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
Data
 1st Generation or 1G
rate
 2nd Generation or 2G
 2.5G
 3rd Generation or 3G
 4th Generation 0r 4G

Progress of data rates with

time and generation time
Future of 3G – Projection
Spectrum Allocations– 3GPP rel4

1920 1980 2010 2025 2110 2170 2200

60MHz 60MHz

TDD FDD SATELLITE TDD FDD SATELLITE

Uplink Uplink Downlink Downlink

Duplex 190 MHz

3G(WCDMA) 2GHz frequency band for Europe and APAC

Frequency MHz
1850 1910 1930 1990
60MHz 60MHz

FDD FDD

Uplink Downlink

Duplex 80 MHz

3G(WCDMA 1900) for U.S

UMTS Network Architecture

Internet
TCP/IP)
GPRS
GSM/WCDMA 3G
mobile RAN Circuit Switched
SGSN
Core Network
SRR
GGSN
RNC
PS Core Network
USIM
card GSM/WCDMA (Node B) HLR
mobile
MSC
MGW
(PSTN/ISDN)

(Node B)
RNC IN SCP
CBC
WCDM
A
mobile
 Scrambling Codes & CPICH

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.
Comments

 Majority of the measurements are based on CPICH.

 Thumb rule is that, if UE can’t see the CPICH, it can’t 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 Io

Io

• In a WCDMA network the User Equipment (UE) receives signals from

many cells
• Io* = No = The sum total of all of these signals (dBm)
Received Power of a CPICH

Ec1 Ec2

• 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
The CPICH Quality (Ec/Io)

Ec1 Ec2

• 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
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

Handovers in WCDMA - Soft HO

• 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 - 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.
Approaches to 3G Radio Network Planning

• 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.
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

Input

· 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

Output
• service coverage
• system capacity
• soft handover overhead
• Intercell interference
• uplink and downlink transmit powers
• uplink and downlink interference floors
• connection establishment failure mechanisms
Simplified Network Planning Flowchart

Initial network dimensioning

CW
Measurement

Create nominal plan

Define search ring

Identify site options

Site selection

Site acquisition

Detailed site design

Site construction
Link Budget Overview

Soft handover
gain,
antenna gain
Noise figure

Body loss

Cable
losses

Building Penetration
loss

Max
Allowed = Tx Signal + All Gains – Other Losses – Rx
Path Loss Sensitivity
(L)
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

Uplink
Maximum transmit power UE dependant 21.0 21.0 21.0 dBm

Link Budget
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 Eb/N0 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
Path loss = Tx signal + all gains - losses - ( SNR + Noise)

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
 Service Type Nokia Specific Speech CS Data PS Data

Downlink bit rate No 12.2 64 64 128 384 kbps

Downlink
Maximum transmit power Yes 34.2 37.2 37.2 40.0 40.0 dBm
Link Budget 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 Eb/N0 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 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 Ec/I0 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 139.5 139.7 139.7 - - dB

(original)

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 doesn’t 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.

Uplink Load Equation Downlink Load Equation

K 1
UL  (1 pw _ rise i )   DL  
K (Eb / No)k
 1  k   i   vk
k 1 W
1 k 1 (W / R)k
 Eb   R  v
 N k k
 o k
Importance of Controlling 'Little i'
BTS TX power 43 dBm 128 kbps
170
MS TX power 21 dBm i= 0.2
i= 0.2

Maximum propagation loss (dB)

Ec/Io -16.5 dB i= 0.4
165
i= 0.4
i= 0.6
BTS Eb/No 1.5 i= 0.6
160 i= 0.8
MS Eb/No 5.5 i= 0.8

Other to own cell 0.2, 0.4, 0.6,

155
interference ratio i
0.8

Orthogonality 0.6 150

Channel profile ITU Vehicular

A, 3 km/h 145

MS speed 3 km/h

MS/BTS NF 8 dB / 4 dB 140
0 500 1000 1500

Antenna gain 16 dBi DL throughput in kbps

• RESULT: Doubling of the "little i" will cause
throughput to decrease to 70% of the original
value
• 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.
 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

