Contents

Mobile Technology in Term of generation.

Spectrum Allocation and N/W Architecture
Approaches to 3G Radio Network Planning
Link Budget
What is CPICH,Ec and Ec/Io
Handover
Scrambling Code Planning
Neighbour List
Site Selection Criteria
Cellular Generations
Mobile Technology in
terms of generations
1st Generation or 1G
2nd Generation or 2G
2.5G
3rd Generation or 3G
4
th
Generation 0r 4G
time
Data
rate
Progress of data rates with
time and generation
Future of 3G Projection
Spectrum Allocations 3GPP rel4
3G(WCDMA 1900) for U.S
Uplink Uplink Downlink Downlink
SATELLITE FDD TDD FDD TDD SATELLITE
Duplex 190 MHz
2200 2025 2010 1980 1920 2170 2110
60MHz 60MHz
3G(WCDMA) 2GHz frequency band for Europe and APAC
Uplink Downlink
FDD FDD
Duplex 80 MHz
Frequency MHz
1910 1850 1990 1930
60MHz 60MHz
UMTS Network Architecture
Circuit Switched
Core Network
GGSN
3G
SGSN
GPRS
USIM
card
WCDM
A
mobile
GSM/WCDMA
mobile
RAN
(Node B)
RNC
RNC
MSC
HLR
MGW
IN SCP
SRR
PS Core Network
(PSTN/ISDN)
Internet
TCP/IP)

GSM/WCDMA
mobile
CBC
(Node B)
Scrambling Codes & CPICH
The Common Pilot Channel (CPICH) is broadcast from every cell
It carries no information and can be thought of as a beacon constantly
transmitting the Scrambling Code of the cell
It is this Beacon that is used by the phone for its cell measurements
for network acquisition and handover purposes (Ec, Ec/Io).
Beacon: A signaling or guiding device, such as a lighthouse, located on a coast. A radio
transmitter that emits a characteristic guidance signal.


CPICH
Comments
Majority of the measurements are based on CPICH.
Thumb rule is that, if UE cant see the CPICH, it cant see
the cell.
Initial optimisation is purely based on the CPICH
measurements.
In the Downlink, WCDMA cells are identified by their SC.
Its like a BCCH in GSM but the difference is in using same
frequency.
Concepts of RSCP and Ec/No

Three Important Terms

RSCP (Received signal code power)
Ec/Io ( Energy per chip/ Noise density)
Eb/No (Energy per bit/Noise density)
Total Received Power I
o

In a WCDMA network the User Equipment (UE) receives signals from
many cells
I
o
* = N
o
= The sum total of all of these signals (dBm)


I
o
Received Power of a CPICH
Using the properties of SCs the UE is able to extract the respective CPICH
levels from the sites received

RSCP = The Received Power of a Particular CPICH (dBm)
Ec = Energy per Chip


E
c1
E
c2

The CPICH Quality (Ec/Io)
From the previous two measures we can calculate a signal quality for
each CPICH (SC) received

Ec/Io = Ec - Io (dB)
Eb/No = Ec/Io+ Processing Gain



E
c1
E
c2

Handover Types

Intra-Frequency Handovers
Softer Handover
Handover between sectors of the same Node B (handled by BTS)
Soft Handover
MS simultaneously connected to multiple cells (from different Node Bs)
Hard Handover
Arises when inter-RNC SHO is not possible (Iur not supported or Iur congestion)
Decision procedure is the same as SHO (MEHO and RNC controlled)
Inter-Frequency Handover
Can be intra-RAN, intra-RNC, inter-RNC
Inter-RAT Handover
Handovers between GSM and WCDMA (NEHO)

MEHO- Mobile evaluated handover
NEHO- Network evaluated handover
Handovers in WCDMA - Softer HO


Softer handover occurs between sectors of the same site


Soft handover occurs between sectors of the different sites










For both softer and soft it is the Ec/Io levels used to determine whether
a cell should be added or removed from the active set

Handovers in WCDMA - Soft HO


Handovers - Inter frequency HO


Inter frequency handover occurs between two WCDMA carriers
Will be used once operator deploys its second carrier, for microcell layer
or capacity purposes


Handovers - Inter system HO


Inter system handover occurs between 3G and 2G sites
As with all handovers, accurate adjacencies will be required


3G
2G
UMTS CELL PLANNING
UMTS & GSM Network Planning
GSM900/1800:
3G (WCDMA):
Approaches to 3G Radio Network Planning



There are two approaches to 3G radio network planning:


Path loss based

3G simulation based.

