stored in the cell properties. When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load conditions list.

b. Select the network Layers that you want the calculations to take into account. You can also calculate the prediction for all layers. c. Select the frequency Channels that you want the calculations to take into account. You can also calculate the prediction for all channels. d. Select the Cell type, LTE/LTE-A PCell or an LTE-A SCell, for which you want to calculate the coverage prediction. e. Select a Terminal, a Mobility type, and a Service. The Noise figure defined in the terminal type’s properties dialog box is used in the coverage prediction to determine the total noise in the downlink, and the Noise figure of the transmitter is used to determine the total noise in the uplink. For more information on services, terminals, mobility types, and reception equipment, see "Service and User Modelling" on page 241, and "Defining LTE Reception Equipment" on page 965, respectively. If the selected terminal supports CoMP, the coverage prediction considers the coordinated multipoint transmission and reception characteristics of the CoMP set definitions of the cells. • • • • f.

For coordinated scheduling, interference from coordinated CoMP cells is weighted by the CoMP collision probability. For coherent joint transmission, signals from CoMP servers are constructively combined resulting in an additive as well as probabilistic macro-diversity gain. For non-coherent joint transmission, the CoMP servers allocate resources to the CoMP user resulting in aggregated throughput. For dynamic point selection, a macro-diversity gain is calculated and applied to reduce the required shadowing margin. For more information, see the Technical Reference Guide.

If you want the coverage prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. The shadowing margin is based on the C/I standard deviation.

g. You can also have the coverage prediction take Indoor coverage into consideration. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 5. Click the Display tab. 6. From the Display type list, select "Value intervals" to display the coverage prediction by RSRQ, RSSI, C/(I+N) levels, or total noise (I+N) levels. For information on adjusting the display, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. You can also display the uplink C/(I+N) for all frequency blocks, i.e., without uplink bandwidth reduction, by setting the Uplink bandwidth allocation target to Full bandwidth for the scheduler being used and then selecting the display option PUSCH & PUCCH C/(I+N) Level (UL). For more information on schedulers, see "Defining LTE Schedulers" on page 968. 7. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

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The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window (see Figure 11.9 and Figure 11.10).

Figure 11.9: Coverage prediction by PDSCH C/(I+N)

Figure 11.10: Coverage prediction by PUSCH & PUCCH C/(I+N)

11.2.11.3.4

Studying Downlink and Uplink Service Areas Downlink and uplink service area analysis coverage predictions calculate and display the LTE radio bearers based on C⁄(I+N) for each pixel. In coverage predictions, the downlink or uplink service areas are limited by the bearer selection thresholds of the highest and lowest bearers of the selected service. To make a coverage prediction on service area: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Service Area Analysis (DL) or Service Area Analysis (UL) and click OK. The coverage prediction’s Properties dialog box appears.

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3. Click the General tab. On the General tab, you can change the assigned Name of the coverage prediction, the Resolution, and you can add a Comment. The Receiver height corresponds to the height of the receiver defined in the Calculation Parameters tab of the LTE Network Settings Properties dialog box. A read-only Unique ID is generated when you create a new coverage prediction. This ID can later be found between the and tags in the following files: • •

"studies.XML" file created in the installation folder if at least one coverage prediction was saved using the Save as Customised Prediction command. ".XML" files (one per prediction) created in the following folder if coverage predictions were calculated with Display type = "Value intervals": C:\\.studies\{}

Under Display Configuration, you can create a Filter to select which sites to display in the results. For information on filtering, see "Filtering Data" on page 99. 4. Click the Conditions tab. On the Conditions tab: a. Select "(Cells table)" from Load conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not going to be based on load conditions taken from a simulation. Atoll will calculate the coverage prediction using the cell loads stored in the cell properties. When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load conditions list.

b. Select the network Layers that you want the calculations to take into account. You can also calculate the prediction for all layers. c. Select the frequency Channels that you want the calculations to take into account. You can also calculate the prediction for all channels. d. Select the Cell type, LTE/LTE-A PCell or an LTE-A SCell, for which you want to calculate the coverage prediction. e. Select a Terminal, a Mobility type, and a Service. The Noise figure defined in the terminal type’s properties dialog box is used in the coverage prediction to determine the total noise in the downlink, and the Noise figure of the transmitter is used to determine the total noise in the uplink. As well, the bearer selection for each pixel according to the C⁄(I+N) level is performed using the bearer selection thresholds defined in the reception equipment. This reception equipment is the one defined in the selected terminal for the downlink coverage predictions, and the one defined in the cell properties of the serving transmitter for the uplink coverage predictions. Mobility is used to index the bearer selection threshold graph to use. You can make Atoll use only the bearers for which selection thresholds are defined in both the terminal’s and the cell’s reception equipment by adding an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on services, terminals, mobility types, and reception equipment, see "Service and User Modelling" on page 241, and "Defining LTE Reception Equipment" on page 965, respectively. If the selected terminal supports CoMP, the coverage prediction considers the coordinated multipoint transmission and reception characteristics of the CoMP set definitions of the cells. • • • • f.

For coordinated scheduling, interference from coordinated CoMP cells is weighted by the CoMP collision probability. For coherent joint transmission, signals from CoMP servers are constructively combined resulting in an additive as well as probabilistic macro-diversity gain. For non-coherent joint transmission, the CoMP servers allocate resources to the CoMP user resulting in aggregated throughput. For dynamic point selection, a macro-diversity gain is calculated and applied to reduce the required shadowing margin. For more information, see the Technical Reference Guide.

If you want the coverage prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. The shadowing margin is based on the C/I standard deviation.

g. You can also have the coverage prediction take Indoor coverage into consideration. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 5. Click the Display tab.

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6. From the Display type list, select display by bearer or modulation. For information on adjusting the display, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 7. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window (see Figure 11.11 and Figure 11.12).

Figure 11.11: Downlink service area analysis display by bearer

Figure 11.12: Uplink service area analysis display by bearer

11.2.11.3.5

Studying the Effective Service Area The effective service area is the intersection zone between the uplink and downlink service areas. In other words, the effective service area prediction calculates where a service actually is available in both downlink and uplink. The service availability

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depends upon the bearer selection thresholds of the highest and lowest bearers defined in the properties of the service selected for the prediction. To make an effective service area coverage prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Effective Service Area Analysis (DL+UL) and click OK. The coverage prediction’s Properties dialog box appears. 3. Click the General tab. On the General tab, you can change the assigned Name of the coverage prediction, the Resolution, and you can add a Comment. The Receiver height corresponds to the height of the receiver defined in the Calculation Parameters tab of the LTE Network Settings Properties dialog box. A read-only Unique ID is generated when you create a new coverage prediction. This ID can later be found between the and tags in the following files: • •

"studies.XML" file created in the installation folder if at least one coverage prediction was saved using the Save as Customised Prediction command. ".XML" files (one per prediction) created in the following folder if coverage predictions were calculated with Display type = "Value intervals": C:\\.studies\{}

Under Display Configuration, you can create a Filter to select which sites to display in the results. For information on filtering, see "Filtering Data" on page 99. 4. Click the Conditions tab. On the Conditions tab: a. Select "(Cells table)" from Load conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not going to be based on load conditions taken from a simulation. Atoll will calculate the coverage prediction using the cell loads stored in the cell properties. When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load conditions list.

b. Select the network Layers that you want the calculations to take into account. You can also calculate the prediction for all layers. c. Select the frequency Channels that you want the calculations to take into account. You can also calculate the prediction for all channels. d. Select the Cell type, LTE/LTE-A PCell or an LTE-A SCell, for which you want to calculate the coverage prediction. e. Select a Terminal, a Mobility type, and a Service. The Noise figure defined in the terminal type’s properties dialog box is used in the coverage prediction to determine the total noise in the downlink, and the Noise figure of the transmitter is used to determine the total noise in the uplink. As well, the bearer selection for each pixel according to the C⁄(I+N) level is performed using the bearer selection thresholds defined in the reception equipment. This reception equipment is the one defined in the selected terminal for the downlink coverage predictions, and the one defined in the cell properties of the serving transmitter for the uplink coverage predictions. Mobility is used to index the bearer selection threshold graph to use. You can make Atoll use only the bearers for which selection thresholds are defined in both the terminal’s and the cell’s reception equipment by adding an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on services, terminals, mobility types, and reception equipment, see "Service and User Modelling" on page 241, and "Defining LTE Reception Equipment" on page 965, respectively. If the selected terminal supports CoMP, the coverage prediction considers the coordinated multipoint transmission and reception characteristics of the CoMP set definitions of the cells. • • • •

For coordinated scheduling, interference from coordinated CoMP cells is weighted by the CoMP collision probability. For coherent joint transmission, signals from CoMP servers are constructively combined resulting in an additive as well as probabilistic macro-diversity gain. For non-coherent joint transmission, the CoMP servers allocate resources to the CoMP user resulting in aggregated throughput. For dynamic point selection, a macro-diversity gain is calculated and applied to reduce the required shadowing margin. For more information, see the Technical Reference Guide.

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f. If you want the coverage prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. The shadowing margin is based on the C/I standard deviation. g. You can also have the coverage prediction take Indoor coverage into consideration. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 5. Click the Display tab. For an effective service area prediction, the Display type "Unique" is selected by default. The coverage prediction will display where a service is available in both downlink and uplink. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. When creating a coverage prediction by unique values, you can not export the values per pixel.

6. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

11.2.11.3.6

Making a Coverage Prediction by Throughput 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 cumulated cell throughputs if Monte Carlo simulation results are available. For more information on making cumulated cell throughput coverage predictions using simulation results, see "Making a Cumulated Throughput Coverage Prediction Using Simulation Results" on page 891. To make a coverage prediction by throughput: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Predictions folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 4. Select Coverage by Throughput (DL) or Coverage by Throughput (UL) and click OK. The coverage prediction’s Properties dialog box appears. 5. Click the General tab. On the General tab, you can change the assigned Name of the coverage prediction, the Resolution, and you can add a Comment. The Receiver height corresponds to the height of the receiver defined in the Calculation Parameters tab of the LTE Network Settings Properties dialog box. A read-only Unique ID is generated when you create a new coverage prediction. This ID can later be found between the and tags in the following files: • •

"studies.XML" file created in the installation folder if at least one coverage prediction was saved using the Save as Customised Prediction command. ".XML" files (one per prediction) created in the following folder if coverage predictions were calculated with Display type = "Value intervals": C:\\.studies\{}

Under Display Configuration, you can create a Filter to select which sites to display in the results. For information on filtering, see "Filtering Data" on page 99. 6. Click the Conditions tab. On the Conditions tab: a. Select "(Cells table)" from Load conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not going to be based on load conditions taken from a simulation. Atoll will calculate the coverage prediction using the cell loads stored in the cell properties. When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load conditions list.

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b. Select the network Layers that you want the calculations to take into account. You can also calculate the prediction for all layers. c. Select the frequency Channels that you want the calculations to take into account. You can also calculate the prediction for all channels. d. Select the Cell type, LTE/LTE-A PCell or an LTE-A SCell, for which you want to calculate the coverage prediction. For carrier aggregation, i.e., throughput aggregated over different carriers, select more than one Cell type. e. Select a Terminal, a Mobility type, and a Service. The Noise figure defined in the terminal type’s properties dialog box is used in the coverage prediction to determine the total noise in the downlink, and the Noise figure of the transmitter is used to determine the total noise in the uplink. As well, the bearer selection for each pixel according to the C⁄(I+N) level is performed using the bearer selection thresholds defined in the reception equipment. This reception equipment is the one defined in the selected terminal for the downlink coverage predictions, and the one defined in the cell properties of the serving transmitter for the uplink coverage predictions. Mobility is used to index the bearer selection threshold graph to use. You can make Atoll use only the bearers for which selection thresholds are defined in both the terminal’s and the cell’s reception equipment by adding an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on services, terminals, mobility types, and reception equipment, see "Service and User Modelling" on page 241, and "Defining LTE Reception Equipment" on page 965, respectively. If the selected terminal supports CoMP, the coverage prediction considers the coordinated multipoint transmission and reception characteristics of the CoMP set definitions of the cells. • • • • f.

For coordinated scheduling, interference from coordinated CoMP cells is weighted by the CoMP collision probability. For coherent joint transmission, signals from CoMP servers are constructively combined resulting in an additive as well as probabilistic macro-diversity gain. For non-coherent joint transmission, the CoMP servers allocate resources to the CoMP user resulting in aggregated throughput. For dynamic point selection, a macro-diversity gain is calculated and applied to reduce the required shadowing margin. For more information, see the Technical Reference Guide.

If you want the coverage prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. The shadowing margin is based on the C/I standard deviation.

g. You can also have the coverage prediction take Indoor coverage into consideration. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 7. Click the Display tab. 8. From the Display type list, select "Value intervals" to display the coverage prediction by peak RLC, effective RLC, or application throughputs, or select "Discrete values" to display the effective number of aggregated servers. For information on adjusting the display, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 9. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Atoll determines the total number of symbols in the downlink and the uplink frames from the information in the global transmitter parameters and the frequency bands that are assigned to cells. Then, it determines the bearer at each pixel and multiplies the bearer efficiency by the number of symbols in the frame to determine the peak RLC channel throughputs. The amount of cell resources, especially at cell-edges, depends on the cell ABS pattern as well as on the number of cell’s cell-edge resource blocks defined for frequency-domain (Static DL and Static UL) inter-cell interference coordination in the cell’s frame configuration. The effective RLC throughputs are the peak RLC throughputs reduced by retransmission due to errors, or the Block Error Rate (BLER). Atoll uses the block error rate graphs of the reception equipment defined in the selected terminal for downlink or the reception equipment of the cell of the serving transmitter for uplink. The application throughput is the effective RLC throughput reduced by the overheads of the different layers between the RLC and the Application layers.

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The cell capacity display types let you calculate and display the throughputs available at each pixel of the coverage area taking into account the maximum traffic load limits set for each cell. In other words, 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 downlink is calculated by dividing the downlink cell capacity by the number of downlink users of the serving cell. In uplink, the per-user throughput is either the allocated bandwidth throughput or the uplink cell capacity divided by the number of uplink users of the serving cell, whichever it smaller. The allocated bandwidth throughputs are the throughputs corresponding to the number of frequency blocks allocated to the terminal at different locations. Users located far from the base stations use less numbers of frequency blocks than users located near so that they can concentrate their transmission power over a bandwidth narrower than the channel bandwidth in order to maintain the connection in uplink. For more information on throughput calculation, see the Technical Reference Guide. For more information on the Global Parameters, see "Global Network Settings" on page 959. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

Figure 11.13: Coverage prediction by downlink channel throughput

Figure 11.14: Coverage prediction by uplink channel throughput

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11.2.11.3.7

Making a Cumulated Throughput Coverage Prediction Using Simulation Results Atoll calculates the cumulated peak RLC, effective RLC, and application cell throughputs during Monte Carlo simulations. The cumulated cell throughputs are the sums of the cell’s user throughputs. You can create a coverage prediction that calculates and displays the surface area covered by each cell, and colours the coverage area of each cell according to its cumulated throughput. To create an cumulated throughput coverage prediction: 1. Create and calculate a Monte Carlo simulation. For more information on creating Monte Carlo simulations, see "Calculating LTE Traffic Simulations" on page 925. 2. Create a coverage prediction by throughput as explained in "Making a Coverage Prediction by Throughput" on page 888, with the following exceptions: a. On the Conditions tab, select a simulation or group of simulations from the Load conditions list. The coverage prediction will display the results based on the selected simulation or on the average results of the selected group of simulations. b. On the Display tab, you can display results by Peak RLC cumulated throughput, Effective RLC cumulated throughput, or Cumulated application throughput. The coverage prediction results will be in the form of thresholds. For information on defining the display, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. This coverage prediction displays the surface area covered by each cell and colours it according to its cumulated throughput. For more information on using simulation results in coverage predictions, see "Making Coverage Predictions Using Simulation Results" on page 936.

11.2.11.3.8

Making a Coverage Prediction by Quality Indicator Downlink and uplink quality indicator coverage predictions calculate and display the values of different quality indicators (BLER, BER, and so on) based on the best LTE radio bearers and on C⁄(I+N) for each pixel. To make a coverage prediction by quality indicator: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Coverage by Quality Indicator (DL) or Coverage by Quality Indicator (UL) and click OK. The coverage prediction’s Properties dialog box appears. 3. Click the General tab. On the General tab, you can change the assigned Name of the coverage prediction, the Resolution, and you can add a Comment. The Receiver height corresponds to the height of the receiver defined in the Calculation Parameters tab of the LTE Network Settings Properties dialog box. A read-only Unique ID is generated when you create a new coverage prediction. This ID can later be found between the and tags in the following files: • •

"studies.XML" file created in the installation folder if at least one coverage prediction was saved using the Save as Customised Prediction command. ".XML" files (one per prediction) created in the following folder if coverage predictions were calculated with Display type = "Value intervals": C:\\.studies\{}

Under Display Configuration, you can create a Filter to select which sites to display in the results. For information on filtering, see "Filtering Data" on page 99. 4. Click the Conditions tab. On the Conditions tab: a. Select "(Cells table)" from Load conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not going to be based on load conditions taken from a simulation. Atoll will calculate the coverage prediction using the cell loads stored in the cell properties. When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load conditions list.

b. Select the network Layers that you want the calculations to take into account. You can also calculate the prediction for all layers. c. Select the frequency Channels that you want the calculations to take into account. You can also calculate the prediction for all channels. d. Select the Cell type, LTE/LTE-A PCell or an LTE-A SCell, for which you want to calculate the coverage prediction.

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e. Select a Terminal, a Mobility type, and a Service. The Noise figure defined in the terminal type’s properties dialog box is used in the coverage prediction to determine the total noise in the downlink, and the Noise figure of the transmitter is used to determine the total noise in the uplink. As well, the bearer selection for each pixel according to the C⁄(I+N) level is performed using the bearer selection thresholds defined in the reception equipment, and the quality indicator graphs from the reception equipment are used to determine the values of the selected quality indicator on each pixel. This reception equipment is the one defined in the selected terminal for the downlink coverage predictions, and the one defined in the cell properties of the serving transmitter for the uplink coverage predictions. Mobility is used to index the bearer selection threshold graph to use. You can make Atoll use only the bearers for which selection thresholds are defined in both the terminal’s and the cell’s reception equipment by adding an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on services, terminals, mobility types, and reception equipment, see "Service and User Modelling" on page 241, and "Defining LTE Reception Equipment" on page 965, respectively. If the selected terminal supports CoMP, the coverage prediction considers the coordinated multipoint transmission and reception characteristics of the CoMP set definitions of the cells. • • • •

For coordinated scheduling, interference from coordinated CoMP cells is weighted by the CoMP collision probability. For coherent joint transmission, signals from CoMP servers are constructively combined resulting in an additive as well as probabilistic macro-diversity gain. For non-coherent joint transmission, the CoMP servers allocate resources to the CoMP user resulting in aggregated throughput. For dynamic point selection, a macro-diversity gain is calculated and applied to reduce the required shadowing margin. For more information, see the Technical Reference Guide.

f. If you want the coverage prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. The shadowing margin is based on the C/I standard deviation. g. You can also have the coverage prediction take Indoor coverage into consideration. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 5. Click the Display tab. You can choose between displaying results by BER, BLER, FER, or any other quality indicator that you might have added to the document. For more information, see "Defining LTE Quality Indicators" on page 964. The coverage prediction results will be in the form of thresholds. For information on adjusting the display, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 6. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window (see Figure 11.15 and Figure 11.16).

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Figure 11.15: Coverage prediction by downlink BLER

Figure 11.16: Coverage prediction by uplink BLER

11.2.11.4 Displaying Coverage Prediction Results The results are displayed graphically in the map window according to the settings you made on the Display tab when you created the coverage prediction. If several coverage predictions are visible on the map, it can be difficult to clearly see the results of the coverage prediction you want to analyse. You can select which predictions to display or to hide by selecting or clearing the display check box. For information on managing the display, see "Displaying or Hiding Objects on the Map" on page 50. Once you have completed a prediction, you can also generate reports and statistics with the tools that Atoll provides. For more information, see "Generating Coverage Prediction Reports" on page 212 and "Displaying Coverage Prediction Statistics" on page 214. This section covers the following topics: • • •

"Displaying the Legend Window" on page 894. "Displaying Coverage Prediction Results Using the Tip Text" on page 894. "Printing and Exporting Coverage Prediction Results" on page 894

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Displaying the Legend Window When you create a coverage prediction, you can add the displayed values of the coverage prediction to a legend by selecting the Add to legend check box on the Display tab. To display the Legend window: 1. Select View > Legend Window. The Legend window is displayed, with the values for each displayed coverage prediction identified by the name of the coverage prediction.

11.2.11.4.2

Displaying Coverage Prediction Results Using the Tip Text You can get information by placing the pointer over an area of the coverage prediction to read the information displayed in the tip text. The information displayed is defined by the settings you made on the Display tab when you created the coverage prediction (step 4. of "Studying Signal Level Coverage for a Single Base Station" on page 876). To get coverage prediction results in the form of tip text: •

In the map window, place the pointer over the area of the coverage prediction that you want more information on. After a brief pause, the tip text appears with the information defined in the Display tab of the coverage prediction properties (see Figure 11.17).

Figure 11.17: Displaying coverage prediction results using tip text

11.2.11.4.3

Printing and Exporting Coverage Prediction Results Once you have made a coverage prediction, you can print the results displayed on the map or save them in an external format. You can also export a selected area of the coverage as a bitmap. •

•

•

Printing coverage prediction results: Atoll offers several options allowing you to customise and optimise the printed coverage prediction results. Atoll supports printing to a variety of paper sizes, including A4 and A0. For more information on printing coverage prediction results, see "Printing a Map" on page 91. Defining a geographic export zone: If you want to export part of the coverage prediction as a bitmap, you can define a geographic export zone. After you have defined a geographic export zone, when you export a coverage prediction as a raster image, Atoll offers you the option of exporting only the area covered by the zone. For more information on defining a geographic export zone, see "Geographic Export Zone" on page 68. Exporting coverage prediction results: In Atoll, you can export the coverage areas of a coverage prediction in raster or vector formats. In raster formats, you can export in BMP, TIF, JPEG 2000, ArcView© grid, or Vertical Mapper (GRD and GRC) formats. When exporting in GRD or GRC formats, Atoll allows you to export files larger than 2 GB. In vector formats, you can export in ArcView©, MapInfo©, or AGD formats. For more information on exporting coverage prediction results, see "Exporting Coverage Prediction Results" on page 210.

11.2.11.5 Analysing a Coverage Prediction Using the Point Analysis Once you have completed a prediction, you can use the Point Analysis tool to analyse individual points on the map. To do this, the coverage prediction that you want to verify must be displayed on the map. This section covers the following topics: • • •

11.2.11.5.1

"Studying Signal Reception" on page 894. "Analysing Interference" on page 896. "Obtaining Numerical Values of Signal Levels and Interference" on page 897.

Studying Signal Reception The Reception view of the Point Analysis tool gives you information on the reference signal, SS, PBCH, PDSCH, PDCCH, and PUSCH and PUCCH signal levels, C/(I+N), bearers, and throughputs, and so on., for any point on the map. The analysis is provided for a user-definable probe receiver which has a terminal, a mobility, and a service. The downlink and uplink load conditions can be taken from the Cells table or from Monte Carlo simulations.

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To perform a reception point analysis: 1. Click the Point Analysis button ( changes (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar. The Point Analysis window opens and the pointer

) to represent the receiver.

2. At the top of the Point Analysis window, select the Reception view. Select the load conditions to use in this analysis from simulations or from the Cells table.

The RSRP from the servers and interferers. Solid bars indicate RSRP above the minimum RSRP.

The connection status for the current point. Successful Failed

Select the parameters of the study. Figure 11.18: Point analysis tool: Reception view 3. Move the pointer (

) over the map to move the reception analysis point.

In the map window, arrows from the pointer to each transmitter are displayed in the colour of the transmitters they represent. The line from the pointer to its best server is slightly thicker than the other lines. The best server of the pointer is the transmitter from which the pointer receives the highest RSRP or reference signal level. 4. In the Reception view toolbar, select the "Cells table" load condition the Loads list. The bar graph displays the following information: •

• •

The RS, SS, or PDSCH signal levels, or the RSRP (depending on the selection made from the Display list) from different transmitters (the colour of the bar corresponds to the colour of the transmitter on the map). For coherent joint transmission CoMP, the signals from all the servers are combined hence the same value is displayed for all the servers. The minimum RSRP: The empty portion of the bar indicates signal levels below the minimum RSRP. The availability of reference signal coverage, and service in downlink and uplink.

If there is at least one successful connection (for reference signals, downlink, or uplink), double-clicking the icons in the right-hand frame opens a dialog box with additional information with respect to the best server: • •

•

RS: Azimuth and tilt of the receiver, total losses, received reference signal power, reference signal C/(I+N), RSRP, RSRQ, RSSI. Downlink: Diversity mode, CoMP set, CoMP mode, CoMP collision probability, CoMP macro-diversity gain, list of CoMP servers, received powers of the downlink channels, received total noise on the downlink channels, C/(I+N) of the downlink channels, bearer, channel throughputs, cell capacities, and per-user throughputs. Uplink: Diversity mode, CoMP set, CoMP mode, CoMP collision probability, list of CoMP servers, received powers of the uplink channels, transmission power, allocated bandwidth, total noise on the uplink channels, C/(I+N) of the uplink channels, bearer, channel throughputs, cell capacities, allocated bandwidth throughputs, and per-user throughputs.

5. Select one of the bars in the bar graph to display the connection status for the corresponding cell in the right-hand column. 6. If you are analysing reception to verify a coverage prediction, you can recreate the conditions of the coverage prediction by specifying the parameters of the study: a. If necessary, in Layer and Channel, specify a layer and channel filter for the serving cells. b. Select the same Terminal, Mobility, and Service as studied in the coverage prediction. c. In the Reception view toolbar, click the Options button ( • • •

). The Calculation Options dialog box appears.

Edit the X and Y coordinates to change the current position of the receiver. Select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a Cell edge coverage probability. Select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

d. Click OK in the Calculation Options dialog box.

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7. Click the map to leave the point analysis pointer at its current position. To move the pointer again, click the point analysis pointer on the map and drag it to a new position. 8. In the Reception view toolbar, you can use the following tools: •

Click the Report button ( ) to generate a report that contains the information from the point analysis window. For an LTE-A terminal connected to more than one LTE-A cell, the report contains all the above-mentioned information for all the servers as well as aggregated throughput values combining the throughputs provided by all the servers.

•

Click the Copy button ( processing programme.

• •

Click the Print button ( ) to print the content of the view. Click the Centre on Map button ( ) to centre the map window on the receiver.

) to copy the content of the view and paste it as a graphic into a graphic editing or word-

9. Click the Point Analysis button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar again to end the point analysis.

If you want to get the details about the servers and interferers in the form of a table, you can use the Details view of the Point Analysis tool (see "Obtaining Numerical Values of Signal Levels and Interference" on page 897). You can display a point analysis that uses the settings from an existing prediction by right-clicking the prediction in the Network explorer and selecting Open Point Analysis from the context menu.

11.2.11.5.2

Analysing Interference In Atoll, you can study the interferers of a transmitter using the Point Analysis tool. The Interference view gives you information on interference received on any downlink channel on any point on the map. The analysis is provided for a user-definable probe receiver which has a terminal, a mobility, and a service. The downlink and uplink load conditions can be taken from the Cells table or from Monte Carlo simulations. To perform an interference point analysis: 1. Click the Point Analysis button ( view. On the map, the pointer changes (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar. The Point Analysis window opens with the Profile ) to represent the receiver.

2. In the Point Analysis window, select the Interference view. Select the load conditions to use in this analysis from simulations or from the Cells table.

The signal level from the best server (topmost bar), total noise (black bar), and interference from other cells.

Select the parameters of the study. Figure 11.19: Point Analysis tool: Interference view 3. Move the pointer (

) over the map to move the interference analysis point.

In the map window, a thick arrow from the pointer to its best server is displayed. The best server of the pointer is the transmitter from which the pointer receives the highest RSRP or reference signal level. Thinner arrows are also displayed from the interfering cells towards the pointer, indicating the interferers. If you let the pointer rest on an arrow, the interference level received from the corresponding transmitter at the receiver location will be displayed in the tip text. 4. In the Interference view toolbar, select "Cells table" from the Loads list. The Interference view displays a bar graph showing the signal level from the best server, a black bar indicating the total noise (I+N) received by the receiver, and the interference received from each interferer. If you let the pointer rest on a bar, details are displayed in the tip text:

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• • •

For the best server: Name, received signal level, and C/(I+N). For the total noise (I+N): The values of each component, i.e., I, N, and the downlink inter-technology noise rise. For each interferer: The effective interference and the various interference reduction factors.

5. Select Inter-technology interference to display interference from other technologies. The Interference bar graph displays the interference received from each inter-technology interferer. Disable Inter-technology interference to display intra-technology interference only. 6. In the Interference view toolbar, in the Display list, select the channel on which you want to study the interference. 7. If you are analysing interference to verify a coverage prediction, you can recreate the conditions of the coverage prediction by specifying the parameters of the study: a. If necessary, in Layer and Channel, specify a layer and channel filter for the serving cells. b. Select the same Terminal, Mobility, and Service as studied in the coverage prediction. c. In the Reception view toolbar, click the Options button ( • • •

). The Calculation Options dialog box appears.

Edit the X and Y coordinates to change the current position of the receiver. Select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a Cell edge coverage probability. Select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

d. Click OK in the Calculation Options dialog box. 8. Click the map to leave the point analysis pointer at its current position. To move the pointer again, click the point analysis pointer on the map and drag it to a new position. 9. In the Interference view toolbar, you can use the following tools: •

Click the Copy button ( processing programme.

) to copy the content of the view and paste it as a graphic into a graphic editing or word-

• •

Click the Print button ( ) to print the content of the view. Click the Centre on Map button ( ) to centre the map window on the receiver.

10. Click the Point Analysis button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar again to end the point analysis.

You can display a point analysis that uses the settings from an existing prediction by right-clicking the prediction in the Network explorer and selecting Open Point Analysis from the context menu.

11.2.11.5.3

Obtaining Numerical Values of Signal Levels and Interference In Atoll, you can get all the details about the servers and interferers in the form of a table using the Point Analysis tool. The Details view gives you information on useful as well as interfering signal levels received on any downlink channel on any point on the map. The analysis is provided for a user-definable probe receiver which has a terminal, a mobility, and a service. The downlink and uplink load conditions can be taken from the Cells table or from Monte Carlo simulations. To make a detailed analysis: 1. Click the Point Analysis button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar. The Point Analysis window opens and the pointer

changes ( ) to represent the receiver. You can move the receiver on the map ("Moving the Receiver on the Map" on page 203). 2. Select the Details view. The Details view displays the following information in the form of a table: •

• • • • • • • • • • • •

Cell: The name of the cell from which the received signal levels are displayed. The cells are listed in decreasing order of RSRP. The first row of the table is displayed in bold and italic indicating the best server of the pointer on the map. Distance (m): The distance from the cell to the current location of the pointer on the map. Physical Cell ID: The physical cell ID of the cell. ICIC Zone: Whether the pointer is located within the cell-centre or the cell-edge of its best serving cell. Diversity Mode (DL): The diversity mode currently selected by the best server for the pointer in downlink. Path Loss (dB): The path loss between the receiver and the cell. Received RS Power (dBm): The received reference power from the cell. RSRP (DL) (dBm): The RSRP received from the cell. RSSI (DL) (dBm): The RSSI received at the receiver location. Received PDCCH Power (dBm): The received PDCCH power from the cell. Received PDCCH EPRE (dBm): The received energy per PDCCH resource element from the cell. Received PDSCH Power (dBm): The received PDSCH power from the cell. Received PDSCH EPRE (dBm): The received energy per PDSCH resource element from the cell.

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Received SS Power (dBm): The received SS power from the cell. Received SS EPRE (dBm): The received energy per SS resource element from the cell. Received PBCH Power (dBm): The received PBCH power from the cell. Received PBCH EPRE (dBm): The received energy per PBCH resource element from the cell.

Atoll lists all the cells from which the pointer receives an RSRP higher than the Min RSRP defined for these cells. 3. Move the pointer (

) over the map to move the detailed analysis point.

In the map window, a thick arrow from the pointer to its best server is displayed. The best server of the pointer is the transmitter from which the pointer receives the highest RSRP or reference signal level. Thinner arrows are also displayed from the interfering cells towards the pointer, indicating the interferers. If you let the pointer rest on an arrow, the interference level received on the reference signals from the corresponding transmitter at the receiver location will be displayed in the tip text. 4. Select "Cells table" from the Loads list. 5. If you are analysing interference to verify a coverage prediction, you can recreate the conditions of the coverage prediction by specifying the parameters of the study: a. If necessary, in Layer and Channel, specify a layer and channel filter for the serving cells. b. Select the same Terminal, Mobility, and Service as studied in the coverage prediction. c. Select Inter-technology interference to display interference from other technologies. d. Select Show interferers only to hide cells that do not interfere in the Details table. e. In the Reception view toolbar, click the Options button ( • • •

). The Calculation Options dialog box appears.

Edit the X and Y coordinates to change the current position of the receiver. Select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a Cell edge coverage probability. Select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

f. Click OK in the Calculation Options dialog box. 6. Click the map to leave the point analysis pointer at its current position. To move the pointer again, click the point analysis pointer on the map and drag it to a new position. 7. To add or remove columns from the detailed report: a. Click the Display Columns button (

) in the Details view toolbar. The Columns to be Displayed dialog box opens.

b. Select or clear the columns that you want to display or hide. c. Click Close. The additional columns include: • • • • • • • • • • •

CoMP Set (DL): The name of the CoMP set to which the receiver is connected. RS C/(I+N) (DL) (dB): The RS C/(I+N) received from the cell. RSRQ (DL) (dB): The RSRQ received from the cell. RS Interference (dBm): The interference received from various downlink channels of the interfering cell on the reference signals of the best server. PDCCH Interference (dBm): The interference received from various downlink channels of the interfering cell on the PDCCH of the best server. PDSCH Interference (dBm): The interference received from various downlink channels of the interfering cell on the PDSCH of the best server. SS Interference (dBm): The interference received from the SS of the interfering cell on the SS of the best server. PBCH Interference (dBm): The interference received from the PBCH of the interfering cell on the PBCH of the best server. PDSCH AAS Interference (dBm): The interference received from the angular interference distribution diagram of the interfering cell on the PDSCH of the best server. Channel Overlap Factor (dB): The co- and adjacent channel overlap between the frequency channel used by the interfering cell and the best server. Collision Probability (%): The inter-cell interference coordination collision probability between the interfering cell which is not synchronised with the best server.

The interference values displayed for the best server (first row) are the sum of all the interference levels from all the interfering cells listed in the following rows. To display only interfering cells for the pointer on the map (cells whose C/N is above the Min Interferer C/N Threshold defined in the Calculation Parameters tab of the LTE Network Settings Properties dialog box), select the Show interferers only check box. 8. Click the Point Analysis button (

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You can display a point analysis that uses the settings from an existing prediction by rightclicking the prediction in the Network explorer and selecting Open Point Analysis from the context menu.

11.2.11.6 Multi-point Analyses In Atoll, you can carry out calculations on lists of points that represent subscriber locations for analysis. These analyses may be useful for verifying network QoS at subscriber locations in case of incidents (call drops, low throughputs, and so on) reported by users. In point analysis, a number of parameters are calculated at each point for all potential servers. This section covers the following topics related to point analyses: • • •

"Point Analysis Properties" on page 899 "Making a Point Analysis" on page 899 "Viewing Point Analysis Results" on page 900

This section also covers the following topics related to subscriber analyses: • • •

11.2.11.6.1

"Subscriber Analysis Properties" on page 901 "Making a Subscriber Analysis" on page 902 "Viewing Subscriber Analysis Results" on page 902

Point Analysis Properties The point analysis Properties window allows you to create and edit point analyses. The General Tab The General tab allows you to specify the following settings for the point analysis: • •

Name: Specify the assigned Name of the point analysis. Comments: Specify an optional description of comment for the point analysis.

The Conditions Tab The load condition parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. •

•

•

Load conditions: Select "(Cells table)" to calculate the point analysis using the load conditions defined in the cells table. Select a simulation or a group of simulations to calculate the point analysis using the load conditions calculated by Monte Carlo simulations. Shadowing taken into account: Select this option to consider shadowing in the point analysis. For more information, see "Modelling Shadowing in LTE" on page 974. If you select this option, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability. Indoor coverage: Select this option to consider indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

The Points Tab The Points tab displays a table containing each point of the point-analysis. You can use this table to import and create points or to export a list of points. • • • • • •

Position Id: The indexes of the points used for the point analysis. X and Y: The coordinates of the points used for the point analysis. Height (m): The height of the points used for the point analysis. Service: The services assigned to the points used for the point analysis. Terminal: The terminals assigned to the points used for the point analysis. Mobility: The mobility types assigned to the points used for the point analysis.

The Display Tab On the Display tab, you can modify how the results of the point analysis will be displayed. For information on changing display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51.

11.2.11.6.2

Making a Point Analysis Point analyses are calculated on lists of points, which are either imported or created on the map using the mouse. The results are based on user-defined calculation settings.

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To create a new point analysis: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Multi-point Analysis folder and select New Point Analysis. The Point Analysis Properties dialog box appears. 2. On the General and Conditions tabs, specify the settings as described in "Point Analysis Properties" on page 899. 3. On the Points tab, you can create a list of points by: •

•

• •

Importing a list of points from an external file: Click the Actions button and select Import Table from the menu to open the Open file dialog box. In this dialog box, select a TXT or CSV file containing a list of points and click Open. For more information on importing data tables, see "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88. Importing a list of points from a fixed subscriber traffic map: Click the Actions button and select Import from Fixed Subscribers from the menu to open the Fixed Subscribers dialog box. In this dialog box, select one or more existing fixed subscriber traffic maps and click OK. Copying a list of points from an external file. Creating points in the list by editing the table: Add new points by clicking the New Row icon ( ) and entering X and Y coordinates as well as a service, a terminal, and a mobility. The list of points must have the same coordinate system as the display coordinate system used in the Atoll document. For more information on coordinate systems, see "Setting a Coordinate System" on page 41.

•

It is also possible to leave the Points tab empty and add points to the analysis on the map using the mouse once the point analysis item has been created. To add points on the map using the mouse, right-click the point analysis item to which you want to add points, and select Add Points from the context menu. The mouse pointer changes to point creation mode (

•

). Click once to create each point you

want to add. Press ESC or click the Pointer button ( ) in the Map toolbar to finish adding points. You can also export the list of point from a point analysis to ASCII text files (TXT and CSV formats) and MS Excel XML Spreadsheet files (XML format) by selecting Actions > Export Table. For more information on exporting table data, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86.

4. On the Display tab, specify how to display point analysis results on the map according to any input or calculated parameter. For more information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have defined the point analysis parameters, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the point analysis and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the point analysis without calculating it. You can calculate it later by opening the point analysis properties and clicking the Calculate button.

Once Atoll has finished calculating the point analysis, the results are displayed in the map window. You can also access the analysis results in a table format. For more information, see "Viewing Point Analysis Results" on page 900. You can also organise point analyses in folders under the Multi-point Analysis folder by creating folders under the Multi-point Analysis folder in the Network explorer. Folders may contain one or more point analyses items. You can move point analyses items from one folder to another and rename folders.

11.2.11.6.3

Viewing Point Analysis Results Once a point analysis has been calculated, its results are displayed on the map and are also available in the point analysis item in the form of a table. To view the results table of a point analysis: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Multi-point Analysis folder, right-click the analysis whose results table you want to view, and select Analysis Results from the context menu. The Results dialog box appears. The results table includes the following information: • • • • • •

900

Position Id: The indexes of the points used for the point analysis. X and Y: The coordinates of the points used for the point analysis. Height (m): The height of the points used for the point analysis. Service: The services assigned to the points used for the point analysis. Terminal: The terminals assigned to the points used for the point analysis. Mobility: The mobility types assigned to the points used for the point analysis.

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• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Cell: The names of the potential serving cells. Distance (m): The distance from the potential serving cells. Physical Cell ID: The physical cell IDs of the potential serving cells. ICIC Zone: Whether the point is located within the cell-centre or the cell-edge of the best serving cell. Diversity Mode (DL): The diversity mode currently selected by the best server for the point in downlink. Path Loss (dB): The path loss between the receiver and the potential serving cells. Received RS Power (dBm): The received reference power from the potential serving cells. RSRP (DL) (dBm): The RSRP received from the potential serving cells. RSSI (DL) (dBm): The RSSI received at the receiver location from the best serving cell. Received PDCCH Power (dBm): The received PDCCH power from the potential serving cells. Received PDCCH EPRE (dBm): The received energy per PDCCH resource element from the potential serving cells. Received PDSCH Power (dBm): The received PDSCH power from the potential serving cells. Received PDSCH EPRE (dBm): The received energy per PDSCH resource element from the potential serving cells. Received SS Power (dBm): The received SS power from the potential serving cells. Received SS EPRE (dBm): The received energy per SS resource element from the potential serving cells. Received PBCH Power (dBm): The received PBCH power from the potential serving cells. Received PBCH EPRE (dBm): The received energy per PBCH resource element from the potential serving cells.

2. To add or remove columns from the results table: a. Click the Actions button and select Display Columns from the menu. The Columns to be Displayed dialog box opens. b. Select or clear the columns that you want to display or hide. c. Click Close. The additional columns include: • • • • • • • • • • •

CoMP Set (DL): The name of the CoMP set to which the receiver is connected. RS C/(I+N) (DL) (dB): The RS C/(I+N) received from the best serving cell. RSRQ (DL) (dB): The RSRQ received from the best serving cell. RS Interference (dBm): The interference received from various downlink channels of interfering cells on the reference signals of the best server. PDCCH Interference (dBm): The interference received from various downlink channels of interfering cells on the PDCCH of the best server. PDSCH Interference (dBm): The interference received from various downlink channels of interfering cells on the PDSCH of the best server. SS Interference (dBm): The interference received from the SS of interfering cells on the SS of the best server. PBCH Interference (dBm): The interference received from the PBCH of interfering cells on the PBCH of the best server. PDSCH AAS Interference (dBm): The interference received from the angular interference distribution diagram of interfering cells on the PDSCH of the best server. Channel Overlap Factor (dB): The co- and adjacent channel overlap between the frequency channel used by interfering cells and the best server. Collision Probability (%): The inter-cell interference coordination collision probability between interfering cells which is not synchronised with the best server.

The interference values displayed for the best server (first row) are the sum of all the interference levels of all the interfering cells listed in the following rows. You can export the point analysis results table to ASCII text files (TXT and CSV formats) and MS Excel XML Spreadsheet files (XML format) by selecting Actions > Export. For more information on exporting table data, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. 3. Click Close.

11.2.11.6.4

Subscriber Analysis Properties The fixed subscriber analysis Properties window allows you to create and edit subscriber analyses. The General Tab The General tab allows you to specify the following settings for the point analysis: • • •

Name: Specify the assigned Name of the point analysis. Comments: Specify an optional description of comment for the point analysis. Shadowing taken into account: Select this option to consider shadowing in the point analysis. For more information, see "Modelling Shadowing in LTE" on page 974. If you select this option, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability.

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The Traffic Tab On the Traffic tab, you can select one or more fixed subscriber traffic maps for the analysis. For more information, see "Creating a Fixed Subscribers Traffic Map" on page 263. The Display Tab On the Display tab, you can modify how the results of the subscriber analysis will be displayed. For information on changing display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51.

11.2.11.6.5

Making a Subscriber Analysis Subscriber analyses are calculated on fixed subscriber locations stored in fixed subscriber traffic maps. The results are based on user-defined calculation settings. To create a new subscriber analysis: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Multi-point Analysis folder and select New Subscriber Analysis. The Fixed Subscriber Analysis Properties dialog box appears. 2. On the General and Traffic tabs, specify the settings as described in "Subscriber Analysis Properties" on page 901. 3. On the Display tab, specify how to display subscriber analysis results on the map according to any input or calculated parameter. For more information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 4. Once you have defined the subscriber analysis parameters, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the subscriber analysis and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the subscriber analysis without calculating it. You can calculate it later by opening the subscriber analysis properties and clicking the Calculate button.

Once Atoll has finished calculating the subscriber analysis, the results are displayed in the map window. You can also access the analysis results in a table format. For more information, see "Viewing Subscriber Analysis Results" on page 902. You can also organise subscriber analyses in folders under the Multi-point Analysis folder by creating folders under the Multipoint Analysis folder in the Network explorer. Folders may contain one or more subscriber analyses items. You can move subscriber analyses items from one folder to another and rename folders.

11.2.11.6.6

Viewing Subscriber Analysis Results Once a subscriber analysis has been calculated, its results are displayed on the map and are also available in the subscriber analysis item in the form of a table. To view the results table of a subscriber analysis: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Multi-point Analysis folder, right-click the analysis whose results table you want to view, and select Analysis Results from the context menu. The Results dialog box appears. The results table includes the following information for each subscriber included in the analysis: • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

• • • • •

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Position Id: The index of the subscriber. X and Y: The coordinates of the subscriber. Height (m): The height of the subscriber. Service: The service assigned to the subscriber. Terminal: The terminal assigned to the subscriber. Mobility: The mobility type assigned to the subscriber. Activity status: The assigned activity status. It can be Active DL, Active UL, Active DL+UL, or Inactive. Clutter class: The code of the clutter class where the subscriber is located. Indoor: This field indicates whether indoor losses have been added or not. Best server: The best server of the subscriber. Serving cell: The serving cell of the subscriber. Layer: The layer to which the serving cell belongs. Azimuth: The orientation of the subscriber’s terminal antenna in the horizontal plane. Azimuth is always considered with respect to the North. Atoll points the subscriber antenna towards its best server. Downtilt: The orientation of the subscriber’s terminal antenna in the vertical plane. Mechanical downtilt is positive when it is downwards and negative when upwards. Atoll points the subscriber antenna towards its best server. Path loss (dB): The path loss from the best server calculated for the subscriber. 2nd best server: The second best server of the subscriber. 2nd best server path loss (dB): The path loss from the second best server calculated for the subscriber. 3rd best server: The third best server of the subscriber. 3rd best server path loss (dB): The path loss from the third best server calculated for the subscriber.

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•

• • • • • • • • • •

•

• •

•

RSRP (RS EPRE) (DL) (dBm): The RSRP (received reference signal energy per resource element) received at the subscriber location in the downlink. RSSI (DL) (dBm): The RSSI received at the subscriber location in the downlink. RSRQ (DL) (dB): The RSRQ (reference signal received quality) at the subscriber location in the downlink. Received RS power (DL) (dBm): The reference signal level received at the subscriber location in the downlink. Received SS power (DL) (dBm): The SS signal level received at the subscriber location in the downlink. Received PBCH power (DL) (dBm): The PBCH signal level received at the subscriber location in the downlink. Received PDCCH power (DL) (dBm): The PDCCH signal level received at the subscriber location in the downlink. Received PDSCH power (DL) (dBm): The PDSCH signal level received at the subscriber location in the downlink. RS C/(I+N) (DL) (dB): The reference signal C/(I+N) at the subscriber location in the downlink. SS C/(I+N) (DL) (dB): The SS C/(I+N) at the subscriber location in the downlink. PBCH C/(I+N) (DL) (dB): The PBCH C/(I+N) at the subscriber location in the downlink. PDCCH C/(I+N) (DL) (dB): The PDCCH C/(I+N) at the subscriber location in the downlink. PDSCH C/(I+N) (DL) (dB): The PDSCH C/(I+N) at the subscriber location in the downlink. RS total noise (I+N) (DL) (dBm): The sum of the interference and noise experienced at the subscriber location in the downlink on the reference signals. SS & PBCH total noise (I+N) (DL) (dBm): The sum of the interference and noise experienced at the subscriber location in the downlink on the SS and PBCH. PDCCH total noise (I+N) (DL) (dBm): The sum of the interference and noise experienced at the subscriber location in the downlink on the PDCCH. PDSCH total noise (I+N) (DL) (dBm): The sum of the interference and noise experienced at the subscriber location in the downlink on the PDSCH. Bearer (DL): The highest LTE bearer available for the PDSCH C/(I+N) level at the subscriber location in the downlink. BLER (DL): The Block Error Rate read from the subscriber terminal’s reception equipment for the PDSCH C/(I+N) level at the subscriber location in the downlink. Diversity mode (DL): The diversity mode used by the cell in downlink for the subscriber. Peak RLC channel throughput (DL) (kbps): The maximum RLC channel throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at the subscriber location in the downlink. Effective RLC channel throughput (DL) (kbps): The effective RLC channel throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at the subscriber location in the downlink. It is calculated from the peak RLC throughput and the BLER. Application channel throughput (DL) (kbps): The application throughput is the net throughput without coding (redundancy, overhead, addressing, and so on). It is calculated from the effective RLC throughput, the throughput scaling factor of the service and the throughput offset. Received PUSCH & PUCCH power (UL) (dBm): The PUSCH & PUCCH signal level received at the serving transmitter from the subscriber terminal in the uplink. PUSCH & PUCCH total noise (I+N) (UL) (dBm): The sum of the interference and noise experienced at the serving transmitter of the subscriber in the uplink on the PUSCH. PUSCH & PUCCH C/(I+N) (UL) (dB): The PUSCH & PUCCH C/(I+N) at the serving transmitter of the subscriber in the uplink. Bearer (UL): The highest LTE bearer available for the PUSCH & PUCCH C/(I+N) level at the serving transmitter of the subscriber in the uplink. BLER (UL): The Block Error Rate read from the serving cell’s reception equipment for the PUSCH & PUCCH C/(I+N) level at the serving transmitter of the subscriber in the uplink. Diversity mode (UL): The diversity mode used by the cell in uplink for the subscriber. Transmission power (UL) (dBm): The transmission power of the subscriber terminal after power control in the uplink. Allocated bandwidth (UL) (No. of frequency blocks): The number of frequency blocks allocated to the subscriber in the uplink by the eNode-B. Peak RLC channel throughput (UL) (kbps): The maximum RLC channel throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at the subscriber location in the uplink. Effective RLC channel throughput (UL) (kbps): The effective RLC channel throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at the subscriber location in the uplink. It is calculated from the peak RLC throughput and the BLER. Application channel throughput (UL) (kbps): The application throughput is the net throughput without coding (redundancy, overhead, addressing, and so on). It is calculated from the effective RLC throughput, the throughput scaling factor of the service and the throughput offset. Peak RLC allocated bandwidth throughput (UL) (kbps): The maximum RLC throughput attainable for the number of frequency blocks allocated to the subscriber using the highest bearer available at the user location in the uplink. Effective RLC allocated bandwidth throughput (UL) (kbps): The effective RLC throughput attainable for the number of frequency blocks allocated to the subscriber using the highest bearer available at the subscriber location in the uplink. It is calculated from the peak RLC throughput and the BLER. Application allocated bandwidth throughput (UL) (kbps): The application throughput is the net throughput without coding (redundancy, overhead, addressing, and so on). It is calculated from the effective RLC throughput, the throughput scaling factor of the service and the throughput offset.

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2. To add or remove columns from the results table: a. Click the Actions button and select Display Columns from the menu. The Columns to be Displayed dialog box opens. b. Select or clear the columns that you want to display or hide. c. Click Close. You can export the point analysis results table to ASCII text files (TXT and CSV formats) and MS Excel XML Spreadsheet files (XML format) by selecting Actions > Export. For more information on exporting table data, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. 3. Click Close.

11.2.12 Planning Neighbours You can use Atoll to manually allocate neighbour relations to any cell in a network. You can also use Atoll to automatically allocate neighbour relations to a single cell, to all the cells of a base station, to all the cells in a transmitter group, or to all the cells in a network, based on predefined parameters.

Figure 11.20: LTE handover area between a reference cell and a potential neighbour In this section, only the following concepts that are specific to automatic neighbour allocation in LTE networks are explained: • • •

"Coverage Conditions" on page 904 "Calculation Constraints" on page 905 "Reasons for Allocation" on page 905

For general information on neighbour planning in Atoll, see "Neighbour Planning" on page 223:

11.2.12.1 Coverage Conditions The Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box provides a Use coverage conditions option: • •

When Use coverage conditions is not selected, the defined Distance is used to allocate neighbours to a reference transmitter. When Use coverage conditions is selected, click Define to open the Coverage Conditions dialog box: • • • •

• •

904

Resolution: Enter the resolution to be used to calculate cell coverage areas for automatic neighbour allocation. Global reception threshold: Select this option to set a global reception threshold. If you set a value here, Atoll will use this value or the per-cell Min RSRP value if it is higher. Handover start (HO margin): Define the handover margin that corresponds to the beginning of the handover process. You can define a global value for the handover margin or use the handover margins defined per cell. Handover end: Enter a the margin that corresponds to the end of the handover process. This margin is considered beyond Handover start. The larger the Handover end, the longer the list of potential neighbours. The area between Handover start and Handover end is the area in which Atoll will search for neighbours. Shadowing Taken into Account: If selected, enter a Cell edge coverage probability. Indoor Coverage: Select this option to take indoor losses into account in calculations. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

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11.2.12.2 Calculation Constraints In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, you can select the following calculation constraints: • •

• • •

Co-site cells as neighbours: cells located on the same site as the reference cell will automatically be considered as neighbours. A cell with no antenna cannot be considered as a co-site neighbour. Adjacent cells as neighbours: cells that are adjacent to the reference cell will automatically be considered as neighbours. A cell is considered adjacent if there is at least one pixel in the reference cell’s coverage area where the potential neighbour cell is the best server, or where the potential neighbour cell is the second best server in the reference cell’s active set. Adjacent layers as neighbours: cells that are adjacent to the reference cell across layers will be automatically considered as neighbours. Symmetric relations: Select this check box if you want the neighbour relations to be reciprocal, i.e. any reference transmitter/cell is a potential neighbour of all the cells that are its neighbours. Exceptional pairs: Select this check box to force the neighbour relations defined in the Intra-technology Exceptional pairs table. For information on exceptional pairs, see "Exceptional Pairs" on page 223.

11.2.12.3 Reasons for Allocation In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, the reason for neighbour allocation is indicated under Cause in the Results table. It can be any of the following:

Cause

Description

When

Distance

The neighbour is located within the defined maximum distance from the reference cell

Use coverage conditions is not selected

Coverage

The neighbour relation fulfils the defined coverage conditions

Use coverage conditions is selected and nothing is selected under Force

Co-Site

The neighbour is located on the same site as the reference cell

Use coverage conditions and Co-site cells as neighbours is selected

Adjacent

The neighbour is adjacent to the reference cell

Use coverage conditions is selected and Adjacent cells as neighbours is selected

Adjacent layer

The neighbour belongs to an adjacent layer

Use coverage conditions is selected and Adjacent layers as neighbours is selected

Symmetry

The neighbour relation between the reference cell and the neighbour is symmetrical

Use coverage conditions is selected and Symmetric relations is selected

Exceptional Pair

The neighbour relation is defined as an exceptional pair

Exceptional pairs is selected

Existing

The neighbour relation existed before automatic allocation

Delete existing neighbours is not selected

11.3 Configuring Network Parameters Using the AFP The Atoll AFP (Automatic Frequency Planning module) enables you to automatically configure network parameters such as the frequency channels, PRACH root sequence indexes, and physical cell IDs. The AFP can also perform fractional frequency planning through automatic configuration of the PSS ID in physical cell ID planning. The aim of the AFP is to allocate resources in a way that minimises interference following the user-defined constraints. The AFP assigns a cost to each constraint and then uses a cost-based algorithm to evaluate possible allocation plans and propose the allocation plan with the lowest costs. The AFP cost function comprises input elements such as interference matrices, neighbour relations, and allowed ranges of resources for allocation. The quality of the results given by the AFP depends on the accuracy of the input. Therefore, it is important to prepare the input before running the AFP. In the following sections, the AFP input elements are explained: • • • •

"Working with Interference Matrices" on page 906 "Defining Neighbour Relations and Importance" on page 907 "Setting Resources Available for Allocation" on page 907 "Configuring Cost Component Weights" on page 908.

Once the AFP input elements have been set up, the AFP can be used for: •

"Planning Frequencies" on page 909

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"Planning Physical Cell IDs" on page 911 "Planning PRACH RSIs" on page 913.

Once you have completed an automatic allocation, you can analyse the results with the tools that Atoll provides: • •

"Displaying AFP Results on the Map" on page 915 "Analysing AFP Results" on page 917.

11.3.1 Working with Interference Matrices In Atoll, the probability of interference between pairs of cells is stored in an interference matrix. An interference matrix can be thought of as the probability that a user in a cell will receive interference higher than a defined threshold. You can calculate, import, edit, and store more than one interference matrix in the Interference Matrices folder in the Network explorer. This section covers the following topics: • •

"Calculating Interference Matrices" on page 906 "Importing and Exporting Interference Matrices" on page 906

11.3.1.1 Calculating Interference Matrices Atoll calculates interference matrices in the form of co- and adjacent channel interference probabilities for each interfered and interfering cell pair. The probabilities of interference are stated in terms of percentages of the interfered area. In other words, it is the ratio of the interfered surface area to the best server coverage area of an interfered cell. When Atoll calculates interference matrices, it calculates the ratio of the reference signal level to the total interference and noise (I+N) for each pixel of the interfered service area between two cells (the interfered cell and the interfering cell). For cochannel interference, a pixel is considered interfered if this ratio is lower than the per-channel reference signal C/N corresponding to the minimum RSRP defined for the interfered cell. For adjacent channel interference, a pixel is considered interfered if this ratio is lower than the reference signal C/N corresponding to the minimum RSRP defined for the interfered cell less the adjacent channel suppression factor defined for the frequency band of the interfered cell. You can amplify the degradation of the C/(I+N) by using a high quality margin when calculating the interference matrices. For example, a 3 dB quality margin would imply that each interferer is considered to be twice as strong compared to a calculation without any quality margin (i.e., 0 dB). To calculate interference matrices: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the LTE Interference Matrices folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select New. The Interference Matrices Properties dialog box appears. 4. On the General tab, you can set the following parameters: • • • • •

Name: Enter a name for the new interference matrix. Resolution: Enter the resolution used to calculate the coverage areas of cells for the interference matrix calculation. Type: The type is set to Calculated for calculated interference matrices. Quality margin: Enter a quality margin. Shadowing taken into account: If desired, select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a Cell edge coverage probability.

5. Once you have created the new interference matrix, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined interference matrix and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined interference matrix without calculating it. You can calculate it later by clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

Once calculated, the new interference matrix is available in the Interference Matrices folder and will be available for use the next time you run the AFP. You can modify the properties of an existing interference matrix by selecting Properties from the interference matrix context menu. You can recalculate an existing interference matrix by selecting Calculate from the interference matrix context menu.

11.3.1.2 Importing and Exporting Interference Matrices You can import interference matrices from external sources, such as the OAM, in Atoll from TXT (text), CSV (comma separated value), and IM2 files. In the interference matrix file you want to import, the interference matrix entries must have the following syntax:

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The separator can be a tab, a comma, a semicolon, or space. If the interference matrix file being imported contains the same interfered-interferer pair more than once, Atoll keeps the last description of the pair. Atoll does not perform a validity check on the imported interference file; you must therefore ensure that the imported information is consistent with the current configuration. Furthermore, Atoll only imports interference matrices for active transmitters. To import an interference matrix: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the LTE Interference Matrices folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Import. The Open dialog box appears. 4. Select the file containing the interference matrix and click Open. The table Import dialog box appears. For more information on importing table data, see "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88. To export an interference matrix: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the LTE Interference Matrices folder. 3. Right-click the interference matrix you want to export. The context menu appears. 4. Select Export. The Export dialog box appears. For information on exporting table data, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86.

11.3.2 Defining Neighbour Relations and Importance In Atoll, neighbour importance values are calculated by the automatic neighbour allocation process and can be used by the AFP for frequency and physical cell ID allocation. For information on neighbour importance weighting, see "Neighbour Importance" on page 229 For more details on the calculation of neighbour importance values, see the Technical Reference Guide.

11.3.3 Setting Resources Available for Allocation The AFP allocates resources from a pool of available resources. For automatic frequency planning, the available resources are defined by the channel numbers available in the frequency band assigned to any cell. In the frequency band properties, the first and last channel numbers define the range of available channel numbers in the band. Channel numbers within this range can be set as unavailable if they are listed in the excluded channels list. For more information, see "Defining Frequency Bands" on page 958. The procedure for managing physical cell IDs and PRACH RSIs in an LTE document consists of the following steps: 1. Creating physical cell ID and PRACH RSI domains. 2. Creating groups, each containing a range of physical cell IDs or PRACH RSIs, and assigning them to a domain. 3. Assigning physical cell ID and PRACH RSI domains to cells. If there is no domain defined, Atoll will consider all possible physical cell IDs and PRACH RSIs when assigning them automatically. This section covers the following topics: • •

"Creating Physical Cell ID Domains" on page 907 "Creating PRACH RSI Domains" on page 908

11.3.3.1 Creating Physical Cell ID Domains For automatic physical cell ID planning, Atoll facilitates the management of physical cell IDs create domains, which contain groups of physical cell IDs. To create a physical cell ID domain: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the LTE Network Settings folder and the Physical Cell IDs folder, right-click Domains in the Physical Cell IDs folder, and select Open Table from the context menu. The Domains table appears. 2. In the row marked with the New Row icon (

), enter a Name for the new domain.

3. Click in another cell of the table to create the new domain and add a new blank row to the table. 4. Double-click the domain to which you want to add a group. The domain’s Properties dialog box appears. 5. Under Groups, enter the following information for each group you want to create.

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Group: Enter a name for the new physical cell ID group. Min.: Enter the lowest available physical cell ID in this group’s range. Max: Enter the highest available physical cell ID in this group’s range. Step: Enter the separation interval between each physical cell ID. Excluded: Enter the physical cell ID in this range that you do not want to use. Extra: Enter any additional physical cell ID (i.e., outside the range defined by the Min. and Max fields) you want to add to this group. You can enter a list of physical cell IDs separated by either a comma, semi-colon, or a space. You can also enter a range of physical cell IDs separated by a hyphen. For example, entering, "1, 2, 3-5" means that the extra physical cell IDs are "1, 2, 3, 4, 5."

6. Click in another cell of the table to create the new group and add a new blank row to the table.

11.3.3.2 Creating PRACH RSI Domains For automatic PRACH RSI planning, Atoll facilitates the management of PRACH RSIs by letting you create domains, which contain groups of PRACH RSIs. To create a PRACH RSI domain: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the LTE Network Settings folder and the PRACH Root Sequences folder, right-click Domains in the PRACH Root Sequences folder, and select Open Table from the context menu. The Domains table appears. 2. In the row marked with the New Row icon (

), enter a Name for the new domain.

3. Click in another cell of the table to create the new domain and add a new blank row to the table. 4. Double-click the domain to which you want to add a group. The domain’s Properties dialog box appears. 5. Under Groups, enter the following information for each group you want to create. • • • • • •

Group: Enter a name for the new PRACH RSI group. Min.: Enter the lowest available PRACH RSI in this group’s range. Max: Enter the highest available PRACH RSI in this group’s range. Step: As PRACH RSI lists must always contain consecutive PRACH RSIs, the separation interval between each PRACH RSI is 1. Excluded: Enter the PRACH RSIs in this range that you do not want to use. Extra: Enter any additional PRACH RSIs (i.e., outside the range defined by the Min. and Max fields) you want to add to this group. You can enter a list of PRACH RSIs separated by either a comma, semi-colon, or a space. You can also enter a range of PRACH RSIs separated by a hyphen. For example, entering, "1, 2, 3-5" means that the extra PRACH RSIs are "1, 2, 3, 4, 5."

6. Click in another cell of the table to create the new group and add a new blank row to the table.

11.3.4 Configuring Cost Component Weights You can define the weights for the AFP cost components that Atoll uses to evaluate possible frequency, PRACH root sequence index, and physical cell ID plans. To configure the weights for the AFP cost components: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the LTE Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select AFP > Configure Weights from the context menu. The Weights dialog box appears. This dialog box enables you to define the relative weights of the cost components. The absolute values of the constraint weights are calculated by the AFP using these relative weights. For more information, see the Technical Reference Guide. 4. Click the Frequency Allocation tab. On this tab, you can set the weights for the following cost components: • • •

1st order neighbours: The relative weight assigned to a first order neighbour relationship violation. Interference matrices: The relative weight assigned to an interference matrix-based relationship violation. Distance: The relative weight assigned to a distance-based relationship violation.

You can click the Reset button to set the weights to their default values. 5. Click the Physical Cell ID Allocation tab. •

908

In the Relation weights frame, you can set the weights for the following cost components: • 1st order neighbours: The relative weight assigned to a first order neighbour relationship violation. • Second order neighbours: The relative weight assigned to a second order neighbour relationship violation. • Neighbours of a common cell: The relative weight assigned to the violation of an indirect neighbour relationship between neighbours of a common cell.

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• •

• •

In 3GPP multi-RAT documents, the constraint weight Neighbours of a common cell applies to LTE neighbours of a common LTE cell, UMTS cell, or GSM transmitter. In 3GPP2 multi-RAT documents, the constraint weight Neighbours of a common cell applies to LTE neighbours of a common LTE or CDMA2000 cell.

Interference matrices: The relative weight assigned to a interference matrix-based relationship violation. Distance: The relative weight assigned to a distance-based relationship violation.

You can click the Reset button to set the weights to their default values. •

In the Constraint violation weights frame, you can set the weights for the following constraints: • Physical cell ID: The relative weight assigned to a physical cell ID collision between two related cells. • PSS ID: The relative weight assigned to a PSS ID (PCI Mod 3) collision between two related cells. • Strategy for co-site cells: The relative weight assigned to any allocation strategy used for co-site cells. • PCI Mod 6 (DL RS): The relative weight assigned to a downlink reference signal shifting (PCI Mod 6) collision between two related cells. • PCI Mod 30 (UL DMRS): The relative weight assigned to an uplink demodulation reference signal sequence group (PCI Mod 30) collision between two related cells. • PCFICH REG: The relative weight assigned to a physical control format indicator channel resource element group (PCI Mod (number of frequency blocks / 2)) collision between two related cells. You can click the Reset button to set the weights to their default values. Constraint violation weights may be determined based on the numbers of available resources for each constraint. For example, if the following constraints need to be taken into account, their respective violation weights may be calculated supposing that the constraint violation of a single resource of any given type presents the same amount of imbalance in the network: Constraint type

Number of resources

Violation weighta

Physical cell ID

504

71

PSS ID

3

1b

SSS ID

168

23

PCI Mod 30

17

2

PCFICH REG

21c

3

Total

713

100

a. ROUND(Number of resources/Total) b. Artificially kept at 1 by slightly reducing the SSS ID weight so that the PSS weight is not 0. c. For a 10 MHz channel.

6. Click the PRACH RSI Allocation tab. On this tab, you can set the weights for the following cost components: • • • •

1st order neighbours: The relative weight assigned to a first order neighbour relationship violation. Second order neighbours: The relative weight assigned to a second order neighbour relationship violation. Interference matrices: The relative weight assigned to a interference matrix-based relationship violation. Distance: The relative weight assigned to a distance-based relationship violation.

You can click the Reset button to set the weights to their default values. 7. Click OK.

11.3.5 Planning Frequencies You can manually assign frequency bands and channel numbers to cells or you can use the Automatic Frequency Planning (AFP) tool to automatically allocate channels to cells. The AFP allocates channels to cells automatically in such a way that the overall interference in the network is minimised. Once the allocation is complete, you can analyse the frequency plan by creating and comparing C/(I+N) coverage predictions, and view the frequency allocation on the map.

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11.3.5.1 Manually Allocating Frequencies Manual frequency allocation allows you to assign frequency bands and channel numbers to cells To manually allocate the frequency to a cell: 1. On the map or in the LTE Transmitters folder in the Network explorer, right-click the transmitter to whose cell you want to allocate the frequency, and select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter’s Properties dialog box appears. 2. Select the Cells tab. 3. Select a Frequency band and Channel number for the cell. 4. Set the Channel allocation status to Locked if you want to lock the frequency that you assigned. 5. Click OK.

11.3.5.2 Automatically Allocating Frequencies The Automatic Frequency Planning (AFP) tool can automatically allocate channels to cells. When allocating frequencies, the AFP can take into account interference matrices, reuse distance, and any constraints imposed by neighbours. To automatically allocate frequencies: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the LTE Transmitters folder and select AFP > Automatic Allocation. The Automatic Resource Allocation dialog box appears. The Automatic Resource Allocation dialog box is divided into three zones: • • •

The top line contains global information about the current allocation (resource being allocated and the total cost of the current plan). The left-hand side of the dialog box contains tabs with input parameters. The right-hand side of the dialog box provides the allocation results.

2. From the Allocate list, select Frequencies for automatic frequency planning. 3. On the Relation Types tab, you can set the relations to take into account in automatic allocation: •

Existing neighbours: Select this option if you want the AFP to take neighbour relations into account for the allocation. The AFP will try to allocate different frequencies to a cell and its neighbours. Atoll can only take neighbour relations into account if neighbours have already been allocated. For information on allocating neighbours, see "Configuring Network Parameters Using the AFP" on page 905.

•

•

Interference matrix: Select this option if you want the AFP to take interference matrices into account for the allocation, and select an interference matrix from the list. For Atoll to take interference matrices into account, they must be available in the Interference Matrices folder in the Network explorer. Interference matrices can be calculated, and imported in the Interference Matrices folder. For more information on interference matrices, see "Working with Interference Matrices" on page 906. Reuse distance: Select this option if you want the AFP to take relations based on distance into account for the allocation. You can enter a Default reuse distance within which two cells must not have the same channel assigned. However, it is highly recommended to define a reuse distance for each individual cell depending on the size of the cell’s coverage area and the network density around the cell. If defined, a cell-specific reuse distance is used instead of the default value entered here.

4. On the right-hand side of the Automatic Resource Allocation dialog box, Atoll displays the Total cost of the current frequency allocation. You can click Update to calculate the total cost take into account the parameters set in step 3. You can click the Weights button to open the Weights dialog box and modify the cost component weights. For more information, see "Configuring Cost Component Weights" on page 908. 5. Click Start. Atoll begins the process of allocating frequencies. Any messages generated by the AFP during automatic allocation are reported on the Events tab. While Atoll allocates frequencies, you can: • • • •

Monitor the reduction of the total cost in the Progress tab. Compare the distribution histograms of the initial and current allocation plans in the Distribution tab. Pause the automatic allocation process by clicking Pause. Resume the automatic allocation process by clicking Continue or start the automatic allocation from the initial state by clicking Restart.

Once Atoll has finished allocating frequencies, or if you pause the automatic allocation, the Statistics tab shows the number of proposed changes to the allocation plan and the numbers of different relations, violations, and collisions.

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It also shows the numbers of violations and collisions in the current plan compared to the initial one (in brackets). The Results tab shows the proposed allocation plan: • • • • • • • •

Site: The name of the base station. Transmitter: The name of the transmitter. Name: The name of the cell. Frequency Band: The frequency band used by the cell. Initial channel number: The channel number of the cell before automatic allocation. Channel number: The channel number of the cell after automatic allocation. Channel allocation status: The value of the Channel allocation status of the cell. Cost: The cost of the new frequency allocation of the cell. •

•

•

In order to better view the progress graph and the results table, you can expand the right-hand side zone of the Automatic Resource Allocation dialog box by clicking the Hide Inputs button . You can also resize the dialog box. You can export the contents of table grids to TXT, CSV, and XML Spreadsheet files by right-clicking the table and selecting Export from the context menu. For more information on exporting data tables, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. You can select the columns to display in different tabs by right-clicking the table and selecting Display Columns from the context menu. For more information, see "Displaying and Hiding Columns" on page 80.

6. Click Commit. The proposed frequency plan is assigned to the cells of the network. 7. Click Close. When you allocate frequencies to a large number of cells, it is easiest to let Atoll allocate them automatically. However, if you want to assign a frequency to one cell or to modify it, you can do it by accessing the properties of the cell.

11.3.6 Planning Physical Cell IDs In LTE, 504 physical cell IDs are available, numbered from 0 to 503. There are as many pseudo-random sequences defined in the 3GPP specifications. Physical cell IDs are grouped into 168 unique cell ID groups (called SSS IDs in Atoll), with each group containing 3 unique identities (called PSS IDs in Atoll). An SSS ID is thus uniquely defined by a number in the range of 0 to 167, and a PSS ID is defined by a number in the range of 0 to 2. Each cell’s reference signals carry a pseudo-random sequence corresponding to the physical cell ID of the cell. The SSS and PSS are transmitted over the centre six frequency blocks independently of the channel bandwidths used by cells. Mobiles synchronise their transmission and reception frequency and time by first registering the PSS. Once the PSS ID of the cell is known, mobiles register the SSS of the cell in order to obtain the SSS ID. The combination of these two IDs gives the physical cell ID and the associated pseudo-random sequence that is transmitted over the downlink reference signals. Once the mobile has the physical cell ID and the associated pseudo-random sequence, the cell is recognised by the mobile based on the received reference signals. Channel quality measurements are also made on the reference signals. Because the cell search and selection depend on the physical cell IDs of the cells, these must be correctly allocated to cells in order to avoid unnecessary problems in cell recognition and selection. Atoll facilitates the management of physical cell IDs by letting you create domains of physical cell IDs, where each domain is a defined set of groups. For more information, see "Setting Resources Available for Allocation" on page 907. You can assign physical cell IDs manually or automatically to any cell in the network. Once allocation is completed, you can audit the physical cell IDs, view physical cell ID reuse on the map, and make an analysis of physical cell ID distribution. Atoll can automatically assign physical cell IDs to the cells taking into account the selected SSS ID allocation strategy (free or same per site), allowed allocation domain, interference matrices, reuse distance, and any constraints imposed by neighbours. To automatically allocate physical cell IDs: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the LTE Transmitters folder, and select AFP > Automatic Allocation. The Automatic Resource Allocation dialog box appears. The Automatic Resource Allocation dialog box is divided into three zones: • • •

The top line contains global information about the current allocation (resource being allocated and the total cost of the current plan). The left-hand side of the dialog box contains tabs with input parameters. The right-hand side of the dialog box provides the allocation results.

2. From the Allocate list, select Physical Cell IDs for automatic physical cell ID planning. 3. On the Relation Types tab, you can set the relations to take into account in automatic allocation:

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Existing neighbours: Select this check box if you want the AFP to take neighbour relations into account for the allocation. The AFP will try to allocate different physical cell IDs to a cell and its neighbours, and to the neighbours of a common cell. In 3GPP multi-RAT documents, the AFP will also try to allocate different physical cell IDs to LTE cells that are neighbours of a common GSM transmitter or UMTS cell. In 3GPP2 multi-RAT documents, the AFP will also try to allocate different physical cell IDs to LTE cells that are neighbours of a common CDMA cell. The AFP can take neighbours into account only if neighbours have already been allocated. If you want the AFP to take both first and second order neighbours into account, you must set an option in the Atoll.ini file (see the Administrator Manual).

•

•

Interference matrix: Select this check box if you want the AFP to take interference matrices into account for the allocation, and select an interference matrix from the list. For Atoll to take interference matrices into account, they must be available in the Interference Matrices folder in the Network explorer. Interference matrices can be calculated, and imported in the Interference Matrices folder. For more information on interference matrices, see "Working with Interference Matrices" on page 906. Reuse distance: Select this check box if you want the AFP to take relations based on distance into account for the allocation. You can enter a Default reuse distance within which two cells must not have the same physical cell ID assigned. However, it is highly recommended to define a reuse distance for each individual cell depending on the size of the cell’s coverage area and the network density around the cell. If defined, a cell-specific reuse distance is used instead of the default value entered here. A macro that automatically calculates a reuse distance for each cell can be provided upon request. When using the "Reuse Distance" macro on 64-bit versions of Atoll, the Windows regional settings must be consistent. To check that the regional settings are consistent, select Control Panel > Region and Language, and make sure that the Format setting in the Format tab matches the Current language for non-Unicode programs in the Administrative tab. If necessary, change the current language by clicking Change system locale and restart the computer.

4. On the Constraints tab, you can set the constraints to take into account in automatic allocation: •

Allocation domain: You can choose Per cell to allocate physical cell IDs from the physical cell ID domains defined per cell, you can choose to allocate from the Entire (0-503) domain, or you can choose Custom and enter the Excluded resources to exclude some physical cell IDs from the allocation. You can enter non-consecutive physical cell IDs separated with a comma, or you can enter a range of physical cell IDs separating the first and last one with a hyphen (for example, entering "1-5" corresponds to "1, 2, 3, 4, 5").

•

Under Allocation strategies, you can: •

Select an allocation Strategy for co-site cells. If you select Same SSS ID, the AFP will try to allocate the same SSS ID to all the cells of a site. If you select Fixed PCI step and enter a value for the required Step, the AFP will try to allocate PCIs to co-site cells according to the defined regular step. For example, for a required step of 4, PCIs 0, 4, 8, and so on will be allocated to co-site cells. Steps of 0 and 1 are not allowed and 8 is used instead.

•

Select the Take into account frequency plan check box if you want the AFP to consider the frequency plan when determining physical cell ID collisions.

5. On the right-hand side of the Automatic Resource Allocation dialog box, Atoll displays the Total cost of the current physical cell ID allocation. You can click Update to calculate the total cost take into account the parameters set in step 3. You can click the Weights button to open the Weights dialog box and modify the cost component weights. For more information, see "Configuring Cost Component Weights" on page 908. 6. Click Start. Atoll begins the process of allocating physical cell IDs. Any messages generated by the AFP during automatic allocation are reported on the Events tab. While Atoll allocates physical cell IDs, you can: • • •

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Monitor the reduction of the total cost in the Progress tab. Compare the distribution histograms of the initial and current allocation plans in the Distribution tab. Pause the automatic allocation process by clicking Pause.

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•

Resume the automatic allocation process by clicking Continue or start the automatic allocation from the initial state by clicking Restart.

Once Atoll has finished allocating physical cell IDs, or if you pause the automatic allocation, the Statistics tab shows the number of proposed changes to the allocation plan and the numbers of different relations, violations, and collisions. It also shows the numbers of violations and collisions in the current plan compared to the initial one (in brackets). The Results tab shows the proposed allocation plan: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Site: The name of the base station. Transmitter: The name of the transmitter. Name: The name of the cell. Frequency Band: The frequency band used by the cell. Channel number: The channel number of the cell after automatic allocation. Physical cell ID domain: The physical cell ID domain of the cell. Initial physical cell ID: The physical cell ID of the cell before automatic allocation. Physical cell ID: The physical cell ID of the cell after automatic allocation. Initial PSS ID: The PSS ID of the cell before automatic allocation. PSS ID: The PSS ID of the cell after automatic allocation. Initial SSS ID: The SSS ID of the cell before automatic allocation. SSS ID: The SSS ID of the cell after automatic allocation. Cost: The cost of the new physical cell ID allocation of the cell. SSS ID status: The value of the SSS ID status of the cell. PSS ID status: The value of the PSS ID status of the cell. •

•

•

In order to better view the progress graph and the results table, you can expand the right-hand side zone of the Automatic Resource Allocation dialog box by clicking the Hide Inputs button . You can also resize the dialog box. You can export the contents of table grids to TXT, CSV, and XML Spreadsheet files by right-clicking the table and selecting Export from the context menu. For more information on exporting data tables, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. You can select the columns to display in different tabs by right-clicking the table and selecting Display Columns from the context menu. For more information, see "Displaying and Hiding Columns" on page 80.

7. Click Commit. The proposed physical cell ID plan is assigned to the cells of the network. 8. Click Close. When you allocate physical cell IDs to a large number of cells, it is easiest to let Atoll allocate them automatically. However, if you want to assign a physical cell ID to one cell or to modify it, you can do it by accessing the properties of the cell. To allocate a physical cell ID to an LTE cell manually: 1. On the map or in the LTE Transmitters folder in the Network explorer, right-click the transmitter to whose cell you want to allocate a physical cell ID. The context menu appears. 2. Select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter’s Properties dialog box appears. 3. Select the Cells tab. 4. Enter a Physical cell ID in the cell’s column. 5. You can set the PSS ID Status and SSS ID Status to Locked if you want to lock the physical cell ID that you assigned. 6. Click OK.

11.3.7 Planning PRACH RSIs You can assign PRACH RSIs to cells either manually or with the Automatic Frequency Planning (AFP) tool. Atoll facilitates the management of PRACH RSIs by letting you create domains of PRACH RSIs, where each domain is a defined set of groups. For more information, see "Setting Resources Available for Allocation" on page 907.

11.3.7.1 Manually Allocating PRACH RSIs You can assign PRACH RSIs to cells in the transmitter properties.

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To allocate PRACH RSIs to a cell manually: 1. On the map or in the LTE Transmitters folder in the Network explorer, right-click the transmitter to whose cell you want to allocate the frequency and select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter’s Properties dialog box appears. 2. Select the Cells tab. 3. Enter the PRACH Root Sequence Indexes for the cell. 4. Set the PRACH RSI Allocation Status to Locked if you want to lock the PRACH RSIs that you assigned. 5. Click OK.

11.3.7.2 Automatically Allocating PRACH RSIs The AFP allocates PRACH RSIs to cells automatically in a way that avoids PRACH RSI collisions in the network. When automatically allocating PRACH RSIs, the AFP can take into account interference matrices, reuse distance, and any constraints imposed by neighbours. To automatically allocate PRACH RSIs: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the LTE Transmitters folder and select AFP > Automatic Allocation. The Automatic Resource Allocation dialog box appears. The Automatic Resource Allocation dialog box is divided into three zones: • • •

The top line contains global information about the current allocation (resource being allocated and the total cost of the current plan). The left-hand side of the dialog box contains tabs with input parameters. The right-hand side of the dialog box provides the allocation results.

2. From the Allocate list, select PRACH Root Sequence Indexes for automatic PRACH RSI planning. 3. On the Relation Types tab, you can set the relations to take into account in automatic allocation: •

•

•

Existing neighbours: Select this check box if you want the AFP to take neighbour relations into account for the allocation. The AFP will try to allocate different PRACH RSIs to a cell and its neighbours. Atoll can only take neighbour relations into account if neighbours have already been allocated. For information on allocating neighbours, see the User Manual. Interference matrix: Select this check box if you want the AFP to take interference matrices into account for the allocation, and select an interference matrix from the list. For Atoll to take interference matrices into account, they must be available in the Interference Matrices folder in the Network explorer. Interference matrices can be calculated, and imported in the Interference Matrices folder. For more information on interference matrices, see the User Manual. Reuse distance: Select this check box if you want the AFP to take relations based on distance into account for the allocation. You can enter a Default reuse distance within which two cells must not have the same PRACH RSI assigned. However, it is highly recommended to define a reuse distance for each individual cell depending on the size of the cell’s coverage area and the network density around the cell. If defined, a cell-specific reuse distance is used instead of the default value entered here.

4. On the Constraints tab, you can set the constraints to take into account in automatic allocation: •

Allocation domain: You can choose Per cell to allocate PRACH RSIs from the PRACH RSI domains defined per cell, you can choose to allocate from the Entire (0-838 / 0-138) domain, or you can choose Custom and enter the Excluded resources to exclude some PRACH RSIs from the allocation. You can enter non-consecutive PRACH RSIs separated with a comma, or you can enter a range of PRACH RSIs separating the first and last one with a hyphen (for example, entering "1-5" corresponds to "1, 2, 3, 4, 5").

•

Allocation strategies: You can select the Take into account frequency plan check box if you want the AFP to consider the frequency plan when determining PRACH RSI collisions.

5. On the right-hand side of the Automatic Resource Allocation dialog box, Atoll displays the Total cost of the current frequency allocation. You can click Update to calculate the total cost take into account the parameters set in step 3. You can click the Weights button to open the Weights dialog box and modify the cost component weights. For more information, see "Configuring Cost Component Weights" on page 908. 6. Click Start. Atoll begins the process of allocating PRACH RSIs. Any messages generated by the AFP during automatic allocation are reported on the Events tab. While Atoll allocates PRACH RSIs, you can: •

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• • •

Compare the distribution histograms of the initial and current allocation plans in the Distribution tab. Pause the automatic allocation process by clicking Pause. Resume the automatic allocation process by clicking Continue or start the automatic allocation from the initial state by clicking Restart.

Once Atoll has finished allocating PRACH RSIs, or if you pause the automatic allocation, the Statistics tab shows the number of proposed changes to the allocation plan and the numbers of different relations, violations, and collisions. It also shows the numbers of violations and collisions in the current plan compared to the initial one (in brackets). The Results tab shows the proposed allocation plan: the proposed allocation plan is available on the Results tab. The Results tab contains the following information: • • • • • • • • •

Site: The name of the base station. Transmitter: The name of the transmitter. Name: The name of the cell. Number of Required PRACH RSIs: The number of PRACH RSIs required by the cell. PRACH RSI Domain: The PRACH RSI domain of the cell. Initial PRACH Root Sequence Indexes: The PRACH RSIs of the cell before automatic allocation. PRACH Root Sequence Indexes: The PRACH RSIs of the cell after automatic allocation. Cost: The cost of the new PRACH RSI allocation of the cell. PRACH RSI Allocation Status: The value of the PRACH RSI Allocation Status of the cell. •

•

•

In order to better view the progress graph and the results table, you can expand the right-hand side zone of the Automatic Resource Allocation dialog box by clicking the Hide Inputs button . You can also resize the dialog box. You can export the contents of table grids to TXT, CSV, and XML Spreadsheet files by right-clicking the table and selecting Export from the context menu. For more information on exporting data tables, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. You can select the columns to display in different tabs by right-clicking the table and selecting Display Columns from the context menu. For more information, see "Displaying and Hiding Columns" on page 80.

7. Click Commit. The proposed PRACH RSI plan is assigned to the cells of the network. 8. Click Close to exit. When you allocate PRACH RSIs to a large number of cells, it is easiest to let Atoll allocate them automatically. However, if you want to assign a PRACH RSI list to one cell or to modify it, you can do it by accessing the properties of the cell.

11.3.8 Displaying AFP Results on the Map You can display AFP results on the map in several ways: • •

"Using the Find on Map Tool to Display AFP Results" on page 915. "Grouping Transmitters by Channels or Physical Cell IDs" on page 917.

11.3.8.1 Using the Find on Map Tool to Display AFP Results In Atoll, you can search for frequency bands, channel numbers, physical cell IDs, PSS IDs, and SSS IDs, and PRACH RSIs using the Find on Map tool. If you have already calculated and displayed a coverage prediction by transmitter based on the best server, with the results displayed by transmitter, the search results will be displayed by transmitter coverage. The current allocation plan and any potential problems will then be clearly visible. For information on coverage predictions by transmitter, see "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter" on page 877. To find a frequency band using Find on Map: 1. Select Tools > Find on Map. The Find on Map window opens. 2. From the Find list, select "LTE Channel." 3. From the Band list, select a frequency band. 4. From the Channel list, select "All." 5. Click Search. Transmitters whose cells use the selected frequency band are displayed in red in the map window and are listed under Results in the Find on Map window. Transmitters with cells using other frequency bands are displayed in grey in the map window.

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To restore the initial transmitter colours, click the Reset display button in the Find on Map window. To find a channel number using Find on Map: 1. Select Tools > Find on Map. The Find on Map window opens. 2. From the Find list, select "LTE Channel." 3. From the Band list, select a frequency band. 4. From the Channel list, select the channel number. By default, Find on Map displays only co-channel transmitter cells. If you want adjacent channels to be displayed as well, select the Adjacent channels check box. 5. Click Search. Transmitters whose cells use the selected frequency band and channel number are displayed in red. Transmitters with cells using two adjacent channel numbers in the same frequency band (i.e., a channel higher and a channel lower) are displayed in yellow. Transmitters with cells using a lower adjacent channel number in the same frequency band are displayed in green. Transmitters with cells using a higher adjacent channel number in the same frequency band are displayed in blue. All other transmitters are displayed as grey lines. If you cleared the Adjacent channels check box, transmitters with cells using the same channel number are displayed in red, and all others, including transmitters with adjacent channels, are displayed as grey lines. To restore the initial transmitter colours, click the Reset display button in the Find on Map window. By including the frequency band and channel number of each cell in the transmitter label, the search results will be easier to understand. For information on defining the label, see "Associating a Label to an Object" on page 53. To find a physical cell ID, PSS ID, SSS ID, or PRACH RSI using Find on Map: 1. Click Tools > Find on Map. The Find on Map window opens. 2. From the Find list, select "Cell Identifier." 3. Select what you want to search for: • • • •

Physical cell ID: Select Physical cell ID and enter a physical cell ID in the edit box. PSS ID: Select PSS ID and select the PSS ID from the list: "All," "0," "1," or "2." SSS ID: Select SSS ID and enter an SSS ID in the edit box. PRACH RSI: Select PRACH RSI and enter a PRACH RSI in the edit box.

4. Click Search. When you select a physical cell ID, an SSS ID, or a PRACH RSI, transmitters with cells matching the search criteria are displayed in red. Transmitters that do not match the search criteria are displayed as grey lines. When you select a specific PSS ID, transmitters whose cells use the selected ID are displayed in red. Transmitters with cells that use other IDs are displayed as grey lines. When you choose to search for all PSS IDs, transmitters whose first cells use ID 0 are displayed in red, transmitters whose first cells use ID 1 are displayed in yellow, and transmitters whose first cells use ID 2 are displayed in green. To restore the initial transmitter colours, click the Reset display button in the Search Tool window. •

•

By including the physical cell ID of each cell in the transmitter label, the search results will be easier to understand. For information on defining the label, see "Associating a Label to an Object" on page 53. Transmitters with more than one cell might use different PSS IDs in different cells. Therefore, the search for all PSS IDs is only valid for single-cell transmitters.

11.3.8.2 Displaying AFP Results Using Transmitter Display Settings You can display the frequency and physical cell ID allocation on transmitters by using the transmitters’ display settings. To display the frequency allocation on the map: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the LTE Transmitters folder and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box opens. 2. Click the Display tab. 3. Select "Discrete values" as the Display type and "Cells: Channel number" as the Field. 4. Click OK. Transmitters are displayed by channel number.

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You can also display the frequency band and channel number in the transmitter label or tip text by selecting "Cells: Frequency band" and "Cells: Channel number" from the Label or Tip Text Field Selection dialog box. To display physical cell ID allocation on the map: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the LTE Transmitters folder and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. Click the Display tab. 3. Select "Discrete values" as the Display type and "Cells: Physical cell ID" as the Field. 4. Click OK. Transmitters are displayed by physical cell ID. You can also display the physical cell ID in the transmitter label or tip text by selecting "Cells: Physical cell ID" from the Label or Tip Text Field Selection dialog box. For information on display options, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51.

11.3.8.3 Grouping Transmitters by Channels or Physical Cell IDs You can group transmitters in the Network explorer by their frequency bands, channel numbers, or physical cell IDs. To group transmitters by frequency bands, channel numbers, or physical cell IDs: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the LTE Transmitters folder and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. On the General tab, click Group by. The Group dialog box appears. 3. Under Available fields, scroll down to the Cells section. 4. Select the parameter you want to group transmitters by: • • • •

Frequency band Channel number Physical cell ID PRACH root sequences

5. Click to add the parameter to the Group these fields in this order list. The selected parameter is added to the list of parameters on which the transmitters will be grouped. 6. If you do not want the transmitters to be sorted by a certain parameter, select the parameter in the Group these fields in this order list and click ters will be grouped.

. The selected parameter is removed from the list of parameters on which the transmit-

7. Arrange the parameters in the Group these fields in this order list in the order in which you want the transmitters to be grouped: a. Select a parameter and click

to move it up to the desired position.

b. Select a parameter and click

to move it down to the desired position.

8. Click OK to save your changes and close the Group dialog box.

11.3.9 Analysing AFP Results You can analyse the AFP results using the tools provided by Atoll: • • • • •

"Checking the Consistency of a Frequency Plan" on page 917. "Checking the Consistency of the Physical Cell ID Plan" on page 919. "Checking the Consistency of the PRACH RSI Plan" on page 922. "Making a Cell Identifier Collision Zones Prediction" on page 924. "Analysing the Frequency Allocation Using Coverage Predictions" on page 924.

11.3.9.1 Checking the Consistency of a Frequency Plan Once you have completed allocating frequencies, you can verify whether the allocated frequencies respect the specified relations by performing an audit of the plan. The frequency audit also enables you to check for inconsistencies if you have made some manual changes to the allocation plan. To perform an audit of the frequency plan: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the LTE Transmitters folder and select AFP > Audit. The Resource Allocation Audit dialog box appears. The Resource Allocation Audit dialog box is divided into three zones:

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The top line contains global information about the current allocation (resource being audited and the total cost of the current plan). The left-hand side of the dialog box contains tabs with input parameters. The right-hand side of the dialog box provides the audit results.

2. From the Audit list, select Frequencies. 3. On the Relation Types tab, you can select the relation-based allocation criteria that you want to verify. •

•

•

Existing Neighbours: Select this check box if you want the audit to take neighbours into account. Atoll can only take neighbour relations into account if neighbours have already been allocated. For information on allocating neighbours, see "Configuring Network Parameters Using the AFP" on page 905. Interference matrix: Select this check box if you want the audit to take interference matrices into account, and select an interference matrix from the list. For Atoll to take interference matrices into account, they must be available in the Interference Matrices folder in the Network explorer. Interference matrices can be calculated, and imported in the Interference Matrices folder. For more information on interference matrices, see "Working with Interference Matrices" on page 906. Reuse distance: Select this check box if you want the audit to take reuse distance into account. For cells that do not have a reuse distance defined in their properties, the value entered next to Default will be used for the audit.

4. On the right-hand side of the Resource Allocation Audit dialog box, Atoll displays the Total cost of the current frequency allocation. You can click the Weights button to open the Weights dialog box and modify the cost component weights. For more information, see "Configuring Cost Component Weights" on page 908. 5. Click Calculate. Atoll performs an audit of the current frequency plan. Any messages generated by the audit are reported on the Events tab. The audit results are reported on the following tabs: The Statistics tab provides overall statistics such as the numbers of various types of relations considered by the AFP for frequency planning and the number of violated relations. The Relations tab lists all the relations between active and filtered cells in the document. The Relations tab can display the following information: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Cell 1: First cell in a related cell-pair. Cell 2: Second cell in a related cell-pair. Frequency Band 1: Frequency band of Cell 1. Channel 1: Channel number of Cell 1. Frequency Band 2: Frequency band of Cell 2. Channel 2: Channel number of Cell 2. Cost: The cost of the current collisions, if any, between Cell 1 and Cell 2. Channel Collision: Whether the channels of Cell 1 and Cell 2 collide ( ) or not ( ). Channel Overlap Factor: The ratio of overlap between the channels used by Cell 1 and Cell 2. Distance: The distance between Cell 1 and Cell 2. Reuse Distance: Reuse distance defined for Cell 1. Distance Relation Importance: The importance of the distance-based relation between Cell 1 and Cell 2. Interference Matrices: Whether an interference matrix relation exists ( ) between Cell 1 and Cell 2 or not. Interference Matrix Importance: The importance of the interference matrix relation between Cell 1 and Cell 2. Neighbour: Whether a neighbour relation exists ( ) between Cell 1 and Cell 2 or not. Neighbour Importance: The importance of the neighbour relation between Cell 1 and Cell 2. The data table in the Relations tab can be filtered. For example, you can view all the relations, only the relations that violate the frequency allocation requirements, or apply a filter to exclude unimportant ones. To filter the relations listed in the Relations tab, click the Show button (

) on the Relations tab. The filter parameters appear.

To view all the relations between cells: i.

Under Filter by violation type, select the Show relations option.

ii. Under Include relations by type, select all the options representing the relation types and select (All) from their respective lists. iii. Click Apply. The data table in the Relations tab shows all the relations between cells. To view only the relations that violate the frequency allocation requirements: i.

Under Filter by violation type, select the Show violations option.

ii. Under Include relations by type, select all the options representing the relation types and select (All) from their respective lists.

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iii. Click Apply. The data table in the Relations tab shows only the relations that violate the frequency allocation requirements. To view only the important relations that violate the frequency allocation requirements: i.

Under Filter by violation type, select the Show violations option.

ii. Under Include relations by type, select the relation types that you consider important and select some or all of their characteristics from their respective lists. iii. Click Apply. The data table in the Relations tab shows the relations according to the user-defined filter. The Cells tab lists the current allocation plan and the following information: • • • • • • •

Site: The name of the base station. Transmitter: The name of the transmitter. Name: The name of the cell. Frequency Band: The frequency band used by the cell. Channel number: The channel number of the cell. Channel allocation status: The value of the Channel allocation status of the cell. Cost: The cost of the frequency allocation of the cell.

The Distribution tab shows the histogram of the current allocation plan. • •

•

You can expand the right pane of the Resource Allocation Audit dialog box by clicking the Hide button ( ). You can also resize the dialog box. You can export the contents of table grids to TXT, CSV, and XML Spreadsheet files by right-clicking the table and selecting Export from the context menu. For more information on exporting data tables, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. You can select the columns to display in different tabs by right-clicking the table and selecting Display Columns from the context menu. For more information, see "Displaying and Hiding Columns" on page 80.

6. Click Close to exit.

11.3.9.2 Checking the Consistency of the Physical Cell ID Plan Once you have completed allocating physical cell IDs, you can verify whether the allocated physical cell IDs respect the specified constraints and relations by performing an audit of the plan. The physical cell ID audit also enables you to check for inconsistencies if you have made some manual changes to the allocation plan. For instance, a physical cell ID audit will detect the following in multi-RAT networks: • • •

LTE cells with identical physical cell IDs that are neighbours of the same GSM transmitter, LTE cells with identical physical cell IDs that are neighbours of the same UMTS cell, LTE cells with identical physical cell IDs that are neighbours of the same CDMA cell.

To perform an audit of the physical cell ID plan: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the LTE Transmitters folder and select AFP > Audit. The Resource Allocation Audit dialog box appears. The Resource Allocation Audit dialog box is divided into three zones: • • •

The top line contains global information about the current allocation (resource being audited and the total cost of the current plan). The left-hand side of the dialog box contains tabs with input parameters. The right-hand side of the dialog box provides the audit results.

2. From the Audit list, select Physical Cell IDs. 3. On the Relation Types tab, you can select the relation-based allocation criteria that you want to verify. •

•

•

Existing Neighbours: Select this check box if you want the audit to take neighbours into account. Atoll can only take neighbour relations into account if neighbours have already been allocated. For information on allocating neighbours, see "Configuring Network Parameters Using the AFP" on page 905. Interference matrix: Select this check box if you want the audit to take interference matrices into account, and select an interference matrix from the list. For Atoll to take interference matrices into account, they must be available in the Interference Matrices folder in the Network explorer. Interference matrices can be calculated, and imported in the Interference Matrices folder. For more information on interference matrices, see "Working with Interference Matrices" on page 906. Reuse distance: Select this check box if you want the audit to take reuse distance into account. For cells that do not have a reuse distance defined in their properties, the value entered next to Default will be used for the audit.

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4. On the right-hand side of the Resource Allocation Audit dialog box, Atoll displays the Total cost of the current physical cell ID allocation. You can click the Weights button to open the Weights dialog box and modify the cost component weights. For more information, see "Configuring Cost Component Weights" on page 908. 5. On the Constraints tab, you can set the constraints to take into account in the audit: •

Allocation domain: You can choose Per cell to check if the allocated physical cell IDs belong to the physical cell ID domains defined per cell, or you can choose to the Entire (0-503) domain or define a Custom domain by entering the Excluded resources. You can enter non-consecutive physical cell IDs separated with a comma, or you can enter a range of physical cell IDs separating the first and last one with a hyphen (for example, entering "1-5" corresponds to "1, 2, 3, 4, 5").

•

Allocation strategies: You can select the Same per site strategy for the SSS ID to check whether the same SSS ID has been allocated to the cells of the same site. You can select the Different PSS ID per site check box to have the audit verify whether co-site cells have different PSS IDs. You can select the Take into account frequency plan check box if you want the audit to consider the frequency plan when determining physical cell ID collisions.

6. Click Calculate. Atoll performs an audit of the current physical cell ID plan. Any messages generated by the audit are reported on the Events tab. The audit results are reported on the following tabs: The Statistics tab provides overall statistics such as the numbers of various types of relations considered by the AFP for physical cell ID planning, the numbers of violated relations of each type, the number of collisions for each resource type, the number of cells not satisfying the domain compliance criteria, and numbers of strategy violations for selected allocation strategies. The Relations tab lists all the relations between active and filtered cells in the document. The Relations tab can display the following information: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

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Cell 1: First cell in a related cell-pair. Cell 2: Second cell in a related cell-pair. Frequency band 1: Frequency band of Cell 1. Channel 1: Channel number of Cell 1. Frequency band 2: Frequency band of Cell 2. Channel 2: Channel number of Cell 2. Cost: The cost of the current collisions, if any, between Cell 1 and Cell 2. Physical cell ID collision: Whether the physical cell IDs of Cell 1 and Cell 2 collide ( ) or not ( ). Physical cell ID 1: The physical cell ID of Cell 1. Physical cell ID 2: The physical cell ID of Cell 2. PSS collision: Whether the PSS IDs of Cell 1 and Cell 2 collide ( ) or not ( ). Per-site PSS violation: Whether the different PSS per-site constraint has been respected ( ) or not ( ). PSS 1: The PSS ID of Cell 1. PSS 2: The PSS ID of Cell 2. Per-site SSS violation: Whether the per-site SSS constraint has been respected ( ) or not ( ). SSS 1: The SSS ID of Cell 1. SSS 2: The SSS ID of Cell 2. PCI Mod 6 collision (DL RS): Whether there is a PCI Mod 6 collision ( ) between Cell 1 and Cell 2 or not ( ). PCI Mod 30 collision (UL DMRS): Whether there is a PCI Mod 30 collision ( ) between Cell 1 and Cell 2 or not ( ). PCFICH REG collision: Whether there is a PCFICH REG collision ( ) between Cell 1 and Cell 2 or not ( ). Distance: The distance between Cell 1 and Cell 2. Reuse distance: Reuse distance defined for Cell 1. Distance relation importance: The importance of the distance-based relation between Cell 1 and Cell 2. Interference Matrices: Whether an interference matrix relation exists ( ) between Cell 1 and Cell 2 or not. Interference matrix importance: The importance of the interference matrix relation between Cell 1 and Cell 2. Neighbour: Whether a neighbour relation exists ( ) between Cell 1 and Cell 2 or not. Neighbour importance: The importance of the neighbour relation between Cell 1 and Cell 2. Second order neighbour: Whether a second-order neighbour relation exists ( ) between Cell 1 and Cell 2 or not. Second order neighbour importance: The importance of the second-order neighbour relation between Cell 1 and Cell 2. Neighbours of a common cell: Whether Cell 1 and Cell 2 are ( ) neighbours of a common cell or not. Importance of neighbours of a common cell: The importance of the relation between Cell 1 and Cell 2 through a common neighbour cell.

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The data table in the Relations tab can be filtered. For example, you can view all the relations, only the relations that violate the physical cell ID allocation requirements, or apply a filter to exclude unimportant ones. To filter the relations listed in the Relations tab, click the Show button (

) on the Relations tab. The filter parameters appear.

To view all the relations between cells: i.

Under Filter by violation type, select the Show relations option.

ii. Under Include relations by type, select all the options representing the relation types and select (All) from their respective lists. iii. Click Apply. The data table in the Relations tab shows all the relations between cells. To view only the relations that violate the physical cell ID allocation requirements: i.

Under Filter by violation type, select the Show violations option.

ii. Under Include relations by type, select all the options representing the relation types and select (All) from their respective lists. iii. Click Apply. The data table in the Relations tab shows only the relations that violate the physical cell ID allocation requirements. To view only the important relations that violate the physical cell ID allocation requirements: i.

Under Filter by violation type, select the Show violations option.

ii. Under Include relations by type, select the relation types that you consider important and select some or all of their characteristics from their respective lists. iii. Click Apply. The data table in the Relations tab shows the relations according to the user-defined filter. The Cells tab lists the current allocation plan and the following information: • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Site: The name of the base station. Transmitter: The name of the transmitter. Name: The name of the cell. Frequency Band: The frequency band used by the cell. Channel number: The channel number of the cell after automatic allocation. Physical cell ID domain: The physical cell ID domain of the cell. Domain violation: Whether the allocated physical cell ID belongs to ( ) the defined physical cell ID domain or not ( ). Physical cell ID: The physical cell ID of the cell after automatic allocation. PSS ID: The PSS ID of the cell after automatic allocation. SSS ID: The SSS ID of the cell after automatic allocation. Cost: The cost of the new physical cell ID allocation of the cell. SSS ID status: The value of the SSS ID status of the cell. PSS ID status: The value of the PSS ID status of the cell.

The Sites tab identifies the sites The Sites tab provides the following information: • • •

Site: The name of the base station. SSS violation: Whether the Same per site SSS ID allocation strategy was respected ( ) or not ( ). PSS violation: Whether the Different PSS per site allocation strategy was respected ( ) or not ( ).

The Distribution tab shows the histogram of the current allocation plan. •

• •

•

The exclamation mark icon ( ) indicates that the collision may or may not be a problem depending on your network design rules and selected strategies. The cross icon ( ) implies an error. You can expand the right pane of the Resource Allocation Audit dialog box by clicking the Hide button ( ). You can also resize the dialog box. You can export the contents of table grids to TXT, CSV, and XML Spreadsheet files by right-clicking the table and selecting Export from the context menu. For more information on exporting data tables, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. You can select the columns to display in different tabs by right-clicking the table and selecting Display Columns from the context menu. For more information, see "Displaying and Hiding Columns" on page 80.

7. Click Close to exit.

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11.3.9.3 Checking the Consistency of the PRACH RSI Plan Once you have completed allocating PRACH RSIs, you can verify whether the allocated PRACH RSIs respect the specified relations by performing an audit of the plan. The PRACH RSI audit also enables you to check for inconsistencies if you have made some manual changes to the allocation plan. To perform an audit of the PRACH RSI plan: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the LTE Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select AFP > Audit. The Resource Allocation Audit dialog box appears. The Resource Allocation Audit dialog box is divided into three zones: • • •

The top line contains global information about the current allocation (resource being audited and the total cost of the current plan). The left-hand side of the dialog box contains tabs with input parameters. The right-hand side of the dialog box provides the audit results.

4. From the Audit list, select PRACH Root Sequence Indexes. 5. On the Relation Types tab, you can select the relation-based allocation criteria that you want to verify. •

•

•

Existing Neighbours: Select this check box if you want the audit to take neighbours into account. Atoll can only take neighbour relations into account if neighbours have already been allocated. For information on allocating neighbours, see the User Manual. Interference matrix: Select this check box if you want the audit to take interference matrices into account, and select an interference matrix from the list. For Atoll to take interference matrices into account, they must be available in the Interference Matrices folder in the Network explorer. Interference matrices can be calculated, and imported in the Interference Matrices folder. For more information on interference matrices, see the User Manual. Reuse distance: Select this check box if you want the audit to take reuse distance into account. For cells that do not have a reuse distance defined in their properties, the value entered next to Default will be used for the audit.

6. On the Constraints tab, you can set the constraints to take into account in the audit: •

Allocation domain: You can choose Per cell to allocate PRACH RSIs from the PRACH RSI domains defined per cell, you can choose to allocate from the Entire (0-838 / 0-138) domain, or you can choose Custom and enter the Excluded resources to exclude some PRACH RSIs from the audit. You can enter non-consecutive PRACH RSIs separated with a comma, or you can enter a range of PRACH RSIs separating the first and last one with a hyphen (for example, entering "1-5" corresponds to "1, 2, 3, 4, 5").

•

Allocation strategies: You can select the Take into account frequency plan check box if you want the AFP to consider the frequency plan when determining PRACH RSI collisions.

7. On the right-hand side of the Resource Allocation Audit dialog box, Atoll displays the Total cost of the current PRACH RSI allocation. You can click the Weights button to open the Weights dialog box and modify the cost component weights. For more information, see "Configuring Cost Component Weights" on page 908. 8. Click Calculate. Atoll performs an audit of the current PRACH RSI plan. Any messages generated by the audit are reported on the Events tab. The audit results are reported on the following tabs: The Statistics tab provides overall statistics such as the numbers of various types of relations considered by the AFP for PRACH RSI planning, the numbers of violated relations of each type, and the number of cells not satisfying the domain compliance criteria. The Relations tab lists all the relations between active and filtered cells in the document. The Relations tab can display the following information: • • • • • • • • • •

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Cell 1: First cell in a related cell-pair. Cell 2: Second cell in a related cell-pair. Frequency band 1: Frequency band of Cell 1. Channel 1: Channel number of Cell 1. Frequency band 2: Frequency band of Cell 2. Channel 2: Channel number of Cell 2. PRACH RSI 1: The PRACH RSIs allocated to Cell 1. PRACH RSI 2: The PRACH RSIs allocated to Cell 2. Cost: The cost of the current collisions, if any, between Cell 1 and Cell 2. PRACH RSI collision: Whether the PRACH RSIs of Cell 1 and Cell 2 collide ( ) or not ( ).

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• • • • • • • • • •

PRACH RSI overlap factor: The ratio of overlap between the PRACH RSIs used by Cell 1 and Cell 2. Distance: The distance between Cell 1 and Cell 2. Reuse distance: Reuse distance defined for Cell 1. Distance relation importance: The importance of the distance-based relation between Cell 1 and Cell 2. Interference Matrices: Whether an interference matrix relation exists ( ) between Cell 1 and Cell 2 or not. Interference matrix importance: The importance of the interference matrix relation between Cell 1 and Cell 2. Neighbour: Whether a neighbour relation exists ( ) between Cell 1 and Cell 2 or not. Neighbour importance: The importance of the neighbour relation between Cell 1 and Cell 2. Second order neighbour: Whether a second-order neighbour relation exists ( ) between Cell 1 and Cell 2 or not. Second order neighbour importance: The importance of the second-order neighbour relation between Cell 1 and Cell 2. The data table in the Relations tab can be filtered. For example, you can view all the relations, only the relations that violate the PRACH RSI allocation requirements, or apply a filter to exclude unimportant ones. To filter the relations listed in the Relations tab, click the Show button (

) on the Relations tab. The filter parameters appear.

To view all the relations between cells: i.

Under Filter by violation type, select the Show relations option.

ii. Under Include relations by type, select all the options representing the relation types and select (All) from their respective lists. iii. Click Apply. The data table in the Relations tab shows all the relations between cells. To view only the relations that violate the PRACH RSI allocation requirements: i.

Under Filter by violation type, select the Show violations option.

ii. Under Include relations by type, select all the options representing the relation types and select (All) from their respective lists. iii. Click Apply. The data table in the Relations tab shows only the relations that violate the PRACH RSI allocation requirements. To view only the important relations that violate the PRACH RSI allocation requirements: i.

Under Filter by violation type, select the Show violations option.

ii. Under Include relations by type, select the relation types that you consider important and select some or all of their characteristics from their respective lists. iii. Click Apply. The data table in the Relations tab shows the relations according to the user-defined filter. The Cells tab lists the current allocation plan and the following information: • • • • • • • • • • • •

Site: The name of the base station. Transmitter: The name of the transmitter. Name: The name of the cell. Frequency Band: The frequency band used by the cell. Channel number: The channel number of the cell after automatic allocation. Number of Required PRACH RSIs: The number of PRACH RSIs required by the cell. PRACH Root Sequences: The PRACH RSIs of the cell after automatic allocation. PRACH RSI Domain: The PRACH RSI domain of the cell. Domain Violation: Whether the allocated PRACH RSIs belongs to ( ) the defined domain or not ( ). Violation of the Number of Required PRACH RSIs: Whether the number of allocated PRACH RSIs of the cell is the same as ( ), less than ( ), or greater than ( ) the number of required PRACH RSIs. PRACH RSI Allocation Status: The value of the PRACH RSI Allocation Status of the cell. Cost: The cost of the new PRACH RSI allocation of the cell.

The Distribution tab shows the histogram of the current allocation plan. • •

•

You can expand the right pane of the Resource Allocation Audit dialog box by clicking the Hide button ( ). You can also resize the dialog box. You can export the contents of table grids to TXT, CSV, and XML Spreadsheet files by right-clicking the table and selecting Export from the context menu. For more information on exporting data tables, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. You can select the columns to display in different tabs by right-clicking the table and selecting Display Columns from the context menu. For more information, see "Displaying and Hiding Columns" on page 80.

9. Click Close to exit.

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11.3.9.4 Making a Cell Identifier Collision Zones Prediction You can make a prediction of cell identifier collision zones to view areas covered by cells using the same physical cell ID or other related parameters such as the PSS ID, SSS ID, PCI Mod 6 (DL RS), PCI Mod 30 (UL DMRS), and PRACH Root Sequences. Atoll checks on each pixel if one or more cell has the same cell identifier as the user’s best serving cell. If so, Atoll considers that there is cell identifier collision. To make a cell identifier collision zone prediction: 1. Select the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialogue appears. 2. Select Cell Identifier Collision Zones (DL) and click OK. 3. Click the General tab. On the General tab, you can change the assigned Name of the coverage prediction, the Resolution, and you can add a Comment. The Receiver height corresponds to the height of the receiver defined in the Calculation Parameters tab of the LTE Network Settings Properties dialog box. A read-only Unique ID is generated when you create a new coverage prediction. This ID can later be found between the and tags in the following files: • •

"studies.XML" file created in the installation folder if at least one coverage prediction was saved using the Save as Customised Prediction command. ".XML" files (one per prediction) created in the following folder if coverage predictions were calculated with Display type = "Value intervals": C:\\.studies\{}

Under Display Configuration, you can create a Filter to select which sites to display in the results. You can also display the results grouped in the Network explorer by one or more characteristics by clicking the Group By button, or you can display the results sorted by clicking the Sort button. For information on filtering, see "Filtering Data" on page 99; for information on grouping, see "Advanced Grouping of Data Objects" on page 96; for information on sorting, see "Advanced Sorting" on page 98. 4. Click the Conditions tab. On the Conditions tab, you can define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. • • • • • •

At the top of the Conditions tab, you can set the range of signal level to be considered. The Server parameter is set to "Best Signal Level." You can enter an Overlap margin. If you select the Shadowing taken into account check box, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability. You can select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. You can select the Take frequency plan into account check box to determine the cell identifier collisions based on the current frequency plan of the network. Under Identifier, you can select the cell identifier for which you want to calculate the coverage prediction.

5. Click the Display tab. The coverage prediction results will be arranged according to cells, the number of interferers, or number of interferers per cell. For information on adjusting the display, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 6. Once you have created the coverage prediction, choose whether you want to calculate it now or later: • •

Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and perform the calculation immediately. Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate the prediction later by clicking the Calculate button ( ) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

11.3.9.5 Analysing the Frequency Allocation Using Coverage Predictions You can create and compare reference signal C/(I+N) coverage predictions before and after the automatic frequency allocation in order to analyse and compare the improvements brought about by the AFP. For more information on creating reference signal C/(I+N) coverage predictions, see "Studying Interference and C/(I+N) Levels" on page 882. For more information on comparing two coverage predictions, see "Comparing Coverage Predictions" on page 215.

11.4 Studying LTE Network Capacity Interference is the major limiting factor in the performance of LTE networks. It has been recognised as the major bottleneck in network capacity and is often responsible for poor performance. Frequency reuse means that in a given coverage area there are several cells that use a given set of frequencies. The cells that use the same frequency are called co-channel cells, and the interference from users with the same channel in the other co-channel cells is called co-channel interference. Unlike thermal

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noise which can be overcome by increasing the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), co-channel interference cannot be countered by increasing the carrier power of a transmitter. This is because an increase in carrier transmission power will increase the interference to neighbouring co-channel cells. To reduce co-channel interference, co-channel cells must be physically separated sufficiently by a distance, called the reuse distance. For a network with a limited number of frequency channels, a large reuse distance can guarantee a high QoS for the system, but the capacity will be decreased. Another type of interference in LTE networks is adjacent channel interference. Adjacent channel interference results from imperfect receiver filters which allow nearby frequencies to interfere with the used frequency channel. Adjacent channel interference can be minimised through careful filtering and channel assignment. In Atoll, a simulation is based on a realistic distribution of users at a given point in time. The distribution of users at a given moment is referred to as a snapshot. Based on this snapshot, Atoll calculates various network parameters such as the downlink and uplink traffic loads, the uplink noise rise, the user throughputs, and so on. Simulations are calculated in an iterative fashion. When several simulations are performed at the same time using the same traffic information, the distribution of users will be different, according to a Poisson distribution. Consequently you can have variations in user distribution from one snapshot to another. To create snapshots, services and users must be modelled. As well, certain traffic information in the form of traffic maps must be provided. Once services and users have been modelled and traffic maps have been created, you can make simulations of the network traffic. For general information on studying network capacity in Atoll, see Chapter 6: Traffic and Capacity Planning. This section covers the following topics for LTE networks: • • •

"Defining Multi-service Traffic Data" on page 925. "Calculating LTE Traffic Simulations" on page 925. "Making Coverage Predictions Using Simulation Results" on page 936.

11.4.1 Defining Multi-service Traffic Data The first step in making a simulation is defining how the network is used. In Atoll, this is accomplished by creating all of the parameters of network use, in terms of services, users, and equipment used. The following services and users are modelled in Atoll in order to create simulations: •

•

• •

LTE radio bearers: Radio bearers are used by the network for carrying information. The LTE Radio Bearer table lists all the available radio bearers. You can create new radio bearers and modify existing ones by using the LTE Radio Bearer table. For information on defining radio bearers, see "Defining LTE Radio Bearers" on page 964. Services: Services are the various services, such as VoIP, FTP download, and so on, available to users. These services can be either of the type "voice" or "data". For information on modelling end-user services, see "Modelling Services" on page 241. Mobility types: In LTE, information about receiver mobility is important to determine the user’s radio conditions and throughputs. For information on modelling mobility types, see "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 247. Terminals: In LTE, a terminal is the user equipment that is used in the network, for example, a mobile phone, a PDA, or a car’s on-board navigation device. For information on modelling terminals, see "Modelling Terminals" on page 249.

11.4.2 Calculating LTE Traffic Simulations To plan and optimise LTE networks, you will need to study the network capacity and to study the network coverage taking into account realistic user distribution and traffic demand scenarios. In Atoll, a simulation corresponds to a given distribution of LTE users. It is a snapshot of an LTE network. The principal outputs of a simulation are a geographic user distribution with a certain traffic demand, resources allocated to each user of this distribution, and cell loads. You can create groups for one or more simulations and carry out as many simulations as required. A new simulation for each different traffic scenario can help visualise the network’s response to different traffic demands. Each user distribution (each simulation generates a new user distribution) is a Poisson distribution of the number of active users. Therefore, each simulation may have a varying number of users accessing the network. LTE simulation results can be displayed on the map as well as listed in tabular form for analysis. Simulation outputs include results related to sites, cells, and mobiles. LTE simulation results can be stored in the cells table and used in C/(I+N) based coverage predictions. This section covers the following topics: • •

"LTE Traffic Simulation Algorithm" on page 926. "LTE Simulation Results" on page 928.

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This section explains the specific mechanisms that are used to calculate LTE traffic simulations. For information on working with traffic simulations in Atoll, see "Simulations" on page 265

11.4.2.1 LTE Traffic Simulation Algorithm Figure 11.21 shows the LTE simulation algorithm. The simulation process in LTE consists of the following steps: 1. Mobile Generation and Distribution Simulations require traffic data, such as traffic maps (raster, vector, or live traffic data). Atoll generates a user distribution for each simulation using a Monte Carlo algorithm. This user distribution is based on the traffic data input and is weighted by a Poisson distribution. Each mobile generated during the simulations is assigned a service, a mobility type, and a terminal according to the user profile assigned to it. A transmission status is determined according to the activity probabilities. The transmission status is an important output of the simulation as it has a direct impact on the next step of the simulation process, i.e., the radio resource management (RRM), and has an impact on the interference level in the network. Unless fixed, the geographical location of each mobile is determined randomly for the mobiles generated based on the traffic data from traffic maps.

Figure 11.21: LTE simulation algorithm 2. Best Server Determination Atoll determines the best server for each mobile as described in "Global Network Settings" on page 959. 3. Downlink Calculations The downlink calculations include the calculation of downlink reference signal, SS, PBCH, PDSCH, and PDCCH C/(I+N), determination of the best available bearer for the PDSCH C/(I+N), allocation of resources (RRM), and calculation of user throughputs. Enhanced inter-cell interference coordination (eICIC or time-domain ICIC) is performed on the downlink if ABS patterns have been defined for cells. Interference calculation is based on the collisions between normal and blank subframes used by the different cells. Frequency-domain inter-cell interference coordination is performed on the downlink if the cell supports Static DL ICIC. Here, interference calculation is based on the probabilities of collision between the cell-centre and cell-edge resources used by the different cells.

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Carrier aggregation and coordinated multipoint transmission and reception (CoMP) are also taken into account. A user may be connected to more than one server for carrier aggregation, CoMP, or both. For a user whose service, terminal, and best server support carrier aggregation, the user throughput is improved according to its aggregation capabilities and the available primary and secondary cells. For a user whose terminal and best server support CoMP, different effects of the various CoMP modes are taken into account: coordinated scheduling decreases the interference between coordinated CoMP servers, coherent joint transmission constructively combines the signals from the CoMP servers resulting in an additive as well as probabilistic gain, and non-coherent joint transmission aggregates user throughput over the CoMP servers who allocate resources to the CoMP user. For more information, see the Technical Reference Guide. 4. Uplink Calculations The uplink calculations include the calculation of PUSCH & PUCCH C/(I+N), determination of the best available bearer for the PUSCH & PUCCH C/(I+N), uplink power control and uplink bandwidth allocation, resource allocation (RRM), update of uplink noise rise values for cells, and calculation of user throughputs. Enhanced inter-cell interference coordination (eICIC or time-domain ICIC) is performed on the uplink if ABS patterns have been defined for cells. Interference calculation is based on the collisions between normal and blank subframes used by the different cells. Frequency-domain inter-cell interference coordination is performed on the uplink if the cell supports Static UL ICIC. Here, interference calculation is based on the probabilities of collision between the cellcentre and cell-edge resources used by the different cells. Carrier aggregation and coordinated multipoint transmission and reception (CoMP) are also taken into account. A user may be connected to more than one server for carrier aggregation, CoMP, or both. For a user whose service, terminal, and best server support carrier aggregation, the user throughput is improved according to its aggregation capabilities and the available primary and secondary cells. For a user whose terminal and best server support CoMP, coordinated scheduling decreases the interference between coordinated CoMP servers. For more information, see the Technical Reference Guide. During uplink noise rise control, if the maximum uplink noise rise is higher than the actual noise rise for a cell, the maximum PUSCH C/(I+N) of its neighbour cells is increased by the difference. This allows the users served by the neighbour cells to transmit at higher powers, i.e., they are allowed to create more interference. If the maximum uplink noise rise is less than the actual noise rise for a cell, the maximum PUSCH C/(I+N) of its neighbour cells is decreased by the difference. This causes the users served by the neighbour cells to transmit at lower powers, i.e., they are forced to create less interference. This can also lead to an increase or decrease in the number of users served by the neighbouring cells in the uplink. 5. Radio Resource Management and Cell Load Calculation Atoll uses an intelligent scheduling algorithm to perform radio resource management. The scheduling algorithm is explained in detail in the Technical Reference Guide. The scheduler performs the following steps: a. Determines the total amount of resources in each cell. The amounts of cell resources, specially at cell-edges, depend on the cell’s ABS pattern as well as on the number of cell’s cell-edge resource blocks defined for Static DL inter-cell interference coordination in the cell’s frame configuration. b. Selects the first N users from the users generated in the first step, where N is the Max number of users defined in the cell properties. c. Sorts the users in decreasing order by service priority. The effective service priority is determined by the QCI priority and the user-defined service priority. For example: • •

A service with QCI 1 will have a higher priority than any service with QCI 2, irrespective of the user-defined service priority. A service with QCI 1 and user-defined service priority 1 will have a higher priority than any service with QCI 1 and user-defined service priority 0.

The priorities of the different QoS class identifiers are defined by the 3GPP are listed in "Modelling Services" on page 241. d. Allocates the resources required to satisfy the minimum throughput demands of the users starting from the first user (with the highest priority service) to the last user. e. If resources still remain in the resource pool after this allocation, allocates resources to the users with maximum throughput demands according to the used scheduling algorithm.

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For their minimum throughput demands, LTE-A users are only scheduled on their primary serving cells. At this stage, LTE-A users may be rejected due to "Scheduler Saturation" or "Resource Saturation". For their maximum throughput demands, LTE-A users are scheduled separately on each of their serving cells (primary and secondary for carrier aggregation / non-coherent joint transmission CoMP servers). Each user’s remaining throughput demand (maximum – minimum) is distributed over each of its serving cells proportionally to the resources available on each serving cell and to the user’s downlink effective RLC channel throughput or uplink effective RLC allocated bandwidth throughput on each of its serving cell. For carrier aggregation, only secondary cells whose PDSCH C/(I+N) is higher than or equal to the secondary cell activation threshold defined in the terminal reception equipment properties are activated for aggregation in downlink. Similarly, only secondary cells whose PDSCH C/(I+N) and PUSCH C/(I+N) are both higher than or equal to the secondary cell activation threshold defined in the terminal and cell reception equipment properties, respectively, are activated for aggregation in uplink. User throughput demands are distributed among the primary cell and active secondary cells. Within each active serving cell, resource allocation for the maximum throughput demands is carried out according to the scheduler used by that cell. An alternate method for distributing LTE-A users’ remaining throughput demand over their serving cells is also available through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. The total user throughput is the sum of the throughputs obtained from each of the user’s servers. For detailed information on RRM and scheduling, see the Technical Reference Guide. At the end of the simulations, active users can be connected in the direction corresponding to his activity status if the following conditions are met: • • • •

They have a best server assigned (step 2.). They have a bearer in the direction corresponding to his activity status (step 3. and step 4.). They are among the users selected by the scheduler for resource allocation (step 5.). They are not rejected due to resource saturation (step 5.).

Users may be rejected in step 2. for "No Coverage," step 3. or step 4. for "No Service," and step 5. for the following motives: • • •

"Scheduler Saturation": The user is not among the users selected for resource allocation. "Resource Saturation" : All of the cell’s resources were used up by other users or if, for a user active in uplink, the minimum uplink throughput demand was higher than the uplink allocated bandwidth throughput. "Backhaul Saturation": The user was among the lowest priority service users served by a cell of a site whose defined maximum S1 interface throughputs were exceeded while allocating resources for the minimum throughput demands. • •

Rejected LTE-A users are only counted in the statistics of their primary serving cells. Connected LTE-A users are counted in the statistics of all their serving cells, primary and secondary.

11.4.2.2 LTE Simulation Results After you have created a simulation, as explained in "Creating Simulations" on page 266, you can either display the results as a distribution map or you can access the actual values of the simulation. Actual values can be displayed either for a single simulation or as average values for a group of simulations. To display distribution maps of a simulation, see "Displaying Simulation Results on the Map" on page 270. Actual values can be displayed either for a single simulation or as average values for a group of simulations. This section covers the following topics: • •

11.4.2.2.1

"Displaying the Results of a Single Simulation" on page 928 "Displaying the Average Results of a Group of Simulations" on page 933

Displaying the Results of a Single Simulation You can display the full statistics obtained from a single simulation.

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To access the result values of a simulation: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Simulations folder, and expand the folder of the simulation group containing the simulation whose results you want to access. 2. Right-click the simulation and select Properties from the context menu. A simulation properties dialog box appears. One tab gives statistics of the simulation results. Other tabs in the simulation properties dialog box contain simulation results as identified by the tab title. The Statistics tab: The Statistics tab contains the following sections: •

Request: Under Request, is data on the connection requests: •

• • •

Atoll calculates the total number of users who try to connect. This number is the result of the first random trial; radio resource allocation has not yet finished. The result depends on the traffic description and traffic input. During the first random trial, each user is assigned a service and an activity status. The number of users per activity status and the UL and DL throughput demands that all users could theoretically generate are provided. The breakdown per service (total number of users, number of users per activity status, and UL and DL throughput demands) is given.

Results: Under Results, is data on the connection results: • • •

The number of iterations that were run in order to converge. The total number and percentage of users unable to connect: rejected users, and the number of rejected users per rejection cause. The number and percentage of users connected to a cell, the number of users per activity status, and the total UL and DL throughputs they generate. This information is also provided by service.

The Sites tab: The Sites tab contains the following information per site: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Peak RLC cumulated throughput (DL) (kbps): The sum of peak RLC user throughputs of all the users connected in the downlink in all the cells of the site. Effective RLC cumulated throughput (DL) (kbps): The sum of effective RLC user throughputs of all the users connected in the downlink in all the cells of the site. Cumulated application throughput (DL) (kbps): The sum of application throughputs of all the users connected in the downlink in all the cells of the site. Peak RLC cumulated throughput (UL) (kbps): The sum of peak RLC user throughputs of all the users connected in the uplink in all the cells of the site. Effective RLC cumulated throughput (UL) (kbps): The sum of effective RLC user throughputs of all the users connected in the uplink in all the cells of the site. Cumulated application throughput (UL) (kbps): The sum of application throughputs of all the users connected in the uplink in all the cells of the site. Connection success rate (%): The percentage of users connected to any cell of the site with respect to the number of users covered by the cells of the site. Total number of connected users: The total number of users connected to any cell of the site in downlink, uplink, or downlink and uplink both. Number of connected users (DL+UL): The number of users connected to any cell of the site in downlink and uplink both. Number of connected users (DL): The number of users connected to any cell of the site in downlink. Number of connected users (UL): The number of users connected to any cell of the site in uplink. Number of connected users (inactive): The number of inactive users connected to any cell of the site. No service: The number of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "No service." No service (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "No service." Scheduler saturation: The number of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "Scheduler saturation." Scheduler saturation (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "Scheduler saturation." Resource saturation: The number of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "Resource saturation." Resource saturation (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "Resource saturation." Backhaul saturation: The number of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "Backhaul saturation." Backhaul saturation (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "Backhaul saturation." Peak RLC cumulated throughput (DL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of peak RLC user throughputs of the users connected in the downlink in all the cells of the site.

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Effective RLC cumulated throughput (DL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of effective RLC user throughputs of the users connected in the downlink in all the cells of the site. Cumulated application throughput (DL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of application throughputs of the users connected in the downlink in all the cells of the site. Peak RLC cumulated throughput (UL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of peak RLC user throughputs of the users connected in the uplink in all the cells of the site. Effective RLC cumulated throughput (UL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of effective RLC user throughputs of the users connected in the uplink in all the cells of the site. Cumulated application throughput (UL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of application throughputs of the users connected in the uplink in all the cells of the site. Connection success rate (%) for each service: For each service, the percentage of users connected to any cell of the site with respect to the number of users covered by the cells of the site.

The Cells tab: The Cells tab contains the following information, per site and transmitter: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

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Layer: The layer to which the cell belongs. Traffic load (DL) (%): The traffic loads of the cells calculated on the downlink during the simulation. Cell-edge Traffic Ratio (DL) (%): The percentage of the downlink traffic load that corresponds to the cell-edge users. Traffic load (UL) (%): The traffic loads of the cells calculated on the uplink during the simulation. UL noise rise (dB): The noise rise of the cells calculated on the uplink during the simulation. ICIC UL noise rise (dB): The noise rise of the cells calculated on the uplink during the simulation for cell-edge users. Max PUSCH C/(I+N) (dB): The maximum PUSCH C/(I+N) for the cell. It is updated during uplink noise rise control based on the maximum noise rise constraints of the neighbouring cells. Angular distribution of interference (AAS): The simulation results generated for transmitters using a smart antenna. These results are the angular distributions of the downlink traffic power spectral density. AAS usage (DL) (%): The percentage of the downlink traffic load that corresponds to the traffic carried by the smart antennas. Number of co-scheduled MU-MIMO users (DL): The average number of MU-MIMO users that share the same resources on the downlink. Number of co-scheduled MU-MIMO users (UL): The average number of MU-MIMO users that share the same resources on the uplink. Peak RLC cumulated throughput (DL) (kbps): The sum of peak RLC user throughputs of all the users connected in the downlink. Effective RLC cumulated throughput (DL) (kbps): The sum of effective RLC user throughputs of all the users connected in the downlink. Cumulated application throughput (DL) (kbps): The sum of application throughputs of all the users connected in the downlink. Peak RLC cumulated throughput (UL) (kbps): The sum of peak RLC user throughputs of all the users connected in the uplink. Effective RLC cumulated throughput (UL) (kbps): The sum of effective RLC user throughputs of all the users connected in the uplink. Cumulated application throughput (UL) (kbps): The sum of application throughputs of all the users connected in the uplink. Connection success rate (%): The percentage of users connected to the cell with respect to the number of users covered by the cell. Total number of connected users: The total number of users connected to the cell in downlink, uplink, or downlink and uplink both. Number of connected users (DL+UL): The number of users connected to the cell in downlink and uplink both. Number of connected users (DL): The number of users connected to the cell in downlink. Number of connected users (UL): The number of users connected to the cell in uplink. Number of connected users (inactive): The number of inactive users connected to the cell. No service: The number of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "No service." No service (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "No service." Scheduler saturation: The number of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "Scheduler saturation." Scheduler saturation (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "Scheduler saturation." Resource saturation: The number of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "Resource saturation." Resource saturation (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "Resource saturation." Backhaul saturation: The number of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "Backhaul saturation." Backhaul saturation (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "Backhaul saturation."

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Peak RLC cumulated throughput (DL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of peak RLC user throughputs of the users connected in the downlink. Effective RLC cumulated throughput (DL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of effective RLC user throughputs of the users connected in the downlink. Cumulated application throughput (DL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of application throughputs of the users connected in the downlink. Peak RLC cumulated throughput (UL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of peak RLC user throughputs of the users connected in the uplink. Effective RLC cumulated throughput (UL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of effective RLC user throughputs of the users connected in the uplink. Cumulated application throughput (UL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of application throughputs of the users connected in the uplink. Connection success rate (%) for each service: For each service, the percentage of users connected to the cell with respect to the number of users covered by the cell.

The Mobiles tab: The Mobiles tab contains the following information: • • • • • • • • • •

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

X and Y: The coordinates of users who attempt to connect (the geographic position is determined by the second random trial). Height: The height of the user terminal (antenna). User profile: The assigned user profile. Atoll uses the assigned service and activity status to determine the terminal and the user profile. Subscriber ID: The ID of the user if the user is generated from a subscriber list and not from a traffic map. Subscriber list: The subscriber list of the user if the user is generated from a subscriber list and not from a traffic map. Service: The service assigned during the first random trial during the generation of the user distribution. Terminal: The assigned terminal. Atoll uses the assigned service and activity status to determine the terminal and the user profile. Mobility: The mobility type assigned during the first random trial during the generation of the user distribution. Activity status: The assigned activity status. It can be Active DL, Active UL, Active DL+UL, or Inactive. Connection status: The connection status indicates whether the user is connected or rejected at the end of the simulation. If connected, the connection status corresponds to the activity status. If rejected, the rejection cause is given. Clutter class: The code of the clutter class where the user is located. Indoor: This field indicates whether indoor losses have been added or not. Best server: The best server of the user. Serving cell: The serving cell of the user. Layer: The layer to which the serving cell belongs. Multiserver Context: The reason of multiserver connection: carrier aggregation, CoMP, or both. Number of servers (DL): The total number of aggregated or coordinated servers in downlink. Number of servers (UL): The total number of aggregated or coordinated servers in uplink. Azimuth: The orientation of the user’s terminal antenna in the horizontal plane. Azimuth is always considered with respect to the North. Atoll points the user antenna towards its best server. Downtilt: The orientation of the user’s terminal antenna in the vertical plane. Mechanical downtilt is positive when it is downwards and negative when upwards. Atoll points the user antenna towards its best server. Path loss (dB): The path loss from the best server calculated for the user. 2nd best server: The second best server of the user. 2nd best server path loss (dB): The path loss from the second best server calculated for the user. 3rd best server: The third best server of the user. 3rd best server path loss (dB): The path loss from the third best server calculated for the user. RSRP (RS EPRE) (DL) (dBm): The RSRP (received reference signal energy per resource element) received at the user location in the downlink. RSSI (DL) (dBm): The RSSI received at the user location in the downlink. RSRQ (DL) (dB): The RSRQ (reference signal received quality) at the user location in the downlink. Received RS power (DL) (dBm): The reference signal level received at the user location in the downlink. Received SS power (DL) (dBm): The SS signal level received at the user location in the downlink. Received PBCH power (DL) (dBm): The PBCH signal level received at the user location in the downlink. Received PDCCH power (DL) (dBm): The PDCCH signal level received at the user location in the downlink. Received PDSCH power (DL) (dBm): The PDSCH signal level received at the user location in the downlink. RS C/(I+N) (DL) (dB): The reference signal C/(I+N) at the user location in the downlink. SS C/(I+N) (DL) (dB): The SS C/(I+N) at the user location in the downlink. PBCH C/(I+N) (DL) (dB): The PBCH C/(I+N) at the user location in the downlink. PDCCH C/(I+N) (DL) (dB): The PDCCH C/(I+N) at the user location in the downlink. PDSCH C/(I+N) (DL) (dB): The PDSCH C/(I+N) at the user location in the downlink. RS total noise (I+N) (DL) (dBm): The sum of the interference and noise experienced at the user location in the downlink on the reference signals. SS & PBCH total noise (I+N) (DL) (dBm): The sum of the interference and noise experienced at the user location in the downlink on the SS and PBCH.

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PDCCH total noise (I+N) (DL) (dBm): The sum of the interference and noise experienced at the user location in the downlink on the PDCCH. PDSCH total noise (I+N) (DL) (dBm): The sum of the interference and noise experienced at the user location in the downlink on the PDSCH. Bearer (DL): The highest LTE bearer available for the PDSCH C/(I+N) level at the user location in the downlink. BLER (DL): The Block Error Rate read from the user terminal’s reception equipment for the PDSCH C/(I+N) level at the user location in the downlink. Diversity mode (DL): The diversity mode used by the cell in downlink for the user. Peak RLC channel throughput (DL) (kbps): The maximum RLC channel throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at the user location in the downlink. Effective RLC channel throughput (DL) (kbps): The effective RLC channel throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at the user location in the downlink. It is calculated from the peak RLC throughput and the BLER. Application channel throughput (DL) (kbps): The application throughput is the net throughput without coding (redundancy, overhead, addressing, and so on). It is calculated from the effective RLC throughput, the throughput scaling factor of the service and the throughput offset. Peak RLC user throughput (DL) (kbps): The maximum RLC user throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at the user location in the downlink. Effective RLC user throughput (DL) (kbps): The effective RLC user throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at the user location in the downlink. It is calculated from the peak RLC throughput and the BLER. Application user throughput (DL) (kbps): The application throughput is the net throughput without coding (redundancy, overhead, addressing, and so on). It is calculated from the effective RLC throughput, the throughput scaling factor of the service and the throughput offset. Received PUSCH & PUCCH power (UL) (dBm): The PUSCH & PUCCH signal level received at the serving transmitter from the user terminal in the uplink. PUSCH & PUCCH total noise (I+N) (UL) (dBm): The sum of the interference and noise experienced at the serving transmitter of the user in the uplink on the PUSCH. PUSCH & PUCCH C/(I+N) (UL) (dB): The PUSCH & PUCCH C/(I+N) at the serving transmitter of the user in the uplink. Bearer (UL): The highest LTE bearer available for the PUSCH & PUCCH C/(I+N) level at the serving transmitter of the user in the uplink. BLER (UL): The Block Error Rate read from the serving cell’s reception equipment for the PUSCH & PUCCH C/(I+N) level at the serving transmitter of the user in the uplink. Diversity mode (UL): The diversity mode used by the cell in uplink for the user. Transmission power (UL) (dBm): The transmission power of the user terminal after power control in the uplink. Allocated bandwidth (UL) (No. of frequency blocks): The number of frequency blocks allocated to the user in the uplink by the eNode-B. Peak RLC channel throughput (UL) (kbps): The maximum RLC channel throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at the user location in the uplink. Effective RLC channel throughput (UL) (kbps): The effective RLC channel throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at the user location in the uplink. It is calculated from the peak RLC throughput and the BLER. Application channel throughput (UL) (kbps): The application throughput is the net throughput without coding (redundancy, overhead, addressing, and so on). It is calculated from the effective RLC throughput, the throughput scaling factor of the service and the throughput offset. Peak RLC allocated bandwidth throughput (UL) (kbps): The maximum RLC throughput attainable for the number of frequency blocks allocated to the user using the highest bearer available at the user location in the uplink. Effective RLC allocated bandwidth throughput (UL) (kbps): The effective RLC throughput attainable for the number of frequency blocks allocated to the user using the highest bearer available at the user location in the uplink. It is calculated from the peak RLC throughput and the BLER. Application allocated bandwidth throughput (UL) (kbps): The application throughput is the net throughput without coding (redundancy, overhead, addressing, and so on). It is calculated from the effective RLC throughput, the throughput scaling factor of the service and the throughput offset. Peak RLC user throughput (UL) (kbps): The maximum RLC user throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at the user location in the uplink. Effective RLC user throughput (UL) (kbps): The effective RLC user throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at the user location in the uplink. It is calculated from the peak RLC throughput and the BLER. Application user throughput (UL) (kbps): The application throughput is the net throughput without coding (redundancy, overhead, addressing, and so on). It is calculated from the effective RLC throughput, the throughput scaling factor of the service and the throughput offset.

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For LTE-A users, the Mobiles tab displays the: •

Calculated radio parameters (signal levels, C/(I+N), and so on) corresponding to: • •

•

The users’ primary serving cells (carrier aggregation), Its best server (dynamic point selection and non-coherent joint transmission CoMP), • Combined joint transmission CoMP servers. Throughput: • •

Aggregated over all the servers (carrier aggregation and non-coherent joint transmission CoMP), Corresponding to the composite signal quality due to signal combination in joint transmission CoMP.

To display detailed results for LTE-A users, select Actions > Detailed Display. The Mobiles tab displays one line per aggregated or coordinated server showing the calculated radio parameters (signal levels, C/(I+N), and so on) and throughputs corresponding to each serving cell. For coherent joint transmission CoMP, however, the radio signal quality values as well as throughputs are the same for all combined servers, and the throughputs are not aggregated between servers. Moreover, the throughput of any rejected user is zero.

The Initial Conditions tab: The Initial Conditions tab contains the following information: •

The global network settings: • • • • • • • • • • •

•

The input parameters specified when creating the simulation: • • • • • • •

•

11.4.2.2.2

PDCCH overhead (number of symbol durations per subframe) PUCCH overhead (average number of frequency blocks) Default cyclic prefix Uplink power adjustment margin Reference signal EPRE calculation method Best server selection criterion Best server selection method Special subframe configuration SU-MIMO criterion MU-MIMO criterion Multi-antenna interference calculation method Generator initialisation value Maximum number of iterations Global scaling factor Backhaul capacity limitation Uplink and downlink traffic load convergence thresholds Uplink noise rise convergence threshold Names of the traffic maps used.

The parameters related to the clutter classes, including the default values.

Displaying the Average Results of a Group of Simulations You can display the average statistics obtained from multiple simulations. To display the averaged results of a group of simulations: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Simulations folder, right-click the group of simulations whose results you want to display, and select Average Simulation from the context menu. A Properties dialog box appears. One tab displays statistics of the simulation results. Other tabs in the simulation properties dialog box contain the averaged results for all simulations of the group. The Statistics tab: The Statistics tab contains the following sections: •

Request: Under Request, is data on the connection requests: •

•

Atoll calculates the total number of users who try to connect. This number is the result of the first random trial; radio resource allocation has not yet finished. The result depends on the traffic description and traffic input. During the first random trial, each user is assigned a service and an activity status. The number of users per activity status and the UL and DL throughput demands that all users could theoretically generate are provided.

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The breakdown per service (total number of users, number of users per activity status, and UL and DL throughput demands) is given.

Results: Under Results, is data on the connection results: • • •

The number of iterations that were run in order to converge. The total number and percentage of users unable to connect: rejected users, and the number of rejected users per rejection cause. The number and percentage of users connected to a cell, the number of users per activity status, and the total UL and DL throughputs they generate. This data is also provided by service.

The Sites (Average) tab: The Sites (Average) tab contains the following average information per site: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Peak RLC cumulated throughput (DL) (kbps): The sum of peak RLC user throughputs of all the users connected in the downlink in all the cells of the site. Effective RLC cumulated throughput (DL) (kbps): The sum of effective RLC user throughputs of all the users connected in the downlink in all the cells of the site. Cumulated application throughput (DL) (kbps): The sum of application throughputs of all the users connected in the downlink in all the cells of the site. Peak RLC cumulated throughput (UL) (kbps): The sum of peak RLC user throughputs of all the users connected in the uplink in all the cells of the site. Effective RLC cumulated throughput (UL) (kbps): The sum of effective RLC user throughputs of all the users connected in the uplink in all the cells of the site. Cumulated application throughput (UL) (kbps): The sum of application throughputs of all the users connected in the uplink in all the cells of the site. Connection success rate (%): The percentage of users connected to any cell of the site with respect to the number of users covered by the cells of the site. Total number of connected users: The total number of users connected to any cell of the site in downlink, uplink, or downlink and uplink both. Number of connected users (DL+UL): The number of users connected to any cell of the site in downlink and uplink both. Number of connected users (DL): The number of users connected to any cell of the site in downlink. Number of connected users (UL): The number of users connected to any cell of the site in uplink. No service: The number of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "No service." No service (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "No service." Scheduler saturation: The number of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "Scheduler saturation." Scheduler saturation (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "Scheduler saturation." Resource saturation: The number of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "Resource saturation." Resource saturation (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "Resource saturation." Backhaul saturation: The number of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "Backhaul saturation." Backhaul saturation (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "Backhaul saturation." Peak RLC cumulated throughput (DL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of peak RLC user throughputs of the users connected in the downlink in all the cells of the site. Effective RLC cumulated throughput (DL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of effective RLC user throughputs of the users connected in the downlink in all the cells of the site. Cumulated application throughput (DL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of application throughputs of the users connected in the downlink in all the cells of the site. Peak RLC cumulated throughput (UL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of peak RLC user throughputs of the users connected in the uplink in all the cells of the site. Effective RLC cumulated throughput (UL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of effective RLC user throughputs of the users connected in the uplink in all the cells of the site. Cumulated application throughput (UL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of application throughputs of the users connected in the uplink in all the cells of the site. Connection success rate (%) for each service: For each service, the percentage of users connected to any cell of the site with respect to the number of users covered by the cells of the site.

