UMTS Site Survey
ZTE University
Contents
Site Address Selection
Site Survey
Focus of Site Survey
Network Planning Policy
The purpose of radio network solution is to reduce the
investment return period, lower the operation cost
and reduce the investment risks.
The core of radio network planning is the relationship
between investment and return.
The coverage object is:“point”, “line” and
“plane”. Through the coverage of point, line and
plane, absorb the traffic of subscribers fully to make
most subscribers satisfied.
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Network Planning Policy
The rule of planning policy is to ensure effective coverage and absorbing traffic
fully. The precondition is dividing the area level properly.
The area level is determined by geographical environment and traffic distribution.
Broad plain
Sea surface
City elite
Traffic
routes
Scenery
sites Suburb
Country-side
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Position of Site Survey and Design
Network planning process
Network simulation is
investigation
investigation Requiremen
modeling
modeling the guide and
t analysis Transmittin verification tool for site
g model survey;
Analysis Scale test Site survey is the actual
Analysis estimation implementation of site
Transmittin
topology structure in
g model
network simulation.
Simulation Network correction
Simulation Both of them take the
simulation other as reference,
through repeated
Site survey verification, until the
Survey
Survey and design preset aim of network
planning is fulfilled.
Detailed
planning
Output planning report
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Site Survey and Design
Basic contents
Site address selection
Site survey
Station type selection
Focus
Reuse of the existing network resource
Solution for mutual interference
Coverage for specific scenarios
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Principle of Site Address Selection
First, try to select the ideal location specified by the
cell in the wireless communication theory. The offset
should be restricted about one quarter of base
coverage radius R for the cell splitting and network
development in future.
This is a basic principle of network planning. The
purpose is to identify the overall frame of he network.
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The coverage and capacity requirements
Key coverage areas must have base stations.
Main roads of the central city must have base stations.
After the selection of key sites, finish the large-scale
continuous coverage of the secondary areas.
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Strategy of Site Address Selection
Coverage: Implement the coverage in point, line and plane modes. Selection of
stations should first the cover important area, hotspot area, large-traffic area,
important road and transportation trunk.
Quality:
Handover: Ensure the success ratio of handover
Cell breathing: Avoid using the cell breathing
Load: Consider the load margin fully. In most cases, it keeps between 40% -
60%.
Capacity: At the initial state, consider the capacity fully to avoid frequent
expansion.
Convenient expansion: Expand capacity without adding stations and realize the
smooth expansion.
Indoor coverage: Consider the indoor coverage fully and treat the indoor
coverage the same as outdoor coverage.
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Method of Site Address Selection
Select sites by coverage and capacity requirements
Select sites by geographical environment
Select sites by radio environment
Select sites by existing resources
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Select sites by coverage and capacity
requirements
Select sites for important coverage areas necessarily
Select sites for the main trunk road in the central urban area
necessarily
Implement the large-area continuous coverage for
“secondary” coverage area after selecting the “primary” sites
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Point coverage
The concentration point for “point” traffic (service) is the
primary coverage area, where the network quality and service
level can be indicated. It is the place exactly where competition
lies. The coverage for these area is called “point” coverage.
During planning, the key coverage “point” need to be focused.
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Line coverage
Point coverage areas are usually connected by several “lines”.
To ensure the customer’s satisfaction, ensure the coverage of
these lines.
The business streets in the urban area are the main “line”. The
highway becomes the main coverage “line” after the economy
develops. In network planning, make sure which lines to be
covered.
In the planning of “line coverage” along the highway, pay
attention to level, name and length.
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Plane coverage
The area with a certain traffic requirement is called “plane”. To
improve the customer’s satisfaction and absorb more traffic,
connect the “points” and “lines” to ensure the coverage of
“plane” coverage.
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Site distribution
Reasonable Unreasonable
distribution distribution
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Select sites by geographical environment
The sites should be located in the place high enough
The place where the sites are cannot be too high
The height difference between two adjacent sites cannot be too
large
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Signal loss of basic propagation model
Free space
Free space
d
Signal attenuates
A D 20dB/decade
B
Reflection
The phase of reflection
Reflection
wave has 180 change,
counteracts the incident
wave and reduce the
receiving power.
Signal attenuates
30~40dB/decate,
Diffraction 10dB/double
Diffraction
Incident wave is blocked
Additional loss
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Signal propagation in real-world
Blocked With blocks
Signal is absorbed
== 》 additional loss
RFD
Reflected signal == 》 time delay
Multipath Multi-path transmisson
Mobile environment
Multipath elements have random
amplitudes and phases.
Signal is spread in time domain.