The path loss based approach:
is relatively simple and is the most commonly adopted approach.
makes use of software tools which are relatively mature and results
which are easy to interpret.
makes use of maximum allowed path loss figures resulting from 3G link
budgets.
generates plots and statistics for 3G coverage, best server areas and
C/I analysis.
The 3G simulation based approach:
is more complex and time consuming.
is often used for focused 3G system investigations rather than wide
area radio network planning.
uses software tools which are less mature and results which are more
difficult to interpret.
makes use of 3G parameter assumptions and a 3G traffic profile.
generates plots and statistics for coverage, capacity, soft handover,
intercell interference, uplink load and downlink transmit power.

Approaches to 3G Radio Network Planning
3G Simulation based Approach

The 3G simulation based approach to radio network planning
requires the use of a 3G radio network planning tool. The majority
of 3G radio network planning tools, including NetAct Planner make
use of Monte Carlo simulations. Monte Carlo simulations are static
simulation. This means that system performance is evaluated by
considering many independent instants (snap shots) in time. In the
case of static simulations, the population of UE are re-distributed
across the simulation area for every simulation snap shot. For each
snap shot the uplink and downlink transmit power requirements
are computed based upon link loss, C/I requirement and the level
of interference. UE which are not able to achieve their C/I
requirements are categorized as being in outage. Outage may also
be caused by factors such as inadequate baseband processing
resources or reaching the maximum allowed increase in uplink
interference. By considering a large number of instants in the time
the simulation is able to provide an indication of the probability of
certain events occurring, e.g. the probability that a UE will be able
to establish a connection at a specific location. The simulation is
also able to provide an indication of average performance metrics
such as cell throughput and downlink transmit power.
3G Simulation based Approach

3G site candidates with their physical configuration (antenna type, antenna
height, antenna tilt ,antenna azimuth, feeder type and feeder length)
propagation model
digital terrain map
3G parameter assumptions
3G traffic profile


service coverage
system capacity
soft handover overhead
Intercell interference
uplink and downlink transmit powers
uplink and downlink interference floors
connection establishment failure mechanisms
Input
Output
Simplified Network Planning Flowchart
Create nominal plan
Define search ring
Site selection
Detailed site design
Site acquisition
CW
Measurement
Identify site options
Site construction
Initial network dimensioning
Link Budget Overview
Noise figure
Cable
losses
Soft handover
gain,
antenna gain
Building Penetration
loss
Body loss
Max
Allowed
Path Loss
(L)
= Tx Signal + All Gains Other Losses Rx
Sensitivity
Link Budget
Uplink Service Link Budget
Downlink Service Link Budget
Downlink CPICH

