Lte Fdd User Guide

>> LTE FDDUser Guide

version 5.2.1

Copyright © 2010

Mentum S.A. All rights reserved.

Notice

This document contains confidential and proprietary information of Mentum S.A. and may not becopied, transmitted, stored in a retrieval system, or reproduced in any format or media, in whole or inpart, without the prior written consent of Mentum S.A. Information contained in this documentsupersedes that found in any previous manuals, guides, specifications data sheets, or otherinformation that may have been provided or made available to the user. This document is providedfor informational purposes only, and Mentum S.A. does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy,adequacy, quality, validity, completeness or suitability for any purpose the information contained inthis document. MentumS.A. may update, improve, and enhance this document and the products towhich it relates at any time without prior notice to the user. MENTUM S.A. MAKES NOWARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THOSE OFMERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TOTHIS DOCUMENTOR THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN.

Trademark Acknowledgement

Mentum, MentumPlanet, MentumEllipse, andMentumFusion are registered trademarks owned byMentumS.A. MapInfo Professional is a registered trademark of PB MapInfo Corporation. RF-vu is atrademark owned by iBwave. This document may contain other trademarks, trade names, or servicemarks of other organizations, each of which is the property of its respective owner.

Last updatedOctober 15, 2010

Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction I

Features of Mentum Planet ii

Project Explorer ii

Site Editor ii

Traffic Map Generator ii

Interference Matrix Generator iii

Neighbor List Generator iii

Network Data Import Wizard iii

Survey Data tool iii

Subscriber Settings iii

Data Manager iv

MapInfo Professional iv

Microwave Links iv

Using this documentation v

User documentation updates v

Online Help v

Online Help vi

Resource Roadmap vi

Knowledge Base vi

Printing vi

Library Search vii

Frequently Asked Questions vii

“What’s This?” Help vii

User Guides vii

Documentation library vii

LTE FDD User Guidei

Notational conventions viii

Textual conventions viii

Organization of this user guide ix

Contacting Mentum x

Getting technical support x

North America x

Europe, Middle East, and Africa x

Asia Pacific x

Send us your comments xi

Chapter 2 Overview Of Mentum Planet Planning 13

Network planning modeling best practices 14

Forecasting network traffic 15

Predicting the traffic of a target market 16

Traffic model outputs 16

Transforming census information into a traffic map 17

Geodata requirements 17

Workflow for WiMAXLTE network design using Mentum Planet 18

Chapter 3 Understanding The Fundamentals OfMentum Planet 21

Understanding projects 23

Understanding project data types 24

Understanding MapInfo tables 24

Understanding grids 24

What is a grid? 25

Understanding grid types 25

Numeric grids 26

Classified grids 27

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Understanding project geodata 28

Heights folder 29

Clutter folder 29

Clutter Heights folder 30

Polygons folder 30

Custom folder 32

Understanding project files 33

Site files 33

Workspaces 34

Understanding the Project Explorer 35

Understanding the Project Explorer data window 38

Using multiple data windows 39

Access to commands 39

Defining user preferences 41

To define user preferences 41

User Preferences 43

Project Explorer 44

Performance 45

Zoom Automatically 46

User Preferences 48

Project Wizard Defaults 49

Geodata 50

Understanding the project folder structure 51

Creating and using workspaces 54

To create a workspace 54

To open a workspace 54

To associate a workspace with a project 55

Attaching files to a Mentum Planet project 56

To attach a file to a project 56

To open an attached file 56

LTE FDD User Guideiii

To remove an attached file from a project 57

Working with site sets 58

Master site set 58

Site subsets 59

Active site set 59

Site table 60

To switch the active site set 60

To change the active site set 61

To merge a subset into the active site set 62

To create a shared site set 62

To update a shared site set 62

To remove a site set 63

To rename a site set 63

To view the site set description 63

To edit the site set description 64

Working with map layers 65

To manipulate map layers with the Project Explorer 66

To manipulate map layers with the Layer Control 67

Working with geodata folders 69

To manage geodata files 69

To group geodata files 70

Defining the coordinate systems to use in a project 71

To define the coordinate system for sites 71

Defining color profiles 73

To choose color profiles 73

To create a color profile 74

Color Profiles 76

Color 77

Chapter 4 Creating A Project 79

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Creating projects 81

To create a project 82

To view or edit project settings 83

Migrating projects 85

Improved data validation 85

Upgrade paths 85

Workflow for migrating Mentum Planet projects 87

To migrate projects from Mentum Planet 4.x or 5.x 88

Creating a network overlay 90

To create a network overlay 90

Opening and closing projects 92

To open a project 92

Restoring projects 94

To restore a project 94

Saving projects 95

To save a project 95

To back up a project 95

Chapter 5 Working With Propagation Models 97

Workflow for propagation modeling 99

Workflow for model tuning 100

Understanding the role of propagation models 102

Understanding propagation model types 104

Planet General Model 104

PGM-A model 106

CRC-Predict model 107

Universal model 109

Q9model 109

Longley-Rice model 111

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References 112

Understanding model tuning 114

Understanding clutter classes and clutter properties 115

Tuning the Planet General Model using AMT 116

To tune the Planet General Model using AMT 116

Planet Automatic Model Tuner 119

Toolbar 120

Tuner Type 121

Model Parameters 122

Correlation/Cross-Correlation Threshold Values 123

Tuning models using the Clutter Absorption Loss tuner 124

To tune a model using the Clutter Absorption Loss tuner 125

Clutter Absorption Loss Properties 127

Survey Distance 128

Number of Radials 129

Tuning a propagation model 130

Guidelines for model tuning 131

Creating and editing propagation models 132

To define a new propagation model 132

To edit propagation model settings 133

To view or hide unassigned propagation models 135

Chapter 6 Defining Network Settings 137

Understanding network settings 139

Technology types 139

Carriers 139

Modulations 140

Frame Setup 140

Workflow for defining network settings 142

Defining network settings 143

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To define network settings 143

To define frame configurations 144

Network Settings 145

Carriers 146


Modulations 148

CINR To Spectral Efficiency Specification 149


Frame Setup 153

OFDM 154

Frame Configuration 155

LTE FDD Frame Editor 156

Downlink 157

Cyclic Prefix 158

Control Channel 159

Overhead 160


Uplink 162

Cyclic Prefix 163

Demodulation Reference Signal 164

Sounding Reference Signal 164

Control Channel 165

Chapter 7 Configuring And Placing Sites 167

Workflow for configuring and placing sites 169

Using site templates 170

To create a site template 170

To rename a site template 171

To set the site template as active 171

To view a site template 171

LTE FDD User Guidevii

To delete a site template 171

Understanding sites and sectors 172

General site parameters 173

General sector parameters 173

Link parameters 174

Sector user data 174

Implementation parameters 174

Configuration parameters 175

Power parameters 175

Antenna Systems 176

Placing sites automatically 177

Determining site placement in the Basic mode 177

Determining site placement in the Advanced mode 178

To place sites in Basic mode 180

To place sites in Advanced mode 182

Automatic Site Placement Tool 184

Site Templates 185

Traffic 186


Propagation Model 188

Frequency Band 189

Defining link configurations 190

Losses and gains 190

To define link configurations 193

To view or hide unassigned link configurations 193

Link Configuration Editor 195

Uplink/Reverse 196


Downlink/Forward 198

Creating and editing sites 200

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To create a new site 200

To edit site parameters 201

To create a new site based on an existing site 202

Site Editor 203

Link 204

Antennas 205

Predictions 206

Mode 207

Information 208

Site Editor 209

Sector - Implementation 210

Filter 211

Quality 213

Site Editor 214

Sector 215

Configuration 216

Segment 217

Preamble 218

Channels 219

Site Editor 220

Sector - Powers 221

Uplink Interference 223

Other System Interference 224

Chapter 8 Adding Repeaters 225

Understanding repeaters 227

Types of repeater implementations 228

Using split sectors 228

Using distributed antenna systems 229

Repeaters and predictions 229

LTE FDD User Guideix

Workflow for adding repeaters to sectors 230

Adding repeaters to sectors 231

To add repeaters to sectors 231

Site Editor 234

Configuration 235

Carriers 236

Equipment 237

Site Editor 238

Donor 239

Type 240

Site Editor 242

Link 243

Service 244

Prediction 245

Isolation 246

Site Editor 247

Implementation 248

Filters 249

Quality 250

Locating repeaters in a Map window 251

To locate repeaters in a Map window 251

Chapter 9 Defining Subscribers 253

Understanding subscribers 255

Workflow for creating subscriber types 257

Defining subscriber equipment types 258

WiMAXLTE bearers 258

To define subscriber equipment types 258

Subscriber Settings 260

Equipment Types 261

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Hardware 262


Equipment Types 264

Bearers 265

Modulations 266

Defining subscriber services 267

To define subscriber services 267


Services 269

Load 270

Input Load 271

Activity Factors 272


Services 274

Quality of Service 275

QoS Class 276

Defining subscriber types 278

Example 278

To define subscriber types 279


Subscriber Types 283

Configuration 284

Usages 285

Defining environment settings 287

To define environment settings 289

Creating a fixed subscriber database 292

To create a fixed subscriber table 292

Chapter 10 Generating Network Analyses 293

Understanding network analyses 294

LTE FDD User Guidexi

Prediction view files 294

Workflow for generating an analysis 295

Defining default analysis layers 296

To define default analysis layers 296

Common LTE Analysis Layers 297

Carrier-Specific LTE Analysis Layers 303

Defining default analysis settings 308

To define default analysis settings 308

Creating and generating a network analysis 309

To create and generate a network analysis 309

Network Analysis Wizard 311

Analysis 312

Best Server 313

Best Server Selection Based On 314

Number of Uplink Resource Blocks per User 315

Uplink Power Control 316


Network Analysis Wizard 318

System 319

Subscriber 320

Generating an existing analysis 321

To generate an existing analysis 321

Viewing analysis layers 322

To view analysis layers 322

Generating multiple analyses 323

To generate multiple analyses 323

Deleting analyses 324

To delete analyses 324

Recoloring best serving sector layers 325

To recolor best serving sector layers 325

xii LTE FDD User Guide

Examining layer statistics 326

Chapter 12 Generating Monte Carlo Simulations 327

Understanding Monte Carlo simulations 329

The phases of a Monte Carlo simulation 329

Placing subscribers in a random pattern 330

Sorting subscribers by priority 330

Analyzing the downlink and uplink 330

Generating operating points and subscriber information 332

Defining the number of Monte Carlo runs 333

Convergence method 333

Level of Convergence calculation 334

Factors affecting the required number of runs 335

Understanding Monte Carlo simulation layers 337

Workflow for generating a Monte Carlo simulation 341

Defining default Monte Carlo simulation settings 342

To define default Monte Carlo simulation settings 342

Creating and generating a Monte Carlo simulation 343

To create and generate a new Monte Carlo simulation 343

Monte Carlo Simulation Wizard 347

System 348



Analysis 351





Monte Carlo 356

Generating an existing Monte Carlo simulation 358

LTE FDD User Guidexiii

To generate an existing simulation 358

Viewing simulation layers 359

To view simulation layers 359

Updating analysis cell loads with Monte Carlo results 360

To update analysis cell loads 360


To calculate layer statistics 362

Layer Statistics Analysis 367

Analysis Settings 368


Layers 375

Layer Information 376

Classification Settings 377

Creating reports 379

To create reports 379

Deleting simulation layers 382

To delete simulation layers 382

Chapter 12 Generating Fixed Subscriber Analyses 383

Understanding fixed subscriber analyses 384

Before you generate an analysis 384

How the analysis is performed 385

Editing fixed subscribers 387

To edit fixed subscribers using the Subscriber Editor 387

Generating and viewing a fixed subscriber analysis 388

To generate a fixed subscriber analysis 388

To view analysis results 389

Fixed Analysis Wizard 390

Analysis 391


xiv LTE FDD User Guide

Preamble CINR Measurements 393

Probability of Collision 394

Prediction At 395

Analyzing a single fixed subscriber 396

To analyze a single subscriber 396

Chapter 13 Generating Frequency AndPreamblePhysical Cell ID Plans Automatically 397

Understanding automatic frequency and physical cell IDplanning 399

Frequency planning 399

Cell ID planning 399

Understanding frequency and physical cell ID planningconstraints and costs 400

Frequency, preamble, and perm base planning constraints 400

Frequency and physical cell ID planning violation costs 400

Addressing frequency planning requirements 401

Single-channel PUSC subchannel group planning 401

Multi-channel frequency planning 402

Workflow for automatic frequency and cell ID planning 403

Creating a frequency plan 404

To create a frequency plan 404

To save current frequency and physical cell ID assignments 406

Automatic Frequency and Physical Cell ID Planning 408

General 409

Interference Matrix 410

Plan Generation Option 411


Frequency 413

Interference Threshold 414

LTE FDD User Guidexv

Carrier Allocation Cost 415

Algorithm Ending 416


Physical Cell ID Planning 418

Optimization 419


Setting up general frequency and physical cell ID planningparameters 421

To set up general frequency and physical cell ID parameters 421

Generating and viewing a frequency or physical cell ID plan 423

To generate a frequency or physical cell ID plan 423

Applying a frequency or physical cell ID plan to sectors 424

To apply a frequency plan to sectors 424

Chapter 14 Working With The Tabular Editor 425

Working with the Tabular Editor 426

To edit sites, flags, or link configurations 426

Chapter 15 Importing And Exporting Data 429

Importing, replacing, and exporting project data 430

Importing data 431

Replacing data 431

Exporting data 432

To export project data 432

To import project data 434

Importing network data into Mentum Planet projects 437

Binding network data 437

Viewing the results of data binding 437

To import network data 438

Chapter 16 Establishing Height Benchmarks 441

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Establishing height benchmarks 442

To establish height benchmarks for the closest point 442

To establish height benchmarks along multiple radials 443

Interpreting results 445

All_Radials.tab 445

Failing_Radials_Summary.tab 446

Site_Summary 446

How to interpret radial color 446

HBM Analysis Settings 448

Appendix A Mentum Planet File Types 451

Understanding project folders and files 452

Project files 452

Output files 453

MapInfo files 454

LTE FDD User Guidexvii

Introduction

Chapter 1 Introduction

This User Guide provides an overview of the full life cycle of a wirelessnetwork, and includes information on the tools and procedures that arecommon to all network technologies. Many procedures, for examplenetwork analyses, are dependent on the technology being used, and arenot included in this User Guide. For more information on technology-specific procedures, see the appropriate User Guide.

This chapter covers the following topics:

Features of Mentum Planet ii

Using this documentation v

Contacting Mentum x

LTE FDD User Guide i

Chapter 1

Features of Mentum Planet

Mentum Planet provides you with all the tools you need to accurately design,analyze, and optimize wireless networks. You can add extensions and enableadditional technologies to support the planning functions that you require.

Below is a list of some of the main features of Mentum Planet. This list is notcomprehensive. For a detailed feature list, go to the Mentum web site athttp://www.mentum.com.

Project Explorer

The Project Explorer organizes all components of a project into a hierarchicalstructure, enabling you to easily manage all project-related data includingsites, project information, network analyses, network data, and surveys. Youcan sort components such as sites and antenna patterns by theircharacteristics and manage support documents such as census tract data,capacity planning information, or RF design review documents. Shortcutmenus give you quick access to a wide variety of commands.

Site Editor

The Site Editor brings together all the parameters you need to specify whendefining base station technologies, sites, and sectors. This includes the linkconfiguration, the implementation settings as well as general site and sectorsettings.

Traffic Map Generator

Using the Traffic Map Generator, you can create traffic maps based on varioussources of data, including market information, demographics, vehiculartraffic, and switch statistics. You can combine this information with clutterinformation for your coverage area for an even more accurate assessment oftraffic loading for your wireless network. You can also scale traffic maps tobetter meet your requirements.

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Introduction

Interference Matrix Generator

The Interference Matrix Generator analyzes the potential for co-channeland adjacent-channel interference in your wireless network. If required,you can include traffic map information in the interference matrixcalculations. Interference matrices are required input for the NeighborList Generator and the Automatic Frequency Preamble and Perm BasePlanning tool.

Neighbor List Generator

You can use the Neighbor List Generator to create, view, edit, andcompare neighbor lists for single-technology networks and for multi-technology networks. Neighbor lists can be based on cell adjacency orinterference. Multiple user-defined criteria determine neighborselection. You can also import and export neighbor lists.

Network Data Import Wizard

You can import switch statistics for use in traffic maps, interferencematrices, neighbor lists, and other Mentum Planet analysis tools.Performance-related data you can import includes dropped call rates,blocked call rates, and traffic levels. The Network Data tool can alsoproduce a thematically mapped display of the imported data by sector.

Survey Data tool

Using the Survey Data node in the Project Explorer, you can import,manage, and visualize survey data.

Subscriber Settings

The Subscriber Settings dialog box contains all the parameters you needto define the characteristics of your network subscribers including the

LTE FDD User Guide iii

Chapter 1

mobile equipment and services they use as well as the Quality of Servicethresholds.

Data Manager

The Data Manager enables you to store data centrally and manage projectsmore efficiently, thus facilitating project collaboration and data sharing.

MapInfo Professional

Mentum Planet includes a full version of MapInfo Professional, an industrystandard mapping tool that gives you access to a full suite of raster and vectoranalysis tools, cartographic-quality tools, and advanced thematic mappingcapabilities. For a list of new features in MapInfo 10.5, see the MapInfoProfessional User Guide.

Microwave Links

You can visualize microwave transmission links within the context of yourMentum Planet projects and perform basic microwave planning tasks whendesigning your wireless network.

A new Microwave category in the Project Explorer provides access to MentumEllipse Quick Link features through various shortcut commands. In addition,you can create a microwave link between two sites by selecting the sites in theProject Explorer Sites category and using the shortcut commands. You canalso view links in the Map window.

For more information, see the Microwave Link Planning User Guide.

iv LTE FDD User Guide

Introduction

Using this documentation

Before using this documentation, you should be familiar with theWindows environment. It is assumed that you are using the standardWindows XP desktop, and that you know how to access ToolTips andshortcut menus, move and copy objects, select multiple objects usingthe Shift or Ctrl key, resize dialog boxes, expand and collapse foldertrees. It is also assumed that you are familiar with the basic functions ofMapInfo ProfessionalÒ. MapInfo Professional functions are notdocumented in this User Guide. For information about MapInfoProfessional, see the MapInfo online Help andMapInfo Professional UserGuide. You can access additional MapInfo user documentation from thePitney Bowes Business Insight website at

http://www.pbinsight.com/support/product-documentation.

All product information is available through the online Help. You accessonline Help using the Help menu or context-sensitive Help from within adialog box by pressing the F1 key. If you want to view the online Help fora specific panel or tab, click in a field or list box to activate the panel ortab before you press the F1 key. The following sections describe thestructure of the online Help.

User documentation updates

User documentation is continually evolving to address feedback orintroduce improvements. You can download the latest userdocumentation from the Customer Care Product Downloads page whereit is available as a separate download from the software.

Online Help

From the Help menu, you can access online Help for Mentum Planetsoftware and for MapInfo Professional. This section describes thestructure of the Mentum Planet online Help.

The online Help provides extensive help on all aspects of software use. Itprovides

LTE FDD User Guide v

http://www.pbinsight.com/support/product-documentation

http://www.pbinsight.com/support/product-documentation

http://www.mentum.com/index.php?page=customer-care&hl=en_US

http://www.mentum.com/index.php?page=customer-care&hl=en_US

Chapter 1

n help on all dialog boxes

n procedures for using the software

n an extensive Mentum Planet documentation library in PDFformat

Online Help

The following sections provide details about the resources available throughthe online Help.

Resource Roadmap

When you first use the online Help, start with the Resource Roadmap. Itdescribes the types of resources available in the online Help and explains howbest to use them. It includes a step-by-step guide that walks you through theavailable resources.

Knowledge Base

You can access the Knowledge Base maintained by the Customer Care groupby clicking the Knowledge Base button on the online Help toolbar. TheKnowledge Base contains current information on Mentum products such asFrequently Asked Questions, How To procedures as well as solutions to issues.

Printing

You have two basic options for printing documents:

n If you want a good quality print of a single procedure orsection, you can print from the Help window. Click Print in theHelp window.

n If you want a higher quality print of a complete User Guide, useAdobe Reader to print the supplied print-ready PDF filecontained in the Mentum Planet documentation library. Openthe PDF file and choose File Print.

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Introduction

Library Search

You can perform a full-text search on all PDF files contained in theMentum Planet documentation library if you are using a version of AdobeReader that supports full-text searches. The PDF files are located in theMentum\Planet\Help\User Guides folder.

You can also perform a search on all online Help topics by clicking theSearch tab in the Help window. Type a keyword, and click List Topics todisplay all Help topics that contain the keyword. The online Helpduplicates the information found in the User Guide PDF files in order toprovide more complete results. It does not duplicate the information inthe Release Notes, or Glossary.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Frequently Asked Questions section provides answers to commonquestions about Mentum Planet. For easy navigation, the section isdivided into categories related to product functionality.

“What’s This?” Help

“What’s This?” Help provides detailed explanations of all dialog boxes.

User Guides

All User Guides for Mentum Planet software is easily accessible as part ofthe online Help.

Documentation library

Mentum Planet comes with an extensive library of User Guides in PDFformat. You can access PDF versions of the user guides by navigating tothe Help/User Guides folder within the Mentum Planet installation folderor by choosing the Guides command from the Mentum Planet Helpmenu.

Additional documents, including Application Notes and Technical Notes,are available at http://www.mentum.com.

LTE FDD User Guide vii

http://www.mentum.com/

Chapter 1

Notational conventions

This section describes the textual conventions and icons used throughout thisdocumentation.

Textual conventions

Special text formats are used to highlight different types of information. Thefollowing table describes the special text conventions used in this document.

bold text

Bold text is used in procedure steps toidentify a user interface element such as adialog box, menu item, or button.

For example:

In the Select Interpolation Methoddialog box, choose the Inverse DistanceWeighting Option, and clickNext.

courier

text

Courier text is used in procedures toidentify text that you must type.

Courier text is used in procedures toidentify text that a user must type.

For example:

In the File Name box, typeElevation.grd.

bright bluetext

Bright blue text is used to identify a link toanother section of the document. Click thelink to view the section.

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Introduction

Menu arrows are used in procedures toidentify a sequence of menu items that youmust follow.

For example, if a step reads “Choose FileOpen,” you would click File and then

click Open.

< >

Angle brackets are used to identifyvariables.

For example, if a menu item changesdepending on the chosen unit ofmeasurement, the menu structure wouldappear asDisplay <unit OfMeasurement>.

Organization of this user guide

This user guide is organized according to the workflow that you wouldtypically follow to model and analyze a network and contains detailedinformation related to all of the main steps in the workflow. Secondary oroptional steps in the workflow include references to manuals contained inthe Mentum Planet documentation library.

Each chapter in this guide provides details about how to perform a step inthe planning process and explains how it relates to the other steps.Before you begin, you should read the “Understanding...” sections ineach chapter for an overview of the planning process.

LTE FDD User Guide ix

Chapter 1

Contacting Mentum

Mentum is committed to providing fast, responsive technical support. Thissection provides an extensive list of contacts to help you through any issuesyou may have.

We also welcome any comments about our documentation. Customerfeedback is an essential element of product development and supports ourefforts to provide the best products, services, and support we can.

Getting technical support

You can get technical support by phone or email, or by visiting the Self-ServicePortal on the Mentum website at

http://www.mentum.com/index.php?page=customer-care&hl=en_US.

North America

Phone: +1 866 921-9219 (toll free), +1 819 483-7094

Fax: +1 819 483-7050

Email: [email protected]

Hours: 9am – 7pm EST/EDT (Monday-Friday, excluding local holidays)

Europe, Middle East, and Africa

Phone: +33 1 39264642

Fax: +33 1 39264601


Hours: 9am – 6pm CET/CEST (Monday-Friday, excluding local holidays)

Asia Pacific

Phone: +852 2593 1287

Fax: +852 2593 1234


Hours: 9am – 6pm HKT (Monday-Friday, excluding local holidays)

x LTE FDD User Guide

Introduction

When you call for technical support, ensure that you have your productID number and know which version of the software you are running. Youcan obtain this information using the About command from the Helpmenu.

When you request technical support outside of regular business hours, aProduct Support Specialist will respond the next working day bytelephone or email, depending upon the nature of the request.

Send us your comments

Feedback is important to us. Please take the time to send comments andsuggestions on the product you received and on the user documentationshipped with it. Send your comments to:

[email protected]

LTE FDD User Guide xi

Overview Of Mentum Planet Planning

Chapter 2 Overview Of Mentum Planet Planning

Using Mentum Planet, you can model networks designed for WiMAXLTEcommunication. This chapter describes key planning processes and theworkflow you should adopt.


Network planning modeling best practices 14

LTE FDD User Guide 13

Chapter 2

Network planning modeling best practices

As with any communication network, the cornerstones of the network planningprocess are:

n balancing coverage, quality, and capacity

n minimizing costs and complexity

To design a network that successfully addresses these basic tenets of networkplanning, you need to create an accurate model of the radio propagation andof the subscriber traffic. The accuracy of the networkmodel is highlydependent on the accuracy of the data you use as the foundation of theproject.

When you create a Mentum Planet project, you must have:

n up-to-date geodata

n accurate and up-to-date survey data

n tuned propagation models that are appropriate for theenvironment and data

n accurate and up-to-date site configuration information

14 LTE FDD User Guide

Forecasting Network Traffic

Forecasting network traffic

When analyzing a fixed WiMAX network, the traffic loading at each sectoris calculated based on the location of subscribers across the network,their utilization of network resources, and the modulation assigned tothem. Higher modulation formats means that a subscriber can supportmore traffic. For example, if a subscriber is assigned a modulation of16QAM, they will support more traffic than a subscriber with amodulation of QPSK.

Knowing the location of users within a WiMAX network is an importantnetwork design element. A network is designed to support the expectedtraffic and the quality of the design depends on how well the demand(i.e., the traffic model) and the capacity match. This is particularly truefor WiMAX, which uses adaptive modulation. For this reason, it is veryimportant that high-traffic areas are served with high signal quality inorder to improve the overall system capacity.