The Cells (Average) tab: The Cells (Average) tab contains the following average information per cell: • • •

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Traffic load (DL) (%): The traffic loads of the cells calculated on the downlink during the simulation. Cell-edge Traffic Ratio (DL) (%): The percentage of the downlink traffic load that corresponds to the cell-edge users. Traffic load (UL) (%): The traffic loads of the cells calculated on the uplink during the simulation.

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UL noise rise (dB): The noise rise of the cells calculated on the uplink during the simulation. ICIC UL noise rise (dB): The noise rise of the cells calculated on the uplink during the simulation for the cell-edge users. Max PUSCH C/(I+N) (dB): The maximum PUSCH C/(I+N) for the cell. It is updated during uplink noise rise control based on the maximum noise rise constraints of the neighbouring cells. Angular distribution of interference (AAS): The simulation results generated for transmitters using a smart antenna. These results are the angular distributions of the downlink traffic power spectral density. AAS usage (DL) (%): The percentage of the downlink traffic load that corresponds to the traffic carried by the smart antennas. Number of co-scheduled MU-MIMO users (DL): The average number of MU-MIMO users that share the same resources on the downlink. Number of co-scheduled MU-MIMO users (UL): The average number of MU-MIMO users that share the same resources on the uplink. Peak RLC cumulated throughput (DL) (kbps): The sum of peak RLC user throughputs of all the users connected in the downlink. Effective RLC cumulated throughput (DL) (kbps): The sum of effective RLC user throughputs of all the users connected in the downlink. Cumulated application throughput (DL) (kbps): The sum of application throughputs of all the users connected in the downlink. Peak RLC cumulated throughput (UL) (kbps): The sum of peak RLC user throughputs of all the users connected in the uplink. Effective RLC cumulated throughput (UL) (kbps): The sum of effective RLC user throughputs of all the users connected in the uplink. Cumulated application throughput (UL) (kbps): The sum of application throughputs of all the users connected in the uplink. Connection success rate (%): The percentage of users connected to the cell with respect to the number of users covered by the cell. Total number of connected users: The total number of users connected to the cell in downlink, uplink, or downlink and uplink both. Number of connected users (DL+UL): The number of users connected to the cell in downlink and uplink both. Number of connected users (DL): The number of users connected to the cell in downlink. Number of connected users (UL): The number of users connected to the cell in uplink. No service: The number of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "No service." No service (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "No service." Scheduler saturation: The number of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "Scheduler saturation." Scheduler saturation (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "Scheduler saturation." Resource saturation: The number of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "Resource saturation." Resource saturation (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "Resource saturation." Backhaul saturation: The number of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "Backhaul saturation." Backhaul saturation (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "Backhaul saturation." Peak RLC cumulated throughput (DL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of peak RLC user throughputs of the users connected in the downlink. Effective RLC cumulated throughput (DL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of effective RLC user throughputs of the users connected in the downlink. Cumulated application throughput (DL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of application throughputs of the users connected in the downlink. Peak RLC cumulated throughput (UL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of peak RLC user throughputs of the users connected in the uplink. Effective RLC cumulated throughput (UL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of effective RLC user throughputs of the users connected in the uplink. Cumulated application throughput (UL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of application throughputs of the users connected in the uplink. Connection success rate (%) for each service: For each service, the percentage of users connected to the cell with respect to the number of users covered by the cell.

The Initial Conditions tab: The Initial Conditions tab contains the following information: •

The global network settings: • •

PDCCH overhead (number of symbol durations per subframe) PUCCH overhead (average number of frequency blocks)

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Default cyclic prefix Uplink power adjustment margin Reference signal EPRE calculation method Best server selection criterion Best server selection method Special subframe configuration SU-MIMO criterion MU-MIMO criterion Multi-antenna interference calculation method

The input parameters specified when creating the simulation: • • • • • • •

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Generator initialisation value Maximum number of iterations Global scaling factor Backhaul capacity limitation Uplink and downlink traffic load convergence thresholds Uplink noise rise convergence threshold Names of the traffic maps used.

The parameters related to the clutter classes, including the default values.

11.4.3 Making Coverage Predictions Using Simulation Results In Atoll, you can analyse simulation results by making coverage predictions using simulation results. In a coverage prediction each pixel is considered as a non-interfering probe user with a defined terminal, mobility, and service. The analyses can be based on a single simulation or on an averaged group of simulations. When no simulations are available, Atoll uses the downlink traffic loads and uplink noise rise values stored for each cell to make coverage predictions. For information on cell properties, see "Cell Properties" on page 848; for information on modifying cell properties, see "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 855. Once you have made simulations, Atoll can use the information from the simulations instead of the defined parameters in the cell properties to make coverage predictions. For each coverage prediction based on simulation results, you can base the coverage prediction on a selected simulation or on a group of simulations, which uses the average of all simulations in the group. The coverage predictions that can use simulation results are: • • • • •

Coverage by C/(I+N) Level: For information on making a downlink or uplink coverage by C/(I+N) level, see "Studying Interference and C/(I+N) Levels" on page 882. Service Area Analysis: For information on making a downlink or uplink service area analysis, see "Studying Downlink and Uplink Service Areas" on page 884. Effective Service Area Analysis: For information on making an effective service area analysis, see "Studying the Effective Service Area" on page 886. Coverage by Throughput: For information on making a downlink or uplink coverage by throughput, see "Making a Coverage Prediction by Throughput" on page 888. Coverage by Quality Indicator: For information on making a downlink or uplink coverage by quality indicator, see "Making a Coverage Prediction by Quality Indicator" on page 891.

When no simulations are available, you select "(Cells table)" from the Load conditions list, on the Conditions tab. However, when simulations are available you can base the coverage prediction on one simulation or a group of simulations. To base a coverage prediction on a simulation or group of simulations, when setting the parameters: 1. Click the Conditions tab. 2. From the Load conditions list, select the simulation or group of simulations on which you want to base the coverage prediction.

11.5 Optimising Network Parameters Using ACP The ACP (Automatic Cell Planning) module enables radio engineers designing LTE networks to automatically calculate the optimal network settings in terms of network coverage and quality. ACP can also be used to add sites from a list of candidate sites or to remove unnecessary sites or sectors. ACP can also be used in co-planning projects where networks using different radio access technologies must be taken into consideration when calculating the optimal network settings. ACP is primarily intended to improve existing network deployment by reconfiguring the main parameters that can be remotely controlled by operators: antenna electrical tilt and cell pilot power. ACP can also be used during the initial planning stage of a LTE network by enabling the selection of the antenna, and its azimuth, height, and mechanical tilt. ACP not only takes transmitters into account in optimisations but also any repeaters and remote antennas.

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ACP can also be used to measure and optimise the EMF exposure created by the network. This permits the optimisation of power and antenna settings to reduce excessive EMF exposure in existing networks and optimal site selection for new transmitters. ACP uses user-defined objectives to evaluate the optimisation, as well as to calculate its implementation cost. Once you have defined the objectives and the network parameters to be optimised, ACP uses an efficient global search algorithm to test many network configurations and propose the reconfigurations that best meet the objectives. ACP presents the changes ordered from the most to the least beneficial, allowing phased implementation or implementation of just a subset of the suggested changes. ACP is technology-independent and can be used to optimise networks using different radio access technologies. Chapter 17: Automatic Cell Planning explains how you configure the ACP module, how you create and run an optimisation setup, and how you can view the results of an optimisation. In this section, only the concepts specific to LTE networks are explained: • • •

"LTE Optimisation Objectives" on page 937 "LTE Quality Parameters" on page 937 "LTE Quality Analysis Predictions" on page 939.

11.5.1 LTE Optimisation Objectives ACP optimises the network using user-defined objectives to evaluate the quality of the network reconfiguration. The objectives are dependent on the technology used by the project and are consistent with the corresponding coverage predictions in Atoll. In projects using LTE, either alone, or in a co-planning or multi-RAT mode, the following objectives are proposed by default: • •

LTE RSRP LTE RSRQ

You can also create the following objectives from the context menu of Objectives in the left-hand pane of the Objectives tab: • • • • • • •

LTE RS Coverage LTE RS CINR LTE RSSI LTE PDSCH CINR LTE RLC Peak Rate LTE 1st-Nth Difference Custom Coverage

You define the optimisation objectives using the Objectives tab of the ACP Setup dialog box. For information on setting objective parameters, see "Setting Objective Parameters" on page 1329.

Figure 11.22: Running ACP Optimisation for an LTE Network

11.5.2 LTE Quality Parameters When you create an optimisation setup, you define how ACP evaluates the objectives. The quality parameters are technology dependent. You can base the evaluation of the objectives on a calculated coverage prediction or on manual configuration. If you base the coverage prediction settings on a calculated coverage prediction, ACP will use the ranges and colours defined in the selected coverage prediction as the default for its own predictions. However, if you have saved the display options of an ACP prediction as default, or if you are using a configuration file for ACP, these defined ranges and colours will be used as the default, overriding the settings in the selected coverage prediction.

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In projects using LTE, either alone, or in a co-planning or multi-RAT mode, the following Quality parameters are proposed in the Pixel Rules frame of the objectives’ properties pages: • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Signal level RS C RS C⁄N RSRP RS CINR RSRQ Overlap Best Server Distance RSSI PDSCH CINR RLC Peak Rate 1st-2nd Difference 1st-Nth Difference

To define the ACP quality parameters for LTE: 1. Open the Setup Properties dialog box to define the optimisation as explained in "Creating an ACP Setup" on page 1319. 2. Click the Objectives tab. 3. Under Parameters, expand the LTE folder. The list of available quality parameters appears. You can base the evaluation of a quality analysis prediction on a calculated Atoll prediction, if any, or on a manual configuration. •

If you base the evaluation of a quality analysis prediction on a calculated Atoll prediction, ACP will use the display settings of the calculated Atoll prediction in the quality analysis prediction calculated for that objective.

•

If you saved the display settings of a quality analysis prediction as defaults, or if you are using a configuration file for ACP, these display settings will be used by default and will override the display settings of the calculated Atoll prediction. For more information on changing the display settings of a quality analysis prediction, see "Changing the Display Properties of ACP Predictions" on page 1379.

Signal Level: Click this parameter to define in the right-hand pane how ACP will evaluate coverage by signal level. •

•

Base prediction settings on > "Coverage by Signal Level (DL)": ACP will evaluate coverages by signal level based on the parameters used to calculate the selected "Coverage by Signal Level (DL)" prediction in Atoll. Only the coverage predictions displaying a "Best Signal Level" per pixel can be accessed by the ACP. Base prediction settings on > "Manual configuration": if you select this option, you can Enable shadowing margin and define a Cell edge coverage probability. The standard deviations defined in the Atoll clutter are used or, if no clutter information available, default values are used.

RS C & RSRP: Click this parameter to define in the right-hand pane how ACP will evaluate coverage by RS C or RSRP. •

•

Base prediction settings on > "Effective Signal Analysis (DL)": ACP will evaluate coverages by RS C or RSRP based on the parameters used to calculate the selected "Effective Signal Analysis (DL)" prediction in Atoll. Only the Atoll predictions displaying an "RS Signal Level" or "RSRP Level" per pixel can be accessed by the ACP. Base prediction settings on > "Manual configuration": if you select this option, you can Enable shadowing margin and define a Cell edge coverage probability. The standard deviations defined in the Atoll clutter are used or, if no clutter information available, default values are used. Additionally, you can specify the following: • Service and Terminal that will be used during the calculation of RS C or RSRP through gain and losses (i.e., the service body loss, the gain and loss of the terminal antenna, and the terminal noise factor).

RS C⁄N: Click this parameter to define in the right-hand pane how ACP will evaluate coverage by RS C⁄N. •

•

Base prediction settings on > "Effective Signal Analysis (DL)": ACP will evaluate coverages by RS C⁄N based on the parameters used to calculate the selected "Effective Signal Analysis (DL)" prediction in Atoll. Only the Atoll predictions displaying an "RS C/N Level" per pixel can be accessed by the ACP. Base prediction settings on > "Manual configuration": if you select this option, you can Enable shadowing margin and define a Cell edge coverage probability. The standard deviations defined in the Atoll clutter are used or, if no clutter information available, default values are used. Additionally, you can specify the following: • Service and Terminal that will be used during the calculation of RS C⁄N through gain and losses (i.e., the service body loss, the gain and loss of the terminal antenna, and the terminal noise factor).

RS CINR & RSRQ: Click this parameter to define in the right-hand pane how ACP will evaluate coverage by RS CINR or RSRQ.

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•

•

Base prediction settings on > "Coverage by C/(I+N) Level (DL)": ACP will evaluate coverages by RS CINR or RSRQ based on the parameters used to calculate the selected "Coverage by C/(I+N) Level (DL)" prediction in Atoll. Only the Atoll predictions displaying an "RS C/(I+N) Level" or "RSRQ Level" per pixel can be accessed by the ACP. Base prediction settings on > "Manual configuration": if you select this option, you can Enable shadowing margin and define a Cell edge coverage probability. The standard deviations defined in the Atoll clutter are used or, if no clutter information available, default values are used. Additionally, you can specify the following: • Service and Terminal that will be used during the calculation of RS CINR or RSRQ through gain and losses (i.e., the service body loss, the gain and loss of the terminal antenna, and the terminal noise factor). • Calculation Method for RS CINR & RSRQ (select Consider frequency plan or Ignoring frequency plan).

RSSI: Click this parameter to define in the right-hand pane how ACP will evaluate coverage by RSSI. •

•

Base prediction settings on > "Coverage by C/(I+N) Level (DL)": ACP will evaluate coverages by overlapping based on the parameters used to calculate the selected "Coverage by C/(I+N) Level (DL)" prediction in Atoll. Only the Atoll predictions displaying an "RSSI Level" per pixel can be accessed by the ACP. Base prediction settings on > "Manual configuration": if you select this option, you can Enable shadowing margin and define a Cell edge coverage probability. The standard deviations defined in the Atoll clutter are used or, if no clutter information available, default values are used. Additionally, you can specify the following: • Service and Terminal that will be used during the calculation of RSSI through gain and losses (i.e., the service body loss, the gain and loss of the terminal antenna, and the terminal noise factor). • Calculation Method for RSSI (select Consider frequency plan or Ignoring frequency plan).

PDSCH CINR: Click this parameter to define in the right-hand pane how ACP will evaluate coverage by PDSCH CINR. •

•

Base prediction settings on > "Coverage by Throughput (DL)": ACP will evaluate coverages by overlapping based on the parameters used to calculate the selected "Coverage by Throughput (DL)" prediction in Atoll. Only the Atoll predictions displaying a "PDSCH C/(I+N) Level" per pixel can be accessed by the ACP. Base prediction settings on > "Manual configuration": If you select this option, you can Enable shadowing margin and define a Cell edge coverage probability. The standard deviations defined in the Atoll clutter are used or, if no clutter information is available, default values are used. Additionally, you can specify: • Service, Terminal, and Mobility that will be used during the calculation of PDSCH CINR through gain and losses (i.e., the service body loss, the gain and loss of the terminal antenna, and the terminal noise factor), • Calculation Method for PDSCH CINR (select Consider frequency plan or Ignoring frequency plan).

RLC Peak Rate: Click this parameter to define in the right-hand pane how ACP will evaluate coverage by RLC Peak Rate. •

•

Base prediction settings on > "Coverage by Throughput (DL)": ACP will evaluate coverages by RLC Peak Rate based on the parameters used to calculate the selected "Coverage by Throughput (DL)" prediction in Atoll. Only the Atoll predictions displaying a "Peak RLC Channel Throughput" per pixel can be accessed by the ACP. Base prediction settings on > "Manual configuration": if you select this option, the evaluation is done using the parameters defined for PDSCH CINR.

Overlap / 1st-Nth: Click this parameter to define in the right-hand pane how ACP will evaluate coverage by overlapping zones or by 1st-Nth difference. Overlap •

•

Base prediction settings on > "Overlapping Zones (DL)": ACP will evaluate coverages by overlapping based on the parameters used to calculate the selected "Overlapping Zones (DL)" prediction in Atoll. Only the Atoll predictions displaying a "Number of Servers" per pixel can be accessed by the ACP. Base prediction settings on > "Manual configuration": If you select this option, you can set a Minimum signal level and a Threshold margin.

1st-Nth •

•

Base prediction settings on > "Overlapping Zones (DL)": ACP will evaluate coverages by 1st-Nth difference based on the parameters used to calculate the selected "Overlapping Zones (DL)" prediction in Atoll. Since there is no Atoll prediction type equivalent to ACP’s LTE 1st-Nth Difference objective, the parameters recovered by ACP from the selected Atoll prediction are limited to the minimum signal level and the shading. The number of servers must always be specified manually next to No. servers. Base prediction settings on > "Manual configuration": If you select this option, specify a Minimum signal level and the No. servers. In both cases, the value you specify next to No. servers determines "Nth" in the LTE 1st-Nth Difference objective. For instance if you set No. servers to 4, then the "1st-4th Difference" quality parameter will be automatically selected by default in the Quality column of the LTE 1st-Nth Difference properties page. - Allowed values for No. servers range from 3 to 100, with only one value available per technology. - The "1st-2nd Difference" quality parameter (based on No. servers = 2) is provided by default.

11.5.3 LTE Quality Analysis Predictions ACP quality analysis predictions can be displayed in the Atoll map window. The same predictions are displayed by default on the Quality tab of an optimisation’s results window.

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Figure 11.23: ACP Quality Analysis Prediction Types for an LTE Network ACP quality analysis predictions are equivalent to some of Atoll’s coverage predictions. The following table lists the quality analysis predictions available in ACP for LTE and the equivalent LTE coverage predictions in Atoll.

ACP Quality Analysis Prediction Type

Atoll Coverage Prediction Type "Display type" / "Field"

Signal Level

Coverage by Signal Level (DL) (1) "Value Intervals" / "Best Signal Level (dBm)"

RS C

Effective Signal Analysis (DL) (1) "Value Intervals" / "RS Signal Level (DL) (dBm)"

RSRP

Effective Signal Analysis (DL) (1) "Value Intervals" / "RSRP Level (DL) (dBm)"

RS CINR

Coverage by C/(I+N) Level (DL) (2) "Value Intervals" / "RS C/(I+N) Level (DL) (dB)"

RSRQ

Coverage by C/(I+N) Level (DL) (2) "Value Intervals" / "RSRQ Level (DL) (dB)"

Overlap

Overlapping Zones (DL) (3) "Value Intervals" / "Number of Servers"

RSSI

Coverage by C/(I+N) Level (DL) (2) "Value Intervals" / "RSSI Level (DL) (dBm)"

PDSCH CINR

Coverage by C/(I+N) Level (DL) (2) "Value Intervals" / "PDSCH C/(I+N) Level (DL) (dB)"

RLC Peak Rate

Coverage by Throughput (DL) (4) "Value Intervals" / "Peak RLC Channel Throughput (DL) (kbps)"

1st-Nth Difference

N/A

(1) For more information, see "Studying Signal Level Coverage for a Single Base Station" on page 876. (2) For more information, see "Studying Interference and C/(I+N) Levels" on page 882. (3) For more information, see "Making a Coverage Prediction on Overlapping Zones" on page 878. (4) For more information, see "Making a Coverage Prediction by Throughput" on page 888.

Making these predictions available within ACP enables you to quickly validate the optimisation results without having to commit the results and then calculate a coverage prediction in Atoll. The ACP predictions display results very similar to those that Atoll would display if you committed the optimisation results and calculated Atoll coverage predictions, however, before

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basing any decision to commit the optimisation results on the predictions produced by ACP, you should keep the following recommendations in mind: • • • •

You should verify the results with a different Atoll coverage prediction, such as the overlapping zones prediction. ACP generated predictions are generated using the entire set of proposed changes. They do not take into account the change subset defined on the Change Details tab. Multiple frequency band optimisation is supported in LTE. However the predictions are provided separately for the requested frequency band. Even after committing the optimisation results, differences can remain between the ACP predictions and the predictions resulting from Atoll coverage predictions.

You can view the exact RS coverage value on any pixel by letting the pointer rest over the pixel. The RS coverage value is then displayed in a tip text. For ACP overlapping zones predictions, you can: •

Specify a best server threshold: • by entering a value next to Minimum Signal Level in the Overlap / 1st-Nth properties page, • or by setting the param.lte.overlap.minRxLevel option with the same value in the [ACPTplObjectivePage] section of the ACP.ini file.

•

Specify a threshold margin: • by entering a value next to Threshold margin in the Overlap / 1st-Nth properties page, • or by setting the param.lte.overlap.margin option with the same value in the [ACPTplObjectivePage] section of the ACP.ini file.

For each network quality coverage prediction, ACP offers a prediction showing the initial network state, the final network state, and a prediction showing the changes between the initial and final states.

11.5.4 LTE Cell Reconfiguration Parameters You can change how the ACP reconfigures LTE Cells by setting the Downlink transmit power calculation setting in the LTE Radio Network Settings Properties > Advanced Parameters dialog box. The settings correspond to the following ACP strategies for the reconfiguration of LTE Cells: •

Optimise Max Power with Varying RS EPRE: In this mode, the Max Power is optimised with a varying RS EPRE. Both values are mutually dependent. The Max Power check box appears by default on the Reconfiguration > LTE cells vertical tab of new ACP setups. As a result, the initial and final values of Max Power appear on the Sectors and Commit tabs of ACP optimisations.

•

Optimise RS EPRE with Varying Max Power: In this mode, the RS EPRE is optimised with a varying Max Power. Both are mutually dependent. When you display the Reconfiguration > LTE cells vertical tab in the properties of a new ACP setup: • the RS EPRE check box replaces the Max Power check box • the RS EPRE (dBm) and Max Power (dBm) columns are inverted As a result, the initial and final values of RS EPRE appear on the Sectors and Commit tabs of ACP optimisations.

•

Optimise Max Power (or RS EPRE) with Fixed RS EPRE (or Max Power): In this mode, you can choose to: • strictly optimise the Max Power without affecting the RS EPRE initial values • or strictly optimise the RS EPRE without affecting the Max Power initial values If you now display the Reconfiguration > LTE cells vertical tab in the properties of a new ACP setup: • • •

The Max Power check box appears by default A drop-down list appears next to Max Power. You can switch to RS EPRE and vice versa RS EPRE (dBm) and Max Power (dBm) columns are inverted accordingly

As a result, the initial and final values of Max Power (or RS EPRE) appear on the Sectors and Commit tabs of ACP optimisations To specify the ACP strategy for reconfiguring LTE cells: 1. Open the LTE Radio Network Settings Properties dialog box (see "Modifying Global Network Settings" on page 962). 2. Select the Global Parameters tab and click the Advanced button. The Advanced Parameters dialog box appears. 3. Under Downlink transmit power calculation, select one of the following settings: •

To optimise max power with varying ES EPRE, set RS EPRE to: • • •

• •

"0 - Calculated (equal distribution of unused EPRE)" "2 - Calculated (with boost)" "3 - Calculated (without boost)"

To optimise RS EPRE with varying max power, set RS EPRE to "1- User-defined". To optimise max power or RS EPRE with a fixed RS EPRE, set RS EPRE to "4 - Independent of max power".

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11.6 Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data An important step in the process of creating an LTE network is to analyse the network’s performance using drive test data. This is done using measurements of the strength of the reference signal levels, SS, PBCH, PDSCH, and PDCCH signal levels, and various C/(I+N) at different locations within the area covered by the network. This collection of measurements is called drive test data. The data contained in a drive test data path is used to verify the accuracy of current network parameters and to optimise the network. This section covers the following topics: • • • • • • •

"Importing a Drive Test Data Path" on page 942 "Displaying Drive Test Data" on page 944 "Defining the Display of a Drive Test Data Path" on page 945 "Network Verification" on page 945 "Exporting a Drive Test Data Path" on page 950 "Extracting CW Measurements from Drive Test Data" on page 950 "Printing and Exporting the Drive Test Data Analysis Tool" on page 950.

11.6.1 Importing a Drive Test Data Path In Atoll, you can analyse networks by importing drive test data in the form of ASCII text files (with tabs, commas, semi-colons, or spaces as separator), TEMS FICS-Planet export files (with the extension PLN), or TEMS text export files (with the extension FMT). For Atoll to be able to use the data in imported files, the imported files must contain the following information: • •

The position of drive test data points. When you import the data, you must indicate which columns give the abscissa and ordinate (XY coordinates) of each point. Information identifying scanned cells (for example, serving cells, neighbour cells, or any other cells). Cells may be identified by their IDs or physical cell IDs.

You can import a single drive test data file or several drive test data files at the same time. If you regularly import drive test data files with the same format, you can create an import configuration. The import configuration contains information that defines the structure of the data in the drive test data file. By using the import configuration, you will not need to define the data structure each time you import a new drive test data file. To import one or several drive test data files: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Drive Test Data folder and select Import from the context menu. The Open dialog box appears. 2. Select the file or files that you want to open. You can import one or several files. If you are importing more than one file, you can select contiguous files by clicking the first file you want to import, pressing Shift and clicking the last file you want to import. You can select non-contiguous files by pressing Ctrl and clicking each file you want to import. 3. Click Open. The Import of Measurement Files dialog box appears. Files with the extension PLN, as well as some FMT files (created with old versions of TEMS) are imported directly into Atoll; you will not be asked to define the data structure using the Import of Measurement Files dialog box. 4. If you already have an import configuration defining the data structure of the imported file or files, you can select it from the Import configuration list on the Setup tab of the Import of Measurement Files dialog box. If you do not have an import configuration, continue with step 5. a. Under Import configuration, select an import configuration from the Import configuration list. b. Continue with step 8.

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•

•

When importing a drive test data path file, existing configurations are available in the Files of type list of the Open dialog box, sorted according to their date of creation. After you have selected a file and clicked Open, Atoll automatically proposes a configuration, if it recognises the extension. If several configurations are associated with an extension, Atoll chooses the first configuration in the list. The defined configurations are stored, by default, in the file "NumMeasINIFile.ini", located in the directory where Atoll is installed. For more information on the NumMeasINIFile.ini file, see the Administrator Manual.

5. Click the General tab. On the General tab, you can set the following parameters: • • •

Name: By default, Atoll names the new drive test data path after the imported file. You can change this name if necessary. Under Receiver, set the Height of the receiver antenna and the Gain and Losses. Under Measurement conditions, • •

Units: Select the measurement units used. Coordinates: By default, Atoll imports the coordinates using the display system of the Atoll document. If the coordinates used in the file you are importing are different than the coordinates used in the Atoll document, you must click the Browse button and select the coordinate system used in the drive test data file. Atoll will then convert the data imported to the coordinate system used in the Atoll document.

6. Click the Setup tab (see Figure 11.24).

Figure 11.24: The Setup tab of the Import of Measurement Files dialog box a. In the File area, enter the number of the 1st measurement row, select the data Separator, and select the Decimal symbol used in the file. b. Click the Setup button to link file columns and internal Atoll fields. The Drive Test Data Setup dialog box appears. c. Under Measurement point position, select the columns in the imported file that give the X-coordinates and the Y-coordinates of each point in the drive test data file. You can also identify the columns containing the XY coordinates of each point in the drive test data file by selecting them from the Field row of the table on the Setup tab.

d. If you are importing data that uses cells’ IDs as a cell identifier:

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Under Server identification, select By ID.

ii. In the By ID identifier box, enter a string found in the column name that identifies the scanned cells’ IDs. For example, if the string "ID" is found in the column names that identify the cell IDs of scanned cells, enter it here. Atoll will then search for the column with this string in the column name. e. If you are importing data that uses a physical cell ID as a cell identifier: i.

Under Server identification, select By physical cell ID.

ii. In the By physical cell ID identifier box, enter a string found in the column name identifying the physical cell IDs of scanned cells. For example, if the string "PCI" is found in the column names identifying the physical cell IDs of scanned cells, enter it here. Atoll will then search for the column with this string in the column name. iii. Select the Physical cell ID format, Decimal or Hexadecimal. iv. Under Additional identifier, you can select an additional identifier if the drive test data file being imported contains additional columns for cell identification. You can select either Channel number or Frequency as additional identifier and the column containing the additional identifier of the scanned cells. If you select Frequency as additional identifier, you must also define the frequency unit used in the drive test data being imported. f. Click OK to close the Drive Test Data Setup dialog box. •

•

If you have correctly entered the information under File on the Setup tab, and the necessary values in the Drive Test Data Setup dialog box, Atoll should recognise all columns in the imported file. If not, you can click the name of the column in the table in the Field row and select the column name. For each field, you must ensure that each column has the correct data type in order for the data to be correctly interpreted. The default value under Type is "". Columns marked with "" will not be imported. The data in the file must be structured so that the column identifying the physical cell ID is placed before the data columns for each cell. Otherwise Atoll will not be able to properly import the file.

7. If you want to save the definition of the data structure so that you can use it again, you can save it as an import configuration: a. On the Setup tab, under Import configuration, click Save. The Configuration dialog box appears. b. By default, Atoll saves the configuration in a file called "NumMeasINIfile.ini" found in Atoll’s installation folder. In case you cannot write into that folder, you can click Browse to choose a different location. c. Enter a Configuration name and an Extension of the files that this import configuration will describe (for example, "*.txt"). d. Click OK. Atoll will now select this import configuration automatically every time you import a drive test data path file with the selected extension. If you import a file with the same structure but a different extension, you can select this import configuration from the Configuration list. • •

•

You do not need to complete the import procedure to save the import configuration and have it available for future use. When importing a measurement file, you can expand the NumMeasINIfile.ini file by clicking the Expand button ( ) in front of the file under Import configuration to display all the available import configurations. When selecting the appropriate configuration, the associations are automatically made in the table at the bottom of the dialog box. You can delete an existing import configuration by selecting the import configuration under Import configuration and clicking the Delete button.

8. Click Import, if you are only importing a single file, or Import all, if you are importing more than one file. The drive test data is imported into the current Atoll document.

11.6.2 Displaying Drive Test Data When you have imported the drive test data into the current Atoll document, you can display it in the map window. Then, you can select individual drive test data points to see the information at that location.

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To display information about a single drive test data point: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, select the display check box of the drive test data you want to display in the map window. The drive test data is displayed. 2. Click and hold the drive test data point on which you want more information. Atoll displays an arrow pointing towards the serving cell (see Figure 11.27 on page 948) in the same colour as the transmitter.

11.6.3 Defining the Display of a Drive Test Data Path You can manage the display of drive test data paths using the Display dialog box. The points on a drive test data path can be displayed according to any available attribute. You can also use the Display dialog box to define labels, tip text and the legend. To display the Display tab of a drive test data path’s Properties dialog box: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data path whose display you want to set, and select Properties from the context menu. The drive test data path Properties dialog box appears. 2. Click the Display tab. Each point can be displayed by a unique attribute or according to: • •

a text or integer attribute (discrete value) a numerical value (value interval).

In addition, you can display points by more than one criterion at a time using the Advanced option in the Display type list. When you select Advanced from the Display type list, the Shadings dialog box opens in which you can define the following display for each single point of the measurement path: • • •

a symbol according to any attribute a symbol colour according to any attribute a symbol size according to any attribute

You can, for example, display a signal level in a certain colour, choose a symbol for each transmitter (a circle, triangle, cross, and so on) and a symbol size according to the altitude. • • •

•

Fast display forces Atoll to use the lightest symbol to display the points. This is particularly useful when you have a very large number of points. You can not use Advanced display if the Fast display check box has been selected. You can sort drive test data paths in alphabetical order in the Network explorer by right-clicking the Drive Test Data Path folder and selecting Sort Alphabetically from the context menu. You can save the display settings (such as colours and symbols) of a drive test data path in a user configuration file to make them available for use on another drive test data path. To save or load the user configuration file, click the Actions button on the Display tab of the path properties dialog box and select Save or Load from the Display Configuration submenu.

11.6.4 Network Verification The imported drive test data is used to verify the LTE network. To improve the relevance of the data, Atoll allows you to filter out incompatible or inaccurate points. You can then compare the drive test measurements with coverage predictions. To compare drive test data with coverage predictions, you overlay coverage predictions calculated by Atoll with the drive test data path displayed using the same parameter as that used to calculate the coverage prediction. This section covers the following topics: • • • • • •

"Filtering Measurement Points Along Drive Test Data Paths" on page 945 "Predicting the Signal Level on Drive Test Data Points" on page 946 "Creating Coverage Predictions on Drive Test Data Paths" on page 947 "Displaying Statistics Over a Drive Test Data Path" on page 947 "Extracting a Field From a Drive Test Data Path for a Transmitter" on page 948 "Analysing Measurement Variations Along the Path" on page 948.

11.6.4.1 Filtering Measurement Points Along Drive Test Data Paths When using a drive test data path, some measured points may present values that are too far outside the median values to be useful. As well, test paths may include test points in areas that are not representative of the drive test data path as a whole. For example, a test path that includes two heavily populated areas might also include test points from a more lightly populated region between the two.

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You can filter out unreliable measurement points from the drive test data path either geographically, by filtering by clutter classes and the focus zone, or using an advanced filter. To filter out measurement points by clutter class: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data path on which you want to filter out measurement points, and select Filter from the context menu. The Drive Test Data Filter dialog box appears. 2. Under Clutter classes, clear the check boxes of the clutter classes you want to exclude. Measurement points located on the excluded clutter classes will be filtered out. 3. If you want to use the focus zone as part of the filter, select the Use focus zone to filter check box. Measurement points located outside the focus zone will be filtered out. 4. If you want to permanently delete the measurement points outside the filter, select the Delete points outside the filter check box. • •

You can apply a filter on all the drive test data paths in the Drive Test Data folder by selecting Filter from the context menu of the folder. If you want to use the measurement points that you permanently deleted, you must import the drive test data path again.

To filter out measurement points using an advanced filter: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data path on which you want to filter out measurement points, and select Filter from the context menu. The Drive Test Data Filter dialog box appears. 2. Click More. The Filter dialog box appears. For more information on using the Filter dialog box, see "Advanced Data Filtering" on page 101. You can update heights (of the DTM, and clutter heights) and the clutter class of drive test data points after adding new geographic maps or modifying existing ones by selecting Refresh Geo Data from the context menu of the Drive Test Data folder.

11.6.4.2 Predicting the Signal Level on Drive Test Data Points To predict the signal level on drive test data points: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data path on which you want to create the point prediction, and select Calculations > Create a New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box opens. 2. Under Point predictions, select Point Signal Level and click OK. The Point Signal Level Properties dialog box opens. The errors between measured and predicted signal levels can be calculated and added to the drive test data table. 3. If you want to calculate errors between measured and predicted signal levels, under Select signal levels for error calculations, select the names of the columns representing measured signal level values in the drive test data table for which you want to calculate the errors (see Figure 11.25). If you do not want to add this information to the drive test data table, continue with step 4.

Figure 11.25: Selecting Measured Signal Levels for which Errors will be Calculated 4. Click OK. A new point prediction is created for the selected drive test data path. 5. Right-click the drive test data path. The context menu appears. 6. Select Calculations > Calculate All the Predictions from the context menu.

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If you chose to have Atoll calculate the errors between measured and predicted signal levels, new columns are added to the drive test data table for the predicted point signal level from the serving cell and the errors between the measured and predicted values.

Figure 11.26: Drive Test Data table after Point Signal Level Prediction (with error calculations) New columns are also added for the predicted point signal level from each neighbour cell and the errors between the predicted and measured values. The values stored in these columns can be displayed in the Drive Test Data analysis tool. For more information on the Drive Test Data analysis tool, see "Analysing Measurement Variations Along the Path" on page 948. The propagation model used to calculate the predicted point signal levels is the one assigned to the transmitter for the main matrix. For more information on propagation models, see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models.

11.6.4.3 Creating Coverage Predictions on Drive Test Data Paths You can create the following coverage prediction for all transmitters on each point of a drive test data path: •

Coverage by Signal Level (DL)

To create a coverage prediction along a drive test data path: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data path on which you want to create the coverage prediction, and select Calculations > Create a New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Under Standard predictions, select Coverage by Signal Level (DL) and click OK. The Coverage by Signal Level (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 3. Click the Conditions tab. At the top of the Conditions tab, you can set the range of signal level to be calculated. Under Server, you can select whether to calculate the signal level from all transmitters, or only the best or second-best signal. If you choose to calculate the best or second-best signal, you can enter an Overlap margin. If you select the Shadowing taken into account check box, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability. You can select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 4. When you have finished setting the parameters for the coverage prediction, click OK. You can create a new coverage prediction by repeating the procedure from step 1. to step 4. for each new coverage prediction. 5. When you have finished creating new coverage predictions for these drive test data, right-click the drive test data. The context menu appears. 6. Select Calculations > Calculate All the Predictions from the context menu. A new column for each coverage prediction is added in the table for the drive test data. The column contains the predicted values of the selected parameters for the transmitter. The propagation model used is the one assigned to the transmitter for the main matrix (for information on the propagation model, see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models). You can display the information in these new columns in the Drive Test Data analysis tool. For more information on the Drive Test Data analysis tool, see "Analysing Measurement Variations Along the Path" on page 948.

11.6.4.4 Displaying Statistics Over a Drive Test Data Path If predictions have been calculated along a drive test data path, you can display the statistics between the measured and the predicted values on that path.

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To display the statistics for a specific drive test data path: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data from which you want to display comparative statistics, and select Display Statistics from the context menu. The Measurement and Prediction Fields Selection dialog box appears. 2. Under For the following transmitters, select one or more transmitters to include in the statistics. 3. Under Select the predicted values, select the fields that contain the predicted values that you want to use in the statistics. 4. Under Select the measured values, select the fields that contain the measured values that you want to use in the statistics. 5. Enter the Measured values range for the statistics. Only the measured values within this range will be included in the statistics. 6. Click OK. Atoll opens a window listing statistics of comparison between measured and predicted values.

11.6.4.5 Extracting a Field From a Drive Test Data Path for a Transmitter You can extract information for a selected transmitter from a field of a drive test data path. The extracted information is available in a new column in the drive test data table. To extract a field from a drive test data path: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data from which you want to extract a field, and select Focus on a Transmitter from the context menu. The Field Selection for a Given Transmitter dialog box appears. 2. Under On the transmitter, select the transmitter for which you want to extract a field. 3. Under For the fields, select the fields that you want to extract for the selected transmitter. 4. Click OK. A new column is created in the drive test data path table for the selected transmitter and with the selected values.

11.6.4.6 Analysing Measurement Variations Along the Path In Atoll, you can analyse variations in measurements along any drive test data path using the Drive Test Data analysis tool. You can also use the Drive Test Data analysis tool to find serving cells of points. To analyse measurement variations using the Drive Test Data analysis tool. 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data you want to analyse, and select Open the Analysis Tool from the context menu. The Drive Test Data analysis tool appears (see Figure 11.27).

Figure 11.27: The Drive Test Data analysis tool 2. In the Drive Test Data analysis tool, click the Display button. The Display Parameters dialog box appears (see Figure 11.28).

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Figure 11.28: The drive test data display parameters 3. In the Display Parameters dialog box: • • •

Select the check box next to each field you want to display in the Drive Test Data analysis tool. If you want, you can change the display colour by clicking the colour in the Colour column and selecting a new colour from the palette that appears. Click OK to close the Display Parameters dialog box. You can change the display status or the colour of more than one field at the same time by selecting several fields. You can select contiguous fields by clicking the first field, pressing Shift and clicking the last field. You can select non-contiguous fields by pressing Ctrl and clicking each field. You can then change the display status or the colour by right-clicking on the selected fields and selecting the choice from the context menu. The selected fields are displayed in the Drive Test Data analysis tool.

4. You can display the data in the drive test data path in the following ways: • •

Click the values in the Drive Test Data analysis tool. Click the points on the drive test data path in the map window.

The drive test data path appears in the map window as an arrow pointing towards the best server (see Figure 11.27 on page 948) in the same colour as the transmitter. 5. You can display a secondary Y-axis on the right side of the window in order to display the values of a variable with different orders of magnitude than the ones selected in the Display Parameters dialog box. You select the value to be displayed from the right-hand list at the top of the Drive Test Data analysis tool. The values are displayed in the colour defined in the Display Parameters dialog box. 6. You can zoom in on the graph displayed in the Drive Test Data analysis tool in the following ways: •

Zoom in or out: i.

Right-click the Drive Test Data analysis tool. The context menu appears.

ii. Select Zoom In or Zoom Out from the context menu. •

Select the data to zoom in on: i.

Right-click the Drive Test Data analysis tool on one end of the range of data you want to zoom in on. The context menu appears.

ii. Select First Zoom Point from the context menu. iii. Right-click the Drive Test Data analysis tool on the other end of the range of data you want to zoom in on. The context menu appears. iv. Select Last Zoom Point from the context menu. The Drive Test Data analysis tool zooms in on the data between the first zoom point and the last zoom point. 7. Click the data in the Drive Test Data analysis tool to display the selected point in the map window. Atoll will centre the map window on the selected point if it is not presently visible. If you open the table for the drive test data you are displaying in the Drive Test Data analysis tool, Atoll will automatically display in the table the data for the point that is displayed in the map and in the Drive Test Data analysis tool (see Figure 11.27 on page 948).

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11.6.5 Exporting a Drive Test Data Path You can export drive test data paths to files as vector data. To export a drive test data path to a vector file: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data path that you want to export, and select Export from the context menu. The Save As dialog box appears. 2. Enter a File name for the drive test data path and select a format from the Save as type list. 3. Click Save. The drive test data path is exported and saved in the file.

11.6.6 Extracting CW Measurements from Drive Test Data You can generate CW measurements from drive test data paths and extract the results to the CW Measurements folder. To generate CW measurement from a drive test data path: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data path from which you want to export CW measurements, and select Extract CW Measurements from the context menu. The CW Measurement Extraction dialog box appears. 2. Under Extract CW measurements: a. Select one or more transmitters from the For the transmitters list. b. Select the field that contains the information that you want to export to CW measurements from the For the fields list. 3. Under Extraction parameters of CW measurement paths: a. Enter the Min. number of points to extract per measurement path. CW measurements are not created for transmitters that have fewer points than this number. b. Enter the minimum and maximum Measured signal levels. CW measurements are created with drive test data points where the signal levels are within this specified range. 4. Click OK. Atoll creates new CW measurements for transmitters satisfying the parameters set in the CW Measurement Extraction dialog box. For more information about CW measurements, see the Model Calibration Guide.

11.6.7 Printing and Exporting the Drive Test Data Analysis Tool You can print and export the contents of the Drive Test Data analysis tool. To print or export the contents of the Drive Test Data analysis tool: 1. Select Tools > Drive Test Data from the menu bar. The Drive Test Data analysis tool appears. 2. Define the display parameters and zoom level as explained in "Analysing Measurement Variations Along the Path" on page 948. 3. Right-click the Drive Test Data analysis tool. The context menu appears. • •

To print the Drive Test Data analysis tool, select Print from the context menu. To export the Drive Test Data analysis tool, select Copy from the context menu, then paste.

11.7 Co-planning LTE Networks with Other Networks Atoll is a multi-technology radio network planning tool. You can work on several technologies at the same time, and several network scenarios can be designed for any given area: a country, a region, a city, and so on. For example, you can design an LTE and a GSM network for the same area in Atoll, and then work with Atoll’s co-planning features to study the mutual impacts of the two networks. Before starting a co-planning project in Atoll, the Atoll administrator must perform the pre-requisite tasks that are relevant for your project as described in the Administrator Manual. Sectors of both networks can share the same sites database. You can display base stations (sites and sectors), geographic data, and coverage predictions, and so on., of one network in the other network’s Atoll document. You can also study inter-technology handovers by performing inter-technology neighbour allocations, manually or automatically. Inter-technology neigh-

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bours are allocated on criteria such as the distance between sectors or overlapping coverage. In addition, you can optimise the settings of the two networks using the Atoll Automatic Cell Planning (ACP) module. This section covers the following topics: • • • • • •

"Switching to Co-planning Mode" on page 951 "Working with Coverage Predictions in a Co-Planning Project" on page 952 "Creating an LTE Sector From a Sector in the Other Network" on page 955 "Planning Neighbours in Co-planning Mode" on page 956 "Using ACP in a Co-planning Project" on page 957 "Ending Co-planning Mode" on page 958

11.7.1 Switching to Co-planning Mode Before starting a co-planning project, you must have two networks designed for a given area, i.e., you must have an LTE Atoll document and another Atoll document for the other network. Atoll switches to co-planning mode as soon as the two documents are linked together. In the following sections, the LTE document will be referred to as the main document, and the other document as the linked document. Atoll does not establish any restriction on which is the main document and which is the linked document. Before starting a co-planning project, make sure that your main and linked documents have the same geographic coordinate systems.

To switch to co-planning mode: 1. Open the main document. •

Select File > Open or File > New > From an Existing Database.

2. Link the other document with the open main document. a. Click the main document’s map window. The main document’s map window becomes active and the explorer window shows the contents of the main document. b. Select Document > Link With > Browse. The Link With dialog box appears. c. Select the document to be linked. d. Click Open. The selected document is opened in the same Atoll session as the main document and the two documents are linked. The Explorer window of the main document now contains a folder named Transmitters in [linked document], where [linked document] is the name of the linked document and another folder named Predictions in [linked document]. By default, only the Transmitters and Predictions folders of the linked document appear in the main document. If you want the Sites folder of the linked document to appear in the main document as well, you can set an option in the Atoll.ini file. For information on setting options in the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual. As soon as a link is created between the two documents, Atoll switches to co-planning mode and the co-planning features are now available. When you are working on a co-planning document, Atoll facilitates working on two different but linked documents by synchronising the display in the map window between both documents. Atoll synchronises the display for the following: • • • •

Geographic data: Atoll synchronises the display of geographic data such as clutter classes and the DTM. If you select or deselect one type of geographic data, Atoll makes the corresponding change in the linked document. Zones: Atoll synchronises the display of filtering, focus, computation, hot spot, printing, and geographic export zones. If you select or deselect one type of zone, Atoll makes the corresponding change in the linked document. Map display: Atoll co-ordinates the display of the map in the map window. When you move the map, or change the zoom level in one document, Atoll makes the corresponding changes in the linked document. Point analysis: When you use the Point Analysis tool, Atoll co-ordinates the display on both the working document and the linked document. You can select a point and view the profile in the main document and then switch to the linked document to make an analysis on the same profile but in the linked document.

11.7.1.1 Displaying Both Networks in the Same Atoll Document After you have switched to co-planning mode as explained in "Switching to Co-planning Mode" on page 951, transmitters and predictions from the linked document are displayed in the main document. If you want, you can display other items or folders

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from the explorer window of the linked document to the explorer window of the main document (e.g., you can display GSM sites and measurement paths in an LTE document). To display sites from the linked document in the main document: 1. Click the map window of the linked document. The linked document map window becomes active and the explorer window shows the contents of the main document and the linked folders from the linked document. 2. In the Network explorer, right-click the Sites folder and select Make Accessible In from the context menu, and select the name of the main document from the submenu that opens. The Sites folder of the linked document is now available in the main document. The Explorer window of the main document now contains a folder named Sites in [linked document], where [linked document] is the name of the linked document. If you want the Sites folder of the linked document to appear in the main document automatically, you can set an option in the Atoll.ini file. For information on setting options in the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual. The same process can be used to link other folders in one document, folders such as CW Measurements, Drive Test Data, Clutter Classes, Traffic Maps, DTM, and so on., in the other document. Once the folders are linked, you can access their properties and the properties of the items in the folders from either of the two documents. Any changes you make in the linked document are taken into account in the both the linked and main documents. However, because working document is the main document, any changes made in the main document are not automatically taken into account in the linked document. If you close the linked document, Atoll displays a warning icon ( ) in the main document’s Explorer window, and the linked items are no longer accessible from the main document. You can load the linked document in Atoll again by right-clicking the linked item in the explorer window of the main document, and selecting Open Linked Document. The administrator can create and set a configuration file for the display parameters of linked and main document transmitters in order to enable you to distinguish them on the map and to be able to select them on the map using the mouse. If such a configuration file has not been set up, you can choose different symbols, sizes and colours for the linked and the main document transmitters. For more information on folder configurations, see "Folder Configurations" on page 107. You can also set the tip text to enable you to distinguish the objects and data displayed on the map. For more information on tip text, see "Associating a Tip Text to an Object" on page 54. In order to more easily view differences between the networks, you can also change the order of the folders or items in the explorer window. For more information on changing the order of items in the explorer window, see "Changing the Order of Layers" on page 51. Figure 11.29 shows an example of LTE transmitters with labels and displayed in the Legend window, and GSM transmitter data displayed in a tip text.

Figure 11.29: GSM and LTE Transmitters displayed on the map

11.7.2 Working with Coverage Predictions in a Co-Planning Project Atoll provides you with features that enable you to work with coverage predictions in your co-planning project. You can modify the properties of coverage predictions in the linked document from within the main document, and calculate coverage predictions in both documents at the same time. You can also study and compare the coverage predictions of the two networks.

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This section covers the following topics: • •

"Updating Coverage Predictions" on page 953 "Analysing Coverage Predictions" on page 953.

11.7.2.1 Updating Coverage Predictions You can access the properties of the coverage predictions in the linked Predictions folder in the main document’s Explorer window. After modifying the linked coverage prediction properties, you can update them from the main document. To update a linked coverage prediction: 1. Click the map window of the main document. The main document map window becomes active and the explorer window shows the contents of the main document and the linked folders from the linked document. 2. In the Network explorer, expand the Predictions in [linked document] folder, where [linked document] is the name of the linked document, right-click the linked coverage prediction whose properties you want to modify, and select Properties from the context menu. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 3. Modify the calculation and display parameters of the coverage prediction. 4. Click OK to save your settings. 5. Click the Calculate button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar.

When you click the Calculate button, Atoll first calculates uncalculated and invalid path loss matrices and then unlocked coverage predictions in the main and linked Predictions folders. When you have several unlocked coverage predictions defined in the main and linked Predictions folders, Atoll calculates them one after the other. For information on locking and unlocking coverage predictions, see "Locking and Unlocking Coverage Predictions" on page 207. If you want, you can make Atoll recalculate all path loss matrices, including valid ones, before calculating unlocked coverage predictions in the main and linked Predictions folders. To recalculate all path loss matrices before calculating coverage predictions: 1. Click the Force Calculate button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar.

When you click the Force Calculate button, Atoll first removes existing path loss matrices, recalculates them and then calculates unlocked coverages predictions defined in the main and linked Predictions folders. To prevent Atoll from calculating coverage predictions in the linked Predictions folder, you can set an option in the Atoll.ini file. For information on setting options in the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual.

11.7.2.2 Analysing Coverage Predictions In Atoll, you can analyse coverage predictions of the two networks together. You can display information about coverage predictions in the main and the linked documents in the Legend window, use tip text to get information on displayed coverage predictions, compare coverage areas by overlaying the coverage predictions in the map window, and study the differences between the coverage areas by creating coverage comparisons. If several coverage predictions are visible on the map, it might be difficult to clearly see the results of the coverage prediction you want to analyse. You can select which coverage predictions to display or to hide by selecting or clearing the display check box. For information on managing the display, see "Displaying or Hiding Objects on the Map" on page 50. This section covers the following topics: • • • • •

11.7.2.2.1

"Co-Planning Coverage Analysis Process" on page 953 "Displaying the Legend Window" on page 954 "Comparing Coverage Prediction Results Using Tip Text" on page 954 "Comparing Coverage Areas by Overlaying Coverage Predictions" on page 954 "Studying Differences Between Coverage Areas" on page 955.

Co-Planning Coverage Analysis Process The aim of coverage analysis in a co-planning project is to compare the coverage areas of the two networks and to analyse the impact of changes made in one network on the other. Changes made to the sectors of one network might also have an impact on sectors in the other network if the sectors in the two networks share some antenna parameters. You can carry out a coverage analysis with Atoll to find the impact of these changes.

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The recommended process for analysing coverage areas, and the effect of parameter modifications in one on the other, is as follows: 1. Create and calculate a Coverage by Transmitter (DL) (best server with 0 dB overlap margin) coverage prediction and a Coverage by Signal Level (DL) coverage prediction in the main document. For more information, see "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter" on page 877 and "Making a Coverage Prediction by Signal Level" on page 877. 2. Create and calculate a Coverage by Transmitter (DL) (best server with 0 dB overlap margin) coverage prediction and a Coverage by Signal Level (DL) coverage prediction in the linked document. 3. Choose display settings for the coverage predictions and tip text contents that will allow you to easily interpret the predictions displayed in the map window. This can help you to quickly assess information graphically and using the mouse. You can change the display settings of the coverage predictions on the Display tab of each coverage prediction’s Properties dialog box. 4. Make the two new coverage predictions in the linked document accessible in the main document as described in "Displaying Both Networks in the Same Atoll Document" on page 951. 5. Optimise the main network by changing parameters such as antenna azimuth and tilt or the cell power. You can use a tool such as the Atoll ACP to optimise the network. Changes made to the shared antenna parameters will be automatically propagated to the linked document. 6. Calculate the coverage predictions in the main document again to compare the effects of the changes you made with the linked coverage predictions. For information on comparing coverage predictions, see "Comparing Coverage Areas by Overlaying Coverage Predictions" on page 954 and "Studying Differences Between Coverage Areas" on page 955. 7. Calculate the linked coverage predictions again to study the effects of the changes on the linked coverage predictions.

11.7.2.2.2

Displaying the Legend Window When you create a coverage prediction, you can add the displayed values of the coverage prediction to the legend by selecting the Add to legend check box on the Display tab. To display the Legend window: •

11.7.2.2.3

Select View > Legend Window. The Legend window is displayed, with the values for each displayed coverage prediction in the main and linked Predictions folders, identified by the name of the coverage prediction.

Comparing Coverage Prediction Results Using Tip Text You can compare coverage predictions by placing the pointer over an area of the coverage prediction to read the information displayed in the tip text. Atoll displays information for all displayed coverage predictions in both the working and the linked documents. The information displayed is defined by the settings you made on the Display tab when you created the coverage prediction (step 3. of "Co-Planning Coverage Analysis Process" on page 953). To get coverage prediction results in the form of tip text: •

In the map window, place the pointer over the area of the coverage prediction that you want more information on. After a brief pause, the tip text appears with the information defined on all displayed coverage predictions in both the working and the linked documents (see Figure 11.17). The tip text for the working document is on top and the tip text for the linked document, with the linked document identified by name is on the bottom.

Figure 11.30: Comparing coverage prediction results using tip text

11.7.2.2.4

Comparing Coverage Areas by Overlaying Coverage Predictions You can compare the coverage areas of the main and linked documents by overlaying the coverage predictions in the map window.

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To compare coverage areas by overlaying coverage predictions in the map window: 1. Click the map window of the main document. 2. In the Network explorer, expand the Predictions folder, and select the visibility check box to the left of the coverage prediction of the main document you want to display in the map window. The coverage prediction is displayed on the map. 3. Right-click the coverage prediction and select Properties from the context menu. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 4. Click the Display tab. 5. Modify the display parameters of the coverage prediction. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 6. Expand the Predictions in [linked document] folder, where [linked document] is the name of the linked document and select the visibility check box to the left of the linked coverage prediction you want to display in the map window. The coverage prediction is displayed on the map. 7. Right-click the coverage prediction and select Properties from the context menu. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 8. Modify the display parameters of the coverage prediction. 9. Calculate the two coverage predictions again, if needed. To highlight differences between the coverage areas, you can also change the order of the Predictions folders in the explorer window. For more information on changing the order of items in the explorer window, see "Changing the Order of Layers" on page 51.

11.7.2.2.5

Studying Differences Between Coverage Areas You can compare coverage predictions to find differences in coverage areas. To compare coverage predictions: 1. Click the map window of the main document. 2. In the Network explorer, expand the Predictions folder, right-click the coverage prediction of the main document you want to compare, and select Compare With > [linked coverage prediction] from the context menu, where [linked coverage prediction] is the linked coverage prediction you want to compare with the coverage prediction of the main document. The Comparison Properties dialog box opens. 3. Select the display parameters of the comparison and add a comment if you want. 4. Click OK. The two coverage predictions are compared and a comparison coverage prediction is added to the main document’s Predictions folder. For more information on coverage prediction comparison, see "Comparing Coverage Predictions" on page 215.

11.7.3 Creating an LTE Sector From a Sector in the Other Network You can create a new sector in the main document based on an existing sector in the linked document. To create a new sector in the main document based on an existing sector in the linked document: 1. Click the map window of the main document. 2. In the map window, right-click the linked transmitter based on which you want to create a new LTE transmitter and select Copy in [main document] from the context menu. The following parameters of the new sector in the main document will be the same as the sector in the linked document it was based on: antenna position relative to the site (Dx and Dy), antenna height, azimuth, and mechanical tilt. The new sector will be initialised with the radio parameters from the default station template in the main document. If the sector in the linked document is located at a site that does not exist in the main document, the site is created in the main document as well. If the sector in the linked document is located at a site that also exists in the main document, and the coordinates of the site in the linked and main documents are the same, the sector is created in the main document at the existing site. The site coordinates in the linked and main documents will always be the same if the Atoll administrator has set up site sharing in the database. For more information about site sharing in databases, see the Administrator Manual. If the sector in the linked document is located at a site that exists in the main document, but at a different location (geographic coordinates), the sector is not created in the main document.

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To update the display settings of the new sector: 1. Click the map window of the main document. 2. In the Network explorer, right-click the LTE Transmitters folder of the main document and select Refresh Folder Configuration from the context menu.

Figure 11.31: New sector – Before and after applying the configuration The azimuths and mechanical tilts of secondary antennas and remote antennas are not included when you select Refresh Folder Configuration and must be set up manually.

11.7.4 Planning Neighbours in Co-planning Mode In co-planning mode, you can use Atoll to manually allocate neighb to all the cells of a base station, to all the cells in a transmitter group, or to all the cells in a network, based on predefined parameters. LTE-specific coverage conditions in automatic inter-technology neighbour allocation are described below. Other concepts that are specific to LTE networks are explained in "Planning Neighbours" on page 904

11.7.4.1 Coverage Conditions The Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box provides a Use coverage conditions option: • •

When Use coverage conditions is not selected, the defined Distance is used to allocate neighbours to a reference transmitter. When Use coverage conditions is selected, click Define for LTE to open the Coverage Conditions dialog box: • • • •

Resolution: Enter the resolution to be used to calculate cell coverage areas during automatic neighbour allocation. Margin: Enter a handover margin. Shadowing Taken into Account: If selected, enter a Cell edge coverage probability. Indoor Coverage: Select this check box to take indoor losses into account in calculations. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

11.7.4.2 Calculation Constraints In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, you can select the following calculation constraints: • •

Co-site neighbours: cells located on the same site as the reference transmitter will automatically be considered as neighbours. A transmitter/cell with no antenna cannot be considered as a co-site neighbour. Exceptional pairs: Select this check box to force the neighbour relations defined in the Inter-technology Exceptional pairs table. For more information, see "Exceptional Pairs" on page 223.

11.7.4.3 Reasons for Allocation In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, the reason for neighbour allocation is indicated under Cause in the Results table. It can be any of the following:

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Cause

Description

When

Distance

The neighbour is located within the defined maximum distance from the reference transmitter/ cell

Use coverage conditions is not selected

Coverage

The neighbour relation fulfils the defined coverage conditions

Use coverage conditions is selected and nothing is selected under Force

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Cause

Description

When

Co-Site

The neighbour is located on the same site as the reference transmitter/cell

Use coverage conditions is selected and Co-site neighbours is selected

Exceptional Pair

The neighbour relation is defined as an exceptional pair

Exceptional pairs is selected

Existing

The neighbour relation existed before automatic allocation

Delete existing neighbours is not selected

11.7.5 Using ACP in a Co-planning Project Atoll ACP enables you to automatically calculate the optimal network settings in terms of network coverage and capacity in co-planning projects where networks using different technologies, for example, LTE and GSM, must both be taken into consideration. When you run an optimisation setup in a co-planning environment, you can display the sites and transmitters of both networks in the document in which you will run the optimisation process, as explained in "Switching to Co-planning Mode" on page 951. While this step is not necessary in order to create a co-planning optimisation setup, it will enable you to visually analyse the changes to both networks in the same document. Afterwards you can create the new optimisation setup, but when creating an optimisation setup in a co-planning environment, you can not run it immediately; you must first import the other network into the ACP setup. This section explains how to use ACP to optimise network settings in a co-planning project: • •

"Creating a Co-planning Optimisation Setup" on page 957 "Importing the Other Network into a Setup" on page 957.

11.7.5.1 Creating a Co-planning Optimisation Setup Once you have displayed both networks in the main document as explained in "Switching to Co-planning Mode" on page 951, you can create the new co-planning optimisation setup. To create a new co-planning optimisation setup: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the ACP - Automatic Cell Planning folder and select New from the context menu. A dialog box appears in which you can set the parameters for the optimisation process. For information on the parameters available, see "Defining Optimisation Parameters" on page 1320. 2. After defining the optimisation setup, click the Create Setup button to save the defined optimisation. The optimisation setup has now been created. The next step is to add the GSM network to the ACP optimisation setup you have just created.

11.7.5.2 Importing the Other Network into a Setup Once you have created the co-planning optimisation setup as explained "Creating a Co-planning Optimisation Setup" on page 957, you must import the linked network. To import the linked network: 1. Click the map window of the main document. 2. In the Network explorer, expand the ACP - Automatic Cell Planning folder, right-click the setup that you created, select Import Project from the context menu, and select the name of the linked document that you want to import into the newly created setup. You can modify the parameters for the optimisation setup by right-clicking it in the Network explorer and selecting Properties from the context menu. For information on the parameters available, see "Defining Optimisation Parameters" on page 1320. After defining the co-planning optimisation setup: •

•

Click Run to run the optimisation immediately. For information on running the optimisation, see "Running an Optimisation Setup" on page 1359. For information on the optimisation results, see "Viewing Optimisation Results" on page 1362. Click the Create Setup button to save the defined optimisation to be run later.

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11.7.6 Ending Co-planning Mode once you have linked two Atoll documents for the purposes of co-planning, Atoll will maintain the link between them. However, you might want to unlink the two documents at some point, either because you want to use a different document in co-planning or because you want to restore the documents to separate, technology-specific documents. To unlink the documents and end co-planning mode: 1. Select File > Open to open the main document. Atoll informs you that this document is part of a multi-technology environment and asks whether you want to open the other document. 2. Click Yes to open the linked document as well. 3. Select Document > Unlink to unlink the documents and end co-planning mode. The documents are no longer linked and co-planning mode is ended.

11.8 Advanced Configuration The following sections describe different advanced parameters and options available in the LTE module that are used in coverage predictions as well as Monte Carlo simulations. In this section, the following advanced configuration options are explained: • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

"Defining Frequency Bands" on page 958. "Global Network Settings" on page 959. "Defining Network Deployment Layers" on page 962. "Defining Frame Configurations" on page 963. "Defining LTE Radio Bearers" on page 964. "Defining LTE Quality Indicators" on page 964. "Defining LTE Reception Equipment" on page 965. "Defining LTE Schedulers" on page 968. "Defining LTE UE Categories" on page 970. "Smart Antenna Systems" on page 970. "Multiple Input Multiple Output Systems" on page 972. "Inter-cell Interference Coordination" on page 974. "Modelling Shadowing in LTE" on page 974. "Modelling Inter-technology Interference" on page 975.

11.8.1 Defining Frequency Bands To define frequency bands: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the LTE Network Settings folder, right-click Bands and select Open Table. The LTE Frequency Bands table appears. 2. In the LTE Frequency Bands table, enter one frequency band per row. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. For each frequency band, enter: •

• • • • • •

• • • • •

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Name: Enter a name for the frequency band, for example, "2.1 GHz - 10 MHz." Each LTE frequency band has a specific channel width. Mentioning the channel width in the frequency band name is a good approach. This name will appear in other dialog boxes when you select a frequency band. Channel width (MHz): Enter the width for each channel in the frequency band. Inter-channel spacing (MHz): Enter the spacing between any two consecutive channels in the frequency band. First channel: Enter the number of the first channel in this frequency band. Last channel: Enter the number of the last channel in this frequency band. If this frequency band has only one carrier, enter the same number as entered in the First channel field. Step: Enter the step between any two consecutive channel numbers in the frequency band. Excluded channels: Enter the channel numbers which do not constitute the frequency band. You can enter nonconsecutive channel numbers separated with a comma, or you can enter a range of channel numbers separating the first and last index with a hyphen (for example, entering "1-5" corresponds to "1, 2, 3, 4, 5"). Start frequencies (MHz): Enter the start frequency for TDD frequency bands, and the downlink and the uplink start frequencies for FDD frequency bands. Adjacent channel suppression factor (dB): Enter the adjacent channel interference suppression factor in dB. Interference received from adjacent channels is reduced by this factor during the calculations. Number of frequency blocks: Enter the number of frequency blocks (i.e., the number of resource block widths in the frequency domain) used for the channel bandwidth. Sampling frequency (MHz): Enter the sampling frequency used for the channel bandwidth. Duplexing method: Select the duplexing method used in the frequency band from the list.

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TDD subframe configuration (see "Cell Properties" on page 848) is hidden when there is no TDD frequency band defined in the Frequency Bands table.

3. When you have finished adding frequency bands, click the Close button (

).

For example, if you want to define the E-UTRA Band 1 with 10 MHz channels and EARFCNs corresponding to the centre frequencies of the channels (50, 150, 250, 350, 450, 550), you can set: • • • • • • • • • • • •

Name: E-UTRA Band 1 - 10MHz Channel width: 10 Inter-channel spacing: 0 First channel: 50 Last channel: 550 Step: 100 DL start frequency: 2110 UL start frequency: 1920 Adjacent channel suppression factor: 28.23 Number of frequency blocks: 50 Sampling frequency: 15.36 Duplexing method: FDD

You can also access the properties dialog box of each individual frequency band by double-clicking the left margin of the row with the frequency band.

11.8.2 Global Network Settings Atoll allows you to set network level parameters which are common to all the transmitters and cells in the network. These parameters are used in coverage predictions as well as during Monte Carlo simulations by the radio resource management and scheduling algorithms. This section explains the options available on the Global Parameters and Calculation Parameters tabs of the LTE Network Settings folder properties, and explains how to access them. The Global Parameters Tab The global LTE parameters include: •

Default cyclic prefix: The total symbol duration in LTE comprises the useful part of the symbol, carrying the data bits, and a cyclic prefix part, which is a portion of the useful data part repeated at the beginning of each symbol. The cyclic prefix is the method used by LTE to counter inter-symbol interference (ISI). The cyclic prefix and the orthogonality of subcarriers ensure that there is negligible intra-cell interference in LTE. LTE supports two cyclic prefix types: normal and extended.

•

PDCCH overhead: The Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) can take up to 4 symbol durations in each subframe in the downlink. In Atoll, the PDCCH is considered to include the PCFICH, PHICH, and PCH as well. The PBCH, PSS, SSS, and the downlink reference signals consume a fixed amount of resources in the downlink. Their corresponding overheads are hard-coded in Atoll in accordance with the 3GPP specifications.

•

PUCCH overhead: The Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) can consume a number of frequency blocks in the uplink. The uplink demodulation and sounding reference signals consume a fixed amount of resources in the uplink. Their corresponding overheads are hard-coded in Atoll in accordance with the 3GPP specifications. The amounts of resources corresponding to different signals and channels in LTE can be calculated and displayed in Atoll. For more information, see "Displaying LTE Cell Details" on page 980.

•

Default special subframe configuration (TDD only): The configuration of the special subframe in TDD frames. This configuration describes the durations and formats of DwPTS, GP, and UpPTS in the special subframe. DwPTS is used for transmission of the reference signal, PDCCH, PSS, and PDSCH. Reference signals are located in a DwPTS in the same manner as in any normal subframe. The PDCCH can at most be transmitted over two OFDM symbols (symbol durations) because the third symbol duration in a DwPTS is used for the PSS transmission. The resource elements left in DwPTS after excluding the RS, PDCCH, and PSS overheads are used for data transmission, i.e., PDSCH. UpPTS is only used for SRS and PRACH.

•

RS EPRE: The reference signal energy per resource element can be either calculated automatically using the maximum power and the EPRE offsets for different downlink channels defined per cell, or entered per cell by the user. •

Calculated (equal distribution of unused EPRE): The reference signal EPRE for each cell will be calculated by Atoll using the cell’s maximum power (user-definable) and the EPRE offsets. For transmitters with more than one trans-

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•

•

• •

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mission antenna port, the energy belonging to the unused resource elements (resource elements reserved for reference signal transmission on other antennas) will be distributed among all the downlink signals and channels equally. Calculated (with boost): The reference signal EPRE for each cell will be calculated by Atoll using the cell’s maximum power (user-definable) and the EPRE offsets. For transmitters with more than one transmission antenna port, the energy belonging to the unused resource elements (resource elements reserved for reference signal transmission on other antennas) will be allotted to the reference signal resource elements only. This corresponds to a 3 dB boost in the RS EPRE with 2 transmission antenna ports and 6 dB boost with 4 ports. Calculated (without boost): The reference signal EPRE for each cell will be calculated by Atoll using the cell’s maximum power (user-definable) and the EPRE offsets. For transmitters with more than one transmission antenna port, the energy belonging to the unused resource elements (resource elements reserved for reference signal transmission on other antennas) will be considered lost. User-defined: You will be able to enter the reference signal EPRE for each cell. The cells’ maximum power will be calculated by Atoll using the RS EPRE and the EPRE offsets. Independent of max power: You can enter the reference signal EPRE and the maximum power. Atoll does not verify the validity of the entered values.

•

Best server selection criterion: You can select the best server selection criterion: reference signal level or RSRP. Depending on the selected method, Atoll compares either the reference signal level or the RSRP from different transmitters at each pixel (or mobile) to determine the best server.

•

Best server selection method: Select either Standard or Random as the best server selection method to be used in Monte Carlo simulations. For more information on the cell selection methods, see the Technical Reference Guide. For carrier aggregation, Atoll selects multiple servers by processing lists of potential servers according to the Standard or Random cell selection method: LTE users: a. A list of potential serving cells whose cell type includes “LTE” LTE-A users: a. A list of potential primary serving cells whose cell type includes “LTE” and “LTE-A PCell” b. A list of potential secondary serving cells whose cell type may include “LTE-A SCell DL” and “LTE-A SCell UL” Atoll selects the serving cell for LTE users from the list a. and a primary serving cell for LTE-A users from the remaining list b. Once a primary serving cell has been selected, Atoll eliminates the selected cell as well as any other co-channel cell from list c. Here, co-channel cells are cells whose channels overlap the channel being used the primary serving cell. In intra-eNode-B carrier aggregation, at this stage Atoll also eliminates cells belonging to other eNode-Bs than that of the selected primary cell. In group-based carrier aggregation, at this stage Atoll also eliminates potential servers that do not belong to the carrier aggregation groups to which the selected primary cell belongs. If the primary serving cell belongs to more than one carrier aggregation group, Atoll searches for secondary serving cells in the first carrier aggregation group among the largest carrier aggregation groups (most member cells) sorted alphabetically. For more information on carrier aggregation groups and modes, see "Working With Cell Groups" on page 862. For LTE-A users with a primary serving cell of type “LTE-A PCell” selected from list b., Atoll selects secondary serving cells from list c. This step is carried out until either list c. is empty, or the numbers of downlink or uplink secondary serving cells assigned to the user become equal to the maximum numbers defined in the terminal properties. Secondary cells are selected based on the reference signal level or RSRP, according to the defined best server selection criterion. Only secondary cells whose PDSCH C/(I+N) is higher than or equal to the secondary cell activation threshold defined in the terminal reception equipment properties are activated for aggregation in downlink. Similarly, only secondary cells whose PDSCH C/(I+N) and PUSCH C/(I+N) are both higher than or equal to the secondary cell activation threshold defined in the terminal and cell reception equipment properties, respectively, are activated for aggregation in uplink. The primary and secondary serving cells once assigned to a mobile do not change during a Monte Carlo simulation. For more information on defining layers, see "Defining Network Deployment Layers" on page 962. For coordinated multipoint transmission and reception (CoMP), i.e., within the best server’s cell-edge region, Atoll also determines additional CoMP servers in downlink and uplink (1 or 2, depending on the defined maximum transmission and reception set sizes) from the same CoMP set as the best server.

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CoMP servers must be of type LTE-A PCell. If the best server belongs to more than one CoMP set, Atoll searches for additional CoMP servers in the CoMP set that uses the CoMP scheme providing the highest gains: noncoherent joint transmission then coherent joint transmission then coordinated scheduling then dynamic point selection. If the best server belongs to more than one CoMP set using the same CoMP scheme, Atoll searches for additional CoMP servers in the first CoMP set among the largest CoMP sets (most member cells) sorted alphabetically. •

•

• •

•

SU-MIMO criterion: You can select whether the SU-MIMO selection will be based on the RS C/N, RS C/(I+N), or PDSCH or PUSCH C/(I+N). Atoll compares the selected criterion with the SU-MIMO threshold defined for the reception equipment. MU-MIMO criterion: You can select whether MU-MIMO is activated based on the RS C/N, RS C/(I+N), or PDSCH or PUSCH C/(I+N). Atoll compares the selected criterion with the MU-MIMO threshold defined for the reception equipment. AAS criterion: You can select whether AAS is activated based on the RS C/N, RS C/(I+N), or PDSCH C/(I+N). Atoll compares the selected criterion with the AAS threshold defined for the reception equipment. Multi-antenna interference calculation method: You can select the calculation method for interference from non-synchronised and adjacent channel multi-antenna cells. The calculated interference can be either proportional to the number of antennas or independent of the number of antennas. Uplink power adjustment margin: The margin (in dB) that will be added to the bearer selection threshold, for safety against fast fading, when performing power control in uplink.

Figure 11.32 and Figure 11.33 give examples of downlink and uplink FDD resource blocks for the single antenna case using the normal cyclic prefix.

Figure 11.32: LTE downlink resource blocks

Figure 11.33: LTE uplink resource blocks

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The Calculation Parameters Tab The LTE calculation parameters include: •

Min interferer C/N threshold: Minimum requirement for interferers to be considered in calculations. Interfering cells from which the received carrier-power-to-noise ratio is less than this threshold are discarded. For example, setting this value to -20 dB means that interfering cells from which the received signals are 100 times lower than the thermal noise level will be discarded in calculations. The calculation performance of interferencebased coverage predictions, interference matrices calculations, and Monte Carlo simulations can be improved by setting a high value for this threshold.

•

•

Height/ground: The receiver height at which the path loss matrices and coverage predictions are calculated. Calculations made on mobile users (from traffic maps) in Monte Carlo simulations are also carried out at this receiver height. Calculations made on fixed subscribers in Monte Carlo simulations are carried out at their respective heights. Default max range: The maximum coverage range of transmitters in the network.

11.8.2.1 Modifying Global Network Settings You can change global network settings in the properties dialog box of the LTE Network Settings folder. To set the network level parameters: 1. In the Parameters explorer, right-click the LTE Network Settings folder and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. Select the Global Parameters tab. In this tab you can set the frame structure parameters. Under Frame structure you can modify the following: the Default cyclic prefix, the PDCCH overhead, the PUCCH overhead, and for TDD networks, the Default special subframe configuration. 3. Click the Advanced button. The Advanced Parameters dialog box appears. 4. In the Advanced Parameters dialog box, you can set: • • • • •

Downlink transmit power calculation: Under Downlink transmit power calculation, you can select the downlink reference signal EPRE calculation method or set it to user-defined. Best server selection: In this section, you can choose the serving cell layer selection Criterion and Method. Diversity mode selection: In this section, you can choose the SU-MIMO, MU-MIMO, and AAS selection criteria. Multi-antenna interference calculation: In this section, you can choose the multi-antenna interference calculation Method. Uplink power adjustment: In this section, you can enter the uplink power adjustment Margin.

5. Select the Calculation Parameters tab. In this tab you can set: • • •

Calculation limitation: In this section, you can enter the Min interferer C/N threshold. Receiver: In this section, you can enter the receiver Height. System: In this section, select the Max range check box if you want to apply a maximum system range limit, and enter the maximum system range in the text box to the right.

6. Click OK. The global parameters are used during coverage predictions and simulations for the entire network.

11.8.3 Defining Network Deployment Layers An LTE network can be deployed in multiple layers of heterogeneous cells, i.e., of different sizes (macro, micro, small cells, and so on), and possibly using different frequencies. Such LTE networks are referred to as HetNets, or heterogeneous networks. In Atoll, different network layers with different priorities can be defined for your LTE network. During cell selection, network layer priorities are taken into account to determine the serving cells. To create a new network layer: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Network Settings folder, right-click Layers, and select Open Table. The Layers table appears. 2. In the Layers table, each row describes a network layer. For the new network layer, enter: • • • •

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Index: The layer index is automatically assigned by Atoll to each new layer that you create. Name: The name of the network layer. Priority: The priority of the network layer. Max speed (km/h): The highest speed of a mobile user that can connect to cells of this layer.

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Selection margin (dB) of the layers table is no longer used in calculations as these have been enhanced to model the connected mode mobility as defined by the 3GPP specifications. If you want to return to the cell selection mechanism based on the layer selection margin as in Atoll 3.2.1, you must add a custom field named SELECTION_MARGIN of type float to the Layers table.

11.8.4 Defining Frame Configurations Frame configurations model channel and frame structure parameters for different channel bandwidths and cells. Frame configurations also define ICIC-related parameters for cells using static downlink or uplink ICIC. To create a new frame configuration: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the LTE Network Settings folder, right-click Frame Configurations, and select Open Table. The Frame Configurations table appears. 2. In the Frame Configurations table, each row describes a frame configuration. For the new frame configuration, enter: • • • • • •

•

Name: The name of the frame configuration. Total number of frequency blocks: The total number of frequency blocks to which the frame configuration correspond. PDCCH overhead: The Physical Downlink Control Channel overhead in terms of numbers of OFDM symbols per subframe. If this field is left empty, Atoll uses the default overhead defined in the global network parameters. PUCCH overhead: The Physical Uplink Control Channel overhead in terms of average numbers of frequency blocks per channel. If this field is left empty, Atoll uses the default overhead defined in the global network parameters. Cyclic prefix: The cyclic prefix. If this field is left empty, Atoll uses the default cyclic prefix defined in the global network parameters. Special subframe configuration (TDD only): The configuration of the special subframe in TDD frames. This configuration describes the durations and formats of DwPTS, GP, and UpPTS in the special subframe. If this field is left empty, Atoll uses the default special subframe configuration defined in the global network parameters. PRACH preamble format: The PRACH preamble format imposes a maximum range of a serving cell. When determining the best server, Atoll checks whether the distance of the studied pixel, subscriber, or mobile from a cell is less than or equal to the distance corresponding to the round trip time allowed by the cell’s PRACH preamble format. For example, a cell with PRACH preamble format 0 can be best server within a distance ≤ 14521 m. If the PRACH preamble format is left empty, the best server coverage is not limited by distance. The PRACH preamble format does not limit interference from any cell.

•

PRACH preamble format

Distance corresponding to signal round-trip time in metres

0

14521

1

77290

2

29511

3

107269

4

2811

The PRACH preamble format 4 can only be used for TDD cells. The best server coverage limit due to PRACH preamble format 4 is only used when a cell uses a TDD frequency band and: • •

Normal cyclic prefix with special subframe configuration higher than 4, or Extended cyclic prefix with special subframe configuration higher than 3.

If a cell’s PRACH preamble format is set to 4 but the above conditions are not true, PRACH preamble format 0 is used in the calculations instead. •

•

The PRACH preamble format models the distance-related boundary of the best server coverage. In order to model the PRACH overhead, you must use the Max Traffic Load (UL) (%) field available per cell. For example, for a PRACH overhead of 5 % of the frame, you can set the Max Traffic Load (UL) (%) to 95 %.

ICIC mode: The inter-cell interference coordination method. You can select from Time-switched FFR, Hard FFR, Soft FFR, and Partial Soft FFR. For more information on different ICIC modes, see "Inter-cell Interference Coordination" on page 974.

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Cell-edge power boost (DL) (dB): The downlink cell-edge power boost, i.e., the ratio of the power transmitted on the cell-edge resource blocks with respect to the power transmitted on cell-centre resource blocks, for Soft FFR and Partial Soft FFR ICIC modes. If you leave this column empty, Atoll automatically calculates the power boost depending on the numbers of cell-centre and cell-edge frequency blocks. Group 0 frequency blocks: The frequency blocks associated with PSS ID 0. Group 1 frequency blocks: The frequency blocks associated with PSS ID 1. Group 2 frequency blocks: The frequency blocks associated with PSS ID 2. You can enter non-consecutive frequency block numbers separated with a comma, or you can enter a range of frequency blocks separating the first and last index with a hyphen (for example, entering "1-5" corresponds to "1, 2, 3, 4, 5"). In time-switched and soft FFR, the frequency block group associated with a cell’s PSS ID serves cell-centre as well as cell-edge users. The other two frequency block groups, associated with the other two PSS IDs, only serve cellcentre users. In hard and partial soft FFR, the frequency block group associated with a cell’s PSS ID covers cell-centre as well as cell-edge users. The other two frequency block groups, associated with the other two PSS IDs, serve neither celledge nor cell centre users. If no frame configuration is defined for a cell using static ICIC, Atoll considers that group 0 frequency blocks correspond to the first 1/3rd of the total number of frequency blocks, group 1 frequency blocks correspond to the second 1/3rd of the total number of frequency blocks, and group 2 frequency blocks correspond to the third 1/ 3rd of the total number of frequency blocks.

11.8.5 Defining LTE Radio Bearers LTE radio bearers carry the data in the uplink as well as in the downlink. In the Atoll LTE module, a "bearer" refers to a combination of MCS, i.e., modulation, and coding schemes. The Radio Bearers table lists the available radio bearers. You can add, remove, and modify bearer properties, if you want. To define LTE bearers: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the LTE Network Settings folder, right-click Radio Bearers, and select Open Table. The Radio Bearers table appears. 2. In the table, enter one bearer per row. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. For each LTE bearer, enter: • • • • •

Radio bearer index: Enter a bearer index. This bearer index is used to identify the bearer in other tables, such as the bearer selection thresholds and the quality graphs in reception equipment. Name: Enter a name for the bearer, for example, "16QAM 3/4." This name will appear in other dialog boxes and results. Modulation: Select a modulation from the list of available modulation types. This column is for information and display purposes only. Coding rate: Enter the coding rate used by the bearer. This column is for information and display purposes only. Bearer efficiency (bits/symbol): Enter the number of useful bits that the bearer can carry in a symbol. This information is used in throughput calculations. For information on the relation between bearer efficiency and spectral efficiency, see "Relation Between Bearer Efficiency And Spectral Efficiency" on page 978.

11.8.6 Defining LTE Quality Indicators Quality indicators depict the coverage quality at different locations. The Quality Indicators table lists the available quality indicators. You can add, remove, and modify quality indicators, if you want. To define quality indicators: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the LTE Network Settings folder, right-click Quality Indicators, and select Open Table. The Quality Indicators table appears. 2. In the table, enter one quality indicator per row. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. For each quality indicator, enter: • • •

Name: Enter a name for the quality indicator, for example, "BLER" for Block Error Rate. This name will appear in other dialog boxes and results. Used for data services: Select this check box to indicate that this quality indicator can be used for data services. Used for voice services: Select this check box to indicate that this quality indicator can be used for voice services.

3. Click the Close button (

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) to close the Quality Indicators table.

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11.8.7 Defining LTE Reception Equipment LTE reception equipment model the reception characteristics of cells and user terminals. Bearer selection thresholds, quality indicator graphs, and MIMO gains are defined in LTE reception equipment. To create a new piece of reception equipment: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the LTE Network Settings folder, right-click Reception Equipment, and select Open Table. The Reception Equipment table appears. 2. In the Reception Equipment table, each row describes a piece of equipment. For the new piece of equipment you are creating, enter its name. 3. Double-click the equipment entry in the Reception Equipment table once your new equipment has been added to the table. The equipment’s Properties dialog box opens. The Properties dialog box has the following tabs: • •

General: On this tab, you can define the Name of the reception equipment. Thresholds: On this tab (see Figure 11.34), you can modify the bearer selection thresholds, the SU-MIMO thresholds, MU-MIMO thresholds, AAS thresholds as well as secondary cells activation thresholds for different mobility types. A bearer is selected for data transfer at a given pixel if the received carrier-to-interference-and-noise ratio is higher than its selection threshold. For more information on bearers, see "Defining LTE Radio Bearers" on page 964. SU-MIMO threshold is the RS C/N, RS C/(I+N), or PDSCH or PUSCH C/(I+N) threshold, according to the option set in the Advanced parameters ("Global Network Settings" on page 959), above which SU-MIMO can be used. If left empty, SU-MIMO is considered to be accessible. MU-MIMO threshold is the RS C/N, RS C/(I+N), or PDSCH or PUSCH C/(I+N) threshold, according to the option set in the Advanced parameters ("Global Network Settings" on page 959), above which MU-MIMO can be used. If left empty, MU-MIMO is considered to be accessible AAS threshold is the RS C/N, RS C/(I+N), or PDSCH C/(I+N) threshold, according to the option set in the Advanced parameters ("Global Network Settings" on page 959), below which AAS can be used. If left empty, AAS is considered to be inaccessible. Secondary cell activation threshold is the PDSCH or PUSCH C/(I+N) threshold above which secondary cells will be activated.

Figure 11.34: Reception Equipment - Bearer Selection Thresholds i.

Click the Selection thresholds button. The C/(I+N) Thresholds (dB) dialog box appears (see Figure 11.35).

ii. Enter the graph values. The values defined in the C/(I+N) Thresholds (dB) column must be unique and not repeated. iii. Click OK.

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Figure 11.35: C/(I+N) Thresholds (dB) dialog box For more information on the default values of the bearer selection thresholds, see "Bearer Selection Thresholds" on page 977. For converting receiver equipment sensitivity values (dBm) into bearer selection thresholds, see "Calculating Bearer Selection Thresholds From Receiver Sensitivity Values" on page 978. •

Quality Graphs: On this tab (see Figure 11.36), you can modify the quality indicator graphs for different bearers and for different mobility types. These graphs depict the performance characteristics of the equipment under different radio conditions. For more information on bearers, quality indicators, and mobility types, see "Defining LTE Radio Bearers" on page 964, "Defining LTE Quality Indicators" on page 964, and "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 247, respectively.

Figure 11.36: Reception Equipment - Quality Indicator Graphs i.

Click the Quality graph button. The Quality Graph dialog box appears (see Figure 11.37).

ii. Enter the graph values. iii. Click OK.

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Figure 11.37: Quality Indicator Graph •

PDSCH/PUSCH MIMO Gains: On this tab (see Figure 11.38), you can modify the SU-MIMO and diversity gains for different bearers, mobility types, BLER values, and numbers of transmission and reception antenna ports. The MIMO throughput gain is the increase in channel capacity compared to a SISO system. Diversity gains can be defined for different diversity modes: transmit/receive diversity, SU-MIMO, and MU-MIMO. Diversity gain is applied to the PDSCH or PUSCH C/N and C/(I+N) when the diversity mode is transmit or receive diversity. SUMIMO diversity gain is applied to the PDSCH or PUSCH C/N and C/(I+N) when the diversity mode is SU-MIMO. MUMIMO diversity gain is applied to the PDSCH or PUSCH C/N and C/(I+N) when the diversity mode is MU-MIMO. For more information on bearers and mobility types, see "Defining LTE Radio Bearers" on page 964 and "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 247, respectively. For more information on the different MIMO systems, see "Multiple Input Multiple Output Systems" on page 972. No MIMO gain (diversity, SU-MIMO, and MU-MIMO) is applied if the numbers of transmission and reception antennas are both equal to 1.

Figure 11.38: Reception Equipment - PDSCH/PUSCH MIMO Gains i.

Click the Max MIMO gain graphs button. The Max MIMO Gain dialog box appears (see Figure 11.39).

ii. Enter the graph values. iii. Click OK.

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You can define the gains for any combination of mobility type, bearer, and BLER, as well as the default gains for "All" mobility types, "All" bearers, and a Max BLER of 1. During calculations, Atoll uses the gains defined for a specific combination if available, otherwise it uses the default gains.

Figure 11.39: Max MIMO Gain dialog box •

PBCH/PDCCH MIMO Gains: On this tab (see Figure 11.40), you can enter diversity gains for PBCH and PDCCH for different mobility types, and numbers of transmission and reception antenna ports. The PBCH diversity gain is applied to the PBCH C/N and C/(I+N) when the cell and terminal both support any form of MIMO in downlink. The PDCCH diversity gain is applied to the PDCCH C/N and C/(I+N) when the cell and terminal both support any form of MIMO in downlink.

Figure 11.40: Reception Equipment - PBCH/PDCCH MIMO Gains 4. Click OK. The Properties dialog box closes. The settings are stored. 5. Click the Close button (

) to close the Reception Equipment table.

11.8.8 Defining LTE Schedulers In Atoll, schedulers perform the selection of users for resource allocation, the radio resource allocation and management according to the QoS classes of the services being accessed by the selected users. The scheduling process is composed of the following three steps: 1. Selection of users for resource allocation: The Max number of users defined for each cell is the maximum number of users that the cell’s scheduler can work with simultaneously. At the start of the scheduling process, the scheduler

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keeps only as many users as the maximum number defined for resource allocation. If no limit has been set, all the users generated during Monte Carlo simulations for this cell are considered, and the scheduler continues to allocate resources as long as there are remaining resources. 2. Resource allocation for supporting the Min throughput demands: This is the minimum throughput that a service must get in order to work properly. The scheduler is either able to allocate the exact amount of resources required to fully support the minimum throughput demands, or the service does not get any resources at all. The scheduler allocates resources, for supporting the minimum throughput demands, in the order of service priority. The effective service priority is determined based on the QCI priority and the user-defined service priority. For example, the order of resource allocation will be as follows: users of the service with the highest QCI priority and the highest user-defined service priority to users of the service with the lowest QCI priority and the lowest user-defined service priority. In order to be connected, users active in downlink and uplink must be able to get their minimum throughput in both directions. If a user active in downlink and uplink gets his minimum throughput in only one direction, he will be rejected. 3. Resource allocation for supporting the Max throughput demands: Once the resources have been allocated for supporting the minimum throughput demands in the previous step, the remaining resources can be allocated in different ways to support the maximum throughput demands of the users. For allocating resources to support the maximum throughput demands, the following types of scheduling methods are available: •

Proportional fair: The proportional fair scheduling method allocates the same amount of resources to all the users with a maximum throughput demand. Therefore, the resources allocated to each user are either the resources it requires to achieve its maximum throughput demand or the total amount of resources divided by the total number of users in the cell, which ever is smaller. The proportional fair scheduler can also model the effect of resource scheduling over time, i.e., how a proportional fair scheduler benefits from fast fading, by applying multiuser diversity gains (MUG) to user throughputs.

•

Proportional demand: The proportional demand scheduling method allocates resources proportional to the demands of users who have a maximum throughput demand. Therefore, users with higher maximum throughput demands will have higher resulting throughputs than the users with lower maximum throughput demands.

•

Round Robin: The round robin scheduling method allocates the same amount of resources to all the users with a maximum throughput demand. Therefore, the resources allocated to each user are either the resources it requires to achieve its maximum throughput demand or the total amount of resources divided by the total number of users in the cell, which ever is smaller.

•

Max C/I: This scheduling method allocates the resources required by the users to achieve their maximum throughput demands in the order of their PDSCH C/(I+N) in downlink and of their PUSCH & PUCCH C/(I+N) in uplink. This means that users who are under good radio conditions will get the resources they require. The end result of this scheduling method is that the cumulated cell throughputs are maximised.

For all the scheduling methods, resources are allocated to support the maximum throughput demand until either the maximum throughput demands of all the users are satisfied or the scheduler runs out of resources. The Schedulers table lists the available schedulers. You can add, remove, and modify scheduler properties, if you want. To define LTE schedulers: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the LTE Network Settings folder, right-click Schedulers and select Open Table. The Schedulers table appears. 2. In the table, enter one scheduler per row. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. For each scheduler, enter: • • • • •

Name: Enter a name for the scheduler. This name will appear in the cell properties. Scheduling method: Select the scheduling method used by the scheduler for allocating resources to support the maximum throughput demands. Target throughput for voice services: Select the throughput that the scheduler will target to satisfy for all voicetype services. Target throughput for data services: Select the throughput that the scheduler will target to satisfy for all datatype services. Bearer selection criterion: Select the criterion for the selection of the best bearer. • Bearer index: The best bearer selected for throughput calculations is the one with the highest bearer index among the bearers available in the reception equipment. • Peak RLC throughput: The best bearer selected for throughput calculations is the one with the highest peak RLC throughput (including SU-MIMO gains) among the bearers available in the reception equipment. • Effective RLC throughput: The best bearer selected for throughput calculations is the one with the highest effective RLC throughput (including SU-MIMO gains) among the bearers available in the reception equipment.

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•

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Uplink bandwidth allocation target: Select the aim of the uplink bandwidth allocation. • • •

Full bandwidth: All the frequency blocks are used for the PUSCH & PUCCH C/(I+N) calculations, i.e., no bandwidth reduction is performed. Maintain connection: The number of frequency blocks is reduced one by one in order to increase the PUSCH & PUCCH C/(I+N) so that the mobile is able to get at least the lowest bearer. Best bearer: The number of frequency blocks is reduced in order to increase the PUSCH & PUCCH C/(I+N) so that the mobile is able to get the highest bearer available. The definition of the highest bearer depends on the Bearer selection criterion, i.e., highest index, highest peak RLC throughput, or highest effective RLC throughput. When the Bearer selection criterion is set to Effective RLC throughput, Atoll calculates the effective RLC throughput for all possible combinations of [number of frequency blocks, bearers], and keeps the number of frequency blocks and the bearer which provide the highest effective RLC throughput.

3. Double-click a row corresponding to any scheduler in the Schedulers table. The scheduler’s properties dialog box appears. The General tab contains the scheduler properties described above. For Proportional fair schedulers, the properties dialog box displays an additional MUG tab. On the MUG tab, you can edit the downlink and uplink throughput gains due to multi-user diversity for different radio bearers and mobility types. You can also define the maximum PDSCH and PUSCH C/(I+N) values above which their are no gains due to multi-user diversity. To edit the downlink multi-user diversity gains for a radio bearer and a mobility type: a. Click the DL MUG Graph button. The DL MUG dialog boxes appears. b. Edit the downlink multi-user diversity gain values for different numbers of simultaneously connected downlink users. c. Click OK. To edit the uplink multi-user diversity gains for a radio bearer and a mobility type: a. Click the UL MUG Graph button. The UL MUG dialog boxes appears. b. Edit the uplink multi-user diversity gain values for different numbers of simultaneously connected uplink users. c. Click OK. 4. Click OK. 5. Click the Close button ( ) to close the Schedulers table.

11.8.9 Defining LTE UE Categories LTE user equipment capabilities are standardised into different categories according to 3GPP specifications. To edit a UE category: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the LTE Network Settings folder, right-click UE Categories, and select Open Table. The LTE UE Categories table appears. 2. The LTE UE Categories table has the following columns: • • • • • •

Name: Name of the UE category. Max number of transport block bits per TTI (DL): The maximum number of transport block bits per subframe in the downlink. This parameter defines the highest downlink throughput that a terminal can support. Max number of transport block bits per TTI (UL): The maximum number of transport block bits per subframe in the uplink. This parameter defines the highest uplink throughput that a terminal can support. Highest supported modulation (UL): The highest modulation supported in the uplink. Max number of reception antenna ports: The maximum number of antenna ports supported by a terminal in the downlink. LTE-A to LTE Downgrade Category: Name of the UE category to be used if an LTE-A terminal is connected to an LTE-only cell. According to 3GPP specifications, an LTE-A terminal that uses UE category 6 or 7 when connected to an LTE-A cell uses UE category 4 when connected to an LTE-only cell. Similarly, an LTE-A terminal that uses UE category 8 when connected to an LTE-A cell uses UE category 5 when connected to an LTE-only cell

3. Click the Close button ( ) to close the LTE UE Categories table.

11.8.10 Smart Antenna Systems Smart antenna systems use digital signal processing with more than one antenna element in order to locate and track various types of signals to dynamically minimise interference and maximise the useful signal reception. Different types of smart antenna modelling techniques exist, including beam switching, beam steering, beamforming, and so on. Adaptive antenna systems are capable of using adaptive algorithms to cancel out interfering signals.

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For information on LTE transmission modes, their equivalent Atoll settings, and the algorithm of diversity mode selection, see "LTE Transmission Modes and Equivalent Settings in Atoll" on page 982. The Atoll LTE module includes: •

A conventional beamforming smart antenna that models linear adaptive array systems: The conventional beamformer works by forming beams in the direction of the served mobiles. The smart antenna model dynamically calculates and applies weights on each antenna element in order to create beams in the direction of served users. The antenna patterns thus created have a main beam pointed in the direction of the useful signal. During Monte Carlo simulations, the power transmitted towards the served mobile from a cell is calculated by forming a beam in that direction. For cells using smart antennas, the smart antenna weights are dynamically calculated for each mobile being served. Beamforming is performed in interfered as well as interfering cells if the PDSCH C/(I+N) is less than the AAS threshold defined in the terminal reception equipment properties. With beamforming, the downlink C/(I+N) is calculated by taking into account the effects of beamforming. The smart antenna simulation results include the angular distribution of the transmitted power spectral density for each cell. These results are then used to carry out interference-based coverage predictions for the base stations using smart antennas. In coverage predictions, beamforming is performed to calculate the smart antenna gain towards each pixel of the studied cell dynamically in order to determine the received power. To calculate the interference, the simulation results for the angular distributions of downlink transmitted power spectral density are used in order to determine the power transmitted by an interfering cell in the direction of each served pixel of the studied cell.

•

A grid-of-beams (GOB) smart antenna that models beam-switching antenna systems: Such antenna systems include predefined array weights corresponding to various transmission patterns or beams. Each user is served using the bestsuited array weights. A grid of beams in Atoll comprises a list of antenna patterns. Each antenna pattern usually has a different azimuth. All the antenna patterns are stored in the Antennas table, and can be accessed individually from the Antennas folder. During Monte Carlo simulations, Atoll selects the best suited beam from the GOB for each mobile generated. The best suited beam is the one which provides the highest gain in the direction of the mobile. Interfering signals received at each mobile are attenuated according to the antenna pattern of the selected beam. If the targeted and interfered users are in the same direction with respect to the beam selected for the targeted user, the interference will be high. Otherwise, the interfering signals will be attenuated. Although the number of beams in a GOB is not limited, calculation times with a large number of beams will be longer.

TDD LTE networks are more suitable for smart antennas than FDD because of the similar uplink and downlink channel characteristics in TDD. Information gathered from a mobile in the uplink can be assumed valid for downlink as well. Smart antenna equipment are used to define conventional beamforming smart antenna and grid-of-beams (GOB) smart antenna systems. To create smart antenna equipment: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Equipment folder and the Smart Antennas folder, right-click Smart Antenna Equipment, and select Open Table from the context menu. The Smart Antenna Equipment table appears. 2. In the Smart Antenna Equipment table, each row describes a piece of smart antenna equipment. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. For the new smart antenna equipment, enter: • • •

Name: Enter a name for the smart antenna equipment. Smart Antenna Model: Select a smart antenna model from the list. By default, Conventional Beamformer and Grid Of Beams models are available. Main Antenna Model: Select the main antenna model to be used with the smart antenna equipment. The list contains the antennas available in the Antennas table. When you assign the smart antenna equipment to a transmitter, you can choose to replace the current main antenna model with this model.

3. Double-click the equipment entry in the Smart Antenna Equipment table once your new equipment has been added to the table. The equipment’s Properties dialog box opens. 4. Under the General tab, you can modify the parameters that you set previously. 5. To modify the properties of the smart antenna model assigned to the smart antenna equipment, click the Parameters button under Smart Antenna Model. The smart antenna model’s properties dialog box appears. a. Click the General tab. On the General tab, you can change the default Name of the smart antenna model. b. Click the Properties tab. On the Properties tab, you can define the following:

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For the Conventional Beamformer smart antenna model: • • •

Number of elements: The number of antenna elements in the smart antenna system. Single element pattern: The antenna model to be used for each antenna element. You can select an antenna model from the list. The list contains the antennas available in the Antennas folder. Diversity gain (cross-polarisation): Select the Diversity gain (cross-polarisation) check box if you are using cross-polarised smart antennas and want to add diversity gains to the calculated downlink (all channels except RS) beamforming gains. You can define the diversity gains per clutter class on the Clutter tab of the smart antenna model’s properties dialog box.

For the Grid Of Beams smart antenna model, select the antenna patterns corresponding to the various beams of the model. This list contains all the antenna patterns defined in the Antennas table whose Physical Antenna name contains "GOB". The horizontal patterns of the selected beams are shown in the bottom pane. c. If you are working with a Conventional Beamformer smart antenna model, a Clutter tab is also available. On the Clutter tab, you can define the following parameters per clutter class: • •

•

Array gain offset (dB): Enter an offset to be added to the calculated beamforming array gains on the PDSCH. Positive offset values are considered as gains while negative values as losses. Power combining gain offset (dB): Enter an offset to be added to the calculated power combining gains on the RS, SS, PBCH, PDCCH, and PDSCH. Positive offset values are considered as gains while negative values as losses. Diversity gain (cross-polarisation) (dB): Enter the diversity gains for cross-polarised smart antennas to be applied to the SS, PBCH, PDCCH, and PDSCH.

d. Click OK. The smart antenna model properties are saved. 6. Click OK. The smart antenna equipment properties are saved. 7. Click the Close button ( ) to close the Smart Antenna Equipment table.

11.8.11 Multiple Input Multiple Output Systems Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) systems use different transmission and reception diversity techniques. MIMO diversity systems can roughly be divided into the following types, all of which are modelled in Atoll. For information on LTE transmission modes, their equivalent Atoll settings, and the algorithm of diversity mode selection, see "LTE Transmission Modes and Equivalent Settings in Atoll" on page 982. This section covers the following topics: • • • •

"Transmit and Receive Diversity" on page 972. "Single-User MIMO or Spatial Multiplexing" on page 972. "Adaptive MIMO Switching" on page 973. "Multi-User MIMO or Collaborative MIMO" on page 973.

11.8.11.1 Transmit and Receive Diversity Transmit or receive diversity uses more than one transmission or reception antenna to send or receive more than one copy of the same signal. The signals are constructively combined (using optimum selection or maximum ratio combining) at the receiver to extract the useful signal. As the receiver gets more than one copy of the useful signal, the signal level at the receiver after combination of all the copies is more resistant to interference than a single signal would be. Therefore, diversity improves the C/(I+N) at the receiver. It is often used for the regions of a cell that have insufficient C/(I+N) conditions. In Atoll, you can set whether a cell supports transmit or receive diversity by selecting the corresponding diversity support modes in cell properties (see "Cell Properties" on page 848). Diversity gains on downlink and uplink can be defined in the reception equipment for different numbers of transmission and reception antenna ports, mobility types, bearers, and maximum BLER. For more information on uplink and downlink diversity gains, see "Defining LTE Reception Equipment" on page 965. Additional gain values can be defined per clutter class. For information on setting the additional uplink and downlink diversity gain for each clutter class or for all clutter classes, see "Defining Clutter Class Properties" on page 127. During calculations in Atoll, a user (pixel, mobile, or subscriber) using a MIMO-capable terminal, and connected to a cell that supports transmit or receive diversity, will benefit from the downlink or uplink diversity C/(I+N) gains if the received SU-MIMO criterion (RS C/N, RS C/(I+N), or PDSCH or PUSCH C/(I+N)) is less than the SU-MIMO threshold defined in the reception equipment of the terminal or cell, respectively.

11.8.11.2 Single-User MIMO or Spatial Multiplexing SU-MIMO uses more than one transmission antenna to send different signals (data streams) on each antenna. The receiver can also have more than one antenna to receive different signals. Using spatial multiplexing with M transmission and N recep-

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tion antenna ports, the throughput over the transmitter-receiver link can be theoretically increased M or N times, whichever is smaller, M or N. SU-MIMO improves the throughput (channel capacity) for a given C/(I+N), and is used for the regions of a cell that have sufficient C/(I+N) conditions. SU-MIMO (single-user MIMO) is also referred to as SM (spatial multiplexing) or MIMO. In Atoll, you can set whether a cell supports SU-MIMO by selecting the corresponding diversity support mode in cell properties (see "Cell Properties" on page 848). SU-MIMO capacity gains can be defined in the reception equipment for different numbers of transmission and reception antenna ports, mobility types, bearers, and maximum BLER. For more information on SU-MIMO gains, see "Defining LTE Reception Equipment" on page 965. During calculations in Atoll, a user (pixel, mobile, or subscriber) using a MIMO-capable terminal, and connected to a cell that supports SU-MIMO, will benefit from the SU-MIMO gain in its throughput depending on its PDSCH or PUSCH C/(I+N) if the received SU-MIMO criterion (RS C/N, RS C/(I+N), or PDSCH or PUSCH C/(I+N)) is higher than or equal to the SU-MIMO threshold defined in the reception equipment of the terminal or cell, respectively. As SU-MIMO improves the channel capacity or throughputs, the PDSCH or PUSCH C/(I+N) of a user is first determined. Once the C/(I+N) is known, Atoll calculates the user throughput based on the bearer available at the user location. The obtained user throughput is then increased according to the SU-MIMO capacity gain and the SU-MIMO gain factor of the user’s clutter class. The capacity gains defined in Max SU-MIMO gain graphs are the maximum theoretical capacity gains using SU-MIMO. SU-MIMO requires rich multipath environment, without which the gain is reduced. In the worst case, there is no gain. Therefore, it is possible to define an SU-MIMO gain factor per clutter class whose value can vary from 0 to 1 (0 = no gain, 1 = 100 % gain). For information on setting the SU-MIMO gain factor for each clutter class or for all clutter classes, see "Defining Clutter Class Properties" on page 127. The SU-MIMO capacity gain vs. C/(I+N) graphs available in Atoll by default have been generated based on the maximum theoretical SU-MIMO capacity gains obtained using the following equations: CC MIMO G MIMO = --------------------CC SISO 





Min  N Ant N Ant 

TX RX C  I + N Where CC MIMO = Min  N Ant N Ant   Log 2  1 + ----------------------------------------- is the channel capacity at a given C/(I+N) for a MIMO system TX RX TX RX using N Ant transmission and N Ant reception antenna ports. CC SISO = Log 2  1 + C   I + N   is the channel capacity for a

single antenna system at a given C/(I+N). C/(I+N) is used as a ratio (not dB) in these formulas. You can replace the default SU-MIMO capacity gain graphs with graphs extracted from simulated or measured values.

11.8.11.3 Adaptive MIMO Switching This is a technique for switching from SU-MIMO to transmit or receive diversity as the radio conditions get worse than a given threshold. AMS can be used in cells to provide SU-MIMO gains to users that have better RS C/N, RS C/(I+N), or PDSCH or PUSCH C/(I+N) conditions than a given SU-MIMO threshold, and diversity gains to users that have worse radio conditions than the threshold. AMS provides the optimum solution using transmit and receive diversity and SU-MIMO features to their best. During calculations in Atoll, a user (pixel, mobile, or subscriber) using a MIMO-capable terminal, and connected to a cell that supports both transmit/receive diversity and SU-MIMO, will benefit from the diversity gain if the received SU-MIMO criterion (RS C/N, RS C/(I+N), or PDSCH or PUSCH C/(I+N)) is less than the SU-MIMO threshold defined in the reception equipment of the terminal or cell, respectively. Similarly, a MIMO-capable terminal, and connected to a cell that supports both transmit/ receive diversity and SU-MIMO, will benefit from the SU-MIMO gain if the received SU-MIMO criterion (RS C/N, RS C/(I+N), or PDSCH or PUSCH C/(I+N)) is higher than or equal to the SU-MIMO threshold defined in the reception equipment of the terminal or cell, respectively.

11.8.11.4 Multi-User MIMO or Collaborative MIMO MU-MIMO (Multi-User MIMO) or collaborative MIMO is a technique for spatially multiplexing users in good radio conditions. A cell with more than one antenna port can serve different users over the same frequency-time allocation. This technique provides considerable capacity gains and can be used with single-antenna user equipment, i.e., it does not require more than one antenna at the user equipment as opposed to SU-MIMO, which only provides considerable gains with more than one antenna at the user equipment. In Atoll, you can set whether a cell supports MU-MIMO by selecting the corresponding diversity support mode in cell properties and the average numbers of co-scheduled users in downlink and uplink (see "Cell Properties" on page 848). MU-MIMO can only work under good radio conditions and if the cell has more than one reception antenna port. Therefore, the RS C/N, RS C/(I+N), or PDSCH or PUSCH C/(I+N) must be higher than the MU-MIMO threshold defined in the reception equipment in order for the scheduler to be able to multiplex users. During throughput calculations, the average numbers of co-scheduled users are used to multiply the channel throughput is multiplied for pixels where MU-MIMO is used as the diversity mode.

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11.8.12 Inter-cell Interference Coordination Inter-cell interference coordination is a means of improving the signal quality at cell edges by using different resources at cell edges of potentially mutually interfering cells. There are two categories of interference coordination techniques used in OFDMA systems: static and dynamic inter-cell interference coordination. Static interference coordination is performed through fractional frequency planning. Fractions of a channel are allocated to different sectors for use at cell edges. This allocation does not change over time. On the other hand, dynamic interference coordination, or interference-aware scheduling, is carried out by the scheduler. There is no fixed fractional frequency allocation per sector. Resources allocated to cell-edge users are dynamically determined by the schedulers of each eNode-B for each subframe. The aim is to not reuse the same resources at cell edges of potentially mutually interfering cells (i.e., coordinate the allocation of resources), thus avoiding interference. Atoll supports different forms of static ICIC using fractional frequency reuse (FFR). Without fractional frequency reuse, cells transmit at constant power over the entire duration of the frame and across all the resource blocks. The fact that neighbouring cells use the same resource blocks leads to high interference and poor signal quality at cell edges. In time-switched FFR, all the power is concentrated on some of the resource blocks during a part of the frame while others are not transmitted at all. During the rest of the frame, the same power is transmitted over all the resource blocks. Cell edges of neighbouring cells are covered by different resource blocks to avoid interference. In hard FFR, all the power is concentrated on some of the resource blocks, while others are not transmitted at all. Neighbouring cells use different resource blocks to avoid interference throughout the coverage area. In soft FFR, some resource blocks are transmitted at higher power than others. Cell edges of neighbouring cells are covered by different resource blocks to avoid interference. In partial soft FFR, some resource blocks are transmitted at higher power than others, and some are not transmitted at all. Cell edges of neighbouring cells are covered by different resource blocks to avoid interference.

No FFR

Time-switched FFR

Hard FFR

Soft FFR

Partial soft FFR

Figure 11.41: Various static ICIC modes (P: power, F: frequency

11.8.13 Modelling Shadowing in LTE Shadowing, or slow fading, is signal loss along a path that is caused by obstructions not taken into consideration by the propagation model. Even when a receiver remains in the same location or in the same clutter class, there are variations in reception due to the surrounding environment. Normally, the signal received at any given point is spread on a gaussian curve around an average value and a specific standard deviation. If the propagation model is correctly calibrated, the average of the results it gives should be correct. In other words, in 50% of the measured cases, the result will be better and in 50% of the measured cases, the result will be worse. Atoll uses a model standard deviation for the clutter class with the defined cell edge coverage probability to model the effect of shadowing and thereby create coverage predictions that are reliable more than fifty percent of the time. The additional

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losses or gains caused by shadowing are known as the shadowing margin. The shadowing margin is added to the path losses calculated by the propagation model. For example, a properly calibrated propagation model calculates a loss leading to a signal level of -70 dBm. You have set a cell edge coverage probability of 85 %. If the calculated shadowing margin is 7 dB for a specific point, the target signal will be equal to or greater than -77 dBm 85 % of the time. In LTE projects, the model standard deviation is used to calculate shadowing margins on signal levels. You can also calculate shadowing margins on C/I values. For information on setting the model standard deviation and the C/I standard deviations for each clutter class or for all clutter classes, see "Defining Clutter Class Properties" on page 127. Shadowing can be taken into consideration when Atoll calculates the signal level and C/(I+N) for: • •

A point analysis (see "Studying the Profile Around a Base Station" on page 859) A coverage prediction (see "Studying Signal Level Coverage for a Single Base Station" on page 876).

Atoll always takes shadowing into consideration when calculating a Monte Carlo simulations. Atoll uses the values defined for the model standard deviations per clutter class when calculating the signal level coverage predictions. Atoll uses the values defined for the C/I standard deviations per clutter class when calculating the interference- based coverage predictions. To display the shadowing margins per clutter class: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Predictions folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Shadowing Margins from the context menu. The Shadowing Margins dialog box appears. 4. You can set the following parameters: • •

Cell edge coverage probability: Enter the probability of coverage at the edge of the cell. The value you enter in this dialog box is for information only. Standard deviation: Select the type of standard deviation to be used to calculate the shadowing margin: • •

Model: The model standard deviation. Atoll will display the shadowing margin of the signal level. C/I: The C/I standard deviation. Atoll will display the C/I shadowing margin.

5. Click Calculate. The calculated shadowing margin is displayed. 6. Click Close to close the dialog box.

11.8.14 Modelling Inter-technology Interference Analyses of LTE networks co-existing with other technology networks can be carried out in Atoll. Inter-technology interference may create considerable capacity reduction in an LTE network. Atoll can take into account interference from co-existing networks in Monte Carlo simulations and coverage predictions. The following inter-technology interference scenarios are modelled in Atoll: •

Interference received by mobiles on the downlink: Interference can be received by mobiles in an LTE network on the downlink from external base stations and mobiles in the vicinity. Interference from external base stations (also called downlink-to-downlink interference) might be created by the use of same or adjacent carriers, wideband noise (thermal noise, phase noise, modulation products, and spurious emissions), and intermodulation. In Atoll, you can define interference reduction factor (IRF) graphs for different technologies (GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, and so on). These graphs are then used for calculating the interference from the external base stations on mobiles. This interference is taken into account in all downlink interference-based calculations. Interference from external mobiles (also called uplink-to-downlink interference) might be created by insufficient separation between the uplink frequency used by the external network and the downlink frequency used by your LTE network. Such interference may also come from co-existing TDD networks. The effect of this interference is modelled in Atoll using the Additional DL noise rise definable for each cell in the LTE network. This noise rise is taken into account in all downlink interference-based calculations. For more information on the Additional DL noise rise, see "Cell Properties" on page 848.

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Figure 11.42: Interference received by mobiles on the downlink •

Interference received by cells on the uplink: Interference can be received by cells of an LTE network on the uplink from external base stations and mobiles in the vicinity. Interference from external base stations (also called downlink-to-uplink interference) can be created by insufficient separation between the downlink frequency used by the external network and the uplink frequency used by your LTE network. Such interference may also come from co-existing TDD networks. Interference from external mobiles (also called uplink-to-uplink interference) can be created by the use of same or nearby frequencies for uplink in both networks. Unless the exact locations of external mobiles is known, it is not possible to separate interference received from external base stations and mobiles on the uplink. The effect of this interference is modelled in Atoll using the Additional UL noise rise definable for each cell in the LTE network. This noise rise is taken into account in uplink interference-based calculations in Monte Carlo simulations but not in coverage predictions. For more information on the Additional UL noise rise, see "Cell Properties" on page 848.

Figure 11.43: Interference received by cells on the uplink Interference received from external base stations on mobiles of your LTE network can be calculated by Atoll. Atoll uses the inter-technology interference reduction factor (IRF) graphs for calculating the interference levels. An IRF graph represents the variation of the Adjacent Channel Interference Ratio (ACIR) as a function of frequency separation. ACIR is determined from the Adjacent Channel Suppression (ACS) and the Adjacent Channel Leakage Ratio (ACLR) parameters as follows: 1 ACIR = ------------------------------------1 1 ------------- + ----------------ACS ACLR

An IRF depends on: • • • •

The interfering technology (GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, and so on) The interfering carrier bandwidth (kHz) The interfered carrier bandwidth (kHz) The frequency offset between both carriers (MHz).

IRFs are used by Atoll to calculate the interference from external base stations only if the Atoll document containing the external base stations is linked to your LTE document, i.e. in co-planning mode or in a multi-RAT document. To define the inter-technology IRFs in the victim network: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Equipment folder, right-click Inter-technology Interference Reduction Factors, and select Open Table. The Inter-technology Interference Reduction Factors table appears. 2. In the table, enter one interference reduction factor graph per row. For each IRF graph, enter: • •

976

Technology: The technology used by the interfering network. Interferer bandwidth (kHz): The width in kHz of the channels (carriers) used by the interfering network. This channel width must be consistent with that used in the linked document.

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• •

Victim bandwidth (kHz): The width in kHz of the channels (carriers) used by the interfered network. This channel width must be consistent with that used in the main document. Reduction factors (dB): Click the cell corresponding to the Reduction factors (dB) column and the current row in the table. The Reduction factors (dB) dialog box appears. i.

Enter the interference reduction factors in the Reduction (dB) column for different frequency separation, Freq. delta (MHz), values relative to the centre frequency of the channel (carrier) used in the main document. • •

Reduction values must be positive. If you leave reduction factors undefined, Atoll assumes there is no interference.

ii. When done, click OK. 3. Click the Close button ( ) to close the Inter-technology Interference Reduction Factors table. You can link more than one Atoll document with your main document following the procedure described in "Switching to Coplanning Mode" on page 951. If the linked documents model networks using different technologies, you can define the interference reduction factors in your main document for all these technologies, and Atoll will calculate interference from all the external base stations in all the linked documents.

11.9 Tips and Tricks This section provides a series of recommendations and guidelines for using the Atoll LTE module: • • • • • • • • • •

"Working With User Densities Instead of User Profiles" on page 977. "Bearer Selection Thresholds" on page 977. "Calculating Bearer Selection Thresholds From Receiver Sensitivity Values" on page 978. "Relation Between Bearer Efficiency And Spectral Efficiency" on page 978. "Modelling VoIP Codecs" on page 979. "Working with EARFCNs instead of Channel Numbers" on page 979. "Modelling the Co-existence of Networks" on page 980. "Displaying LTE Cell Details" on page 980. "Mapping of Cell Size to Required Numbers of PRACH RSIs" on page 981. "LTE Transmission Modes and Equivalent Settings in Atoll" on page 982.

11.9.1 Working With User Densities Instead of User Profiles If you do not currently have reliable LTE multi-service traffic, you can provide Atoll with user density information per service, for example, traffic data from adapted GSM Erlang maps. In this case, you do not need to create user profiles. As well, Atoll does not have to determine the user activity probabilities to create traffic scenarios during simulations. The distribution of traffic during simulations will only depend on the user densities per service. If you know the user densities for each service, you can set user activity probabilities to 100 % in your LTE document, as shown below: 1. For Voice services, set: • •

Calls/hour = 1. Duration (sec.) = 3600.

2. For Data services: • • •

Calls/hour = 1. UL volume (KBytes) = Service uplink average requested throughput x 3600/8. DL volume (KBytes) = Service downlink average requested throughput x 3600/8.

The above settings will set the user activity probabilities to 100 %. If you create a traffic map based on environment classes, the user density values that you define in your environment classes will be the actual user densities. This means that, for X users/km² defined in the environment class for a given user profile, the Monte Carlo simulator will generate exactly X users/ km² for each service of the user profile. In this way, you can know beforehand the exact number of active users, and their services, generated during the simulations. This procedure should only be used when appropriate traffic data is not available.

11.9.2 Bearer Selection Thresholds The default values of the bearer selection thresholds, the BLER quality graphs, and the bearer efficiency values in Atoll have been extracted from the 3GPP TR 36.942 V8.0.0 (see Figure 11.44). These values correspond to an ideal (AWGN) radio channel, and are too optimistic compared to actual radio channels. It is recommended to use more realistic values when available.

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Figure 11.44: Link Adaptation in LTE The spectral efficiency is the number of useful data bits that can be transmitted using any modulation and coding scheme per Hz, the transition points between any two modulation and coding schemes give the default bearer selection thresholds in Atoll, and the normalised values from the slopes of the graphs, that represent the reduction in the spectral efficiency, give the block error rate.

11.9.3 Calculating Bearer Selection Thresholds From Receiver Sensitivity Values You can convert the receiver sensitivity values, from your equipment data sheet, into bearer selection thresholds using the following conversion method: SF  N Used CNR = RS + 114 – NF – 10  Log  ------------------------------  N Total 

Where RS is the receiver sensitivity in dBm, NF is the noise figure of the receiver in dB, SF is the sampling frequency in MHz, N Used is the number of subcarriers corresponding to the number of frequency blocks, N Total is the total number of subcarriers, i.e., the FFT size. In the above explanation, the term receiver refers to the base station in uplink and to the mobile/user equipment in the downlink.

11.9.4 Relation Between Bearer Efficiency And Spectral Efficiency Spectral efficiency of a modulation and coding scheme is defined as the number of useful bits that can be transmitted per second over 1 Hz wide channel. Spectral efficiency is hence given in terms of bps/Hz. In Atoll, the efficiency of bearers (modulation and coding schemes) are defined in the Radio Bearers table. The bearer efficiency is given in terms of bits/symbol. Remember that in Atoll symbol refers to one resource element, the data transmission unit which is 1 symbol duration long and 1 subcarrier width wide, as shown in Figure 11.45.

Figure 11.45: Symbol Bearer efficiency is similar to spectral efficiency. The only difference is in the units used. Here is a simple example that compares spectral efficiency and bearer efficiency, and shows that the two are the same. Spectral efficiency is given by: SE =  1 – BLER   r  Log 2  M 

bps  Hz

Where BLER is the Block Error Rate, r is the coding rate for the bearer, and M is the number of modulation states. For simplification, we set BLER = 0, and use QPSK1/2, i.e., four modulation states and r = 0.5. With these values, we get a spectral effi-

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ciency of 1 bps/Hz for QPSK1/2. In other words, a communication channel using QPSK1/2 modulation and coding scheme can send 1 bps of useful data per unit bandwidth. In order to compare the bearer efficiency and spectral efficiency of QPSK1/2, let’s say that QPSK1/2 has a bearer efficiency of 1 bits/symbol. Here as well, the number of bits refers to useful data bits. The width of a subcarrier in LTE is F = 15 kHz , 1 from which we can calculate the useful symbol duration as well: T U = ------= 66,67  sec . In one second, there can be F

1 sec  66,67  sec = 15000 symbol durations. If 15000 symbols are transmitted using QPSK1/2, this gives us a throughput

of 15000 Symbols/sec  1 bits/Symbol = 15000 bps , which is the throughput achievable using one subcarrier of 15 kHz. We can find the spectral efficiency by normalizing the throughput to unit bandwidth. This gives: 15000 bps/subcarrier  15 kHz/subcarrier = 1 bps/Hz . In order to compare equivalent quantities, we have ignored some system parameters, such as the cyclic prefix, and have considered that the entire frame is transmitted in one direction, uplink or downlink.

11.9.5 Modelling VoIP Codecs VoIP codecs are application-layer elements in the OSI system model. Atoll models application throughputs using a throughput offset and a scaling factor with respect to the RLC layer throughputs. You can model different VoIP codecs by creating a service for each VoIP codec, and setting the target throughput to the application throughput for the scheduler used. Here are two examples of the most common VoIP codecs, and how they can be modelled in Atoll: •

G.711 VoIP Codec The actual voice throughput needed by the G.711 codec is 64 kbps, but with the lower layer headers and other added bits, the needed RLC throughput could be between 66.4 and 107.2 kbps. In this example, we show how to model the codec with header bits that lead to 85.6 kbps RLC throughput. a. Create a new service with the following parameters: • • • • • • •

Name: VoIP (G.711) Type: Voice Min throughput demand (DL) and Min throughput demand (UL): 64 kbps Max throughput demand (DL) and Max throughput demand (UL): 64 kbps Average requested throughput (DL) and Average requested throughput (UL): 64 kbps Scaling factor: 74.77 % Offset: 0 kbps

b. Set the Target throughput for voice services to "2 - Application Throughput" for the scheduler being used. In this way, Atoll will allocate resources to the users of this service such that they get 64 kbps application throughput, and around 85.6 kbps of effective RLC throughput. •

G.729 VoIP Codec The actual voice throughput needed by the G.729 codec is 8 kbps, but with the lower layer headers and other added bits, the needed RLC throughput could be between 9.6 and 29.6 kbps. In this example, we show how to model the codec with header bits that lead to 29.6 kbps required throughput. a. Create a new service with the following parameters: • • • • • • •

Name: VoIP (G.729) Type: Voice Min throughput demand (DL) and Min throughput demand (UL): 8 kbps Max throughput demand (DL) and Max throughput demand (UL): 8 kbps Average requested throughput (DL) and Average requested throughput (UL): 8 kbps Scaling factor: 27.03 % Offset: 0 kbps

b. Set the Target throughput for voice services to "2 - Application Throughput" for the scheduler being used. In this way, Atoll will allocate resources to the users of this service such that they get 8 kbps application throughput, and around 29.6 kbps of effective RLC throughput.

11.9.6 Working with EARFCNs instead of Channel Numbers In Atoll, carriers are assigned channel numbers in the frequency bands table. These channel numbers do not necessarily have to be unique, i.e., a channel number can be reused in different bands. The 3GPP defines unique EARFCNs (E-UTRA Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Numbers) for all the frequency bands. Each EARFCN has a fixed width of 100 kHz, whereas channels (or carriers) in Atoll can have different widths. If you want to work with EARFCNs instead of channel numbers, you can set EARFCNs as channel numbers in the frequency bands table similar to as shown in the example below:

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• • • • • •

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Frequency band: 2110 FDD - 5 MHz (E-UTRA Band 1) Downlink EARFCN range: 0 - 599 Uplink EARFCN range: 18000 - 18599 First channel (EARFCN): 0 Last channel (EARFCN): 550 Excluded channels (EARFCNs): 1-49, 51-99, 101-149, 151-199, 201-249, 251-299, 301-349,351-399,401-449, 451-499, 501-549, 551-599

For FDD frequency bands, the downlink and uplink EARFCNs are offset by 18000, so you can use either the downlink or the uplink EARFCNs as channel numbers in Atoll.

11.9.7 Modelling the Co-existence of Networks In Atoll, you can study the effect of interference received by your network from other LTE networks. The interfering LTE network can be a different part of your own network, or a network belonging to another operator. To study interference from co-existing networks: 1. Import the interfering network data (sites, transmitters, and cells) in to your document as explained in "Creating a Group of Base Stations" on page 860. 2. For the interfering network’s transmitters, set the Transmitter type to Inter-network (Interferer only) as explained in "Transmitter Properties" on page 846. During calculations, Atoll will consider the transmitters of type Inter-network (Interferer only) when calculating interference. These transmitters will not serve any pixel, subscriber, or mobile, and will only contribute to interference. Modelling the interference from co-existing networks will be as accurate as the data you have for the interfering network. If the interfering network is a part of your own network, this information would be readily available. However, if the interfering network belongs to another operator, the information available might not be accurate. Moreover, for other operators’ networks, and if the interfering networks use OFDM but are not LTE networks, their modelling will not be accurate using LTE transmitters and cells. The number of subcarriers used in the interfering networks might be very different.

11.9.8 Displaying LTE Cell Details Atoll can calculate and display the numbers of resource elements corresponding to different LTE physical signals and logical channels in downlink and uplink, as well as the transmission power values calculated for different downlink channels. To calculate and list details about LTE frames: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the LTE Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Cells > Details from the context menu. The Cells Details table appears. The Details command is also available in the context menu of a transmitter or a group of transmitters. The Details table lists only the cells belonging to the transmitter or folder from which the Details command is selected. Filters are also taken into account. The following information is displayed for downlink LTE frames: • •

Total RE (DL): The total number of resource elements in the downlink subframes. RS RE (DL) and RS RE (DL) (%): The number and percentage of resource elements used to transmit the cell specific reference signals. An average number of transmitted reference signals is considered in Atoll. More specifically, when four antenna ports are used, eight reference signals are transmitted on two antenna ports and four are transmitted on the other two antenna ports. In this case, Atoll considers an average of six transmitted reference signals per antenna port.

• • • • • •

SSS RE (DL) and SSS RE (DL) (%): The number and percentage of resource elements belonging to the SSS. PSS RE (DL) and PSS RE (DL) (%): The number and percentage of resource elements belonging to the PSS. PBCH RE (DL) and PBCH RE (DL) (%): The number and percentage of resource elements belonging to the PBCH. PDCCH+PCFICH+PHICH RE (DL) and PDCCH+PCFICH+PHICH RE (DL) (%): The number and percentage of resource elements belonging to the PDCCH (which is considered to include the PCFICH and PHICH). PDSCH RE (DL) and PDSCH RE (DL) (%): The number and percentage of resource elements remaining in the PDSCH after removing the reference signals, synchronisation signals, and control channel overheads. Unused RE and Unused RE (%): The number and percentage of resource elements not used for transmission.

The following information is available for uplink LTE frames: • •

980

Total RE (UL): The total number of resource elements in the uplink subframes. DRS RE (UL) and DRS RE (UL) (%): The number and percentage of resource elements belonging to the DRS.

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• • •

SRS RE (UL) and SRS RE (UL) (%): The number and percentage of resource elements belonging to the SRS. PUCCH RE (UL) and PUCCH RE (UL) (%): The number and percentage of resource elements belonging to the PUCCH. PUSCH RE (UL) and PUSCH RE (UL) (%): The number and percentage of resource elements remaining in the PUSCH after removing the reference signals and control channel overheads.

The following calculated power values are displayed for LTE frames: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

SS Power (dBm): The transmission power of the SS. SS EPRE (dBm): The energy per resource element of the SS. PBCH Power (dBm): The transmission power of the PBCH. PBCH EPRE (dBm): The energy per resource element of the PBCH. RS Power (CE) (dBm): The transmission power of the reference signals at the cell edge. RS Power (CC) (dBm): The transmission power of the reference signals at the cell centre. RS EPRE (CE) (dBm): The energy per resource element of the reference signals at the cell edge. RS EPRE (CC) (dBm): The energy per resource element of the reference signals at the cell centre. PDCCH Power (CE) (dBm): The power of the PDCCH transmitted at the cell edge. PDCCH Power (CC) (dBm): The power of the PDCCH transmitted at the cell centre. PDCCH EPRE (CE) (dBm): The energy per resource element of the PDCCH at the cell edge. PDCCH EPRE (CC) (dBm): The energy per resource element of the PDCCH at the cell centre. PDSCH Power (CE) (dBm): The power of the PDSCH transmitted at the cell edge. PDSCH Power (CC) (dBm): The power of the PDSCH transmitted at the cell centre. PDSCH EPRE (CE) (dBm): The energy per resource element of the PDSCH at the cell edge. PDSCH EPRE (CC) (dBm): The energy per resource element of the PDSCH at the cell centre. RS, SS, PBCH, PDCCH AAS Gain (dB): The gain in dB provided by a smart antenna on the RS, SS, PBCH, and PDCCH. PDSCH AAS Gain (dB): The gain in dB provided by a smart antenna on the PDSCH.

For more information on the LTE logical and transport channels, see "Glossary of LTE Terms" on page 984.

11.9.9 Mapping of Cell Size to Required Numbers of PRACH RSIs The following tables list the theoretical values of the required numbers of PRACH RSIs mapped to various cell sizes based on 3GPP specifications. Other required numbers of PRACH RSIs can also be used without restriction. Set 1: Unrestricted set for nominal cells RSI length

Cyclic shift size

Number of cyclic shifts per sequence

PRACH preamble duration (us)

Cyclic shift duration (us)

Corresponding Number of required maximum cell radius (m) sequences per cell

839

13

64

800

12.40

1859.36

1

839

15

55

800

14.30

2145.41

2

839

18

46

800

17.16

2574.49

2

839

22

38

800

20.98

3146.60

2

839

26

32

800

24.79

3718.71

2

839

32

26

800

30.51

4576.88

3

839

38

22

800

36.23

5435.04

3

839

46

18

800

43.86

6579.26

4

839

59

14

800

56.26

8438.62

5

839

76

11

800

72.47

10870.08

6

839

93

9

800

88.68

13301.55

8

839

119

7

800

113.47

17020.26

10

839

167

5

800

159.24

23885.58

13

839

279

3

800

266.03

39904.65

22

839

419

2

800

399.52

59928.49

32

839

839

1

800

800.00

120000.00

64

Set 2: Restricted set for high speed cells RSI length

Cyclic shift size

Number of cyclic shifts per sequence

PRACH preamble duration (us)

Cyclic shift duration (us)

Corresponding Number of required maximum cell radius (m) sequences per cell

839

15

55

800

14.30

2145.41

2

839

18

46

800

17.16

2574.49

2

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Set 2: Restricted set for high speed cells RSI length

Cyclic shift size

Number of cyclic shifts per sequence

PRACH preamble duration (us)

Cyclic shift duration (us)

Corresponding Number of required maximum cell radius (m) sequences per cell

839

22

38

800

20.98

3146.60

2

839

26

32

800

24.79

3718.71

2

839

32

26

800

30.51

4576.88

3

839

38

22

800

36.23

5435.04

3

839

46

18

800

43.86

6579.26

4

839

55

15

800

52.44

7866.51

5

839

68

12

800

64.84

9725.86

6

839

82

10

800

78.19

11728.25

7

839

100

8

800

95.35

14302.74

8

839

128

6

800

122.05

18307.51

11

839

158

5

800

150.66

22598.33

13

839

202

4

800

192.61

28891.54

16

839

237

3

800

225.98

33897.50

22

Set 3: TDD-specific set RSI length

Cyclic shift size

Number of cyclic shifts per sequence

PRACH preamble duration (us)

Cyclic shift duration (us)

Corresponding Number of required maximum cell radius (m) sequences per cell

139

2

69

133

1.91

287.05

1

139

4

34

133

3.83

574.10

2

139

6

23

133

5.74

861.15

3

139

8

17

133

7.65

1148.20

4

139

10

13

133

9.57

1435.25

5

139

12

11

133

11.48

1722.30

6

139

15

9

133

14.35

2152.88

8

The above mapping tables show values calculated for ideal conditions (no delay spread) and perfect equipment (no processing/implementation delay). Different equipment and propagation conditions may imply additional delays and margins which impact the calculation of the number of required root sequence indexes per cell. For example, the maximum delay spread for the normal cyclic prefix is 6.25 us and that for the extended cyclic prefix is 16.67 us. Moreover, as transmission/reception equipment is not perfect, a certain margin may need be added in the calculation in order to compensate for implementation delays. Supposing the implementation delay margin to be 1.2 us, the maximum cell radius for Set 1: Unrestricted set for nominal cells will be calculated to be: RSI length ( N ZC )

Cyclic shift size ( N CS )

Number of cyclic shifts per sequence

…

…

…

839

32

…

…

839 …

PRACH preamble duration (us)

Cyclic shift duration (us)

Corresponding maximum cell radius (m) (R )

Number of required sequences per cell

…

…

…

…

26

800

30.51

3639.38

3

…

…

…

…

…

119

7

800

113.47

16082.76

10

…

…

…

…

…

…



N

(T )

Speed of Light 

CS Delay - – Delay Spread  --------------------------------------  – Implementation Where R =   T  ------------------------------------------------------------------ N ZC 2  2  3,3   

11.9.10 LTE Transmission Modes and Equivalent Settings in Atoll The different LTE transmission modes and their equivalent settings in Atoll are listed in the table below:

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Transmission Mode

Atoll Diversity Support Cell

Terminal

TM1: Single transmit antenna

None

None

TM2: Transmit diversity

Transmit/Receive Diversity

MIMO

TM3: Open loop spatial multiplexing with CDD

SU-MIMO

MIMO

TM4: Closed loop spatial multiplexing

SU-MIMO

MIMO

TM5: Multi-user MIMO

MU-MIMO

N/A

TM6: Closed loop precoding

Transmit/Receive Diversity

MIMO

TM7: Single layer beamforming

AAS

AAS

TM8: Dual layer beamforming

AAS+Transmit/Receive Diversity AAS+SU-MIMO AAS+AMS AAS+MU-MIMO

AAS+MIMO

TM9: 8 layer transmission

AAS+Transmit/Receive Diversity AAS+SU-MIMO AAS+AMS AAS+MU-MIMO

AAS+MIMO

The difference between transmission modes 2 and 6 and 3 and 4 is the absence and presence of channel state feedback (open and closed loop methods). In Atoll, this is interpreted as higher gains in the MIMO lookup tables for the reception equipment corresponding to the closed loop mode compared to the open loop mode. Depending on radio conditions, transmission modes can be downgraded as follows (downgrades already supported in Atoll are highlighted): Atoll allows selecting multiple MIMO modes simultaneously. The MIMO mode used for calculations for any user depends on the modes’ activation thresholds and selection priorities as follows: 1. If SU-MIMO is supported by the cell and the value of the SU-MIMO criterion >= SU-MIMO threshold MIMO mode = SU-MIMO 2. If MU-MIMO is supported by the cell and the value of the MU-MIMO criterion >= MU-MIMO threshold MIMO mode = MU-MIMO 3. If transmit/receive diversity is supported by the cell MIMO mode = Transmit diversity in downlink and receive diversity in uplink 4. Otherwise MIMO mode = None. In parallel to the MIMO modes, the AAS mode will be selected or not as follows: 1. If AAS is supported by the cell and the value of the AAS criterion < AAS threshold AAS mode = AAS 2. Otherwise AAS mode = None. The user diversity mode displayed in calculation results is a combination of both MIMO and AAS modes.

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11.10 Glossary of LTE Terms Understanding the following terms and there use in Atoll is very helpful in understanding the LTE module: •

User: A general term that can also designate a subscriber, mobile, and receiver.

•

Subscriber: Users with fixed geographical coordinates.

•

Mobile: Users generated and distributed during simulations. These users have, among other parameters, defined services, terminal types, and mobility types assigned for the duration of the simulations.

•

Receiver: A probe mobile, with the minimum required parameters needed for the calculation of path loss, used for propagation loss and raster coverage predictions.

•

Radio Bearer: A Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) used to carry data over the channel.

•

Peak RLC Throughput: The maximum RLC layer throughput (user or channel) that can be achieved at a given location using the highest LTE bearer available. This throughput is the raw throughput without considering the effects of retransmission due to errors and higher layer coding and encryption.

•

Effective RLC Throughput: The net RLC layer throughput (user or channel) that can be achieved at a given location using the highest LTE bearer available computed taking into account the reduction of throughput due to retransmission due to errors.

•

Application Throughput: The application layer throughput (user or channel) that can be achieved at a given location using the highest LTE bearer available computed taking into account the reduction of throughput due to PDU/SDU header information, padding, encryption, coding, and other types of overhead.

•

Channel Throughputs: Peak RLC, effective RLC or application throughputs achieved at a given location using the highest LTE bearer available with the entire cell resources (downlink or uplink).

•

Allocated Bandwidth Throughputs: Uplink peak RLC, effective RLC or application throughputs achieved at a given location using the best possible LTE bearer with the number of subchannels calculated.

•

User Throughputs: Peak RLC, effective RLC or application throughputs achieved at a given location using the highest LTE bearer available with the amount of resources allocated to a user by the scheduler.

•

Traffic Loads: The uplink and downlink traffic loads are the percentages of the uplink and the downlink frames in use (allocated) to the traffic (mobiles) in the uplink and in the downlink, respectively.

•

Resources: In Atoll, the term "resource" is used to refer to the average number of resource units, expressed in percentage (as traffic loads, when the average is performed over a considerably long duration) of the total number of resource units in a superframe of 1 sec.

•

Uplink Noise Rise: Uplink noise rise is a measure of uplink interference with respect to the uplink noise: I UL + N UL NR UL = ------------------------ , or NR UL = 10  Log  I UL + N UL  – 10  Log  N UL  in dB. This parameter is one of the two N UL

methods in which uplink interference can be expressed with respect to the noise. The other parameter often used I I UL + N UL

UL - . Usually, the uplink load factor is kept as a instead of the uplink noise rise is the uplink load factor: L UL = ------------------------

linear value (in percentage) while the uplink noise rise is expressed in dB. The two parameters express exactly the same information, and can be inter-converted as follows: I I+N–N I I+N N I N N I I+N 1 ------------ = ---------------------- => ------------ = ------------ – ------------ => ------------ = 1 – ------------ => ------------ = 1 – ------------ => ------------ = --------------------I I+N I+N I+N I+N I+N I+N I+N I+N I+N N 1 – -----------I+N 1 => NR = -----------

1–L

The following table shows the relation between interference, load factor, and noise rise. Interference (I) 0 =N =9xN = 99 x N

Load Factor (%) 0 50 90 99

Noise Rise 1 2 10 100

Noise Rise (dB) 0 3.01 10 20

The reason why uplink interference is expressed in terms of noise rise (in dB) in Atoll instead of load factor (in percentage) is that the load factor varies somewhat exponentially with the increase in interference. •

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Frame: An LTE frame is 10 ms long. The duration of a frame is a system-level constant. Each frame comprises 10 1 mslong subframes, with each subframe containing 2 0.5 ms-long slots. Each slot can have 7 or 6 symbol durations for normal or extended cyclic prefix, respectively, and for a 15 kHz subcarrier width. A slot can have 3 symbol durations for extended cyclic prefix used with a 7.5 kHz subcarrier width. LTE includes specific frame structures for FDD and TDD

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systems as shown in Figure 11.46. For TDD systems, two switching point periodicities can be used; half-frame or full frame. Half-frame periodicity provides the same half-frame structure as a TD-SCDMA subframe. The PBCH, PSS, and SSS are carried by subframes 0 and 5, which means that these 2 subframes are always used in downlink. A subframe is synonymous with TTI (transmission time interval), i.e., the minimum unit of resource allocation in the time domain.

Figure 11.46: LTE frame structures (DL: blue, UL: orange, DL or UL: green) •

Resource Element, Symbol, or Modulation Symbol: In Atoll, a symbol refers to one resource element or one modulation symbol, which is 1 symbol duration long and 1 subcarrier width wide, as shown in Figure 11.45.

•

Symbol Duration: In Atoll, a symbol duration refers to one OFDM symbol, which is the duration of one modulation symbol over all the subcarriers/frequency blocks being used.

•

Subcarrier: An OFDM channel comprises many narrowband carriers called subcarriers. OFDM subcarriers are orthogonal frequency-domain waveforms generated using fast fourier transforms (see Figure 11.47).

•

Frequency Block: It is the minimum unit of resource allocation in the frequency domain, i.e., the width of a resource block, 180 kHz. It is a system-level constant. A frequency block can either contain 12 subcarriers of 15 kHz each (see Figure 11.47) or 24 subcarriers of 7.5 kHz each.

•

Resource Block: It is the minimum unit of resource allocation, i.e., 1 frequency block by 1 slot (see Figure 11.47). Schedulers are able perform resource allocation every subframe (TTI, transmission time interval), however, the granularity of resource allocation 1 slot in time, i.e., the duration of a resource block, and 1 frequency block in frequency.

Figure 11.47: LTE resource blocks •

LTE Logical Channels: LTE logical channels include (see Figure 11.48): • Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH) (DL): Carries broadcast control information. • Paging Control Channel (PCCH) (DL): Carries paging control information. • Common Control Channel (CCCH) (DL and UL): Carries common control information. • Dedicated Control Channel (DCCH) (DL and UL): Carries control information dedicated to users. • Dedicated Traffic Channel (DTCH) (DL and UL): Carries user traffic data. • Multicast Control Channel (MCCH) (DL): Carries multicast control information. • Multicast Traffic Channel (MTCH) (DL): Carries multicast traffic data.

•

LTE Transport Channels: LTE transport channels include (see Figure 11.48): • Broadcast Channel (BCH) (DL): Carries broadcast information. • Paging Channel (PCH) (DL): Carries paging information.

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•

• • • •

© 2016 Forsk. All Rights Reserved.

Downlink Shared Channel (DL-SCH) (DL): Carries common and dedicated control information and user traffic data. It can also be used to carry broadcast and multicast control information and traffic in addition to the BCH and MCH. Uplink Shared Channel (UL-SCH) (UL): Carries common and dedicated control information and user traffic data. Multicast Channel (MCH) (DL): Carries multicast information. Random Access Channel (RACH) (UL): Carries random access requests from users.

LTE Physical Layer Channels: LTE physical layer channels include (see Figure 11.48): • Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) (DL): Carries broadcast information. • Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) (DL): Carries paging information, common and dedicated control information, and user traffic data. It can also be used to carry broadcast and multicast control information and traffic in addition to the PBCH and PMCH. Parts of this channel carry the primary and secondary synchronisation signals (PSS and SSS), the downlink reference signals, the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), the physical HARQ indicator channel (PHICH), and the physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH). • Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) (UL): Carries common and dedicated control information and user traffic data. • Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) (UL): Carries control information. • Physical Multicast Channel (PMCH) (DL): Carries multicast information. • Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) (UL): Carries random access requests from users.

Figure 11.48: LTE logical, transport, and physical layer channels (DL: blue, UL: orange, DL or UL: green)

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Chapter 12 3GPP Multi-RAT Networks This chapter explains how to use Atoll to design, analyse, and optimise a multi-RAT network.

This chapter covers the following topics: •

"Designing a 3GPP Multi-RAT Network" on page 989

•

"Planning and Optimising Base Stations" on page 991

•

"Optimising Network Parameters Using ACP" on page 1007

•

"Optimising Network Parameters Using ACP" on page 1007

•

"Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data" on page 1008

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12 3GPP Multi-RAT Networks If you are working on a radio planning project with one or more 3GPP radio access technologies, Atoll enables you to design a 3GPP multi-RAT network incorporating GSM/GPRS/EDGE, UMTS/HSPA, and LTE. Once you have created the 3GPP multi-RAT network, Atoll offers many tools to let you verify the network. Based on the results of your analyses, you can modify any of the parameters defining the network. The process of planning and creating a 3GPP multi-RAT network is outlined in "Designing a 3GPP Multi-RAT Network" on page 989. Creating base stations is explained in "Planning and Optimising Base Stations" on page 991. Allocating frequencies (GSM and LTE), scrambling codes (UMTS) and physical cell IDs (LTE) is explained in this section. Allocating neighbours is explained in "Planning Neighbours" on page 1005. In this section, you will also find information on how to display information on base stations on the map and how to use the tools in Atoll to study base stations. In "Optimising Network Parameters Using ACP" on page 1007, using traffic maps to study network capacity is explained. Creating simulations using the traffic map information and analysing the results of simulations is also explained. Using drive test data paths to verify the network is explained in "Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data" on page 1008. Filtering imported drive test data paths, and using the data in coverage predictions is also explained. Filtering imported drive test data paths, and using the data in coverage predictions is also explained.

