WCDMA Radio Network

Coverage Planning

Objects
After completing this course,
you should be able to learn
:

Content and flow of network

planning
Uplink budget and the meaning of
its elements
Downlink budget and the meaning
of its elements
Coverage enhancement
technology

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 WCDMA Network Planning

Flow
Chapter 2 Uplink Budget
Chapter 3 Downlink Budget
Chapter 4 Coverage Enhancement
Technology
Chapter 5 Example ofTraining.huawei.com
Link Budget

WCDMA Network Planning Flow

Section 1 Concept of
Huawei Radio Network
Planning

Section 2 Radio Network

Planning Flow

Concept of Huawei Radio Network

Planning
Minimizing integrated network construction cost
Radio network planning construction runs through the entire
lifetime of the network. Early planning must consider demands for
the subsequent development to reduce integrated network
construction cost.

Optimizing profitable service coverage

3G networks feature multiple service. Network resources should
be allocated among services. Therefore, it is necessary to
determine which service is profitable and its requirements for
coverage quality, as well as plan cell radius and coverage
schemes. During the early 3G network construction, targeting at
high speed data service will waste lots of resources (such as too
many sites) because there is no enough services.

Concept of Huawei Radio Network

Planning
Maximizing resource capacity
The capacity of 3G radio networks is mainly restricted by interference.
Reasonable parameter planning can reduce interference within and between cells,
increase cell capacity and utilize limited resources to the greatest extent. Huawei
realize reliable and efficient power control and radio resource management
algorithm with a variety of actual test data and advanced simulation means, which
are verified in many customer pilots globally. Besides, Huawei accumulates
abundant experience.

Optimizing core service quality

Core services have an long-term effect on network development. Although they
cannot make a profit in the short term, they can attract users and speed up
service development, such as high speed data service. Therefore, optimize the
quality of core service coverage in areas where it is available so as to present
superiority of 3G radio network in service and performance and improve the
operators brand.

WCDMA Network Planning Flow

Section 1 Concept of
Huawei Radio Network
Planning

Section 2 Radio Network

Planning Flow

Overview of Radio Network Planning Flow

Radio Network Dimension

Perform initial planning for future networks at the early project
planning. Output the configuration and dimensioning of RAN NEs for
early communication of projects and cost estimation in the process of
making a contract.

Radio Network Preplanning

In the middle-stage project planning, perform farther detailed planning
for future networks based on Dimension output to determine more
precise network dimensioning and theoretical site location. Output
preplanning reports for project communication at the middle stage
and cost estimation in the process of signing a contract.

Overview of Radio Network Planning Flow

Radio network cell planning

In the later project planning, survey and verify all selected site on the
spot to determine cell engineering parameters related to various
types of network planning for engineering construction, according to
outputs of preplanning. If they are greatly different from preplanning
results, it is still required to verify cell parameters setting and
planning effects through simulation. The output report is the final
radio network planning scheme to guide engineering construction.

Overview of Radio Network Planning

Flow
Relationship among various flows

Output information

Site position
Engineering parameters

Output information

Radio network cell planning

Input information

Coverage objectives
Search radius

Input information

Theoretical site
Search radius

Radio network preplanning

Dimension result
Spare site

Input information

BS configuration

Output information

Radio network estimation

of network
Objectives
construction

BS numbers

Cost of network

construction

Radio Network Dimension

Radio network Dimension is a simplified analysis

of future networks.
Purposes:
Acquire the network construction dimensioning (including
BSs and BS configuration).
Acquire construction cycle, economic cost and human
resources cost estimation.
Methods:
Select a proper propagation model, user mobility,
distribution behavior, and traffic model.
Estimate sites, cells, coverage area and capacity roughly
required.

Radio Network Dimension

Input

Coverage related
Coverage area
Coverage
probability
Capacity related
Traffic model
Service model
User density
Quality related
QoS requirements
GoS requirements
Demodulation
threshold

Output

Coverage design

Capacity design

System
dimensioning
Number of
sites
System
configuration
Sector
structure
Number of
carriers
Cost on network
construction
Site cost
Equipment
cost

Radio Network Preplanning

Based on network estimation, network preplanning further

determines the following parameters, including BS initial layout, BS
theoretical location, BS location , antenna installation (height),
network architecture, transmit power, antenna type, mounted height,
direction and downtilt, transmit power and orthogonal factor of
common and traffic channels, as well as cell scramble.