When designing a new network, the traffic forecast typically comes frommarketing assessments while traffic models can be created from thenetwork traffic reports. There are various methods in Mentum Planet togenerate traffic so that all stages of network design are covered (i.e.,from the early stages of a new greenfield network to the later stages of alive network).

When analyzing a network, the traffic loading at each sector is calculatedbased on the location of subscribers across the network, their utilizationof network resources, and the modulation assigned to them. Highermodulation formats means that a subscriber can support more traffic.For example, if a subscriber is assigned a modulation of 16QAM, they willsupport more traffic than a subscriber with a modulation of QPSK.

Knowing the location of users within a network is an important networkdesign element. A network is designed to support the expected trafficand the quality of the design depends on how well the demand (i.e., thetraffic model) and the capacity match. This is particularly true for LTE,which uses adaptive modulation. For this reason, it is very important thathigh-traffic areas are served with high signal quality in order to improvethe overall system capacity.


Chapter 3

Predicting the traffic of a target market

The first stage of designing a network is to determine where the demand willbe (i.e., where potential subscribers are located). Using the GIS features ofMapInfo and Mentum Planet, you can identify regions where demand forservices exist.

There are various types of data upon which you can base your marketprediction:

n Census information: this data provides information such aspopulation, income, and age. This data is generally vectorbased.

n Clutter data: this data provides land use information. This datais generally raster based.

n Telecom related data: this data provides information such asmobile phone subscriber density, Internet connection density,and other related parameters that can be useful in identifyingthe location of potential subscribers. The processing of thisdata is verymuch dependent on the format (vector or raster)and units.

Processing the data can take many forms and requires that you understandsome of the Mentum Planet GIS features. The proposed sequence of dataprocessing described here should be seen as an example and might not beapplicable to your situation.

Traffic model outputs

Whenmodeling the traffic of a market, the objective is to spatially representthe density of potential subscribers. Such values are continuous in nature andwill therefore be best represented by a numeric grid (.grd file). You cangenerate a grid of the market demand using the GIS and traffic modelingfeatures of Mentum Planet.



Transforming census information into a traffic map

Because census information is generally provided in a vector formatwhere attributes (such as the population) are attached to a region, youwill need to transform this information into a traffic map. For informationon generating traffic maps, see Chapter 9, “Working with Traffic Maps”,in the Mentum Planet User Guide.

Geodata requirements

Predicting network propagation accurately is highly dependent on thequality and type of geographical data (i.e., geodata) you use. Table 1.1indicates the suitability of common data types for the differenttechnologies.

Table 1.1 Data requirements for various data types

Frequency Range (GHz)

Data Type (Meters)2.5-3.6 GHz

Nomadic/Mobile2.5-3.6 GHzFixed

GreaterThan 3.6GHz Fixed

20-30 meter resolutionheight and clutter (landuse) data

Acceptable Acceptable Notsufficientfor LOSestimation

5-meter resolutionDigital Terrain Model(DTM)

Difficult to usewith standardmodels

Difficult touse withstandardmodels

Ideal forLOSanalysis atlow cost

High-resolution 3Dmodel (i.e., vectorbuilding models andhigh-resolution clutterdata)

Ideal for urbanareas

Ideal forurban areas

Ideal forurbanareas


Chapter 3

Workflow for WiMAXLTE network design usingMentum Planet

The workflow outlined in this section shows the typical order of steps only.Depending on your work practices, you may not complete the steps in thesame order.

Step 1 Gather information about potential site locations, collect electronicantenna patterns, and obtain required geodata.

Step 2 If required, prepare your data.

n Verify that your data is in a format that Mentum Planet 5 can use.See the Grid Analysis User Guide for information on importinggrids.

n If you want to perform propagation model tuning or generatemerged predictions, you need to import survey data. See theMentum Planet User Guide for information on importing andfiltering surveys.

Step 3 Customize your Mentum Planet environment by specifying defaultsettings and actions for projects.

Step 4 Create a new project or open an existing project. A Mentum Planetproject stores all the information required to simulate the network.In other words, it contains the network and all details related to it.You can create a project with as little as a DTM and later add aclutter grid, propagation models, and so on. The Project Wizardmakes project creation simple.

Step 5 Define network settings.

Step 6 Configure and place sites.

At this stage of the workflow, you place sites using the defaultpropagation models. You can later create and fine tune propagationmodels to suit your requirements.



Step 7 Optionally, create the groups and flags you need to organizeand manage sites. See “Chapter 2: Working with Sites andSectors” in the Mentum Planet User Guide.

Step 8 Define propagation models. Propagation models are the basisof predictions.

Step 9 Optionally, compare and analyze survey data. See “Chapter 5:Managing Survey Data” in the Mentum Planet User Guide.

Step 10 Optionally, generate predictions. You can generate predictionsindependent of network analyses or as part of the networkanalysis process. See “Chapter 8: Generating Predictions” inthe Mentum Planet User Guide.

Step 11 Optionally, generate traffic maps for the services and areathat you plan to analyze. See “Chapter 10: Working withTraffic Maps” in the Mentum Planet User Guide.

Step 12 Define subscriber attributes including equipment and services.

Step 13 Define environment settings for each clutter class.

Step 14 Generate a nominal analysis or a Monte Carlo simulation andview results.

Step 15 Generate and review layer statistics.

Step 16 Optionally, generate interference matrices in order todetermine whether there is potential interference betweensectors. See “Chapter 11: Working with Interference Matrices”in the Mentum Planet User Guide.

Step 17 Optionally, generate neighbor lists in order to examine theeffect neighboring sites have on network coverage andcapacity. See “Chapter 12: Working with Neighbor Lists” in theMentum Planet User Guide.

Step 18 Optionally, create a frequency plan and preamblephysical cell ID plan.


Chapter 3

Step 19 Optionally, create coverage map reports. See “Chapter 15:Generating Reports” in the Mentum Planet User Guide.


Understanding The Fundamentals Of Mentum Planet

Chapter 3 Understanding The Fundamentals OfMentum Planet

In order to work effectively with Mentum Planet, it is important that youhave an understanding of basic Mentum Planet concepts.



Understanding project data types 24

Understanding project geodata 28

Understanding project files 33

Understanding the Project Explorer 35

Defining user preferences 41

User Preferences 43

Project Explorer 44

Performance 45

Zoom Automatically 46

User Preferences 48

Project Wizard Defaults 49

Geodata 50

Understanding the project folder structure 51

Creating and using workspaces 54

Attaching files to a Mentum Planet project 56

Working with site sets 58

Working with map layers 65

Working with geodata folders 69

Defining the coordinate systems to use in a project 71


Chapter 3

Defining color profiles 73

Color Profiles 76

Color 77



Understanding projects

A project contains and organizes all of the information pertaining to aparticular wireless network. This includes

n digital terrain models

n clutter information

n propagation models

n site locations

n sector equipment, including antennas

n sector groups

n link configurations

n flags

n traffic maps

n survey data

n network data

n any documents you want to attach to the project

A project also contains the results of predictions and network analysesmade on the basis of this information.


Chapter 3

Understanding project data types

For GIS data, Mentum Planet uses MapInfo tables and grids. An understandingof these types of data will help you to use Mentum Planet effectively.

Understanding MapInfo tables

Tables are like spreadsheets. Each row in a table contains one record, andeach column in the record contains information about a particular field.

In Mentum Planet , MapInfo tables store

n site data, such as site name, sector name, and various site andsector labels

n points, such as tower locations or survey result

n lines and polylines, such as roads

n polygons, such as bodies of water or county boundaries

Once you have opened a table, you can view the contents of each record bychoosing Window New Browser Window.

Understanding grids

Grid data is the best way to represent phenomena that vary continuouslythrough space. Elevation, signal strength, path loss, and signal interferenceare excellent examples of properties that are distributed in constantly varyingdegrees through space and are best represented in grid format. Grids are partof the raster data format. Regions, points, and lines are part of the vector dataformat.

A grid can be used to effectively visualize the trends of geographic informationacross an area. Grids enable you to quickly compare and query layers ofinformation, create new derived grids, or analyze grid layers for such uniqueproperties as visual exposure, proximity, density, or slope. There are twotypes of Mentum Planet grids: numeric grids and classified grids. For moreinformation, see “Numeric grids” and ““Classified grids”.



What is a grid?

A grid is made up of regularly spaced square cells, called bins, whereeach bin has a value and a color representing the value. If there areseveral bins between two known locations, the change in color betweenthese bins indicates how the values change. All data that varies throughspace is captured at discrete sample locations where the value is known.For example, an RF engineer performs a survey to record the signalstrength from a sector. Readings are collected every second. In a vector-based GIS system, there are limited ways to portray this kind of data.Some of the more traditional ways are to label each individual samplelocation with the known value, to create graduated symbols at eachsample site where the symbol size reflects the sample’s value, or togenerate contour lines or contour regions depicting locations of equalvalue (see Figure 3.1). Another commonmethod of displaying surveydata in a vector-based GIS system is to thematically shade points basedon signal strength.

Figure 3.1: Three examples of how a traditional vector-based GISsystem displays data that varies continuously.

The problem with these methods is that it is difficult to portray how thedata changes between known locations. Grids, on the other hand, easilydisplay how the data changes between locations.

Understanding grid types

Mentum Planet supports two types of grids:


Chapter 3

n numeric grids—use numeric attribute information

n classified grids—use character attribute information

Numeric grids

One example of a numeric grid is a DEM, where each bin is referenced to avalue measured in units of height above sea level (see Figure 3.2). Numericgrids are best used to define continuously varying surfaces of information,such as elevation, in which bin values are either mathematically estimatedfrom a table of point observations or assigned real numeric values. Forexample, in Figure 3.2 each bin was calculated (interpolated) from a table ofrecorded elevation points. In Mentum Planet , numeric grid files are given theextension .grd. Numeric grids have a corresponding .tab file containingimportant metadata that describes the grid file.

Figure 3.2: Numeric grid showing the continuous variation of elevation acrossan area



Classified grids

Classified grids are best used to represent information that is morecommonly restricted to a defined boundary. They are used in the sameway that a region is used to describe a boundary area, such as a landclassification unit or a census district. In this case, the grid file does notrepresent information that varies continuously over space. In Figure 3.3a land classification grid displays each bin with a character attributeattached to it that describes the land type underlying it. A common typeof classified grid is a Best Serving Sector analysis layer. In MentumPlanet , classified grid files use a .grc file extension. Classified grids havea corresponding .tab file containing important metadata that describesthe grid file.

Figure 3.3: Classified grid representing land use (called a clutter file)where each bin is referenced to a descriptive attribute

TIP: Grids can easily be converted to vector format by contouring andvector-based data can be converted to grids. For more information, see“Creating Grids Using Other Methods”, in the Grid Analysis User Guide.


Chapter 3

Understanding project geodata

Project geodata includes digital terrain models, clutter files, building outlines,region files along with other data required to accurately model a network. Allgeodata files must be saved in a geodata folder (using the naming conventionof your choice) but the folder itself can be saved locally or remotely dependingon your work requirements. The geodata folder must, however, contain afolder called “Heights” where the elevation file is saved and a folder called“Clutter”. The Clutter folder can be empty if you are not using clutter.

In Mentum Planet , geodata is organized into categories that are reflected inthe following folder structure:

n Heights—a mandatory folder that contains DEM files used todefine the height of the terrain above sea level.

n Clutter—a mandatory folder that contains files used todescribe land classification or land use. While it’s mandatory tohave this folder within the Geodata folder, you do not have toassociate a clutter file with the project.

n Clutter Heights—an optional folder that contains files used todefine the height of clutter Above Ground Level (AGL).

n Polygons—an optional folder that contains files used to define3D regions building models.

n Custom—an optional folder that contains geographic files thatdo not fit into the other geodata folders. This folder is typicallyused to store 2D vector data such as streets and demographicdata.

Each folder can contain multiple files, each of a different resolution and/orcoverage.

TIP: Specialized geodata is available from Mentum. See the MentumGeodata web page athttp://www.mentum.com/index.php?page=geodata&hl=en_US.


http://www.mentum.com/index.php?page=geodata&hl=en_US

http://www.mentum.com/index.php?page=geodata&hl=en_US


CAUTION: Files in the Heights, Clutter, Clutter Heights, and Polygonsfolder should use the same map projection. Files in the Custom folder donot have to use the same map projection as other geodata files.

Heights folder

The Heights folder contains one or more Digital Elevation Models (DEMs).Each grid (.grd) file contains, for each bin, the height in meters or feet ofthe terrain above sea level. Using Mentum Planet , you can build heightfiles from point data or use many industry standard data formats. Eachheight file has a corresponding .tab file that contains importantmetadata about the grid file.

When the Heights folder contains multiple grid files, each grid file mustuse the same coordinate system, but may have a different resolution.The primary height file, defined on the Geodata tab in the ProjectSettings dialog box, should geographically contain all of the other gridfiles in the Heights folder.

Clutter folder

The Clutter folder contains one or more clutter files in classified grid(.grc) format. Each classified grid file contains, for each bin, the clutterclass that covers the majority of the bin. Clutter files are derived fromaerial/satellite imagery or generated from digitized maps. Each clutterfile has a corresponding .tab file that contains important metadata aboutthe classified grid file.

You are not required to choose a clutter file when you create a project.However, using clutter files is fundamental to increasing the accuracy ofpredictions when using propagation models that support clutterattenuation parameters (e.g., CRC-Predict and the Planet GeneralModel). Without land-use information, predictions cannot model theeffects of man-made structures or trees.

When the Clutter folder contains multiple classified grid files, eachclassified grid file must use the same coordinate system, but may have a


Chapter 3

different resolution. The primary clutter file, defined on the Geodata tab in theProject Settings dialog box, should geographically contain all of the otherclassified grid files in the Clutter folder.

Clutter Heights folder

The Clutter Heights folder is an optional folder that contains one or moreclutter height files in numeric grid format. Each grid (.grd) file specifies, foreach bin, the mean height above ground level of the clutter specified in theclutter file over the bin. Height values must always be greater than or equal to-400 m.

Clutter height files are particularly useful in urban environments, for highresolution clutter files, to describe the height of buildings at the bin level. It isalso useful for lower resolution clutter files to describe clutter heights withmore granularity wherever the height of a clutter is not uniform over thecovered area. In this case, you would use a lower resolution grid file to specifyaverage clutter height, and a higher resolution grid file to provide moreprecise clutter height information.

When the Clutter Heights folder contains multiple grid files, each grid file mustuse the same coordinate system.

NOTE: You must add files to the Clutter Heights folder manually. See “Tomanage geodata files”.

NOTE: Not all propagation models use clutter height information. If themodel you are using does not support clutter height data, you can create aclassified grid from the clutter height data and merge it with the clutter file.

Polygons folder

The Polygons folder is an optional folder that contains one or more polygonfiles in MapInfo table (.tab) format. Each row in a table file specifies a polygonor region object. Typically, individual polygon files are used to define polygons



of different types (e.g., one polygon table defines building contours, andanother defines vegetation contours).

Polygon table files must contain at least the columns specified in Table 2.1, while 3D polygon tables files must also contain either of the columnsspecified in Table 2.2. Tables may contain other columns such as streetaddress, building population, attenuation factor, or other user-definedor model-specific columns.

Table 2.1 Required polygon table columns

Fieldname

Type Comment

Polygon_ID

Character(64)

Unique ID to represent each polygonobject

Polygon_Type

Character(256)

Descriptive information about a polygon;such as, “Building”, “Vegetation”, or“Water”.

Height values for 3D polygons are specified in either this AMSL or AGLcolumn. Polygons are considered 2D when a polygon table file does notcontain either the AMSL or AGL columns.

Table 1 Table 2.2 Required 3D polygon table columns

FieldName

Type Comment

AMSL FloatA floating point number representing theheight above average mean sea level.

AGL FloatA floating point number representing theheight above ground level.

NOTE: The measurement unit used by values in the AMSL and AGLcolumns are specified in the metadata associated with the .tab file. Usethe following integer values to specify measurement units:

n 2—Inchesn 3—Feet


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n 5—Millimetersn 6—Centimetersn 7—Meters

When the Polygons folder contains multiple table files, each table file must usethe same coordinate system as the primary heights file.

NOTE: You must add files to the Polygons folder manually. See “To managegeodata files”.

Custom folder

The Custom folder is an optional folder that contains one or more geographicfiles that do not fit in the other geodata folders. The following are someexamples of geographic files that you would add to the Custom folder:

n boundaries

n road networks

n railway networks

n water ways

n aerial or satellite photos

Mentum Planet can display custom data if it is a MapInfo grid or table file. Forother types of custom data, Mentum Planet will use an appropriate applicationwith which to display the chosen custom data.

NOTE: You must add files to the Custom folder manually. See “To managegeodata files”.



Understanding project files

When you create a project in Mentum Planet , you are prompted toselect a project folder, specify the project heights grid file and,optionally, a project clutter file. You must also define the projecttechnologies, the default settings files, and the coordinate system. Thesite set is automatically created.

Site files

When you create a project, a default site set is added to the Project Datacategory of the Project Explorer as shown in Figure 3.1. A site set definesa collection of sites and contains the site data. You can create multiplesite sets within a Mentum Planet project but only one site set is active atany one time. It is the active site set that you modify when you changesite parameters. Using multiple site sets enables you to have severalversions of the same network available and offers more flexibility tocreate and analyze “What-If” scenarios. See “Working with site sets”.

The site information required to display sites in the Map window isduplicated in the site table (i.e., in the .tab file) as shown in “Appendix A:Site Table Format”. Additional site table columns are also available if youwant to query the site data using MapBasic functionality; however, youcannot update site data bymodifying the .tab file as this data is alwaysupdated from the internal Mentum Planet project,which is held in-memory and stored in the project file.

You can update site sets using the Tabular Editor or Import/ExportWizard.

CAUTION: To update the site table (.tab) file, right-click the Sites nodeand choose Update Site File. Site updates are not automatically added tothe site table.

CAUTION: Do not update the site table manually using MapBasic orMapInfo functionality.


Chapter 3

Workspaces

A workspace (.wor) file records which MapInfo files are open, the position ofeach Map window and the properties of each layer it contains. You can saveyour working configuration to a workspace file whenever you want. Thisfeature is particularly useful for features such as print layouts. If you associatea workspace with a project, that workspace is opened whenever you open theproject.

Use of a workspace is optional. If you do not use a workspace, Mentum Planetwill automatically save the initial workspace configuration when you close yourproject. The initial workspace configuration will be restored when you reopenthe project unless you choose to use a workspace and have enabled theWorkspace Autosave feature.

For more information on workspaces, see “Creating and using workspaces”.



Understanding the Project Explorer

The Project Explorer simplifies viewing and manipulation of MentumPlanet project data. It provides

n tree representation of hierarchical relationships such asgroups and sites, sites and sectors, analyses and analysislayers

n an indicator showing the number of sites and sectorscontained in the Sites node and individual Group nodes;for example, if a group name is followed by [10/25/76/5](see Figure 3.1), then there are 10 sites, 25 basestations, 76 sectors, and 5 repeaters contained in thegroup.

n Data Manager status bar, indicating the project status inData Manager (if applicable)

n easy access to all information about a site, sector, orgroup

n right-click access to relevant commands

n mouse operations (e.g., drag and drop) for tasks such asadding a site to a group

n copy and paste operations

n easy access to Restore functionality where minimizeddialog boxes (e.g., the Prediction Generator dialog boxand the Point-to-Point dialog box) can be maximizedagain.

The Project Explorer is present whenever a project is open, and is initiallydocked at the left side of the application window. You can also dock theProject Explorer on the right side of the application window by dragging itto the right side of the screen. Drag the Project Explorer to the left sideof the screen to once again dock it on the left side of the applicationwindow. When docked, only the width of the Project Explorer is resizable.


Chapter 3

You can also undock the Project Explorer by dragging it to any location on thescreen. When undocked, both the height and width of the Project Explorer areresizable. Drag the Project Explorer to the left or right side of the screen toonce again dock it with the application window.

TIP: If you want to hide the Project Explorer from view, choose View HideProject Explorer. Choose View Show Project Explorer to once again viewthe Project Explorer.



Figure 3.1: Project Explorer

The Project Explorer can contain one, two, or three data windows. TheData Window control buttons, located just below the title bar, controlhowmany data windows the Project Explorer displays.


Chapter 3

Button FunctionAdds another data window at the bottom of the ProjectExplorer. The button is unavailable when there arethree data windows.Removes the bottom data window in the ProjectExplorer. The button is unavailable when there is onlyone data window.Updates the content of the Project Explorer. Toreorder items in the Sites category, right-click theGroups, Repeaters, or Sites node and choose Refresh.

Understanding the Project Explorer data window

Project information is divided into several broad categories:

n Network Analyses

n Operational Data

n Project Data

n RF Tools

n Sites

n Microwave

n Windows

A data window displays a single category of information as a tree view. Youselect the category from the Category list.

The items in the tree view are generically called nodes. Specific nodes arealways referred to by name. A node can be

n a collection of nodes of one type, such as the Groups node,which is a collection of Group nodes

n an item that contains subordinate items, such as a site thatcontains sectors



The tree view represents hierarchical relationships graphically. You canexpand or collapse nodes to reveal or hide subordinate nodes as needed.

You can define some relationships by dragging nodes. For example:

n To add a site to a group, drag the site into the group fromthe Sites node.

n To change the order of layers in a Map window, drag thelayer to where you want it in the list of map layers.

Using multiple data windows

If you configure the Project Explorer with multiple data windows, you can

n viewmultiple categories of information at once

n view different parts of a lengthy tree view so that you caneasily perform mouse drag operations between them

By default, a category can only be viewed in one data window at a time.For information on how to view the same category in more than one datawindow, see “Defining user preferences”.

Access to commands

When you right-click on any node, you access a shortcut menu ofcommands that apply to that type of node. For example, the followingmenu appears when you right-click on a site node.


Chapter 3

Figure 3.2: Right-click commands

Each shortcut menu has a default command that appears in bold. Forexample, the default command for a site node is Edit. You can access thesedefault commands quickly by double-clicking a node.

You can make multiple selections by holding the Shift or Ctrl key while clickingnodes, and then right-click to perform a command on all of them. In this case,the shortcut menu contains only commands that are valid for multiple nodes.For example, if you right-click on multiple sites, the New Sector command isnot available. You can add a sector to only one site at a time.



Defining user preferences

In the User Preferences dialog box, you can specify default settings andactions for Mentum Planet . These defaults are maintained betweenMentum Planet sessions and upgrades and preserved across all projects.Preferences are user-specific so in a centralized work environment (suchas when using Citrix or Windows Terminal Server), user preferences areunique to the individual who defines them.

User preferences are divided into the following categories:

n General—Mentum Planet startup actions and projectdata validation settings

n Units—units to be used across the project as well as theproject coordinate system.

n Project Explorer—performance, site selection, andlayer display settings

n Data Manager—logon settings and profile management

n Project Wizard Defaults—default folder settings andgeodata settings

n Miscellaneous—prediction view, import/export, andMonte Carlo simulation settings

NOTE: Descriptions of relevant parameters are listed after theprocedure or, if you are using the software, press F1 for the online Help.

To define user preferences

CAUTION: The Transmitted Power, Height, Distance, and Coordinatessettings are global parameters that affect the interpretation of all thevalues stored for sites. Use the same units of measure consistentlythroughout your project to avoid inadvertently changing globalparameters.


Chapter 3

1 Choose Edit Preferences.

The User Preferences dialog box opens.

2 Define your user preferences as required.

User preferences are maintained between Mentum Planet sessions.

CAUTION: You must restart Mentum Planet to apply value changes for anyuser preference marked by an asterisk (*).



User Preferences

Use the User Preferences dialog box to specify default settings andactions for Mentum Planet. These settings are maintained betweenMentum Planet sessions and upgrades.

NOTE: This section details key parameters. For descriptions of allavailable parameters, see the online Help.


Chapter 3

Project Explorer

Use this panel to define Project Explorer performance and selection settings.For more information about the Project Explorer, see Understanding theProject Explorer in the User Guide for the technology you are using.



Performance

CAUTION: Enabling any of the options in this section will impact theperformance of the Project Explorer.

Enable Duplicate Categories—enable this check box to display thesame category in two Project Explorer data windows. When this checkbox is cleared, categories are restricted to a single data window. Usingduplicate categories increases the time it takes to open a project andunless you are working with projects that have less than 5 000 sectors, itis not recommended.

Show Horizontal Scrollbar in Sites Category—enable this check boxto add a horizontal scrollbar to the data window displaying the Sitescategory when the window content surpasses the window width.

Sort Project Explorer Nodes Automatically—enable this check boxto sort the nodes in the Project Explorer when you add new items to theProject Explorer or rename existing items. When this check box iscleared, new items are added to the bottom of nodes, and you mustright-click the Groups, Repeaters, or Sites node and choose Refresh tosort the chosen node.


Chapter 3

Zoom Automatically

On Located Site—enable this check box to set the zoom distance when usingthe Locate command from the shortcut menu. To set the zoom distance, movethe slider until the desired zoom distance is displayed next to the slider.

On Viewed Site Selection—enable this check box to set the zoom distancewhen using the View command from the shortcut menu. To set the zoomdistance, move the slider until the desired zoom distance is displayed next tothe slider.

Apply Translucency To Raster Layers—enable this check box to applytranslucency to raster layers. Enable the check box next to each layer forwhich you want translucency applied. Specify the degree of transparency bydragging the slider until the desired percentage is displayed. When you set atranslucency level of 0 percent, the layer is completely opaque (i.e., youcannot see through it). When you specify 100% translucency, the layer iscompletely transparent.

NOTE: Translucency is applied when you view a layer from the ProjectExplorer or from a menu. When you change a translucency setting, you mustremove the layer and re-display it in order to see the effect of your changes.

TIP: Using a translucency value of 50% on network analysis layers will enableyou to see the geodata information or the aerial or satellite images throughthe network layers.

Analysis Layer (Numeric)—enable this check box to apply translucency tonumeric analysis layers and move the slider until the degree of translucency isdisplayed.

Analysis Layer (Classified)—enable this check box to apply translucency toclassified analysis layers and move the slider until the degree of translucency isdisplayed.

Clutter—enable this check box to apply translucency to clutter layers andmove the slider until the degree of translucency is displayed.



Heights—enable this check box to apply translucency to the elevationlayer and move the slider until the degree of translucency is displayed.