12.1 Designing a 3GPP Multi-RAT Network The following diagram depicts the process of planning and creating a 3GPP multi-RAT network: 1 2

3

4

5b

5a

5c 5

6 7 8

9

10 11

Figure 12.1: Planning a 3GPP multi-RAT network - workflow

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The steps involved in planning a 3GPP multi-RAT network are described below. The numbers refer to Figure 12.1. 1. Open an existing 3GPP multi-RAT-planning document or create a new one ( • •

1

).

You can open an existing Atoll 3GPP multi-RAT document by selecting File > Open. Creating a new Atoll 3GPP multi-RAT document is explained in "Creating a Standalone Document" on page 35.

2. Configure the network by adding network elements and changing parameters (

2

).

You can add and modify the following elements of base stations: •

"Modifying Sites and Transmitters Directly on the Map" on page 992

You can also add base stations using a base station template (see "Creating a Base Station" on page 992). 3. Carry out basic coverage predictions ( 4. Allocate neighbours ( •

4

3

) from the analysis of base stations: "Studying Base Stations" on page 994

).

"Planning Neighbours" on page 1005.

5. For the GSM part of the network, estimate the required number of TRXs ( • •

5

) in one of the following ways:

You can import or create traffic maps ( 5a ) and use them as a basis for dimensioning 5b ) (see "Studying GSM/ GPRS/EDGE Network Capacity" on page 325 in Chapter 7: GSM/GPRS/EDGE Networks). You can define them manually either on the TRXs tab of each transmitter’s Properties dialog box or in the Subcells table (see "Modifying a Subcell" on page 290) (

5c

).

6. Once you have the required number of TRXs in the GSM part of the network, manually or automatically create a frequency plan ( •

6

).

"Allocating Resources in GSM" on page 1006.

7. For the UMTS part of the network, allocate scrambling codes ( •

7

).

"Allocating Resources in UMTS" on page 1007.

8. For the LTE part of the network, allocate frequencies and physical cell IDs ( 8 ). •

"Allocating Resources in LTE" on page 1007.

9. Before making more advanced coverage predictions, you need to define cell load conditions ( 9 ). You can define cell load conditions in the following ways: • •

You can generate realistic cell load conditions by creating a simulation based on a traffic map ( 9a and 9b ) (see "Optimising Network Parameters Using ACP" on page 1007). You can define them manually in GSM ("Importing OMC Traffic Data into the Subcells Table: Traffic Data" on page 326), UMTS ("Setting the UL Load Factor and the DL Total Power" on page 541) and LTE ("Setting Cell Loads and Noise Rise Values" on page 879) ( 9c ).

10. Make technology-specific coverage predictions ( 10 ). For the GSM GPRS EDGE part of the 3GPP multi-RAT network: •

"Analysing Network Quality" on page 428.

For the UMTS HSPA part of the 3GPP multi-RAT network: • • •

"UMTS Coverage Predictions" on page 540 "HSDPA Coverage Predictions" on page 549 "HSUPA Coverage Predictions" on page 551.

For the LTE part of the 3GPP multi-RAT network: •

"LTE Coverage Predictions" on page 879.

For a combination of several technologies in the 3GPP multi-RAT network: •

"3GPP Multi-RAT Predictions" on page 994.

11. Analyse the quality of the resource allocations ( 11 ). For the GSM GPRS EDGE part of the 3GPP multi-RAT network: • • •

"Auditing a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Frequency Plan" on page 458. "Displaying the Frequency Allocation" on page 462. "Calculating Key Performance Indicators of a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Network" on page 465.

For the UMTS HSPA part of the 3GPP multi-RAT network:

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• •

"Checking the Consistency of the Scrambling Code Plan" on page 566 "Displaying the Allocation of Scrambling Codes" on page 567.

For the LTE part of the 3GPP multi-RAT network: • •

"Displaying AFP Results on the Map" on page 915. "Checking the Consistency of the Physical Cell ID Plan" on page 919.

12.2 Planning and Optimising Base Stations As described in Chapter 1: Working Environment, you can create an Atoll document from a template, with no sites, or from a database with a set of sites. As you work on your Atoll document, you will still need to create sites and modify existing ones. In Atoll, a site is defined as a geographical point where one or more transmitters are located. Once you have created a site, you can add transmitters. In Atoll, a transmitter is defined as the antenna and any other additional equipment, such as the TMA, feeder cables, etc. When modelling GSM in a 3GPP multi-RAT network, you must also add subcells to each transmitter. A subcell refers to the characteristics of a group of TRXs on a transmitter. When modelling UMTS or LTE in a 3GPP multi-RAT network, you must also add cells to each transmitter. In UMTS, a cell refers to the characteristics of a carrier on a transmitter; in LTE, a cell models the characteristics of an RF channel.

A n te n n a - A z im u t h - M e c h a n i c a l t i lt

TMA A n te n n a - H e ig h t

F e e d e r C a b le

T r a n s m it t e r - N o is e fig u r e - Pow er

S it e - X , Y c o o r d in a t e s

Figure 12.2: A transmitter Atoll lets you create one site, transmitter, or cell or subcell at a time, or create several at once by using a station template. In Atoll, a base station refers to a site with its transmitters, antennas, equipment, and cells or subcells. Atoll allows you to make a variety of coverage predictions, such as signal level or transmitter coverage predictions. The results of calculated coverage predictions can be displayed on the map, compared, or studied. Atoll enables you to model network traffic by allowing you to create services, users, user profiles, environments, and terminals. This data can be then used to make quality predictions, such as effective service area, noise, or handover status predictions, on the network. This section covers the following topics: • • • • • • • • • •

"Creating a Base Station" on page 992 "Creating a Group of Base Stations" on page 992 "Modifying Sites and Transmitters Directly on the Map" on page 992 "Display Tips for Base Stations" on page 993 "Creating a Repeater" on page 993 "Creating a Remote Antenna" on page 993 "Studying Base Stations" on page 994 "3GPP Multi-RAT Predictions" on page 994 "Printing and Exporting Coverage Prediction Results" on page 1000 "Allocating Resources in a 3GPP Multi-RAT Network" on page 1006

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12.2.1 Creating a Base Station In a 3GPP multi-RAT network, sites can be shared by transmitters of different technologies. The way sites and transmitters are managed in a 3GPP multi-RAT network is the same for each technology. Because a 3GPP multi-RAT document contains transmitter and station template folders for each technology modelled, the folders are identified by the technology they belong to. • • •

To create a GSM GPRS EDGE base station, see "Creating a GSM/GPRS/EDGE Base Station" on page 279 To create a UMTS HSPA base station, see "Creating UMTS Base Stations" on page 519 To create an LTE base station, see "Creating LTE Base Stations" on page 853. If you want to add a transmitter to an existing site on the map, you can add the transmitter by right-clicking the site and selecting New Transmitter from the context menu. Because a 3GPP multi-RAT document models several technologies, the new transmitter will be created using the technology (GSM, UMTS or LTE) of the station template currently selected in the toolbar.

12.2.2 Creating a Group of Base Stations You can create base stations individually as explained in "Creating a Base Station" on page 992, or you can create one or several base stations by using station templates as explained in "Placing a New Station Using a Station Template" on page 291. However, if you have a large radio-planning project and you already have existing data, you can import this data into your current Atoll document and create a group of base stations. When you import data into your current Atoll document, the coordinate system of the imported data must be the same as the display coordinate system used in the document. If you cannot change the coordinate system of your source data, you can temporarily change the display coordinate system of the Atoll document to match the source data. For information on changing the coordinate system, see "Setting a Coordinate System" on page 41. You can import base station data in the following ways: •

Copying and pasting data: If you have data in table form, either in another Atoll document or in a spreadsheet, you can copy this data and paste it into the tables in your current Atoll document. When you create a group of base stations by copying and pasting data, you must copy and paste site data in the Sites table, transmitter data in the Transmitters table, and cell or subcell data in the Cells or Subcells table, in that order. The table you copy data from must have the same column layout as the table you are pasting data into.

For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting a Table Record" on page 83. •

Importing data: If you have data in text or comma-separated value (CSV) format, you can import it into the tables in the current document. If the data is in another Atoll document, you can first export it in text or CSV format and then import it into the tables of your current Atoll document. When you are importing, Atoll allows you to select what values you import into which columns of the table. When you create a group of base stations by importing data, you must import site data in the Sites table, transmitter data in the Transmitters table, and cell or subcell data in the Cells or Subcells table, in that order. For information on exporting table data, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. For information on importing table data, see "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88. You can quickly create a series of base stations for study purposes using the Hexagonal Design tool on the Radio Planning toolbar. For information, see "Placing a New Station Using a Station Template" on page 291.

12.2.3 Modifying Sites and Transmitters Directly on the Map In Atoll, you can access the Properties dialog box of a site or transmitter using the context menu in the Network explorer. However, in a complex radio-planning project, it can be difficult to find the data object in the Network explorer, although it might be visible in the map window. Atoll lets you access the Properties dialog box of sites and transmitters directly from the

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map. You can also select a site to display all of the transmitters located on it in the Site explorer. When selecting a transmitter, if there is more than one transmitter with the same azimuth, clicking the transmitters in the map window opens a context menu allowing you to select the transmitter. You can also change the position of the station by dragging it, or by letting Atoll find a higher location for it. Modifying sites and transmitters directly on the map is explained in detail in Chapter 1: Working Environment: • • • • •

"Selecting One out of Several Transmitters" on page 57 "Moving a Site Using the Mouse" on page 57 "Moving a Site to a Higher Location" on page 57 "Changing the Azimuth of the Antenna Using the Mouse" on page 57 "Changing the Antenna Position Relative to the Site Using the Mouse" on page 58.

12.2.4 Display Tips for Base Stations Atoll allows to you to display information about base stations in a number of different ways. This enables you not only to display selected information, but also to distinguish base stations at a glance. The following tools can be used to display information about base stations: •

•

•

•

Label: You can display information about each object, such as each site or transmitter, in the form of a label that is displayed with the object. You can display information from every field in that object type’s data table, including from fields that you add. The label is always displayed, so you should choose information that you would want to always be visible; too much information will lead to a cluttered display. For information on defining the label, see "Associating a Label to an Object" on page 53. Tip text: You can display information about each object, such as each site or transmitter, in the form of tip text that is only visible when you move the pointer over the object. You can choose to display more information than in the label, because the information is only displayed when you move the pointer over the object. You can display information from any field in that object type’s data table, including from fields that you add. For information on defining the tip text, see "Associating a Tip Text to an Object" on page 54. Transmitter colour: You can set the transmitter colour to display information about the transmitter. For example, you can select "Discrete Values" to distinguish transmitters by antenna type, or to distinguish inactive from active sites. You can also define the display type for transmitters as "Automatic." Atoll then automatically assigns a colour to each transmitter, ensuring that each transmitter has a different colour than the transmitters surrounding it. For information on defining the transmitter colour, see "Setting the Display Type" on page 52. Transmitter symbol: You can select one of several symbols to represent transmitters. For example, you can select a symbol that graphically represents the antenna half-power beamwidth (

). If you have two transmitters on the

same site with the same azimuth, you can differentiate them by selecting different symbols for each ( For information on defining the transmitter symbol, see "Setting the Display Type" on page 52.

and

).

12.2.5 Creating a Repeater A repeater receives, amplifies, and re-transmits the radiated or conducted RF carrier both in downlink and uplink. It has a donor side and a server side. The donor side receives the signal from a donor transmitter, repeater, or remote antenna. This signal can be carried by different types of links such as a radio link or a microwave link. The server side re-transmits the received signal. In a 3GPP multi-RAT network, you can define repeaters for GSM, UMTS and LTE transmitters. Repeaters are managed in a 3GPP multi-RAT network the same way for each technology. In the Network explorer, repeaters are found in the transmitter folder of the technology they belong to. • • •

To create a GSM GPRS EDGE repeater, see "Creating a Repeater" on page 298 To create a UMTS HSPA repeater, see "Creating Repeaters" on page 529 To create a LTE repeater, see "Creating Repeaters" on page 866

12.2.6 Creating a Remote Antenna Atoll allows you to create remote antennas to position antennas at locations that would normally require long runs of feeder cable. A remote antenna is connected to the base station with an optic fibre. Remote antennas allow you to ensure radio coverage in an area without a new base station. In Atoll, the remote antenna should be connected to a base station that does not have any antennas. It is assumed that a remote antenna, as opposed to a repeater, does not have any equipment and generates no amplification gain nor noise. In certain cases, you may want to model a remote antenna with equipment or a remote antenna connected to a base station

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that has antennas. This can be done by modelling a repeater. For information on creating a repeater, see "Creating a Repeater" on page 993. In a 3GPP multi-RAT network, you can define remote antennas for GSM, UMTS and LTE transmitters. Remote antennas are managed in a 3GPP multi-RAT network the same way for each technology. In the Network explorer, remote antennas are found in the transmitter folder of the technology they belong to. • • •

To create a GSM GPRS EDGE remote antenna, see "Creating a Remote Antenna" on page 302 To create a UMTS HSPA remote antenna, see "Creating Remote Antennas" on page 533 To create a LTE remote antenna, see "Creating Remote Antennas" on page 870

12.2.7 Studying Base Stations You can study one or several base stations to test the effectiveness of the specified parameters. Coverage predictions on groups of base stations can take a large amount of time and consume a lot of computer resources. Restricting your coverage prediction to the base station you are currently working on allows you get quick results. You can expand your coverage prediction to a number of base stations once you have optimised the settings for each individual base station. Before studying a base station, you must assign a propagation model. The propagation model takes the radio and geographic data into account and calculates propagation losses along the transmitter-receiver path. This allows you to predict the received signal level at any given point. Any coverage prediction you make on a base station uses the propagation model to calculate its results. For more information, see "Preparing Base Stations for Calculations" on page 186. In a 3GPP multi-RAT network, studying base stations is similar to studying base stations in a single-RAT network. The only difference is that the folders and tools (such as the Point Analysis) are identified by the technology they belong to. • • •

To study GSM GPRS EDGE base stations, see "Studying GSM Base Stations" on page 305 To study UMTS HSPA base stations, see "Studying UMTS Base Stations" on page 536 To study LTE base stations, see "Studying LTE Base Stations" on page 874.

Some technology-specific coverage predictions use terminal, mobility type, and service parameters in calculations. For information on these parameters, see "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. This section covers the following topics: • • • • • •

"3GPP Multi-RAT Predictions" on page 994 "Displaying Coverage Prediction Results" on page 996 "Generating Coverage Prediction Reports and Statistics" on page 997 "Printing and Exporting Coverage Prediction Results" on page 1000 "Comparing Coverage Predictions" on page 1000 "Multi-point Analyses" on page 1004

12.2.7.1 3GPP Multi-RAT Predictions 3GPP multi-RAT coverage predictions are calculated using DL and UL load conditions which are: • • •

GSM: the allocated frequency plan and the subcell DL traffic load UMTS: the DL total power and UL load factor (defined at the UMTS cell level) LTE: the allocated frequency plan, the DL traffic load and UL noise rise (defined at the LTE cell level).

For the purpose of these predictions, each pixel is considered a non-interfering receiver with a defined service, mobility type, and terminal as explained in "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. The following 3GPP multi-RAT coverage predictions are explained in this section: • •

12.2.7.1.1

"Making a 3GPP Multi-RAT Effective Service Area Prediction" on page 994. "Making a 3GPP Multi-RAT Throughput Coverage Prediction" on page 995.

Making a 3GPP Multi-RAT Effective Service Area Prediction The 3GPP multi-RAT effective service area is the combination of several single-RAT effective service areas: •

•

•

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The GSM part is based on the GSM Effective Service Area Analysis (DL+UL), as explained in "Making a Service Area Prediction" on page 454. Radio conditions are evaluated over the HCS server area with a margin of 4 dB, on all the interfered subcells. Codec modes and coding schemes are obtained from these radio conditions based on C/(I+N) without ideal link adaptation. This implies that a frequency plan has to be defined in order to obtain this GSM/GPRS/ EDGE coverage. The UMTS part is based on the UMTS Effective Service Area Analysis (Eb⁄Nt) (DL+UL) analysis, as explained in "Studying the Effective Service Area" on page 543. For HSPA services, the coverage is based on a combination of HSDPA et HSUPA service areas as explained in "HSDPA Coverage Predictions" on page 549 and "HSUPA Coverage Predictions" on page 551. The LTE part is based on the LTE Effective Service Area Analysis (DL+UL), as explained in "Studying the Effective Service Area" on page 886.

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To make a 3GPP multi-RAT effective service area prediction: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Predictions folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 4. Under Standard Predictions 3GPP Multi-RAT, select Effective Service Area Analysis (DL+UL) and click OK. The 3GPP multi-RAT Effective Service Area Analysis (DL+UL) Properties dialog box appears. 5. Click the General tab. On the General tab, you can change the assigned Name of the coverage prediction, the Resolution, and you can add a Comment. •

•

A read-only Unique ID is generated when you create a new coverage prediction. This ID can later be found between the and tags in the "studies.XML" file created in the installation folder if at least one coverage prediction was saved using the Save as Customised Prediction command. The Group By, Sort, and Filter buttons under Display Configuration are not available when making a multi-RAT coverage prediction.

6. Click the Conditions tab. You must select a Terminal, Service, and Mobility, as defined in "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. If you want the effective service area prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. You can also select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 7. Click the Display tab. Display Type: For a 3GPP multi-RAT effective service area prediction, "Discrete Values" is selected as the display type so that each service area is displayed with the colour corresponding to the technology used to access the service. Field: Select "Technologies" to obtain one coverage layer for each technology or "Available Technologies" to obtain one coverage layer for each technology and combinations of available technologies. 8. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later by clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any messages, are displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

12.2.7.1.2

Making a 3GPP Multi-RAT Throughput Coverage Prediction The 3GPP multi-RAT throughput prediction is the combination of single-RAT throughput predictions: •

The GSM part is based on the GSM Packet Throughput Analysis (DL), as explained in "Making a Coverage Prediction by Packet Throughput" on page 445 The 3GPP multi-RAT effective RLC throughput is obtained from the maximum effective RLC throughput of the GSM layer. The 3GPP multi-RAT application throughput from the maximum application throughput of the GSM layer.

•

The UMTS part is based on the R99 Service Area Analysis (Eb⁄Nt) (DL) prediction, as explained in "Studying Downlink and Uplink Service Areas (Eb⁄Nt)" on page 542 and on the HSDPA Throughput Analysis (DL), as explained in "HSDPA Coverage Predictions" on page 549. The 3GPP multi-RAT effective RLC and application throughputs are respectively obtained from the effective RLC and application throughputs of the R99 or the HSDPA layer.

•

The LTE part is based on the LTE Coverage by Throughput (DL), as explained in "Making a Coverage Prediction by Throughput" on page 888. The 3GPP multi-RAT effective RLC and application throughputs are respectively obtained from the effective RLC channel throughput (DL) and the application channel throughput (DL) coverage predictions.

Four types of throughput can be calculated on each pixel: • •

Effective RLC Throughput: The throughput on the RLC layer that a cell can provide to the selected terminal per pixel taking into account possible transmission errors (BLER) for the highest priority technology. Max Effective RLC Throughput: The maximum throughput on the RLC layer that a cell can provide to the selected terminal per pixel taking into account possible transmission errors (BLER), considering all available technologies.

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Application Throughput: The throughput on the application layer that a cell can provide to the selected terminal per pixel taking into account possible transmission errors (BLER) for the highest priority technology. Max Application Throughput: the maximum throughput on the application layer that a cell can provide to the selected terminal per pixel taking into account possible transmission errors (BLER), considering all available technologies.

To make a 3GPP multi-RAT throughput coverage prediction: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Predictions folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 4. Under Standard Predictions 3GPP Multi-RAT, select Coverage by Throughput (DL) and click OK. The multi-RAT Coverage by Throughput (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 5. Click the General tab. On the General tab, you can change the assigned Name of the coverage prediction, the Resolution, and you can add a Comment. •

•

A read-only Unique ID is generated when you create a new coverage prediction. This ID can later be found between the and tags in the "studies.XML" file created in the installation folder if at least one coverage prediction was saved using the Save as Customised Prediction command. The Group By, Sort, and Filter buttons under Display Configuration are not available when making a multi-RAT coverage prediction.

6. Click the Conditions tab. You must select a Terminal, Service, and Mobility, as defined in "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. If you want the effective service area prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. You can also select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 7. Click the Display tab. For a 3GPP multi-RAT throughput coverage prediction, "Value intervals" is selected as the display type in order to display either the effective RLC, the max effective RLC, the application, or the best application throughputs. For information on adjusting the display, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. If more than one technology serves a pixel, the displayed throughput is the one provided by the highest priority technology as defined in the properties of the selected service. 8. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later by clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any messages, are displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

12.2.7.2 Displaying Coverage Prediction Results Coverage results are displayed graphically in the map window according to the settings you made on the Display tab when you created the coverage prediction. If several coverage predictions are visible on the map, it can be difficult to clearly see the results of the coverage prediction you wish to analyse. You can select which predictions to display or to hide by selecting or clearing the display check box. For information on managing the display, see "Displaying or Hiding Objects on the Map" on page 50. This section covers the following topics: • •

12.2.7.2.1

"Displaying the Legend Window" on page 996. "Displaying Coverage Prediction Results Using the Tip Text" on page 997.

Displaying the Legend Window When you create a coverage prediction, you can add the displayed values of the coverage prediction to a legend by selecting the Add to legend check box on the Display tab. To display the Legend window: •

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Select View > Legend Window. The Legend window is displayed, with the values for each displayed coverage prediction identified by the name of the coverage prediction.

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12.2.7.2.2

Displaying Coverage Prediction Results Using the Tip Text You can display tip text information by placing the pointer over an area of the coverage prediction. The data that is displayed is defined by the settings you made on the Display tab when you created the coverage prediction. To display coverage prediction results in the form of tip text: •

In the map window, place the pointer over the area of the coverage prediction that you want more information on. After a brief pause, the tip text appears with the information defined in the Display tab of the coverage prediction properties (see Figure 12.3).

Figure 12.3: Displaying coverage prediction results using tip text

12.2.7.3 Generating Coverage Prediction Reports and Statistics Once you have completed a prediction, you can generate reports and statistics with the tools that Atoll provides. This section covers the following topics: • • •

12.2.7.3.1

"Creating a Focus Zone or Hot Spot for a Coverage Prediction Report" on page 997. "Generating a Coverage Prediction Report" on page 998. "Exporting a Coverage Prediction Report" on page 1000.

Creating a Focus Zone or Hot Spot for a Coverage Prediction Report The focus and hot spots define the area on which statistics can be drawn and on which reports are made. While you can only have one focus zone, you can define several hot spots in addition to the focus zone. It is important not to confuse the computation zone and the focus and hot spots. The computation zone defines the area where Atoll calculates path loss matrices, coverage predictions, Monte Carlo simulations, etc., while the focus and hot spots are the areas taken into consideration when generating reports and results. When you create a coverage prediction report, it gives the results for the focus zone and for each of the defined hot spots. To define a focus zone or hot spot: 1. Select the Geo explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Zones folder. 3. Right-click the Focus Zone or Hot Spots folder, depending on whether you want to create a focus zone or a hot spot. The context menu appears. 4. From the context menu, select one of the following: •

Draw Polygon i.

Click once on the map to start drawing the focus zone or hot spot.

ii. Click once on the map to define each point on the map where the border of the focus zone or hot spot changes direction. iii. Click twice to finish drawing and close the focus zone or hot spot. •

Draw Rectangle i.

Click the point on the map that will be one corner of the rectangle that will define the focus zone or hot spot.

ii. Drag to the opposite corner of the rectangle that will define the focus zone or hot spot. When you release the mouse, the focus zone or hot spot will be created from the rectangle defined by the two corners. A focus zone is delimited by a green line; a hot spot is delimited by a heavy black line. If you clear the zone’s visibility check box in the Zones folder of the Geo explorer, it will no longer be displayed but will still be taken into account.

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You can also create a focus or hot spot as follows: • •

•

•

Vector Editor toolbar: You can use the New Polygon ( ) and New Rectangle ( ) buttons available in the Vector Editor toolbar to draw the computation zone. Existing polygon: You can use any existing polygon on the map as a focus or hot spot by right-clicking it and selecting Use As > Focus Zone or Use As > Hot Spot from the context menu. You can also combine an existing focus zone or hot spot with any existing polygon by right-clicking it on the map or in the explorer window and selecting Add To > Focus Zone or Add To > Hot Spot from the context menu. Importing a polygon: If you have a file with an existing polygon, for example, a polygon describing an administrative area, you can import it and use it as a focus or hot spot. You can import it by right-clicking the Focus Zone or Hot Spots folder in the Geo explorer and selecting Import from the context menu. When you import hot spots, you can import the name given to each zone as well. Fit Zone to Map Window: You can create a focus or hot spot the size of the map window by selecting Fit Zone to Map Window from the context menu. •

You can save the focus zone or hot spots, so that you can use it in a different Atoll document, in the following ways: •

•

12.2.7.3.2

Saving the focus zone in the user configuration: For information on saving the focus zone in the user configuration, see "Saving a User Configuration" on page 104. • Exporting the focus zone or hot spots: You can export the focus zone or hot spots by right-clicking the Focus Zone or the Hot Spots folder in the Geo explorer and selecting Export from the context menu. You can include population statistics in the focus or hot spot by importing a population map. For information on importing maps, see "Importing Raster Format Geo Data Files" on page 120.

Generating a Coverage Prediction Report Atoll can generate a report for any coverage prediction whose display check box is selected ( ). The report displays the covered surface and percentage for each threshold value defined in the Display tab of the coverage prediction’s Properties dialog box. The coverage prediction report is displayed in a table. For information on working with tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. By default, the report table only displays the name and coverage area columns. You can edit the table to select which columns to display or to hide. For information on displaying and hiding columns, see "Displaying and Hiding Columns" on page 80. Atoll bases the report on the area covered by the focus zone and hot spots; if no focus zone is defined, Atoll will use the computation zone. However, by using a focus zone for the report, you can create a report for a specific number of sites, instead of creating a report for every site that has been calculated. The focus zone or hot spot must be defined before you display a report; it is not necessary to define it before calculating coverage. The focus zone or hot spot does not, however, need to be visible; even if it is not displayed, Atoll will take it into account when generating the report. For information on defining a focus zone or hot spot, see "Creating a Focus Zone or Hot Spot for a Coverage Prediction Report" on page 997. Once you have generated a report, you can export it to a text file or to an Excel spreadsheet. For more information on exporting a coverage prediction report, see "Exporting a Coverage Prediction Report" on page 1000. Atoll can generate a report for a single coverage prediction, or for all the coverage predictions currently displayed on the map. To generate a report for a single coverage prediction: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Predictions folder. 3. Right-click the coverage prediction for which you want to generate a report. The context menu appears. 4. Select Generate Report from the context menu. The Columns to Be Displayed dialog box appears. In case a hot spot was imported in your Atoll document, additional fields will appear at the bottom of the Columns to Be Displayed dialog box if the hot spot description contains parameters other than Atoll-specific parameters. 5. Define the format and content of the report: You can select the columns that will be displayed in the report and define the order they are in: a. Select the check box for each column you want to have displayed. b. Define the order of the columns by selecting each column you want to move and clicking to move it down.

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You can load a configuration that you have saved previously and apply it to the current report: a. Under Configuration, click the Load button. The Open dialog box appears. b. Select the configuration you want to load and click Open. The loaded report configuration is applied. You can save the current report format in a configuration: a. Under Configuration, click the Save button. The Save As dialog box appears. b. In the Save As dialog box, browse to the folder where you want to save the configuration and enter a File name. 6. When you have finished defining the format and content of the report, click OK in the Columns to Be Displayed dialog box. The coverage prediction report table appears. The report is based on the hot spots and on the focus zone if available or on the hot spots and computation zone if there is no focus zone. To generate a report for all the coverage predictions currently displayed on the map: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Predictions folder. 3. Select the check box in front of each coverage prediction that you want to include in the report. 4. Right-click the Predictions folder. The context menu appears. 5. Select Generate Report from the context menu. The Columns to Be Displayed dialog box appears. In case a hot spot was imported in your Atoll document, additional fields will appear at the bottom of the Columns to Be Displayed dialog box if the hot spot description contains parameters other than Atoll-specific parameters. 6. Define the format and content of the report: You can select the columns that will be displayed in the report and define the order they are in: a. Select the check box for each column you want to have displayed. b. Define the order of the columns by selecting each column you want to move and clicking to move it down.

to move it up or

You can save the current report format in a configuration: a. Under Configuration, click the Save button. The Save As dialog box appears. b. In the Save As dialog box, browse to the folder where you want to save the configuration and enter a File name. You can load a configuration that you have saved previously and apply it to the current report: a. Under Configuration, click the Load button. The Open dialog box appears. b. Select the configuration you want to load and click Open. The loaded report configuration is applied. 7. Once you have defined the format and content of the report, click OK in the Columns to Be Displayed dialog box. The coverage prediction report table appears, showing a report for each displayed prediction in the order they appear in the Predictions folder. The report is based on the focus zone, if any (even if it is not displayed on the map), or on the calculation zone if there is no focus zone. By default, the ranges which do not contain any pixels do not appear in the report. By setting an option in the Atoll.ini file, you can include these ranges in the report. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. You can include population statistics in the focus zone or hot spots by importing a population map. For information on importing maps, see "Importing Raster Format Geo Data Files" on page 120. Normally, Atoll takes all geo data into consideration, whether it is displayed or not. However, for the population statistics to be used in a report, the population map has to be displayed. To include population statistics in the focus zone or hot spots: 1. Ensure that the population geo data is visible. For information on displaying geo data, see "Displaying or Hiding Objects on the Map" on page 50. 2. Display the report as explained above. 3. Select Format > Display Columns. The Columns to Be Displayed dialog box appears. 4. Select the following columns, where "Population" is the name of the folder in the Geo explorer containing the population map: • •

"Population" (Population): The number of inhabitants covered. "Population" (% Population): The percentage of inhabitants covered.

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"Population" (Population [total]: The total number of inhabitants inside the zone.

Atoll saves the names of the columns you select and will automatically select them the next time you create a coverage prediction report. 5. Click OK. If you have created a custom data map with integrable data, the data can be used in prediction reports. The data will be summed over the coverage area for each item in the report (for example, by transmitter or threshold). The data can be value data (revenue, number of customers, etc.) or density data (revenue/km², number of customer/km², etc.). Data is considered as non-integrable if the data given is per pixel or polygon and cannot be summed over areas, for example, socio-demographic classes, rain zones, etc. For information on integrable data in custom data maps, see "Integrable versus Non-integrable Data" on page 136.

12.2.7.3.3

Exporting a Coverage Prediction Report Once you have generated a coverage prediction report as explained in "Generating a Coverage Prediction Report" on page 998, you can export it to a text file or to a spreadsheet. To export a coverage prediction report: 1. Right-click the report and select Export from the context menu or click the Export button ( The Save As dialog box appears.

) in the Table toolbar.

2. In the Save As dialog box, enter the File name and select the format from the Save as type list: • • • •

TXT: To save the report as a text file. CSV: To save the report as a comma-separated values file. XLS: To save the report as an Excel spreadsheet. XML Spreadsheet 2003: To save the report as an XML spreadsheet.

3. Click Save to export the coverage prediction report.

12.2.7.4 Printing and Exporting Coverage Prediction Results Once you have made a coverage prediction, you can print the results displayed on the map or save them in an external format. You can also export a selected area of the coverage as a bitmap. •

•

•

Printing coverage prediction results: Atoll offers several options allowing you to customise and optimise the printed coverage prediction results. Atoll supports printing to a variety of paper sizes, including A4 and A0. For more information on printing coverage prediction results, see "Printing a Map" on page 91. Defining a geographic export zone: If you want to export part of the coverage prediction as a bitmap, you can define a geographic export zone. After you have defined a geographic export zone, when you export a coverage prediction as a raster image, Atoll offers you the option of exporting only the area covered by the zone. For more information on defining a geographic export zone, see "Geographic Export Zone" on page 68. Exporting coverage prediction results: In Atoll, you can export the coverage areas of a coverage prediction in raster or vector formats. In raster formats, you can export in BMP, TIF, JPEG 2000, ArcView© grid, or Vertical Mapper (GRD and GRC) formats. When exporting in GRD or GRC formats, Atoll allows you to export files larger than 2 GB. In vector formats, you can export in ArcView©, MapInfo©, or AGD formats. For more information on exporting coverage prediction results, see "Exporting Coverage Prediction Results" on page 210.

12.2.7.5 Comparing Coverage Predictions Atoll allows you to compare two similar predictions to see the differences between them. This enables you to quickly see how the changes that you make can affect the network. You can display the results of the comparison in one of the following ways: • • •

•

•

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Intersection: This display mode shows the area where both coverage predictions overlap (for example, pixels covered by both predictions are displayed in red). Merge: This display mode shows the area that is covered by either of the coverage predictions (for example, pixels covered by at least one of the predictions are displayed in red). Union: This display shows all pixels covered by both coverage predictions in one colour and pixels covered by only one coverage prediction in a different colour (for example, pixels covered by both predictions are red and pixels covered by only one prediction are blue). Difference: This display mode shows all pixels covered by both coverage predictions in one colour, pixels covered by only the first prediction with another colour and pixels covered only by the second prediction with a third colour (for example, pixels covered by both predictions are red, pixels covered only by the first prediction are green, and pixels covered only by the second prediction are blue). Value Difference: This display mode shows the dB difference between any two coverage predictions by signal level. This display option will not be available if the coverage predictions were calculated using different resolutions.

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To compare two similar coverage predictions: 1. Create and calculate a coverage prediction of the existing network. 2. Examine the coverage prediction to see where coverage can be improved. 3. Make the changes to the network to improve coverage. 4. Duplicate the original coverage prediction (in order to leave the first coverage prediction unchanged). 5. Calculate the duplicated coverage prediction. 6. Compare the original coverage prediction with the new coverage prediction. Atoll displays differences in coverage between them. This section contains the two following examples to illustrate the comparisons between predictions: • •

"Example 1: Studying the Effect of a New Base Station" on page 1001 "Example 2: Studying the Effect of a Change in Transmitter Tilt" on page 1003.

Example 1: Studying the Effect of a New Base Station If you have an area in a network that is poorly covered by current transmitters, you have several options for increasing coverage. In this example, you can verify if a newly added base station improves coverage. A signal level coverage prediction of the current network is made as described in "Studying Base Stations" on page 994. The results are displayed in Figure 12.4. An area with poor coverage is visible on the right side of the figure.

Figure 12.4: Signal level coverage prediction of existing network A new base station is added, either by creating the base station and adding the transmitters, as explained in "Creating a Base Station" on page 992. Once the new site has been added, the original coverage prediction can be recalculated, but then it would be impossible to compare the results. Instead, the original signal level coverage prediction can be copied by selecting Duplicate from its context menu. The copy is then calculated to show the effect of the new base station (see Figure 12.5).

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Figure 12.5: Signal level coverage prediction of network with new base station Now you can compare the two coverage predictions. To compare two coverage predictions: 1. Right-click one of the two predictions. The context menu appears. 2. From the context menu, select Compare with and, from the menu that opens, select the coverage prediction you want to compare with the first. The Comparison Properties dialog box appears. 3. Click the General tab. You can change the Name of the comparison and add Comments. The General tab contains information about the coverage predictions being compared, including their names and resolutions. 4. Click the Display tab. On the Display tab, you can choose how you want the results of the comparison to be displayed. You can choose among: • • • •

Intersection Merge Union Difference

In order to see what changes adding a new base station made, you should choose Difference. 5. Click OK to create the comparison. The comparison in Figure 12.6, shows clearly the area covered only by the new base station.

Figure 12.6: Comparison of both signal level coverage predictions

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Example 2: Studying the Effect of a Change in Transmitter Tilt If you have an area in a network that is poorly covered by current transmitters, you have several options for increasing coverage. In this example, you can see how modifying transmitter tilt can improve coverage. A coverage prediction by transmitter of the current network is made as described in "Studying Base Stations" on page 994. The results are displayed in Figure 12.7. The coverage prediction shows that one transmitter is covering its area poorly. The area is indicated by a red oval in Figure 12.7.

Figure 12.7: Coverage prediction by transmitter of existing network You can try modifying the tilt on the transmitter to improve the coverage. The properties of the transmitter can be accessed by right-clicking the transmitter in the map window and selecting Properties from the context menu. The mechanical and electrical tilt of the antenna are defined on the Transmitter tab of the Properties dialog box. Once the tilt of the antenna has been modified, the original coverage prediction can be recalculated, but then it would be impossible to compare the results. Instead, the original coverage prediction can be copied by selecting Duplicate from its context menu. The copy is then calculated, to show how modifying the antenna tilt has affected coverage (see Figure 12.8).

Figure 12.8: Coverage prediction by transmitter of network after modifications As you can see, modifying the antenna tilt increased the coverage of the transmitter. However, to see exactly the change in coverage, you can compare the two predictions. To compare two predictions: 1. Right-click one of the two predictions. The context menu appears. 2. From the context menu, select Compare with and, from the menu that opens, select the prediction you want to compare with the first. The Comparison Properties dialog box appears. 3. Click the General tab. You can change the Name of the comparison and add Comments. The General tab contains information about the coverage predictions being compared, including their names and resolutions.

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4. Click the Display tab. On the Display tab, you can choose how you want the results of the comparison to be displayed. You can choose among: • • • •

Intersection Merge Union Difference

In order to see what changes modifying the antenna tilt made, you can choose Union. This will display all pixels covered by both predictions in one colour and all pixels covered by only one prediction in another colour. The increase in coverage, seen in only the second coverage prediction, will be immediately clear. 5. Click OK to create the comparison. The comparison in Figure 12.9, shows clearly the increase in coverage due at the change in antenna tilt.

Figure 12.9: Comparison of both transmitter coverage predictions

12.2.7.6 Multi-point Analyses In Atoll, you can carry out calculations on lists of points that represent subscriber locations for analysis. These analyses may be useful for verifying network QoS at subscriber locations in case of incidents (call drops, low throughputs, and so on) reported by users. In point analysis, a number of parameters are calculated at each point for all potential servers. This section covers the following topics related to point analyses: • •

"Making a Point Analysis" on page 1004 "Viewing Point Analysis Results" on page 1005

For information on LTE fixed subscriber analyses, see "Multi-point Analyses" on page 899.

12.2.7.6.1

Making a Point Analysis Point analyses are calculated on lists of points, which are either imported or created on the map using the mouse. The results are based on user-defined calculation settings. To create a new point analysis: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Multi-point Analysis folder and select New Point Analysis > GSM, > UMTS, or > LTE. The Point Analysis Properties dialog box appears. 2. On the General and Conditions tabs, specify the settings as described in: • • •

GSM: "Point Analysis Properties" on page 320 UMTS: "Point Analysis Properties" on page 557 LTE: "Point Analysis Properties" on page 899

3. On the Points tab, you can create a list of points by: •

•

•

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Importing a list of points from an external file: Click the Actions button and select Import Table from the menu to open the Open file dialog box. In this dialog box, select a TXT or CSV file containing a list of points and click Open. For more information on importing data tables, see "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88. Importing a list of points from a fixed subscriber traffic map: Click the Actions button and select Import from Fixed Subscribers from the menu to open the Fixed Subscribers dialog box. In this dialog box, select one or more existing fixed subscriber traffic maps and click OK. Copying a list of points from an external file.

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•

Creating points in the list by editing the table: Add new points by clicking the New Row icon ( and Y coordinates as well as a service, a terminal, and a mobility.

) and entering X

The list of points must have the same coordinate system as the display coordinate system used in the Atoll document. For more information on coordinate systems, see "Setting a Coordinate System" on page 41.

•

It is also possible to leave the Points tab empty and add points to the analysis on the map using the mouse once the point analysis item has been created. To add points on the map using the mouse, right-click the point analysis item to which you want to add points, and select Add Points from the context menu. The mouse pointer changes to point creation mode (

•

). Click once to create each point you

want to add. Press ESC or click the Pointer button ( ) in the Map toolbar to finish adding points. You can also export the list of point from a point analysis to ASCII text files (TXT and CSV formats) and MS Excel XML Spreadsheet files (XML format) by selecting Actions > Export Table. For more information on exporting table data, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86.

4. On the Display tab, specify how to display point analysis results on the map according to any input or calculated parameter. For more information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have defined the point analysis parameters, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the point analysis and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the point analysis without calculating it. You can calculate it later by opening the point analysis properties and clicking the Calculate button.

Once Atoll has finished calculating the point analysis, the results are displayed in the map window. You can also access the analysis results in a table format. For more information, see "Viewing Point Analysis Results" on page 1005. You can also organise point analyses in folders under the Multi-point Analysis folder by creating folders under the Multi-point Analysis folder in the Network explorer. Folders may contain one or more point analyses items. You can move point analyses items from one folder to another and rename folders.

12.2.7.6.2

Viewing Point Analysis Results Once a point analysis has been calculated, its results are displayed on the map and are also available in the point analysis item in the form of a table. To view the results table of a point analysis: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Multi-point Analysis folder, right-click the analysis whose results table you want to view, and select Analysis Results from the context menu. The Results dialog box appears. For the results available for each technology, see: • • •

GSM: "Viewing Point Analysis Results" on page 322 UMTS: "Viewing Point Analysis Results" on page 559 LTE: "Viewing Point Analysis Results" on page 900 You can export the point analysis results table to ASCII text files (TXT and CSV formats) and MS Excel XML Spreadsheet files (XML format) by selecting Actions > Export. For more information on exporting table data, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86.

2. Click Close.

12.2.8 Planning Neighbours You can use Atoll to manually allocate neighbour relations to any cell in a network. You can also use Atoll to automatically allocate neighbour relations to a single cell, to all the cells of a base station, to all the cells in a transmitter group, or to all the cells in a network, based on predefined parameters. In this section, only the concepts that are specific to automatic neighbour allocation in 3GPP networks are explained. For more information on neighbour planning, see "Neighbour Planning" on page 223.

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12.2.8.1 Coverage Conditions In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, you either select or clear the Use coverage conditions check box: • •

When it is cleared, only the defined Distance will be used to allocate neighbours to a reference transmitter. When it is selected, click Define to open the Coverage Conditions dialog box: GSM - Intra-technology planning: see "Coverage Conditions" on page 323 - Inter-technology planning: see "Coverage Conditions" on page 324 UMTS - Intra-technology planning: see "Coverage Conditions" on page 560 - Inter-technology planning: see "Coverage Conditions" on page 609 LTE - Intra-technology planning: see "Coverage Conditions" on page 904 - Inter-technology planning: see "Coverage Conditions" on page 956

12.2.8.2 Calculation Constraints In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, you can select the following calculation constraints: GSM - Intra-technology planning: see "Calculation Constraints" on page 323 - Inter-technology planning: see "Calculation Constraints" on page 324 UMTS - Intra-technology planning: see "Calculation Constraints" on page 561 - Inter-technology planning: see "Calculation Constraints" on page 610 LTE - Intra-technology planning: see "Calculation Constraints" on page 905 - Inter-technology planning: see "Calculation Constraints" on page 956

12.2.8.3 Reasons for Allocation In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, the reason for neighbour allocation is indicated under Cause in the Results table. It can be any of the following: GSM - Intra-technology planning: see "Reasons for Allocation" on page 323 - Inter-technology planning: see "Reasons for Allocation" on page 325 UMTS - Intra-technology planning: see "Reasons for Allocation" on page 561 - Inter-technology planning: see "Reasons for Allocation" on page 610 LTE - Intra-technology planning: see "Reasons for Allocation" on page 905 - Inter-technology planning: see "Reasons for Allocation" on page 956

12.2.9 Allocating Resources in a 3GPP Multi-RAT Network In 3GPP multi-RAT networks, allocating resources such as GSM frequencies, UMTS scrambling codes, and LTE physical cell IDs is an important part of a radio planning project. The resources and procedures are different depending on the radio access technology. The way resources are allocated in a 3GPP multi-RAT network is the same than the way they are allocated in a single-RAT network. In a 3GPP multi-RAT network, the automatic allocations of BSIC-BCCH (using the GSM AFP), scrambling codes (UMTS), and physical cell IDs (using the LTE AFP) take inter-technology neighbour constraints into account. For example, different physical cell IDs are assigned to two LTE cells that are neighbours of the same GSM transmitter or UMTS cell.

12.2.9.1 Allocating Resources in GSM Allocating GSM-specific resources is explained in Chapter 7: GSM/GPRS/EDGE Networks. Before allocating resources, you have to estimate the required number of TRXs in one of the following ways: •

1006

You can import or create traffic maps and use them as a basis for dimensioning (see "Studying GSM/GPRS/EDGE Network Capacity" on page 325 in the GSM GPRS EDGE section).

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•

You can define them manually either on the TRXs tab of each transmitter’s Properties dialog box or in the Subcells table (see "Modifying a Subcell" on page 290).

Once you have the required number of TRXs, manually or automatically create a frequency plan. • •

Allocating frequencies, BSICs, HSNs, and MAIOs is explained in "Allocating Frequencies, BSICs, HSNs, MALs, MAIOs" on page 340 Using the optional Atoll module is explained in "Automatic Frequency Planning" on page 391.

12.2.9.2 Allocating Resources in UMTS Allocating UMTS-specific resources is explained in Chapter 8: UMTS HSPA Networks: •

Allocating and planning scrambling codes is explained in "Planning Scrambling Codes" on page 562.

12.2.9.3 Allocating Resources in LTE Allocating LTE-specific resources is explained in Chapter 11: LTE Networks: • •

Allocating and planning frequencies is explained in "Planning Frequencies" on page 909. Allocating and planning physical cell IDs is explained in "Planning Physical Cell IDs" on page 911.

12.3 Optimising Network Parameters Using ACP The ACP (Automatic Cell Planning) module enables radio engineers designing 3GPP multi-RAT networks to automatically calculate the optimal network settings in terms of network coverage and quality. ACP can also be used to add sites from a list of candidate sites or to remove unnecessary sites or sectors. ACP can be used in co-planning projects as well as in 3GPP multiRAT networks where networks using different radio access technologies must be taken into consideration when calculating the optimal network settings. Before you launch ACP in a 3GPP network, make sure you have an ACP license token for each technology used in the document.

ACP is primarily intended to improve existing network deployment by reconfiguring the main parameters that can be remotely controlled by operators: antenna electrical tilt and cell pilot power. ACP can also be used during the initial planning stage of a 3GPP multi-RAT network by enabling the selection of the antenna, and its azimuth, height, and mechanical tilt. ACP not only takes transmitters into account in optimisations but also any repeaters and remote antennas. ACP can also be used to measure and optimise the EMF exposure created by the network. This permits the optimisation of power and antenna settings to reduce excessive EMF exposure in existing networks and optimal site selection for new transmitters. ACP uses user-defined objectives to evaluate the optimisation, as well as to calculate its implementation cost. Once you have defined the objectives and the network parameters to be optimised, ACP uses an efficient global search algorithm to test many network configurations and propose the reconfigurations that best meet the objectives. ACP presents the changes ordered from the most to the least beneficial, allowing phased implementation or implementation of just a subset of the suggested changes. ACP is technology-independent and can be used to optimise networks using different radio access technologies. Chapter 17: Automatic Cell Planning explains how you configure the ACP module, how you create and run an optimisation setup, and how you can view the results of an optimisation. In this section, only the concepts specific to 3GPP multi-RAT networks are explained: • • •

"3GPP Optimisation Objectives" on page 1007 "3GPP Quality Parameters" on page 1008 "3GPP Quality Analysis Maps" on page 1008

12.3.1 3GPP Optimisation Objectives ACP optimises the network using user-defined objectives to evaluate the quality of the network. The ACP objectives depend on technologies available in the network and are consistent with the corresponding coverage predictions in Atoll. For information on the objectives of each technology, see: • • •

For GSM, "GSM Optimisation Objectives" on page 468 For UMTS, "UMTS Optimisation Objectives" on page 589 For LTE, "LTE Optimisation Objectives" on page 937.

For information on setting objective parameters, see "Setting Objective Parameters" on page 1329.

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12.3.2 3GPP Quality Parameters When you create an optimisation setup, you define how ACP evaluates the objectives. The quality parameters are technology dependent. You can base the evaluation of the objectives on a calculated coverage prediction or on manual configuration. If you base the coverage prediction settings on a calculated coverage prediction, ACP will use the ranges and colours defined in the selected coverage prediction as the default for its own maps. However, if you have saved the display options of an ACP map as default, or if you are using a configuration file for ACP, these defined ranges and colours will be used as the default, overriding the settings in the selected coverage prediction. For information on the quality parameters of each technology, go to the technology-specific chapter: • • •

For GSM, see "GSM Quality Parameters" on page 468 For UMTS, see "UMTS Quality Parameters" on page 590 For LTE, see "LTE Quality Parameters" on page 937.

12.3.3 3GPP Quality Analysis Maps The quality analysis maps enable you to display the quality maps in the Atoll map window. These maps are the same as those displayed on the Quality tab of the optimisation’s Properties dialog box. The quality analysis maps are the equivalent of maps created by different Atoll coverage predictions: The quality analysis maps depend on the radio access technology being modelled. For information on the quality analysis maps available for each technology, see: • • •

For GSM, see "GSM Quality Analysis Predictions" on page 470 For UMTS, see "UMTS Quality Analysis Predictions" on page 592 For LTE, see "LTE Quality Analysis Predictions" on page 939.

12.4 Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data An important step in the process of creating a 3GPP network is to analyse network performance by using drive test data. This is done using measurements of the strength of the pilot signal and other parameters in different locations within the area covered by the network. This collection of measurements is called a drive test data path. The data contained in a drive test data path is used to verify the accuracy of current network parameters and to optimise the network. Atoll enables you to import the drive test data into any technology in a 3GPP multi-RAT network. • • •

If you are modelling GSM/GPRS/EDGE, see "Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data" on page 471. If you are modelling UMTS HSPA , see "Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data" on page 593 If you are modelling LTE, see "Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data" on page 942.

12.5 Displaying Elements of One Atoll Document in a 3GPP Multi-RAT Document In a 3GPP multi-RAT network you can work with a combination of different radio access technologies (GSM/GPRS/EDGE, UMTS/HSPA, and LTE). Multiple radio access technologies modelled in a single Atoll document enables you to study how one technology affects another in terms of interference, coverage, hand-off, etc. You can also display network elements, geographic data, and calculation results such as simulations and predictions of a different technology network within a 3GPP multi-RAT document in Atoll. The document whose elements you wish to display in the 3GPP multi-RAT document can be of any radio access technology supported by Atoll. To display the sites of a linked document in another document: 1. Open your main Atoll document and the Atoll document you want to link it to: •

Select File > Open or File > New > From an Existing Database. The main and linked documents must have the same geographic coordinate systems.

2. Select the Network explorer in the linked document.

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3. Right-click the Sites folder. The context menu appears. 4. Select Make Accessible In from the context menu, and select the name of the main document from the submenu that opens. The Sites folder of the linked document is now available in the main document. The explorer window of the main document now contains a folder named Sites in [linked document], where [linked document] is the name of the linked document. If you want the Sites folder of the linked document to appear in the main document automatically, you can set an option in the Atoll.ini file. For information on setting options in the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual. The same process can be used to display in the main document any folder or folder item of the linked document that has a Make Accessible In option available in its context menu. Once folders are linked, you can access their properties and the properties of the items they contain from either documents. Any changes you make in a linked folder are taken into account in both documents. If you close the linked document, Atoll displays a warning icon ( )in the main document’s explorer window, and the linked items are no longer accessible from the main document. You can re-open the linked document in Atoll by right-clicking the linked item in the explorer window of the main document, and selecting Open Linked Document.

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Chapter 13 3GPP2 MultiRAT Networks This chapter provides information on using Atoll to design, analyse, and optimise a multi-RAT network.

This chapter covers the following topics: •

"Designing a 3GPP2 Multi-RAT Network" on page 1013

•

"Planning and Optimising Base Stations" on page 1014

•

"Optimising Network Parameters Using ACP" on page 1029

•

"Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data" on page 1030

•

"Displaying Elements of One Atoll Document in a 3GPP2 Multi-RAT Document" on page 1030

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13 3GPP2 Multi-RAT Networks If you are working on a radio planning project with one or more 3GPP2 radio access technologies, Atoll enables you to design a 3GPP2 multi-RAT network incorporating CDMA2000 and LTE. Once you have created the 3GPP2 multi-RAT network, Atoll offers many tools to let you verify the network. Based on the results of your analyses, you can modify any of the parameters defining the network. The process of planning and creating a 3GPP2 multi-RAT network is outlined in "Designing a 3GPP2 Multi-RAT Network" on page 1013. Creating the network of base stations is explained in "Planning and Optimising Base Stations" on page 1014. Allocating PN offsets (CDMA), frequencies and physical cell IDs (LTE) is explained in this section. Allocating neighbours is explained in "Planning Neighbours" on page 1028. In this section, you will also find information on how you can display information on base stations on the map and how you can use the tools in Atoll to study base stations. Using drive test data paths to verify the network is explained in "Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data" on page 1030. Filtering imported drive test data paths, and using the data in coverage predictions is also explained. Filtering imported drive test data paths, and using the data in coverage predictions is also explained.

13.1 Designing a 3GPP2 Multi-RAT Network The following diagram depicts the process of planning and creating a 3GPP2 multi-RAT network:

Figure 13.1: Planning a 3GPP2 Multi-RAT network - workflow The steps involved in planning a 3GPP2 multi-RAT network are described below. The numbers refer to Figure 13.1. 1. Open an existing 3GPP2 multi-RAT-planning document or create a new one ( • •

1

).

You can open an existing Atoll 3GPP2 multi-RAT document by selecting File > Open. Creating a new Atoll 3GPP2 multi-RAT document is explained in "Creating a Standalone Document" on page 35.

2. Configure the network by adding network elements and changing parameters (

2

).

You can add and modify the following elements of base stations: •

"Modifying Sites and Transmitters Directly on the Map" on page 1016

You can also add base stations using a base station template (see "Creating a Base Station" on page 1015).

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3. Carry out basic coverage predictions (

© 2016 Forsk. All Rights Reserved. 3

) from the analysis of base stations: "Studying Base Stations" on page 1017

4. Allocate neighbours, automatically or individually ( •

4

).

"Planning Neighbours" on page 1028.

5. For the CDMA part of the network, allocate PN offsets ( •

6

).

"Allocating Resources in CDMA" on page 1029.

6. For the LTE part of the network, allocate frequencies and physical cell IDs ( •

5

and

7

).

"Allocating Resources in LTE" on page 1029.

7. Before making more advanced coverage predictions, you need to define cell load conditions ( 8 ). You can define cell load conditions in the following ways: • •

You can generate realistic cell load conditions by creating a simulation based on a traffic map (see Chapter 6: Traffic and Capacity Planning). You can define them manually in CDMA ("Setting the Reverse Link Load Factor and the Forward Link Total Power" on page 656) and LTE ("Setting Cell Loads and Noise Rise Values" on page 879).

8. Make technology-specific coverage predictions ( 9 ). For the CDMA part of the 3GPP2 multi-RAT network: •

"CDMA Coverage Predictions" on page 656

For the LTE part of the 3GPP2 multi-RAT network: •

"LTE Coverage Predictions" on page 879.

For a combination of both technologies in the 3GPP2 multi-RAT network: •

"3GPP2 Multi-RAT Predictions" on page 1018.

9. Analyse the quality of the resource allocations ( 10 ). For the CDMA part of the 3GPP2 multi-RAT network: • •

"Checking the Consistency of the PN Offset Plan" on page 681 "Displaying the Allocation of PN Offsets" on page 681

For the LTE part of the 3GPP2 multi-RAT network: • •

"Displaying AFP Results on the Map" on page 915. "Checking the Consistency of the Physical Cell ID Plan" on page 919.

13.2 Planning and Optimising Base Stations As described in Chapter 1: Working Environment, you can start an Atoll document from a template, with no sites, or from a database with a set of sites. As you work on your Atoll document, you will still need to create sites and modify existing ones. In Atoll, a site is defined as a geographical point where one or more transmitters are located. Once you have created a site, you can add transmitters. In Atoll, a transmitter is defined as the antenna and any other additional equipment, such as the TMA, feeder cables, etc. When modelling CDMA or LTE in a 3GPP2 multi-RAT network, you must also add cells to each transmitter. In CDMA, a cell refers to the characteristics of a carrier on a transmitter; in LTE, a cell models the characteristics of an RF channel.

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A n te n n a - A z im u t h - M e c h a n i c a l t i lt

TMA A n te n n a - H e ig h t

F e e d e r C a b le

T r a n s m it t e r - N o is e fig u r e - Pow er

S it e - X , Y c o o r d in a t e s

Figure 13.2: A transmitter Atoll lets you create one site, transmitter, or cell at a time, or create several at once by using a station template. In Atoll, a base station refers to a site with its transmitters, antennas, equipment, and cells. Atoll allows you to make a variety of coverage predictions, such as signal level or transmitter coverage predictions. The results of calculated coverage predictions can be displayed on the map, compared, or studied. Atoll enables you to model network traffic by allowing you to create services, users, user profiles, environments, and terminals. This data can be then used to make quality predictions, such as effective service area, noise, or handoff status predictions, on the network. This section covers the following topics: • • • • • • • • • •

"Creating a Base Station" on page 1015 "Creating a Group of Base Stations" on page 1015 "Modifying Sites and Transmitters Directly on the Map" on page 1016 "Display Tips for Base Stations" on page 1016 "Creating a Repeater" on page 1017 "Creating a Remote Antenna" on page 1017 "Studying Base Stations" on page 1017 "3GPP2 Multi-RAT Predictions" on page 1018 "Allocating Resources in a 3GPP2 Multi-RAT Network" on page 1028 "Allocating Resources in a 3GPP2 Multi-RAT Network" on page 1028

13.2.1 Creating a Base Station In a 3GPP2 multi-RAT network, sites can be shared by transmitters of different technologies. The way sites and transmitters are managed in a 3GPP2 multi-RAT network is the same for each technology. Because a 3GPP2 multi-RAT document contains transmitter and station template folders for each technology modelled, the folders are identified by the technology they belong to. • •

To create a CDMA base station, see "Creating a CDMA Base Station" on page 630 To create an LTE base station, see "Creating LTE Base Stations" on page 853. If you want to add a transmitter to an existing site on the map, you can add the transmitter by right-clicking the site and selecting New Transmitter from the context menu. Because a 3GPP2 multi-RAT document models several technologies, the new transmitter will be created using the technology (CDMA or LTE) of the station template currently selected in the toolbar.

13.2.2 Creating a Group of Base Stations You can create base stations individually as explained in "Creating a Base Station" on page 1015, or you can create one or several base stations by using station templates as explained in "Placing a New Station Using a Station Template" on page 291. However, if you have a large radio-planning project and you already have existing data, you can import this data into your current Atoll document and create a group of base stations.

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When you import data into your current Atoll document, the coordinate system of the imported data must be the same as the display coordinate system used in the document. If you cannot change the coordinate system of your source data, you can temporarily change the display coordinate system of the Atoll document to match the source data. For information on changing the coordinate system, see "Setting a Coordinate System" on page 41. You can import base station data in the following ways: •

Copying and pasting data: If you have data in table form, either in another Atoll document or in a spreadsheet, you can copy this data and paste it into the tables in your current Atoll document. When you create a group of base stations by copying and pasting data, you must copy and paste site data in the Sites table, transmitter data in the Transmitters table, and cell data in the Cells table, in that order. The table you copy data from must have the same column layout as the table you are pasting data into.

For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting a Table Record" on page 83. •

Importing data: If you have data in text or comma-separated value (CSV) format, you can import it into the tables in the current document. If the data is in another Atoll document, you can first export it in text or CSV format and then import it into the tables of your current Atoll document. When you are importing, Atoll allows you to select what values you import into which columns of the table. When you create a group of base stations by importing data, you must import site data in the Sites table, transmitter data in the Transmitters table, and cell data in the Cells table, in that order. For information on exporting table data, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. For information on importing table data, see "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88. You can quickly create a series of base stations for study purposes using the Hexagonal Design tool on the Radio Planning toolbar. For information, see "Placing a New Station Using a Station Template" on page 291.

13.2.3 Modifying Sites and Transmitters Directly on the Map In Atoll, you can access the Properties dialog box of a site or transmitter using the context menu in the Network explorer. However, in a complex radio-planning project, it can be difficult to find the data object in the Network explorer, although it might be visible in the map window. Atoll lets you access the Properties dialog box of sites and transmitters directly from the map. You can also select a site to display all of the transmitters located on it in the Site explorer. When selecting a transmitter, if there is more than one transmitter with the same azimuth, clicking the transmitters in the map window opens a context menu allowing you to select the transmitter. You can also change the position of the station by dragging it, or by letting Atoll find a higher location for it. Modifying sites and transmitters directly on the map is explained in detail in Chapter 1: Working Environment: • • • • •

"Selecting One out of Several Transmitters" on page 57 "Moving a Site Using the Mouse" on page 57 "Moving a Site to a Higher Location" on page 57 "Changing the Azimuth of the Antenna Using the Mouse" on page 57 "Changing the Antenna Position Relative to the Site Using the Mouse" on page 58.

13.2.4 Display Tips for Base Stations Atoll allows to you to display information about base stations in a number of different ways. This enables you not only to display selected information, but also to distinguish base stations at a glance. The following tools can be used to display information about base stations: •

•

1016

Label: You can display information about each object, such as each site or transmitter, in the form of a label that is displayed with the object. You can display information from every field in that object type’s data table, including from fields that you add. The label is always displayed, so you should choose information that you would want to always be visible; too much information will lead to a cluttered display. For information on defining the label, see "Associating a Label to an Object" on page 53. Tip text: You can display information about each object, such as each site or transmitter, in the form of tip text that is only visible when you move the pointer over the object. You can choose to display more information than in the label,

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•

•

because the information is only displayed when you move the pointer over the object. You can display information from any field in that object type’s data table, including from fields that you add. For information on defining the tip text, see "Associating a Tip Text to an Object" on page 54. Transmitter colour: You can set the transmitter colour to display information about the transmitter. For example, you can select "Discrete Values" to distinguish transmitters by antenna type, or to distinguish inactive from active sites. You can also define the display type for transmitters as "Automatic." Atoll then automatically assigns a colour to each transmitter, ensuring that each transmitter has a different colour than the transmitters surrounding it. For information on defining the transmitter colour, see "Setting the Display Type" on page 52. Transmitter symbol: You can select one of several symbols to represent transmitters. For example, you can select a symbol that graphically represents the antenna half-power beamwidth (

). If you have two transmitters on the

same site with the same azimuth, you can differentiate them by selecting different symbols for each ( For information on defining the transmitter symbol, see "Setting the Display Type" on page 52.

and

).

13.2.5 Creating a Repeater A repeater receives, amplifies, and re-transmits the radiated or conducted RF carrier both in downlink and uplink. It has a donor side and a server side. The donor side receives the signal from a donor transmitter, repeater, or remote antenna. This signal can be carried by different types of links such as a radio link or a microwave link. The server side re-transmits the received signal. In a 3GPP2 multi-RAT network, you can define repeaters for CDMA and LTE transmitters. Repeaters are managed in a 3GPP2 multi-RAT network the same way for each technology. In the Network explorer, repeaters are found in the transmitter folder of the technology they belong to. • •

To create a CDMA repeater, see "Creating a Repeater" on page 645 To create a LTE repeater, see "Creating Repeaters" on page 866

13.2.6 Creating a Remote Antenna Atoll allows you to create remote antennas to position antennas at locations that would normally require long runs of feeder cable. A remote antenna is connected to the base station with an optic fibre. Remote antennas allow you to ensure radio coverage in an area without a new base station. In Atoll, the remote antenna should be connected to a base station that does not have any antennas. It is assumed that a remote antenna, as opposed to a repeater, does not have any equipment and generates no amplification gain nor noise. In certain cases, you may want to model a remote antenna with equipment or a remote antenna connected to a base station that has antennas. This can be done by modelling a repeater. For information on creating a repeater, see "Creating a Repeater" on page 1017. In a 3GPP2 multi-RAT network, you can define remote antennas for CDMA and LTE transmitters. Remote antennas are managed in a 3GPP2 multi-RAT network the same way for each technology. In the Network explorer, remote antennas are found in the transmitter folder of the technology they belong to. • •

To create a CDMA remote antenna, see "Creating a Remote Antenna" on page 649 To create a LTE remote antenna, see "Creating Remote Antennas" on page 870

13.2.7 Studying Base Stations You can study one or several base stations to test the effectiveness of the set parameters. Coverage predictions on groups of base stations can take a large amount of time and consume a lot of computer resources. Restricting your coverage prediction to the base station you are currently working on allows you get the results quickly. You can expand your coverage prediction to a number of base stations once you have optimised the settings for each individual base station. Before studying a base station, you must assign a propagation model. The propagation model takes the radio and geographic data into account and calculates propagation losses along the transmitter-receiver path. This allows you to predict the received signal level at any given point. Any coverage prediction you make on a base station uses the propagation model to calculate its results. For more information, see "Preparing Base Stations for Calculations" on page 186. In a 3GPP2 multi-RAT network, studying base stations is similar to studying base stations in a single-RAT network. The only difference is that the folders and tools (such as the Point Analysis) are identified by the technology they belong to. • •

To study CDMA base stations, see "Studying CDMA Base Stations" on page 652 To study LTE base stations, see "Studying LTE Base Stations" on page 874.

Some technology-specific coverage predictions use terminal, mobility type, and service parameters in calculations. For information on these parameters, see "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. This section covers the following topics: •

"3GPP2 Multi-RAT Predictions" on page 1018

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• • • • •

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"Displaying Coverage Prediction Results" on page 1020 "Generating Coverage Prediction Reports and Statistics" on page 1020 "Printing and Exporting Coverage Prediction Results" on page 1023 "Comparing Coverage Predictions" on page 1024 "Multi-point Analyses" on page 1028

13.2.7.1 3GPP2 Multi-RAT Predictions 3GPP2 multi-RAT coverage predictions are calculated using DL and UL load conditions which include: • •

In CDMA: the DL total power and UL load factor (defined at the CDMA cell level) In LTE: the allocated frequency plan, the DL traffic load and UL noise rise (defined at the LTE cell level).

For the purpose of these predictions, each pixel is considered a non-interfering receiver with a defined service, mobility type, and terminal as explained in "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. The following 3GPP2 Multi-RAT coverage predictions are explained in this section: • •

13.2.7.1.1

"Making a 3GPP2 Multi-RAT Effective Service Area Prediction" on page 1018. "Making 3GPP2 Multi-RAT Throughput Predictions" on page 1019.

Making a 3GPP2 Multi-RAT Effective Service Area Prediction The 3GPP2 multi-RAT effective service area is the combination of several single-RAT effective service areas: • •

The CDMA part is based on the CDMA Effective Service Area Analysis (Eb⁄Nt) (DL+UL) analysis, as explained in "Studying the Effective Service Area" on page 660. The LTE part is based on the LTE Effective Service Area Analysis (DL+UL), as explained in "Studying the Effective Service Area" on page 886.

To make a 3GPP2 multi-RAT effective service area prediction: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Predictions folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 4. Under Standard Predictions 3GPP2 Multi-RAT, select Effective Service Area Analysis (DL+UL) and click OK. The 3GPP2 multi-RAT Effective Service Area Analysis (DL+UL) Properties dialog box appears.Click the General tab. 5. Click the General tab. On the General tab, you can change the assigned Name of the coverage prediction, the Resolution, and you can add a Comment. •

•

A read-only Unique ID is generated when you create a new coverage prediction. This ID can later be found between the and tags in the "studies.XML" file created in the installation folder if at least one coverage prediction was saved using the Save as Customised Prediction command. The Group By, Sort, and Filter buttons under Display Configuration are not available when making a multi-RAT coverage prediction.

6. Click the Conditions tab. You must select a Terminal, Service, and Mobility, as defined in "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. If you want the effective service area prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. You can also select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 7. Click the Display tab. Display Type: For a 3GPP2 multi-RAT effective service area prediction, "Discrete Values" is selected as the display type so that each service area is displayed with the colour corresponding to the technology used to access the service. Field: Select "Technologies" to obtain one coverage layer for each technology or "Available Technologies" to obtain one coverage layer for each technology and combinations of available technologies. 8. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later by clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any messages, are displayed in the Events viewer.

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Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

13.2.7.1.2

Making 3GPP2 Multi-RAT Throughput Predictions A 3GPP2 Multi-RAT throughput prediction is the combination of several single-RAT throughput predictions: •

The CDMA part is based on the Service Area Analysis (Eb⁄Nt) (DL) prediction, as explained in "Studying 1xRTT Forward and Reverse Link Service Areas (Eb⁄Nt)" on page 658 and "Studying the Forward Link EV-DO Throughput" on page 659. The 3GPP2 multi-RAT effective RLC and application throughputs are respectively obtained from the effective RLC and application throughputs of the 1xRTT or the 1xEV-DO layer.

•

The LTE part is based on the LTE Coverage by Throughput (DL), as explained in "Making a Coverage Prediction by Throughput" on page 888. The 3GPP2 multi-RAT effective RLC and application throughputs are respectively obtained from the effective RLC channel throughput (DL) and the application channel throughput (DL) coverage predictions.

Four types of throughput can be calculated on each pixel: • • • •

Effective RLC Throughput: The throughput on the RLC layer that a cell can provide to the selected terminal per pixel taking into account possible transmission errors (BLER) for the highest priority technology. Max Effective RLC Throughput: The maximum throughput on the RLC layer that a cell can provide to the selected terminal per pixel taking into account possible transmission errors (BLER), considering all available technologies. Application Throughput: The throughput on the application layer that a cell can provide to the selected terminal per pixel taking into account possible transmission errors (BLER) for the highest priority technology. Max Application Throughput: the maximum throughput on the application layer that a cell can provide to the selected terminal per pixel taking into account possible transmission errors (BLER), considering all available technologies.

To make a 3GPP2 Multi-RAT throughput prediction: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the Predictions folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 4. Under Standard Predictions 3GPP2 Multi-RAT, select Coverage by Throughput (DL) and click OK. The multi-RAT Coverage by Throughput (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 5. Click the General tab. 6. Click the General tab. On the General tab, you can change the assigned Name of the coverage prediction, the Resolution, and you can add a Comment. •

•

A read-only Unique ID is generated when you create a new coverage prediction. This ID can later be found between the and tags in the "studies.XML" file created in the installation folder if at least one coverage prediction was saved using the Save as Customised Prediction command. The Group By, Sort, and Filter buttons under Display Configuration are not available when making a multi-RAT coverage prediction.

7. Click the Conditions tab. You must select a Terminal, Service, and Mobility, as defined in "Service and User Modelling" on page 241. If you want the effective service area prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. You can also select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 8. Click the Display tab. For a 3GPP2 multi-RAT throughput coverage prediction, "Value intervals" is selected as the display type in order to display either the effective RLC, the max effective RLC, the application, or the best application throughputs. For information on adjusting the display, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. If more than one technology serves a pixel, the displayed throughput is the one provided by the highest priority technology as defined in the properties of the selected service. 9. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later by clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any messages, are displayed in the Events viewer.

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Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

13.2.7.2 Displaying Coverage Prediction Results The results are displayed graphically in the map window according to the settings you made on the Display tab when you created the coverage prediction. If several coverage predictions are visible on the map, it can be difficult to clearly see the results of the coverage prediction you wish to analyse. You can select which predictions to display or to hide by selecting or clearing the display check box. For information on managing the display, see "Displaying or Hiding Objects on the Map" on page 50. In this section, the following tools are explained: • •

13.2.7.2.1

"Displaying the Legend Window" on page 1020. "Displaying Coverage Prediction Results Using the Tip Text" on page 1020.

Displaying the Legend Window When you create a coverage prediction, you can add the displayed values of the coverage prediction to a legend by selecting the Add to legend check box on the Display tab. To display the Legend window: •

13.2.7.2.2

Select View > Legend Window. The Legend window is displayed, with the values for each displayed coverage prediction identified by the name of the coverage prediction.

Displaying Coverage Prediction Results Using the Tip Text You can get information by placing the pointer over an area of the coverage prediction to read the information displayed in the tip text. The information displayed is defined by the settings you made on the Display tab when you created the coverage prediction. To get coverage prediction results in the form of tip text: •

In the map window, place the pointer over the area of the coverage prediction that you want more information on. After a brief pause, the tip text appears with the information defined in the Display tab of the coverage prediction properties (see Figure 13.3).

Figure 13.3: Displaying coverage prediction results using tip text

13.2.7.3 Generating Coverage Prediction Reports and Statistics Once you have completed a prediction, you can generate reports and statistics with the tools that Atoll provides. • • •

13.2.7.3.1

"Creating a Focus Zone or Hot Spot for a Coverage Prediction Report" on page 1020. "Generating a Coverage Prediction Report" on page 1021. "Exporting a Coverage Prediction Report" on page 1023.

Creating a Focus Zone or Hot Spot for a Coverage Prediction Report The focus and hot spots define the area on which statistics can be drawn and on which reports are made. While you can only have one focus zone, you can define several hot spots in addition to the focus zone. It is important not to confuse the computation zone and the focus and hot spots. The computation zone defines the area where Atoll calculates path loss matrices, coverage predictions, Monte Carlo simulations, etc., while the focus and hot spots are the areas taken into consideration when generating reports and results. When you create a coverage prediction report, it gives the results for the focus zone and for each of the defined hot spots.

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To define a focus zone or hot spot: 1. In the Geo explorer, expand the Zones folder, right-click the Focus Zone or Hot Spots folder, depending on whether you want to create a focus zone or a hot spot, and select one of the following commands from the context menu: •

Draw Polygon i.

Click once on the map to start drawing the focus zone or hot spot.

ii. Click once on the map to define each point on the map where the border of the focus zone or hot spot changes direction. iii. Click twice to finish drawing and close the focus zone or hot spot. •

Draw Rectangle i.

Click the point on the map that will be one corner of the rectangle that will define the focus zone or hot spot.

ii. Drag to the opposite corner of the rectangle that will define the focus zone or hot spot. When you release the mouse, the focus zone or hot spot will be created from the rectangle defined by the two corners. A focus zone is delimited by a green line; a hot spot is delimited by a heavy black line. If you clear the zone’s visibility check box in the Zones folder of the Geo explorer, it will no longer be displayed but will still be taken into account. You can also create a focus or hot spot as follows: • •

•

•

Vector Editor toolbar: You can use the New Polygon ( ) and New Rectangle ( ) buttons available in the Vector Editor toolbar to draw the computation zone. Existing polygon: You can use any existing polygon on the map as a focus or hot spot by right-clicking it and selecting Use As > Focus Zone or Use As > Hot Spot from the context menu. You can also combine an existing focus zone or hot spot with any existing polygon by right-clicking it on the map or in the explorer window and selecting Add To > Focus Zone or Add To > Hot Spot from the context menu. Importing a polygon: If you have a file with an existing polygon, for example, a polygon describing an administrative area, you can import it and use it as a focus or hot spot. You can import it by right-clicking the Focus Zone or Hot Spots folder in the Geo explorer and selecting Import from the context menu. When you import hot spots, you can import the name given to each zone as well. Fit Zone to Map Window: You can create a focus or hot spot the size of the map window by selecting Fit Zone to Map Window from the context menu. •

You can save the focus zone or hot spots, so that you can use it in a different Atoll document, in the following ways: •

•

13.2.7.3.2

Saving the focus zone in the user configuration: For information on saving the focus zone in the user configuration, see "Saving a User Configuration" on page 104. • Exporting the focus zone or hot spots: You can export the focus zone or hot spots by right-clicking the Focus Zone or the Hot Spots folder in the Geo explorer and selecting Export from the context menu. You can include population statistics in the focus or hot spot by importing a population map. For information on importing maps, see "Importing Raster Format Geo Data Files" on page 120.

Generating a Coverage Prediction Report Atoll can generate a report for any coverage prediction whose display check box is selected ( ). The report displays the covered surface and percentage for each threshold value defined in the Display tab of the coverage prediction’s Properties dialog box. The coverage prediction report is displayed in a table. For information on working with tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. By default, the report table only displays the name and coverage area columns. You can edit the table to select which columns to display or to hide. For information on displaying and hiding columns, see "Displaying and Hiding Columns" on page 80. Atoll bases the report on the area covered by the focus zone and hot spots; if no focus zone is defined, Atoll will use the computation zone. However, by using a focus zone for the report, you can create a report for a specific number of sites, instead of creating a report for every site that has been calculated. The focus zone or hot spot must be defined before you display a report; it is not necessary to define it before calculating coverage. The focus zone or hot spot does not, however, need to be visible; even if it is not displayed, Atoll will take it into account when generating the report. For information on defining a focus zone or hot spot, see "Creating a Focus Zone or Hot Spot for a Coverage Prediction Report" on page 1020. Once you have generated a report, you can export it to a text file or to an Excel spreadsheet. For more information on exporting a coverage prediction report, see "Exporting a Coverage Prediction Report" on page 1023. Atoll can generate a report for a single coverage prediction, or for all the coverage predictions currently displayed on the map.

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To generate a report for a single coverage prediction: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Predictions folder. 3. Right-click the coverage prediction for which you want to generate a report. The context menu appears. 4. Select Generate Report from the context menu. The Columns to Be Displayed dialog box appears. In case a hot spot was imported in your Atoll document, additional fields will appear at the bottom of the Columns to Be Displayed dialog box if the hot spot description contains parameters other than Atoll-specific parameters. 5. Define the format and content of the report: You can select the columns that will be displayed in the report and define the order they are in: a. Select the check box for each column you want to have displayed. b. Define the order of the columns by selecting each column you want to move and clicking to move it down.

to move it up or

You can load a configuration that you have saved previously and apply it to the current report: a. Under Configuration, click the Load button. The Open dialog box appears. b. Select the configuration you want to load and click Open. The loaded report configuration is applied. You can save the current report format in a configuration: a. Under Configuration, click the Save button. The Save As dialog box appears. b. In the Save As dialog box, browse to the folder where you want to save the configuration and enter a File name. 6. When you have finished defining the format and content of the report, click OK in the Columns to Be Displayed dialog box. The coverage prediction report table appears. The report is based on the hot spots and on the focus zone if available or on the hot spots and computation zone if there is no focus zone. To generate a report for all the coverage predictions currently displayed on the map: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Predictions folder. 3. Select the check box in front of each coverage prediction that you want to include in the report. 4. Right-click the Predictions folder. The context menu appears. 5. Select Generate Report from the context menu. The Columns to Be Displayed dialog box appears. In case a hot spot was imported in your Atoll document, additional fields will appear at the bottom of the Columns to Be Displayed dialog box if the hot spot description contains parameters other than Atoll-specific parameters. 6. Define the format and content of the report: You can select the columns that will be displayed in the report and define the order they are in: a. Select the check box for each column you want to have displayed. b. Define the order of the columns by selecting each column you want to move and clicking to move it down.

to move it up or

You can save the current report format in a configuration: a. Under Configuration, click the Save button. The Save As dialog box appears. b. In the Save As dialog box, browse to the folder where you want to save the configuration and enter a File name. You can load a configuration that you have saved previously and apply it to the current report: a. Under Configuration, click the Load button. The Open dialog box appears. b. Select the configuration you want to load and click Open. The loaded report configuration is applied. 7. Once you have defined the format and content of the report, click OK in the Columns to Be Displayed dialog box. The coverage prediction report table appears, showing a report for each displayed prediction in the order they appear in the Predictions folder. The report is based on the focus zone, if any (even if it is not displayed on the map), or on the calculation zone if there is no focus zone.

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By default, the ranges which do not contain any pixels do not appear in the report. By setting an option in the Atoll.ini file, you can include these ranges in the report. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. You can include population statistics in the focus zone or hot spots by importing a population map. For information on importing maps, see "Importing Raster Format Geo Data Files" on page 120. Normally, Atoll takes all geo data into consideration, whether it is displayed or not. However, for the population statistics to be used in a report, the population map has to be displayed. To include population statistics in the focus zone or hot spots: 1. Ensure that the population geo data is visible. For information on displaying geo data, see "Displaying or Hiding Objects on the Map" on page 50. 2. Display the report as explained above. 3. Select Format > Display Columns. The Columns to Be Displayed dialog box appears. 4. Select the following columns, where "Population" is the name of the folder in the Geo explorer containing the population map: • • •

"Population" (Population): The number of inhabitants covered. "Population" (% Population): The percentage of inhabitants covered. "Population" (Population [total]: The total number of inhabitants inside the zone.

Atoll saves the names of the columns you select and will automatically select them the next time you create a coverage prediction report. 5. Click OK. If you have created a custom data map with integrable data, the data can be used in prediction reports. The data will be summed over the coverage area for each item in the report (for example, by transmitter or threshold). The data can be value data (revenue, number of customers, etc.) or density data (revenue/km², number of customer/km², etc.). Data is considered as non-integrable if the data given is per pixel or polygon and cannot be summed over areas, for example, socio-demographic classes, rain zones, etc. For information on integrable data in custom data maps, see "Integrable versus Non-integrable Data" on page 136.

13.2.7.3.3

Exporting a Coverage Prediction Report Once you have generated a coverage prediction report as explained in "Generating a Coverage Prediction Report" on page 1021, you can export it to a text file or to a spreadsheet. To export a coverage prediction report: 1. Right-click the report and select Export from the context menu or click the Export button ( The Save As dialog box appears.

) in the Table toolbar.

2. In the Save As dialog box, enter the File name and select the format from the Save as type list: • • • •

TXT: To save the report as a text file. CSV: To save the report as a comma-separated values file. XLS: To save the report as an Excel spreadsheet. XML Spreadsheet 2003: To save the report as an XML spreadsheet.

3. Click Save to export the coverage prediction report.

13.2.7.4 Printing and Exporting Coverage Prediction Results Once you have made a coverage prediction, you can print the results displayed on the map or save them in an external format. You can also export a selected area of the coverage as a bitmap. •

•

•

Printing coverage prediction results: Atoll offers several options allowing you to customise and optimise the printed coverage prediction results. Atoll supports printing to a variety of paper sizes, including A4 and A0. For more information on printing coverage prediction results, see "Printing a Map" on page 91. Defining a geographic export zone: If you want to export part of the coverage prediction as a bitmap, you can define a geographic export zone. After you have defined a geographic export zone, when you export a coverage prediction as a raster image, Atoll offers you the option of exporting only the area covered by the zone. For more information on defining a geographic export zone, see "Geographic Export Zone" on page 68. Exporting coverage prediction results: In Atoll, you can export the coverage areas of a coverage prediction in raster or vector formats. In raster formats, you can export in BMP, TIF, JPEG 2000, ArcView© grid, or Vertical Mapper (GRD and GRC) formats. When exporting in GRD or GRC formats, Atoll allows you to export files larger than 2 GB. In vector formats, you can export in ArcView©, MapInfo©, or AGD formats. For more information on exporting coverage prediction results, see "Exporting Coverage Prediction Results" on page 210.

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13.2.7.5 Comparing Coverage Predictions Atoll allows you to compare two similar predictions to see the differences between them. This enables you to quickly see how the changes that you make can affect the network. You can display the results of the comparison in one of the following ways: • • •

•

•

Intersection: This display mode shows the area where both coverage predictions overlap (for example, pixels covered by both predictions are displayed in red). Merge: This display mode shows the area that is covered by either of the coverage predictions (for example, pixels covered by at least one of the predictions are displayed in red). Union: This display shows all pixels covered by both coverage predictions in one colour and pixels covered by only one coverage prediction in a different colour (for example, pixels covered by both predictions are red and pixels covered by only one prediction are blue). Difference: This display mode shows all pixels covered by both coverage predictions in one colour, pixels covered by only the first prediction with another colour and pixels covered only by the second prediction with a third colour (for example, pixels covered by both predictions are red, pixels covered only by the first prediction are green, and pixels covered only by the second prediction are blue). Value Difference: This display mode shows the dB difference between any two coverage predictions by signal level. This display option will not be available if the coverage predictions were calculated using different resolutions.

To compare two similar coverage predictions: 1. Create and calculate a coverage prediction of the existing network. 2. Examine the coverage prediction to see where coverage can be improved. 3. Make the changes to the network to improve coverage. 4. Duplicate the original coverage prediction (in order to leave the first coverage prediction unchanged). 5. Calculate the duplicated coverage prediction. 6. Compare the original coverage prediction with the new coverage prediction. Atoll displays differences in coverage between them. This section contains the two following examples to illustrate the comparisons between predictions: • •

"Example 1: Studying the Effect of a New Base Station" on page 1024 "Example 2: Studying the Effect of a Change in Transmitter Tilt" on page 1026.

Example 1: Studying the Effect of a New Base Station If you have an area in a network that is poorly covered by current transmitters, you have several options for increasing coverage. In this example, you can verify if a newly added base station improves coverage. A signal level coverage prediction of the current network is made as described in "Studying Base Stations" on page 1017. The results are displayed in Figure 13.4. An area with poor coverage is visible on the right side of the figure.

Figure 13.4: Signal level coverage prediction of existing network A new base station is added, either by creating the base station and adding the transmitters, as explained in "Creating a Base Station" on page 1015. Once the new site has been added, the original coverage prediction can be recalculated, but then it

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would be impossible to compare the results. Instead, the original signal level coverage prediction can be copied by selecting Duplicate from its context menu. The copy is then calculated to show the effect of the new base station (see Figure 13.5).

Figure 13.5: Signal level coverage prediction of network with new base station Now you can compare the two coverage predictions. To compare two coverage predictions: 1. Right-click one of the two predictions. The context menu appears. 2. From the context menu, select Compare with and, from the menu that opens, select the coverage prediction you want to compare with the first. The Comparison Properties dialog box appears. 3. Click the General tab. You can change the Name of the comparison and add Comments. The General tab contains information about the coverage predictions being compared, including their names and resolutions. 4. Click the Display tab. On the Display tab, you can choose how you want the results of the comparison to be displayed. You can choose among: • • • •

Intersection Merge Union Difference

In order to see what changes adding a new base station made, you should choose Difference. 5. Click OK to create the comparison. The comparison in Figure 13.6, shows clearly the area covered only by the new base station.

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Figure 13.6: Comparison of both signal level coverage predictions Example 2: Studying the Effect of a Change in Transmitter Tilt If you have an area in a network that is poorly covered by current transmitters, you have several options for increasing coverage. In this example, you can see how modifying transmitter tilt can improve coverage. A coverage prediction by transmitter of the current network is made as described in "Studying Base Stations" on page 1017. The results are displayed in Figure 13.7. The coverage prediction shows that one transmitter is covering its area poorly. The area is indicated by a red oval in Figure 13.7.

Figure 13.7: Coverage prediction by transmitter of existing network You can try modifying the tilt on the transmitter to improve the coverage. The properties of the transmitter can be accessed by right-clicking the transmitter in the map window and selecting Properties from the context menu. The mechanical and electrical tilt of the antenna are defined on the Transmitter tab of the Properties dialog box. Once the tilt of the antenna has been modified, the original coverage prediction can be recalculated, but then it would be impossible to compare the results. Instead, the original coverage prediction can be copied by selecting Duplicate from its context menu. The copy is then calculated, to show how modifying the antenna tilt has affected coverage (see Figure 13.8).

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Figure 13.8: Coverage prediction by transmitter of network after modifications As you can see, modifying the antenna tilt increased the coverage of the transmitter. However, to see exactly the change in coverage, you can compare the two predictions. To compare two predictions: 1. Right-click one of the two predictions. The context menu appears. 2. From the context menu, select Compare with and, from the menu that opens, select the prediction you want to compare with the first. The Comparison Properties dialog box appears. 3. Click the General tab. You can change the Name of the comparison and add Comments. The General tab contains information about the coverage predictions being compared, including their names and resolutions. 4. Click the Display tab. On the Display tab, you can choose how you want the results of the comparison to be displayed. You can choose among: • • • •

Intersection Merge Union Difference

In order to see what changes modifying the antenna tilt made, you can choose Union. This will display all pixels covered by both predictions in one colour and all pixels covered by only one prediction in another colour. The increase in coverage, seen in only the second coverage prediction, will be immediately clear. 5. Click OK to create the comparison. The comparison in Figure 13.9, shows clearly the increase in coverage due at the change in antenna tilt.

Figure 13.9: Comparison of both transmitter coverage predictions

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13.2.7.6 Multi-point Analyses In Atoll, you can carry out calculations on lists of points that represent subscriber locations for analysis. These analyses may be useful for verifying network QoS at subscriber locations in case of incidents (call drops, low throughputs, and so on) reported by users. In point analysis, a number of parameters are calculated at each point for all potential servers. For more information, see "Multi-point Analyses" on page 899.

13.2.8 Planning Neighbours You can use Atoll to manually allocate neighbour relations to any cell in a network. You can also use Atoll to automatically allocate neighbour relations to a single cell, to all the cells of a base station, to all the cells in a transmitter group, or to all the cells in a network, based on predefined parameters. In this section, only the concepts that are specific to automatic neighbour allocation in 3GPP2 networks are explained. For more information on neighbour planning, see "Neighbour Planning" on page 223.

13.2.8.1 Coverage Conditions In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, you either select or clear the Use coverage conditions check box: • •

When it is cleared, only the defined Distance will be used to allocate neighbours to a reference transmitter. When it is selected, click Define to open the Coverage Conditions dialog box: CDMA - Intra-technology planning: see "Coverage Conditions" on page 674 - Inter-technology planning: see "Coverage Conditions" on page 719 LTE - Intra-technology planning: see "Coverage Conditions" on page 904 - Inter-technology planning: see "Coverage Conditions" on page 956

13.2.8.2 Calculation Constraints In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, you can select the following calculation constraints: CDMA - Intra-technology planning: see "Calculation Constraints" on page 676 - Inter-technology planning: see "Calculation Constraints" on page 720 LTE - Intra-technology planning: see "Calculation Constraints" on page 905 - Inter-technology planning: see "Calculation Constraints" on page 956

13.2.8.3 Reasons for Allocation In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, the reason for neighbour allocation is indicated under Cause in the Results table. It can be any of the following: CDMA - Intra-technology planning: see "Reasons for Allocation" on page 676 - Inter-technology planning: see "Reasons for Allocation" on page 721 LTE - Intra-technology planning: see "Reasons for Allocation" on page 905 - Inter-technology planning: see "Reasons for Allocation" on page 956

13.2.9 Allocating Resources in a 3GPP2 Multi-RAT Network In 3GPP2 multi-RAT networks, allocating resources CDMA PN offsets and LTE physical cell IDs is an important part of a radio planning project. The resources and procedures are different depending on the radio access technology. The way resources are allocated in a 3GPP2 multi-RAT network is the same than the way they are allocated in a single-RAT network. In a 3GPP2 multi-RAT network, the automatic allocation PN offsets (in CDMA) and physical cell IDs (using the LTE AFP) take inter-technology neighbour constraints into account. For example, different physical cell IDs are assigned to two LTE cells that are neighbours of the same CDMA cell.

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13.2.9.1 Allocating Resources in CDMA Allocating CDMA-specific resources is explained in Chapter 9: CDMA2000 Networks: •

Allocating and planning PN offsets is explained in "Planning PN Offsets" on page 677.

13.2.9.2 Allocating Resources in LTE Allocating LTE-specific resources is explained in Chapter 11: LTE Networks: • •

Allocating and planning frequencies is explained in "Planning Frequencies" on page 909. Allocating and planning physical cell IDs is explained in "Planning Physical Cell IDs" on page 911.

13.3 Optimising Network Parameters Using ACP The ACP (Automatic Cell Planning) module enables radio engineers designing 3GPP2 multi-RAT networks to automatically calculate the optimal network settings in terms of network coverage and quality. ACP can also be used to add sites from a list of candidate sites or to remove unnecessary sites or sectors. ACP can be used in co-planning projects as well as in 3GPP2 multiRAT networks where networks using different radio access technologies must be taken into consideration when calculating the optimal network settings. Before you launch ACP in a 3GPP2 network, make sure you have an ACP license token for each technology used in the document.

ACP is primarily intended to improve existing network deployment by reconfiguring the main parameters that can be remotely controlled by operators: antenna electrical tilt and cell pilot power. ACP can also be used during the initial planning stage of a 3GPP2 multi-RAT network by enabling the selection of the antenna, and its azimuth, height, and mechanical tilt. ACP not only takes transmitters into account in optimisations but also any repeaters and remote antennas. ACP can also be used to measure and optimise the EMF exposure created by the network. This permits the optimisation of power and antenna settings to reduce excessive EMF exposure in existing networks and optimal site selection for new transmitters. ACP uses user-defined objectives to evaluate the optimisation, as well as to calculate its implementation cost. Once you have defined the objectives and the network parameters to be optimised, ACP uses an efficient global search algorithm to test many network configurations and propose the reconfigurations that best meet the objectives. ACP presents the changes ordered from the most to the least beneficial, allowing phased implementation or implementation of just a subset of the suggested changes. ACP is technology-independent and can be used to optimise networks using different radio access technologies. Chapter 17: Automatic Cell Planning explains how you configure the ACP module, how you create and run an optimisation setup, and how you can view the results of an optimisation. In this section, only the concepts specific to 3GPP2 multi-RAT networks are explained: • • •

"3GPP2 Optimisation Objectives" on page 1029 "3GPP2 Quality Parameters" on page 1029 "3GPP2 Quality Analysis Maps" on page 1030

13.3.1 3GPP2 Optimisation Objectives ACP optimises the network using user-defined objectives to evaluate the quality of the network. ACP objectives depend on the technologies available in the network and they are consistent with the corresponding coverage predictions in Atoll. For information on the individual objectives, see: • •

For CDMA2000, "CDMA2000 Optimisation Objectives" on page 698 For LTE, "LTE Optimisation Objectives" on page 937

For information on setting objective parameters, see "Setting Objective Parameters" on page 1329.

13.3.2 3GPP2 Quality Parameters When you create an optimisation setup, you define how ACP evaluates the objectives. The quality parameters are technology dependent. You can base the evaluation of the objectives on a calculated coverage prediction or on manual configuration. If you base the coverage prediction settings on a calculated coverage prediction, ACP will use the ranges and colours defined in the selected coverage prediction as the default for its own maps. However, if you have saved the display options of an ACP map as default, or if you are using a configuration file for ACP, these defined ranges and colours will be used as the default, overriding the settings in the selected coverage prediction. For information on the quality parameters of each technology, see:

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For CDMA2000, see "CDMA2000 Quality Parameters" on page 699 For LTE, see "LTE Quality Parameters" on page 937

13.3.3 3GPP2 Quality Analysis Maps The quality analysis maps enable you to display the quality maps in the Atoll map window. These maps are the same as those displayed on the Quality tab of the optimisation’s Properties dialog box. The quality analysis maps are the equivalent of maps created by different Atoll coverage predictions: The quality analysis maps depend on the radio access technology being modelled. For information on the individual quality analysis, go to the technology-specific chapter: • •

For CDMA2000, see "CDMA2000 Quality Analysis Predictions" on page 700 For LTE, see "LTE Quality Analysis Predictions" on page 939

13.4 Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data An important step in the process of creating a 3GPP2 network is to analyse network performance by using drive test data. This is done using measurements of the strength of the pilot signal and other parameters in different locations within the area covered by the network. This collection of measurements is called a drive test data path. The data contained in a drive test data path is used to verify the accuracy of current network parameters and to optimise the network. Atoll enables you to import the drive test data into any technology in a 3GPP2 multi-RAT network. • •

If you are modelling CDMA2000, see "Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data" on page 701 If you are modelling LTE, see "Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data" on page 942

13.5 Displaying Elements of One Atoll Document in a 3GPP2 Multi-RAT Document In a 3GPP2 multi-RAT document you can work with a combination of different radio access technologies (CDMA2000 and LTE). By planning both radio access technologies in one Atoll document, you can model how each network affects the others in terms of interference, coverage, hand-off, etc. You can also display network elements, geographic data, and calculation results such as simulations and predictions of a different technology network within a 3GPP multi-RAT document in Atoll. The document whose elements you wish to display in the 3GPP multi-RAT document can be of any radio access technology supported by Atoll. To display the sites of a linked document in another document: 1. Open your main Atoll document and the Atoll document you want to link it to: •

Select File > Open or File > New > From an Existing Database. The main and linked documents must have the same geographic coordinate systems.

2. Select the Network explorer in the linked document. 3. Right-click the Sites folder. The context menu appears. 4. Select Make Accessible In from the context menu, and select the name of the main document from the submenu that opens. The Sites folder of the linked document is now available in the main document. The explorer window of the main document now contains a folder named Sites in [linked document], where [linked document] is the name of the linked document. If you want the Sites folder of the linked document to appear in the main document automatically, you can set an option in the Atoll.ini file. For information on setting options in the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual.

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The same process can be used to display in the main document any folder or folder item of the linked document that has a Make Accessible In option available in its context menu. Once folders are linked, you can access their properties and the properties of the items they contain from either documents. Any changes you make in a linked folder are taken into account in both documents. If you close the linked document, Atoll displays a warning icon ( )in the main document’s explorer window, and the linked items are no longer accessible from the main document. You can re-open the linked document in Atoll by right-clicking the linked item in the explorer window of the main document, and selecting Open Linked Document.

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Chapter 14 WiMAX BWA Networks This chapter covers the following topics:

This chapter provides information on using Atoll to design, analyse, and optimise a WiMAX BWA network.

•

"Designing a WiMAX Network" on page 1035

•

"Planning and Optimising WiMAX Base Stations" on page 1036

•

"Configuring Network Parameters Using the AFP" on page 1084

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"Studying WiMAX Network Capacity" on page 1102

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"Optimising Network Parameters Using ACP" on page 1112

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"Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data" on page 1116

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"Co-planning WiMAX Networks with Other Networks" on page 1125

•

"Advanced Configuration" on page 1133

•

"Tips and Tricks" on page 1152

•

"Glossary of WiMAX Terms" on page 1160

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14 WiMAX BWA Networks WiMAX (Wireless Interoperability for Microwave Access) refers to a group of broadband wireless access (BWA) standards that use the SOFDMA (Scalable Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) technology. The WiMAX air interface is described in the IEEE 802.16e standard. 802.16e networks are mobile broadband wireless access networks which use SOFDMA, support handovers, and user speeds of up to 100 km/hr. Atoll enables you to design IEEE 802.16e broadband wireless access networks. Atoll can predict radio coverage, manage mobile and fixed subscriber data, and evaluate network capacity. Atoll WiMAX also supports smart antennas and MIMO. Atoll enables you to model fixed and mobile users in WiMAX environments. You can carry out calculations on fixed subscriber locations as well as base your calculations on mobile user scenarios during Monte Carlo simulations. You can also perform interference predictions, resource allocation, and other calculations on mobile users. Atoll generates realistic network simulations (snapshots) using a Monte Carlo statistical engine for scheduling and resource allocation. Realistic user distributions can be generated using different types of traffic maps. Atoll uses these user distributions as input for the simulations. You can create coverage predictions to analyse the following and other parameters for WiMAX channels in downlink and in uplink: • • •

Signal levels The carrier-to-interference-and-noise ratio Service areas and radio bearer coverage

Coverage predictions that depend on the network traffic loads can be created from either Monte Carlo simulation results or from a user-defined network load configuration (uplink and downlink traffic loads, and uplink noise rise). GSM GPRS EDGE, CDMA2000, UMTS HSPA, TD-SCDMA, and LTE networks can be planned in the same Atoll session. Before working with the Atoll WiMAX module for the first time, it is highly recommended to go through the "Glossary of WiMAX Terms" on page 1160. This will help you get accustomed to the terminology used in Atoll.

14.1 Designing a WiMAX Network The following diagram depicts the process of creating and planning a WiMAX network. The steps involved in planning a WiMAX network are described below (see Figure 14.1). 1. Open an existing radio-planning document or create a radio-planning document. • •

You can open an existing Atoll document by selecting File > Open. You can create an Atoll document as explained in Chapter 1: Working Environment.

2. Configure the network by adding network elements and changing parameters. You can add and modify the following elements of base stations: • • •

"Creating a Site" on page 1042 "Creating or Modifying a Transmitter" on page 1043 "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 1044

You can also add base stations using a station template (see "Placing a New Base Station Using a Station Template" on page 1044). 3. Carry out basic coverage predictions. See "Signal Level Coverage Predictions" on page 1059. 4. Allocate neighbours. See "Planning Neighbours" on page 1083. 5. Allocate frequencies. See "Planning Frequencies" on page 1087. 6. Allocate preamble indexes. See "Planning Preamble Indexes" on page 1089. 7. Before making more advanced coverage predictions, you need to define cell load conditions in one of the following ways: • •

You can generate realistic cell load conditions by creating a simulation based on traffic maps (see "Studying WiMAX Network Capacity" on page 1102). You can define cell load conditions manually either on the Cells tab of each transmitter Properties dialog box or in the Cells table (see "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 1044).

8. Make WiMAX-specific signal quality coverage predictions using the defined cell load conditions. See "WiMAX Coverage Predictions" on page 1062.

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9. If necessary, modify network parameters to study the network with a different frequency plan. After modifying the network frequency plan, you must perform steps 7 and 8 again. 1

2

3

4

5

6

7a

7d

7c 7b

7

8

9

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Figure 14.1: Planning a WiMAX network - workflow

14.2 Planning and Optimising WiMAX Base Stations As described in Chapter 1: Working Environment, you can create an Atoll document from a template, with no base stations, or from a database containing an existing set of base stations. As you work on your Atoll document, you will still need to create base stations and modify existing ones. In Atoll, a site is defined as a geographical point where transmitters are located. Once you have created a site, you can add transmitters. In Atoll, a transmitter is defined as the antenna and any other additional equipment, such as the TMA, feeder cables, and so on. In a WiMAX project, you must also add cells to each transmitter. A cell refers to the characteristics of an RF channel on a transmitter. Atoll lets you create one site, transmitter, or cell at a time, or create several at once using station templates. In Atoll, a base station refers to a site and a transmitter with its antennas, equipment, and cells. In Atoll, you can study a single base station or a group of base stations using coverage predictions. Atoll allows you to make a variety of coverage predictions, such as signal level or signal quality coverage predictions. The results of calculated coverage predictions can be displayed on the map, compared, and studied. Atoll enables you to model network traffic by creating services, users, user profiles, traffic environments, and terminals. This data can be then used to make coverage predictions that depend on network load, such as C/(I+N), service area, radio bearer, and throughput coverage predictions. This section covers the following topics: • • • • •

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• • • • •

"Creating Multi-band WiMAX Networks" on page 1050 "Creating Repeaters" on page 1051 "Creating a Remote Antenna" on page 1055 "Studying Base Stations" on page 1058 "Planning Neighbours" on page 1083

14.2.1 Definition of a WiMAX Base Station A base station consists of the site, one or more transmitters, various pieces of equipment, and radio settings such as, for example, cells. You will usually create a base station using a station template, as described in "Placing a New Base Station Using a Station Template" on page 1044. This section describes the following elements of a base station and their parameters: • • •

"Site Properties" on page 1037 "Transmitter Properties" on page 1037 "Cell Properties" on page 1039

14.2.1.1 Site Properties The parameters of a site can be found in the site Properties dialog box. The Properties dialog box consists of the following tabs: General Tab • •

Name: A default name is proposed for each new site. You can modify the default name here. If you want to change the default name that Atoll gives to new sites, see the Administrator Manual. Position: By default, Atoll places the new site at the centre of the map window. You can modify the location of the site . While this method allows you to place a site with precision, you can also place sites using the mouse and then position them precisely with this dialog box afterwards. For information on placing sites using the mouse, see "Moving a Site Using the Mouse" on page 57.

• •

Altitude: The altitude, as defined by the DTM for the location specified under Position, is given here. You can specify the actual altitude under Real, if you want. If an altitude is specified here, Atoll will use this value for calculations. Comments: You can enter comments in this field if you want.

Backhaul Tab •

Backhaul throughputs: You can specify the maximum backhaul throughputs supported in downlink and uplink by the site. Enter the capacity of the backhaul links between sites and serving gateways. The maximum backhaul throughputs that you enter here are taken into account as backhaul constraints in Monte Carlo simulations.

14.2.1.2 Transmitter Properties The parameters of a transmitter can be found in the transmitter Properties dialog box. When you create a transmitter, the Properties dialog box has two tabs: the General tab and the Transmitter tab. Once you have created a transmitter, its Properties dialog box has three additional tabs: the Cells tab (see "Cell Properties" on page 1039), the Propagation tab (see "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187), and the Display tab (see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51). General Tab •

Name: By default, the transmitter is named after the site it is on, suffixed with an underscore and a number. You can enter a name for the transmitter. However, it is better to use the name assigned by Atoll to ensure consistency. To change the way Atoll names transmitters, see the Administrator Manual.

•

•

Site: You can select the Site on which the transmitter will be located. Once you have selected the site, you can click the Browse button to access the properties of the site. For information on the site Properties dialog box, see "Site Properties" on page 1037. You can click the New button to create a site for the transmitter. Shared antenna: This field identifies the transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas located at the same site or on sites with the same position and that share the same antenna. The entry in the field must be the same for all transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas sharing the same antenna. When changes are made to the position offset (Dx, Dy), azimuth, antenna height, or mechanical tilt of one antenna, Atoll automatically synchronises the same

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changes to all other transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas defined as having a shared antenna. This field is also used for dual-band transmitters to synchronise antenna parameters for different frequency bands. Under Antenna position, you can modify the position of the antennas (main and secondary): • •

Relative to site: Select Relative to site to enter the antenna positions as offsets from the site location, and enter the x-axis and y-axis offsets, Dx and Dy, respectively. Coordinates: Select this option if you want to enter the coordinates of the antenna, and then enter the x-axis and y-axis coordinates of the antenna, X and Y, respectively.

Transmitter Tab •

Active: If this transmitter is to be active, you must select the Active check box. Active transmitters are displayed with a specific icon in the Transmitters folder of the Network explorer. Only active transmitters are taken into consideration during calculations.

•

Transmitter type: Specify whether the transmitter is to be considered as a server. This enables you to model the coexistence of different networks in the same geographic area. • •

If the transmitter is to be considered as a potential server as well as an interferer, set the transmitter type to Intranetwork (Server and interferer). If the transmitter is to be considered only as an interferer, set the type to Inter-network (Interferer only). Interferer-only transmitters are ignored by coverage calculations and do not serve any mobile in Monte Carlo simulations.

For more information on how to study interference between co-existing networks, see "Modelling the Co-existence of Networks" on page 1160. •

Transmission/Reception: This area displays the total losses and the noise figure of the transmitter. Losses and noise are calculated according to the characteristics of the equipment assigned to the transmitter. Equipment can be assigned using the Equipment Specifications dialog box by clicking the Equipment button. For more information about assigning equipment to a transmitter, see "Assigning Equipment to a Transmitter" on page 1043. Any loss related to the noise due to a transmitter repeater is included in the calculated losses. Atoll always considers the values in the Real boxes in coverage predictions even if they are different from the values in the Calculated boxes. The information in the real Noise figure box is calculated from the information you entered in the Equipment Specifications dialog box. You can modify the real Total losses at transmission and reception and the real Noise figure at reception. Any value you enter must be positive.

•

Antennas: •

•

•

Height/ground: The Height/ground box gives the height of the antenna above the ground. This is added to the altitude of the site given by the DTM. If the transmitter is situated on a building, the height entered must include the height of building. AAS power combining gain: The AAS power combining gain is calculated automatically depending on the number of antenna elements of the smart antenna equipment, if any, assigned to the transmitter. This gain is applied to the downlink transmission power for preamble and other signals transmitted using the main antenna. Main antenna: Under Main antenna, the type of antenna is visible in the Model list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the antenna. Click the Select button to open the Antenna Selection Assistant. This assistant lists all the antennas that match the currently selected physical antenna and whose minimum and maximum operating frequencies include the operating frequency of the transmitter. For more information, see "Assigning Antennas to Transmitters" on page 159

•

Mechanical Azimuth, Mechanical Downtilt, Electrical Azimuth, Electrical Downtilt, and Additional electrical downtilt display additional antenna parameters. • • •

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The Additional electrical downtilt can be made accessible through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide. The mechanical and additional electrical downtilts defined for the main antenna are also used for the calculations of smart antennas.

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•

•

•

Smart antenna: Under Smart antenna, the smart antenna equipment is available in the Equipment list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the smart antenna equipment. When you select a smart antenna equipment, you can choose whether to keep the current main antenna model or to replace it with the main antenna model defined for the selected smart antenna equipment, if any. For more information on smart antenna equipment, see "Defining Smart Antenna Equipment" on page 1147. Number of MIMO antennas: Enter the number of antennas used for MIMO in the Transmission and Reception fields. For more information on how the number of MIMO antennas are used, see "Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) Systems" on page 1148. Secondary antennas: Select one or more secondary antennas in the Antenna column and enter their Azimuth, Mechanical downtilt, Additional electrical downtilt, and % Power, which is the percentage of power reserved for this particular antenna. For example, for a transmitter with one secondary antenna, if you reserve 40 % of the total power for the secondary antenna, 60 % is available for the main antenna. • • •

•

•

The Additional electrical downtilt can be made accessible through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75.

The transmission power is divided among the main and secondary antennas. This is not compatible with smart antennas. You must not assign smart antennas to transmitters with secondary antennas, and vice versa. In calculations, repeaters and remote antennas are transparent to the donor transmitters and the served users. For example, beamforming smart antennas at donor transmitters create beams directly towards the served users, and not towards the repeater or remote antenna that covers the users. This results in a combined signal level received from the transmitter using the smart antenna and from the repeater or remote antenna. If this approach does not match how your equipment works, you must not assign smart antennas to transmitters with repeaters and remote antennas, and vice versa. This is also true for MIMO.

The main antenna is used to transmit the preamble. Coverage predictions based on the preamble signal are performed using the main antenna. The main antenna is also used for traffic signals if there is no smart antenna equipment selected for the transmitter, or if the permutation zones do not support AAS. If a smart antenna equipment is assigned to the transmitter and the permutation zones support AAS, traffic data is transmitted and received using the smart antenna, whereas the preamble is transmitted using the main antenna. Cells Tab When you create a transmitter, Atoll automatically creates a cell for the transmitter using the properties of the currently selected station template. The Cells tab enables you to configure the properties for every cell of a transmitter. For more information on the properties of a cell, see "Cell Properties" on page 1039. Propagation Tab Transmitters are taken into account during calculations. Therefore, you must set the propagation parameters. On the Propagation tab, you can modify the Propagation model, Radius, and Resolution for both the Main matrix and the Extended matrix. For information on propagation models, see "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187. Display Tab On the Display tab, you can modify how a transmitter will be displayed. For information on changing display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51.

14.2.1.3 Cell Properties In Atoll, a cell is defined as an RF channel, with all its characteristics, on a transmitter; the cell is the mechanism by which you can configure a multi-carrier WiMAX network. This section explains the parameters of a WiMAX cell. The properties of a WiMAX cell are found on Cells tab of the Properties dialog box of the transmitter to which it belongs.

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You can also display the properties of a cell by double-clicking the cell in the Site explorer.

The Cells tab has the following options: •

• •

Name: By default, Atoll names the cell after its transmitter, adding a suffix in parentheses. If you change transmitter name, Atoll does not update the cell name. You can enter a name for the cell, but for the sake of consistency, it is better to let Atoll assign a name. If you want to change the way Atoll names cells, see the Administrator Manual. Active: If this cell is to be active, you must select the Active check box. Order: The display order of a cell within the transmitter. This value is used to determine the order in which information related to a cell will be displayed in the Network explorer and on the map. This field is automatically filled by Atoll but you can change these default values to display cells in a user-defined order. The consistency between values stored in this field is verified by Atoll. However, inconsistencies may arise when tools other than Atoll modify the database. You can check for inconsistencies in the cell display order and fix them by selecting Data Audit > Cell Display Order Check in the Document menu.

•

• • •

Layer: The coverage layer to which the cell belongs. This information is used to determine the serving cell. For more information on defining layers, see "Defining Network Deployment Layers" on page 1137. For more information on the different cell selection methods, see "Network Settings" on page 1134. BSID: The base station ID. Frequency band: The cell frequency band from the frequency band list. Channel number: The number of the channel from the list of available channels. For calculating path loss matrices of a multi-cell transmitter, Atoll uses the downlink start frequency of the frequency band assigned to the cell with the highest priority layer.

•

Channel allocation status: The status of the channel allocated to the cell: • • •

Not allocated: The AFP considers a Not allocated channel modifiable without cost. Allocated: The AFP considers an Allocated channel modifiable but only if absolutely necessary. Locked: The AFP considers a Locked channel not modifiable.

For more information on the AFP, see "Configuring Network Parameters Using the AFP" on page 1084. • •

• •

• •

• •

Preamble index domain: The preamble index domain to which the allocated preamble index belongs. This and the reuse distance are used by the AFP for preamble index allocation. Preamble index: The preamble index of the cell. It is an integer value from 0 to 113. The preamble indices are defined in the IEEE 802.16 specifications. They provide the segment number and cell permbase (IDCell for the first permutation zone of the frame). Cell PermBase: The cell permbase corresponding to the current preamble index. This value is determined automatically from the preamble index. Preamble index status: The status of the preamble index currently assigned to the cell: • Not allocated: The AFP considers a Not allocated preamble index modifiable without cost. • Allocated: The AFP considers an Allocated preamble index modifiable but only if absolutely necessary. • Locked: The AFP considers a Locked preamble index not modifiable. Segment: The segment number corresponding to the current preamble index. This value is determined automatically from the preamble index. Segment locked: Whether the segment number corresponding to the current preamble index is locked or not. If the segment is not locked, the AFP might change the cell’s preamble index depending on the preamble index status. If the segment is locked, the AFP can only change the cell’s preamble index such that the cell’s segment number does not change. DL Zone PermBase: The zone permbase for a downlink permutation zone. It is an integer value from 0 to 31. DL Zone PermBase status: The status of the downlink permutation zone permbase currently assigned to the cell: • •

• •

Not allocated: The AFP considers a Not allocated downlink permutation zone permbase modifiable without cost. Allocated: The AFP considers an Allocated downlink permutation zone permbase modifiable but only if absolutely necessary. • Locked: The AFP considers a Locked downlink permutation zone permbase not modifiable. UL Zone PermBase: The zone permbase for an uplink permutation zone. It is an integer value from 0 to 69. UL Zone PermBase status: The status of the uplink permutation zone permbase currently assigned to the cell: •

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• • •

• •

Allocated: The AFP considers an Allocated uplink permutation zone permbase modifiable but only if absolutely necessary. • Locked: The AFP considers a Locked uplink permutation zone permbase not modifiable. Reuse distance: The reuse distance after which the channel, preamble index, downlink, or uplink permbases assigned to this cell can be assigned to another cell by the AFP. Preamble power (dBm): The cell’s transmission power over the preamble of the frame. Traffic power reduction (dB): The power reduction to be subtracted from the power defined in the Preamble power (dBm) field to determine the transmission power of the traffic subcarriers during the loaded part of the frame. Traffic subcarriers are off during the empty part of the frame. Pilot power reduction (dB): The power reduction to be subtracted from the power defined in the Preamble power (dBm) field to determine the transmission power of the pilot subcarriers during the loaded part of the frame. Idle pilot power reduction (dB): The power reduction to be subtracted from the power defined in the Preamble power (dBm) field to determine the transmission power of the pilot subcarriers during the empty part of the frame. If the cell’s transmitter has a smart antenna equipment assigned, the transmission powers of cell increase by 10  Log  n  (in dB), where n is the number of antenna elements of the smart antenna. This gain in the transmission power is referred to as the AAS power combining gain.

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•

•

Preamble C/N threshold (dB): The minimum preamble C/N required for a user to be connected to the cell. The preamble C/N is compared with this threshold to determine whether or not a user can be connected to a cell. Frame configuration: The frame configuration used by the cell. For more information on frame configurations, see "Defining Frame Configurations" on page 1138. DL:UL ratio: The number of symbol durations available in the downlink and uplink subframes for the cell. This field is not stored in the Cells table. It is automatically calculated and its value depends on the cell’s channel bandwidth, sampling factor, and cyclic prefix as well as global network settings including the DL:UL ratio and frame duration. Reception equipment: You can select the cell reception equipment from the reception equipment list. For more information, see "Defining WiMAX Reception Equipment" on page 1140. Scheduler: The scheduler used by the cell for resource allocation during Monte Carlo simulations. You can select the scheduler from the list of schedulers available in the Schedulers table. For more information see "Defining WiMAX Schedulers" on page 1143. Traffic load (DL) (%): The downlink traffic load percentage. This can be user-defined or an output of Monte Carlo simulations. Traffic load (UL) (%): The uplink traffic load percentage. This can be user-defined or an output of Monte Carlo simulations. UL noise rise (dB): The uplink noise rise in dB. This can be user-defined or an output of Monte Carlo simulations. This is the global value of uplink noise rise including the inter-technology uplink noise rise. Max traffic load (DL) (%): The downlink traffic load not to be exceeded. This limit can be taken into account during Monte Carlo simulations. If the cell traffic load is limited by this value, the cell will not be allowed to have a downlink traffic load greater than this maximum. Max traffic load (UL) (%): The uplink traffic load not to be exceeded. This limit can be taken into account during Monte Carlo simulations. If the cell traffic load is limited by this value, the cell will not be allowed to have an uplink traffic load greater than this maximum. Segmentation usage (DL) (%): You can set the percentage of the total downlink traffic load that corresponds to the segmented part of the frame. For example, if the downlink traffic load is 80%, and you set the segmentation usage to 50%, it means that 40% downlink traffic load is on the segmented part of the frame while the other 40% is on the nonsegmented part. You can set the value of segmentation usage manually or store a calculated value from simulation results. To see examples of how to set up cells with and without segmentation, and how to set up cells with PUSC, FUSC, and permutation zones of other subchannel allocation modes, see "Tips and Tricks" on page 1152.

•

•

•

•

•

Segmentation switching point (DL): The number of downlink OFDM symbol durations that correspond to the average length of the segmented permutation zone. This column is automatically calculated from Segmentation usage (DL) (%). Segmented zone UL noise rise (dB): The uplink noise rise in dB for the segmented permutation zone, if any. Zone 8 (PUSC UL) can be segmented in the frame configuration properties. This can be user-defined or an output of Monte Carlo simulations. Additional UL noise rise: This noise rise represents the interference created by the mobiles and base stations of an external network on this cell on the uplink. This noise rise will be taken into account in all uplink interference-based calculations involving this cell in Monte Carlo simulations. It is not used in predictions where Atoll calculates the uplink total interference from the uplink noise rise which includes inter-technology uplink interference. For more information on inter-technology interference, see "Modelling Inter-technology Interference" on page 1150. Additional DL noise rise: This noise rise represents the interference created by the mobiles of an external network on the mobiles served by this cell on the downlink. This noise rise will be taken into account in all downlink interferencebased calculations involving this cell. For more information on inter-technology interference, see "Modelling Intertechnology Interference" on page 1150. AMS & MU-MIMO threshold (dB): For AMS, the preamble C/N or C/(I+N) threshold, according to the option set in the Advanced parameters ("Network Settings" on page 1134), for switching from SU-MIMO to STTD/MRC as the preamble signal conditions get worse than the given value. For MU-MIMO, it is the minimum required preamble CNR for

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•

•

•

• • • • • •

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using MU-MIMO. For more information on Adaptive MIMO switching, see "Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) Systems" on page 1148. MU-MIMO capacity gain (UL): The uplink capacity gain due to multi-user (collaborative) MIMO. This can be userdefined or an output of Monte Carlo simulations. In uplink throughput coverage predictions, the cell capacity will be multiplied by this gain on pixels where MU-MIMO is used. AAS usage (DL) (%): This is the percentage of the total downlink traffic load that corresponds to the traffic loads of the users supported by the smart antenna equipment. For example, if the downlink traffic load is 80%, and you set the AAS usage to 50%, it means that 40% downlink traffic load is supported by the smart antenna equipment while the other 40% is supported by the main antenna. AAS usage is calculated during Monte Carlo simulations, and cannot be modified manually because the AAS usage values correspond to the angular distributions of interference. Angular distributions of interference (AAS): This field stores the simulation results generated for transmitters using a smart antenna. During Monte Carlo simulations, both smart antenna models available in Atoll, conventional beamformer and optimum beamformer, perform beamforming in downlink. In uplink, the conventional beamformer performs beamforming only whereas the optimum beamformer uses the MMSE (Minimum Mean Square Error) algorithm to cancel interference. After the simulations, the smart antenna results can be stored in the cell properties. The results stored in this field are the angular distributions of the downlink traffic power spectral density and the uplink noise rise. You can view these patterns in the Cells table. You can display the downlink results diagram taking into account the effect of the antenna pattern of the single element. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. Number of users (DL): The number of users connected to the cell in the downlink. This can be user-defined or an output of Monte Carlo simulations. Number of users (UL): The number of users connected to the cell in the uplink. This can be user-defined or an output of Monte Carlo simulations. Max number of users: The maximum number of simultaneous users supported by the cell. Max number of intra-technology neighbours: The maximum number of WiMAX neighbours that the cell can have. Max number of inter-technology neighbours: The maximum number of other technology neighbours that the cell can have. Neighbours: You can access a dialog box in which you can set both intra-technology and inter-technology neighbours by clicking the Browse button. For information on defining neighbours, see "Neighbour Planning" on page 223. The Browse button might not be visible in the Neighbours box if this is a new cell. You can make the Browse button appear by clicking Apply.

14.2.2 Creating WiMAX Base Stations When you create a site, you create only the geographical point; you must add the transmitters and cells afterwards. The site with a transmitter and its antennas, equipment, and cells is called a base station. In this section, each element of a base station is described. If you want to add a new base station, see "Placing a New Base Station Using a Station Template" on page 1044. If you need to create a large number of base stations, Atoll allows you to import them from another Atoll document or from an external source. For information, see "Creating a Group of Base Stations" on page 1049. This section explains the various parts of the base station creation process: • • • • • • • • •

"Creating a Site" on page 1042 "Modifying a Site" on page 1043 "Creating or Modifying a Transmitter" on page 1043 "Assigning Equipment to a Transmitter" on page 1043 "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 1044 "Placing a New Base Station Using a Station Template" on page 1044 "Managing Station Templates" on page 1045 "Duplicating an Existing Base Station" on page 1047 "Studying the Profile Around a Base Station" on page 1048

14.2.2.1 Creating a Site You can create a site. To create a site: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Sites folder and select Add Sites from the context menu. The mouse cursor changes and the coordinates of the mouse cursor are displayed in the status bar. 2. Click the map at the location where you want to place the new site. A site is created with default values at the corresponding location.

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Alternatively, you can create a site by right-clicking the Sites folder, selecting New from the context menu, and entering coordinates and properties as described in "Site Properties" on page 1037.

14.2.2.2 Modifying a Site Once you have created a site, you can modify the properties of the site through the site Properties dialog box as described in "Site Properties" on page 1037. To modify the properties of an existing site: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Sites folder and right-click the site, or right-click the site on the map. The context menu appears. 2. Select Properties from the context menu. The site Properties dialog box appears. 3. Modify the parameters described in "Site Properties" on page 1037. 4. Click OK. If you are creating several sites at the same time, or modifying several existing sites, you can do it quickly by editing or pasting the data directly in the Sites table. You can open the Sites table by right-clicking the Sites folder in the Network explorer and selecting Open Table from the context menu. For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83.

14.2.2.3 Creating or Modifying a Transmitter You can modify an existing transmitter or you can create a transmitter. When you create a transmitter, its initial settings are based on the default station template displayed in the Radio Planning toolbar. You can access the properties of a transmitter, described in "Transmitter Properties" on page 1037, through the transmitter Properties dialog box. How you access the Properties dialog box depends on whether you are creating a transmitter or modifying an existing transmitter. To create or modify a transmitter: 1. In the Network explorer, perform one of the following actions: • •

To create a transmitter, right-click the Transmitters folder, and select New from the context menu. To modify an existing transmitter, expand the Transmitters folder, right-click the transmitter that you want to modify, and select Properties from the context menu.

The Transmitters: New Record Properties dialog box appears. 2. Modify the parameters described in "Transmitter Properties" on page 1037. 3. Click OK. When you create a transmitter, Atoll automatically creates a cell based on the default station template. For information on creating a cell, see "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 1044. •

•

If you are creating several transmitters at the same time, or modifying several existing transmitters, you can do it more quickly by editing or pasting the data directly in the Transmitters table. You can open the Transmitters table by rightclicking the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer and selecting Open Table from the context menu. For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83. If you want to add a transmitter to an existing site on the map, you can add the transmitter by right-clicking the site and selecting New Transmitter from the context menu.

14.2.2.4 Assigning Equipment to a Transmitter You can use the Equipment Specifications dialog box to assign a tower-mounted amplifier (TMA), feeders, and equipment to a transmitter. The gains and losses that you define are used to initialise total transmitter losses in the uplink and downlink. To assign equipment to a transmitter: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Transmitters folder, right-click the transmitter that you want to modify, and select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter Properties dialog box opens. 2. On the Transmitter tab, click the Equipment button. The Equipment Specifications dialog box opens.

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3. Specify the following settings for the transmitter: • • •

• •

TMA: Select a tower-mounted amplifier (TMA) from the list. Click the Browse button to access the properties of the TMA. For information on creating a TMA, see "Defining TMA Equipment" on page 161. Feeder: Select a feeder cable from the list. Click the Browse button to access the properties of the feeder. For information on creating a feeder cable, see "Defining Feeder Cables" on page 161. Transmitter: Select a transmitter equipment from the Transmitter list. Click the Browse button to access the properties of the transmitter equipment. For information on creating transmitter equipment, see "Defining Transmitter Equipment" on page 162. Feeder length: Enter the feeder length at transmission and reception. Miscellaneous losses: Enter any additional losses at transmission and reception. The value must be positive.

14.2.2.5 Creating or Modifying a Cell You can modify an existing cell or you can create a cell. You can access the properties of a cell, described in "Cell Properties" on page 1039, through the Properties dialog box of the transmitter where the cell is located. How you access the Properties dialog box depends on whether you are creating a cell or modifying an existing cell. To create or modify a cell: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Transmitters folder, right-click the transmitter on which you want to create a cell or whose cell you want to modify, and select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter Properties dialog box appears. 2. Select the Cells tab. 3. Modify the parameters described in "Cell Properties" on page 1039. 4. Click OK. •

•

If you are creating or modifying several cells at the same time, you can do it more quickly by editing the data directly in the Cells table. You can open the Cells table by right-clicking the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer and selecting Cells > Open Table from the context menu. You can either edit the data in the table, paste data into the table (see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83), or import data into the table (see "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88). If you want to add a cell to an existing transmitter on the map, you can add the cell by right-clicking the transmitter and selecting New Cell from the context menu.

14.2.2.6 Placing a New Base Station Using a Station Template In Atoll, a base station is defined as a site with one or more transmitters sharing the same properties. With Atoll, you can create a network by placing base stations based on station templates. This allows you to build your network quickly with consistent parameters, instead of building the network by first creating the site, then the transmitters, and finally by adding the cells. To place a new base station using a station template: 1. In the Radio Planning toolbar, select a template from the list. 2. Click the New Transmitter or Station button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar.

3. In the map window, move the pointer over the map to where you would like to place the new station. The exact coordinates of the pointer’s current location are visible in the Status bar. 4. Click to place the base station. •

•

To place the base station more accurately, you can zoom in on the map before you click the New Station button. For information on using the zooming tools, see "Changing the Map Scale" on page 60. If you let the pointer rest over the base station you have placed, Atoll displays its tip text with its exact coordinates, allowing you to verify that the location is correct.

14.2.2.7 Placing a Base Station on an Existing Site When you place a new base station using a station template as explained in "Placing a New Base Station Using a Station Template" on page 1044, the site is created at the same time as the base station. However, you can also place a new base station on an existing site.

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To place a base station on an existing site: 1. In the Radio Planning toolbar, select a template from the list. 2. Click the New Transmitter or Station button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar.

3. Move the pointer to the site on the map. When the frame appears around the site, indicating it is selected, click to place the base station.

14.2.2.8 Managing Station Templates Atoll comes with WiMAX station templates, but you can also create and modify station templates. The tools for working with station templates can be found on the Radio Planning toolbar (see Figure 14.2).

Figure 14.2: The Radio Planning toolbar This section covers the following topics: • • • • • •

14.2.2.8.1

"Station Template Properties" on page 1045 "Creating a Station Template" on page 1046 "Modifying a Station Template" on page 1046 "Copying Properties from One Station Template to Another" on page 1047 "Modifying a Field in a Station Template" on page 1047 "Deleting a Station Template" on page 1047

Station Template Properties The station template Properties dialog box contains the settings for templates that are used for creating sites and transmitters. It consists of the following tabs: General Tab •

•

The Name of the station template, the number of Sectors, each with a transmitter, the Hexagon radius, which is the theoretical radius of the hexagonal area covered by each sector, and the Transmitter type, which defines whether the transmitter belongs to the current network or to another network. Under Antennas, you can modify the following: •

•

1st sector mechanical azimuth, from which the azimuth of the other sectors are offset to offer complete coverage of the area, the Height/ground of the antennas from the ground (which is the height over the DTM; if the transmitter is situated on a building, the height entered must include the height of the building), and the Mechanical downtilt for the antennas. Electrical Azimuth, Electrical Downtilt, and Additional electrical downtilt display additional antenna parameters. • •

The Additional electrical downtilt can be made accessible through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide.

• • • •

•

Under Main antenna, you can select the main antenna Model. Under Smart antenna, you can select the smart antenna Equipment used by the transmitter. Under Number of MIMO Antennas, you can enter the number of antennas used for Transmission and for Reception for MIMO. Under Path loss matrices, you can modify the following: the Main propagation model, the Main radius, and the Main resolution, and the Extended propagation model, the Extended radius, and the Extended resolution. For information on propagation models, see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models. Under Comments, you can add additional information. The information you enter will be the default information in the Comments field of any transmitter created using this station template.

Transmitter Tab • •

Active: Select this option to specify whether the transmitter is active. Only active transmitters are taken into consideration during calculations. Transmission/Reception: This area displays the total losses and the noise figure of the transmitter. Losses and noise are calculated according to the characteristics of the equipment assigned to the transmitter. You can click the Equipment button to modify the tower-mounted amplifier (TMA), feeder cables, or transmitter equipment. For more information, see "Assigning Equipment to a Transmitter" on page 1043.

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Any loss related to the noise due to a transmitter repeater is included in the calculated losses. Atoll always considers the values in the Real boxes in coverage predictions even if they are different from the values in the Computed boxes. The information in the real Noise figure box is calculated from the information you entered in the Equipment Specifications dialog box. You can modify the real Total losses at transmission and reception and the real Noise figure at reception. Any value you enter must be positive. Cell Tab • •

Powers: Modify the Preamble power and the power reductions for the data and pilot subcarriers in Traffic power reduction, Pilot power reduction, and Idle pilot power reduction. Cell definition per sector: Assign a channel and a preamble index per cell per sector by clicking the Cell definition per sector button. The Cell Definition per Sector dialog box appears. • •

Sector: Select the sector for which you want to define cell parameters, that is to say the channel number and preamble index. Number of cells: Enter the number of cells that the selected sector will have. The number of rows in the grid below depends on the number of cells that you enter.

For each sector, assign a layer, a channel number, and a preamble index to each cell. • • •

Frequency band, Reception equipment, Frame configuration, Max number of users, Reuse distance, Scheduler, Preamble C/N threshold, and the AMS & MU-MIMO threshold. Default loads: Enter the default values for DL traffic load, UL traffic load, UL noise rise, Max DL traffic load, Max UL traffic load, and DL segmentation usage. Additional interference: Set the DL noise rise and the UL noise rise. For more information on inter-technology interference, see "Modelling Inter-technology Interference" on page 1150.

Neighbours Tab Max number of neighbours: Set the maximum numbers of Intra-technology and Inter-technology neighbours. Other Properties Tab The Other Properties tab only appears if you have defined additional fields in the Sites table, or if you have defined an additional field in the Station Template Properties dialog box.

14.2.2.8.2

Creating a Station Template When you create a station template, you can do so by selecting an existing station template that most closely resembles the station template you want to create and making a copy. Then you can modify the parameters that differ. To create a station template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Settings folder, right-click the Station Templates folder, and select Open Table from the context menu. The Station Templates table opens. 2. In the Station Templates table, right-click the station template that most closely resembles the station template you want to create, and select Copy from the context menu. 3. Right-click the row marked with the New row icon ( ) and select Paste from the context menu. The station template you copied in step 2. is pasted in the new row, with the Name of the new station template given as the same as the template copied but preceded by "Copy of". 4. Edit the parameters of the new station template in the table or as explained in "Modifying a Station Template" on page 1046.

14.2.2.8.3

Modifying a Station Template You can modify a station template directly in the Station Templates table, or you can open the Properties dialog box for that station template and modify the parameters in the dialog box. To modify a station template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Settings folder, right-click the Station Templates folder, and select Open Table from the context menu. The Station Templates table opens. 2. Right-click the station template that you want to modify and select Record Properties from the context menu. The station template Properties dialog box appears. 3. Modify the station template parameters as described in "Station Template Properties" on page 1045. 4. Click OK.

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14.2.2.8.4

Copying Properties from One Station Template to Another You can copy properties from one template to another template by using the Station Templates table. To copy properties from one template to another template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Settings folder, right-click the Station Templates folder, and select Open Table from the context menu. The Station Templates table opens. 2. In the Stations Templates table, copy the settings in the row corresponding to the station template that you want to copy from and paste them into the row corresponding to the station template that you want to modify.

14.2.2.8.5

Modifying a Field in a Station Template You can add, delete, and edit user-defined data table fields in the Station Templates table. If you want to add a user-defined field to the station templates, you must have already added it to the Sites table for it to appear as an option in the station template properties To modify a field in a station template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Settings folder, right-click the Station Templates folder, and select Properties from the context menu. The Station Template Properties table opens. 2. Select the Table tab. 3. Add, delete, or edit the user-defined fields as described in "Adding, Deleting, and Editing Data Table Fields" on page 76. 4. Click OK.

14.2.2.8.6

Deleting a Station Template To delete a station template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Settings folder and the Station Templates folder, and rightclick the station template you want to delete. The context menu appears. 2. Select Delete from the context menu. The template is deleted.

14.2.2.9 Duplicating an Existing Base Station You can create base stations by duplicating an existing base station. When you duplicate an existing base station, the base station you create will have the same transmitter, and cell parameter values as the original base station. If no site exists where you place the duplicated base station, Atoll will create a site with the same parameters as the site of the original base station. Duplicating a base station allows you to: • •

Quickly create a base station with the same settings as an original one in order to study the effect of a new base station on the coverage and capacity of the network, and Quickly create an homogeneous network with base stations that have the same characteristics.

To duplicate an existing base station: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Sites folder, right-click the site that you want to duplicate, and select one of the following context menus: • •

If you want to duplicate the base station without the intra and inter-technology neighbours of its transmitters, select Duplicate > Without Neighbours. If you want to duplicate the base station along with the lists of intra and inter-technology neighbours of its transmitters, select Duplicate > With Outward Neighbours.

2. Place the new base station on the map using the mouse: • •

To create a duplicate base station and site, move the pointer over the map to where you would like to place the duplicate. The exact coordinates of the pointer’s current location are visible in the Status bar. To place the duplicate base station on an existing site, move the pointer over the existing site where you would like to place the duplicate. When the pointer is over the site, the site is automatically selected. The exact coordinates of the pointer’s current location are visible in the Status bar. •

•

To place the base station more accurately, you can zoom in on the map before you select Duplicate from the context menu. For information on using the zooming tools, see "Changing the Map Scale" on page 60. If you let the pointer rest over the base station you have placed, Atoll displays tip text with its exact coordinates, allowing you to verify that the location is correct.

3. Click to place the duplicate base station.

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A new base station is placed on the map. If the duplicate base station was placed on a new site, the site, transmitters, and cells of the new station have the same names as the site, transmitters, and cells of the original station with each name marked as "Copy of." The site, transmitters, and cells of the duplicate station have the same settings as those of the original station. If the duplicate base station was placed on an existing site, the transmitters, and cells of the new base station have the same names as the transmitters, and cells of the original base station with each name preceded by the name of the site on which the duplicate was placed. All the remote antennas and repeaters of any transmitter on the original site are also duplicated. Any duplicated remote antennas and repeaters will retain the same donor transmitter as the original. If you want the duplicated remote antenna or repeater to use a transmitter on the duplicated base station, you must change the donor transmitter manually. You can also place a series of duplicate base stations by pressing and holding Ctrl in step 3. and clicking to place each duplicate base station. For more information on the site, transmitter, and cell properties, see "Definition of a WiMAX Base Station" on page 1037.

14.2.2.10 Studying the Profile Around a Base Station In Atoll, you can make a profile analysis to study obstacles along the path between a reference transmitter and any point on the map. Atoll displays the geographic profile between the transmitter and the receiver with clutter heights. An ellipsoid indicating the Fresnel zone is also displayed allowing you to study obstructions to radio signals along the path. You can also study propagation losses along the profile as well as the signal level received at the point. Before studying path loss along a profile, you must assign a propagation model to the transmitter. The propagation model takes the radio and geographic data into account and calculates losses along the transmitter-receiver path. The profile is calculated in real time, using the propagation model, allowing you to study the profile and get a prediction on the selected point. For information on assigning a propagation model, see "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187. To study the profile between a transmitter and a receiver: 1. In the map window, select the transmitter from which you want to make a point analysis. 2. Click the Point Analysis button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar. The Point Analysis window opens and the pointer

changes ( ) to represent the receiver. A line appears on the map connecting the selected transmitter and the receiver. You can move the receiver on the map (see "Moving the Receiver on the Map" on page 203). 3. Select the Profile view. The Profile view displays the profile between the transmitter and the receiver with clutter heights. You can select a different transmitter.

Displays data, including received signal, shadowing margin, cell edge coverage probability, propagation model used, and transmitter-receiver distance.

Fresnel ellipsoid

Line of sight

Attenuation with diffraction

Figure 14.3: Point Analysis - Profile view The distance between the transmitter and the receiver is displayed at the top of the Profile view. The altitude is reported on the vertical axis and the receiver-transmitter distance on the horizontal axis. A blue ellipsoid indicates the Fresnel zone between the transmitter and the receiver. A green line indicates the line of sight (LOS) with the angle of the LOS as read from the vertical antenna pattern. Along the profile, if the signal meets an obstacle, the obstacle causes attenuation with diffraction displayed by a red vertical line (if the used propagation model is able to calculate diffraction). The main diffraction edge is the one that

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intersects the Fresnel ellipsoid the most. Propagation models that use a 3 knife-edge Deygout diffraction method may also display two additional diffraction edges. The total attenuation is displayed above the main diffraction edge. The results of the analysis are displayed at the top of the Profile view: • • • •

The received signal strength from the selected transmitter for the cell with the highest reference signal power The propagation model used The shadowing margin and the indoor loss (if selected) The distance between the transmitter and the receiver.

4. If needed, select an other transmitter from the list. You can click the Properties button ( properties. 5. Click the Options button ( • • • •

) to access the transmitter

) to display the Calculation Options dialog box and change the following:

Change the X and Y coordinates to change the current position of the receiver. Select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a Cell edge coverage probability. For more information, see "Taking Shadowing into Account in Point Analyses" on page 204. Select Signal level, Path loss, or Total losses from the Result type list. You can select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. For more information, see "Taking Indoor Losses into Account" on page 203.

6. In the Profile view toolbar, you can use the following tools: •

Click the Geographic Profile button (

) to view the geographic profile between the transmitter and the receiver.

Click the Geographic Profile button ( receiver.

) again to view the radio signal path between the transmitter and the

•

Click the Link Budget button (

•

Click the Detailed Report button ( ) to display a text document with details on the displayed profile analysis. The detailed report is only available for the Standard Propagation Model. Click the Copy button ( ) to copy the content of the view and paste it as a graphic into a graphic editing or wordprocessing programme.

• • •

) to display a dialog box with the link budget.

Click the Print button ( ) to print the content of the view. Click the Centre on Map button ( ) to centre the map window on the receiver.

7. To end the point analysis, click the Point Analysis button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar again.

14.2.3 Creating a Group of Base Stations You can create base stations individually as explained in "Creating WiMAX Base Stations" on page 1042, or you can create one or several base stations by using station templates as explained in "Placing a New Base Station Using a Station Template" on page 1044. However, if you have a large project and you already have existing data, you can import this data into your current Atoll document and create a group of base stations. When you import data into your current Atoll document, the coordinate system of the imported data must be the same as the display coordinate system used in the document. If you cannot change the coordinate system of your source data, you can temporarily change the display coordinate system of the Atoll document to match the source data. For information on changing the coordinate system, see "Setting a Coordinate System" on page 41. You can import station data in the following ways: •

Copying and pasting data: If you have data in table form, either in another Atoll document or in a spreadsheet, you can copy this data and paste it into the tables in your current Atoll document. When you create a group of base stations by copying and pasting data, you must copy and paste site data in the Sites table, transmitter data in the Transmitters table, and cell data in the Cells table, in that order. The table you copy from must have the same column layout as the table you are pasting data into.

For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83. •

Importing data: If you have base station data in text or comma-separated value (CSV) format, you can import it into the tables in the current document. If the data is in another Atoll document, you can first export it in text or CSV

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format and then import it into the tables of your current Atoll document. When you are importing, Atoll allows you to select what values you import into which columns of the table. When you create a group of base stations by importing data, you must import site data in the Sites table, transmitter data in the Transmitters table, and cell data in the Cells table, in that order. For information on exporting table data, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. For information on importing table data, see "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88.

14.2.4 Modifying Sites and Transmitters Directly on the Map In Atoll, you can access the Properties dialog box of a site or transmitter using the context menu in the Network explorer. However, in a complex radio-planning project, it can be difficult to find the data object in the Network explorer, although it might be visible in the map window. Atoll lets you access the Properties dialog box of sites and transmitters directly from the map. You can also select a site to display all of the transmitters located on it in the Site explorer. When selecting a transmitter, if there is more than one transmitter with the same azimuth, clicking the transmitters in the map window opens a context menu allowing you to select the transmitter. You can also change the position of the base station by dragging it, or by letting Atoll find a higher location for it. Modifying sites and transmitters directly on the map is explained in detail in Chapter 1: Working Environment: • • • • •

"Selecting One out of Several Transmitters" on page 57 "Moving a Site Using the Mouse" on page 57 "Moving a Site to a Higher Location" on page 57 "Changing the Azimuth of the Antenna Using the Mouse" on page 57 "Changing the Antenna Position Relative to the Site Using the Mouse" on page 58

14.2.5 Display Tips for Base Stations Atoll allows to you to display information about base stations in a number of ways. This enables you not only to display selected information, but also to distinguish base stations at a glance. The following tools can be used to display information about base stations: •

•

•

•

Label: You can display information about each object, such as each site or transmitter, in the form of a label that is displayed with the object. You can display information from every field in that object type’s data table, including from fields that you add. The label is always displayed, so you should choose information that you would want to always be visible; too much information in the label will make it harder to distinguish the information you are looking for. For information on defining the label, see "Associating a Label to an Object" on page 53. Tip text: You can display information about each object, such as each site or transmitter, in the form of tip text that is only visible when you move the pointer over the object. You can choose to display more information than in the label, because the information is only displayed when you move the pointer over the object. You can display information from any field in that object type’s data table, including from fields that you add. For information on defining the tip text, see "Associating a Tip Text to an Object" on page 54. Transmitter colour: You can set the transmitter colour to display information about the transmitter. For example, you can select "Discrete Values" to distinguish transmitters by antenna type, or to distinguish inactive from active transmitters. You can also define the display type for transmitters as "Automatic." Atoll then automatically assigns a colour to each transmitter, ensuring that each transmitter has a different colour than the transmitters surrounding it. For information on defining the transmitter colour, see "Setting the Display Type" on page 52. Transmitter symbol: You can select one of several symbols to represent transmitters. For example, you can select a symbol that graphically represents the antenna half-power beamwidth (

). If you have two transmitters on the

same site with the same azimuth, you can differentiate them by selecting different symbols for each ( For information on defining the transmitter symbol, see "Setting the Display Type" on page 52.

and

).

14.2.6 Creating Multi-band WiMAX Networks In Atoll, you can model a multi-band WiMAX network in one document. For example, you can model a multi-band WiMAX network consisting of 3.3 GHz, 5.8 GHz, and 2.5 GHz cells. To create a multi-band WiMAX network: 1. Define the frequency bands in the document (see "Defining Frequency Bands" on page 1134). 2. Select and calibrate a propagation model for each frequency band (see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models). 3. Assign a frequency band to each cell and a relevant propagation model to each transmitter (see "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 1044 and "Creating or Modifying a Transmitter" on page 1043).

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14.2.7 Creating Repeaters A repeater receives, amplifies, and re-transmits the radiated or conducted RF carrier both in downlink and uplink. It has a donor side and a server side. The donor side receives the signal from a donor transmitter, repeater, or remote antenna. This signal can be carried by different types of links such as radio link or microwave link. The server side re-transmits the received signal. When Atoll models WiMAX repeaters, the modelling focuses on: • •

The additional coverage these systems provide to transmitters in the downlink. The noise rise generated at the donor transmitter by the repeater. In calculations, repeaters are transparent to the donor transmitters and the served users. For example, beamforming smart antennas at donor transmitters create beams directly towards the served users, and not towards the repeater that covers the users. This results in a combined signal level received from the transmitter using the smart antenna and from the repeater. If this approach does not match how your equipment works, you must not assign smart antennas to transmitters with repeaters and vice versa. This is also true for MIMO.

This section covers the following topics: • • • • • • •

"Repeater Properties" on page 1051 "Opening the Repeaters Table" on page 1053 "Creating and Modifying Repeater Equipment" on page 1053 "Placing a Repeater on the Map Using the Mouse" on page 1053 "Creating Several Repeaters" on page 1054 "Modifying the Properties of a Repeater" on page 1054 "Tips for Updating Repeater Parameters" on page 1054. Atoll assumes that all carriers from the WiMAX donor transmitter are amplified.

14.2.7.1 Repeater Properties You can edit the properties of a repeater in the repeater Properties dialog box. General Tab •

Name: Specify the name of the repeater. By default, repeaters are named "SiteX_Y_RepZ" where "X" is the donor site number, "Y" the donor transmitter number, and "Z" a number assigned to the repeater when it was created. If the donor is a remote antenna or another repeater, then "RepZ" is preceded by "RemA_" or "RepB_" where "A" and "B" identify the donor remote antenna and the donor repeater.