Coverage range under

an unloaded condition

BS

Coverage range under

a lightly-loaded condition

Coverage range under

a heavily-loaded condition

Radio Network Cell Planning

Cell planning flow

Radio network
preplanning report

Yes
Radio network
preplanning
report

Noise test

Site survey

2G site or not
Site survey report

Noise test report

Output Search
Rings

Site list

Site selection

New site or not

(name prefix)

NewSite

No

Yes

Obtain spare
site

No

Confirm site
conditions
or not

No

Site survey
No

System
simulation

Meet design
objectives or not

Radio network
planning report

Yes

Noise test

Noise test report

Site survey report

Meet site
requirements
or not

Yes

Review Questions

1.
2.
3.
4.

How many processes are there in

radio network planning?
What is the concept of Huawei
radio network planning?
What is radio network preplanning
oriented to?
What are output from radio
network estimation?

Summary

This chapter introduces:

Category of radio network planning
Concept of Huawei radio network planning
Difference between GSM and WCDMA radio network
planning
Main flows of radio network planning
Input and output requirements for radio network
preplanning

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 WCDMA Network Planning Flow

Chapter 2 Uplink Budget
Chapter 3 Downlink Budget
Chapter 4 Coverage enhancement
Technology
Chapter 5 Example of Link Budget
Training.huawei.com

Capacity-Coverage-Quality

Relationship among WCDAM capacity, coverage

and quality
Since the WCDMA system is self-interference,
capacity, coverage and quality are closely related.
Capacity-coverage
When the design load increases, capacity and
interference increase but coverage decrease.
Capacity-quality
Improve system capacity by decreasing quality
requirements for parts of connections.
Coverage-quality
Improve coverage capability by decreasing quality
requirements for parts of connections.

Coverage Dimension Flow

Create link budget

Max. path loss

Obtain cell radius

Min. cell radius

Planning area
environment correlation
Site capacity
Indoor coverage degree
Coverage probability
Propagation model
Equipment performance

Calculate site area

Max. site coverage
area

Specify area sites

Required sites=Planning area/site coverage area

Basic Principle of Uplink Budget

NodeB
TX

Ga_BS

budget:

Pout_BS
Lf_BS

Estimate system
Feeder
PL

Lc_BS
Combined
duplexer

Link

L
_D

_
PL
UL

RX

coverage capacity to
acquire the
maximum
propagation loss the
link allowed under a
certain
communication

Ga_UE
UE
TX

quality by observing
Shadow fading
marginMf

Pout_UE

affecting forward and

reverse signal

Combined
duplexer
Body loss

RX

various factors

Lb

Building
penetration loss
Lp

propagation of the
system.

Algorithm Introduction
Uplink (Reverse)
PL_UL=Pout_UE +Ga_BS+Ga_UE Lf_BS+Ga_SHO
Mpc Mf MI Lp Lb S_BS
PL_DL: downlink maximum propagation loss
Pout_UE: maximum transmit power of BS traffic channel
Lf_BS: feeder loss
Ga_BS: BS antenna gain; Ga_UE: UE antenna gain
Ga_SHO: soft handoff gain
Mpc: fast power control margin
Mf: slow fading margin (related to propagation environment)
MI: interference margin (related to system design capacity)
Lp: penetration loss of building (used when indoor coverage is
required)
Lb: body loss
S_BS: sensitivity of the receiver (related to service and
multipath conditions)

WCDMA Uplink Budget Elements

1.

Max Power of TCH

13.

2.

Body Loss

3.

Gain of UE Tx Antenna

14.

4.

EIRP

15.

5.

Gain of BS Rx Antenna

16.

6.

Cable Loss

7.

Noise Figure (BS)

8.

EbvsNo Required (BS)

9.

Sensitivity of BS Receiver

10.

UL Cell Loading

11.

Interference Margin

12.

Background Noise Level

17.
18.
19.
20.
21.