(A step towards validating link budgets is to validate whether the
uplink service, downlink service or CPICH is the limiting link.)
Service Type Nokia Specific Speech CS Data PS Data
Uplink bit rate No 12.2 64 64 kbps
Maximum transmit power UE dependant 21.0 21.0 21.0 dBm
Terminal antenna gain UE dependant 0.0 2.0 2.0 dBi
Body loss No 3.0 0.0 0.0 dB
Transmit EIRP UE dependant 18.0 23.0 23.0 dBm
Chip rate No 3.84 3.84 3.84 Mcps
Processing gain No 25.0 17.8 17.8 dB
Required E
b
/N
0
Yes 4.4 2.0 2.0 dB
Target uplink load No 50 50 50 %
Rise over thermal noise No 3.0 3.0 3.0 dB
Thermal noise power No -108.0 -108.0 -108.0 dBm
Receiver noise figure Yes 3.0 3.0 3.0 dB
Interference floor No -102.0 -102.0 -102.0 dBm
Receiver sensitivity Yes -122.6 -117.8 -117.8 dBm
Node B antenna gain No 18.5 18.5 18.5 dBi
Cable loss No 2.0 2.0 2.0 dB
Benefit of using MHA/TMA No 2.0 2.0 2.0 dB
Fast fading margin Yes 1.8 1.8 1.8 dB
Soft handover gain Yes 2.0 2.0 2.0 dB
Building penetration loss No 12.0 12.0 12.0 dB
Indoor location probability No 90 90 90 %
Indoor standard deviation No 10 10 10 dB
Slow fading margin No 7.8 7.8 7.8 dB
Isotropic power required Yes -121.5 -116.7 -116.7 dBm
Allowed propagation loss Yes 139.5 139.7 139.7 dB
Uplink
Link Budget
Bit rate bit/s 64000 a
Total TX power available dBm 21 b
TX antenna gain dBi 2 c
Body loss dB 0 d
TX EIRP per traffic channel dBm 23 e=b+c-d
RX antenna gain dBi 18 f
RX cable and connector losses dB 3 g
Receiver noise figure dB 3 h
Thermal noise density dBm/Hz -174 j
Cell loading % 70 k
Noise rise due to interference dB 5.23 l=10*log10(1/(1-(k/100)))
Total effect of noise dBm/Hz -171 m=h+j
Information rate dBHz 48.06 n=db(a)
Effective required Eb/No dB 2.54 o
RX sensitivity dBm -115.40 p=l+m+n+o+correction factor
Soft Handoff Gain dB 4.5 q
Fast fading Margin dB 2.5 r
Log normal fade margin dB 11.6 s
In-building penetration loss (urban) dB 20 t
Maximum path loss urban dB 123.80 pl=e+f+q-g-p-r-s-t
Path loss = Tx signal + all gains - losses - ( SNR + Noise)
Service Type Nokia Specific Speech CS Data PS Data
Downlink bit rate No 12.2 64 64 128 384 kbps
Maximum transmit power Yes 34.2 37.2 37.2 40.0 40.0 dBm
Cable loss No 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 dB
MHA insertion loss Yes 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 dB
Node B antenna gain No 18.5 18.5 18.5 18.5 18.5 dBi
Transmit EIRP Yes 50.2 53.2 53.2 56.0 56.0 dBm
Processing gain No 25.0 17.8 17.8 14.8 10.0 dB
Required E
b
/N
0
UE dependant 7.9 5.3 5.0 4.7 4.8 dB
Target loading No 80 80 80 80 80 %
Rise over thermal noise No 7.0 7.0 7.0 7.0 7.0 dB
Thermal noise power No -108.0 -108.0 -108.0 -108.0 -108.0 dBm
Receiver noise figure UE dependant 8.0 8.0 8.0 8.0 8.0 dB
Interference floor No -93.0 -93.0 -93.0 -93.0 -93.0 dBm
Receiver sensitivity UE dependant -110.1 -105.5 -105.8 -103.1 -98.2 dBm
Terminal antenna gain UE dependant 0.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 dBi
Body loss No 3.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 dB
Fast fading margin UE dependant 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 dB
Soft handover gain UE dependant 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 dB
MDC gain UE dependant 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 dB
Building penetration loss No 12.0 12.0 12.0 12.0 12.0 dB
Indoor location probability No 90 90 90 90 90 %
Indoor standard deviation No 10 10 10 10 10 dB
Slow fading margin No 7.8 7.8 7.8 7.8 7.8 dB
Isotropic power required Yes -90.5 -90.9 -91.2 -88.5 -83.6 dBm
Allowed propagation loss Yes 140.7 144.1 144.4 144.5 139.6 dB
Downlink
Link Budget
Downlink CPICH