• • •

•

Donor: The donor of a repeater can be a transmitter, a remote antenna, or another repeater. Click the Browse button to open the donor Properties dialog box. Site: Specify the site on which the repeater is located. Click the Browse button to open the site Properties dialog box. Shared antenna: Specify the identifier (coverage side) of the transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas that are located at the same site or on sites with the same position and that share an antenna. The identifier must be the same for all such transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas. When changes are made to the position offset (Dx, Dy), azimuth, antenna height, or mechanical tilt of one antenna, Atoll automatically synchronises the same changes to all other transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas defined as having a shared antenna. Antenna position: If the repeater is not located exactly on the site, you can specify its location. •

• •

Relative to site: Select this option if you want to define the position of the repeater relative to the site itself and then enter the XY offsets. • Coordinates: Select this option to specify the position of the repeater by its X and Y absolute coordinates. Equipment: Select an equipment from the list. Click the Browse button to open the equipment Properties dialog box. Amplifier Gain: Specify a gain for the amplifier. The amplifier gain is used in the link budget to evaluate the repeater total gain.

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Donor Side tab •

Donor-repeater link: Specify the type of link between the donor and the repeater: •

Air: Select this option to specify an off-air repeater. Select a Propagation model and enter the Propagation losses or click Calculate to determine the actual propagation losses between the donor and the repeater. If you do not select a propagation model, the propagation losses between the donor transmitter and the repeater are calculated using the ITU 526-5 propagation model. When you create an off-air repeater, it is assumed that the link between the donor transmitter and the repeater has the same frequency as the network.

• •

Microwave link: Select this option to specify a microwave link and enter the total Link losses for the link between the donor transmitter and the repeater Optical fibre link: Select this option to specify an optical fibre link and enter the total Fibre losses for the link between the donor transmitter and the repeater. If you want to create a remote antenna, you must select Optical Fibre Link.

•

Antenna: only available if you selected Air under Donor-repeater link: •

Model: Select the antenna model from the list. Click the Browse button to access the access properties. Click the Select button to open the Antenna Selection Assistant. This assistant lists all the antennas that match the currently selected physical antenna and whose minimum and maximum operating frequencies include the operating frequency of the transmitter. For more information, see "Assigning Antennas to Transmitters" on page 159

• •

Height/ground: Specify the height of the antenna above the ground. This is added to the altitude of the site as given by the DTM. If the repeater is situated on a building, the height entered must include the height of building. Mechanical Azimuth and Mechanical Downtilt: Specify additional antenna parameters. You can click the Calculate button to update the mechanical azimuth and mechanical downtilt values after changing the repeater donor side antenna height or the repeater location. If you choose another site or change site coordinates in the General tab, click Apply before clicking the Calculate button.

•

Feeders: only available if you selected Air under Donor-repeater link: • •

Type: Select the type of feeder from the list. Click the Browse button to access the feeder properties. Length: Enter the Length of the feeder cable at Transmission and at Reception.

Coverage Side Tab • •

Active: Specify whether the repeater is active. Only active repeaters (displayed in red in the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer) are calculated. Total gain: Specify the total gain in downlink and uplink. You can click Calculate to determine the actual gain in both directions. If you have modified any parameter in the General, Donor Side, or Coverage Side tabs, click Apply before clicking the Calculate button. • •

In downlink, the total gain is applied to preamble, traffic, and pilot powers. In uplink, the total gain is applied to each terminal power.

The total gain takes into account losses between the donor transmitter and the repeater, donor characteristics (donor antenna gain, reception feeder losses), amplifier gain, and coverage characteristics (coverage antenna gain, transmission feeder losses). •

Antennas: • •

Height/ground: Specify the height of the antenna above the ground. This is added to the altitude of the site as given by the DTM. If the repeater is situated on a building, the height entered must include the height of building. Main antenna: •

Model: Select an antenna model from the list. Click the Browse button to access the antenna properties. Click the Select button to open the Antenna Selection Assistant. This assistant lists all the antennas that match the currently selected physical antenna and whose minimum and maximum operating frequencies include the operating frequency of the transmitter. For more information, see "Assigning Antennas to Transmitters" on page 159

•

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Mechanical Azimuth, Mechanical Downtilt, Electrical Azimuth, Electrical Downtilt, and Additional electrical downtilt: Specify additional antenna parameters.

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•

Secondary antennas: Select one or more secondary antennas in the Antenna column and enter their Azimuth, Mechanical downtilt, Additional electrical downtilt, and % Power. • • •

The Additional electrical downtilt can be made accessible through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75.

•

Feeders:

•

• Type: Select a type of feeder from the list. You can click the Browse button to access the feeder properties. • Length: Enter the length of the feeder cable at Transmission and at Reception. Losses: • •

Loss related to repeater noise rise is displayed. Misc. losses: Specify additional losses in dB for Transmission and Reception.

Propagation Tab Repeaters are taken into account during calculations. Therefore, you must set the propagation parameters. On the Propagation tab, you can modify the Propagation model, Radius, and Resolution for both the Main matrix and the Extended matrix. By default, the propagation characteristics of the repeater (model, calculation radius, and grid resolution) are the same as those of the donor transmitter. For information on propagation models, see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models.

14.2.7.2 Opening the Repeaters Table The characteristics of each repeater are stored in the Repeaters table. To open the Repeaters table: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 2. Select Repeaters > Open Table from the context menu. The Repeaters table appears.

14.2.7.3 Creating and Modifying Repeater Equipment You can define repeater equipment to be assigned to each repeater in the network. To create or modify repeater equipment: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Equipment folder, right-click Repeater Equipment, and select Open Table from the context menu. The Repeater Equipment table appears. 2. Define the following in an existing record or in the row marked with the New row icon (

):

a. Enter a Name and Manufacturer for the new equipment. b. Enter a Noise figure (dB). The repeater causes a rise in noise at the donor transmitter, so the noise figure is used to calculate the UL loss to be added to the donor transmitter UL losses. The noise figure must be a positive value. c. Enter minimum and maximum repeater amplifier gains in the Min. gain and Max gain columns. These parameters enable Atoll to ensure that the user-defined amplifier gain is consistent with the limits of the equipment if there are any. d. Enter a Gain increment. Atoll uses the increment value when you increase or decrease the repeater amplifier gain using the buttons to the right of the Amplifier gain box ( box.

) on the General tab of the repeater Properties dialog

e. Enter the maximum power that the equipment can transmit on the downlink in the Max downlink power column. This parameter enables Atoll to ensure that the downlink power after amplification does not exceed the limit of the equipment. f.

If desired, enter a Max uplink power, an Internal delay and Comments. These fields are for information only and are not used in calculations.

14.2.7.4 Placing a Repeater on the Map Using the Mouse In Atoll, you can create a repeater and place it using the mouse. When you create a repeater, you can add it to an existing site, or have Atoll automatically create a new site. Atoll supports cascading repeaters, in other words, repeaters that extend the coverage of another repeater or of a remote antenna.

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To create a repeater and place it using the mouse: 1. Select the donor transmitter, repeater, or remote antenna. You can select it from the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer, or directly on the map. 2. Click the arrow next to New Repeater or Remote Antenna icon (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

3. Select Repeater from the menu. 4. Click the map to place the repeater. The repeater is placed on the map, represented by a symbol ( ) in the same colour as the donor transmitter, repeater, or remote antenna. If the repeater is inactive, it is displayed by an empty icon. By default, the repeater has the same azimuth as the donor. Its tip text and label display the same information as displayed for the donor. As well, its tip text identifies the repeater and the donor. In the explorer window, the repeater is found in the Transmitters folder of the Network explorer under its donor transmitter, repeater, or remote antenna. For information on defining the properties of the new repeater, see "Modifying the Properties of a Repeater" on page 1054. •

•

When the donor is a transmitter, you can see to which station the repeater is connected by clicking it; Atoll displays a link to the donor transmitter. You can hide the link by clicking it again. When the donor is a repeater or a remote antenna, Atoll displays a spider-type link showing the entire chain down to the donor transmitter. The same spider-type link is displayed when you click any of the items belonging to the chain is clicked (i.e., donor transmitter, any repeater, or any remote antenna).

14.2.7.5 Creating Several Repeaters In Atoll, the characteristics of each repeater are stored in the Repeaters table. If you have data in table form, either in another Atoll document or in a spreadsheet, you can copy this data and paste it into the Repeaters table in your current Atoll document. To paste the information into the Repeaters table: 1. Open the Repeaters table as explained in "Opening the Repeaters Table" on page 1053. 2. Copy the data from the source document and paste it into the Repeaters table. The table you copy data from must have the same column layout as the table you are pasting data into.

For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83.

14.2.7.6 Modifying the Properties of a Repeater You can edit repeaters in the repeater Properties dialog box. To modify the properties of a repeater: 1. Right-click the repeater either directly on the map, or in the Repeaters table (for information on opening the Repeaters table, see "Opening the Repeaters Table" on page 1053), and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. Modify the properties of the repeater as described in "Repeater Properties" on page 1051. 3. Click OK.

14.2.7.7 Tips for Updating Repeater Parameters Atoll provides you with a few shortcuts that you can use to change certain repeater parameters: • •

1054

You can update the calculated azimuth and downtilt of the donor-side antennas of all repeaters by selecting Repeaters > Calculate Donor Side Azimuths and Tilts from the Transmitters context menu. You can update the UL and DL total gains of all repeaters by selecting Repeaters > Calculate Gains from the Transmitters context menu.

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You can prevent Atoll from updating the UL and DL total gains of selected repeaters by creating a custom Boolean field named "FreezeTotalGain" in the Repeaters table and setting the value of the field to "True". Afterwards, when you select Repeaters > Calculate Gains from the Transmitters context menu, Atoll will only update the UL and DL total gains for repeaters with the custom field "FreezeTotalGain" set to "False". • •

You can update the propagation losses of all off-air repeaters by selecting Repeaters > Calculate Donor Side Propagation Losses from the Transmitters context menu. You can select a repeater on the map and change its azimuth (see "Changing the Azimuth of the Antenna Using the Mouse" on page 57) or its position relative to the site (see "Changing the Antenna Position Relative to the Site Using the Mouse" on page 58).

14.2.8 Creating a Remote Antenna Atoll allows you to create remote antennas to position antennas at locations that would normally require long runs of feeder cable. A remote antenna is connected to the base station with an optical fibre. Remote antennas allow you to ensure radio coverage in an area without a new base station. In Atoll, the remote antenna should be connected to a base station that does not have any antennas. It is assumed that a remote antenna, as opposed to a repeater, does not have any equipment and generates neither amplification nor noise. In certain cases, you may want to model a remote antenna with equipment or a remote antenna connected to a base station that has antennas. This can be done by modelling a repeater. For information on creating a repeater, see "Creating Repeaters" on page 1051. In calculations, remote antennas are transparent to the donor transmitters and the served users. For example, beamforming smart antennas at donor transmitters create beams directly towards the served users, and not towards the remote antenna that covers the users. This results in a combined signal level received from the transmitter using the smart antenna and from the remote antenna. If this approach does not match how your equipment works, you must not assign smart antennas to transmitters with remote antennas and vice versa. This is also true for MIMO. This section covers the following topics: • • • • •

"Remote Antenna Properties" on page 1055 "Opening the Remote Antennas Table" on page 1056 "Placing a Remote Antenna on the Map Using the Mouse" on page 1057 "Modifying the Properties of a Remote Antenna" on page 1057 "Tips for Updating Remote Antenna Parameters" on page 1058

14.2.8.1 Remote Antenna Properties You can edit the properties of a remote antenna in the remote antenna Properties dialog box. General Tab •

Name: You can change the name of the remote antenna. By default, remote antennas are named "SiteX_Y_RemZ" where "X" is the donor site number, "Y" the donor transmitter number, and "Z" a number assigned to the remote antenna when it was created. If the donor is a repeater or another remote antenna, then "RemZ" is preceded by "RepA_" or "RemB_" where "A" and "B" identify the donor repeater and the donor remote antenna.

• • •

•

Donor: Specify whether the donor of the remote antenna is a transmitter, another remote antenna, or a repeater. Click Browse to open the Properties dialog box of the selected donor. Site: Specify the site on which the remote antenna is located. Click Browse to open the Properties dialog box of the selected site. Shared antenna: Specify the identifier (coverage side) of the transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas that are located at the same site or on sites with the same position and that share an antenna. The identifier must be the same for all such transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas. When changes are made to the position offset (Dx, Dy), azimuth, antenna height, or mechanical tilt of one antenna, Atoll automatically synchronises the same changes to all other transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas defined as having a shared antenna. Antenna position: If the remote antenna is not located exactly on the site, you can specify its location.

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Relative to site: Select this option to specify the position of the remote antenna relative to the site itself and then enter the XY offsets. Coordinates: Select this option to specify the position of the remote antenna by its X and Y absolute coordinates. Remote antennas do not have assigned equipment.

Donor Side Tab •

Donor-Repeater Link: Select Optical fibre link and enter the Fibre losses.

Coverage Side Tab • •

Active: Specify whether the remote antenna is active. Only active remote antennas (displayed in red in the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer) are calculated. Total gain: Enter the total gain in downlink and uplink. You can click Calculate to determine the actual gain in both directions. If you have modified any parameter in the General, Donor Side, or Coverage Side tabs, click Apply before clicking the Calculate button. • •

In downlink, the total gain is applied to preamble, traffic, and pilot powers. In uplink, the total gain is applied to each terminal power.

The total gain takes into account losses between the donor transmitter and the remote antenna. •

Antennas: •

•

Height/ground: Specify the height of the antenna above the ground. This is added to the altitude of the site as given by the DTM. If the remote antenna is situated on a building, the height entered must include the height of building. Main antenna: •

Model: Select a remote antenna type from the list. Click Browse to access the properties of the remote antenna. Click Select to open the Antenna Selection Assistant. This assistant lists all the antennas that match the currently selected physical antenna and whose minimum and maximum operating frequencies include the operating frequency of the transmitter. For more information, see "Assigning Antennas to Transmitters" on page 159

•

•

Mechanical Azimuth, Mechanical downtilt, Electrical Azimuth, Electrical Downtilt, and Additional electrical downtilt: Specify additional antenna parameters. Secondary antennas: Select one or more secondary antennas in the Antenna column and enter their Azimuth, Mechanical downtilt, Additional electrical downtilt, and % Power. • • •

The Additional electrical downtilt can be made accessible through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75.

•

Feeders:

•

• Type: Select a type of feeder from the list. Click Browse to access the properties of the feeder. • Length: Enter the length of the feeder cable at Transmission and at Reception. Losses: • •

Loss related to repeater noise rise is displayed. Misc. losses: Specify additional losses in dB for Transmission and Reception.

Propagation Tab Since remote antennas are taken into account during calculations, you must set propagation parameters, as with transmitters. On the Propagation tab, you can modify the following: the Propagation model, Radius, and Resolution for both the Main matrix and the Extended matrix. By default, the propagation characteristics of the remote antenna (model, calculation radius, and grid resolution) are the same as those of the donor transmitter. For information on propagation models, see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models.

14.2.8.2 Opening the Remote Antennas Table The remote antennas and their defining parameters are stored in the Remote Antennas table.

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To open the Remote Antennas table: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 2. Select Remote Antennas > Open Table from the context menu. The Remote Antennas table appears.

14.2.8.3 Placing a Remote Antenna on the Map Using the Mouse In Atoll, you can create a remote antenna and place it using the mouse. When you create a remote antenna, you can add it to an existing base station without antennas, or have Atoll automatically create a new site. To create a remote antenna and place it using the mouse: 1. Select the donor transmitter. You can select it from the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer, or directly on the map. Ensure that the remote antenna’s donor transmitter does not have any antennas.

2. Click the arrow next to New Repeater or Remote Antenna icon (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

3. Select Remote Antenna from the menu. 4. Click the map to place the remote antenna. The remote antenna is placed on the map, represented by the same symbol and colour as the donor transmitter. If the remote antenna is inactive, it is displayed by an empty icon. By default, the remote antenna has the same azimuth as the donor transmitter. Its tip text and label display the same information as displayed for the donor transmitter. As well, its tip text identifies the remote antenna and the donor transmitter. For information on defining the properties of the new remote antenna, see "Modifying the Properties of a Remote Antenna" on page 1057. •

•

When the donor is a transmitter, you can see to which base station the repeater is connected by clicking it; Atoll displays a link to the donor transmitter. You can hide the link by clicking it again. When the donor is a repeater or a remote antenna, Atoll displays a spider-type link showing the entire chain down to the donor transmitter. The same spider-type link is displayed when you click any of the items belonging to the chain is clicked (i.e., donor transmitter, any repeater, or any remote antenna).

14.2.8.4 Creating Several Remote Antennas In Atoll, the characteristics of each remote antenna are stored in the Remote Antennas table. If you have data in table form, either in another Atoll document or in a spreadsheet, you can copy this data and paste it into the Remote Antennas table in your current Atoll document. To paste the information into the Remote Antennas table: 1. Open the Remote Antennas table as explained in "Opening the Remote Antennas Table" on page 1056. 2. Copy the data from the source document and paste it into the Remote Antennas table. The table you copy data from must have the same column layout as the table you are pasting data into.

For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83.

14.2.8.5 Modifying the Properties of a Remote Antenna To modify the properties of a remote antenna: 1. Right-click the remote antenna either directly on the map, or in the Remote Antennas table (for information on opening the Remote Antennas table, see "Opening the Remote Antennas Table" on page 1056), and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. Edit the properties of the remote antenna as described in "Remote Antenna Properties" on page 1055. 3. Click OK.

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14.2.8.6 Tips for Updating Remote Antenna Parameters Atoll provides you with a few shortcuts that you can use to change certain remote antenna parameters: •

You can update the UL and DL total gains of all remote antennas by selecting Remote Antennas > Calculate Gains from the Transmitters context menu. You can prevent Atoll from updating the UL and DL total gains of selected remote antennas by creating a custom Boolean field named "FreezeTotalGain" in the Remote Antennas table and setting the value of the field to "True." Afterwards, when you select Remote Antennas > Calculate Gains from the Transmitters context menu, Atoll will only update the UL and DL total gains for remote antennas with the custom field "FreezeTotalGain" set to "False."

•

You can select a remote antenna on the map and change its azimuth (see "Changing the Azimuth of the Antenna Using the Mouse" on page 57) or its position relative to the site (see "Changing the Antenna Position Relative to the Site Using the Mouse" on page 58).

14.2.9 Studying Base Stations You can study one or several base stations to test the effectiveness of the set parameters. Coverage predictions on groups of base stations can take a large amount of time and consume a lot of computer resources. Restricting your coverage prediction to the base station you are currently working on allows you get the results quickly. You can expand your coverage prediction to a number of base stations once you have optimised the settings for each individual base station. Before studying a base station, you must assign a propagation model. The propagation model takes the radio and geographic data into account and calculates propagation losses along the transmitter-receiver path. This allows you to predict the received signal level at any given point. Any coverage prediction you make on a base station uses the propagation model to calculate its results. For more information, see "Preparing Base Stations for Calculations" on page 186. This section covers the following topics: • • • • • •

"WiMAX Prediction Properties" on page 1058 "Signal Level Coverage Predictions" on page 1059 "WiMAX Coverage Predictions" on page 1062 "Displaying Coverage Prediction Results" on page 1070 "Analysing a Coverage Prediction Using the Point Analysis" on page 1071 "Comparing Coverage Predictions" on page 1075

14.2.9.1 WiMAX Prediction Properties You can configure the following parameters of a coverage prediction in the Properties dialog box. General Tab The General tab allows you to specify the following settings for the prediction: • •

1058

Name: Specify the name of the coverage prediction. Resolution: Specify the display resolution. The resolution you set is the display resolution, not the calculation resolution. To improve memory consumption and optimise the calculation times, you should set the display resolutions of coverage predictions according to the precision required. The following table lists the levels of precision that are usually sufficient: Size of the Coverage Prediction

Display Resolution

City Centre

5m

City

20 m

County

50 m

State

100 m

Country

According to the size of the country

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A read-only Unique ID is generated when you create a coverage prediction. This ID can later be found between the and tags in the following files: • •

• • •

"studies.XML" file created in the installation folder if at least one coverage prediction was saved using the Save as Customised Prediction command. ".XML" files (one per prediction) created in the following folder if coverage predictions were calculated with Display type = "Value intervals": C:\\.studies\{}

Receiver height: This parameter displays the height of the receiver defined in the Calculation Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box. Comments: Specify an optional description of comment for the prediction. Display Configuration: You can create a Filter to select which sites to display in the results. For information on filtering, see "Filtering Data" on page 99. The Group By and Sort buttons are not available when making a so-called "global" coverage prediction (e.g., signal level coverage prediction). If you create a coverage prediction from the context menu of the Predictions folder, you can select the sites using the Group By, Sort, and Filter buttons under Display configuration. However, if you create a coverage prediction from the context menu of the Transmitters folder, only the Filter button is available, because, by creating a coverage prediction directly from the Transmitters folder, you have effectively already selected the target sites.

Conditions Tab The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. • •

At the top of the Conditions tab, you can set the range to be considered for the current prediction. Server: Select one of the following: • •

"All" to consider all servers. "Best Signal Level" or "Second Best Signal Level" to also specify an Overlap margin that Atoll will take into consideration. Selecting "All" or "Best Signal Level" will give you the same results because Atoll displays the results of the best server in either case. Selecting "Best Signal Level" necessitates, however, a longer time for calculation.

• • •

Shadowing taken into account: Select this option to consider shadowing in the prediction. When you select this option, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability. Indoor coverage: Select this option to consider indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. Channel: Select a channel or carry out the prediction for the "Best" channel of a frequency band or of all frequency bands. For any transmitter, the best channel is the one whose cell has the highest preamble power.

Display Tab On the Display tab, you can modify how the results of the coverage prediction will be displayed. • • • • •

Under Display type, select "Value intervals". Under Field, select "Best signal level". You can change the value intervals and their displayed colour. For information on changing display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. You can create tip text with information about the coverage prediction by clicking the Browse button next to the Tip text box and selecting the fields you want to display in the tip text. You can select the Add to legend check box to add the displayed value intervals to the legend. If you change the display properties of a coverage prediction after you have calculated it, you may make the coverage prediction invalid. You will then have to recalculate the coverage prediction to obtain valid results.

14.2.9.2 Signal Level Coverage Predictions Atoll offers a series of standard coverage predictions based on the measured signal level at each pixel; other factors, such as interference, are not taken into consideration. Coverage predictions specific to WiMAX are covered in "WiMAX Coverage Predictions" on page 1062. Once you have created and calculated a coverage prediction, you can use the coverage prediction context menu to make the coverage prediction into a customised prediction which will appear in the Prediction Types dialog box. You can also select

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Duplicate from the coverage prediction’s context menu to create a copy. By duplicating an existing prediction that has the parameters you want to study, you can create a coverage prediction more quickly than by creating a coverage prediction. If you clone a coverage prediction, by selecting Clone from the context menu, you can create a copy of the coverage prediction with the calculated coverage. You can then change the display, providing that the selected parameter does not invalidate the calculated coverage prediction. You can also save the list of all defined coverage predictions in a user configuration, allowing you or other users to load it into a new Atoll document. When you save the list in a user configuration, the parameters of all existing coverage predictions are saved; not just the parameters of calculated or displayed ones. For information on exporting user configurations, see "Saving a User Configuration" on page 104. The following standard coverage predictions are explained in this section: • • • •

14.2.9.2.1

"Studying Signal Level Coverage of a Single Base Station" on page 1060 "Making a Coverage Prediction by Signal Level" on page 1061 "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter" on page 1061 "Making a Coverage Prediction on Overlapping Zones" on page 1061

Studying Signal Level Coverage of a Single Base Station While you are building your radio-planning project, you might want to check the coverage of a new base station without having to calculate the entire project. You can do this by selecting the site with its transmitters and then creating a coverage prediction. This section explains how to calculate the signal level coverage of a single base station. A signal level coverage prediction displays the signal of the best server for each pixel of the area studied. For a transmitter with more than one cell, the signal level is calculated for the cell with the highest preamble power. You can use the same procedure to study the signal level coverage of several base stations by grouping the transmitters. For information on grouping transmitters, see "Grouping Data Objects by Property" on page 95. To study the signal level coverage of a single base station: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder, and select Group By > Sites from the context menu. The transmitters are now displayed in the Transmitters folder by the site on which they are situated. If you want to study only sites by their status, at this step you could group them by status.

2. Specify the propagation parameters as explained in "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187. 3. In the Transmitters folder, right-click the group of transmitters you want to study and select Calculations > Create a New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. The Prediction Types dialog box lists the coverage prediction types available. They are divided into Standard Predictions, supplied with Atoll, and Customised Predictions. Unless you have already created some customised predictions, the Customised Predictions list will be empty. 4. Select Coverage by Signal Level (DL) and click OK. A coverage prediction properties dialog box appears. 5. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "WiMAX Prediction Properties" on page 1058. 6. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window. The signal level coverage prediction can be found in the Predictions folder in the Network explorer. Atoll automatically locks the results of a coverage prediction as soon as it is calculated, as indicated by the icon ( folder. When you click the Calculate button (

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) beside the coverage prediction in the Predictions

), Atoll only calculates unlocked coverage predictions (

).

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14.2.9.2.2

Making a Coverage Prediction by Signal Level A coverage prediction by signal level allows you to predict coverage zones by the transmitter signal strength at each pixel. You can base the coverage on the signal level, path loss, or total losses within a defined range. For a transmitter with more than one cell, the coverage is calculated for the cell with the highest preamble power. To make a coverage prediction by signal level: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder, and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Coverage by Signal Level (DL) and click OK. The Coverage by Signal Level (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "WiMAX Prediction Properties" on page 1058. In the Display tab, if you choose to display the results by best signal level, the coverage prediction results will be in the form of thresholds. If you choose to display the results by signal level, the coverage prediction results will be arranged according to transmitter. For information on adjusting the display, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 4. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

14.2.9.2.3

Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter A coverage prediction by transmitter allows the user to predict coverage zones by transmitter at each pixel. You can base the coverage on the signal level, path loss, or total losses within a defined range. For a transmitter with more than one cell, the coverage is calculated for the cell with the highest preamble power. To make a coverage prediction by transmitter: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder, and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Coverage by Transmitter (DL) and click OK. The Coverage by Transmitter (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "WiMAX Prediction Properties" on page 1058. For a coverage prediction by transmitter, the Display type "Discrete values" based on the Field "Transmitter" is selected by default. Each coverage zone will then be displayed with the same colour as that defined for each transmitter. For information on defining transmitter colours, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 4. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window

14.2.9.2.4

Making a Coverage Prediction on Overlapping Zones Overlapping zones (dl) are composed of pixels that are, for a defined condition, covered by the signal of at least two transmitters. You can base a coverage prediction on overlapping zones on the signal level, path loss, or total losses within a defined range. For a transmitter with more than one cell, the coverage is calculated for the cell with the highest preamble power. To make a coverage prediction on overlapping zones: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder, and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Overlapping Zones (DL) and click OK. The Overlapping Zones (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "WiMAX Prediction Properties" on page 1058. For a coverage prediction on overlapping zones, the Display type "Value intervals" based on the Field "Number of servers" is selected by default. Each overlapping zone will then be displayed in a colour corresponding to the number of servers received per pixel. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51.

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When creating a coverage prediction displaying the number of servers, you cannot export the values per pixel.

4. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

14.2.9.3 WiMAX Coverage Predictions WiMAX coverage predictions available in Atoll are used to analyse the effective signal levels, signal quality, and throughputs. For the purposes of these coverage predictions, each pixel is considered a non-interfering user with a defined service, mobility type, and terminal. For more information, see "Service and User Modelling" on page 1062. The downlink interference received from different cells of the network depends on the cell frequency channel and preamble indexes as well as their downlink traffic loads. The measure of uplink interference for each cell is provided by the uplink noise rise. If you have traffic maps, you can do a Monte Carlo simulation to determine the downlink traffic loads and the uplink noise rise values for a generated user distribution. If you do not have traffic maps, Atoll can calculate these coverage predictions using the downlink traffic loads and the uplink noise rise values defined for each cell. In this section, these coverage predictions will be calculated using downlink traffic loads and the uplink noise rise values defined at the cell level. Before making a prediction, you will have to set the downlink traffic loads and the uplink noise rise, and the parameters that define the services and users. For more information, see "Setting Cell Loads and Noise Rise Values" on page 1064. This section explains the coverage predictions available for analysing the effective signal level and signal quality. The following are explained: • • • • • • • •

14.2.9.3.1

"Service and User Modelling" on page 1062 "Studying Effective Signal Levels, Permutation Zones, and Segments" on page 1064 "Studying Interference and C/(I+N) Levels" on page 1065 "Studying Downlink and Uplink Service Areas" on page 1066 "Studying the Effective Service Area" on page 1067 "Making a Coverage Prediction by Throughput" on page 1068 "Making an Aggregate Throughput Coverage Prediction Using Simulation Results" on page 1069 "Making a Coverage Prediction by Quality Indicator" on page 1070

Service and User Modelling Atoll can base its signal quality coverage predictions on the DL traffic loads and the UL noise rise entered in the Cells table (for more information, see "Setting Cell Loads and Noise Rise Values" on page 1064). Before you can model services, you must define WiMAX radio bearers. For more information on WiMAX radio bearers, see "Defining WiMAX Radio Bearers" on page 1139. Modelling Services Services are the various services available to users. These services can be either voice or data type services. The following parameters are used in predictions: • • • • • •

Highest bearer Lowest bearer Throughput scaling factor Throughput offset Body loss Minimum number of subchannels in uplink

You can create a service or modify an existing service by specifying the following parameters in the General tab of the service Properties dialog box (some fields depend on the type of service you choose): • • •

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Name: Atoll proposes a name for the new service, but you can set a more descriptive name. Type: You can select either Voice or Data as the service type. Priority: Enter a priority for this service. "0" is the lowest priority.

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•

•

• • • • • •

•

QoS class: Select a QoS class for the service. You have the option to choose from UGS (Unsolicited Grant Service), ErtPS (Extended Real-Time Polling Service), rtPS (Real-Time Polling Service), nrtPS (Non-Real-Time Polling Service), and BE (Best Effort). The information about the QoS class used by any service is used by the schedulers for resource allocation. For more information about how schedulers work in Atoll, see "Defining WiMAX Schedulers" on page 1143. Activity factor: The uplink and downlink activity factors are used to determine the probability of activity for users accessing the service during Monte Carlo simulations. For Voice services, this parameter is used when working with sector traffic maps and user density traffic maps. For Data services, Atoll distributes the users according to the activity factors when importing user density traffic maps for all activity statuses. Highest bearer: Select the highest bearer that the service can use in the uplink and downlink. This is considered as an upper limit during bearer determination. Lowest bearer: Select the lowest bearer that the service can use in the uplink and downlink. This is considered as a lower limit during bearer determination. Max throughput demand: Enter the highest throughput that the service can demand in the uplink and downlink. This value is not considered for services UGS as the quality of service. Min throughput demand: Enter the minimum required throughput that the service should have in order to be available in the uplink and downlink. This value is not considered for BE services. Min number of subchannels: Enter the minimum number of subchannels required for this service in uplink. Average requested throughput: Enter the average requested throughput for uplink and downlink. The average requested throughput is used in a simulation during user distribution generation in order to calculate the number of users attempting a connection. Application throughput: Under Application throughput, you can set a Scaling factor between the application throughput and the MAC (Medium Access Control) throughput and a throughput Offset. These parameters model the header information and other supplementary data that does not appear at the application level. The application throughput parameters are used in throughput coverage predictions and for application throughput calculation.

•

Body loss: Enter a body loss for the service. The body loss is the loss due to the body of the user. For example, in a voice connection the body loss, due to the proximity of the user’s head, is estimated to be 3 dB.

For information on creating or modifying a service, see "Creating Services" on page 247. Modelling Mobility Types In WiMAX, information about the receiver mobility is required for determining which bearer selection threshold and quality graph to use from the reception equipment referred to in the terminal or cell. Mobiles used at high speeds and at walking speeds do not have the same quality characteristics. C/(I+N) requirements for different radio bearers are largely dependent on mobile speed. You can create or modify a mobility type by specifying the following parameters in the General tab of the mobility type Properties dialog box: • •

Name: Enter a descriptive name for the mobility type. Average speed: Enter an average speed for the mobility type. This field is for information only; the average speed is not used by any calculation.

For information on creating or modifying mobility types, see "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 247. Modelling Terminals In WiMAX, a terminal is the user equipment that is used in the network, for example, a mobile phone, a PDA, or a car’s onboard navigation device. You can create or modify a terminal by specifying the following parameters in the General tab of the terminal Properties dialog box: • •

Name: Enter a descriptive name for the terminal. Transmission/Reception: • • • • •

•

Min power: Enter the minimum transmission power of the terminal. Max power: Enter the maximum transmission power of the terminal. Noise figure: Enter the noise figure of the terminal (used to calculate the downlink total noise). Losses: Enter the losses of the terminal. Reception equipment: Select a reception equipment from the list of available equipment. For more information on reception equipment, see "Defining WiMAX Reception Equipment" on page 1140. Antenna: •

Model: Select an antenna model from the list of available antennas. If you do not select an antenna for the terminal, Atoll uses an isotropic antenna in calculations.

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In case you do not select an antenna, Atoll uses an isotropic antenna, not an omni-directional antenna, in calculations. An isotropic antenna has spherical radiation patterns in the horizontal as well as vertical planes. • •

•

Gain: Enter the terminal antenna gain if you have not selected an antenna model in the Model field. If you have selected an antenna, the Gain field is disabled and shows the gain of the selected antenna. Diversity support: Select the type of antenna diversity techniques supported by the terminal. Antenna diversity gains will be applied to the users using any terminal type depending on the supported antenna diversity techniques, i.e., AAS, MIMO, or AAS+MIMO. If a terminal that supports AAS+MIMO is connected to a permutation zone that supports both antenna diversity techniques, both AAS and MIMO gains will be applied. MIMO: Enter the Number of transmission antennas and the Number of reception antennas available in the terminal.

For information on creating or modifying terminals, see "Modelling Terminals" on page 249.

14.2.9.3.2

Setting Cell Loads and Noise Rise Values If you are setting the traffic loads and the uplink noise rise for a single transmitter, you can set these parameters on the Cells tab of the transmitter Properties dialog box. However, you can set the traffic loads and the uplink noise rise for all the cells using the Cells table. To set the traffic loads and the uplink noise rise using the Cells table: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder and select Cells > Open Table from the context menu. The Cells table appears. 2. Enter a value in the following columns: • • • •

Traffic load (DL) (%) Segmentation usage (DL) (%) UL noise rise (dB) Segmented zone UL noise rise (dB)

Although, you can also set a value for the Traffic load (UL) (%) column as an indication of cells’ uplink loads, this parameter is not used in the coverage prediction calculations. The measure of interference in the uplink is given by the uplink noise rise values. For a definition of the values, see "Cell Properties" on page 1039. To enter the same values in one column for all cells in the table by copying the contents of one cell into other cells, you can use the Fill Down and Fill Up commands. For more information on working with tables in Atoll, see "Data Tables" on page 75.

14.2.9.3.3

Studying Effective Signal Levels, Permutation Zones, and Segments Atoll offers a couple of WiMAX coverage predictions which can be based on the predicted signal level from the best server and the thermal background noise at each pixel, i.e., received carrier power (C) and the carrier-to-noise ratio (C/N). This section explains the coverage predictions available for analysing the effective signal levels. Downlink and uplink effective signal analysis coverage predictions predict the effective signal levels of different types of WiMAX signals, such as preamble, traffic, etc., in the part of the network being studied. Atoll calculates the serving transmitter for each pixel depending on the downlink preamble signal level. The serving transmitter is determined according to the received preamble signal level from the cell with the highest preamble power. In a prediction for the "Best" layer, if more than one cell covers the pixel, the one with the highest priority layer is selected as the serving cell. Then, depending on the prediction definition, it calculates the effective signal (C or C/N for preamble, traffic, and so on). Pixels are coloured if the display threshold condition is fulfilled (in other words, if the C or C/N is higher than the C or C/N threshold). To make an effective signal analysis coverage prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder, and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Effective Signal Analysis (DL) or Effective Signal Analysis (UL) and click OK. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. For information on the prediction Properties dialog box, see "WiMAX Prediction Properties" on page 1058. 3. Click the Conditions tab. On the Conditions tab: a. If you wish, select the network Layers for the determination of best servers. Otherwise, you can calculate the prediction for all layers. b. Select a Terminal, a Mobility type, and a Service. The Noise figure defined in the terminal type’s properties dialog box is used in the coverage prediction to determine the total noise in the downlink, and the Noise figure of the

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transmitter is used to determine the total noise in the uplink. For more information on services, terminals, mobility types, and reception equipment, see "Modelling Services" on page 1062, "Modelling Terminals" on page 1063, "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 1063, and "Defining WiMAX Reception Equipment" on page 1140, respectively. c. If you want the coverage prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. The shadowing margin is based on the model standard deviation. d. You can also have the coverage prediction take Indoor coverage into consideration. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 4. Click the Display tab. From the Display type list, choose one of the following: • •

Discrete values: Select "Discrete values" to display the coverage prediction by permutation zones or segment numbers. Value intervals: Select "Value intervals" to display the coverage prediction by signal levels or C/N levels.

For information on adjusting the display, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

14.2.9.3.4

Studying Interference and C/(I+N) Levels Downlink and uplink coverage predictions by C/(I+N) level predict the interference levels and signal-to-interference levels in the part of the network being studied. Atoll calculates the best server for each pixel depending on the downlink preamble signal level or preamble C/(I+N). The serving transmitter is determined according to the received preamble signal level from the cell with the highest preamble power. In a prediction for the "Best" layer, if more than one cell covers the pixel, the one with the highest priority layer 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). The pixel is coloured if the display threshold condition is fulfilled (in other words, if the C/(I+N) is higher than C/(I+N) threshold). 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. For more information on frequency bands, see "Defining Frequency Bands" on page 1134. The preamble C/(I+N) is calculated using the preamble power and the main antenna. Interference on the preamble does not depend on the cell load conditions. It depends only on the probabilities of collision between the subcarriers used to transmit the preamble. The downlink traffic C/(I+N) is calculated using the traffic power, the main antenna or the smart antenna equipment, downlink traffic load, the segmentation usage ratio, and any angular distributions of interference stored either in the cell properties or in the selected simulation results. The uplink C/(I+N) is calculated using the terminal power calculated after power control, the main antenna or the smart antenna equipment, uplink noise rise values, and any angular distributions of interference stored either in the cell properties or in the selected simulation results. The downlink traffic and uplink C/(I+N) also take into account the probabilities of collision between subcarriers when segmentation is used. To make a coverage prediction by C/(I+N) level: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Coverage by C/(I+N) Level (DL) or Coverage by C/(I+N) Level (UL) and click OK. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. For information on the prediction Properties dialog box, see "WiMAX Prediction Properties" on page 1058. 3. Click the Conditions tab. On the Conditions tab: a. Select "(Cells table)" from Load conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not going to be based on load conditions taken from a simulation. Atoll will calculate the coverage prediction using the cell loads stored in the cell properties. When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load conditions list.

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b. If you wish, select the network Layers for the determination of best servers. Otherwise, you can calculate the prediction for all layers. c. Select a Terminal, a Mobility type, and a Service. The Noise figure defined in the terminal type’s properties dialog box is used in the coverage prediction to determine the total noise in the downlink, and the Noise figure of the transmitter is used to determine the total noise in the uplink. For more information on services, terminals, mobility types, and reception equipment, see "Modelling Services" on page 1062, "Modelling Terminals" on page 1063, "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 1063, and "Defining WiMAX Reception Equipment" on page 1140, respectively. d. If you want the coverage prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. The shadowing margin is based on the C/I standard deviation. e. You can also have the coverage prediction take Indoor coverage into consideration. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 4. Click the Display tab. From the Display type list, select "Value intervals" to display the coverage prediction by C/(I+N) levels or total noise (I+N) levels. For information on adjusting the display, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. You can also display the uplink C/(I+N) for all subchannels, i.e., without uplink subchannelisation, by setting the Uplink bandwidth allocation target to Full bandwidth for the scheduler being used and then selecting the display option C/ (I+N) Level (UL). For more information on schedulers, see "Defining WiMAX Schedulers" on page 1143. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

14.2.9.3.5

Studying Downlink and Uplink Service Areas Downlink and uplink service area analysis coverage predictions calculate and display the WiMAX radio bearers based on C⁄(I+N) for each pixel. In the coverage predictions, the downlink or uplink service areas are limited by the bearer selection thresholds of the highest and lowest bearers of the selected service. To make a coverage prediction on service area: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Service Area Analysis (DL) or Service Area Analysis (UL) and click OK. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. For information on the prediction Properties dialog box, see "WiMAX Prediction Properties" on page 1058. 3. Click the Conditions tab. On the Conditions tab: a. Select "(Cells table)" from Load conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not going to be based on load conditions taken from a simulation. Atoll will calculate the coverage prediction using the cell loads stored in the cell properties. When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load conditions list.

b. If you wish, select the network Layers for the determination of best servers. Otherwise, you can calculate the prediction for all layers. c. Select a Terminal, a Mobility type, and a Service. The Noise figure defined in the terminal type’s properties dialog box is used in the coverage prediction to determine the total noise in the downlink, and the Noise figure of the transmitter is used to determine the total noise in the uplink. As well, the bearer selection for each pixel according to the C⁄(I+N) level is performed using the bearer selection thresholds defined in the reception equipment. This reception equipment is the one defined in the selected terminal for the downlink coverage predictions, and the one defined in the cell properties of the serving transmitter for the uplink coverage predictions. Mobility is used to index the bearer selection threshold graph to use.

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You can make Atoll use only the bearers for which selection thresholds are defined in both the terminal’s and the cell’s reception equipment by adding an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on services, terminals, mobility types, and reception equipment, see "Modelling Services" on page 1062, "Modelling Terminals" on page 1063, "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 1063, and "Defining WiMAX Reception Equipment" on page 1140, respectively. d. If you want the coverage prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. The shadowing margin is based on the C/I standard deviation. e. You can also have the coverage prediction take Indoor coverage into consideration. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 4. Click the Display tab. From the Display type list, select display by bearer or modulation. For information on adjusting the display, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

14.2.9.3.6

Studying the Effective Service Area The effective service area is the intersection zone between the uplink and downlink service areas. In other words, the effective service area prediction calculates where a service is actually available in both downlink and uplink. The service availability depends upon the bearer selection thresholds of the highest and lowest bearers as defined in the properties of the service selected for the prediction. To make an effective service area coverage prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Effective Service Area Analysis (DL+UL) and click OK. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. For information on the prediction Properties dialog box, see "WiMAX Prediction Properties" on page 1058. 3. Click the Conditions tab. On the Conditions tab: a. Select "(Cells table)" from Load conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not going to be based on load conditions taken from a simulation. Atoll will calculate the coverage prediction using the cell loads stored in the cell properties. When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load conditions list.

b. If you wish, select the network Layers for the determination of best servers. Otherwise, you can calculate the prediction for all layers. c. Select a Terminal, a Mobility type, and a Service. The Noise figure defined in the terminal type’s properties dialog box is used in the coverage prediction to determine the total noise in the downlink, and the Noise figure of the transmitter is used to determine the total noise in the uplink. As well, the bearer selection for each pixel according to the C⁄(I+N) level is performed using the bearer selection thresholds defined in the reception equipment. This reception equipment is the one defined in the selected terminal for the downlink coverage predictions, and the one defined in the cell properties of the serving transmitter for the uplink coverage predictions. Mobility is used to index the bearer selection threshold graph to use. You can make Atoll use only the bearers for which selection thresholds are defined in both the terminal’s and the cell’s reception equipment by adding an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual.

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For more information on services, terminals, mobility types, and reception equipment, see "Modelling Services" on page 1062, "Modelling Terminals" on page 1063, "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 1063, and "Defining WiMAX Reception Equipment" on page 1140, respectively. d. If you want the coverage prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. The shadowing margin is based on the C/I standard deviation. e. You can also have the coverage prediction take Indoor coverage into consideration. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 4. Click the Display tab. For an effective service area prediction, the Display type "Unique" is selected by default. The coverage prediction will display where a service is available in both downlink and uplink. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

14.2.9.3.7

Making a Coverage Prediction by Throughput 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 if Monte Carlo simulation results are available. For more information on making aggregate cell throughput coverage predictions using simulation results, see "Making an Aggregate Throughput Coverage Prediction Using Simulation Results" on page 1069. To make a coverage prediction by throughput: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Coverage by Throughput (DL) or Coverage by Throughput (UL) and click OK. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. For information on the prediction Properties dialog box, see "WiMAX Prediction Properties" on page 1058. 3. Click the Conditions tab. On the Conditions tab: a. Select "(Cells table)" from Load conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not going to be based on load conditions taken from a simulation. Atoll will calculate the coverage prediction using the cell loads stored in the cell properties. When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load conditions list.

b. If you wish, select the network Layers for the determination of best servers. Otherwise, you can calculate the prediction for all layers. c. Select a Terminal, a Mobility type, and a Service. The Noise figure defined in the terminal type’s properties dialog box is used in the coverage prediction to determine the total noise in the downlink, and the Noise figure of the transmitter is used to determine the total noise in the uplink. As well, the bearer selection for each pixel according to the C⁄(I+N) level is performed using the bearer selection thresholds defined in the reception equipment. This reception equipment is the one defined in the selected terminal for the downlink coverage predictions, and the one defined in the cell properties of the serving transmitter for the uplink coverage predictions. Mobility is used to index the bearer selection threshold graph to use. You can make Atoll use only the bearers for which selection thresholds are defined in both the terminal’s and the cell’s reception equipment by adding an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on services, terminals, mobility types, and reception equipment, see "Modelling Services" on page 1062, "Modelling Terminals" on page 1063, "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 1063, and "Defining WiMAX Reception Equipment" on page 1140, respectively.

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d. If you want the coverage prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. The shadowing margin is based on the C/I standard deviation. e. You can also have the coverage prediction take Indoor coverage into consideration. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 4. Click the Display tab. From the Display type list, select "Value intervals" to display the coverage prediction by peak MAC, effective MAC, or application throughputs. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Atoll calculates the peak MAC channel throughputs from the information provided in the Global Parameters and in the terminal and mobility properties for the terminal and mobility selected in the coverage prediction. Atoll determines the total number of symbols in the downlink and the uplink subframes from the information in the Global Parameters. 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 effective MAC throughputs are the peak MAC throughputs reduced by retransmission due to errors, or the Block Error Rate (BLER). Atoll uses the block error rate graphs of the reception equipment defined in the selected terminal for downlink or the reception equipment of the cell of the serving transmitter for uplink. The application throughput is the effective MAC throughput reduced by the overheads of the different layers between the MAC and the Application layers. The cell capacity display types let you calculate and display the throughputs available on each pixel of the coverage area taking into account the maximum traffic load limits set for each cell. In other words, 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 downlink is calculated by dividing the downlink cell capacity by the number of downlink users of the serving cell. In uplink, the per-user throughput is either the allocated bandwidth throughput or the uplink cell capacity divided by the number of uplink users of the serving cell, whichever it smaller. The allocated bandwidth throughputs are the throughputs corresponding to the number of subchannels allocated to the terminal at different locations. Subchannelisation in uplink allows mobiles to use different numbers of subchannels depending on the radio conditions. For example, users located far from the base stations use less subchannels than users located near so that they can concentrate their transmission power over a bandwidth narrower than the channel bandwidth in order to maintain the connection in uplink. For more information on throughput calculation, see the Technical Reference Guide. For more information on the Global Parameters, see "Network Settings" on page 1134. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

14.2.9.3.8

Making an Aggregate Throughput Coverage Prediction Using Simulation Results Atoll calculates the aggregate peak MAC, effective MAC, and application cell throughputs during Monte Carlo simulations. The aggregate cell throughputs are the sums of the cell’s user throughputs. You can create a coverage prediction that calculates and displays the surface area covered by each cell, and colours the coverage area of each cell according to its aggregate throughput. To create an aggregate throughput coverage prediction: 1. Create and run a Monte Carlo simulation. For more information on creating Monte Carlo simulations, see "Calculating WiMAX Traffic Simulations" on page 1103. 2. Create a coverage prediction by throughput as explained in "Making a Coverage Prediction by Throughput" on page 1068, with the following exceptions: a. On the Conditions tab, select a simulation or group of simulations from the Load conditions list. The coverage prediction will display the results based on the selected simulation or on the average results of the selected group of simulations. b. On the Display tab, you can display results by Peak MAC aggregate throughput, Effective MAC aggregate throughput, or Aggregate application throughput. The coverage prediction results will be in the form of thresholds. For information on defining the display, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51.

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This coverage prediction displays the surface area covered by each cell and colours it according to its aggregate throughput. For more information on using simulation results in coverage predictions, see "Making Coverage Predictions Using Simulation Results" on page 1112.

14.2.9.3.9

Making a Coverage Prediction by Quality Indicator Downlink and uplink quality indicator coverage predictions calculate and display the values of different quality indicators (such as BLER or BER) based on the best WiMAX radio bearers and on C⁄(I+N) for each pixel. To make a coverage prediction by quality indicator: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Coverage by Quality Indicator (DL) or Coverage by Quality Indicator (UL) and click OK. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. For information on the prediction Properties dialog box, see "WiMAX Prediction Properties" on page 1058. 3. Click the Conditions tab. On the Conditions tab: a. Select "(Cells table)" from Load conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not going to be based on load conditions taken from a simulation. Atoll will calculate the coverage prediction using the cell loads stored in the cell properties. When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load conditions list.

b. If you wish, select the network Layers for the determination of best servers. Otherwise, you can calculate the prediction for all layers. c. Select a Terminal, a Mobility type, and a Service. The Noise figure defined in the terminal type properties dialog box is used in the coverage prediction to determine the total noise in the downlink, and the Noise figure of the transmitter is used to determine the total noise in the uplink. As well, the bearer selection for each pixel according to the C⁄(I+N) level is performed using the bearer selection thresholds defined in the reception equipment, and the quality indicator graphs from the reception equipment are used to determine the values of the selected quality indicator on each pixel. This reception equipment is the one defined in the selected terminal for the downlink coverage predictions, and the one defined in the cell properties of the serving transmitter for the uplink coverage predictions. Mobility is used to index the bearer selection threshold graph to use. You can make Atoll use only the bearers for which selection thresholds are defined in both the terminal and the cell reception equipment by adding an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on services, terminals, mobility types, and reception equipment, see "Modelling Services" on page 1062, "Modelling Terminals" on page 1063, "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 1063, and "Defining WiMAX Reception Equipment" on page 1140, respectively. d. If you want the coverage prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. The shadowing margin is based on the C/I standard deviation. e. You can also have the coverage prediction take Indoor coverage into consideration. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 4. Click the Display tab. You can choose from displaying results by BER, BLER, FER, or any other quality indicator that you might have added to the document. For more information, see "Defining WiMAX Quality Indicators" on page 1139. The coverage prediction results will be in the form of thresholds. For information on adjusting the display, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

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14.2.9.4 Displaying Coverage Prediction Results The results are displayed graphically in the map window according to the settings you made on the Display tab when you created the coverage prediction (step 4. of "Studying Signal Level Coverage of a Single Base Station" on page 1060). If several coverage predictions are visible on the map, it can be difficult to clearly see the results of the coverage prediction you want to analyse. You can select which predictions to display or to hide by selecting or clearing the display check box. For information on managing the display, see "Displaying or Hiding Objects on the Map" on page 50. Once you have completed a prediction, you can also generate reports and statistics with the tools that Atoll provides. For more information, see "Generating Coverage Prediction Reports" on page 212 and "Displaying Coverage Prediction Statistics" on page 214. In this section, the following tools are explained: • • •

14.2.9.4.1

"Displaying the Legend Window" on page 1071 "Displaying Coverage Prediction Results Using the Tip Text" on page 1071 "Printing and Exporting Coverage Prediction Results" on page 1071

Displaying the Legend Window When you create a coverage prediction, you can add the displayed values of the coverage prediction to a legend by selecting the Add to legend check box on the Display tab. To display the Legend window: •

14.2.9.4.2

Select View > Legend Window. The Legend window is displayed, with the values for each displayed coverage prediction identified by the name of the coverage prediction.

Displaying Coverage Prediction Results Using the Tip Text You can get information by placing the pointer over an area of the coverage prediction to read the information displayed in the tip text. The information displayed is defined by the settings you made on the Display tab when you created the coverage prediction (step 4. of "Studying Signal Level Coverage of a Single Base Station" on page 1060). To get coverage prediction results in the form of tip text: •

In the map window, place the pointer over the area of the coverage prediction that you want more information on. After a brief pause, the tip text appears with the information defined in the Display tab of the coverage prediction properties (see Figure 14.4).

Figure 14.4: Displaying coverage prediction results using tip text

14.2.9.4.3

Printing and Exporting Coverage Prediction Results Once you have made a coverage prediction, you can print the results displayed on the map or save them in an external format. You can also export a selected area of the coverage as a bitmap. •

•

•

Printing coverage prediction results: Atoll offers several options allowing you to customise and optimise the printed coverage prediction results. Atoll supports printing to a variety of paper sizes, including A4 and A0. For more information on printing coverage prediction results, see "Printing a Map" on page 91. Defining a geographic export zone: If you want to export part of the coverage prediction as a bitmap, you can define a geographic export zone. After you have defined a geographic export zone, when you export a coverage prediction as a raster image, Atoll offers you the option of exporting only the area covered by the zone. For more information on defining a geographic export zone, see "Geographic Export Zone" on page 68. Exporting coverage prediction results: In Atoll, you can export the coverage areas of a coverage prediction in raster or vector formats. In raster formats, you can export in BMP, TIF, JPEG 2000, ArcView© grid, or Vertical Mapper (GRD and GRC) formats. When exporting in GRD or GRC formats, Atoll allows you to export files larger than 2 GB. In vector formats, you can export in ArcView©, MapInfo©, or AGD formats. For more information on exporting coverage prediction results, see "Exporting Coverage Prediction Results" on page 210.

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14.2.9.5 Analysing a Coverage Prediction Using the Point Analysis Once you have completed a prediction, you can use the Point Analysis tool to verify it. If you do, before you make the point analysis, ensure the coverage prediction you want to verify is displayed on the map. In this section, the following are explained: • • •

14.2.9.5.1

"Studying Signal Reception" on page 1072 "Analysing Interference" on page 1073 "Obtaining Numerical Values of Signal Levels and Interference" on page 1074

Studying Signal Reception The Reception view of the Point Analysis tool gives you information on the preamble, traffic, and pilot signal levels, C/(I+N), bearers, and throughputs, and so on, for any point on the map. The analysis is provided for a user-definable probe receiver which has a terminal, a mobility, and a service. The downlink and uplink load conditions can be taken from the Cells table or from Monte Carlo simulations. To make a reception analysis: 1. Click the Point Analysis button ( changes (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar. The Point Analysis window opens and the pointer

) to represent the receiver.

2. In the Point Analysis window, select the Reception view. Select the load conditions to use in this analysis from simulations or from the Cells table.

The preamble signal level from the best server (topmost bar) and all interfering cells. Solid bars indicate signal levels above the preamble C/N threshold.

The connection status for the current point. Successful Failed

Select the parameters of the probe user to be studied. Figure 14.5: Point analysis tool: Reception view 3. Move the pointer over the map to make a reception analysis for the current location of the pointer. In the map window, arrows from the pointer to each transmitter are displayed in the colour of the transmitters they represent. The line from the pointer to its best server is slightly thicker than the other lines. The best server of the pointer is the transmitter from which the pointer receives the highest preamble signal level. 4. In the Reception view toolbar, select "Cells table" from the Loads list. The bar graph displays the following information: • • •

The preamble, traffic, or pilot signal levels or C/N (depending on the selection made from the Display list) from different transmitters (the colour of the bar corresponds to the colour of the transmitter on the map). The preamble C/N thresholds: The empty portion of the bar indicates signal levels below the preamble C/N thresholds. The availability of preamble coverage and service in downlink and uplink.

If there is at least one successful connection (for preamble, downlink, or uplink), double-clicking the icons in the righthand frame opens a dialog box with additional information about the best server: • • •

Preamble: Azimuth and tilt of the receiver, total losses, received preamble power, preamble total noise, preamble C/(I+N). Downlink: Diversity mode, permutation zone, pilot and traffic received powers, traffic total noise, pilot and traffic C/(I+N), bearer, channel throughputs, cell capacities, and per-user throughputs. Uplink: Diversity mode, permutation zone, received power, transmission power, allocated bandwidth, total noise, C/(I+N), bearer, channel throughputs, cell capacities, allocated bandwidth throughputs, and per-user throughputs.

5. Select the signal to be displayed from the Display list.

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6. If you are analysing reception to verify a coverage prediction, you can recreate the conditions of the coverage prediction by specifying the parameters if the study: a. If necessary, select a layer filter for the serving cells from the Layer list. a. Select the same Terminal, Mobility, and Service studied in the coverage prediction. b. In the Reception view toolbar, click Options ( i.

). The Calculation Options dialog box appears.

Edit the X and Y coordinates to change the present position of the receiver.

ii. Select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a Cell edge coverage probability. iii. Select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. iv. Click OK. 7. Click the map to leave the point analysis pointer at its current position. To move the pointer again, click the point analysis pointer on the map and drag it to a new position. 8. In the Reception view toolbar, you can use the following tools: •

Click Report (

•

Click Copy ( programme.

) to generate a report that contains the information from the point analysis window.

• •

Click Print ( ) to print the content of the view. Click Centre on Map ( ) to centre the map window on the receiver.

) to copy the content of the view and paste it as a graphic into a graphic editing or word-processing

9. Click Point Analysis (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar again to end the point analysis.

You can display a point analysis that uses the settings from an existing prediction by right-clicking the prediction in the Network explorer and selecting Open Point Analysis from the context menu.

14.2.9.5.2

Analysing Interference In Atoll, you can study the interferers of a transmitter using the Point Analysis tool. The Interference view gives you information on interference received on any downlink channel on any point on the map. The analysis is provided for a user-definable probe receiver which has a terminal, a mobility, and a service. The downlink and uplink load conditions can be taken from the Cells table or from Monte Carlo simulations. To make an interference analysis: 1. Click the Point Analysis button ( changes (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar. The Point Analysis window opens and the pointer

) to represent the receiver.

2. In the Point Analysis window, select the Interference view. Select the load conditions to use in this analysis from simulations or from the Cells table.

The best server signal level (top-most bar), total noise (black bar), and interference from other cells.

Select the parameters of the probe user to be studied. Figure 14.6: Point analysis tool: Interference view 3. Move the pointer over the map to make an interference analysis for the current location of the pointer. In the map window, a thick arrow from the pointer to its best server is displayed. The best server of the pointer is the transmitter from which the pointer receives the highest preamble signal level. Thinner arrows are also displayed from

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the interfering cells towards the pointer, indicating the interferers. If you let the pointer rest on an arrow, the interference level received from the corresponding transmitter at the receiver location will be displayed in the tip text. 4. In the Interference view, select "Cells table" from the Loads list. The Interference view displays, in the form of a bar graph, the signal level from the best server, a black bar indicating the total noise (I+N) received by the receiver, and bars representing the interference received from each interferer. If you let the pointer rest on a bar, details are displayed in the tip text: • • •

For the best server: Name, received signal level, and C/(I+N). For the total noise (I+N): The values of each component, i.e., I, N, and the downlink inter-technology noise rise. For each interferer: The effective interference and the various interference reduction factors.

5. Select Inter-technology interference to display interference from other technologies. The Interference bar graph displays the interference received from each inter-technology interferer. Disable Inter-technology interference to display intra-technology interference only. 6. Select the channel on which you want to study the interference from the Display list. 7. If you are analysing interferences to verify a coverage prediction, you can recreate the conditions of the coverage prediction by specifying the parameters of the study: a. If necessary, select a layer filter for the serving cells from the Layer list. a. Select the same Terminal, Mobility, and Service studied in the coverage prediction. b. In the Reception view toolbar, click Options ( i.

). The Calculation Options dialog box appears.

Edit the X and Y coordinates to change the present position of the receiver.

ii. Select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a Cell edge coverage probability. iii. Select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. iv. Click OK. 8. Click the map to leave the point analysis pointer at its current position. To move the pointer again, click the point analysis pointer on the map and drag it to a new position. 9. In the Interference view toolbar, you can use the following tools: •

Click the Report button ( ) to generate a report that contains the information from the Point Analysis window. The Analysis Report dialog box opens.

•

Click the Copy button ( processing programme.

• •

Click the Print button ( ) to print the content of the view. Click the Centre on Map button ( ) to centre the map window on the receiver.

10. Click Point Analysis (

) to copy the content of the view and paste it as a graphic into a graphic editing or word-

) on the Radio Planning toolbar again to end the point analysis.

You can display a point analysis that uses the settings from an existing prediction by right-clicking the prediction in the Network explorer and selecting Open Point Analysis from the context menu.

14.2.9.5.3

Obtaining Numerical Values of Signal Levels and Interference In Atoll, you can display numerical values of preamble signal levels and interference received at the pointer location in the form of a table using the Point Analysis tool. The Details view gives you information on useful as well as interfering preamble signal levels received on any point on the map. The analysis is provided for a user-definable probe receiver which has a terminal, a mobility, and a service. The downlink and uplink load conditions can be taken from the Cells table or from Monte Carlo simulations. To make a detailed analysis: 1. Click the Point Analysis button ( changes (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar. The Point Analysis window opens and the pointer

) to represent the receiver.

2. In the Point Analysis window, select the Details view. The Details view displays the following information in the form of a table:

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•

• • • •

Cell: The name of the cell from which the received signal levels are displayed. The cells are listed in decreasing order of preamble signal levels. The first row of the table is displayed in bold and italic indicating the best server of the pointer on the map. Distance (m): The distance from the cell to the current location of the pointer on the map. Preamble C (dBm): The received preamble signal level from the cell. Preamble C/N (dB): The received preamble C/N level from the cell. Preamble I (dBm): The interference level received from interfering cells on the preamble of the cell.

Atoll lists all the cells from which the pointer receives a preamble C/N higher than the Preamble C/N Threshold defined for these cells. 3. Move the pointer over the map to make an interference analysis for the current location of the pointer. In the map window, a thick arrow from the pointer to its best server is displayed. The best server of the pointer is the transmitter from which the pointer receives the highest preamble signal level. Thinner arrows are also displayed from the interfering cells towards the pointer, indicating the interferers. 4. In the Details view, select "Cells table" from the Loads list. 5. If you are making a detailed analysis to verify a coverage prediction, you can recreate the conditions of the coverage prediction by specifying the parameters of the study: a. If necessary, select a layer filter for the serving cells from the Layer list. a. Select the same Terminal, Mobility, and Service studied in the coverage prediction. b. In the Reception view toolbar, click Options ( i.

). The Calculation Options dialog box appears.

Edit the X and Y coordinates to change the present position of the receiver.

ii. Select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a Cell edge coverage probability. iii. Select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. iv. Click OK. 6. Click the map to leave the point analysis pointer at its current position. To move the pointer again, click the point analysis pointer on the map and drag it to a new position. 7. In the Details view toolbar, you can use the following tools: •

Click the Display Columns button ( view.

•

Click the Copy button ( ) to copy the content of the table or of a cell selection and paste it as a graphic into a graphic editing or word-processing programme. Click the Centre on Map button ( ) to centre the map window on the receiver.

•

) to select the columns to be displayed or hidden in the table of the Details

8. To display only interfering cells for the pointer on the map, which means cells whose C/N is above the Min Interferer C/N Threshold defined in the Calculation Parameters tab of the Radio Network Settings Properties dialog box, select the Show interferers only check box. 9. Click Point Analysis (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar again to end the point analysis.

14.2.9.6 Comparing Coverage Predictions Atoll allows you to compare two similar predictions to see the differences between them. This enables you to quickly see how changes you make affect the network. In this section, there are two examples to explain how you can compare two similar predictions. You can display the results of the comparison in one of the following ways: • • •

•

•

Intersection: This display shows the area where both coverage predictions overlap (for example, pixels covered by both predictions are displayed in red). Merge: This display shows the area that is covered by either of the coverage predictions (for example, pixels covered by at least one of the predictions are displayed in red). Union: This display shows all pixels covered by both coverage predictions in one colour and pixels covered by only one coverage prediction in a different colour (for example, pixels covered by both predictions are red and pixels covered by only one prediction are blue). Difference: This display shows all pixels covered by both coverage predictions in one colour, pixels covered by only the first prediction with another colour and pixels covered only by the second prediction with a third colour (for example, pixels covered by both predictions are red, pixels covered only by the first prediction are green, and pixels covered only by the second prediction are blue). Value Difference: This display shows the dB difference between any two coverage predictions by signal level. This display option will not be available if the coverage predictions were calculated using different resolutions.

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To compare two similar coverage predictions: 1. Create and calculate a coverage prediction of the existing network. 2. Examine the coverage prediction to see where coverage can be improved. 3. Make the changes to the network to improve coverage. 4. Duplicate the original coverage prediction (in order to leave the first coverage prediction unchanged). 5. Calculate the duplicated coverage prediction. 6. Compare the original coverage prediction with the new coverage prediction. Atoll displays differences in coverage between them. In this section, the following examples are explained: • •

"Example 1: Studying the Effect of a New Base Station" on page 1076 "Example 2: Studying the Effect of a Change in Transmitter Tilt" on page 1077.

Example 1: Studying the Effect of a New Base Station If you have an area in a network that is poorly covered by current transmitters, you have several options for increasing coverage. In this example, you can verify if a newly added base station improves coverage. A signal level coverage prediction of the current network is made as described in "Making a Coverage Prediction by Signal Level" on page 1061. The results are displayed in Figure 14.7. An area with poor coverage is visible on the right side of the figure.

Figure 14.7: Signal level coverage prediction of existing network A new base station is added, either by creating the base station and adding the transmitters, as explained in "Creating WiMAX Base Stations" on page 1042, or by placing a station template, as explained in "Placing a New Base Station Using a Station Template" on page 1044. Once the new site has been added, the original coverage prediction can be recalculated, but then it would be impossible to compare the results. Instead, the original signal level coverage prediction can be copied by selecting Duplicate from its context menu. The copy is then calculated to show the effect of the new base station (see Figure 14.8).

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Figure 14.8: Signal level coverage prediction of network with new base station Now you can compare the two predictions. To compare two predictions: 1. Right-click one of the two predictions, select Compare with and, from the menu that opens, select the prediction you want to compare with the first. The Comparison Properties dialog box appears. 2. Click the General tab. You can change the Name of the comparison and add Comments. The General tab contains information about the coverage predictions being compared, including their names and resolutions. 3. Click the Display tab and choose how you want the results of the comparison to be displayed among: • • • •

Intersection Merge Union Difference

In order to see what changes adding a new base station made, it is recommended to choose Difference. 4. Click OK to create the comparison. The comparison in Figure 14.9, shows the area covered only by the new base station.

Figure 14.9: Comparison of both signal level coverage predictions

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Example 2: Studying the Effect of a Change in Transmitter Tilt If you have an area in a network that is poorly covered by current transmitters, you have several options for increasing coverage. In this example, you can see how modifying transmitter tilt can improve coverage. A coverage prediction by transmitter of the current network is made as described in "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter" on page 1061. The results are displayed in Figure 14.10. The coverage prediction shows that one transmitter is covering its area poorly. The area is indicated by a red oval in Figure 14.10.

Figure 14.10: Coverage prediction by transmitter of existing network You can try modifying the tilt on the transmitter to improve the coverage. The properties of the transmitter can be accessed by right-clicking the transmitter in the map window and selecting Properties from the context menu. The mechanical and electrical tilt of the antenna are defined on the Transmitter tab of the Properties dialog box. Once the tilt of the antenna has been modified, the original coverage prediction can be recalculated, but then it would be impossible to compare the results. Instead, the original coverage prediction can be copied by selecting Duplicate from its context menu. The copy is then calculated, to show how modifying the antenna tilt has affected coverage (see Figure 14.11).

Figure 14.11: Coverage prediction by transmitter of network after modifications In this example, modifying the antenna tilt increased the coverage of the transmitter. However, to see exactly the change in coverage, you can compare the two predictions. To compare two predictions: 1. Right-click one of the two predictions, select Compare with and, from the menu that opens, select the prediction you want to compare with the first. The Comparison Properties dialog box appears. 2. Click the General tab. You can change the Name of the comparison and add Comments. The General tab contains information about the coverage predictions being compared, including their names and resolutions. 3. Click the Display tab and choose how you want the results of the comparison to be displayed among: • •

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• •

Union Difference

In order to see what changes modifying the antenna tilt made, choose Union. This mode displays all pixels covered by both predictions in one colour and all pixels covered by only one prediction in another colour. The increase in coverage, seen in only the second coverage prediction, is immediately clear. 4. Click OK to create the comparison. The comparison in Figure 14.12, shows the increase in coverage due at the change in antenna tilt.

Figure 14.12: Comparison of both transmitter coverage predictions

14.2.9.7 Multi-point Analyses In Atoll, you can carry out calculations on lists of points that represent subscriber locations for analysis. These analyses may be useful for verifying network QoS at subscriber locations in case of incidents (call drops, low throughputs, and so on) reported by users. In point analysis, a number of parameters are calculated at each point for all potential servers. This section covers the following topics related to point analyses: • • •

"Point Analysis Properties" on page 1079 "Making a Point Analysis" on page 1079 "Viewing Point Analysis Results" on page 1080

This section also covers the following topics related to subscriber analyses: • • •

14.2.9.7.1

"Subscriber Analysis Properties" on page 1081 "Making a Subscriber Analysis" on page 1081 "Viewing Subscriber Analysis Results" on page 1081

Point Analysis Properties The point analysis Properties window allows you to create and edit point analyses. The General Tab The General tab allows you to specify the following settings for the point analysis: • •

Name: Specify the assigned Name of the point analysis. Comments: Specify an optional description of comment for the point analysis.

The Conditions Tab The load condition parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. •

• •

Load conditions: Select "(Cells table)" to calculate the point analysis using the load conditions defined in the cells table. Select a simulation or a group of simulations to calculate the point analysis using the load conditions calculated by Monte Carlo simulations. Shadowing taken into account: Select this option to consider shadowing in the point analysis. For more information, see "Modelling Shadowing" on page 1150. If you select this option, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability. Indoor coverage: Select this option to consider indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

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The Points Tab The Points tab displays a table containing each point of the point-analysis. You can use this table to import and create points or to export a list of points. • • • • • •

Position Id: The indexes of the points used for the point analysis. X and Y: The coordinates of the points used for the point analysis. Height (m): The height of the points used for the point analysis. Service: The services assigned to the points used for the point analysis. Terminal: The terminals assigned to the points used for the point analysis. Mobility: The mobility types assigned to the points used for the point analysis.

The Display Tab On the Display tab, you can modify how the results of the point analysis will be displayed. For information on changing display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51.

14.2.9.7.2

Making a Point Analysis Point analyses are calculated on lists of points, which are either imported or created on the map using the mouse. The results are based on user-defined calculation settings. To create a new point analysis: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Multi-point Analysis folder and select New Point Analysis. The Point Analysis Properties dialog box appears. 2. On the General and Conditions tabs, specify the settings as described in "Point Analysis Properties" on page 1079. 3. On the Points tab, you can create a list of points by: •

•

• •

Importing a list of points from an external file: Click the Actions button and select Import Table from the menu to open the Open file dialog box. In this dialog box, select a TXT or CSV file containing a list of points and click Open. For more information on importing data tables, see "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88. Importing a list of points from a fixed subscriber traffic map: Click the Actions button and select Import from Fixed Subscribers from the menu to open the Fixed Subscribers dialog box. In this dialog box, select one or more existing fixed subscriber traffic maps and click OK. Copying a list of points from an external file. Creating points in the list by editing the table: Add new points by clicking the New Row icon ( ) and entering X and Y coordinates as well as a service, a terminal, and a mobility. The list of points must have the same coordinate system as the display coordinate system used in the Atoll document. For more information on coordinate systems, see "Setting a Coordinate System" on page 41.

•

It is also possible to leave the Points tab empty and add points to the analysis on the map using the mouse once the point analysis item has been created. To add points on the map using the mouse, right-click the point analysis item to which you want to add points, and select Add Points from the context menu. The mouse pointer changes to point creation mode (

•

). Click once to create each point you

want to add. Press ESC or click the Pointer button ( ) in the Map toolbar to finish adding points. You can also export the list of point from a point analysis to ASCII text files (TXT and CSV formats) and MS Excel XML Spreadsheet files (XML format) by selecting Actions > Export Table. For more information on exporting table data, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86.

4. On the Display tab, specify how to display point analysis results on the map according to any input or calculated parameter. For more information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have defined the point analysis parameters, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the point analysis and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the point analysis without calculating it. You can calculate it later by opening the point analysis properties and clicking the Calculate button.

Once Atoll has finished calculating the point analysis, the results are displayed in the map window. You can also access the analysis results in a table format. For more information, see "Viewing Point Analysis Results" on page 1080.

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You can also organise point analyses in folders under the Multi-point Analysis folder by creating folders under the Multi-point Analysis folder in the Network explorer. Folders may contain one or more point analyses items. You can move point analyses items from one folder to another and rename folders.

14.2.9.7.3

Viewing Point Analysis Results Once a point analysis has been calculated, its results are displayed on the map and are also available in the point analysis item in the form of a table. To view the results table of a point analysis: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Multi-point Analysis folder, right-click the analysis whose results table you want to view, and select Analysis Results from the context menu. The Results dialog box appears. The results table includes the following information: • • • • • • • • • • • •

Position Id: The indexes of the points used for the point analysis. X and Y: The coordinates of the points used for the point analysis. Height (m): The height of the points used for the point analysis. Service: The services assigned to the points used for the point analysis. Terminal: The terminals assigned to the points used for the point analysis. Mobility: The mobility types assigned to the points used for the point analysis. Cell: The names of the potential serving cells. Distance (m): The distance from the potential serving cells. Preamble Index: The preamble indexes of the potential serving cells. Preamble C (dBm): The received preamble signal level from the potential serving cells. Preamble C/N (dB): The received preamble C/N from the best serving cell. Preamble I (dBm): The received interference on the preamble from the potential serving cells.

2. To add or remove columns from the results table: a. Click the Actions button and select Display Columns from the menu. The Columns to be Displayed dialog box opens. b. Select or clear the columns that you want to display or hide. c. Click Close. You can export the point analysis results table to ASCII text files (TXT and CSV formats) and MS Excel XML Spreadsheet files (XML format) by selecting Actions > Export. For more information on exporting table data, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. 3. Click Close.

14.2.9.7.4

Subscriber Analysis Properties The fixed subscriber analysis Properties window allows you to create and edit subscriber analyses. The General Tab The General tab allows you to specify the following settings for the point analysis: • • •

Name: Specify the assigned Name of the point analysis. Comments: Specify an optional description of comment for the point analysis. Shadowing taken into account: Select this option to consider shadowing in the point analysis. For more information, see "Modelling Shadowing" on page 1150. If you select this option, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability.

The Traffic Tab On the Traffic tab, you can select one or more fixed subscriber traffic maps for the analysis. For more information, see "Creating a Fixed Subscribers Traffic Map" on page 263. The Display Tab On the Display tab, you can modify how the results of the subscriber analysis will be displayed. For information on changing display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51.

14.2.9.7.5

Making a Subscriber Analysis Subscriber analyses are calculated on fixed subscriber locations stored in fixed subscriber traffic maps. The results are based on user-defined calculation settings.

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To create a new subscriber analysis: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Multi-point Analysis folder and select New Subscriber Analysis. The Fixed Subscriber Analysis Properties dialog box appears. 2. On the General and Traffic tabs, specify the settings as described in "Subscriber Analysis Properties" on page 1081. 3. On the Display tab, specify how to display subscriber analysis results on the map according to any input or calculated parameter. For more information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 4. Once you have defined the subscriber analysis parameters, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the subscriber analysis and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the subscriber analysis without calculating it. You can calculate it later by opening the subscriber analysis properties and clicking the Calculate button.

Once Atoll has finished calculating the subscriber analysis, the results are displayed in the map window. You can also access the analysis results in a table format. For more information, see "Viewing Subscriber Analysis Results" on page 1081. You can also organise subscriber analyses in folders under the Multi-point Analysis folder by creating folders under the Multipoint Analysis folder in the Network explorer. Folders may contain one or more subscriber analyses items. You can move subscriber analyses items from one folder to another and rename folders.

14.2.9.7.6

Viewing Subscriber Analysis Results Once a subscriber analysis has been calculated, its results are displayed on the map and are also available in the subscriber analysis item in the form of a table. To view the results table of a subscriber analysis: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Multi-point Analysis folder, right-click the analysis whose results table you want to view, and select Analysis Results from the context menu. The Results dialog box appears. The results table includes the following information for each subscriber included in the analysis: • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

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Position Id: The index of the subscriber. X and Y: The coordinates of the subscriber. Height (m): The height of the subscriber. Service: The service assigned to the subscriber. Terminal: The terminal assigned to the subscriber. Mobility: The mobility type assigned to the subscriber. Activity status: The assigned activity status. It can be Active DL, Active UL, Active DL+UL, or Inactive. Clutter class: The code of the clutter class where the subscriber is located. Indoor: This field indicates whether indoor losses have been added or not. Best server: The best server of the subscriber. Serving cell: The serving cell of the serving transmitter of the subscriber. Layer: The layer of the serving cell of the subscriber. Azimuth: The orientation of the subscriber’s terminal antenna in the horizontal plane. Azimuth is always considered with respect to the North. Atoll points the subscriber antenna towards its best server. Downtilt: The orientation of the subscriber’s terminal antenna in the vertical plane. Mechanical downtilt is positive when it is downwards and negative when upwards. Atoll points the subscriber antenna towards its best server. Path loss (dB): The path loss from the best server calculated for the subscriber. Received preamble power (DL) (dBm): The preamble signal level received at the subscriber location in the downlink. Received traffic power (DL) (dBm): The traffic signal level received at the subscriber location in the downlink. Received pilot power (DL) (dBm): The pilot signal level received at the subscriber location in the downlink. Preamble C/(I+N) (DL) (dB): The preamble C/(I+N) at the subscriber location in the downlink. Traffic C/(I+N) (DL) (dB): The traffic C/(I+N) at the subscriber location in the downlink. Pilot C/(I+N) (DL) (dB): The pilot C/(I+N) at the subscriber location in the downlink. Preamble total noise (I+N) (DL) (dBm): The sum of the preamble interference and noise experienced at the subscriber location in the downlink. Traffic total noise (I+N) (DL) (dBm): The sum of the traffic interference and noise experienced at the subscriber location in the downlink. Bearer (DL): The highest WiMAX bearer available for the traffic C/(I+N) level at the subscriber location in the downlink. Permutation zone (DL): The downlink permutation zone allocated to the subscriber. BLER (DL): The Block Error Rate read from the subscriber terminal’s reception equipment for the traffic C/(I+N) level at the subscriber location in the downlink. Diversity mode (DL): The diversity mode supported by the cell or permutation zone in downlink. Peak MAC channel throughput (DL) (kbps): The maximum MAC channel throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at the subscriber location in the downlink.

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•

•

• • • • • • • • • • •

•

•

•

•

Effective MAC channel throughput (DL) (kbps): The effective MAC channel throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at the subscriber location in the downlink. It is calculated from the peak MAC throughput and the BLER. Application channel throughput (DL) (kbps): The application throughput is the net throughput without coding (redundancy, overhead, addressing, etc.). It is calculated from the effective MAC throughput, the throughput scaling factor of the service and the throughput offset. Received power (UL) (dBm): The signal level received at the serving transmitter from the subscriber terminal in the uplink. C/(I+N) (UL) (dB): The C/(I+N) at the serving transmitter of the subscriber in the uplink. Total noise (I+N) (UL) (dBm): The sum of the interference and noise experienced at the serving transmitter of the subscriber in the uplink. Bearer (UL): The highest WiMAX bearer available for the C/(I+N) level at the serving transmitter of the subscriber in the uplink. Permutation zone (UL): The uplink permutation zone allocated to the subscriber. BLER (UL): The Block Error Rate read from the serving cell’s reception equipment for the C/(I+N) level at the serving transmitter of the subscriber in the uplink. Diversity mode (UL): The diversity mode supported by the cell or permutation zone in uplink. Transmission power (UL) (dBm): The transmission power of the subscriber terminal after power control in the uplink. Allocated bandwidth (UL) (No. of Subchannels): The bandwidth allocated to the subscriber in terms of the number of subchannels allocated in the uplink after subchannelisation. Peak MAC channel throughput (UL) (kbps): The maximum MAC channel throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at subscriber location in the uplink. Effective MAC channel throughput (UL) (kbps): The effective MAC channel throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at the subscriber location in the uplink. It is calculated from the peak MAC throughput and the BLER. Application channel throughput (UL) (kbps): The application throughput is the net throughput without coding (redundancy, overhead, addressing, etc.). It is calculated from the effective MAC throughput, the throughput scaling factor of the service and the throughput offset. Peak MAC allocated bandwidth throughput (UL) (kbps): The maximum MAC throughput attainable for the number of subchannels allocated to the subscriber using the highest bearer available at the user location in the uplink. Effective MAC allocated bandwidth throughput (UL) (kbps): The effective MAC throughput attainable for the number of subchannels allocated to the subscriber using the highest bearer available at the user location in the uplink. It is calculated from the peak MAC throughput and the BLER. Application allocated bandwidth throughput (UL) (kbps): The application throughput is the net throughput without coding (redundancy, overhead, addressing, etc.). It is calculated from the effective MAC throughput, the throughput scaling factor of the service and the throughput offset.

2. To add or remove columns from the results table: a. Click the Actions button and select Display Columns from the menu. The Columns to be Displayed dialog box opens. b. Select or clear the columns that you want to display or hide. c. Click Close. You can export the point analysis results table to ASCII text files (TXT and CSV formats) and MS Excel XML Spreadsheet files (XML format) by selecting Actions > Export. For more information on exporting table data, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. 3. Click Close.

14.2.10 Planning Neighbours You can use Atoll to manually allocate neighbour relations to any cell in a network. You can also use Atoll to automatically allocate neighbour relations to a single cell, to all the cells of a base station, to all the cells in a transmitter group, or to all the cells in a network, based on predefined parameters. In this section, only the concepts that are specific to automatic neighbour allocation in WiMAX networks are explained. For more information on neighbour planning, see "Neighbour Planning" on page 223.

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Figure 14.13: WiMAX handover area between reference cell and potential neighbour

14.2.10.1 Coverage Conditions The Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box provides a Use coverage conditions option: • •

When Use coverage conditions is not selected, the defined Distance is used to allocate neighbours to a reference transmitter. When Use coverage conditions is selected, click Define to open the Coverage Conditions dialog box: • •

• •

• •

Resolution: Enter the resolution to be used to calculate cells’ coverage areas during automatic neighbour allocation. Global preamble C/N threshold: Select this check box to set a global value for the preamble C/N threshold. If you set a global value here, Atoll will use this value or the Preamble C/N threshold value defined for each cell, whichever is higher. The preamble signal level threshold (in dBm) is calculated for each cell from its preamble C/N threshold (in dB) considering the channel bandwidth of the cell and using the terminal that has the highest difference between its gain and losses so that the most number of potential neighbours can be processed. Handover start: Enter the margin, with respect to the best server coverage area of the reference cell (cell A), from which the handover process starts. Handover end: Enter the margin, with respect to the best server coverage area of the reference cell (cell A), at which the handover process ends. The value entered for the Handover end must be greater than the value for the Handover start. The higher the value entered for the Handover end, the longer the list of potential neighbours. The area between the Handover start and the Handover end constitutes the area within which Atoll will search for neighbours. Shadowing Taken into Account: If selected, enter a Cell edge coverage probability. Indoor Coverage: Select this option to take indoor losses into account in calculations. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

14.2.10.2 Calculation Constraints In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, you can select the following calculation constraints: • •

• •

Co-site cells as neighbours: When selected, the cells located on the same site as the reference cell are automatically considered as neighbours. A cell with no antenna cannot be considered as a co-site neighbour. Adjacent cells as neighbours (Intra-carrier Neighbours tab only): When selected, the cells that are adjacent to the reference cell are automatically considered as neighbours. A cell is considered adjacent if there is at least one pixel in the reference cell’s coverage area where the potential neighbour cell is the best server, or where the potential neighbour cell is the second best server respecting the handover end. Symmetric relations: Select this option if you want the neighbour relations to be reciprocal, which means that any reference transmitter/cell is a potential neighbour of all the cells that are its neighbours. Exceptional pairs: Select this option to force the neighbour relations defined in the Intra-technology Exceptional pairs table. For information on exceptional pairs, see "Defining Exceptional Pairs" on page 223.

14.2.10.3 Reasons for Allocation In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, the reason for neighbour allocation is indicated under Cause in the Results table. It can be any of the following:

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Cause

Description

When

Distance

The neighbour is located within the defined maximum distance from the reference cell

Use coverage conditions is not selected

Coverage

The neighbour relation fulfils the defined coverage conditions

Use coverage conditions is selected and nothing is selected under Force

Co-Site

The neighbour is located on the same site as the reference cell

Use coverage conditions and Co-site cells as neighbours are selected

Adjacent

The neighbour is adjacent to the reference cell

Use coverage conditions is selected and Adjacent cells as neighbours is selected

Symmetry

The neighbour relation between the reference cell and the neighbour is symmetrical

Use coverage conditions is selected and Symmetric relations is selected

Exceptional Pair

The neighbour relation is defined as an exceptional pair

Exceptional pairs is selected

Existing

The neighbour relation existed before automatic allocation

Delete existing neighbours is not selected

14.3 Configuring Network Parameters Using the AFP The Atoll AFP (Automatic Frequency Planning module) enables you to automatically configure network parameters such as the frequency channels, preamble indexes, and permbases. The AFP can perform fractional frequency planning through automatic configuration of the segment number in preamble index planning. The aim of the AFP is to allocate resources in a way that minimises interference following the user-defined constraints. The AFP assigns a cost to each constraint and then uses a cost-based algorithm to evaluate possible allocation plans and propose the allocation plan with the lowest costs. The AFP cost function comprises input elements such as interference matrices, neighbour relations, and allowed ranges of resources for allocation. The quality of the results given by the AFP depends on the accuracy of the input. Therefore, it is important to prepare the input before running the AFP. In the following sections, the AFP input elements are explained: • • • •

"Working with Interference Matrices" on page 1085 "Defining Neighbour Relations and Importance" on page 1086 "Setting Resources Available for Allocation" on page 1086 "Configuring Cost Component Weights" on page 1087

Once the AFP input elements have been set up, the AFP can be used for: • • •

"Planning Frequencies" on page 1087 "Planning Preamble Indexes" on page 1089 "Planning Permutation Zone PermBases" on page 1091

Once you have completed an automatic allocation, you can analyse the results with the tools that Atoll provides: • •

"Displaying the AFP Results on the Map" on page 1093. "Analysing the AFP Results" on page 1095.

14.3.1 Working with Interference Matrices In Atoll, the probability of interference between pairs of cells is stored in an interference matrix. An interference matrix can be thought of as the probability that a user in a cell will receive interference higher than a defined threshold. You can calculate, import, and store more than one interference matrix in the Interference Matrices folder in the Network explorer. This section covers the following topics: • •

"Calculating Interference Matrices" on page 1085 "Importing and Exporting Interference Matrices" on page 1086

14.3.1.1 Calculating Interference Matrices Atoll calculates interference matrices in the form of co- and adjacent channel interference probabilities for each interfered and interfering cell pair. The probabilities of interference are stated in terms of percentages of the interfered area. In other words, it is the ratio of the interfered surface area to the best server coverage area of an interfered cell. When Atoll calculates interference matrices, it calculates the value of the preamble C/(I+N) for each pixel of the interfered service area between two cells (the interfered cell and the interfering cell). For co-channel interference, a pixel is considered

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interfered if the C/(I+N) is lower than the preamble C/N threshold defined for the interfered cell. For adjacent channel interference, a pixel is considered interfered if the C/(I+N) is lower than the preamble C/N threshold defined for the interfered cell less the adjacent channel suppression factor defined for the frequency band of the interfered cell. You can amplify the degradation of the C/(I+N) by using a high quality margin when calculating the interference matrices. For example, a 3 dB quality margin would imply that each interferer is considered to be twice as strong compared to a calculation without any quality margin (which means 0 dB). To calculate interference matrices: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Interference Matrices folder and select New from the context menu. The Interference Matrices Properties dialog box appears. 2. On the General tab, you can set the following parameters: • • • • •

Name: Enter a name for the new interference matrix. Resolution: Enter the resolution used to calculate the coverage areas of cells for the interference matrix calculation. Type: The type is set to Calculated for calculated interference matrices. Quality margin: Enter a quality margin. Shadowing taken into account: If selected, enter a Cell edge coverage probability.

3. Once you have created the interference matrix, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined interference matrix and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined interference matrix without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

Once calculated, the new interference matrix is available in the Interference Matrices folder and will be available for use the next time you run the AFP. You can modify the properties of an existing interference matrix by selecting Properties from the interference matrix context menu. An existing interference matrix can be calculated again by selecting Calculate from the interference matrix context menu.

14.3.1.2 Importing and Exporting Interference Matrices You can import interference matrices from external sources, such as the OAM, in Atoll from TXT (text), CSV (comma separated value), and IM2 files. In the interference matrix file you want to import, the interference matrix entries must have the following syntax: The separator can be a tab, a comma, a semicolon, or space. If the interference matrix file being imported contains the same interfered-interferer pair more than once, Atoll keeps the last description of the pair. Atoll does not perform a validity check on the imported interference file; you must therefore ensure that the imported information is consistent with the current configuration. Furthermore, Atoll only imports interference matrices for active transmitters. To import an interference matrix: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Interference Matrices folder and select Import from the context menu. The Open dialog box appears. 2. Select the file containing the interference matrix and click Open. The table Import dialog box appears. For more information on importing table data, see "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88. To export an interference matrix: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Interference Matrices folder, right-click the interference matrix you want to export, and select Export from the context menu. The Export dialog box appears. For information on exporting table data, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86.

14.3.2 Defining Neighbour Relations and Importance In Atoll, neighbour importance values are calculated by the automatic neighbour allocation process and can be used by the AFP for frequency and physical cell ID allocation. •

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• •

For more information on calculating neighbour importance values, see "Evaluating Neighbour Importance" on page 231. For more details on the calculation of neighbour importance values, see the Technical Reference Guide.

14.3.3 Setting Resources Available for Allocation The AFP allocates resources from a pool of available resources. For automatic frequency planning, the available resources are defined by the channel numbers available in the frequency band assigned to any cell. In the frequency band properties, the first and last channel numbers define the range of available channel numbers in the band. Channel numbers within this range can be set as unavailable by listing them in the excluded channels list. For more information, see "Defining Frequency Bands" on page 1134. For automatic preamble index planning, Atoll facilitates the management of preamble indexes by letting you create domains, each containing groups of preamble indexes. The procedure for managing preamble indexes in a WiMAX document consists of the following steps: 1. Creating a preamble index domain, as explained in this section. 2. Creating groups, each containing a range of preamble indexes, and assigning them to a domain, as explained in "Planning Preamble Indexes" on page 1089. 3. Assigning a preamble index domain to a cell or cells. If there is no preamble index domain, Atoll will consider all 114 possible preamble indexes when assigning them automatically. To create a preamble index domain: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Network Settings folder, expand the Preamble Indexes folder, right-click Domains, and select Open Table from the context menu. The Domains table appears. 2. In the row marked with the New Row icon, enter a Name for the new domain. 3. Click in another cell of the table to create the new domain and add a new blank row to the table. 4. Double-click the domain to which you want to add a group. The domain Properties dialog box appears. 5. Under Groups, enter the following information for each group you want to create. • • • • • •

Group: Enter a name for the new preamble index group. Min: Enter the lowest available preamble index in this group’s range. Max: Enter the highest available preamble index in this group’s range. Step: Enter the separation interval between each preamble index. Excluded: Enter the preamble index in this range that you do not want to use. Extra: Enter any additional preamble index (i.e., outside the range defined by the Min. and Max fields) you want to add to this group. You can enter a list of preamble indexes separated by either a comma, semi-colon, or a space. You can also enter a range of preamble indexes separated by a hyphen. For example, entering, "1, 2, 3-5" means that the extra preamble indexes are "1, 2, 3, 4, 5."

6. Click in another cell of the table to create the new group and add a new blank row to the table.

14.3.4 Configuring Cost Component Weights You can define the weights for the AFP cost components that Atoll uses to evaluate possible frequency and preamble index plans. To configure the weights for AFP cost components: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder and select AFP > Configure Weights from the context menu. The Weights dialog box appears. This dialog box enables you to define the relative weights of the cost components. The absolute values of the constraint weights are calculated by the AFP using these relative weights. For more information, see the Technical Reference Guide. 2. Click the Frequency Allocation tab and set the weights for the following cost components: • • •

1st order neighbours: The relative weight assigned to a first order neighbour relationship violation. Interference matrices: The relative weight assigned to an interference matrix-based relationship violation. Distance: The relative weight assigned to a distance-based relationship violation.

You can click the Reset button to set the weights to their default values. 3. Click the Preamble Index Allocation tab. •

In the Relation weights frame, you can set the weights for the following cost components: • 1st order neighbours: The relative weight assigned to a first order neighbour relationship violation. • 2nd order neighbours: The relative weight assigned to a second order neighbour relationship violation.

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Neighbours of a common cell: The relative weight assigned to the violation of an indirect neighbour relationship between neighbours of a common cell. Interference matrices: The relative weight assigned to a interference matrix-based relationship violation. Distance: The relative weight assigned to a distance-based relationship violation.

You can click the Reset button to set the weights to their default values. •

In the Constraint violation weights frame, you can set the weights for the following constraints: • Preamble index: The relative weight assigned to a preamble index collision between two related cells. • Segment: The relative weight assigned to a segment collision between two related cells. • Cell permbase: The relative weight assigned to the cell permbase constraint violation (occurrence of two different cell permbases) between two related co-site cells. You can click the Reset button to set the weights to their default values.

4. Click OK.

14.3.5 Planning Frequencies You can manually assign frequency bands and channel numbers to cells or use the Automatic Frequency Planning (AFP) tool to automatically allocate channels to cells. The AFP allocates channels to cells automatically such that the overall interference in the network is minimised. Once allocation is completed, you can analyse the frequency plan by creating and comparing C/ (I+N) coverage predictions, and view the frequency allocation on the map.

14.3.5.1 Manually Allocating Frequencies Manually frequency allocation allows you to assign frequency bands and channel numbers to a cell. You can do it by accessing the properties of the cell. To manually allocate the frequency to a cell: 1. On the map, right-click the transmitter to whose cell you want to allocate the frequency and select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter Properties dialog box appears. 2. Select the Cells tab. 3. Select a Frequency band and Channel number for the cell. 4. You can set the Channel allocation status to Locked if you want to lock the frequency that you assigned. 5. Click OK.

14.3.5.2 Automatically Allocating Frequencies The Automatic Frequency Planning (AFP) tool can automatically assign channels to cells. When allocating frequencies, the AFP can take into account interference matrices, reuse distance, and any constraints imposed by neighbours. To automatically allocate frequencies: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder and select AFP > Automatic Allocation. The Automatic Resource Allocation dialog box appears. The Automatic Resource Allocation dialog box is divided into three zones: • • •

The top line contains global information about the current allocation (resource being allocated and the total cost of the current plan). The left-hand side of the dialog box contains tabs with input parameters. The right-hand side of the dialog box provides the allocation results.

2. From the Allocate list, select Frequencies for automatic frequency planning. 3. On the Relation Types tab, you can set the relations to take into account in automatic allocation: •

•

•

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Interference matrix: Select this check box if you want the AFP to take interference matrices into account for the allocation, and select an interference matrix from the list. For Atoll to take interference matrices into account, they must be available in the Interference Matrices folder in the Network explorer. Interference matrices can be calculated, imported, and edited in the Interference Matrices folder. For more information on interference matrices, see "Working with Interference Matrices" on page 1085. Existing neighbours: Select the Existing neighbours check box if you want the AFP to take neighbour relations into account for the allocation. The AFP will try to allocate different frequencies to a cell and its neighbours. Atoll can only take neighbour relations into account if neighbours have already been allocated. For information on allocating neighbours, see "Neighbour Planning" on page 223. Reuse distance: Select this check box if you want the AFP to take relations based on distance into account for the allocation. You can enter a Default reuse distance within which two cells must not have the same channel assigned. However, it is highly recommended to define a reuse distance for each individual cell depending on the

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size of the cell’s coverage area and the network density around the cell. If defined, a cell-specific reuse distance is used instead of the default value entered here. 4. On the right-hand side of the Automatic Resource Allocation dialog box, Atoll displays the Total cost of the current frequency allocation. Click Update to calculate the total cost take into account the parameters set in step 3. You can click the Weights button to open the Weights dialog box and modify the cost component weights. For more information, see "Configuring Cost Component Weights" on page 1087. 5. Click Start. Atoll begins the process of allocating frequencies. Any messages generated by the AFP during automatic allocation are reported on the Events tab. While Atoll allocates frequencies, you can: • • • •

Monitor the reduction of the total cost in the Progress tab. Compare the distribution histograms of the initial and current allocation plans in the Distribution tab. Pause the automatic allocation process by clicking Pause. Resume the automatic allocation process by clicking Continue or start the automatic allocation from the initial state by clicking Restart.

Once Atoll has finished allocating frequencies, or if you pause the automatic allocation, the Statistics tab shows the number of proposed changes to the allocation plan and the numbers of different relations, violations, and collisions. It also shows the numbers of violations and collisions in the current plan compared to the initial one (in brackets). The Results tab shows the proposed allocation plan: • • • • • • • •

Site: The name of the base station. Transmitter: The name of the transmitter. Name: The name of the cell. Frequency Band: The frequency band used by the cell. Initial channel number: The channel number of the cell before automatic allocation. Channel number: The channel number of the cell after automatic allocation. Channel allocation status: The value of the Channel allocation status of the cell. Cost: The cost of the new frequency allocation of the cell. •

•

•

In order to better view the progress graph and the results table, you can expand the right-hand side zone of the Automatic Resource Allocation dialog box by clicking the Hide Inputs button . You can also resize the dialog box. You can export the contents of table grids to TXT, CSV, and XML Spreadsheet files by right-clicking the table and selecting Export from the context menu. For more information on exporting data tables, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. You can select the columns to display in different tabs by right-clicking the table and selecting Display Columns from the context menu. For more information, see "Displaying and Hiding Columns" on page 80.

6. Click Commit. The proposed frequency plan is assigned to the cells of the network. 7. Click Close to exit.

14.3.6 Planning Preamble Indexes In WiMAX, 114 preamble indexes are available, numbered from 0 to 113. There are as many pseudo-noise sequences defined in the IEEE specifications. A PN sequence is transmitted on the preamble subcarriers corresponding to each preamble index using BPSK1/2. Mobiles recognise their serving cells by comparing the received PN sequences with the 114 sequences stored in their memory. The preamble index of the serving cell is simply the number of the PN sequence received with the highest power. The preamble index provides the segment number (0, 1, or 2) and the cell permbase (DL_PermBase of the first downlink PUSC zone, also called ID_Cell, which is a value from 0 to 31.) Therefore, the mobile knows which subcarriers to listen to for the FCH, DCD, UCD, DL-MAP, and UL-MAP. Because the cell search and selection depend on the preamble index of the cells, preamble indexes must be intelligently allocated to cells in order to avoid unnecessary interference on the preamble. The subcarriers used for preamble transmission are divided into 3 carrier sets. Preamble carrier sets are defined by the equation: Preamble Carrier Set n = n + 3  k

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Where n is the segment number (0, 1, or 2), and k is a running index from 0 to 567, 0 to 283, 0 to 142, and 0 to 35 for FFT sizes 2048, 1024, 512, and 128, respectively. Therefore, each preamble carrier set uses every third subcarrier. Atoll facilitates the management of preamble indexes by letting you create groups of preamble indexes and domains, where each domain is a defined set of groups. For more information, see "Setting Resources Available for Allocation" on page 1086. You can assign preamble indexes manually or automatically to any cell in the network. Once allocation is completed, you can audit the preamble indexes, view preamble index reuse on the map, and make an analysis of preamble index distribution. Atoll can automatically assign preamble indexes to the cells taking into account the selected cell permbase allocation strategy (free or same per site), allowed allocation domain, interference matrices, reuse distance, and any constraints imposed by neighbours. To automatically allocate preamble indexes: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder and select AFP > Automatic Allocation. The Automatic Resource Allocation dialog box appears. The Automatic Resource Allocation dialog box is divided into three zones: • • •

The top line contains global information about the current allocation (resource being allocated and the total cost of the current plan). The left-hand side of the dialog box contains tabs with input parameters. The right-hand side of the dialog box provides the allocation results.

2. From the Allocate list, select Preamble Indexes for automatic preamble index planning. 3. On the Relation Types tab, you can set the relations to take into account in automatic allocation: •

•

•

Interference matrix: Select this option if you want the AFP to take interference matrices into account for the allocation, and select an interference matrix from the list. For Atoll to take interference matrices into account, they must be available in the Interference Matrices folder in the Network explorer. Interference matrices can be calculated, imported, and edited in the Interference Matrices folder. For more information on interference matrices, see "Working with Interference Matrices" on page 1085. Existing neighbours: Select this option if you want the AFP to take neighbour relations into account for the allocation. The AFP will try to allocate different preamble indexes to a cell and its neighbours. The AFP can take neighbours into account only if neighbours have already been allocated. If you want the AFP to take both first and second order neighbours into account, you must set an option in the Atoll.ini file (see the Administrator Manual). For information on allocating neighbours, see "Neighbour Planning" on page 223. Reuse distance: Select this option if you want the AFP to take relations based on distance into account for the allocation. You can enter a Default reuse distance within which two cells must not have the same preamble index assigned. However, it is highly recommended to define a reuse distance for each individual cell depending on the size of the cell’s coverage area and the network density around the cell. If defined, a cell-specific reuse distance is used instead of the default value entered here.

4. On the Constraints tab, you can set the constraints to take into account in automatic allocation: •

Allocation domain: You can choose Per cell to allocate preamble indexes from the preamble index domains defined per cell, you can choose to allocate from the Entire (0-113) domain or a Restricted (0-95) domain, or you can choose Custom and enter the Excluded resources to exclude some preamble indexes from the allocation. You can enter non-consecutive preamble indexes separated with a comma, or you can enter a range of preamble indexes separating the first and last one with a hyphen (for example, entering "1-5" corresponds to "1, 2, 3, 4, 5").

•

Allocation strategies: You can select Same per site as the Cell permbase allocation strategy if you want the AFP to allocate the same cell permbase to all the cells of a site. Select Free as the Cell permbase allocation strategy if you want the AFP to ignore the cell permbase collisions. With free allocation, the cell permbase will not necessarily be the same for all the cells of a site. You can select the Allocate the same segment to co-transmitter cells check box if you want to allocate preamble indexes to co-transmitter cells so that they all have the same segment number assigned. If you do not select this check box, the allocation will not consider any constraint on the segment number allocation to co-transmitter cells. You can select the Take into account frequency plan check box if you want the AFP to consider the frequency plan when determining preamble index collisions.

5. On the right-hand side of the Automatic Resource Allocation dialog box, Atoll displays the Total cost of the current preamble index allocation. Click Update to calculate the total cost take into account the parameters set in step 3. You can click the Weights button to open the Weights dialog box and modify the cost component weights. For more information, see "Configuring Cost Component Weights" on page 1087.

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6. Click Start. Atoll begins the process of allocating preamble indexes. Any messages generated by the AFP during automatic allocation are reported on the Events tab. While Atoll allocates preamble indexes, you can: • • • •

Monitor the reduction of the total cost in the Progress tab. Compare the distribution histograms of the initial and current allocation plans in the Distribution tab. Pause the automatic allocation process by clicking Pause. Resume the automatic allocation process by clicking Continue or start the automatic allocation from the initial state by clicking Restart.

Once Atoll has finished allocating preamble indexes, or if you pause the automatic allocation, the Statistics tab shows the number of proposed changes to the allocation plan and the numbers of different relations, violations, and collisions. It also shows the numbers of violations and collisions in the current plan compared to the initial one (in brackets). The Results tab shows the proposed allocation plan: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Site: The name of the base station. Transmitter: The name of the transmitter. Name: The name of the cell. Frequency Band: The frequency band used by the cell. Channel number: The channel number of the cell after automatic allocation. Preamble index domain: The preamble index domain of the cell. Initial preamble index: The preamble index of the cell before automatic allocation. Preamble index: The preamble index of the cell after automatic allocation. Initial segment: The segment of the cell before automatic allocation. Segment: The segment of the cell after automatic allocation. Initial cell permbase: The cell permbase of the cell before automatic allocation. Cell permbase: The cell permbase of the cell after automatic allocation. Cost: The cost of the new preamble index allocation of the cell. Preamble index status: The value of the Preamble index status of the cell. Segment Locked: Whether the segment was locked for this allocation or not. •

•

•

In order to better view the progress graph and the results table, you can expand the right-hand side zone of the Automatic Resource Allocation dialog box by clicking the Hide Inputs button . You can also resize the dialog box. You can export the contents of table grids to TXT, CSV, and XML Spreadsheet files by right-clicking the table and selecting Export from the context menu. For more information on exporting data tables, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. You can select the columns to display in different tabs by right-clicking the table and selecting Display Columns from the context menu. For more information, see "Displaying and Hiding Columns" on page 80.

7. Click Commit. The proposed preamble index plan is assigned to the cells of the network. When you allocate preamble indexes to a large number of cells, it is easiest to let Atoll allocate them automatically. However, if you want to assign a preamble index to one cell or to modify it, you can do it by accessing the properties of the cell. To allocate a preamble index to a WiMAX cell manually: 1. On the map, right-click the transmitter to whose cell you want to allocate a preamble index and select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter Properties dialog box appears. 2. Select the Cells tab. 3. Enter a Preamble index in the cell column. 4. You can set the Preamble index status to Locked if you want to lock the preamble index that you assigned. 5. Click OK.

14.3.7 Planning Permutation Zone PermBases In WiMAX, downlink permutation zones use seeds for the permutation sequence to determine the correspondence between physical and logical subcarrier numbers and the subcarriers belonging to different subchannels. These permutation seeds are called permbases. The first downlink PUSC permutation zone, that carries the FCH, the DL-MAP, the UL-MAP, uses the permbase mapped to the preamble index of the cell. This permbase is called the cell permbase in Atoll, and is allocated when a preamble index is allocated to a cell. Other permutation zones use different permbases. Atoll supports one additional permbase in downlink and

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one in uplink. These permbases are called zone permbases in Atoll. There are 32 possible permbases in downlink, numbered from 0 to 31, and 70 in uplink, numbered from 0 to 69. You can assign zone permbases manually or automatically to any cell in the network. Once allocation is completed, you can view zone permbase reuse on the map. Atoll can automatically assign zone permbases to the cells taking into account the allowed allocation domain, interference matrices, reuse distance, and any constraints imposed by neighbours. To automatically allocate permutation zone permbases: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder and select AFP > Automatic Allocation. The Automatic Resource Allocation dialog box appears. The Automatic Resource Allocation dialog box is divided into three zones: • • •

The top line contains global information about the current allocation (resource being allocated and the total cost of the current plan). The left-hand side of the dialog box contains tabs with input parameters. The right-hand side of the dialog box provides the allocation results.

2. From the Allocate list, select DL Zone PermBase or UL Zone PermBase to allocate downlink or uplink permutation zone permbases to cells automatically. 3. On the Relation Types tab, you can set the relations to take into account in automatic allocation: •

•

•

Interference matrix: Select this option if you want the AFP to take interference matrices into account for the allocation, and select an interference matrix from the list. For Atoll to take interference matrices into account, they must be available in the Interference Matrices folder in the Network explorer. Interference matrices can be calculated, imported, and edited in the Interference Matrices folder. For more information on interference matrices, see "Working with Interference Matrices" on page 1085. Existing neighbours: Select this option if you want the AFP to take neighbour relations into account for the allocation. The AFP will try to allocate different permbases to a cell and its neighbours. The AFP can take neighbours into account only if neighbours have already been allocated. If you want the AFP to take both first and second order neighbours into account, you must set an option in the Atoll.ini file (see the Administrator Manual). For information on allocating neighbours, see "Neighbour Planning" on page 223. Reuse distance: Select this option if you want the AFP to take relations based on distance into account for the allocation. You can enter a Default reuse distance within which two cells must not have the same zone permbase assigned. However, it is highly recommended to define a reuse distance for each individual cell depending on the size of the cell’s coverage area and the network density around the cell. If defined, a cell-specific reuse distance is used instead of the default value entered here.

4. On the Constraints tab, you can set the constraints to take into account in automatic allocation. Select the Allocation domain. You can choose to allocate permbases from Entire (0-31) for downlink permutation zone permbase or Entire (0-69) for uplink permutation zone permbase, or you can choose Custom and enter the Excluded resources to exclude some permbases from the allocation. You can enter non-consecutive permbases separated with a comma, or you can enter a range of permbases separating the first and last one with a hyphen (for example, entering "1-5" corresponds to "1, 2, 3, 4, 5"). 5. On the right-hand side of the Automatic Resource Allocation dialog box, Atoll displays the Total cost of the current zone permbase allocation. Click Update to calculate the total cost take into account the parameters set in step 3. You can click the Weights button to open the Weights dialog box and modify the cost component weights. For more information, see "Configuring Cost Component Weights" on page 1087. 6. Click Start. Atoll begins the process of allocating zone permbases. Any messages generated by the AFP during automatic allocation are reported on the Events tab. While Atoll allocates zone permbases, you can: • • • •

Monitor the reduction of the total cost in the Progress tab. Compare the distribution histograms of the initial and current allocation plans in the Distribution tab. Pause the automatic allocation process by clicking Pause. Resume the automatic allocation process by clicking Continue or start the automatic allocation from the initial state by clicking Restart.

Once Atoll has finished allocating zone permbases, or if you pause the automatic allocation, the Statistics tab shows the number of proposed changes to the allocation plan and the numbers of different relations, violations, and collisions. It also shows the numbers of violations and collisions in the current plan compared to the initial one (in brackets). The Results tab shows the proposed allocation plan: • •

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• • • • • • •

Name: The name of the cell. Frequency Band: The frequency band used by the cell. Channel number: The channel number of the cell after automatic allocation. Initial DL/UL Zone PermBase: The downlink or uplink zone permbase of the cell before automatic allocation. DL/UL Zone PermBase: The downlink or uplink zone permbase of the cell after automatic allocation. Cost: The cost of the new allocation plan of the cell. DL/UL Zone PermBase Status: The value of the downlink or uplink zone permbase status of the cell. •

•

•

In order to better view the progress graph and the results table, you can expand the right-hand side zone of the Automatic Resource Allocation dialog box by clicking the Hide Inputs button . You can also resize the dialog box. You can export the contents of table grids to TXT, CSV, and XML Spreadsheet files by right-clicking the table and selecting Export from the context menu. For more information on exporting data tables, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. You can select the columns to display in different tabs by right-clicking the table and selecting Display Columns from the context menu. For more information, see "Displaying and Hiding Columns" on page 80.

7. Click Commit. The proposed zone permbase plan is assigned to the cells of the network. When you allocate permutation zone permbases to a large number of cells, it is easiest to let Atoll allocate them automatically. However, if you want to assign a permutation zone permbase to one cell or to modify it, you can do it by accessing the properties of the cell. To allocate a permutation zone permbase to a WiMAX cell manually: 1. On the map, right-click the transmitter to whose cell you want to allocate a zone permbase and select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter Properties dialog box appears. 2. Select the Cells tab. 3. Enter a DL Zone PermBase or UL Zone PermBase in the cell column. 4. Set the DL Zone PermBase Status or UL Zone PermBase Status to Locked if you want to lock the permutation zone permbase that you assigned. 5. Click OK.

14.3.8 Displaying the AFP Results on the Map You can display the AFP results on the map in several ways: • • •

"Using Find on Map to Display AFP Results" on page 1093 "Using Transmitter Display Settings to Display AFP Results" on page 1094 "Grouping Transmitters by Channels, Preamble Indexes, Zone PermBases" on page 1094

14.3.8.1 Using Find on Map to Display AFP Results In Atoll, you can search for frequency bands, channel numbers, preamble indexes, segment numbers, and cell permbases using the Find on Map tool. If you have already calculated and displayed a coverage prediction by transmitter based on the best server, with the results displayed by transmitter, the search results will be displayed by transmitter coverage. The current allocation plan and any potential problems will then be clearly visible. For information on coverage predictions by transmitter, see "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter" on page 1061. To find a frequency band using Find on Map: 1. Select Tools > Find on Map. The Find on Map window appears. 2. From the Find list, select "WiMAX Channel". 3. From the Band list, select a frequency band. 4. From the Channel list, select "All". 5. Click Search. Transmitters whose cells use the selected frequency band are displayed in red in the map window and are listed under Results in the Find on Map window. Transmitters with cells using other frequency bands are displayed as grey lines in the map window. To restore the initial transmitter colours, click the Reset display button in the Find on Map window.

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To find a channel number using Find on Map: 1. Select Tools > Find on Map. The Find on Map window appears. 2. From the Find list, select "WiMAX Channel". 3. From the Band list, select a frequency band. 4. From the Channel list, select the channel number. By default, Find on Map displays only co-channel transmitter cells. If you want adjacent channels to be displayed as well, select Adjacent channels. 5. Click Search. Transmitters whose cells use the selected frequency band and channel number are displayed in red. Transmitters with cells using two adjacent channel numbers in the same frequency band (which means a channel higher and a channel lower) are displayed in yellow. Transmitters with cells using a lower adjacent channel number in the same frequency band are displayed in green. Transmitters with cells using a higher adjacent channel number in the same frequency band are displayed in blue. All other transmitters are displayed as grey lines. If you cleared the Adjacent channels check box, transmitters with cells using the same channel number are displayed in red, and all others, including transmitters with adjacent channels, are displayed as grey lines. To restore the initial transmitter colours, click the Reset display button in the Find on Map tool window. By including the frequency band and channel number of each cell in the transmitter label, the search results will be easier to understand. For information on defining the label, see "Associating a Label to an Object" on page 53. To find a preamble index, segment number, or cell permbase using Find on Map: 1. Click Tools > Find on Map. The Find on Map window appears. 2. From the Find list, select "Preamble Index". 3. Select what you what you want to search for: • • •

Preamble index: If you want to find a preamble index, select Preamble index and select the preamble index from the list. Segment: If you want to find a segment number, select Segment and select the segment number from the list: "All," "0," "1," or "2." Cell permbase: If you want to find a cell permbase, select Cell permbase and select the cell permbase from the list.

4. Click Search. When you select a preamble index or a cell permbase, transmitters with cells matching the search criteria are displayed in red. Transmitters that do not match the search criteria are displayed as grey lines. When you select a specific segment number, transmitters whose cells use the selected segment are displayed in red. Transmitters with cells that use other segments are displayed as grey lines. When you choose to search for all segments, transmitters whose first cells use segment 0 are displayed in red, transmitters whose first cells use segment 1 are displayed in yellow, and transmitters whose first cells use segment 2 are displayed in green. To restore the initial transmitter colours, click the Reset display button in the Search Tool window. •

•

By including the preamble index of each cell in the transmitter label, the search results will be easier to understand. For information on defining the label, see "Associating a Label to an Object" on page 53. Transmitters with more than one cell may use different segments in different cells. Therefore, the search for all segments is only valid for single-cell transmitters.

14.3.8.2 Using Transmitter Display Settings to Display AFP Results You can display the frequency and preamble index allocation on transmitters by using the transmitter display characteristics. To display the frequency allocation on the map: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. Click the Display tab. 3. Select "Discrete values" as the Display type and "Cells: Channel number" as the Field. 4. Click OK. Transmitters are displayed by channel number.

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You can also display the frequency band and channel number in the transmitter label or tip text by selecting "Cells: Frequency band" and "Cells: Channel number" from the Label or Tip Text Field Selection dialog box. To display preamble index allocation on the map: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. Click the Display tab. 3. Select "Discrete values" as the Display type and "Cells: Preamble index" as the Field. 4. Click OK. Transmitters are displayed by preamble index. You can also display the preamble index in the transmitter label or tip text by selecting "Cells: Preamble index" from the Label or Tip Text Field Selection dialog box. To display the downlink or uplink permutation zone permbase allocation on the map: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. Click the Display tab. 3. Select "Discrete values" as the Display type and "Cells: DL zone permbase" or "Cells: UL zone permbase" as the Field. 4. Click OK. Transmitters are displayed by the downlink or uplink permutation zone permbase. You can also display the permutation zone permbase in the transmitter label or tip text by selecting "Cells: DL zone permbase" and "Cells: UL zone permbase" from the Label or Tip Text Field Selection dialog box. For information on display options, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51.

14.3.8.3 Grouping Transmitters by Channels, Preamble Indexes, Zone PermBases You can group transmitters in the Network explorer by their frequency bands, channel numbers, or preamble indexes. To group transmitters by frequency bands, channel numbers, or preamble indexes: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. On the General tab, click Group by. The Group dialog box appears. 3. Under Available fields, scroll down to the Cells section. 4. Select the parameter you want to group transmitters by: • • • • •

Frequency band Channel number Preamble index DL zone permbase UL zone permbase

5. Click to add the parameter to the Group these fields in this order list. The selected parameter is added to the list of parameters on which the transmitters will be grouped. 6. If you do not want the transmitters to be grouped by a certain parameter, select the parameter in the Group these fields in this order list and click transmitters will be grouped.

. The selected parameter is removed from the list of parameters on which the

7. Arrange the parameters in the Group these fields in this order list in the order in which you want the transmitters to be grouped: a. Select a parameter and click

to move it up to the desired position.

b. Select a parameter and click

to move it down to the desired position.

8. Click OK to save your changes and close the Group dialog box.

14.3.9 Analysing the AFP Results You can analyse the AFP results using the tools provided by Atoll: • • •

"Checking the Consistency of the Frequency Plan" on page 1095 "Checking the Consistency of the Preamble Index Plan" on page 1097 "Checking the Consistency of DL and UL Zone PermBase Plans" on page 1099

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"Making a Cell Identifier Collision Zones Prediction" on page 1101 "Analysing the Frequency Allocation Using Coverage Predictions" on page 1102

14.3.9.1 Checking the Consistency of the Frequency Plan Once you have completed allocating frequencies, you can verify whether the allocated frequencies respect the specified relations by performing an audit of the plan. The frequency audit also enables you to check for inconsistencies if you have made some manual changes to the allocation plan. To perform an audit of the frequency plan: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder and select AFP > Audit. The Resource Allocation Audit dialog box appears. The Resource Allocation Audit dialog box is divided into three zones: • • •

The top line contains global information about the current allocation (resource being audited and the total cost of the current plan). The left-hand side of the dialog box contains tabs with input parameters. The right-hand side of the dialog box provides the audit results.

2. From the Audit list, select Frequencies. 3. On the Relation Types tab, you can select the relation-based allocation criteria that you want to verify. •

•

•

Interference matrix: Select this option if you want the audit to take interference matrices into account, and select an interference matrix from the list. For Atoll to take interference matrices into account, they must be available in the Interference Matrices folder in the Network explorer. Interference matrices can be calculated, and imported in the Interference Matrices folder. For more information on interference matrices, see "Working with Interference Matrices" on page 1085. Existing Neighbours: Select this check box if you want the audit to take neighbours into account. Atoll can only take neighbour relations into account if neighbours have already been allocated. For information on allocating neighbours, see "Configuring Network Parameters Using the AFP" on page 1084. Reuse distance: Select this check box if you want the audit to take reuse distance into account. For cells that do not have a reuse distance defined in their properties, the value entered next to Default will be used for the audit.

4. On the right-hand side of the Resource Allocation Audit dialog box, Atoll displays the Total cost of the current frequency allocation. You can click the Weights button to open the Weights dialog box and modify the cost component weights. For more information, see "Configuring Cost Component Weights" on page 1087. 5. Click Calculate. Atoll performs an audit of the current frequency plan. Any messages generated by the audit are reported on the Events tab. The audit results are reported on the following tabs: The Statistics tab provides overall statistics such as the numbers of various types of relations considered by the AFP for frequency planning and the number of violated relations. The Relations tab lists all the relations between active and filtered cells in the document. The Relations tab can display the following information: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Cell 1: First cell in a related cell-pair. Cell 2: Second cell in a related cell-pair. Frequency band 1: Frequency band of Cell 1. Channel 1: Channel number of Cell 1. Frequency band 2: Frequency band of Cell 2. Channel 2: Channel number of Cell 2. Cost: The cost of the current collisions, if any, between Cell 1 and Cell 2. Channel collision: Whether the channels of Cell 1 and Cell 2 collide ( ) or not ( ). Channel Overlap Factor: The ratio of overlap between the channels used by Cell 1 and Cell 2. Distance: The distance between Cell 1 and Cell 2. Reuse distance: Reuse distance defined for Cell 1. Distance relation importance: The importance of the distance-based relation between Cell 1 and Cell 2. Interference Matrices: Whether an interference matrix relation exists ( ) between Cell 1 and Cell 2 or not. Interference matrix importance: The importance of the interference matrix relation between Cell 1 and Cell 2. Neighbour: Whether a neighbour relation exists ( ) between Cell 1 and Cell 2 or not. Neighbour importance: The importance of the neighbour relation between Cell 1 and Cell 2. The data table in the Relations tab can be filtered. For example, you can view all the relations, only the relations that violate the frequency allocation requirements, or apply a filter to exclude unimportant ones. To filter the relations listed in the Relations tab, click the Show button (

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To view all the relations between cells: i.

Under Filter by violation type, select the Show relations option.

ii. Under Include relations by type, select all the options representing the relation types and select (All) from their respective lists. iii. Click Apply. The data table in the Relations tab shows all the relations between cells. To view only the relations that violate the frequency allocation requirements: i.

Under Filter by violation type, select the Show violations option.

ii. Under Include relations by type, select all the options representing the relation types and select (All) from their respective lists. iii. Click Apply. The data table in the Relations tab shows only the relations that violate the frequency allocation requirements. To view only the important relations that violate the frequency allocation requirements: i.

Under Filter by violation type, select the Show violations option.

ii. Under Include relations by type, select the relation types that you consider important and select some or all of their characteristics from their respective lists. iii. Click Apply. The data table in the Relations tab shows the relations according to the user-defined filter. The Cells tab lists the current allocation plan and the following information: • • • • • • •

Site: The name of the base station. Transmitter: The name of the transmitter. Name: The name of the cell. Frequency Band: The frequency band used by the cell. Channel number: The channel number of the cell. Channel allocation status: The value of the Channel allocation status of the cell. Cost: The cost of the frequency allocation of the cell.

The Distribution tab shows the histogram of the current allocation plan. • •

•

You can expand the right pane of the Resource Allocation Audit dialog box by clicking the Hide button ( ). You can export the contents of table grids to TXT, CSV, and XML Spreadsheet files by right-clicking the table and selecting Export from the context menu. For more information on exporting data tables, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. You can select the columns to display in different tabs by right-clicking the table and selecting Display Columns from the context menu. For more information, see "Displaying and Hiding Columns" on page 80.

6. Click Close to exit.

14.3.9.2 Checking the Consistency of the Preamble Index Plan Once you have completed allocating preamble indexes, you can verify whether the allocated preamble indexes respect the specified constraints and relations by performing an audit of the plan. The preamble index audit also enables you to check for inconsistencies if you have made some manual changes to the allocation plan. To perform an audit of the preamble index plan: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder and select AFP > Audit. The Resource Allocation Audit dialog box appears. The Resource Allocation Audit dialog box is divided into three zones: • • •

The top line contains global information about the current allocation (resource being audited and the total cost of the current plan). The left-hand side of the dialog box contains tabs with input parameters. The right-hand side of the dialog box provides the audit results.

2. From the Audit list, select Preamble Indexes. 3. On the Relation Types tab, you can select the relation-based allocation criteria that you want to verify. •

Interference matrix: Select this option if you want the audit to take interference matrices into account, and select an interference matrix from the list. For Atoll to take interference matrices into account, they must be available in the Interference Matrices folder in the Network explorer. Interference matrices can be calculated, and

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imported in the Interference Matrices folder. For more information on interference matrices, see "Working with Interference Matrices" on page 1085. Existing Neighbours: Select this check box if you want the audit to take neighbours into account. Atoll can only take neighbour relations into account if neighbours have already been allocated. For information on allocating neighbours, see "Neighbour Planning" on page 223. Reuse distance: Select this check box if you want the audit to take reuse distance into account. For cells that do not have a reuse distance defined in their properties, the value entered next to Default will be used for the audit.

4. On the right-hand side of the Resource Allocation Audit dialog box, Atoll displays the Total cost of the current frequency allocation. You can click the Weights button to open the Weights dialog box and modify the cost component weights. For more information, see "Configuring Cost Component Weights" on page 1087. 5. On the Constraints tab, you can set the constraints to take into account in the audit: •

Allocation domain: You can choose Per cell to check if the allocated preamble indexes belong to the preamble index domains defined per cell, to the Entire (0-113) domain, a Restricted (0-95) domain, or to a Custom domain by entering the Excluded resources. You can enter non-consecutive preamble indexes separated with a comma, or you can enter a range of preamble indexes separating the first and last one with a hyphen (for example, entering "1-5" corresponds to "1, 2, 3, 4, 5").

•

Allocation strategies: You can select the Same per site strategy for the Cell permbase to check whether the same cell permbase has been allocated to the cells of the same site. You can select the Segments of co-site cells and Segments of co-transmitter cell check boxes to check whether the same or different ones have been allocated. You can select the Take into account frequency plan check box if you want the audit to consider the frequency plan when determining preamble index collisions.

6. Click Calculate. Atoll performs an audit of the current preamble index plan. Any messages generated by the audit are reported on the Events tab. The audit results are reported on the following tabs: The Statistics tab provides overall statistics such as the numbers of various types of relations considered by the AFP for preamble index planning, the numbers of violated relations of each type, the number of collisions for each resource type, the number of cells not satisfying the domain compliance criteria, and numbers of strategy violations for selected allocation strategies. The Relations tab lists all the relations between active and filtered cells in the document. The Relations tab can display the following information: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

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Cell 1: First cell in a related cell-pair. Cell 2: Second cell in a related cell-pair. Frequency band 1: Frequency band of Cell 1. Channel 1: Channel number of Cell 1. Frequency band 2: Frequency band of Cell 2. Channel 2: Channel number of Cell 2. Cost: The cost of the current collisions, if any, between Cell 1 and Cell 2. Preamble index collision: Whether the preamble index of Cell 1 and Cell 2 collide ( ) or not ( ). Preamble index 1: The preamble index of Cell 1. Preamble index 2: The preamble index of Cell 2. Segment collision: Whether the segments of Cell 1 and Cell 2 collide ( ) or not ( ). Per-site segment violation: Whether the per-site segment constraint has been respected ( ) or not ( ). Per-transmitter segment violation: Whether the per-transmitter segment constraint has been respected ( ) or not ( ). Segment 1: The segment of Cell 1. Segment 2: The segment of Cell 2. Per-site cell permbase violation: Whether the per-site cell permbase constraint has been respected ( ) or not ( ). Cell permbase 1: The cell permbase of Cell 1. Cell permbase 2: The cell permbase of Cell 2. Distance: The distance between Cell 1 and Cell 2. Reuse distance: Reuse distance defined for Cell 1. Distance relation importance: The importance of the distance-based relation between Cell 1 and Cell 2. Interference Matrices: Whether an interference matrix relation exists ( ) between Cell 1 and Cell 2 or not. Interference matrix importance: The importance of the interference matrix relation between Cell 1 and Cell 2. Neighbour: Whether a neighbour relation exists ( ) between Cell 1 and Cell 2 or not. Neighbour importance: The importance of the neighbour relation between Cell 1 and Cell 2.

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• • • •

Second order neighbour: Whether a second-order neighbour relation exists ( ) between Cell 1 and Cell 2 or not. Second order neighbour importance: The importance of the second-order neighbour relation between Cell 1 and Cell 2. Neighbours of a common cell: Whether Cell 1 and Cell 2 are ( ) neighbours of a common cell or not. Importance of neighbours of a common cell: The importance of the relation between Cell 1 and Cell 2 through a common neighbour cell. The data table in the Relations tab can be filtered. For example, you can view all the relations, only the relations that violate the preamble index allocation requirements, or apply a filter to exclude unimportant ones. To filter the relations listed in the Relations tab, click the Show button ( appear.

) on the Relations tab. The filter parameters

To view all the relations between cells: i.

Under Filter by violation type, select the Show relations option.

ii. Under Include relations by type, select all the options representing the relation types and select (All) from their respective lists. iii. Click Apply. The data table in the Relations tab shows all the relations between cells. To view only the relations that violate the preamble index allocation requirements: i.

Under Filter by violation type, select the Show violations option.

ii. Under Include relations by type, select all the options representing the relation types and select (All) from their respective lists. iii. Click Apply. The data table in the Relations tab shows only the relations that violate the preamble index allocation requirements. To view only the important relations that violate the preamble index allocation requirements: i.

Under Filter by violation type, select the Show violations option.

ii. Under Include relations by type, select the relation types that you consider important and select some or all of their characteristics from their respective lists. iii. Click Apply. The data table in the Relations tab shows the relations according to the user-defined filter. The Cells tab lists the current allocation plan and the following information: • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Site: The name of the base station. Transmitter: The name of the transmitter. Name: The name of the cell. Frequency Band: The frequency band used by the cell. Channel number: The channel number of the cell. Preamble index domain: The preamble index domain of the cell. Domain violation: Whether the allocated preamble index belongs to ( ) the defined preamble index domain or not ( ). Preamble index: The preamble index of the cell. Segment: The segment of the cell. Cell permbase: The cell permbase of the cell. Cost: The cost of the preamble index allocation of the cell. Preamble index status: The value of the Preamble index status of the cell. Segment Locked: Whether the segment was locked for this allocation or not.

The Transmitters tab provides the following information: • • •

Site: The name of the base station. Transmitter: The name of the transmitter. Segment violation: Whether the co-transmitter segment allocation strategy was respected (

) or not (

).

The Sites tab provides the following information: • • •

Site: The name of the base station. PermBase violation: Whether the Same per site permbase allocation strategy was respected ( ) or not ( Segment violation: Whether the co-site segment allocation strategy was respected ( ) or not ( ).

).

The Distribution tab shows the histogram of the current allocation plan.

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•

• •

•

The exclamation mark icon ( ) signifies that the collision may or may not be a problem depending on your network design rules and selected strategies. On the other hand, the cross icon ( ) implies an error. You can expand the right pane of the Resource Allocation Audit dialog box by clicking the Hide button ( ). You can export the contents of table grids to TXT, CSV, and XML Spreadsheet files by right-clicking the table and selecting Export from the context menu. For more information on exporting data tables, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. You can select the columns to display in different tabs by right-clicking the table and selecting Display Columns from the context menu. For more information, see "Displaying and Hiding Columns" on page 80.

7. Click Close to exit.

14.3.9.3 Checking the Consistency of DL and UL Zone PermBase Plans Once you have completed allocating zone permbases, you can verify whether the allocated zone permbases respect the specified constraints and relations by performing an audit of the plan. The zone permbase audit also enables you to check for inconsistencies if you have made some manual changes to the allocation plan. To perform an audit of the DL or UL zone permbase allocation plan: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder and select AFP > Audit. The Resource Allocation Audit dialog box appears. The Resource Allocation Audit dialog box is divided into three zones: • • •

The top line contains global information about the current allocation (resource being audited and the total cost of the current plan). The left-hand side of the dialog box contains tabs with input parameters. The right-hand side of the dialog box provides the audit results.

2. From the Audit list, select DL zone permbase or UL zone permbase. 3. On the Relation Types tab, you can select the relation-based allocation criteria that you want to verify. •

•

•

Interference matrix: Select this option if you want the audit to take interference matrices into account, and select an interference matrix from the list. For Atoll to take interference matrices into account, they must be available in the Interference Matrices folder in the Network explorer. Interference matrices can be calculated, and imported in the Interference Matrices folder. For more information on interference matrices, see "Working with Interference Matrices" on page 1085. Existing Neighbours: Select this check box if you want the audit to take neighbours into account. Atoll can only take neighbour relations into account if neighbours have already been allocated. For information on allocating neighbours, see "Neighbour Planning" on page 223. Reuse distance: Select this check box if you want the audit to take reuse distance into account. For cells that do not have a reuse distance defined in their properties, the value entered next to Default will be used for the audit.

4. On the right-hand side of the Resource Allocation Audit dialog box, Atoll displays the Total cost of the current frequency allocation. You can click the Weights button to open the Weights dialog box and modify the cost component weights. For more information, see "Configuring Cost Component Weights" on page 1087. 5. On the Constraints tab, you can set the constraints to take into account in the audit: •

Allocation domain: You can choose the Entire (0-31) domain for the DL zone permbase or Entire (0-69) domain for the UL zone permbase, or choose a Custom domain by entering the Excluded resources. You can enter non-consecutive zone permbases separated with a comma, or you can enter a range of permbases separating the first and last one with a hyphen (for example, entering "1-5" corresponds to "1, 2, 3, 4, 5").

6. Click Calculate. Atoll performs an audit of the current zone permbase plan. Any messages generated by the audit are reported on the Events tab. The audit results are reported on the following tabs: The Statistics tab provides overall statistics such as the numbers of various types of relations considered by the AFP for zone permbase planning, the numbers of violated relations of each type, and the number of cells not satisfying the domain compliance criteria.

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The Relations tab lists all the relations between active and filtered cells in the document. The Relations tab can display the following information: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Cell 1: First cell in a related cell-pair. Cell 2: Second cell in a related cell-pair. Cost: The cost of the current collisions, if any, between Cell 1 and Cell 2. Zone permbase collision: Whether the zone permbase of Cell 1 and Cell 2 collide ( ) or not ( ). Zone permbase 1: The zone permbase of Cell 1. Zone permbase 2: The zone permbase of Cell 2. Distance: The distance between Cell 1 and Cell 2. Reuse distance: Reuse distance defined for Cell 1. Distance relation importance: The importance of the distance-based relation between Cell 1 and Cell 2. Interference Matrices: Whether an interference matrix relation exists ( ) between Cell 1 and Cell 2 or not. Interference matrix importance: The importance of the interference matrix relation between Cell 1 and Cell 2. Neighbour: Whether a neighbour relation exists ( ) between Cell 1 and Cell 2 or not. Neighbour importance: The importance of the neighbour relation between Cell 1 and Cell 2. Second order neighbour: Whether a second-order neighbour relation exists ( ) between Cell 1 and Cell 2 or not. Second order neighbour importance: The importance of the second-order neighbour relation between Cell 1 and Cell 2. Neighbours of a common cell: Whether Cell 1 and Cell 2 are ( ) neighbours of a common cell or not. Importance of neighbours of a common cell: The importance of the relation between Cell 1 and Cell 2 through a common neighbour cell. The data table in the Relations tab can be filtered. For example, you can view all the relations, only the relations that violate the zone permbase allocation requirements, or apply a filter to exclude unimportant ones. To filter the relations listed in the Relations tab, click the Show button ( appear.

) on the Relations tab. The filter parameters

To view all the relations between cells: i.

Under Filter by violation type, select the Show relations option.

ii. Under Include relations by type, select all the options representing the relation types and select (All) from their respective lists. iii. Click Apply. The data table in the Relations tab shows all the relations between cells. To view only the relations that violate the zone permbase allocation requirements: i.

Under Filter by violation type, select the Show violations option.

ii. Under Include relations by type, select all the options representing the relation types and select (All) from their respective lists. iii. Click Apply. The data table in the Relations tab shows only the relations that violate the zone permbase allocation requirements. To view only the important relations that violate the zone permbase allocation requirements: i.

Under Filter by violation type, select the Show violations option.

ii. Under Include relations by type, select the relation types that you consider important and select some or all of their characteristics from their respective lists. iii. Click Apply. The data table in the Relations tab shows the relations according to the user-defined filter. The Cells tab lists the current allocation plan and the following information: • • • • • • • • •

Site: The name of the base station. Transmitter: The name of the transmitter. Name: The name of the cell. Frequency Band: The frequency band used by the cell. Channel number: The channel number of the cell. Domain violation: Whether the allocated zone permbase belongs to ( ) the defined domain or not ( ). DL/UL zone permbase: The downlink or uplink zone permbase of the cell. Cost: The cost of the zone permbase allocation of the cell. DL/UL zone permbase status: The value of the DL zone permbase status or UL zone permbase status of the cell.

The Distribution tab shows the histogram of the current allocation plan.

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•

• •

•

The exclamation mark icon ( ) signifies that the collision may or may not be a problem depending on your network design rules and selected strategies. On the other hand, the cross icon ( ) implies an error. You can expand the right pane of the Resource Allocation Audit dialog box by clicking the Hide button ( ). You can export the contents of table grids to TXT, CSV, and XML Spreadsheet files by right-clicking the table and selecting Export from the context menu. For more information on exporting data tables, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. You can select the columns to display in different tabs by right-clicking the table and selecting Display Columns from the context menu. For more information, see "Displaying and Hiding Columns" on page 80.

7. Click Close to exit.

14.3.9.4 Making a Cell Identifier Collision Zones Prediction You can make a prediction for cell identifier collision zones to view areas covered by cells that use the same preamble index or other related parameters such as the segment, cell permbase, and uplink and downlink zone permbases. Atoll checks on each pixel if one or more cell has the same cell identifier as the user’s best serving cell. If so, Atoll considers that there is cell identifier collision. To make a cell identifier collision zone prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialogue appears. 2. Select Cell Identifier Collision Zones (DL) and click OK. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 3. Click the General tab. On the General tab, you can change the assigned Name of the coverage prediction, the Resolution, and you can add a Comment. The Receiver height corresponds to the height of the receiver defined in the Calculation Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box. A read-only Unique ID is generated when you create a coverage prediction. This ID can later be found between the and tags in the following files: • •

"studies.XML" file created in the installation folder if at least one coverage prediction was saved using the Save as Customised Prediction command. ".XML" files (one per prediction) created in the following folder if coverage predictions were calculated with Display type = "Value intervals": C:\\.studies\{}

Under Display Configuration, you can create a Filter to select which sites to display in the results. You can also display the results grouped in the Network explorer by one or more characteristics by clicking the Group By button, or you can display the results sorted by clicking the Sort button. For information on filtering, see "Filtering Data" on page 99; for information on grouping, see "Advanced Grouping of Data Objects" on page 96; for information on sorting, see "Advanced Sorting" on page 98. 4. Click the Conditions tab. On the Conditions tab, you can define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. • • • • • •

At the top of the Conditions tab, you can set the range of signal level to be considered. The Server parameter is set to "Best Signal Level." You can enter an Overlap margin. If you select the Shadowing taken into account check box, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability. You can select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. You can select the Take frequency plan into account option to determine the cell identifier collisions based on the current frequency plan of the network. Under Identifier, you can select the cell identifier for which you wish to calculate the coverage prediction. AC: remove the following image.

5. Click the Display tab. The coverage prediction results are arranged according to the cells, the number of interferers, or the number of interferers per cell. For information on adjusting the display, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 6. Once you have created the coverage prediction, choose whether you want to calculate the prediction or not: • •

Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and perform the calculation immediately. Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without performing the calculation. You can calculate the prediction later by clicking the Calculate button (

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The progress of the calculation and any error messages are displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

14.3.9.5 Analysing the Frequency Allocation Using Coverage Predictions You can create and compare preamble and traffic C/(I+N) coverage predictions before and after the automatic frequency allocation in order to analyse and compare the improvements brought about by the AFP. For more information on creating reference signal C/(I+N) coverage predictions, see "Studying Interference and C/(I+N) Levels" on page 1065. For more information on comparing two coverage predictions, see "Comparing Coverage Predictions" on page 1075.

14.4 Studying WiMAX Network Capacity Interference is the major limiting factor in the performance of WiMAX networks. It has been recognised as the major bottleneck in network capacity and is often responsible for poor performance. Frequency reuse means that in a given coverage area there are several cells that use a given set of frequencies. The cells that use the same frequency are called co-channel cells, and the interference from users with the same channel in the other co-channel cells is called co-channel interference. Unlike thermal noise which can be overcome by increasing the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), co-channel interference cannot be countered by simply increasing the carrier power of a transmitter. This is because an increase in carrier transmission power will increase the interference to neighbouring co-channel cells. To reduce co-channel interference, co-channel cells must be physically separated sufficiently by a distance, called the reuse distance. For a network with a limited number of frequency channels, a large reuse distance can guarantee a high QoS for the system, but the capacity will be decreased. Another type of interference in WiMAX networks is adjacent channel interference. Adjacent channel interference results from imperfect receiver filters which allow nearby frequencies to interfere with the used frequency channel. Adjacent channel interference can be minimised through careful filtering and channel assignment. In Atoll, a simulation is based on a realistic distribution of users at a given point in time. The distribution of users at a given moment is referred to as a snapshot. Based on this snapshot, Atoll calculates various network parameters such as the downlink and uplink traffic loads, the uplink noise rise values, and the user throughputs. Simulations are calculated in an iterative fashion. When several simulations are performed at the same time using the same traffic information, the distribution of users will be different, according to a Poisson distribution. Consequently you can have variations in user distribution from one snapshot to another. To create snapshots, services and users must be modelled. As well, certain traffic information in the form of traffic maps must be provided. Once services and users have been modelled and traffic maps have been created, you can make simulations of the network traffic. This section covers the following topics: • • •

"Defining Multi-service Traffic Data" on page 1103 "Calculating WiMAX Traffic Simulations" on page 1103 "Making Coverage Predictions Using Simulation Results" on page 1112

14.4.1 Defining Multi-service Traffic Data The first step in making a simulation is defining how the network is used. In Atoll, this is accomplished by creating all of the parameters of network use, in terms of services, users, and equipment used. The following services and users are modelled in Atoll in order to create simulations: •

•

• •

WiMAX radio bearers: Radio bearers are used by the network for carrying information. The WiMAX Radio Bearer table lists all the available radio bearers. You can create new radio bearers and modify existing ones by using the WiMAX Radio Bearer table. For information on defining radio bearers, see "Defining WiMAX Radio Bearers" on page 1139. Services: Services are the various services, such as VoIP and FTP download, available to users. These services can be either of the type "voice" or "data". For information on modelling end-user services, see "Modelling Services" on page 1062. Mobility types: Information about receiver mobility is important to determine the user’s radio conditions and throughputs. For information on modelling mobility types, see "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 1063. Terminals: A terminal is the user equipment that is used in the network, for example, a mobile phone, a PDA, or a car’s on-board navigation device. For information on modelling terminals, see "Modelling Terminals" on page 1063.

14.4.2 Calculating WiMAX Traffic Simulations To plan and optimise WiMAX networks, you will need to study the network capacity and to study the network coverage taking into account realistic user distribution and traffic demand scenarios.

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In Atoll, a simulation corresponds to a given distribution of WiMAX users. It is a snapshot of a WiMAX network. The principal outputs of a simulation are a geographic user distribution with a certain traffic demand, resources allocated to each user of this distribution, and cell loads. You can create groups for one or more simulations and carry out as many simulations as required. A new simulation for each different traffic scenario can help visualise the network response to different traffic demands. Each user distribution (each simulation generates a new user distribution) is a Poisson distribution of the number of active users. Therefore, each simulation may have a varying number of users accessing the network. WiMAX simulation results can be displayed on the map as well as listed in tabular form for analysis. Simulation outputs include results related to sites, cells, and mobiles. WiMAX simulation results can be stored in the cells table and used in C/(I+N) based coverage predictions. In this section, the following are explained: • •

"WiMAX Traffic Simulation Algorithm" on page 1103 "WiMAX Simulation Results" on page 1105

This section explains the specific mechanisms that are used to calculate WiMAX traffic simulations. For information on working with traffic simulations in Atoll, see "Simulations" on page 265.

14.4.2.1 WiMAX Traffic Simulation Algorithm Figure 14.14 shows the WiMAX simulation algorithm. The simulation process in WiMAX consists of the following steps: 1. Mobile Generation and Distribution Simulations require traffic data, such as traffic maps (raster, vector, or live traffic data). Atoll generates a user distribution for each simulation using a Monte Carlo algorithm. This user distribution is based on the traffic data input and is weighted by a Poisson distribution. Each mobile generated during the simulations is assigned a service, a mobility type, and a terminal according to the user profile assigned to it. A transmission status is determined according to the activity probabilities. The transmission status is an important output of the simulation as it has a direct impact on the next step of the simulation process, i.e., the radio resource management (RRM), and has an impact on the interference level in the network. Unless fixed, the geographical location of each mobile is determined randomly for the mobiles generated based on the traffic data from traffic maps.

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Figure 14.14: WiMAX simulation algorithm 2. Best Server Determination Atoll determines the best server for each mobile based on the preamble signal level or preamble C/(I+N) in the downlink. For multi-cell transmitters, the best serving transmitter is determined according to the received preamble signal level or preamble C/(I+N) from the cell with the highest preamble power. If more than one cell covers the mobile, the one with the highest priority layer is selected as the serving cell. 3. Downlink Calculations The downlink calculations include the calculation of downlink preamble and traffic C/(I+N), determination of the best available bearer for the traffic C/(I+N), allocation of resources (RRM), and calculation of user throughputs. Segmentation is performed if the frame configuration, selected for a cell, supports segmentation. Interference calculation is based on the probabilities of collision between segments. 4. Uplink Calculations The uplink calculations include the calculation of uplink C/(I+N), determination of the best available bearer for the C/ (I+N), uplink power control and subchannelisation depending on the bearer, allocation of resources (RRM), update of uplink noise rise values for cells, and calculation of user throughputs. Segmentation is performed if the frame configuration, selected for a cell, supports segmentation. Interference calculation is based on the probabilities of collision between segments. 5. Radio Resource Management and Cell Load Calculation

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Atoll uses an intelligent scheduling algorithm to perform radio resource management. The scheduling algorithm is explained in detail in the Technical Reference Guide. The scheduler: a. Determines the total amount of resources in each cell. b. Selects the first N users from the users generated in the first step, where N is the Max number of users defined in the cell properties. c. Sorts the users in decreasing order by service priority. d. Allocates the resources required to satisfy the minimum throughput demands of the users starting from the first user (with the highest priority service) to the last user. e. If resources still remain in the resource pool after this allocation, allocates resources to the users with maximum throughput demands according to the used scheduling algorithm. The service priority is determined by the pair QoS Class-Priority. A UGS-Priority 1 service will have higher service priority than a UGS-Priority 0 service. The QoS classes are UGS, ErtPS, rtPS, nrtPS, and Best Effort, in order of decreasing priority. At the end of the simulations, active users can be connected in the direction corresponding to his activity status if the following conditions are met: • • • •

They have a best server assigned (step 2.). They have a bearer in the direction corresponding to his activity status (step 3. and step 4.). They are among the users selected by the scheduler for resource allocation (step 5.). They are not rejected due to resource saturation (step 5.).