Margin for Background

Noise
SHO Gain over Fast Fading
Fast Fading Margin
Minimum Signal Strength
Required
Penetration Loss
Std. dev. of Slow Fading
Edge coverage Probability
Slow Fading Margin
SHO Gain over Slow
Fading

WCDMA Uplink Budget Elements

1. Max Power of TCH (dBm)
The maximum transmit power of the UE on each TCH
usually refers to the rated total transmit power. In
commercial networks, reasonably set this parameter during
link budget, according to specifications on main
commercial UEs on the market and operators suggestions

Power level of UE TS 25.101 v3.7.0 200106 6.2.1

Power
Class

Nominal maximum
output power

Tolerance

+33dBm

+1/-3dB

+27dBm

+1/-3dB

+24dBm

+1/-3dB

+21dBm

+2/-2dB

WCDMA Uplink Budget Elements

2. Body Loss (dB)
Body loss for speech services is 3dB.
Body loss for data services is 0dB because data
services are mainly read and watched and the UE is
faraway from the human body.

3. Gain of UE Tx Antenna (dBi)

Usually suppose the antenna gain of the UE is 0dBi
(receiving and transmitting are the same)

4. EIRP

(dBm)

UE EIRP (dBm)
= UE Tx Power (dBm) - Body Loss (dB)
+ Gain of UE Tx Antenna (dBi)

WCDMA Uplink Budget Elements

5. Gain of BS Rx Antenna (dBi)
Kathrein 741794

Kathrein 741790

1710~2170MHz
(dual band
for DCS and
UMTS)

Frequency range

1920~2170MHz

Polarization

Vertical

Gain

11dBi

Polarization

+45, -45

HPBW

Vertical: 7

Gain

18.5dBi

Electrical tilt

Fixed, 0

HPBW (1920~2170MHz)

Horizontal: 63
Vertical:6.5

Dimension
(Height)

1387 mm

Electrical tilt

Fixed, 2

Weight

5kg

Side lobe suppression

for 1st side lobe
above horizon

>14dB

Front-to-back ratio, copolar

>30dB

Dimension (Height /
Width / Depth)

1302 mm / 155
mm / 69 mm

Weight

6.6kg

Frequency range

WCDMA Uplink Budget Elements

6. Cable Loss (dB)
Include loss of all feeders
and connectors between set
top and antenna connector

Bottom jumper
Connector
Cable
Top jumper
Etc.

Loss except for cable loss

is relatively fixed. Suppose
the loss of the 0.8dB cable
is about 2GHz.
7/8-inch cable 6.1dB / 100m
5/4-inch cable 4.5dB / 100m

WCDMA Uplink Budget Elements

7. Noise Figure (dB)
Noise figure is an index to evaluate whether noise
performance of the amplifier is good. It is expressed
by NF and defined as the ratio of input Signal-toNoise ratio (SNR) and output Signal-to-Noise ratio
(SNR) of the amplifier.
NF

= SNRi / SNRo
= (Si / Ni) / (So / No)

Floor noise of the receiver (within each bandwidth):

PN = KTBWNF

= -174 (dBm/Hz) + 10lg(3.84MHz / 1Hz) + NF(dB)

= -108 (dBm/3.84MHz) + NF (dB)

WCDMA Uplink Budget Elements

8. EbvsNo Required (dB)
It is obtained through link simulation, related to the
following factors:
Receive diversity configuration
Multipath channel conditions
Bearer type

9. Sensitivity of BS Receiver (dBm)

Sensitivity of Receiver (dBm)
= -174 (dBm/Hz) + NF (dB) + 10lg(3.84MHz/1Hz)
+ EbvsNo required (dB) - 10lg[3.84MHz/Rb(kHz)]
= -174 (dBm/Hz) + NF (dB) + 10lg[1000 * Rb (kHz)] +
Eb/No (dB)

WCDMA Uplink Budget Elements

10.

Uplink Cell Loading

Uplink load factor is an index of cell uplink load level.
The higher the load factor is, the greater the uplink
interference is.
Uplink interference increases to an infinite value and
the corresponding capacity is called limit capacity
when uplink load nears 10%.

UL 1 i L j 1 i

1
1 W 1
1

EbvsNo j R j v j

WCDMA Uplink Budget Elements

11. Uplink Interference Margin (dB)

NoiseRise

I TOT

PN

1
N

1 Lj

1
1 UL

50% load 3dB

60% load 4dB
75% load ---6dB

WCDMA Uplink Budget Elements

12. Background Noise Level (dBm)
Source of external electromagnetic interference:
Radio transmitter GSM, microwave, radar
and TV station)
Autocar ignition
Lightning

Relevant reports show that average
electromagnetic interference is -104dBm and the
standard deviation is 2.9dB in 2GHz frequency
band.
Estimate interference level of a specific planning
area with a noise test.