• 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 uncontrolled, strong

boundary interferences

interleaved coverage areas:

weak own signal, strong foreign signal
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

wanted cell
boundary
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
Uplink Load Equation
K 1
UL  (1 pw _ rise i )  
k 1 W
1
 Eb   R  v
 N k k
 o k

BAD: In a urban/dense urban area,

Downlink Load Equation too high a site is a bad site since it
 1  k   i   vk
K (Eb / No)k will introduce too much interference
DL  
k 1 (W / R)k to other sites in the network
(remember the little i)

while for a rural area it's a good sit

 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.
 Examples of Bad Sites
Little i, Little i, Little i !!!
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
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
x System y = a0 + a1x + a2x2 + a3x3 + ...

 In the case of one input frequency, vin = cos 1t, output will consist of
harmonics, m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, vin = cos 1t + cos 2t , output will
consist of harmonics m1 + n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.
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 GSM UMTS UMTS

1800 1800 UL DL
UL DL
40
1710-1785 1805-1880 MHz 1920-1980 2110-2170
MHz MHz MHz MHz
 M Distortion
from GSM1800 DL to WCDMA UL
• GSM1800 IM3 (3rd order
intermodulation) products hits into
the WCDMA FDD UL RX band if:
• 1862.6  f2  1879.8 MHz
• 1805.2  f1  1839.6 MHz
f1
GSM1800 GSM1800
UL DL
1710 - 1785 MHz 1805 - 1880 MHz40 MHz1920 - 1980 MHz 2110 - 2170 MHz
• For active elements IM
products levels are higher
than IM products produced
by passive components
• Typical IM3 suppression
fIM3 = 2f2 - f1 values for power amplifiers
are -30 … -50 dBc
depending on frequency
spacing and offset
• Typical values for passive
f2 elements are -100 … -160 dBc
X dBc fIM3
WCDMA WCDMA
UL DL
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.

2nd harmonics 2nd harmonics can be

filtered out at the output
of GSM900 BTS.
fGSM = 950 - 960 MHz
...

GSM900 WCDMA
WCDMA FDD
935 - 960 MHz TDD 1920 - 1980
f
1900 -1920
MHz
Isolation Requirements
GSM 900 GSM 1800 UMTS
Receiving band 890 – 915 MHz 1710 – 1785 MHz 1920 – 1980 MHz
(UL)
Transmitting band 935 – 960 MHz 1805 – 1880 MHz 2110 – 2170 MHz
(DL)
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

1805 MHz 1880 MHz 2110 MHz 2170 MHz

1710 MHz 1785 MHz 1920 MHz 1980 MHz

GSM 1800 Rx GSM 1800 Tx UMTS Rx UMTS Rx

Achieving Isolation Requirements
GSM

• Isolation can be provided in a

variety of different ways.
 By antenna selection and
UMTS
positioning.
 By filtering out the
GSM
interfering signal.
 By using diplexers and Filter
triplexers with shared feeder
and multiband antennas.
UMTS
GSM

Diplexer

UMTS
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 d d

90º d
120º 180º

d = 0.3 - 0.5 m d=1-3m d = 0.5 - 2 m

Site sharing with third party systems
 Some UMTS sites might be co-
located with other non GSM
operators. UMTS antennas
 PMR (Private mobile radios)
Minimum separation
 Broadcast
 Navigation
 Some of these systems use older
equipment which might be more Other systems
vulnerable to EMC issues.
 Need to define minimum
antenna separations between
systems
 Better to avoid sites used for
safety critical applications.
Antenna installation issues: Clearance angle

h (meters)

Clearance angle
d (meters)

• Rules of thumb: Side view

– h  d/2, d < 10 m
– h  d/3, 10 < d < 20 m
– h  d/4, d > 30 m
Antenna

d (meters)

Top view
Antenna installation
• Safety margin of 15 between the reflecting surface and the
3 dB lobe

d has to be >
3.2 m