A user may be rejected in step 2. for "No Coverage" step 3. or step 4. for "No Service" and step 5. for: • • •

"Scheduler Saturation": The user is not among the users selected for resource allocation. "Resource Saturation": All of the cell’s resources were used up by other users or if, for a user active in uplink, the minimum uplink throughput demand was higher than the uplink allocated bandwidth throughput. "Backhaul Saturation": The user was among the lowest priority service users served by a cell of a site whose defined maximum backhaul throughputs were exceeded while allocating resources for the minimum throughput demands.

14.4.2.2 WiMAX Simulation Results After you have created a simulation, as explained in "Creating Simulations" on page 266, you can display the results • •

As a distribution map. To display distribution maps of a simulation, see "Displaying Simulation Results on the Map" on page 270. By accessing the actual values of the simulation. Actual values can be displayed either for a single simulation or as average values for a group of simulations.

This section covers the following topics: • •

14.4.2.2.1

"Displaying the Results of a Single Simulation" on page 1105 "Displaying the Average Results of a Group of Simulations" on page 1109

Displaying the Results of a Single Simulation To access the result values of a simulation: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Simulations folder, and expand the folder of the simulation group containing the simulation whose results you want to access, right-click the simulation, and select Properties from the context menu. A simulation properties dialog box appears. One tab gives statistics of the simulation results. Other tabs in the simulation properties dialog box contain simulation results as identified by the tab title. The Statistics tab contains the following sections: •

Request: Data on the connection requests: •

•

Atoll calculates the total number of users who try to connect. This number is the result of the first random trial; radio resource allocation has not yet finished. The result depends on the traffic description and traffic input. • During the first random trial, each user is assigned a service and an activity status. The number of users per activity status and the UL and DL throughput demands that all users could theoretically generate are provided. • The breakdown per service (total number of users, number of users per activity status, and UL and DL throughput demands) is given. Results: Data on the connection results: •

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The total number and percentage of users unable to connect: rejected users, and the number of rejected users per rejection cause. The number and percentage of users connected to a cell, the number of users per activity status, and the total UL and DL throughputs they generate. This data is also provided by service.

The Sites tab contains the following information per site: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Peak MAC aggregate throughput (DL) (kbps): The sum of peak MAC user throughputs of all the users connected in the downlink in all the cells of the site. Effective MAC aggregate throughput (DL) (kbps): The sum of effective MAC user throughputs of all the users connected in the downlink in all the cells of the site. Aggregate application throughput (DL) (kbps): The sum of application throughputs of all the users connected in the downlink in all the cells of the site. Peak MAC aggregate throughput (UL) (kbps): The sum of peak MAC user throughputs of all the users connected in the uplink in all the cells of the site. Effective MAC aggregate throughput (UL) (kbps): The sum of effective MAC user throughputs of all the users connected in the uplink in all the cells of the site. Aggregate application throughput (UL) (kbps): The sum of application throughputs of all the users connected in the uplink in all the cells of the site. Connection success rate (%): The percentage of users connected to any cell of the site with respect to the number of users covered by the cells of the site. Total number of connected users: The total number of users connected to any cell of the site in downlink, uplink, or downlink and uplink both. Number of connected users (DL+UL): The number of users connected to any cell of the site in downlink and uplink both. Number of connected users (DL): The number of users connected to any cell of the site in downlink. Number of connected users (UL): The number of users connected to any cell of the site in uplink. No service: The number of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "No service." No service (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "No service." Scheduler saturation: The number of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "Scheduler saturation." Scheduler saturation (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "Scheduler saturation." Resource saturation: The number of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "Resource saturation." Resource saturation (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "Resource saturation." Backhaul saturation: The number of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "Backhaul saturation." Backhaul saturation (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "Backhaul saturation." Peak MAC aggregate throughput (DL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of peak MAC user throughputs of the users connected in the downlink in all the cells of the site. Effective MAC aggregate throughput (DL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of effective MAC user throughputs of the users connected in the downlink in all the cells of the site. Aggregate application throughput (DL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of application throughputs of the users connected in the downlink in all the cells of the site. Peak MAC aggregate throughput (UL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of peak MAC user throughputs of the users connected in the uplink in all the cells of the site. Effective MAC aggregate throughput (UL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of effective MAC user throughputs of the users connected in the uplink in all the cells of the site. Aggregate application throughput (UL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of application throughputs of the users connected in the uplink in all the cells of the site. Connection success rate (%) for each service: For each service, the percentage of users connected to any cell of the site with respect to the number of users covered by the cells of the site.

The Cells tab contains the following information, per site and transmitter: • • • • • •

Layer: The layer to which the cell belongs. Traffic load (DL) (%): The traffic loads of the cells calculated on the downlink during the simulation. Segmentation usage (DL) (%): The percentage of the downlink traffic load that corresponds to the first downlink PUSC zone, if it is segmented. Traffic load (UL) (%): The traffic loads of the cells calculated on the uplink during the simulation. UL noise rise (dB): The noise rise of the cells calculated on the uplink during the simulation. Segmented zone UL noise rise (dB): The noise rise of the cells calculated on the uplink during the simulation for the segmented uplink permutation zone.

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Angular distributions of interference (AAS): The simulation results generated for transmitters using a smart antenna. The results stored in this field are the angular distributions of the downlink traffic power spectral density and the uplink noise rise. You can make the display of the downlink results diagram take into account the effect of the antenna pattern of the single element. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. AAS usage (DL) (%): The percentage of the downlink traffic load that corresponds to the traffic carried by the smart antennas. AAS usage (UL) (%): The percentage of the uplink traffic load that corresponds to the traffic carried by the smart antennas. MU-MIMO capacity gain (UL): The uplink capacity gain due to multi-user (collaborative) MIMO. Peak MAC aggregate throughput (DL) (kbps): The sum of peak MAC user throughputs of all the users connected in the downlink. Effective MAC aggregate throughput (DL) (kbps): The sum of effective MAC user throughputs of all the users connected in the downlink. Aggregate application throughput (DL) (kbps): The sum of application throughputs of all the users connected in the downlink. Peak MAC aggregate throughput (UL) (kbps): The sum of peak MAC user throughputs of all the users connected in the uplink. Effective MAC aggregate throughput (UL) (kbps): The sum of effective MAC user throughputs of all the users connected in the uplink. Aggregate application throughput (UL) (kbps): The sum of application throughputs of all the users connected in the uplink. Connection success rate (%): The percentage of users connected to the cell with respect to the number of users covered by the cell. Total number of connected users: The total number of users connected to the cell in downlink, uplink, or downlink and uplink both. Number of connected users (DL+UL): The number of users connected to the cell in downlink and uplink both. Number of connected users (DL): The number of users connected to the cell in downlink. Number of connected users (UL): The number of users connected to the cell in uplink. No service: The number of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "No service." No service (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "No service." Scheduler saturation: The number of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "Scheduler saturation." Scheduler saturation (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "Scheduler saturation." Resource saturation: The number of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "Resource saturation." Resource saturation (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "Resource saturation." Backhaul saturation: The number of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "Backhaul saturation." Backhaul saturation (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "Backhaul saturation." Peak MAC aggregate throughput (DL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of peak MAC user throughputs of the users connected in the downlink. Effective MAC aggregate throughput (DL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of effective MAC user throughputs of the users connected in the downlink. Aggregate application throughput (DL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of application throughputs of the users connected in the downlink. Peak MAC aggregate throughput (UL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of peak MAC user throughputs of the users connected in the uplink. Effective MAC aggregate throughput (UL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of effective MAC user throughputs of the users connected in the uplink. Aggregate application throughput (UL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of application throughputs of the users connected in the uplink. Connection success rate (%) for each service: For each service, the percentage of users connected to the cell with respect to the number of users covered by the cell.

The Mobiles tab contains the following information: • • • • •

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X and Y: The coordinates of users who attempt to connect (the geographic position is determined by the second random trial). Height: The height of the user terminal (antenna). User profile: The assigned user profile. Atoll uses the assigned service and activity status to determine the terminal and the user profile. Subscriber ID: The ID of the user if the user is generated from a subscriber list and not from a traffic map. Subscriber list: The subscriber list of the user if the user is generated from a subscriber list and not from a traffic map.

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Service: The service assigned during the first random trial during the generation of the user distribution. Terminal: The assigned terminal. Atoll uses the assigned service and activity status to determine the terminal and the user profile. Mobility: The mobility type assigned during the first random trial during the generation of the user distribution. Activity status: The assigned activity status. It can be Active DL, Active UL, Active DL+UL, or Inactive. Connection status: The connection status indicates whether the user is connected or rejected at the end of the simulation. If connected, the connection status corresponds to the activity status. If rejected, the rejection cause is given. Clutter class: The code of the clutter class where the user is located. Indoor: This field indicates whether indoor losses have been added or not. Best server: The best server of the user. Serving cell: The serving cell of the serving transmitter of the user. Layer: The layer of the serving cell of the user. Azimuth: The orientation of the user’s terminal antenna in the horizontal plane. Azimuth is always considered with respect to the North. Atoll points the user antenna towards its best server. Downtilt: The orientation of the user’s terminal antenna in the vertical plane. Mechanical downtilt is positive when it is downwards and negative when upwards. Atoll points the user antenna towards its best server. Path loss (dB): The path loss from the best server calculated for the user. 2nd best server: The second best server of the user. 2nd best server path loss (dB): The path loss from the second best server calculated for the user. 3rd best server: The third best server of the user. 3rd best server path loss (dB): The path loss from the third best server calculated for the user. Received preamble power (DL) (dBm): The preamble signal level received at the user location in the downlink. Received traffic power (DL) (dBm): The traffic signal level received at the user location in the downlink. Received pilot power (DL) (dBm): The pilot signal level received at the user location in the downlink. Preamble C/(I+N) (DL) (dB): The preamble C/(I+N) at the user location in the downlink. Traffic C/(I+N) (DL) (dB): The traffic C/(I+N) at the user location in the downlink. Pilot C/(I+N) (DL) (dB): The pilot C/(I+N) at the user location in the downlink. Preamble total noise (I+N) (DL) (dBm): The sum of the preamble interference and noise experienced at the user location in the downlink. Traffic total noise (I+N) (DL) (dBm): The sum of the traffic interference and noise experienced at the user location in the downlink. Bearer (DL): The highest WiMAX bearer available for the traffic C/(I+N) level at the user location in the downlink. Permutation zone (DL): The downlink permutation zone allocated to the user. BLER (DL): The Block Error Rate read from the user terminal’s reception equipment for the traffic C/(I+N) level at the user location in the downlink. Diversity mode (DL): The diversity mode supported by the cell or permutation zone in downlink. Peak MAC channel throughput (DL) (kbps): The maximum MAC channel throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at the user location in the downlink. Effective MAC channel throughput (DL) (kbps): The effective MAC channel throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at the user location in the downlink. It is calculated from the peak MAC throughput and the BLER. Application channel throughput (DL) (kbps): The application throughput is the net throughput without coding (redundancy, overhead, addressing, etc.). It is calculated from the effective MAC throughput, the throughput scaling factor of the service and the throughput offset. Peak MAC user throughput (DL) (kbps): The maximum MAC user throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at the user location in the downlink. Effective MAC user throughput (DL) (kbps): The effective MAC user throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at the user location in the downlink. It is calculated from the peak MAC throughput and the BLER. Application user throughput (DL) (kbps): The application throughput is the net throughput without coding (redundancy, overhead, addressing, etc.). It is calculated from the effective MAC throughput, the throughput scaling factor of the service and the throughput offset. Received power (UL) (dBm): The signal level received at the serving transmitter from the user terminal in the uplink. C/(I+N) (UL) (dB): The C/(I+N) at the serving transmitter of the user in the uplink. Total noise (I+N) (UL) (dBm): The sum of the interference and noise experienced at the serving transmitter of the user in the uplink. Bearer (UL): The highest WiMAX bearer available for the C/(I+N) level at the serving transmitter of the user in the uplink. Permutation zone (UL): The uplink permutation zone allocated to the user. BLER (UL): The Block Error Rate read from the serving cell’s reception equipment for the C/(I+N) level at the serving transmitter of the user in the uplink. Diversity mode (UL): The diversity mode supported by the cell or permutation zone in uplink. Transmission power (UL) (dBm): The transmission power of the user terminal after power control in the uplink. Allocated bandwidth (UL) (No. of Subchannels): The bandwidth allocated to the user in terms of the number of subchannels allocated in the uplink after subchannelisation.

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Peak MAC channel throughput (UL) (kbps): The maximum MAC channel throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at user location in the uplink. Effective MAC channel throughput (UL) (kbps): The effective MAC channel throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at the user location in the uplink. It is calculated from the peak MAC throughput and the BLER. Application channel throughput (UL) (kbps): The application throughput is the net throughput without coding (redundancy, overhead, addressing, etc.). It is calculated from the effective MAC throughput, the throughput scaling factor of the service and the throughput offset. Peak MAC allocated bandwidth throughput (UL) (kbps): The maximum MAC throughput attainable for the number of subchannels allocated to the user using the highest bearer available at the user location in the uplink. Effective MAC allocated bandwidth throughput (UL) (kbps): The effective MAC throughput attainable for the number of subchannels allocated to the user using the highest bearer available at the user location in the uplink. It is calculated from the peak MAC throughput and the BLER. Application allocated bandwidth throughput (UL) (kbps): The application throughput is the net throughput without coding (redundancy, overhead, addressing, etc.). It is calculated from the effective MAC throughput, the throughput scaling factor of the service and the throughput offset. Peak MAC user throughput (UL) (kbps): The maximum MAC user throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at the user location in the uplink. Effective MAC user throughput (UL) (kbps): The effective MAC user throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at the user location in the uplink. It is calculated from the peak MAC throughput and the BLER. Application user throughput (UL) (kbps): The application throughput is the net throughput without coding (such as redundancy, overhead, addressing). It is calculated from the effective MAC throughput, the throughput scaling factor of the service and the throughput offset. •

•

In Atoll, channel throughputs are peak MAC, effective MAC, or application throughputs achieved at a given location using the highest WiMAX bearer with the entire channel resources. If a user is rejected, his user throughput is zero.

The Initial Conditions tab contains the following information:

14.4.2.2.2

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The global network settings:

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• Frame duration • Default cyclic prefix ratio • Uplink and downlink fixed overheads • Uplink and downlink variable overheads • TDD-specific parameters: DL:UL ratio, TTG, and RTG • Uplink power control margin • Best server selection criterion • Serving cell selection method • Permutation zone selection criterion • Adaptive MIMO switching criterion • Multi-antenna interference calculation method The input parameters specified when creating the simulation:

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• Generator initialisation value • Maximum number of iterations • Global scaling factor • Backhaul capacity limitation • Uplink and downlink traffic load convergence thresholds • Uplink noise rise convergence threshold • Names of the traffic maps used. The parameters related to the clutter classes, including the default values.

Displaying the Average Results of a Group of Simulations To display the averaged results of a group of simulations: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Simulations folder, right-click the group of simulations whose results you want to display, and select Average Simulation from the context menu. A properties dialog box appears. One tab gives statistics of the simulation results. Other tabs in the simulation properties dialog box contain the averaged results for all simulations of the group. The Statistics tab contains the following sections:

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Request: Data on the connection requests: •

• • •

Atoll calculates the total number of users who try to connect. This number is the result of the first random trial; radio resource allocation has not yet finished. The result depends on the traffic description and traffic input. During the first random trial, each user is assigned a service and an activity status. The number of users per activity status and the UL and DL throughput demands that all users could theoretically generate are provided. The breakdown per service (total number of users, number of users per activity status, and UL and DL throughput demands) is given.

Results: Data on the connection results: • • •

The number of iterations that were run in order to converge. The total number and percentage of users unable to connect: rejected users, and the number of rejected users per rejection cause. The number and percentage of users connected to a cell, the number of users per activity status, and the total UL and DL throughputs they generate. This data is also provided by service.

The Sites (Average) tab contains the following average information per site: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Peak MAC aggregate throughput (DL) (kbps): The sum of peak MAC user throughputs of all the users connected in the downlink in all the cells of the site. Effective MAC aggregate throughput (DL) (kbps): The sum of effective MAC user throughputs of all the users connected in the downlink in all the cells of the site. Aggregate application throughput (DL) (kbps): The sum of application throughputs of all the users connected in the downlink in all the cells of the site. Peak MAC aggregate throughput (UL) (kbps): The sum of peak MAC user throughputs of all the users connected in the uplink in all the cells of the site. Effective MAC aggregate throughput (UL) (kbps): The sum of effective MAC user throughputs of all the users connected in the uplink in all the cells of the site. Aggregate application throughput (UL) (kbps): The sum of application throughputs of all the users connected in the uplink in all the cells of the site. Connection success rate (%): The percentage of users connected to any cell of the site with respect to the number of users covered by the cells of the site. Total number of connected users: The total number of users connected to any cell of the site in downlink, uplink, or downlink and uplink both. Number of connected users (DL+UL): The number of users connected to any cell of the site in downlink and uplink both. Number of connected users (DL): The number of users connected to any cell of the site in downlink. Number of connected users (UL): The number of users connected to any cell of the site in uplink. No service: The number of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "No service." No service (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "No service." Scheduler saturation: The number of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "Scheduler saturation." Scheduler saturation (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "Scheduler saturation." Resource saturation: The number of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "Resource saturation." Resource saturation (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "Resource saturation." Backhaul saturation: The number of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "Backhaul saturation." Backhaul saturation (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "Backhaul saturation." Peak MAC aggregate throughput (DL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of peak MAC user throughputs of the users connected in the downlink in all the cells of the site. Effective MAC aggregate throughput (DL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of effective MAC user throughputs of the users connected in the downlink in all the cells of the site. Aggregate application throughput (DL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of application throughputs of the users connected in the downlink in all the cells of the site. Peak MAC aggregate throughput (UL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of peak MAC user throughputs of the users connected in the uplink in all the cells of the site. Effective MAC aggregate throughput (UL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of effective MAC user throughputs of the users connected in the uplink in all the cells of the site. Aggregate application throughput (UL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of application throughputs of the users connected in the uplink in all the cells of the site. Connection success rate (%) for each service: For each service, the percentage of users connected to any cell of the site with respect to the number of users covered by the cells of the site.

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The Cells (Average) tab contains the following average information per cell: • • • • • •

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Traffic load (DL) (%): The traffic loads of the cells calculated on the downlink during the simulation. Segmentation usage (DL) (%): The percentage of the downlink traffic load that corresponds to the first downlink PUSC zone, if it is segmented. Traffic load (UL) (%): The traffic loads of the cells calculated on the uplink during the simulation. UL noise rise (dB): The noise rise of the cells calculated on the uplink during the simulation. Segmented zone UL noise rise (dB): The noise rise of the cells calculated on the uplink during the simulation for the segmented uplink permutation zone. Angular distributions of interference (AAS): The simulation results generated for transmitters using a smart antenna. The results stored in this field are the angular distributions of the downlink traffic power spectral density and the uplink noise rise. You can make the display of the downlink results diagram take into account the effect of the antenna pattern of the single element. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. AAS usage (DL) (%): The percentage of the downlink traffic load that corresponds to the traffic carried by the smart antennas. AAS usage (UL) (%): The percentage of the uplink traffic load that corresponds to the traffic carried by the smart antennas. MU-MIMO capacity gain (UL): The uplink capacity gain due to multi-user (collaborative) MIMO. Peak MAC aggregate throughput (DL) (kbps): The sum of peak MAC user throughputs of all the users connected in the downlink. Effective MAC aggregate throughput (DL) (kbps): The sum of effective MAC user throughputs of all the users connected in the downlink. Aggregate application throughput (DL) (kbps): The sum of application throughputs of all the users connected in the downlink. Peak MAC aggregate throughput (UL) (kbps): The sum of peak MAC user throughputs of all the users connected in the uplink. Effective MAC aggregate throughput (UL) (kbps): The sum of effective MAC user throughputs of all the users connected in the uplink. Aggregate application throughput (UL) (kbps): The sum of application throughputs of all the users connected in the uplink. Connection success rate (%): The percentage of users connected to the cell with respect to the number of users covered by the cell. Total number of connected users: The total number of users connected to the cell in downlink, uplink, or downlink and uplink both. Number of connected users (DL+UL): The number of users connected to the cell in downlink and uplink both. Number of connected users (DL): The number of users connected to the cell in downlink. Number of connected users (UL): The number of users connected to the cell in uplink. No service: The number of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "No service." No service (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "No service." Scheduler saturation: The number of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "Scheduler saturation." Scheduler saturation (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "Scheduler saturation." Resource saturation: The number of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "Resource saturation." Resource saturation (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "Resource saturation." Backhaul saturation: The number of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "Backhaul saturation." Backhaul saturation (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "Backhaul saturation." Peak MAC aggregate throughput (DL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of peak MAC user throughputs of the users connected in the downlink. Effective MAC aggregate throughput (DL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of effective MAC user throughputs of the users connected in the downlink. Aggregate application throughput (DL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of application throughputs of the users connected in the downlink. Peak MAC aggregate throughput (UL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of peak MAC user throughputs of the users connected in the uplink. Effective MAC aggregate throughput (UL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of effective MAC user throughputs of the users connected in the uplink. Aggregate application throughput (UL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of application throughputs of the users connected in the uplink. Connection success rate (%) for each service: For each service, the percentage of users connected to the cell with respect to the number of users covered by the cell.

The Initial Conditions tab contains the following information:

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•

The global network settings:

•

• Frame duration • Default cyclic prefix ratio • Uplink and downlink fixed overheads • Uplink and downlink variable overheads • TDD-specific parameters: DL:UL ratio, TTG, and RTG • Uplink power control margin • Best server selection criterion • Serving cell selection method • Permutation zone selection criterion • Adaptive MIMO switching criterion • Multi-antenna interference calculation method The input parameters specified when creating the simulation:

•

• Generator initialisation value • Maximum number of iterations • Global scaling factor • Generator initialisation value • Uplink and downlink traffic load convergence thresholds • Uplink noise rise convergence threshold • Names of the traffic maps used. The parameters related to the clutter classes, including the default values.

14.4.3 Making Coverage Predictions Using Simulation Results In Atoll, you can analyse simulation results by making coverage predictions using simulation results. In a coverage prediction each pixel is considered as a non-interfering probe user with a defined terminal, mobility, and service. The analyses can be based on a single simulation or on an averaged group of simulations. When no simulations are available, Atoll uses the downlink traffic load, uplink noise rise, and any angular distribution of interference stored for each cell to make coverage predictions. For information on cell properties, see "Cell Properties" on page 1039; for information on modifying cell properties, see "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 1044. Once you have made simulations, Atoll can use the information from the simulations instead of the defined parameters in the cell properties to make coverage predictions. For each coverage prediction based on simulation results, you can base the coverage prediction on a selected simulation or on a group of simulations, which uses the average of all simulations in the group. The coverage predictions that can use simulation results are: • • • • •

Coverage by C/(I+N) Level: For information on making a downlink or uplink coverage by C/(I+N) level, see "Studying Interference and C/(I+N) Levels" on page 1065. Service Area Analysis: For information on making a downlink or uplink service area analysis, see "Studying Downlink and Uplink Service Areas" on page 1066. Effective Service Area Analysis: For information on making an effective service area analysis, see "Studying Downlink and Uplink Service Areas" on page 1066. Coverage by Throughput: For information on making a downlink or uplink coverage by throughput, see "Making a Coverage Prediction by Throughput" on page 1068. Coverage by Quality Indicator: For information on making a downlink or uplink coverage by quality indicator, see "Making a Coverage Prediction by Quality Indicator" on page 1070.

When no simulations are available, you select "(Cells table)" from the Load conditions list, on the Conditions tab. However, when simulations are available you can base the coverage prediction on one simulation or a group of simulations. To base a coverage prediction on a simulation or group of simulations, when setting the parameters: 1. Click the Conditions tab. 2. From the Load conditions list, select the simulation or group of simulations on which you want to base the coverage prediction.

14.5 Optimising Network Parameters Using ACP The ACP (Automatic Cell Planning) module enables radio engineers designing WiMAX networks to automatically calculate the optimal network settings in terms of network coverage and quality. ACP can also be used to add sites from a list of candidate sites or to remove unnecessary sites or sectors. ACP can also be used in co-planning projects where networks using different radio access technologies must be taken into consideration when calculating the optimal network settings. ACP is primarily intended to improve existing network deployment by reconfiguring the main parameters that can be remotely controlled by operators: antenna electrical tilt and cell power. ACP can also be used during the initial planning stage of a

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WiMAX network by enabling the selection of the antenna, and its azimuth, height, and mechanical tilt. ACP not only takes transmitters into account in optimisations but also any repeaters and remote antennas. ACP can also be used to measure and optimise the EMF exposure created by the network. This permits the optimisation of power and antenna settings to reduce excessive EMF exposure in existing networks and optimal site selection for new transmitters. ACP uses user-defined objectives to evaluate the optimisation, as well as to calculate its implementation cost. Once you have defined the objectives and the network parameters to be optimised, ACP uses an efficient global search algorithm to test many network configurations and propose the reconfigurations that best meet the objectives. ACP presents the changes ordered from the most to the least beneficial, allowing phased implementation or implementation of just a subset of the suggested changes. ACP is technology-independent and can be used to optimise networks using different radio access technologies. Chapter 17: Automatic Cell Planning explains how you configure the ACP module, how you create and run an optimisation setup, and how you can view the results of an optimisation. In this section, only the concepts specific to WiMAX networks are explained: • • •

"WiMAX Optimisation Objectives" on page 1113 "WiMAX Quality Parameters" on page 1113 "WiMAX Quality Analysis Predictions" on page 1115

14.5.1 WiMAX Optimisation Objectives ACP optimises the network using user-defined objectives to evaluate the quality of the network reconfiguration. The objectives are dependent on the technology used by the project and are consistent with the corresponding coverage predictions in Atoll. In projects using WiMAX, either alone or in co-planning mode, the following objectives are proposed by default: • •

WiMAX Coverage WiMAX Preamble CINR

You can also create the following objectives from the context menu of Objectives in the left-hand pane of the Objectives tab: • •

WiMAX 1st-Nth Difference Custom Coverage (e.g. WiMAX Preamble C, WiMAX Preamble C/N)

You define the optimisation objectives using the Objectives tab of the ACP Setup dialog box. For information on setting objective parameters, see "Setting Objective Parameters" on page 1329.

Figure 14.15: Running ACP Optimisation for a WiMAX Network

14.5.2 WiMAX Quality Parameters When you create an optimisation setup, you define how the ACP evaluates the objectives. The quality parameters are technology dependent. You can base the evaluation of the objectives on a calculated coverage prediction or on manual configuration. If you base the coverage prediction settings on a calculated coverage prediction, ACP will use the ranges and colours defined in the selected coverage prediction as the default for its own predictions. However, if you have saved the display options of an ACP prediction as default, or if you are using a configuration file for ACP, these defined ranges and colours will be used as the default, overriding the settings in the selected coverage prediction. In projects using WiMAX, either alone or in co-planning, the following Quality parameters are proposed in the Pixel Rules frame of the objectives’ properties pages: • •

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• • • • • •

Preamble C⁄N Preamble CINR Overlap Best Server Distance 1st-2nd Difference 1st-Nth Difference

To define the quality parameters for WiMAX: 1. Open the Setup Properties dialog box to define the optimisation as explained in "Creating an ACP Setup" on page 1319. 2. Click the Objectives tab. 3. Under Parameters, expand the WiMAX folder. The list of available quality parameters appears. You can base the evaluation of a quality analysis prediction on a calculated Atoll prediction, if any, or on a manual configuration. •

•

If you base the evaluation of a quality analysis prediction on a calculated Atoll prediction, ACP will use the display settings of the calculated Atoll prediction in the quality analysis prediction calculated for that objective. If you saved the display settings of a quality analysis prediction as defaults, or if you are using a configuration file for ACP, these display settings will be used by default and will override the display settings of the calculated Atoll prediction. For more information on changing the display settings of a quality analysis prediction, see "Changing the Display Properties of ACP Predictions" on page 1379.

Signal Level Click this parameter to define in the right-hand pane how ACP will evaluate coverage by signal level. •

•

Base prediction settings on > "Coverage by Signal Level (DL)": ACP will evaluate coverages by signal level based on the parameters used to calculate the selected "Coverage by Signal Level (DL)" prediction in Atoll. Only the coverage predictions displaying a "Best Signal Level" per pixel can be accessed by the ACP. Base prediction settings on > "Manual configuration": If you select this option, you can Enable shadowing margin and define a Cell edge coverage probability. The standard deviations defined in the Atoll clutter are used or, if no clutter information available, default values are used.

Preamble C Click this parameter to define in the right-hand pane how ACP will evaluate coverage by preamble C. •

•

Base prediction settings on > "Effective Signal Analysis (DL)": ACP will evaluate the coverage by preamble C based on the parameters used to calculate the selected "Effective Signal Analysis (DL)" prediction in Atoll. Only the coverage predictions displaying a "Preamble Signal Level" per pixel can be accessed by the ACP. Base prediction settings on > "Manual configuration": If you select this option, you can Enable shadowing margin and define a Cell edge coverage probability. The standard deviations defined in the Atoll clutter are used or, if no clutter information is available, default values are used. Additionally, you can specify: • Service and Terminal that will be used during the calculation of preamble C through gain and losses (i.e., the service body loss, the gain and loss of the terminal antenna, and the terminal noise factor).

Preamble C/N Click this parameter to define in the right-hand pane how ACP will evaluate coverage by preamble C/N. •

•

Base prediction settings on > "Effective Signal Analysis (DL)": ACP will evaluate the coverage by preamble C/N based on the parameters used to calculate the selected "Effective Signal Analysis (DL)" prediction in Atoll. Only the coverage predictions displaying a "Preamble C/N Level" per pixel can be accessed by the ACP. Base prediction settings on > "Manual configuration": If you select this option, you can Enable shadowing margin and define a Cell edge coverage probability. The standard deviations defined in the Atoll clutter are used or, if no clutter information is available, default values are used. Additionally, you can specify: • Service and Terminal that will be used during the calculation of preamble C/N through gain and losses (i.e., the service body loss, the gain and loss of the terminal antenna, and the terminal noise factor).

Preamble CINR Click this parameter to define in the right-hand pane how ACP will evaluate coverage by preamble CINR. •

•

Base prediction settings on > "Coverage by C/(I+N) Level (DL)": ACP will evaluate the coverage by preamble CINR based on the parameters used to calculate the selected "Coverage by C/(I+N) Level (DL)" prediction in Atoll. Only the coverage predictions displaying a "Preamble C/(I+N) Level" per pixel can be accessed by the ACP. Base prediction settings on > "Manual configuration": If you select this option, you can Enable shadowing margin and define a Cell edge coverage probability. The standard deviations defined in the Atoll clutter are used or, if no clutter information is available, default values are used. Additionally, you can specify:

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Service and Terminal that will be used during the calculation of preamble CINR through gain and losses (i.e., the service body loss, the gain and loss of the terminal antenna, and the terminal noise factor). Calculation Method for preamble CINR. Select Using frequency plan (with or without Segmentation) or Ignoring frequency plan & segmentation.

Overlap / 1st-Nth Click this parameter to define in the right-hand pane how ACP will evaluate coverage by overlapping zones or by 1stNth difference. Overlap •

•

Base prediction settings on > "Overlapping Zones (DL)": ACP will evaluate coverages by overlapping based on the parameters used to calculate the selected "Overlapping Zones (DL)" prediction in Atoll. Only the Atoll predictions displaying a "Number of Servers" per pixel can be accessed by the ACP. Base prediction settings on > "Manual configuration": If you select this option, you can set a Minimum signal level and a Threshold margin.

1st-Nth •

•

Base prediction settings on > "Overlapping Zones (DL)": ACP will evaluate coverages by 1st-Nth difference based on the parameters used to calculate the selected "Overlapping Zones (DL)" prediction in Atoll. Since there is no Atoll prediction type equivalent to ACP WiMAX 1st-Nth Difference objective, the parameters recovered by ACP from the selected Atoll prediction are limited to the minimum signal level and the shading. The number of servers must always be specified manually next to No. servers. Base prediction settings on > "Manual configuration": If you select this option, specify a Minimum signal level and the No. servers. In both cases, the value you specify next to No. servers determines "Nth" in the WiMAX 1st-Nth Difference objective. For instance if you set No. servers to 4, then the "1st-4th Difference" quality parameter will be automatically selected by default in the Quality column of the WiMAX 1st-Nth Difference properties page. - Allowed values for No. servers range from 3 to 100, with only one value available per technology. - The "1st-2nd Difference" quality parameter (based on No. servers = 2) is provided by default.

14.5.3 WiMAX Quality Analysis Predictions ACP quality analysis predictions can be displayed in the Atoll map window. The same predictions are displayed by default on the Quality tab of an optimisation results window.

Figure 14.16: ACP Quality Analysis Prediction Types for a WiMAX Network

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ACP quality analysis predictions are equivalent to some of Atoll coverage predictions. The following table lists the quality analysis predictions available in ACP for WiMAX and the equivalent WiMAX coverage predictions in Atoll.

ACP Quality Analysis Prediction Type

Atoll Coverage Prediction Type "Display type" / "Field"

Signal Level

Coverage by Signal Level (DL) (1) "Value Intervals" / "Best Signal Level (dBm)"

Preamble C

Effective Signal Analysis (DL) (1) "Value Intervals" / "Preamble Signal Level (DL) (dBm)"

Preamble C/N

Effective Signal Analysis (DL) (1) "Value Intervals" / "Preamble C/N Level (DL) (dB)"

Preamble CINR

Coverage by C/(I+N) Level (DL) (1) "Value Intervals" / "Preamble C/(I+N) Level (DL) (dB)"

Overlap

Overlapping Zones (DL) (2) "Value Intervals" / "Number of Servers"

1st-Nth Difference

N/A

(1) For more information, see "Making a Coverage Prediction by Signal Level" on page 1061. (2) For more information, see "Making a Coverage Prediction on Overlapping Zones" on page 1061.

Making these predictions available within ACP enables you to quickly validate the optimisation results without having to commit the results and then calculate a coverage prediction in Atoll. The ACP predictions display results very similar to those that Atoll would display if you committed the optimisation results and calculated Atoll coverage predictions, however, before basing any decision to commit the optimisation results on the predictions produced by ACP, you should keep the following recommendations in mind: • • •

•

You should verify the results with a different Atoll coverage prediction, such as the overlapping zones prediction. ACP generated predictions are generated using the entire set of proposed changes. They do not take into account the change subset defined on the Change Details tab. ACP supports optimisation for transmitters belonging to different frequency bands, with predictions provided separately for each frequency band. However multiple-carrier optimisation is not supported in WiMAX (case of carriers within same transmitters belonging to different frequency bands). Even after committing the optimisation results, differences can remain between the ACP predictions and the predictions resulting from Atoll coverage predictions.

You can view the exact preamble CINR value on any pixel by letting the pointer rest over the pixel. The preamble CINR value is then displayed in a tip text. For ACP overlapping zones predictions, you can: •

Specify a best server threshold: • By entering a value next to Minimum Signal Level in the Overlap / 1st-Nth properties page, • Or by setting the param.wimax.overlap.minRxLevel option with the same value in the [ACPTplObjectivePage] section of the ACP.ini file.

•

Specify a threshold margin: • By entering a value next to Threshold margin in the Overlap / 1st-Nth properties page, • Or by setting the param.wimax.overlap.margin option with the same value in the [ACPTplObjectivePage] section of the ACP.ini file.

For each network quality coverage prediction, ACP offers a prediction showing the initial network state, the final network state, and a prediction showing the changes between the initial and final state.

14.6 Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data An important step in the process of creating a WiMAX network is to analyse the network performance using drive test data. This is done using measurements of the strength of the preamble and traffic signals and C/(I+N) in different locations within the area covered by the network. This collection of measurements is called drive test data.

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The data contained in a drive test data path is used to verify the accuracy of current network parameters and to optimise the network. This section covers the following topics: • • • • • • •

"Importing a Drive Test Data Path" on page 1117 "Displaying Drive Test Data" on page 1119 "Defining the Display of a Drive Test Data Path" on page 1119 "Network Verification" on page 1120 "Exporting a Drive Test Data Path" on page 1125 "Extracting CW Measurements from Drive Test Data" on page 1125 "Printing and Exporting the Drive Test Data Window" on page 1125

14.6.1 Importing a Drive Test Data Path In Atoll, you can analyse networks by importing drive test data in the form of ASCII text files (with tabs, commas, semi-colons, or spaces as separator), TEMS FICS-Planet export files (with the extension PLN), or TEMS text export files (with the extension FMT). For Atoll to be able to use the data in imported files, the imported files must contain the following information: • •

The position of drive test data points. When you import the data, you must indicate which columns give the abscissa and ordinate (XY coordinates) of each point. Information identifying scanned cells (for example, serving cells, neighbour cells, or any other cells). In WiMAX networks, a cell can be identified by its BSID (6-byte MAC address) or its preamble index.

You can import a single drive test data file or several drive test data files at the same time. If you regularly import drive test data files with the same format, you can create an import configuration. The import configuration contains information that defines the structure of the data in the drive test data file. By using the import configuration, you will not need to define the data structure each time you import a new drive test data file. To import one or several drive test data files: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Drive Test Data folder and select Import from the context menu. The Open dialog box appears. 2. Select the file or files you want to open. You can import one or several files. If you are importing more than one file, you can select contiguous files by clicking the first file you want to import, pressing Shift and clicking the last file you want to import. You can select non-contiguous files by pressing Ctrl and clicking each file you want to import. 3. Click Open. The Import of Measurement Files dialog box appears. Files with the extension PLN, as well as some FMT files (created with old versions of TEMS) are imported directly into Atoll; you will not be asked to define the data structure using the Import of Measurement Files dialog box. 4. If you already have an import configuration defining the data structure of the imported file or files, you can select it from the Import configuration list on the Setup tab of the Import of Measurement Files dialog box. If you do not have an import configuration, continue with step 5. a. Under Import configuration, select an import configuration from the Configuration list. b. Continue with step 8. •

•

When importing a drive test data path file, existing configurations are available in the Files of type list of the Open dialog box, sorted according to their date of creation. After you have selected a file and clicked Open, Atoll automatically proposes a configuration, if it recognises the extension. If several configurations are associated with an extension, Atoll chooses the first configuration in the list. The defined configurations are stored, by default, in the file "NumMeasINIFile.ini", located in the directory where Atoll is installed. For more information on the NumMeasINIFile.ini file, see the Administrator Manual.

5. Click the General tab. On the General tab, you can set the following parameters: •

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• •

Under Receiver, set the Height of the receiver antenna and the Gain and Losses. Under Measurement conditions: • •

Units: Select the measurement units used. Coordinates: By default, Atoll imports the coordinates using the display system of the Atoll document. If the coordinates used in the file you are importing are different than the coordinates used in the Atoll document, you must click the Browse button and select the coordinate system used in the drive test data file. Atoll will then convert the data imported to the coordinate system used in the Atoll document.

6. Click the Setup tab (see Figure 14.17).

Figure 14.17: The Setup tab of the Import of Measurement Files dialog box a. Under File, enter the number of the 1st measurement row, select the data Separator, and select the Decimal symbol used in the file. b. Click the Setup button to link file columns and internal Atoll fields. The Drive Test Data Setup dialog box appears. c. Under Measurement point position, select the columns in the imported file that give the X-coordinates and the Y-coordinates of each point in the drive test data file. You can also identify the columns containing the XY coordinates of each point in the drive test data file by selecting them from the Field row of the table on the Setup tab.

d. If you are importing data that uses BSID as the cell identifier: i.

Under Server identification, select By BSID.

ii. In the By BSID identifier box, enter a string found in the column name that identifies the BSID of scanned cells. For example, if the string "BSID" is found in the column names identifying the BSID of scanned cells, enter it here. Atoll will then search for the column with this string in the column name. e. If you are importing data that uses the preamble index as the cell identifier: i.

Under Server identification, select By preamble index.

ii. In the By preamble index identifier box, enter a string found in the column name that identifies the preamble indexes of scanned cells. For example, if the string "Preamble" is found in the column names identifying the preamble indexes of scanned cells, enter it here. Atoll will then search for the column with this string in the column name. f.

Click OK to close the Drive Test Data Setup dialog box.

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•

•

If you have correctly entered the information under File on the Setup tab, and the necessary values in the Drive Test Data Setup dialog box, Atoll should recognise all columns in the imported file. If not, you can click the name of the column in the table in the Field row and select the column name. For each field, you must ensure that each column has the correct data type in order for the data to be correctly interpreted. The default value under Type is "". Columns marked with "" will not be imported. The data in the file must be structured so that the column identifying the preamble index or the BSID is placed before the data columns for each cell. Otherwise Atoll will not be able to properly import the file.

7. If you want to save the definition of the data structure so that you can use it again, you can save it as an import configuration: a. On the Setup tab, under Import configuration, click Save. The Configuration dialog box appears. b. By default, Atoll saves the configuration in a file called "NumMeasINIfile.ini" found in Atoll installation folder. In case you cannot write into that folder, you can click Browse to choose a different location. c. Enter a Configuration name and an Extension of the files that this import configuration will describe (for example, "*.txt"). d. Click OK. Atoll will now select this import configuration automatically every time you import a drive test data path file with the selected extension. If you import a file with the same structure but a different extension, you can select this import configuration from the Import configuration list. • •

•

You do not have to complete the import procedure to save the import configuration and have it available for future use. When importing a measurement file, you can expand the NumMeasINIfile.ini file by clicking the Expand button ( ) in front of the file under Import configuration to display all the available import configurations. When selecting the appropriate configuration, the associations are automatically made in the table at the bottom of the dialog box. You can delete an existing import configuration by selecting the import configuration file under Import configuration and clicking the Delete button.

8. Click Import, if you are only importing a single file, or Import all, if you are importing more than one file. The drive test data is imported into the current Atoll document.

14.6.2 Displaying Drive Test Data When you have imported the drive test data into the current Atoll document, you can display it in the map window. Then, you can select individual drive test data points to see the information at that location. To display information about a single drive test data point: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder and select the display check box of the drive test data you want to display in the map window. The drive test data is displayed. 2. Click and hold the drive test data point on which you want more information. Atoll displays an arrow pointing towards the serving cell (see Figure 14.21 on page 1123) in the same colour as the transmitter.

14.6.3 Defining the Display of a Drive Test Data Path You can manage the display of drive test data paths using the Display tab of a drive test data path Properties dialog box. The points on a drive test data path can be displayed according to any available attribute. You can also use the Display tab to define labels, tip text and the legend. To display the Display tab of a drive test data path Properties dialog box: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data path whose display you want to set, and select Properties from the context menu. The drive test data path properties dialog box appears. 2. Click the Display tab. Each point can be displayed by a unique attribute or according to: • •

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In addition, you can display points by more than one criterion at a time using the Advanced option in the Display type list. When you select Advanced from the Display type list, the Shadings dialog box opens in which you can define the following display for each single point of the measurement path: • • •

A symbol according to any attribute. A symbol colour according to any attribute. A symbol size according to any attribute.

You can, for example, display a signal level in a certain colour, choose a symbol for each transmitter (such as a circle, triangle, cross) and a symbol size according to the altitude. • • •

•

Fast display forces Atoll to use the lightest symbol to display the points. This is particularly useful when you have a very large number of points. You can not use Advanced display if the Fast display check box has been selected. You can sort drive test data paths in alphabetical order in the Network explorer by right-clicking the Drive Test Data Path folder and selecting Sort Alphabetically from the context menu. You can save the display settings (such as colours and symbols) of a drive test data path in a user configuration file to make them available for use on another drive test data path. To save or load the user configuration file, click the Actions button on the Display tab of the path properties dialog box and select Save or Load from the Display Configuration submenu.

14.6.4 Network Verification The imported drive test data is used to verify the WiMAX network. To improve the relevance of the data, Atoll allows you to filter out incompatible or inaccurate points. You can then compare the drive test measurements with coverage predictions. To compare drive test data with coverage predictions, you overlay coverage predictions calculated by Atoll with the drive test data path displayed using the same parameter as that used to calculate the coverage prediction. This section covers the following topics: • • • • • •

"Filtering Measurement Points Along Drive Test Data Paths" on page 1120 "Predicting the Signal Level on Drive Test Data Points" on page 1121 "Creating Coverage Predictions on Drive Test Data Paths" on page 1122 "Displaying Statistics Over a Drive Test Data Path" on page 1123 "Extracting a Field From a Drive Test Data Path for a Transmitter" on page 1123 "Analysing Measurement Variations Along the Path" on page 1123

14.6.4.1 Filtering Measurement Points Along Drive Test Data Paths When using a drive test data path, some measured points may present values that are too far outside the median values to be useful. As well, test paths may include test points in areas that are not representative of the drive test data path as a whole. For example, a test path that includes two heavily populated areas might also include test points from a more lightly populated region between the two. You can filter out unreliable measurement points from the drive test data path either geographically, by filtering by clutter classes and the focus zone, or using an advanced filter. To filter out measurement points by clutter class: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data path on which you want to filter out measurement points, and select Filter from the context menu. The Drive Test Data Filter dialog box appears. 2. Under Clutter classes, clear the check boxes of the clutter classes you want to exclude. Measurement points located on the excluded clutter classes will be filtered out. 3. If you want to use the focus zone as part of the filter, select the Use focus zone to filter check box. Measurement points located outside the focus zone will be filtered out. 4. If you want to permanently delete the measurement points outside the filter, select the Delete points outside the filter check box. • •

You can apply a filter on all the drive test data paths in the Drive Test Data folder by selecting Filter from the context menu of the folder. If you want to use the measurement points that you permanently deleted, you will have to import the drive test data path again.

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5. Click More to filter out measurement points using an advanced filter. The Filter dialog box appears. For more information on using the Filter dialog box, see "Advanced Data Filtering" on page 101. You can update heights (of the DTM, and clutter heights) and the clutter class of drive test data points after adding new geographic maps or modifying existing ones by selecting Refresh Geo Data from the context menu of the Drive Test Data folder.

14.6.4.2 Predicting the Signal Level on Drive Test Data Points To predict the signal level on drive test data points: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data path on which you want to create the point prediction, and select Calculations > Create a New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Under Point predictions, select Point Signal Level and click OK. The Point Signal Level Properties dialog box appears (see Figure 14.18).

Figure 14.18: Point Signal Level Properties dialog box The errors between measured and predicted signal levels can be calculated and added to the drive test data table. 3. If you want to calculate errors between measured and predicted signal levels, under Select signal levels for error calculations, select the names of the columns representing measured signal level values in the drive test data table for which you want to calculate the errors (see Figure 14.19). If you do not want to add this information to the drive test data table, continue with step 4.

Figure 14.19: Selecting Measured Signal Levels for which Errors will be Calculated 4. Click OK. A point prediction is created for the selected drive test data path. 5. Right-click the drive test data path and select Calculations > Calculate All the Predictions from the context menu. If you chose to have Atoll calculate the errors between measured and predicted signal levels, new columns are added to the drive test data table for the predicted point signal level from the serving cell and the errors between the measured and predicted values.

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Figure 14.20: Drive Test Data Table after Point Signal Level Prediction (with Error Calculations) New columns are also added for the predicted point signal level from each neighbour cell and the errors between the predicted and measured values. The values stored in these columns can be displayed in the Drive Test Data analysis tool. For more information on the Drive Test Data analysis tool, see "Analysing Measurement Variations Along the Path" on page 1123. The propagation model used to calculate the predicted point signal levels is the one assigned to the transmitter for the main matrix. For more information on propagation models, see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models.

14.6.4.3 Creating Coverage Predictions on Drive Test Data Paths You can create the following coverage predictions for all transmitters on each point of a drive test data path: • •

Coverage by Signal Level (DL) Preamble C/(I+N) (DL)

To create a coverage prediction along a drive test data path: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data to which you want to add a coverage prediction, and select Calculations > Create a New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Under Standard predictions, select one of the following coverage predictions and click OK: •

Coverage by Signal Level (DL): Click the Conditions tab. • • • •

•

On the Conditions tab, you can set the range of the signal level to be calculated. Under Server, you can select whether to calculate the signal level from all transmitters, or only the best or second-best signal. If you choose to calculate the best or second-best signal, you can enter an Overlap margin. If you select the Shadowing taken into account check box, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability. You can select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

Preamble C/(I+N) (DL): Click the Conditions tab. • • • • • •

On the Conditions tab, you can select which simulation to study in the Load conditions list. Or you can select a group of simulations to perform an average statistical analysis of all simulations. If you want to perform the coverage prediction without a simulation, you can select "(Cells Table)" from Load conditions. You must select a Terminal, Service, and Mobility, as defined in "Service and User Modelling" on page 1062. You can also select a cell Layer, or carry out the prediction for the "Best" layer. If you want the preamble C/(I+N) prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. You can select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

3. When you have finished setting the parameters for the coverage prediction, click OK. You can create other coverage predictions by repeating the procedure from step 1. to step 3. for each new coverage prediction. 4. When you have finished creating coverage predictions for these drive test data, right-click the drive test data and select Calculations > Calculate All the Predictions from the context menu. A new column for each coverage prediction is added in the table for the drive test data. The column contains the predicted values of the selected parameters for the transmitter. The propagation model used is the one assigned to the transmitter for the main matrix (for information on the propagation model, see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models). You can display the information in these new columns in the Drive Test Data analysis tool. For more information on the Drive Test Data analysis tool, see "Analysing Measurement Variations Along the Path" on page 1123.

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14.6.4.4 Displaying Statistics Over a Drive Test Data Path If predictions have been calculated along a drive test data path, you can display the statistics between the measured and the predicted values on that path. To display the statistics for a specific drive test data path: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data from which you want to display comparative statistics, and select Display Statistics from the context menu. The Measurement and Prediction Fields Selection dialog box appears. 2. Under For the following transmitters, select one or more transmitters to include in the statistics. 3. Under Select the predicted values, select the fields that contain the predicted values that you want to use in the statistics. 4. Under Select the measured values, select the fields that contain the measured values that you want to use in the statistics. 5. Enter the Measured values range for the statistics. Only the measured values within this range will be included in the statistics. 6. Click OK. Atoll opens a window listing statistics of comparison between measured and predicted values.

14.6.4.5 Extracting a Field From a Drive Test Data Path for a Transmitter You can extract information for a selected transmitter from a field of a drive test data path. The extracted information is available in a new column in the drive test data table. To extract a field from a drive test data path: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data from which you want to extract a field, and select Focus on a Transmitter from the context menu. The Field Selection for a Given Transmitter dialog box appears. 2. Under On the transmitter, select the transmitter for which you want to extract a field. 3. Under For the fields, select the fields that you want to extract for the selected transmitter. 4. Click OK. Atoll creates a new column in the drive test data path table for the selected transmitter and with the selected values.

14.6.4.6 Analysing Measurement Variations Along the Path In Atoll, you can analyse variations in measurements along any drive test data path using the Drive Test Data analysis tool. You can also use the Drive Test Data analysis tool to find serving cells of points. To analyse measurement variations using the Drive Test Data analysis tool. 1. Select Tools > Drive Test Data from the menu bar. The Drive Test Data analysis tool appears (see Figure 14.21).

Figure 14.21: The Drive Test Data window

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2. In the Drive Test Data analysis tool, click the Display button. The Display Parameters dialog box appears (see Figure 14.22).

Figure 14.22: The drive test data display parameters 3. In the Display Parameters dialog box: • • •

Select the check box next to each field you want to display in the Drive Test Data analysis tool. If you want, you can change the display colour by clicking the colour in the Colour column and selecting a new colour from the palette that appears. Click OK. You can change the display status or the colour of more than one field at the same time by selecting several fields. You can select contiguous fields by clicking the first field, pressing Shift and clicking the last field. You can select non-contiguous fields by pressing Ctrl and clicking each field. You can then change the display status or the colour by right-clicking on the selected fields and selecting the choice from the context menu. The selected fields are displayed in the Drive Test Data analysis tool.

4. You can display the data in the drive test data path in the following ways: • •

Click the values in the Drive Test Data analysis tool. Click the points on the drive test data path in the map window.

The drive test data path appears in the map window as an arrow pointing towards the best server (see Figure 14.21 on page 1123) in the same colour as the transmitter. 5. You can display a secondary Y-axis on the right side of the window in order to display the values of a variable with different orders of magnitude than the ones selected in the Display Parameters dialog box. You select the value to be displayed from the right-hand list at the top of the Drive Test Data analysis tool. The values are displayed in the colour defined in the Display Parameters dialog box. 6. You can zoom in on the graph displayed in the Drive Test Data analysis tool in the following ways: •

Zoom in or out: i.

Right-click the Drive Test Data analysis tool. The context menu appears.

ii. Select Zoom In or Zoom Out from the context menu. •

Select the data to zoom in on: i.

Right-click the Drive Test Data analysis tool on one end of the range of data you want to zoom in on. The context menu appears.

ii. Select First Zoom Point from the context menu. iii. Right-click the Drive Test Data analysis tool on the other end of the range of data you want to zoom in on. The context menu appears. iv. Select Last Zoom Point from the context menu. The Drive Test Data analysis tool zooms in on the data between the first zoom point and the last zoom point. 7. Click the data in the Drive Test Data analysis tool to display the selected point in the map window. Atoll will centre the map window on the selected point if it is not presently visible.

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If you open the table for the drive test data you are displaying in the Drive Test Data analysis tool, Atoll will automatically display in the table the data for the point that is displayed in the map and in the Drive Test Data analysis tool (see Figure 14.21 on page 1123).

14.6.5 Exporting a Drive Test Data Path You can export drive test data paths to files as vector data. To export a drive test data path to a vector file: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data path you want to export, and select Export from the context menu. The Save As dialog box appears. 2. Enter a File name for the drive test data path and select a format from the Save as type list. 3. Click Save. The drive test data path is exported and saved in the file.

14.6.6 Extracting CW Measurements from Drive Test Data You can generate CW measurements from drive test data paths and extract the results to the CW Measurements folder. To generate CW measurement from a drive test data path: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data path from which you want to export CW measurements, and select Extract CW Measurements from the context menu. The CW Measurement Extraction dialog box appears. 2. Under Extract CW measurements: a. Select one or more transmitters from the For the transmitters list. b. Select the field that contains the information that you want to export to CW measurements from the For the fields list. 3. Under Extraction parameters of CW measurement paths: a. Enter the Min. number of points to extract per measurement path. CW measurements are not created for transmitters that have fewer points than this number. b. Enter the minimum and maximum Measured signal levels. CW measurements are created with drive test data points where the signal levels are within this specified range. 4. Click OK. Atoll creates new CW measurements for transmitters satisfying the parameters set in the CW Measurement Extraction dialog box. For more information about CW measurements, see the Model Calibration Guide.

14.6.7 Printing and Exporting the Drive Test Data Window You can print and export the contents of the Drive Test Data analysis tool. To print or export the contents of the Drive Test Data analysis tool: 1. Select Tools > Drive Test Data from the menu bar. The Drive Test Data analysis tool appears. 2. Define the display parameters and zoom level as explained in "Analysing Measurement Variations Along the Path" on page 1123. 3. Right-click the Drive Test Data analysis tool and select one of the following from the context menu: • •

Print to print the Drive Test Data analysis tool. Copy then paste to export the Drive Test Data window.

14.7 Co-planning WiMAX Networks with Other Networks Atoll is a multi-technology radio network planning tool. You can work on several technologies at the same time, and several network scenarios can be designed for any given area (such as a country, a region, or a city). For example, you can design a WiMAX and a GSM network for the same area in Atoll, and then work with Atoll co-planning features to study the mutual impacts of the two networks.

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Before starting a co-planning project in Atoll, the Atoll administrator must perform the pre-requisite tasks that are relevant for your project as described in the Administrator Manual. Sectors of both networks can share the same sites database. You can display base stations (sites and sectors), geographic data, and coverage predictions of one network in the other network’s Atoll document. You can also study inter-technology handovers by performing inter-technology neighbour allocations, manually or automatically. Inter-technology neighbours are allocated on criteria such as the distance between sectors or overlapping coverage. In addition, you can optimise the settings of the two networks using the Atoll Automatic Cell Planning (ACP) module. This section covers the following topics: • • • • • •

"Switching to Co-planning Mode" on page 1126 "Working with Coverage Predictions in a Co-planning Project" on page 1128 "Creating a WiMAX Sector From a Sector in the Other Network" on page 1131 "Planning Neighbours in Co-planning Mode" on page 1131 "Using ACP in Co-planning Mode" on page 1132 "Ending Co-planning Mode" on page 1133

14.7.1 Switching to Co-planning Mode Before starting a co-planning project, you must have two networks designed for a given area, which means that you must have a WiMAX Atoll document and an Atoll document for the other network. Atoll switches to co-planning mode as soon as the two documents are linked together. In the following sections, the WiMAX document will be referred to as the main document, and the other document as the linked document. Atoll does not establish any restriction on which is the main document and which is the linked document. Before starting a co-planning project, make sure that your main and linked documents have the same geographic coordinate systems.

To switch to co-planning mode: 1. Open the main document. •

Select File > Open or File > New > From an Existing Database.

2. Link the other document with the open main document. a. Click the map window of the main document. The map window of the main document becomes active and the explorer window shows the contents of the main document. b. Select Document > Link With > Browse. The Link With dialog box appears. c. Select the document to be linked. d. Click Open. The selected document is opened in the same Atoll session as the main document and the two documents are linked. The Explorer window of the main document now contains a folder named Transmitters in [linked document], where [linked document] is the name of the linked document and another folder named Predictions in [linked document]. By default, only the Transmitters and Predictions folders of the linked document appear in the main document. If you want the Sites folder of the linked document to appear in the main document as well, you can set an option in the Atoll.ini file. For information on setting options in the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual. As soon as a link is created between the two documents, Atoll switches to co-planning mode and the co-planning features are now available. When you are working on a co-planning document, Atoll facilitates working on two different but linked documents by synchronising the display in the map window between both documents. Atoll synchronises the display for the following: • • •

Geographic data: Atoll synchronises the display of geographic data such as clutter classes and the DTM. If you select or deselect one type of geographic data, Atoll makes the corresponding change in the linked document. Zones: Atoll synchronises the display of filtering, focus, computation, hot spot, printing, and geographic export zones. If you select or deselect one type of zone, Atoll makes the corresponding change in the linked document. Map display: Atoll co-ordinates the display of the map in the map window. When you move the map, or change the zoom level in one document, Atoll makes the corresponding changes in the linked document.

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Point analysis: When you use the Point Analysis tool, Atoll co-ordinates the display on both the working document and the linked document. You can select a point and view the profile in the main document and then switch to the linked document to make an analysis on the same profile but in the linked document.

Displaying Both Networks in the Same Atoll Document After you have switched to co-planning mode as explained in "Switching to Co-planning Mode" on page 1126, transmitters and predictions from the linked document are displayed in the main document. If you want, you can display other items or folders from the explorer window of the linked document to the explorer window of the main document (for example, you can display GSM sites and measurement paths in a WiMAX document). To display sites from the linked document in the main document: 1. Click the map window of the linked document. The map window of the linked document becomes active and the explorer window shows the contents of the linked document. 2. In the Network explorer, right-click the Sites folder, select Make Accessible In from the context menu, and select the name of the main document from the submenu that opens. The Sites folder of the linked document is now available in the main document. The Explorer window of the main document now contains a folder named Sites in [linked document], where [linked document] is the name of the linked document. If you want the Sites folder of the linked document to appear in the main document automatically, you can set an option in the Atoll.ini file. For information on setting options in the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual. The same process can be used to link other folders (such as CW Measurements, Drive Test Data, Clutter Classes, Traffic, and DTM) from one document in the other document. Once the folders are linked, you can access their properties and the properties of the items in the folders from either of the two documents. Any changes you make in the linked document are taken into account in the both the linked and main documents. However, because working document is the main document, any changes made in the main document are not automatically taken into account in the linked document. If you close the linked document, Atoll displays a warning icon (

) in the Explorer window of the main document, and the

linked items are no longer accessible from the main document. You can load the linked document in Atoll again by right-clicking the linked item in the explorer window of the main document, and selecting Open Linked Document. The administrator can create and set a configuration file for the display parameters of linked and main document transmitters in order to enable you to distinguish them on the map and to be able to select them on the map using the mouse. If such a configuration file has not been set up, you can choose different symbols, sizes and colours for the linked and the main document transmitters. For more information on folder configurations, see "Folder Configurations" on page 107. You can also set the tip text to enable you to distinguish the objects and data displayed on the map. For more information on tip text, see "Associating a Tip Text to an Object" on page 54. In order to more easily view differences between the networks, you can also change the order of the folders or items in the explorer window. For more information on changing the order of items in the explorer window, see "Changing the Order of Layers" on page 51. Figure 14.23 shows an example of WiMAX transmitters with labels and displayed in the Legend window, and GSM transmitter data displayed in a tip text.

Figure 14.23: GSM and WiMAX Transmitters displayed on the map

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14.7.2 Working with Coverage Predictions in a Co-planning Project Atoll provides you with features that enable you to work with coverage predictions in your co-planning project. You can modify the properties of coverage predictions in the linked document from within the main document, and calculate coverage predictions in both documents at the same time. You can also study and compare the coverage predictions of the two networks. This section covers the following topics: • •

"Updating Coverage Predictions" on page 1128 "Analysing Coverage Predictions" on page 1128

14.7.2.1 Updating Coverage Predictions You can access the properties of the coverage predictions in the linked Predictions folder in the Explorer window of the main document. After modifying the linked coverage prediction properties, you can update them from the main document. To update a linked coverage prediction: 1. Click the map window of the main document. The map window of the main document becomes active and the explorer window shows the contents of the main document and the linked folders from the linked document. 2. In the Network explorer, expand the Predictions in [linked document] folder, where [linked document] is the name of the linked document, right-click the linked coverage prediction whose properties you want to modify, and select Properties from the context menu. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 3. Modify the calculation and display parameters of the coverage prediction. 4. Click OK to save your settings. 5. Click the Calculate button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar.

When you click the Calculate button, Atoll first calculates uncalculated and invalid path loss matrices and then unlocked coverage predictions in the main and linked Predictions folders. When you have several unlocked coverage predictions defined in the main and linked Predictions folders, Atoll calculates them one after the other. For information on locking and unlocking coverage predictions, see "Locking and Unlocking Coverage Predictions" on page 207. You can make Atoll recalculate all path loss matrices, including valid ones, before calculating unlocked coverage predictions in the main and linked Predictions folders. To recalculate all path loss matrices before calculating coverage predictions: 1. Click the Force Calculate button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar.

When you click the Force Calculate button, Atoll first removes existing path loss matrices, recalculates them and then calculates unlocked coverages predictions defined in the main and linked Predictions folders. To prevent Atoll from calculating coverage predictions in the linked Predictions folder, you can set an option in the Atoll.ini file. For information on setting options in the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual.

14.7.2.2 Analysing Coverage Predictions In Atoll, you can analyse coverage predictions of the two networks together. You can display information about coverage predictions in the main and the linked documents in the Legend window, use tip text to get information on displayed coverage predictions, compare coverage areas by overlaying the coverage predictions in the map window, and study the differences between the coverage areas by creating coverage comparisons. If several coverage predictions are visible on the map, it might be difficult to clearly see the results of the coverage prediction you want to analyse. You can select which coverage predictions to display or to hide by selecting or clearing the display check box. For information on managing the display, see "Displaying or Hiding Objects on the Map" on page 50. In this section, the following are explained: • • • • •

"Co-Planning Coverage Analysis Process" on page 1129 "Displaying the Legend Window" on page 1129 "Comparing Coverage Prediction Results Using Tip Text" on page 1129 "Comparing Coverage Areas by Overlaying Coverage Predictions" on page 1130 "Studying Differences Between Coverage Areas" on page 1130.

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Co-Planning Coverage Analysis Process The aim of coverage analysis in a co-planning project is to compare the coverage areas of the two networks and to analyse the impact of changes made in one network on the other. Changes made to the sectors of one network might also have an impact on sectors in the other network if the sectors in the two networks share some antenna parameters. You can carry out a coverage analysis with Atoll to find the impact of these changes. The recommended process for analysing coverage areas, and the effect of parameter modifications in one on the other, is as follows: 1. Create and calculate a Coverage by Transmitter (DL) (best server with 0 dB overlap margin) coverage prediction and a Coverage by Signal Level (DL) coverage prediction in the main document. For more information, see "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter" on page 1061 and "Making a Coverage Prediction by Signal Level" on page 1061. 2. Create and calculate a Coverage by Transmitter (DL) (best server with 0 dB overlap margin) coverage prediction and a Coverage by Signal Level (DL) coverage prediction in the linked document. 3. Choose display settings for the coverage predictions and tip text contents that will allow you to easily interpret the predictions displayed in the map window. This can help you to quickly assess information graphically and using the mouse. You can change the display settings of the coverage predictions on the Display tab of each coverage prediction Properties dialog box. 4. Make the two new coverage predictions in the linked document accessible in the main document as described in "Displaying Both Networks in the Same Atoll Document" on page 1127. 5. Optimise the main network by changing parameters such as antenna azimuth and tilt or the pilot power. You can use a tool such as the Atoll ACP to optimise the network. Changes made to the shared antenna parameters will be automatically propagated to the linked document. 6. Calculate the coverage predictions in the main document again to compare the effects of the changes you made with the linked coverage predictions. For information on comparing coverage predictions, see "Comparing Coverage Areas by Overlaying Coverage Predictions" on page 1130 and "Studying Differences Between Coverage Areas" on page 1130. 7. Calculate the linked coverage predictions again to study the effects of the changes on the linked coverage predictions.

14.7.2.2.2

Displaying the Legend Window When you create a coverage prediction, you can add the displayed values of the coverage prediction to the legend by selecting the Add to legend check box on the Display tab. To display the Legend window: 1. Select View > Legend Window. The Legend window is displayed, with the values for each displayed coverage prediction in the main and linked Predictions folders, identified by the name of the coverage prediction.

14.7.2.2.3

Comparing Coverage Prediction Results Using Tip Text You can compare coverage predictions by placing the pointer over an area of the coverage prediction to read the information displayed in the tip text. Atoll displays information for all displayed coverage predictions in both the working and the linked documents. The information displayed is defined by the settings you made on the Display tab when you created the coverage prediction (step 3. of "Co-Planning Coverage Analysis Process" on page 1129). To get coverage prediction results in the form of tip text: •

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In the map window, place the pointer over the area of the coverage prediction that you want more information on. After a brief pause, the tip text appears with the information defined on all displayed coverage predictions in both the working and the linked documents (see Figure 14.4). The tip text for the working document is on top and the tip text for the linked document, with the linked document identified by name is on the bottom.

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Figure 14.24: Comparing coverage prediction results using tip text

14.7.2.2.4

Comparing Coverage Areas by Overlaying Coverage Predictions You can compare the coverage areas of the main and linked documents by overlaying coverage predictions in the map window. To compare coverage areas by overlaying coverage predictions in the map window: 1. Click the map window of the main document. The map window of the main document becomes active and the explorer window shows the contents of the main document and the linked folders from the linked document. 2. In the Network explorer, expand the Predictions folder and select the visibility check box to the left of the coverage prediction of the main document that you want to display in the map window. The coverage prediction is displayed on the map. 3. Right-click the coverage prediction and select Properties from the context menu. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 4. On the Display tab, modify the display parameters of the coverage prediction. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Expand the Predictions in [linked document] folder, where [linked document] is the name of the linked document, and select the visibility check box to the left of the linked coverage prediction you want to display in the map window. The coverage prediction is displayed on the map. 6. Right-click the coverage prediction and select Properties from the context menu. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 7. Modify the display parameters of the coverage prediction. 8. Calculate the two coverage predictions again, if needed. To highlight differences between the coverage areas, you can also change the order of the Predictions folders in the explorer window. For more information on changing the order of items in the explorer window, see "Changing the Order of Layers" on page 51.

14.7.2.2.5

Studying Differences Between Coverage Areas You can compare coverage predictions to find differences in coverage areas. To compare coverage predictions: 1. Click the map window of the main document. The map window of the main document becomes active and the explorer window shows the contents of the main document and the linked folders from the linked document. 2. In the Network explorer, expand the Predictions folder, right-click the coverage prediction of the main document that you want to compare, and select Compare With > [linked coverage prediction] from the context menu, where [linked coverage prediction] is the linked coverage prediction you want to compare with the coverage prediction of the main document. The Comparison Properties dialog box opens. 3. Select the display parameters of the comparison and add a comment if you want. 4. Click OK. The two coverage predictions are compared and a comparison coverage prediction is added to the Predictions folder of the main document. For more information on coverage prediction comparison, see "Comparing Coverage Predictions" on page 1075.

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14.7.3 Creating a WiMAX Sector From a Sector in the Other Network You can create a new sector in the main document based on an existing sector in the linked document. To create a new sector in the main document based on an existing sector in the linked document: 1. Click the map window of the main document. 2. In the map window, right-click the linked transmitter based on which you want to create a WiMAX transmitter and select Copy in [main document] from the context menu. The following parameters of the new sector in the main document will be the same as the sector in the linked document it was based on: antenna position relative to the site (Dx and Dy), antenna height, azimuth, and mechanical tilt. The new sector will be initialised with the radio parameters from the default station template in the main document. If the sector in the linked document is located at a site that does not exist in the main document, the site is created in the main document as well. If the sector in the linked document is located at a site that also exists in the main document, and the coordinates of the site in the linked and main documents are the same, the sector is created in the main document at the existing site. The site coordinates in the linked and main documents will always be the same if the Atoll administrator has set up site sharing in the database. For more information about site sharing in databases, see the Administrator Manual. If the sector in the linked document is located at a site that exists in the main document, but at a different location (geographic coordinates), the sector is not created in the main document. To update the display settings of the new sector: 1. Click the map window of the main document. 2. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder of the main document and select Apply Current Configuration from the context menu.

Figure 14.25: New sector – Before and after applying the configuration The azimuths and mechanical tilts of secondary antennas or remote antennas are not included when you select Apply Configuration and have to be set up manually.

14.7.4 Planning Neighbours in Co-planning Mode In co-planning mode, you can use Atoll to manually allocate neighbour relations to any cell in a network. You can also use Atoll to automatically allocate neighbour relations to a single cell, to all the cells of a base station, to all the cells in a transmitter group, or to all the cells in a network, based on predefined parameters. WiMAX-specific coverage conditions in automatic inter-technology neighbour allocation are described in this section. Neighbour allocation in co-planning and other concepts that are specific to WiMAX networks are explained in "Planning Neighbours" on page 1083.

14.7.4.1 Coverage Conditions The Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box provides a Use coverage conditions option: • •

When Use coverage conditions is not selected, the defined Distance is used to allocate neighbours to a reference transmitter. When Use coverage conditions is selected, click Define for IEEE 802.16e to open the corresponding Coverage Conditions dialog box: • • • •

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Resolution: Enter the resolution to be used to calculate cell coverage areas during automatic neighbour allocation. Margin: Enter a handover margin. Shadowing Taken into Account: If selected, enter a Cell edge coverage probability. Indoor Coverage: Select this option to take indoor losses into account in calculations. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

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14.7.4.2 Calculation Constraints In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, you can select the following calculation constraints: • •

Co-site neighbours: Cells located on the same site as the reference transmitter will automatically be considered as neighbours. A transmitter/cell with no antenna cannot be considered as a co-site neighbour. Exceptional pairs: Select this option to force the neighbour relations defined in the Inter-technology Exceptional pairs table. For more information, see "Defining Exceptional Pairs" on page 223.

14.7.4.3 Reasons for Allocation In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, the reason for neighbour allocation is indicated under Cause in the Results table. It can be any of the following: Cause

Description

When

Distance

The neighbour is located within the defined maximum distance from the reference transmitter/ cell

Use coverage conditions is not selected

Coverage

The neighbour relation fulfils the defined coverage conditions

Use coverage conditions is selected and nothing is selected under Force

Co-Site

The neighbour is located on the same site as the reference transmitter/cell

Use coverage conditions is selected and Co-site neighbours is selected

Exceptional Pair

The neighbour relation is defined as an exceptional pair

Exceptional pairs is selected

Existing

The neighbour relation existed before automatic allocation

Delete existing neighbours is not selected

14.7.5 Using ACP in Co-planning Mode Atoll ACP enables you to automatically calculate the optimal network settings in terms of network coverage and capacity in co-planning projects where networks using different technologies, for example, WiMAX and GSM, must both be taken into consideration. When you run an optimisation setup in a co-planning environment, you can display the sites and transmitters of both networks in the document in which you will run the optimisation process, as explained in "Switching to Co-planning Mode" on page 1126. While this step is not necessary in order to create a co-planning optimisation setup, it will enable you to visually analyse the changes to both networks in the same document. Afterwards you can create the new optimisation setup, but when creating an optimisation setup in a co-planning environment, you can not run it immediately; you must first import the other network into the ACP setup. This section explains how to use ACP to optimise network settings in a co-planning project: • •

"Creating a Co-planning Optimisation Setup" on page 1132 "Importing the Other Network into the Setup" on page 1133

14.7.5.1 Creating a Co-planning Optimisation Setup Once you have displayed both networks in the main document as explained in "Switching to Co-planning Mode" on page 1126, you can create the new co-planning optimisation setup. To create a co-planning optimisation setup: 1. Click the map window of the main document. 2. In the Network explorer, right-click the ACP - Automatic Cell Planning folder and select New from the context menu. A dialog box appears in which you can set the parameters for the optimisation process. For information on the parameters available, see "Defining Optimisation Parameters" on page 1320. 3. After defining the optimisation setup, click the Create Setup button to save the defined optimisation. The optimisation setup has now been created. The next step is to add the GSM network to the ACP optimisation setup you have just created.

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14.7.5.2 Importing the Other Network into the Setup Once you have created the co-planning optimisation setup, you must import the GSM network. To import the linked network: 1. Click the map window of the main document. 2. In the Network explorer, expand the ACP - Automatic Cell Planning folder, right-click the setup you created in "Creating a Co-planning Optimisation Setup" on page 1132, and select Import Project from the context menu and select the name of the document you want to import into the newly created setup.

The setup is modified to include the linked network. You can modify the parameters for the optimisation setup by right-clicking it in the Network explorer and selecting Properties from the context menu. For information on the parameters available, see "Defining Optimisation Parameters" on page 1320. After defining the co-planning optimisation setup: •

•

Click the Run button to run the optimisation immediately. For information on running the optimisation, see "Running an Optimisation Setup" on page 1359. For information on the optimisation results, see "Viewing Optimisation Results" on page 1362. Click the Create Setup button to save the defined optimisation to be run later.

14.7.6 Ending Co-planning Mode once you have linked two Atoll documents for the purposes of co-planning, Atoll will maintain the link between them. However, you might want to unlink the two documents at some point, either because you want to use a different document in co-planning or because you want to restore the documents to separate, technology-specific documents. To unlink the documents and end co-planning mode: 1. Select File > Open to open the main document. Atoll informs you that this document is part of a multi-technology environment and asks whether you want to open the other document. 2. Click Yes to open the linked document as well. 3. Select Document > Unlink to unlink the documents and end co-planning mode. The documents are no longer linked and co-planning mode is ended.

14.8 Advanced Configuration The following sections describe different advanced parameters and options available in the WiMAX module that are used in coverage predictions as well as Monte Carlo simulations. In this section, the following advanced configuration options are explained: • • • • • • • • • • •

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"Defining Frequency Bands" on page 1134 "Network Settings" on page 1134 "Defining Network Deployment Layers" on page 1137 "Defining Frame Configurations" on page 1138 "Defining WiMAX Radio Bearers" on page 1139 "Defining WiMAX Quality Indicators" on page 1139 "Defining WiMAX Reception Equipment" on page 1140 "Defining WiMAX Schedulers" on page 1143 "Defining Smart Antenna Equipment" on page 1147 "Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) Systems" on page 1148 "Modelling Shadowing" on page 1150

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•

"Modelling Inter-technology Interference" on page 1150

14.8.1 Defining Frequency Bands To define frequency bands: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Frequencies folder under the Radio Network Settings folder, right-click Bands, and select Open Table. The Frequency Bands table appears. 2. In the Frequency Bands table, enter one frequency band per row. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. For each frequency band, enter: •

• • • • • • • • •

•

Name: Enter a name for the frequency band, for example, "3.3 GHz - 10 MHz". Each WiMAX frequency band has a specific channel width. Mentioning the channel width in the frequency band name is a good approach. This name will appear in other dialog boxes when you select a frequency band. Duplexing method: Select the duplexing method used in the frequency band from the list. Start frequencies (MHz): Enter the start frequency for TDD frequency bands, and the downlink and the uplink start frequencies for FDD frequency bands. Channel width (MHz): Enter the channel width for each channel in the frequency band. Inter-channel spacing (MHz): Enter the spacing between any two consecutive channels in the frequency band. Sampling factor: Enter the sampling factor for calculating the sampling frequency. First channel: Enter the number of the first channel in this frequency band. Last channel: Enter the number of the last channel in this frequency band. If this frequency band has only one carrier, enter the same number as entered in the First channel field. Step: Enter the step between any two consecutive channel numbers in the frequency band. Excluded channels: Enter the channel numbers which do not belong to the frequency band. You can enter nonconsecutive channel numbers separated with a comma, or you can enter a range of channel numbers separating the first and last index with a hyphen (for example, entering "1-5" corresponds to "1, 2, 3, 4, 5"). Adjacent channel suppression factor (dB): Enter the adjacent channel interference suppression factor in dB. Interference received from adjacent channels is reduced by this factor during the calculations.

3. When you have finished adding frequency bands, click the Close button (

).

You can also access the properties dialog box of each individual frequency band by double-clicking the left margin of the table row containing the frequency band.

14.8.2 Network Settings Atoll allows you to set network level parameters which are common to all the transmitters and cells in the network. These parameters are used in coverage predictions as well as during Monte Carlo simulations by the radio resource management and scheduling algorithms. This section details the properties of the Radio Network Settings folder and explains how to access them: • •

"Network Settings Properties" on page 1134 "Modifying Network Settings" on page 1136

14.8.2.1 Network Settings Properties The Properties dialog box of the Radio Network Settings folder consists of the following tabs: Global Parameters Tab • •

•

Frame duration: The frame length in milliseconds. You can choose from a list of frame durations defined in the IEEE 802.16 specifications. Default cyclic prefix ratio: The total symbol duration in WiMAX comprises the useful part of the symbol, carrying the data bits, and a CRC part, which is a portion of the useful data part repeated at the beginning of each symbol. Cyclic prefix is used in WiMAX to counter inter-symbol interference (ISI). The cyclic prefix and the orthogonality of subcarriers ensure that there is negligible intra-cell interference in WiMAX. This value is used in calculations if no cyclic prefix is defined in a cell frame configuration. Fixed and variable overheads: The fixed and variable overheads in the uplink and downlink subframes are used to model the preamble and other time-domain overheads such as broadcast messages including DL-MAP, UL-MAP, UCD, and DCD, and the FCH, in downlink, and Ranging and Bandwidth Request messages in the uplink. The preamble is always one symbol duration long and can be modelled using the fixed overhead, while other messages whose lengths vary according to either the frame duration or the channel bandwidth can be modelled using the variable overheads. Due to this reason, fixed overheads are available in terms of symbol durations (SD) and the variable overheads in terms of percentages of the uplink and downlink subframes. Variable overheads are percentages of the downlink and the uplink subframes excluding the fixed overheads.

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DL:UL ratio (TDD only): This ratio represents the fractions of the frame duration which correspond to downlink and uplink subframes. In FDD networks, the downlink and uplink subframes have the same durations as the frame itself. In TDD networks, the downlink and uplink subframes use the same frequency but are duplexed in time. You can define the DL:UL ratio as percentages: you can enter the percentage of the DL subframe with respect to the total frame duration and the percentage corresponding to the uplink subframe is assumed to be equal to the remaining part of the frame. You can choose to define the DL:UL ratio in terms of fractions of the total number of symbol durations available in one frame. For example, if the WiMAX frame contains 47 symbol durations, you can set the downlink fraction to 32 and uplink to 15 (instead of a percentage of 66.667%) so that Atoll uses the exact numbers of downlink and uplink symbol durations as entered in calculations. The exact number of symbol durations in one frame depends on various parameters (channel bandwidth, frame duration, cyclic prefix lengths, sampling factor, and so on). Some of these parameters can be different in each cell. Therefore, the exact numbers of symbol durations in downlink and uplink subframes can be different in each cell as well. The exact numbers of symbol durations in the downlink and uplink subframes are calculated by Atoll for each cell according to the DL:UL ratio that you set on the Global Parameters tab. For example, a DL:UL ratio of 36:12 would actually give 36:12 for a 5 MHz channel (sampling factor = 1.12 and FFT size = 512) but would give 26:8 for a 7 MHz channel (sampling factor = 1.14286 and FFT size = 1024) with the following configuration: • • • • •

Frame Duration = 5 ms Cyclic Prefix = 1/8 DL Fixed Overhead = UL Fixed Overhead = 0 TTG = RTG = 0 ms DL:UL Ratio = 36:12

For more information on how this is calculated, see the Technical Reference Guide. •

•

•

Transmission and reception time guards (TDD only): Transmission and reception time guards are also time domain overheads, which means that these are portions of the frame which cannot be used for data transfer. You can enter TTG and RTG times in milliseconds. Best server selection criterion: You can select whether the best server selection will be based on the preamble C or the preamble C/(I+N). Depending on the selected method, Atoll compares either the preamble C or the preamble C/ (I+N) from different transmitters at each pixel (or mobile) to determine the best server. Serving cell selection method: The serving cell selection method is used to determine the serving cell for transmitters supporting more than one cell. The best serving transmitter for a pixel, subscriber, or mobile is determined according to the received preamble signal level from the cell with the highest preamble power. If more than one cell of the same transmitter covers the pixel, subscriber, or mobile, the serving cell is determined according to the selected method: • •

Random: When calculating coverage predictions and in calculations on subscriber lists, the cell of the highest priority layer is selected as the serving cell. In Monte Carlo simulations, a random cell is selected as the serving cell. Distributive: When calculating coverage predictions and in calculations on subscriber lists, the cell of the highest priority layer is selected as the serving cell. In Monte Carlo simulations, mobiles are distributed among cell layers one by one, i.e., if more than one cell layer covers a set of mobiles, the first mobile is assigned to the highest priority layer, the second mobile to the second highest priority layer, and so on.

The serving cell once assigned to a mobile does not change during Monte Carlo simulations. For more information on defining layers, see "Defining Network Deployment Layers" on page 1137. • •

•

•

Uplink power control margin: The margin (in dB) that will be added to the bearer selection threshold, for safety against fast fading, when performing power control in uplink. Permutation zone selection criterion: You can select whether the permutation zone selection will be based on the preamble C/N or the preamble C/(I+N). Depending on the selected criterion, Atoll compares either the preamble C/N or the preamble C/(I+N) with the quality threshold defined for the permutation zones in the Frame Configurations properties. For more information on the permutation zone quality threshold, see "Defining Frame Configurations" on page 1138. Adaptive MIMO switching criterion: You can select whether the MIMO mode selection will be based on the preamble C/N or the preamble C/(I+N). Depending on the selected criterion, Atoll compares either the preamble C/N or the preamble C/(I+N) with the AMS threshold defined for the cell. Multi-antenna interference calculation method: You can select the calculation method for interference from multiantenna cells. The calculated interference can be either proportional to the number of antennas or independent of the number of antennas.

Figure 14.26 depicts a WiMAX frame with the described parameters marked.

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Figure 14.26: WiMAX Frame Calculation Parameters Tab •

Min interferer C/N threshold: Minimum requirement for interferers to be considered in calculations. Interfering cells from which the received carrier-power-to-noise ratio is less than this threshold are discarded. For example, setting this value to -20 dB means that interfering cells from which the received signals are 100 times lower than the thermal noise level will be discarded in calculations. The calculation performance of interferencebased coverage predictions, interference matrices calculations, and Monte Carlo simulations can be improved by setting a high value of this threshold.

•

•

Height/ground: The receiver height at which the path loss matrices and coverage predictions are calculated. Calculations made on mobile users (from traffic maps) in Monte Carlo simulations are also carried out at this receiver height. Calculations made on fixed subscribers (from subscriber lists) in Monte Carlo simulations are carried out at their respective heights. Default max range: The maximum coverage range of transmitters in the network. You can use the Default max range parameter to limit the coverage range of transmitters in order to avoid uplink-todownlink interference in TDD networks. In TDD networks, the TTG and RTG parameters, available on the Global Parameters tab of the Radio Network Settings folder properties dialog box, define the time delays required by the cell and mobile equipment to switch from transmission to reception modes and vice versa. You can determine the maximum coverage range that the sectors of your WiMAX network should have from the values of TTG and RTG and use this range as the Default max range parameter. You can calculate the maximum system range from TTG and RTG values as follows: Max Range (m) = Min(TTG, RTG) x 300000/2 Here TTG and RTG are values in milliseconds, "Max range" is in metres, and the "Min()" function returns the lower of the two values given to it in the parentheses.

14.8.2.2 Modifying Network Settings You can change network settings in the Properties dialog box of the Radio Network Settings folder. To set the network level parameters: 1. In the Parameters explorer, right-click the Radio Network Settings folder and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. Select the Global Parameters tab. In this tab you can set the frame structure parameters. Under Frame structure (see Figure 14.27), you can modify the following: the Frame duration of WiMAX frame, the Default cyclic prefix ratio, the fixed and variable overheads for the uplink and the downlink subframes, and, for TDD networks, the downlink-to-uplink subframe ratio (DL:UL ratio) either as a percentage or as a fraction of the number of available symbol durations in one frame, and the transmission and reception time guards (TTG and RTG).

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The DL:UL ratio entered as a fraction must include the symbol duration(s) used by the preamble or any other fixedduration overheads. During calculations, Atoll first determines the total amount of resources available in one frame and then the resources effectively available for user data by removing any fixed and variable overheads that you have defined.

Figure 14.27: Common Global Parameters 3. Click the Advanced button. The Advanced Parameters dialog box appears. 4. In the Advanced Parameters dialog box, you can set: • • • • • •

Best server selection: In this section, you can choose the best server selection Criterion. Serving cell selection: In this section, you can choose the serving cell selection Method. Uplink power control: In this section, you can enter the uplink power control Margin. Permutation zone selection: In this section, you can choose the permutation zone selection Criterion. Adaptive MIMO switching: In this section, you can choose the adaptive MIMO switching Criterion. Multi-antenna interference calculation: In this section, you can choose the multi-antenna interference calculation Method.

5. Select the Calculation Parameters tab. On this tab you can set: • • •

Calculation limitation: In this section, you can enter the Min interferer C/N threshold. Receiver: In this section, you can enter the receiver Height. System: In this section, select the Default max range check box if you want to apply a maximum system range limit, and enter the maximum system range in the text box to the right.

6. Click OK. The global parameters are used during coverage predictions and simulations for the entire network.

14.8.3 Defining Network Deployment Layers A WiMAX network can be deployed in multiple layers of heterogeneous cells, i.e., of different sizes, and possibly using different frequencies. In Atoll, different network layers with different priorities can be defined for your WiMAX network. During cell selection, network layer priorities are taken into account to determine the serving cells. To create a new network layer: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Settings folder, right-click Layers and select Open Table. The Layers table appears. 2. In the Layers table, each row describes a network layer. For the new network layer, enter: • • •

Index: The layer index is automatically assigned by Atoll to each new layer that you create. Name: The name of the network layer. Priority: The priority of the network layer.

3. When you have finished adding network layers, click the Close button (

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14.8.4 Defining Frame Configurations The SOFDMA frame configuration model uses different numbers of subcarriers for different channel bandwidths. As well, there can be up to 8 different permutation zones in the downlink subframe and 3 in the uplink subframe. Each permutation zone can use a different subchannel allocation mode, and may have different numbers of used and data subcarriers. The Frame Configurations table in Atoll models the channel and frame configuration of a cell. To create a frame configuration: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Settings folder, right-click Frame Configurations and select Open Table. The Frame Configurations table appears. 2. In the Frame Configurations table, each row describes a frame configuration. For the new frame configuration, enter: • • • •

• •

Name: The name of the frame configuration. Cyclic prefix ratio: The cyclic prefix corresponding to the frame configuration. If you leave this parameter empty, Atoll uses the default cyclic prefix ratio defined in the global network settings during calculations. Total number of subcarriers: The total number of subcarriers per channel. Number of preamble subcarriers: The number of subcarriers used for the transmitting the preamble. This is the number of subcarriers used when the preamble is not segmented. For a segmented frame configuration, the number of subcarriers used by the segmented preamble are determined automatically from this value during calculations. Segmentation support (DL): Select this check box if the first PUSC permutation zone in the downlink is segmented. Segmentation support (UL): Select this check box if the first PUSC permutation zone in the uplink is segmented.

3. Double-click the frame configuration row in the table once the new frame configuration has been added to the table. The frame configuration Properties dialog box opens. 4. Under the General tab, you can modify the parameters that you set previously. 5. Under the Permutation Zones tab, you have the following parameters: • • • • • • • •

Zone number: The permutation zone number. Active: Whether the permutation zone is active or not. Only active permutation zones are considered in calculations. Subchannel allocation mode: The subchannel allocation mode used by the permutation zone: PUSC DL, PUSC, FUSC, OFUSC, AMC, TUSC1, and TUSC2 in downlink and PUSC UL, OPUSC, and AMC in uplink. Subframe: Whether the permutation zone belongs to the downlink or the uplink subframe. Number of used subcarriers: The number of subcarriers used for transmission. This number includes the pilot and data subcarriers. Number of data subcarriers: The number of subcarriers used for data transfer. Number of subchannels per channel: The number of subchannels in the channel. Quality threshold: The minimum preamble C/N or C/(I+N) required for a user to be allocated the permutation zone. Make sure that the permutation zone quality threshold values respect the traffic power reduction defined for the cell. For example, if the required traffic channel quality is 2 dB and the traffic power reduction is 3 dB, the quality threshold, i.e., the required preamble quality, should be set to 5 dB.

• • • •

Max speed: The maximum vehicular speed supported by the permutation zone. Max distance: The maximum distance from the base station covered by the permutation zone. Priority: The priority of the permutation zone in terms of its allocation to a user. Diversity support: The type of antenna diversity technique (AAS, STTD/MRC, SU-MIMO, AMS, or MU-MIMO) supported by the permutation zone. You cannot select more than one type of MIMO technique (STTD/MRC, SUMIMO, MU-MIMO, or AMS) at a time. Specific calculations are performed (and gains applied) for terminals supporting AAS and MIMO. A permutation zone that only supports None does not have any antenna diversity mechanism, and all the terminal types can connect to this zone. A permutation zone that supports None and one or more antenna diversity techniques can also support terminals capable of those diversity techniques. For example, None+AAS can support simple as well as AAS-capable terminals, and None+AMS can support simple and MIMO-capable terminals. Simple terminals cannot connect to a permutation zone that does not support None.

• • • •

Zone 0 subchannel groups (segment 0): The primary (0, 2, 4) and secondary (1, 3, 5) subchannel groups assigned to the segment 0 for the permutation zone 0. Zone 0 subchannel groups (segment 1): The primary (0, 2, 4) and secondary (1, 3, 5) subchannel groups assigned to the segment 1 of the permutation zone 0. Zone 0 subchannel groups (segment 2): The primary (0, 2, 4) and secondary (1, 3, 5) subchannel groups assigned to the segment 2 of the permutation zone 0. Zone 8 subchannels (segment 0): The subchannels assigned to the segment 0 for the permutation zone 8.

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© 2016 Forsk. All Rights Reserved.

Zone 8 subchannels (segment 1): The subchannels assigned to the segment 1 for the permutation zone 8. Zone 8 subchannels (segment 2): The subchannels assigned to the segment 2 for the permutation zone 8. You can enter non-consecutive subchannel numbers separated with a comma, or you can enter a range of subchannels separating the first and last index with a hyphen (for example, entering "1-5" corresponds to "1, 2, 3, 4, 5").

Permutation zones are allocated to users based on the Quality threshold (dB), Max speed (km/h), Max distance, and Priority parameters. The quality threshold, maximum speed, and maximum distance criteria are used to determine the possible permutation zones for each user. Then, the highest priority permutation zone among the possible permutation zones is allocated to the user. During Monte Carlo simulations, two values of uplink noise rise are calculated per cell, one for the segmented permutation zone and one for the non-segmented permutation zones. For cells using smart antennas, one angular distribution of uplink noise rise is calculated per cell. This angular distribution of uplink noise rise is considered to include both segmented and nonsegmented permutation zones. To see examples of how to set up cells with and without downlink segmentation, and how to set up cells with PUSC, FUSC, and permutation zones of other subchannel allocation modes, see "Tips and Tricks" on page 1152.

14.8.5 Defining WiMAX Radio Bearers WiMAX radio bearers carry the data in the uplink as well as in the downlink. In the Atoll WiMAX module, a "bearer" refers to a combination of MCS, which means modulation and coding schemes. The Radio Bearers table lists the available radio bearers. You can add, remove, and modify bearer properties, if you want. To define WiMAX bearers: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Settings folder, right-click Radio Bearers and select Open Table. The Radio Bearers table appears. 2. In the table, enter one bearer per row. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. For each WiMAX bearer, enter: • • • • •

Radio bearer index: Enter a bearer index. This bearer index is used to identify the bearer in other tables, such as the bearer selection thresholds and the quality graphs in reception equipment. Name: Enter a name for the bearer, for example, "16QAM3/4." This name will appear in other dialog boxes and results. Modulation: Select a modulation from the list of available modulation types. This column is for information and display purposes only. Channel coding rate: Enter the coding rate used by the bearer. This column is for information and display purposes only. Bearer efficiency (bits/symbol): Enter the number of useful bits that the bearer can carry in a symbol. This information is used in throughput calculations. For information on the relation between bearer efficiency and spectral efficiency, see "Relation Between Bearer Efficiency And Spectral Efficiency" on page 1153.

3. Click the Close button (

) to close the Radio Bearers table.

14.8.6 Defining WiMAX Quality Indicators Quality indicators depict the coverage quality at different locations. The Quality Indicators table lists the available quality indicators. You can add, remove, and modify quality indicators, if you want. To define quality indicators: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Settings folder, right-click Quality Indicators and select Open Table. The Quality Indicators table appears. 2. In the table, enter one quality indicator per row. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. For each quality indicator, enter: • • •

Name: Enter a name for the quality indicator, for example, "BLER" for Block Error Rate. This name will appear in other dialog boxes and results. Used for data services: Select this check box to indicate that this quality indicator can be used for data services. Used for voice services: Select this check box to indicate that this quality indicator can be used for voice services.

3. Click the Close button (

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14.8.7 Defining WiMAX Reception Equipment WiMAX reception equipment model the reception characteristics of cells and user terminals. Bearer selection thresholds and channel quality indicator graphs are defined in WiMAX reception equipment. To create a new piece of reception equipment: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Settings folder, right-click Reception Equipment and select Open Table. The Reception Equipment table appears. 2. In the Reception Equipment table, each row describes a piece of equipment. For the new piece of equipment you are creating, enter its name. 3. Double-click the equipment entry in the Reception Equipment table once your new equipment has been added to the table. The equipment Properties dialog box opens. The Properties dialog box has the following tabs: • •

General: On this tab, you can define the Name of the reception equipment. Thresholds: On this tab (see Figure 14.28), you can modify the bearer selection thresholds for different mobility types. A bearer is selected for data transfer at a given pixel if the received carrier-to-interference-and-noise ratio is higher than its selection threshold. For more information on bearers and mobility types, see "Defining WiMAX Radio Bearers" on page 1139 and "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 1063, respectively.

Figure 14.28: WiMAX Reception Equipment - Bearer Selection Thresholds i.

Click the Selection thresholds button. The C/(I+N) Thresholds (dB) dialog box appears (see Figure 14.29).

ii. Enter the graph values. iii. Click OK.

Figure 14.29: C/(I+N) Thresholds (dB) dialog box For more information on the default values of the bearer selection thresholds, see "Bearer Selection Thresholds" on page 1153. For converting receiver equipment sensitivity values (dBm) into bearer selection thresholds, see "Calculating Bearer Selection Thresholds From Receiver Sensitivity Values" on page 1153.

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Quality Graphs: On this tab (see Figure 14.30), you can modify the quality indicator graphs for different bearers and mobility types. These graphs depict the performance characteristics of the equipment under different radio conditions. For more information on bearers, quality indicators, and mobility types, see "Defining WiMAX Radio Bearers" on page 1139, "Defining WiMAX Quality Indicators" on page 1139, and "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 1063, respectively.

Figure 14.30: WiMAX Reception Equipment - Quality Graphs i.

Click the Quality graph button. The Quality Graph dialog box appears (see Figure 14.31).

ii. Enter the graph values. iii. Click OK.

Figure 14.31: Quality Graph dialog box •

Traffic MIMO Gains: On this tab (see Figure 14.32), you can modify the SU-MIMO and STTD/MRC gains for different bearers, mobility types, subchannel allocation modes, BLER values, and numbers of transmission and reception antennas. The MIMO throughput gain is the increase in channel capacity compared to a SISO system. Diversity gains can be defined for different diversity modes: STTD/MRC, SU-MIMO, and MU-MIMO. STTD/MRC gain is applied to the traffic and pilot C/(I+N) when the diversity mode is STTD/MRC. SU-MIMO diversity gain is applied to the traffic and pilot C/(I+N) when the diversity mode is SU-MIMO. MU-MIMO diversity gain is applied to the traffic and pilot C/(I+N) when the diversity mode is MU-MIMO. For more information on bearers and mobility types, see "Defining WiMAX Radio Bearers" on page 1139 and "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 1063, respectively. For more information on the different MIMO systems, see "Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) Systems" on page 1148.

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No MIMO gain (STTD/MRC, SU-MIMO, and MU-MIMO) is applied if the numbers of transmission and reception antennas are both equal to 1.

Figure 14.32: WiMAX Reception Equipment - Traffic MIMO gains i.

Click the Max MIMO gain graphs button. The Max MIMO Gain dialog box appears (see Figure 14.33).

ii. Enter the graph values. iii. Click OK. You can define the gains for any combination of subchannel allocation mode, mobility type, bearer, and BLER, as well as the default gains for "All" subchannel allocation modes, "All" mobility types, "All" bearers, and a Max BLER of 1. During calculations, Atoll uses the gains defined for a specific combination if available, otherwise it uses the default gains.

Figure 14.33: Max SU-MIMO Gain dialog box •

Preamble MIMO Gains: On this tab (see Figure 14.34), you can enter diversity gains for the preamble for different mobility types, and numbers of transmission and reception antennas. The preamble diversity gain is applied to the preamble C/N and C/(I+N) when the cell and terminal both support any form of MIMO in downlink.

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Figure 14.34: WiMAX Reception Equipment - Preamble MIMO gains 4. Click OK. The Properties dialog box closes. The settings are stored. 5. Click the Close button (

) to close the Reception Equipment table.

14.8.8 Defining WiMAX Schedulers In Atoll, schedulers perform the selection of users for resource allocation, the radio resource allocation and management according to the QoS classes of the services being accessed by the selected users. WiMAX has the following QoS classes: QoS Class

Priority

UGS

Highest

ErtPS

:

rtPS

:

nrtPS

:

Best Effort

Lowest

Throughput Demands •

Min Throughput Demand = Max Throughput Demand

• • • • • • • •

Min Throughput Demand Max Throughput Demand Min Throughput Demand Max Throughput Demand Min Throughput Demand Max Throughput Demand Min Throughput Demand = 0 Max Throughput Demand

The scheduling process is composed of the following three steps: 1. Selection of users for resource allocation: The Max number of users defined for each cell is the maximum number of users that the cell’s scheduler can work with simultaneously. At the start of the scheduling process, the scheduler keeps only as many users as the maximum number defined for resource allocation. If no limit has been set, all the users generated during Monte Carlo simulations for this cell are considered, and the scheduler continues to allocate resources as long as there are remaining resources. 2. Resource allocation for supporting the Min throughput demands: The first four QoS classes have a minimum throughput demand requirement. This is the minimum throughput that a service of one of these QoS classes must get in order to work properly. The scheduler is either able to allocate the exact amount of resources required to fully support the minimum throughput demands, or the service does not get any resources at all. The scheduler allocates resources, for supporting the minimum throughput demands, to users of these QoS classes in the order of priority. The final service priority is determined based on the QoS class as well as the Priority parameter defined for the service. For example, if there are two services of each QoS class with different priorities, the order of resource allocation will be as follows: a. Users of a service with QoS class = UGS, Service priority = N b. Users of a service with QoS class = UGS, Service priority = N-1

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... c. Users of a service with QoS class = ErtPS, Service priority = N d. Users of a service with QoS class = ErtPS, Service priority = N-1 ... e. Users of a service with QoS class = rtPS, Service priority = N f.

Users of a service with QoS class = rtPS, Service priority = N-1

... g. Users of a service with QoS class = nrtPS, Service priority = N h. Users of a service with QoS class = nrtPS, Service priority = N-1 In order to be connected, users active in downlink and uplink must be able to get their minimum throughput in both directions. If a user active in downlink and uplink gets his minimum throughput in only one direction, he will be rejected. 3. Resource allocation for supporting the Max throughput demands: Once the resources have been allocated for supporting the minimum throughput demands in the previous step, the remaining resources can be allocated in different ways to support the maximum throughput demands of the users. The last four QoS classes can have maximum throughput demand requirements. For allocating resources to support the maximum throughput demands, the following types of scheduling methods are available: •

Proportional fair: The proportional fair scheduling method allocates the same amount of resources to all the users with a maximum throughput demand. Therefore, the resources allocated to each user are either the resources it requires to achieve its maximum throughput demand or the total amount of resources divided by the total number of users in the cell, which ever is smaller. The proportional fair scheduler can also model the effect of resource scheduling over time, i.e., how a proportional fair scheduler benefits from fast fading, by applying multiuser diversity gains (MUG) to user throughputs.

•

Proportional demand: The proportional demand scheduling method allocates resources proportional to the demands of users who have a maximum throughput demand. Therefore, users with higher maximum throughput demands will have higher resulting throughputs than the users with lower maximum throughput demands.

•

Biased (QoS class): The biased scheduling method first determines the amount of resources available for the users of each QoS class, and then allocates these resources among the users of each QoS class like a proportional fair scheduler. The percentage of the remaining resources that are available for any QoS class is determined based on the QoS class bias factor and the priorities of the QoS classes: 1 i N i   ---   -  100 % of resources available for QoS Class i = ---------------------------------i  N   1 - i   

 i

Where i represents the QoS classes that have a maximum throughput demand, i.e., ErtPS (i = 1), rtPS (i = 2), nrtPS (i = 3), and Best Effort (i = 4). N i is the number users of QoS class i, and  is the QoS class bias determined from QoS

QoS

f 100

Bias -. the QoS class bias factor f Bias as follows:  = 1 + ----------

The QoS class bias factor should be set so as to achieve a valid value of  . For example, for equal numbers of users in each QoS class, •

QoS

f Bias = – 90 gives  = 0,1 which allocates (approximately):

0.1 % resources to ErtPS; 0.9 % resources to rtPS; 9 % resources to nrtPS; 90 % resources to Best Effort. •

QoS

f Bias = 9900 gives  = 100 which allocates (approximately):

90 % resources to ErtPS; 9 % resources to rtPS; 0.9 % resources to nrtPS; 0.1 % resources to Best Effort. •

Max aggregate throughput: This scheduling method allocates the resources required by the users to achieve their maximum throughput demands in the order of their traffic C/(I+N). This means that users who are under good radio conditions, high traffic C/(I+N), will get the resources they require. The end result of this scheduling method is that the aggregate cell throughputs are maximised.

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Round robin: The round robin scheduling method allocates the same amount of resources to all the users with a maximum throughput demand. Therefore, the resources allocated to each user are either the resources it requires to achieve its maximum throughput demand or the total amount of resources divided by the total number of users in the cell, which ever is smaller.

For all the scheduling methods, resources are allocated to support the maximum throughput demand until either the maximum throughput demands of all the users are satisfied or the scheduler runs out of resources. The Schedulers table lists the available schedulers. You can add, remove, and modify scheduler properties, if you want. To define WiMAX schedulers: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Settings folder, right-click Schedulers and select Open Table. The Schedulers table appears. 2. In the table, enter one scheduler per row. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. For each scheduler, enter: • • • • • •

Name: Enter a name for the scheduler. This name will appear in the cell properties. Scheduling method: Select the scheduling method used by the scheduler for allocating resources to support the maximum throughput demands. QoS class bias factor: For the schedulers using Biased (QoS class) scheduling method, enter the bias factor to be used for distributing resources between different QoS classes. QoS class bias factor = 0 means no bias. Target throughput for voice services: Select the throughput that the scheduler will target to satisfy for all voicetype services. Target throughput for data services: Select the throughput that the scheduler will target to satisfy for all datatype services. Bearer selection criterion: Select the criterion for the selection of the best bearer. •

•

Bearer index: The best bearer selected for throughput calculations is the one with the highest bearer index among the bearers available in the reception equipment. • Peak MAC throughput: The best bearer selected for throughput calculations is the one with the highest peak MAC throughput (including SU-MIMO gains) among the bearers available in the reception equipment. • Effective MAC throughput: The best bearer selected for throughput calculations is the one with the highest effective MAC throughput (including SU-MIMO gains) among the bearers available in the reception equipment. Uplink bandwidth allocation target: Select the goal of the uplink subchannelisation (bandwidth allocation). • • •

Full bandwidth: All the subchannels are used for the uplink C/(I+N) calculations, which means that no subchannelisation is performed. Maintain connection: The number of subchannels is reduced one by one in order to increase the uplink C/ (I+N) so that the mobile is able to get at least the lowest bearer. Best bearer: The number of subchannels is reduced in order to increase the uplink C/(I+N) so that the mobile is able to get the best bearer available. The definition of the highest bearer depends on the Bearer selection criterion, i.e., highest index, highest peak MAC throughput, or highest effective MAC throughput. When Bearer selection criterion is set to Effective MAC throughput, Atoll calculates the effective MAC throughput for all possible combinations of [number of subchannels, bearers], and keeps the number of subchannels and the bearer which provide the highest effective MAC throughput.

You can open a scheduler properties dialog box by double-clicking the corresponding row in the Schedulers table. In the properties dialog box, a MUG tab is available for the Proportional fair scheduling method. On the MUG tab, you can enter the throughput gains due to multi-user diversity for different mobility types and the maximum traffic C/(I+N) above which the gains are not applied. 3. Click the Close button (

) to close the Schedulers table.

14.8.9 Smart Antenna Systems Smart antenna systems use digital signal processing with more than one antenna element in order to locate and track various types of signals to dynamically minimise interference and maximise the useful signal reception. Different types of smart antenna modelling techniques exist, including beam switching, beam steering, beamforming, etc. Adaptive antenna systems are capable of using adaptive algorithms to cancel out interfering signals. Atoll includes two smart antenna models. The conventional beamformer performs beamforming in downlink and uplink. The optimum beamformer performs beamforming in downlink, and beamforming and interference cancellation in the uplink using an MMSE (Minimum Mean Square Error) algorithm. Smart antenna models dynamically calculate and apply weights on each antenna element in order to create beams in the direction of served users. In uplink, the Minimum Mean Square Error algorithm models the effect of null steering towards interfering mobiles. The antenna patterns created for downlink transmission have a main beam pointed in the direction of the useful signal. For the optimum beamformer, in the uplink, in addition to the main beam pointed in the direction of the useful signal, there can

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also be one or more nulls in the directions of the interfering signals. If the optimum beamformer uses L antenna elements, it is possible to create L–1 nulls and, thereby, cancel L–1 interfering signals. In a mobile environment where the sources of interference are not stationary, the antenna patterns are adjusted so that the nulls remain in the direction of the moving interference sources. Atoll smart antenna models support linear adaptive array systems. TDD WiMAX networks are more suitable for smart antennas than FDD because of the similar uplink and downlink channel characteristics in TDD. Information gathered from a mobile in the uplink can be assumed valid for downlink as well. Atoll WiMAX module includes the following smart antenna modelling types: • •

"Optimum Beamformer" on page 1146 "Conventional Beamformer" on page 1146

The following section explains how to work with smart antenna equipment in Atoll: •

"Defining Smart Antenna Equipment" on page 1147.

14.8.9.1 Optimum Beamformer The optimum beamformer works by forming beams in the downlink in the direction of the served mobiles, and cancelling uplink interference from mobiles by using the Minimum Mean Square Error adaptive algorithm. The following paragraphs explain how the model is used in Monte Carlo simulations and in coverage prediction calculations. •

Modelling in Monte Carlo Simulations: In the downlink, the power transmitted towards the served mobile from a cell is calculated by forming a beam in that direction. For cells using smart antennas, the smart antenna weights are dynamically calculated for each mobile being served. Beamforming is performed in interfered as well as interfering cells and the downlink C/(I+N) calculated by taking into account the effects of beamforming. In the uplink, the powers received from served mobiles include the beamforming gains in their directions. For taking into account the interfering mobiles, an inverse noise correlation matrix is calculated for each cell. Interference cancellation is modelled using the MMSE adaptive algorithm. For each pair of interfered and interfering users, the received interference and its direction are memorised. At the end of a simulation, this results in an angular distribution of the uplink noise rise calculated from the inverse noise correlation matrix. The smart antenna simulation results include the angular distribution of the transmitted power spectral density (downlink) and the angular distribution of the noise rise (uplink) for each cell. These results are then used to carry out interference-based coverage predictions for the base stations using smart antennas.

•

Modelling in Coverage Predictions: The smart antenna results from Monte Carlo simulations are used in coverage predictions. In the downlink, beamforming is performed to calculate the smart antenna gain towards each pixel of the studied cell dynamically in order to determine the received power. To calculate the interference, the simulation results for the angular distributions of downlink transmitted power spectral density are used in order to determine the power transmitted by an interfering cell in the direction of each served pixel of the studied cell. In the uplink, beamforming is performed to calculate the smart antenna gain towards each pixel of the studied cell dynamically in order to determine the received power. The interference is read from the angular distribution of the uplink noise rise (simulation result) calculated for the studied cell.

14.8.9.2 Conventional Beamformer The conventional beamformer works by forming beams in the downlink and uplink in the direction of the served mobiles. This section explains how the model is used in Monte Carlo simulations and in coverage prediction calculations. •

Modelling in Monte Carlo Simulations: In the downlink, the power transmitted towards the served mobile from a cell is calculated by forming a beam in that direction. For cells using smart antennas, the smart antenna weights are dynamically calculated for each mobile being served. Beamforming is performed in interfered as well as interfering cells and the downlink C/(I+N) calculated by taking into account the effects of beamforming. In the uplink, the powers received from served mobiles include the beamforming gains in their directions. To take into account the interfering mobiles, an inverse noise correlation matrix is calculated for each cell. For each pair of interfered and interfering users, the received interference and its direction are memorised. At the end of a simulation, this results in an angular distribution of the uplink noise rise calculated from the inverse noise correlation matrix. The smart antenna simulation results include the angular distribution of the transmitted power spectral density (downlink) and the angular distribution of the noise rise (uplink) for each cell. These results are then used to carry out interference-based coverage predictions for the base stations using smart antennas.

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Modelling in Coverage Predictions: The smart antenna results of Monte Carlo simulations are used in coverage predictions. In the downlink, beamforming is performed to calculate the smart antenna gain towards each pixel of the studied cell dynamically in order to determine the received power. To calculate the interference, the simulation results for the angular distributions of downlink transmitted power spectral density are used in order to determine the power transmitted by an interfering cell in the direction of each served pixel of the studied cell. In the uplink, beamforming is performed to calculate the smart antenna gain towards each pixel of the studied cell dynamically in order to determine the received power. The interference is read from the angular distribution of the uplink noise rise (simulation result) calculated for the studied cell.

14.8.9.3 Defining Smart Antenna Equipment Smart antenna equipment model adaptive antenna array systems, with more than one antenna element. Atoll WiMAX module includes two smart antenna models, a conventional beamformer and an MMSE-based (Minimum Mean Square Error) optimum beamformer. For more information on these smart antenna models in Atoll, see the Technical Reference Guide To create smart antenna equipment: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Equipment folder and the Smart Antennas folder, right-click Smart Antenna Equipment, and select Open Table from the context menu. The Smart Antenna Equipment table appears. 2. In the Smart Antenna Equipment table, each row describes a piece of smart antenna equipment. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. For the new smart antenna equipment, enter: • • •

Name: Enter a name for the smart antenna equipment. Antenna model: Select Optimum Beamformer or Conventional Beamformer from the list. Main antenna model: Select the main antenna model to be used with the smart antenna equipment. The list contains the antennas available in the Antennas table. When you assign the smart antenna equipment to a transmitter, you can choose to replace the current main antenna model with this model.

3. Double-click the equipment entry in the Smart Antenna Equipment table once your new equipment has been added to the table. The equipment Properties dialog box opens. 4. Under the General tab, you can modify the parameters that you set previously. 5. To modify the properties of the smart antenna model assigned to the smart antenna equipment, click the Parameters button under Smart antenna models. The smart antenna model properties dialog box appears. a. Click the General tab. On the General tab, you can change the default Name of the smart antenna model. b. Click the Properties tab (see Figure 14.35). On the Properties tab, you can define: • • •

Number of elements: The number of antenna elements in the smart antenna system. Single element pattern: The antenna model to be used for each antenna element. You can select an antenna model from the list. The list contains the antennas available in the Antennas folder. Diversity gain (cross-polarisation): Select the Diversity gain (cross-polarisation) check box if you are using cross-polarised smart antennas and want to add diversity gains to the calculated downlink beamforming gains. You can define the diversity gains per clutter class on the Clutter tab of the smart antenna model properties dialog box.

Figure 14.35: Smart antenna model - Properties tab c. Click the Clutter tab (see Figure 14.36). On the Clutter tab, you can define the following parameters per clutter class: • •

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Array gain offset (dB): Enter an offset to be added to the calculated beamforming array gains on pilot and traffic subcarriers. Positive offset values are considered as gains while negative values are considered as losses. Power combining gain offset (dB): Enter an offset to be added to the calculated power combining gains on preamble, pilot, and traffic subcarriers. Positive offset values are considered as gains while negative values are considered as losses.

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•

Diversity gain (cross-polarisation) (dB): Enter the diversity gains for cross-polarised smart antennas to be applied to preamble, pilot, and traffic subcarriers.

Figure 14.36: Smart antenna model - Clutter tab d. Click OK. The smart antenna model properties are saved. 6. Click OK. The smart antenna equipment properties are saved. 7. Click the Close button (

) to close the Smart Antenna Equipment table.

14.8.10 Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) Systems Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) systems use different transmission and reception diversity techniques. MIMO diversity systems can roughly be divided into the following types, all of which are modelled in Atoll. This section covers the following topics: • • • •

"Space-Time Transmit Diversity and Maximum Ratio Combining" on page 1148 "Single-User MIMO or Spatial Multiplexing" on page 1148 "Adaptive MIMO Switching" on page 1149 "Multi-User MIMO or Collaborative MIMO" on page 1149

14.8.10.1 Space-Time Transmit Diversity and Maximum Ratio Combining STTD uses more than one transmission antenna to send more than one copy of the same signal. The signals are constructively combined (using optimum selection or maximum ratio combining, MRC) at the receiver to extract the useful signal. As the receiver gets more than one copy of the useful signal, the signal level at the receiver after combination of all the copies is more resistant to interference than a single signal would be. Therefore, STTD improves the C/(I+N) at the receiver. It is often used for the regions of a cell that have insufficient C/(I+N). Different STTD coding techniques exist, such as STC (Space Time Coding), STBC (Space-Time Block Codes), and SFBC (Space-Frequency Block Codes). In Atoll, you can set whether a permutation zone supports STTD/MRC by selecting the corresponding diversity support mode frame configuration properties (see "Defining Frame Configurations" on page 1138). STTD/MRC gains on downlink and uplink can be defined in the reception equipment for different numbers of transmission and reception antennas, mobility types, bearers, subchannel allocation modes, and maximum BLER. For more information on uplink and downlink STTD/MRC gains, see "Defining WiMAX Reception Equipment" on page 1140. Additional gain values can be defined per clutter class. For information on setting the additional STTD/MRC uplink and downlink gains for each clutter class or for all clutter classes, see "Defining Clutter Class Properties" on page 127. During calculations in Atoll, a user (pixel, mobile, or subscriber) using a MIMO-capable terminal, and connected to an uplink or downlink permutation zone that supports STTD/MRC, will benefit from the downlink and uplink STTD/MRC gains.

14.8.10.2 Single-User MIMO or Spatial Multiplexing SU-MIMO uses more than one transmission antenna to send different signals (data streams) on each antenna. The receiver can also have more than one antenna to receive different signals. Using spatial multiplexing with M transmission and N reception antennas, the throughput over the transmitter-receiver link can be theoretically increased M or N times, whichever is smaller. SU-MIMO improves the throughput (channel capacity) for a given C/(I+N), and is used for the regions of a cell that have sufficient C/(I+N). SU-MIMO (single-user MIMO) is also referred to as SM (spatial multiplexing) or simply MIMO.

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In Atoll, you can set whether a permutation zone supports SU-MIMO by selecting the corresponding diversity support mode frame configuration properties (see "Defining Frame Configurations" on page 1138). SU-MIMO capacity gains can be defined in the reception equipment for different numbers of transmission and reception antennas, mobility types, bearers, subchannel allocation modes, and maximum BLER. For more information on SU-MIMO gains, see "Defining WiMAX Reception Equipment" on page 1140. During calculations in Atoll, a user (pixel, mobile, or subscriber) using a MIMO-capable terminal, and connected to uplink and downlink permutation zones that support SU-MIMO, will benefit from the SU-MIMO gain in its throughput depending on its traffic C/(I+N). When SU-MIMO improves the channel capacity or throughputs, the traffic C/(I+N) of a user is first determined. Once the traffic C/(I+N) is known, Atoll calculates the user throughput based on the bearer available at the user location. The obtained user throughput is then increased according to the SU-MIMO capacity gain and the SU-MIMO gain factor of the user clutter class. The capacity gains defined in Max SU-MIMO gain graphs are the maximum theoretical capacity gains using SU-MIMO. SUMIMO requires rich multipath environment, without which the gain is reduced. In the worst case, there is no gain. Therefore, it is possible to define an SU-MIMO gain factor per clutter class whose value can vary from 0 to 1 (0 = no gain, 1 = 100% gain). For information on setting the SU-MIMO gain factor for each clutter class or for all clutter classes, see "Defining Clutter Class Properties" on page 127. The SU-MIMO capacity gain vs. C/(I+N) graphs available in Atoll by default have been generated based on the maximum theoretical SU-MIMO capacity gains obtained using the following equations: CC MIMO G MIMO = --------------------CC SISO 





Min  N Ant N Ant 

TX RX C  I + N Where CC MIMO = Min  N Ant N Ant   Log 2  1 + ----------------------------------------- is the channel capacity at a given C/(I+N) for a MIMO system TX RX TX RX using N Ant transmission and N Ant reception antenna ports. CC SISO = Log 2  1 + C   I + N   is the channel capacity for a

single antenna system at a given C/(I+N). C/(I+N) is used as a ratio (not dB) in these formulas. You can replace the default SUMIMO capacity gain graphs with graphs extracted from simulated or measured values.

14.8.10.3 Adaptive MIMO Switching Adaptive MIMO switching is a technique for switching from SU-MIMO to STTD/MRC as the preamble signal conditions get worse than a given threshold. AMS can be used in cells to provide SU-MIMO gains to users that have better preamble C/N or C/(I+N) conditions than a given AMS threshold, and STTD/MRC gains to users that have worse preamble C/N or C/(I+N) conditions than the threshold. AMS provides the optimum solution using STTD/MRC and SU-MIMO features to their best. During calculations in Atoll, a user (pixel, mobile, or subscriber) using a MIMO-capable terminal, and connected to uplink and downlink permutation zones that support AMS, will benefit from the gain to be applied, STTD/MRC or SU-MIMO, depending on the user preamble C/N or C/(I+N) and the AMS threshold defined in the cell properties. STTD/MRC gain is applied to the user traffic C/(I+N) if the user preamble C/N or C/(I+N) is less than the AMS threshold, and SU-MIMO is used if the preamble C/N or C/(I+N) is higher than the AMS threshold.

14.8.10.4 Multi-User MIMO or Collaborative MIMO MU-MIMO (Multi-User MIMO) or Collaborative MIMO is a technique for spatially multiplexing two users who have sufficient radio conditions at their locations. This technique is used in uplink so that a cell with more than one reception antenna can receive uplink transmissions from two different users over the same frequency-time allocation. This technique provides considerable capacity gains in uplink, and can be used with single-antenna user equipment, i.e., it does not require more than one antenna at the user equipment as opposed to SU-MIMO, which only provides considerable gains with more than one antenna at the user equipment. In Atoll, you can set whether an uplink permutation zone supports MU-MIMO in uplink by selecting the corresponding diversity support mode in the frame configuration properties (see "Defining Frame Configurations" on page 1138). MU-MIMO capacity gains result from the scheduling and the RRM process. Using MU-MIMO, schedulers are able to allocate resources over two spatially multiplexed parallel frames in the same frequency-time resource allocation plane. MU-MIMO can only work under good radio conditions and if the cell has more than one reception antenna. Therefore, the preamble C/N must be higher than the MU-MIMO threshold defined by cell in order for the scheduler to be able to multiplex users in uplink. During the calculation of Monte Carlo simulations in Atoll, each new user connected to the first antenna creates virtual resources available on the second antenna. These virtual resources can then be allocated to a second user connected to the second antenna without increasing the overall load of the cell. This way, each new mobile consumes the virtual resources made available be the previous mobile, and might create new virtual resources available on the other antenna. The MU-MIMO capacity gain resulting from this uplink collaborative multiplexing is the ratio of the traffic loads of all the mobiles connected to both parallel frames in uplink to the uplink traffic load of the cell. MU-MIMO is only possible for mobiles that support MIMO and at which the preamble C/N is greater than the MU-MIMO threshold defined for their serving cell. The MU-MIMO capacity gain can be defined per cell by the user or it can be an output of Monte Carlo simulations. This gain is used during the calcu-

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lation of uplink throughput coverage predictions. The channel throughput is multiplied by this gain for pixels where MU-MIMO is used as the diversity mode.

14.8.11 Modelling Shadowing Shadowing, or slow fading, is signal loss along a path that is caused by obstructions not taken into consideration by the propagation model. Even when a receiver remains in the same location or in the same clutter class, there are variations in reception due to the surrounding environment. Normally, the signal received at any given point is spread on a gaussian curve around an average value and a specific standard deviation. If the propagation model is correctly calibrated, the average of the results it gives should be correct. In other words, in 50% of the measured cases, the result will be better and in 50% of the measured cases, the result will be worse. Atoll uses a model standard deviation for the clutter class with the defined cell edge coverage probability to model the effect of shadowing and thereby create coverage predictions that are reliable more than fifty percent of the time. The additional losses or gains caused by shadowing are known as the shadowing margin. The shadowing margin is added to the path losses calculated by the propagation model. For example, a properly calibrated propagation model calculates a loss leading to a signal level of -70 dBm. You have set a cell edge coverage probability of 85%. If the calculated shadowing margin is 7 dB for a specific point, the target signal will be equal to or greater than -77 dBm 85% of the time. In WiMAX projects, the model standard deviation is used to calculate shadowing margins on signal levels. You can also calculate shadowing margins on C/I values. For information on setting the model standard deviation and the C/I standard deviations for each clutter class or for all clutter classes, see "Defining Clutter Class Properties" on page 127. Shadowing can be taken into consideration when Atoll calculates the signal level and C/(I+N) for: • •

A point analysis (see "Studying the Profile Around a Base Station" on page 1048) A coverage prediction (see "Studying Signal Level Coverage of a Single Base Station" on page 1060).

Atoll always takes shadowing into consideration when calculating a Monte Carlo simulations. Atoll uses the values defined for the model standard deviations per clutter class when calculating the signal level coverage predictions. Atoll uses the values defined for the C/I standard deviations per clutter class when calculating the interference-based coverage predictions. You can display the shadowing margins per clutter class. To display the shadowing margins per clutter class: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select Shadowing Margins from the context menu. The Shadowing Margins dialog box appears. 2. You can set the following parameters: • •

Cell edge coverage probability: Enter the probability of coverage at the edge of the cell. The value you enter in this dialog box is for information only. Standard deviation: Select the type of standard deviation to be used to calculate the shadowing margin: • •

Model: The model standard deviation. Atoll will display the shadowing margin of the signal level. C/I: The C/I standard deviation. Atoll will display the C/I shadowing margin.

3. Click Calculate. The calculated shadowing margin is displayed. 4. Click Close.

14.8.12 Modelling Inter-technology Interference Analyses of WiMAX networks co-existing with other technology networks can be carried out in Atoll. Inter-technology interference may create considerable capacity reduction in a WiMAX network. Atoll can take into account interference from coexisting networks in Monte Carlo simulations and coverage predictions. The following inter-technology interference scenarios are modelled in Atoll: •

Interference received by mobiles on the downlink: Interference can be received by mobiles in a WiMAX network on the downlink from external base stations and mobiles in the vicinity. Interference from external base stations (also called downlink-to-downlink interference) can be created by the use of same or adjacent carriers, wideband noise (thermal noise, phase noise, modulation products, and spurious emissions), and intermodulation. In Atoll, you can define interference reduction factor (IRF) graphs for different technologies (such as GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000). These graphs are then used for calculating the interference from the external base stations on mobiles. This interference is taken into account in all downlink interference-based calculations. Interference from external mobiles (also called uplink-to-downlink interference) can be created by insufficient separation between the uplink frequency used by the external network and the downlink frequency used by your WiMAX network. Such interference may also come from co-existing TDD networks. The effect of this interference is modelled in Atoll using the Inter-technology DL noise rise definable for each cell in the WiMAX network. This noise rise is taken

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into account in all downlink interference-based calculations. For more information on the Inter-technology DL noise rise, see "Cell Properties" on page 1039.

Figure 14.37: Interference received by mobiles on the downlink •

Interference received by cells on the uplink: Interference can be received by cells of a WiMAX network on the uplink from external base stations and mobiles in the vicinity. Interference from external base stations (also called downlink-to-downlink interference) can be created by insufficient separation between the downlink frequency used by the external network and the uplink frequency used by your WiMAX network. Such interference may also come from co-existing TDD networks. Interference from external mobiles (also called uplink-to-downlink interference) can be created by the use of same or nearby frequencies for uplink in both networks. Unless the exact locations of external mobiles is known, it is not possible to separate interference received from external base stations and mobiles on the uplink. The effect of this interference is modelled in Atoll using the Inter-technology UL noise rise definable for each cell in the WiMAX network. This noise rise is taken into account in uplink interference calculations in Monte Carlo simulations, but not in coverage predictions. For more information on the Inter-technology UL noise rise, see "Cell Properties" on page 1039.

Figure 14.38: Interference received by cells on the uplink Interference received from external base stations on mobiles of your WiMAX network can be calculated by Atoll. Atoll uses the inter-technology interference reduction factor (IRF) graphs for calculating the interference levels. An IRF graph represents the variation of the Adjacent Channel Interference Ratio (ACIR) as a function of frequency separation. ACIR is determined from the Adjacent Channel Suppression (ACS) and the Adjacent Channel Leakage Ratio (ACLR) parameters as follows: 1 ACIR = ------------------------------------1 1 ------------- + ----------------ACS ACLR

An IRF depends on: • • • •

The interfering technology (such as GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000) The interfering carrier bandwidth (kHz) The interfered carrier bandwidth (kHz) The frequency offset between both carriers (MHz).

IRFs are used by Atoll to calculate the interference from external base stations only if the Atoll document containing the external base stations is linked to your WiMAX document, which means in co-planning mode. For more information on how to switch to co-planning mode, see "Switching to Co-planning Mode" on page 1126. To define the inter-technology IRFs in the victim network: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Equipment folder, right-click Inter-technology Interference Reduction Factors, and select Open Table. The Inter-technology Interference Reduction Factors table appears. 2. In the table, enter one interference reduction factor graph per row. For each IRF graph, enter:

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• • • •

Technology: The technology used by the interfering network. Interferer bandwidth (kHz): The width in kHz of the channels (carriers) used by the interfering network. This channel width must be consistent with that used in the linked document. Victim bandwidth (kHz): The width in kHz of the channels (carriers) used by the interfered network. This channel width must be consistent with that used in the main document. Reduction factors (dB): Click the cell corresponding to the Reduction factors (dB) column and the current row in the table. The Reduction Factors (dB) dialog box appears. i.

Enter the interference reduction factors in the Reduction (dB) column for different frequency separation, Freq. delta (MHz), values relative to the centre frequency of the channel (carrier) used in the main document. • •

Reduction values must be positive. If you leave reduction factors undefined, Atoll assumes there is no interference.

ii. When done, click OK. 3. Click the Close button (

) to close the Inter-technology Interference Reduction Factors table.

You can link more than one Atoll document with your main document following the procedure described in "Switching to Coplanning Mode" on page 1126. If the linked documents model networks using different technologies, you can define the interference reduction factors in your main document for all these technologies, and Atoll will calculate interference from all the external base stations in all the linked documents.

14.9 Tips and Tricks This section provides recommendations and guidelines for using the Atoll WiMAX module: • • • • • • • • • •

"Working With User Densities Instead of User Profiles" on page 1152 "Restricting Coverage Predictions to LOS Areas Only" on page 1153 "Bearer Selection Thresholds" on page 1153 "Calculating Bearer Selection Thresholds From Receiver Sensitivity Values" on page 1153 "Relation Between Bearer Efficiency And Spectral Efficiency" on page 1153 "Determining Approximate Required DL:UL Ratio for a TDD Network" on page 1154 "Working With Frame Configurations, Permutation Zones, and Downlink Segmentation: Examples" on page 1154 "Modelling VoIP Codecs" on page 1158 "Modelling Different Types of AMC Subchannels" on page 1159 "Modelling the Co-existence of Networks" on page 1160

14.9.1 Working With User Densities Instead of User Profiles If you do not currently have reliable WiMAX multi-service traffic, you can provide Atoll with user density information per service, for example, traffic data from adapted GSM Erlang maps. In this case, you do not have to create user profiles. As well, Atoll does not have to determine the user activity probabilities to create traffic scenarios during simulations. The distribution of traffic during simulations will only depend on the user densities per service. If you know the user densities for each service, you can set user activity probabilities to 100 % in your WiMAX document, as shown below: 1. For Voice services, set: • •

Calls/hour = 1 Duration (sec.) = 3600

2. For Data services: • • •

Calls/hour = 1 UL volume (KBytes) = Service uplink average requested throughput x 3600/8 DL volume (KBytes) = Service downlink average requested throughput x 3600/8

The above settings will set the user activity probabilities to 100 %. If you create a traffic map based on environment classes, the user density values that you define in your environment classes will be the actual user densities. This means that, for X users/km² defined in the environment class for a given user profile, the Monte Carlo simulator will generate exactly X users/ km² for each service of the user profile. In this way, you can know beforehand the exact number of active users, and their services, generated during the simulations. This procedure should only be used when appropriate traffic data is not available.

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14.9.2 Restricting Coverage Predictions to LOS Areas Only You can restrict the coverage to LOS areas only if you are using the Standard Propagation Model. To restrict coverage to LOS areas, you have to enter a very high value for the K4 Standard Propagation Model parameter.

14.9.3 Bearer Selection Thresholds The default values of the bearer selection thresholds, the BLER quality graphs, and the bearer efficiency values in Atoll have been extracted and estimated from the NS2 simulator results available with the WiMAX Forum (see Figure 14.39). These values correspond to an ideal (AWGN) radio channel, and are rather optimistic compared to actual radio channels. It is recommended to use more realistic values when available.

Figure 14.39: Link Adaptation in WiMAX The spectral efficiency is the number of useful data bits that can be transmitted using any modulation and coding scheme per Hz, the transition points between any two modulation and coding schemes give the default bearer selection thresholds in Atoll, and the normalised values from the slopes of the graphs, that represent the reduction in the spectral efficiency, give the block error rate.

14.9.4 Calculating Bearer Selection Thresholds From Receiver Sensitivity Values You can convert the receiver sensitivity values, from your equipment data sheet, into bearer selection thresholds using the following conversion method: n  BW  N Used CNR = RS + 114 – NF – 10  Log  ------------------------------------------ + 10  Log  R  – L Imp   N Total

Where RS is the receiver sensitivity in dBm, NF is the noise figure of the receiver in dB, n is the sampling factor, BW is the channel bandwidth in MHz, N Used is the number of used subcarriers, N Total is the total number of subcarriers, R is the number of retransmissions, and L Imp is the implementation loss in dB. If you do not know the values for R and L Imp , you can ignore the corresponding terms and simplify the equation. Here the term receiver refers to the base station in uplink and to the mobile/user equipment in the downlink.

14.9.5 Relation Between Bearer Efficiency And Spectral Efficiency Spectral efficiency of a modulation and coding scheme is defined as the number of useful bits that can be transmitted per second over 1 Hz wide channel. Spectral efficiency is hence given in terms of bps/Hz. In Atoll, the efficiency of bearers (modulation and coding schemes) are defined in the Radio Bearers table. The bearer efficiency is given in terms of bits/symbol. Remember that in Atoll symbol refers to modulation symbol, the data transmission unit which is 1 symbol duration long and 1 subcarrier width wide, as shown in Figure 14.40.

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Figure 14.40: Symbol Bearer efficiency is similar to spectral efficiency. The only difference is in the units used. Here is a simple example that compares spectral efficiency and bearer efficiency, and shows that the two are the same. Spectral efficiency is given by: SE =  1 – BLER   r  Log 2  M 

bps  Hz

Where BLER is the Block Error Rate, r is the coding rate for the bearer, and M is the number of modulation states. For simplification, we set BLER = 0, and use QPSK1/2, i.e., four modulation states and r = 0.5. With these values, we get a spectral efficiency of 1 bps/Hz for QPSK1/2. In other words, a communication channel using QPSK1/2 modulation and coding scheme can send 1 bps of useful data per unit bandwidth. In order to compare the bearer efficiency and spectral efficiency of QPSK1/2, let’s say that QPSK1/2 has a bearer efficiency of 1 bits/symbol. Here as well, the number of bits refers to useful data bits. The width of a subcarrier in WiMAX is 1 F = 10,94 kHz , from which we can calculate the useful symbol duration as well: T U = ------- = 91,4  sec . In one second, F

there can be 1 sec  91,4  sec = 10940 symbol durations. If 10940 symbols are transmitted using QPSK1/2, this gives us a throughput of 10940 Symbols/sec  1 bits/Symbol = 10940 bps , which is the throughput achievable using one subcarrier of 10.94 kHz. We can find the spectral efficiency by normalizing the throughput to unit bandwidth. This gives: 10940 bps/subcarrier  10,94 kHz/subcarrier = 1 bps/Hz

In order to compare equivalent quantities, we have ignored the system parameters such as the cyclic prefix, TTG, RTG, and have considered that the entire frame is transmitted in one direction, uplink or downlink.

14.9.6 Determining Approximate Required DL:UL Ratio for a TDD Network In TDD networks, the durations of the downlink and uplink subframes have to be properly set in order to optimally satisfy the traffic demands in both downlink and uplink. You can use the simulation results to calculate the approximate value of the DL:UL ratio required for your network under the given traffic scenario of the simulation. The DL:UL ratio can be calculated by taking the ratio of the sum of the downlink traffic loads of all the cells and the sums of all the downlink and uplink traffic loads of all the cells. The downlink and uplink traffic loads of all the cells are listed in the Cells tab of the simulations results dialog box.



TL

DL

All Cells DL:UL ratio = -----------------------------------------------------------------DL UL TL + TL



All Cells



All Cells

You can then set this value of DL:UL ratio in the Global Parameters tab of the Radio Network Settings folder’s properties dialog box, for optimising your network resource usage.

14.9.7 Working With Frame Configurations, Permutation Zones, and Downlink Segmentation: Examples In the following examples, we assume that: • • •

You are working on a document with existing base stations. One 5 MHz channel, with channel number 0, defined in the frequency band, that can be allocated to sectors. The frame configuration that can be used is FFT Size 512 with 512 total subcarriers.

There can be different scenarios for this implementation: 1. Without segmentation, which means a frequency reuse plan of N=1. a. Set up the frame configuration: i.

Open the Frame Configurations table as explained in "Defining Frame Configurations" on page 1138.

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ii. Verify that the Segmentation support (DL) check box is not selected for FFT Size 512. iii. Double-click the frame configuration FFT Size 512. iv. Click the Permutation Zones tab. v. Activate the permutation zones 0 (PUSC DL) and 8 (PUSC UL). vi. Click OK. vii. Close the Frame Configurations tables. b. Set up the cells: i.

Right-click the Transmitters folder and select Cells > Open Table from the context menu. The Cells table appears.

ii. In the Cells table, enter: • •

Channel number: 0 Frame configuration: FFT Size 512

iii. Close the Cells table. c. Create a coverage by downlink traffic C/(I+N) level and a coverage by downlink channel throughput as explained in "Studying Interference and C/(I+N) Levels" on page 1065 and "Making a Coverage Prediction by Throughput" on page 1068, respectively. In this case, the same 5 MHz channel is allocated to the three sectors of each 3-sector site. The sectors receive cochannel interference according to the downlink traffic loads of the interferers. The traffic C/(I+N) and throughput coverage predictions would be as shown in Figure 14.41 and Figure 14.42.

Figure 14.41: Downlink Traffic C/(I+N) Coverage Prediction - PUSC Without Segmentation

Figure 14.42: Downlink Channel Throughput Coverage Prediction - PUSC Without Segmentation

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2. With a segmented PUSC permutation zone, which means a frequency reuse plan of N=3. a. Set up the frame configuration: i.

Open the Frame Configurations table as explained in "Defining Frame Configurations" on page 1138.

ii. Select the Segmentation support (DL) check box for FFT Size 512. iii. Double-click the frame configuration FFT Size 512. iv. Click the Permutation Zones tab. v. Activate the permutation zones 0 (PUSC DL) and 8 (PUSC UL). vi. Click OK. vii. Close the Frame Configurations tables. b. Set up the cells: i.

Right-click the Transmitters folder and select Cells > Open Table from the context menu. The Cells table appears.

ii. In the Cells table, enter: • • • •

Channel number: 0 Frame configuration: FFT Size 512 Preamble index: 0 for the 1st sector, 32 for the 2nd sector, and 64 for the 3rd sector of each 3-sector site. Segmentation usage (DL) (%): 100%

iii. Close the Cells table. c. Create a coverage by downlink traffic C/(I+N) level and a coverage by downlink channel throughput as explained in "Studying Interference and C/(I+N) Levels" on page 1065 and "Making a Coverage Prediction by Throughput" on page 1068, respectively. In this case, the 5 MHz channel is divided into 3 segments. Each segment is allocated to one of the three sectors of each 3-sector site. There is no interference between segments because the preamble indexes give a different segment and same cell permbase (IDCell in IEEE specifications). Each segment uses 1/3rd of the total number of used subcarriers, i.e., 140. The traffic C/(I+N) and throughput coverage predictions would be as shown in Figure 14.43 and Figure 14.44.

Figure 14.43: Downlink Traffic C/(I+N) Coverage Prediction - PUSC With Segmentation

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Figure 14.44: Downlink Channel Throughput Coverage Prediction - PUSC With Segmentation 3. With a segmented PUSC permutation zone and one or more non-segmented zones, which means a frequency reuse plan of pseudo-N=3. a. Set up the frame configuration: i.

Open the Frame Configurations table as explained in "Defining Frame Configurations" on page 1138.

ii. Select the Segmentation support (DL) check box for FFT Size 512. iii. Double-click the frame configuration FFT Size 512. The Permutation Zones table appears. iv. Activate the permutation zones 0 (PUSC DL), 2 (FUSC) and 8 (PUSC UL). v. Click OK. vi. Close the Frame Configurations tables. b. Set up the cells: i.

Right-click the Transmitters folder and select Cells > Open Table from the context menu. The Cells table appears.

ii. In the Cells table, enter: • • •

Channel Number: 0 Frame Configuration: FFT Size 512 Preamble Index: 0 for the 1st sector, 32 for the 2nd sector, and 64 for the 3rd sector of each 3-sector site.

iii. Close the Cells table. c. Enter different segmentation usage ratios manually in the Cells table, or calculate the segmentation usage ratios for all the cells using a Monte Carlo simulation as follows: i.

Create or import a traffic map, as explained in "Working with Traffic Maps" on page 256, to be used as input to the Monte Carlo simulator.

ii. Create a Monte Carlo simulation as explained in "Creating Simulations" on page 266. iii. Open the simulation results, and commit the results to the Cells table as explained in "Updating Cell Values With Simulation Results" on page 272. d. Create a coverage by downlink traffic C/(I+N) level and a coverage by downlink channel throughput as explained in "Studying Interference and C/(I+N) Levels" on page 1065 and "Making a Coverage Prediction by Throughput" on page 1068, respectively. In this case, the 5 MHz channel is divided into 3 segments. Each segment is allocated to one of the three sectors of each 3-sector site. There is no interference between segments because the preamble indexes give a different segment and same cell permbase (IDCell in IEEE specifications). Each segment uses 1/3rd of the total number of used subcarriers, i.e., 140. However, there is also a non-segmented FUSC permutation zone, which uses the entire channel width of 5 MHz. The sectors receive co-channel interference during the FUSC part of the frame but not during the segmented PUSC part of the frame. The traffic C/(I+N) and throughput coverage predictions would be as shown in Figure 14.45 and Figure 14.46.

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Figure 14.45: Downlink Traffic C/(I+N) Coverage Prediction - Segmented PUSC + FUSC

Figure 14.46: Downlink Channel Throughput Coverage Prediction - Segmented PUSC + FUSC If you compare the traffic C/(I+N) and throughput coverage predictions in the above cases, you will observe that the traffic C/ (I+N) improves with segmentation, but the throughput is reduced.

14.9.8 Modelling VoIP Codecs VoIP codecs are application-layer elements in the OSI system model. Atoll models application throughputs using a throughput offset and a scaling factor with respect to the MAC layer throughputs. You can model different VoIP codecs by creating a new service for each VoIP codec, and setting the target throughput to application throughput for the scheduler used. Here are two examples of the most common VoIP codecs, and how they can be modelled in Atoll: •

G.711 VoIP Codec The actual voice throughput needed by the G.711 codec is 64 kbps, but with the lower layer headers and other added bits, the needed MAC throughput could be between 66.4 and 107.2 kbps. In this example, we show how to model the codec with header bits that lead to 85.6 kbps MAC throughput. a. Create a service with the following parameters: • • • • • • •

Name: VoIP (G.711) Type: Voice QoS class: UGS Min throughput demand (DL) and Min throughput demand (UL): 64 kbps Average requested throughput (DL) and Average requested throughput (UL): 64 kbps Scaling factor: 74.77 % Offset: 0 kbps

b. Set the Target throughput for voice services to "2 - Application throughput" for the scheduler being used.

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In this way, Atoll will allocate resources to the users of this service such that they get 64 kbps application throughput, and around 85.6 kbps of effective MAC throughput. •

G.729 VoIP Codec The actual voice throughput needed by the G.729 codec is 8 kbps, but with the lower layer headers and other added bits, the needed MAC throughput could be between 9.6 and 29.6 kbps. In this example, we show how to model the codec with header bits that lead to 29.6 kbps required throughput. a. Create a service with the following parameters: • • • • • • •

Name: VoIP (G.729) Type: Voice QoS class: UGS Min throughput demand (DL) and Min throughput demand (UL): 8 kbps Average requested throughput (DL) and Average requested throughput (UL): 8 kbps Scaling factor: 27.03 % Offset: 0 kbps

b. Set the Target throughput for voice services to "2 - Application throughput" for the scheduler being used. In this way, Atoll will allocate resources to the users of this service such that they get 8 kbps application throughput, and around 29.6 kbps of effective MAC throughput.

14.9.9 Modelling Different Types of AMC Subchannels AMC subchannels are composed of bins, which means groups of 9 adjacent subcarriers. The following four types of AMC subchannels exist:

Type

Name

Number of Bins in 1 Subchannel

Number of Subcarriers in 1 Subchannel

Length (Number of Symbol Durations)

Total Number of Modulation Symbols in One Slot

1 2 3 4

6 x 1 (Default) 3x2 2x3 1x6

6 3 2 1

6 x 9 = 54 3 x 9 = 27 2 x 9 = 18 1x9=9

1 2 3 6

54 x 1 = 54 27 x 2 = 54 18 x 3 = 54 9 x 6 = 54

As the above table shows, each type of AMC subchannels has a different number of bins. However, the duration of an AMC slot varies corresponding to the number of bins in the subchannel in order to maintain the number of modulation symbols in one slot constant. In the first type (6 x 1; default in Atoll), a slot consists of a subchannel of 6 consecutive bins (54 subcarriers) over 1 symbol duration. A slot of the second type (3 x 2) consists of a subchannel of 3 consecutive bins (27 subcarriers) over 2 symbol durations. A slot of the third type (2 x 3) consists of a subchannel of 2 consecutive bins (18 subcarriers) over 3 symbol durations. And, a slot of the fourth type (1 x 6) consists of a subchannel of 1 bin (9 subcarriers) over 6 symbol durations. In all the cases, a slot comprises 54 modulation symbols.

Figure 14.47: AMC Subchannel Types

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The values of the numbers of subchannels per channel in the frame configurations available by default in Atoll represent the first (default) type of AMC subchannels. The number of subchannels per channel is calculated by dividing the total number of subcarriers in the channel by the number of subcarriers in one subchannel. Therefore, for modelling any other type of AMC subchannels, you will have to increase the number of subchannels per channel accordingly, i.e., multiply the current value by 2, 3, or 6, for modelling the second, third, or fourth type, respectively.