Service Type Nokia Specific CPICH
Maximum transmit power Yes 33.0 dBm
Cable loss No 2.0 dB
MHA insertion loss Yes 0.5 dBi
Node B antenna gain No 18.5 dBi
Transmit EIRP Yes 49.0 dBm
Required E
c
/I
0
UE dependant -15 dB
Target loading No 80 %
Rise over thermal noise No 7.0 dB
Thermal noise power No -108.0 dBm
Receiver noise figure UE dependant 8.0 dB
Interference floor No -93.0 dBm
Receiver sensitivity UE dependant -108.0 dBm
Terminal antenna gain UE dependant 0.0 dBi
Body loss No 3.0 dB
Fast fading margin No 0.0 dB
Building penetration loss No 12.0 dB
Indoor location probability No 90 %
Indoor standard deviation No 10 dB
Slow fading margin No 7.8 dB
Isotropic power required Yes -85.2 dBm
Allowed propagation loss Yes 134.2 dB
Service Type Speech CS Data PS Data
Bit rate 12.2 64 64 128 384 kbps
Uplink allowed propagation loss
(original)
139.5 139.7 139.7 - - dB
Downlink allowed propagation loss 140.7 144.1 144.4 144.5 139.6 dB
CPICH allowed propagation loss 134.2 dB
Scrambling Code Planning
The 512 downlink primary scrambling codes are
organized into 64 groups of 8.
Each cell within the radio network plan should be
assigned a primary scrambling code.
Scrambling code planning strategies can be
defined that maximize the number of neighbors
belonging to the same code group or that
maximize the number of neighbors belonging to
different code groups. The difference between
the two strategies has not been quantified in the
field but is likely to be dependant upon the UE
implementation.
Neighbor List
Maximum NBR list for Nokia is 46
Intra-Frequency Cells (ADJS) - 32
Inter-Frequency Cells (ADJI) - 32
Inter-System Cells (ADJG) 32
(If an operator has both GSM900 and DCS1800 networks
then it is possible to define inter-system neighbors only for
the GSM900 layer or only for the DCS1800 layer.)

Site Selection Criteria
Site Selection Criteria
Proper site location determines usefulness of its
cells
Sites are expensive
Sites are long-term investments
Site acquisition is a slow process
Hundreds/thousands of sites needed per network
Base station sites are valuable
long-term assets for the operator
How do I assess a site option?
Each site needs to be assessed on several
grounds.
Radio
Transmission
Access
Power
Planning
Ideally every site option reported by the
surveyor would pass in each of the areas listed
above.
Bad GSM Sites
In GSM, there were two types of bad sites.
Donkeys - Low sites which provide very little coverage.
Donkeys carry so little traffic that they often never pay
for themselves.
Boomers - High sites which propagate much further than
is needed.
A boomer will cause localised interference and prevent
capacity being added to some other sites in the area.
Small Donkey site
Large Boomer site
Bad UMTS Sites
Good radio engineering practice doesnt change much for
UMTS.
It just becomes more important.
In UMTS
A Donkey will never pay for itself.
A Boomer will reduce the range and capacity of
surrounding sites.
Two major factors determine whether a site is considered
good, a Donkey or a Boomer, They are:
Site location.
Antenna height.
Other parameters can be used in an attempt to control
booming sites but it is far better to avoid building them in
the first place.
Importance of Controlling 'Little i'
WCDMA is an interference-limited network. I.e. capacity of
the network is directly linked to how interference is
maintained/controlled.
From the Radio Network Planning point of view, the "little i"
- other-to-own cell interference- is the only thing that can
really be influenced by the Planner during the site selection
and planning stage. WCDMA RF planning is all about having
good dominance in the desired coverage area.
Unlike in GSM, that there is no frequency plan to "play" with
in order to minimise the effects of bad sites.