Prediction—enable this check box to apply translucency to predictionsand move the slider until the degree of translucency is displayed.

Traffic Map—enable this check box to apply translucency to traffic mapsand move the slider until the degree of translucency is displayed.


Chapter 3

User Preferences

Use the User Preferences dialog box to specify default settings and actions forMentum Planet. These settings are maintained between Mentum Planetsessions and upgrades.

NOTE: This section details key parameters. For descriptions of all availableparameters, see the online Help.



Project Wizard Defaults

Project Folder—this field displays the name of the default project folderfor new projects. You can change this folder while using the ProjectWizard to create a new project.

Browse—click this button to locate the a folder to use as the defaultproject folder for new projects.

Global Folder—this field displays the name of the folder where defaultproject files such as antenna files or curve files are saved. If you do notspecify a global folder, the Global folder within the Mentum Planetinstallation folder is used.

Browse—click this button to navigate to where the folder you want tospecify is located.


Chapter 3

Geodata

Use Default Geodata—enable this check box to define a default location forgeodata. When you create a new project, these defaults will be used.

Geodata Location—this field displays the name of the folder where geodatais saved. Geodata can be saved locally or remotely and the folder name can bewhatever best suits your needs; however, the geodata folder must contain aHeights folder with the elevation grid and a Clutter folder, which can be emptyof you are not using clutter.

Primary Heights File—choose from this list the elevation file you want toassociate with the project. All files contained in the Heights folder will be listed.

Primary Clutter File—choose from this list the clutter file you want toassociate with the project or choose None if you do not want to define adefault clutter file. All files contained in the Clutter folder will be listed. You canhave more than one clutter file in the folder.



Understanding the project folder structure

Each project folder contains many sub-folders. These are described inTable 2.3.

Table 2.3 Project folders

Folder ContentsAntenna Algorithm Files that are used to describe the algorithms

used in various configurations of multipleantenna systems

Antenna Queries Antenna query files

Antennas Files for antennas used in the project

Areas Area classified grid files

Attachments Files you want to associate with a project. Onlyshared files are saved in the Attachments folder.These files will automatically be put into DataManager when you submit the project.

Backup project data backup

Bin Path loss files

CDMA2000_Analyses cdma2000 analysis files

CDMA2000MC_Simulations

cdma2000 Monte Carlo simulation parametersand results

Curves Curve files, which are used by the application toconfigure relationships between performanceindicators

Environment

FCC Contours FCC region and point files

Field Strength Combined signal strength files, which are createddynamically when viewing overall site fieldstrength

Filters Filter loss (.flt) files

FixedWiMAXFDD_Analyses

Fixed WiMAX FDD network analysis files

FixedWiMAXTDD_Analysis

Fixed WiMAX TDD network analysis files


Chapter 3

Folder Contents

FrequencyPlan WiMAX frequency plans

General Settings files (e.g., contour.set)

Geodata Mapping data including elevation, clutter, clutterheight, 2D/3D polygon, and other types ofmapping data files such as streets andphotographic imagery. The geodata folder mustcontain a Heights folder and a Clutter folder. TheHeights folder must contain the mandatoryprimary DTM. The Clutter folder can be empty.

InterferenceMatrix Interference matrix files

LTE_Analyses LTE analysis files

LTEMC_Simulations LTE Monte Carlo simulation parameters andresults

Model Propagation model and clutter propertyassignment files

NeighborList Neighbor list files

Network_Data Imported network data files

PNOffsetPlanning PN offset plans

PredictionView Optimized pathloss storage used for networkanalyses and Monte Carlo simulations

PreQualAnalyses Nth best server layers

Profiles Grid color profile files, point-to-point profilesettings files, and contour color profile files

Propagation_Model_Analyses

Propagation model analysis files

Reports Report files

Scanner Data Scanner data files and templates

Scanner Survey Data Scanner survey data files and templates

ScramblingCodePlanningScrambling code plans

Sector Display Scheme Sector display schemes

Settings Files created by the Traffic Map Generator

SignalStrength Prediction files for individual sectors



Folder ContentsSite Sets Local and shared site sets

Site Templates Local and shared site templates

SPT Files related to the process of merging surveysand predictions.

Subscriber Data Fixed broadband wireless access database

Surveys Survey files

TDMA_FDMA_Analyses TDMA/FDMA network analysis files

Test Mobile Data Test mobile data files and templates

TrafficMaps Numeric grid and clutter relative weighting filesfor traffic maps

WCDMA_Analyses WCDMA network analysis files

WCDMAMC_Simulations WCDMA Monte Carlo simulation parameters andresults

WiMAX_Analyses WiMAX network analysis files

WiMAXMC_Analyses WiMAX Monte Carlo simulation parameters andresults

WiMAXMC_Simulations WiMAX Monte Carlo simulation parameters andresults

Workspaces MapInfo workspace files including the defaultProjectOpening.wor file.


Chapter 3

Creating and using workspaces

A workspace (.wor) file saves the current settings for each Map window and itslayers. At any time, you can save the current settings to a workspace file.

When you open a workspace, the Map windows and layers specified in theworkspace are re-created, opening any files that are required.

For more information about workspaces, see “Using Workspaces” in Chapter 4of the MapInfo Professional User Guide.

You can define a workspace in your project settings that Mentum Planet willopen when you open the project. By default, Mentum Planet does notassociate a workspace with your project; it stores the working configuration ina default workspace. To automatically update a workspace file when you makechanges, you must use a defined workspace (.wor) file and enable theWorkspace Autosave check box on the General tab in the Project Settingsdialog box.

To create a workspace

1 Choose GIS Save Workspace.

2 In the Save Workspace dialog box, navigate to your projectfolder.

3 Ensure that Workspace (*.wor) is selected in the Save As Type list.

4 In the File Name box, type a workspace name or accept thedefault, and click Save.

To open a workspace

1 Choose GIS Open Workspace.

2 In the Open Workspace dialog box, navigate to your workspacefile, and clickOpen.

3 Ensure that Workspace (*.wor) is selected in the Files of Type list.



TIP: You can also view the contents of a workspace file using a texteditor such as Notepad.

To associate a workspace with a project

You can specify a previously-saved workspace that Mentum Planet openseach time you open this project. By doing this, you can have the projectopen with the same configuration of windows and map layers everytime.

1 With a project open, choose Edit Project Settings.

The Project Settings dialog box opens.

2 Click the General tab.

3 In theWorkspace section, clickBrowse beside theWorkspace box, navigate to the workspace you want touse, and then clickOpen.

4 To automatically save the workspace each time you close theproject, enable theWorkspace Autosave check box.


Chapter 3

Attaching files to a Mentum Planet project

You can attach files of any type to a Mentum Planet project and organize theminto folders for easy access. This is useful when you want to include supportdocuments in a Mentum Planet project such as census tract data, capacityplanning information, or RF design review documents. And, you can updateattached information that is saved as a .xls or .csv file using the Importcommand.

NOTE: Files can be saved locally on your workstation or shared with otherusers using the Data Manager.

To attach a file to a project

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Project Data category, expandthe Attachments node and do any of the following:

n To attach a file that you want stored locally, right-click Localand choose Add.

n To attach a file that you want stored in Data Manager, right-click Shared and choose Add.

2 In the Open dialog box, locate the file you want to add, and clickOpen.

The attached file is added to the Local or Shared attachments node inthe Project Explorer. Shared files are saved in the Attachments folderwithin the project folder.

TIP: You can also double-click the Local or Shared node to attach a file.

To open an attached file

n In the Project Explorer, in the Project Data category, right-click the attached file and choose Open.



To remove an attached file from a project

n In the Project Explorer, in the Project Data category,right-click the attached file and choose Remove.

The file is deleted from the Attachments folder.


Chapter 3

Working with site sets

A site set is a collection of sites. Every project has a Master site set, whichcontains all the sites in a project. When you create a project, a Master site setis created by default. Site sets can, for example, help you workmoreefficiently on the region for which you are responsible by allowing you tocreate a copy of the Master site set which contains only those sites you areworking on. When you make changes to sites in the subset, these changes areonly reflected in the project once you merge the subset into the Master siteset.

In contrast, when you work with groups, changes you make to sites in thegroup are reflected in the project as soon as you apply them. For moreinformation, see “Grouping sites” in the Mentum Planet User Guide.

When you are satisfied with the results and the changes you have made to asite subset, you can merge it back into the Master site set. And, if you areworking with the Data Manager, you can then submit the Master site set to theserver project so that others can access your changes. Site subsets are notstored in Data Manager.

NOTE: To help you identify a site set, you can add a detailed description byright-clicking on the site set and choosing Edit Description.

TIP: You can update site sets using the Tabular Editor or Import/ExportWizard.

Master site set

When you create a project, a Master site set is automatically created. Themaster site set contains all sites in the project and is identified with a greenplus sign. It is from the Master site set that you create site subsets in order toperform specific planning and optimization tasks outside the productionenvironment (i.e., in a virtual sandbox). In other words, you can, for example,generate and examine predictions or network analyses and then make



modifications to site or network parameters without changing the Mastersite set.

You can create a copy of the entire Master site set (i.e., all the sites in theproject) if you want to backup all site data. In the Project Explorer, right-click the Master site set and choose Copy.

Site subsets

A site subset is a copy of specific sites contained in the Master site set. Inthe Project Explorer, a site subset is identified with a green minus sign asshown in Figure 2.6. Using site subsets, you can test various siteconfigurations before applying these changes to the project.

Active site set

The sites in the Active site set are those you change when you make siteand sector modifications. The Active site set is identified with a greenarrow as shown in Figure 2.6.

Figure 2.6 Icons identifies the active site set


Chapter 3

Site table

The site table (or site file) is used mainly for display purposes. It contains theinformation required to display sites in the Map window as well as additionalsite table columns that can be used if you want to query site data usingMapInfo functionality.

You cannot permanently update site data bymodifying the site (.tab) file asthis data is always updated from the internal Mentum Planet project, which isheld in-memory and stored in the project file. Site data saved in the site tableis not updated automatically when you make changes to site or sectorparameters. You can, however, refresh the site data stored in the site tableusing the Update Site File command from the Sites node in the ProjectExplorer but these updates are not saved. The site table is re-written eachtime you open a project.

To switch the active site set

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Project Data category, expandSite Sets, and then expand either the Local or Shared node.

2 Right-click the active site set and do one of the following:

n To copy the entire site set, choose Copy.

n To copy a subset of the site set, choose Copy Subset.

3 If you are copying a subset, in the Select Sites dialog box, specifythe sites that you want to be part of the subset by choosing one ofthe following options in the Sector Selection section:

n All Sites to include all sites in the subset.

n Current Selection if you have selected specific sectors in theMap window.

n Flag Filtering if you have defined and assigned flags tosectors. Enable the Invert Conditions check box to select thosesectors for which the applied conditions do not apply.



n Group Selection if you have defined and createdgroups.

n Query Selection if you have defined and created sectorqueries.

4 In the Band Filtering section, enable the bands you want toinclude in your sector selection.

The sites that will be included in the subset are displayed in theSelected Sites list.

5 ClickOK.

The new site set is added to the Site Sets list.

NOTE: If the number of sites in a site set is high (i.e., greater than 5_000 sectors), the action of switching between site sets can take sometime to complete.

To change the active site set

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Project Data category,expand Site Sets, and then expand either the Local orShared node.

2 Right-click the site set that you want to set as the active siteset and choose Active.

The active site set changes, and the new site set is displayed in theMap window.

NOTE: When you change site sets, only the sites change. Defined flags,groups, and link configurations are preserved. For example, flags youhave defined for the active site set will also be available for use with asubset of the site set.


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To merge a subset into the active site set

CAUTION: It is recommended that you backup the site set before doing amerge. Changesmade to the original site set cannot be undone.


2 Right-click the subset site set and chooseMerge To Active.

Site data in the original site set is overwritten with the data from thesubset.

To create a shared site set

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Project Data category, expandSite Sets, and then expand the Local node.

2 Right-click the site set you want to share and choose CreateShared.

A copy of the selected site set is added to the Shared node.

To update a shared site set

You can only update a shared site set when the original site set is not the activesite set.

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Project Data category, expandSite Sets, and then expand the Local node.

2 Right-click the original site set used to create the shared copy andchoose Update Shared.

The shared copy of the selected site set is updated to match the originalsite set.



To remove a site set


2 Right-click the site set and choose Remove.

The site set is removed from the list, but the site set files are notdeleted from the project folder.

CAUTION: If you right-click a site set and choose Delete, the site setfiles are deleted from the project folder.

To rename a site set


2 Right-click the site set, choose Rename, type a new name,and press Enter.

To view the site set description


2 Right-click the site set for which you want to view site setdetails, choose About.

3 Once you have read the description, clickOK.


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To edit the site set description


2 Right-click the site set you want to edit and choose EditDescription.

3 In the Edit Description dialog box, type the details you want toassociate with the site set and clickOK.



Working with map layers

You should be familiar with the concept of map layers when you workwith Mentum Planet . Each unique layer of information exists as aseparate file that can be added as a layer in a Map window.

Just as each layer can be visualized above or below another layer, layerscan be compared using spatial analysis functions.

When you open a grid, the Map window consists of a cosmetic layer andindividual map layers. You can manipulate these layers using the ProjectExplorer or using the Layer Control.

Figure 2.7 Various map layers covering the same geographic area canhold different types of information.

In the Windows category of the Project Explorer, you can

n view the names of the individual layers

n add or remove layers

n change the position of individual map layers

n make layers visible or invisible, editable or not editable

n open the layer in a new Map window


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n make layers selectable and/or editable

n enable automatic labeling of objects, such as sites

You can also manipulate map layers with the Layer Control. Right-click on theMap window and choose Layer Control. For more information about the LayerControl, click the Help button in the Layer Control dialog box.

NOTE: For information on visualizing map layers as Microsoft Bing Aerial orMicrosoft Bing Hybrid layers, see the MapInfo Professional User Guide, locatedby default in the \Program Files\Mentum\Planet 5\mapinfo\Documentationfolder.

NOTE: When you close a Map window by choosing File Close Table, the gridis not deleted or removed from the project, it is simply no longer visible.

To manipulate map layers with the Project Explorer

1 In the Project Explorer, in theWindows category, expand theMap Windows node to see the individual map layers.

2 Do any of the following:

n To add newmap layers, right-click the Map window name,choose Add Layer, then choose the layers you want to add,and clickOK.

n To remove a map layer, right-click the map layer and chooseRemove.

n To remove a map layer and close the associated file, right-clickthe map layer and choose Close.

n To move a map layer, drag it to the where you want it toappear in the list of layers.

n To hide a layer, right-click the layer and choose Visible if thecheck box is not already cleared.



n To make a layer visible, right-click the layer and chooseVisible if the check box is not already enabled.

n To make a layer editable, right-click the layer and chooseEditable if the check box is not already enabled. TheEditable command is available only for layers that can bemade editable, such as vector and point layers.

n To make a layer non-editable, right-click the layer andchoose Editable if the check box is not already cleared.The Editable command is available only for layers thatcan be made editable, such as vector and point layers.

n To make a layer selectable, right-click the layer andchoose Selectable if the check box is not alreadyenabled. The Selectable command is available only forlayers that can be made selectable, such as vector andpoint layers.

n To make a layer non-selectable, right-click the layer andchoose Selectable if the check box is not alreadycleared. The Selectable command is available only forlayers that can be made selectable, such as vector andpoint layers.

n To automatically label objects on a layer, right-click thelayer and choose Auto Label if the check box is notalready enabled. The availability of automatic labelingdepends on the layer. Usually you use it on the site table.

n To view a layer in a Browser window, right-click the layerand choose Browse.

n To scale the Map window to show the full extent of alayer, right-click the layer and choose View Entire Layer.

n To open a layer in a new Map window, right-click the layerand choose New Map Window.

To manipulate map layers with the Layer Control

1 Do one of the following:


Chapter 3

n In the Project Explorer, in theWindows category, right-clicka Map window node and choose Layer Control.

n In the Project Explorer, in theWindows category, right-clicka Map window node and choose Layer Control.

n Right-click in the Map window and choose Layer Control.

2 In the Layer Control dialog box, do any of the following:

n To add a newmap layer, click the Add Layers button, choose alayer, and then clickOK.

n To remove a map layer, choose a map layer and click theRemove Layers button.

n To move a layer up, choose a map layer and click theMoveLayers Up button.

n To move a layer down, choose a map layer and click theMoveLayers Down button.

n To make a layer visible, enable the Visible check box next tothe map layer.

n To make a layer editable, enable the Editable icon next to themap layer. Some layers cannot be made editable.

n To make a layer selectable, enable the Selectable icon next tothe map layer.

n To add labels to the layer, enable the Automatic Labels iconnext to the map layer.

For more information about the functionality available in the LayerControl dialog box, click the Help button.

3 ClickOK to close the Layer Control dialog box.

NOTE: Move the cursor over the symbols above each column in the Layer listto display the check box labels.



Working with geodata folders

The Geodata node in the Project Data category of the Project Explorerbrings together all of the geographic data contained in a project toenable you to manage different types of data in a consistent manner.From the Geodata node, you can

n view geodata files by type or resolution

n add or remove files from geodata folders

n view or hide geodata layers

The folder you define for geodata can be located within the project folderalthough it doesn’t have to be. In order to save disk space, the geodatafolder can be located on a server or in a common location where multipleusers can access it. At a minimum, it must, however, contain a Heightsfolder and a Clutter folder. The Heights folder must contain the primaryDTM file but the Clutter folder can be empty.

CAUTION: You must add the files you want in the Clutter Heights,Polygons, and Custom folders manually.

To manage geodata files

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Project Data category,expand the Geodata node to see the geodata folders.


n To add a file to a geodata folder, right-click the geodatafolder name, choose Add, choose the file you want toadd, clickOpen, then clickOK. If the chosen file was notin the appropriate Geodata folder, it will be copied to thisfolder.

n To remove a file from a geodata folder, expand thegeodata folder, right-click the file and choose Remove.


Chapter 3

The chosen file is only removed the geodata folder, it is notdeleted from your computer.

n To hide a geodata file, expand the geodata folder, right-clickthe file and choose View if the check box is not alreadycleared.

n To make a geodata file visible, expand the geodata folder,right-click the file and choose View if the check box is notalready enabled.

n To view a geodata file in a Browser window, expand thegeodata folder, right-click the file and choose Browse. You canonly browse MapInfo tables, not grids or other custom datafiles.

n To open the Grid Info tool, expand the geodata folder, right-click the file and choose Grid Info.

n To create a legend for the geodata layer, expand the geodatafolder, right-click the file and choose Grid Legend.

n To view the colors associated with the layer, expand thegeodata folder, right-click the file and choose Grid Color.

To group geodata files

n In the Project Explorer, in the Project Data category, right-clickGeodata, choose Group By, and then choose the type ofgrouping that you want.

The geodata files are listed based on the type of grouping you chose.



Defining the coordinate systems to use in aproject

You choose which coordinate system you want to use in a Mentum Planetproject when you create a project using the Project Wizard. You canchange the coordinate system on the Coordinate System tab in theProject Settings dialog box as shown in Figure 2.8.

Figure 2.8 Coordinate System tab

To define the coordinate system for sites

1 Choose Edit Project Settings.

2 In the Project Settings dialog box, click the CoordinateSystem tab.

The coordinate system of the project height file is displayed in theTerrain Coordinate System field and cannot be changed because itis the coordinate system of the geodata itself. The geodatacoordinate system is used for display purposes.


Chapter 3

3 To change the coordinate system used for sites, click the Selectbutton next to the Network Coordinate System field.

In order to create the highest quality networkmodel, you should ideallyuse the same coordinate system for the site database as is used for thegeodata. Using a different coordinate system for sites could introduceinaccuracies in predictions.For information on specific unit settings, press the F1 key.


n ClickApply to save the project settings without closing thedialog box.

n ClickOK to save project settings and close the dialog box.



Defining color profiles

In order to improve the appearance and readability of map layers, youcan modify the default color schemes that Mentum Planet uses fornumeric grids. Changing the color profiles, affects the grids currentlyopen in Mentum Planet and the new profiles will be used when creating anew project. Existing network analysis layers are not updated.

You can specify common color profiles that will be applied globally acrossall project data, or you can choose a color scheme (a .vcp file) for specificnumeric grids. Color profiles are text files saved with a .vcp extension.These files should be saved in the <Mentum Planet installationfolder>\Global\Profiles folder.

To choose color profiles

1 Choose Edit Color Profiles.

The Color Profiles dialog box opens.

2 In the Color Profiles dialog box, from the Analysis Typelist, choose the type of analysis for which you want to createcolor profiles.

The values and colors defined in the profile are shown in the Colorstable.


Chapter 3

To create a color profile

1 If the Grid Manager is not visible, choose View ► Grid Manager.

2 In the Grid Manager, choose a numeric grid (.grd).

3 Click the Color button.


n To add a color inflection point, clickAdd, define a value for theinflection point, and clickOK.

n To define a new color for the inflection point, double-click on acolor inflection point, choose a new color in the Color dialogbox and clickOK.

n To move an inflection point, click a color inflection point anddrag it to the new location. This will update the value for thisinflection point in the Color Scheme list. The calculated valuesin the Color Scheme List are automatically updated.



n To change color values and percentiles, click an entry inthe Color Scheme List to make the value editable andtype a new value. This will move the inflection point to theappropriate location on the color ramp.

5 In the Color Profile section, do any of the following:

n Enable the Solid Band check box if you want hard breaksbetween colors instead of interpolated fading.

n Click Flip if you want the colors associated with inflectionpoints in reverse order.

n ClickRevert if you want to return to the color pattern thatwas in place before you clicked Flip.

6 If you want to redefine the grid colors based on how theywould be illuminated by a single light source, in the ReliefShading section, enable the Enabled check box, and clickProperties.

If you want this profile to be available for use with all MentumPlanet projects, save the .vcp file in the <Mentum Planetinstallation folder>\Global\Profiles folder. Otherwise, the defaultlocation is the Profiles folder within the project folder.

NOTE: In deciding whether to save color inflection points by value or bypercentile, use the following guidelines:

n If it is more important to assign specific colors to specific values in aseries of related grid files, then save by value.n If it is more important to assign a particular color range to a series ofrelated grid files where the value range may vary considerably, thensave by percentile.

TIP: You can add a color inflection point in the Grid Color Tool bydouble-clicking on the color slider bar. Conversely, you can delete aninflection point by clicking on an inflection point to highlight it andpressing Delete.


Chapter 3

Color Profiles

Use this dialog box to assign color profiles to numeric grids. By default, colorprofiles are saved in the Global\Profiles folder within the Mentum Planetinstallation folder.


Analysis Type—choose from this list the type of analysis for which you wantto define color profiles. The Common Analysis Type applies the color profiles toanalysis layers common to all technologies (i.e., path loss and signalstrength).



Color

Profiles—this table displays the color profiles (.vcp file) used by numericgrids. Click a color profile file name in the Color Profile Name column toview the profile colors in the Profile list table.

Colors—this table displays the color scheme of a chosen .vcp file.

Select Color Profile—click this button to choose a .vcp file from theSelect Color Profile dialog box to associate with the chosen layer type.


Creating A Project

Chapter 4 Creating A Project

A project can include any of the technologies supported by MentumPlanet.



Creating projects 81

Migrating projects 85

Workflow for migrating Mentum Planet projects 87

Creating a network overlay 90

Opening and closing projects 92

Restoring projects 94

Saving projects 95


Chapter 4

Understanding projects

A Mentum Planet project contains and organizes all of the informationpertaining to a particular wireless network. At a minimum, a project is createdfrom a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) although you can also include clutterinformation (i.e., land use) in a project.

A project contains:

n digital terrain models (i.e., digital elevation models)

n project clutter information

n clutter information for specific environments

n propagation models

n site locations

n sector equipment, including antennas

n groups

n flags

n traffic maps

n operation data (e.g., surveys, networkmeasurement data,neighbor lists, interference matrices, frequency plans, etc.)

n any documents you want to attach to the project

A project also contains the results of predictions and network analyses madeon the basis of this information.


Creating A Project

Creating projects

The Project Wizard leads you through the process of creating a project.In order to streamline design work, you can specify that the Wizardautomatically displays when you start Mentum Planet. If you wantMentum Planet to automatically open the last project, instead of theProject Wizard, in the Startup Options section of the User Preferencesdialog box, choose the Open Most Recent Project option.

You can use remote project folders to store and access Mentum Planetproject data. For example, you can use shared project folders for thefollowing types of project files to conserve disk space on yourworkstation:

n bin files

n signal (field) strength files

n prediction view files

By default, these files are saved in the local project folder. If you useshared project folders, the project files are stored in the shared folders,instead of the local project folder. The shared folders must haveread/write access permissions for all Mentum Planet users accessing theshared folders.

CAUTION: If you are using shared folders and do not enable thecorresponding check box in the Sharing section of the Advanced Optionstab in the Project Settings dialog box, the shared path is not stored inData Manager when you check in the project. For any Data Managerusers who perform a Get on the project, all data will be stored withintheir local project folder.

When you create a project, you can choose to use a workspace to saveyour map window settings, although this is not required. You can alsochoose the coordinate system. For additional information aboutprojections, see “Appendix B, “Elements of a Coordinate System” in theMapInfo Professional User Guide.


Chapter 4

NOTE: Descriptions of relevant parameters are listed after the procedure or,if you are using the software, press F1 for the online Help.

CAUTION: Never save projects in the Mentum Planet installation folder.

To create a project

1 StartMentum Planet.

By default, the Project Wizard opens when you start Mentum Planet. Touse the wizard at any other time, choose File New Project.

2 On each page of the Wizard, provide the required information andclickNext.

3 On the Choose Default Settings For Each EnabledTechnology page, specify those technologies you want to includein the project and clickNext.

Default settings are saved in the <Mentum Planet installationfolder>\Global\Technologies folder. If you want to customize the default


Creating A Project

settings to use each time a new project is created, you can modifythe Excel file.

4 On the Choose Geodata That Covers All Of Your SiteLocations page, click the Browse button and navigate towhere the project geodata is saved and then clickNext.

The folder you define for geodata can be located within the projectfolder although it doesn’t have to be. In order to save disk space,the geodata folder can be located on a server or in a commonlocation where multiple users can access it. At a minimum, it must,however, contain a Heights folder and a Clutter folder. The Heightsfolder must contain the primary elevation file but the Clutter foldercan be empty.