14.9.10 Modelling the Co-existence of Networks In Atoll, you can study the effect of interference received by your network from other WiMAX networks. The interfering WiMAX network can be a different part of your own network, or a network belonging to another operator. To study interference from co-existing networks: 1. Import the interfering network data (sites, transmitters, and cells) in to your document as explained in "Creating a Group of Base Stations" on page 1049. 2. For the interfering network transmitters, set the Transmitter type to Inter-network (Interferer only) as explained in "Transmitter Properties" on page 1037. During calculations, Atoll will consider the transmitters of type Inter-network (Interferer only) when calculating interference. These transmitters will not serve any pixel, subscriber, or mobile, and will only contribute to interference. Modelling the interference from co-existing networks will be as accurate as the data you have for the interfering network. If the interfering network is a part of your own network, this information would be readily available. However, if the interfering network belongs to another operator, the information available might not be accurate. Moreover, for other operator networks, and if the interfering networks use OFDM but are not WiMAX networks, you will have to create specific frame configurations to assign to the cells of the interfering network. The number of subcarriers used in these frame configurations would depend on the channel bandwidth on which transmitter is interfering. For more information on frame configuration parameters, see "Defining Frame Configurations" on page 1138.

14.10 Glossary of WiMAX Terms Understanding the following terms and there use in Atoll is very helpful in understanding the WiMAX module: •

User: A general term that can also designate a subscriber, mobile, and receiver.

•

Subscriber: Users with fixed geographical coordinates.

•

Mobile: Users generated and distributed during simulations. These users have, among other parameters, defined services, terminal types, and mobility types assigned for the duration of the simulations.

•

Receiver: A probe mobile, with the minimum required parameters needed for the calculation of path loss, used for propagation loss and raster coverage predictions.

•

Radio Bearer: A Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) used to carry data over the channel.

•

Peak MAC Throughput: The maximum MAC layer throughput (user or channel) that can be achieved at a given location using the highest WiMAX bearer available. This throughput is the raw throughput without considering the effects of retransmission due to errors and higher layer coding and encryption.

•

Effective MAC Throughput: The net MAC layer throughput (user or channel) that can be achieved at a given location using the highest WiMAX bearer available computed taking into account the reduction of throughput due to retransmission due to errors.

•

Application Throughput: The application layer throughput (user or channel) that can be achieved at a given location using the highest WiMAX bearer available computed taking into account the reduction of throughput due to PDU/SDU header information, padding, encryption, coding, and other types of overhead.

•

Channel Throughputs: Peak MAC, effective MAC or application throughputs achieved at a given location using the highest WiMAX bearer available with the entire cell resources (uplink or downlink).

•

Allocated Bandwidth Throughputs: Uplink peak MAC, effective MAC or application throughputs achieved at a given location using the best possible WiMAX bearer with the number of subchannels calculated after subchannelisation.

•

User Throughputs: Peak MAC, effective MAC or application throughputs achieved at a given location using the highest WiMAX bearer available with the amount of resources allocated to a user by the scheduler.

•

Traffic Loads: The uplink and downlink traffic loads are the percentages of the uplink and the downlink subframes in use (allocated) to the traffic (mobiles) in the uplink and in the downlink, respectively.

•

Resources: In Atoll, the term "resource" is used to refer to the average number of slots, expressed in percentage (as traffic loads, when the average is performed over a considerably long duration) of the total number of slots in a superframe of 1 sec.

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Uplink Noise Rise: Uplink noise rise is a measure of uplink interference with respect to the uplink noise: I UL + N UL NR UL = ------------------------ , or NR UL = 10  Log  I UL + N UL  – 10  Log  N UL  in dB. This parameter is one of the two N UL

methods in which uplink interference can be expressed with respect to the noise. The other parameter often used I I UL + N UL

UL instead of the uplink noise rise is the uplink load factor: L UL = ------------------------ . Usually, the uplink load factor is kept as a

linear value (in percentage) while the uplink noise rise is expressed in dB. The two parameters express exactly the same information, and can be inter-converted as follows: I I+N–N I I+N N I N N I I+N 1 ------------ = ---------------------- => ------------ = ------------ – ------------ => ------------ = 1 – ------------ => ------------ = 1 – ------------ => ------------ = --------------------I I+N I+N I+N I+N I+N I+N I+N I+N I+N N 1 – -----------I+N 1 => NR = -----------

1–L

The following table shows the relation between interference, load factor, and noise rise. Interference (I) 0 =N =9xN = 99 x N

Load Factor (%) 0 50 90 99

Noise Rise 1 2 10 100

Noise Rise (dB) 0 3.01 10 20

The reason why uplink interference is expressed in terms of noise rise (in dB) in Atoll instead of load factor (in percentage) is that the load factor varies exponentially with the increase in interference. •

Symbol: A symbol is the modulation symbol, corresponding to one frequency unit (subcarrier) over one time unit (symbol duration or OFDM symbol).

•

Symbol Duration (SD): The symbol duration is the length of each symbol in the frame. The length of a frame, i.e., the frame duration, can be expressed in terms of the number of symbol durations in the frame. It is referred to as OFDM symbol in the IEEE 802.16 specifications.

•

Subchannels: A subchannel is a group of subcarriers. A channel can be divided into a number of subchannels. You can set the number of these subchannels at the network level in Atoll.

•

Subcarriers (or tone): A channel contains a number of subcarriers including the upper and lower guard bands, the pilot subcarriers, and the data subcarriers. The guards, pilots, and the DC subcarrier can not be used for data transfer. The total thermal noise over the entire channel bandwidth is calculated according to the number of used subcarriers out of the total number of subcarriers. The used subcarriers are the data and the pilot subcarriers. The data transfer capacity of a channel is calculated by considering the data subcarriers only.

•

Frame Configuration: A frame configuration is the description of a frame in the frequency as well as in the time dimension. In the frequency domain, it defines how many subcarriers exist in the channel width used, and how many of these subcarriers are used and for which purpose, i.e., pilot, data, DC, guard. In the time domain, it defines how long the frame is, and its composition. The frame configuration depends on the channel width because the system uses Scalable OFDMA. The IEEE specifications define different frame configurations for different channel widths. For example, a cell using a 10 MHz channel width will have 1024 subcarriers, but one using a 5 MHz channel will have 512. As well, in the time domain, the number of active permutation zones in the frame and the subchannel allocation modes of these zones depend on the operator and the equipment used. You can create or modify frame configurations and their corresponding permutation zones in Atoll as explained in "Defining Frame Configurations" on page 1138.

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•

Permutation Zone: A permutation zone is a subdivision of a WiMAX frame in the time domain. According to the IEEE specifications, there can be as many as 8 permutation zones in the downlink and 3 in the uplink. Each permutation zone can use a different subchannel allocation mode (or a permutation scheme), and can have different numbers of used, pilot, and data subcarriers. The different subchannel allocation modes are: PUSC, FUSC, OFUSC, AMC, TUSC1, and TUSC2 in downlink, and PUSC, OPUSC, and AMC in uplink.

•

Segmentation: The PUSC subchannel allocation mode allows the allocation of groups of subchannels to cells. According to the IEEE specifications, there are 6 subchannel groups in the downlink PUSC subchannel allocation mode. You can, for example, use 2 subchannel groups at each sector of a 3-sector site, and completely eliminate interference between these sectors by correctly planning the preamble indexes. On one hand, segmentation improves the CINR by allowing you to different segments of the same channel at different sectors, but on the other hand, it reduces the available cell capacity (throughput) because the channel width used at each sector is reduced. For examples on how to use segmentation in Atoll, see "Working With Frame Configurations, Permutation Zones, and Downlink Segmentation: Examples" on page 1154.

•

Primary and Secondary Subchannel Groups (PUSC DL): The primary subchannel groups (0, 2, and 4) and secondary subchannel groups (1, 3, and 5) are mapped to subchannel numbers as follows:

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Total Number of Subcarriers

Subchannel Group Subchannel Range

Total Number of Subcarriers

Subchannel Group Subchannel Range

0

0

0

0-5

1

N/A

1

6-9

2

1

2

10-15

128

1024 3

N/A

3

16-19

4

2

4

20-25

5

N/A

5

26-29

0

0-4

0

0-11

1

N/A

1

12-19

2

5-9

2

20-31

512

2048 3

N/A

3

32-39

4

10-14

4

40-51

5

N/A

5

52-59

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Chapter 15 Wi-Fi Networks This chapter provides information on using Atoll to design, analyse, and optimise a Wi-Fi network.

This chapter covers the following topics: •

"Designing a Wi-Fi Network" on page 1165

•

"Planning and Optimising Wi-Fi Access Points" on page 1166

•

"Configuring Network Parameters Using the AFP" on page 1200

•

"Studying Wi-Fi Network Capacity" on page 1207

•

"Optimising Network Parameters Using ACP" on page 1216

•

"Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data" on page 1220

•

"Co-planning Wi-Fi Networks with Other Networks" on page 1228

•

"Advanced Configuration" on page 1235

•

"Tips and Tricks" on page 1243

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15 Wi-Fi Networks Wi-Fi refers to a group of WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) standards from the IEEE. The WLAN air interface is described in the IEEE 802.11 standards family. Atoll enables you to design OFDM-based IEEE 802.11 networks using various technologies and operating frequencies for WLAN, including: 802.11a

802.11g

802.11n

802.11pa

802.11adb

802.11ac

Released

1999

2003 Rev. 2007

2009

2010

2012

2012

Technology

OFDM

OFDM

OFDM

OFDM

OFDM, SC, LPSC

OFDM

Operating Frequencies (GHz)

5

2.4

2.4, 5

5

60

5

Channel Widths (MHz)

20

20

20, 40

10

2160

20, 40, 80, 160

Modulations

a. b. c.

BPSK, QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM

+ 256QAM

MIMO Capabilities

—

—

4x4 (Maximum)

—

—

8x8 (Maximum)

Maximum Throughput per Access Point (Mbps)

54

54

540 (Long GIc) 600 (Short GI)

27

6756 (OFDM) 4620 (SC) 2503 (LPSC

6240 (Long GI) 6933 (Short GI)

Also known as DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communication) or WAVE (Wireless Access in Vehicular Environments) Also known as directional multi-gigabit Guard Interval Atoll can predict radio coverage, evaluate network capacity, and analyse the amount of mobile traffic that can be offloaded from a mobile network to a Wi-Fi network. Atoll uses Monte Carlo simulations to generate and analyse realistic network scenarios (snapshots) by carrying out scheduling and resource allocation. Realistic user distributions can be generated using different types of traffic maps. You can create coverage predictions to analyse received signal levels, signal quality, service areas, and throughputs in downlink and in uplink. Mobile (LTE, CDMA2000, UMTS, LTE, etc.) and Wi-Fi networks can be planned in the same Atoll session. New mobile access technologies, such as HSPA, HSPA+, and LTE, have triggered a significant increase in data traffic. Mobile operators are looking for viable solutions for delivering high speed data access with satisfactory QoS. Among many available options, Wi-Fi provides operators with a feasible approach for mobile network traffic offloading due to the following factors: • • • •

Numerous active Wi-Fi hotspots already exist, Most mobile devices support Wi-Fi in addition to mobile access technologies, Wi-Fi uses licence-free frequency bands, Wi-Fi is based on OFDM and uses the same hardware as LTE and LTE-Advanced.

Atoll Wi-Fi provides comprehensive Wi-Fi modelling with advanced traffic offload analysis features that enable operators to assess different traffic offloading options and make the right decision for their network.

15.1 Designing a Wi-Fi Network The following diagram depicts the process of creating and planning a Wi-Fi network. The steps involved in planning a Wi-Fi network are described below. 1. Open an existing radio-planning document or create a radio-planning document. • •

You can open an existing Atoll document by selecting File > Open. You can create an Atoll document as explained in Chapter 1: Working Environment.

2. Configure the network by adding network elements and changing parameters. You can add and modify the following elements of access points: • • •

"Creating a Site" on page 1170 "Creating or Modifying a Transmitter" on page 1171 "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 1171

You can also add access points using a station template (see "Placing a New Access Point Using a Station Template" on page 1171). 3. Carry out basic coverage predictions. See "Signal Level Coverage Predictions" on page 1179.

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4. Allocate neighbours. See "Planning Neighbours" on page 1199. 5. Allocate frequencies. See "Planning Frequencies" on page 1202. 6. Before making more advanced coverage predictions, you need to define cell load conditions in one of the following ways: • •

You can generate realistic cell load conditions by creating a simulation based on traffic maps (see "Studying Wi-Fi Network Capacity" on page 1207). You can define cell load conditions manually either on the Cells tab of each transmitter Properties dialog box or in the Cells table (see "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 1171).

7. Make Wi-Fi-specific signal quality coverage predictions using the defined cell load conditions. See "Wi-Fi Coverage Predictions" on page 1182. 8. If necessary, modify network parameters to study the network.

15.2 Planning and Optimising Wi-Fi Access Points As described in Chapter 1: Working Environment, you can create an Atoll document from a template, with no access points, or from a database containing an existing set of access points. As you work on your Atoll document, you will still need to create access points and modify existing ones. In Atoll, a site is defined as a geographical point where transmitters are located. Once you have created a site, you can add transmitters. In Atoll, a transmitter is defined as the antenna and any other additional equipment, such as the TMA, feeder cables, and so on. In a Wi-Fi project, you must also add cells to each transmitter. A cell refers to the characteristics of an RF channel on a transmitter. Atoll lets you create one site, transmitter, or cell at a time, or create several at once using station templates. In Atoll, an access point refers to a site and a transmitter with its antennas, equipment, and cells. In Atoll, you can study a single access point or a group of access points using coverage predictions. Atoll allows you to make a variety of coverage predictions, such as signal level or signal quality coverage predictions. The results of calculated coverage predictions can be displayed on the map, compared, and studied. Atoll enables you to model network traffic by creating services, users, user profiles, traffic environments, and terminals. This data can be then used to make coverage predictions that depend on network load, such as C/(I+N), service area, radio bearer, and throughput coverage predictions. This section covers the following topics: • • • • • • • •

"Definition of a Wi-Fi Access Point" on page 1166 "Creating Wi-Fi Access Points" on page 1170 "Creating a Group of Access Points" on page 1176 "Modifying Sites and Transmitters Directly on the Map" on page 1177 "Display Tips for Access Points" on page 1177 "Creating Multi-band Wi-Fi Networks" on page 1177 "Studying Access Points" on page 1178 "Planning Neighbours" on page 1199

15.2.1 Definition of a Wi-Fi Access Point An access point consists of the site, one or more transmitters, various pieces of equipment, and radio settings such as, for example, cells. You will usually create an access point using a station template, as described in "Placing a New Access Point Using a Station Template" on page 1171. This section describes the following elements of an access point and their parameters: • • •

"Site Properties" on page 1166 "Transmitter Properties" on page 1167 "Cell Properties" on page 1168

15.2.1.1 Site Properties The parameters of a site can be found in the site Properties dialog box. The Properties dialog box consists of the following tabs: General Tab • •

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Name: A default name is proposed for each new site. You can modify the default name here. If you want to change the default name that Atoll gives to new sites, see the Administrator Manual. Position: By default, Atoll places the new site at the centre of the map window. You can modify the location of the site .

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While this method allows you to place a site with precision, you can also place sites using the mouse and then position them precisely with this dialog box afterwards. For information on placing sites using the mouse, see "Moving a Site Using the Mouse" on page 57.

• •

Altitude: The altitude, as defined by the DTM for the location specified under Position, is given here. You can specify the actual altitude under Real, if you want. If an altitude is specified here, Atoll will use this value for calculations. Comments: You can enter comments in this field if you want.

Backhaul Tab •

Backhaul throughputs: You can specify the maximum backhaul throughputs supported in downlink and uplink by the site. Enter the capacity of the backhaul links between sites and serving gateways. The maximum backhaul throughputs that you enter here are taken into account as backhaul constraints in Monte Carlo simulations.

15.2.1.2 Transmitter Properties The parameters of a transmitter can be found in the transmitter Properties dialog box. When you create a transmitter, the Properties dialog box has two tabs: the General tab and the Transmitter tab. Once you have created a transmitter, its Properties dialog box has three additional tabs: the Cells tab (see "Cell Properties" on page 1168), the Propagation tab (see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models), and the Display tab (see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51). General Tab •

Name: By default, the transmitter is named after the site it is on, suffixed with an underscore and a number. You can enter a name for the transmitter. However, it is better to use the name assigned by Atoll to ensure consistency. To change the way Atoll names transmitters, see the Administrator Manual.

•

•

•

Site: You can select the Site on which the transmitter will be located. Once you have selected the site, you can click the Browse button to access the properties of the site. For information on the site Properties dialog box, see "Site Properties" on page 1166. You can click the New button to create a site for the transmitter. Shared antenna: This field identifies the transmitters located at the same site or on sites with the same position and that share the same antenna. The entry in the field must be the same for all transmitters sharing the same antenna. When changes are made to the position offset (Dx, Dy), azimuth, antenna height, or mechanical tilt of one antenna, Atoll automatically synchronises the same changes to all other transmitters defined as having a shared antenna. This field is also used for dual-band transmitters to synchronise antenna parameters for different frequency bands. Under Antenna position, you can modify the position of the antennas (main and secondary): • •

Relative to site: Select Relative to site to enter the antenna positions as offsets from the site location, and enter the x-axis and y-axis offsets, Dx and Dy, respectively. Coordinates: Select this option if you want to enter the coordinates of the antenna, and then enter the x-axis and y-axis coordinates of the antenna, X and Y, respectively.

Transmitter Tab •

Active: If this transmitter is to be active, you must select the Active check box. Active transmitters are displayed with a specific icon in the Transmitters folder of the Network explorer. Only active transmitters are taken into consideration during calculations.

•

Transmitter type: Specify whether the transmitter is to be considered as a server. This enables you to model the coexistence of different networks in the same geographic area. • •

If the transmitter is to be considered as a potential server as well as an interferer, set the transmitter type to Intranetwork (Server and interferer). If the transmitter is to be considered only as an interferer, set the type to Inter-network (Interferer only). Interferer-only transmitters are ignored by coverage calculations and do not serve any mobile in Monte Carlo simulations.

For more information on how to study interference between co-existing networks, see "Modelling the Co-existence of Networks" on page 1244. •

Transmission/Reception: This area displays the total losses and the noise figure of the transmitter.

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Antennas: •

•

Height/ground: The Height/ground box gives the height of the antenna above the ground. This is added to the altitude of the site given by the DTM. If the transmitter is situated on a building, the height entered must include the height of building. Main antenna: Under Main antenna, the type of antenna is visible in the Model list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the antenna. Click the Select button to open the Antenna Selection Assistant. This assistant lists all the antennas that match the currently selected physical antenna and whose minimum and maximum operating frequencies include the operating frequency of the transmitter. For more information, see "Assigning Antennas to Transmitters" on page 159

•

Mechanical Azimuth, Mechanical Downtilt, Electrical Azimuth, Electrical Downtilt, and Additional electrical downtilt display additional antenna parameters. • • •

•

The Additional electrical downtilt can be made accessible through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide. The mechanical and additional electrical downtilts defined for the main antenna are also used for the calculations of smart antennas.

Number of MIMO antennas: Enter the number of antennas used for MIMO in the Transmission and Reception fields. For more information on how the number of MIMO antennas are used, see "Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) Systems" on page 1240.

Cells Tab When you create a transmitter, Atoll automatically creates a cell for the transmitter using the properties of the currently selected station template. The Cells tab enables you to configure the properties for every cell of a transmitter. For more information on the properties of a cell, see "Cell Properties" on page 1168. Propagation Tab Transmitters are taken into account during calculations. Therefore, you must set the propagation parameters. On the Propagation tab, you can modify the Propagation model, Radius, and Resolution for both the Main matrix and the Extended matrix. For information on propagation models, see "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187. Display Tab On the Display tab, you can modify how a transmitter will be displayed. For information on changing display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51.

15.2.1.3 Cell Properties In Atoll, a cell is defined as an RF channel, with all its characteristics, on a transmitter; the cell is the mechanism by which you can configure a multi-carrier Wi-Fi network. This section explains the parameters of a Wi-Fi cell. You can choose to modify these parameters. The properties of a Wi-Fi cell are found on Cells tab of the Properties dialog box of the transmitter to which it belongs. You can also display the properties of a cell by double-clicking the cell in the Site explorer.

The Cells tab has the following options: •

• •

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Name: By default, Atoll names the cell after its transmitter, adding a suffix in parentheses. If you change transmitter name, Atoll does not update the cell name. You can enter a name for the cell, but for the sake of consistency, it is better to let Atoll assign a name. If you want to change the way Atoll names cells, see the Administrator Manual. Active: If this cell is to be active, you must select the Active check box. Order: The display order of a cell within the transmitter. This value is used to determine the order in which information related to a cell will be displayed in the Network explorer and on the map. This field is automatically filled by Atoll but you can change these default values to display cells in a user-defined order.

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The consistency between values stored in this field is verified by Atoll. However, inconsistencies may arise when tools other than Atoll modify the database. You can check for inconsistencies in the cell display order and fix them by selecting Data Audit > Cell Display Order Check in the Document menu. • • •

BSID: The access point ID. Frequency band: The cell frequency band from the frequency band list. Channel number: The number of the channel from the list of available channels. For calculating path loss matrices of a multi-cell transmitter, Atoll uses the downlink start frequency of the frequency band assigned to the cell with the highest priority layer.

•

Channel allocation status: The status of the channel allocated to the cell: • • •

Not allocated: The AFP considers a Not allocated channel modifiable without cost. Allocated: The AFP considers an Allocated channel modifiable but only if absolutely necessary. Locked: The AFP considers a Locked channel not modifiable.

For more information on the AFP, see "Configuring Network Parameters Using the AFP" on page 1200. • • • • • • • • •

•

•

•

•

•

• • • • •

Reuse distance: The reuse distance after which the channel assigned to this cell can be assigned to another cell by the AFP. Power (dBm): The cell transmission power over the frame. Min C/N (dB): The minimum C/N required for a user to be connected to the cell. Calculated C/N is compared with this threshold to determine whether or not a user can be connected to a cell. Frame configuration: The frame configuration used by the cell. For more information on frame configurations, see "Defining Frame Configurations" on page 1237. Reception equipment: You can select the cell reception equipment from the reception equipment list. For more information, see "Defining Wi-Fi Reception Equipment" on page 1238. Traffic load (DL) (%): The downlink traffic load percentage. This can be user-defined or an output of Monte Carlo simulations. Traffic load (UL) (%): The uplink traffic load percentage. This can be user-defined or an output of Monte Carlo simulations. UL noise rise (dB): The uplink noise rise in dB. This can be user-defined or an output of Monte Carlo simulations. This is the global value of uplink noise rise including the inter-technology uplink noise rise. Max traffic load (DL) (%): The downlink traffic load not to be exceeded. This limit can be taken into account during Monte Carlo simulations. If the cell traffic load is limited by this value, the cell will not be allowed to have a downlink traffic load greater than this maximum. Max traffic load (UL) (%): The uplink traffic load not to be exceeded. This limit can be taken into account during Monte Carlo simulations. If the cell traffic load is limited by this value, the cell will not be allowed to have an uplink traffic load greater than this maximum. Additional UL noise rise: This noise rise represents the interference created by the mobiles and access points of an external network on this cell on the uplink. This noise rise will be taken into account in all uplink interference-based calculations involving this cell in Monte Carlo simulations. It is not used in predictions where Atoll calculates the uplink total interference from the uplink noise rise which includes inter-technology uplink interference. For more information on inter-technology interference, see "Modelling Inter-technology Interference" on page 1242. Additional DL noise rise: This noise rise represents the interference created by the mobiles of an external network on the mobiles served by this cell on the downlink. This noise rise will be taken into account in all downlink interferencebased calculations involving this cell. For more information on inter-technology interference, see "Modelling Intertechnology Interference" on page 1242. AMS & MU-MIMO threshold (dB): For AMS, the C/N threshold for switching from SU-MIMO to STTD/MRC as the radio conditions get worse than the given value. For MU-MIMO, it is the minimum required preamble CNR for using MU-MIMO. For more information on Adaptive MIMO switching, see "Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) Systems" on page 1240. MU-MIMO capacity gain (UL): The uplink capacity gain due to multi-user (collaborative) MIMO. This can be userdefined or an output of Monte Carlo simulations. In uplink throughput coverage predictions, the cell capacity will be multiplied by this gain on pixels where MU-MIMO is used. Number of users (DL): The number of users connected to the cell in the downlink. This can be user-defined or an output of Monte Carlo simulations. Number of users (UL): The number of users connected to the cell in the uplink. This can be user-defined or an output of Monte Carlo simulations. Max number of users: The maximum number of simultaneous users supported by the cell. Max number of intra-technology neighbours: The maximum number of Wi-Fi neighbours that the cell can have. Max number of inter-technology neighbours: The maximum number of other technology neighbours that the cell can have.

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Neighbours: You can access a dialog box in which you can set both intra-technology and inter-technology neighbours by clicking the Browse button. For information on defining neighbours, see "Neighbour Planning" on page 223. The Browse button might not be visible in the Neighbours box if this is a new cell. You can make the Browse button appear by clicking Apply.

15.2.2 Creating Wi-Fi Access Points When you create a site, you create only the geographical point; you must add the transmitters and cells afterwards. The site with a transmitter and its antennas, equipment, and cells is called an access point. In this section, each element of an access point is described. If you want to add a new access point, see "Placing a New Access Point Using a Station Template" on page 1171. If you need to create a large number of access points, Atoll allows you to import them from another Atoll document or from an external source. For information, see "Creating a Group of Access Points" on page 1176. This section explains the various parts of the access point creation process: • • • • • • • •

"Creating a Site" on page 1170 "Modifying a Site" on page 1170 "Creating or Modifying a Transmitter" on page 1171 "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 1171 "Placing a New Access Point Using a Station Template" on page 1171 "Managing Station Templates" on page 1172 "Duplicating an Existing Access Point" on page 1174 "Studying the Profile Around an Access Point" on page 1175

15.2.2.1 Creating a Site You can create a site. To create a site: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Sites folder and select Add Sites from the context menu. The mouse cursor changes and the coordinates of the mouse cursor are displayed in the status bar. 2. Click the map at the location where you want to place the new site. A site is created with default values at the corresponding location. Alternatively, you can create a site by right-clicking the Sites folder, selecting New from the context menu, and entering coordinates and properties as described in "Site Properties" on page 1166.

15.2.2.2 Modifying a Site Once you have created a site, you can modify the properties of the site through the site Properties dialog box as described in "Site Properties" on page 1166. To modify the properties of an existing site: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Sites folder and right-click the site, or right-click the site on the map. The context menu appears. 2. Select Properties from the context menu. The site Properties dialog box appears. 3. Modify the parameters described in "Site Properties" on page 1166. 4. Click OK. If you are creating several sites at the same time, or modifying several existing sites, you can do it quickly by editing or pasting the data directly in the Sites table. You can open the Sites table by right-clicking the Sites folder in the Network explorer and selecting Open Table from the context menu. For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83.

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15.2.2.3 Creating or Modifying a Transmitter You can modify an existing transmitter or you can create a transmitter. When you create a transmitter, its initial settings are based on the default station template displayed in the Radio Planning toolbar. You can access the properties of a transmitter, described in "Transmitter Properties" on page 1167, through the transmitter Properties dialog box. How you access the Properties dialog box depends on whether you are creating a transmitter or modifying an existing transmitter. To create or modify a transmitter: 1. In the Network explorer, perform one of the following actions: • •

To create a transmitter, right-click the Transmitters folder, and select New from the context menu. To modify an existing transmitter, expand the Transmitters folder, right-click the transmitter that you want to modify, and select Properties from the context menu.

The Transmitters: New Record Properties dialog box appears. 2. Modify the parameters described in "Transmitter Properties" on page 1167. 3. Click OK. When you create a transmitter, Atoll automatically creates a cell based on the default station template. For information on creating a cell, see "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 1171. •

•

If you are creating several transmitters at the same time, or modifying several existing transmitters, you can do it more quickly by editing or pasting the data directly in the Transmitters table. You can open the Transmitters table by rightclicking the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer and selecting Open Table from the context menu. For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83. If you want to add a transmitter to an existing site on the map, you can add the transmitter by right-clicking the site and selecting New Transmitter from the context menu.

15.2.2.4 Creating or Modifying a Cell You can modify an existing cell or you can create a cell. You can access the properties of a cell, described in "Cell Properties" on page 1168, through the Properties dialog box of the transmitter where the cell is located. How you access the Properties dialog box depends on whether you are creating a cell or modifying an existing cell. To create or modify a cell: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Transmitters folder, right-click the transmitter on which you want to create a cell or whose cell you want to modify, and select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter Properties dialog box appears. 2. Select the Cells tab. 3. Modify the parameters described in "Cell Properties" on page 1168. 4. Click OK. •

•

If you are creating or modifying several cells at the same time, you can do it more quickly by editing the data directly in the Cells table. You can open the Cells table by right-clicking the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer and selecting Cells > Open Table from the context menu. You can either edit the data in the table, paste data into the table (see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83), or import data into the table (see "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88). If you want to add a cell to an existing transmitter on the map, you can add the cell by right-clicking the transmitter and selecting New Cell from the context menu.

15.2.2.5 Placing a New Access Point Using a Station Template In Atoll, an access point is defined as a site with one or more transmitters sharing the same properties. With Atoll, you can create a network by placing access points based on station templates. This allows you to build your network quickly with consistent parameters, instead of building the network by first creating the site, then the transmitters, and finally by adding the cells. To place a new access point using a station template: 1. In the Radio Planning toolbar, select a template from the list. 2. Click the New Transmitter or Station button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar.

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3. In the map window, move the pointer over the map to where you would like to place the new station. The exact coordinates of the pointer’s current location are visible in the Status bar. 4. Click to place the access point. •

•

To place the access point more accurately, you can zoom in on the map before you click the New Station button. For information on using the zooming tools, see "Changing the Map Scale" on page 60. If you let the pointer rest over the access point you have placed, Atoll displays its tip text with its exact coordinates, allowing you to verify that the location is correct.

15.2.2.6 Placing an Access Point on an Existing Site When you place a new access point using a station template as explained in "Placing a New Access Point Using a Station Template" on page 1171, the site is created at the same time as the access point. However, you can also place a new access point on an existing site. To place an access point on an existing site: 1. In the Radio Planning toolbar, select a template from the list. 2. Click the New Transmitter or Station button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar.

3. Move the pointer to the site on the map. When the frame appears around the site, indicating it is selected, click to place the access point.

15.2.2.7 Managing Station Templates Atoll comes with Wi-Fi station templates, but you can also create and modify station templates. The tools for working with station templates can be found on the Radio Planning toolbar (see Figure 15.1).

Figure 15.1: The Radio Planning toolbar This section covers the following topics: • • • • • •

15.2.2.7.1

"Station Template Properties" on page 1172 "Creating a Station Template" on page 1173 "Modifying a Station Template" on page 1173 "Copying Properties from One Station Template to Another" on page 1174 "Modifying a Field in a Station Template" on page 1174 "Deleting a Station Template" on page 1174

Station Template Properties The station template Properties dialog box contains the settings for templates that are used for creating sites and transmitters. It consists of the following tabs: General Tab •

•

The Name of the station template, the number of Sectors, each with a transmitter, the Hexagon radius, which is the theoretical radius of the hexagonal area covered by each sector, and the Transmitter type, which defines whether the transmitter belongs to the current network or to another network. Under Antennas, you can modify the following: •

•

1st sector mechanical azimuth, from which the azimuth of the other sectors are offset to offer complete coverage of the area, the Height/ground of the antennas from the ground (which is the height over the DTM; if the transmitter is situated on a building, the height entered must include the height of the building), and the Mechanical downtilt for the antennas. Electrical Azimuth, Electrical Downtilt, and Additional electrical downtilt display additional antenna parameters. • •

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The Additional electrical downtilt can be made accessible through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide.

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• • •

•

Under Main antenna, you can select the main antenna Model. Under Number of MIMO Antennas, you can enter the number of antennas used for Transmission and for Reception for MIMO. Under Path loss matrices, you can modify the following: the Main propagation model, the Main radius, and the Main resolution, and the Extended propagation model, the Extended radius, and the Extended resolution. For information on propagation models, see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models. Under Comments, you can add additional information. The information you enter will be the default information in the Comments field of any transmitter created using this station template.

Transmitter Tab • •

Active: Select this option to specify whether the transmitter is active. Only active transmitters are taken into consideration during calculations. Transmission/Reception: This area displays the total losses and the noise figure of the transmitter. Losses and noise are calculated according to the characteristics of the equipment assigned to the transmitter.

Cell Tab • •

Power: Modify the cell transmission power over the frame (in dBm). Cell definition per sector: Assign a channel per cell per sector by clicking the Cell definition per sector button. The Cell Definition per Sector dialog box appears. • •

Sector: Select the sector for which you want to define cell parameters, that is to say the channel number. Number of cells: Enter the number of cells that the selected sector will have. The number of rows in the grid below depends on the number of cells that you enter.

For each sector, assign a channel number to each cell. • • •

Frequency band, Reception equipment, Frame configuration, Max number of users, Reuse distance, Min C/N, and the AMS threshold. Default loads: Enter the default values for DL traffic load, UL traffic load, UL noise rise, Max DL traffic load, and Max UL traffic load. Additional interference: Set the DL noise rise and the UL noise rise. For more information on inter-technology interference, see "Modelling Inter-technology Interference" on page 1242.

Neighbours Tab Max number of neighbours: Set the maximum numbers of Intra-technology and Inter-technology neighbours. Other Properties Tab The Other Properties tab only appears if you have defined additional fields in the Sites table, or if you have defined an additional field in the Station Template Properties dialog box.

15.2.2.7.2

Creating a Station Template When you create a station template, you can do so by selecting an existing station template that most closely resembles the station template you want to create and making a copy. Then you can modify the parameters that differ. To create a station template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Settings folder, right-click the Station Templates folder, and select Open Table from the context menu. The Station Templates table opens. 2. In the Station Templates table, right-click the station template that most closely resembles the station template you want to create, and select Copy from the context menu. 3. Right-click the row marked with the New row icon ( ) and select Paste from the context menu. The station template you copied in step 2. is pasted in the new row, with the Name of the new station template given as the same as the template copied but preceded by "Copy of". 4. Edit the parameters of the new station template in the table or as explained in "Modifying a Station Template" on page 1173.

15.2.2.7.3

Modifying a Station Template You can modify a station template directly in the Station Templates table, or you can open the Properties dialog box for that station template and modify the parameters in the dialog box.

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To modify a station template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Settings folder, right-click the Station Templates folder, and select Open Table from the context menu. The Station Templates table opens. 2. Right-click the station template that you want to modify and select Record Properties from the context menu. The station template Properties dialog box appears. 3. Modify the station template parameters as described in "Station Template Properties" on page 1172. 4. Click OK.

15.2.2.7.4

Copying Properties from One Station Template to Another You can copy properties from one template to another template by using the Station Templates table. To copy properties from one template to another template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Settings folder, right-click the Station Templates folder, and select Open Table from the context menu. The Station Templates table opens. 2. In the Stations Templates table, copy the settings in the row corresponding to the station template that you want to copy from and paste them into the row corresponding to the station template that you want to modify.

15.2.2.7.5

Modifying a Field in a Station Template You can add, delete, and edit user-defined data table fields in the Station Templates table. If you want to add a user-defined field to the station templates, you must have already added it to the Sites table for it to appear as an option in the station template properties To modify a field in a station template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Settings folder, right-click the Station Templates folder, and select Properties from the context menu. The Station Template Properties table opens. 2. Select the Table tab. 3. Add, delete, or edit the user-defined fields as described in "Adding, Deleting, and Editing Data Table Fields" on page 76. 4. Click OK.

15.2.2.7.6

Deleting a Station Template To delete a station template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Settings folder and the Station Templates folder, and rightclick the station template you want to delete. The context menu appears. 2. Select Delete from the context menu. The template is deleted.

15.2.2.8 Duplicating an Existing Access Point You can create access points by duplicating an existing access point. When you duplicate an existing access point, the access point you create will have the same transmitter, and cell parameter values as the original access point. If no site exists where you place the duplicated access point, Atoll will create a site with the same parameters as the site of the original access point. Duplicating an access point allows you to: • •

Quickly create an access point with the same settings as an original one in order to study the effect of a new access point on the coverage and capacity of the network, and Quickly create an homogeneous network with access points that have the same characteristics.

To duplicate an existing access point: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Sites folder, right-click the site that you want to duplicate, and select one of the following context menus: • •

If you want to duplicate the access point without the intra and inter-technology neighbours of its transmitters, select Duplicate > Without Neighbours. If you want to duplicate the access point along with the lists of intra and inter-technology neighbours of its transmitters, select Duplicate > With Outward Neighbours.

2. Place the new access point on the map using the mouse: • •

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To create a duplicate access point and site, move the pointer over the map to where you would like to place the duplicate. The exact coordinates of the pointer’s current location are visible in the Status bar. To place the duplicate access point on an existing site, move the pointer over the existing site where you would like to place the duplicate. When the pointer is over the site, the site is automatically selected. The exact coordinates of the pointer’s current location are visible in the Status bar.

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•

•

To place the access point more accurately, you can zoom in on the map before you select Duplicate from the context menu. For information on using the zooming tools, see "Changing the Map Scale" on page 60. If you let the pointer rest over the access point you have placed, Atoll displays tip text with its exact coordinates, allowing you to verify that the location is correct.

3. Click to place the duplicate access point. A new access point is placed on the map. If the duplicate access point was placed on a new site, the site, transmitters, and cells of the new station have the same names as the site, transmitters, and cells of the original station with each name marked as "Copy of." The site, transmitters, and cells of the duplicate station have the same settings as those of the original station. If the duplicate access point was placed on an existing site, the transmitters, and cells of the new access point have the same names as the transmitters, and cells of the original access point with each name preceded by the name of the site on which the duplicate was placed. You can also place a series of duplicate access points by pressing and holding Ctrl in step 3. and clicking to place each duplicate access point. For more information on the site, transmitter, and cell properties, see "Definition of a Wi-Fi Access Point" on page 1166.

15.2.2.9 Studying the Profile Around an Access Point In Atoll, you can make a profile analysis to study obstacles along the path between a reference transmitter and any point on the map. Atoll displays the geographic profile between the transmitter and the receiver with clutter heights. An ellipsoid indicating the Fresnel zone is also displayed allowing you to study obstructions to radio signals along the path. You can also study propagation losses along the profile as well as the signal level received at the point. Before studying path loss along a profile, you must assign a propagation model to the transmitter. The propagation model takes the radio and geographic data into account and calculates losses along the transmitter-receiver path. The profile is calculated in real time, using the propagation model, allowing you to study the profile and get a prediction on the selected point. For information on assigning a propagation model, see "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187. To study the profile between a transmitter and a receiver: 1. In the map window, select the transmitter from which you want to make a point analysis. 2. Click the Point Analysis button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar. The Point Analysis window opens and the pointer

changes ( ) to represent the receiver. A line appears on the map connecting the selected transmitter and the receiver. You can move the receiver on the map (see "Moving the Receiver on the Map" on page 203). 3. Select the Profile view. The Profile view displays the profile between the transmitter and the receiver with clutter heights. You can select a different transmitter.

Displays data, including received signal, shadowing margin, cell edge coverage probability, propagation model used, and transmitter-receiver distance.

Fresnel ellipsoid

Line of sight

Attenuation with diffraction

Figure 15.2: Point Analysis - Profile view The distance between the transmitter and the receiver is displayed at the top of the Profile view. The altitude is reported on the vertical axis and the receiver-transmitter distance on the horizontal axis. A blue ellipsoid indicates the Fresnel zone between the transmitter and the receiver. A green line indicates the line of sight (LOS) with the angle of the LOS as read from the vertical antenna pattern. Along the profile, if the signal meets an obstacle, the obstacle causes attenuation with diffraction displayed by a red vertical line (if the used propagation model is able to calculate diffraction). The main diffraction edge is the one that

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intersects the Fresnel ellipsoid the most. Propagation models that use a 3 knife-edge Deygout diffraction method may also display two additional diffraction edges. The total attenuation is displayed above the main diffraction edge. The results of the analysis are displayed at the top of the Profile view: • • • •

The received signal strength from the selected transmitter for the cell with the highest reference signal power The propagation model used The shadowing margin and the indoor loss (if selected) The distance between the transmitter and the receiver.

4. If needed, select an other transmitter from the list. You can click the Properties button ( properties. 5. Click the Options button ( • • • •

) to access the transmitter

) to display the Calculation Options dialog box and change the following:

Change the X and Y coordinates to change the current position of the receiver. Select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a Cell edge coverage probability. For more information, see "Taking Shadowing into Account in Point Analyses" on page 204. Select Signal level, Path loss, or Total losses from the Result type list. You can select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. For more information, see "Taking Indoor Losses into Account" on page 203.

6. In the Profile view toolbar, you can use the following tools: •

Click the Geographic Profile button ( Click the Geographic Profile button ( receiver.

) to view the geographic profile between the transmitter and the receiver. ) again to view the radio signal path between the transmitter and the

•

Click the Link Budget button (

•

Click the Detailed Report button ( ) to display a text document with details on the displayed profile analysis. The detailed report is only available for the Standard Propagation Model. Click the Copy button ( ) to copy the content of the view and paste it as a graphic into a graphic editing or wordprocessing programme.

• • •

) to display a dialog box with the link budget.

Click the Print button ( ) to print the content of the view. Click the Centre on Map button ( ) to centre the map window on the receiver.

7. To end the point analysis, click the Point Analysis button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar again.

15.2.3 Creating a Group of Access Points You can create access points individually as explained in "Creating Wi-Fi Access Points" on page 1170, or you can create one or several access points by using station templates as explained in "Placing a New Access Point Using a Station Template" on page 1171. However, if you have a large project and you already have existing data, you can import this data into your current Atoll document and create a group of access points. When you import data into your current Atoll document, the coordinate system of the imported data must be the same as the display coordinate system used in the document. If you cannot change the coordinate system of your source data, you can temporarily change the display coordinate system of the Atoll document to match the source data. For information on changing the coordinate system, see "Setting a Coordinate System" on page 41. You can import station data in the following ways: •

Copying and pasting data: If you have data in table form, either in another Atoll document or in a spreadsheet, you can copy this data and paste it into the tables in your current Atoll document. When you create a group of access points by copying and pasting data, you must copy and paste site data in the Sites table, transmitter data in the Transmitters table, and cell data in the Cells table, in that order. The table you copy from must have the same column layout as the table you are pasting data into.

For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83. •

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Importing data: If you have access point data in text or comma-separated value (CSV) format, you can import it into the tables in the current document. If the data is in another Atoll document, you can first export it in text or CSV

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format and then import it into the tables of your current Atoll document. When you are importing, Atoll allows you to select what values you import into which columns of the table. When you create a group of access points by importing data, you must import site data in the Sites table, transmitter data in the Transmitters table, and cell data in the Cells table, in that order. For information on exporting table data, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. For information on importing table data, see "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88.

15.2.4 Modifying Sites and Transmitters Directly on the Map In Atoll, you can access the Properties dialog box of a site or transmitter using the context menu in the Network explorer. However, in a complex radio-planning project, it can be difficult to find the data object in the Network explorer, although it might be visible in the map window. Atoll lets you access the Properties dialog box of sites and transmitters directly from the map. You can also select a site to display all of the transmitters located on it in the Site explorer. When selecting a transmitter, if there is more than one transmitter with the same azimuth, clicking the transmitters in the map window opens a context menu allowing you to select the transmitter. You can also change the position of the access point by dragging it, or by letting Atoll find a higher location for it. Modifying sites and transmitters directly on the map is explained in detail in Chapter 1: Working Environment: • • • • •

"Selecting One out of Several Transmitters" on page 57 "Moving a Site Using the Mouse" on page 57 "Moving a Site to a Higher Location" on page 57 "Changing the Azimuth of the Antenna Using the Mouse" on page 57 "Changing the Antenna Position Relative to the Site Using the Mouse" on page 58

15.2.5 Display Tips for Access Points Atoll allows to you to display information about access points in a number of ways. This enables you not only to display selected information, but also to distinguish access points at a glance. The following tools can be used to display information about access points: •

•

•

•

Label: You can display information about each object, such as each site or transmitter, in the form of a label that is displayed with the object. You can display information from every field in that object type’s data table, including from fields that you add. The label is always displayed, so you should choose information that you would want to always be visible; too much information in the label will make it harder to distinguish the information you are looking for. For information on defining the label, see "Associating a Label to an Object" on page 53. Tip text: You can display information about each object, such as each site or transmitter, in the form of tip text that is only visible when you move the pointer over the object. You can choose to display more information than in the label, because the information is only displayed when you move the pointer over the object. You can display information from any field in that object type’s data table, including from fields that you add. For information on defining the tip text, see "Associating a Tip Text to an Object" on page 54. Transmitter colour: You can set the transmitter colour to display information about the transmitter. For example, you can select "Discrete Values" to distinguish transmitters by antenna type, or to distinguish inactive from active transmitters. You can also define the display type for transmitters as "Automatic." Atoll then automatically assigns a colour to each transmitter, ensuring that each transmitter has a different colour than the transmitters surrounding it. For information on defining the transmitter colour, see "Setting the Display Type" on page 52. Transmitter symbol: You can select one of several symbols to represent transmitters. For example, you can select a symbol that graphically represents the antenna half-power beamwidth (

). If you have two transmitters on the

same site with the same azimuth, you can differentiate them by selecting different symbols for each ( For information on defining the transmitter symbol, see "Setting the Display Type" on page 52.

and

).

15.2.6 Creating Multi-band Wi-Fi Networks In Atoll, you can model a multi-band Wi-Fi network in one document. For example, you can model a multi-band Wi-Fi network consisting of 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz cells. To create a multi-band Wi-Fi network: 1. Define the frequency bands in the document (see "Defining Frequency Bands" on page 1235). 2. Select and calibrate a propagation model for each frequency band (see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models). 3. Assign a frequency band to each cell and a relevant propagation model to each transmitter (see "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 1171 and "Creating or Modifying a Transmitter" on page 1171).

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15.2.7 Studying Access Points You can study one or several access points to test the effectiveness of the set parameters. Coverage predictions on groups of access points can take a large amount of time and consume a lot of computer resources. Restricting your coverage prediction to the access point you are currently working on allows you get the results quickly. You can expand your coverage prediction to a number of access points once you have optimised the settings for each individual access point. Before studying an access point, you must assign a propagation model. The propagation model takes the radio and geographic data into account and calculates propagation losses along the transmitter-receiver path. This allows you to predict the received signal level at any given point. Any coverage prediction you make on an access point uses the propagation model to calculate its results. For more information, see "Preparing Base Stations for Calculations" on page 186. This section covers the following topics: • • • • • •

"Wi-Fi Coverage Predictions" on page 1182 "Signal Level Coverage Predictions" on page 1179 "Wi-Fi Coverage Predictions" on page 1182 "Displaying Coverage Prediction Results" on page 1189 "Analysing a Coverage Prediction Using the Point Analysis" on page 1190 "Comparing Coverage Predictions" on page 1193

15.2.7.1 Wi-Fi Prediction Properties You can configure the following parameters of a coverage prediction in the Properties dialog box. General Tab The General tab allows you to specify the following settings for the prediction: • •

Name: Specify the name of the coverage prediction. Resolution: Specify the display resolution. The resolution you set is the display resolution, not the calculation resolution. To improve memory consumption and optimise the calculation times, you should set the display resolutions of coverage predictions according to the precision required. The following table lists the levels of precision that are usually sufficient: Size of the Coverage Prediction

Display Resolution

City Centre

5m

City

20 m

County

50 m

State

100 m

Country

According to the size of the country

A read-only Unique ID is generated when you create a coverage prediction. This ID can later be found between the and tags in the following files: • •

• • •

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"studies.XML" file created in the installation folder if at least one coverage prediction was saved using the Save as Customised Prediction command. ".XML" files (one per prediction) created in the following folder if coverage predictions were calculated with Display type = "Value intervals": C:\\.studies\{}

Receiver height: This parameter displays the height of the receiver defined in the Calculation Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box. Comments: Specify an optional description of comment for the prediction. Display Configuration: You can create a Filter to select which sites to display in the results. For information on filtering, see "Filtering Data" on page 99. The Group By and Sort buttons are not available when making a so-called "global" coverage prediction (e.g., signal level coverage prediction).

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If you create a coverage prediction from the context menu of the Predictions folder, you can select the sites using the Group By, Sort, and Filter buttons under Display configuration. However, if you create a coverage prediction from the context menu of the Transmitters folder, only the Filter button is available, because, by creating a coverage prediction directly from the Transmitters folder, you have effectively already selected the target sites. Conditions Tab The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. • •

At the top of the Conditions tab, you can set the range to be considered for the current prediction. Server: Select one of the following: • •

"All" to consider all servers. "Best Signal Level" or "Second Best Signal Level" to also specify an Overlap margin that Atoll will take into consideration. Selecting "All" or "Best Signal Level" will give you the same results because Atoll displays the results of the best server in either case. Selecting "Best Signal Level" necessitates, however, a longer time for calculation.

• • •

Shadowing taken into account: Select this option to consider shadowing in the prediction. When you select this option, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability. Indoor coverage: Select this option to consider indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. Channel: Select a channel or carry out the prediction for the "Best" channel of a frequency band or of all frequency bands. For any transmitter, the best channel is the one whose cell has the highest power.

Display Tab On the Display tab, you can modify how the results of the coverage prediction will be displayed. • • • • •

Under Display type, select "Value intervals". Under Field, select "Best signal level". You can change the value intervals and their displayed colour. For information on changing display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. You can create tip text with information about the coverage prediction by clicking the Browse button next to the Tip text box and selecting the fields you want to display in the tip text. You can select the Add to legend check box to add the displayed value intervals to the legend. If you change the display properties of a coverage prediction after you have calculated it, you may make the coverage prediction invalid. You will then have to recalculate the coverage prediction to obtain valid results.

15.2.7.2 Signal Level Coverage Predictions Atoll offers a series of standard coverage predictions based on the measured signal level at each pixel; other factors, such as interference, are not taken into consideration. Coverage predictions specific to Wi-Fi are covered in "Wi-Fi Coverage Predictions" on page 1182. Once you have created and calculated a coverage prediction, you can use the coverage prediction context menu to make the coverage prediction into a customised prediction which will appear in the Prediction Types dialog box. You can also select Duplicate from the coverage prediction’s context menu to create a copy. By duplicating an existing prediction that has the parameters you want to study, you can create a coverage prediction more quickly than by creating a coverage prediction. If you clone a coverage prediction, by selecting Clone from the context menu, you can create a copy of the coverage prediction with the calculated coverage. You can then change the display, providing that the selected parameter does not invalidate the calculated coverage prediction. You can also save the list of all defined coverage predictions in a user configuration, allowing you or other users to load it into a new Atoll document. When you save the list in a user configuration, the parameters of all existing coverage predictions are saved; not just the parameters of calculated or displayed ones. For information on exporting user configurations, see "Saving a User Configuration" on page 104. The following standard coverage predictions are explained in this section: • • • •

"Studying Signal Level Coverage of a Single Access Point" on page 1180 "Making a Coverage Prediction by Signal Level" on page 1180 "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter" on page 1181 "Making a Coverage Prediction on Overlapping Zones" on page 1181

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Studying Signal Level Coverage of a Single Access Point While you are building your radio-planning project, you might want to check the coverage of a new access point without having to calculate the entire project. You can do this by selecting the site with its transmitters and then creating a coverage prediction. This section explains how to calculate the signal level coverage of a single access point. A signal level coverage prediction displays the signal of the best server for each pixel of the area studied. For a transmitter with more than one cell, the signal level is calculated for the cell with the highest power. You can use the same procedure to study the signal level coverage of several access points by grouping the transmitters. For information on grouping transmitters, see "Grouping Data Objects by Property" on page 95. To study the signal level coverage of a single access point: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder, and select Group By > Sites from the context menu. The transmitters are now displayed in the Transmitters folder by the site on which they are situated. If you want to study only sites by their status, at this step you could group them by status.

2. Specify the propagation parameters as explained in "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187. 3. In the Transmitters folder, right-click the group of transmitters you want to study and select Calculations > Create a New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. The Prediction Types dialog box lists the coverage prediction types available. They are divided into Standard Predictions, supplied with Atoll, and Customised Predictions. Unless you have already created some customised predictions, the Customised Predictions list will be empty. 4. Select Coverage by Signal Level (DL) and click OK. A coverage prediction properties dialog box appears. 5. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "Wi-Fi Prediction Properties" on page 1178. 6. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window. The signal level coverage prediction can be found in the Predictions folder in the Network explorer. Atoll automatically locks the results of a coverage prediction as soon as it is calculated, as indicated by the icon ( folder. When you click the Calculate button (

15.2.7.2.2

) beside the coverage prediction in the Predictions

), Atoll only calculates unlocked coverage predictions (

).

Making a Coverage Prediction by Signal Level A coverage prediction by signal level allows you to predict coverage zones by the transmitter signal strength at each pixel. You can base the coverage on the signal level, path loss, or total losses within a defined range. For a transmitter with more than one cell, the coverage is calculated for the cell with the highest power. To make a coverage prediction by signal level: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder, and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Coverage by Signal Level (DL) and click OK. The Coverage by Signal Level (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "Wi-Fi Prediction Properties" on page 1178. In the Display tab, if you choose to display the results by best signal level, the coverage prediction results will be in the form of thresholds. If you choose to display the results by signal level, the coverage prediction results will be arranged according to transmitter. For information on adjusting the display, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51.

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4. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

15.2.7.2.3

Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter A coverage prediction by transmitter allows the user to predict coverage zones by transmitter at each pixel. You can base the coverage on the signal level, path loss, or total losses within a defined range. For a transmitter with more than one cell, the coverage is calculated for the cell with the highest power. To make a coverage prediction by transmitter: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder, and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Coverage by Transmitter (DL) and click OK. The Coverage by Transmitter (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "Wi-Fi Prediction Properties" on page 1178. For a coverage prediction by transmitter, the Display type "Discrete values" based on the Field "Transmitter" is selected by default. Each coverage zone will then be displayed with the same colour as that defined for each transmitter. For information on defining transmitter colours, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 4. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window

15.2.7.2.4

Making a Coverage Prediction on Overlapping Zones Overlapping zones (dl) are composed of pixels that are, for a defined condition, covered by the signal of at least two transmitters. You can base a coverage prediction on overlapping zones on the signal level, path loss, or total losses within a defined range. For a transmitter with more than one cell, the coverage is calculated for the cell with the highest power. To make a coverage prediction on overlapping zones: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder, and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Overlapping Zones (DL) and click OK. The Overlapping Zones (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "Wi-Fi Prediction Properties" on page 1178. For a coverage prediction on overlapping zones, the Display type "Value intervals" based on the Field "Number of servers" is selected by default. Each overlapping zone will then be displayed in a colour corresponding to the number of servers received per pixel. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. When creating a coverage prediction displaying the number of servers, you cannot export the values per pixel.

4. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

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15.2.7.3 Wi-Fi Coverage Predictions Wi-Fi coverage predictions available in Atoll are used to analyse the effective signal levels, signal quality, and throughputs. For the purposes of these coverage predictions, each pixel is considered a non-interfering user with a defined service, mobility type, and terminal. For more information, see "Service and User Modelling" on page 1182. The downlink interference received from different cells of the network depends on the cell frequency channel as well as their downlink traffic loads. The measure of uplink interference for each cell is provided by the uplink noise rise. If you have traffic maps, you can do a Monte Carlo simulation to determine the downlink traffic loads and the uplink noise rise values for a generated user distribution. If you do not have traffic maps, Atoll can calculate these coverage predictions using the downlink traffic loads and the uplink noise rise values defined for each cell. In this section, these coverage predictions will be calculated using downlink traffic loads and the uplink noise rise values defined at the cell level. Before making a prediction, you will have to set the downlink traffic loads and the uplink noise rise, and the parameters that define the services and users. For more information, see "Setting Cell Loads and Noise Rise Values" on page 1183. This section explains the coverage predictions available for analysing the effective signal level and signal quality. The following are explained: • • • • • • • •

15.2.7.3.1

"Service and User Modelling" on page 1182 "Studying Effective Signal Levels" on page 1184 "Studying Interference and C/(I+N) Levels" on page 1184 "Studying Downlink and Uplink Service Areas" on page 1185 "Studying the Effective Service Area" on page 1186 "Making a Coverage Prediction by Throughput" on page 1187 "Making an Aggregate Throughput Coverage Prediction Using Simulation Results" on page 1188 "Making a Coverage Prediction by Quality Indicator" on page 1189

Service and User Modelling Atoll can base its signal quality coverage predictions on the DL traffic loads and the UL noise rise entered in the Cells table (for more information, see "Setting Cell Loads and Noise Rise Values" on page 1183). Before you can model services, you must define Wi-Fi radio bearers. For more information on Wi-Fi radio bearers, see "Defining Wi-Fi Radio Bearers" on page 1237. Modelling Services Services are the various services available to users. These services can be either voice or data type services. The following parameters are used in predictions: • • • • •

Highest bearer Lowest bearer Throughput scaling factor Throughput offset Body loss

You can create a service or modify an existing service by specifying the following parameters in the General tab of the service Properties dialog box (some fields depend on the type of service you choose): • • • •

• • • • •

•

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Name: Atoll proposes a name for the new service, but you can set a more descriptive name. Type: You can select either Voice or Data as the service type. Priority: Enter a priority for this service. "0" is the lowest priority. Activity factor: The uplink and downlink activity factors are used to determine the probability of activity for users accessing the service during Monte Carlo simulations. For Voice services, this parameter is used when working with sector traffic maps and user density traffic maps. For Data services, Atoll distributes the users according to the activity factors when importing user density traffic maps for all activity statuses. Highest bearer: Select the highest bearer that the service can use in the uplink and downlink. This is considered as an upper limit during bearer determination. Lowest bearer: Select the lowest bearer that the service can use in the uplink and downlink. This is considered as a lower limit during bearer determination. Max throughput demand: Enter the highest throughput that the service can demand in the uplink and downlink. This value is not considered for services UGS as the quality of service. Min throughput demand: Enter the minimum required throughput that the service should have in order to be available in the uplink and downlink. This value is not considered for BE services. Average requested throughput: Enter the average requested throughput for uplink and downlink. The average requested throughput is used in a simulation during user distribution generation in order to calculate the number of users attempting a connection. Application throughput: Under Application throughput, you can set a Scaling factor between the application throughput and the MAC (Medium Access Control) throughput and a throughput Offset. These parameters model the header information and other supplementary data that does not appear at the application level.

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The application throughput parameters are used in throughput coverage predictions and for application throughput calculation. •

Body loss: Enter a body loss for the service. The body loss is the loss due to the body of the user. For example, in a voice connection the body loss, due to the proximity of the user’s head, is estimated to be 3 dB.

For information on creating or modifying a service, see "Creating Services" on page 247. Modelling Mobility Types In Wi-Fi, information about the receiver mobility is required for determining which bearer selection threshold and quality graph to use from the reception equipment referred to in the terminal or cell. Mobiles used at high speeds and at walking speeds do not have the same quality characteristics. C/(I+N) requirements for different radio bearers are largely dependent on mobile speed. You can create or modify a mobility type by specifying the following parameters in the General tab of the mobility type Properties dialog box: • •

Name: Enter a descriptive name for the mobility type. Average speed: Enter an average speed for the mobility type. This field is for information only; the average speed is not used by any calculation.

For information on creating or modifying mobility types, see "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 247. Modelling Terminals In Wi-Fi, a terminal is the user equipment that is used in the network, for example, a mobile phone, a PDA, or a car’s on-board navigation device. You can create or modify a terminal by specifying the following parameters in the General tab of the terminal Properties dialog box: • •

Name: Enter a descriptive name for the terminal. Transmission/Reception: • • • • •

•

Min power: Enter the minimum transmission power of the terminal. Max power: Enter the maximum transmission power of the terminal. Noise figure: Enter the noise figure of the terminal (used to calculate the downlink total noise). Losses: Enter the losses of the terminal. Reception equipment: Select a reception equipment from the list of available equipment. For more information on reception equipment, see "Defining Wi-Fi Reception Equipment" on page 1238. Antenna: •

Model: Select an antenna model from the list of available antennas. If you do not select an antenna for the terminal, Atoll uses an isotropic antenna in calculations. In case you do not select an antenna, Atoll uses an isotropic antenna, not an omni-directional antenna, in calculations. An isotropic antenna has spherical radiation patterns in the horizontal as well as vertical planes.

• • •

Gain: Enter the terminal antenna gain if you have not selected an antenna model in the Model field. If you have selected an antenna, the Gain field is disabled and shows the gain of the selected antenna. Diversity support: Select whether the terminal support MIMO or not. MIMO: Enter the Number of transmission antennas and the Number of reception antennas available in the terminal.

For information on creating or modifying terminals, see "Modelling Terminals" on page 249.

15.2.7.3.2

Setting Cell Loads and Noise Rise Values If you are setting the traffic loads and the uplink noise rise for a single transmitter, you can set these parameters on the Cells tab of the transmitter Properties dialog box. However, you can set the traffic loads and the uplink noise rise for all the cells using the Cells table. To set the traffic loads and the uplink noise rise using the Cells table: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder and select Cells > Open Table from the context menu. The Cells table appears. 2. Enter a value in the following columns: • •

Traffic load (DL) (%) UL noise rise (dB)

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Although, you can also set a value for the Traffic load (UL) (%) column as an indication of cells’ uplink loads, this parameter is not used in the coverage prediction calculations. The measure of interference in the uplink is given by the uplink noise rise values. For a definition of the values, see "Cell Properties" on page 1168. To enter the same values in one column for all cells in the table by copying the contents of one cell into other cells, you can use the Fill Down and Fill Up commands. For more information on working with tables in Atoll, see "Data Tables" on page 75.

15.2.7.3.3

Studying Effective Signal Levels Atoll offers a couple of Wi-Fi coverage predictions which can be based on the predicted signal level from the best server and the thermal background noise at each pixel, i.e., received carrier power (C) and the carrier-to-noise ratio (C/N). This section explains the coverage predictions available for analysing the effective signal levels. Atoll calculates the serving transmitter for each pixel depending on the downlink signal level. The serving transmitter is determined according to the received signal level from the cell with the highest power. Then, depending on the prediction definition, it calculates the effective signal level or C/N . Pixels are coloured if the display threshold condition is fulfilled. To make an effective signal analysis coverage prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder, and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Effective Signal Analysis (DL) or Effective Signal Analysis (UL) and click OK. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. For information on the prediction Properties dialog box, see "Wi-Fi Coverage Predictions" on page 1182. 3. Click the Conditions tab. On the Conditions tab: a. Select a Terminal, a Mobility type, and a Service. The effective signal analysis coverage prediction is always a best server coverage prediction. The Noise figure defined in the terminal type’s properties dialog box is used in the coverage prediction to determine the total noise in the downlink, and the Noise figure of the transmitter is used to determine the total noise in the uplink. For more information on services, terminals, mobility types, and reception equipment, see "Modelling Services" on page 1182, "Modelling Terminals" on page 1183, "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 1183, and "Defining Wi-Fi Reception Equipment" on page 1238, respectively. b. If you want the coverage prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. The shadowing margin is based on the model standard deviation. c. You can also have the coverage prediction take Indoor coverage into consideration. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 4. Click the Display tab. From the Display type list, select Value intervals to display the coverage prediction by signal levels or C/N levels. For information on adjusting the display, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

15.2.7.3.4

Studying Interference and C/(I+N) Levels Downlink and uplink coverage predictions by C/(I+N) level predict the interference levels and signal-to-interference levels in the part of the network being studied. Atoll calculates the best server for each pixel depending on the downlink signal level. The serving transmitter is determined according to the received signal level from the cell with the highest power. Then, depending on the prediction definition, it calculates the interference from other cells, and finally calculates the C/(I+N). The pixel is coloured if the display threshold condition is fulfilled. 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. For more information on frequency bands, see "Defining Frequency Bands" on page 1235.

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To make a coverage prediction by C/(I+N) level: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Coverage by C/(I+N) Level (DL) or Coverage by C/(I+N) Level (UL) and click OK. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. For information on the prediction Properties dialog box, see "Wi-Fi Prediction Properties" on page 1178. 3. Click the Conditions tab. On the Conditions tab: a. Select "(Cells table)" from Load conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not going to be based on load conditions taken from a simulation. Atoll will calculate the coverage prediction using the cell loads stored in the cell properties. When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load conditions list.

b. Select a Terminal, a Mobility type, and a Service. The C/(I+N) coverage prediction is a best server coverage prediction. The Noise figure defined in the terminal type’s properties dialog box is used in the coverage prediction to determine the total noise in the downlink, and the Noise figure of the transmitter is used to determine the total noise in the uplink. For more information on services, terminals, mobility types, and reception equipment, see "Modelling Services" on page 1182, "Modelling Terminals" on page 1183, "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 1183, and "Defining Wi-Fi Reception Equipment" on page 1238, respectively. c. If you want the coverage prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. The shadowing margin is based on the C/I standard deviation. d. You can also have the coverage prediction take Indoor coverage into consideration. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 4. Click the Display tab. From the Display type list, select "Value intervals" to display the coverage prediction by C/(I+N) levels or total noise (I+N) levels. For information on adjusting the display, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

15.2.7.3.5

Studying Downlink and Uplink Service Areas Downlink and uplink service area analysis coverage predictions calculate and display the Wi-Fi radio bearers based on C⁄(I+N) for each pixel. In the coverage predictions, the downlink or uplink service areas are limited by the bearer selection thresholds of the highest and lowest bearers of the selected service. To make a coverage prediction on service area: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Service Area Analysis (DL) or Service Area Analysis (UL) and click OK. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. For information on the prediction Properties dialog box, see "Wi-Fi Prediction Properties" on page 1178. 3. Click the Conditions tab. On the Conditions tab: a. Select "(Cells table)" from Load conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not going to be based on load conditions taken from a simulation. Atoll will calculate the coverage prediction using the cell loads stored in the cell properties. When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load conditions list.

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b. Select a Terminal, a Mobility type, and a Service. The best bearer coverage prediction is always based on the best server. The Noise figure defined in the terminal type’s properties dialog box is used in the coverage prediction to determine the total noise in the downlink, and the Noise figure of the transmitter is used to determine the total noise in the uplink. As well, the bearer selection for each pixel according to the C⁄(I+N) level is performed using the bearer selection thresholds defined in the reception equipment. This reception equipment is the one defined in the selected terminal for the downlink coverage predictions, and the one defined in the cell properties of the serving transmitter for the uplink coverage predictions. Mobility is used to index the bearer selection threshold graph to use. You can make Atoll use only the bearers for which selection thresholds are defined in both the terminal’s and the cell’s reception equipment by adding an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on services, terminals, mobility types, and reception equipment, see "Modelling Services" on page 1182, "Modelling Terminals" on page 1183, "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 1183, and "Defining WiFi Reception Equipment" on page 1238, respectively. c. If you want the coverage prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. The shadowing margin is based on the C/I standard deviation. d. You can also have the coverage prediction take Indoor coverage into consideration. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 4. Click the Display tab. From the Display type list, select display by bearer or modulation. For information on adjusting the display, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

15.2.7.3.6

Studying the Effective Service Area The effective service area is the intersection zone between the uplink and downlink service areas. In other words, the effective service area prediction calculates where a service is actually available in both downlink and uplink. The service availability depends upon the bearer selection thresholds of the highest and lowest bearers as defined in the properties of the service selected for the prediction. To make an effective service area coverage prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Effective Service Area Analysis (DL+UL) and click OK. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. For information on the prediction Properties dialog box, see "Wi-Fi Prediction Properties" on page 1178. 3. Click the Conditions tab. On the Conditions tab: a. Select "(Cells table)" from Load conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not going to be based on load conditions taken from a simulation. Atoll will calculate the coverage prediction using the cell loads stored in the cell properties. When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load conditions list.

b. Select a Terminal, a Mobility type, and a Service. The best bearer coverage prediction is always based on the best server. The Noise figure defined in the terminal type’s properties dialog box is used in the coverage prediction to determine the total noise in the downlink, and the Noise figure of the transmitter is used to determine the total noise in the uplink. As well, the bearer selection for each pixel according to the C⁄(I+N) level is performed using the bearer selection thresholds defined in the reception equipment. This reception equipment is the one defined in the selected terminal for the downlink coverage predictions, and the one defined in the cell properties of the serving transmitter for the uplink coverage predictions. Mobility is used to index the bearer selection threshold graph to use.

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You can make Atoll use only the bearers for which selection thresholds are defined in both the terminal’s and the cell’s reception equipment by adding an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on services, terminals, mobility types, and reception equipment, see "Modelling Services" on page 1182, "Modelling Terminals" on page 1183, "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 1183, and "Defining WiFi Reception Equipment" on page 1238, respectively. c. If you want the coverage prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. The shadowing margin is based on the C/I standard deviation. d. You can also have the coverage prediction take Indoor coverage into consideration. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 4. Click the Display tab. For an effective service area prediction, the Display type "Unique" is selected by default. The coverage prediction will display where a service is available in both downlink and uplink. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

15.2.7.3.7

Making a Coverage Prediction by Throughput 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 if Monte Carlo simulation results are available. For more information on making aggregate cell throughput coverage predictions using simulation results, see "Making an Aggregate Throughput Coverage Prediction Using Simulation Results" on page 1188. To make a coverage prediction by throughput: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Coverage by Throughput (DL) or Coverage by Throughput (UL) and click OK. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. For information on the prediction Properties dialog box, see "Wi-Fi Prediction Properties" on page 1178. 3. Click the Conditions tab. On the Conditions tab: a. Select "(Cells table)" from Load conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not going to be based on load conditions taken from a simulation. Atoll will calculate the coverage prediction using the cell loads stored in the cell properties. When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load conditions list.

b. Select a Terminal, a Mobility type, and a Service. The throughput coverage prediction is always based on the best server. The Noise figure defined in the terminal type’s properties dialog box is used in the coverage prediction to determine the total noise in the downlink, and the Noise figure of the transmitter is used to determine the total noise in the uplink. As well, the bearer selection for each pixel according to the C⁄(I+N) level is performed using the bearer selection thresholds defined in the reception equipment. This reception equipment is the one defined in the selected terminal for the downlink coverage predictions, and the one defined in the cell properties of the serving transmitter for the uplink coverage predictions. Mobility is used to index the bearer selection threshold graph to use. The service is used for the application throughput parameters defined in the service Properties dialog box. You can make Atoll use only the bearers for which selection thresholds are defined in both the terminal’s and the cell’s reception equipment by adding an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual.

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For more information on services, terminals, mobility types, and reception equipment, see "Modelling Services" on page 1182, "Modelling Terminals" on page 1183, "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 1183, and "Defining WiFi Reception Equipment" on page 1238, respectively. c. If you want the coverage prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. The shadowing margin is based on the C/I standard deviation. d. You can also have the coverage prediction take Indoor coverage into consideration. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 4. Click the Display tab. From the Display type list, select "Value intervals" to display the coverage prediction by peak MAC, effective MAC, or application throughputs. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Atoll calculates the peak MAC channel throughputs from the information provided in the frame configuration and in the terminal and mobility properties for the terminal and mobility selected in the coverage prediction. 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 effective MAC throughputs are the peak MAC throughputs reduced by retransmission due to errors, or the Block Error Rate (BLER). Atoll uses the block error rate graphs of the reception equipment defined in the selected terminal for downlink or the reception equipment of the cell of the serving transmitter for uplink. The application throughput is the effective MAC throughput reduced by the overheads of the different layers between the MAC and the Application layers. The cell capacity display types let you calculate and display the throughputs available on each pixel of the coverage area taking into account the maximum traffic load limits set for each cell. In other words, 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 downlink is calculated by dividing the downlink cell capacity by the number of downlink users of the serving cell. In uplink, the per-user throughput is either the allocated bandwidth throughput or the uplink cell capacity divided by the number of uplink users of the serving cell, whichever it smaller. For more information on throughput calculation, see the Technical Reference Guide. For more information on the Global Parameters, see "Network Settings" on page 1236. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

15.2.7.3.8

Making an Aggregate Throughput Coverage Prediction Using Simulation Results Atoll calculates the aggregate peak MAC, effective MAC, and application cell throughputs during Monte Carlo simulations. The aggregate cell throughputs are the sums of the cell’s user throughputs. You can create a coverage prediction that calculates and displays the surface area covered by each cell, and colours the coverage area of each cell according to its aggregate throughput. To create an aggregate throughput coverage prediction: 1. Create and run a Monte Carlo simulation. For more information on creating Monte Carlo simulations, see "Calculating Wi-Fi Traffic Simulations" on page 1208. 2. Create a coverage prediction by throughput as explained in "Making a Coverage Prediction by Throughput" on page 1187, with the following exceptions: a. On the Conditions tab, select a simulation or group of simulations from the Load conditions list. The coverage prediction will display the results based on the selected simulation or on the average results of the selected group of simulations. b. On the Display tab, you can display results by Peak MAC aggregate throughput, Effective MAC aggregate throughput, or Aggregate application throughput. The coverage prediction results will be in the form of thresholds. For information on defining the display, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. This coverage prediction displays the surface area covered by each cell and colours it according to its aggregate throughput. For more information on using simulation results in coverage predictions, see "Making Coverage Predictions Using Simulation Results" on page 1216.

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15.2.7.3.9

Making a Coverage Prediction by Quality Indicator Downlink and uplink quality indicator coverage predictions calculate and display the values of different quality indicators (such as BLER or BER) based on the best Wi-Fi radio bearers and on C⁄(I+N) for each pixel. To make a coverage prediction by quality indicator: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Coverage by Quality Indicator (DL) or Coverage by Quality Indicator (UL) and click OK. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. For information on the prediction Properties dialog box, see "Wi-Fi Prediction Properties" on page 1178. 3. Click the Conditions tab. On the Conditions tab: a. Select "(Cells table)" from Load conditions. In this case, the coverage prediction is not going to be based on load conditions taken from a simulation. Atoll will calculate the coverage prediction using the cell loads stored in the cell properties. When you base a coverage prediction on simulations, you would select the simulations on which you would be basing the coverage prediction from the Load conditions list.

b. Select a Terminal, a Mobility type, and a Service. The quality indicator coverage prediction is always based on the best server. The Noise figure defined in the terminal type properties dialog box is used in the coverage prediction to determine the total noise in the downlink, and the Noise figure of the transmitter is used to determine the total noise in the uplink. As well, the bearer selection for each pixel according to the C⁄(I+N) level is performed using the bearer selection thresholds defined in the reception equipment, and the quality indicator graphs from the reception equipment are used to determine the values of the selected quality indicator on each pixel. This reception equipment is the one defined in the selected terminal for the downlink coverage predictions, and the one defined in the cell properties of the serving transmitter for the uplink coverage predictions. Mobility is used to index the bearer selection threshold graph to use. You can make Atoll use only the bearers for which selection thresholds are defined in both the terminal and the cell reception equipment by adding an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on services, terminals, mobility types, and reception equipment, see "Modelling Services" on page 1182, "Modelling Terminals" on page 1183, "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 1183, and "Defining WiFi Reception Equipment" on page 1238, respectively. c. If you want the coverage prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. The shadowing margin is based on the C/I standard deviation. d. You can also have the coverage prediction take Indoor coverage into consideration. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 4. Click the Display tab. You can choose from displaying results by BER, BLER, FER, or any other quality indicator that you might have added to the document. For more information, see "Defining Wi-Fi Quality Indicators" on page 1238. The coverage prediction results will be in the form of thresholds. For information on adjusting the display, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

15.2.7.4 Displaying Coverage Prediction Results The results are displayed graphically in the map window according to the settings you made on the Display tab when you created the coverage prediction (step 4. of "Studying Signal Level Coverage of a Single Access Point" on page 1180). If several coverage predictions are visible on the map, it can be difficult to clearly see the results of the coverage prediction you want

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to analyse. You can select which predictions to display or to hide by selecting or clearing the display check box. For information on managing the display, see "Displaying or Hiding Objects on the Map" on page 50. Once you have completed a prediction, you can also generate reports and statistics with the tools that Atoll provides. For more information, see "Generating Coverage Prediction Reports" on page 212 and "Displaying Coverage Prediction Statistics" on page 214. In this section, the following tools are explained: • • •

15.2.7.4.1

"Displaying the Legend Window" on page 1190 "Displaying Coverage Prediction Results Using the Tip Text" on page 1190 "Printing and Exporting Coverage Prediction Results" on page 1190

Displaying the Legend Window When you create a coverage prediction, you can add the displayed values of the coverage prediction to a legend by selecting the Add to legend check box on the Display tab. To display the Legend window: •

15.2.7.4.2

Select View > Legend Window. The Legend window is displayed, with the values for each displayed coverage prediction identified by the name of the coverage prediction.

Displaying Coverage Prediction Results Using the Tip Text You can get information by placing the pointer over an area of the coverage prediction to read the information displayed in the tip text. The information displayed is defined by the settings you made on the Display tab when you created the coverage prediction (step 4. of "Studying Signal Level Coverage of a Single Access Point" on page 1180). To get coverage prediction results in the form of tip text: •

In the map window, place the pointer over the area of the coverage prediction that you want more information on. After a brief pause, the tip text appears with the information defined in the Display tab of the coverage prediction properties (see Figure 15.3).

Figure 15.3: Displaying coverage prediction results using tip text

15.2.7.4.3

Printing and Exporting Coverage Prediction Results Once you have made a coverage prediction, you can print the results displayed on the map or save them in an external format. You can also export a selected area of the coverage as a bitmap. •

•

•

Printing coverage prediction results: Atoll offers several options allowing you to customise and optimise the printed coverage prediction results. Atoll supports printing to a variety of paper sizes, including A4 and A0. For more information on printing coverage prediction results, see "Printing a Map" on page 91. Defining a geographic export zone: If you want to export part of the coverage prediction as a bitmap, you can define a geographic export zone. After you have defined a geographic export zone, when you export a coverage prediction as a raster image, Atoll offers you the option of exporting only the area covered by the zone. For more information on defining a geographic export zone, see "Geographic Export Zone" on page 68. Exporting coverage prediction results: In Atoll, you can export the coverage areas of a coverage prediction in raster or vector formats. In raster formats, you can export in BMP, TIF, JPEG 2000, ArcView© grid, or Vertical Mapper (GRD and GRC) formats. When exporting in GRD or GRC formats, Atoll allows you to export files larger than 2 GB. In vector formats, you can export in ArcView©, MapInfo©, or AGD formats. For more information on exporting coverage prediction results, see "Exporting Coverage Prediction Results" on page 210.

15.2.7.5 Analysing a Coverage Prediction Using the Point Analysis Once you have completed a prediction, you can use the Point Analysis tool to verify it. If you do, before you make the point analysis, ensure the coverage prediction you want to verify is displayed on the map. In this section, the following are explained:

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• •

15.2.7.5.1

"Studying Signal Reception" on page 1191 "Analysing Interference" on page 1192

Studying Signal Reception The Reception view of the Point Analysis tool gives you information on the signal levels, C/(I+N), bearers, and throughputs, and so on, for any point on the map. The analysis is provided for a user-definable probe receiver which has a terminal, a mobility, and a service. The downlink and uplink load conditions can be taken from the Cells table or from Monte Carlo simulations. To make a reception analysis: 1. Click the Point Analysis button ( changes (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar. The Point Analysis window opens and the pointer

) to represent the receiver.

2. In the Point Analysis window, select the Reception view.

Figure 15.4: Point analysis tool: Reception view 3. Move the pointer over the map to make a reception analysis for the current location of the pointer. In the map window, arrows from the pointer to each transmitter are displayed in the colour of the transmitters they represent. The line from the pointer to its best server is slightly thicker than the other lines. The best server of the pointer is the transmitter from which the pointer receives the highest signal level. 4. In the Reception view toolbar, select "Cells table" from the Loads list. The bar graph displays the following information: • • •

The signal levels or C/N (depending on the selection made from the Display list) from different transmitters (the colour of the bar corresponds to the colour of the transmitter on the map). The C/N thresholds: The empty portion of the bar indicates signal levels below the C/N thresholds. The availability of coverage and service in downlink and uplink.

If there is at least one successful connection, double-clicking the icons in the right-hand frame opens a dialog box with additional information about the best server: • • •

General: Azimuth and tilt of the receiver, and path losses. Downlink: Diversity mode, received powers, total noise, C/(I+N), bearer, channel throughputs, cell capacities, and per-user throughputs. Uplink: Diversity mode, received power, transmission power, total noise, C/(I+N), bearer, channel throughputs, cell capacities, and per-user throughputs.

5. Select the signal to be displayed from the Display list. 6. If you are analysing reception to verify a coverage prediction, you can recreate the conditions of the coverage prediction by specifying the parameters if the study: a. If necessary, select a layer filter for the serving cells from the Layer list. a. Select the same Terminal, Mobility, and Service studied in the coverage prediction. b. In the Reception view toolbar, click Options ( i.

). The Calculation Options dialog box appears.

Edit the X and Y coordinates to change the present position of the receiver.

ii. Select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a Cell edge coverage probability. iii. Select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. iv. Click OK.

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7. Click the map to leave the point analysis pointer at its current position. To move the pointer again, click the point analysis pointer on the map and drag it to a new position. 8. In the Reception view toolbar, you can use the following tools: •

Click Report (

) to generate a report that contains the information from the point analysis window.

•

Click Copy ( programme.

• •

Click Print ( ) to print the content of the view. Click Centre on Map ( ) to centre the map window on the receiver.

) to copy the content of the view and paste it as a graphic into a graphic editing or word-processing

9. Click Point Analysis (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar again to end the point analysis.

You can display a point analysis that uses the settings from an existing prediction by right-clicking the prediction in the Network explorer and selecting Open Point Analysis from the context menu.

15.2.7.5.2

Analysing Interference In Atoll, you can study the interferers of a transmitter using the Point Analysis tool. The Interference view gives you information on interference received on any downlink channel on any point on the map. The analysis is provided for a user-definable probe receiver which has a terminal, a mobility, and a service. The downlink and uplink load conditions can be taken from the Cells table or from Monte Carlo simulations. To make an interference analysis: 1. Click the Point Analysis button ( changes (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar. The Point Analysis window opens and the pointer

) to represent the receiver.

2. In the Point Analysis window, select the Interference view. Select the load conditions to use in this analysis from simulations or from the Cells table.

The best server signal level (top-most bar), total noise (black bar), and interference from other cells.

Select the parameters of the probe user to be studied. Figure 15.5: Point analysis tool: Interference view 3. Move the pointer over the map to make an interference analysis for the current location of the pointer. In the map window, a thick arrow from the pointer to its best server is displayed. The best server of the pointer is the transmitter from which the pointer receives the highest signal level. Thinner arrows are also displayed from the interfering cells towards the pointer, indicating the interferers. If you let the pointer rest on an arrow, the interference level received from the corresponding transmitter at the receiver location will be displayed in the tip text. 4. In the Interference view, select "Cells table" from the Load list. The Interference view displays, in the form of a bar graph, the signal level from the best server, a black bar indicating the total noise (I+N) received by the receiver, and bars representing the interference received from each interferer. If you let the pointer rest on a bar, details are displayed in the tip text: • • •

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For the best server: Name, received signal level, and C/(I+N). For the total noise (I+N): The values of each component, i.e., I, N, and the downlink inter-technology noise rise. For each interferer: The effective interference and the various interference reduction factors.

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5. Select Inter-technology interference to display interference from other technologies. The Interference bar graph displays the interference received from each inter-technology interferer. Disable Inter-technology interference to display intra-technology interference only. 6. Select the channel on which you want to study the interference from the Display list. 7. If you are analysing interferences to verify a coverage prediction, you can recreate the conditions of the coverage prediction by specifying the parameters of the study: a. If necessary, select a layer filter for the serving cells from the Layer list. a. Select the same Terminal, Mobility, and Service studied in the coverage prediction. b. In the Reception view toolbar, click Options ( i.

). The Calculation Options dialog box appears.

Edit the X and Y coordinates to change the present position of the receiver.

ii. Select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a Cell edge coverage probability. iii. Select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. c. Click OK. 8. Click the map to leave the point analysis pointer at its current position. To move the pointer again, click the point analysis pointer on the map and drag it to a new position. 9. In the Interference view toolbar, you can use the following tools: •

Click the Report button ( ) to generate a report that contains the information from the Point Analysis window. The Analysis Report dialog box opens.

•

Click the Copy button ( processing programme.

• •

Click the Print button ( ) to print the content of the view. Click the Centre on Map button ( ) to centre the map window on the receiver.

10. Click Point Analysis (

) to copy the content of the view and paste it as a graphic into a graphic editing or word-

) on the Radio Planning toolbar again to end the point analysis.

You can display a point analysis that uses the settings from an existing prediction by right-clicking the prediction in the Network explorer and selecting Point Analysis from the context menu.

15.2.7.6 Comparing Coverage Predictions Atoll allows you to compare two similar predictions to see the differences between them. This enables you to quickly see how changes you make affect the network. In this section, there are two examples to explain how you can compare two similar predictions. You can display the results of the comparison in one of the following ways: • • •

•

•

Intersection: This display shows the area where both coverage predictions overlap (for example, pixels covered by both predictions are displayed in red). Merge: This display shows the area that is covered by either of the coverage predictions (for example, pixels covered by at least one of the predictions are displayed in red). Union: This display shows all pixels covered by both coverage predictions in one colour and pixels covered by only one coverage prediction in a different colour (for example, pixels covered by both predictions are red and pixels covered by only one prediction are blue). Difference: This display shows all pixels covered by both coverage predictions in one colour, pixels covered by only the first prediction with another colour and pixels covered only by the second prediction with a third colour (for example, pixels covered by both predictions are red, pixels covered only by the first prediction are green, and pixels covered only by the second prediction are blue). Value Difference: This display shows the dB difference between any two coverage predictions by signal level. This display option will not be available if the coverage predictions were calculated using different resolutions.

To compare two similar coverage predictions: 1. Create and calculate a coverage prediction of the existing network. 2. Examine the coverage prediction to see where coverage can be improved. 3. Make the changes to the network to improve coverage. 4. Duplicate the original coverage prediction (in order to leave the first coverage prediction unchanged).

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5. Calculate the duplicated coverage prediction. 6. Compare the original coverage prediction with the new coverage prediction. Atoll displays differences in coverage between them. In this section, the following examples are explained: • •

"Example 1: Studying the Effect of a New Access Point" on page 1194 "Example 2: Studying the Effect of a Change in Transmitter Tilt" on page 1195.

Example 1: Studying the Effect of a New Access Point If you have an area in a network that is poorly covered by current transmitters, you have several options for increasing coverage. In this example, you can verify if a newly added access point improves coverage. A signal level coverage prediction of the current network is made as described in "Making a Coverage Prediction by Signal Level" on page 1180. The results are displayed in Figure 15.6. An area with poor coverage is visible on the right side of the figure.

Figure 15.6: Signal level coverage prediction of existing network A new access point is added, either by creating the access point and adding the transmitters, as explained in "Creating Wi-Fi Access Points" on page 1170, or by placing a station template, as explained in "Placing a New Access Point Using a Station Template" on page 1171. Once the new site has been added, the original coverage prediction can be recalculated, but then it would be impossible to compare the results. Instead, the original signal level coverage prediction can be copied by selecting Duplicate from its context menu. The copy is then calculated to show the effect of the new access point (see Figure 15.7).

Figure 15.7: Signal level coverage prediction of network with new access point

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Now you can compare the two predictions. To compare two predictions: 1. Right-click one of the two predictions, select Compare with and, from the menu that opens, select the prediction you want to compare with the first. The Comparison Properties dialog box appears. 2. Click the General tab. You can change the Name of the comparison and add Comments. The General tab contains information about the coverage predictions being compared, including their names and resolutions. 3. Click the Display tab and choose how you want the results of the comparison to be displayed among: • • • •

Intersection Merge Union Difference

In order to see what changes adding a new access point made, it is recommended to choose Difference. 4. Click OK to create the comparison. The comparison in Figure 15.8, shows the area covered only by the new access point.

Figure 15.8: Comparison of both signal level coverage predictions Example 2: Studying the Effect of a Change in Transmitter Tilt If you have an area in a network that is poorly covered by current transmitters, you have several options for increasing coverage. In this example, you can see how modifying transmitter tilt can improve coverage. A coverage prediction by transmitter of the current network is made as described in "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter" on page 1181. The results are displayed in Figure 15.9. The coverage prediction shows that one transmitter is covering its area poorly. The area is indicated by a red oval in Figure 15.9.

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Figure 15.9: Coverage prediction by transmitter of existing network You can try modifying the tilt on the transmitter to improve the coverage. The properties of the transmitter can be accessed by right-clicking the transmitter in the map window and selecting Properties from the context menu. The mechanical and electrical tilt of the antenna are defined on the Transmitter tab of the Properties dialog box. Once the tilt of the antenna has been modified, the original coverage prediction can be recalculated, but then it would be impossible to compare the results. Instead, the original coverage prediction can be copied by selecting Duplicate from its context menu. The copy is then calculated, to show how modifying the antenna tilt has affected coverage (see Figure 15.10).

Figure 15.10: Coverage prediction by transmitter of network after modifications In this example, modifying the antenna tilt increased the coverage of the transmitter. However, to see exactly the change in coverage, you can compare the two predictions. To compare two predictions: 1. Right-click one of the two predictions, select Compare with and, from the menu that opens, select the prediction you want to compare with the first. The Comparison Properties dialog box appears. 2. Click the General tab. You can change the Name of the comparison and add Comments. The General tab contains information about the coverage predictions being compared, including their names and resolutions. 3. Click the Display tab and choose how you want the results of the comparison to be displayed among: • • • •

Intersection Merge Union Difference

In order to see what changes modifying the antenna tilt made, choose Union. This mode displays all pixels covered by both predictions in one colour and all pixels covered by only one prediction in another colour. The increase in coverage, seen in only the second coverage prediction, is immediately clear. 4. Click OK to create the comparison. The comparison in Figure 15.11, shows the increase in coverage due at the change in antenna tilt.

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Figure 15.11: Comparison of both transmitter coverage predictions

15.2.7.7 Multi-point Analyses In Atoll, you can carry out calculations on lists of points that represent subscriber locations for analysis. These analyses may be useful for verifying network QoS at subscriber locations in case of incidents (call drops, low throughputs, and so on) reported by users. This section covers the following topics related to subscriber analyses: • • •

15.2.7.7.1

"Subscriber Analysis Properties" on page 1197 "Making a Subscriber Analysis" on page 1197 "Viewing Subscriber Analysis Results" on page 1198

Subscriber Analysis Properties The fixed subscriber analysis Properties window allows you to create and edit subscriber analyses. The General Tab The General tab allows you to specify the following settings for the point analysis: • • •

Name: Specify the assigned Name of the point analysis. Comments: Specify an optional description of comment for the point analysis. Shadowing taken into account: Select this option to consider shadowing in the point analysis. For more information, see "Modelling Shadowing" on page 1241. If you select this option, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability.

The Traffic Tab On the Traffic tab, you can select one or more fixed subscriber traffic maps for the analysis. For more information, see "Creating a Fixed Subscribers Traffic Map" on page 263. The Display Tab On the Display tab, you can modify how the results of the subscriber analysis will be displayed. For information on changing display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51.

15.2.7.7.2

Making a Subscriber Analysis Subscriber analyses are calculated on fixed subscriber locations stored in fixed subscriber traffic maps. The results are based on user-defined calculation settings. To create a new subscriber analysis: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Multi-point Analysis folder and select New Subscriber Analysis. The Fixed Subscriber Analysis Properties dialog box appears. 2. On the General and Traffic tabs, specify the settings as described in "Subscriber Analysis Properties" on page 1197. 3. On the Display tab, specify how to display subscriber analysis results on the map according to any input or calculated parameter. For more information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 4. Once you have defined the subscriber analysis parameters, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the subscriber analysis and calculate it immediately.

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OK: Click OK to save the subscriber analysis without calculating it. You can calculate it later by opening the subscriber analysis properties and clicking the Calculate button.

Once Atoll has finished calculating the subscriber analysis, the results are displayed in the map window. You can also access the analysis results in a table format. For more information, see "Viewing Subscriber Analysis Results" on page 1198. You can also organise subscriber analyses in folders under the Multi-point Analysis folder by creating folders under the Multipoint Analysis folder in the Network explorer. Folders may contain one or more subscriber analyses items. You can move subscriber analyses items from one folder to another and rename folders.

15.2.7.7.3

Viewing Subscriber Analysis Results Once a subscriber analysis has been calculated, its results are displayed on the map and are also available in the subscriber analysis item in the form of a table. To view the results table of a subscriber analysis: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Multi-point Analysis folder, right-click the analysis whose results table you want to view, and select Analysis Results from the context menu. The Results dialog box appears. The results table includes the following information for each subscriber included in the analysis: • • • • • • • • • • • • •

• • • • • • • • •

•

• • • • • • • •

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Position Id: The index of the subscriber. X and Y: The coordinates of the subscriber. Height (m): The height of the subscriber. Service: The service assigned to the subscriber. Terminal: The terminal assigned to the subscriber. Mobility: The mobility type assigned to the subscriber. Activity status: The assigned activity status. It can be Active DL, Active UL, Active DL+UL, or Inactive. Clutter class: The code of the clutter class where the subscriber is located. Indoor: This field indicates whether indoor losses have been added or not. Best server: The best server of the subscriber. Serving cell: The serving cell of the serving transmitter of the subscriber. Azimuth: The orientation of the subscriber’s terminal antenna in the horizontal plane. Azimuth is always considered with respect to the North. Atoll points the subscriber antenna towards its best server. Downtilt: The orientation of the subscriber’s terminal antenna in the vertical plane. Mechanical downtilt is positive when it is downwards and negative when upwards. Atoll points the subscriber antenna towards its best server. Path loss (dB): The path loss from the best server calculated for the subscriber. Received power (DL) (dBm): The signal level received at the subscriber location in the downlink. C/(I+N) (DL) (dB): The C/(I+N) at the subscriber location in the downlink. Total noise (I+N) (DL) (dBm): The sum of the interference and noise experienced at the subscriber location in the downlink. Bearer (DL): The highest bearer available for the C/(I+N) level at the subscriber location in the downlink. BLER (DL): The Block Error Rate read from the subscriber terminal’s reception equipment for the C/(I+N) level at the subscriber location in the downlink. Diversity mode (DL): The diversity mode supported by the cell in downlink. Peak MAC channel throughput (DL) (kbps): The maximum MAC channel throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at the subscriber location in the downlink. Effective MAC channel throughput (DL) (kbps): The effective MAC channel throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at the subscriber location in the downlink. It is calculated from the peak MAC throughput and the BLER. Application channel throughput (DL) (kbps): The application throughput is the net throughput without coding (redundancy, overhead, addressing, etc.). It is calculated from the effective MAC throughput, the throughput scaling factor of the service and the throughput offset. Received power (UL) (dBm): The signal level received at the serving transmitter from the subscriber terminal in the uplink. C/(I+N) (UL) (dB): The C/(I+N) at the serving transmitter of the subscriber in the uplink. Total noise (I+N) (UL) (dBm): The sum of the interference and noise experienced at the serving transmitter of the subscriber in the uplink. Bearer (UL): The highest bearer available for the C/(I+N) level at the serving transmitter of the subscriber in the uplink. BLER (UL): The Block Error Rate read from the serving cell’s reception equipment for the C/(I+N) level at the serving transmitter of the subscriber in the uplink. Diversity mode (UL): The diversity mode supported by the cell or permutation zone in uplink. Transmission power (UL) (dBm): The transmission power of the subscriber terminal after power control in the uplink. Peak MAC channel throughput (UL) (kbps): The maximum MAC channel throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at subscriber location in the uplink.

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•

•

Effective MAC channel throughput (UL) (kbps): The effective MAC channel throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at the subscriber location in the uplink. It is calculated from the peak MAC throughput and the BLER. Application channel throughput (UL) (kbps): The application throughput is the net throughput without coding (redundancy, overhead, addressing, etc.). It is calculated from the effective MAC throughput, the throughput scaling factor of the service and the throughput offset.

2. To add or remove columns from the results table: a. Click the Actions button and select Display Columns from the menu. The Columns to be Displayed dialog box opens. b. Select or clear the columns that you want to display or hide. c. Click Close. You can export the point analysis results table to ASCII text files (TXT and CSV formats) and MS Excel XML Spreadsheet files (XML format) by selecting Actions > Export. For more information on exporting table data, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. 3. Click Close.

15.2.8 Planning Neighbours You can use Atoll to manually allocate neighbour relations to any cell in a network. You can also use Atoll to automatically allocate neighbour relations to a single cell, to all the cells of an access point, to all the cells in a transmitter group, or to all the cells in a network, based on predefined parameters. In this section, only the concepts that are specific to automatic neighbour allocation in Wi-Fi networks are explained. For more information on neighbour planning, see "Neighbour Planning" on page 223.

Figure 15.12: Wi-Fi handover area between reference cell and potential neighbour

15.2.8.1 Coverage Conditions The Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box provides a Use coverage conditions option: • •

When Use coverage conditions is not selected, the defined Distance is used to allocate neighbours to a reference transmitter. When Use coverage conditions is selected, click Define to open the Coverage Conditions dialog box: • •

•

Resolution: Enter the resolution to be used to calculate cells’ coverage areas during automatic neighbour allocation. Global C/N threshold: Select this check box to set a global value for the C/N threshold. If you set a global value here, Atoll will use this value or the C/N threshold value defined for each cell, whichever is higher. The signal level threshold (in dBm) is calculated for each cell from its C/N threshold (in dB) considering the channel bandwidth of the cell and using the terminal that has the highest difference between its gain and losses so that the most number of potential neighbours can be processed. Handover start: Enter the margin, with respect to the best server coverage area of the reference cell (cell A), from which the handover process starts.

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Handover end: Enter the margin, with respect to the best server coverage area of the reference cell (cell A), at which the handover process ends. The value entered for the Handover end must be greater than the value for the Handover start. The higher the value entered for the Handover end, the longer the list of potential neighbours. The area between the Handover start and the Handover end constitutes the area within which Atoll will search for neighbours. Shadowing Taken into Account: If selected, enter a Cell edge coverage probability. Indoor Coverage: Select this option to take indoor losses into account in calculations. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

15.2.8.2 Calculation Constraints In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, you can select the following calculation constraints: • •

• •

Co-site cells as neighbours: When selected, the cells located on the same site as the reference cell are automatically considered as neighbours. A cell with no antenna cannot be considered as a co-site neighbour. Adjacent cells as neighbours (Intra-carrier Neighbours tab only): When selected, the cells that are adjacent to the reference cell are automatically considered as neighbours. A cell is considered adjacent if there is at least one pixel in the reference cell’s coverage area where the potential neighbour cell is the best server, or where the potential neighbour cell is the second best server respecting the handover end. Symmetric relations: Select this option if you want the neighbour relations to be reciprocal, which means that any reference transmitter/cell is a potential neighbour of all the cells that are its neighbours. Exceptional pairs: Select this option to force the neighbour relations defined in the Intra-technology Exceptional pairs table. For information on exceptional pairs, see "Defining Exceptional Pairs" on page 223.

15.2.8.3 Reasons for Allocation In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, the reason for neighbour allocation is indicated under Cause in the Results table. It can be any of the following: Cause

Description

When

Distance

The neighbour is located within the defined maximum distance from the reference cell

Use coverage conditions is not selected

Coverage

The neighbour relation fulfils the defined coverage conditions

Use coverage conditions is selected and nothing is selected under Force

Co-Site

The neighbour is located on the same site as the reference cell

Use coverage conditions and Co-site cells as neighbours are selected

Adjacent

The neighbour is adjacent to the reference cell

Use coverage conditions is selected and Adjacent cells as neighbours is selected

Symmetry

The neighbour relation between the reference cell and the neighbour is symmetrical

Use coverage conditions is selected and Symmetric relations is selected

Exceptional Pair

The neighbour relation is defined as an exceptional pair

Exceptional pairs is selected

Existing

The neighbour relation existed before automatic allocation

Delete existing neighbours is not selected

15.3 Configuring Network Parameters Using the AFP The Atoll AFP (Automatic Frequency Planning module) enables you to automatically configure network parameters such as the frequency channels. The aim of the AFP is to allocate resources in a way that minimises interference following the userdefined constraints. The AFP assigns a cost to each constraint and then uses a cost-based algorithm to evaluate possible allocation plans and propose the allocation plan with the lowest costs. The AFP cost function comprises input elements such as interference matrices, neighbour relations, and allowed ranges of resources for allocation. The quality of the results given by the AFP depends on the accuracy of the input. Therefore, it is important to prepare the input before running the AFP. In the following sections, the AFP input elements are explained: • • • •

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Once the AFP input elements have been set up, the AFP can be used for: •

"Planning Frequencies" on page 1202

Once you have completed an automatic allocation, you can analyse the results with the tools that Atoll provides: • •

"Displaying the AFP Results on the Map" on page 1204. "Analysing the AFP Results" on page 1206.

15.3.1 Working with Interference Matrices In Atoll, the probability of interference between pairs of cells is stored in an interference matrix. An interference matrix can be thought of as the probability that a user in a cell will receive interference higher than a defined threshold. You can calculate, import, and store more than one interference matrix in the Interference Matrices folder in the Network explorer. This section covers the following topics: • •

"Calculating Interference Matrices" on page 1201 "Importing and Exporting Interference Matrices" on page 1201

15.3.1.1 Calculating Interference Matrices Atoll calculates interference matrices in the form of co- and adjacent channel interference probabilities for each interfered and interfering cell pair. The probabilities of interference are stated in terms of percentages of the interfered area. In other words, it is the ratio of the interfered surface area to the best server coverage area of an interfered cell. When Atoll calculates interference matrices, it calculates the value of the C/(I+N) for each pixel of the interfered service area between two cells (the interfered cell and the interfering cell). For co-channel interference, a pixel is considered interfered if the C/(I+N) is lower than the C/N threshold defined for the interfered cell. For adjacent channel interference, a pixel is considered interfered if the C/(I+N) is lower than the C/N threshold defined for the interfered cell less the adjacent channel suppression factor defined for the frequency band of the interfered cell. You can amplify the degradation of the C/(I+N) by using a high quality margin when calculating the interference matrices. For example, a 3 dB quality margin would imply that each interferer is considered to be twice as strong compared to a calculation without any quality margin (which means 0 dB). To calculate interference matrices: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Interference Matrices folder and select New from the context menu. The Interference Matrices Properties dialog box appears. 2. On the General tab, you can set the following parameters: • • • • •

Name: Enter a name for the new interference matrix. Resolution: Enter the resolution used to calculate the coverage areas of cells for the interference matrix calculation. Type: The type is set to Calculated for calculated interference matrices. Quality margin: Enter a quality margin. Shadowing taken into account: If selected, enter a Cell edge coverage probability.

3. Once you have created the interference matrix, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined interference matrix and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined interference matrix without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

Once calculated, the new interference matrix is available in the Interference Matrices folder and will be available for use the next time you run the AFP. You can modify the properties of an existing interference matrix by selecting Properties from the interference matrix context menu. An existing interference matrix can be calculated again by selecting Calculate from the interference matrix context menu.

15.3.1.2 Importing and Exporting Interference Matrices You can import interference matrices from external sources, such as the OAM, in Atoll from TXT (text), CSV (comma separated value), and IM2 files. In the interference matrix file you want to import, the interference matrix entries must have the following syntax: The separator can be a tab, a comma, a semicolon, or space.

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If the interference matrix file being imported contains the same interfered-interferer pair more than once, Atoll keeps the last description of the pair. Atoll does not perform a validity check on the imported interference file; you must therefore ensure that the imported information is consistent with the current configuration. Furthermore, Atoll only imports interference matrices for active transmitters. To import an interference matrix: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Interference Matrices folder and select Import from the context menu. The Open dialog box appears. 2. Select the file containing the interference matrix and click Open. The table Import dialog box appears. For more information on importing table data, see "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88. To export an interference matrix: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Interference Matrices folder, right-click the interference matrix you want to export, and select Export from the context menu. The Export dialog box appears. For information on exporting table data, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86.

15.3.2 Defining Neighbour Relations and Importance In Atoll, neighbour importance values are calculated by the automatic neighbour allocation process and can be used by the AFP for frequency and physical cell ID allocation. • • •

For information on configuring neighbour importance weighting, see "Configuring Neighbour Importance Factors" on page 231. For more information on calculating neighbour importance values, see "Evaluating Neighbour Importance" on page 231. For more details on the calculation of neighbour importance values, see the Technical Reference Guide.

15.3.3 Setting Resources Available for Allocation The AFP allocates resources from a pool of available resources. For automatic frequency planning, the available resources are defined by the channel numbers available in the frequency band assigned to any cell. In the frequency band properties, the first and last channel numbers define the range of available channel numbers in the band. Channel numbers within this range can be set as unavailable by listing them in the excluded channels list. For more information, see "Defining Frequency Bands" on page 1235.

15.3.4 Configuring Cost Component Weights You can define the weights for the AFP cost components that Atoll uses to evaluate possible frequency plans. To configure the weights for AFP cost components: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder and select AFP > Configure Weights from the context menu. The Weights dialog box appears. This dialog box enables you to define the relative weights of the cost components. The absolute values of the constraint weights are calculated by the AFP using these relative weights. For more information, see the Technical Reference Guide. 2. Click the Frequency Allocation tab and set the weights for the following cost components: • • •

1st order neighbours: The relative weight assigned to a first order neighbour relationship violation. Interference matrices: The relative weight assigned to an interference matrix-based relationship violation. Distance: The relative weight assigned to a distance-based relationship violation.

You can click the Reset button to set the weights to their default values. 3. Click OK.

15.3.5 Planning Frequencies You can manually assign frequency bands and channel numbers to cells or use the Automatic Frequency Planning (AFP) tool to automatically allocate channels to cells. The AFP allocates channels to cells automatically such that the overall interference in the network is minimised. Once allocation is completed, you can analyse the frequency plan by creating and comparing C/ (I+N) coverage predictions, and view the frequency allocation on the map.

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15.3.5.1 Manually Allocating Frequencies Manually frequency allocation allows you to assign frequency bands and channel numbers to a cell. You can do it by accessing the properties of the cell. To manually allocate the frequency to a cell: 1. On the map, right-click the transmitter to whose cell you want to allocate the frequency and select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter Properties dialog box appears. 2. Select the Cells tab. 3. Select a Frequency band and Channel number for the cell. 4. You can set the Channel allocation status to Locked if you want to lock the frequency that you assigned. 5. Click OK.

15.3.5.2 Automatically Allocating Frequencies The Automatic Frequency Planning (AFP) tool can automatically assign channels to cells. When allocating frequencies, the AFP can take into account interference matrices, reuse distance, and any constraints imposed by neighbours. To automatically allocate frequencies: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder and select AFP > Automatic Allocation. The Automatic Resource Allocation dialog box appears. The Automatic Resource Allocation dialog box is divided into three zones: • • •

The top line contains global information about the current allocation (resource being allocated and the total cost of the current plan). The left-hand side of the dialog box contains tabs with input parameters. The right-hand side of the dialog box provides the allocation results.

2. From the Allocate list, select Frequencies for automatic frequency planning. 3. On the Relation Types tab, you can set the relations to take into account in automatic allocation: •

•

•

Interference matrix: Select this check box if you want the AFP to take interference matrices into account for the allocation, and select an interference matrix from the list. For Atoll to take interference matrices into account, they must be available in the Interference Matrices folder in the Network explorer. Interference matrices can be calculated, imported, and edited in the Interference Matrices folder. For more information on interference matrices, see "Working with Interference Matrices" on page 1201. Existing neighbours: Select the Existing neighbours check box if you want the AFP to take neighbour relations into account for the allocation. The AFP will try to allocate different frequencies to a cell and its neighbours. Atoll can only take neighbour relations into account if neighbours have already been allocated. For information on allocating neighbours, see "Neighbour Planning" on page 223. Reuse distance: Select this check box if you want the AFP to take relations based on distance into account for the allocation. You can enter a Default reuse distance within which two cells must not have the same channel assigned. However, it is highly recommended to define a reuse distance for each individual cell depending on the size of the cell’s coverage area and the network density around the cell. If defined, a cell-specific reuse distance is used instead of the default value entered here.

4. On the right-hand side of the Automatic Resource Allocation dialog box, Atoll displays the Total cost of the current frequency allocation. Click Update to calculate the total cost take into account the parameters set in step 3. You can click the Weights button to open the Weights dialog box and modify the cost component weights. For more information, see "Configuring Cost Component Weights" on page 1202. 5. Click Start. Atoll begins the process of allocating frequencies. Any messages generated by the AFP during automatic allocation are reported on the Events tab. While Atoll allocates frequencies, you can: • • • •

Monitor the reduction of the total cost in the Progress tab. Compare the distribution histograms of the initial and current allocation plans in the Distribution tab. Pause the automatic allocation process by clicking Pause. Resume the automatic allocation process by clicking Continue or start the automatic allocation from the initial state by clicking Restart.

Once Atoll has finished allocating frequencies, or if you pause the automatic allocation, the Statistics tab shows the number of proposed changes to the allocation plan and the numbers of different relations, violations, and collisions.

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It also shows the numbers of violations and collisions in the current plan compared to the initial one (in brackets). The Results tab shows the proposed allocation plan: • • • • • • • •

Site: The name of the base station. Transmitter: The name of the transmitter. Name: The name of the cell. Frequency Band: The frequency band used by the cell. Initial channel number: The channel number of the cell before automatic allocation. Channel number: The channel number of the cell after automatic allocation. Channel allocation status: The value of the Channel allocation status of the cell. Cost: The cost of the new frequency allocation of the cell. •

•

•

In order to better view the progress graph and the results table, you can expand the right-hand side zone of the Automatic Resource Allocation dialog box by clicking the Hide Inputs button . You can also resize the dialog box. You can export the contents of table grids to TXT, CSV, and XML Spreadsheet files by right-clicking the table and selecting Export from the context menu. For more information on exporting data tables, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. You can select the columns to display in different tabs by right-clicking the table and selecting Display Columns from the context menu. For more information, see "Displaying and Hiding Columns" on page 80.

6. Click Commit. The proposed frequency plan is assigned to the cells of the network. 7. Click Close to exit.

15.3.6 Displaying the AFP Results on the Map You can display the AFP results on the map in several ways: • • •

"Using Find on Map to Display AFP Results" on page 1204 "Using Transmitter Display Settings to Display AFP Results" on page 1205 "Grouping Transmitters by Channels" on page 1205

15.3.6.1 Using Find on Map to Display AFP Results In Atoll, you can search for frequency bands and channel numbers using the Find on Map tool. If you have already calculated and displayed a coverage prediction by transmitter based on the best server, with the results displayed by transmitter, the search results will be displayed by transmitter coverage. The current allocation plan and any potential problems will then be clearly visible. For information on coverage predictions by transmitter, see "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter" on page 1181. To find a frequency band using Find on Map: 1. Select Tools > Find on Map. The Find on Map window appears. 2. From the Find list, select "Wi-Fi Channel". 3. From the Band list, select a frequency band. 4. From the Channel list, select "All". 5. Click Search. Transmitters whose cells use the selected frequency band are displayed in red in the map window and are listed under Results in the Find on Map window. Transmitters with cells using other frequency bands are displayed as grey lines in the map window. To restore the initial transmitter colours, click the Reset display button in the Find on Map window. To find a channel number using Find on Map: 1. Select Tools > Find on Map. The Find on Map window appears. 2. From the Find list, select "Wi-Fi Channel". 3. From the Band list, select a frequency band. 4. From the Channel list, select the channel number. By default, Find on Map displays only co-channel transmitter cells. If you want adjacent channels to be displayed as well, select Adjacent channels.

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5. Click Search. Transmitters whose cells use the selected frequency band and channel number are displayed in red. Transmitters with cells using two adjacent channel numbers in the same frequency band (which means a channel higher and a channel lower) are displayed in yellow. Transmitters with cells using a lower adjacent channel number in the same frequency band are displayed in green. Transmitters with cells using a higher adjacent channel number in the same frequency band are displayed in blue. All other transmitters are displayed as grey lines. If you cleared the Adjacent channels check box, transmitters with cells using the same channel number are displayed in red, and all others, including transmitters with adjacent channels, are displayed as grey lines. To restore the initial transmitter colours, click the Reset display button in the Find on Map tool window. By including the frequency band and channel number of each cell in the transmitter label, the search results will be easier to understand. For information on defining the label, see "Associating a Label to an Object" on page 53.

15.3.6.2 Using Transmitter Display Settings to Display AFP Results You can display the frequency allocation on transmitters by using the transmitter display characteristics. To display the frequency allocation on the map: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. Click the Display tab. 3. Select "Discrete values" as the Display type and "Cells: Channel number" as the Field. 4. Click OK. Transmitters are displayed by channel number. You can also display the frequency band and channel number in the transmitter label or tip text by selecting "Cells: Frequency band" and "Cells: Channel number" from the Label or Tip Text Field Selection dialog box. For information on display options, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51.

15.3.6.3 Grouping Transmitters by Channels You can group transmitters in the Network explorer by their frequency bands or channel numbers. To group transmitters by frequency bands or channel numbers: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. On the General tab, click Group by. The Group dialog box appears. 3. Under Available fields, scroll down to the Cells section. 4. Select the parameter you want to group transmitters by: • •

Frequency band Channel number

5. Click to add the parameter to the Group these fields in this order list. The selected parameter is added to the list of parameters on which the transmitters will be grouped. 6. If you do not want the transmitters to be grouped by a certain parameter, select the parameter in the Group these fields in this order list and click transmitters will be grouped.

. The selected parameter is removed from the list of parameters on which the

7. Arrange the parameters in the Group these fields in this order list in the order in which you want the transmitters to be grouped: a. Select a parameter and click

to move it up to the desired position.

b. Select a parameter and click

to move it down to the desired position.

8. Click OK to save your changes and close the Group dialog box.

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15.3.7 Analysing the AFP Results You can analyse the AFP results using the tools provided by Atoll: • •

"Checking the Consistency of the Frequency Plan" on page 1206 "Analysing the Frequency Allocation Using Coverage Predictions" on page 1207

15.3.7.1 Checking the Consistency of the Frequency Plan Once you have completed allocating frequencies, you can verify whether the allocated frequencies respect the specified relations by performing an audit of the plan. The frequency audit also enables you to check for inconsistencies if you have made some manual changes to the allocation plan. To perform an audit of the frequency plan: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder and select AFP > Audit. The Resource Allocation Audit dialog box appears. The Resource Allocation Audit dialog box is divided into three zones: • • •

The top line contains global information about the current allocation (resource being audited and the total cost of the current plan). The left-hand side of the dialog box contains tabs with input parameters. The right-hand side of the dialog box provides the audit results.

2. From the Audit list, select Frequencies. 3. On the Relation Types tab, you can select the relation-based allocation criteria that you want to verify. •

•

•

Interference matrix: Select this option if you want the audit to take interference matrices into account, and select an interference matrix from the list. For Atoll to take interference matrices into account, they must be available in the Interference Matrices folder in the Network explorer. Interference matrices can be calculated, and imported in the Interference Matrices folder. For more information on interference matrices, see "Working with Interference Matrices" on page 1201. Existing Neighbours: Select this check box if you want the audit to take neighbours into account. Atoll can only take neighbour relations into account if neighbours have already been allocated. For information on allocating neighbours, see "Configuring Network Parameters Using the AFP" on page 1200. Reuse distance: Select this check box if you want the audit to take reuse distance into account. For cells that do not have a reuse distance defined in their properties, the value entered next to Default will be used for the audit.

4. On the right-hand side of the Resource Allocation Audit dialog box, Atoll displays the Total cost of the current frequency allocation. You can click the Weights button to open the Weights dialog box and modify the cost component weights. For more information, see "Configuring Cost Component Weights" on page 1202. 5. Click Calculate. Atoll performs an audit of the current frequency plan. Any messages generated by the audit are reported on the Events tab. The audit results are reported on the following tabs: The Statistics tab provides overall statistics such as the numbers of various types of relations considered by the AFP for frequency planning and the number of violated relations. The Relations tab lists all the relations between active and filtered cells in the document. The Relations tab can display the following information: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

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Cell 1: First cell in a related cell-pair. Cell 2: Second cell in a related cell-pair. Frequency band 1: Frequency band of Cell 1. Channel 1: Channel number of Cell 1. Frequency band 2: Frequency band of Cell 2. Channel 2: Channel number of Cell 2. Cost: The cost of the current collisions, if any, between Cell 1 and Cell 2. Channel collision: Whether the channels of Cell 1 and Cell 2 collide ( ) or not ( ). Channel Overlap Factor: The ratio of overlap between the channels used by Cell 1 and Cell 2. Distance: The distance between Cell 1 and Cell 2. Reuse distance: Reuse distance defined for Cell 1. Distance relation importance: The importance of the distance-based relation between Cell 1 and Cell 2. Interference Matrices: Whether an interference matrix relation exists ( ) between Cell 1 and Cell 2 or not. Interference matrix importance: The importance of the interference matrix relation between Cell 1 and Cell 2. Neighbour: Whether a neighbour relation exists ( ) between Cell 1 and Cell 2 or not.

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•

Neighbour importance: The importance of the neighbour relation between Cell 1 and Cell 2. The data table in the Relations tab can be filtered. For example, you can view all the relations, only the relations that violate the frequency allocation requirements, or apply a filter to exclude unimportant ones. To filter the relations listed in the Relations tab, click the Show button (

) on the Relations tab. The filter parameters appear.

To view all the relations between cells: i.

Under Filter by violation type, select the Show relations option.

ii. Under Include relations by type, select all the options representing the relation types and select (All) from their respective lists. iii. Click Apply. The data table in the Relations tab shows all the relations between cells. To view only the relations that violate the frequency allocation requirements: i.

Under Filter by violation type, select the Show violations option.

ii. Under Include relations by type, select all the options representing the relation types and select (All) from their respective lists. iii. Click Apply. The data table in the Relations tab shows only the relations that violate the frequency allocation requirements. To view only the important relations that violate the frequency allocation requirements: i.

Under Filter by violation type, select the Show violations option.

ii. Under Include relations by type, select the relation types that you consider important and select some or all of their characteristics from their respective lists. iii. Click Apply. The data table in the Relations tab shows the relations according to the user-defined filter. The Cells tab lists the current allocation plan and the following information: • • • • • • •

Site: The name of the base station. Transmitter: The name of the transmitter. Name: The name of the cell. Frequency Band: The frequency band used by the cell. Channel number: The channel number of the cell. Channel allocation status: The value of the Channel allocation status of the cell. Cost: The cost of the frequency allocation of the cell.

The Distribution tab shows the histogram of the current allocation plan. • •

•

You can expand the right pane of the Resource Allocation Audit dialog box by clicking the Hide button ( ). You can export the contents of table grids to TXT, CSV, and XML Spreadsheet files by right-clicking the table and selecting Export from the context menu. For more information on exporting data tables, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. You can select the columns to display in different tabs by right-clicking the table and selecting Display Columns from the context menu. For more information, see "Displaying and Hiding Columns" on page 80.

6. Click Close to exit.

15.3.7.2 Analysing the Frequency Allocation Using Coverage Predictions You can create and compare C/(I+N) coverage predictions before and after the automatic frequency allocation in order to analyse and compare the improvements brought about by the AFP. For more information on creating C/(I+N) coverage predictions, see "Studying Interference and C/(I+N) Levels" on page 1184. For more information on comparing two coverage predictions, see "Comparing Coverage Predictions" on page 1193.

15.4 Studying Wi-Fi Network Capacity In Atoll, a simulation is based on a realistic distribution of users at a given point in time. The distribution of users at a given moment is referred to as a snapshot. Based on this snapshot, Atoll calculates various network parameters such as the downlink and uplink traffic loads, the uplink noise rise values, and the user throughputs. Simulations are calculated in an iterative fashion.

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When several simulations are performed at the same time using the same traffic information, the distribution of users will be different, according to a Poisson distribution. Consequently you can have variations in user distribution from one snapshot to another. To create snapshots, services and users must be modelled. As well, certain traffic information in the form of traffic maps must be provided. Once services and users have been modelled and traffic maps have been created, you can make simulations of the network traffic. This section covers the following topics: • • •

"Defining Multi-service Traffic Data" on page 1208 "Calculating Wi-Fi Traffic Simulations" on page 1208 "Making Coverage Predictions Using Simulation Results" on page 1216

15.4.1 Defining Multi-service Traffic Data The first step in making a simulation is defining how the network is used. In Atoll, this is accomplished by creating all of the parameters of network use, in terms of services, users, and equipment used. The following services and users are modelled in Atoll in order to create simulations: •

•

• •

Wi-Fi radio bearers: Radio bearers are used by the network for carrying information. The Wi-Fi Radio Bearer table lists all the available radio bearers. You can create new radio bearers and modify existing ones by using the Wi-Fi Radio Bearer table. For information on defining radio bearers, see "Defining Wi-Fi Radio Bearers" on page 1237. Services: Services are the various services, such as VoIP and FTP download, available to users. These services can be either of the type "voice" or "data". For information on modelling end-user services, see "Modelling Services" on page 1182. Mobility types: Information about receiver mobility is important to determine the user’s radio conditions and throughputs. For information on modelling mobility types, see "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 1183. Terminals: A terminal is the user equipment that is used in the network, for example, a mobile phone, a PDA, or a car’s on-board navigation device. For information on modelling terminals, see "Modelling Terminals" on page 1183.

15.4.2 Calculating Wi-Fi Traffic Simulations To plan and optimise Wi-Fi networks, you will need to study the network capacity and to study the network coverage taking into account realistic user distribution and traffic demand scenarios. You can also carry out traffic offload analysis in co-planning mode, which means, study the amount of mobile traffic from a mobile network (such as LTE, UMTS) that can be carried by a Wi-Fi network layer deployed on the top of the mobile network. To perform this analysis, you mist link the Wi-Fi document with the mobile network document and run Monte Carlo simulations as explained in "Performing a Traffic Offload Analysis" on page 1229. In Atoll, a simulation corresponds to a given distribution of Wi-Fi users. It is a snapshot of a Wi-Fi network. The principal outputs of a simulation are a geographic user distribution with a certain traffic demand, resources allocated to each user of this distribution, and cell loads. You can create groups for one or more simulations and carry out as many simulations as required. A new simulation for each different traffic scenario can help visualise the network response to different traffic demands. Each user distribution (each simulation generates a new user distribution) is a Poisson distribution of the number of active users. Therefore, each simulation may have a varying number of users accessing the network. Wi-Fi simulation results can be displayed on the map as well as listed in tabular form for analysis. Simulation outputs include results related to sites, cells, and mobiles. Wi-Fi simulation results can be stored in the cells table and used in C/(I+N) based coverage predictions. In this section, the following are explained: • •

"Wi-Fi Traffic Simulation Algorithm" on page 1208 "Wi-Fi Simulation Results" on page 1210

This section explains the specific mechanisms that are used to calculate Wi-Fi traffic simulations. For information on working with traffic simulations in Atoll, see "Simulations" on page 265.

15.4.2.1 Wi-Fi Traffic Simulation Algorithm Figure 15.13 shows the Wi-Fi simulation algorithm. The simulation process in Wi-Fi consists of the following steps: 1. Mobile Generation and Distribution Simulations require traffic data, such as traffic maps (raster, vector, or live traffic data). Atoll generates a user distribution for each simulation using a Monte Carlo algorithm. This user distribution is based on the traffic data input and is weighted by a Poisson distribution.

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Each mobile generated during the simulations is assigned a service, a mobility type, and a terminal according to the user profile assigned to it. A transmission status is determined according to the activity probabilities. The transmission status is an important output of the simulation as it has a direct impact on the next step of the simulation process, i.e., the radio resource management (RRM), and has an impact on the interference level in the network. Unless fixed, the geographical location of each mobile is determined randomly for the mobiles generated based on the traffic data from traffic maps.

Figure 15.13: Wi-Fi simulation algorithm 2. Best Server Determination Atoll determines the best server for each mobile based on the signal level. For multi-cell transmitters, the best serving transmitter is determined according to the received signal level from the cell with the highest power. If more than one cell covers the mobile, the one with the highest priority signal level is selected as the serving cell. 3. Downlink and Uplink Calculations The downlink and uplink calculations include the calculation of C/(I+N), determination of the best available bearer for the C/(I+N), allocation of resources (RRM), and calculation of user throughputs. 4. Radio Resource Management and Cell Load Calculation Atoll uses an intelligent scheduling algorithm to perform radio resource management. The scheduling algorithm is explained in detail in the Technical Reference Guide. The scheduler: a. Determines the total amount of resources in each cell. b. Selects the first N users from the users generated in the first step, where N is the Max number of users defined in the cell properties. c. Sorts the users in decreasing order by service priority. d. Allocates the resources required to satisfy the minimum throughput demands of the users starting from the first user (with the highest priority service) to the last user. e. If resources still remain in the resource pool after this allocation, allocates resources to the users with maximum throughput demands according to the used scheduling algorithm.

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At the end of the simulations, active users can be connected in the direction corresponding to his activity status if the following conditions are met: • • • •

They have a best server assigned (step 2.). They have a bearer in the direction corresponding to his activity status (step 3.). They are among the users selected by the scheduler for resource allocation (step 4.). They are not rejected due to resource saturation (step 4.).

A user may be rejected in step 2. for "No Coverage" step 3. for "No Service" and step 4. for: • • •

"Scheduler Saturation": The user is not among the users selected for resource allocation. "Resource Saturation": All of the cell’s resources were used up by other users or if, for a user active in uplink, the minimum uplink throughput demand was higher than the uplink allocated bandwidth throughput. "Backhaul Saturation": The user was among the lowest priority service users served by a cell of a site whose defined maximum backhaul throughputs were exceeded while allocating resources for the minimum throughput demands.

15.4.2.2 Wi-Fi Simulation Results After you have created a simulation, as explained in "Creating Simulations" on page 266, you can display the results • •

As a distribution map. To display distribution maps of a simulation, see "Displaying Simulation Results on the Map" on page 270. By accessing the actual values of the simulation. Actual values can be displayed either for a single simulation or as average values for a group of simulations.

This section covers the following topics: • •

15.4.2.2.1

"Displaying the Results of a Single Simulation" on page 1210 "Displaying the Average Results of a Group of Simulations" on page 1213

Displaying the Results of a Single Simulation To access the result values of a simulation: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Simulations folder, and expand the folder of the simulation group containing the simulation whose results you want to access, right-click the simulation, and select Properties from the context menu. A simulation properties dialog box appears. One tab gives statistics of the simulation results. Other tabs in the simulation properties dialog box contain simulation results as identified by the tab title. The Statistics tab contains the following sections: •

Request: Data on the connection requests: •

•

Atoll calculates the total number of users who try to connect. This number is the result of the first random trial; radio resource allocation has not yet finished. The result depends on the traffic description and traffic input. • During the first random trial, each user is assigned a service and an activity status. The number of users per activity status and the UL and DL throughput demands that all users could theoretically generate are provided. • The breakdown per service (total number of users, number of users per activity status, and UL and DL throughput demands) is given. Results: Data on the connection results: • • •

The number of iterations that were run in order to converge. The total number and percentage of users unable to connect: rejected users, and the number of rejected users per rejection cause. The number and percentage of users connected to a cell, the number of users per activity status, and the total UL and DL throughputs they generate. This data is also provided by service.

The Sites tab contains the following information per site: • • • • • •

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Peak MAC aggregate throughput (DL) (kbps): The sum of peak MAC user throughputs of all the users connected in the downlink in all the cells of the site. Effective MAC aggregate throughput (DL) (kbps): The sum of effective MAC user throughputs of all the users connected in the downlink in all the cells of the site. Aggregate application throughput (DL) (kbps): The sum of application throughputs of all the users connected in the downlink in all the cells of the site. Peak MAC aggregate throughput (UL) (kbps): The sum of peak MAC user throughputs of all the users connected in the uplink in all the cells of the site. Effective MAC aggregate throughput (UL) (kbps): The sum of effective MAC user throughputs of all the users connected in the uplink in all the cells of the site. Aggregate application throughput (UL) (kbps): The sum of application throughputs of all the users connected in the uplink in all the cells of the site.

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Connection success rate (%): The percentage of users connected to any cell of the site with respect to the number of users covered by the cells of the site. Total number of connected users: The total number of users connected to any cell of the site in downlink, uplink, or downlink and uplink both. Number of connected users (DL+UL): The number of users connected to any cell of the site in downlink and uplink both. Number of connected users (DL): The number of users connected to any cell of the site in downlink. Number of connected users (UL): The number of users connected to any cell of the site in uplink. No service: The number of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "No service." No service (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "No service." Scheduler saturation: The number of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "Scheduler saturation." Scheduler saturation (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "Scheduler saturation." Resource saturation: The number of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "Resource saturation." Resource saturation (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "Resource saturation." Backhaul saturation: The number of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "Backhaul saturation." Backhaul saturation (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "Backhaul saturation." Peak MAC aggregate throughput (DL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of peak MAC user throughputs of the users connected in the downlink in all the cells of the site. Effective MAC aggregate throughput (DL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of effective MAC user throughputs of the users connected in the downlink in all the cells of the site. Aggregate application throughput (DL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of application throughputs of the users connected in the downlink in all the cells of the site. Peak MAC aggregate throughput (UL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of peak MAC user throughputs of the users connected in the uplink in all the cells of the site. Effective MAC aggregate throughput (UL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of effective MAC user throughputs of the users connected in the uplink in all the cells of the site. Aggregate application throughput (UL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of application throughputs of the users connected in the uplink in all the cells of the site. Connection success rate (%) for each service: For each service, the percentage of users connected to any cell of the site with respect to the number of users covered by the cells of the site.

The Cells tab contains the following information, per site and transmitter: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Traffic load (DL) (%): The traffic loads of the cells calculated on the downlink during the simulation. Traffic load (UL) (%): The traffic loads of the cells calculated on the uplink during the simulation. UL noise rise (dB): The noise rise of the cells calculated on the uplink during the simulation. Peak MAC aggregate throughput (DL) (kbps): The sum of peak MAC user throughputs of all the users connected in the downlink. Effective MAC aggregate throughput (DL) (kbps): The sum of effective MAC user throughputs of all the users connected in the downlink. Aggregate application throughput (DL) (kbps): The sum of application throughputs of all the users connected in the downlink. Peak MAC aggregate throughput (UL) (kbps): The sum of peak MAC user throughputs of all the users connected in the uplink. Effective MAC aggregate throughput (UL) (kbps): The sum of effective MAC user throughputs of all the users connected in the uplink. Aggregate application throughput (UL) (kbps): The sum of application throughputs of all the users connected in the uplink. Connection success rate (%): The percentage of users connected to the cell with respect to the number of users covered by the cell. Total number of connected users: The total number of users connected to the cell in downlink, uplink, or downlink and uplink both. Number of connected users (DL+UL): The number of users connected to the cell in downlink and uplink both. Number of connected users (DL): The number of users connected to the cell in downlink. Number of connected users (UL): The number of users connected to the cell in uplink. No service: The number of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "No service." No service (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "No service." Scheduler saturation: The number of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "Scheduler saturation."

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Scheduler saturation (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "Scheduler saturation." Resource saturation: The number of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "Resource saturation." Resource saturation (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "Resource saturation." Backhaul saturation: The number of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "Backhaul saturation." Backhaul saturation (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "Backhaul saturation." Peak MAC aggregate throughput (DL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of peak MAC user throughputs of the users connected in the downlink. Effective MAC aggregate throughput (DL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of effective MAC user throughputs of the users connected in the downlink. Aggregate application throughput (DL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of application throughputs of the users connected in the downlink. Peak MAC aggregate throughput (UL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of peak MAC user throughputs of the users connected in the uplink. Effective MAC aggregate throughput (UL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of effective MAC user throughputs of the users connected in the uplink. Aggregate application throughput (UL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of application throughputs of the users connected in the uplink. Connection success rate (%) for each service: For each service, the percentage of users connected to the cell with respect to the number of users covered by the cell.

The Mobiles tab contains the following information: • • • • • • • • • •

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

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X and Y: The coordinates of users who attempt to connect (the geographic position is determined by the second random trial). Height: The height of the user terminal (antenna). User profile: The assigned user profile. Atoll uses the assigned service and activity status to determine the terminal and the user profile. Subscriber ID: The ID of the user if the user is generated from a subscriber list and not from a traffic map. Subscriber list: The subscriber list of the user if the user is generated from a subscriber list and not from a traffic map. Service: The service assigned during the first random trial during the generation of the user distribution. Terminal: The assigned terminal. Atoll uses the assigned service and activity status to determine the terminal and the user profile. Mobility: The mobility type assigned during the first random trial during the generation of the user distribution. Activity status: The assigned activity status. It can be Active DL, Active UL, Active DL+UL, or Inactive. Connection status: The connection status indicates whether the user is connected or rejected at the end of the simulation. If connected, the connection status corresponds to the activity status. If rejected, the rejection cause is given. Clutter class: The code of the clutter class where the user is located. Indoor: This field indicates whether indoor losses have been added or not. Best server: The best server of the user. Serving cell: The serving cell of the serving transmitter of the user. Azimuth: The orientation of the user’s terminal antenna in the horizontal plane. Azimuth is always considered with respect to the North. Atoll points the user antenna towards its best server. Downtilt: The orientation of the user’s terminal antenna in the vertical plane. Mechanical downtilt is positive when it is downwards and negative when upwards. Atoll points the user antenna towards its best server. Path loss (dB): The path loss from the best server calculated for the user. 2nd best server: The second best server of the user. 2nd best server path loss (dB): The path loss from the second best server calculated for the user. 3rd best server: The third best server of the user. 3rd best server path loss (dB): The path loss from the third best server calculated for the user. Received power (DL) (dBm): The signal level received at the user location in the downlink. C/(I+N) (DL) (dB): The C/(I+N) at the user location in the downlink. Total noise (I+N) (DL) (dBm): The sum of the traffic interference and noise experienced at the user location in the downlink. Bearer (DL): The highest Wi-Fi bearer available for the traffic C/(I+N) level at the user location in the downlink. Permutation zone (DL): The downlink permutation zone allocated to the user. BLER (DL): The Block Error Rate read from the user terminal’s reception equipment for the traffic C/(I+N) level at the user location in the downlink. Diversity mode (DL): The diversity mode supported by the cell or permutation zone in downlink. Peak MAC channel throughput (DL) (kbps): The maximum MAC channel throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at the user location in the downlink.

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• • •

• • • • • • • • •

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Effective MAC channel throughput (DL) (kbps): The effective MAC channel throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at the user location in the downlink. It is calculated from the peak MAC throughput and the BLER. Application channel throughput (DL) (kbps): The application throughput is the net throughput without coding (redundancy, overhead, addressing, etc.). It is calculated from the effective MAC throughput, the throughput scaling factor of the service and the throughput offset. Peak MAC user throughput (DL) (kbps): The maximum MAC user throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at the user location in the downlink. Effective MAC user throughput (DL) (kbps): The effective MAC user throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at the user location in the downlink. It is calculated from the peak MAC throughput and the BLER. Application user throughput (DL) (kbps): The application throughput is the net throughput without coding (redundancy, overhead, addressing, etc.). It is calculated from the effective MAC throughput, the throughput scaling factor of the service and the throughput offset. Received power (UL) (dBm): The signal level received at the serving transmitter from the user terminal in the uplink. C/(I+N) (UL) (dB): The C/(I+N) at the serving transmitter of the user in the uplink. Total noise (I+N) (UL) (dBm): The sum of the interference and noise experienced at the serving transmitter of the user in the uplink. Bearer (UL): The highest Wi-Fi bearer available for the C/(I+N) level at the serving transmitter of the user in the uplink. BLER (UL): The Block Error Rate read from the serving cell’s reception equipment for the C/(I+N) level at the serving transmitter of the user in the uplink. Diversity mode (UL): The diversity mode supported by the cell or permutation zone in uplink. Transmission power (UL) (dBm): The transmission power of the user terminal after power control in the uplink. Peak MAC channel throughput (UL) (kbps): The maximum MAC channel throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at user location in the uplink. Effective MAC channel throughput (UL) (kbps): The effective MAC channel throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at the user location in the uplink. It is calculated from the peak MAC throughput and the BLER. Application channel throughput (UL) (kbps): The application throughput is the net throughput without coding (redundancy, overhead, addressing, etc.). It is calculated from the effective MAC throughput, the throughput scaling factor of the service and the throughput offset. Peak MAC user throughput (UL) (kbps): The maximum MAC user throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at the user location in the uplink. Effective MAC user throughput (UL) (kbps): The effective MAC user throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at the user location in the uplink. It is calculated from the peak MAC throughput and the BLER. Application user throughput (UL) (kbps): The application throughput is the net throughput without coding (such as redundancy, overhead, addressing). It is calculated from the effective MAC throughput, the throughput scaling factor of the service and the throughput offset. •

•

In Atoll, channel throughputs are peak MAC, effective MAC, or application throughputs achieved at a given location using the highest Wi-Fi bearer with the entire channel resources. If a user is rejected, his user throughput is zero.

The Initial Conditions tab contains the following information:

15.4.2.2.2

•

The input parameters specified when creating the simulation:

•

• Generator initialisation value • Maximum number of iterations • Global scaling factor • Backhaul capacity limitation • Uplink and downlink traffic load convergence thresholds • Uplink noise rise convergence threshold • Names of the traffic maps used. The parameters related to the clutter classes, including the default values.

Displaying the Average Results of a Group of Simulations To display the averaged results of a group of simulations: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Simulations folder, right-click the group of simulations whose results you want to display, and select Average Simulation from the context menu. A properties dialog box appears. One tab gives statistics of the simulation results. Other tabs in the simulation properties dialog box contain the averaged results for all simulations of the group. The Statistics tab contains the following sections:

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Request: Data on the connection requests: •

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Atoll calculates the total number of users who try to connect. This number is the result of the first random trial; radio resource allocation has not yet finished. The result depends on the traffic description and traffic input. During the first random trial, each user is assigned a service and an activity status. The number of users per activity status and the UL and DL throughput demands that all users could theoretically generate are provided. The breakdown per service (total number of users, number of users per activity status, and UL and DL throughput demands) is given.

Results: Data on the connection results: • • •

The number of iterations that were run in order to converge. The total number and percentage of users unable to connect: rejected users, and the number of rejected users per rejection cause. The number and percentage of users connected to a cell, the number of users per activity status, and the total UL and DL throughputs they generate. This data is also provided by service.

The Sites (Average) tab contains the following average information per site: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

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Peak MAC aggregate throughput (DL) (kbps): The sum of peak MAC user throughputs of all the users connected in the downlink in all the cells of the site. Effective MAC aggregate throughput (DL) (kbps): The sum of effective MAC user throughputs of all the users connected in the downlink in all the cells of the site. Aggregate application throughput (DL) (kbps): The sum of application throughputs of all the users connected in the downlink in all the cells of the site. Peak MAC aggregate throughput (UL) (kbps): The sum of peak MAC user throughputs of all the users connected in the uplink in all the cells of the site. Effective MAC aggregate throughput (UL) (kbps): The sum of effective MAC user throughputs of all the users connected in the uplink in all the cells of the site. Aggregate application throughput (UL) (kbps): The sum of application throughputs of all the users connected in the uplink in all the cells of the site. Connection success rate (%): The percentage of users connected to any cell of the site with respect to the number of users covered by the cells of the site. Total number of connected users: The total number of users connected to any cell of the site in downlink, uplink, or downlink and uplink both. Number of connected users (DL+UL): The number of users connected to any cell of the site in downlink and uplink both. Number of connected users (DL): The number of users connected to any cell of the site in downlink. Number of connected users (UL): The number of users connected to any cell of the site in uplink. No service: The number of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "No service." No service (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "No service." Scheduler saturation: The number of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "Scheduler saturation." Scheduler saturation (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "Scheduler saturation." Resource saturation: The number of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "Resource saturation." Resource saturation (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "Resource saturation." Backhaul saturation: The number of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "Backhaul saturation." Backhaul saturation (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to any cell of the site for which the rejection cause was "Backhaul saturation." Peak MAC aggregate throughput (DL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of peak MAC user throughputs of the users connected in the downlink in all the cells of the site. Effective MAC aggregate throughput (DL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of effective MAC user throughputs of the users connected in the downlink in all the cells of the site. Aggregate application throughput (DL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of application throughputs of the users connected in the downlink in all the cells of the site. Peak MAC aggregate throughput (UL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of peak MAC user throughputs of the users connected in the uplink in all the cells of the site. Effective MAC aggregate throughput (UL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of effective MAC user throughputs of the users connected in the uplink in all the cells of the site. Aggregate application throughput (UL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of application throughputs of the users connected in the uplink in all the cells of the site. Connection success rate (%) for each service: For each service, the percentage of users connected to any cell of the site with respect to the number of users covered by the cells of the site.

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The Cells (Average) tab contains the following average information per cell: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Traffic load (DL) (%): The traffic loads of the cells calculated on the downlink during the simulation. Traffic load (UL) (%): The traffic loads of the cells calculated on the uplink during the simulation. UL noise rise (dB): The noise rise of the cells calculated on the uplink during the simulation. Peak MAC aggregate throughput (DL) (kbps): The sum of peak MAC user throughputs of all the users connected in the downlink. Effective MAC aggregate throughput (DL) (kbps): The sum of effective MAC user throughputs of all the users connected in the downlink. Aggregate application throughput (DL) (kbps): The sum of application throughputs of all the users connected in the downlink. Peak MAC aggregate throughput (UL) (kbps): The sum of peak MAC user throughputs of all the users connected in the uplink. Effective MAC aggregate throughput (UL) (kbps): The sum of effective MAC user throughputs of all the users connected in the uplink. Aggregate application throughput (UL) (kbps): The sum of application throughputs of all the users connected in the uplink. Connection success rate (%): The percentage of users connected to the cell with respect to the number of users covered by the cell. Total number of connected users: The total number of users connected to the cell in downlink, uplink, or downlink and uplink both. Number of connected users (DL+UL): The number of users connected to the cell in downlink and uplink both. Number of connected users (DL): The number of users connected to the cell in downlink. Number of connected users (UL): The number of users connected to the cell in uplink. No service: The number of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "No service." No service (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "No service." Scheduler saturation: The number of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "Scheduler saturation." Scheduler saturation (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "Scheduler saturation." Resource saturation: The number of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "Resource saturation." Resource saturation (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "Resource saturation." Backhaul saturation: The number of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "Backhaul saturation." Backhaul saturation (%): The percentage of users unable to connect to the cell for which the rejection cause was "Backhaul saturation." Peak MAC aggregate throughput (DL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of peak MAC user throughputs of the users connected in the downlink. Effective MAC aggregate throughput (DL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of effective MAC user throughputs of the users connected in the downlink. Aggregate application throughput (DL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of application throughputs of the users connected in the downlink. Peak MAC aggregate throughput (UL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of peak MAC user throughputs of the users connected in the uplink. Effective MAC aggregate throughput (UL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of effective MAC user throughputs of the users connected in the uplink. Aggregate application throughput (UL) (kbps) for each service: For each service, the sum of application throughputs of the users connected in the uplink. Connection success rate (%) for each service: For each service, the percentage of users connected to the cell with respect to the number of users covered by the cell.

The Initial Conditions tab contains the following information: •

The input parameters specified when creating the simulation:

•

• Generator initialisation value • Maximum number of iterations • Global scaling factor • Generator initialisation value • Uplink and downlink traffic load convergence thresholds • Uplink noise rise convergence threshold • Names of the traffic maps used. The parameters related to the clutter classes, including the default values.

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15.4.3 Making Coverage Predictions Using Simulation Results In Atoll, you can analyse simulation results by making coverage predictions using simulation results. In a coverage prediction each pixel is considered as a non-interfering probe user with a defined terminal, mobility, and service. The analyses can be based on a single simulation or on an averaged group of simulations. When no simulations are available, Atoll uses the downlink traffic load, uplink noise rise, and any angular distribution of interference stored for each cell to make coverage predictions. For information on cell properties, see "Cell Properties" on page 1168; for information on modifying cell properties, see "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 1171. Once you have made simulations, Atoll can use the information from the simulations instead of the defined parameters in the cell properties to make coverage predictions. For each coverage prediction based on simulation results, you can base the coverage prediction on a selected simulation or on a group of simulations, which uses the average of all simulations in the group. The coverage predictions that can use simulation results are: • • • • •

Coverage by C/(I+N) Level: For information on making a downlink or uplink coverage by C/(I+N) level, see "Studying Interference and C/(I+N) Levels" on page 1184. Service Area Analysis: For information on making a downlink or uplink service area analysis, see "Studying Downlink and Uplink Service Areas" on page 1185. Effective Service Area Analysis: For information on making an effective service area analysis, see "Studying Downlink and Uplink Service Areas" on page 1185. Coverage by Throughput: For information on making a downlink or uplink coverage by throughput, see "Making a Coverage Prediction by Throughput" on page 1187. Coverage by Quality Indicator: For information on making a downlink or uplink coverage by quality indicator, see "Making a Coverage Prediction by Quality Indicator" on page 1189.

When no simulations are available, you select "(Cells table)" from the Load conditions list, on the Conditions tab. However, when simulations are available you can base the coverage prediction on one simulation or a group of simulations. To base a coverage prediction on a simulation or group of simulations, when setting the parameters: 1. Click the Conditions tab. 2. From the Load conditions list, select the simulation or group of simulations on which you want to base the coverage prediction.

15.5 Optimising Network Parameters Using ACP The ACP (Automatic Cell Planning) module enables radio engineers designing Wi-Fi networks to automatically calculate the optimal network settings in terms of network coverage and quality. ACP can also be used to add sites from a list of candidate sites or to remove unnecessary sites or sectors. ACP can also be used in co-planning projects where networks using different radio access technologies must be taken into consideration when calculating the optimal network settings. ACP is primarily intended to improve existing network deployment by reconfiguring the main parameters that can be remotely controlled by operators: antenna electrical tilt and cell power. ACP can also be used during the initial planning stage of a WiFi network by enabling the selection of the antenna, and its azimuth, height, and mechanical tilt. ACP not only takes transmitters into account in optimisations but also any repeaters and remote antennas. ACP can also be used to measure and optimise the EMF exposure created by the network. This permits the optimisation of power and antenna settings to reduce excessive EMF exposure in existing networks and optimal site selection for new transmitters. ACP uses user-defined objectives to evaluate the optimisation, as well as to calculate its implementation cost. Once you have defined the objectives and the network parameters to be optimised, ACP uses an efficient global search algorithm to test many network configurations and propose the reconfigurations that best meet the objectives. ACP presents the changes ordered from the most to the least beneficial, allowing phased implementation or implementation of just a subset of the suggested changes. ACP is technology-independent and can be used to optimise networks using different radio access technologies. Chapter 17: Automatic Cell Planning explains how you configure the ACP module, how you create and run an optimisation setup, and how you can view the results of an optimisation. In this section, only the concepts specific to Wi-Fi networks are explained: • • •

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15.5.1 Wi-Fi Optimisation Objectives ACP optimises the network using user-defined objectives to evaluate the quality of the network reconfiguration. The objectives are dependent on the technology used by the project and are consistent with the corresponding coverage predictions in Atoll. In projects using Wi-Fi, either alone or in co-planning mode, the following objectives are proposed by default: • •

WiFi Coverage WiFi CINR

You can also create the following objectives from the context menu of Objectives in the left-hand pane of the Objectives tab: • •

WiFi 1st-Nth Difference Custom Coverage

You define the optimisation objectives using the Objectives tab of the ACP Setup dialog box. For information on setting objective parameters, see "Setting Objective Parameters" on page 1329.