Penetration loss
Diffraction, additional loss
Building/vehicle penetration loss
Predict by probability
Probability == 》 reliable
receiving
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Signal penetration loss
Building/vehicle
Main mechanism: Diffraction penetration loss
Calculation method: Probability
Penetration loss
Dense urban 20~16
Urban 18~14
suburban
In-car
16~12
10~6
? ?
Rural 12~8
Typical value for building penetration
?
loss
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Select sites by radio environment
Avoid setting sites near the strong interferers like large-power
radio station, radar station and satellite ground station
Co-site with other wireless system is a common choice and
usually isolation measure is adopted
Avoid setting site near the departments involved with the
national security
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Select sites by existing resources
Take the existing mobile network as the reference model of the
UMTS radio network planning for full reference
Take the existing mobile network information into account fully
and make the best use of the resources like transmission and
power supply
Select the area with convenient transportation for the site of
base station for the convenience of engineering and
maintenance in future
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Noticeable matters for selecting sites1
When planning the UMTS network, avoid the ring layout of base
stations
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Noticeable matters for selecting sites 2
RFD
The barrier of building around has a large effect on the coverage of base
stations. There will be a shadow on the back of the barrier, causing the
dead zone of coverage. The reflection signal from the front of the barrier
will bring interference for the system.
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Noticeable matters for selecting sites 3
When planning the UMTS network, avoid the case that
the large-traffic object is remote from the base
station.
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Noticeable matters for selecting sites 4
R1
R2
BS coverage area
Neighbor BS
BS
When planning the UMTS network, avoid the case of
the base station covering base stations.
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Omni-Directional Base Station
D (the distance between the neighboring NodeB) is
1.73 times larger than R (the coverage radius of the
base station) and the area of the cell is about 2.6R2.
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Directional Base Station
D (the distance between the neighboring NodeB) is 1.5
times larger than R (the coverage radius of the cell) and
the area of cell is close to 1.95R2.
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Signal Source Selection
Urban Suburb Sea
Indoor Bridge
Macro station micro station BBU+RRU
Airport Highway
Tunnel Stadium Railway
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NodeB model design
NodeB sector Adaptive principle Typical area
configuration
Omni station For the relatively flat terrain, low Rural area
traffic area
Single-sector/ For areas with clear coverage Highway, indoor
double-sector requirement and dense traffic coverage, etc
Triple-sector Frequently used configuration, to Dense urban,
solve the wide coverage requirement common urban,
for mass traffic area suburb, etc
OTSR For low traffic, but wide coverage Rural, dense
areas buildings, etc
For areas with terrible radio
environment, and where distributed
coverage is required
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Contents
Site Address Selection
Site Survey
Focus of Site Survey
Tasks of site survey
Get necessary data for wireless planning and
simulation
Find out the site geographic information
Find out the site wireless environment
Find out the site construction condition
Find out the traffic distribution in planning area
Find out the alternate site in planning area
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Laser Ranger
Measurement range: 0.2 to 200 meters, the
measurement precision is 3 mm.
Built-in telescope: Measure long distance objects
precisely.
Built-in bubble: Simplify horizontal measurement.
Calculation function: Pythagorean theorem helps
measurement.
Measurement trace and location: Determine the
maximum and minimum values.
Background light: Measure in dark rooms or
places.
Laser indication: Mark measurement points.
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Laser Ranger
Calculate area
Calculate volume
Calculate height and width
Store
through Pythagorean Continuous
measurement
theorem distance
measurement
function
Trace and measure the
maximum and minimum
Pythagorean
values
theorem
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Data collection
The laser ranger is used to obtain the antenna height
of NodeB antenna from the ground.
In cities, NodeBs are built on roof of buildings. In this
case, you need to measure the height of the building
and the height from the roof to the antenna to obtain
the antenna height. When antennas are built on iron
towers, measure the antenna height directly.
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Global Positioning System
The receiver tracks, captures, and locks satellite signals through phase,
collects satellite ephemeris, measures the pseudo range, calculates
the latitude, longitude and altitude of the position where the receiver
resides.
If three satellites can be captured, 2D positioning can be
implemented.
If four satellites can be captured, 3D positioning can be implemented.
The more the captured satellites are, the more precise the positioning
is.
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Global Positioning System
The eTrex Summit®, produced by GARMIN Ltd, is the first combination
GPS, altimeter, and electronic compass. The electronic compass provides
bearing information when you're standing still and the altimeter
determines precise altitude, so you can tell how high you've climbed and
your rate of ascent.