WCDMA Uplink Budget Elements

13. Margin for Background Noise (dB)

Suppose the noise floor of equipment (NodeB or
UE) is X dBm and external interference power is
Y dBm, external interference margin should be:
Margin for Background Noise =
10log (10^(X /10 )+ 10^(Y /10 )) dBm- X dBm

WCDMA Uplink Budget Elements

14. SHO Gain over Fast Fading (dB)
SHO gain consists of the following two parts:
Gain resulting from decreased demands for
slow fading margin due to multiple irrelated
SHO branches multi-cell gain
SHO gain over link demodulation performance
macro diversity combining gain
SHO gain over fast fading refers to macro diversity
combining gain.
Obtain this value through simulation and the
typical value is 1.5dB.

WCDMA Uplink Budget Elements

15. Fast Fading Margin (dB)
In the link budget, the required demodulation
performance of the receiver is estimated by the link-level
simulation with the assumption of perfect power control.
In the actual system, however, introduce imperfect
factors to closed loop power control since transmit
power at the transmitting end is limited.

Effect of power control margin on uplink

demodulation performance:
The simulation result shows: EbvsNo target value
set by outer loop power control nears the estimated
value under perfect power control when HeadRoom
is large. EbvsNo increases gradually with the
decrease in power margin. Finally, the corresponding
EbvsNo increases by 1dB when power margin
decreases by 1dB. It is impossible to guarantee
demands for BER/BLER when there is almost no
power control performance.

WCDMA Uplink Budget Elements

16. Minimum Signal Strength Required (dBm)
Demodulate required signal strength correctly
after considering various interference factors
and performance deterioration factors can be
understood as the sensitivity of the receiver in
the running of actual networks.
Minimum Signal Strength Required
= Sensitivity of Receiver (dBm) - Gain of
Antenna (dBi)
+ Body Loss (dB) + Interference Margin (dB)
+ Margin for Background Noise (dB) - SHO Gain
over fast fading (dB) + Fast Fading Margin (dB)

WCDMA Uplink Budget Elements

17.

Penetration Loss (dB)

Indoor penetration loss is the difference of average
signal strength outside the exterior wall close to
the building and that on the first floor of the
building.
Penetration loss is related to the specific building
type and reference angle of electric wave. Suppose
penetration loss follows logarithmic normal
distribution in the link budget, adopt average value
and standard deviation of penetration loss
(logarithmic value).
Realize better indoor coverage adopting specific
indoor coverage solutions instead of outdoor BS.
During actual commercial network construction,
penetration loss margin is uniformly specified by
operators to compare planning results of various
manufacturers.

WCDMA Uplink Budget Elements

18. Std. dev. of Slow Fading (dB)
Calculating standard deviation of indoor slow
fading:
Suppose the standard deviation of outdoor
path loss and penetration loss is XdB and YdB
respectively, the standard deviation of path
loss of indoor users is sqrt (X^2 + Y^2 )

WCDMA Uplink Budget Elements

19. Edge coverage Probability
If the UE transmit power reaches the largest but path
loss still cannot be overcome, this link is
disconnected when the lowest received level is
realized.
For the UE d away from the BS , its link interruption
probability is:
Pr_ outage( d ) Pr{Pmax _ UE PL( d ) S min }
Pr{Pmax _ UE 10 lg(d ) S min }
Pr{Pmax _ UE S min 10 lg(d ) }
Pr{ ( d ) }

(d) = Pmax_UE S_min 10lg(d) it is physically

the difference between the average value of path loss
of the UE d away the BS and maximum path loss
allowed to remain connection.
Its average value takes zero and standard deviation
takes to obey slow fading margin in logarithmic
normal distribution.