Figure 15.14: Running ACP Optimisation for a Wi-Fi Network

15.5.2 Wi-Fi Quality Parameters When you create an optimisation setup, you define how ACP evaluates the objectives. The quality parameters are technology dependent. You can base the evaluation of the objectives on a calculated coverage prediction or on manual configuration. If you base the coverage prediction settings on a calculated coverage prediction, ACP will use the ranges and colours defined in the selected coverage prediction as the default for its own predictions. However, if you have saved the display options of an ACP prediction as default, or if you are using a configuration file for ACP, these defined ranges and colours will be used as the default, overriding the settings in the selected coverage prediction. In projects using Wi-Fi, either alone or in co-planning, the following Quality parameters are proposed in the Pixel Rules frame of the objectives properties pages: • • • • • • • •

Signal Level C C⁄N CINR Overlap Best Server Distance 1st-2nd Difference 1st-Nth Difference

To define the quality parameters for Wi-Fi: 1. Open the Setup Properties dialog box to define the optimisation as explained in "Creating an ACP Setup" on page 1319. 2. Click the Objectives tab. 3. Under Parameters, expand the WiFi folder. The list of available quality parameters appears.

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You can base the evaluation of a qualiy analysis prediction on a calculated Atoll prediction, if any, or on a manual configuration. •

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If you base the evaluation of a qualiy analysis prediction on a calculated Atoll prediction, ACP will use the display settings of the calculated Atoll prediction in the qualiy analysis prediction calculated for that objective. If you saved the display settings of a qualiy analysis prediction as defaults, or if you are using a configuration file for ACP, these display settings will be used by default and will override the display settings of the calculated Atoll prediction. For more information on changing the display settings of a quality analysis prediction, see "Changing the Display Properties of ACP Predictions" on page 1379.

Signal Level Click this parameter to define in the right-hand pane how ACP will evaluate coverage by signal level. •

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Base prediction settings on > "Coverage by Signal Level (DL)": ACP will evaluate coverages by signal level based on the parameters used to calculate the selected "Coverage by Signal Level (DL)" prediction in Atoll. Only the coverage predictions displaying a "Best Signal Level" per pixel can be accessed by the ACP. Base prediction settings on > "Manual configuration": If you select this option, you can Enable shadowing margin and define a Cell edge coverage probability. The standard deviations defined in the Atoll clutter are used or, if no clutter information available, default values are used.

C Click this parameter to define in the right-hand pane how ACP will evaluate coverage by C. •

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Base prediction settings on > "Effective Signal Analysis (DL)": ACP will evaluate the coverage by C based on the parameters used to calculate the selected "Effective Signal Analysis (DL)" prediction in Atoll. Only the coverage predictions displaying a "Signal Level" per pixel can be accessed by the ACP. Base prediction settings on > "Manual configuration": If you select this option, you can Enable shadowing margin and define a Cell edge coverage probability. The standard deviations defined in the Atoll clutter are used or, if no clutter information is available, default values are used. Additionally, you can specify: • Service and Terminal that will be used during the calculation of C through gain and losses (i.e., the service body loss, the gain and loss of the terminal antenna, and the terminal noise factor).

C/N Click this parameter to define in the right-hand pane how ACP will evaluate coverage by C/N. •

•

Base prediction settings on > "Effective Signal Analysis (DL)": ACP will evaluate the coverage by C/N based on the parameters used to calculate the selected "Effective Signal Analysis (DL)" prediction in Atoll. Only the coverage predictions displaying a "C/N Level" per pixel can be accessed by the ACP. Base prediction settings on > "Manual configuration": If you select this option, you can Enable shadowing margin and define a Cell edge coverage probability. The standard deviations defined in the Atoll clutter are used or, if no clutter information is available, default values are used. Additionally, you can specify: • Service and Terminal that will be used during the calculation of C/N through gain and losses (i.e., the service body loss, the gain and loss of the terminal antenna, and the terminal noise factor).

CINR Click this parameter to define in the right-hand pane how ACP will evaluate coverage by CINR. •

•

Base prediction settings on > "Coverage by C/(I+N) Level (DL)": ACP will evaluate the coverage by CINR based on the parameters used to calculate the selected "Coverage by C/(I+N) Level (DL)" prediction in Atoll. Only the coverage predictions displaying a "C/(I+N) Level" per pixel can be accessed by the ACP. Base prediction settings on > "Manual configuration": If you select this option, you can Enable shadowing margin and define a Cell edge coverage probability. The standard deviations defined in the Atoll clutter are used or, if no clutter information is available, default values are used. Additionally, you can specify: • Service and Terminal that will be used during the calculation of CINR through gain and losses (i.e., the service body loss, the gain and loss of the terminal antenna, and the terminal noise factor). • Calculation Method for CINR. Select Using frequency plan or Ignoring frequency plan & segmentation.

Overlap / 1st-Nth Click this parameter to define in the right-hand pane how ACP will evaluate coverage by overlapping zones or by 1stNth difference. Overlap •

•

Base prediction settings on > "Overlapping Zones (DL)": ACP will evaluate coverages by overlapping based on the parameters used to calculate the selected "Overlapping Zones (DL)" prediction in Atoll. Only the Atoll predictions displaying a "Number of Servers" per pixel can be accessed by the ACP. Base prediction settings on > "Manual configuration": If you select this option, you can set a Minimum signal level and a Threshold margin.

1st-Nth

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•

•

Base prediction settings on > "Overlapping Zones (DL)": ACP will evaluate coverages by 1st-Nth difference based on the parameters used to calculate the selected "Overlapping Zones (DL)" prediction in Atoll. Since there is no Atoll prediction type equivalent to ACP WiFi 1st-Nth Difference objective, the parameters recovered by ACP from the selected Atoll prediction are limited to the minimum signal level and the shading. The number of servers must always be specified manually next to No. servers. Base prediction settings on > "Manual configuration": If you select this option, specify a Minimum signal level and the No. servers. In both cases, the value you specify next to No. servers determines "Nth" in the WiFi 1st-Nth Difference objective. For instance if you set No. servers to 4, then the "1st-4th Difference" quality parameter will be automatically selected by default in the Quality column of the WiFi 1st-Nth Difference properties page. - Allowed values for No. servers range from 3 to 100, with only one value available per technology. - The "1st-2nd Difference" quality parameter (based on No. servers = 2) is provided by default.

15.5.3 Wi-Fi Quality Analysis Predictions ACP quality analysis predictions can be displayed in the Atoll map window. The same predictions are displayed by default on the Quality tab of an optimisation results window.

Figure 15.15: ACP Quality Analysis Prediction Types for a Wi-Fi Network ACP quality analysis predictions are equivalent to some of Atoll coverage predictions. The following table lists the quality analysis predictions available in ACP for Wi-Fi and the equivalent Wi-Fi coverage predictions in Atoll.

Quality Analysis Prediction in ACP

Equivalent Prediction in Atoll Field setting for Display Type = "Value Intervals"

Signal Level

Coverage by Signal Level (DL) (1) "Best Signal Level (dBm)"

C

Effective Signal Analysis (DL) (1) "Signal Level (DL) (dBm)"

C/N

Effective Signal Analysis (DL) (1) "C/N Level (DL) (dB)"

CINR

Coverage by C/(I+N) Level (DL) (1) "C/(I+N) Level (DL) (dB)"

Overlap

Overlapping Zones (DL) (2) "Number of Servers"

1st-Nth Difference

N/A

(1) For more information, see "Making a Coverage Prediction by Signal Level" on page 1180. (2) For more information, see "Making a Coverage Prediction on Overlapping Zones" on page 1181.

Making these predictions available within ACP enables you to quickly validate the optimisation results without having to commit the results and then calculate a coverage prediction in Atoll. The ACP predictions display results very similar to those that Atoll would display if you committed the optimisation results and calculated Atoll coverage predictions, however, before

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basing any decision to commit the optimisation results on the predictions produced by ACP, you should keep the following recommendations in mind: • • •

•

You should verify the results with a different Atoll coverage prediction, such as the overlapping zones prediction. ACP generated predictions are generated using the entire set of proposed changes. They do not take into account the change subset defined on the Change Details tab. ACP supports optimisation for transmitters belonging to different frequency bands, with predictions provided separately for each frequency band. However multiple-carrier optimisation is not supported in Wi-Fi (case of carriers within same transmitters belonging to different frequency bands). Even after committing the optimisation results, differences can remain between the ACP predictions and the predictions resulting from Atoll coverage predictions.

You can view the exact CINR value on any pixel by letting the pointer rest over the pixel. The CINR value is then displayed in a tip text. For ACP overlapping zones predictions, you can: •

•

Specify a best server threshold: • By entering a value next to Minimum Signal Level in the Overlap / 1st-Nth properties page, • Or by setting the param.wifi.overlap.minRxLevel option with the same value in the [ACPTplObjectivePage] section of the ACP.ini file. Specify a threshold margin: • •

By entering a value next to Threshold margin in the Overlap / 1st-Nth properties page, Or by setting the param.wifi.overlap.margin option with the same value in the [ACPTplObjectivePage] section of the ACP.ini file.

For each network quality coverage prediction, ACP offers a prediction showing the initial network state, the final network state, and a prediction showing the changes between the initial and final state.

15.6 Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data An important step in the process of creating a Wi-Fi network is to analyse the network performance using drive test data. This is done using measurements of the strength of the signals and C/(I+N) in different locations within the area covered by the network. This collection of measurements is called drive test data. The data contained in a drive test data path is used to verify the accuracy of current network parameters and to optimise the network. This section covers the following topics: • • • • • • •

"Importing a Drive Test Data Path" on page 1220 "Displaying Drive Test Data" on page 1222 "Defining the Display of a Drive Test Data Path" on page 1222 "Network Verification" on page 1223 "Exporting a Drive Test Data Path" on page 1227 "Extracting CW Measurements from Drive Test Data" on page 1227 "Printing and Exporting the Drive Test Data Window" on page 1227

15.6.1 Importing a Drive Test Data Path In Atoll, you can analyse networks by importing drive test data in the form of ASCII text files (with tabs, commas, semi-colons, or spaces as separator), TEMS FICS-Planet export files (with the extension PLN), or TEMS text export files (with the extension FMT). For Atoll to be able to use the data in imported files, the imported files must contain the following information: • •

The position of drive test data points. When you import the data, you must indicate which columns give the abscissa and ordinate (XY coordinates) of each point. Information identifying scanned cells (for example, serving cells, neighbour cells, or any other cells). In Wi-Fi networks, a cell can be identified by its BSID (6-byte MAC address).

You can import a single drive test data file or several drive test data files at the same time. If you regularly import drive test data files with the same format, you can create an import configuration. The import configuration contains information that defines the structure of the data in the drive test data file. By using the import configuration, you will not need to define the data structure each time you import a new drive test data file.

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To import one or several drive test data files: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Drive Test Data folder and select Import from the context menu. The Open dialog box appears. 2. Select the file or files you want to open. You can import one or several files. If you are importing more than one file, you can select contiguous files by clicking the first file you want to import, pressing Shift and clicking the last file you want to import. You can select non-contiguous files by pressing Ctrl and clicking each file you want to import. 3. Click Open. The Import of Measurement Files dialog box appears. Files with the extension PLN, as well as some FMT files (created with old versions of TEMS) are imported directly into Atoll; you will not be asked to define the data structure using the Import of Measurement Files dialog box. 4. If you already have an import configuration defining the data structure of the imported file or files, you can select it from the Import configuration list on the Setup tab of the Import of Measurement Files dialog box. If you do not have an import configuration, continue with step 5. a. Under Import configuration, select an import configuration from the Configuration list. b. Continue with step 8. •

•

When importing a drive test data path file, existing configurations are available in the Files of type list of the Open dialog box, sorted according to their date of creation. After you have selected a file and clicked Open, Atoll automatically proposes a configuration, if it recognises the extension. If several configurations are associated with an extension, Atoll chooses the first configuration in the list. The defined configurations are stored, by default, in the file "NumMeasINIFile.ini", located in the directory where Atoll is installed. For more information on the NumMeasINIFile.ini file, see the Administrator Manual.

5. Click the General tab. On the General tab, you can set the following parameters: • • •

Name: By default, Atoll names the new drive test data path after the imported file. You can change this name if desired. Under Receiver, set the Height of the receiver antenna and the Gain and Losses. Under Measurement conditions: • •

Units: Select the measurement units used. Coordinates: By default, Atoll imports the coordinates using the display system of the Atoll document. If the coordinates used in the file you are importing are different than the coordinates used in the Atoll document, you must click the Browse button and select the coordinate system used in the drive test data file. Atoll will then convert the data imported to the coordinate system used in the Atoll document.

6. Click the Setup tab. a. Under File, enter the number of the 1st measurement row, select the data Separator, and select the Decimal symbol used in the file. b. Click the Setup button to link file columns and internal Atoll fields. The Drive Test Data Setup dialog box appears. c. Under Measurement point position, select the columns in the imported file that give the X-coordinates and the Y-coordinates of each point in the drive test data file. You can also identify the columns containing the XY coordinates of each point in the drive test data file by selecting them from the Field row of the table on the Setup tab.

d. Under Server identification, select By BSID and the column containing the BSIDs of the scanned cells in the By BSID list. e. Click OK to close the Drive Test Data Setup dialog box.

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•

•

If you have correctly entered the information under File on the Setup tab, and the necessary values in the Drive Test Data Setup dialog box, Atoll should recognise all columns in the imported file. If not, you can click the name of the column in the table in the Field row and select the column name. For each field, you must ensure that each column has the correct data type in order for the data to be correctly interpreted. The default value under Type is "". Columns marked with "" will not be imported. The data in the file must be structured so that the column identifying the BSID is placed before the data columns for each cell. Otherwise Atoll will not be able to properly import the file.

7. If you want to save the definition of the data structure so that you can use it again, you can save it as an import configuration: a. On the Setup tab, under Import configuration, click Save. The Configuration dialog box appears. b. By default, Atoll saves the configuration in a file called "NumMeasINIfile.ini" found in Atoll installation folder. In case you cannot write into that folder, you can click Browse to choose a different location. c. Enter a Configuration name and an Extension of the files that this import configuration will describe (for example, "*.txt"). d. Click OK. Atoll will now select this import configuration automatically every time you import a drive test data path file with the selected extension. If you import a file with the same structure but a different extension, you can select this import configuration from the Import configuration list. • •

•

You do not have to complete the import procedure to save the import configuration and have it available for future use. When importing a measurement file, you can expand the NumMeasINIfile.ini file by clicking the Expand button ( ) in front of the file under Import configuration to display all the available import configurations. When selecting the appropriate configuration, the associations are automatically made in the table at the bottom of the dialog box. You can delete an existing import configuration by selecting the import configuration file under Import configuration and clicking the Delete button.

8. Click Import, if you are only importing a single file, or Import all, if you are importing more than one file. The drive test data is imported into the current Atoll document.

15.6.2 Displaying Drive Test Data When you have imported the drive test data into the current Atoll document, you can display it in the map window. Then, you can select individual drive test data points to see the information at that location. To display information about a single drive test data point: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder and select the display check box of the drive test data you want to display in the map window. The drive test data is displayed. 2. Click and hold the drive test data point on which you want more information. Atoll displays an arrow pointing towards the serving cell in the same colour as the transmitter.

15.6.3 Defining the Display of a Drive Test Data Path You can manage the display of drive test data paths using the Display tab of a drive test data path Properties dialog box. The points on a drive test data path can be displayed according to any available attribute. You can also use the Display tab to define labels, tip text and the legend. To display the Display tab of a drive test data path Properties dialog box: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data path whose display you want to set, and select Properties from the context menu. The drive test data path properties dialog box appears. 2. Click the Display tab. Each point can be displayed by a unique attribute or according to: • •

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In addition, you can display points by more than one criterion at a time using the Advanced option in the Display type list. When you select Advanced from the Display type list, the Shadings dialog box opens in which you can define the following display for each single point of the measurement path: • • •

A symbol according to any attribute. A symbol colour according to any attribute. A symbol size according to any attribute.

You can, for example, display a signal level in a certain colour, choose a symbol for each transmitter (such as a circle, triangle, cross) and a symbol size according to the altitude. • • •

•

Fast display forces Atoll to use the lightest symbol to display the points. This is particularly useful when you have a very large number of points. You can not use Advanced display if the Fast display check box has been selected. You can sort drive test data paths in alphabetical order in the Network explorer by right-clicking the Drive Test Data Path folder and selecting Sort Alphabetically from the context menu. You can save the display settings (such as colours and symbols) of a drive test data path in a user configuration file to make them available for use on another drive test data path. To save or load the user configuration file, click the Actions button on the Display tab of the path properties dialog box and select Save or Load from the Display Configuration submenu.

15.6.4 Network Verification The imported drive test data is used to verify the Wi-Fi network. To improve the relevance of the data, Atoll allows you to filter out incompatible or inaccurate points. You can then compare the drive test measurements with coverage predictions. To compare drive test data with coverage predictions, you overlay coverage predictions calculated by Atoll with the drive test data path displayed using the same parameter as that used to calculate the coverage prediction. This section covers the following topics: • • • • • •

"Filtering Measurement Points Along Drive Test Data Paths" on page 1223 "Predicting the Signal Level on Drive Test Data Points" on page 1224 "Creating Coverage Predictions on Drive Test Data Paths" on page 1225 "Displaying Statistics Over a Drive Test Data Path" on page 1225 "Extracting a Field From a Drive Test Data Path for a Transmitter" on page 1226 "Analysing Measurement Variations Along the Path" on page 1226

15.6.4.1 Filtering Measurement Points Along Drive Test Data Paths When using a drive test data path, some measured points may present values that are too far outside the median values to be useful. As well, test paths may include test points in areas that are not representative of the drive test data path as a whole. For example, a test path that includes two heavily populated areas might also include test points from a more lightly populated region between the two. You can filter out unreliable measurement points from the drive test data path either geographically, by filtering by clutter classes and the focus zone, or using an advanced filter. To filter out measurement points by clutter class: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data path on which you want to filter out measurement points, and select Filter from the context menu. The Drive Test Data Filter dialog box appears. 2. Under Clutter classes, clear the check boxes of the clutter classes you want to exclude. Measurement points located on the excluded clutter classes will be filtered out. 3. If you want to use the focus zone as part of the filter, select the Use focus zone to filter check box. Measurement points located outside the focus zone will be filtered out. 4. If you want to permanently delete the measurement points outside the filter, select the Delete points outside the filter check box. • •

You can apply a filter on all the drive test data paths in the Drive Test Data folder by selecting Filter from the context menu of the folder. If you want to use the measurement points that you permanently deleted, you will have to import the drive test data path again.

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5. Click More to filter out measurement points using an advanced filter. The Filter dialog box appears. For more information on using the Filter dialog box, see "Advanced Data Filtering" on page 101. You can update heights (of the DTM, and clutter heights) and the clutter class of drive test data points after adding new geographic maps or modifying existing ones by selecting Refresh Geo Data from the context menu of the Drive Test Data folder.

15.6.4.2 Predicting the Signal Level on Drive Test Data Points To predict the signal level on drive test data points: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data path on which you want to create the point prediction, and select Calculations > Create a New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Under Point predictions, select Point Signal Level and click OK. The Point Signal Level Properties dialog box appears (see Figure 15.16).

Figure 15.16: Point Signal Level Properties dialog box The errors between measured and predicted signal levels can be calculated and added to the drive test data table. 3. If you want to calculate errors between measured and predicted signal levels, under Select signal levels for error calculations, select the names of the columns representing measured signal level values in the drive test data table for which you want to calculate the errors (see Figure 15.17). If you do not want to add this information to the drive test data table, continue with step 4.

Figure 15.17: Selecting Measured Signal Levels for which Errors will be Calculated 4. Click OK. A point prediction is created for the selected drive test data path. 5. Right-click the drive test data path and select Calculations > Calculate All the Predictions from the context menu. If you chose to have Atoll calculate the errors between measured and predicted signal levels, new columns are added to the drive test data table for the predicted point signal level from the serving cell and the errors between the measured and predicted values.

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Figure 15.18: Drive Test Data Table after Point Signal Level Prediction (with Error Calculations) New columns are also added for the predicted point signal level from each neighbour cell and the errors between the predicted and measured values. The values stored in these columns can be displayed in the Drive Test Data analysis tool. For more information on the Drive Test Data analysis tool, see "Analysing Measurement Variations Along the Path" on page 1226. The propagation model used to calculate the predicted point signal levels is the one assigned to the transmitter for the main matrix. For more information on propagation models, see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models.

15.6.4.3 Creating Coverage Predictions on Drive Test Data Paths You can create the following coverage predictions for all transmitters on each point of a drive test data path: •

Coverage by Signal Level (DL)

To create a coverage prediction along a drive test data path: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data to which you want to add a coverage prediction, and select Calculations > Create a New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Under Standard predictions, select one of the following coverage predictions and click OK: •

Coverage by Signal Level (DL): Click the Conditions tab. • • • •

On the Conditions tab, you can set the range of the signal level to be calculated. Under Server, you can select whether to calculate the signal level from all transmitters, or only the best or second-best signal. If you choose to calculate the best or second-best signal, you can enter an Overlap margin. If you select the Shadowing taken into account check box, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability. You can select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

3. When you have finished setting the parameters for the coverage prediction, click OK. You can create other coverage predictions by repeating the procedure from step 1. to step 3. for each new coverage prediction. 4. When you have finished creating coverage predictions for these drive test data, right-click the drive test data and select Calculations > Calculate All the Predictions from the context menu. A new column for each coverage prediction is added in the table for the drive test data. The column contains the predicted values of the selected parameters for the transmitter. The propagation model used is the one assigned to the transmitter for the main matrix (for information on the propagation model, see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models). You can display the information in these new columns in the Drive Test Data analysis tool. For more information on the Drive Test Data analysis tool, see "Analysing Measurement Variations Along the Path" on page 1226.

15.6.4.4 Displaying Statistics Over a Drive Test Data Path If predictions have been calculated along a drive test data path, you can display the statistics between the measured and the predicted values on that path. To display the statistics for a specific drive test data path: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data from which you want to display comparative statistics, and select Display Statistics from the context menu. The Measurement and Prediction Fields Selection dialog box appears. 2. Under For the following transmitters, select one or more transmitters to include in the statistics. 3. Under Select the predicted values, select the fields that contain the predicted values that you want to use in the statistics.

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4. Under Select the measured values, select the fields that contain the measured values that you want to use in the statistics. 5. Enter the Measured values range for the statistics. Only the measured values within this range will be included in the statistics. 6. Click OK. Atoll opens a window listing statistics of comparison between measured and predicted values.

15.6.4.5 Extracting a Field From a Drive Test Data Path for a Transmitter You can extract information for a selected transmitter from a field of a drive test data path. The extracted information is available in a new column in the drive test data table. To extract a field from a drive test data path: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data from which you want to extract a field, and select Focus on a Transmitter from the context menu. The Field Selection for a Given Transmitter dialog box appears. 2. Under On the transmitter, select the transmitter for which you want to extract a field. 3. Under For the fields, select the fields that you want to extract for the selected transmitter. 4. Click OK. Atoll creates a new column in the drive test data path table for the selected transmitter and with the selected values.

15.6.4.6 Analysing Measurement Variations Along the Path In Atoll, you can analyse variations in measurements along any drive test data path using the Drive Test Data analysis tool. You can also use the Drive Test Data analysis tool to find serving cells of points. To analyse measurement variations using the Drive Test Data analysis tool. 1. Select Tools > Drive Test Data from the menu bar. The Drive Test Data analysis tool appears. 2. In the Drive Test Data analysis tool, click the Display button. The Display Parameters dialog box appears. 3. In the Display Parameters dialog box: • • •

Select the check box next to each field you want to display in the Drive Test Data analysis tool. If you want, you can change the display colour by clicking the colour in the Colour column and selecting a new colour from the palette that appears. Click OK. You can change the display status or the colour of more than one field at the same time by selecting several fields. You can select contiguous fields by clicking the first field, pressing Shift and clicking the last field. You can select non-contiguous fields by pressing Ctrl and clicking each field. You can then change the display status or the colour by right-clicking on the selected fields and selecting the choice from the context menu. The selected fields are displayed in the Drive Test Data analysis tool.

4. You can display the data in the drive test data path in the following ways: • •

Click the values in the Drive Test Data analysis tool. Click the points on the drive test data path in the map window.

The drive test data path appears in the map window as an arrow pointing towards the best server in the same colour as the transmitter. 5. You can display a secondary Y-axis on the right side of the window in order to display the values of a variable with different orders of magnitude than the ones selected in the Display Parameters dialog box. You select the value to be displayed from the right-hand list at the top of the Drive Test Data analysis tool. The values are displayed in the colour defined in the Display Parameters dialog box. 6. You can zoom in on the graph displayed in the Drive Test Data analysis tool in the following ways: •

Zoom in or out: i.

Right-click the Drive Test Data analysis tool. The context menu appears.

ii. Select Zoom In or Zoom Out from the context menu. •

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i.

Right-click the Drive Test Data analysis tool on one end of the range of data you want to zoom in on. The context menu appears.

ii. Select First Zoom Point from the context menu. iii. Right-click the Drive Test Data analysis tool on the other end of the range of data you want to zoom in on. The context menu appears. iv. Select Last Zoom Point from the context menu. The Drive Test Data analysis tool zooms in on the data between the first zoom point and the last zoom point. 7. Click the data in the Drive Test Data analysis tool to display the selected point in the map window. Atoll will centre the map window on the selected point if it is not presently visible. If you open the table for the drive test data you are displaying in the Drive Test Data analysis tool, Atoll will automatically display in the table the data for the point that is displayed in the map and in the Drive Test Data analysis tool.

15.6.5 Exporting a Drive Test Data Path You can export drive test data paths to files as vector data. To export a drive test data path to a vector file: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data path you want to export, and select Export from the context menu. The Save As dialog box appears. 2. Enter a File name for the drive test data path and select a format from the Save as type list. 3. Click Save. The drive test data path is exported and saved in the file.

15.6.6 Extracting CW Measurements from Drive Test Data You can generate CW measurements from drive test data paths and extract the results to the CW Measurements folder. To generate CW measurement from a drive test data path: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data path from which you want to export CW measurements, and select Extract CW Measurements from the context menu. The CW Measurement Extraction dialog box appears. 2. Under Extract CW measurements: a. Select one or more transmitters from the For the transmitters list. b. Select the field that contains the information that you want to export to CW measurements from the For the fields list. 3. Under Extraction parameters of CW measurement paths: a. Enter the Min. number of points to extract per measurement path. CW measurements are not created for transmitters that have fewer points than this number. b. Enter the minimum and maximum Measured signal levels. CW measurements are created with drive test data points where the signal levels are within this specified range. 4. Click OK. Atoll creates new CW measurements for transmitters satisfying the parameters set in the CW Measurement Extraction dialog box. For more information about CW measurements, see the Model Calibration Guide.

15.6.7 Printing and Exporting the Drive Test Data Window You can print and export the contents of the Drive Test Data analysis tool. To print or export the contents of the Drive Test Data analysis tool: 1. Select Tools > Drive Test Data from the menu bar. The Drive Test Data analysis tool appears. 2. Define the display parameters and zoom level as explained in "Analysing Measurement Variations Along the Path" on page 1226. 3. Right-click the Drive Test Data analysis tool and select one of the following from the context menu: • •

Print to print the Drive Test Data analysis tool. Copy then paste to export the Drive Test Data window.

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15.7 Co-planning Wi-Fi Networks with Other Networks Atoll is a multi-technology radio network planning tool. You can work on several technologies at the same time, and several network scenarios can be designed for any given area (such as a country, a region, or a city). For example, you can design a Wi-Fi and an LTE network for the same area in Atoll, and then work with Atoll co-planning features to study the mutual impacts of the two networks. Before starting a co-planning project in Atoll, the Atoll administrator must perform the pre-requisite tasks that are relevant for your project as described in the Administrator Manual. Sectors of both networks can share the same sites database. You can display base stations (sites and sectors), geographic data, and coverage predictions of one network in the other network’s Atoll document. You can also study inter-technology handovers by performing inter-technology neighbour allocations, manually or automatically. Inter-technology neighbours are allocated on criteria such as the distance between sectors or overlapping coverage. In addition, you can optimise the settings of the two networks using the Atoll Automatic Cell Planning (ACP) module. You can also carry out analyses of mobile traffic offloading to Wi-Fi. In other words, Atoll allows you to perform network capacity analyses of your mobile network alone and in the case where you can have a Wi-Fi network available to carry a part of your mobile network traffic. This section covers the following topics: • • • • • •

"Switching to Co-planning Mode" on page 1228 "Performing a Traffic Offload Analysis" on page 1229 "Working with Coverage Predictions in a Co-planning Project" on page 1231 "Planning Neighbours in Co-planning Mode" on page 1233 "Using ACP in Co-planning Mode" on page 1234 "Ending Co-planning Mode" on page 1235

15.7.1 Switching to Co-planning Mode Before starting a co-planning project, you must have two networks designed for a given area, which means that you must have a Wi-Fi Atoll document and an Atoll document for the other network. Atoll switches to co-planning mode as soon as the two documents are linked together. In the following sections, the Wi-Fi document will be referred to as the main document, and the other document as the linked document. Atoll does not establish any restriction on which is the main document and which is the linked document. Before starting a co-planning project, make sure that your main and linked documents have the same geographic coordinate systems.

To switch to co-planning mode: 1. Open the main document. •

Select File > Open or File > New > From an Existing Database.

2. Link the other document with the open main document. a. Click the map window of the main document. The map window of the main document becomes active and the explorer window shows the contents of the main document. b. Select Document > Link With > Browse. The Link With dialog box appears. c. Select the document to be linked. d. Click Open. The selected document is opened in the same Atoll session as the main document and the two documents are linked. The Explorer window of the main document now contains a folder named Transmitters in [linked document], where [linked document] is the name of the linked document and another folder named Predictions in [linked document]. By default, only the Transmitters and Predictions folders of the linked document appear in the main document. If you want the Sites folder of the linked document to appear in the main document as well, you can set an option in the Atoll.ini file. For information on setting options in the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual.

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As soon as a link is created between the two documents, Atoll switches to co-planning mode and the co-planning features are now available. When you are working on a co-planning document, Atoll facilitates working on two different but linked documents by synchronising the display in the map window between both documents. Atoll synchronises the display for the following: • • • •

Geographic data: Atoll synchronises the display of geographic data such as clutter classes and the DTM. If you select or deselect one type of geographic data, Atoll makes the corresponding change in the linked document. Zones: Atoll synchronises the display of filtering, focus, computation, hot spot, printing, and geographic export zones. If you select or deselect one type of zone, Atoll makes the corresponding change in the linked document. Map display: Atoll co-ordinates the display of the map in the map window. When you move the map, or change the zoom level in one document, Atoll makes the corresponding changes in the linked document. Point analysis: When you use the Point Analysis tool, Atoll co-ordinates the display on both the working document and the linked document. You can select a point and view the profile in the main document and then switch to the linked document to make an analysis on the same profile but in the linked document.

Displaying Both Networks in the Same Atoll Document After you have switched to co-planning mode as explained in "Switching to Co-planning Mode" on page 1228, transmitters and predictions from the linked document are displayed in the main document. If you want, you can display other items or folders from the explorer window of the linked document to the explorer window of the main document (for example, you can display LTE sites and measurement paths in a Wi-Fi document). To display sites from the linked document in the main document: 1. Click the map window of the linked document. The map window of the linked document becomes active and the explorer window shows the contents of the linked document. 2. In the Network explorer, right-click the Sites folder, select Make Accessible In from the context menu, and select the name of the main document from the submenu that opens. The Sites folder of the linked document is now available in the main document. The Explorer window of the main document now contains a folder named Sites in [linked document], where [linked document] is the name of the linked document. If you want the Sites folder of the linked document to appear in the main document automatically, you can set an option in the Atoll.ini file. For information on setting options in the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual. The same process can be used to link other folders (such as CW Measurements, Drive Test Data, Clutter Classes, Traffic, and DTM) from one document in the other document. Once the folders are linked, you can access their properties and the properties of the items in the folders from either of the two documents. Any changes you make in the linked document are taken into account in the both the linked and main documents. However, because working document is the main document, any changes made in the main document are not automatically taken into account in the linked document. If you close the linked document, Atoll displays a warning icon (

) in the Explorer window of the main document, and the

linked items are no longer accessible from the main document. You can load the linked document in Atoll again by right-clicking the linked item in the explorer window of the main document, and selecting Open Linked Document. The administrator can create and set a configuration file for the display parameters of linked and main document transmitters in order to enable you to distinguish them on the map and to be able to select them on the map using the mouse. If such a configuration file has not been set up, you can choose different symbols, sizes and colours for the linked and the main document transmitters. For more information on folder configurations, see "Folder Configurations" on page 107. You can also set the tip text to enable you to distinguish the objects and data displayed on the map. For more information on tip text, see "Associating a Tip Text to an Object" on page 54. In order to more easily view differences between the networks, you can also change the order of the folders or items in the explorer window. For more information on changing the order of items in the explorer window, see "Changing the Order of Layers" on page 51.

15.7.2 Performing a Traffic Offload Analysis You can also carry out traffic offload analysis in co-planning mode, which means study the amount of mobile traffic from a mobile network (LTE, UMTS, etc.) that can be carried by a Wi-Fi network layer deployed on top of the mobile network. To perform traffic offload analysis: 1. Switch to the linked document (mobile network document). 2. In the Network explorer, right-click the Simulations folder and select New from the context menu. The properties dialog box for a new simulation or group of simulations appears.

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3. On the General tab: a. Enter a Name for this simulation or group of simulations. b. Under Execution, you can set the Number of simulations to be carried out. All simulations created at the same time are grouped together in a folder in the Network explorer. c. You can enter some Comments if needed. 4. On the Traffic tab, enter the following: •

Global scaling factor: If needed, enter a scaling factor to increase user density. The global scaling factor enables you to increase user density without changing traffic parameters or traffic maps. For example, setting the global scaling factor to 2 is the same as doubling the initial number of subscribers (for environment and user profile traffic maps) or the throughputs/users (for sector traffic maps).

•

Select traffic maps to be used: Select the traffic maps in the mobile network technology (linked) document that you want to use for the simulation.

5. On the technology-specific tab, named after the technology of the linked mobile network document, define the load constraints and convergence criteria specific to the mobile network. 6. On the Wi-Fi tab, select the Take the Wi-Fi network into account check box and enter the following: •

Under Load constraints, enter the Max DL traffic load and Max UL traffic load. •

•

If you want to enter a global value for a maximum traffic load, click the button ( Global threshold. Then, enter a maximum traffic load.

) beside the box and select

•

If you want to use the maximum traffic load as defined in the properties for each cell, click the button ( beside the box and select Defined per cell. Under Convergence, enter the following parameters:

)

•

DL traffic load convergence threshold: Enter the relative difference in terms of downlink traffic load that must be reached between two iterations. UL traffic load convergence threshold: Enter the relative difference in terms of uplink traffic load that must be reached between two iterations. UL noise rise convergence threshold: Enter the relative difference in terms of uplink noise rise that must be reached between two iterations.

• •

7. On the Advanced tab, enter the following: • •

Max number of iterations: Enter the maximum number of iterations that Atoll should run to make convergence. Generator initialisation: Enter an integer as the generator initialisation value. If you enter "0," the default, the user and shadowing error distribution will be random. If you enter any other integer, the same user and shadowing error distribution will be used for any simulation using the same generator initialisation value. Using the same generated user and shadowing error distribution for several simulations can be useful when you want to compare the results of several simulations where only one parameter changes.

8. Once you have defined the simulation, click Calculate to save the defined simulation and calculate it immediately. When you calculate a Monte Carlo simulation in co-planning mode with Wi-Fi network taken into account, Atoll carries out the following steps: 1. Creates a mobile user distribution on the map based on the selected traffic maps from the mobile network document. 2. Sends this mobile distribution to the main Wi-Fi document. 3. Creates and runs a Wi-Fi Monte Carlo simulation in the Wi-Fi document, with the same parameters as those set in the mobile network document when creating the co-planning simulation, using the mobile distribution received from the mobile network document. In other words, traffic maps in the mobile network document are used to generate the traffic scenario. Any traffic maps available in the Wi-Fi document are not used. 4. In order for a mobile generated by Atoll in step 1. to be taken into account in the Wi-Fi Monte Carlo simulation, the mobile’s service, terminal, and mobility type must exist in the traffic parameter definition in the Wi-Fi document. 5. Once the Wi-Fi Monte Carlo simulation is complete, the list of mobiles unable to connect to Wi-Fi is sent back to the mobile network document as potential users attempting to connect to the mobile network, and the list of mobiles connected to Wi-Fi is sent back to the mobile network document with their connection status set to "Connected WiFi." 6. Runs the mobile network Monte Carlo simulation using the list of mobiles unable to connect to Wi-Fi.

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The Monte Carlo simulation results in the mobile network document contain the number of mobiles connected to Wi-Fi, in addition to the usual results of the mobile network Monte Carlo simulations. The Wi-Fi Monte Carlo simulation results, in the Wi-Fi document, contain detailed results for the mobiles connected to Wi-Fi. For more information on the Monte Carlo simulation results available in Wi-Fi, see "Wi-Fi Simulation Results" on page 1210. In order to study the impact of a Wi-Fi network on your mobile network, you can perform Monte Carlo simulations in your mobile network document with and without taking the Wi-Fi network into account, and compare the statistics on the numbers of connected and rejected users, throughputs, and cell loads, in the two cases.

15.7.3 Working with Coverage Predictions in a Co-planning Project Atoll provides you with features that enable you to work with coverage predictions in your co-planning project. You can modify the properties of coverage predictions in the linked document from within the main document, and calculate coverage predictions in both documents at the same time. You can also study and compare the coverage predictions of the two networks. This section covers the following topics: • •

"Updating Coverage Predictions" on page 1231 "Analysing Coverage Predictions" on page 1231

15.7.3.1 Updating Coverage Predictions You can access the properties of the coverage predictions in the linked Predictions folder in the Explorer window of the main document. After modifying the linked coverage prediction properties, you can update them from the main document. To update a linked coverage prediction: 1. Click the map window of the main document. The map window of the main document becomes active and the explorer window shows the contents of the main document and the linked folders from the linked document. 2. In the Network explorer, expand the Predictions in [linked document] folder, where [linked document] is the name of the linked document, right-click the linked coverage prediction whose properties you want to modify, and select Properties from the context menu. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 3. Modify the calculation and display parameters of the coverage prediction. 4. Click OK to save your settings. 5. Click the Calculate button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar.

When you click the Calculate button, Atoll first calculates uncalculated and invalid path loss matrices and then unlocked coverage predictions in the main and linked Predictions folders. When you have several unlocked coverage predictions defined in the main and linked Predictions folders, Atoll calculates them one after the other. For information on locking and unlocking coverage predictions, see "Locking and Unlocking Coverage Predictions" on page 207. You can make Atoll recalculate all path loss matrices, including valid ones, before calculating unlocked coverage predictions in the main and linked Predictions folders. To recalculate all path loss matrices before calculating coverage predictions: 1. Click the Force Calculate button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar.

When you click the Force Calculate button, Atoll first removes existing path loss matrices, recalculates them and then calculates unlocked coverages predictions defined in the main and linked Predictions folders. To prevent Atoll from calculating coverage predictions in the linked Predictions folder, you can set an option in the Atoll.ini file. For information on setting options in the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual.

15.7.3.2 Analysing Coverage Predictions In Atoll, you can analyse coverage predictions of the two networks together. You can display information about coverage predictions in the main and the linked documents in the Legend window, use tip text to get information on displayed coverage predictions, compare coverage areas by overlaying the coverage predictions in the map window, and study the differences between the coverage areas by creating coverage comparisons. If several coverage predictions are visible on the map, it might be difficult to clearly see the results of the coverage prediction you want to analyse. You can select which coverage predictions to display or to hide by selecting or clearing the display check box. For information on managing the display, see "Displaying or Hiding Objects on the Map" on page 50.

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In this section, the following are explained: • • • • •

15.7.3.2.1

"Co-Planning Coverage Analysis Process" on page 1232 "Displaying the Legend Window" on page 1232 "Comparing Coverage Prediction Results Using Tip Text" on page 1232 "Comparing Coverage Areas by Overlaying Coverage Predictions" on page 1232 "Studying Differences Between Coverage Areas" on page 1233.

Co-Planning Coverage Analysis Process The aim of coverage analysis in a co-planning project is to compare the coverage areas of the two networks and to analyse the impact of changes made in one network on the other. Changes made to the sectors of one network might also have an impact on sectors in the other network if the sectors in the two networks share some antenna parameters. You can carry out a coverage analysis with Atoll to find the impact of these changes. The recommended process for analysing coverage areas, and the effect of parameter modifications in one on the other, is as follows: 1. Create and calculate a Coverage by Transmitter (DL) (best server with 0 dB overlap margin) coverage prediction and a Coverage by Signal Level (DL) coverage prediction in the main document. For more information, see "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter" on page 1181 and "Making a Coverage Prediction by Signal Level" on page 1180. 2. Create and calculate a Coverage by Transmitter (DL) (best server with 0 dB overlap margin) coverage prediction and a Coverage by Signal Level (DL) coverage prediction in the linked document. 3. Choose display settings for the coverage predictions and tip text contents that will allow you to easily interpret the predictions displayed in the map window. This can help you to quickly assess information graphically and using the mouse. You can change the display settings of the coverage predictions on the Display tab of each coverage prediction Properties dialog box. 4. Make the two new coverage predictions in the linked document accessible in the main document as described in "Displaying Both Networks in the Same Atoll Document" on page 1229. 5. Optimise the main network by changing parameters such as antenna azimuth and tilt or the pilot power. You can use a tool such as the Atoll ACP to optimise the network. Changes made to the shared antenna parameters will be automatically propagated to the linked document. 6. Calculate the coverage predictions in the main document again to compare the effects of the changes you made with the linked coverage predictions. For information on comparing coverage predictions, see "Comparing Coverage Areas by Overlaying Coverage Predictions" on page 1232 and "Studying Differences Between Coverage Areas" on page 1233. 7. Calculate the linked coverage predictions again to study the effects of the changes on the linked coverage predictions.

15.7.3.2.2

Displaying the Legend Window When you create a coverage prediction, you can add the displayed values of the coverage prediction to the legend by selecting the Add to legend check box on the Display tab. To display the Legend window: 1. Select View > Legend Window. The Legend window is displayed, with the values for each displayed coverage prediction in the main and linked Predictions folders, identified by the name of the coverage prediction.

15.7.3.2.3

Comparing Coverage Prediction Results Using Tip Text You can compare coverage predictions by placing the pointer over an area of the coverage prediction to read the information displayed in the tip text. Atoll displays information for all displayed coverage predictions in both the working and the linked documents. The information displayed is defined by the settings you made on the Display tab when you created the coverage prediction (step 3. of "Co-Planning Coverage Analysis Process" on page 1232). To get coverage prediction results in the form of tip text: In the map window, place the pointer over the area of the coverage prediction that you want more information on. After a brief pause, the tip text appears with the information defined on all displayed coverage predictions in both the working and the linked documents. The tip text for the working document is on top and the tip text for the linked document, with the linked document identified by name is on the bottom.

15.7.3.2.4

Comparing Coverage Areas by Overlaying Coverage Predictions You can compare the coverage areas of the main and linked documents by overlaying coverage predictions in the map window.

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To compare coverage areas by overlaying coverage predictions in the map window: 1. Click the map window of the main document. The map window of the main document becomes active and the explorer window shows the contents of the main document and the linked folders from the linked document. 2. In the Network explorer, expand the Predictions folder and select the visibility check box to the left of the coverage prediction of the main document that you want to display in the map window. The coverage prediction is displayed on the map. 3. Right-click the coverage prediction and select Properties from the context menu. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 4. On the Display tab, modify the display parameters of the coverage prediction. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Expand the Predictions in [linked document] folder, where [linked document] is the name of the linked document, and select the visibility check box to the left of the linked coverage prediction you want to display in the map window. The coverage prediction is displayed on the map. 6. Right-click the coverage prediction and select Properties from the context menu. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 7. Modify the display parameters of the coverage prediction. 8. Calculate the two coverage predictions again, if needed. To highlight differences between the coverage areas, you can also change the order of the Predictions folders in the explorer window. For more information on changing the order of items in the explorer window, see "Changing the Order of Layers" on page 51.

15.7.3.2.5

Studying Differences Between Coverage Areas You can compare coverage predictions to find differences in coverage areas. To compare coverage predictions: 1. Click the map window of the main document. The map window of the main document becomes active and the explorer window shows the contents of the main document and the linked folders from the linked document. 2. In the Network explorer, expand the Predictions folder, right-click the coverage prediction of the main document that you want to compare, and select Compare With > [linked coverage prediction] from the context menu, where [linked coverage prediction] is the linked coverage prediction you want to compare with the coverage prediction of the main document. The Comparison Properties dialog box opens. 3. Select the display parameters of the comparison and add a comment if you want. 4. Click OK. The two coverage predictions are compared and a comparison coverage prediction is added to the Predictions folder of the main document. For more information on coverage prediction comparison, see "Comparing Coverage Predictions" on page 1193.

15.7.4 Planning Neighbours in Co-planning Mode In co-planning mode, you can use Atoll to manually allocate neighbour relations to any cell in a network. You can also use Atoll to automatically allocate neighbour relations to a single cell, to all the cells of a base station, to all the cells in a transmitter group, or to all the cells in a network, based on predefined parameters. Wi-Fi-specific coverage conditions in automatic inter-technology neighbour allocation are described in this section. Neighbour allocation in co-planning and other concepts that are specific to Wi-Fi networks are explained in "Planning Neighbours" on page 1199.

15.7.4.1 Coverage Conditions The Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box provides a Use coverage conditions option: • •

When Use coverage conditions is not selected, the defined Distance is used to allocate neighbours to a reference transmitter. When Use coverage conditions is selected, click Define for eWi-Fi to open the corresponding Coverage Conditions dialog box: • • • •

Resolution: Enter the resolution to be used to calculate cell coverage areas during automatic neighbour allocation. Margin: Enter a handover margin. Shadowing Taken into Account: If selected, enter a Cell edge coverage probability. Indoor Coverage: Select this option to take indoor losses into account in calculations. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

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15.7.4.2 Calculation Constraints In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, you can select the following calculation constraints: • •

Co-site neighbours: Cells located on the same site as the reference transmitter will automatically be considered as neighbours. A transmitter/cell with no antenna cannot be considered as a co-site neighbour. Exceptional pairs: Select this option to force the neighbour relations defined in the Inter-technology Exceptional pairs table. For more information, see "Defining Exceptional Pairs" on page 223.

15.7.4.3 Reasons for Allocation In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, the reason for neighbour allocation is indicated under Cause in the Results table. It can be any of the following: Cause

Description

When

Distance

The neighbour is located within the defined maximum distance from the reference transmitter/ cell

Use coverage conditions is not selected

Coverage

The neighbour relation fulfils the defined coverage conditions

Use coverage conditions is selected and nothing is selected under Force

Co-Site

The neighbour is located on the same site as the reference transmitter/cell

Use coverage conditions is selected and Co-site neighbours is selected

Exceptional Pair

The neighbour relation is defined as an exceptional pair

Exceptional pairs is selected

Existing

The neighbour relation existed before automatic allocation

Delete existing neighbours is not selected

15.7.5 Using ACP in Co-planning Mode Atoll ACP enables you to automatically calculate the optimal network settings in terms of network coverage and capacity in co-planning projects where networks using different technologies, for example, Wi-Fi and LTE, must both be taken into consideration. When you run an optimisation setup in a co-planning environment, you can display the sites and transmitters of both networks in the document in which you will run the optimisation process, as explained in "Switching to Co-planning Mode" on page 1228. While this step is not necessary in order to create a co-planning optimisation setup, it will enable you to visually analyse the changes to both networks in the same document. Afterwards you can create the new optimisation setup, but when creating an optimisation setup in a co-planning environment, you can not run it immediately; you must first import the other network into the ACP setup. This section explains how to use ACP to optimise network settings in a co-planning project: • •

"Creating a Co-planning Optimisation Setup" on page 1234 "Importing the Other Network into the Setup" on page 1235

15.7.5.1 Creating a Co-planning Optimisation Setup Once you have displayed both networks in the main document as explained in "Switching to Co-planning Mode" on page 1228, you can create the new co-planning optimisation setup. To create a co-planning optimisation setup: 1. Click the map window of the main document. 2. In the Network explorer, right-click the ACP - Automatic Cell Planning folder and select New from the context menu. A dialog box appears in which you can set the parameters for the optimisation process. For information on the parameters available, see "Defining Optimisation Parameters" on page 1320. 3. After defining the optimisation setup, click the Create Setup button to save the defined optimisation. The optimisation setup has now been created. The next step is to add the LTE network to the ACP optimisation setup you have just created.

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15.7.5.2 Importing the Other Network into the Setup Once you have created the co-planning optimisation setup, you must import the LTE network. To import the linked network: 1. Click the map window of the main document. 2. In the Network explorer, expand the ACP - Automatic Cell Planning folder, right-click the setup you created in "Creating a Co-planning Optimisation Setup" on page 1234, and select Import Project from the context menu and select the name of the document you want to import into the newly created setup. The setup is modified to include the linked network. You can modify the parameters for the optimisation setup by right-clicking it in the Network explorer and selecting Properties from the context menu. For information on the parameters available, see "Defining Optimisation Parameters" on page 1320. After defining the co-planning optimisation setup: •

•

Click the Run button to run the optimisation immediately. For information on running the optimisation, see "Running an Optimisation Setup" on page 1359. For information on the optimisation results, see "Viewing Optimisation Results" on page 1362. Click the Create Setup button to save the defined optimisation to be run later.

15.7.6 Ending Co-planning Mode once you have linked two Atoll documents for the purposes of co-planning, Atoll will maintain the link between them. However, you might want to unlink the two documents at some point, either because you want to use a different document in co-planning or because you want to restore the documents to separate, technology-specific documents. To unlink the documents and end co-planning mode: 1. Select File > Open to open the main document. Atoll informs you that this document is part of a multi-technology environment and asks whether you want to open the other document. 2. Click Yes to open the linked document as well. 3. Select Document > Unlink to unlink the documents and end co-planning mode. The documents are no longer linked and co-planning mode is ended.

15.8 Advanced Configuration The following sections describe different advanced parameters and options available in the Wi-Fi module that are used in coverage predictions as well as Monte Carlo simulations. In this section, the following advanced configuration options are explained: • • • • • • • • •

"Defining Frequency Bands" on page 1235 "Network Settings" on page 1236 "Defining Frame Configurations" on page 1237 "Defining Wi-Fi Radio Bearers" on page 1237 "Defining Wi-Fi Quality Indicators" on page 1238 "Defining Wi-Fi Reception Equipment" on page 1238 "Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) Systems" on page 1240 "Modelling Shadowing" on page 1241 "Modelling Inter-technology Interference" on page 1242

15.8.1 Defining Frequency Bands To define frequency bands: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Frequencies folder under the Radio Network Settings folder, right-click Bands, and select Open Table. The Frequency Bands table appears. 2. In the Frequency Bands table, enter one frequency band per row. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. For each frequency band, enter: •

• • •

Name: Enter a name for the frequency band, for example, "2.4 GHz - 20 MHz". Each Wi-Fi frequency band has a specific channel width. Mentioning the channel width in the frequency band name is a good approach. This name will appear in other dialog boxes when you select a frequency band. Start frequencies (MHz): Enter the downlink and the uplink start frequencies. Channel width (MHz): Enter the channel width for each channel in the frequency band. Inter-channel spacing (MHz): Enter the spacing between any two consecutive channels in the frequency band.

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• • • •

•

© 2016 Forsk. All Rights Reserved.

First channel: Enter the number of the first channel in this frequency band. Last channel: Enter the number of the last channel in this frequency band. If this frequency band has only one carrier, enter the same number as entered in the First channel field. Step: Enter the step between any two consecutive channel numbers in the frequency band. Excluded channels: Enter the channel numbers which do not belong to the frequency band. You can enter nonconsecutive channel numbers separated with a comma, or you can enter a range of channel numbers separating the first and last index with a hyphen (for example, entering "1-5" corresponds to "1, 2, 3, 4, 5"). Adjacent channel suppression factor (dB): Enter the adjacent channel interference suppression factor in dB. Interference received from adjacent channels is reduced by this factor during the calculations.

3. When you have finished adding frequency bands, click the Close button (

).

For example, to define the 2.4 GHz band with 20 MHz channels and channel numbers of non-overlapping channels (1, 5, 9, 13), you can set: • • • • • • •

Name to "2.4GHz - 20MHz" Channel width to "20" First channel to "1" Last channel to "13" Step to "4" DL start frequency to "2402" UL start frequency to "2402"

You can also access the properties dialog box of each individual frequency band by double-clicking the left margin of the table row containing the frequency band.

15.8.2 Network Settings Atoll allows you to set network level parameters which are common to all the transmitters and cells in the network. These parameters are used in coverage predictions as well as during Monte Carlo simulations by the radio resource management and scheduling algorithms. This section details the properties of the Radio Network Settings folder and explains how to access them: • •

"Network Settings Properties" on page 1236 "Modifying Network Settings" on page 1236

15.8.2.1 Network Settings Properties The Properties dialog box of the Radio Network Settings folder consists of the following tab: Calculation Parameters Tab •

Min interferer C/N threshold: Minimum requirement for interferers to be considered in calculations. Interfering cells from which the received carrier-power-to-noise ratio is less than this threshold are discarded. For example, setting this value to -20 dB means that interfering cells from which the received signals are 100 times lower than the thermal noise level will be discarded in calculations. The calculation performance of interferencebased coverage predictions, interference matrices calculations, and Monte Carlo simulations can be improved by setting a high value of this threshold.

•

•

Height/ground: The receiver height at which the path loss matrices and coverage predictions are calculated. Calculations made on mobile users (from traffic maps) in Monte Carlo simulations are also carried out at this receiver height. Calculations made on fixed subscribers in Monte Carlo simulations are carried out at their respective heights. Default max range: The maximum coverage range of transmitters in the network.

15.8.2.2 Modifying Network Settings You can change network settings in the Properties dialog box of the Radio Network Settings folder. To set the network level parameters: 1. In the Parameters explorer, right-click the Radio Network Settings folder and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. Select the Calculation Parameters tab. On this tab you can set: • • •

Calculation limitation: In this section, you can enter the Min interferer C/N threshold. Receiver: In this section, you can enter the receiver Height. System: In this section, select the Default max range check box if you want to apply a maximum system range limit, and enter the maximum system range in the text box to the right.

3. Click OK. The global parameters are used during coverage predictions and simulations for the entire network.

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15.8.3 Defining Frame Configurations Frame configuration models different numbers of subcarriers for different channel bandwidths. To create a frame configuration: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Settings folder, right-click Frame Configurations and select Open Table. The Frame Configurations table appears. 2. In the Frame Configurations table, each row describes a frame configuration. For the new frame configuration, enter: • • •

Name: The name of the frame configuration. Guard interval: The guard interval, long or short, corresponding to the frame configuration. If you leave this parameter empty, Atoll uses the long guard interval during calculations. Total number of subcarriers: The total number of subcarriers per channel.

3. Double-click the frame configuration row in the table once the new frame configuration has been added to the table. The frame configuration Properties dialog box opens. 4. Under the General tab, you can modify the parameters that you set previously. You can also modify the following parameters: • • • •

Number of used subcarriers: The number of subcarriers used for transmission. This number includes the pilot and data subcarriers. Number of traffic subcarriers: The number of subcarriers used for user data traffic. Downlink diversity support: The type of antenna diversity technique (STTD/MRC, SU-MIMO, or AMS) supported. Uplink diversity support: The type of antenna diversity technique (STTD/MRC, SU-MIMO, AMS, or MU-MIMO) supported. You cannot select more than one type of MIMO technique at a time. Specific calculations are performed (and gains applied) for terminals supporting MIMO. A frame configuration that only supports None does not have any antenna diversity mechanism, and all the terminal types can connect to this zone. A frame configuration that supports None and one or more antenna diversity techniques can also support terminals capable of those diversity techniques. For example, None+STTD/MRC can support simple as well as MIMO-capable terminals. Simple terminals cannot connect to a cell whose frame configuration does not support None.

15.8.4 Defining Wi-Fi Radio Bearers Wi-Fi radio bearers carry the data in the uplink as well as in the downlink. In the Atoll Wi-Fi module, a "bearer" refers to a combination of MCS, which means modulation and coding schemes. The Radio Bearers table lists the available radio bearers. You can add, remove, and modify bearer properties, if you want. If you are planning a network with more than one Wi-Fi technology, it is recommended to define separate bearers for each technology and to set the following Atoll.ini option: [OFDM] UseCommonBearersOnly = 1 This will make sure that uplink and downlink calculation results are consistent with the access point and terminal technologies. To define Wi-Fi bearers: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Settings folder, right-click Radio Bearers and select Open Table. The Radio Bearers table appears. 2. In the table, enter one bearer per row. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. For each Wi-Fi bearer, enter: • • • • •

Radio bearer index: Enter a bearer index. This bearer index is used to identify the bearer in other tables, such as the bearer selection thresholds and the quality graphs in reception equipment. Name: Enter a name for the bearer, for example, "16QAM3/4." This name will appear in other dialog boxes and results. Modulation: Select a modulation from the list of available modulation types. This column is for information and display purposes only. Channel coding rate: Enter the coding rate used by the bearer. This column is for information and display purposes only. Bearer efficiency (bits/symbol): Enter the number of useful bits that the bearer can carry in a symbol. This information is used in throughput calculations.

3. Click the Close button (

) to close the Radio Bearers table.

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15.8.5 Defining Wi-Fi Quality Indicators Quality indicators depict the coverage quality at different locations. The Quality Indicators table lists the available quality indicators. You can add, remove, and modify quality indicators, if you want. To define quality indicators: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Settings folder, right-click Quality Indicators and select Open Table. The Quality Indicators table appears. 2. In the table, enter one quality indicator per row. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. For each quality indicator, enter: • • •

Name: Enter a name for the quality indicator, for example, "BLER" for Block Error Rate. This name will appear in other dialog boxes and results. Used for data services: Select this check box to indicate that this quality indicator can be used for data services. Used for voice services: Select this check box to indicate that this quality indicator can be used for voice services.

3. Click the Close button (

) to close the Quality Indicators table.

15.8.6 Defining Wi-Fi Reception Equipment Wi-Fi reception equipment model the reception characteristics of cells and user terminals. Bearer selection thresholds and channel quality indicator graphs are defined in Wi-Fi reception equipment. To create a new piece of reception equipment: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Settings folder, right-click Reception Equipment and select Open Table. The Reception Equipment table appears. 2. In the Reception Equipment table, each row describes a piece of equipment. For the new piece of equipment you are creating, enter its name. 3. Double-click the equipment entry in the Reception Equipment table once your new equipment has been added to the table. The equipment Properties dialog box opens. The Properties dialog box has the following tabs: • •

General: On this tab, you can define the Name of the reception equipment. Thresholds: On this tab (see Figure 15.19), you can modify the bearer selection thresholds for different mobility types. A bearer is selected for data transfer at a given pixel if the received carrier-to-interference-and-noise ratio is higher than its selection threshold. For more information on bearers and mobility types, see "Defining Wi-Fi Radio Bearers" on page 1237 and "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 1183, respectively.

Figure 15.19: Wi-Fi Reception Equipment - Bearer Selection Thresholds i.

Click the Selection thresholds button. The C/(I+N) Thresholds (dB) dialog box appears (see Figure 15.20).

ii. Enter the graph values. iii. Click OK.

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Figure 15.20: C/(I+N) Thresholds (dB) dialog box For more information on the default values of the bearer selection thresholds, see "Bearer Selection Thresholds" on page 1244. For converting receiver equipment sensitivity values (dBm) into bearer selection thresholds, see "Calculating Bearer Selection Thresholds From Receiver Sensitivity Values" on page 1244. •

Quality Graphs: On this tab, you can modify the quality indicator graphs for different bearers and mobility types. These graphs depict the performance characteristics of the equipment under different radio conditions. For more information on bearers, quality indicators, and mobility types, see "Defining Wi-Fi Radio Bearers" on page 1237, "Defining Wi-Fi Quality Indicators" on page 1238, and "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 1183, respectively. i.

Click the Quality graph button. The Quality Graph dialog box appears.

ii. Enter the graph values. iii. Click OK. •

Traffic MIMO Gains: On this tab, you can modify the SU-MIMO and STTD/MRC gains for different bearers, mobility types, BLER values, and numbers of transmission and reception antennas. The MIMO throughput gain is the increase in channel capacity compared to a SISO system. Diversity gains can be defined for different diversity modes: STTD/MRC, SU-MIMO, and MU-MIMO. STTD/MRC gain is applied to the C/(I+N) when the diversity mode is STTD/MRC. SU-MIMO diversity gain is applied to the C/(I+N) when the diversity mode is SU-MIMO. MU-MIMO diversity gain is applied to the C/(I+N) when the diversity mode is MU-MIMO. For more information on bearers and mobility types, see "Defining Wi-Fi Radio Bearers" on page 1237 and "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 1183, respectively. For more information on the different MIMO systems, see "Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) Systems" on page 1240. No MIMO gain (STTD/MRC, SU-MIMO, and MU-MIMO) is applied if the numbers of transmission and reception antennas are both equal to 1.

i.

Click the Max MIMO gain graphs button. The Max MIMO Gain dialog box appears (see Figure 15.21).

ii. Enter the graph values. iii. Click OK. You can define the gains for any combination of subchannel allocation mode, mobility type, bearer, and BLER, as well as the default gains for "All" subchannel allocation modes, "All" mobility types, "All" bearers, and a Max BLER of 1. During calculations, Atoll uses the gains defined for a specific combination if available, otherwise it uses the default gains.

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Figure 15.21: Max SU-MIMO Gain dialog box 4. Click OK. The Properties dialog box closes. The settings are stored. 5. Click the Close button (

) to close the Reception Equipment table.

15.8.7 Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) Systems Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) systems use different transmission and reception diversity techniques. MIMO diversity systems can roughly be divided into the following types, all of which are modelled in Atoll. This section covers the following topics: • • • •

"Space-Time Transmit Diversity and Maximum Ratio Combining" on page 1240 "Single-User MIMO or Spatial Multiplexing" on page 1240 "Adaptive MIMO Switching" on page 1241 "Multi-User MIMO or Collaborative MIMO" on page 1241

15.8.7.1 Space-Time Transmit Diversity and Maximum Ratio Combining STTD uses more than one transmission antenna to send more than one copy of the same signal. The signals are constructively combined (using optimum selection or maximum ratio combining, MRC) at the receiver to extract the useful signal. As the receiver gets more than one copy of the useful signal, the signal level at the receiver after combination of all the copies is more resistant to interference than a single signal would be. Therefore, STTD improves the C/(I+N) at the receiver. It is often used for the regions of a cell that have insufficient C/(I+N). Different STTD coding techniques exist, such as STC (Space Time Coding), STBC (Space-Time Block Codes), and SFBC (Space-Frequency Block Codes). In Atoll, STTD/MRC gains on downlink and uplink can be defined in the reception equipment for different numbers of transmission and reception antennas, mobility types, bearers, and maximum BLER. For more information on uplink and downlink STTD/MRC gains, see "Defining Wi-Fi Reception Equipment" on page 1238. Additional gain values can be defined per clutter class. For information on setting the additional STTD/MRC uplink and downlink gains for each clutter class or for all clutter classes, see "Defining Clutter Class Properties" on page 127. During calculations in Atoll, a user (pixel, mobile, or subscriber) using a MIMO-capable terminal will benefit from the downlink and uplink STTD/MRC gains.

15.8.7.2 Single-User MIMO or Spatial Multiplexing SU-MIMO uses more than one transmission antenna to send different signals (data streams) on each antenna. The receiver can also have more than one antenna to receive different signals. Using spatial multiplexing with M transmission and N reception antennas, the throughput over the transmitter-receiver link can be theoretically increased M or N times, whichever is smaller. SU-MIMO improves the throughput (channel capacity) for a given C/(I+N), and is used for the regions of a cell that have sufficient C/(I+N). SU-MIMO (single-user MIMO) is also referred to as SM (spatial multiplexing) or simply MIMO. In Atoll, SU-MIMO capacity gains can be defined in the reception equipment for different numbers of transmission and reception antennas, mobility types, bearers, and maximum BLER. For more information on SU-MIMO gains, see "Defining Wi-Fi Reception Equipment" on page 1238. During calculations in Atoll, a user (pixel, mobile, or subscriber) using a MIMO-capable terminal will benefit from the SU-MIMO gain in its throughput depending on its C/(I+N).

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When SU-MIMO improves the channel capacity or throughputs, the C/(I+N) of a user is first determined. Once the C/(I+N) is known, Atoll calculates the user throughput based on the bearer available at the user location. The obtained user throughput is then increased according to the SU-MIMO capacity gain and the SU-MIMO gain factor of the user clutter class. The capacity gains defined in Max SU-MIMO gain graphs are the maximum theoretical capacity gains using SU-MIMO. SU-MIMO requires rich multipath environment, without which the gain is reduced. In the worst case, there is no gain. Therefore, it is possible to define an SU-MIMO gain factor per clutter class whose value can vary from 0 to 1 (0 = no gain, 1 = 100% gain). For information on setting the SU-MIMO gain factor for each clutter class or for all clutter classes, see "Defining Clutter Class Properties" on page 127.

15.8.7.3 Adaptive MIMO Switching Adaptive MIMO switching is a technique for switching from SU-MIMO to STTD/MRC as the radio conditions get worse than a given threshold. AMS can be used in cells to provide SU-MIMO gains to users under good radio conditions and STTD/MRC gains to users under bad radio conditions. AMS provides the optimum solution using STTD/MRC and SU-MIMO features to their best. During calculations in Atoll, a user (pixel, mobile, or subscriber) using a MIMO-capable terminal will benefit from the gain to be applied, STTD/MRC or SU-MIMO, depending on the user C/N and the AMS threshold defined in the cell properties.

15.8.7.4 Multi-User MIMO or Collaborative MIMO MU-MIMO (Multi-User MIMO) or Collaborative MIMO is a technique for spatially multiplexing two users who have sufficient radio conditions at their locations. This technique is used in uplink so that a cell with more than one reception antenna can receive uplink transmissions from two different users over the same frequency-time allocation. This technique provides considerable capacity gains in uplink, and can be used with single-antenna user equipment, i.e., it does not require more than one antenna at the user equipment as opposed to SU-MIMO, which only provides considerable gains with more than one antenna at the user equipment. In Atoll, you can set whether a frame configuration supports MU-MIMO in uplink by selecting the corresponding diversity support mode in the frame configuration properties (see "Defining Frame Configurations" on page 1237). MU-MIMO capacity gains result from the scheduling and the RRM process. Using MU-MIMO, schedulers are able to allocate resources over two spatially multiplexed parallel frames in the same frequency-time resource allocation plane. During the calculation of Monte Carlo simulations in Atoll, each new user connected to the first antenna creates virtual resources available on the second antenna. These virtual resources can then be allocated to a second user connected to the second antenna without increasing the overall load of the cell. This way, each new mobile consumes the virtual resources made available be the previous mobile, and might create new virtual resources available on the other antenna. The MU-MIMO capacity gain resulting from this uplink collaborative multiplexing is the ratio of the traffic loads of all the mobiles connected to both parallel frames in uplink to the uplink traffic load of the cell. The MU-MIMO capacity gain can be defined per cell by the user or it can be an output of Monte Carlo simulations. This gain is used during the calculation of uplink throughput coverage predictions. The channel throughput is multiplied by this gain for pixels where MU-MIMO is used as the diversity mode.

15.8.8 Modelling Shadowing Shadowing, or slow fading, is signal loss along a path that is caused by obstructions not taken into consideration by the propagation model. Even when a receiver remains in the same location or in the same clutter class, there are variations in reception due to the surrounding environment. Normally, the signal received at any given point is spread on a gaussian curve around an average value and a specific standard deviation. If the propagation model is correctly calibrated, the average of the results it gives should be correct. In other words, in 50% of the measured cases, the result will be better and in 50% of the measured cases, the result will be worse. Atoll uses a model standard deviation for the clutter class with the defined cell edge coverage probability to model the effect of shadowing and thereby create coverage predictions that are reliable more than fifty percent of the time. The additional losses or gains caused by shadowing are known as the shadowing margin. The shadowing margin is added to the path losses calculated by the propagation model. For example, a properly calibrated propagation model calculates a loss leading to a signal level of -70 dBm. You have set a cell edge coverage probability of 85%. If the calculated shadowing margin is 7 dB for a specific point, the target signal will be equal to or greater than -77 dBm 85% of the time. In Wi-Fi projects, the model standard deviation is used to calculate shadowing margins on signal levels. You can also calculate shadowing margins on C/I values. For information on setting the model standard deviation and the C/I standard deviations for each clutter class or for all clutter classes, see "Defining Clutter Class Properties" on page 127. Shadowing can be taken into consideration when Atoll calculates the signal level and C/(I+N) for: • •

A point analysis (see "Studying the Profile Around an Access Point" on page 1175) A coverage prediction (see "Studying Signal Level Coverage of a Single Access Point" on page 1180).

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Atoll always takes shadowing into consideration when calculating a Monte Carlo simulations. Atoll uses the values defined for the model standard deviations per clutter class when calculating the signal level coverage predictions. Atoll uses the values defined for the C/I standard deviations per clutter class when calculating the interference-based coverage predictions. You can display the shadowing margins per clutter class. To display the shadowing margins per clutter class: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select Shadowing Margins from the context menu. The Shadowing Margins dialog box appears. 2. You can set the following parameters: • •

Cell edge coverage probability: Enter the probability of coverage at the edge of the cell. The value you enter in this dialog box is for information only. Standard deviation: Select the type of standard deviation to be used to calculate the shadowing margin: • •

Model: The model standard deviation. Atoll will display the shadowing margin of the signal level. C/I: The C/I standard deviation. Atoll will display the C/I shadowing margin.

3. Click Calculate. The calculated shadowing margin is displayed. 4. Click Close.

15.8.9 Modelling Inter-technology Interference Analyses of Wi-Fi networks co-existing with other technology networks can be carried out in Atoll. Inter-technology interference may create considerable capacity reduction in a Wi-Fi network. Atoll can take into account interference from co-existing networks in Monte Carlo simulations and coverage predictions. The following inter-technology interference scenarios are modelled in Atoll: •

Interference received by mobiles on the downlink: Interference can be received by mobiles in a Wi-Fi network on the downlink from external base stations and mobiles in the vicinity. Downlink-to-downlink interference can be created by the use of same or adjacent carriers, wideband noise (thermal noise, phase noise, modulation products, and spurious emissions), and intermodulation. In Atoll, you can define interference reduction factor (IRF) graphs for different technologies (such as LTE, UMTS, CDMA2000). These graphs are then used for calculating the interference from the external sources. This interference is taken into account in all downlink interference-based calculations. Uplink-to-downlink interference can be created by insufficient separation between the uplink frequency used by the external network and the downlink frequency used by your Wi-Fi network. The effect of this interference is modelled in Atoll using the Inter-technology DL noise rise definable for each cell in the Wi-Fi network. This noise rise is taken into account in all downlink interference-based calculations. For more information on the Inter-technology DL noise rise, see "Cell Properties" on page 1168.

Figure 15.22: Interference received by mobiles on the downlink •

Interference received by cells on the uplink: Interference can be received by cells of a Wi-Fi network on the uplink from other-network interferers in the vicinity. Downlink-to-downlink interference can be created by insufficient separation between the downlink frequency used by the external network and the uplink frequency used by your Wi-Fi network. Such interference may also come from co-existing TDD networks. Uplink-to-downlink interference can be created by the use of same or nearby frequencies for uplink in both networks. The effect of this interference is modelled in Atoll using the Inter-technology UL noise rise definable for each cell in the Wi-Fi network. This noise rise is taken into account in uplink interference calculations in Monte Carlo simulations, but not in coverage predictions. For more information on the Inter-technology UL noise rise, see "Cell Properties" on page 1168.

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Figure 15.23: Interference received by cells on the uplink Interference received from external sources of your Wi-Fi network can be calculated by Atoll. Atoll uses the inter-technology interference reduction factor (IRF) graphs for calculating the interference levels. An IRF graph represents the variation of the Adjacent Channel Interference Ratio (ACIR) as a function of frequency separation. ACIR is determined from the Adjacent Channel Suppression (ACS) and the Adjacent Channel Leakage Ratio (ACLR) parameters as follows: 1 ACIR = ------------------------------------1 1 ------------- + ----------------ACS ACLR

An IRF depends on: • • • •

The interfering technology (such as LTE, UMTS, CDMA2000) The interfering carrier bandwidth (kHz) The interfered carrier bandwidth (kHz) The frequency offset between both carriers (MHz).

IRFs are used by Atoll to calculate the interference from external sources only if the Atoll document containing the other networks is linked to your Wi-Fi document, which means in co-planning mode. For more information on how to switch to coplanning mode, see "Switching to Co-planning Mode" on page 1228. To define the inter-technology IRFs in the victim network: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Equipment folder, right-click Inter-technology Interference Reduction Factors, and select Open Table. The Inter-technology Interference Reduction Factors table appears. 2. In the table, enter one interference reduction factor graph per row. For each IRF graph, enter: • • • •

Technology: The technology used by the interfering network. Interferer bandwidth (kHz): The width in kHz of the channels (carriers) used by the interfering network. This channel width must be consistent with that used in the linked document. Victim bandwidth (kHz): The width in kHz of the channels (carriers) used by the interfered network. This channel width must be consistent with that used in the main document. Reduction factors (dB): Click the cell corresponding to the Reduction factors (dB) column and the current row in the table. The Reduction Factors (dB) dialog box appears. i.

Enter the interference reduction factors in the Reduction (dB) column for different frequency separation, Freq. delta (MHz), values relative to the centre frequency of the channel (carrier) used in the main document. • •

Reduction values must be positive. If you leave reduction factors undefined, Atoll assumes there is no interference.

ii. When done, click OK. 3. Click the Close button (

) to close the Inter-technology Interference Reduction Factors table.

You can link more than one Atoll document with your main document following the procedure described in "Switching to Coplanning Mode" on page 1228. If the linked documents model networks using different technologies, you can define the interference reduction factors in your main document for all these technologies, and Atoll will calculate interference from all the external access points in all the linked documents.

15.9 Tips and Tricks This section provides recommendations and guidelines for using the Atoll Wi-Fi module: • •

"Bearer Selection Thresholds" on page 1244 "Calculating Bearer Selection Thresholds From Receiver Sensitivity Values" on page 1244

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"Modelling the Co-existence of Networks" on page 1244

15.9.1 Bearer Selection Thresholds The default values of the bearer selection thresholds, the BLER quality graphs, and the bearer efficiency values in Atoll have been extracted from the IEEE 802.11 specifications. These C/(I+N) values correspond to the receiver sensitivity values listed in the IEEE specifications.

15.9.2 Calculating Bearer Selection Thresholds From Receiver Sensitivity Values You can convert the receiver sensitivity values, from your equipment data sheet, into bearer selection thresholds using the following conversion method: BW  N Used CNR = RS + 114 – NF – 10  Log  -------------------------------- – L Imp  N Total 

Where RS is the receiver sensitivity in dBm, NF is the noise figure of the receiver in dB, BW is the channel bandwidth in MHz, N Used is the number of used subcarriers, N Total is the total number of subcarriers, and L Imp is the implementation loss in dB. If you do not know the value for L Imp , you can ignore the corresponding term and simplify the equation. According to IEEE, typical values for NF and L Imp are 10 and 5 dB, respectively. Here the term receiver refers to the access point in uplink and to the mobile/user equipment in the downlink.

15.9.3 Modelling the Co-existence of Networks In Atoll, you can study the effect of interference received by your network from other Wi-Fi networks. The interfering Wi-Fi network can be a different part of your own network, or a network belonging to another operator. To study interference from co-existing networks: 1. Import the interfering network data (sites, transmitters, and cells) in to your document as explained in "Creating a Group of Access Points" on page 1176. 2. For the interfering network transmitters, set the Transmitter type to Inter-network (Interferer only) as explained in "Transmitter Properties" on page 1167. During calculations, Atoll will consider the transmitters of type Inter-network (Interferer only) when calculating interference. These transmitters will not serve any pixel, subscriber, or mobile, and will only contribute to interference. Modelling the interference from co-existing networks will be as accurate as the data you have for the interfering network. If the interfering network is a part of your own network, this information would be readily available. However, if the interfering network belongs to another operator, the information available might not be accurate.

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Chapter 16 LPWA Networks This chapter covers how to use Atoll to design, analyse, and optimise LPWA-based wireless IoT networks, including LoRa, Wireless MBus, and other low-throughput ultra-narrowband technologies.

This chapter covers the following topics: •

"Designing an LPWA Network" on page 1247

•

"Planning and Optimising LPWA Gateways" on page 1247

•

"Optimising Network Parameters Using ACP" on page 1284

•

"Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data" on page 1287

•

"Co-planning LPWA Networks with Other Networks" on page 1294

•

"Advanced Configuration" on page 1300

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16 LPWA Networks Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) refers to technologies that enable wireless internet of things (IoT) networks. Such technologies include LoRa, Wireless MBus, and other low-throughput ultra-narrowband technologies. Most of the LPWA technologies work over unlicensed frequency bands and use various proprietary channel structures, frame structures, and modulations. LPWA networks may range from city- to country-wide networks comprising long-range transmission and reception points (gateways) to cover large numbers of connected objects and end-devices. The Atoll LPWA module enables you to design and optimise LPWA-based wireless IoT networks. You can use Atoll to predict radio coverage, carry out calculations on fixed locations of end-devices, and evaluate network capacity. Atoll supports licensed as well as unlicensed frequency bands, technology-specific channel configurations, and modulation techniques with or without link adaptation, and transmission and reception diversity. You can create coverage predictions to analyse the following and other parameters for LPWA channels in downlink and uplink: • • • • •

Signal levels Number of servers Carrier-to-interference-and-noise ratio Services areas Throughputs per cell

Moreover, the Atoll LPWA ACP can be used for LPWA site selection based on server redundancy as well as signal level and quality objectives. The ACP can also be used to optimise operational IoT networks.

16.1 Designing an LPWA Network The following diagram depicts the process of creating and planning an LWPA network. The steps involved in planning an LWPA network are described below. 1. Open an existing radio-planning document or create a radio-planning document. • •

You can open an existing Atoll document by selecting File > Open. You can create an Atoll document as explained in Chapter 1: Working Environment.

2. Configure the network by adding network elements and changing parameters. You can add and modify the following elements of gateways: • • •

"Creating a Site" on page 1251 "Creating or Modifying a Transmitter" on page 1252 "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 1253

You can also add gateways using a station template (see "Placing a New Gateway Using a Station Template" on page 1253). 3. Carry out basic coverage predictions. See "Signal Level Coverage Predictions" on page 1265. 4. Allocate neighbours. See "Planning Neighbours" on page 1283. 5. Before making more advanced coverage predictions, you need to define cell load conditions manually either on the Cells tab of each transmitter Properties dialog box or in the Cells table (see "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 1253). 6. Make LPWA-specific signal quality coverage predictions using the defined cell load conditions. See "LPWA Coverage Predictions" on page 1267. 7. If necessary, modify network parameters to study the network.

16.2 Planning and Optimising LPWA Gateways As described in Chapter 1: Working Environment, you can create an Atoll document from a template, with no gateways, or from a database containing an existing set of gateways. As you work on your Atoll document, you will still need to create gateways and modify existing ones. In Atoll, a site is defined as a geographical point where transmitters are located. Once you have created a site, you can add transmitters. In Atoll, a transmitter is defined as the antenna and any other additional equipment, such as the TMA, feeder cables, and so on. In an LWPA project, you must also add cells to each transmitter. A cell refers to the characteristics of an RF channel on a transmitter. Atoll lets you create one site, transmitter, or cell at a time, or create several at once using station templates. In Atoll, a gateway refers to a site and a transmitter with its antennas, equipment, and cells.

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In Atoll, you can study a single gateway or a group of gateways using coverage predictions. Atoll allows you to make a variety of coverage predictions, such as signal level or signal quality coverage predictions. The results of calculated coverage predictions can be displayed on the map, compared, and studied. Atoll enables you to model network traffic by creating services, users, user profiles, traffic environments, and terminals. This data can be then used to make coverage predictions that depend on network load, such as C/(I+N), service area, radio bearer, and throughput coverage predictions. This section covers the following topics: • • • • • • • •

"Definition of an LPWA Gateway" on page 1248 "Creating LPWA Gateways" on page 1251 "Creating a Group of Gateways" on page 1258 "Modifying Sites and Transmitters Directly on the Map" on page 1258 "Display Tips for Gateways" on page 1259 "Creating Repeaters" on page 1259 "Studying Gateways" on page 1263 "Planning Neighbours" on page 1283

16.2.1 Definition of an LPWA Gateway A gateway consists of the site, one or more transmitters, various pieces of equipment, and radio settings such as, for example, cells. You will usually create a gateway using a station template, as described in "Placing a New Gateway Using a Station Template" on page 1253. This section describes the following elements of a gateway and their parameters: • • •

"Site Properties" on page 1248 "Transmitter Properties" on page 1248 "Cell Properties" on page 1250

16.2.1.1 Site Properties The parameters of a site can be found in the site Properties dialog box. The Properties dialog box consists of the following tab: General Tab • •

Name: A default name is proposed for each new site. You can modify the default name here. If you want to change the default name that Atoll gives to new sites, see the Administrator Manual. Position: By default, Atoll places the new site at the centre of the map window. You can modify the location of the site. While this method allows you to place a site with precision, you can also place sites using the mouse and then position them precisely with this dialog box afterwards. For information on placing sites using the mouse, see "Moving a Site Using the Mouse" on page 57.

• •

Altitude: The altitude, as defined by the DTM for the location specified under Position, is given here. You can specify the actual altitude under Real, if you want. If an altitude is specified here, Atoll will use this value for calculations. Comments: You can enter comments in this field if you want.

16.2.1.2 Transmitter Properties The parameters of a transmitter can be found in the transmitter Properties dialog box. When you create a transmitter, the Properties dialog box has two tabs: the General tab and the Transmitter tab. Once you have created a transmitter, its Properties dialog box has three additional tabs: the Cells tab (see "Cell Properties" on page 1250), the Propagation tab (see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models), and the Display tab (see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51). General Tab •

Name: By default, the transmitter is named after the site it is on, suffixed with an underscore and a number. You can enter a name for the transmitter. However, it is better to use the name assigned by Atoll to ensure consistency. To change the way Atoll names transmitters, see the Administrator Manual.

•

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Site: You can select the Site on which the transmitter will be located. Once you have selected the site, you can click the Browse button to access the properties of the site. For information on the site Properties dialog box, see "Site Properties" on page 1248. You can click the New button to create a site for the transmitter.

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•

•

Shared antenna: This field identifies the transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas located at the same site or on sites with the same position and that share the same antenna. The entry in the field must be the same for all transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas sharing the same antenna. When changes are made to the position offset (Dx, Dy), azimuth, antenna height, or mechanical tilt of one antenna, Atoll automatically synchronises the same changes to all other transmitters, repeaters, and remote antennas defined as having a shared antenna. This field is also used for dual-band transmitters to synchronise antenna parameters for different frequency bands. Under Antenna position, you can modify the position of the antennas (main and secondary): • •

Relative to site: Select Relative to site to enter the antenna positions as offsets from the site location, and enter the x-axis and y-axis offsets, Dx and Dy, respectively. Coordinates: Select this option if you want to enter the coordinates of the antenna, and then enter the x-axis and y-axis coordinates of the antenna, X and Y, respectively.

Transmitter Tab •

Active: If this transmitter is to be active, you must select the Active check box. Active transmitters are displayed with a specific icon in the Transmitters folder of the Network explorer. Only active transmitters are taken into consideration during calculations.

•

Transmitter type: Specify whether the transmitter is to be considered as a server. This enables you to model the coexistence of different networks in the same geographic area. • •

If the transmitter is to be considered as a potential server as well as an interferer, set the transmitter type to Intranetwork (Server and interferer). If the transmitter is to be considered only as an interferer, set the type to Inter-network (Interferer only). Interferer-only transmitters are ignored by coverage calculations.

For more information on how to study interference between co-existing networks, see "Modelling the Co-existence of Networks" on page 1307. •

Transmission/Reception: This area displays the total losses and the noise figure of the transmitter. Losses and noise are calculated according to the characteristics of the equipment assigned to the transmitter. Equipment can be assigned using the Equipment Specifications dialog box by clicking the Equipment button. For more information about assigning equipment to a transmitter, see "Assigning Equipment to a Transmitter" on page 1252. Any loss related to the noise due to a transmitter repeater is included in the calculated losses. Atoll always considers the values in the Real boxes in coverage predictions even if they are different from the values in the Calculated boxes. The information in the real Noise figure box is calculated from the information you entered in the Equipment Specifications dialog box. You can modify the real Total losses at transmission and reception and the real Noise figure at reception. Any value you enter must be positive.

•

Antennas: •

•

Height/ground: The Height/ground box gives the height of the antenna above the ground. This is added to the altitude of the site given by the DTM. If the transmitter is situated on a building, the height entered must include the height of building. Main antenna: Under Main antenna, the type of antenna is visible in the Model list. You can click the Browse button to access the properties of the antenna. Click the Select button to open the Antenna Selection Assistant. This assistant lists all the antennas that match the currently selected physical antenna and whose minimum and maximum operating frequencies include the operating frequency of the transmitter. For more information, see "Assigning Antennas to Transmitters" on page 159

•

Mechanical Azimuth, Mechanical Downtilt, Electrical Azimuth, Electrical Downtilt, and Additional electrical downtilt display additional antenna parameters. • • •

The Additional electrical downtilt can be made accessible through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide. The mechanical and additional electrical downtilts defined for the main antenna are also used for the calculations of smart antennas.

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•

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Number of MIMO antennas: Enter the number of antennas used for MIMO in the Transmission and Reception fields. For more information on how the number of MIMO antennas are used, see "Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) Systems" on page 1304. Secondary antennas: Select one or more secondary antennas in the Antenna column and enter their Azimuth, Mechanical downtilt, Additional electrical downtilt, and % Power, which is the percentage of power reserved for this particular antenna. For example, for a transmitter with one secondary antenna, if you reserve 40 % of the total power for the secondary antenna, 60 % is available for the main antenna.

Cells Tab When you create a transmitter, Atoll automatically creates a cell for the transmitter using the properties of the currently selected station template. The Cells tab enables you to configure the properties for every cell of a transmitter. For more information on the properties of a cell, see "Cell Properties" on page 1250. Propagation Tab Transmitters are taken into account during calculations. Therefore, you must set the propagation parameters. On the Propagation tab, you can modify the Propagation model, Radius, and Resolution for both the Main matrix and the Extended matrix. For information on propagation models, see "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187. Display Tab On the Display tab, you can modify how a transmitter will be displayed. For information on changing display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51.

16.2.1.3 Cell Properties In Atoll, a cell is defined as an RF channel, with all its characteristics, on a transmitter; the cell is the mechanism by which you can configure a multi-carrier LWPA network. This section explains the parameters of an LWPA cell. The properties of an LWPA cell are found on Cells tab of the Properties dialog box of the transmitter to which it belongs. You can also display the properties of a cell by double-clicking the cell in the Site explorer.

The Cells tab has the following options: •

• •

Name: By default, Atoll names the cell after its transmitter, adding a suffix in parentheses. If you change transmitter name, Atoll does not update the cell name. You can enter a name for the cell, but for the sake of consistency, it is better to let Atoll assign a name. If you want to change the way Atoll names cells, see the Administrator Manual. Active: If this cell is to be active, you must select the Active check box. Order: The display order of a cell within the transmitter. This value is used to determine the order in which information related to a cell will be displayed in the Network explorer and on the map. This field is automatically filled by Atoll but you can change these default values to display cells in a user-defined order. The consistency between values stored in this field is verified by Atoll. However, inconsistencies may arise when tools other than Atoll modify the database. You can check for inconsistencies in the cell display order and fix them by selecting Data Audit > Cell Display Order Check in the Document menu.

• • • • • • • • • •

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BSID: The gateway ID. Frequency band: The cell frequency band from the frequency band list. Power (dBm): The cell transmission power over the frame. Min C/N (dB): The minimum C/N required for a user to be connected to the cell. Calculated C/N is compared with this threshold to determine whether or not a user can be connected to a cell. Channel Configuration: The channel configuration used by the cell. For more information, see "Defining Channel Configurations" on page 1301. Reception equipment: You can select the cell reception equipment from the reception equipment list. For more information, see "Defining LPWA Reception Equipment" on page 1303. Traffic load (DL) (%): The downlink traffic load percentage. Traffic load (UL) (%): The uplink traffic load percentage. UL noise rise (dB): The uplink noise rise in dB. This is the global value of uplink noise rise including the inter-technology uplink noise rise. Max traffic load (DL) (%): The downlink traffic load not to be exceeded. If the cell traffic load is limited by this value, the cell will not be allowed to have a downlink traffic load greater than this maximum.

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• •

•

• • • • • • •

Max traffic load (UL) (%): The uplink traffic load not to be exceeded. If the cell traffic load is limited by this value, the cell will not be allowed to have an uplink traffic load greater than this maximum. Additional DL noise rise: This noise rise represents the interference created by the mobiles of an external network on the mobiles served by this cell on the downlink. This noise rise will be taken into account in all downlink interferencebased calculations involving this cell. For more information on inter-technology interference, see "Modelling Intertechnology Interference" on page 1306. AMS & MU-MIMO threshold (dB): For AMS, the C/N threshold for switching from SU-MIMO to STTD/MRC as the conditions get worse than the given value. For MU-MIMO, it is the minimum required preamble CNR for using MU-MIMO. For more information on Adaptive MIMO switching, see "Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) Systems" on page 1304. MU-MIMO capacity gain (UL): The uplink capacity gain due to multi-user (collaborative) MIMO. In uplink throughput coverage predictions, the cell capacity will be multiplied by this gain on pixels where MU-MIMO is used. Number of users (DL): The number of users connected to the cell in the downlink. Number of users (UL): The number of users connected to the cell in the uplink. Max number of users: The maximum number of simultaneous users supported by the cell. Max number of intra-technology neighbours: The maximum number of LPWA neighbours that the cell can have. Max number of inter-technology neighbours: The maximum number of other technology neighbours that the cell can have. Neighbours: You can access a dialog box in which you can set both intra-technology and inter-technology neighbours by clicking the Browse button. For information on defining neighbours, see "Neighbour Planning" on page 223. The Browse button might not be visible in the Neighbours box if this is a new cell. You can make the Browse button appear by clicking Apply.

16.2.2 Creating LPWA Gateways When you create a site, you create only the geographical point; you must add the transmitters and cells afterwards. The site with a transmitter and its antennas, equipment, and cells is called a gateway. In this section, each element of a gateway is described. If you want to add a new gateway, see "Placing a New Gateway Using a Station Template" on page 1253. If you need to create a large number of gateways, Atoll allows you to import them from another Atoll document or from an external source. For information, see "Creating a Group of Gateways" on page 1258. This section explains the various parts of the gateway creation process: • • • • • • • •

"Creating a Site" on page 1251 "Modifying a Site" on page 1251 "Creating or Modifying a Transmitter" on page 1252 "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 1253 "Placing a New Gateway Using a Station Template" on page 1253 "Managing Station Templates" on page 1253 "Duplicating an Existing Gateway" on page 1256 "Studying the Profile Around a Gateway" on page 1256

16.2.2.1 Creating a Site You can create a site. To create a site: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Sites folder and select Add Sites from the context menu. The mouse cursor changes and the coordinates of the mouse cursor are displayed in the status bar. 2. Click the map at the location where you want to place the new site. A site is created with default values at the corresponding location. Alternatively, you can create a site by right-clicking the Sites folder, selecting New from the context menu, and entering coordinates and properties as described in "Site Properties" on page 1248.

16.2.2.2 Modifying a Site Once you have created a site, you can modify the properties of the site through the site Properties dialog box as described in "Site Properties" on page 1248.

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To modify the properties of an existing site: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Sites folder and right-click the site, or right-click the site on the map. The context menu appears. 2. Select Properties from the context menu. The site Properties dialog box appears. 3. Modify the parameters described in "Site Properties" on page 1248. 4. Click OK. If you are creating several sites at the same time, or modifying several existing sites, you can do it quickly by editing or pasting the data directly in the Sites table. You can open the Sites table by right-clicking the Sites folder in the Network explorer and selecting Open Table from the context menu. For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83.

16.2.2.3 Creating or Modifying a Transmitter You can modify an existing transmitter or you can create a transmitter. When you create a transmitter, its initial settings are based on the default station template displayed in the Radio Planning toolbar. You can access the properties of a transmitter, described in "Transmitter Properties" on page 1248, through the transmitter Properties dialog box. How you access the Properties dialog box depends on whether you are creating a transmitter or modifying an existing transmitter. To create or modify a transmitter: 1. In the Network explorer, perform one of the following actions: • •

To create a transmitter, right-click the Transmitters folder, and select New from the context menu. To modify an existing transmitter, expand the Transmitters folder, right-click the transmitter that you want to modify, and select Properties from the context menu.

The Transmitters: New Record Properties dialog box appears. 2. Modify the parameters described in "Transmitter Properties" on page 1248. 3. Click OK. When you create a transmitter, Atoll automatically creates a cell based on the default station template. For information on creating a cell, see "Creating or Modifying a Cell" on page 1253. •

•

If you are creating several transmitters at the same time, or modifying several existing transmitters, you can do it more quickly by editing or pasting the data directly in the Transmitters table. You can open the Transmitters table by rightclicking the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer and selecting Open Table from the context menu. For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83. If you want to add a transmitter to an existing site on the map, you can add the transmitter by right-clicking the site and selecting New Transmitter from the context menu.

16.2.2.4 Assigning Equipment to a Transmitter You can use the Equipment Specifications dialog box to assign a tower-mounted amplifier (TMA), feeders, and equipment to a transmitter. The gains and losses that you define are used to initialise total transmitter losses in the uplink and downlink. To assign equipment to a transmitter: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Transmitters folder, right-click the transmitter that you want to modify, and select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter Properties dialog box opens. 2. On the Transmitter tab, click the Equipment button. The Equipment Specifications dialog box opens. 3. Specify the following settings for the transmitter: • • •

•

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TMA: Select a tower-mounted amplifier (TMA) from the list. Click the Browse button to access the properties of the TMA. For information on creating a TMA, see "Defining TMA Equipment" on page 161. Feeder: Select a feeder cable from the list. Click the Browse button to access the properties of the feeder. For information on creating a feeder cable, see "Defining Feeder Cables" on page 161. Transmitter: Select a transmitter equipment from the Transmitter list. Click the Browse button to access the properties of the transmitter equipment. For information on creating transmitter equipment, see "Defining Transmitter Equipment" on page 162. Feeder length: Enter the feeder length at transmission and reception.

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•

Miscellaneous losses: Enter any additional losses at transmission and reception. The value must be positive.

16.2.2.5 Creating or Modifying a Cell You can modify an existing cell or you can create a cell. You can access the properties of a cell, described in "Cell Properties" on page 1250, through the Properties dialog box of the transmitter where the cell is located. How you access the Properties dialog box depends on whether you are creating a cell or modifying an existing cell. To create or modify a cell: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Transmitters folder, right-click the transmitter on which you want to create a cell or whose cell you want to modify, and select Properties from the context menu. The transmitter Properties dialog box appears. 2. Select the Cells tab. 3. Modify the parameters described in "Cell Properties" on page 1250. 4. Click OK. •

•

If you are creating or modifying several cells at the same time, you can do it more quickly by editing the data directly in the Cells table. You can open the Cells table by right-clicking the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer and selecting Cells > Open Table from the context menu. You can either edit the data in the table, paste data into the table (see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83), or import data into the table (see "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88). If you want to add a cell to an existing transmitter on the map, you can add the cell by right-clicking the transmitter and selecting New Cell from the context menu.

16.2.2.6 Placing a New Gateway Using a Station Template In Atoll, a gateway is defined as a site with one or more transmitters sharing the same properties. With Atoll, you can create a network by placing gateways based on station templates. This allows you to build your network quickly with consistent parameters, instead of building the network by first creating the site, then the transmitters, and finally by adding the cells. To place a new gateway using a station template: 1. In the Radio Planning toolbar, select a template from the list. 2. Click the New Transmitter or Station button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar.

3. In the map window, move the pointer over the map to where you would like to place the new station. The exact coordinates of the pointer’s current location are visible in the Status bar. 4. Click to place the gateway. •

•

To place the gateway more accurately, you can zoom in on the map before you click the New Station button. For information on using the zooming tools, see "Changing the Map Scale" on page 60. If you let the pointer rest over the gateway you have placed, Atoll displays its tip text with its exact coordinates, allowing you to verify that the location is correct.

16.2.2.7 Placing a Gateway on an Existing Site When you place a new gateway using a station template as explained in "Placing a New Gateway Using a Station Template" on page 1253, the site is created at the same time as the gateway. However, you can also place a new gateway on an existing site. To place a gateway on an existing site: 1. In the Radio Planning toolbar, select a template from the list. 2. Click the New Transmitter or Station button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar.

3. Move the pointer to the site on the map. When the frame appears around the site, indicating it is selected, click to place the gateway.

16.2.2.8 Managing Station Templates Atoll comes with LPWA station templates, but you can also create and modify station templates. The tools for working with station templates can be found on the Radio Planning toolbar (see Figure 16.1).

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Figure 16.1: The Radio Planning toolbar This section covers the following topics: • • • • • •

16.2.2.8.1

"Station Template Properties" on page 1254 "Creating a Station Template" on page 1255 "Modifying a Station Template" on page 1255 "Copying Properties from One Station Template to Another" on page 1255 "Modifying a Field in a Station Template" on page 1255 "Deleting a Station Template" on page 1255

Station Template Properties The station template Properties dialog box contains the settings for templates that are used for creating sites and transmitters. It consists of the following tabs: General Tab •

•

The Name of the station template, the number of Sectors, each with a transmitter, the Hexagon radius, which is the theoretical radius of the hexagonal area covered by each sector, and the Transmitter type, which defines whether the transmitter belongs to the current network or to another network. Under Antennas, you can modify the following: •

•

1st sector mechanical azimuth, from which the azimuth of the other sectors are offset to offer complete coverage of the area, the Height/ground of the antennas from the ground (which is the height over the DTM; if the transmitter is situated on a building, the height entered must include the height of the building), and the Mechanical downtilt for the antennas. Electrical Azimuth, Electrical Downtilt, and Additional electrical downtilt display additional antenna parameters. • •

The Additional electrical downtilt can be made accessible through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide.

• • •

•

Under Main antenna, you can select the main antenna Model. Under Number of MIMO Antennas, you can enter the number of antennas used for Transmission and for Reception for MIMO. Under Path loss matrices, you can modify the following: the Main propagation model, the Main radius, and the Main resolution, and the Extended propagation model, the Extended radius, and the Extended resolution. For information on propagation models, see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models. Under Comments, you can add additional information. The information you enter will be the default information in the Comments field of any transmitter created using this station template.

Transmitter Tab • •

Active: Select this option to specify whether the transmitter is active. Only active transmitters are taken into consideration during calculations. Transmission/Reception: This area displays the total losses and the noise figure of the transmitter. Losses and noise are calculated according to the characteristics of the equipment assigned to the transmitter.

Cell Tab • • • •

Power: Modify the cell transmission power over the frame (in dBm). Frequency band, Reception equipment, Channel configuration, Max number of users, Min C/N, and the AMS threshold. Default loads: Enter the default values for DL traffic load, UL traffic load, UL noise rise, Max DL traffic load, and Max UL traffic load. Additional interference: Set the DL noise rise and the UL noise rise. For more information on inter-technology interference, see "Modelling Inter-technology Interference" on page 1306.

Neighbours Tab Max number of neighbours: Set the maximum numbers of Intra-technology and Inter-technology neighbours.

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Other Properties Tab The Other Properties tab only appears if you have defined additional fields in the Sites table, or if you have defined an additional field in the Station Template Properties dialog box.

16.2.2.8.2

Creating a Station Template When you create a station template, you can do so by selecting an existing station template that most closely resembles the station template you want to create and making a copy. Then you can modify the parameters that differ. To create a station template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Settings folder, right-click the Station Templates folder, and select Open Table from the context menu. The Station Templates table opens. 2. In the Station Templates table, right-click the station template that most closely resembles the station template you want to create, and select Copy from the context menu. 3. Right-click the row marked with the New row icon ( ) and select Paste from the context menu. The station template you copied in step 2. is pasted in the new row, with the Name of the new station template given as the same as the template copied but preceded by "Copy of". 4. Edit the parameters of the new station template in the table or as explained in "Modifying a Station Template" on page 1255.

16.2.2.8.3

Modifying a Station Template You can modify a station template directly in the Station Templates table, or you can open the Properties dialog box for that station template and modify the parameters in the dialog box. To modify a station template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Settings folder, right-click the Station Templates folder, and select Open Table from the context menu. The Station Templates table opens. 2. Right-click the station template that you want to modify and select Record Properties from the context menu. The station template Properties dialog box appears. 3. Modify the station template parameters as described in "Station Template Properties" on page 1254. 4. Click OK.

16.2.2.8.4

Copying Properties from One Station Template to Another You can copy properties from one template to another template by using the Station Templates table. To copy properties from one template to another template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Settings folder, right-click the Station Templates folder, and select Open Table from the context menu. The Station Templates table opens. 2. In the Stations Templates table, copy the settings in the row corresponding to the station template that you want to copy from and paste them into the row corresponding to the station template that you want to modify.

16.2.2.8.5

Modifying a Field in a Station Template You can add, delete, and edit user-defined data table fields in the Station Templates table. If you want to add a user-defined field to the station templates, you must have already added it to the Sites table for it to appear as an option in the station template properties To modify a field in a station template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Settings folder, right-click the Station Templates folder, and select Properties from the context menu. The Station Template Properties table opens. 2. Select the Table tab. 3. Add, delete, or edit the user-defined fields as described in "Adding, Deleting, and Editing Data Table Fields" on page 76. 4. Click OK.

16.2.2.8.6

Deleting a Station Template To delete a station template: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Settings folder and the Station Templates folder, and rightclick the station template you want to delete. The context menu appears. 2. Select Delete from the context menu. The template is deleted.

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16.2.2.9 Duplicating an Existing Gateway You can create gateways by duplicating an existing gateway. When you duplicate an existing gateway, the gateway you create will have the same transmitter, and cell parameter values as the original gateway. If no site exists where you place the duplicated gateway, Atoll will create a site with the same parameters as the site of the original gateway. Duplicating a gateway allows you to: • •

Quickly create a gateway with the same settings as an original one in order to study the effect of a new gateway on the coverage and capacity of the network, and Quickly create an homogeneous network with gateways that have the same characteristics.

To duplicate an existing gateway: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Sites folder, right-click the site that you want to duplicate, and select one of the following context menus: • •

If you want to duplicate the gateway without the intra and inter-technology neighbours of its transmitters, select Duplicate > Without Neighbours. If you want to duplicate the gateway along with the lists of intra and inter-technology neighbours of its transmitters, select Duplicate > With Outward Neighbours.

2. Place the new gateway on the map using the mouse: • •

To create a duplicate gateway and site, move the pointer over the map to where you would like to place the duplicate. The exact coordinates of the pointer’s current location are visible in the Status bar. To place the duplicate gateway on an existing site, move the pointer over the existing site where you would like to place the duplicate. When the pointer is over the site, the site is automatically selected. The exact coordinates of the pointer’s current location are visible in the Status bar. •

•

To place the gateway more accurately, you can zoom in on the map before you select Duplicate from the context menu. For information on using the zooming tools, see "Changing the Map Scale" on page 60. If you let the pointer rest over the gateway you have placed, Atoll displays tip text with its exact coordinates, allowing you to verify that the location is correct.

3. Click to place the duplicate gateway. A new gateway is placed on the map. If the duplicate gateway was placed on a new site, the site, transmitters, and cells of the new station have the same names as the site, transmitters, and cells of the original station with each name marked as "Copy of." The site, transmitters, and cells of the duplicate station have the same settings as those of the original station. If the duplicate gateway was placed on an existing site, the transmitters, and cells of the new gateway have the same names as the transmitters, and cells of the original gateway with each name preceded by the name of the site on which the duplicate was placed. All the remote antennas and repeaters of any transmitter on the original site are also duplicated. Any duplicated remote antennas and repeaters will retain the same donor transmitter as the original. If you want the duplicated remote antenna or repeater to use a transmitter on the duplicated gateway, you must change the donor transmitter manually. You can also place a series of duplicate gateways by pressing and holding Ctrl in step 3. and clicking to place each duplicate gateway. For more information on the site, transmitter, and cell properties, see "Definition of an LPWA Gateway" on page 1248.

16.2.2.10 Studying the Profile Around a Gateway In Atoll, you can make a profile analysis to study obstacles along the path between a reference transmitter and any point on the map. Atoll displays the geographic profile between the transmitter and the receiver with clutter heights. An ellipsoid indicating the Fresnel zone is also displayed allowing you to study obstructions to radio signals along the path. You can also study propagation losses along the profile as well as the signal level received at the point. Before studying path loss along a profile, you must assign a propagation model to the transmitter. The propagation model takes the radio and geographic data into account and calculates losses along the transmitter-receiver path. The profile is calculated in real time, using the propagation model, allowing you to study the profile and get a prediction on the selected point. For information on assigning a propagation model, see "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187.

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To study the profile between a transmitter and a receiver: 1. In the map window, select the transmitter from which you want to make a point analysis. 2. Click the Point Analysis button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar. The Point Analysis window opens and the pointer

changes ( ) to represent the receiver. A line appears on the map connecting the selected transmitter and the receiver. You can move the receiver on the map (see "Moving the Receiver on the Map" on page 203). 3. Select the Profile view. The Profile view displays the profile between the transmitter and the receiver with the terrain and clutter heights. You can select a different transmitter.

Displays data, including received signal, shadowing margin, cell edge coverage probability, propagation model used, and transmitter-receiver distance.

Fresnel ellipsoid

Line of sight

Attenuation with diffraction

Figure 16.2: Point Analysis - Profile view The distance between the transmitter and the receiver is displayed at the top of the Profile view. The altitude is reported on the vertical axis and the receiver-transmitter distance on the horizontal axis. A blue ellipsoid indicates the Fresnel zone between the transmitter and the receiver. A green line indicates the line of sight (LOS) with the angle of the LOS as read from the vertical antenna pattern. Along the profile, if the signal meets an obstacle, the obstacle causes attenuation with diffraction displayed by a red vertical line (if the used propagation model is able to calculate diffraction). The main diffraction edge is the one that intersects the Fresnel ellipsoid the most. Propagation models that use a 3 knife-edge Deygout diffraction method may also display two additional diffraction edges. The total attenuation is displayed above the main diffraction edge. The results of the analysis are displayed at the top of the Profile view: • • • •

The received signal strength from the selected transmitter for the cell with the highest reference signal power The propagation model used The shadowing margin and the indoor loss (if selected) The distance between the transmitter and the receiver.

4. If needed, select an other transmitter from the list. You can click the Properties button ( properties. 5. Click the Options button ( • • • •

) to access the transmitter

) to display the Calculation Options dialog box and change the following:

Change the X and Y coordinates to change the current position of the receiver. Select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a Cell edge coverage probability. For more information, see "Taking Shadowing into Account in Point Analyses" on page 204. Select Signal level, Path loss, or Total losses from the Result type list. You can select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. For more information, see "Taking Indoor Losses into Account" on page 203.

6. In the Profile view toolbar, you can use the following tools: •

Click the Geographic Profile button (

) to view the geographic profile between the transmitter and the receiver.

Click the Geographic Profile button ( receiver.

) again to view the radio signal path between the transmitter and the

•

Click the Link Budget button (

) to display a dialog box with the link budget.

•

Click the Detailed Report button ( ) to display a text document with details on the displayed profile analysis. The detailed report is only available for the Standard Propagation Model.

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•

Click the Copy button ( processing programme.

) to copy the content of the view and paste it as a graphic into a graphic editing or word-

• •

Click the Print button ( ) to print the content of the view. Click the Centre on Map button ( ) to centre the map window on the receiver.

7. To end the point analysis, click the Point Analysis button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar again.

16.2.3 Creating a Group of Gateways You can create gateways individually as explained in "Creating LPWA Gateways" on page 1251, or you can create one or several gateways by using station templates as explained in "Placing a New Gateway Using a Station Template" on page 1253. However, if you have a large project and you already have existing data, you can import this data into your current Atoll document and create a group of gateways. When you import data into your current Atoll document, the coordinate system of the imported data must be the same as the display coordinate system used in the document. If you cannot change the coordinate system of your source data, you can temporarily change the display coordinate system of the Atoll document to match the source data. For information on changing the coordinate system, see "Setting a Coordinate System" on page 41. You can import station data in the following ways: •

Copying and pasting data: If you have data in table form, either in another Atoll document or in a spreadsheet, you can copy this data and paste it into the tables in your current Atoll document. When you create a group of gateways by copying and pasting data, you must copy and paste site data in the Sites table, transmitter data in the Transmitters table, and cell data in the Cells table, in that order. The table you copy from must have the same column layout as the table you are pasting data into.

For information on copying and pasting data, see "Copying and Pasting in Tables" on page 83. •

Importing data: If you have gateway data in text or comma-separated value (CSV) format, you can import it into the tables in the current document. If the data is in another Atoll document, you can first export it in text or CSV format and then import it into the tables of your current Atoll document. When you are importing, Atoll allows you to select what values you import into which columns of the table. When you create a group of gateways by importing data, you must import site data in the Sites table, transmitter data in the Transmitters table, and cell data in the Cells table, in that order. For information on exporting table data, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. For information on importing table data, see "Importing Tables from Text Files" on page 88.

16.2.4 Modifying Sites and Transmitters Directly on the Map In Atoll, you can access the Properties dialog box of a site or transmitter using the context menu in the Network explorer. However, in a complex radio-planning project, it can be difficult to find the data object in the Network explorer, although it might be visible in the map window. Atoll lets you access the Properties dialog box of sites and transmitters directly from the map. You can also select a site to display all of the transmitters located on it in the Site explorer. When selecting a transmitter, if there is more than one transmitter with the same azimuth, clicking the transmitters in the map window opens a context menu allowing you to select the transmitter. You can also change the position of the gateway by dragging it, or by letting Atoll find a higher location for it. Modifying sites and transmitters directly on the map is explained in detail in Chapter 1: Working Environment: • • • • •

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"Selecting One out of Several Transmitters" on page 57 "Moving a Site Using the Mouse" on page 57 "Moving a Site to a Higher Location" on page 57 "Changing the Azimuth of the Antenna Using the Mouse" on page 57 "Changing the Antenna Position Relative to the Site Using the Mouse" on page 58

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16.2.5 Display Tips for Gateways Atoll allows to you to display information about gateways in a number of ways. This enables you not only to display selected information, but also to distinguish gateways at a glance. The following tools can be used to display information about gateways: •

•

•

•

Label: You can display information about each object, such as each site or transmitter, in the form of a label that is displayed with the object. You can display information from every field in that object type’s data table, including from fields that you add. The label is always displayed, so you should choose information that you would want to always be visible; too much information in the label will make it harder to distinguish the information you are looking for. For information on defining the label, see "Associating a Label to an Object" on page 53. Tip text: You can display information about each object, such as each site or transmitter, in the form of tip text that is only visible when you move the pointer over the object. You can choose to display more information than in the label, because the information is only displayed when you move the pointer over the object. You can display information from any field in that object type’s data table, including from fields that you add. For information on defining the tip text, see "Associating a Tip Text to an Object" on page 54. Transmitter colour: You can set the transmitter colour to display information about the transmitter. For example, you can select "Discrete Values" to distinguish transmitters by antenna type, or to distinguish inactive from active transmitters. You can also define the display type for transmitters as "Automatic." Atoll then automatically assigns a colour to each transmitter, ensuring that each transmitter has a different colour than the transmitters surrounding it. For information on defining the transmitter colour, see "Setting the Display Type" on page 52. Transmitter symbol: You can select one of several symbols to represent transmitters. For example, you can select a symbol that graphically represents the antenna half-power beamwidth (

). If you have two transmitters on the

same site with the same azimuth, you can differentiate them by selecting different symbols for each ( For information on defining the transmitter symbol, see "Setting the Display Type" on page 52.

and

).

16.2.6 Creating Repeaters A repeater receives, amplifies, and re-transmits the radiated or conducted RF carrier both in downlink and uplink. It has a donor side and a server side. The donor side receives the signal from a donor transmitter, repeater, or remote antenna. This signal can be carried by different types of links such as radio link or microwave link. The server side re-transmits the received signal. When Atoll models LPWA repeaters, the modelling focuses on: • •

The additional coverage these systems provide to transmitters in the downlink. The noise rise generated at the donor transmitter by the repeater. In calculations, repeaters are transparent to the donor transmitters and the served users. For example, beamforming smart antennas at donor transmitters create beams directly towards the served users, and not towards the repeater that covers the users. This results in a combined signal level received from the transmitter using the smart antenna and from the repeater. If this approach does not match how your equipment works, you must not assign smart antennas to transmitters with repeaters and vice versa. This is also true for MIMO.

This section covers the following topics: • • • • • •

"Repeater Properties" on page 1259 "Opening the Repeaters Table" on page 1261 "Creating and Modifying Repeater Equipment" on page 1262 "Creating and Placing a Repeater on the Map" on page 1262 "Modifying the Properties of a Repeater" on page 1262 "Tips for Updating Repeater Parameters" on page 1263 Atoll assumes that all carriers from the LPWA donor transmitter are amplified.

16.2.6.1 Repeater Properties You can edit the properties of a repeater in the repeater Properties dialog box.

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General Tab •

Name: Specify the name of the repeater. By default, repeaters are named "SiteX_Y_RepZ" where "X" is the donor site number, "Y" the donor transmitter number, and "Z" a number assigned to the repeater when it was created. If the donor is another repeater, then "RepZ" is preceded by "RepB_" where "B" identifies the donor repeater.

• • •

•

Donor: The donor of a repeater can be a transmitter or another repeater. Click the Browse button to open the donor Properties dialog box. Site: Specify the site on which the repeater is located. Click the Browse button to open the site Properties dialog box. Shared antenna: Specify the identifier (coverage side) of the transmitters and repeaters that are located at the same site or on sites with the same position and that share an antenna. The identifier must be the same for all such transmitters and repeaters. When changes are made to the position offset (Dx, Dy), azimuth, antenna height, or mechanical tilt of one antenna, Atoll automatically synchronises the same changes to all other transmitters and repeaters defined as having a shared antenna. Antenna position: If the repeater is not located exactly on the site, you can specify its location. •

• •

Relative to site: Select this option if you want to define the position of the repeater relative to the site itself and then enter the XY offsets. • Coordinates: Select this option to specify the position of the repeater by its X and Y absolute coordinates. Equipment: Select an equipment from the list. Click the Browse button to open the equipment Properties dialog box. Amplifier Gain: Specify a gain for the amplifier. The amplifier gain is used in the link budget to evaluate the repeater total gain.

Donor Side tab •

Donor-repeater link: Specify the type of link between the donor and the repeater: •

Air: Select this option to specify an off-air repeater. Select a Propagation model and enter the Propagation losses or click Calculate to determine the actual propagation losses between the donor and the repeater. If you do not select a propagation model, the propagation losses between the donor transmitter and the repeater are calculated using the ITU 526-5 propagation model. When you create an off-air repeater, it is assumed that the link between the donor transmitter and the repeater has the same frequency as the network.

•

•

Microwave link: Select this option to specify a microwave link and enter the total Link losses for the link between the donor transmitter and the repeater • Optical fibre link: Select this option to specify an optical fibre link and enter the total Fibre losses for the link between the donor transmitter and the repeater. Antenna: only available if you selected Air under Donor-repeater link: •

Model: Select the antenna model from the list. Click the Browse button to access the access properties. Click the Select button to open the Antenna Selection Assistant. This assistant lists all the antennas that match the currently selected physical antenna and whose minimum and maximum operating frequencies include the operating frequency of the transmitter. For more information, see "Assigning Antennas to Transmitters" on page 159

• •

Height/ground: Specify the height of the antenna above the ground. This is added to the altitude of the site as given by the DTM. If the repeater is situated on a building, the height entered must include the height of building. Mechanical Azimuth and Mechanical Downtilt: Specify additional antenna parameters. You can click the Calculate button to update the mechanical azimuth and mechanical downtilt values after changing the repeater donor side antenna height or the repeater location. If you choose another site or change site coordinates in the General tab, click Apply before clicking the Calculate button.

•

Feeders: only available if you selected Air under Donor-repeater link: • •

Type: Select the type of feeder from the list. Click the Browse button to access the feeder properties. Length: Enter the Length of the feeder cable at Transmission and at Reception.

Coverage Side Tab •

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Active: Specify whether the repeater is active. Only active repeaters (displayed in red in the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer) are calculated.

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•

Total gain: Specify the total gain in downlink and uplink. You can click Calculate to determine the actual gain in both directions. If you have modified any parameter in the General, Donor Side, or Coverage Side tabs, click Apply before clicking the Calculate button. • •

In downlink, the total gain is applied to preamble, traffic, and pilot powers. In uplink, the total gain is applied to each terminal power.

The total gain takes into account losses between the donor transmitter and the repeater, donor characteristics (donor antenna gain, reception feeder losses), amplifier gain, and coverage characteristics (coverage antenna gain, transmission feeder losses). •

Antennas: • •

Height/ground: Specify the height of the antenna above the ground. This is added to the altitude of the site as given by the DTM. If the repeater is situated on a building, the height entered must include the height of building. Main antenna: •

Model: Select an antenna model from the list. Click the Browse button to access the antenna properties. Click the Select button to open the Antenna Selection Assistant. This assistant lists all the antennas that match the currently selected physical antenna and whose minimum and maximum operating frequencies include the operating frequency of the transmitter. For more information, see "Assigning Antennas to Transmitters" on page 159

•

•

Mechanical Azimuth, Mechanical Downtilt, Electrical Azimuth, Electrical Downtilt, and Additional electrical downtilt: Specify additional antenna parameters. Secondary antennas: Select one or more secondary antennas in the Antenna column and enter their Azimuth, Mechanical downtilt, Additional electrical downtilt, and % Power. • • •

The Additional electrical downtilt can be made accessible through an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on the effect of additional electrical downtilt on antenna patterns, see the Technical Reference Guide. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75.

•

Feeders:

•

• Type: Select a type of feeder from the list. You can click the Browse button to access the feeder properties. • Length: Enter the length of the feeder cable at Transmission and at Reception. Losses: • •

Loss related to repeater noise rise is displayed. Misc. losses: Specify additional losses in dB for Transmission and Reception.

Propagation Tab Repeaters are taken into account during calculations. Therefore, you must set the propagation parameters. On the Propagation tab, you can modify the Propagation model, Radius, and Resolution for both the Main matrix and the Extended matrix. By default, the propagation characteristics of the repeater (model, calculation radius, and grid resolution) are the same as those of the donor transmitter. For information on propagation models, see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models.

16.2.6.2 Opening the Repeaters Table The characteristics of each repeater are stored in the Repeaters table. To open the Repeaters table: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder. The context menu appears. 2. Select Repeaters > Open Table from the context menu. The Repeaters table appears.

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16.2.6.3 Creating and Modifying Repeater Equipment You can define repeater equipment to be assigned to each repeater in the network. To create or modify repeater equipment: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Equipment folder, right-click Repeater Equipment, and select Open Table from the context menu. The Repeater Equipment table appears. 2. Define the following in an existing record or in the row marked with the New row icon (

):

a. Enter a Name and Manufacturer for the new equipment. b. Enter a Noise figure (dB). The repeater causes a rise in noise at the donor transmitter, so the noise figure is used to calculate the UL loss to be added to the donor transmitter UL losses. The noise figure must be a positive value. c. Enter minimum and maximum repeater amplifier gains in the Min. gain and Max gain columns. These parameters enable Atoll to ensure that the user-defined amplifier gain is consistent with the limits of the equipment if there are any. d. Enter a Gain increment. Atoll uses the increment value when you increase or decrease the repeater amplifier gain using the buttons to the right of the Amplifier gain box ( box.

) on the General tab of the repeater Properties dialog

e. Enter the maximum power that the equipment can transmit on the downlink in the Max downlink power column. This parameter enables Atoll to ensure that the downlink power after amplification does not exceed the limit of the equipment. f. If desired, enter a Max uplink power, an Internal delay and Comments. These fields are for information only and are not used in calculations.

16.2.6.4 Creating and Placing a Repeater on the Map In Atoll, you can create a repeater and place it using the mouse. When you create a repeater, you can add it to an existing site, or have Atoll automatically create a new site. Atoll supports cascading repeaters, in other words, repeaters that extend the coverage of another repeater. To create a repeater and place it using the mouse: 1. Select the donor transmitter or repeater. You can select it from the Transmitters folder in the Network explorer, or directly on the map. 2. Click the arrow next to New Repeater or Remote Antenna icon (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

3. Select Repeater from the menu. 4. Click the map to place the repeater. The repeater is placed on the map, represented by a symbol ( ) in the same colour as the donor transmitter or repeater. If the repeater is inactive, it is displayed by an empty icon. By default, the repeater has the same azimuth as the donor. Its tip text and label display the same information as displayed for the donor. As well, its tip text identifies the repeater and the donor. In the explorer window, the repeater is found in the Transmitters folder of the Network explorer under its donor transmitter or repeater. For information on defining the properties of the new repeater, see "Modifying the Properties of a Repeater" on page 1262. •

•

When the donor is a transmitter, you can see to which station the repeater is connected by clicking it; Atoll displays a link to the donor transmitter. You can hide the link by clicking it again. When the donor is a repeater, Atoll displays a spider-type link showing the entire chain down to the donor transmitter. The same spider-type link is displayed when you click any of the items belonging to the chain is clicked (i.e., donor transmitter or any repeater).

16.2.6.5 Modifying the Properties of a Repeater You can edit repeaters in the repeater Properties dialog box.

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To modify the properties of a repeater: 1. Right-click the repeater either directly on the map, or in the Repeaters table (for information on opening the Repeaters table, see "Opening the Repeaters Table" on page 1261), and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. Modify the properties of the repeater as described in "Repeater Properties" on page 1259. 3. Click OK.

16.2.6.6 Tips for Updating Repeater Parameters Atoll provides you with a few shortcuts that you can use to change certain repeater parameters: • •

You can update the calculated azimuth and downtilt of the donor-side antennas of all repeaters by selecting Repeaters > Calculate Donor Side Azimuths and Tilts from the Transmitters context menu. You can update the UL and DL total gains of all repeaters by selecting Repeaters > Calculate Gains from the Transmitters context menu. You can prevent Atoll from updating the UL and DL total gains of selected repeaters by creating a custom Boolean field named "FreezeTotalGain" in the Repeaters table and setting the value of the field to "True". Afterwards, when you select Repeaters > Calculate Gains from the Transmitters context menu, Atoll will only update the UL and DL total gains for repeaters with the custom field "FreezeTotalGain" set to "False".

• •

You can update the propagation losses of all off-air repeaters by selecting Repeaters > Calculate Donor Side Propagation Losses from the Transmitters context menu. You can select a repeater on the map and change its azimuth (see "Changing the Azimuth of the Antenna Using the Mouse" on page 57) or its position relative to the site (see "Changing the Antenna Position Relative to the Site Using the Mouse" on page 58).

16.2.7 Studying Gateways You can study one or several gateways to test the effectiveness of the set parameters. Coverage predictions on groups of gateways can take a large amount of time and consume a lot of computer resources. Restricting your coverage prediction to the gateway you are currently working on allows you get the results quickly. You can expand your coverage prediction to a number of gateways once you have optimised the settings for each individual gateway. Before studying a gateway, you must assign a propagation model. The propagation model takes the radio and geographic data into account and calculates propagation losses along the transmitter-receiver path. This allows you to predict the received signal level at any given point. Any coverage prediction you make on a gateway uses the propagation model to calculate its results. For more information, see "Preparing Base Stations for Calculations" on page 186. This section covers the following topics: • • • • • •

"LPWA Prediction Properties" on page 1263 "Signal Level Coverage Predictions" on page 1265 "LPWA Coverage Predictions" on page 1267 "Displaying Coverage Prediction Results" on page 1274 "Analysing a Coverage Prediction Using the Point Analysis" on page 1275 "Comparing Coverage Predictions" on page 1277

16.2.7.1 LPWA Prediction Properties You can configure the following parameters of a coverage prediction in the Properties dialog box. General Tab The General tab allows you to specify the following settings for the prediction: • •

Name: Specify the name of the coverage prediction. Resolution: Specify the display resolution. The resolution you set is the display resolution, not the calculation resolution. To improve memory consumption and optimise the calculation times, you should set the display resolutions of coverage predictions according to the precision required. The following table lists the levels of precision that are usually sufficient: Size of the Coverage Prediction

Display Resolution

City Centre

5m

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City

20 m

County

50 m

State

100 m

Country

According to the size of the country

A read-only Unique ID is generated when you create a coverage prediction. This ID can later be found between the and tags in the following files: • •

• • •

"studies.XML" file created in the installation folder if at least one coverage prediction was saved using the Save as Customised Prediction command. ".XML" files (one per prediction) created in the following folder if coverage predictions were calculated with Display type = "Value intervals": C:\\.studies\{}

Receiver height: This parameter displays the height of the receiver defined in the Calculation Parameters tab of the Network Settings Properties dialog box. Comments: Specify an optional description of comment for the prediction. Display Configuration: You can create a Filter to select which sites to display in the results. For information on filtering, see "Filtering Data" on page 99. The Group By and Sort buttons are not available when making a so-called "global" coverage prediction (e.g., signal level coverage prediction). If you create a coverage prediction from the context menu of the Predictions folder, you can select the sites using the Group By, Sort, and Filter buttons under Display configuration. However, if you create a coverage prediction from the context menu of the Transmitters folder, only the Filter button is available, because, by creating a coverage prediction directly from the Transmitters folder, you have effectively already selected the target sites.

Conditions Tab The coverage prediction parameters on the Conditions tab allow you to define the signals that will be considered for each pixel. • •

At the top of the Conditions tab, you can set the range to be considered for the current prediction. Server: Select one of the following: • •

"All" to consider all servers. "Best Signal Level" or "Second Best Signal Level" to also specify an Overlap margin that Atoll will take into consideration. Selecting "All" or "Best Signal Level" will give you the same results because Atoll displays the results of the best server in either case. Selecting "Best Signal Level" necessitates, however, a longer time for calculation.

• • •

Shadowing taken into account: Select this option to consider shadowing in the prediction. When you select this option, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability. Indoor coverage: Select this option to consider indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. Channel: Select a channel or carry out the prediction for the "Best" channel of a frequency band or of all frequency bands. For any transmitter, the best channel is the one whose cell has the highest power.

Display Tab On the Display tab, you can modify how the results of the coverage prediction will be displayed. • • • • •

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Under Display type, select "Value intervals". Under Field, select "Best signal level". You can change the value intervals and their displayed colour. For information on changing display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. You can create tip text with information about the coverage prediction by clicking the Browse button next to the Tip text box and selecting the fields you want to display in the tip text. You can select the Add to legend check box to add the displayed value intervals to the legend.

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If you change the display properties of a coverage prediction after you have calculated it, you may make the coverage prediction invalid. You will then have to recalculate the coverage prediction to obtain valid results.

16.2.7.2 Signal Level Coverage Predictions Atoll offers a series of standard coverage predictions based on the measured signal level at each pixel; other factors, such as interference, are not taken into consideration. Coverage predictions specific to LPWA are covered in "LPWA Coverage Predictions" on page 1267. Once you have created and calculated a coverage prediction, you can use the coverage prediction context menu to make the coverage prediction into a customised prediction which will appear in the Prediction Types dialog box. You can also select Duplicate from the coverage prediction’s context menu to create a copy. By duplicating an existing prediction that has the parameters you want to study, you can create a coverage prediction more quickly than by creating a coverage prediction. If you clone a coverage prediction, by selecting Clone from the context menu, you can create a copy of the coverage prediction with the calculated coverage. You can then change the display, providing that the selected parameter does not invalidate the calculated coverage prediction. You can also save the list of all defined coverage predictions in a user configuration, allowing you or other users to load it into a new Atoll document. When you save the list in a user configuration, the parameters of all existing coverage predictions are saved; not just the parameters of calculated or displayed ones. For information on exporting user configurations, see "Saving a User Configuration" on page 104. The following standard coverage predictions are explained in this section: • • • •

16.2.7.2.1

"Studying Signal Level Coverage of a Single Gateway" on page 1265 "Making a Coverage Prediction by Signal Level" on page 1266 "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter" on page 1266 "Making a Coverage Prediction on Overlapping Zones" on page 1266

Studying Signal Level Coverage of a Single Gateway While you are building your radio-planning project, you might want to check the coverage of a new gateway without having to calculate the entire project. You can do this by selecting the site with its transmitters and then creating a coverage prediction. This section explains how to calculate the signal level coverage of a single gateway. A signal level coverage prediction displays the signal of the best server for each pixel of the area studied. For a transmitter with more than one cell, the signal level is calculated for the cell with the highest power. You can use the same procedure to study the signal level coverage of several gateways by grouping the transmitters. For information on grouping transmitters, see "Grouping Data Objects by Property" on page 95. To study the signal level coverage of a single gateway: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder, and select Group By > Sites from the context menu. The transmitters are now displayed in the Transmitters folder by the site on which they are situated. If you want to study only sites by their status, at this step you could group them by status.

2. Specify the propagation parameters as explained in "Assigning Propagation Parameters" on page 187. 3. In the Transmitters folder, right-click the group of transmitters you want to study and select Calculations > Create a New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. The Prediction Types dialog box lists the coverage prediction types available. They are divided into Standard Predictions, supplied with Atoll, and Customised Predictions. Unless you have already created some customised predictions, the Customised Predictions list will be empty. 4. Select Coverage by Signal Level (DL) and click OK. A coverage prediction properties dialog box appears. 5. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "LPWA Prediction Properties" on page 1263. 6. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately.

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•

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OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window. The signal level coverage prediction can be found in the Predictions folder in the Network explorer. Atoll automatically locks the results of a coverage prediction as soon as it is calculated, as indicated by the icon ( folder. When you click the Calculate button (

16.2.7.2.2

) beside the coverage prediction in the Predictions

), Atoll only calculates unlocked coverage predictions (

).

Making a Coverage Prediction by Signal Level A coverage prediction by signal level allows you to predict coverage zones by the transmitter signal strength at each pixel. You can base the coverage on the signal level, path loss, or total losses within a defined range. For a transmitter with more than one cell, the coverage is calculated for the cell with the highest power. To make a coverage prediction by signal level: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder, and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Coverage by Signal Level (DL) and click OK. The Coverage by Signal Level (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "LPWA Prediction Properties" on page 1263. If you choose to display the results by best signal level, the coverage prediction results will be in the form of thresholds. If you choose to display the results by signal level, the coverage prediction results will be arranged according to transmitter. For information on adjusting the display, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 4. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

16.2.7.2.3

Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter A coverage prediction by transmitter allows the user to predict coverage zones by transmitter at each pixel. You can base the coverage on the signal level, path loss, or total losses within a defined range. For a transmitter with more than one cell, the coverage is calculated for the cell with the highest power. To make a coverage prediction by transmitter: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder, and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Coverage by Transmitter (DL) and click OK. The Coverage by Transmitter (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "LPWA Prediction Properties" on page 1263. For a coverage prediction by transmitter, the Display type "Discrete values" based on the Field "Transmitter" is selected by default. Each coverage zone will then be displayed with the same colour as that defined for each transmitter. For information on defining transmitter colours, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 4. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window

16.2.7.2.4

Making a Coverage Prediction on Overlapping Zones Overlapping zones (dl) are composed of pixels that are, for a defined condition, covered by the signal of at least two transmitters. You can base a coverage prediction on overlapping zones on the signal level, path loss, or total losses within a defined range. For a transmitter with more than one cell, the coverage is calculated for the cell with the highest power.

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To make a coverage prediction on overlapping zones: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder, and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Overlapping Zones (DL) and click OK. The Overlapping Zones (DL) Properties dialog box appears. 3. Configure the parameters in the Properties dialog box as described in "LPWA Prediction Properties" on page 1263. For a coverage prediction on overlapping zones, the Display type "Value intervals" based on the Field "Number of servers" is selected by default. Each overlapping zone will then be displayed in a colour corresponding to the number of servers received per pixel. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. When creating a coverage prediction displaying the number of servers, you can not export the values per pixel.

4. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

16.2.7.3 LPWA Coverage Predictions LPWA coverage predictions available in Atoll are used to analyse the effective signal levels, signal quality, and throughputs. For the purposes of these coverage predictions, each pixel is considered a non-interfering user with a defined service, mobility type, and terminal. For more information, see "Service and User Modelling" on page 1267. The downlink interference received from different cells of the network depends on the cell frequency channel as well as their downlink traffic loads. The measure of uplink interference for each cell is provided by the uplink noise rise. In this section, these coverage predictions will be calculated using downlink traffic loads and the uplink noise rise values defined at the cell level. Before making a prediction, you will have to set the downlink traffic loads and the uplink noise rise, and the parameters that define the services and users. For more information, see "Setting Cell Loads and Noise Rise Values" on page 1269. This section explains the coverage predictions available for analysing the effective signal level and signal quality. The following are explained: • • • • • • •

16.2.7.3.1

"Service and User Modelling" on page 1267 "Studying Effective Signal Levels" on page 1269 "Studying Interference and C/(I+N) Levels" on page 1270 "Studying Downlink and Uplink Service Areas" on page 1270 "Studying the Effective Service Area" on page 1271 "Making a Coverage Prediction by Throughput" on page 1272 "Making a Coverage Prediction by Quality Indicator" on page 1273

Service and User Modelling Atoll can base its signal quality coverage predictions on the DL traffic loads and the UL noise rise entered in the Cells table (for more information, see "Setting Cell Loads and Noise Rise Values" on page 1269). Before you can model services, you must define LPWA radio bearers. For more information on LPWA radio bearers, see "Defining LPWA Radio Bearers" on page 1302. Modelling Services Services are the various services available to users. These services can be either voice or data type services. The following parameters are used in predictions: • • • • •

Highest bearer Lowest bearer Throughput scaling factor Throughput offset Body loss

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You can create a service or modify an existing service by specifying the following parameters in the General tab of the service Properties dialog box (some fields depend on the type of service you choose): • • • •

• • • • • •

Name: Atoll proposes a name for the new service, but you can set a more descriptive name. Type: You can select either Voice or Data as the service type. Priority: Enter a priority for this service. "0" is the lowest priority. Activity factor: The uplink and downlink activity factors are used to determine the probability of activity for users accessing the service. For Voice services, this parameter is used when working with sector traffic maps and user density traffic maps. For Data services, Atoll distributes the users according to the activity factors when importing user density traffic maps for all activity statuses. Highest bearer: Select the highest bearer that the service can use in the uplink and downlink. This is considered as an upper limit during bearer determination. Lowest bearer: Select the lowest bearer that the service can use in the uplink and downlink. This is considered as a lower limit during bearer determination. Max throughput demand: Enter the highest throughput that the service can demand in the uplink and downlink. This value is not considered for services UGS as the quality of service. Min throughput demand: Enter the minimum required throughput that the service should have in order to be available in the uplink and downlink. This value is not considered for BE services. Average requested throughput: Enter the average requested throughput for uplink and downlink. Application throughput: Under Application throughput, you can set a Scaling factor between the application throughput and the MAC (Medium Access Control) throughput and a throughput Offset. These parameters model the header information and other supplementary data that does not appear at the application level. The application throughput parameters are used in throughput coverage predictions and for application throughput calculation.

•

Body loss: Enter a body loss for the service. The body loss is the loss due to the body of the user. For example, in a voice connection the body loss, due to the proximity of the user’s head, is estimated to be 3 dB.

For information on creating or modifying a service, see "Creating Services" on page 247. Modelling Mobility Types In LPWA, information about the receiver mobility is required for determining which bearer selection threshold and quality graph to use from the reception equipment referred to in the terminal or cell. Mobiles used at high speeds and at walking speeds do not have the same quality characteristics. C/(I+N) requirements for different radio bearers are largely dependent on mobile speed. You can create or modify a mobility type by specifying the following parameters in the General tab of the mobility type Properties dialog box: • •

Name: Enter a descriptive name for the mobility type. Average speed: Enter an average speed for the mobility type. This field is for information only; the average speed is not used by any calculation.

For information on creating or modifying mobility types, see "Creating Mobility Types" on page 249. Modelling Terminals In LPWA, a terminal is the user equipment that is used in the network, for example, a mobile phone, a PDA, or a car’s on-board navigation device. You can create or modify a terminal by specifying the following parameters in the General tab of the terminal Properties dialog box: • •

Name: Enter a descriptive name for the terminal. Transmission/Reception: • • • • •

•

Min power: Enter the minimum transmission power of the terminal. Max power: Enter the maximum transmission power of the terminal. Noise figure: Enter the noise figure of the terminal (used to calculate the downlink total noise). Losses: Enter the losses of the terminal. Reception equipment: Select a reception equipment from the list of available equipment. For more information on reception equipment, see "Defining LPWA Reception Equipment" on page 1303. Antenna: •

Model: Select an antenna model from the list of available antennas. If you do not select an antenna for the terminal, Atoll uses an isotropic antenna in calculations. In case you do not select an antenna, Atoll uses an isotropic antenna, not an omni-directional antenna, in calculations. An isotropic antenna has spherical radiation patterns in the horizontal as well as vertical planes.

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• • •

Gain: Enter the terminal antenna gain if you have not selected an antenna model in the Model field. If you have selected an antenna, the Gain field is disabled and shows the gain of the selected antenna. Diversity support: Select whether the terminal support MIMO or not. MIMO: Enter the Number of transmission antennas and the Number of reception antennas available in the terminal.

For information on creating or modifying terminals, see "Creating Terminals" on page 254.

16.2.7.3.2

Setting Cell Loads and Noise Rise Values If you are setting the traffic loads and the uplink noise rise for a single transmitter, you can set these parameters on the Cells tab of the transmitter Properties dialog box. However, you can set the traffic loads and the uplink noise rise for all the cells using the Cells table. To set the traffic loads and the uplink noise rise using the Cells table: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Transmitters folder and select Cells > Open Table from the context menu. The Cells table appears. 2. Enter a value in the following columns: • •

Traffic load (DL) (%) UL noise rise (dB)

Although, you can also set a value for the Traffic load (UL) (%) column as an indication of cells’ uplink loads, this parameter is not used in the coverage prediction calculations. The measure of interference in the uplink is given by the uplink noise rise values. For a definition of the values, see "Cell Properties" on page 1250. To enter the same values in one column for all cells in the table by copying the contents of one cell into other cells, you can use the Fill Down and Fill Up commands. For more information on working with tables in Atoll, see "Data Tables" on page 75.

16.2.7.3.3

Studying Effective Signal Levels Atoll offers a couple of LPWA coverage predictions which can be based on the predicted signal level from the best server and the thermal background noise at each pixel, i.e., received carrier power (C) and the carrier-to-noise ratio (C/N). This section explains the coverage predictions available for analysing the effective signal levels. Atoll calculates the serving transmitter for each pixel depending on the downlink signal level. The serving transmitter is determined according to the received signal level from the cell with the highest power. Then, depending on the prediction definition, it calculates the effective signal level or C/N . Pixels are coloured if the display threshold condition is fulfilled. To make an effective signal analysis coverage prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Effective Signal Analysis (DL) or Effective Signal Analysis (UL) and click OK. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. For information on the prediction Properties dialog box, see "LPWA Prediction Properties" on page 1263. 3. Click the Conditions tab. On the Conditions tab: a. Select a Terminal, a Mobility type, and a Service. The effective signal analysis coverage prediction is always a best server coverage prediction. The Noise figure defined in the terminal type’s properties dialog box is used in the coverage prediction to determine the total noise in the downlink, and the Noise figure of the transmitter is used to determine the total noise in the uplink. For more information on services, terminals, mobility types, and reception equipment, see "Modelling Services" on page 1267, "Modelling Terminals" on page 1268, "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 1268, and "Defining LPWA Reception Equipment" on page 1303, respectively. b. If you want the coverage prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. The shadowing margin is based on the model standard deviation. c. You can also have the coverage prediction take Indoor coverage into consideration. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 4. Click the Display tab. From the Display type list, select Value intervals to display the coverage prediction by signal levels or C/N levels. For information on adjusting the display, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately.

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OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

16.2.7.3.4

Studying Interference and C/(I+N) Levels Downlink and uplink coverage predictions by C/(I+N) level predict the interference levels and signal-to-interference levels in the part of the network being studied. Atoll calculates the best server for each pixel depending on the downlink signal level. The serving transmitter is determined according to the received signal level from the cell with the highest power. Then, depending on the prediction definition, it calculates the interference from other cells, and finally calculates the C/(I+N). The pixel is coloured if the display threshold condition is fulfilled. 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. For more information on frequency bands, see "Defining Frequency Bands" on page 1301. To make a coverage prediction by C/(I+N) level: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Coverage by C/(I+N) Level (DL) or Coverage by C/(I+N) Level (UL) and click OK. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. For information on the prediction Properties dialog box, see "LPWA Prediction Properties" on page 1263. 3. Click the Conditions tab. On the Conditions tab: a. Select a Terminal, a Mobility type, and a Service. The Noise figure defined in the terminal type’s properties dialog box is used in the coverage prediction to determine the total noise in the downlink, and the Noise figure of the transmitter is used to determine the total noise in the uplink. For more information on services, terminals, mobility types, and reception equipment, see "Modelling Services" on page 1267, "Modelling Terminals" on page 1268, "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 1268, and "Defining LPWA Reception Equipment" on page 1303, respectively. b. If you want the coverage prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. The shadowing margin is based on the C/I standard deviation. c. You can also have the coverage prediction take Indoor coverage into consideration. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 4. Click the Display tab. From the Display type list, select "Value intervals" to display the coverage prediction by C/(I+N) levels or total noise (I+N) levels. For information on adjusting the display, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

16.2.7.3.5

Studying Downlink and Uplink Service Areas Downlink and uplink service area analysis coverage predictions calculate and display the LPWA radio bearers based on C⁄(I+N) for each pixel. In the coverage predictions, the downlink or uplink service areas are limited by the bearer selection thresholds of the highest and lowest bearers of the selected service. To make a coverage prediction on service area: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Service Area Analysis (DL) or Service Area Analysis (UL) and click OK. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. For information on the prediction Properties dialog box, see "LPWA Prediction Properties" on page 1263. 3. Click the Conditions tab. On the Conditions tab: a. Select a Terminal, a Mobility type, and a Service. The Noise figure defined in the terminal type’s properties dialog box is used in the coverage prediction to determine the total noise in the downlink, and the Noise figure of the

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transmitter is used to determine the total noise in the uplink. As well, the bearer selection for each pixel according to the C⁄(I+N) level is performed using the bearer selection thresholds defined in the reception equipment. This reception equipment is the one defined in the selected terminal for the downlink coverage predictions, and the one defined in the cell properties of the serving transmitter for the uplink coverage predictions. Mobility is used to index the bearer selection threshold graph to use. You can make Atoll use only the bearers for which selection thresholds are defined in both the terminal’s and the cell’s reception equipment by adding an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on services, terminals, mobility types, and reception equipment, see "Modelling Services" on page 1267, "Modelling Terminals" on page 1268, "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 1268, and "Defining LPWA Reception Equipment" on page 1303, respectively. b. If you want the coverage prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. The shadowing margin is based on the C/I standard deviation. c. You can also have the coverage prediction take Indoor coverage into consideration. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 4. Click the Display tab. From the Display type list, select display by bearer or modulation. For information on adjusting the display, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

16.2.7.3.6

Studying the Effective Service Area The effective service area is the intersection zone between the uplink and downlink service areas. In other words, the effective service area prediction calculates where a service is actually available in both downlink and uplink. The service availability depends upon the bearer selection thresholds of the highest and lowest bearers as defined in the properties of the service selected for the prediction. To make an effective service area coverage prediction: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Effective Service Area Analysis (DL+UL) and click OK. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. For information on the prediction Properties dialog box, see "LPWA Prediction Properties" on page 1263. 3. Click the Conditions tab. On the Conditions tab: a. Select a Terminal, a Mobility type, and a Service. The Noise figure defined in the terminal type’s properties dialog box is used in the coverage prediction to determine the total noise in the downlink, and the Noise figure of the transmitter is used to determine the total noise in the uplink. As well, the bearer selection for each pixel according to the C⁄(I+N) level is performed using the bearer selection thresholds defined in the reception equipment. This reception equipment is the one defined in the selected terminal for the downlink coverage predictions, and the one defined in the cell properties of the serving transmitter for the uplink coverage predictions. Mobility is used to index the bearer selection threshold graph to use. You can make Atoll use only the bearers for which selection thresholds are defined in both the terminal’s and the cell’s reception equipment by adding an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on services, terminals, mobility types, and reception equipment, see "Modelling Services" on page 1267, "Modelling Terminals" on page 1268, "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 1268, and "Defining LPWA Reception Equipment" on page 1303, respectively. b. If you want the coverage prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. The shadowing margin is based on the C/I standard deviation.