|
.
|

\
|
+
+ =
=
K
k
k k
k
o
b
UL
v R
N
E
W
i rise pw
1
1
1
) _ 1 ( q
( ) | |
k k
k
k b
K
k
DL
v i
R W
No E
+

=
=
o q 1
) / (
) / (
1
Uplink Load Equation
Downlink Load Equation
Importance of Controlling 'Little i'
Planners have to select the sites diligently so that the other-to-own cell
interference ratio is MINIMIZED by planning clear dominance areas
during site selection / planning phase.
0 500 1000 1500
140
145
150
155
160
165
170
DL throughput in kbps
M
a
x
i
m
u
m

p
r
o
p
a
g
a
t
i
o
n

l
o
s
s

(
d
B
)
128 kbps
i = 0.2
i = 0.2
i = 0.4
i = 0.4
i = 0.6
i = 0.6
i = 0.8
i = 0.8
BTS TX power 43 dBm
MS TX power 21 dBm
E
c
/I
o
-16.5 dB
BTS E
b
/N
o
1.5
MS E
b
/N
o
5.5
Other to own cell
interference ratio i
0.2, 0.4, 0.6,
0.8
Orthogonality 0.6
Channel profile ITU Vehicular
A, 3 km/h
MS speed 3 km/h
MS/BTS NF 8 dB / 4 dB
Antenna gain 16 dBi
RESULT: Doubling of the "little i" will cause
throughput to decrease to 70% of the original
value
i = Coverage Overlap
Some overlap is required to allow soft handover
to occur
Need to control amount of interference since
the network capacity is directly related to it.
Soft handover helps to reduce interference.
(Soft HO Gain)
Too much overlap:
Increases interference to other cells --> reduce
capacity
Increases Soft Handover overhead --> reduce
capacity
Bad Site Location
wanted cell
boundary
uncontrolled, strong
interferences
interleaved coverage areas:
weak own signal, strong foreign signal
Avoid hill-top locations for BS sites (same for GSM)
uncontrolled interference
interleaved coverage
no sharp dominance areas
awkward Soft/Hard HO behaviours
BUT: good location for microwave links ! (TNP jurisdiction)
wanted cell
boundary
Good Site Location
Prefer sites off the hill-tops
use hills/high rise buildings to separate cells
contiguous coverage area
well defined dominance areas
needs only low antenna heights if sites are slightly elevated
above valley bottom

Characteristics of a good site
It has good clearance,
no obstacles around, and it
overlooks the surrounding rooftops.
This site will give good macro coverage.
Bad site; blocked by neighbour building
Characteristics of a good site
BAD: In a urban/dense urban area,
too high a site is a bad site since it
will introduce too much interference
to other sites in the network
(remember the little i)

while for a rural area it's a good site.
Uplink Load Equation
Downlink Load Equation

|
.
|

\
|
+
+ =
=
K
k
k k
k
o
b
UL
v R
N
E
W
i rise pw
1
1
1
) _ 1 ( q
( ) | |
k k
k
k b
K
k
DL
v i
R W
No E
+ =
=
o q 1
) / (
) / (
1
Examples of Bad Sites
Typical mess! =>
GSM1800 antennas with space
div.
between CDMA (IS-95) antennas
and
pointing directly at the high
building
GSM1800 and GSM900 antennas are too
close
=> Not enough isolation =>
Intermodulation and spurious emission.

These situations can easily be
avoided!!
Time consuming and costly to fix.
Arghhh note how far you can see -
roughly 10km = TOO FAR. There is a river
as well, so interference is enormous. Site
distance is about 700meters in this
phase!! Site was good in phase 1
when distance between sites was 4km!
Well shit happens who could have
known that they were going to build
this high building one year after
installation ?

Planners should have anticipated this
during initial site surveys!
Examples of Bad Sites
Little i, Little i, Little i !!!
Examples of Bad Sites
The TX/RX and Rx div antennas are not
pointing in the same direction! Installation
problem.
Is this installation OK? The satellite dish is
in near field of the GSM900 antennas ->
some effects for sure. Definite interference
to satellite system. But could not be tested
because the satellite system was not in
use!