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GPS data collection
The GPS can determine the positions of base stations
and display the positions on emulation electronic
maps and mapinfo 2D vector maps.
The GPS can also obtain altitude of base stations,
which is crucial to mountain areas and hills.
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Digital camera
A digital camera is an important information recording tool. In site survey, the
digital camera is used to record environment information of sites to facilitate
future planning and information analysis.
Project managers judges whether a site is whether a site is suitable and
propagation pattern of the planning area through photos taken by cameras.
To obtain clear enough pictures, the recording pixel must be 800X600.
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Data Collection through Digital Camera
Take eight photos for the surrounding environment.
Take photos from the positive north and take one
photo every 45 degrees.
Take multiple photos for the roof.
Take a photo for the candidate building.
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Frequency Clearing
Air signals of different types can interfere mobile network. The interference
deteriorate quality of calls and cause call drop and lower call connection rate, thus
affecting the quality of the whole network.
RF interference of mobile communication network is caused due to occupation of
frequency resources of old radio systems, improper network configurations by
operators, problems of transmitters, overlapping of cells, environment and
electromagnetic interference.
To ensure the quality of network planning, the network interference must be
cleared. Use frequency clearing to solve the problem. Frequency clearing test is
conducted in two phases: propagation pattern test phase and NodeB survey
phase. Through the test, you can check whether UMTS frequencies are occupied.
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YBT250
YBT250 is based on Windows CE operating system
and is easy to operate.
The laptop computer is applicable to outside
operation.
Batteries can be mounted. (four hours/battery)
High sensitivity (-134 dBm)
Display through a touch screen
Input/output ports
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Compass
We use the compass to measure the azimuth of the NodeB.
Some compasses also have the function of measuring the slant
angle. It is significant because we cannot guarantee the upright
post is right straight.
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Measuring Direction Angle of Sectors
Point the north direction of the compass
dial to the direction to be determined. In
this case, the reading of the pointer North
Antenna
directing to North is the direction angle of Zero line azimuth
the antenna. Antenna
Do not use a compass around strong South
magnetic field, and do not put a compass
on a metal platform (including an iron
tower) or near a metal target, because
these factors may affect the positioning
precision of the compass.
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Measuring Downtilt Angle of Antenna
Open the compass, place its straight side on the back
plane of the installed antenna, and adjust the
gradienter with the manipulator behind the compass
until the gradienter is in the level status. In this case,
the scale degree (internal dial) indicated by the white
dot beside the gradienter is the downtilt angle of the
antenna.
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Required data of site survey
NodeB NodeB
Longitude Latitude Address Antenna height Altitude
No name
nodeB1 Caihe 114.9487 25.85782 road 255 35 41
nodeB2 Minwa 114.9484 25.85107 road 243 30 31
nodeB3 Sanxiang 114.9521 25.83973 road 122 25 42
nodeB4 Siming 114.9423 25.84493 road 215 30 37
…… …… …… …… …… …… ……
First, we need get the basic information of the site, such as the name, longitude and latitude,
antenna height and altitude.
NodeB number: formed by two parts, e.g. abbreviation of traffic area + figures;
NodeB name: place name + building name. In cities, place names apply the street name; in
suburb or countryside, it is named by the county, town name;
Longitude and latitude: recorded by GPS;
Antenna height: the distance from the antenna to the ground. Measured by distance meter
or altimeter;
Altitude: e.g. absolute height of site. Recorded by GPS.
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Required data of site survey
recommendation
NodeB
site type azimuth downtilt antenna height separation method
No
nodeB1 S111 30/150/280 446 35 horizontal
nodeB2 S111 40/150/270 455 30 vertical
nodeB3 S111 0/120/240 744 25 vertical
nodeB4 O1 0 0 30 horizontal
…… …… …… …… …… ……
According to the site survey result, give some suggestions for network planning.
Recommended site type: confirm the cell type (macro-cell or micro-cell) and site type (omni or
directional);
Recommended antenna parameters: the gain, horizontal lobe and vertical lobe, azimuthal angle and
slant angle;
Recommended antenna height: confirm whether or not to raise the height and how to raise. For
example, the pole length, grounding tower height etc.
Recommended separation method and distance: horizontal separation and vertical separation. The unit
of separation distance is meter.
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Required data of site survey
NodeB No Nearest NodeB Reason
nodeB1 nodeB2 cover the industry area
nodeB2 nodeB1,nodeB3 cover the residential area
nodeB3 nodeB2,nodeB4 cover the residential area
nodeB4 nodeB3 cover the marketplace
…… …… ……
After surveying, we should master the general circumstance and put forward our advice.