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c. You can also have the coverage prediction take Indoor coverage into consideration. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 4. Click the Display tab. For an effective service area prediction, the Display type "Unique" is selected by default. The coverage prediction will display where a service is available in both downlink and uplink. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

16.2.7.3.7

Making a Coverage Prediction by Throughput 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. To make a coverage prediction by throughput: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Coverage by Throughput (DL) or Coverage by Throughput (UL) and click OK. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. For information on the prediction Properties dialog box, see "LPWA Prediction Properties" on page 1263. 3. Click the Conditions tab. On the Conditions tab: a. Select a Terminal, a Mobility type, and a Service. The Noise figure defined in the terminal type’s properties dialog box is used in the coverage prediction to determine the total noise in the downlink, and the Noise figure of the transmitter is used to determine the total noise in the uplink. As well, the bearer selection for each pixel according to the C⁄(I+N) level is performed using the bearer selection thresholds defined in the reception equipment. This reception equipment is the one defined in the selected terminal for the downlink coverage predictions, and the one defined in the cell properties of the serving transmitter for the uplink coverage predictions. Mobility is used to index the bearer selection threshold graph to use. You can make Atoll use only the bearers for which selection thresholds are defined in both the terminal’s and the cell’s reception equipment by adding an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on services, terminals, mobility types, and reception equipment, see "Modelling Services" on page 1267, "Modelling Terminals" on page 1268, "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 1268, and "Defining LPWA Reception Equipment" on page 1303, respectively. b. If you want the coverage prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. The shadowing margin is based on the C/I standard deviation. c. You can also have the coverage prediction take Indoor coverage into consideration. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 4. Click the Display tab. From the Display type list, select "Value intervals" to display the coverage prediction by peak MAC, effective MAC, or application throughputs. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer. Atoll calculates the peak MAC channel throughputs from the information provided in the frame configuration and in the terminal and mobility properties for the terminal and mobility selected in the coverage prediction. 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.

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The effective MAC throughputs are the peak MAC throughputs reduced by retransmission due to errors, or the Block Error Rate (BLER). Atoll uses the block error rate graphs of the reception equipment defined in the selected terminal for downlink or the reception equipment of the cell of the serving transmitter for uplink. The application throughput is the effective MAC throughput reduced by the overheads of the different layers between the MAC and the Application layers. The cell capacity display types let you calculate and display the throughputs available on each pixel of the coverage area taking into account the maximum traffic load limits set for each cell. In other words, 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 downlink is calculated by dividing the downlink cell capacity by the number of downlink users of the serving cell. In uplink, the per-user throughput is either the allocated bandwidth throughput or the uplink cell capacity divided by the number of uplink users of the serving cell, whichever it smaller. For more information on throughput calculation, see the Technical Reference Guide. For more information on the Global Parameters, see "Network Settings" on page 1301. Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

16.2.7.3.8

Making a Coverage Prediction by Quality Indicator Downlink and uplink quality indicator coverage predictions calculate and display the values of different quality indicators (such as BLER or BER) based on the best LPWA radio bearers and on C⁄(I+N) for each pixel. To make a coverage prediction by quality indicator: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Select Coverage by Quality Indicator (DL) or Coverage by Quality Indicator (UL) and click OK. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. For information on the prediction Properties dialog box, see "LPWA Prediction Properties" on page 1263. 3. Click the Conditions tab. On the Conditions tab: a. Select a Terminal, a Mobility type, and a Service. The Noise figure defined in the terminal type properties dialog box is used in the coverage prediction to determine the total noise in the downlink, and the Noise figure of the transmitter is used to determine the total noise in the uplink. As well, the bearer selection for each pixel according to the C⁄(I+N) level is performed using the bearer selection thresholds defined in the reception equipment, and the quality indicator graphs from the reception equipment are used to determine the values of the selected quality indicator on each pixel. This reception equipment is the one defined in the selected terminal for the downlink coverage predictions, and the one defined in the cell properties of the serving transmitter for the uplink coverage predictions. Mobility is used to index the bearer selection threshold graph to use. You can make Atoll use only the bearers for which selection thresholds are defined in both the terminal and the cell reception equipment by adding an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual. For more information on services, terminals, mobility types, and reception equipment, see "Modelling Services" on page 1267, "Modelling Terminals" on page 1268, "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 1268, and "Defining LPWA Reception Equipment" on page 1303, respectively. b. If you want the coverage prediction to consider shadowing, you can select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a percentage in the Cell edge coverage probability text box. The shadowing margin is based on the C/I standard deviation. c. You can also have the coverage prediction take Indoor coverage into consideration. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. 4. Click the Display tab. You can choose from displaying results by BER, BLER, FER, or any other quality indicator that you might have added to the document. For more information, see "Defining LPWA Quality Indicators" on page 1302. The coverage prediction results will be in the form of thresholds. For information on adjusting the display, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Once you have created the coverage prediction, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the defined coverage prediction and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the defined coverage prediction without calculating it. You can calculate it later clicking the Calculate button (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar.

The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Events viewer.

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Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window.

16.2.7.4 Displaying Coverage Prediction Results The results are displayed graphically in the map window according to the settings you made on the Display tab when you created the coverage prediction (step 4. of "Studying Signal Level Coverage of a Single Gateway" on page 1265). If several coverage predictions are visible on the map, it can be difficult to clearly see the results of the coverage prediction you want to analyse. You can select which predictions to display or to hide by selecting or clearing the display check box. For information on managing the display, see "Displaying or Hiding Objects on the Map" on page 50. Once you have completed a prediction, you can also generate reports and statistics with the tools that Atoll provides. For more information, see "Generating Coverage Prediction Reports" on page 212 and "Displaying Coverage Prediction Statistics" on page 214. In this section, the following tools are explained: • • •

16.2.7.4.1

"Displaying the Legend Window" on page 1274 "Displaying Coverage Prediction Results Using the Tip Text" on page 1274 "Printing and Exporting Coverage Prediction Results" on page 1274

Displaying the Legend Window When you create a coverage prediction, you can add the displayed values of the coverage prediction to a legend by selecting the Add to legend check box on the Display tab. To display the Legend window: •

16.2.7.4.2

Select View > Legend Window. The Legend window is displayed, with the values for each displayed coverage prediction identified by the name of the coverage prediction.

Displaying Coverage Prediction Results Using the Tip Text You can get information by placing the pointer over an area of the coverage prediction to read the information displayed in the tip text. The information displayed is defined by the settings you made on the Display tab when you created the coverage prediction (step 4. of "Studying Signal Level Coverage of a Single Gateway" on page 1265). To get coverage prediction results in the form of tip text: •

In the map window, place the pointer over the area of the coverage prediction that you want more information on. After a brief pause, the tip text appears with the information defined in the Display tab of the coverage prediction properties (see Figure 16.3).

Figure 16.3: Displaying coverage prediction results using tip text

16.2.7.4.3

Printing and Exporting Coverage Prediction Results Once you have made a coverage prediction, you can print the results displayed on the map or save them in an external format. You can also export a selected area of the coverage as a bitmap. •

•

•

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Printing coverage prediction results: Atoll offers several options allowing you to customise and optimise the printed coverage prediction results. Atoll supports printing to a variety of paper sizes, including A4 and A0. For more information on printing coverage prediction results, see "Printing a Map" on page 91. Defining a geographic export zone: If you want to export part of the coverage prediction as a bitmap, you can define a geographic export zone. After you have defined a geographic export zone, when you export a coverage prediction as a raster image, Atoll offers you the option of exporting only the area covered by the zone. For more information on defining a geographic export zone, see "Geographic Export Zone" on page 68. Exporting coverage prediction results: In Atoll, you can export the coverage areas of a coverage prediction in raster or vector formats. In raster formats, you can export in BMP, TIF, JPEG 2000, ArcView© grid, or Vertical Mapper (GRD and GRC) formats. When exporting in GRD or GRC formats, Atoll allows you to export files larger than 2 GB. In vector formats, you can export in ArcView©, MapInfo©, or AGD formats. For more information on exporting coverage prediction results, see "Exporting Coverage Prediction Results" on page 210.

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16.2.7.5 Analysing a Coverage Prediction Using the Point Analysis Once you have completed a prediction, you can use the Point Analysis tool to verify it. If you do, before you make the point analysis, ensure the coverage prediction you want to verify is displayed on the map. In this section, the following are explained: • •

16.2.7.5.1

"Studying Signal Reception" on page 1275 "Analysing Interference" on page 1276

Studying Signal Reception The Reception view of the Point Analysis tool gives you information on the signal levels, C/(I+N), bearers, and throughputs, and so on, for any point on the map. The analysis is provided for a user-definable probe receiver which has a terminal, a mobility, and a service. The downlink and uplink load conditions can be taken from the Cells table. To make a reception analysis: 1. Click the Point Analysis button ( changes (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar. The Point Analysis window opens and the pointer

) to represent the receiver.

2. In the Point Analysis window, select the Reception view. 3. Move the pointer over the map to make a reception analysis for the current location of the pointer. In the map window, arrows from the pointer to each transmitter are displayed in the colour of the transmitters they represent. The line from the pointer to its best server is slightly thicker than the other lines. The best server of the pointer is the transmitter from which the pointer receives the highest signal level. 4. In the Reception view toolbar, select "Cells table" from the Loads list. The bar graph displays the following information: • • •

The signal levels or C/N (depending on the selection made from the Display list) from different transmitters (the colour of the bar corresponds to the colour of the transmitter on the map). The C/N thresholds: The empty portion of the bar indicates signal levels below the C/N thresholds. The availability of coverage and service in downlink and uplink.

If there is at least one successful connection, double-clicking the icons in the right-hand frame opens a dialog box with additional information about the best server: • • •

General: Azimuth and tilt of the receiver, and path losses. Downlink: Diversity mode, received powers, total noise, C/(I+N), bearer, channel throughputs, cell capacities, and per-user throughputs. Uplink: Diversity mode, received power, transmission power, total noise, C/(I+N), bearer, channel throughputs, cell capacities, and per-user throughputs.

5. Select the signal to be displayed from the Display list. 6. If you are analysing reception to verify a coverage prediction, you can recreate the conditions of the coverage prediction by specifying the parameters if the study: a. If necessary, select a layer filter for the serving cells from the Layer list. a. Select the same Terminal, Mobility, and Service studied in the coverage prediction. b. In the Reception view toolbar, click Options ( i.

). The Calculation Options dialog box appears.

Edit the X and Y coordinates to change the present position of the receiver.

ii. Select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a Cell edge coverage probability. iii. Select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. iv. Click OK. 7. Click the map to leave the point analysis pointer at its current position. To move the pointer again, click the point analysis pointer on the map and drag it to a new position. 8. In the Reception view toolbar, you can use the following tools: •

Click Report (

•

Click Copy ( programme.

) to generate a report that contains the information from the point analysis window.

• •

Click Print ( ) to print the content of the view. Click Centre on Map ( ) to centre the map window on the receiver.

) to copy the content of the view and paste it as a graphic into a graphic editing or word-processing

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9. Click Point Analysis (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar again to end the point analysis.

You can display a point analysis that uses the settings from an existing prediction by right-clicking the prediction in the Network explorer and selecting Open Point Analysis from the context menu.

16.2.7.5.2

Analysing Interference In Atoll, you can study the interferers of a transmitter using the Point Analysis tool. The Interference view gives you information on interference received on any downlink channel on any point on the map. The analysis is provided for a user-definable probe receiver which has a terminal, a mobility, and a service. The downlink and uplink load conditions can be taken from the Cells table. To make an interference analysis: 1. Click the Point Analysis button ( changes (

) on the Radio Planning toolbar. The Point Analysis window opens and the pointer

) to represent the receiver.

2. In the Point Analysis window, select the Interference view. 3. Move the pointer over the map to make an interference analysis for the current location of the pointer. In the map window, a thick arrow from the pointer to its best server is displayed. The best server of the pointer is the transmitter from which the pointer receives the highest signal level. Thinner arrows are also displayed from the interfering cells towards the pointer, indicating the interferers. If you let the pointer rest on an arrow, the interference level received from the corresponding transmitter at the receiver location will be displayed in the tip text. 4. In the Interference view, select "Cells table" from the Load list. The Interference view displays, in the form of a bar graph, the signal level from the best server, a black bar indicating the total noise (I+N) received by the receiver, and bars representing the interference received from each interferer. If you let the pointer rest on a bar, details are displayed in the tip text: • • •

For the best server: Name, received signal level, and C/(I+N). For the total noise (I+N): The values of each component, i.e., I, N, and the downlink inter-technology noise rise. For each interferer: The effective interference and the various interference reduction factors.

5. Select Inter-technology interference to display interference from other technologies. The Interference bar graph displays the interference received from each inter-technology interferer. Disable Inter-technology interference to display intra-technology interference only. 6. Select the channel on which you want to study the interference from the Display list. 7. If you are analysing interferences to verify a coverage prediction, you can recreate the conditions of the coverage prediction by specifying the parameters of the study: a. If necessary, select a layer filter for the serving cells from the Layer list. a. Select the same Terminal, Mobility, and Service studied in the coverage prediction. b. In the Reception view toolbar, click Options ( i.

). The Calculation Options dialog box appears.

Edit the X and Y coordinates to change the present position of the receiver.

ii. Select the Shadowing taken into account check box and enter a Cell edge coverage probability. iii. Select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class. c. Click OK. 8. Click the map to leave the point analysis pointer at its current position. To move the pointer again, click the point analysis pointer on the map and drag it to a new position. 9. In the Interference view toolbar, you can use the following tools: •

Click the Report button ( ) to generate a report that contains the information from the Point Analysis window. The Analysis Report dialog box opens.

•

Click the Copy button ( processing programme.

• •

Click the Print button ( ) to print the content of the view. Click the Centre on Map button ( ) to centre the map window on the receiver.

10. Click Point Analysis (

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) on the Radio Planning toolbar again to end the point analysis.

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You can display a point analysis that uses the settings from an existing prediction by right-clicking the prediction in the Network explorer and selecting Point Analysis from the context menu.

16.2.7.6 Comparing Coverage Predictions Atoll allows you to compare two similar predictions to see the differences between them. This enables you to quickly see how changes you make affect the network. In this section, there are two examples to explain how you can compare two similar predictions. You can display the results of the comparison in one of the following ways: • • •

•

•

Intersection: This display shows the area where both coverage predictions overlap (for example, pixels covered by both predictions are displayed in red). Merge: This display shows the area that is covered by either of the coverage predictions (for example, pixels covered by at least one of the predictions are displayed in red). Union: This display shows all pixels covered by both coverage predictions in one colour and pixels covered by only one coverage prediction in a different colour (for example, pixels covered by both predictions are red and pixels covered by only one prediction are blue). Difference: This display shows all pixels covered by both coverage predictions in one colour, pixels covered by only the first prediction with another colour and pixels covered only by the second prediction with a third colour (for example, pixels covered by both predictions are red, pixels covered only by the first prediction are green, and pixels covered only by the second prediction are blue). Value Difference: This display shows the dB difference between any two coverage predictions by signal level. This display option will not be available if the coverage predictions were calculated using different resolutions.

To compare two similar coverage predictions: 1. Create and calculate a coverage prediction of the existing network. 2. Examine the coverage prediction to see where coverage can be improved. 3. Make the changes to the network to improve coverage. 4. Duplicate the original coverage prediction (in order to leave the first coverage prediction unchanged). 5. Calculate the duplicated coverage prediction. 6. Compare the original coverage prediction with the new coverage prediction. Atoll displays differences in coverage between them. In this section, the following examples are explained: • •

"Example 1: Studying the Effect of a New Gateway" on page 1277 "Example 2: Studying the Effect of a Change in Transmitter Tilt" on page 1279.

Example 1: Studying the Effect of a New Gateway If you have an area in a network that is poorly covered by current transmitters, you have several options for increasing coverage. In this example, you can verify if a newly added gateway improves coverage. A signal level coverage prediction of the current network is made as described in "Making a Coverage Prediction by Signal Level" on page 1266. The results are displayed in Figure 16.4. An area with poor coverage is visible on the right side of the figure.

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Figure 16.4: Signal level coverage prediction of existing network A new gateway is added, either by creating the gateway and adding the transmitters, as explained in "Creating LPWA Gateways" on page 1251, or by placing a station template, as explained in "Placing a New Gateway Using a Station Template" on page 1253. Once the new site has been added, the original coverage prediction can be recalculated, but then it would be impossible to compare the results. Instead, the original signal level coverage prediction can be copied by selecting Duplicate from its context menu. The copy is then calculated to show the effect of the new gateway (see Figure 16.5).

Figure 16.5: Signal level coverage prediction of network with new gateway Now you can compare the two predictions. To compare two predictions: 1. Right-click one of the two predictions, select Compare with and, from the menu that opens, select the prediction you want to compare with the first. The Comparison Properties dialog box appears. 2. Click the General tab. You can change the Name of the comparison and add Comments. The General tab contains information about the coverage predictions being compared, including their names and resolutions. 3. Click the Display tab and choose how you want the results of the comparison to be displayed among: • • • •

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In order to see what changes adding a new gateway made, it is recommended to choose Difference. 4. Click OK to create the comparison. The comparison in Figure 16.6, shows the area covered only by the new gateway.

Figure 16.6: Comparison of both signal level coverage predictions Example 2: Studying the Effect of a Change in Transmitter Tilt If you have an area in a network that is poorly covered by current transmitters, you have several options for increasing coverage. In this example, you can see how modifying transmitter tilt can improve coverage. A coverage prediction by transmitter of the current network is made as described in "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter" on page 1266. The results are displayed in Figure 16.7. The coverage prediction shows that one transmitter is covering its area poorly. The area is indicated by a red oval in Figure 16.7.

Figure 16.7: Coverage prediction by transmitter of existing network You can try modifying the tilt on the transmitter to improve the coverage. The properties of the transmitter can be accessed by right-clicking the transmitter in the map window and selecting Properties from the context menu. The mechanical and electrical tilt of the antenna are defined on the Transmitter tab of the Properties dialog box. Once the tilt of the antenna has been modified, the original coverage prediction can be recalculated, but then it would be impossible to compare the results. Instead, the original coverage prediction can be copied by selecting Duplicate from its context menu. The copy is then calculated, to show how modifying the antenna tilt has affected coverage (see Figure 16.8).

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Figure 16.8: Coverage prediction by transmitter of network after modifications In this example, modifying the antenna tilt increased the coverage of the transmitter. However, to see exactly the change in coverage, you can compare the two predictions. To compare two predictions: 1. Right-click one of the two predictions, select Compare with and, from the menu that opens, select the prediction you want to compare with the first. The Comparison Properties dialog box appears. 2. Click the General tab. You can change the Name of the comparison and add Comments. The General tab contains information about the coverage predictions being compared, including their names and resolutions. 3. Click the Display tab and choose how you want the results of the comparison to be displayed among: • • • •

Intersection Merge Union Difference

In order to see what changes modifying the antenna tilt made, choose Union. This mode displays all pixels covered by both predictions in one colour and all pixels covered by only one prediction in another colour. The increase in coverage, seen in only the second coverage prediction, is immediately clear. 4. Click OK to create the comparison. The comparison in Figure 16.9, shows the increase in coverage due at the change in antenna tilt.

Figure 16.9: Comparison of both transmitter coverage predictions

16.2.7.7 Multi-point Analyses In Atoll, you can carry out calculations on lists of points that represent subscriber locations for analysis. These analyses may be useful for verifying network QoS at subscriber locations in case of incidents (call drops, low throughputs, and so on) reported by users.

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This section covers the following topics related to subscriber analyses: • • •

16.2.7.7.1

"Subscriber Analysis Properties" on page 1281 "Making a Subscriber Analysis" on page 1281 "Viewing Subscriber Analysis Results" on page 1281

Subscriber Analysis Properties The fixed subscriber analysis Properties window allows you to create and edit subscriber analyses. The General Tab The General tab allows you to specify the following settings for the point analysis: • • •

Name: Specify the assigned Name of the point analysis. Comments: Specify an optional description of comment for the point analysis. Shadowing taken into account: Select this option to consider shadowing in the point analysis. For more information, see "Modelling Shadowing" on page 1305. If you select this option, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability.

The Traffic Tab On the Traffic tab, you can select one or more fixed subscriber traffic maps for the analysis. For more information, see "Creating a Fixed Subscribers Traffic Map" on page 263. The Display Tab On the Display tab, you can modify how the results of the subscriber analysis will be displayed. For information on changing display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51.

16.2.7.7.2

Making a Subscriber Analysis Subscriber analyses are calculated on fixed subscriber locations stored in fixed subscriber traffic maps. The results are based on user-defined calculation settings. To create a new subscriber analysis: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Multi-point Analysis folder and select New Subscriber Analysis. The Fixed Subscriber Analysis Properties dialog box appears. 2. On the General and Traffic tabs, specify the settings as described in "Subscriber Analysis Properties" on page 1281. 3. On the Display tab, specify how to display subscriber analysis results on the map according to any input or calculated parameter. For more information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 4. Once you have defined the subscriber analysis parameters, you can calculate it immediately or you can save it and calculate it later: • •

Calculate: Click Calculate to save the subscriber analysis and calculate it immediately. OK: Click OK to save the subscriber analysis without calculating it. You can calculate it later by opening the subscriber analysis properties and clicking the Calculate button.

Once Atoll has finished calculating the subscriber analysis, the results are displayed in the map window. You can also access the analysis results in a table format. For more information, see "Viewing Subscriber Analysis Results" on page 1281. You can also organise subscriber analyses in folders under the Multi-point Analysis folder by creating folders under the Multipoint Analysis folder in the Network explorer. Folders may contain one or more subscriber analyses items. You can move subscriber analyses items from one folder to another and rename folders.

16.2.7.7.3

Viewing Subscriber Analysis Results Once a subscriber analysis has been calculated, its results are displayed on the map and are also available in the subscriber analysis item in the form of a table. To view the results table of a subscriber analysis: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Multi-point Analysis folder, right-click the analysis whose results table you want to view, and select Analysis Results from the context menu. The Results dialog box appears. The results table includes the following information for each subscriber included in the analysis: • • • • • •

Position Id: The index of the subscriber. X and Y: The coordinates of the subscriber. Height (m): The height of the subscriber. Service: The service assigned to the subscriber. Terminal: The terminal assigned to the subscriber. Mobility: The mobility type assigned to the subscriber.

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• • • • • • •

• • • • • • • • •

•

• • • • • • • • •

•

© 2016 Forsk. All Rights Reserved.

Activity status: The assigned activity status. It can be Active DL, Active UL, Active DL+UL, or Inactive. Clutter class: The code of the clutter class where the subscriber is located. Indoor: This field indicates whether indoor losses have been added or not. Best server: The best server of the subscriber. Serving cell: The serving cell of the serving transmitter of the subscriber. Azimuth: The orientation of the subscriber’s terminal antenna in the horizontal plane. Azimuth is always considered with respect to the North. Atoll points the subscriber antenna towards its best server. Downtilt: The orientation of the subscriber’s terminal antenna in the vertical plane. Mechanical downtilt is positive when it is downwards and negative when upwards. Atoll points the subscriber antenna towards its best server. Path loss (dB): The path loss from the best server calculated for the subscriber. Received power (DL) (dBm): The signal level received at the subscriber location in the downlink. C/(I+N) (DL) (dB): The C/(I+N) at the subscriber location in the downlink. Total noise (I+N) (DL) (dBm): The sum of the interference and noise experienced at the subscriber location in the downlink. Bearer (DL): The highest bearer available for the C/(I+N) level at the subscriber location in the downlink. BLER (DL): The Block Error Rate read from the subscriber terminal’s reception equipment for the C/(I+N) level at the subscriber location in the downlink. Diversity mode (DL): The diversity mode supported by the cell in downlink. Peak MAC channel throughput (DL) (kbps): The maximum MAC channel throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at the subscriber location in the downlink. Effective MAC channel throughput (DL) (kbps): The effective MAC channel throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at the subscriber location in the downlink. It is calculated from the peak MAC throughput and the BLER. Application channel throughput (DL) (kbps): The application throughput is the net throughput without coding (redundancy, overhead, addressing, etc.). It is calculated from the effective MAC throughput, the throughput scaling factor of the service and the throughput offset. Received power (UL) (dBm): The signal level received at the serving transmitter from the subscriber terminal in the uplink. C/(I+N) (UL) (dB): The C/(I+N) at the serving transmitter of the subscriber in the uplink. Total noise (I+N) (UL) (dBm): The sum of the interference and noise experienced at the serving transmitter of the subscriber in the uplink. Bearer (UL): The highest bearer available for the C/(I+N) level at the serving transmitter of the subscriber in the uplink. BLER (UL): The Block Error Rate read from the serving cell’s reception equipment for the C/(I+N) level at the serving transmitter of the subscriber in the uplink. Diversity mode (UL): The diversity mode supported by the cell or permutation zone in uplink. Transmission power (UL) (dBm): The transmission power of the subscriber terminal after power control in the uplink. Peak MAC channel throughput (UL) (kbps): The maximum MAC channel throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at subscriber location in the uplink. Effective MAC channel throughput (UL) (kbps): The effective MAC channel throughput attainable using the highest bearer available at the subscriber location in the uplink. It is calculated from the peak MAC throughput and the BLER. Application channel throughput (UL) (kbps): The application throughput is the net throughput without coding (redundancy, overhead, addressing, etc.). It is calculated from the effective MAC throughput, the throughput scaling factor of the service and the throughput offset.

2. To add or remove columns from the results table: a. Click the Actions button and select Display Columns from the menu. The Columns to be Displayed dialog box opens. b. Select or clear the columns that you want to display or hide. c. Click Close. You can export the point analysis results table to ASCII text files (TXT and CSV formats) and MS Excel XML Spreadsheet files (XML format) by selecting Actions > Export. For more information on exporting table data, see "Exporting Tables to Text Files and Spreadsheets" on page 86. 3. Click Close.

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16.2.8 Planning Neighbours You can use Atoll to manually allocate neighbour relations to any cell in a network. You can also use Atoll to automatically allocate neighbour relations to a single cell, to all the cells of a gateway, to all the cells in a transmitter group, or to all the cells in a network, based on predefined parameters. In this section, only the concepts that are specific to automatic neighbour allocation in LPWA networks are explained. For more information on neighbour planning, see "Neighbour Planning" on page 223.

Figure 16.10: LPWA handover area between reference cell and potential neighbour

16.2.8.1 Coverage Conditions The Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box provides a Use coverage conditions option: • •

When Use coverage conditions is not selected, the defined Distance is used to allocate neighbours to a reference transmitter. When Use coverage conditions is selected, click Define to open the Coverage Conditions dialog box: • •

• •

• •

Resolution: Enter the resolution to be used to calculate cells’ coverage areas during automatic neighbour allocation. Global C/N threshold: Select this check box to set a global value for the C/N threshold. If you set a global value here, Atoll will use this value or the C/N threshold value defined for each cell, whichever is higher. The signal level threshold (in dBm) is calculated for each cell from its C/N threshold (in dB) considering the channel bandwidth of the cell and using the terminal that has the highest difference between its gain and losses so that the most number of potential neighbours can be processed. Handover start: Enter the margin, with respect to the best server coverage area of the reference cell (cell A), from which the handover process starts. Handover end: Enter the margin, with respect to the best server coverage area of the reference cell (cell A), at which the handover process ends. The value entered for the Handover end must be greater than the value for the Handover start. The higher the value entered for the Handover end, the longer the list of potential neighbours. The area between the Handover start and the Handover end constitutes the area within which Atoll will search for neighbours. Shadowing Taken into Account: If selected, enter a Cell edge coverage probability. Indoor Coverage: Select this option to take indoor losses into account in calculations. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

16.2.8.2 Calculation Constraints In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, you can select the following calculation constraints: • •

• •

Co-site cells as neighbours: When selected, the cells located on the same site as the reference cell are automatically considered as neighbours. A cell with no antenna cannot be considered as a co-site neighbour. Adjacent cells as neighbours (Intra-carrier Neighbours tab only): When selected, the cells that are adjacent to the reference cell are automatically considered as neighbours. A cell is considered adjacent if there is at least one pixel in the reference cell’s coverage area where the potential neighbour cell is the best server, or where the potential neighbour cell is the second best server respecting the handover end. Symmetric relations: Select this option if you want the neighbour relations to be reciprocal, which means that any reference transmitter/cell is a potential neighbour of all the cells that are its neighbours. Exceptional pairs: Select this option to force the neighbour relations defined in the Intra-technology Exceptional pairs table. For information on exceptional pairs, see "Defining Exceptional Pairs" on page 223.

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16.2.8.3 Reasons for Allocation In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, the reason for neighbour allocation is indicated under Cause in the Results table. It can be any of the following: Cause

Description

When

Distance

The neighbour is located within the defined maximum distance from the reference cell

Use coverage conditions is not selected

Coverage

The neighbour relation fulfils the defined coverage conditions

Use coverage conditions is selected and nothing is selected under Force

Co-Site

The neighbour is located on the same site as the reference cell

Use coverage conditions and Co-site cells as neighbours are selected

Adjacent

The neighbour is adjacent to the reference cell

Use coverage conditions is selected and Adjacent cells as neighbours is selected

Symmetry

The neighbour relation between the reference cell and the neighbour is symmetrical

Use coverage conditions is selected and Symmetric relations is selected

Exceptional Pair

The neighbour relation is defined as an exceptional pair

Exceptional pairs is selected

Existing

The neighbour relation existed before automatic allocation

Delete existing neighbours is not selected

16.3 Optimising Network Parameters Using ACP The ACP (Automatic Cell Planning) module enables radio engineers designing LPWA networks to automatically calculate the optimal network settings in terms of network coverage and quality. ACP can also be used to add sites from a list of candidate sites or to remove unnecessary sites or sectors. ACP can also be used in co-planning projects where networks using different radio access technologies must be taken into consideration when calculating the optimal network settings. ACP is primarily intended to improve existing network deployment by reconfiguring the main parameters that can be remotely controlled by operators: antenna electrical tilt and cell power. ACP can also be used during the initial planning stage of a LPWA network by enabling the selection of the antenna, and its azimuth, height, and mechanical tilt. ACP not only takes transmitters into account in optimisations but also any repeaters and remote antennas. ACP can also be used to measure and optimise the EMF exposure created by the network. This permits the optimisation of power and antenna settings to reduce excessive EMF exposure in existing networks and optimal site selection for new transmitters. ACP uses user-defined objectives to evaluate the optimisation, as well as to calculate its implementation cost. Once you have defined the objectives and the network parameters to be optimised, ACP uses an efficient global search algorithm to test many network configurations and propose the reconfigurations that best meet the objectives. ACP presents the changes ordered from the most to the least beneficial, allowing phased implementation or implementation of just a subset of the suggested changes. ACP is technology-independent and can be used to optimise networks using different radio access technologies. Chapter 17: Automatic Cell Planning explains how you configure the ACP module, how you create and run an optimisation setup, and how you can view the results of an optimisation. In this section, only the concepts specific to LPWA networks are explained: • • •

"LPWA Optimisation Objectives" on page 1284 "LPWA Quality Parameters" on page 1285 "LPWA Quality Analysis Predictions" on page 1286

16.3.1 LPWA Optimisation Objectives ACP optimises the network using user-defined objectives to evaluate the quality of the network configuration. The objectives are dependant on the technology used by the project and are consistent with the corresponding coverage predictions in Atoll. In projects using LPWA, either alone or in co-planning mode, the following objectives are proposed by default: • •

LPWA Coverage LPWA Server Counter

You can also create the following objectives from the context menu of Objectives in the left pane of the Objectives tab: •

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•

Custom Coverage

You define the optimisation objectives using the Objectives tab of the ACP Setup dialog box. For more information on setting objective parameters, see "Setting Objective Parameters" on page 1329.

16.3.2 LPWA Quality Parameters When you create an optimisation setup, you define how ACP evaluates the objectives. The quality parameters are technology dependent. You can base the evaluation of the objectives on a calculated coverage prediction or on manual configuration. If you base the coverage prediction settings on a calculated coverage prediction, ACP will use the ranges and colours defined in the selected coverage prediction as the default for its own predictions. However, if you saved the display options of an ACP prediction as default, or if you are using a configuration file for ACP, these defined ranges and colours will be used as the default, overriding the settings in the selected coverage prediction. In project using LPWA, either alone or in co-planning, the following Quality parameters are proposed in the Pixel Rules frame of the objective properties: • • • • •

Signal Level C Overlap Server Counter 1st-Nth

To define the quality parameters for LPWA: 1. Open the Setup Properties dialog box to define the optimisation as explained in "Creating an ACP Setup" on page 1319. 2. Click the Objectives tab. 3. Under Parameters, expand the LPWA folder and select one the following quality parameters to evaluate coverage by: Signal Level: To define how ACP will evaluate coverage by signal level, you can base prediction settings on: •

•

Coverage by Signal Level (DL): ACP evaluates coverages by signal level based on the parameters used to calculate the selected "Coverage by Signal Level (DL)" prediction in Atoll. Only the coverage predictions displaying a "Best Signal Level" per pixel can be accessed by the ACP. Manual configuration: When this option is selected, you can Enable shadowing margin and define a Cell edge coverage probability. The standard deviations defined in the Atoll clutter are used or, if no clutter information available, default values are used.

C: To define how ACP will evaluate coverage by C, you can base prediction settings on: •

•

Effective Signal Analysis (DL): ACP evaluates coverages by C based on the parameters used to calculate the selected "Effective Signal Analysis (DL)" prediction in Atoll. Only the coverage predictions displaying a "Signal Level" per pixel can be accessed by the ACP. Manual configuration: When this option is selected, you can Enable shadowing margin and define a Cell edge coverage probability. The standard deviations defined in the Atoll clutter are used or, if no clutter information available, default values are used. Additionally, you can specify Service and Terminal that will be used during the calculation of C through gain and losses (which means the service body loss, the gain and loss of the terminal antenna, and the terminal noise factor).

Overlap / 1st-Nth / Server Counter: To define how ACP will evaluate coverage by overlapping zones or by 1st-Nth difference. Overlap: You can base prediction settings on: •

•

Overlapping Zones (DL): ACP evaluates coverages by overlapping based on the parameters used to calculate the selected "Overlapping Zones (DL)" prediction in Atoll. Only the coverage predictions displaying a "Number of Servers" per pixel can be accessed by the ACP. Manual configuration: When this option is selected, you can set a Minimum signal level and a Threshold margin.

1st-Nth: You can base prediction settings on: •

•

Overlapping Zones (DL): ACP evaluates coverages by overlapping based on the parameters used to calculate the selected "Overlapping Zones (DL)" prediction in Atoll. Since there is no Atoll prediction type equivalent to ACP LPWA 1st-Nth Difference objective, the parameters recovered by ACP from the selected Atoll prediction are limited to the minimum signal level and the shading. The number of servers must always be specified manually in Number of servers. Manual configuration: When this option is selected, specify a Minimum signal level and the Number of servers. In both cases, the Number of servers value that you specify determines "Nth" in the LPWA 1st-Nth Difference objective. For instance, if you set Number of servers to 4, then the "1st-Nth Difference" quality parameter will

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be automatically selected by default in the Quality column of the LPWA 1st-Nth Difference properties. The allowed values for Number of servers range from 3 to 100, with only one value available per technology. The "1st-2nd Difference" quality parameter (based on Number of servers set to 2) is provided by default. Server Counter: You can base prediction settings on: • •

Overlapping Zones (DL): ACP evaluates coverages by overlapping based on the absolute number of servers respecting the Minimum signal level constraint. Manual configuration: When this option is selected, specify a Minimum signal level.

16.3.3 LPWA Quality Analysis Predictions ACP quality analysis predictions can be displayed in the Atoll map window. The same predictions are displayed by default on the Quality tab of an optimisation result window. ACP quality analysis predictions are equivalent to some of Atoll coverage predictions. The following table lists the quality analysis predictions available in ACP for LPWA and the equivalent LPWA coverage predictions in Atoll.

Quality Analysis Prediction in ACP

Equivalent Prediction in Atoll Field setting for Display Type = "Value Intervals"

Signal Level

Coverage by Signal Level (DL) (1) "Best Signal Level (dBm)"

C

Effective Signal Analysis (DL) (1) "Signal Level (DL) (dBm)"

Overlap

Overlapping Zones (DL) (2) "Number of Servers"

1st-Nth

N/A

Server Counter

Overlapping Zones (DL) (2) "Number of Servers" (Overlap margin = 50 dB)

(1) For more information, see "Making a Coverage Prediction by Signal Level" on page 1266. (2) For more information, see "Making a Coverage Prediction on Overlapping Zones" on page 1266.

Making these predictions available within ACP enables you to quickly validate the optimisation results without having to commit the results and then calculate a coverage prediction in Atoll. The ACP predictions display results very similar to those that Atoll would display if you committed the optimisation results and calculated Atoll coverage predictions. However, before basing any decision to commit the optimisation results on the predictions produced by ACP, it is recommended to: • • •

•

Check the results with a different Atoll coverage prediction, such as the overlapping zones prediction. ACP predictions are generated using the entire set of proposed changes. They do not take into account the change subset defined in the Change Details tab. ACP supports optimisation for transmitters belonging to different frequency bands, with predictions provided separately for each frequency band. However multi-carrier optimisation is not supported in LPWA (case of carriers within same transmitters belonging to different frequency bands). Even after committing the optimisation results, differences can remain between the ACP predictions and the predictions resulting from Atoll coverage predictions.

For ACP overlapping zones predictions, you can: •

Specify a best server threshold:

•

• By entering a Minimum signal level value in the Overlap/1st-Nth properties. • By setting an option in the [ACPTplObjectivePage] section of the ACP.ini file. Specify a threshold margin: • •

By entering a Threshold margin value in the Overlap/1st-Nth properties. By setting an option in the [ACPTplObjectivePage] section of the ACP.ini file.

For each network quality coverage prediction, ACP offers a prediction showing the initial network state, the final network state, and a prediction showing the changes between the initial and final state.

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16.4 Analysing Network Performance Using Drive Test Data An important step in the process of creating an LPWA network is to analyse the network performance using drive test data. This is done using measurements of the strength of the signals and C/(I+N) in different locations within the area covered by the network. This collection of measurements is called drive test data. The data contained in a drive test data path is used to verify the accuracy of current network parameters and to optimise the network. This section covers the following topics: • • • • • • •

"Importing a Drive Test Data Path" on page 1287 "Displaying Drive Test Data" on page 1289 "Defining the Display of a Drive Test Data Path" on page 1289 "Network Verification" on page 1290 "Exporting a Drive Test Data Path" on page 1294 "Extracting CW Measurements from Drive Test Data" on page 1294 "Printing and Exporting the Drive Test Data Window" on page 1294

16.4.1 Importing a Drive Test Data Path In Atoll, you can analyse networks by importing drive test data in the form of ASCII text files (with tabs, commas, semi-colons, or spaces as separator), TEMS FICS-Planet export files (with the extension PLN), or TEMS text export files (with the extension FMT). For Atoll to be able to use the data in imported files, the imported files must contain the following information: • •

The position of drive test data points. When you import the data, you must indicate which columns give the abscissa and ordinate (XY coordinates) of each point. Information identifying scanned cells (for example, serving cells, neighbour cells, or any other cells). In networks, a cell can be identified by its BSID (6-byte MAC address).

You can import a single drive test data file or several drive test data files at the same time. If you regularly import drive test data files with the same format, you can create an import configuration. The import configuration contains information that defines the structure of the data in the drive test data file. By using the import configuration, you will not need to define the data structure each time you import a new drive test data file. To import one or several drive test data files: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Drive Test Data folder and select Import from the context menu. The Open dialog box appears. 2. Select the file or files you want to open. You can import one or several files. If you are importing more than one file, you can select contiguous files by clicking the first file you want to import, pressing Shift and clicking the last file you want to import. You can select non-contiguous files by pressing Ctrl and clicking each file you want to import. 3. Click Open. The Import of Measurement Files dialog box appears. Files with the extension PLN, as well as some FMT files (created with old versions of TEMS) are imported directly into Atoll; you will not be asked to define the data structure using the Import of Measurement Files dialog box. 4. If you already have an import configuration defining the data structure of the imported file or files, you can select it from the Import configuration list on the Setup tab of the Import of Measurement Files dialog box. If you do not have an import configuration, continue with step 5. a. Under Import configuration, select an import configuration from the Configuration list. b. Continue with step 8.

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•

•

When importing a drive test data path file, existing configurations are available in the Files of type list of the Open dialog box, sorted according to their date of creation. After you have selected a file and clicked Open, Atoll automatically proposes a configuration, if it recognises the extension. If several configurations are associated with an extension, Atoll chooses the first configuration in the list. The defined configurations are stored, by default, in the file "NumMeasINIFile.ini", located in the directory where Atoll is installed. For more information on the NumMeasINIFile.ini file, see the Administrator Manual.

5. Click the General tab. On the General tab, you can set the following parameters: • • •

Name: By default, Atoll names the new drive test data path after the imported file. You can change this name if desired. Under Receiver, set the Height of the receiver antenna and the Gain and Losses. Under Measurement conditions: • •

Units: Select the measurement units used. Coordinates: By default, Atoll imports the coordinates using the display system of the Atoll document. If the coordinates used in the file you are importing are different than the coordinates used in the Atoll document, you must click the Browse button and select the coordinate system used in the drive test data file. Atoll will then convert the data imported to the coordinate system used in the Atoll document.

6. Click the Setup tab. a. Under File, enter the number of the 1st measurement row, select the data Separator, and select the Decimal symbol used in the file. b. Click the Setup button to link file columns and internal Atoll fields. The Drive Test Data Setup dialog box appears. c. Under Measurement point position, select the columns in the imported file that give the X-coordinates and the Y-coordinates of each point in the drive test data file. You can also identify the columns containing the XY coordinates of each point in the drive test data file by selecting them from the Field row of the table on the Setup tab.

d. Click OK to close the Drive Test Data Setup dialog box. •

•

If you have correctly entered the information under File on the Setup tab, and the necessary values in the Drive Test Data Setup dialog box, Atoll should recognise all columns in the imported file. If not, you can click the name of the column in the table in the Field row and select the column name. For each field, you must ensure that each column has the correct data type in order for the data to be correctly interpreted. The default value under Type is "". Columns marked with "" will not be imported. The data in the file must be structured so that the column identifying the BSID is placed before the data columns for each cell. Otherwise Atoll will not be able to properly import the file.

7. If you want to save the definition of the data structure so that you can use it again, you can save it as an import configuration: a. On the Setup tab, under Import configuration, click Save. The Configuration dialog box appears. b. By default, Atoll saves the configuration in a file called "NumMeasINIfile.ini" found in Atoll installation folder. In case you cannot write into that folder, you can click Browse to choose a different location. c. Enter a Configuration name and an Extension of the files that this import configuration will describe (for example, "*.txt"). d. Click OK. Atoll will now select this import configuration automatically every time you import a drive test data path file with the selected extension. If you import a file with the same structure but a different extension, you can select this import configuration from the Import configuration list.

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• •

•

You do not have to complete the import procedure to save the import configuration and have it available for future use. When importing a measurement file, you can expand the NumMeasINIfile.ini file by clicking the Expand button ( ) in front of the file under Import configuration to display all the available import configurations. When selecting the appropriate configuration, the associations are automatically made in the table at the bottom of the dialog box. You can delete an existing import configuration by selecting the import configuration file under Import configuration and clicking the Delete button.

8. Click Import, if you are only importing a single file, or Import all, if you are importing more than one file. The drive test data is imported into the current Atoll document.

16.4.2 Displaying Drive Test Data When you have imported the drive test data into the current Atoll document, you can display it in the map window. Then, you can select individual drive test data points to see the information at that location. To display information about a single drive test data point: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder and select the display check box of the drive test data you want to display in the map window. The drive test data is displayed. 2. Click and hold the drive test data point on which you want more information. Atoll displays an arrow pointing towards the serving cell in the same colour as the transmitter.

16.4.3 Defining the Display of a Drive Test Data Path You can manage the display of drive test data paths using the Display tab of a drive test data path Properties dialog box. The points on a drive test data path can be displayed according to any available attribute. You can also use the Display tab to define labels, tip text and the legend. To display the Display tab of a drive test data path Properties dialog box: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data path whose display you want to set, and select Properties from the context menu. The drive test data path properties dialog box appears. 2. Click the Display tab. Each point can be displayed by a unique attribute or according to: • •

A text or integer attribute (discrete value). A numerical value (value interval).

In addition, you can display points by more than one criterion at a time using the Advanced option in the Display type list. When you select Advanced from the Display type list, the Shadings dialog box opens in which you can define the following display for each single point of the measurement path: • • •

A symbol according to any attribute. A symbol colour according to any attribute. A symbol size according to any attribute.

You can, for example, display a signal level in a certain colour, choose a symbol for each transmitter (such as a circle, triangle, cross) and a symbol size according to the altitude. • • •

•

Fast display forces Atoll to use the lightest symbol to display the points. This is particularly useful when you have a very large number of points. You can not use Advanced display if the Fast display check box has been selected. You can sort drive test data paths in alphabetical order in the Network explorer by right-clicking the Drive Test Data Path folder and selecting Sort Alphabetically from the context menu. You can save the display settings (such as colours and symbols) of a drive test data path in a user configuration file to make them available for use on another drive test data path. To save or load the user configuration file, click the Actions button on the Display tab of the path properties dialog box and select Save or Load from the Display Configuration submenu.

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16.4.4 Network Verification The imported drive test data is used to verify the network. To improve the relevance of the data, Atoll allows you to filter out incompatible or inaccurate points. You can then compare the drive test measurements with coverage predictions. To compare drive test data with coverage predictions, you overlay coverage predictions calculated by Atoll with the drive test data path displayed using the same parameter as that used to calculate the coverage prediction. This section covers the following topics: • • • • • •

"Filtering Measurement Points Along Drive Test Data Paths" on page 1290 "Predicting the Signal Level on Drive Test Data Points" on page 1290 "Creating Coverage Predictions on Drive Test Data Paths" on page 1291 "Displaying Statistics Over a Drive Test Data Path" on page 1292 "Extracting a Field From a Drive Test Data Path for a Transmitter" on page 1292 "Analysing Measurement Variations Along the Path" on page 1293

16.4.4.1 Filtering Measurement Points Along Drive Test Data Paths When using a drive test data path, some measured points may present values that are too far outside the median values to be useful. As well, test paths may include test points in areas that are not representative of the drive test data path as a whole. For example, a test path that includes two heavily populated areas might also include test points from a more lightly populated region between the two. You can filter out unreliable measurement points from the drive test data path either geographically, by filtering by clutter classes and the focus zone, or using an advanced filter. To filter out measurement points by clutter class: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data path on which you want to filter out measurement points, and select Filter from the context menu. The Drive Test Data Filter dialog box appears. 2. Under Clutter classes, clear the check boxes of the clutter classes you want to exclude. Measurement points located on the excluded clutter classes will be filtered out. 3. If you want to use the focus zone as part of the filter, select the Use focus zone to filter check box. Measurement points located outside the focus zone will be filtered out. 4. If you want to permanently delete the measurement points outside the filter, select the Delete points outside the filter check box. • •

You can apply a filter on all the drive test data paths in the Drive Test Data folder by selecting Filter from the context menu of the folder. If you want to use the measurement points that you permanently deleted, you will have to import the drive test data path again.

5. Click More to filter out measurement points using an advanced filter. The Filter dialog box appears. For more information on using the Filter dialog box, see "Advanced Data Filtering" on page 101. You can update heights (of the DTM, and clutter heights) and the clutter class of drive test data points after adding new geographic maps or modifying existing ones by selecting Refresh Geo Data from the context menu of the Drive Test Data folder.

16.4.4.2 Predicting the Signal Level on Drive Test Data Points To predict the signal level on drive test data points: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data path on which you want to create the point prediction, and select Calculations > Create a New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Under Point predictions, select Point Signal Level and click OK. The Point Signal Level Properties dialog box appears (see Figure 16.11).

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Figure 16.11: Point Signal Level Properties dialog box The errors between measured and predicted signal levels can be calculated and added to the drive test data table. 3. If you want to calculate errors between measured and predicted signal levels, under Select signal levels for error calculations, select the names of the columns representing measured signal level values in the drive test data table for which you want to calculate the errors (see Figure 16.12). If you do not want to add this information to the drive test data table, continue with step 4.

Figure 16.12: Selecting Measured Signal Levels for which Errors will be Calculated 4. Click OK. A point prediction is created for the selected drive test data path. 5. Right-click the drive test data path and select Calculations > Calculate All the Predictions from the context menu. If you chose to have Atoll calculate the errors between measured and predicted signal levels, new columns are added to the drive test data table for the predicted point signal level from the serving cell and the errors between the measured and predicted values.

Figure 16.13: Drive Test Data Table after Point Signal Level Prediction (with Error Calculations) New columns are also added for the predicted point signal level from each neighbour cell and the errors between the predicted and measured values. The values stored in these columns can be displayed in the Drive Test Data analysis tool. For more information on the Drive Test Data analysis tool, see "Analysing Measurement Variations Along the Path" on page 1293. The propagation model used to calculate the predicted point signal levels is the one assigned to the transmitter for the main matrix. For more information on propagation models, see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models.

16.4.4.3 Creating Coverage Predictions on Drive Test Data Paths You can create the following coverage predictions for all transmitters on each point of a drive test data path: •

Coverage by Signal Level (DL)

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To create a coverage prediction along a drive test data path: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data to which you want to add a coverage prediction, and select Calculations > Create a New Prediction from the context menu. The Prediction Types dialog box appears. 2. Under Standard predictions, select one of the following coverage predictions and click OK: •

Coverage by Signal Level (DL): Click the Conditions tab. • • • •

On the Conditions tab, you can set the range of the signal level to be calculated. Under Server, you can select whether to calculate the signal level from all transmitters, or only the best or second-best signal. If you choose to calculate the best or second-best signal, you can enter an Overlap margin. If you select the Shadowing taken into account check box, you can change the Cell edge coverage probability. You can select the Indoor coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

3. When you have finished setting the parameters for the coverage prediction, click OK. You can create other coverage predictions by repeating the procedure from step 1. to step 3. for each new coverage prediction. 4. When you have finished creating coverage predictions for these drive test data, right-click the drive test data and select Calculations > Calculate All the Predictions from the context menu. A new column for each coverage prediction is added in the table for the drive test data. The column contains the predicted values of the selected parameters for the transmitter. The propagation model used is the one assigned to the transmitter for the main matrix (for information on the propagation model, see Chapter 4: Radio Calculations and Models). You can display the information in these new columns in the Drive Test Data analysis tool. For more information on the Drive Test Data analysis tool, see "Analysing Measurement Variations Along the Path" on page 1293.

16.4.4.4 Displaying Statistics Over a Drive Test Data Path If predictions have been calculated along a drive test data path, you can display the statistics between the measured and the predicted values on that path. To display the statistics for a specific drive test data path: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data from which you want to display comparative statistics, and select Display Statistics from the context menu. The Measurement and Prediction Fields Selection dialog box appears. 2. Under For the following transmitters, select one or more transmitters to include in the statistics. 3. Under Select the predicted values, select the fields that contain the predicted values that you want to use in the statistics. 4. Under Select the measured values, select the fields that contain the measured values that you want to use in the statistics. 5. Enter the Measured values range for the statistics. Only the measured values within this range will be included in the statistics. 6. Click OK. Atoll opens a window listing statistics of comparison between measured and predicted values.

16.4.4.5 Extracting a Field From a Drive Test Data Path for a Transmitter You can extract information for a selected transmitter from a field of a drive test data path. The extracted information is available in a new column in the drive test data table. To extract a field from a drive test data path: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data from which you want to extract a field, and select Focus on a Transmitter from the context menu. The Field Selection for a Given Transmitter dialog box appears. 2. Under On the transmitter, select the transmitter for which you want to extract a field. 3. Under For the fields, select the fields that you want to extract for the selected transmitter. 4. Click OK. Atoll creates a new column in the drive test data path table for the selected transmitter and with the selected values.

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16.4.4.6 Analysing Measurement Variations Along the Path In Atoll, you can analyse variations in measurements along any drive test data path using the Drive Test Data analysis tool. You can also use the Drive Test Data analysis tool to find serving cells of points. To analyse measurement variations using the Drive Test Data analysis tool. 1. Select Tools > Drive Test Data from the menu bar. The Drive Test Data analysis tool appears. 2. In the Drive Test Data analysis tool, click the Display button. The Display Parameters dialog box appears. 3. In the Display Parameters dialog box: • • •

Select the check box next to each field you want to display in the Drive Test Data analysis tool. If you want, you can change the display colour by clicking the colour in the Colour column and selecting a new colour from the palette that appears. Click OK. You can change the display status or the colour of more than one field at the same time by selecting several fields. You can select contiguous fields by clicking the first field, pressing Shift and clicking the last field. You can select non-contiguous fields by pressing Ctrl and clicking each field. You can then change the display status or the colour by right-clicking on the selected fields and selecting the choice from the context menu. The selected fields are displayed in the Drive Test Data analysis tool.

4. You can display the data in the drive test data path in the following ways: • •

Click the values in the Drive Test Data analysis tool. Click the points on the drive test data path in the map window.

The drive test data path appears in the map window as an arrow pointing towards the best server in the same colour as the transmitter. 5. You can display a secondary Y-axis on the right side of the window in order to display the values of a variable with different orders of magnitude than the ones selected in the Display Parameters dialog box. You select the value to be displayed from the right-hand list at the top of the Drive Test Data analysis tool. The values are displayed in the colour defined in the Display Parameters dialog box. 6. You can zoom in on the graph displayed in the Drive Test Data analysis tool in the following ways: •

Zoom in or out: i.

Right-click the Drive Test Data analysis tool. The context menu appears.

ii. Select Zoom In or Zoom Out from the context menu. •

Select the data to zoom in on: i.

Right-click the Drive Test Data analysis tool on one end of the range of data you want to zoom in on. The context menu appears.

ii. Select First Zoom Point from the context menu. iii. Right-click the Drive Test Data analysis tool on the other end of the range of data you want to zoom in on. The context menu appears. iv. Select Last Zoom Point from the context menu. The Drive Test Data analysis tool zooms in on the data between the first zoom point and the last zoom point. 7. Click the data in the Drive Test Data analysis tool to display the selected point in the map window. Atoll will centre the map window on the selected point if it is not presently visible. If you open the table for the drive test data you are displaying in the Drive Test Data analysis tool, Atoll will automatically display in the table the data for the point that is displayed in the map and in the Drive Test Data analysis tool.

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16.4.5 Exporting a Drive Test Data Path You can export drive test data paths to files as vector data. To export a drive test data path to a vector file: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data path you want to export, and select Export from the context menu. The Save As dialog box appears. 2. Enter a File name for the drive test data path and select a format from the Save as type list. 3. Click Save. The drive test data path is exported and saved in the file.

16.4.6 Extracting CW Measurements from Drive Test Data You can generate CW measurements from drive test data paths and extract the results to the CW Measurements folder. To generate CW measurement from a drive test data path: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the Drive Test Data folder, right-click the drive test data path from which you want to export CW measurements, and select Extract CW Measurements from the context menu. The CW Measurement Extraction dialog box appears. 2. Under Extract CW measurements: a. Select one or more transmitters from the For the transmitters list. b. Select the field that contains the information that you want to export to CW measurements from the For the fields list. 3. Under Extraction parameters of CW measurement paths: a. Enter the Min. number of points to extract per measurement path. CW measurements are not created for transmitters that have fewer points than this number. b. Enter the minimum and maximum Measured signal levels. CW measurements are created with drive test data points where the signal levels are within this specified range. 4. Click OK. Atoll creates new CW measurements for transmitters satisfying the parameters set in the CW Measurement Extraction dialog box. For more information about CW measurements, see the Model Calibration Guide.

16.4.7 Printing and Exporting the Drive Test Data Window You can print and export the contents of the Drive Test Data analysis tool. To print or export the contents of the Drive Test Data analysis tool: 1. Select Tools > Drive Test Data from the menu bar. The Drive Test Data analysis tool appears. 2. Define the display parameters and zoom level as explained in "Analysing Measurement Variations Along the Path" on page 1293. 3. Right-click the Drive Test Data analysis tool and select one of the following from the context menu: • •

Print to print the Drive Test Data analysis tool. Copy then paste to export the Drive Test Data window.

16.5 Co-planning LPWA Networks with Other Networks Atoll is a multi-technology radio network planning tool. You can work on several technologies at the same time, and several network scenarios can be designed for any given area (such as a country, a region, or a city). For example, you can design a network for the same area in Atoll, and then work with Atoll co-planning features to study the mutual impacts of the two networks. Before starting a co-planning project in Atoll, the Atoll administrator must perform the pre-requisite tasks that are relevant for your project as described in the Administrator Manual. Sectors of both networks can share the same sites database. You can display base stations (sites and sectors), geographic data, and coverage predictions of one network in the other network’s Atoll document. You can also study inter-technology handovers by performing inter-technology neighbour allocations, manually or automatically. Inter-technology neighbours are allo-

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cated on criteria such as the distance between sectors or overlapping coverage. In addition, you can optimise the settings of the two networks using the Atoll Automatic Cell Planning (ACP) module. This section covers the following topics: • • • • •

"Switching to Co-planning Mode" on page 1295 "Working with Coverage Predictions in a Co-planning Project" on page 1296 "Planning Neighbours in Co-planning Mode" on page 1299 "Using ACP in Co-planning Mode" on page 1299 "Ending Co-planning Mode" on page 1300

16.5.1 Switching to Co-planning Mode Before starting a co-planning project, you must have two networks designed for a given area, which means that you must have a Atoll document and an Atoll document for the other network. Atoll switches to co-planning mode as soon as the two documents are linked together. In the following sections, the document will be referred to as the main document, and the other document as the linked document. Atoll does not establish any restriction on which is the main document and which is the linked document. Before starting a co-planning project, make sure that your main and linked documents have the same geographic coordinate systems.

To switch to co-planning mode: 1. Open the main document. •

Select File > Open or File > New > From an Existing Database.

2. Link the other document with the open main document. a. Click the map window of the main document. The map window of the main document becomes active and the explorer window shows the contents of the main document. b. Select Document > Link With > Browse. The Link With dialog box appears. c. Select the document to be linked. d. Click Open. The selected document is opened in the same Atoll session as the main document and the two documents are linked. The Explorer window of the main document now contains a folder named Transmitters in [linked document], where [linked document] is the name of the linked document and another folder named Predictions in [linked document]. By default, only the Transmitters and Predictions folders of the linked document appear in the main document. If you want the Sites folder of the linked document to appear in the main document as well, you can set an option in the Atoll.ini file. For information on setting options in the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual. As soon as a link is created between the two documents, Atoll switches to co-planning mode and the co-planning features are now available. When you are working on a co-planning document, Atoll facilitates working on two different but linked documents by synchronising the display in the map window between both documents. Atoll synchronises the display for the following: • • • •

Geographic data: Atoll synchronises the display of geographic data such as clutter classes and the DTM. If you select or deselect one type of geographic data, Atoll makes the corresponding change in the linked document. Zones: Atoll synchronises the display of filtering, focus, computation, hot spot, printing, and geographic export zones. If you select or deselect one type of zone, Atoll makes the corresponding change in the linked document. Map display: Atoll co-ordinates the display of the map in the map window. When you move the map, or change the zoom level in one document, Atoll makes the corresponding changes in the linked document. Point analysis: When you use the Point Analysis tool, Atoll co-ordinates the display on both the working document and the linked document. You can select a point and view the profile in the main document and then switch to the linked document to make an analysis on the same profile but in the linked document.

Displaying Both Networks in the Same Atoll Document After you have switched to co-planning mode as explained in "Switching to Co-planning Mode" on page 1295, transmitters and predictions from the linked document are displayed in the main document. If you want, you can display other items or folders from the explorer window of the linked document to the explorer window of the main document (for example, you can display sites and measurement paths in a document).

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To display sites from the linked document in the main document: 1. Click the map window of the linked document. The map window of the linked document becomes active and the explorer window shows the contents of the linked document. 2. In the Network explorer, right-click the Sites folder, select Make Accessible In from the context menu, and select the name of the main document from the submenu that opens. The Sites folder of the linked document is now available in the main document. The Explorer window of the main document now contains a folder named Sites in [linked document], where [linked document] is the name of the linked document. If you want the Sites folder of the linked document to appear in the main document automatically, you can set an option in the Atoll.ini file. For information on setting options in the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual. The same process can be used to link other folders (such as CW Measurements, Drive Test Data, Clutter Classes, Traffic, and DTM) from one document in the other document. Once the folders are linked, you can access their properties and the properties of the items in the folders from either of the two documents. Any changes you make in the linked document are taken into account in the both the linked and main documents. However, because working document is the main document, any changes made in the main document are not automatically taken into account in the linked document. If you close the linked document, Atoll displays a warning icon (

) in the Explorer window of the main document, and the

linked items are no longer accessible from the main document. You can load the linked document in Atoll again by right-clicking the linked item in the explorer window of the main document, and selecting Open Linked Document. The administrator can create and set a configuration file for the display parameters of linked and main document transmitters in order to enable you to distinguish them on the map and to be able to select them on the map using the mouse. If such a configuration file has not been set up, you can choose different symbols, sizes and colours for the linked and the main document transmitters. For more information on folder configurations, see "Folder Configurations" on page 107. You can also set the tip text to enable you to distinguish the objects and data displayed on the map. For more information on tip text, see "Associating a Tip Text to an Object" on page 54. In order to more easily view differences between the networks, you can also change the order of the folders or items in the explorer window. For more information on changing the order of items in the explorer window, see "Changing the Order of Layers" on page 51.

16.5.2 Working with Coverage Predictions in a Co-planning Project Atoll provides you with features that enable you to work with coverage predictions in your co-planning project. You can modify the properties of coverage predictions in the linked document from within the main document, and calculate coverage predictions in both documents at the same time. You can also study and compare the coverage predictions of the two networks. This section covers the following topics: • •

"Updating Coverage Predictions" on page 1296 "Analysing Coverage Predictions" on page 1297

16.5.2.1 Updating Coverage Predictions You can access the properties of the coverage predictions in the linked Predictions folder in the Explorer window of the main document. After modifying the linked coverage prediction properties, you can update them from the main document. To update a linked coverage prediction: 1. Click the map window of the main document. The map window of the main document becomes active and the explorer window shows the contents of the main document and the linked folders from the linked document. 2. In the Network explorer, expand the Predictions in [linked document] folder, where [linked document] is the name of the linked document, right-click the linked coverage prediction whose properties you want to modify, and select Properties from the context menu. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 3. Modify the calculation and display parameters of the coverage prediction. 4. Click OK to save your settings. 5. Click the Calculate button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar.

When you click the Calculate button, Atoll first calculates uncalculated and invalid path loss matrices and then unlocked coverage predictions in the main and linked Predictions folders. When you have several unlocked coverage predictions defined in the main and linked Predictions folders, Atoll calculates them one after the other. For information on locking and unlocking coverage predictions, see "Locking and Unlocking Coverage Predictions" on page 207.

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You can make Atoll recalculate all path loss matrices, including valid ones, before calculating unlocked coverage predictions in the main and linked Predictions folders. To recalculate all path loss matrices before calculating coverage predictions: 1. Click the Force Calculate button (

) in the Radio Planning toolbar.

When you click the Force Calculate button, Atoll first removes existing path loss matrices, recalculates them and then calculates unlocked coverages predictions defined in the main and linked Predictions folders. To prevent Atoll from calculating coverage predictions in the linked Predictions folder, you can set an option in the Atoll.ini file. For information on setting options in the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual.

16.5.2.2 Analysing Coverage Predictions In Atoll, you can analyse coverage predictions of the two networks together. You can display information about coverage predictions in the main and the linked documents in the Legend window, use tip text to get information on displayed coverage predictions, compare coverage areas by overlaying the coverage predictions in the map window, and study the differences between the coverage areas by creating coverage comparisons. If several coverage predictions are visible on the map, it might be difficult to clearly see the results of the coverage prediction you want to analyse. You can select which coverage predictions to display or to hide by selecting or clearing the display check box. For information on managing the display, see "Displaying or Hiding Objects on the Map" on page 50. In this section, the following are explained: • • • • •

16.5.2.2.1

"Co-Planning Coverage Analysis Process" on page 1297 "Displaying the Legend Window" on page 1297 "Comparing Coverage Prediction Results Using Tip Text" on page 1298 "Comparing Coverage Areas by Overlaying Coverage Predictions" on page 1298 "Studying Differences Between Coverage Areas" on page 1298.

Co-Planning Coverage Analysis Process The aim of coverage analysis in a co-planning project is to compare the coverage areas of the two networks and to analyse the impact of changes made in one network on the other. Changes made to the sectors of one network might also have an impact on sectors in the other network if the sectors in the two networks share some antenna parameters. You can carry out a coverage analysis with Atoll to find the impact of these changes. The recommended process for analysing coverage areas, and the effect of parameter modifications in one on the other, is as follows: 1. Create and calculate a Coverage by Transmitter (DL) (best server with 0 dB overlap margin) coverage prediction and a Coverage by Signal Level (DL) coverage prediction in the main document. For more information, see "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter" on page 1266 and "Making a Coverage Prediction by Signal Level" on page 1266. 2. Create and calculate a Coverage by Transmitter (DL) (best server with 0 dB overlap margin) coverage prediction and a Coverage by Signal Level (DL) coverage prediction in the linked document. 3. Choose display settings for the coverage predictions and tip text contents that will allow you to easily interpret the predictions displayed in the map window. This can help you to quickly assess information graphically and using the mouse. You can change the display settings of the coverage predictions on the Display tab of each coverage prediction Properties dialog box. 4. Make the two new coverage predictions in the linked document accessible in the main document as described in "Displaying Both Networks in the Same Atoll Document" on page 1295. 5. Optimise the main network by changing parameters such as antenna azimuth and tilt or the pilot power. You can use a tool such as the Atoll ACP to optimise the network. Changes made to the shared antenna parameters will be automatically propagated to the linked document. 6. Calculate the coverage predictions in the main document again to compare the effects of the changes you made with the linked coverage predictions. For information on comparing coverage predictions, see "Comparing Coverage Areas by Overlaying Coverage Predictions" on page 1298 and "Studying Differences Between Coverage Areas" on page 1298. 7. Calculate the linked coverage predictions again to study the effects of the changes on the linked coverage predictions.

16.5.2.2.2

Displaying the Legend Window When you create a coverage prediction, you can add the displayed values of the coverage prediction to the legend by selecting the Add to legend check box on the Display tab.

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To display the Legend window: 1. Select View > Legend Window. The Legend window is displayed, with the values for each displayed coverage prediction in the main and linked Predictions folders, identified by the name of the coverage prediction.

16.5.2.2.3

Comparing Coverage Prediction Results Using Tip Text You can compare coverage predictions by placing the pointer over an area of the coverage prediction to read the information displayed in the tip text. Atoll displays information for all displayed coverage predictions in both the working and the linked documents. The information displayed is defined by the settings you made on the Display tab when you created the coverage prediction (step 3. of "Co-Planning Coverage Analysis Process" on page 1297). To get coverage prediction results in the form of tip text: In the map window, place the pointer over the area of the coverage prediction that you want more information on. After a brief pause, the tip text appears with the information defined on all displayed coverage predictions in both the working and the linked documents. The tip text for the working document is on top and the tip text for the linked document, with the linked document identified by name is on the bottom.

16.5.2.2.4

Comparing Coverage Areas by Overlaying Coverage Predictions You can compare the coverage areas of the main and linked documents by overlaying coverage predictions in the map window. To compare coverage areas by overlaying coverage predictions in the map window: 1. Click the map window of the main document. The map window of the main document becomes active and the explorer window shows the contents of the main document and the linked folders from the linked document. 2. In the Network explorer, expand the Predictions folder and select the visibility check box to the left of the coverage prediction of the main document that you want to display in the map window. The coverage prediction is displayed on the map. 3. Right-click the coverage prediction and select Properties from the context menu. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 4. On the Display tab, modify the display parameters of the coverage prediction. For information on defining display properties, see "Setting the Display Properties of Objects" on page 51. 5. Expand the Predictions in [linked document] folder, where [linked document] is the name of the linked document, and select the visibility check box to the left of the linked coverage prediction you want to display in the map window. The coverage prediction is displayed on the map. 6. Right-click the coverage prediction and select Properties from the context menu. The coverage prediction Properties dialog box appears. 7. Modify the display parameters of the coverage prediction. 8. Calculate the two coverage predictions again, if needed. To highlight differences between the coverage areas, you can also change the order of the Predictions folders in the explorer window. For more information on changing the order of items in the explorer window, see "Changing the Order of Layers" on page 51.

16.5.2.2.5

Studying Differences Between Coverage Areas You can compare coverage predictions to find differences in coverage areas. To compare coverage predictions: 1. Click the map window of the main document. The map window of the main document becomes active and the explorer window shows the contents of the main document and the linked folders from the linked document. 2. In the Network explorer, expand the Predictions folder, right-click the coverage prediction of the main document that you want to compare, and select Compare With > [linked coverage prediction] from the context menu, where [linked coverage prediction] is the linked coverage prediction you want to compare with the coverage prediction of the main document. The Comparison Properties dialog box opens. 3. Select the display parameters of the comparison and add a comment if you want. 4. Click OK. The two coverage predictions are compared and a comparison coverage prediction is added to the Predictions folder of the main document. For more information on coverage prediction comparison, see "Comparing Coverage Predictions" on page 1277.

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16.5.3 Planning Neighbours in Co-planning Mode In co-planning mode, you can use Atoll to manually allocate neighbour relations to any cell in a network. You can also use Atoll to automatically allocate neighbour relations to a single cell, to all the cells of a base station, to all the cells in a transmitter group, or to all the cells in a network, based on predefined parameters. -specific coverage conditions in automatic inter-technology neighbour allocation are described in this section. Neighbour allocation in co-planning and other concepts that are specific to networks are explained in "Planning Neighbours" on page 1283.

16.5.3.1 Coverage Conditions The Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box provides a Use coverage conditions option: • •

When Use coverage conditions is not selected, the defined Distance is used to allocate neighbours to a reference transmitter. When Use coverage conditions is selected, click Define for e to open the corresponding Coverage Conditions dialog box: • • • •

Resolution: Enter the resolution to be used to calculate cell coverage areas during automatic neighbour allocation. Margin: Enter a handover margin. Shadowing Taken into Account: If selected, enter a Cell edge coverage probability. Indoor Coverage: Select this option to take indoor losses into account in calculations. Indoor losses are defined per frequency per clutter class.

16.5.3.2 Calculation Constraints In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, you can select the following calculation constraints: • •

Co-site neighbours: Cells located on the same site as the reference transmitter will automatically be considered as neighbours. A transmitter/cell with no antenna cannot be considered as a co-site neighbour. Exceptional pairs: Select this option to force the neighbour relations defined in the Inter-technology Exceptional pairs table. For more information, see "Defining Exceptional Pairs" on page 223.

16.5.3.3 Reasons for Allocation In the Automatic Neighbour Allocation dialog box, the reason for neighbour allocation is indicated under Cause in the Results table. It can be any of the following: Cause

Description

When

Distance

The neighbour is located within the defined maximum distance from the reference transmitter/ cell

Use coverage conditions is not selected

Coverage

The neighbour relation fulfils the defined coverage conditions

Use coverage conditions is selected and nothing is selected under Force

Co-Site

The neighbour is located on the same site as the reference transmitter/cell

Use coverage conditions is selected and Co-site neighbours is selected

Exceptional Pair

The neighbour relation is defined as an exceptional pair

Exceptional pairs is selected

Existing

The neighbour relation existed before automatic allocation

Delete existing neighbours is not selected

16.5.4 Using ACP in Co-planning Mode Atoll ACP enables you to automatically calculate the optimal network settings in terms of network coverage and capacity in co-planning projects where networks using different technologies, for example, , must both be taken into consideration. When you run an optimisation setup in a co-planning environment, you can display the sites and transmitters of both networks in the document in which you will run the optimisation process, as explained in "Switching to Co-planning Mode" on page 1295. While this step is not necessary in order to create a co-planning optimisation setup, it will enable you to visually analyse the changes to both networks in the same document. Afterwards you can create the new optimisation setup, but when creating an optimisation setup in a co-planning environment, you can not run it immediately; you must first import the other network into the ACP setup. This section explains how to use ACP to optimise network settings in a co-planning project:

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• •

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"Creating a Co-planning Optimisation Setup" on page 1300 "Importing the Other Network into the Setup" on page 1300

16.5.4.1 Creating a Co-planning Optimisation Setup Once you have displayed both networks in the main document as explained in "Switching to Co-planning Mode" on page 1295, you can create the new co-planning optimisation setup. To create a co-planning optimisation setup: 1. Click the map window of the main document. 2. In the Network explorer, right-click the ACP - Automatic Cell Planning folder and select New from the context menu. A dialog box appears in which you can set the parameters for the optimisation process. For information on the parameters available, see "Defining Optimisation Parameters" on page 1320. 3. After defining the optimisation setup, click the Create Setup button to save the defined optimisation. The optimisation setup has now been created. The next step is to add the network to the ACP optimisation setup you have just created.

16.5.4.2 Importing the Other Network into the Setup Once you have created the co-planning optimisation setup, you must import the network. To import the linked network: 1. Click the map window of the main document. 2. In the Network explorer, expand the ACP - Automatic Cell Planning folder, right-click the setup you created in "Creating a Co-planning Optimisation Setup" on page 1300, and select Import Project from the context menu and select the name of the document you want to import into the newly created setup. The setup is modified to include the linked network. You can modify the parameters for the optimisation setup by right-clicking it in the Network explorer and selecting Properties from the context menu. For information on the parameters available, see "Defining Optimisation Parameters" on page 1320. After defining the co-planning optimisation setup: •

•

Click the Run button to run the optimisation immediately. For information on running the optimisation, see "Running an Optimisation Setup" on page 1359. For information on the optimisation results, see "Viewing Optimisation Results" on page 1362. Click the Create Setup button to save the defined optimisation to be run later.

16.5.5 Ending Co-planning Mode once you have linked two Atoll documents for the purposes of co-planning, Atoll will maintain the link between them. However, you might want to unlink the two documents at some point, either because you want to use a different document in co-planning or because you want to restore the documents to separate, technology-specific documents. To unlink the documents and end co-planning mode: 1. Select File > Open to open the main document. Atoll informs you that this document is part of a multi-technology environment and asks whether you want to open the other document. 2. Click Yes to open the linked document as well. 3. Select Document > Unlink to unlink the documents and end co-planning mode. The documents are no longer linked and co-planning mode is ended.

16.6 Advanced Configuration The following sections describe different advanced parameters and options available in the LPWA module that are used in coverage predictions. In this section, the following advanced configuration options are explained: • • • • • • •

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• • •

"Modelling Shadowing" on page 1305 "Modelling Inter-technology Interference" on page 1306 "Modelling the Co-existence of Networks" on page 1307

16.6.1 Defining Frequency Bands To define frequency bands: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Frequencies folder under the Radio Network Settings folder, right-click Bands, and select Open Table. The Frequency Bands table appears. 2. In the Frequency Bands table, enter one frequency band per row. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. For each frequency band, enter: •

• •

Name: Enter a name for the frequency band. Each LPWA frequency band has a specific channel width. Mentioning the channel width in the frequency band name is a good approach. This name will appear in other dialog boxes when you select a frequency band. Start frequencies (MHz): Enter the downlink and the uplink start frequencies. Bandwidth (MHz): Enter the bandwidth of the frequency band.

3. When you have finished adding frequency bands, click the Close button (

).

You can also access the properties dialog box of each individual frequency band by double-clicking the left margin of the table row containing the frequency band.

16.6.2 Defining Channel Configurations To define channel configurations: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Settings folder and the Frequencies folder, right-click Channel Configurations and select Open Table. 2. For each channel configuration, enter: • • • • • •

Name: Name of the channel configuration. Total Bandwidth (in Hz): Total bandwidth of the frequency band to which the channel configuration corresponds. Used Bandwidth: The bandwidth used for the signal reception in downlink and uplink. Channel width: The width of an individual channel within the used bandwidth. Useful signals are transmitted using this channel width. Number of channels: The number of channels, each using the defined channel width, within the used bandwidth. Diversity support: The type of antenna diversity compatible with the channel configuration.

16.6.3 Network Settings Atoll allows you to set network level parameters which are common to all the transmitters and cells in the network. These parameters are used in coverage predictions. This section details the properties of the Radio Network Settings folder and explains how to access them: • •

"Network Settings Properties" on page 1301 "Modifying Network Settings" on page 1302

16.6.3.1 Network Settings Properties The Properties dialog box of the Radio Network Settings folder consists of the following tab: Calculation Parameters Tab •

Min interferer C/N threshold: Minimum requirement for interferers to be considered in calculations. Interfering cells from which the received carrier-power-to-noise ratio is less than this threshold are discarded. For example, setting this value to -20 dB means that interfering cells from which the received signals are 100 times lower than the thermal noise level will be discarded in calculations. The calculation performance of interferencebased coverage predictions can be improved by setting a high value of this threshold.

• •

Height/ground: The receiver height at which the path loss matrices and coverage predictions are calculated. Default max range: The maximum coverage range of transmitters in the network.

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16.6.3.2 Modifying Network Settings You can change network settings in the Properties dialog box of the Radio Network Settings folder. To set the network level parameters: 1. In the Parameters explorer, right-click the Radio Network Settings folder and select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialog box appears. 2. Select the Calculation Parameters tab. On this tab you can set: • • •

Calculation limitation: In this section, you can enter the Min interferer C/N threshold. Receiver: In this section, you can enter the receiver Height. System: In this section, select the Default max range check box if you want to apply a maximum system range limit, and enter the maximum system range in the text box to the right.

3. Click OK. The global parameters are used during coverage predictions for the entire network.

16.6.4 Defining LPWA Radio Bearers LPWA radio bearers carry the data in the uplink as well as in the downlink. In the Atoll LPWA module, a "bearer" refers to a combination of MCS, which means modulation and coding schemes. The Radio Bearers table lists the available radio bearers. You can add, remove, and modify bearer properties, if you want. If you are planning a network with more than one LPWA technology, it is recommended to define separate bearers for each technology and to set the following Atoll.ini option: [OFDM] UseCommonBearersOnly = 1 This will make sure that uplink and downlink calculation results are consistent with the gateway and terminal technologies. To define LPWA bearers: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Settings folder, right-click Radio Bearers and select Open Table. The Radio Bearers table appears. 2. In the table, enter one bearer per row. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. For each LPWA bearer, enter: • • • • •

Radio bearer index: Enter a bearer index. This bearer index is used to identify the bearer in other tables, such as the bearer selection thresholds and the quality graphs in reception equipment. Name: Enter a name for the bearer, for example, "16QAM3/4." This name will appear in other dialog boxes and results. Modulation: Select a modulation from the list of available modulation types. This column is for information and display purposes only. Channel coding rate: Enter the coding rate used by the bearer. This column is for information and display purposes only. Bearer efficiency (bits/symbol): Enter the number of useful bits that the bearer can carry in a symbol. This information is used in throughput calculations.

3. Click the Close button (

) to close the Radio Bearers table.

16.6.5 Defining LPWA Quality Indicators Quality indicators depict the coverage quality at different locations. The Quality Indicators table lists the available quality indicators. You can add, remove, and modify quality indicators, if you want. To define quality indicators: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Settings folder, right-click Quality Indicators and select Open Table. The Quality Indicators table appears. 2. In the table, enter one quality indicator per row. For information on working with data tables, see "Data Tables" on page 75. For each quality indicator, enter: • • •

Name: Enter a name for the quality indicator, for example, "BLER" for Block Error Rate. This name will appear in other dialog boxes and results. Used for data services: Select this check box to indicate that this quality indicator can be used for data services. Used for voice services: Select this check box to indicate that this quality indicator can be used for voice services.

3. Click the Close button (

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16.6.6 Defining LPWA Reception Equipment LPWA reception equipment model the reception characteristics of cells and user terminals. Bearer selection thresholds and channel quality indicator graphs are defined in LPWA reception equipment. To create a new piece of reception equipment: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Settings folder, right-click Reception Equipment and select Open Table. The Reception Equipment table appears. 2. In the Reception Equipment table, each row describes a piece of equipment. For the new piece of equipment you are creating, enter its name. 3. Double-click the equipment entry in the Reception Equipment table once your new equipment has been added to the table. The equipment Properties dialog box opens. The Properties dialog box has the following tabs: • •

General: On this tab, you can define the Name of the reception equipment. Thresholds: On this tab, you can modify the bearer selection thresholds for different mobility types. A bearer is selected for data transfer at a given pixel if the received carrier-to-interference-and-noise ratio is higher than its selection threshold. For more information on bearers and mobility types, see "Defining LPWA Radio Bearers" on page 1302 and "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 1268, respectively. i.

Click the Selection thresholds button. The C/(I+N) Thresholds (dB) dialog box appears.

ii. Enter the graph values. iii. Click OK. •

Quality Graphs: On this tab, you can modify the quality indicator graphs for different bearers and mobility types. These graphs depict the performance characteristics of the equipment under different radio conditions. For more information on bearers, quality indicators, and mobility types, see "Defining LPWA Radio Bearers" on page 1302, "Defining LPWA Quality Indicators" on page 1302, and "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 1268, respectively. i.

Click the Quality graph button. The Quality Graph dialog box appears.

ii. Enter the graph values. iii. Click OK. •

Traffic MIMO Gains: On this tab, you can modify the SU-MIMO and STTD/MRC gains for different bearers, mobility types, BLER values, and numbers of transmission and reception antennas. The MIMO throughput gain is the increase in channel capacity compared to a SISO system. Diversity gains can be defined for different diversity modes: STTD/MRC, SU-MIMO, and MU-MIMO. STTD/MRC gain is applied to the C/(I+N) when the diversity mode is STTD/MRC. SU-MIMO diversity gain is applied to the C/(I+N) when the diversity mode is SU-MIMO. MU-MIMO diversity gain is applied to the C/(I+N) when the diversity mode is MU-MIMO. For more information on bearers and mobility types, see "Defining LPWA Radio Bearers" on page 1302 and "Modelling Mobility Types" on page 1268, respectively. For more information on the different MIMO systems, see "Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) Systems" on page 1304. No MIMO gain (STTD/MRC, SU-MIMO, and MU-MIMO) is applied if the numbers of transmission and reception antennas are both equal to 1.

i.

Click the Max MIMO gain graphs button. The Max MIMO Gain dialog box appears.

ii. Enter the graph values. iii. Click OK. You can define the gains for any combination of subchannel allocation mode, mobility type, bearer, and BLER, as well as the default gains for "All" subchannel allocation modes, "All" mobility types, "All" bearers, and a Max BLER of 1. During calculations, Atoll uses the gains defined for a specific combination if available, otherwise it uses the default gains.

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4. Click OK. The Properties dialog box closes. The settings are stored.

Figure 16.14: Max SU-MIMO Gain dialog box 5. Click the Close button (

) to close the Reception Equipment table.

16.6.7 Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) Systems Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) systems use different transmission and reception diversity techniques. MIMO diversity systems can roughly be divided into the following types, all of which are modelled in Atoll. This section covers the following topics: • • • •

"Space-Time Transmit Diversity and Maximum Ratio Combining" on page 1304 "Single-User MIMO or Spatial Multiplexing" on page 1304 "Adaptive MIMO Switching" on page 1305 "Multi-User MIMO or Collaborative MIMO" on page 1305

16.6.7.1 Space-Time Transmit Diversity and Maximum Ratio Combining STTD uses more than one transmission antenna to send more than one copy of the same signal. The signals are constructively combined (using optimum selection or maximum ratio combining, MRC) at the receiver to extract the useful signal. As the receiver gets more than one copy of the useful signal, the signal level at the receiver after combination of all the copies is more resistant to interference than a single signal would be. Therefore, STTD improves the C/(I+N) at the receiver. It is often used for the regions of a cell that have insufficient C/(I+N). Different STTD coding techniques exist, such as STC (Space Time Coding), STBC (Space-Time Block Codes), and SFBC (Space-Frequency Block Codes). In Atoll, STTD/MRC gains on downlink and uplink can be defined in the reception equipment for different numbers of transmission and reception antennas, mobility types, bearers, and maximum BLER. For more information on uplink and downlink STTD/MRC gains, see "Defining LPWA Reception Equipment" on page 1303. Additional gain values can be defined per clutter class. For information on setting the additional STTD/MRC uplink and downlink gains for each clutter class or for all clutter classes, see "Defining Clutter Class Properties" on page 127. During calculations in Atoll, a user (pixel, mobile, or subscriber) using a MIMO-capable terminal will benefit from the downlink and uplink STTD/MRC gains.

16.6.7.2 Single-User MIMO or Spatial Multiplexing SU-MIMO uses more than one transmission antenna to send different signals (data streams) on each antenna. The receiver can also have more than one antenna to receive different signals. Using spatial multiplexing with M transmission and N reception antennas, the throughput over the transmitter-receiver link can be theoretically increased M or N times, whichever is smaller. SU-MIMO improves the throughput (channel capacity) for a given C/(I+N), and is used for the regions of a cell that have sufficient C/(I+N). SU-MIMO (single-user MIMO) is also referred to as SM (spatial multiplexing) or simply MIMO. In Atoll, SU-MIMO capacity gains can be defined in the reception equipment for different numbers of transmission and reception antennas, mobility types, bearers, and maximum BLER. For more information on SU-MIMO gains, see "Defining LPWA Reception Equipment" on page 1303. During calculations in Atoll, a user (pixel, mobile, or subscriber) using a MIMO-capable terminal will benefit from the SU-MIMO gain in its throughput depending on its C/(I+N).

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When SU-MIMO improves the channel capacity or throughputs, the C/(I+N) of a user is first determined. Once the C/(I+N) is known, Atoll calculates the user throughput based on the bearer available at the user location. The obtained user throughput is then increased according to the SU-MIMO capacity gain and the SU-MIMO gain factor of the user clutter class. The capacity gains defined in Max SU-MIMO gain graphs are the maximum theoretical capacity gains using SU-MIMO. SU-MIMO requires rich multipath environment, without which the gain is reduced. In the worst case, there is no gain. Therefore, it is possible to define an SU-MIMO gain factor per clutter class whose value can vary from 0 to 1 (0 = no gain, 1 = 100% gain). For information on setting the SU-MIMO gain factor for each clutter class or for all clutter classes, see "Defining Clutter Class Properties" on page 127.

16.6.7.3 Adaptive MIMO Switching Adaptive MIMO switching is a technique for switching from SU-MIMO to STTD/MRC as the conditions get worse than a given threshold. AMS can be used in cells to provide SU-MIMO gains to users. AMS provides the optimum solution using STTD/MRC and SU-MIMO features to their best. During calculations in Atoll, a user (pixel, mobile, or subscriber) using a MIMO-capable terminal will benefit from the gain to be applied, STTD/MRC or SU-MIMO, depending on the user and the AMS threshold defined in the cell properties.

16.6.7.4 Multi-User MIMO or Collaborative MIMO MU-MIMO (Multi-User MIMO) or Collaborative MIMO is a technique for spatially multiplexing two users who have sufficient radio conditions at their locations. This technique is used in uplink so that a cell with more than one reception antenna can receive uplink transmissions from two different users over the same frequency-time allocation. This technique provides considerable capacity gains in uplink, and can be used with single-antenna user equipment, i.e., it does not require more than one antenna at the user equipment as opposed to SU-MIMO, which only provides considerable gains with more than one antenna at the user equipment. In Atoll, you can set whether a channel configuration supports MU-MIMO in uplink by selecting the corresponding diversity support mode in the channel configuration properties (see "Defining Channel Configurations" on page 1301). MU-MIMO capacity gains result from the scheduling and the RRM process. Using MU-MIMO, schedulers are able to allocate resources over two spatially multiplexed parallel frames in the same frequency-time resource allocation plane. This gain is used during the calculation of uplink throughput coverage predictions. The channel throughput is multiplied by this gain for pixels where MU-MIMO is used as the diversity mode.

16.6.8 Modelling Shadowing Shadowing, or slow fading, is signal loss along a path that is caused by obstructions not taken into consideration by the propagation model. Even when a receiver remains in the same location or in the same clutter class, there are variations in reception due to the surrounding environment. Normally, the signal received at any given point is spread on a gaussian curve around an average value and a specific standard deviation. If the propagation model is correctly calibrated, the average of the results it gives should be correct. In other words, in 50% of the measured cases, the result will be better and in 50% of the measured cases, the result will be worse. Atoll uses a model standard deviation for the clutter class with the defined cell edge coverage probability to model the effect of shadowing and thereby create coverage predictions that are reliable more than fifty percent of the time. The additional losses or gains caused by shadowing are known as the shadowing margin. The shadowing margin is added to the path losses calculated by the propagation model. For example, a properly calibrated propagation model calculates a loss leading to a signal level of -70 dBm. You have set a cell edge coverage probability of 85%. If the calculated shadowing margin is 7 dB for a specific point, the target signal will be equal to or greater than -77 dBm 85% of the time. In projects, the model standard deviation is used to calculate shadowing margins on signal levels. You can also calculate shadowing margins on C/I values. For information on setting the model standard deviation and the C/I standard deviations for each clutter class or for all clutter classes, see "Defining Clutter Class Properties" on page 127. Shadowing can be taken into consideration when Atoll calculates the signal level and C/(I+N) for: • •

A point analysis (see "Studying the Profile Around a Gateway" on page 1256) A coverage prediction (see "Studying Signal Level Coverage of a Single Gateway" on page 1265).

Atoll uses the values defined for the model standard deviations per clutter class when calculating the signal level coverage predictions. Atoll uses the values defined for the C/I standard deviations per clutter class when calculating the interferencebased coverage predictions. You can display the shadowing margins per clutter class.

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To display the shadowing margins per clutter class: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the Predictions folder and select Shadowing Margins from the context menu. The Shadowing Margins dialog box appears. 2. You can set the following parameters: • •

Cell edge coverage probability: Enter the probability of coverage at the edge of the cell. The value you enter in this dialog box is for information only. Standard deviation: Select the type of standard deviation to be used to calculate the shadowing margin: • •

Model: The model standard deviation. Atoll will display the shadowing margin of the signal level. C/I: The C/I standard deviation. Atoll will display the C/I shadowing margin.

3. Click Calculate. The calculated shadowing margin is displayed. 4. Click Close.

16.6.9 Modelling Inter-technology Interference Analyses of networks co-existing with other technology networks can be carried out in Atoll. Inter-technology interference may create considerable capacity reduction in a network. Atoll can take into account interference from co-existing networks in coverage predictions. The following inter-technology interference scenarios are modelled in Atoll: •

Interference received by mobiles on the downlink: Interference can be received by mobiles in a network on the downlink from external base stations and mobiles in the vicinity. Downlink-to-downlink interference can be created by the use of same or adjacent carriers, wideband noise (thermal noise, phase noise, modulation products, and spurious emissions), and intermodulation. In Atoll, you can define interference reduction factor (IRF) graphs for different technologies (such as , UMTS, CDMA2000). These graphs are then used for calculating the interference from the external. This interference is taken into account in all downlink interference-based calculations. Uplink-to-downlink interference can be created by insufficient separation between the uplink frequency used by the external network and the downlink frequency used by your network. The effect of this interference is modelled in Atoll using the Inter-technology DL noise rise definable for each cell in the network. This noise rise is taken into account in all downlink interference-based calculations. For more information on the Inter-technology DL noise rise, see "Cell Properties" on page 1250.

Figure 16.15: Interference received by mobiles on the downlink •

Interference received by cells on the uplink: Interference can be received by cells of a network on the uplink from in the vicinity. Downlink-to-downlink interference can be created by insufficient separation between the downlink frequency used by the external network and the uplink frequency used by your network. Such interference may also come from coexisting TDD networks. Uplink-to-downlink interference can be created by the use of same or nearby frequencies for uplink in both networks. The effect of this interference is modelled in Atoll using the Inter-technology UL noise rise definable for each cell in the network. For more information on the Inter-technology UL noise rise, see "Cell Properties" on page 1250.

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Figure 16.16: Interference received by cells on the uplink Interference received from external of your network can be calculated by Atoll. Atoll uses the inter-technology interference reduction factor (IRF) graphs for calculating the interference levels. An IRF graph represents the variation of the Adjacent Channel Interference Ratio (ACIR) as a function of frequency separation. ACIR is determined from the Adjacent Channel Suppression (ACS) and the Adjacent Channel Leakage Ratio (ACLR) parameters as follows: 1 ACIR = ------------------------------------1 1 ------------- + ----------------ACS ACLR

An IRF depends on: • • • •

The interfering technology (such as , UMTS, CDMA2000) The interfering carrier bandwidth (kHz) The interfered carrier bandwidth (kHz) The frequency offset between both carriers (MHz).

IRFs are used by Atoll to calculate the interference from external only if the Atoll document containing the is linked to your document, which means in co-planning mode. For more information on how to switch to co-planning mode, see "Switching to Co-planning Mode" on page 1295. To define the inter-technology IRFs in the victim network: 1. In the Parameters explorer, expand the Radio Network Equipment folder, right-click Inter-technology Interference Reduction Factors, and select Open Table. The Inter-technology Interference Reduction Factors table appears. 2. In the table, enter one interference reduction factor graph per row. For each IRF graph, enter: • • • •

Technology: The technology used by the interfering network. Interferer bandwidth (kHz): The width in kHz of the channels (carriers) used by the interfering network. This channel width must be consistent with that used in the linked document. Victim bandwidth (kHz): The width in kHz of the channels (carriers) used by the interfered network. This channel width must be consistent with that used in the main document. Reduction factors (dB): Click the cell corresponding to the Reduction factors (dB) column and the current row in the table. The Reduction Factors (dB) dialog box appears. i.

Enter the interference reduction factors in the Reduction (dB) column for different frequency separation, Freq. delta (MHz), values relative to the centre frequency of the channel (carrier) used in the main document. • •

Reduction values must be positive. If you leave reduction factors undefined, Atoll assumes there is no interference.

ii. When done, click OK. 3. Click the Close button (

) to close the Inter-technology Interference Reduction Factors table.

You can link more than one Atoll document with your main document following the procedure described in "Switching to Coplanning Mode" on page 1295. If the linked documents model networks using different technologies, you can define the interference reduction factors in your main document for all these technologies, and Atoll will calculate interference from all the external in all the linked documents.

16.6.10 Modelling the Co-existence of Networks In Atoll, you can study the effect of interference received by your network from other LPWA networks. The interfering LPWA network can be a different part of your own network, or a network belonging to another operator.

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To study interference from co-existing networks: 1. Import the interfering network data (sites, transmitters, and cells) in to your document as explained in "Creating a Group of Gateways" on page 1258. 2. For the interfering network transmitters, set the Transmitter type to Inter-network (Interferer only) as explained in "Transmitter Properties" on page 1248. During calculations, Atoll will consider the transmitters of type Inter-network (Interferer only) when calculating interference. These transmitters will not serve any pixel, subscriber, or mobile, and will only contribute to interference. Modelling the interference from co-existing networks will be as accurate as the data you have for the interfering network. If the interfering network is a part of your own network, this information would be readily available. However, if the interfering network belongs to another operator, the information available might not be accurate.

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Chapter 17 Automatic Cell Planning This chapter provides information on using the Atoll ACP to optimise radio networks.

This chapter covers the following topics: •

"The ACP Module and Atoll" on page 1311

•

"Configuring the ACP Module" on page 1316

•

"Optimising Cell Planning with ACP" on page 1319

•

"Running an Optimisation Setup" on page 1359

•

"Working with Optimisations from the Explorer" on page 1361

•

"Viewing Optimisation Results" on page 1362

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17 Automatic Cell Planning The Atoll ACP module tool enables radio engineers designing radio networks to automatically calculate the optimal network settings in terms of network coverage and quality. ACP can remove unnecessary sites or sectors or select from candidate sites which can be added to optimise the network. ACP can also be used in multi-RAT and co-planning projects where networks using different radio access technologies must be taken into consideration when calculating the optimal network settings. Before you launch ACP in a multi-RAT project, make sure you have an ACP license token for each technology used in the document.

ACP is primarily intended to improve existing network deployment by reconfiguring the main parameters that can be remotely controlled by operators: antenna electrical tilt and transmission or transmitter/cell power. ACP can also be used during the initial planning stage of a network by enabling the selection of the antenna, and its azimuth, height, and mechanical tilt. ACP not only takes transmitters into account in optimisations but also any repeaters and remote antennas. ACP can also be used to measure and optimise the EMF exposure created by the network. This permits the optimisation of power and antenna settings to reduce excessive EMF exposure in existing networks and optimal site selection for new transmitters. ACP uses user-defined objectives to evaluate the optimisation, as well as to calculate its implementation cost. Once you have defined the objectives and the network parameters to be optimised, ACP uses an efficient global search algorithm to test many network configurations and propose the reconfigurations that best meet the objectives. ACP presents the changes ordered from the most to the least beneficial, allowing phased implementation or implementation of just a subset of the suggested changes. In this section, the following are explained: • • • • • •

"The ACP Module and Atoll" on page 1311 "Configuring the ACP Module" on page 1316 "Optimising Cell Planning with ACP" on page 1319 "Running an Optimisation Setup" on page 1359 "Working with Optimisations from the Explorer" on page 1361 "Viewing Optimisation Results" on page 1362.

17.1 The ACP Module and Atoll The ACP module can be used either with existing networks or with networks in the initial planning phases. With existing networks, it is most efficient to focus on tuning the parameters that can be easily changed remotely, for example: • •

Antenna electrical tilt: ACP adjusts the electrical tilt by selecting the best antenna from the antenna group assigned to this transmitter. Power: The power (transmission power in GSM, pilot power in UMTS, max power or RS EPRE in LTE, preamble power in WiMAX) is set within a defined value range for each cell or subcell.

When optimising a network that is still in the planning phase, ACP can calculate how the network can be improved by: • • • • •

Selecting the antenna type for each transmitter: ACP selects the best antenna from the antenna group assigned to this transmitter. Changing the antenna azimuth: ACP sets the antenna azimuth using a defined range on either side of the currently defined azimuth. Changing the mechanical tilt of the antenna: ACP sets the mechanical tilt using a defined range on either side of the currently defined mechanical tilt. Changing the height of the antenna: ACP sets the optimal antenna height using a defined range on either side of the currently defined antenna height. Selecting sites: ACP adds or removes sites that you have indicated as candidates for addition or removal in order to improve existing or new networks. ACP also uses as candidates, transmitters in the Atoll project that have been planned but are not active. ACP can also automatically create a list of candidate sites, following user-defined parameters.

ACP optimises the network using objectives to evaluate the optimisation, as well as to calculate its implementation cost. Each objective is defined by a set of rules and a target. A rule is a single quality indicator on a single technology layer fulfilling a defined threshold. The target defines the required percentage of pixels in the target zone which must fulfil the set of rules in order for the objective to be met. In this section, the following are explained: • •

"Using Quality and Cost Objectives in ACP" on page 1312 "Using Zones with ACP" on page 1312

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"Using Pixel Weighting with ACP" on page 1313 "Shadowing Margin and Indoor Coverage" on page 1313 "ACP and Antenna Masking" on page 1314 "EMF Exposure" on page 1315.

17.1.1 Using Quality and Cost Objectives in ACP ACP optimises the network using user-defined objectives to evaluate the quality of the network reconfiguration, as well as to calculate its implementation cost. Each objective is created from one or more rules. Each rule is an evaluation of a specific quality indicators for a single technology layer and for a defined zone. Each quality indicator is technology-dependent. By combining rules, you can create an objective that evaluates quality indicators on different technology layers within the same technology or, for projects that combine several radio access technologies, that evaluates quality indicators from different technologies. The rules can be combined logically, using boolean operators (OR, or AND), to create more complex rules. For example, in a project combining both UMTS and LTE, you could create the following rule: (UMTS 2100 - RSCP > -85dBm OR LTE 2010 - C/N 20dB) You can weight an objective using traffic maps or you can define different weights for different zones. If both weights are used, the zone weight is taken as a supplementary factor to the traffic weight. Each objective has a target. The target defines the required percentage of pixels in the target zone (after applying any traffic and zone weight) which must fulfil the set of rules. For example, if the target is 90%, the objective is fulfilled if 90% of the pixels are covered by the objective rule. Additionally, each objective can be weighted. The weight enables you to give more importance to some objectives over others.

17.1.2 Using Zones with ACP ACP uses different zones during the optimisation process for different purposes. ACP uses the computation zone to define the area where the quality indicators are evaluated. It also uses the computation and focus zones to quickly select the sites which are optimised, although you can also optimise transmitters and sites that are outside the computation or focus zone. All sites and transmitters in the network, including those outside the computation and focus zones are taken into consideration when calculating signal, interference, and best server status. • •

ACP can use zones defined by hot spots or by a group of clutters. ACP also allows you to import ArcView SHP files as polygon zones, vectors representing roads, railways, or lists of fixed locations.

ACP enables you to define different targets and different weights for each zone: for the computation zone, for the focus zone, for the hot spots, for each zone based on clutter classes, and for each imported zone. Moreover, ACP enables you to define quality objectives separately for each zone or to use each zone separately when creating candidate sites. In this section, the following are explained: • • •

"Using the Computation Zone and the Focus Zone" on page 1312 "Using Custom Zones" on page 1313 "Using the Filtering Zone" on page 1313.

17.1.2.1 Using the Computation Zone and the Focus Zone ACP evaluates the quality indicators within the computation zone. If there is no computation zone, ACP evaluates the quality objectives using a rectangle that includes all cells or subcells in the network. You can also use the computation or focus zone to quickly select which cells or subcells are to be optimised, although you can also optimise cells or subcells outside of the zones or a subset within a zone. ACP allows you to define different targets for the computation zone and the focus zone, as well as for any custom zones. You can also define different weights for each zone. It is recommended to define a computation zone. ACP uses the computation zone as the area in which the quality indicators are calculated and improved during optimisation.

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17.1.2.2 Using Custom Zones ACP allows you to use custom zones, enabling you to define objectives for specific zones, to specify different quality targets for each custom zone, and to display final results per zone. You can create custom zones out of selected clutter classes. If you have more than one layer of clutter classes, with different resolutions, you can set an option in the ACP.ini file so that ACP only uses clutter classes of one resolution (usually the lower resolution). You can also set an option so that the other clutter classes are not displayed in the Zone Definition dialog box (see Figure 17.5 on page 1323). For more information on the ACP.ini file, see the Administrator Manual. You can create custom zones from the hot spots defined in the Atoll document, or import ArcView SHP files. These files can be polygons, to create hot spots, or they can be vectors representing roads, railways or strings of points. You can also import ArcView SHP files that are points describing a list of fixed locations. You can also define different weights for each zone.

17.1.2.3 Using the Filtering Zone If there is a filtering zone defined, ACP will ignore all cells outside of the filtering zone. ACP automatically considers all the cells or subcells that have an effect on the computation and ignores the rest (for example, those that are too far away to have an impact on the computation zone). It is nonetheless recommended to use a filtering zone to speed up initial data extraction from the Atoll document.

17.1.3 Using Pixel Weighting with ACP Traffic/population densities can be used to weight each quality figure according to traffic/population densities and therefore put more emphasis on high traffic density or more populated areas.

Figure 17.1: Pixel Weighting dialog box When you use selected traffic maps, ACP allows you to define a resolution to extract the data from traffic maps. The resolution should usually be the same as the resolution of the traffic/population density map. • •

Based on traffic maps: if you select this option, specify one or more traffic maps and the Extraction resolution From file: if you select this option, click the Browse button and choose a traffic map.

17.1.4 Shadowing Margin and Indoor Coverage ACP enables you to take indoor coverage and a shadowing margin into consideration. When indoor coverage is taken into consideration, all pixels marked as indoors have an additional indoor loss added to total losses. The indoor loss is defined per clutter class. When the shadowing margin is taken into consideration, the defined shadowing margin is taken into consideration in the calculation of the received useful signal power and interfering signal power. For more information on how shadowing and macro-diversity gains (in UMTS) are calculated, see the Technical Reference Guide.

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You can set ACP to not take macro-diversity gains in UMTS into consideration by setting the appropriate option in the ACP.ini file. You will need to update the corresponding parameters in the Atoll.ini file as well. For information on modifying the Atoll.ini file, see the Administrator Manual.

17.1.5 ACP and Antenna Masking When ACP performs any type of antenna reconfiguration, it must determine how attenuation to the path loss changes when the antenna is modified. ACP determines changes to path loss attenuation using antenna masking. Using the ACP - Automatic Cell Planning dialog box, you can define the ACP antenna masking method individually for each propagation model. Atoll distinguishes between two categories of propagation models: • •

Native models: ACP provides the same prediction results as the original propagation model, by using the Optimised method. For more information, see "Native Propagation Models" on page 1314. Non-native models: If the propagation model is not native to Atoll, ACP offers three different methods of antenna masking. For more information, see "Non-Native Propagation Models" on page 1314. Power optimisation, site selection (without reconfiguration), and antenna height optimisation are made independently of the method used to determine changes to path loss attenuation.

17.1.5.1 Native Propagation Models Native propagation models are Atoll models such as SPM, Cost-Hata, Okumura-Hata, ITU propagation models, CrossWave, and so on. During antenna optimisation, ACP must calculate how the attenuation to the path loss changes when the antenna is modified, which means, when the antenna type, tilt, or azimuth is modified. Using the Optimised method, ACP provides the same results as those offered by the native propagation model. ACP calculates the change in attenuation by unmasking the current antenna pattern and then remasking it with the new antenna pattern. This calculation depends strongly on the horizontal and vertical emission angles between a transmitter and the receiving pixel. The Optimised antenna masking method provides an accurate prediction of emission angles, using one of 2 internal methods: • •

Direct calculation: ACP calculates incidence angles by direct calculation using the raster data. Delegating to the model: ACP calculates incidence angles by delegating the calculation to the propagation model, providing that the propagation model implements the appropriate methods of Atoll's API.

ACP automatically selects which internal method to use for each native propagation model: • •

Crosswave: use delegation to model All others native models: use direct calculation You can define the internal method used by setting the appropriate option in the ACP.ini file. For information on modifying the ACP.ini file, see the Administrator Manual.

17.1.5.2 Non-Native Propagation Models ACP proposes different antenna masking modes for propagation models that are not native: •

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Basic: The Basic mode is ACP’s internal antenna masking method. Because ACP’s Basic masking method is not the same as the one used to calculate the original path loss matrices, accuracy cannot be guaranteed. ACP’s Basic masking method should deliver acceptable results for any propagation model similar to Atoll’s Standard Propagation Model. You can adjust the following parameters when using the Basic mode: •

Antenna pattern interpolation: The antenna gain calculation method for deriving the antenna gain from a set of angles of incidence. You can select either of the following methods: • Native 3D Interpolation method: The method used by Atoll. For more information, see the Technical Reference Guide. • Linear Interpolation method: A simple linear method with optional smoothing.

• •

Direct view: When selected, the angle of incidence will be the direct Tx-Rx angle. Use clutter height: Specify whether clutter heights should be applied along the profiles between transmitter and receiver. Clutter heights are either extracted from the clutter height file, or from default clutter heights based on the clutter class file.

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• •

Improved: This mode performs antenna masking by delegating the calculation of the angles of incidence to the propagation model. If the propagation model does not implement the appropriate methods of Atoll’s API, the Improved mode is not available. You can adjust the following parameter when using the Improved mode: •

•

Antenna pattern interpolation: The antenna gain calculation method for deriving the antenna gain from a set of angles of incidence. You can select either of the following methods: • Native 3D Interpolation method: The method used by Atoll. For more information, see the Technical Reference Guide. • Linear Interpolation method: A simple linear method with optional smoothing.

Antenna Correction: This mode is only available if the relevant API is implemented in the propagation model. It performs antenna masking by delegating the calculation of the angles of incidence to the propagation model. A specific antenna pattern interpolation, if performed by the model, will be considered. If the propagation model does not implement the appropriate methods of Atoll ’s API, the Antenna Correction mode is not available. You can adjust the following parameter when using the Antenna Correction mode: •

•

Receiver on top of clutter: Specify whether the receiver should be considered to be on top of the clutter or not.

Antenna pattern interpolation: The antenna gain calculation method for deriving the antenna gain from a set of angles of incidence. You can select either of the following methods: • Native 3D Interpolation method: The method used by Atoll. For more information on Atoll’s method for 3D interpolation, see the Technical Reference Guide. • Linear Interpolation method: A simple linear method with optional smoothing.

Full Path loss: With this method, ACP precalculates all path loss matrices for all combinations of the parameters which are to be tested. This is a fall-back method for complex propagation models not supported by any other method. ACP does not calculate all path loss matrices for all possible combinations, for example, five possible changes in electrical tilt and five possible changes in azimuth, i.e., 25 path loss matrices to be calculated. ACP only calculates the path loss matrices for the changes which need to be evaluated by the optimisation algorithm. By pre-calculating only the changes to be evaluated, ACP reduces the number of path loss changes to be calculated and reduces the calculation time. While the optimisation is running, ACP uses the pre-calculated path loss matrices. If a change is made to a transmitter that was not taken into the consideration when the path loss matrices were calculated, ACP recalculates the path loss matrix for that change only. The end result is considerable savings in both time and computer resources. Although ACP minimises the number of calculations necessary when using precalculated path loss matrices, it is recommended to: •

•

•

Use precalculated path loss matrices only when necessary. When a propagation model is natively supported, you should use it. Even if a propagation model is not officially natively supported, using the default antenna masking method is often sufficient. Try to limit the number of parameters covered, when using precalculated path loss matrices. For example, only use a 2- or 3-azimuth span. Carefully designing the antenna groups will also reduce the number of unnecessary calculations. Use a temporary path loss storage directory dedicated to your document region when using precalculated path loss matrices. This ensures that future optimisations on this region will be able to use these path losses that have already been calculated.

17.1.6 EMF Exposure EMF exposure is defined as the total electromagnetic field measured at a given location. Although the exact limit on the acceptable level of EMF exposure varies by jurisdiction, it is typically a few V⁄m. Using an internal propagation model specific to EMF exposure, ACP calculates the EMF exposure in two dimensions (for open areas such as parks or roads) or in three dimensions (for buildings). Additionally, with buildings, you can choose to measure the exposure only at the front façade, where the EMF exposure will be the greatest. The internal propagation model calculates EMF exposure using propagation classes which are retrieved from input files. Each propagation class is either opaque, meaning that the signal experiences diffraction losses at the edge of the object but does not go completely through, or transparent, meaning that the signal passes through it (with perhaps some losses) and does not experience diffraction loss. The propagation classes have the following parameters: • • •

Penetration loss (dB): The loss occurring when the signal enters the object. Linear loss (dB/m): A linear loss applied for each metre within an object. The loss is applied only after a given number of metres, specified by the "Linear loss start distance (m)" parameter. Distribution of measurement points: Field strength measurements are made on a set of points within an object. The measurement points can be distributed in either a 3D pattern or in a 2D pattern. For a two-dimensional distribution, the points can be placed either at the bottom (for example, in a park) or at the top (for example, for a bridge) to better reflect where people will be.

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The following default propagation classes are provided: • • •

Open: The Open propagation class is for areas without obstacles, such as an open area or water. An open area can also be an elevated area such as a bridge. Such areas are transparent, with no diffraction loss. Vegetation: The Vegetation propagation class is used for areas covered with vegetation, such as parks. They can be considered as transparent but with a certain degree of diffraction loss. Building: The Building propagation class is used for opaque objects such as buildings. The signal experiences some loss when going through and also suffer from diffraction loss.

17.2 Configuring the ACP Module ACP is configured by defining various options. You can change some of these options using the ACP module. These options can be stored either in the current Atoll project or in the user-defined ACP.ini file. Other options can only be changed by editing the global ACP.ini file. ACP reads the defined options in the following order of priority: •

•

•

The current Atoll project: You can define certain options using the ACP module and choose to embed them in the current project. Embedding the options in the current project ensures that the document is portable; if you open the Atoll document on a different computer, you will have the same default ACP settings. The user-defined ACP.ini: When you define options using the ACP module, you can choose to save them in a userdefined ACP.ini file. Defining the ACP options using the ACP.ini file enables you to use the same settings in different Atoll documents. Additionally, you can manually define settings directly in the ACP.ini file, especially settings which can not be defined using the ACP module. The global ACP.ini: The global ACP.ini file (normally the ACP.ini file found in the Atoll installation directory) contains all the options that can be set for ACP. Unless the same options have been set in either the current project or the userdefined ACP.ini file, ACP will use the options set in the global ACP.ini to initialise a new ACP setup. Setting options in the global ACP.ini ensures that all users of Atoll using that machine will be using the same base set of parameters. Defining ACP options by editing the global ACP.ini file also offers advantages, namely, consistent settings across Atoll documents and the ability to define settings which can not be set using the ACP module.

For information on the options available in the ACP.ini file, see the Administrator Manual. In this section, the following are explained: • • •

"Defining the Storage Location of ACP Settings" on page 1316 "Defining the Antenna Masking Method" on page 1316 "Configuring Default Settings" on page 1318.

17.2.1 Defining the Storage Location of ACP Settings You can define where Atoll stores the default settings of the ACP module. To configure the default settings of the ACP module: 1. Select the Network explorer. 2. Right-click the ACP - Automatic Cell Planning folder. The context menu appears. 3. Select Properties from the context menu. The ACP - Automatic Cell Planning Properties dialog box appears. 4. Click the Setup Template tab. The location of the settings are either embedded in the Atoll document or stored in an ACP.ini file. 5. Click the arrow to the right of the current location of ACP settings (

). The menu appears:

6. Select where you want ACP to store the template options: •

• •

Embedded: Atoll will store ACP settings in the current Atoll document. Embedding the options in the current project ensures that the document is portable; if you open the Atoll document on a different computer, you will have the same default ACP settings. Default User Location: Atoll will store ACP settings in the default location for the user-defined ACP.ini file. Defining ACP options using the ACP.ini file enables you to use the same settings in different Atoll documents. Browse: Clicking Browse enables you to select a location to store the ACP.ini file or to select an existing ACP.ini file.

17.2.2 Defining the Antenna Masking Method You can define how ACP calculates path loss changes and set an antenna masking method for each propagation model. These parameters will be applied to all new and duplicated setups.

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To define how ACP calculates path loss matrices: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the ACP - Automatic Cell Planning folder and select Properties from the context menu. The ACP - Automatic Cell Planning Properties dialog box appears. 2. Select the Setup Template tab. 3. Click Antenna Masking Method in the left pane. Under Antenna Masking Method, you can define how ACP calculates path loss matrices (see Figure 17.2).

Figure 17.2: Setup Template tab > Antenna Masking Method 4. Under Propagation Models, select the check boxes in each column to define how ACP will model each propagation model. By default, all available propagation models are displayed. To display the propagation models that are actually used in that document, select Show only used propagation models.

• •

Antenna masking method: indicates which antenna masking method is used, "Optimised" for native propagation models and "Basic," "Improved", "Full Pathloss", or "Antenna Correction" for non-native propagation models. Additional Parameters: click the Browse button available for non-native propagation models to open the Default Propagation Model Parameters dialog box. In this dialog box, you can define the following parameters for each propagation model for which ACP uses the "Basic" or "Improved" method as its default method: Basic and Improved methods: •

Antenna pattern interpolation: Antenna pattern interpolation is the method used to derive the antenna gain from a set of angles of incidence. You can select either the "Native 3D Interpolation" method or the "Linear Interpolation" method. When you select the linear interpolation method, you can also define the degree of smoothing applied.

Basic method only: • • •

Direct view: Select this check box if you want ACP to trace a direct line between the transmitter and the receiver when calculating the vertical incidence angle, without taking any obstacle into account. Use clutter height: Select this check box if you want ACP to apply clutter heights along the profile between the transmitter and the receiver. Receiver on top of clutter: Select this check box if you want ACP to consider the receiver on top of the clutter.

5. Click OK.

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17.2.3 Configuring Default Settings You can configure default settings for ACP that are used for each ACP setup. Each time you create an ACP setup, these settings are the default parameters that appear in the Setup dialog box. To configure the default settings of the ACP module: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the ACP - Automatic Cell Planning folder and select Properties from the context menu. The ACP - Automatic Cell Planning Properties dialog box appears. 2. Select the Preferences tab. •

Optimisation: You can adjust the Calculation Setting slider to define whether you want ACP to provide quicker results (High Speed), at the expense of precision, or more accurate results (High Precision), at the expense of speed. You can also select an intermediate Default ratio. High Speed reduces the number of cells monitored for each pixel, some of which may only create a bit of interference at first, but can create much more interference after antenna parameters are changed during optimisation. Select High Precision to avoid this problem; however more time and computer resources will be required.

•

Implementation Plan: You can adjust the Low Quality Improvement changes slider to define whether you want ACP to Keep or Discard low quality improvements. You can also select an intermediate Default ratio. The total number of changes in the implementation plan (see list on Change Details tab) will vary according to the position of the Low Quality Improvement changes slider. Select Keep to make a maximum number of changes including the ones that have little impact on global quality, or select Discard to make the smallest number changes.

• •

Predictions: You can adjust the Transparency % slider to define a default prediction transparency percentage. Extensions: You can select the check boxe(s) you want to display the corresponding label(s) on the Optimisation tab: • Multi-Storey: Select this check box to display the Multi-Storey label in the left pane of the Optimisation tab. You will then have to click on that label to display the Multi-Storey page in the right pane, select the Enable Multi-Storey check box, and finally define the parameters you want to optimise reception on all floors of multiple-storey buildings. •

EMF Exposure: Select this check box to display the EMF Exposure label in the left pane of the Optimisation tab. You will then have to click on that label to display the EMF Exposure page in the right pane, select the Enable EMF Exposure Calculation check box, and finally define the parameters you want to optimise EMF exposure.

3. Select the Setup Template tab to set options that are normally set in the ACP.ini file for the following categories: • • • • • •

Antenna Masking Method (for more information, see "Defining the Antenna Masking Method" on page 1316) Optimisation Objective Reconfiguration Multi-Storey EMF Exposure

For more information on the various options and their possible values, see the Administrator Manual. 4. Select the Storage Directory tab to define the directory to be used by ACP to store precalculated path loss matrices as well as the path loss matrices for antenna height optimisation and for new site candidates. This directory is also used to store the matrices of the angles of incidence and other temporary data. •

Under Private Directory, enter the name of the directory or click the arrow to the right of the current directory

•

( ) to navigate to the new directory. Under Shared Directory, enter the name of the directory shared by several users or click the Browse button beside the current directory to navigate to the new directory. When ACP reads a specific path loss or incidence matrix, it first attempts to read it from the Shared Directory. If the entry does not exist in the Shared Directory, ACP then tries to read the information from the Private Directory. If ACP can not find the information in the Private Directory, it then calculates the matrix and stores the results in the Private Directory.

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ACP never writes directly to the Shared Directory. There should only be one user with administrator rights who populates this Shared Directory with the results of his Private Directory. No other user should set the Shared Directory as his Private Directory in order to avoid concurrent access. 5. Click OK to save your changes.

17.3 Optimising Cell Planning with ACP Optimising cell planning with ACP consists of defining the parameters that will be used during the optimisation process and then running the process. Each optimisation, with its parameters and results, is stored in a Setup folder in the ACP - Automatic Cell Planning folder in the Network explorer. In this section, the following are explained: • •

"Creating an ACP Setup" on page 1319 "Defining Optimisation Parameters" on page 1320.

17.3.1 Creating an ACP Setup In ACP, you can create an optimisation setup or duplicate an existing one. In this section, the following are explained: • • •

"Creating a Setup" on page 1319 "Duplicating a Setup" on page 1319. "Running an Optimisation from an Existing Setup" on page 1319

17.3.1.1 Creating a Setup To create a ACP setup: 1. In the Network explorer, right-click the ACP - Automatic Cell Planning folder and select New from the context menu. A dialog box appears in which you can define the parameters of the new setup. For information on the available parameters, see "Defining Optimisation Parameters" on page 1320. 2. After defining the new ACP setup, you can do one of the following: • •

Click Run if you want to run an optimisation immediately. For information on optimisation results, see "Viewing Optimisation Results" on page 1362. Click Create Setup if you want to save the new setup and run an optimisation at a later time.

17.3.1.2 Duplicating a Setup To duplicate an ACP setup: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the ACP - Automatic Cell Planning folder, right-click the setup you want to duplicate, and select Duplicate from the context menu. The Duplicate Options dialog box appears. 2. Under Data Update Options, select one of the following: •

•

Partial update: The duplicated ACP setup will have only the data that was changed by ACP during optimisation. Duplicating ACP-generated data permits you to create a setup with up-to-date data even though the data of the original setup is no longer valid. Full update: The duplicated ACP setup will have all the data resynchronised from the database.

3. After defining the duplicated ACP setup: • •

Click Run if you want to run an optimisation immediately. For information on optimisation results, see "Viewing Optimisation Results" on page 1362, or Click Create Setup if you want to save the duplicated setup and run an optimisation at a later time.

17.3.1.3 Running an Optimisation from an Existing Setup To run an existing optimisation setup: 1. In the Network explorer, expand the ACP - Automatic Cell Planning folder, right-click the ACP setup from which you want to run an optimisation, and select Run. For information on optimisation results, see "Viewing Optimisation Results" on page 1362. As shown in Figure 17.3, the Run command is not available if the setup is out-of-date.

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Figure 17.3: Out-of-date ACP Setup

17.3.2 Defining Optimisation Parameters In ACP, when you create an optimisation setup, you must first define all the parameters. You can also modify the parameters of an existing optimisation setup before running it. Creating an optimisation setup is explained in "Creating a Setup" on page 1319. Running an existing optimisation is explained in "Running an Optimisation from an Existing Setup" on page 1319. The optimisation parameters are grouped onto specific tabs of the dialog box. The parameters are the same whether you create an optimisation setup or whether you modify the parameters of an existing one. In this section, the following parameters are explained: • • • • • •

"Setting Optimisation Parameters" on page 1320 "Setting Objective Parameters" on page 1329 "Setting Network Reconfiguration Parameters" on page 1338 "Defining Site Selection Parameters" on page 1348 "Defining Antennas" on page 1355 "Adding Comments to the Optimisation Setup" on page 1359.

17.3.2.1 Setting Optimisation Parameters The Optimisation tab allows you to define the various parameters related to the optimisation algorithm. To set the optimisation parameters: 1. Create an ACP setup (or display the properties of an existing ACP setup) and select the Optimisation tab. 2. Set the Number of iterations for the optimisation algorithm. ACP calculates a suggested number of iterations by multiplying the total number of parameters to optimise by two (i.e., power, antenna pattern, azimuth, mechanical tilt, antenna height, sites subject to selection). You can accept the number of iterations, or set your own value. Often onehalf or one-quarter of the suggested number is sufficient for ACP to find the optimal configuration. 3. Specify the Default resolution (m) for the optimisation. Each criterion will be evaluated on each of these pixels. The total number of pixels and the average number per site is indicated. This parameter has a large influence on the accuracy and speed of the optimisation process. You should either set a resolution that is consistent with the path loss and raster data in the Atoll document, or you should set a resolution that will result in between 300 and 3000 positions per site. If the resolution of the optimisation is different from the resolution of the path loss matrices, ACP performs a bilinear interpolation; it uses the four closest path loss values and interpolates among them. The best match between ACP predictions and Atoll predictions is obtained when the ACP resolution matches the path loss resolution. 4. Under Setup, you can define optimisation-related parameters. For more information, see the following sections: • • • • • •

17.3.2.1.1

"Defining Technology Layer-related Parameters" on page 1320 "Defining Zone-related Parameters" on page 1321 "Defining Cost Control Parameters" on page 1323 "Constraining the Site Activation during Optimisation" on page 1325 "Defining Multi-storey-related Parameters" on page 1326 "Defining EMF Exposure-related Parameters" on page 1327

Defining Technology Layer-related Parameters On the Optimisation tab, you can define objectives and parameters for each technology layer in the current project. To define technology layer-related objectives and parameters: 1. Open the Setup Properties dialog box to define the optimisation as explained in "Creating an ACP Setup" on page 1319. 2. Click the Optimisation tab. 3. Select Technology Layers in the left pane. The Technology Layers page appears in the right pane. In the Technology Layers page, you can define the following for each technology layer to be optimised:

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•

Name: You can change the name of the technology layer by clicking it and entering a new name.

•

Use: You can select which technology layers are to be considered in the optimisation process by selecting their check box in the Use column. The signals and interference of the transmitters and sites in the selected technology layers will be taken into consideration during the optimisation process. If the transmitters and sites in the selected technology layers are within the area to be optimised (the computation zone or the focus zone, as selected under Zones on the Optimisation tab), these transmitters and cells will be optimised. Selecting the technology layers here ensures that ACP will take them into consideration. Transmitters and sites in technology layers which are not selected are treated by ACP as if they do not exist: they will not be optimised and their signal and interference will not be taking into consideration during the optimisation of the selected transmitters and sites. If a transmitter on one selected technology layer that is optimised is linked (by the Shared Antenna field in the Atoll Transmitter table) with a transmitter on another technology layer that is not used in the optimisation, the second transmitter will not appear on the Reconfiguration tab but any changes to the first transmitter will be applied to the linked transmitter as well.

•

Reconfiguration: If you want the technology layer to be taken into consideration for reconfiguration, you can select the check box in the Reconfiguration column. If a transmitter on one selected technology layer that is optimised is linked (by the Shared Antenna field in the Atoll Transmitter table) with a transmitter on another technology layer that is not reconfigured, the second transmitter will appear on the Reconfiguration tab but none of its sectors will be reconfigured (except for the electrical tilt, if you are optimising it). It is still possible for you to manually select these transmitters for reconfiguration on the Reconfiguration tab.

•

Site Selection: If you want the technology layer to be taken into consideration for site selection, you can select the check box in the Site Selection column. If this check box is cleared, all sites belonging to this technology layer will be considered as existing sites and you will not be able to deselect them on the Reconfiguration tab.

The following columns give information about the technology layer; they can not be edited: • • •

17.3.2.1.2

Technology: The technology used by the technology layer. Frequency / Carrier: The frequency band and carrier (if applicable) used by the technology layer. No. Tx / Cell: The number of sectors in the technology layer.

Defining Zone-related Parameters On the Optimisation tab of the ACP Setup dialog box, you can define parameters related to the computation and focus zones as well as the hot spots of the current project. To define zone-related objectives and parameters: 1. Open the Setup Properties dialog box to define the optimisation as explained in "Creating an ACP Setup" on page 1319. 2. Click the Optimisation tab. 3. Select Zones in the left pane. The Zones properties page appears in the right pane (see Figure 17.4). Under Zone Parameters (see Figure 17.4), you can define how the zones are used during optimisation. The zones are used to define geographical objectives and weighting. By default, the zones are taken into consideration in the following priority order: the custom zones in their defined order, the focus zone, and finally the computation zone. For all zones, the area of the zone is given (for polygons), or the length of the zone (for vectors), or the number of points (for zones composed of points). You can change the order in which the custom zones will be taken into consideration by clicking the leftmost cell in the row corresponding to the zone for which you want to change the priority then clicking the Up ( ) or Down ( ) button. The order has an effect only when assigning weighting to specific zones and thresholds to pixels which belong to two or more intersecting zones. When a zone is fully included into another one, it always has precedence over the zone in which it is located.

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Figure 17.4: Setup properties > Optimisation tab > Zones page 4. Evaluation zone: This is a polygon defining the target evaluation zone where the objectives will be computed, i.e. where the evaluation pixels are distributed. Next to Evaluate on, select Computation (default) to preselect only the pixels in the computation zone or Focus to preselect only the pixels in the focus zone for reconfiguration. If there is no focus zone in the project to be optimised, the computation zone is automatically selected. 5. Reconfiguration zone: This is a set of cells defining the area where the optimisation will actually be performed: • •

Optimize inside zone: Select Focus (default) to optimise only the sectors in the focus zone or Computation to optimise all the sectors in the computation zone. Smart improve: Select this mode and define a Best Server Threshold if you want ACP to automatically select the sectors that can be optimised to improve the evaluation zone without degrading the area outside it. ACP locks all the sectors which can have a significant effect on the area outside the evaluation zone, and therefore protects this outside area from sector changes inside the evaluation zone. More precisely, a sector located inside the evaluation zone will only be optimised if it is not a secondary server within a Best Server Threshold from the best server, when looking at pixels outside the evaluation zone.

6. Zone parameters: Each hot spot defined in the Atoll document is automatically included as a custom zone under Zone Parameters. For each new custom zone, enter a Name in the row marked with the New Row icon ( ) and click the Browse button to open the Zone Definition dialog box. You can: • • •

Import a file (in SHP, MIF, or TAB format) defining a polygon, a line, or a list of points by selecting From file and clicking the Browse button. Use an existing hot spot zone in the Atoll document by selecting From hotspot and selecting the hot spot zone from the list. Create a custom zone composed of all areas in the reconfiguration zones that are included in one or more clutter class by selecting From clutter classes and selecting the check box(es) corresponding to the clutter class(es) you want to study. If you have set an option in the ACP.ini file so that ACP only uses clutter classes of one resolution (usually the lower resolution), you can also set an option so that the other clutter classes are not displayed in the Zone Definition dialog box. For more information on the ACP.ini file, see the Administrator Manual.

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Figure 17.5: Setup properties > Optimisation tab > Zones page > Zone Definition dialog box 7. If you want to ignore a zone during optimisation, select the corresponding check box under Ignore Zone. 8. For each zone under Zone Parameters, specify in the Resolution column whether or not the Default resolution (m) indicated at the top of the Optimisation tab will be used. •

Computation zone, Focus zone, Hot spots, and custom zones (polygon or line only): •

• •

Custom zones (From clutter classes): • •

17.3.2.1.3

Select "Default" to use the Default resolution (m). You can modify the Default resolution (m) to increase the resolution in the optimisation of a hot spot area. The estimated amount of required memory, displayed to the right of the Default resolution (m) is updated automatically when the resolution is modified. Or select "Ignore" if you do not want ACP to create evaluation points in this zone. ACP predictions will not contain any pixel inside this ignored area (black or transparent colour according to the type of prediction). Select "Use" and ACP will distribute evaluation points in that zone based on the Default resolution (m). Or select "Ignore" if you do not want ACP to create evaluation points in this zone. ACP predictions will not contain any pixel inside this ignored area (black or transparent colour according to the type of prediction).

Defining Cost Control Parameters On the Optimisation tab of the ACP Setup dialog box, you can define objectives and parameters related to cost control (where cost can either be the financial cost or the required effort). Defining Basic Cost Control Parameters To define cost control objectives and parameters: 1. Create an ACP setup (or display the properties of an existing ACP setup) and select the Optimisation tab. 2. In the left pane, click Cost Control. The Cost Control page appears in the right pane.

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Figure 17.6: Setup properties > Optimisation tab > Cost Control page Under Cost Control (see Figure 17.6), you can define how the costs will be calculated for each optimisation option. ACP will use the defined costs to calculate the optimisations that are the most cost-effective: • • •

•

No cost control: If you select this option, ACP will not take cost into consideration when optimising the network. Maximum cost: If you select this option, you can enter a maximum cost not to be exceeded and define the costs under Cost Setting. Quality/Cost trade-off: If you select this option, ACP will find a compromise between cost and quality. You can use the slider to define whether ACP should put more emphasis on quality (Priority to Quality) or cost (Priority to Cost). In the Reconfiguration Cost section, under Cost Setting, define the individual costs for each reconfiguration option. If reconfiguring an option can only be done at the physical location of the transmitter, select the check box in the Site Visit column. The cost will be increased by the defined Site Visit value. The site visit cost is incurred only once per site, independently of the number of reconfigurations that might be made to the same site, including sites supporting more than one technology. By default, the cost is only a ratio: defining a cost as "0" means that there is no cost associated with a change; defining a cost as "2" means that this change costs twice as much as another change with a defined cost of "1". You can, however, define the cost as a monetary value. You can define the monetary value to be used, for example, yen or dollars, by editing the "Cost: Unit" parameter under Optimisation on the Setup Template tab of the ACP Automatic Cell Planning Properties dialog box. For more information about the ACP - Automatic Cell Planning Properties dialog box, see "Configuring Default Settings" on page 1318.

•

In the Site Selection Cost section, under Cost Setting, define the individual costs for each site selection option.

Defining Advanced Cost Control Parameters You can set the enableAdvancedCost option in the [ACPGeneralPage] section of the ACP.ini file to display the advanced cost control parameters shown in Figure 17.7 on page 1325. These parameters allow you to define the maximum number of changes to be made and to change the ranking of the order of cost in the final implementation plan. To define advanced cost control parameters: 1. Create an ACP setup (or display the properties of an existing ACP setup) and select the Optimisation tab. 2. In the left pane, click Advanced under Cost Control. The Advanced page appears in the right pane.

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Figure 17.7: Setup properties > Optimisation tab > Advanced Cost Control page Under Maximum number of changes, you can define the maximum number of changes to be made. • • •

No limit: If you select this option, ACP will consider no limit on the number of changes. Limit to number: If you select this option, enter a value for the maximum number of changes to be made. Limit to ratio of antennas in computation zone (%): If you select this option, the number of changes ACP will effectively make depends on the value you entered for the maximum number of changes to be made and the ratio of antennas in the computation zone.

Under Implementation plan, you can use the slider to define whether ACP should put more emphasis on Low ranking cost importance (i.e. changes with the lowest cost are performed first) or High ranking cost importance. Defining Site Classes for Cost Control On the Optimisation tab of the ACP Setup dialog box, you can create and define site classes. By setting different costs for each site class and assigning each site to a class, ACP can calculate costs that reflect more realistically the actual costs of each site. To create and define site classes: 1. Create an ACP setup (or display the properties of an existing ACP setup) and select the Optimisation tab. 2. In the left pane, click Cost Control. Under Cost Control (see Figure 17.6), you can create site classes and define how the costs will be calculated for each optimisation option and each class. ACP will use the defined costs to calculate the optimisations that are the most cost-effective. To define the costs for a site class: 1. Click the arrow beside the Site Classes list and select a site class. 2. Define the individual costs for each reconfiguration option as explained in "Defining Cost Control Parameters" on page 1323. To create a site class: 1. Click the New Site Class button (

). The New Site Class dialog box appears.

2. Enter the name for the site class and click OK. The new site class now appears in the list of site classes. 3. Define the individual costs for each reconfiguration option of the new site class as explained in "Defining Cost Control Parameters" on page 1323. To delete a site class: 1. Click the arrow beside the Site Classes list and select the site class you want to delete. 2. Click the Delete Site Class button ( site class.

). The selected site class is immediately deleted. You can not delete the "Default"

ACP will not ask you to confirm your decision, so ensure that you have selected the correct site class before clicking the Delete Site Class button.

17.3.2.1.4

Constraining the Site Activation during Optimisation You can constrain the site activation during the optimisation by setting a maximum number of active sites (including existing ones) and specifying a minimum distance between candidate sites.

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To constrain the site activation during optimisation: 1. Create an ACP setup (or display the properties of an existing ACP setup) and select the Optimisation tab. 2. In the left pane, click Constraints. The Constraints page appears in the right pane.

Figure 17.8: Setup properties > Optimisation tab > Constraints page 3. To specify a maximum number of active sites, select the Maximum number of active sites check box under Site selection and enter a value. •

•

The number of sites indicated after Currently visible on map corresponds to the total number of sites displayed on the Reconfiguration > Sites vertical tab when Current Site Selection and Current Candidate Selection are selected and Display on is set to "All". The Maximum number of active sites can be greater than the displayed number of sites Currently visible on map. For example, other candidate sites can be activated when a New Candidate List is made available from the New Candidate Setup dialog box.

4. To specify a minimum distance between candidate sites, select Minimum inter-site distance for candidates (m) under Site selection and enter a distance value (in metres). This constraint is checked for a technology layer, which means that an LTE site can be near a UMTS site without respecting the specified minimum distance. You can specify the minimum distance between candidate sites by setting the appropriate option in the ACP.ini file. For more information, see the Administrator Manual.

17.3.2.1.5

Defining Multi-storey-related Parameters On the Optimisation tab of the ACP Setup dialog box, you can set the parameters necessary to optimise reception in multistorey buildings. ACP uses clutter height maps to distribute points in a three-dimensional pattern. You can optimise calculations by defining the calculation step, the zone on which measurement points are distributed and by ignoring buildings under a certain height, where reception on the higher storeys would not be appreciably different than that calculated by ACP for the ground floor. Once you have defined the multi-storey parameters and run the optimisation, you can view the results by creating either an objective analysis or a quality analysis prediction in ACP. For more information, see "Objective Analysis Predictions" on page 1373 or "Quality Analysis per Technology Layer" on page 1374. The Multi-storey section of the Optimisation tab is only available if you have selected the Multi-storey check box under Extensions on the Preferences tab of the ACP Properties dialog box. For more information on setting the properties of the ACP module, see "Configuring Default Settings" on page 1318. To define multi-storey parameters: 1. Create an ACP setup (or display the properties of an existing ACP setup) and select the Optimisation tab. 2. In the left pane, click Multi-Storey. The Multi-storey page appears on the right. The Multi-storey page allows you define the parameters to be used to optimise reception in multi-storey buildings.

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Figure 17.9: Setup properties > Optimisation tab > Multi-Storey page 3. Select the Enable Multi-storey check box if you want ACP to optimise reception in multi-storey buildings. 4. Under Vertical Points Distribution, define how ACP will distribute the measurement points it will use to optimise the reception in multi-storey buildings represented in the clutter height maps: •

Distribution zone: Select the zone on which multi-story measurement points are to be distributed. ACP only distribute points in a three-dimensional pattern where there are clutter height maps, but, by selecting a distribution zone, you can limit calculations to areas where multi-storey reception optimisation is most important, for example, downtown.

•

Storey height: Define the height of each storey. ACP will use this height to calculate the receiver height for the defined number of storeys.

•

Calculation steps: Define, as a number of storeys, the size of vertical steps between storeys on which ACP distributes measurement points. The resulting receiver heights are calculated using the defined step and storey height and displayed beside the Storey height.

•

Ignore buildings smaller than: Define the minimum height (in storeys as defined by the Storey height) of buildings for ACP to distribute measurement points in three dimensions.

•

Vertical weight sharing: Select this check box if you want ACP to divide the weight of each measurement point evenly between all 3D pixels at a given (x, y) location. For example, if a pixel at ground level has a weight of 1 and there is a total of 5 points (1 point at ground level and 1 point every 3 metres) at that location, each 3D pixel will have a weight of 0.2. If the Vertical weight sharing check box is cleared, each measurement point will have the same weight. For example, if a pixel at ground level has a weight of 1 and there are a total of 5 points (1 point at ground level and 1 point every 3 metres) at that location, the total weight of all measurement points will be five, as opposed to a weight of one outdoors.

17.3.2.1.6

Defining EMF Exposure-related Parameters On the Optimisation tab of the ACP Setup dialog box, you can set the parameters necessary to measure and optimise the EMF exposure caused by the network. The EMF Exposure section of the Optimisation tab is only available if you have selected the EMF Exposure check box under Extensions on the Preferences tab of the ACP Properties dialog box. For more information on setting the properties of the ACP module, see "Configuring Default Settings" on page 1318. To define EMF exposure parameters: 1. Create an ACP setup (or display the properties of an existing ACP setup) and select the Optimisation tab. 2. In the left pane, click EMF Exposure. Under EMF Exposure, you can define the parameters used to optimise EMF exposure.

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Figure 17.10: Setup properties > Optimisation tab > EMF Exposure page • •

•

Select the Enable EMF exposure calculation check box if you want ACP to optimise EMF exposure. Use the EMF exposure importance slider to define the importance of EMF exposure in comparison with the other optimisation objectives: • Low: EMF exposure is improved when doing so does not have a strong adverse effect on coverage quality. • Medium: There is a trade-off between coverage quality and EMF exposure. • Critical: EMF exposure is improved at all costs, even if doing so has a strong adverse effect on coverage quality. Under Distribution of Evaluation Points, define how the evaluation points will be distributed: • •

•

Resolution XY (m): Define in metres the horizontal resolution of the evaluation points. Resolution Z (m): Define in metres the vertical resolution of the evaluation points (only for three-dimensional EMF exposure analysis). • Building front only: Select the Building front only check box if you only want evaluation points to be distributed on the building façade. • Indoor distance analysis (m): If you want evaluation points to be distributed within the building (i.e., if the Building front only check box is not selected), define the maximum distance up to which evaluation points are distributed inside the building. • Evaluation on zone: Select the zone (computation, focus, or individual hot spot zone) on which evaluation points will be distributed and on which the EMF exposure will be optimised. Under Raster and Vector Inputs, set the data that will be used to define the profile of the terrain. •

By default, the first entry under Raster and Vector Inputs is "Native clutter classes and clutter heights," the terrain profile obtained from the geo data in Atoll (the clutter classes and DTM). You can map the clutter classes to ACP propagation classes by clicking the Browse button in the Definition column. In the Clutter Definition dialog box that opens (see Figure 17.11), you can map each clutter class to a corresponding propagation class and select the check box of each clutter class that is to be used for EMF evaluation.

Figure 17.11: Setup properties > Optimisation tab > EMF Exposure page > Clutter Definition dialog box •

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You can add a file describing the terrain by clicking the Browse button in the File column. The file must be an ArcView vector file (SHP). Once you have selected a file, the Vector File Definition dialog box appears.

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In the Vector File Definition dialog box, you can define the parameters of the vector file, i.e., the field defining height, the correspondence between vector class and propagation class, and select which vector class should be used for EMF evaluation. • •

Ignore clutter: If you have vector files that fully model the terrain, you can remove the Atoll geo data by selecting the Ignore clutter check box. Back up configuration: Once you have defined the EMF exposure parameters, you can back up the configuration by clicking the Back Up Configuration button. In future ACP sessions, the same parameters will be applied automatically.

3. In the left pane, click Propagation under EMF Exposure. Under Propagation, you can define the propagation classes used to optimise the EMF exposure, as well as additional EMF exposure parameters.

Figure 17.12: Setup properties > Optimisation tab > EMF Exposure > Propagation page 4. Under Propagation Class Definition, set the following parameters for each propagation class. If you want to create a propagation class, enter the parameters in the row marked with the New Row icon ( ). • •

• • •

Name: The name of the propagation class. Distribution of Evaluation Points: The pattern in which evaluation points will be distributed in that propagation class. The evaluation points can be distributed in either a 3D pattern (for a building, in which EMF calculation must be made vertically as well) or in a 2D pattern. For a two-dimensional distribution, the points can be placed either at the bottom (for example, in a park) or at the top (for example, for a bridge) to better reflect where people will be. Penetration Loss (dB): Define the loss occurring when the signal enters the object. Linear Loss (dB⁄m): Define a linear loss applied for each metre within an object. The loss is applied only after a given number of metres, specified by the Linear Loss Start Distance (m) parameter. Linear Loss Start Distance (m): Define the distance after which the Linear Loss (dB⁄m) is applied.

5. Under Parameters, define the following: • •

•

Use diffraction: This option is currently disabled; evaluation points that are not in the line of sight experience infinite diffraction loss. In other words, points that are not in the line of sight do not experience any EMF exposure. Free space model (worst case): Select the Free space model (worst case) check box if you want ACP to calculate the worst possible EMF exposure levels under the current conditions. When you select the Free space model (worst case) check box, ACP treats all objects (i.e., buildings, etc.) as fully transparent and no indoor loss is applied. In other words, even points which are not in line of sight are calculated as if they were in line of sight. Calculation radius (m): Define the maximum distance from a transmitter for which its EMF exposure contribution is calculated.

17.3.2.2 Setting Objective Parameters The Objectives tab allows you to define the various parameters related to the objectives of the optimisation. ACP allows you to set different objectives for each layer selected in the Use column under Technology Layers on the Optimisation tab. You can also combine the objective rules with boolean operators (AND or OR) enabling you to build complex objectives combining several rules.

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The default objectives are technology dependent. In each technology, a certain number of objectives are proposed that you can then modify. You can create objectives and add them to the optimisation setup. For information on creating a new objective, see "Creating Objectives" on page 1334. For information on the individual technology-dependent objectives, see the technology-specific chapter: • • • • • • •

GSM/GPRS/EDGE: see "GSM Optimisation Objectives" on page 468 UMTS HSPA: see "UMTS Optimisation Objectives" on page 589 CDMA2000: see "CDMA2000 Optimisation Objectives" on page 698 LTE: see "LTE Optimisation Objectives" on page 937 WiMAX: see "WiMAX Optimisation Objectives" on page 1113 Wi-Fi: see "Wi-Fi Optimisation Objectives" on page 1217 LPWA: see "LPWA Optimisation Objectives" on page 1284

To set the objective parameters: 1. Create an ACP setup (or display the properties of an existing ACP setup) and select the Objectives tab. When Objectives is clicked in the left pane, the right pane displays a table with all the defined objectives, with the technology layers and quality indicator type managed by each objective. You can use the table to create objectives. For information on creating new objectives, see "Creating Objectives" on page 1334.

Figure 17.13: Setup properties > Objectives tab > Objectives page 2. In the left pane, under Objectives, click an objective to define the coverage parameters of that objective. For example, in UMTS select UMTS RSCP Coverage or UMTS EcIo.

Figure 17.14: Setup properties > Objectives tab > Specific Objective page • • •

Name: Name suggested by ACP that you can modify. This name appears in the left pane under Objectives. Weight: You can set the importance of the objective by defining a weight. Giving the objective a weight of "0" means that ACP will not consider coverage of this objective in determining the success of the optimisation. Pixel Weighting: Click the Browse button to open the Pixel Weighting dialog box where you can: • •

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Select the Based on traffic maps option and select a map in the frame below, if any is available. Select the From file option and click the Browse button to find the map you want.

Atoll 3.3.2 User Manual for Radio Networks Chapter 17: Automatic Cell Planning

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Apply Zone Weighting: Select this check box if you want to apply zone weighting on this objective. Traffic will be globally scaled according to the weighting defined under Parameters > Zone Weighting (see Figure 17.16 on page 1332). Target Zone: Select the zone on which the objective is to be evaluated. Under Pixel Rules, define the rule or rules that will be used to evaluate the objective. Each row in the table contains one rule. Each rule is an evaluation of a specific quality indicator for a single technology layer and for a defined zone. Each quality indicator is technology-dependent. By combining rules, you can create an objective that evaluates quality indicators on different technology layers within the same technology or, for projects that combine several radio access technologies, that evaluates quality indicators from different technologies. In the row with the rule you want to edit, or in the row marked with the New Row icon ( a rule, set the following parameters: • • • • •

) if you want to create

In the first column, select the boolean operator (AND or OR) that will be used to combine the rules. Technology Layer: In this column, select the technology layer that the rule will be evaluated on. Quality: In the Quality column, select the quality indicator. In the following column, select the operator (greater than ">", greater than or equal to ">=", lower than "