5 Click Finish.

The project opens in a Map window.

NOTE: When you create a project, default propagation model (.pmf)files are copied to the Model folder located within the project folder.

To view or edit project settings

1 Choose Edit Project Settings.

The Project Settings dialog box opens.


Chapter 4

2 Modify project settings as required.

NOTE: To open the Project Settings dialog box once a project is open, chooseEdit Project Settings, or click the Project Settings button on the Networktoolbar.

TIP: To make a copy of an existing project, close the existing project andcopy the contents of its project folder to a new project folder. It is notrecommended that you create the new project folder as subfolder of theexisting project folder.

TIP: In the new project folder, you can delete large folders (e.g., Bin,SignalStrength, PredictionView, and <technology>_Analyses) or you can electnot to copy them because Mentum Planet automatically recreates thesefolders.


Creating A Project

Migrating projects

Before installing Mentum Planet 5.2.1, it is important that you migrateexisting projects in order to take advantage of the new features in thelatest release of Mentum Planet. Changes to the data storage andmanagement architecture in Mentum Planet 5.2.1 require that projectscreated in previous versions of the software be migrated in order tomake it consistent with the new data schema.

The migration of Mentum Planet projects from previous releases is anautomated process achieved using the Mentum Project Migrator utilitythat is available in Mentum Planet .

CAUTION: After a legacy project has been migrated to Mentum Planet5.2.1, it can no longer be opened in previous versions of Mentum Planet .It is recommended that you create a complete project backup prior toopening your project in Mentum Planet 5.2.1.

CAUTION: Whenmigrating from Mentum Planet 5.x to Mentum Planet5.2.1, ensure that the Master site set in your Mentum Planet 5.x projectis active.

Improved data validation

Mentum Planet includes stringent data validation controls aimed atpreserving data integrity and reducing the chance of error or datacorruption. As a consequence, project data must be free ofinconsistencies to ensure successful migration to Mentum Planet 5.2.1.

Upgrade paths

The Mentum Project Migrator supports the following upgrade paths:

n Mentum Planet 5.0 , 5.1, or 5.2 to Mentum Planet 5.2.1


Chapter 4

NOTE: If you are using versions prior to Mentum Planet 4.5, contactCustomer Care for assistance with project migration. If you are using DataManager and working in a multi-user environment, the software upgrade mustbe coordinated such that Mentum Planet and Data Manager Server are boththe same version. In this deployment model, it is also critical to coordinatedata migration from previous releases.


Creating A Project

Workflow for migrating Mentum Planet projects

CAUTION: It is recommended that you create a complete projectbackup prior to opening your project in Mentum Planet 5.2. After alegacy project has been migrated to Mentum Planet 5.2, it can no longerbe opened in previous versions of Mentum Planet.

Step 1 Run Data Inspector on the project you want to migrate toidentify any issues prior to migrating the project to MentumPlanet 5.2. If errors appear in the Project Status messagewindow, contact Customer Care for assistance. See ”Gettingtechnical support”.

To run Data Inspector, choose Start Run. Type “<MentumPlanet 5 Installation folder>\DataInspector.exe /expert” andclick Open. For example, “C:\Program Files\Mentum\Planet5\DataInspector.exe /expert”

Step 2 Back up all local project data.

Step 3 Open the Mentum Planet Migrator, migrate the project, andthen save it. See ”To migrate projects from Mentum Planet 4.xor 5.x”

Step 4 Open your project in Mentum Planet 5.2.

Step 5 If issues arise, run Data Inspector on your local project toidentify any known issues. The Data Inspector shipped withMentum Planet may identify issues that are not detectable inprevious versions of the tool. If errors appear in the ProjectStatus message window, contact Customer Care forassistance.

NOTE: Whenmigrating a Mentum Planet project that contains networkanalyses, the analysis files are copied to the Obsolete folder within theMentum Planet project folder. You can open these files and view the


Chapter 4

associated analysis layers in Mentum Planet 5.2. See “Viewing analysis layerscreated in Mentum Planet 4.5”.

NOTE: If you have any questions or concerns about the migration process,contact Customer Care.

To migrate projects from Mentum Planet 4.x or 5.x

1 Click Start All Programs Mentum Planet 5.2 MentumPlanet Migrator.

The Mentum Planet Migrator opens.

2 Choose File Migrate.

3 In the Open Project dialog box, navigate to the folder where theproject is saved and clickOpen.

4 Choose File Validate Project.

5 If validation is fine, choose File Save Project.

The project is saved with a .planet extension.

6 Choose File Exit.

New project files are created including the Mentum Planet project(.planet) file and the associated .dat and .xml files.

7 Open the newlymigrated project in Mentum Planet 5.2.

8 Choose Edit Network Settings.

9 In the tree view, choose the technology you are working with.

10 Verify all network settings values and click OK on you are satisfiedwith the settings.

In particular, ensure that you define appropriate values for the UsefulBits Per Symbols column as well as Amplifier Backoff (dB) columns.


http://www.mentum.com/mentum/customercare.php



Creating A Project

NOTE: The Migrate Files To command is used strictly when you want toconvert antenna files and propagation models contained in an existingproject for use with the Network Overlay tool. Only site and sectorinformation is migrated. If you do not migrate the project first, theNetwork Overlay tool uses a default antenna file and propagation file.


Chapter 4

Creating a network overlay

Using the Network Overlay tool, you can add sites and sectors to a MentumPlanet 5.2.1 project using the project data you exported from Mentum Planet4.x or 5.0, 5.1, or 5.2. You can also create a network overlay within a MentumPlanet 5.2.1 project. The Network Overlay tool supports all technologiesincluding CDMA/EV-DO, GSM, and W-CDMA/HSPA.


CAUTION: If the exported worksheets or .csv files do not contain summaryinformation, data should use the same units and same coordinate system asthose defined in the User Preferences dialog box.

To create a network overlay

You can create a network overlay from comma-separated values (.csv) files orfrom Excel (.xls) files. This procedure uses Excel files.

1 To export the data to an Excel file, do one of the following:

n InMentum Planet 4.x, choose Data Export ProjectData.You must export the following worksheets: Sites and Sectors(with all fields selected).

n InMentum Planet 5.x, choose Data Export ProjectData.You must export the following worksheets: Sites and Sectors(with all fields selected) as well as the Antennas worksheet.

2 Once the export is complete, inMentum Planet, choose ToolsNetwork Overlay .

The Network OverlayWizard opens.

3 On the first page of the Wizard, specify the following:


Creating A Project

n the version of Mentum Planet used to created the datafiles.

n the format of the data files.

n the location of the data files.

4 ClickNext and follow the prompts to complete the networkoverlay.

5 When you have specified all required information, clickFinish.

The network overlay file contains three worksheets: Sites, Sectors,and Antennas.


Chapter 4

Opening and closing projects

You must close an open project before opening a new one.

TIP: If you want Mentum Planet to automatically open the last project,choose the Open Most Recent Project option on the General panel in the UserPreferences dialog box. If you do not want the last project to open, choose theNone option.

CAUTION: When you open a project, existing 4.x predictions areautomatically migrated. After predictions have been converted for use in thelatest version of Mentum Planet, you cannot use them or view them inprevious versions of Mentum Planet. You should create a backup copy oflegacy predictions before opening the project.

To open a project


n Double-click the Mentum Planet (.planet) project file to startMentum Planet and open the project.

n Double-click the Mentum Planet (.planet) project file to startMentum Planet and open the project.

n In Mentum Planet, choose File Open Project and go toStep 2.

n In Mentum Planet, choose File Recent Projects<Project Name>.The path to the project is displayed in the Mentum Planettaskbar at the bottom of the application window.

2 In the Open dialog box, locate the project you want to open, andclickOpen.

The project opens in a Map window.


Creating A Project

TIP: To view two projects side-by-side, you can open multiple instancesof Mentum Planet on your workstation.

TIP: Create a shortcut to your Mentum Planet project (.planet) file toquickly open projects that you use often.


Chapter 4

Restoring projects

Each time you save a project, a copy is stored in the Backup folder within theproject folder. When a project has been terminated abnormally, you canchoose to restore the last saved version of the project or the last openedversion of the project.

CAUTION: Do not open a .planet file saved in the Backup folder. Backup.planet files should only be opened from the Restore Project Files dialog box.

To restore a project

1 Start Mentum Planet .

2 Choose File Restore.

The Restore Project Files dialog box opens.

3 Click the Browse button next to the Restore Project Files Frombox and navigate to the .planet file saved in the Backup folderwithin the project folder, and then clickOK.

4 Click the Browse button next to the Restore Project Files Tobox and navigate to the original folder where project files weresaved, and then clickOK.


Creating A Project

Saving projects

You can save project data at any time without closing a project. It isrecommended that you save your project periodically in order to avoidthe loss of data in the event of a network or system failure. You can alsosave a named backup of your project. This can be useful if you want tosave the project at various stages in the network development.

To save a project

n Choose File Save Project.

The project is saved in the project folder.

To back up a project

1 Choose File Back Up Project.

2 In the Backup Project dialog box, in the Name box, type aname for the folder where the data will be saved and clickOK.

Project data is saved in the named folder within the Backup folder.


Working With Propagation Models

Chapter 5 Working With Propagation Models

Using the Propagation Model Editor, you can adjust the parameters ofpropagation models to account for the characteristics of theenvironment.

A set of propagation models is installed with Mentum Planet and is copiedto the project folder when you create a new project. This chapterdescribes how to choose and edit a number of propagation models.

It also describes how to use the Model Tuning tool to automatically adjustthe parameters of a propagation model based on measurement data inorder to produce signal strength predictions that are as accurate andrealistic as possible.


Workflow for propagation modeling 99

Workflow for model tuning 100

Understanding the role of propagation models 102

Understanding propagation model types 104

Understanding model tuning 114

Understanding clutter classes and clutter properties 115

Tuning the Planet General Model using AMT 116

Planet Automatic Model Tuner 119

Toolbar 120

Tuner Type 121

Model Parameters 122

Correlation/Cross-Correlation Threshold Values 123

Tuning models using the Clutter Absorption Loss tuner 124

Clutter Absorption Loss Properties 127

Survey Distance 128


Chapter 5

Number of Radials 129

Tuning a propagation model 130

Guidelines for model tuning 131

Creating and editing propagation models 132



Workflow for propagation modeling

Step 1 Create and edit propagation model.

Step 2 Tune the propagation model.


Chapter 5

Workflow for model tuning

Step 1 Collect survey data and modify as required. See “Workflow forsurveys”.

Step 2 Configure the model (e.g., matching the frequency used whencollecting the survey data with the frequency in the tunedpropagation model). See “Workflow for editing propagationmodels”.

Step 3 Tune the propagation model. See:

n If you are tuning the Planet General Model, see “Tuning the PlanetGeneral Model using AMT”.

n If you are tuning any other propagation model, see “Tuningmodels using the Clutter Absorption Loss tuner”.

Step 4 Validate the model.

n Generate predictions for the survey sites using the tuned model.See “Generating predictions”.

n View a thematic map of survey points and compare them to theprediction layer. See “Displaying survey data”.

Step 5 Investigate discrepancies between the survey data and theprediction layer by comparing the survey data to the predictionoutput and reviewing survey reports. Once you have examined thedifferences, you may decide to remove additional points, modify theclutter properties, or change the propagation model settings. See“Viewing survey statistics”, “Creating survey reports”, and“Combining and comparing surveys”.

The data in the model tuning report does not provide a comparisonbetween the survey data and the final prediction. In most cases, thedifferences will be negligible; however, if required, you cangenerate an additional prediction and use the Compare to Grid



feature to view final comparison statistics. See “Combiningand comparing surveys” in the Mentum Planet User Guide.


Chapter 5

Understanding the role of propagation models

Propagation models simulate how radio waves travel through the environmentfrom one point to another. Because of the complex nature of propagationmodeling and the great amount of information needed to perform an accurateestimation of path loss, there will always be differences between the path lossestimation of a model and real-world measurements. Nevertheless, somemodels are inherently more accurate than others in specific situations, and it isalways possible to refine a model (or its understanding of the environment) sothat it better matches the real world. There are several things you can do inorder to minimize discrepancies between the propagation model and the realworld, including choosing an appropriate model and calibrating it effectively.

To model the real-world behavior of a network and account for how radiowaves react to elevation changes and clutter (e.g., reflection, diffraction, andscattering), you must account for features in the environment such as thesurface of the terrain (e.g., hilly or flat) and the presence of lakes. Groundcover such as buildings and trees must also be taken into considerationbecause of the influence they have on radio propagation, particularly at thefrequencies used bymobile networks.

Although it is possible to create predictions without a clutter file, using one willproduce much more accurate predictions. The clutter file (in the form of aclassified grid) details surface features that are classified into meaningfulcategories (or classes). It is important to be flexible in defining the physicalproperties associated with each clutter type. For example, land on the westcoast of North America categorized as forest may have physical propertiessignificantly different from similarly categorized land on the east coast.Because of the vast differences possible between clutter classes, it isimportant to create and tune a propagation model for each clutter class. Forexample, for a large urban city center, you might create a dense urban model,an urban model, and a suburban model each tuned to reflect a specific area ofthe region. In order to improve the accuracy of predictions, it is common touse three or four propagation models for a specific market. This is becausesome models are inherently more capable of adjusting to changes in theenvironment. Also, the more deterministic a model is, the more adaptable it isas well.



Propagation models are organized in the Project Data category of theProject Explorer. The icons of propagation models that have beenassigned to a sector are displayed in color. The icons of propagationmodels that have not been assigned to a sector, but are located in theModel folder of the project, appear dimmed.

You can find more information in the following documents:

n Federal Communications Commission. “Methods forPredicting Interference from Response StationTransmitters and to Response Station Hubs and forSupplying Data on Response Station Systems.” MMDOCKET 97-217

n J. Epstein and D.W. Peterson. “An experimental study ofwave propagation at 850 Mc.,” Proc. IRE, vol. 41, no. 5,pp. 595-611, May, 1953

You can find detailed information about propagation models in thefollowing documents available in the <Mentum Planet installationfolder>\Help folder:

n CRC-Predict Technical Note

n An Investigation Into CRC-Predict 4 Emulation of CRC-Predict 2

n Planet General Model Technical Note

n Mentum Planet User Guide

n Universal Model User Guide


Chapter 5

Understanding propagation model types

This section describes the propagation model types that Mentum Planetsupports. Slope-based models, such as the Okumura-Hata model, take clutterinto account automatically when generating predictions. Deterministicmodels, such as the CRC-Predict model, depend on the model of theenvironment and the specification of clutter property assignments. Table 4.1rates how each of the three main propagation models perform when usedunder certain conditions.

Table 4.1 Ratings for popular propagation models

Used... CRC-PredictPlanet General

ModelUniversalModel

For macro-cellplanning

Good Good Excellent

For mini-cell planning Poor Fair ExcellentFor micro-cellplanning

Very poor Fair Excellent

Over largepropagation distances

Excellent Fair Good

With no model tuning Fair Poor GoodWith cluster tuning Fair Poor GoodOn a per-sector basis Fair Fair ExcellentWith mergedpredictions

Good Fair Good

Planet General Model

The Planet General Model is a flexible hybrid model that can be used to modelmany different kinds of propagation environments. This model has beenavailable for more than 10 years and enables you to migrate data fromversions as far back as Planet 2.8 to Mentum Planet and obtain the samecoverage results. The Planet General Model has become an industry standardand can be used when migrating projects from other wireless planningproducts.



You can use the Planet General Model to model many different kinds ofpropagation environments. The path loss equation incorporates lossesdue to a number of models (such as Okumura-Hata), contributors, andcoefficients that can be pieced together to create a user-definedpropagation model. Some of these are defined by algorithms derivedfrom statistical data. These algorithms are quite accurate under specificconditions, but become less appropriate as the terrain and clutter variesfrom these conditions. Various correction factors exist to compensate forthese varying conditions, and it is very important for these values to beassigned accurately in order to make models simulate the real situation.

The Planet General Model predicts the path loss for each element withinthe prediction area. This is achieved by constructing a terrain and clutterprofile from the base station (transmitter) to each element and thencomputing the path loss for that profile. In order to ensure that path lossat each element within the prediction region is computed, a profile canbe constructed to each element on the perimeter of the predictionregion. Thus the number of radials, , is given by

However, for most practical applications, a fraction of the above numberof radials is sufficient. A corresponding signal strength at each element isalso computed using the antenna pattern.

One of the most visible differences between the Planet General Modelused with Planet 2.8/Planet DMS and the one used with Mentum Planet isthe shape of the prediction area; Planet 2.8/Planet DMS uses a squareprediction area, whereas Mentum Planet defines a circular predictionarea. Although the shape and the total area of the prediction areas aremarkedly different, this has no effect on the computed path loss or signalstrength values. Using simple geometry, you can convert Planet 2.8Prediction Size to Mentum Planet Propagation Distance using


Chapter 5

The above equation overlaps the Mentum Planet circular prediction area withPlanet 2.8 square prediction region, thus assuring total coverage of theprediction zone.

For more information on the Planet General Model, see the Planet GeneralModel Technical Note.

You can use 3D building data with the Planet General Model. To do this, youmust first convert the 3D data into new clutter classes, which represent theheight of the buildings. Then, you need to define clutter properties such thateach class is assigned a height equal to the height of the building. Using themodel in this way can increase the accuracy substantially in urban areas. Thebest resolution for this type of model is 5-10 meters.

PGM-A model

PGM-A is a variation on the Planet General Model and is useful when migratingprojects from other wireless planning products. Contact Customer Care forsupport in determining when to use PGM-A.

Some of the characteristics that differentiate PGM-A from the Planet GeneralModel include the following:

n It may be unnecessary to retune models that you migrate fromanother wireless planning product to PGM-A.

n There is some variation in the method for computing receivedsignal strength and diffraction loss.

n The Planet General Model allows you to specify how the radiowave is modeled over the horizon as a result of the earth’satmosphere.

n The Planet General Model allows you to apply Okumuracorrection factors.



CRC-Predict model

CRC-Predict is a general-purpose model intended for macrocell planning.It is not a ray-tracing model and, as such, should not be used with high-resolution data. Instead, it is best used with geodata with a resolutionbetween 20 to 30 meters. You can use it in most circumstances,regardless of the kind of terrain, if detailed terrain or clutter informationor both are available. The following cases are exceptions:

n for very short paths, for example micro-cellular paths, inwhich the locations of individual buildings are important

n for very short paths, for example micro-cellular paths, inwhich the locations of individual buildings are important

n when a very rapid calculation is wanted, because theCRC-Predict model is more computationally intensivethan most models

The path loss calculation in the CRC-Predict model is designed for theVHF to UHF (30 MHz to 3 GHz) frequency range. The physical principlesused by the CRC-Predict model are also applicable up to 30 GHz.However, accurate predictions for that range depend on very detailedand accurate terrain data, and currently there are no supporting testmeasurements. Also, above 10 GHz, rain attenuation becomessignificant. The principal algorithm is a diffraction calculation, based onthe Fresnel-Kirchoff theory that takes terrain into account in a detailedway. An estimate of the additional loss for obstructions such as trees,buildings, or other objects is included when data on clutter classes areavailable. Tropospheric scatter is included for long paths. Estimates oftime and location variability can be made.

The diffraction algorithm samples the propagation path from thetransmitter to the receiver and determines the signal strength at manypoints in space. First, the wave field is determined as a function of height(a vertical column of many values) above a terrain point close to thetransmitter by an elementary calculation. Then, using the Huygensprinciple of physical optics, each of these field points is regarded as a


Chapter 5

source of radiation, and from them, the signal strength is calculated a littlefarther away. In this way, a marching algorithm simulates the progress of theradio wave from the transmitter to the end of the path. Even though the signalstrength is calculated at many points, an efficient integration algorithm and achoice of only the most important signal strength points permit the integrationcalculation to be fast enough for practical use.

The CRC-Predict model also uses surface-type or clutter data in itscalculations. Because CRC-Predict is a deterministic model, the more preciseand physically realistic terrain and clutter information you use, the moreaccurate the output tuned model will be.

Clutter interacts with the algorithm in two ways:

n As the wave propagates over the ground toward a distantreceiver, the effective height of the ground is assumed to bethe real height of the ground plus the assumed clutter height.

n As the wave propagates over the ground toward a distantreceiver, the effective height of the ground is assumed to bethe real height of the ground plus the assumed clutter height.

n Clutter close to the receiver is assumed to terminate close tothe receiver, e.g., 50 meters. That is, the receiving antenna isnot assumed to be on the doorstep of a building, or in themiddle of a forest, but rather on a street or in a road allowancein the forest. Part of the calculation is an estimate of theattenuation from the clutter down to street level.

In addition to the height and distance of solid (opaque) clutter, there is anadditional attenuation, entirely empirical, which takes into account trees andother absorbing material adjacent to the receiving antenna. This attenuationfactor (expressed in decibels) is the parameter most easily used to makemedian predictions agree with measurements in a particular area (modeltuning).

NOTE: For more information on the CRC-Predict model, see the CRC-PredictTechnical Note.



Universal model

The Universal model is only available if you have purchased a license.You can obtain detailed information about the Universal model bypressing the F1 key from the Universal Model Parameters dialog box.The online Help contains context-sensitive help and provides access tothe Universal Model User Guide.

The Universal model is a high-performance deterministic propagationmodel that has been integrated into Mentum Planet . Unlike otherpropagation models, the Universal model automatically adapts to allengineering technologies (i.e., micro, mini, small, and macro cells), to allenvironments (i.e., dense urban, urban, suburban, mountainous,maritime, and open), and to all systems (i.e., GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS,WIFI, WIMAX, LTE) in a frequency range that spans from 400MHz to5GHz.

In addition, the Universal Model:

n uses a new AGL layer and a new polygon layer wheremodifications to the layers can be done directly in the Mapwindow.

n uses a new AGL layer and a new polygon layer wheremodifications to the layers can be done directly in the Mapwindow.

n outperforms other models in terms of the speed andaccuracy of predictions.

Q9 model

The Q9 propagation model is based on the Okumura-Hata model. Usingthe variables shown in Figure 1, it calculates the expected pathlossbetween the transmitter and the receiver using the terrain profile. Inother words, it considers a cross-section of the earth along a straight linebetween the transmitter and the receiver. This propagation model ismost useful for frequency bands in the 150-2000 MHz range and works


Chapter 5

best within a radius of 0.2-100 km. The Q9model is intended for use with high-resolution elevation and clutter data.

Pathloss depends on frequency as well as the antenna heights of thetransmitter and the receiver. The Q9model allows for both uptilt and downtiltof antennas and takes into account the vertical antenna pattern.

There are three input values that the Q9model considers:

n Okumura-Hata’s wave propagation equations with modifyingparameters A0 to A3. See Equation 1. For more information,press the F1 key in the Q9 Parameters dialog box for onlineHelp.

n Extra losses that occur when wave propagation is disturbed byobstacles such as mountain peaks. When the distance betweenthe transmitter and receiver becomes sufficiently large, acorrection due to earth’s curvature is necessary.

n Land use code loss.

Figure 5.1 illustrates the variables that are taken into account to calculatepathloss.

Figure 5.1: The process of calculating pathloss

The equation below details the formula used to calculate pathloss.



Where:

Lbis the pathloss

HOA (Hata Open Area) is a variant of Okumura-Hata’s equation in dB asshown in equation Equation 2

mk[mobile] is the land use code at the mobile in dB

is a parameter related to the knife-edge diffraction

KDFR is the contribution from knife-edge diffraction in dB

JDFR is the diffraction loss due to the spherical earth in dB

Longley-Rice model

You can use the Longley-Rice area calculation for rural (non-urban)areas if little is known about the terrain and clutter.

The Longley-Rice model is applicable to point-to-point communicationsystems in the 20 MHz to 10 GHz range over different types of terrain(Rappaport, 1996). The Longley-Rice model operates in two modes. The


Chapter 5

point-to-point mode uses terrain information if it is available, while the point-to-area mode uses techniques that estimate the path-specific parameterswhen little terrain information is available.

In point-to-point mode, median path loss is predicted by using troposphericrefractivity and terrain geometry. However, only some features of the terrainare used. The terrain profile is used to find effective antenna heights, horizondistances and elevation angles as seen from the antennas, the angulardistance for a trans-horizon path, and the terrain irregularity of the path. Theprediction is performed in terms of these parameters. A ray optic techniqueusing primarily a two-ray ground reflection model is used within the radiohorizon. The two or three isolated obstacles causing the greatest obstructionare modeled as knife edges using the Fresnel Kirchoff theory. Forward scattertheory is used to make troposcatter predictions for long paths and far fielddiffraction losses are predicted using a modified Van der Pol-Bremmermethod (Rappaport, 1996). The Longley-Rice point-to-point model is alsoreferred to as the Irregular Terrain Model (ITM) (Hufford, et al. 1982).

Although the point-to-area mode is an old method, it is still perhaps the bestmethod of estimating path loss in open country if the only parameters knownabout the ground are its irregularity and (less importantly at UHF) its electricalconstants.

The Longley-Rice model is best suited to the following parameters:

n Frequency: 20 MHz to 10 GHz

n Distance: 1 km to 2000 km

n Antenna Heights: 0.5 m to 3000m

n Polarization: Vertical or Horizontal

References

For more information about the Longley-Rice model, see the followingreferences:

Rappaport, T.S.Wireless Communications: Principles and Practice. PrenticeHall, 1996.



Hufford, Longley, and Kissick. “A Guide to the Use of the ITS IrregularTerrain Model in the Area Prediction Mode”, U.S. Department ofCommerce. April 1982.


Chapter 5

Understanding model tuning

The term model tuning applies generally to the process of adjusting theparameters of a propagation model in order to generate predictions that areas accurate and realistic as possible.

Model tuning is usually performed using measured signal strength datacollected during surveying. This survey data is used to change clutterabsorption loss values and other parameters in the propagation model. Formore information on collecting and working with survey data, see “Chapter 5:Managing Survey Data”.