Avoid installing antennas in close proximity
to other objects since its radiation pattern
will be altered.
Examples of GOOD Sites
Enough space between the two Tx/Rx and Rx Div., AND pointing in the same
direction!
Site survey point of view: Provides clear dominance to the desired coverage area.
Summary of Site Selection Guidelines
The objective is to select a site location which covers the
desired area but keeps emissions to a minimum.
The site should be located as close to the traffic source as
possible.
The closer the site is to the traffic, the less output power
will be required by the user equipment and node B. This
will minimize the noise affecting other users on both the
serving cell as well as other nearby cells.
The antenna height selected will depend largely on the
type of environment in which the site is to be located. Eg
Dense Urban, Urban, Suburban, Rural.
The key factor to be considered is how well can the
emissions be controlled.


Summary of Site Selection Guidelines
You can "feel" the site only if you are there!
If one or more of these characteristics are not fulfilled by the
examined site, the Field Planner should REJECT the site and
choose another site
Be flexible, even creative! Try to think of all the possible
implementation solutions that the site could support: different
pole heights, split poles for different sectors, etc.
Always check neighbouring sites, to be sure your chosen
candidate is "fitting" well into the surrounding, e.g. for
coverage, SHO zones,etc.


Using Existing Cellular Sites
Most UMTS networks will be built around an existing GSM
network.
Many GSM networks were built around existing analogue
sites.
In the early days of analogue cellular sites were often
located to give maximum coverage. No thought was given
to capacity issues.
Despite causing problems in high capacity networks, many
of these high sites are still in operation today.
Most cellular networks contain these nightmare sites.
When rolling out UMTS around an existing network it is
vital to avoid these sites.
UMTS Configurations
Most vendors support the same basic configurations.
Omni
3 sector
6 sector
Each vendor supports their own variations on these
configurations.
Some require similar amounts of equipment to a GSM
BTS.
Some increase the number of antennas on a site.
The configuration can be affected by the wide variety of
UMTS antennas.
Co-locating a Node B at a GSM site
Isolation requirements between UMTS and GSM systems can be
derived from UMTS and GSM specifications.
In many cases equipment performance will exceed the
requirements in the specifications.
Each vendor should be able to provide information which can
be used to improve the isolation requirements.
The isolation requirements will affect
Choice of antenna configuration
Filtering at both the GSM and UMTS sites.
Isolation is the attenuation from the output port of a transmitter
to the input port of the receiver.

Interference Issues
Wideband Noise - unwanted emissions from modulation process
and non-linearity of transmitter
Spurious Emissions - Harmonic, Parasitic, Inter-modulation
products
Blocking - Transmitter carriers from another system
Inter-modulation Products - Spurious emission, specifications
consider this in particular
Active: non-linearities of active components - can be filtered out
by BTS
Passive: non-linearities of passive components - cannot be
filtered out by BTS
Other EMC problems - feeders, antennas, transceivers and
receivers
Interference Issues
Nonlinear system transfer function can be expressed as a series
expansion




In the case of one input frequency, v
in
= cos e
1
t, output will consist of
harmonics, me
1
Fundamental (m = 1) frequency is the desired one.
If m > 1, there are higher order harmonics in output => harmonic
distortion.
Can be generated both inside an offender or a victim system.
In the case of two input frequencies, v
in
= cos e
1
t + cos e
2
t , output will
consist of harmonics me
1
+

ne
2
, where n and m are positive or negative
integers.