WCDMA Uplink Budget Elements

20. Slow Fading Margin (dB)
Core content: logarithmic normal distribution
SF x dnorm x 0

SF_M x pnorm x 0
1
0.9
0.8

0.06

0.7

SF( x 8)

SF_M ( x 8)

0.6

SF( x 10) 0.04

SF_M ( x 10) 0.5

SF( x 12)

SF_M ( x 12) 0.4

0.3

0.02

0.2
0.1

30

20

10

0
x

10

20

30

20

16

12

Slow Fading Margin (dB)

= NORMSINV (Edge Coverage Probability) Std.
dev. of Slow Fading (dB)

12

16

20

WCDMA Uplink Budget Elements

21.

SHO Gain over Slow Fading (dB)

As stated in the previous slide, SHO gain
consists of the following two parts:
Gain resulting from decreased demands for
slow fading margin due to multiple irrelated
SHO branches multi-cell gain
SHO gain over link demodulation performance
macro diversity combining gain

SHO gain over slow fading refers to multi-cell

gain.
Acquire this value through simulation.

WCDMA Uplink Budget Elements

Summary: cell edge path loss

Based on maximum path loss the link allows,
calculate mid-value of path loss at the cell edge,
considering Slow Fading Margin, SHO gain and
Penetration Loss in the case of indoor coverage
required to meet a certain edge/area coverage
probability.
Path Loss (dB) = [ EiRP (dBm) - Minimum Signal
Strength Required (dBm) ]- Penetration Loss
(dB) - Slow Fading Margin (dB) + SHO Gain over
Slow Fading (dB)

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 WCDMA Network Planning Flow

Chapter 2 Uplink Budget
Chapter 3 Downlink Budget
Chapter 4 Coverage Enhancement
Technology
Chapter 5 Example of Link Budget
Training.huawei.com

Basic Principle of Downlink Budget

NodeB
TX

Ga_BS

budget:

Pout_BS
Lc_BS

Lf_BS

Estimate system
coverage capacity

Feeder
PL

Combined
duplexer

Link

L
_D

_
PL
UL

RX

to acquire the
maximum
propagation loss
the link allowed
under a certain
communication

Ga_UE
UE
TX

quality by observing
Slow fading
margin Mf

Pout_UE

affecting forward
and reverse signal

Combined
duplexer
Body loss Lb
RX

various factors

Penetration loss
of the buildingLp

propagation of the
system.

Algorithm Introduction
Downlink (Forward)
PL_DL=Pout_BS Lf_BS+Ga_BS+Ga_UE +Ga_SHO
Mpc Mf MI Lp Lb S_UE

PL_DL: downlink maximum propagation loss

Pout_BS: maximum transmit power of BS traffic channel
Lf_BS: feeder loss
Ga_BS: BS antenna gain; Ga_UE: UE antenna gain
Ga_SHO: soft handover gain
Mpc: fast power control margin
Mf: slow fading margin (related to propagation environment)
MI: interference margin (related to system design capacity)
Lp: penetration loss of the building (used when indoor
coverage is required)
Lb: body loss
S_UE: sensitivity of UE receiver (related to service and
multipath conditions

WCDMA Downlink Budget Elements

1.

Max Power of TCH

13.

2.

Cable Loss

14.

3.

Gain of BS Tx Antenna

15.

4.

EIRP

16.

5.

Gain of UE Rx Antenna

6.

Body Loss

7.

Noise Figure (UE)

19.

8.

EbvsNo Required (UE)

20.

9.

Sensitivity of UE Receiver

21.

10.

DL Cell Loading

11.

Interference Margin

12.

Background Noise Level

17.
18.

Margin for Background Noise

SHO Gain over Fast Fading
Fast Fading Margin
Minimum Signal Strength
Required
Penetration Loss
Std. dev. of Slow Fading
Edge coverage Probability
Slow Fading Margin
SHO Gain over Slow Fading

WCDMA Downlink Budget Elements

10. Downlink Cell Loading

Downlink cell loading can be defined in the following two ways:
Define downlink cell loading at the receiving end:

Rj
DL 1 j i j EbvsNo j v j
W
1
N

It has similar characteristics with uplink cell loading, such as

The higher downlink cell loading is, the greater cell transmit power is and the
higher the interference at the receiving end is.
The corresponding capacity is called downlink limit capacity when the
downlink cell loading reaches 10%.
Define downlink cell loading at the transmitting end: ratio between the current cell
transmit power and BS maximum transmit power capability
In this way, downlink cell loading owns the following characteristics:
The higher downlink cell loading is, the greater the cell transmit power is. In
addition, it is related to service type, UE receiver performance, cell size, and
BS capability.

