9.

GSM co-planning

9. GSM co-planning
Table of Contents
Topic

Page

9.1. Introduction......................................................................................................152
9.2. GSM coverage calculations.............................................................................152
9.2.1. Link budget..............................................................................................152
9.2.2. Signal strength required...........................................................................153
9.2.3. Signal strength design.............................................................................153
9.2.4. Path loss...................................................................................................154
9.2.5. Cell size...................................................................................................154
9.3. GSM and WCDMA coverage comparison.....................................................155

151

WCDMA Radio Network Planning

9.1. Introduction
The most expensive part of the network is the radio part. It is about 70% of the whole
infrastructure investments. Therefore, if it is possible, operators try to reuse the
existing base station sites for implementation of a new system release. This
procedure also speeds up the new system deployment.
The possibility of reusing the second generation system network for the WCDMA
system depends on the coverage of the existing network, compared to the new one.
For that reason path loss in the GSM and WCDMA network must be compared.
Different coverage is achieved by GSM and UMTS cells and the difference in
coverage impacts on the dissimilar required site to site distance in GSM and UMTS
system. In order to analyse the difference in coverage for the systems, path loss will
be considered. To get an overall view on the coverage in both systems path loss and
cell range analysis will be carried out for the following cases:
GSM 900 cell.
GSM 1800 cell.
WCDMA speech service with 12.2 kbps bit rate.
WCDMA data service with 144 kbps bit rate.

9.2. GSM coverage calculations

Downlink and uplink coverage in GSM system are typically the same. This solution
reduces the total interference in the system. Therefore it is enough to use one link for
coverage calculations and it is common in GSM to use downlink for coverage
calculations. But, since the downlink and uplink coverage are typically equal, uplink
calculations are presented in the section so that the results can be compared with
WCDMA uplink coverage.

9.2.1. Link budget

The link budget for uplink can be set up according to Figure 9 .1, in the same way as
it is done for WCDMA system:
SS BS PMS G ant , MS L path G ant , BS Lcable , BS

where
SS BS the signal strength received by the base station [dBm],

PMS the mobile station transmit power [dBm],

Gant , MS

the mobile station antenna gain [dBi],

L path the uplink path loss [dB],

Gant , BS

the base station antenna gain [dBi],

Lcable , BS the loss in cables [dB].

152

(9.1)

9. GSM co-planning

Figure 9.1. Components included in the uplink power budget.

9.2.2. Signal strength required

The uplink signal strength required is the minimum signal strength measured at the
base station required to make a successful connection. It does not depend on the area
type (urban, suburban, rural, etc):
SS req BS sens IFmarg FFmarg BL
SS req

(9.2)

the signal strength required [dBm],

BS sens the base station receiver sensitivity [dBm],

IFmarg

the interference margin [dB]; a result of interference rise due to

frequency reuse,
FFmarg the fast fading margin [dB], signal strength attenuation due to
destructive interference during multipath propagation, typical for
urban areas,
BL the body loss [dB], a loss of signal strength in the user body.

9.2.3. Signal strength design

The uplink signal strength design is the minimum signal strength at the base station
required to make a successful connection, and it is used in the network planning
process. The design signal strength depends on the area type (urban, suburban, rural,
etc) since each area type introduces another signal variations (fading):
SS design SS req LNFmarg BPL CPL

(9.3)

SS design the signal strength design [dBm], used in the design process when

propagation models are used for path loss estimation,

the log-normal fading margin [dB]; depends on the type of area
and desired degree of coverage,
BPL the building penetration loss [dB],
CPL the car penetration loss [dB].

LNFmarg

9.2.4. Path loss

The area is considered covered in the planning process, when
153

WCDMA Radio Network Planning

SS BS SS design

(9.4)

The maximum allowed path loss can be then derived from equations (9.1), (9.3) and
also (9.2):
L path ( PMS BS sens ) G ant , MS G ant , BS Lcable , BS

(9.5)

IFmarg FFmarg BL LNFmarg BPL CPL

9.2.5. Cell size

The path loss in urban macro cell environment can be estimated using Okumura-Hata
propagation model:
L path A 13.82 log H BS (44.9 6.55 log H BS ) log d a( H MS )

(9.6)

where
L path

A
A
A
A
A
A
H BS

=
=
=
=
=
=

path loss [dB],

146.8 [dB] for 900 MHz and urban areas,
136.9 [dB] for 900 MHz and suburban areas,
118.3 [dB] for 900 MHz and open areas,
153.8 [dB] for 1800 MHz and urban areas,
146.2 [dB] for 1800 MHz and suburban areas,
124.3 [dB] for 1800 MHz and open areas,
base station antenna height [m],

H MS mobile station antenna height [m],

d distance from transmitter [km],

a ( H MS ) = 3.2 log(11.75 H MS ) 2 4.97 .

The cell range is then given by:

d 10 ,

where L path A 13.82 log H BS a ( H MS )

44.9 6.55 log H

(9.7)

BS

Figure 9 .2 and Figure 9 .3 present the cell range corresponding to a given path loss
for different land usage according to the Okumura-Hata propagation model for
900 MHz and 1800 MHz respectively .

154

9. GSM co-planning
170
160

Path loss [dB]

150
140

Urban
Suburban

130

Open area

120
110
100
0

10

Cell range [km]

Figure 9.2. Path loss as a function of the cell range according to Okumura-Hata model for GSM 900.
Base station antenna height of 30 m, mobile station antenna height of 1.5 m and frequency 900 kHz.