To tune a model in Mentum Planet , you can use:

n the Clutter Absorption Loss tuner which enables you to tune allpropagation model types

n the Planet Automatic Model Tuner (AMT) which enables you totune the Planet General Model



Understanding clutter classes and clutterproperties

Propagation models perform path loss calculations based on the types ofclutter through which the signal passes. The terrain is classified intoclutter classes based on land use or ground cover, e.g., Industrial,Residential, Forest. For each clutter class, a set of clutter properties isspecified, depending on the propagation model. All models (with theexception of the Universal Model)specify clutter absorption loss. Somemodels specify additional properties, such as average obstacle height.

For your project, the clutter file specifies the clutter class for each bin ofthe coverage area. Before you can generate signal strength predictionsor do model tuning, you must define the values of the clutter propertiesfor each clutter class. These values are saved in the Propagation ModelFile (.pmf). Your choice of ground type for each clutter class sets defaultvalues for numeric properties, such as Clutter Absorption Loss. You canedit these values. Usually this is done as part of model tuning.


Chapter 5

Tuning the Planet General Model using AMT

You can use the Planet Automatic Model Tuner (AMT) to automatically optimizecomponents of the Planet General Model using survey data from single ormultiple sites. You can tune the Planet General Model using one of thefollowing methods:

n Smart—simplifies the tuning process and is recommended ifyou have little or no knowledge of model tuning

n Standard—enables you to manually tune the model using acomplex, multi-step procedure. For detailed information onusing the Standard option, see “Tuning the Planet GeneralModel using AMT” in the Planet General Model Technical Note.

When you use the Smart option, all of the model parameters are set toOptimize. When set to Optimize, the Planet AMT runs various correlation andcross-correlation tests to determine which model parameters can beoptimized. If any parameters cannot be optimized, default values are used.

To tune the Planet General Model using AMT

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Operational Data category,right-click a survey and chooseModel Tuning.

The Model Tuning dialog box opens.

2 Provide the information for which you are prompted and, from theModel To Tune list, choose a Planet General Model template.

3 From the Model Tuner list, choose Planet AMT Version 1.5.

4 To edit the AMT, click Edit Tuner.



5 In the Tuner Type section, choose the Smart option.

For information on using the Standard AMT option, see “Tuning thePlanet General Model using AMT” in the Planet General ModelTechnical Note.Custom model parameter values will not be optimized. If a factorcannot be optimized, a suitable default value is used.

6 To define custom correlation or cross-correlation values, inthe Correlation/Cross-Correlation Threshold Valuessection, type values in any of the following boxes:

n Correlation P3T

n Correlation P4T

n Cross-Correlation P35T

n Cross-Correlation P45T

Defining a custom correlation or cross-correlation value is useful ifyou want to optimize a particular factor that does not meet the


Chapter 5

threshold requirements. For example, if p4T = 0.4, and p4 = 0.15, K4cannot be optimized. You can enable K4 to be optimized by setting p4Tto 0.1.If you chose to define custom thresholds, the resulting factors mightproduce an invalid model. Before applying the model, you must ensurethat the ranges you have specified are valid. For more information, seethe Planet General Model Technical Note.

7 Save the settings in a Planet AMT settings (.set) file if required andclickOK.

8 In theModel Tuning dialog box, clickOK to begin the modeltuning process.

When the model tuning process is complete, the tuned model is addedto the Propagation Models node in the Project Data category of theProject Explorer.

NOTE: You can edit the properties of the tuned model using the PropagationModel Editor. To access the Propagation Model Editor, expand PropagationModels in the Project Data category of the Project Explorer, right-click thetuned model and choose Edit.



Planet Automatic Model Tuner

Use the Planet Automatic Model Tuner Properties dialog box to definemodel tuning parameters for the Automatic Model Tuner version 1.0.



Chapter 5

Toolbar

Click this button to create a new template. New templates are added theTemplates list.Click this button to open a Planet AMT Parameter file. The opened file isadded the Templates list.Click this button to save the current parameters in a new Planet AMTParameter file.Click this button to save the current parameters.

Templates—choose from this list a template to load parameters from into thePlanet Automatic Model Tuner dialog box.



Tuner Type

Smart—choose this option to use the Smart AMT method of setting K-factor values. When you use the Smart option, all of the modelparameters are set to Optimize. When set to Optimize, the Planet AMTruns various correlation and cross-correlation tests to determine whichmodel parameters can be optimized. If any parameters cannot beoptimized, default values are used.

Standard—choose this option to use the Standard AMT method ofsetting K-factor values.


Chapter 5

Model Parameters

K1—choose from this list an option to set the value of the K1 factor. The box tothe left of the list displays the value of the chosen option. Choose Optimize tohave the Planet Automatic Model Tuner optimize the K1 factor. Choose Userdefined to type a value for the K1 factor in the box to the left of the list. Thevalid range is from -100 to 100.



K4—choose from this list an option to set the value of the K4 factor. The box tothe left of the list displays the value of the chosen option. Choose Optimize tohave the Planet Automatic Model Tuner optimize the K4 factor. Choose Userdefined to type a value for the K4 factor in the box to the left of the list. Thevalid range is from 0 to 1.

K5—choose from this list an option to set the value of the K5 factor. The box tothe left of the list displays the value of the chosen option. Choose Optimize tohave the Planet Automatic Model Tuner optimize the K5 factor. Choose Userdefined to type a value for the K5 factor in the box to the left of the list. Thevalid range is from 0 to 100.

Clutter Offset—choose from this list an option to define how clutter isoptimized. The box to the left of the list displays the value of the chosenoption. Choose Optimize to have the Planet Automatic Model Tuner optimizeclutter. Choose User defined to type a value for Clutter Offset in the box to theleft of the list. The valid range is from -20 to 40.



Correlation/Cross-Correlation Threshold Values

Use this section to set correlation and cross-correlation thresholds.

Correlation P3T—type in this box a value for the Correlation P3Tthreshold. The valid range is from 0.01 to 0.99.

Correlation P4T—type in this box a value for the Correlation P4Tthreshold. The valid range is from 0.01 to 0.99.

Cross-Correlation P24T—type in this box a value for the Cross-Correlation P24T threshold. The valid range is from 0.01 to 0.99.

Cross-Correlation P35T—type in this box a value for the Cross-Correlation P35T threshold. The valid range is from 0.01 to 0.99.


Chapter 5

Tuning models using the Clutter Absorption Losstuner

Using the Clutter Absorption Loss (CAL) tuner, you can determine theappropriate clutter property assignment values for clutter absorption loss for asingle site. The CAL tuner can be used to optimize all propagation model types,except for third-partymodels.

The Clutter Absorption Loss tuner enables you to calculate the mean errorbetween the predicted signal strength and the survey data for each clutterclass. The mean error is then used as the value for the clutter absorption lossof each clutter class in the clutter property assignment file.

Tuning is different for slope-based models and deterministic models such asCRC-Predict. Slope-based models take clutter into account automatically whengenerating predictions. For example, when using the Okumura-Hata model,you can choose from four clutter classes: Urban, Suburban, Quasi-Open, andOpen. Each clutter class implies a generalized clutter environment that affectsthe slope of the model’s algorithm. When using the Planet General Model, youcan set many parameters.

The CRC-Predict model, however, depends on the model of the environmentand the specification of clutter property assignments. The CRC-Predictalgorithm interacts with a model of the clutter environment in a deterministicfashion to predict path loss. Path loss is calculated by simulating thepropagation of a radio wave as it passes over various terrain features.

Model tuning with survey data for all models involves updating the clutterabsorption loss values. Model tuning for the CRC-Predict model involves theadditional step of adjusting the clutter property assignments for averageobstacle height and ground type.




To tune a model using the Clutter Absorption Losstuner

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Operational Datacategory, right-click a survey and chooseModel Tuning.

The Model Tuning dialog box opens.

2 Provide the information for which you are prompted and,from theModel Tuner list, choose the Clutter AbsorptionLoss Tuner.

3 To edit the CAL Tuner, choose Edit Tuner.

4 Modify Tuner settings as required and clickOK.

5 In theModel Tuning dialog box, clickOK to begin the tuningprocess.

The Model Tuning dialog box opens and displays the progress ofthe model tuning process.

6 When the process is complete, click Close in theModelTuning dialog box.

7 To view a model tuning report in text format, click Yes in theMentum Planet dialog box.


Chapter 5

When the model tuning process is complete, the tuned model is addedto the Propagation Models node in the Project Data category of theProject Explorer.

NOTE: If the calculated Clutter Absorption Loss (CAL) values areoverwhelmingly negative, lower the clutter heights and retune the model. CALvalues should normally fall between -3 dB and +12 dB.

TIP: You can edit the properties of the tuned model using the PropagationModel Editor. To access the Propagation Model Editor, expand PropagationModels in the Project Data category of the Project Explorer, right-click thetuned model and choose Edit.



Clutter Absorption Loss Properties

Use the Clutter Absorption Loss Properties dialog box to define modeltuning parameters for the Clutter Absorption Loss model tuner.


Number Of Iterations—choose from this list the number of iterationsto perform on clutter absorption loss values. Usually, performing twoiterations will give acceptable values. An iteration is the process ofupdating the clutter absorption loss values with the survey analysisprediction values for each clutter class. For each iteration, a surveyanalysis prediction is created. If more than one iteration is applied, theupdated values are applied to the .pmf file cumulatively.


Chapter 5

Survey Distance

Use this section to define the distance from the survey antenna that surveypoints must fall within to be used by the Clutter Absorption Loss model tuner totune the model.

Computed Propagation Distance—this field displays the distance in metersfrom the survey antenna location to the furthest survey point in the heightsfile.

NOTE: If you choose more than one survey in the Project Explorer, only thesurvey containing the survey point that is farthest from the survey antenna willbe used to tune the model.

Enable Survey Filtering By Distance—enable this check box to define thedistance from the survey antenna that survey points used to tune the modelmust fall within.

Distance—type in this box or choose the distance from the survey antennathat survey points used to tune a model must fall within. The ClutterAbsorption Loss model tuner will ignore any survey points further than thisdistance from the survey antenna.



Number of Radials

Use this section to define the number of radials originating from a sitealong which to calculate predictions. More radials produce a moreaccurate but slower calculation.

Computed Number Of Radials—choose this option to use thecomputed number of radials to calculate predictions. Planet divides thepropagation distance by the bin distance to compute the number ofradials to use, which is displayed in the box to the right. For example,

Propagation distance: 15km (15000m)Bin distance: 30mCalculation: 15000m / 30mResult: 500 radials

User Defined Number Of Radials—choose this option to define thenumber of radials to use to calculate predictions. In the box to the right,type or choose the number of radials to use.


Chapter 5

Tuning a propagation model

In order to model a network that is as close to the real-world network aspossible, you should calibrate the propagation model using surveymeasurements. Once you have calibrated the model, you can apply the modelto other sites that share the same general type of environment, provided thatthe model is not overly dependent on calibrations (empirical models generallyrely heavily on calibrations).

For detailed information about:

n using survey data with Mentum Planet, see “Managing SurveyData” in the Mentum Planet User Guide. In particular, see the“Workflow for surveys”.

n model tuning, see “Working with Propagation Models” in theMentum Planet User Guide .

NOTE: If you are using the Universal Model, you can tune it using theUniversal Model Tuning algorithm.



Guidelines for model tuning

n Follow the recommended guidelines for collecting surveydata. See “Collecting survey data” in the Mentum PlanetUser Guide.

n Aggregate survey data in order to account for Rayleighfading. See “Modifying survey data” in the Mentum PlanetUser Guide.

n Ensure that the frequency of the input model used inmodel tuning is accurate and the receiver heightcorresponds to measured data.

n Ensure that the clutter maps you use are accurate andup-to-date.

n Verify that the model uses clutter heights that arerecommended or appropriate for the model.

n Ensure that ground types, if used, are appropriate. Forexample, moist ground should be assigned to farmland.

n Create one model to cover all surveys with similarcharacteristics. For example, for a given metropolitanarea, start with one input propagation model. Tune onemodel for the sub-urban area. Using the same inputmodel, tune a second model for very dense urban anddowntown area. The tuned models will providereasonably accurate predictions for topologies of similarclutter characteristics (such as neighboring regions). Thisapproach can be fine tuned by subdividing themetropolitan area to more than two areas andgenerating corresponding models for each area.


Chapter 5

Creating and editing propagation models

Propagation models are organized in the Project Data category of the ProjectExplorer. The icons of propagation models that have been assigned to a sectorare displayed in color. The icons of propagation models that have not beenassigned to a sector, but are located in the Model folder of the project, appeardimmed.

You can refine how a propagation model behaves bymodifying thepropagation model settings using the Propagation Model Editor. Once youhave refined the model, you can apply the propagation model to an individualsite or sector. Propagation models saved in the <Mentum Planet installationfolder>/Global/Model folder will be available each time you create a project.Models saved in the project folder are project specific.

To define a new propagation model

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Project Data category, right-click Propagation Models and choose New.

The Create New Propagation Model dialog box opens.

2 From the Propagation Model Type list, choose the model onwhich you want to base your newmodel, and then clickOK.

3 In the Propagation Model Editor, on the Settings tab, click inthe Name field and define a name for the newmodel.

4 Modify the parameters of the propagation model to correspond toyour network design.

For detailed information on the settings available on these tabs, press F1for online Help.

5 ClickOK.



To edit propagation model settings

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Project Data category,expand Propagation Models, right-click a propagationmodel and choose Edit.

The Propagation Model Editor opens.

The tabs that are displayed in the Editor depend on the model youhave chosen.

2 In the Propagation Model Editor, modify the settings onany of the following tabs:

n Settings—allows you to set frequency, receiver height,and earth curvature. Enables you to use a differentresolution heights file or clutter file with the propagationmodel than that which is specified in the project settings.This is useful if you want to generate a prediction whereyou are using a high-resolution grid in urban areas and alower-resolution grid in the rest of the project area.

n Clutter Properties—allows you to specify whether ornot the model uses a clutter grid and allows you to define


Chapter 5

the physical properties of the environment that affectpredictions. The values assigned to the electrical and physicalproperties for each clutter class are determined fromobservations of the physical area and from data gatheredduring surveys.

n General—allows you to define model-specific parameters. Theparameters displayed on the general tab depend on the modelyou chose.

n Path Clutter—allows you to adjust the effect of clutter basedon four weighting functions. This tab is specific to the PlanetGeneral Model.

n Troposcatter Effect—allows you to specify how the radiowave is modeled over the horizon as a result of the earth’satmosphere. This tab is specific to the Planet General Model.

n Okumura—allows you to apply Okumura correction factors.This tab is specific to the Planet General Model.

n Effective Antenna Height—allows you to define the effectiveantenna height using one of seven algorithms: base height,spot height, average height, slope, profile, absolute spotheight, or ground reflection slope. This tab is specific to thePlanet General Model.

n Rain Attenuation—determines whether or not rainattenuation is calculated. If you choose to include rainattenuation, you can define an attenuation rate or a rate ofrainfall. This tab is specific to the Planet General Model.

3 ClickOK to save propagation model settings.

When you choose the ground type for the CRC-Predict model, theClutter Absorption Loss is set to 0. When you optimize survey resultsusing the Model Tuning tool, the tool calculates the Clutter AbsorptionLoss.

TIP: You can also access the Propagation Model Editor in the Site Editor. Toedit the model for a sector, in the Site Editor, click the Link tab and click Editnext to the Model list.



To view or hide unassigned propagation models

n In the Project Explorer, in the Project Data category,right-click Propagation Models and do one of thefollowing:

n To display in the Project Explorer those propagationmodels that have not been assigned to a sector,choose Show Unassigned Propagation Models.

n To hide in the Project Explorer those propagationmodels that have not been assigned to a sector,choose Hide Unassigned Propagation Models.


Defining Network Settings

Chapter 6 Defining Network Settings

After you create a project, you must define the network settings.Network settings include the technology type, supported modulations,frame configuration, and the spectrum allotment. This chapter describeshow to define network settings.


Understanding network settings 139

Workflow for defining network settings 142

Defining network settings 143


Carriers 146


Modulations 148

CINR To Spectral Efficiency Specification 149


Frame Setup 153

OFDM 154

Frame Configuration 155


Downlink 157

Cyclic Prefix 158

Control Channel 159

Overhead 160


Uplink 162


Chapter 6

Cyclic Prefix 163

Demodulation Reference Signal 164

Sounding Reference Signal 164

Control Channel 165



Understanding network settings

Network settings define the technology type, supported modulations andthe frame configuration settings that apply to your network as well asthe spectrum definition. All network settings are grouped in the NetworkSettings dialog box.

Technology types

Mentum Planet supports WiMAX TDD, Fixed WiMAX TDD, Fixed WiMAXFDD, LTE FDD, cdma2000, and WCDMA technologies as well as a generictechnology. You define which technologies are available on the SpectrumAllocation tab. It is important to configure bands correctly in order toavoid cases where a single real physical band is defined to several sub-bands; therefore, making it difficult to manage the channels correctly atthe sector level.

Carriers

Carriers define the frequencies available in your network and thebandwidth of each. They are automatically calculated according to theavailable spectrum and channel bandwidth specified on the SpectrumAllocation tab. After carriers are calculated, you can assign them toindividual sectors. Once you do so, you cannot modify the spectrumallocation or carriers. The start and end frequencies are read-only whenthe carriers are in use. You can define multiple bands per technology andoverlapping between bands is allowed.

Each sector in the network is assigned to a single band but can beallocated one or more carriers within that band. Subscriber equipment isconfigured to support one or more bands.

You can view details of all available carriers and specify carrieravailability on the Carriers tab in the Network Settings dialog box for theselected technology. When carriers are reserved, for example, clear theAvailability check box.


Chapter 6

Modulations

System modulations define downlink and uplinkmodulation schemes used bythe network. Each modulation can be defined by either a single CINR/spectralefficiency value or by a CINR to spectral efficiency curve. Each modulation canbe defined by its modulation efficiency (Useful bits per symbol) and requiredCINR (C/(N+I)). You can also specify a downlink amplifier back-off level, whichrepresents the reduction of power used when using a specific modulation. Thisis sometime required with higher order modulations in order to increase thelinearity of the amplifier given the higher required CINR of these modulations.This applies, for example, in OFDM as the peak-to-average power ratio ofOFDM signals is actually high.

Default modulations are provided depending on the configuration file that youchose when you created a project. You must define any additionalmodulations supported by your network.

Frame Setup

The configuration of the OFDM frame provides a means of controlling (in adetailed way) the allocated frame structure and resources.

In the time domain, a channel is divided into frames.

On the Frame Setup tab in the Network Settings dialog box, you can define theOFDM sampling factor. You can also add or remove the frame configuration oredit the frame configuration using the Frame Editor. The Frame Editorconsolidates all parameters related to a frame configuration in one dialog box.You can specify the cyclic prefix. The cyclic prefix is the fraction of each datasymbol that is copied from the end of the symbol and added to the beginning.The cyclic prefix functions as a guard interval between OFDM symbols in orderto limit the Inter-Symbol Interference (ISI) that is caused by the multipathpropagation of radio signals.

The standard defines two cyclic prefix values (i.e., Normal and Extended). Thechoice you make for the cyclic prefix is based on the frequency band and theradio environment. You can eliminate the ISI by selecting a guard interval thatis larger than the expected multipath delay spread. However, the larger guard



interval increases the symbol period, which leads to a loss of bandwidthefficiency and a waste of transmit power.

Figure 6.1: Figure 5.10 LTE Frame Editor

You can define the cyclic prefix and duration as well as the number ofreference symbols per subframe and the frequency separation betweenthem. You can also specify various parameters related to the OFDMsymbols and the resource blocks.


Chapter 6

Workflow for defining network settings

Step 1 Specify the technologies supported by the network.

Step 2 Define the spectrum allocation.

Step 3 For each available technology, specify which carriers (or carriers)are available, define supported modulations, and determine theframe configuration.



Defining network settings

When you define network settings, you specify the technology types forthe project. You also define the carriers supported, the availabledownlink and uplinkmodulations, as well as the frame configuration.

To define network settings

1 Choose Edit Network Settings.

The Network Settings dialog box opens.

2 On the Network Technologies panel, enable thetechnologies supported by the network.

3 In the tree view, choose Spectrum Allocation.

4 Click the LTE FDD tab and modify LTE parameters asrequired.

5 In the tree view, choose LTE FDD.

6 Define carrier and modulation parameters as required.

7 Click the Frame Setup tab, define OFDM settings.


Chapter 6

8 In the Frame Configuration table and click any of the followingbuttons:

n Edit—to open the Frame Editor and modify frameparameters for the selected frame configuration.

n Add—to add a new frame configuration.

n Remove—to delete a frame configuration.

To define frame configurations

1 In the LTE Frame Editor, define frame parameters as required.

2 ClickOK.



Network Settings

Use the Network Settings dialog box to indicate which technologies youhave in your network and to define settings and allocate spectrum foreach technology. It provides

n tree representation of technologies and spectrum

n easy access to network settings


For more information about working with network settings, see the UserGuide for the technology you are using.


Chapter 6

Carriers

Carrier Name—type in this field an alphanumeric string to identify thecarrier.

Band Name—displays the band name. Band names are defined on theSpectrum Allocation tab.

Downlink Center Frequency—displays a value in MHz, at the mid-point ofthe carrier bandwidth on the downlink.

Uplink Center Frequency—displays a value in MHz, at the mid-point of thecarrier bandwidth on the uplink.

Bandwidth—displays a value in MHz to define the carrier bandwidth.

Availability—enable this check box to make the carrier an available networkresource. When you clear this check box, the associated carrier is not availableto any sector in the network and, as a result, is not available for LTE frequencyplanning.



Network Settings

Use the Network Settings dialog box to indicate which technologies youhave in your network and to define settings and allocate spectrum foreach technology. It provides




For more information about working with network settings, see the UserGuide for the technology you are using.


Chapter 6

Modulations

Use these tabs to define the downlink and uplinkmodulations and codingschemes (MCS) supported by the network. Characteristics of a MCS can bedefined by its spectral efficiency and the required C/(N+I).



CINR To Spectral Efficiency Specification

Use Single Value—choose this option to define the spectral efficiency ofa MCS by a single value of useful bit per symbol. The useful bit persymbol is the information bits carried by a modulated symbol after thechannel coding. For example, a MCS that uses a combination of 64-QAMmodulation and a 2/3 coding rate offers a spectral efficiency of 4 usefulbits per symbol.

Use Curve—choose this option to define the spectral efficiency of a MCSusing a useful bits per symbol to CINR curve. The curve represents thevariation of spectral efficiency under different channel qualities.

Downlink

Properly configuring the modulation for both the uplink and downlinkplays an important role in predicting performance in your wirelessnetwork. The modulation parameters are used to define the requiredC/(N+I) (and ultimately the threshold), the interference susceptibility,and the spectral efficiency. Any system using adaptive (dynamic)modulation will also require that each supported modulation be defined.

Name—type in this field a name for the modulation and coding scheme.

Useful Bits Per Symbol—type in this field the spectral efficiency for themodulation. When you generate analyses, this value is used todetermine the maximum achievable data rate when the modulation andcoding scheme is available. This option is only available when you choosethe Use Single Value option.

Required C/(N+I)—type in this field the required minimum signal tointerference level to achieve the modulation. This value is computed as afunction of the Required Eb/No and vice-versa. Changing this valueautomatically updates the Required Eb/No value accordingly. It is used todetermine whether a modulation scheme is available to a CPE at anygiven location, according to the C/(N+I) level at that location. This optionis only available when you choose the Use Single Value option.

Amplifier Backoff—type in this field the amount by which power isreduced when this modulation is used. Typically, the higher the spectral


Chapter 6

efficiency of a modulation, the greater the amplifier backoff you should assign.This value is used whenever the modulation type is applied in the generation ofanalyses.

Mobile Speed—choose from this list the mobile speed to associate with themodulation. You define mobile speeds in the Project Settings dialog box.

Curve—displays the name of the curve file. This column is only available whenyou choose the Use Curve option.

Browse(...)—click this button to select a curve (.mcs) file. This column is onlyavailable when you choose the Use Curve option.

Edit Curve—click this button to open the Curve Editor where you can editcurve files. This column is only available when you choose the Use Curveoption.

Add—click this button to add a newmodulation to the table. This column isonly available when you choose the Use Curve option.

Remove—click this button to remove the selected modulation from the table.This column is only available when you choose the Use Curve option.

Uplink

Properly configuring the modulation for both the uplink and downlink plays animportant role in predicting performance in your wireless network. Themodulation parameters are used to define the required C/(N+I) (andultimately the threshold), the interference susceptibility, and the spectralefficiency. Any system using adaptive (dynamic) modulation will also requirethat each supported modulation be defined.

Name—type in this field a name for the modulation and coding scheme.

Useful Bits Per Symbol—type in this field the spectral efficiency for themodulation. When you generate analyses, this value is used to determine themaximum achievable data rate when the modulation and coding scheme isavailable. This option is only available when you choose the Use Single Valueoption.



Required C/(N+I)—type in this field the required minimum signal tointerference level to achieve the modulation. It is used to determinewhether a modulation scheme is available to a CPE at any given location,according to the C/(N+I) level at that location. This option is onlyavailable when you choose the Use Single Value option.

Mobile Speed—choose from this list the mobile speed to associate withthe modulation. You define mobile speeds in the Project Settings dialogbox.

Curve—displays the name of the curve file. This column is only availablewhen you choose the Use Curve option.

Browse(...)—click this button to select a curve (.mcs) file. This column isonly available when you choose the Use Curve option.

Edit Curve—click this button to open the Curve Editor where you canedit curve files. This column is only available when you choose the UseCurve option.

Add—click this button to add a newmodulation to the table.

Remove—click this button to remove the selected modulation from thetable.


Chapter 6

Network Settings

Use the Network Settings dialog box to indicate which technologies you have inyour network and to define settings and allocate spectrum for eachtechnology. It provides




For more information about working with network settings, see the User Guidefor the technology you are using.



Frame Setup


Chapter 6

OFDM

This section displays the FFT size and Sampling frequency associated with acarrier bandwidth supported by LTE technology. For other OFDM basedtechnologies (e.g., WiMAX TDD), the two parameters are used to computesubcarrier spacing. For LTE, the subcarrier spacing is fixed at 15KHz.

Use Interference Coordination—enable this check box to specify that thenetwork implements inter-cell interference coordination techniques.

FTT Size—displays the FTT sized used by the frame.