WCDMA Downlink Budget Elements

11. Downlink Interference Margin (dB)

Downlink interference increases at the UE receiving
end :
[
]

I TOTj No j fj P TX0/CL0, j

No
No
N
[ j fj ]
CL0, n
P CCH
1

CIR_Txn
1 DL
CL0, j No n1
CL0, j

NoiseRisej

If defining downlink cell load at the transmitting end,

the above formula can be simplified as follows:
NoiseRise( j ) 1 [ ( j ) f ( j )] DL

Pmax
N o CL (0, j )

In link budget tools, select the following typical value

for parameters in the above formula:
Orthonormalized factor at the edge of a cell (j):
obtained through simulation, related to
environment type and cell radius
Interference factor at the edge of a cell f(j) 1.78

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 WCDMA Network Planning Flow

Chapter 2 Uplink Budget
Chapter 3 Downlink Budget
Chapter 4 Coverage Enhancement
Technology
Chapter 5 Example of Link Budget
Training.huawei.com

OTSR

Tx

Rx

Rx

Rx

BB

Capacity of OTSR is close to that of the omnidirectional cells. Therefore, OTSR is applicable to areas
requiring small capacity but large coverage at the early
stage.
Cell radius of OTSR is 1.5 times of that of omnidirectional BS, so sites can be reduced by 40~50%.

Tower Mounted Amplifier

Adopting a TAM (Low Noise

Amplifier) can improve
uplink receiver sensitivity
and strength uplink
coverage.

Four-Antenna Receiving Diversity

Relative to two-antenna receive diversity, four-antenna

receive diversity can realize lower Eb/No .
Gain effect of four-antenna receive diversity is as
follows, compared with two-antenna receive diversity.

Area

Channel

Eb/N0
improved

Capacity
gain

Coverage
gain

Dense urban

TU3

2.4

1.73

1.37

Urban

TU3

2.4

1.73

1.37

Suburban

RA120

2.5

1.77

1.39

Rural

RA120

2.5

1.77

1.39

MUD (Multiuser Detection)

Single cell:
Increase capacity by 70 ~ 100%

Multi-cell:
Increase capacity by 40~60%

Decrease UE transmit power

Decrease transmit power by 2 ~ 3
dB averagedly.
Add standby times

SA (Smart Antenna)

SA can improve system capacity and coverage

uplink/downlink and decrease requirements for
transmitted power.
Test results of SA gain are as follows:
Downlin
Area
Uplink
k
1x4

2x2

2x4

1x4

Capacity gain

1.85

1.70

3.37

3.54

Coverage gain

1.42

1.35

2.02

2.07

Review Questions

1.
2.
3.

4.

What are main technologies to

enhance coverage?
What are main technologies to
enhance capacity?
How much UE transmitted power
can be reduced by MUD
technology?
How many times is the OTSR cell
radius than that of the omnidirectional cell?

Table of Contents
Chapter 1 WCDMA Network Planning
Flow
Chapter 2 Uplink Budget
Chapter 3 Downlink Budget
Chapter 4 Coverage Enhanced
Technology
Chapter 5 Example of Link Budget
Training.huawei.com

Example of Link Budget

Analysis scenario setting

Transmitter

Example of Link Budget

Receiver

Example of Link Budget

Calculating Path Loss

Calculating Cell Radius

Coverage Estimation Example

Suppose
Planning target area is 80km^2
Maximum path loss is 151dB in the
case of 50% cell load (3dB).
Path loss is reduced to 131dB
considering 20dB of penetration
loss and slow fading margin.
Path loss model is :L 137
35logR dB
Therefore, R=0.674 km can be obtained
.

Coverage Estimation Example

Coverage area of the three-sector

site is:
S 1.95R^2 0.88km^2

The required site numbers are

N 80/0.88 90

Namely, require 90 sites (270

sectors)

Review Questions

1.
2.

What elements are included in

uplink budget?
What is the process of coverage
estimation?

Summary

This chapter describes

Elements in radio uplink budget
Effect of each element on cell radius calculation
Basis of value of each element
Calculation methods for coverage-based site
numbers

Thank
you