Intermodulation is the process of generating an output signal containing
frequency components not present in the input signal. Called
intermodulation distortion (IMD).
Most harmful are 3rd order (|m| + |n| = 3) products.
Can be generated both inside an offender or a victim system.
x y = a
0
+ a
1
x + a
2
x
2
+ a
3
x
3
+ ...
System
Interference from Other System
GSM spurious emissions and intermodulation results of GSM
1800 interfere WCDMA receiver sensitivity
WCDMA spurious emissions interfere GSM receiver sensitivity
GSM transmitter blocks WCDMA receiver
WCDMA transmitter blocks GSM receiver
GSM
1800
UL
GSM
1800
DL
1710-1785
MHz
1805-1880
MHz
UMTS
UL
UMTS
DL
1920-1980
MHz
2110-2170
MHz
40
MHz
M Distortion
from GSM1800 DL to WCDMA UL
GSM1800 IM3 (3
rd
order
intermodulation) products hits into
the WCDMA FDD UL RX band if:
1862.6 s f
2
s 1879.8 MHz
1805.2 s f
1
s 1839.6 MHz
WCDMA
DL
WCDMA
UL
GSM1800
DL
GSM1800
UL
1710 - 1785 MHz 1805 - 1880 MHz 1920 - 1980 MHz 2110 - 2170 MHz 40 MHz
f
1
f
2

f
IM3

f
IM3
= 2f
2
- f
1

X dBc
For active elements IM
products levels are higher
than IM products produced
by passive components
Typical IM3 suppression
values for power amplifiers
are -30 -50 dBc
depending on frequency
spacing and offset
Typical values for passive
elements are -100 -160 dBc
Harmonic distortion
Harmonic distortion can be a problem in the case of co-siting of GSM900
and WCDMA.
GSM900 DL frequencies are 935 - 960 MHz and second harmonics may fall
into the WCDMA TDD band and into the lower end of the FDD band.
GSM900
935 - 960 MHz
WCDMA
TDD
WCDMA FDD
1920 - 1980
...
2
nd
harmonics
f
GSM
= 950 - 960 MHz
1900 -1920
MHz
2nd harmonics can be
filtered out at the output
of GSM900 BTS.
f
Isolation Requirements
GSM 900 GSM 1800 UMTS
Receiving band
(UL)
890 915 MHz 1710 1785 MHz 1920 1980 MHz
Transmitting band
(DL)
935 960 MHz 1805 1880 MHz 2110 2170 MHz
GSM 1800 Tx
1805 MHz
1880 MHz
UMTS Rx
1920 MHz 1980 MHz
GSM 1800 Rx
1710 MHz
1785 MHz
UMTS Rx
2110 MHz
2170 MHz
For example - To prevent UMTS BTS blocking: with transmit power = 43 dBm
Max level of interfering signal for blocking = -15 dBm in UMTS
Isolation required = 58 dBm
Achieving Isolation Requirements
Isolation can be provided in a
variety of different ways.
By antenna selection and
positioning.
By filtering out the
interfering signal.
By using diplexers and
triplexers with shared feeder
and multiband antennas.
UMTS
GSM
Filter
UMTS
GSM
Diplexer
UMTS
GSM
Co-siting - Antenna Installations
Difficult to calculate isolation between two antennas and measurements
are required.
Best configurations - antennas pointing in different directions or where
there is vertical separation between antennas
The following configurations will should all give 30dB isolation.






d
d
d
90
120
d
d
180
d
d = 0.3 - 0.5 m
d = 1 - 3 m
d = 0.5 - 2 m
Site sharing with third party systems
Some UMTS sites might be co-
located with other non GSM
operators.
PMR (Private mobile radios)
Broadcast
Navigation
Some of these systems use older
equipment which might be more
vulnerable to EMC issues.
Need to define minimum
antenna separations between
systems
Better to avoid sites used for
safety critical applications.
UMTS antennas
Other systems
Minimum separation
Antenna installation issues: Clearance angle
h (meters)
d (meters)
Clearance angle
Rules of thumb:
h > d/2, d < 10 m
h > d/3, 10 < d < 20 m
h > d/4, d > 30 m
Antenna
d (meters)
Top view
Side view
Antenna installation
d has to be >
3.2 m
Safety margin of 15 between the reflecting surface and the
3 dB lobe