Sampling Frequency—displays the sampling frequency for the channelbandwidth.



Frame Configuration

Name—click in this field to define a name for the frame configuration.

Duration—displays the duration of the frame in ms.

Number of Slots—displays the number of slots available in a frame.

Number Of Occupied Subcarriers (Downlink)—displays the numberof subcarriers to use for downlink transmission. The number of occupieddownlink subcarriers is automatically determined by the carrierbandwidth as defined in the Spectrum Allocation settings.

Number Of Occupied Subcarriers (Uplink)—displays the number ofsubcarriers to use for uplink transmission. The number of occupied uplinksubcarriers is automatically determined by the carrier bandwidth asdefined by the Spectrum Allocation settings.


Chapter 6

LTE FDD Frame Editor

Use the LTE FDD Frame Editor dialog box to define the cyclic prefix, referencesignal resource elements as other related frame parameters. For moreinformation about frames, see the LTE FDD User Guide.



Downlink


Chapter 6

Cyclic Prefix

Use this section to allow for the cyclic prefix. The cyclic prefix is the fraction ofeach data symbol that is copied from the end of the symbol and added to thebeginning. The cyclic prefix functions as a guard interval between OFDMsymbols in order to limit the Inter-Symbol Interference (ISI) that is caused bythe multipath propagation of radio signals.

The LTE standard defines two cyclic prefix values (i.e., Normal and Extended).You can eliminate the ISI by selecting a guard interval that is larger than theexpected multipath delay spread. However, the larger guard intervalincreases the symbol period, which leads to a loss of bandwidth efficiency anda waste of transmit power.

Cyclic Prefix—choose from this list the type of cyclic prefix you want to use(i.e., Normal, Extended). The cyclic prefix duration for both the normal andthe extended cyclic prefix types is displayed in the Cyclic Prefix Duration box.

Cyclic Prefix Duration—type in this box the duration of guard time inmicroseconds. This box is only available when you have selected a user-defined cyclic prefix.



Control Channel

Number Of PDCCH Symbols Per Subframe—type in this box thenumber of symbols in a slot used for downlink control channeltransmission.

Number Of OFDM Symbols Per Slot—displays the number of OFDMsymbols per slot.

OFDM Symbol Duration—displays the duration of the OFDM symbols ina downlink slot, expressed in microseconds.


Chapter 6

Overhead

This table displays the calculated total downlink frame overhead as apercentage of on the downlink frame duration. Downlink overhead accountsfor the duration of cyclic prefix, the resource elements allocated for PhysicalBroadcast Channel (PBCH) and Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH),as well as the resource elements used for reference signal transmission. Thenumber of resource elements allocated to the reference signal depends on thenumber of transmit antennas.

LTE standards specify the number of reference symbols per slot and thesubcarrier separation between reference symbols required for transmitantennas of 1, 2 and 4. The total overheads are calculated for each of theantenna system configurations.



LTE FDD Frame Editor

Use the LTE FDD Frame Editor dialog box to define permutation zones,the frame overhead as well as other related frame parameters. Formore information about frames, see the LTE FDD User Guide.


Chapter 6

Uplink



Cyclic Prefix

Use this section to allow for the cyclic prefix. The cyclic prefix is thefraction of each data symbol that is copied from the end of the symboland added to the beginning. The cyclic prefix functions as a guardinterval between OFDM symbols in order to limit the Inter-SymbolInterference (ISI) that is caused by the multipath propagation of radiosignals.

The LTE standard defines two cyclic prefix values (i.e., Normal andExtended). The choice you make for the cyclic prefix is based on thefrequency band and the radio environment. You can eliminate the ISI byselecting a guard interval that is larger than the expected multipathdelay spread. However, the larger guard interval increases the symbolperiod, which leads to a loss of bandwidth efficiency and a waste oftransmit power.

Cyclic Prefix—choose from this list the type of cyclic prefix you want touse (i.e., Normal and Extended). The cyclic prefix duration for both thenormal and the extended cyclic prefix types is displayed in the CyclicPrefix Duration box.

Cyclic Prefix Duration—type in this box the guard time duration inmicroseconds. This box is only available when you have selected a user-defined cyclic prefix.


Chapter 6

Demodulation Reference Signal

Number of Symbols Per Slot—type in this box the number of symbols usedto transmit the uplink demodulation reference signal, per slot.

Sounding Reference Signal

Number Of Resource Blocks—type in this box the number of resourceblocks in which the sounding reference signal is carried. The soundingreference signal is transmitted in one symbol per subframe for every secondsubcarrier.



Control Channel

Number Of PUCCH Resource Blocks—type in this box the averagenumber of symbols carrying the uplink control channel in each subframe.

Number of SC-FDMA Symbols Per Slot—displays the number of SC-FDMA symbols per slot.

SC-FDMA Symbol Duration—displays the duration of the SC-FDMAsymbol in an uplink slot, expressed in microseconds.

Overhead—displays the calculated overhead on the uplink. Uplinkoverhead is created by the cyclic prefix and the number of resourceelements allocated to the reference signal.


Configuring And Placing Sites

Chapter 7 Configuring And Placing Sites

Once you have created a project and defined network settings you canconfigure and place the sites in your network. This chapter describes howto configure and place sites.


Workflow for configuring and placing sites 169

Using site templates 170

Understanding sites and sectors 172

Placing sites automatically 177


Site Templates 185

Traffic 186


Propagation Model 188

Frequency Band 189

Defining link configurations 190


Uplink/Reverse 196


Downlink/Forward 198

Creating and editing sites 200

Site Editor 203

Link 204

Antennas 205

Predictions 206


Chapter 7

Mode 207

Information 208

Site Editor 209

Sector - Implementation 210

Filter 211

Quality 213

Site Editor 214

Sector 215

Configuration 216

Segment 217

Preamble 218

Channels 219

Site Editor 220

Sector - Powers 221

Uplink Interference 223




Workflow for configuring and placing sites

Step 1 Create a new site using one of the following methods:

n by defining a new site

n based on the settings of an existing site

n based on a site template

Step 2 Define the supported antenna system.

Step 3 Define sector parameters.

Step 4 Define traffic settings.

Step 5 If required, edit placed sites and sectors.

Step 6 If required, save a site template.


Chapter 7

Using site templates

Site templates store the settings defined in the Site Editor and make it easy toadd sites with the same configuration at a later time. You can create a sitetemplate from either a site or a repeater. You can create as many sitetemplates as required for your project. By default, the active site template isused in site creation. When you export a site template, you can view all the siteand sector parameters in Excel.

CAUTION: When the active site template is for a repeater, the donor sectorvalue in the template is not copied over to the new site. You need to manuallyset the donor sector for the new site using the Site Editor.

To create a site template

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Sites category, expand the Sitesnode, right-click the site upon which you want to base thetemplate and do one of the following:

n Choose Create Site Template Local if you want to savethe site template on your workstation

n Choose Create Site Template Local if you want to savethe site template on your workstation

n Choose CreateSiteTemplate Shared if you want to sharethe site template with other users using the Data Manager

2 Type a name for the site template.

3 Enable the Set as Active Template check box to set this sitetemplate as active.

The active site template is used when creating new sites. If there is noactive site template, default values are used.

4 ClickOK.

The site template is added to the Project Explorer.



To rename a site template

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Sites category, expand theSite Templates node, right-click the site template you wantto rename, and choose Rename.

2 Modify the name as required.

To set the site template as active

n In the Project Explorer, in the Sites category, expandthe Site Templates node, right-click the site templateyou want to be active and choose Active.

The active site template is used when creating new sites. If there isno active site template, default values are used.

To view a site template

n In the Project Explorer, in the Sites category, expandthe Site Templates node, right-click the site templateyou want to view, and choose View.

The site template opens in Excel.

To delete a site template

n In the Project Explorer, in the Sites category, expandthe Site Templates node, right-click the site templateyou want to delete, and choose Delete.


Chapter 7

Understanding sites and sectors

A site is a fixed geographical location. At the site, there are technology-specificbase stations, each with associated sectors as illustrated in Figure 6.1. Hence,antenna systems can be shared between sectors that support differenttechnologies.

Figure 6.1 Example of how a site, base stations, and sectors relate.

In the Site Editor, you can access all pertinent information about a site,associated base stations and the sectors they support. This includes linkinformation, quality and performance criteria, as well as details about thesupported antenna systems as shown in Figure 6.2.



Figure 6.2 Site Editor

A unique name identifies each site. You can add additional identificationinformation about a site such as a detailed site name, descriptive sitedetails, and a Universal ID.

You can view and update site and sector parameters using the TabularEditor.

General site parameters

On the General tab at the base station level, you select the modulationsthat you want the site to support and define the maximum pooledthroughput allowed.

General sector parameters

On the General tab at the sector level, you define the flags and groupsthat are applicable to the sector and you specify the frequency band


Chapter 7

supported.

Link parameters

The parameters on the Link tab focus on the settings required to model acommunication link between the user and the sector. This includes antennaparameters, prediction parameters, and the link configuration (as defined inthe link configuration).

Sector user data

If you have an identification string that describes the sector more fully thansimply the sector name, you can define an additional universal ID on theSector User Data tab. Custom user data fields added by the Data ManagerAdministrator also appear on this tab.

Implementation parameters

The parameters on the Implementation tab center around the performanceand quality of the signal provided by the sector. This includes filter lossparameters and quality parameters (such as the best server coveragethreshold) as well as the phase jitter effect.

You can use filters to suppress unwanted interference from adjacent channels.Filter characteristics are saved as filter (.flt) files. You can specify filters for thedownlink (i.e., the transmit mask) and you can also specify filters for the uplink(i.e., the receive filter).

The filter loss table allows you to specify the frequency offset and theassociated filter loss parameter. The frequency is the difference between thefirst and second channel away from the center frequency. Filter loss valuesdepend on the filter chosen by the equipment manufacturer. These values willbe used to determine the nature of the adjacent-channel interference.

You can save the values in the Filter Loss table as a .flt file using the optionsfrom the File menu.



Figure 6.3 illustrates a filter that models a channel with a 10 MHzbandwidth. With a 5.45 MHz frequency separation, the excessive energytransmitted outside the channel bandwidth is attenuated by 25 dB whileat 9.75 MHz, it is attenuated by 32 dB.

If your filter files are not configured correctly, this could result in anexcess or shortage of adjacent channel interference. The latter is a lessdesirable situation because it could lead to overestimated coverage.

Figure 7.1: This figure illustrates a sample filter loss graph for thetransmit signal. In this example, the filter loss is specified as 32 dB for9.75 MHz frequency separation. You can also define a separate filter lossgraph for the receive signal.

Configuration parameters

Configuration parameters include the channelcarrier and frameconfiguration for the sector. You define the frame configuration in theFrame Editor.

Power parameters

Power parameters define the power requirements for the sector. Youcan view the power distribution.


Chapter 7

Antenna Systems

In the Site Editor, the antenna pattern, associated antenna parameters, andlocation are grouped on the General tab making it easy to set up a non co-located sector. You can also access the Antenna Editor where you can definemore detailed elements of the antenna system including the settings relatedto the use of multiple antennas, the master antenna, or the antenna element.



Placing sites automatically

Using the Automatic Site Placement Tool (ASPT), you can place sites in adefined area quickly and easily. There are two modes that you can usewith the ASPT:

n Basic—the tool generates hexagons based on the criteriayou define and places a site at the center of eachhexagon using either the default site configuration or thesite template you specify. If you are using a clutter file,you can exclude clutter classes such that no sites will beplaced within them.

n Advanced —the tool generates complex shapes basedon the planning strategy you choose and the criteria youdefine (including clutter-specific criteria) and places a siteat the center of the shape using the site template youspecify. Each site is given a level of priority thatdetermines whether it becomes a possible site candidate.In Advanced mode, you can use a traffic map in order togenerate more accurate shapes. In addition, you can useexisting and candidate sites in the site placement process.

Determining site placement in the Basic mode

Step 1 The ASPT divides the selected polygon into a series ofhexagons based on the hexagon radius or the number ofhexagons you define in the generation options.

Step 2 A proposed site is placed at the center of each hexagon usingthe site template that you specify.


Chapter 7

Step 3 When you create sites, sites are added to the Sites node in theProject Explorer and placed on the map.

Determining site placement in the Advanced mode

Step 1 The ASPT divides the selected polygon into a series of shapes basedon the planning strategy you define. There are two types of planningstrategies:

n Greenfield, where there are no existing sites in the network

n Expansion, where there are existing sites

Step 2 Depending on the settings you define, the ASPT displays possiblesite locations on the map. In Advanced mode, there are three typesof sites identified during the automatic site placement process:

n Existing Sites—sites you have placed in the network at existinglocations.

n Candidate Sites—sites you have placed in the network atpossible site locations.

n New Sites—sites that will be placed by the ASPT automaticallybased on the defined criteria to fill in any gaps.



You can specify when to place a site in individual clutter classesand which site template you use. You can also definepropagation model parameters including the site radius, theminimum and maximum site radius, the Okumura class as wellas the frequency band (whether network-defined or user-defined).

Step 3 A possible site is placed at the center of each shape using thesite template that you specify. If the planning strategy youchoose is "Expansion" with existing sites, then existing sites areconsidered first in the planning process, candidate sites areconsidered next, and new sites are placed to fill in any gaps. Inthe illustration that follows, the blue sites are existing sites, thegreen sites are candidate sites, and the purple sites are newsites. Candidate sites are considered in order of priority(defined in the Site Editor).

Step 4 When you create sites, candidate sites become permenantsites and are added to the Sites node in the Project Explorer.New sites are placed in gap areas, added to the ProjectExplorer and placed on the map. A new local group is alsocreated that contains the newly created sites.


Chapter 7


To place sites in Basic mode

1 To specify the boundaries of the area within which you want toplace sites, do one of the following:

n Make the cosmetic layer editable, draw a polygon using thetools on the Drawing toolbar, and then select it.

n Create an area grid.

2 Choose Tools Automatic Site Placement.

The Automatic Site Placement dialog box opens.



3 In theMode section, choose the Basic option.

4 In the Region section, choose one of the following options:

n Polygon—to identify the region within which you want toplace sites using a polygon. When you use this option, youmust create a polygon on the cosmetic layer using thetools on the Drawing toolbar.

n Area—to identify the region within which you want toplace sites using an area grid. When you use this option,you must first have created an area grid.

5 Click the Settings tab and define how to place sites.

6 ClickGenerate.


Chapter 7

To place sites in Advanced mode

1 To specify the boundaries of the area within which you want toplace sites, do one of the following:

n Make the cosmetic layer editable, draw a polygon using thetools on the Drawing toolbar, and then select it

n Create an area grid.

2 Choose Tools Automatic Site Placement.

The Automatic Site Placement dialog box opens.

3 In theMode section, choose the Advanced option.

4 Define the required parameters on each of the following tabs:



n General—includes network planning strategy (i.e.,greenfield or expansion), existing and candidate siteselection, and region definition.

n Site Templates—includes site template for each class,ability to adjust antenna heights, minimum andmaximum antenna heights as well as minimum andmaximum traffic loads.

n Propagation Model—includes Okumura class, siteradius as well as minimum and maximum site radius.

5 ClickGenerate.

Cells are placed across the region.


Chapter 7

Automatic Site Placement Tool

In order to facilitate the placement of sites, you can use the Automatic SitePlacement Tool to automatically place sites within a defined area. In the Basicmode, sites are placed at the center of each hexagon and saved to the sitetable. In Advanced mode, sites are placed based on the criteria you define(although still placed at the center of the shape).

NOTE: If you are using a polygon to delineate the area where sites will beplaced, you must ensure that the cosmetic layer is editable and that you havecreated an area object using the Drawing tools that identifies where you wantto place sites.




Site Templates

Index—displays the index number for the clutter class.

Class Name—displays the clutter class name as defined in the cluttergrid.

Place Site—choose from this list if you want sites placed in theassociated clutter class.

Site Template—choose from this list the site template you want to useto place site within the associated clutter class. You define site templatesin the Sites category of the Project Explorer.

Adjust Antenna Height—choose from this list whether the antennaheight can vary. This parameter is visible only when you are using atraffic map.

Minimum Antenna Height—type in this box the minimum requiredantenna height if you are allowing antenna heights to be adjusted. Thisparameter is visible only when you are using a traffic map.

Maximum Antenna Height—type in this box the maximum antennaheight if you are allowing antenna heights to be adjusted. Thisparameter is visible only when you are using a traffic map.

Minimum Site Traffic Load—type in this box the minimum site trafficload. This parameter is visible only when you are using a traffic map.

Maximum Site Traffic Load—type in this box the maximum allowablesite traffic load. This parameter is visible only when you are using atraffic map.


Chapter 7

Traffic

Use Traffic Map—enable this check box if you want site placement to beinfluenced by the distribution of traffic. Using a traffic map will reduce sitecoverage. Choose the traffic map you want to use from the associated list.



Automatic Site Placement Tool

In order to facilitate the placement of sites, you can use the AutomaticSite Placement Tool to automatically place sites within a defined area.Sites are placed at the center of each hexagon and saved to the sitetable.

NOTE: If you are using a polygon to delineate the area where sites willbe placed, you must ensure that the cosmetic layer is editable and thatyou have created an area object using the Drawing tools that identifieswhere you want to place sites.



Chapter 7

Propagation Model

Index—displays the index number for the clutter class.

Class Name—displays the clutter class name as defined in the clutter grid.

Class Weight—type in this box the weighting you want to assign to the class.The class weight affects the calculated average radial distance used todetermine site placement. A low class weight will give less significance to theclutter class while a higher class weight increases the significance of the clutterclass. This can be useful, for example, when a clutter grid includes roads andbuildings. If you assign a clutter weight of 0 to roads and a clutter weight of 50to buildings, site placement will focus on placing sites on the buildings.

Okumura Class—choose from this list the Okumura class for which you wantto define site placement parameters.

Default Antenna Height—type in this box the default antenna height to usewhen placing sites. If you are using a traffic map, the default antenna heightmust be between the Minimum Antenna Height and the Maximum AntennaHeight defined on the Site Templates tab.

Maximum Allowable Pathloss—type in this box the maximum allowablepathloss for the clutter class.

Site Radius—type in this box the radius of the placed site.

Minimum Site Radius—type in this box the minimum allowable site radius forsite placement.

Maximum Site Radius—type in this box the maximum allowable site radiusfor site placement.



Frequency Band

Network-Defined—choose this option to select one of the frequencybands defined in the Network Settings dialog box. Sites will use thespecified band.

User-Defined—choose this option to define the frequency band in theassociated box. Sites will use the specified frequency band value.


Chapter 7

Defining link configurations

Link configurations track the gains and losses that occur as a signal travels. Inother words, a link configuration calculates the radiated power for a sectorbased on the power output of the sector’s power amplifier (PA) plus or minussystem gains and losses. In Mentum Planet , you define link configurations inthe Link Configuration Editor. You can define several link configurations for aproject. When link configurations are assigned to sectors, the linkconfiguration icon is blue as shown in Figure 6.3.

Figure 6.3 Assigned link configuration identified with a blue icon.

Losses and gains

For both the downlink and uplink, a default antenna gain value is added basedon the antenna type assigned to the sector. You cannot modify this value.Initially, the value is 0 but will be updated once the link configuration isassigned to a sector. A default Feeder value on both the downlink and theuplink is added to account for cable and connector losses and a main feederloss is calculated bymultiplying the cable length defined on the Link tab andthe main feeder loss per meter defined in the associated link configuration.The main feeder value is always included in the link configuration calculations.

A default BTS Noise Figure is assigned to the uplink to account for base stationreceiver noise gain. You should modify the BTS Noise Figure according to themanufacturer's hardware specifications.



You can add additional losses and gains as required. Because the Friisnoise formula (see Equation 6.1) is used to calculate the Uplink NoiseFigure, the order of the items in the Link Configuration Editor mustmatch the hierarchy of the sector hardware (see Figure 6.4 ). Bydefault, the BTS Noise Figure is always the last item in the list.

Figure 6.4 Example sector hardware configuration

The Reverse Composite Noise Figure (Composite System Noise Figure(NFs)) is calculated as follows, using the Friis noise formula:

Equation 6.1 Friis noise formula


Chapter 7

When you assign a link configuration to a sector, you can view the impact it hasin the Information section of the Link tab.

Figure 6.5 Information section on the Link tab in the Site Editor.

If you are using an Excel spreadsheet to import link configuration settings, youmust use the Index column to specify the order of the items in the Losses andGains list. For more information, see “Importing and exporting project data” inChapter 13, “Working With Network and Project Data”, in the Mentum PlanetUser Guide.




To define link configurations

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Project Data category,right-click Link Configurations and choose New.

The Link Configuration Editor opens.

2 In the Name box, type a name to identify the linkconfiguration.

3 Click the Uplink/Reverse tab and define link configurationparameters.

To view or hide unassigned link configurations

n In the Project Explorer, in the Project Data category,right-click Link Configurations and choose one of thefollowing commands:

n Show Unassigned Link Configurations—dis-plays in the Project Explorer those link con-figurations that have not been assigned to a sector.


Chapter 7

n Hide Unassigned Link Configurations—hides in theProject Explorer those link configurations that have notbeen assigned to a sector.



Link Configuration Editor

Use the Link Configuration Editor to define a common set of link settingsthat you can apply to specific sites, sector groups, or flags. When a linkconfiguration has been assigned, the link icon is blue while unassignedlink configurations are gray.

For example, you could use the Link Configuration Editor with a newlycreated project to define a common set of losses and gains according tothe hardware used most often in your network. Using these commonsettings as a base, you could then define individual or unique sectorpower settings as required.



Chapter 7

Uplink/Reverse

Use the Uplink/Reverse tab to define specific uplink/reverse link losses andgains for the sectors that belong to sites, site groups, or flags. Losses andgains defined for the uplink affect the total power for the sectors. The mainfeeder loss is calculated based on the cable length you define on the Link taband is always displayed in the link configuration. You can add additional lossesand gains as required.

The Uplink/Reverse power settings initially display the power settings for thefirst sector in the group, the first sector with the specified flag condition, or thefirst sector chosen in the Project Explorer.

For both the downlink and uplink, the initial value is an antenna gain. Thisvalue is determined by the antenna type assigned to each sector. You cannotmodify this value.

Name—type in this box a name for the link configuration. This box is onlyavailable in the Link Configuration Editor.

Type—choose from this list whether the change to the sector's power is a lossor a gain.

Name—type in this box a name for the loss or gain.

Value (dB)—type in this box a constant value for the loss or gain.

Value (dB/m)—type in this box a value per meter for the loss or gain, to bemultiplied by the cable length of the antenna.

Move Up—click this button to move a chosen power loss or gain up oneposition in the list.

Move Down—click this button to move a chosen power loss or gain down oneposition in the list.

Add—click this button to add a power loss or a gain to the list.

Remove—click this button to delete a power loss or gain from the list.



Link Configuration Editor

Use the Link Configuration Editor to define a common set of link settingsthat you can apply to specific sites, sector groups, or flags. When a linkconfiguration has been assigned, the link icon is blue while unassignedlink configurations are gray.

For example, you could use the Link Configuration Editor with a newlycreated project to define a common set of losses and gains according tothe hardware used most often in your network. Using these commonsettings as a base, you could then define individual or unique sectorpower settings as required.



Chapter 7

Downlink/Forward

Use the Downlink/Forward tab to define specific downlink/forward link lossesand gains for the sectors that belong to sites, site groups, or flags. Losses andgains defined for the downlink affect the total power for the sectors. The mainfeeder loss is calculated using the cable length you define on the Link tab in theSite Editor and the MainFeeder loss (dB/m) you define in the link configuration.This loss is always displayed in the link configuration. You can add additionallosses and gains as required.

The Downlink/Forward power settings initially display the power settings forthe first sector in the group, the first sector with the specified flag condition, orthe first sector chosen in the Project Explorer.

For both the downlink and uplink, the initial value is an antenna gain. Thisvalue is determined by the antenna type assigned to each sector. You cannotmodify this value.

Name—type in this box a name for the link configuration.

Type—choose from this list whether the change to the sector's power is a lossor a gain.

Name—type in this box a name for the loss or gain.

Value (dB)—type in this box a constant value for the loss or gain.

Value (dB/m)—type in this box a value per meter for the loss or gain, to bemultiplied by the cable length of the antenna.

Move Up—click this button to move a chosen power loss or gain up oneposition in the list.

Move Down—click this button to move a chosen power loss or gain down oneposition in the list.

Add—click this button to add a power loss or a gain to the list.

Remove—click this button to delete a power loss or gain from the list.




Chapter 7

Creating and editing sites

Once you have defined site and sector parameters, you can create a sitetemplate based on these settings and use this template to add similar sites tothe network. See “Using site templates”.

Once a site has been placed, you can change any of the settings that havebeen defined. If you have acquired GPS readings for all your sites and youwant to update the position of a sector, you can edit the site location manually.

For more information on general site, base station, and sector properties, see“Working with Sites and Sectors”, in the Mentum Planet User Guide.


CAUTION: By default, site updates are saved in the site set. To update thesite table (.tab) file, you must right-click the Sites node and choose UpdateSite File. Site updates are not automatically added to the site table.

To create a new site

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Sites category, do one of thefollowing:

n To use a specific site template, expand the Site Templatesnode, expand the Local or Shared node, and right-click thetemplate upon which you want to base the site, then chooseNew Site.

n To use the active site template, right-click the Sites node andchoose New Site.The active site template is identified with a green arrow.

2 Click in the Map window at the location where you want to placethe site.



To edit site parameters

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Sites category, expand theSites node, right-click the site you want to edit, and chooseEdit.

2 Modify site parameters as required.

3 To change the antenna systems available for this site, doone of the following:

n In the tree view, right-click the Antennas node, andchoose Add.

n Click the Add Antenna System button at the top of thedialog box.

A default antenna system is added.


Chapter 7

4 Choose the newly-added antenna system and modify antennaparameters as required.

TIP: To define parameters for all sectors at the site, click the Tabular Editbutton.

TIP: You can also edit sites by clicking the Edit Site button on the Site toolbar,and then clicking in the Map window to select the sector.

To create a new site based on an existing site

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Sites category, right-click the sitethat you want to copy and choose Place Copy.

2 In the Map window, click once on a location to place the site.

The created site is displayed in the Map window and a site having thename Copy of <site name> is added to the Sites category in the ProjectExplorer.