Nearest NodeB: record distance, azimuthal angle; record NodeBs within 2km range in
dense cities, and 3~5km range, 5~10km range in common cities, suburb/countryside
respectively. If there is no NodeB within the range, record the nearest NodeB.
Explain the reason why selecting the NodeB, and clearly show coverage objects in the
planning area.
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Required data of site survey
0°
45°
275°
Description of site environment: when azimuth rotates every 45 , take eight 1024*768 pictures
by digital camera and make some notes. We mainly record the following information: whether
or not there are obstructions; the height difference between the site and surroundings; the
building density degree; the road direction, width; and the blocking building’s position,
height and distance.
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Utilization of site survey information
Site survey information Site display in
simulation
Site display in
MapInfo
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Contents
Site Address Selection
Site Survey
Focus of Site Survey
Site address sharing
Traditional network building has
tremendous dependence to equipment
room resources
Equipment room resource is an
necessary condition for site address
resources
enough site address resource is an
important factor to ensure fine coverage
Equipment room becomes the bottleneck
of fast network building
Equipment room resource becomes
harder and harder to obtain Large amount of equipment resource leads to the
Places suitable for site addresses have increase of network building cost
been the competition for various operators Rent for equipment room ： 30 000 ～ 50 000/year
Experiences from commercial bureau and (rent for ceiling not included)
test bureau indicate that, process of the Facilities (Air conditioning, power supply )
project is often limited by the process of construction expenses ： about 10 000 ～ 30 000
obtaining equipment rooms
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Make full use of 2G site address resource
Sharing of
Sharing of equipment room/shelter equipment
Sharing of power supply/battery room/shelter
Sharing of transmission
Sharing of iron tower
Sharing of space
Sharing of control system
Sharing of feeder window
Sharing of grounding Sharing of NodeB
Sharing of cable frame feeder
window Sharing of
transmission
BTS AC
po ba co
Sharing we tte ntr
of iron ol
r ry
tower
Combination
Combinationof ofrequirement
requirementand
andactual
actual
condition,
condition,comprehensive
comprehensivebalance.
balance.
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Equipment room/shelter sharing
Advantages ：
Equipment room/shelter sharing is the
basis for sharing other facilities
Shelter takes a large percentage in the
facility investment, thus shelter sharing
can largely reduce the cost
Equipment renting is very time and
effort-consuming, which is of big effect
to the engineering process Equipment
sharing can largely speed up the
engineering process
Cautions for equipment/shelter sharing ：
Whether there is available space for
equipment room/shelter
Whether there are specific weighing
requirement
Take the following into consideration:
the temperature, humidity, earthquake
protection, etc.
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Power/battery sharing
Considerations for power/battery
sharing ：
AC ： power cable, air switch, power
facilities, etc. Transformation need to
be performed if loading capacity is
too low.
DC ： Generally no power cabinet is
needed for site sharing, only a new
power module will be fine.
Add new battery group according to
power-down time requirements and
equipment power loss.
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Sharing of other facilities
UMTS
antenna
Sharing of feeder
window
GSM
antenna
Sharing of cable
Sharing of frame Sharing of feeder
iron window and cable
Sharing of other facilities frame
Sharing of
conrol
Sharing of
AC
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Site-sharing construction by using 2G resources
2G is usually limited by capacity in
dense urban/common urban area. Its
site density is larger than UMTS,
which can be selected by UMTS.
Perform reasonable network topology
design on the basis of 2G according
to the cell coverage radius of UMTS
network, and select the most suitable
2G site for UMTS network
construction.
Existing 2G site that not planed for UMTS As the existing 2G site might not fully
comply with the cellular system
Existing 2G site that planed for UMTS
structure, there will be more UMTS
Newly planed UMTS site sites than the number from scale
estimation.
Site sharing might cause number increasing for the actual UMTS
sites.
Does this mean the cost will also be increased?
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Requirement for mutual interference
Vertical Horizontal distance
interference(dB)
distance(m) (ideal)(m)
CDMA800 20 0.3 0.8
CDMA1.9G 84 4 200
CDMA1.9G
50 0.6 4
plus filter
GSM900 20 0.3 0.8
DCS1800 20 0.15 0.4
TD 40 0.31 1.3
Space separation is the mostly used solution for mutual
interference
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Interference between UMTS and GSM
Horizontal separation Vertical separation
Separation must be met. There is only 20cm required for GSM/UMTS
equipment separation, and it is easy on engineering.
After sharing tower built, there will easily be antennas of different
frequency band on the same pulling tower. For this circumstance,
different marks need to be made for the smooth implementation of the
future engineering RF optimization.
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