170
160

Path loss [dB]

150
140

Urban
Suburban

130

Open area

120
110
100
0

10

Cell range [km]

Figure 9.3. . Path loss as a function of the cell range according to Okumura-Hata model for GSM 1800.
Base station antenna height of 30 m, mobile station antenna height of 1.5 m and frequency 1800 kHz.

9.3. GSM and WCDMA coverage comparison

The relative uplink coverage for GSM 900, GSM 1800, WCDMA speech service
12.2 kbps and WCDMA data service with 144 kbps bit rate are compared in Table
9 .1. The relative uplink loss comparing to GSM 900 expresses how weaker the
coverage of other systems is in relation to the GSM 900 system.
155

WCDMA Radio Network Planning

The Table 9 .1 shows that WCDMA speech and a 144 kbps WCDMA data service
provide weaker uplink coverage then GSM 900, that is 5.1 dB and 4.4 dB
respectively. Therefore the GSM 900 sites cannot be used for WCDMA system
without extra signal improvement in WCDMA. The comparison assumes that
GSM 900 sites are planned as coverage-limited. In densely populated areas, however,
GSM 900 network is capacity limited and distance between cells is smaller. In this
case the GSM 900 sites could be used for WCDMA system.
The GSM 1800 relative uplink loss compared to GSM 900 is 4.0 dB, while the
WCDMA relative uplink loss is 5.1 dB for speech and 4.4 for 144 kbps data service.
This means that the GSM 1800 coverage is 5.1 dB 4 dB = 1.1 dB better than the
WCDMA speech and 0.4 dB better than 144 kbps WCDMA data service. The
difference is not significant and therefore the WCDMA sites can be reused for the
WCDMA system.
Note, that any comparison of the WCDMA and GSM coverage depends on the exact
receiver sensitivity and other system parameters like handover parameters and
frequency hopping. Therefore the presented table is an example calculation only.

156

9. GSM co-planning

GSM 900

System
MS transmission power
BS receiver sensitivity

Cable loss

WCDMA
144 kbps

33 dBm

30 dBm

21 dBm

24 dBm

-110 dBm

-110 dBm

-124.2 dBm

-116.9 dBm

0 dBi

0 dBi

0 dBi

2 dBi

16 dBi

18 dBi

18 dBi

18 dBi

2 dB

0 dB

2 dB

2 dB

2 dB

2 dB

3 dB

3 dB

0 dB

0 dB

4 dB

4 dB

5 dB

3 dB

3 dB

0 dB

4.2 dB

4.2 dB

4.2 dB

4.2 dB

18 dB

18 dB

18 dB

18 dB

0 dB

0 dB

0 dB

0 dB

2 dB

2 dB

Interference margin
Fast fading margin
Body loss

WCDMA
speech

MS antenna gain
BS antenna gain

GSM 1800

Log-normal fading margin

Building penetration loss
Car penetration loss
Soft handover gain

10

11

12

Path loss13
14

127.8 dB

130.8 dB

131.0 dB

131.7 dB

146.8 dB

153.8 dB

155.1 dB

155.1 dB

BS antenna height

30 m

30 m

30 m

30 m

MS antenna height

1.5 m

1.5 m

1.5 m

1.5 m

1.10 km

0.84 km

0.79 km

0.82 km

0 dB

7 dB

8.3 dB

8.3 dB

0 dB

4.0 dB

5.1 dB

4.4 dB

15

Cell range
Relative propagation loss
16
comparing to GSM 900
Relative uplink loss
comparing to GSM 90017
1

High-power terminals with a transmission power of 24 dBm is assumed for data service 144 kbps.
The WCDMA base station receiver sensitivity is calculated using formula (6.9). The base station noise figure
of 4 dB and the Eb /I o of 5 dB for WCDMA 12.2 kbps speech and 1.5 dB for 144 kbps are assumed.
3
A 2 dBi antenna gain is assumed for data terminal.
4
The antenna gain assumes three-sector configuration in both GSM and WCDMA.
5
The 0 dB cable loss for GSM 1800 assumes the Tower Mounted Amplifier (TMA) used.
6
The WCDMA interference margin corresponds to the load factor of 50%.
7
The 0 dB GDM fast fading margin assumes that frequency hopping is used.
8
The body loss accounts for the loss only when terminal is close to the users body.
9
The log-normal margin corresponds to in-building urban area and 90% of coverage.
10
In building coverage is assumed.
11
0 dB car penetration loss is assumed as a user located in a building is assumed.
12
The soft handover gain does not exist in GSM.
13
The GSM and WCDMA path losses are calculated using formula (9.6) and (6.11) respectively.
14
The A is the path loss parameter in the Okumura-Hata formula and expresses the radio frequency impact
on the path loss.
15
Okumura-Hata formula was used to calculate the cell range; see equation (6.13) for WCDMA and (9.7) for
GSM.
16
Radio waves of different frequencies propagate different, which is taken into account in the Okumura-Hata
propagation model in parameter A. The relative propagation loss comparing to GSM 900 is calculated as
difference in parameters A for a given system and GSM 900 system.
17
The relative uplink loss comparing to GSM 900 is calculated based on the Path loss and Relative
propagation loss comparing to GSM 900. Positive value means that a given system (or service) provides
lower coverage than GSM 900.
2

Table 9.1. Coverage comparison for GSM and WCDMA system.

157

WCDMA Radio Network Planning

This page is intentionally left blank

158