3 In the Project Explorer, right-click the newly copied site andchoose Edit.

4 In the Site Editor, adjust site parameters as required.



Site Editor

A site is the location where a sector is placed. Sites and sectors havecommon attributes such as a geographic location and elevation. Therecan be more than one sector at a particular site, each pointing in adifferent direction. The Site Editor is a key editor where you can view andmodify site, sector, repeater, and antenna data.



Chapter 7

Link

You assign link configurations in the Site Editor; however, link configurationsare created using the Link Configuration Editor.



Antennas

Antenna—choose from this list the antenna system for the selectedsector. The antenna systems listed are those displayed in the Site Editortree view.

Power Split—type in this box how the sector transmit power is to bedivided between multiple antennas. This field is only available if there ismore than one antenna.

Link Configuration—choose from this list the link configuration youwant to associate with the sector. Click the View button to view thedetails of the link configuration.

Cable Length—type in this box the length of the feeder cable. This valueis used to calculate the main feeder loss in the associated linkconfiguration.

Add—click this button to add secondary antenna systems to the sector ifyou are using split sectors. Split sectors use several directional antennasto transmit the same signal.

Antenna Algorithm—choose from this list the antenna algorithm to usewith the selected smart or MIMO antenna. Antenna algorithms aredefined in the Antenna Algorithm Editor. Only antenna algorithms thatare compatible with the selected antenna system (smart antenna andMIMO capabilities) are available. Antenna algorithms are not availablefor cdma2000 sectors.


Chapter 7

Predictions

Model—choose from this list the propagation model for the selected site.

Edit—click this button to modify the current propagation model.

Distance—type in this box the maximum distance from the sector to calculatesignal strength.

Number of Radials—type in this box the number of radials originating from asite along which to calculate predictions. More radials produce a more accuratebut slower calculation.

NOTE: If you are using the Planet General Model, the number of radials youdefine is rounded up to the closest number divisible by four. For example, ifyou set the number of radials to 357 then when generating predictionsMentum Planet uses 360 radials.



Mode

Use this section to specify the type of prediction to associate with thesector. Propagation models cannot always account for the complexitiesof signal propagation in urban environments. Hence, to predict moreaccurately how a signal will behave, you can merge survey andprediction data. This is valuable because survey data represents theactual coverage provided by the network, improving the accuracy of yourpredictions.

Prediction calculations are performed along radials at distance intervalsequal to the resolution of the heights file. At each bin, mergedpredictions will perform a linear interpolation between the signalstrength measurement and the prediction. Only bins located within theinterpolation distance of a measurement point will be affected by themeasurement data.

Merged—enable this check box to merge model predictions with surveydata. Clear the check box to generate predictions using only the assignedpropagation model.

Interpolation Distance—type in this box the distance used to set thesurvey weighting value used to calculate merged prediction values. Thesurvey weighting value is a value between 0 and 1 determined usinglinear interpolation and the distance between a prediction point and thenearest survey point. The weight of the prediction is 1 minus the surveyweighting value.


Chapter 7

Information

The Information section displays the power settings for the sector. Thecalculations displayed are updated based on the link configuration you chose.



Site Editor




Chapter 7

Sector - Implementation



Filter

Use this section to open an existing filter loss (.flt) file or create a newone. A .flt file instructs Mentum Planet how adjacent channels contributeto the interference level. You can define a filter loss that increases asfrequencies move further from the center frequency, which results infrequencies further from the desired frequency being filtered out moreeffectively than frequencies close to the desired frequency.

NOTE: If no filter is specified, a perfect filter is used, which results in noadjacent-channel interference.

Transmit Mask—displays the filter loss file. The filter loss is applied tothe sector’s transmit power when calculating adjacent carrierinterference power from the sector to mobile subscriber on the downlink.

Browse—click this button to open a filter loss (.flt) file.

New/Edit—click this button to define or edit the values in a filterloss (.flt) file.

Remove—click this button to remove this filter from the sector.Removing the filter does not delete the .flt file. When no transmitmask is specified, the interference caused by the excessive energytransmitted outside the channel bandwidth is not accounted for.

Receive Filter—displays the filter loss file. The filter loss is applied whencalculating adjacent carrier interference power received by the sector onthe uplink.



Remove—click this button to remove this filter from the sector.Removing the filter does not delete the .flt file. When no receivemask is specified, athe interference caused by the excessive


Chapter 7

energy transmitted outside the channel bandwidth is not accounted for.



Quality

Limit Best Server Coverage—type in this box the distance from thesector that defines the outer limit of the best server coverage. Beyondthis distance, the server cannot be considered as the Best Server.

Maximum Number of Subscribers—type in this box the maximumnumber of subscribers carried by the sector.

Maximum Uplink Noise Rise—type in this box the maximum allowablenoise rise on the uplink for the sector.

Uplink Phase Jitter Effect—type in this box a value in dB for themismatch in frequencies at the BTS receiver due to hardware error. Thisvalue is added to the generated interference in an interference analysis.This value is typically 0.5 to 1 dB.


Chapter 7

Site Editor




Sector


Chapter 7

Configuration

Use this section to define the frame configuration. To do this, you must havedefined the required frame configurations on the Frame Setup tab in theNetwork Settings dialog box.

Frame Configuration—choose from this list the frame configuration youwant to assign to the sector. You create frame configurations in the NetworkSettings dialog box using the Frame Editor.



Segment

Use this section to specify the segmented zone usage. This section is onlyavailable if the selected frame configuration supports segmentation.

Primary Group—choose which primary subchannel group to assign tothe sector.

Secondary Group—enable the check box next to those secondarysubchannel groups you want to assign to the sector. This option is onlyavailable when the FFT size used by the band is 2048 or 1024.


Chapter 7

Preamble

Per Sector—choose this option to assign preambles on a per-sector basis.When you choose this option, the same preamble, ID cell, and segment ID areassigned to all channels of each sector. This option is only available when thesector band hasmore than one channel.

Preamble —choose from this list the preamble value you want to assign tothe sector.

Cell ID —displays the cell ID value you want to assign to the sector.

Segment ID —displays the segment ID value you want to assign to thesector.

Per Channel—choose this option to allow preambles to be assigned on a per-channel basis when the assignment reduces the total violation cost. This optionwill reduce the violation costs when you have sectors that use multiplechannels. When you choose this option, Preamble, Cell ID, and Segment IDcolumns are added to the Channels table.



Channels

Status—click this check box to set the status of the channel.

n A green checkmark indicates that the channel is assignedto the sector

n A red X indicates the channel is not supported by thesector

n A cleared check box indicates the channel is defined in thenetwork settings but is not assigned to the sector

Downlink Loading—type in this box the percentage of cell loading thatyou want to target for the downlink. This box is available only if thechannel is assigned to the sector.

Uplink Loading—type in this box the percentage of cell loading that youwant to target for the uplink. This box is available only if the channel isassigned to the sector.

Uplink Noise Rise—type in this box the total uplink noise rise for thechannel.

Uplink TDD De-Synchronization Interference—type in this box thelevel of interference experienced at the sector due to TDD de-synchronization. When you generate a network analysis, this value istaken into account. This box is only available for channels assigned to thesector.

Segment Zone Usage—displays the percentage of traffic that can besupported by segmented permutation zones.

AAS Usage—displays the percentage of cell loading supported byAdvanced Antenna Systems (AAS) or multiple antennas.

Number of Required Channels—type in this box the required numberof channels. This value is used when generating automatic frequencyplans.


Chapter 7

Site Editor

A site is the location where a sector is placed. Sites and sectors have commonattributes such as a geographic location and elevation. There can be morethan one sector at a particular site, each pointing in a different direction. TheSite Editor is a key editor where you can view and modify site, sector,repeater, and antenna data.

Use the Site Editor to view and manipulate site, sector, and antennainformation. It provides

n tree representation of hierarchical relationships such as sites,sectors, and repeaters as well as displaying the list of projectantennas

n easy access to all information about a site, sector, repeater, orantenna


NOTE: When you select an antenna beneath the Antennas node, sectorsusing that antenna are highlighted in blue.



Sector - Powers

PA Power—click in the box to define the PA power, in dBm. The PApower value you enter should reflect the combined power of theantennas. For example, if you have two Tx antennas with 43 dBm each,enter 46 dBm in the PA power box.

Total Power (EIRP)—displays the total EIRP. EIRP is calculatedaccording in the base station link configuration that includes the PApower, the antenna gain and other losses such as cable and connectorlosses.

Reference Signal Power Boosting—click in this box to define thepower offset (in dB) that is applied to the resource elements used totransmit the reference signal.

Power Recycling—choose from this list how your equipment distributespower on resource elements. When several transmit antennas are used(e.g., MIMO), for a specific resource element, the reference signal istransmitted on a single antenna port. The unused power on the otherantenna ports can hence be recycled. Possible choices are:

n None—the power is lost. In this case, the total power persymbol carrying the reference signal will be lower thanthe PA power.

n All Resource Elements—the power is redistributedacross all resource elements.

n Reference Signal Resource Elements—the power isredistributed across reference signal resource elementsonly, providing an additional boost to the referencesignal.

Power recycling is important in cases where there are several transmitantennas (such as MIMO). When there is only one transmit antenna alloptions result in the same outcome.


Chapter 7

Reference Signal Power—displays the reference signal power as theportion of the PA power used for transmitting the reference signal.

Reference Signal Frequency Hopping—enable this checkbox if frequency-hopping patterns are applied. Using Reference Signal Frequency Hoppingminimizes the risk of reference symbols from neighbor cells colliding.

Synchronization Signal Power Boosting—type in this box the power offset(in dB) that is applied to the resource elements used to transmit thesynchronization signal.

Synchronization Signal Power—displays the synchronization signal poweras the portion of the PA power used for transmitting of the synchronizationsignal.

Average Power Per Resource Element—displays the average power forany resource element.

Average Power Per Reference Signal Resource Element—displays theaverage power used to transmit the reference signal resource element. Whenusing a reference signal power boost, this value is greater than the averagepower per resource element.

Average Power Per Synchronization Signal Resource Element—displays the average power used to transmit synchronization signal resourceelement.

Average Power Per Physical Channel Resource Element—displays theaverage power used to transmit on physical channels (i.e., Physical DownlinkShared Channel, Physical Downlink Control Channel, etc.).



Uplink Interference

Average PRACH Interference Power—click in this box to define theaverage power received by the sector on the random access channel.


Chapter 7

Other System Interference

Downlink—type in this box the value attributed to other system interferenceon the downlink.

Uplink—type in this box the value attributed to other system interference onthe uplink.


Adding Repeaters

Chapter 8 Adding Repeaters

In order to increase network coverage, you can add repeaters to yournetwork. Repeaters are electronic devices that receive a signal, amplifyit, and then retransmit it at a higher power. This chapter describes howto add repeaters to your project.


Understanding repeaters 227

Workflow for adding repeaters to sectors 230

Adding repeaters to sectors 231

Site Editor 234

Configuration 235

Carriers 236

Equipment 237

Site Editor 238

Donor 239

Type 240

Site Editor 242

Link 243

Service 244

Prediction 245

Isolation 246

Site Editor 247

Implementation 248

Filters 249

Quality 250


Chapter 8

Locating repeaters in a Map window 251


Adding Repeaters

Understanding repeaters

Repeaters are used to retransmit signals received from donor sectors tolocations that have insufficient coverage. For example, repeaters can beused to extend coverage or fill in shadow areas caused by hills, largebuildings, and other structures that obstruct signals.

A repeater receives a signal from the donor antenna of a donor sector,and then amplifies and retransmits the signal through its serviceantenna. Repeaters are primarily used to reduce path loss withoutproviding an increase in network capacity. Generally, repeaters addnoise and amplify noise in the uplink, which can limit their effectiveness;however, a well placed repeater can reduce noise levels within a networkand enhance the overall capacity.

Implementing repeaters can be an efficient and cost-effective method ofincreasing the received signal strength for mobiles in an area withouthaving to place additional sites.

A repeater’s power is defined by its Effective Isotropic Radiated Power(EIRP). EIRP measures the maximum radiated power in the direction ofthe maximum gain relative to an isotropic antenna (typically in thedirection the antenna is pointing).

The EIRP of repeaters is based on the power of the first active carrier,and is calculated as shown in Equation 7.1.

Equation 7.1 Repeater EIRP


Chapter 8

Types of repeater implementations

There are several different ways to implement repeaters in a network. Forexample, in areas where

n there are a lot of buildings, you could implement split sectorswhere several directional antennas are used to transmit thesame signal. See “Using split sectors”.

n you want to extend indoor coverage, you could implement aDistributed Antenna System (DAS). See “Using distributedantenna systems”.

Using split sectors

When split sectors are used in the network, sectors use several directionalantennas to transmit the same signal. In Mentum Planet , you define split


Adding Repeaters

sectors in the Site Editor by adding additional antennas on the Link tabfor the sector you want to use.

Using distributed antenna systems

When distributed antenna systems are used in the network, thetransmitted power is divided between several elements in the networkand consists of split sectors and repeaters depending on the maximumdistance between antennas.

Repeaters and predictions

When you generate predictions for a sector that has one or morerepeaters assigned to it, signal strength grid (.grd) files are generatedfor the sector and for each repeater. The analyses use the separatepredictions for the donor sectors and repeaters.

A combined signal strength file is also generated, which merges theseparate sector and repeater signal strength files. Combined signalstrength predictions are used when the full coverage area of a sector isrequired, such as when you generate a traffic map or interferencematrix, or analyze the interference between two sectors.

After you have generated predictions for a sector, you can choose toview a prediction for the donor sector or individual repeaters. You canalso view a combined prediction that displays the combined signalstrengths of the donor sector and all of its repeaters. For information ongenerating and viewing predictions, see “Chapter 8: GeneratingPredictions” in the Mentum Planet User Guide.


Chapter 8

Workflow for adding repeaters to sectors

Step 1 Configure and place sites.

Step 2 Add repeaters to sectors with insufficient coverage.


Adding Repeaters

Adding repeaters to sectors

When you add a repeater to a sector, you define general settings, suchas the donor sector for which the repeater will retransmit a signal, andthe location of the repeater. You must also define settings for serviceand donor antennas, predictions, repeater links, implementation criteria(such as filters and quality limits), as well as configuration settings.

The gain of a repeater in Mentum Planet is maintained at a constantlevel. Any changes to the donor sector and repeater system that affectthe power received by the repeater will result in a similar change in theEIRP of the repeater. For example, a change in the masked pathlossbetween the donor sector and the repeater, the donor sector’s pilotpower, or the antenna system at the donor sector which results in achange to the EIRP of the sector, will result in a similar change in theEIRP of the repeater. The EIRP value at the repeater will also change inline with a change in either of the repeater’s antenna systems. As such, itis important to review repeater settings following any changes of thisnature.


To add repeaters to sectors

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Sites category, right-clickthe sector to which you want to add a repeater, and chooseAdd Repeater.

2 Click in the Map window in the location where you want toadd the repeater.

A repeater is added to the Map window and, in the ProjectExplorer, a repeater node is added beneath the associated sector.In addition, a new site is added to the Sites node. This new sitecontains only the repeater location and repeater parameters. For


Chapter 8

example, if you add a repeater to Site 2, sector 2, an additional site isadded.

3 To view the repeater settings, in the Project Explorer, double-click the repeater node.

4 Define repeater parameters as required.


Adding Repeaters

TIP: You can change the status of a repeater by right-clicking arepeater node in the Project Explorer and choosing Active. A checkmarkindicates that the repeater is online.

TIP: For maximum accuracy, enter a measured value of pathloss in theMasked Path Loss From Donor box. The measured pathloss can bedetermined bymeasuring the signal strength with a known EIRP fromthe donor sector. If you choose to calculate the masked path loss, ensureyou specify an appropriate model. The most appropriate propagationmodel will depend on the specifics of the environment between donorsector and the repeater donor antenna. If you suspect obstruction at therepeater location, choose a deterministic model with the correct receiverheight. You may need to create a model specifically for repeaterinstallations.

Mentum Planet will not update the stored masked pathlossautomatically, even if the current value is generated using the CalculateMasked Pathloss dialog box. If there are changes to the network thatwould impact the pathloss between the donor sector and the repeater,you must apply a new value to the repeater, either bymanually enteringa new value in the Repeater Settings dialog box or re-calculating thevalue using the Calculate Masked Pathloss dialog box.


Chapter 8

Site Editor








Adding Repeaters

Configuration


Chapter 8

Carriers

Status—enable the check box next to those carriers you want the repeater tosupport.

Carrier Name—displays the carrier name. The carrier name is defined in thenetwork settings.


Adding Repeaters

Equipment

Total EIRP—displays the total EIRP.

Repeater Gain—type in this box the system gain experienced by therepeater. The value in the Power EIRP box is updated based on the valueyou enter.

System Losses—type in this box the system losses experienced by therepeater. The value in the Power EIRP box is updated based on the valueyou enter.

Downlink Maximum Power Per Carrier—type in this box themaximum power output per carrier.


Chapter 8

Site Editor








Adding Repeaters

Donor

Use the Donor tab to define the parameters of the relationship betweenthe repeater and its donor sector, including the donor antenna (i.e., therepeater antenna that receives the signal from the donor sector on thedownlink and transmits the amplified signal to the donor sector on theuplink) for RF repeaters.


Chapter 8

Type

RF—enable this option to indicate that the donor antenna receives the signalfrom a conventional RF signal.

Fiber—enable this option to indicate that the donor antenna receives thesignal from a fiber-optic cable. When the Fiber option is enabled, the DonorAntenna parameters are not available.

Donor Antenna—displays the name of the donor antenna.

Edit—click this button to change the antenna parameters and location.

Link Configuration—choose from this list the link budget you want toassociate with the repeater.

View —click this button to open the link configuration dialog box. Values areread-only.

Cable Length—type in this box the length of the feeder cable. This value isincluded in the main feeder loss calculated in the associated link budget.

Model—choose from this list the propagation model with which to calculatethe masked path loss.

Edit—click this button to open the Propagation Model Editor where you canchange the settings defined for the model.

Masked Pathloss—click in the box to define a masked pathloss value for thedonor.

Calculate—click this button to automatically calculate the masked pathloss forthe donor using the selected propagation model.

NOTE: For maximum accuracy, enter a measured value of pathloss in theMasked Pathloss box. The measured pathloss can be determined bymeasuring the signal strength with a known EIRP from the donor sector. Tocalculate the masked pathloss, ensure you specify an appropriate model. The


Adding Repeaters

most appropriate propagation model will depend on the specifics of theenvironment between the donor sector and the repeater donor antenna.If you suspect obstruction at the repeater location, choose adeterministic model with the correct receiver height. You may need tocreate a model specifically for repeater installations.


Chapter 8

Site Editor








Adding Repeaters

Link


Chapter 8

Service

Antenna—choose from this list the antenna pattern that the service antennawill use to retransmit the signal received from the donor sector.

Power Split—type in this box how the power is to be divided between theservice antennas. This field is only available if there is more than one serviceantenna.

Edit—click this button to open the Antenna - General tab where you canchange the antenna parameters.

Remove—click this button to remove the antenna.

Link Configuration—choose from this list the link budget you want toassociate with the service antenna.

Cable Length—type in this box the length of the feeder cable. This value isincluded in the main feeder loss calculated in the associated link budget.

View—click this button to open the link configuration dialog box. Values areread-only.

Add—click this button to add additional service antennas to the link. When youclick add, a new Antenna section is added on the tab.


Adding Repeaters

Prediction

Model—choose from this list the prediction model for the repeater.

Edit—click this button to open the Propagation Model Editor whereyou can modify propagation model settings.

Distance—type in this field the maximum distance from the repeater tocalculate signal strength.

Number of Radials—type in this field the number of radials originatingfrom a site along which to calculate predictions. More radials produce amore accurate but slower calculation.


Chapter 8

Isolation

Additional Isolation—type in this box a value in dB that will be added to thetotal isolation calculated.

Isolation—displays the calculated isolation based on the masked pathloss(including antenna gains) between the donor and service antenna as well asthe additional isolation value you define. The Isolation box is not available ifthere is no defined donor sector (i.e., this is an orphaned repeater) or if thedonor type is fiber. If you are using split sectors, the isolation calculation isbased on the first service antenna.


Adding Repeaters

Site Editor



n tree representation of hierarchical relationships such assites, sectors, and repeaters as well as displaying the listof project antennas

n easy access to all information about a site, sector,repeater, or antenna


NOTE: When you select an antenna beneath the Antennas node,sectors using that antenna are highlighted in blue.


Chapter 8

Implementation


Adding Repeaters

Filters

Use this section to open an existing filter loss (.flt) file or create a newone. A .flt file instructs Mentum Planet how adjacent channels contributeto the interference level. You can define a filter loss that increases asfrequencies move further from the center frequency, which results infrequencies further from the desired frequency being filtered out moreeffectively than frequencies close to the desired frequency.

Transmit Mask—displays the filter loss file to be applied to the repeateron the downlink.



Remove—click this button to remove this filter from the repeater.Removing the filter does not delete the .flt file. When no transmitmask is specified, the interference caused by the excessive energytransmitted outside the channel bandwidth is not accounted for.

Receive Filter—displays the filter loss file to be applied to the repeateron the uplink.



Remove—click this button to remove this filter from the repeater.Removing the filter does not delete the .flt file. When no receivemask is specified, athe interference caused by the excessiveenergy transmitted outside the channel bandwidth is notaccounted for.


Chapter 8

Quality

Limit Best Server Coverage—type in this box the distance from therepeater that defines the outer limit of the best server coverage. Beyond thisdistance, the server cannot be considered as the Best Server.


Adding Repeaters

Locating repeaters in a Map window

You can use the Project Explorer to locate repeaters in a Map window.

To locate repeaters in a Map window

n In the Project Explorer, in the Sites category, right-click the repeater and choose Locate.

The repeater is selected in the Map window.


Defining Subscribers

Chapter 9 Defining Subscribers

Subscribers are categorized into types, which are used when yougenerate an analysis of your network. Creating subscriber types thataccount for the possible variations of subscribers enables you togenerate reliable and comprehensive analyses of your network.


Understanding subscribers 255

Workflow for creating subscriber types 257

Defining subscriber equipment types 258


Equipment Types 261

Hardware 262


Equipment Types 264

Bearers 265

Modulations 266

Defining subscriber services 267


Services 269

Load 270

Input Load 271

Activity Factors 272


Services 274

Quality of Service 275


Chapter 9

QoS Class 276

Defining subscriber types 278



Configuration 284

Usages 285

Defining environment settings 287

Creating a fixed subscriber database 292



Understanding subscribers

Understanding where your subscribers are and how they use thenetwork resources available to them plays a pivotal role in the networkyou design. To make it easier for you to model subscribers and their useof network resources, the characteristics of subscribers are defined usingthe nodes in the Subscriber Settings dialog box. You can create a diversemix of subscribers by defining different services and equipment typesand assigning them to subscriber types.

Subscriber types are used in Monte Carlo simulations, while nominalanalyses require only the definition of equipment types.

The nodes within the Subscriber Settings dialog box represent buildingblocks for subscriber types:

n Equipment Types—include the types of mobileequipment and antennas that are available in yournetwork as well as the bearers available on each type ofequipment.

n Services—relate to the applications that a subscriberuses and the level of service required. This includes theactivity factors used to calculate the effective amount oftime that a subscriber uses a service. This also includesthe quality of service requirements.

n Subscriber Types—consolidate the information fromthe other nodes in the Subscriber Settings dialog box intovarious combinations to represent the mix of subscribersin your network.

When you define subscribers, you begin at the top of the tree view bydefining equipment types. You then define services and finally, youdefine subscriber types. For each subscriber type, you must choose anequipment type and traffic map. You can define multiple usage types,each of which comprises weightings to spread subscribers within the fourdifferent environments. You also define a service type.


Chapter 9

For a detailed example of how to define a subscriber type, see “Definingsubscriber types”. This example shows you how to define usages, explains theeffect of weighting, and describes how the settings that you specify for thesubscriber type translate into a real-world scenario.



Workflow for creating subscriber types

Step 1 Generate traffic maps for the services and area that you wantto analyze. For information on creating traffic maps, seeChapter 10, “Working with Traffic Maps”, in the Mentum PlanetUser Guide .

Step 2 Define equipment types including hardware and bearers.

Step 3 Define services including the load and quality of serviceparameters.

Step 4 Create subscriber types and define the subscriberconfiguration including priority, equipment type, and usages.

Step 5 Define environment settings.


Chapter 9

Defining subscriber equipment types

A mobile equipment type is a detailed definition of the equipment used by aparticular type of subscriber in the network. Each type of equipment has itsown particularities in terms of the technology it supports, the hardwarespecification it has, and the bearers it can use.

Subscriber equipment types you define are added to the Equipment Typesnode in the Subscriber Editor tree view.

WiMAXLTE bearers

Bearers represent the traffic channels in terms of their service data rate. Youfirst define the modulations used by the bearers in the Network Settings dialogbox. Standard WiMAXLTE bearers are configured with a direction (uplink ordownlink). Bearers are displayed on the Bearers tab associated with eachequipment type.


To define subscriber equipment types

1 Choose Edit Subscriber Settings.

The Subscriber Settings dialog box opens.



2 In the tree view, right-click Equipment Types, and chooseAdd.

A new subnode is added to the Equipment Types node.

3 In the tree view, choose the equipment type you just added.

4 Define equipment type parameters as required.


Chapter 9

Subscriber Settings

The characteristics of subscribers are defined using the nodes in theSubscriber Settings dialog box. You can create a diverse mix of subscribers bydefining different services, quality types, and user equipment types andassigning them to subscriber types.

Subscriber types are used with Monte Carlo simulations. Nominal analysesonly require the definition of equipment types.

The nodes within the Subscriber Settings dialog box represent building blocksfor subscriber types:

n Equipment Types—include the types of mobile equipment andantennas that are available in your network as well as thebearers available on each type of equipment.

n Services—relate to the applications that a subscriber uses andthe level service required. This includes the activity factors usedto calculate the effective amount of time that a subscriber usesa service as well as the quality of service requirements.

n Subscriber Types—consolidate the information from the othernodes in the Subscriber Editor into various combinations torepresent the mix of subscribers in your network.

For each subscriber type, you must choose a subscriber equipment type andtraffic map. You can define multiple usage types, each of which comprisesweightings to spread subscribers within the four different environments, and aservice type.

For more information about working with the subscriber settings, see theappropriate User Guide for the technology you are using.




Equipment Types

Use the Equipment Types node to add or delete subscriber equipmenttypes.


Chapter 9

Hardware

Maximum PA Power—type in this box the power ceiling for transmission indBm.

Maximum Power EIRP—displays the maximum power EIRP supported bythe equipment.

Noise Figure—type in this box the noise figure for the equipment.

Frequency Bands—enable the check box next to the frequency bands thatare supported by the equipment type. Only the frequency bands used by theequipment type technology (specified on the Description tab) are available.



Subscriber Settings



Chapter 9

Equipment Types

Use the Equipment Types node to add or delete subscriber equipment types.



Bearers


Chapter 9

Modulations

Use this section to define downlink and uplinkmodulations for the bearer. Onlythe modulations defined for the equipment type technology are available.

Downlink—from this list choose the downlinkmodulations supported by theequipment type.

Uplink—from this list choose the uplinkmodulations supported by theequipment type.



Defining subscriber services

Service types are the applications that your subscribers are using.


To define subscriber services



2 In the tree view, right-click Services, and choose Add.

A new subnode is added to the Services node.

3 In the tree view, choose the service you just added.

4 Define service parameters as required.


Chapter 9

Subscriber Settings

The characteristics of subscribers are defined using the nodes in theSubscriber Settings dialog box. You can create a diverse mix of subscribers bydefining different services, quality types, and user equipment types andassigning them to subscriber types.

Subscriber types are used with Monte Carlo simulations. Nominal analysesonly require the definition of equipment types.

The nodes within the Subscriber Settings dialog box represent building blocksfor subscriber types:

n Equipment Types—include the types of mobile equipment andantennas that are available in your network as well as thebearers available on each type of equipment.

n Services—relate to the applications that a subscriber uses andthe level service required. This includes the activity factors usedto calculate the effective amount of time that a subscriber usesa service as well as the quality of service requirements.

n Subscriber Types—consolidate the information from the othernodes in the Subscriber Editor into various combinations torepresent the mix of subscribers in your network.

For each subscriber type, you must choose a subscriber equipment type andtraffic map. You can define multiple usage types, each of which comprisesweightings to spread subscribers within the four different environments, and aservice type.

For more information about working with the subscriber settings, see theappropriate User Guide for the technology you are using.Services



Services

Use the Services node to add or delete services.


Chapter 9

Load

Priority—choose from this list the priority you want to associate with theservice. Priorities are defined in decreasing order, with 1 being the highestpriority.



Input Load

Erlangs Per Subscriber—type in this box the number of Erlangs persubscriber. This value is used to convert a traffic map in subscribers/km²to the number of subscribers to spread in the Monte-Carlo simulation.

Throughput Per Subscriber—type in this box the average throughput.This value, along with the number of erlangs per subscriber, is used toconvert a traffic map in kbps/km² to the number of subscribers to spreadin a Monte-Carlo simulation.


Chapter 9

Activity Factors

Use this section to define specify the downlink and uplink activity factors. Theactivity factor is the percentage of time the mobile is transmitting during aconversation. In a Monte-Carlo simulation, the downlink and uplink throughputare calculated using the number of subscribers carried multiplied by the rateused for each subscriber modified by the activity factor.

Downlink Activity Factor—type in this box the percentage of time themobile transmits on the downlink.

Uplink Activity Factor—type in this box the percentage of time the mobiletransmits on the uplink.



Subscriber Settings


Chapter 9

Services

Use the Services node to add or delete services.



Quality of Service


Chapter 9

QoS Class

Use this section to choose the QoS classes for which you want to define QoSparameters. If both WiMAX and LTE are enabled in your network settings,from the list, choose the technology you are using.

The table below describes common QoS classes.

LTE QoS ClassWiMAX QoS

Class3GPP QoS Class

1 UGS Conversational

2 UGS Conversational3 UGS Conversational4 rtPS Streaming5 ertPS Streaming6 ertPS Streaming7 nrtPS Interactive8 nrtPS Interactive9 BE Background

Minimum Downlink Data Rate—type in this box the minimum downlinkdata rate required by the service QoS class.

Maximum Downlink Data Rate—type in this box the maximum downlinkdata rate required by the service QoS class.

Minimum Uplink Data Rate—type in this box the minimum uplink data raterequired by the service QoS class.

Maximum Uplink Data Rate—type in this box the maximum uplink data raterequired by the service QoS class.

Cell Edge Coverage Probability—type in this box a percentage to define theprobability of coverage required for a bin to be regarded as covered. The CellEdge Coverage Probability value is used to determine whether there is servicecoverage.



Body Loss—type in this box a value to define the body loss that occurswhen the mobile is close to a user’s body.

Required Uplink FER/PER—the percentage of required FER/PER onthe uplink for cdma2000 Monte Carlo simulations.

Required Downlink FER/PER—the percentage of required FER/PERon the downlink for cdma2000 Monte Carlo simulations.

Latency Target—choose from this list the maximum number of slotsthat are allowed for packet transmission in order to fulfill the QoSrequirements. EV-DO Rev. A reverse channel supports two transmissionmodes (i.e., low latency and high capacity). A 16-slot frame is dividedinto four 4-slot sub-frames. The low latency packet transmission isachieved by transmitting the packet using less than four sub-frames. Thehigh capacity transmission typically uses all four sub-frames.

The latency target of a radio bearer is defined by the number of slotsover which the bearer will transmit to achieve a particular latencyrequirement. For EV-DO Rev A reverse bearers, the latency target canbe set to 4, 8, 12 and 16 slots. For EV-DO Rev 0 bearers, the latencytarget is fixed at 16 slots due to the fixed target latency supported by Rev0.

NOTE: This box is not available for circuit-switched services.


Chapter 9

Defining subscriber types

Subscriber types are defined by:

n the subscriber equipment used

n the traffic map on which the subscriber type is based

n the different kinds of services that a subscriber uses and thequality that applies to each service

n the environments where the usage takes place

The information contained in a subscriber type is used when you generateMonte Carlo simulations or analysis layers. The environment weightingsdefined for each subscriber type reflects the probability that a particularsubscriber type will use a specific service in a specific environment. Forexample, if a WiMAXLTE Subscriber using a VoIP service is more likely to beusing this service indoors rather than while in a vehicle than you could set theIndoor Weight to 2 and the Vehicular Weight to 1.

The total number of subscribers is defined by the traffic map and scaling, notby the number of usage types or environments. The total number ofsubscribers for each subscriber type is spread across the usage types andenvironments defined for the subscriber type.

Example

You might create a subscriber type called Advanced Business that representssubscribers who use mobiles as their primary business tools. The subscribersrepresented by this type use their mobiles for everything from downloadingemail to placing cellular calls. After you create the usage types, you can assigna ratio to determine the proportion of the traffic that is in each of the availableenvironments. In addition, you can set the service type and quality type foreach usage type. For example, if you set up four usage types for the AdvancedBusiness subscriber type, you could assign the weightings, service types, andquality types shown in Table 1.



Table 1 Example usage type settings

Usagetype

IndoorDeepIndoor

OutdoorVehicularServicetype

1 5 5 5 5 Voice

2 1 2 1 0 Video

3 2 2 4 0 WWW

4 2 2 4 0 Email

In this example, the total weighting value calculated across all usagetypes is 40. Therefore, the Advanced Business subscriber type usesUsage 1 50% of the time, Usage 2 10% of the time, Usage 3 20% of thetime, and Usage 4 20% of the time.


To define subscriber types




Chapter 9

2 In the tree view, right-click Subscriber Types, and choose Add.

A new subnode is added to the Subscriber Types node.

3 In the tree view, choose the subscriber type you just added.

4 Click the Description tab, define a name and specify anyadditional comments required.

5 Click the Configuration tab and define the subscriber typeconfiguration as required.



Subscriber Settings

The characteristics of subscribers are defined using the nodes in theSubscriber Settings dialog box. You can create a diverse mix ofsubscribers by defining different services, quality types, and userequipment types and assigning them to subscriber types.

Subscriber types are used with Monte Carlo simulations. Nominalanalyses only require the definition of equipment types.

The nodes within the Subscriber Settings dialog box represent buildingblocks for subscriber types:

n Equipment Types—include the types of mobileequipment and antennas that are available in yournetwork as well as the bearers available on each type ofequipment.

n Services—relate to the applications that a subscriberuses and the level service required. This includes theactivity factors used to calculate the effective amount oftime that a subscriber uses a service as well as the qualityof service requirements.

n Subscriber Types—consolidate the information fromthe other nodes in the Subscriber Editor into variouscombinations to represent the mix of subscribers in yournetwork.

For each subscriber type, you must choose a subscriber equipment typeand traffic map. You can define multiple usage types, each of whichcomprises weightings to spread subscribers within the four differentenvironments, and a service type.

For more information about working with the subscriber settings, see theappropriate User Guide for the technology you are using.SubscriberTypes


Chapter 9




Subscriber Types

Use the Subscriber Types node to add or delete subscriber types.Subscriber types are defined by:

n the subscriber equipment used

n the traffic map on which the subscriber type is based

n the different kinds of services that a subscriber uses andthe quality that applies to each service

n the environments where the usage takes place


Chapter 9

Configuration

Priority—choose from this list the service priority number from 0-100 for thissubscriber type when network capacity is limited. Priorities are defined indecreasing order, with 1 being the highest priority and 100 being the lowestpriority.

Traffic Map—choose from this list the traffic map to associate with thissubscriber type. The traffic maps displayed in this list are stored in the TrafficMaps node of the Project Data category in the Project Explorer. Only trafficmaps expressed in kbps/km² or Subscribers/km² are available.

Scaling Factor—type in this box the factor to scale traffic from the traffic mapassociated with this subscriber type. The traffic map associated with thissubscriber type is chosen from the Traffic Map list. For example, a value of1.25 would multiply traffic from the associate traffic map by 1.25 times. Ratiosgreater than 1.0 define that there is a greater number of subscribers of thistype than indicated in the associated traffic map.

Equipment Type—choose from this list the equipment type used by thissubscriber type. Equipment types are stored in the Equipment Types node ofthe Subscriber Editor.

Edit—click this button to edit the equipment type.



Usages

Use this table to create and delete usages that define how a subscribertype uses an application. Usages are associated with a Service. Servicesare created in the New Service dialog box.

Name—type in this field a name for the usage. Namesmust be eightcharacters or less.

Indoor Weight—type in this field the weighting for indoor usage as aratio between this and other usages defined for a subscriber type. Valuesmust be positive integers.

Example

For example, if you were to define the following four usages:

Usage Weighting Ratio ResultStreamingvideo

2 10% of this subscriber typeuses streaming video

9.6ConversationalVoice

10 50% of this subscriber typeuses 9.6 Conversational Voice

WWW browsing 4 20% of this subscriber typeuses WWW browsing

E-mail 4 20% of this subscriber typeuses E-mail

No usage of a certain service/environment combination should beindicated by a zero weighting ratio for the usage object.

Deep Indoor Weight—type in this field the weighting for deep indoorusage as a ratio between this and other usages defined for a subscribertype. Values must be positive integers.

Outdoor Weight—type in this field the weighting for outdoor usage as aratio between this and other usages defined for a subscriber type. Valuesmust be positive integers.


Chapter 9

Vehicular Weight—type in this field the weighting for vehicular usage as aratio between this and other usages defined for a subscriber type. Values mustbe positive integers.

Service—choose from the list in this field a service type for the usage.

Mobile Speed—choose from the list the mobile speed to associate with theusage. This parameters in only available for LTE subscribers.

Add—click this button to create a new usage. A new row is added to theUsages table for you to define usage settings.

Remove—click this button to delete a usage chosen from the Usages table.



Defining environment settings

During a Monte Carlo simulation, subscribers are spread across theanalysis area based on the traffic map and then sorted according to:

n the subscriber type priority (defined on the Configurationtab for each subscriber type)

n the service priority (defined on the Load tab for eachservice)

n the QoS class priority (defined on the Quality of Servicetab)

Mentum Planet then determines in which clutter class a subscriber islocated and assesses the impact of environmental traits on the signaland service using the environment settings you define as well as theusage weightings specified for each subscriber type. For each usagetype, you can define a weighting indicating the amount of time thatusage type occurs in each environment (for example, you could define abusiness subscriber who uses voice service in an outdoor environment10% of the time). For all of the environments, you can define thepenetration loss and the required fast fading margin.

For each clutter type, you can define the characteristics of theenvironments within that clutter type. The available environments are:

n Outdoor—open air environments

n Vehicular—moving vehicles

n Indoor—buildings or structures (normally representingareas where single wall penetration is required)

n Deep Indoor—in-building areas where two-wallpenetration is required, or dense buildings where higherthan normal penetration losses are experienced

You can enable one or more of the environments for a clutter type.


Chapter 9

For each clutter class, you indicate which environments you want to accountfor and then specify the following parameters:

n Downlink Orthogonality—this value represents the signal’sorthogonality factor in the environment of the clutter.

n Slow Fading Standard Deviation—this value is used tomodel the shadowing from obstacles that cannot be handled bya propagation model. Slightly higher values (approximately 8 dB) may be appropriate for high density urban areas, lowervalues (approximately 6.5 dB) for open areas.

n Outdoor Fast Fading Margin—this value represents theextra margin required for fast power control to overcomeRayleigh (fast) fading in the Outdoor environment of thisclutter type. Rayleigh fading is a variation of spatial path lossthat occurs on the scale of a few wavelengths; the wavelengthof a 2 000 MHz carrier is about 15 cm (6 inches).

n Outdoor Penetration Loss—this value represents thepenetration loss to apply on received and transmitted signals inthe Outdoor environment for a specific clutter type.

n Vehicular Fast Fading Margin—this value represents thetransmit power headroom required for fast power control tooccur and overcome Rayleigh (fast) fading in the Vehicularenvironment of this clutter type. Rayleigh fading is a variationof spatial path loss that occurs on the scale of a fewwavelengths; the wavelength of a 2 000 MHz carrier is about 15cm (6 inches).

n Vehicular Penetration Loss—this value represents thepenetration loss to apply on received and transmitted signals inthe Vehicular environment for a specific clutter type.

n Vehicular Speed—this value represents the typical movingspeed of a mobile subscriber in a vehicular environment for aspecific clutter type.

n Indoor Fast Fading Margin—this value represents the extramargin required for fast power control to occur and overcomeRayleigh (fast) fading in the Indoor environment of this clutter



type. Rayleigh fading is a variation of spatial path lossthat occurs on the scale of a few wavelengths; thewavelength of a 2 000 MHz carrier is about 15 cm (6inches).

n Indoor Penetration Loss—this value represents thepenetration loss to apply on received and transmittedsignals in the Indoor environment for a specific cluttertype

n Deep Indoor Fast Fading Margin—this valuerepresents the extra margin required for fast powercontrol to take place and overcome Rayleigh (fast) fadingin the Deep Indoor environment of this clutter type.Rayleigh fading is a variation of spatial path loss thatoccurs on the scale of a few wavelengths; the wavelengthof a 2 000 MHz carrier is about 15 cm (6 inches).

n Deep Indoor Penetration Loss—this value representsthe penetration loss to apply on received and transmittedsignals in the Deep Indoor environment for a specificclutter type

When you generate the analysis, you specify the subscriber environmentyou want to model (i.e., Outdoor, Indoor, Deep Indoor, Vehicular).When you generate a Monte Carlo simulation, if an environment doesnot apply to a particular type of clutter (for example, if the deep indoorenvironment does not apply to the Urban - Commercial clutter type, thesimulation will not place any subscribers in that type of clutter in thatenvironment.

To define environment settings

1 Choose Edit Environments.

The Environment Editor opens.


Chapter 9

2 For each clutter class, do any of the following:

n Double-click in a table cell and type a new value.

n Click the down arrow in a table cell and choose a new value.

n Enable or clear the check box for the chosen setting.

n Click the down arrow next to a table heading to display all thedata or a particular subset.

n Right-click in a table cell to copy and paste data.

3 To change the display, do any of the following:

n Click the Sort Ascending button to reorder the rows based onthe data in the selected column.

n Click the Sort Descending button to reorder the rows basedon the data in the selected column.

n Place the pointer between column headings to increase ordecrease the size of the column.

n Enable the Freeze Panes check box to lock rows and columnsin one area so that they remain visible when you scroll. This isuseful, for example, if you want to freeze a particular columnand then scroll through subsequent columns comparing thevalues.



4 To copy data to the clipboard, click the Copy To Clipboardbutton.

5 To paste from the clipboard, click the Paste FromClipboard button.


Chapter 9

Creating a fixed subscriber database

Before generating a fixed subscriber analysis, you must place subscribers onthe map and create a fixed subscriber database (i.e., fixed subscriber table).For example, you can create a fixed subscriber table to address the specificrequirements of the IEEE802.16d standard. When you define the subscribersettings, you will need to associate a directive antenna with the equipmenttype.

To create a fixed subscriber table

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Fixed Subscribers category,right-click the technology node for which you want to create afixed subscriber table, and choose New.

A table is added to the Fixed Subscriber Tables node.

2 To change the default table name, right-click “Table 1”, chooseRename and type a meaning subscriber table name.

3 To add subscribers to the table, right-click the fixed subscriberstable and choose Add Subscriber.

4 Click in the Map window at the location of the subscriber.

5 Repeat Step 4 until you have placed all the subscribers.


Generating Network Analyses

Chapter 10 Generating Network Analyses

WiMAXLTE analyses contain the information you require to determinethe coverage of your network. This chapter describes how to generateWiMAXLTE analyses and view results. It also explains how to createstatistics that you can use to validate your network design.

For information on how to generate detailed subscriber information orcell loads, see “Generating Monte Carlo Simulations”.


Understanding network analyses 294

Workflow for generating an analysis 295

Defining default analysis layers 296

Common LTE Analysis Layers 297

Carrier-Specific LTE Analysis Layers 303

Defining default analysis settings 308


Chapter 10

Understanding network analyses

In Mentum Planet 5.x, you can generate an analysis with nothing more thanthe equipment type defined in the subscriber settings. This decreases the timerequired to prepare for network analysis and results in less time beingrequired to generate the analysis layers; however, this type of analysis doesnot generate detailed subscriber information. The analysis runs only once andgenerates analysis layers automatically.

NOTE: For information on generating WiMAX Pre-Qual analyses, see theappendix "Generating Pre-Qual Analyses”.

Prediction view files

Prediction view files contain predicted signal strength values for all potentialservers at each bin and are created when you generate an analysis. Usingprediction view files results in faster analyses because Mentum Planet onlyreads one file to access information about signal strength for all potentialservers.

Prediction view files work at a single resolution. If you are analyzing a largearea with mostly low resolution data and small amounts of higher resolutiondata, the disk space requirements can be significantly higher than thecombined disk space requirements of the prediction data if the analysis iscarried out at the higher resolution. This is because the prediction view files willbe created at the higher resolution over the entire area. Also, separateprediction views are created for each of the required analysis resolutions,which can further add to disk space requirements.

For example, an area that is 100 km x 100 km with a 10-meter resolution andan average of 10 overlapping predictions requires approximately 2 GB of diskspace for prediction view files, whereas an area that is 200 km x 200 km with a5-meter resolution and an average of 10 overlapping predictions requiresapproximately 32 GB of disk space for prediction view files.



Workflow for generating an analysis

Step 1 If you want to use the same settings for a number of analyses,define default analysis settings.

Step 2 If you want to generate the same layers for a number ofanalyses, define default layers settings.

Step 3 Create and generate a new analysis.

Step 4 View analysis layers.

Step 5 Generate layer statistics for analysis layers.


Chapter 10

Defining default analysis layers

By default, all of the available analysis layers are generated. To avoid lengthygeneration times when working with a large project, you can exclude layersfrom the analysis generation that you do not need. The analysis layer filterenables you to define a default list of analysis layers that is available for all ofthe WiMAXLTE analyses that you create for the current project.

To define default analysis layers

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Network Analyses category,right-clickWiMAXLTE Analyses and choose Default Layers.

2 In theWiMAXLTE Analysis Layers dialog box, enable the checkbox next to those layers you want to generate by default, and clickOK.



Common LTE Analysis Layers

LTE Analysis layers are grouped into common layers and carrier-specificlayers. The Common layers represent the performance of sectors on thebest carrier or the composite plots of multiple channels (e.g., downlinkbest carrier layer). Table 1 details the common layers.

Table 1: Common Layers

Layer DescriptionBest Server This layer displays the best server on the downlink for

the best carrier. This layer is based on the downlinkreference signal power values.

Composite Best Server This layer is the same as the best server layer, exceptthat for sectors with repeaters, the repeater and itsdonor are treated as one combined sector.

Best Server Signal Strength This layer displays the best server signal strength forthe best carrier on the downlink at each bin. This layeris based on the downlink PA power values.

Best Server ReferenceSignal Strength

This layer displays the best server reference signalstrength for the best carrier at each bin.

RSRP This layer displays the best server Reference SignalReceived Power (RSRP) for the best carrier at eachbin. The layer includes both the slow fading standarddeviation and the cell edge coverage probability (asdefined in the LTE Analysis Settings dialog box).

Handover Status This layer displays whether the handover is possible("Yes") or not. The status is determined using the A3handover threshold defined on the Configuration tab inthe Site Editor.

Number of PotentialHandover Sectors

This layer displays the number of sectors that have asignal strength within the number of dB defined for theA3 handover threshold.

Handover Sector Priority This layer displays the sector that has the strongestsignal strength (ignoring the best server) and that hasa signal strength within the number of dB defined forthe A3 Handover Threshold parameter.

Best Synchronization SignalStrength

This layer displays the best server receivedsynchronization signal power for the best carrier ateach bin.

<Nth> Best Server This layer displays the Nth best server on the downlink


Chapter 10

Layer Descriptionfor the best carrier. This layer is based on the downlinkreference power values.

<Nth> Best ServerReference Signal Strength

This layer displays the Nth best server reference signalstrength for the best carrier at each bin.

Best Server Carrier This layer displays the best carrier on which thereference signal strength or reference C/(N+I) is thegreatest.

Downlink Best Carrier This layer displays the name of the carrier where thedownlink C/(N+I) is the greatest.

Uplink Best Carrier This layer displays the name of the carrier where theuplink C/(N+I) is the greatest.

Synchronization SignalC/(N+I)

This layer displays the synchronization signal C/(N+I)for the best carrier at each bin.

Reference C(N+I) This layer displays the reference signal C/(N+I) for thebest carrier at each bin.

RSRQ This layer displays the Reference Signal ReceivedQuality (RSRQ) value for the best carrier at each bin.

Reference CoverageProbability

This layer displays the probability of coverage for thesignal for the best carrier at each bin. It depends onthe Reference Signal C/(N+I), as well as on the slowfading standard deviation value.

Reference Coverage This layer displays whether there is reference signalcoverage for the best carrier. It depends on theReference Signal Coverage probability and the celledge coverage probability target.

MIMO Type The layer displays the type of MIMO technique used ateach bin, for the best carrier.

Three classes are defined:

n None

n Diversity

n MIMO (Spatial Multiplexing)

Diversity Gain This layer displays the downlink diversity gain at eachbin, for the best carrier. It depends on the antennasystems of best server and CPE, and on the antennaalgorithm selected by the best server.

Spatial Multiplexing Gain This layer displays the downlink spatial multiplexinggain at each bin, for the best carrier. It depends on theantenna systems of best server and CPE, on the



Layer Descriptionantenna algorithm selected by the best server and onthe downlink C/(N+I) level at the bin.

Interference Coordination This layer displays the interference coordination statusat each bin, for the best carrier:

n Inner cell

n Outer cell

Downlink C/I This layer displays the C/I ratio of the downlink trafficdata for the best carrier.

Downlink C/(N+I) This layer displays the C/(N+I) ratio of the downlinktraffic data for the best carrier.

Downlink Overall MaximumAchievable Data Rate

This layer displays the total downlink maximumachievable data rate, combining all carriers in thefrequency band.

Downlink Overall AverageData Rate

This layer displays the overall average data rate onthe downlink, accounting for all available carriers.

Downlink Coverage This layer displays whether there is traffic coverage onthe downlink (if at least one downlink modulation andcoding scheme is available) for the best carrier.

Downlink MaximumAchievable SpectralEfficiency

This layer displays the maximum spectral efficiencythat can be achieved on the downlink. The maximumspectral efficiency that can be achieved depends onradio conditions. Subscribers (i.e., locations) that havea high signal-to-interference ratio can achieve higherspectral efficiency than subscribers/locations thathave a poor signal-to-interference ratio.

Downlink Best AvailableModulation

This layer displays the best downlink modulation andcoding scheme available at the bin, for the bestcarrier. It is the best downlink modulation and codingscheme whose coverage probability is above the celledge coverage probability target.

Downlink Margin This layer displays the difference between the actualdownlink C/(N+I) and the required C/(N+I) by thebest available modulation, expressed in dB. Diversitygain and fade margins are also included.

CQI This layer displays the CQI value that correspondswith the downlink maximum spectral efficiency value(in useful bits/symbol) at each pixel.


../../../../../Content/Whats_This/LTE_Analysis/CQI_Mapping.htm


Chapter 10

Layer DescriptionDownlink CoverageProbability

These layers display the service coverage probabilityfor the downlink modulation. It depends on the slowfading standard deviation.

Downlink MaximumAchievable Data Rate

This layer displays the highest data rate that meetscoverage probability requirements. It depends on thebest available modulation and coding scheme. Spatialmultiplexing gains are also included.

Downlink Average Data Rate This layer displays the average data rate on thedownlink, for the best carrier. It is calculated byaveraging all possible data rates with their coverageprobabilities. It depends on the coverage probability ofall downlink modulation and coding schemes.

Uplink Overall MaximumAchievable Data Rate

This layer displays the overall maximum achievabledata rate in the uplink, accounting for all availablecarriers.

Uplink Overall Average DataRate

This layer displays the overall average data rate in theuplink, accounting for all available carriers.

Uplink C/I This layer displays the C/I ratio of the uplink trafficdata for the best carrier.

Uplink C(N+I) This layer displays the C/(N+I) ratio of the uplinktraffic data for the best carrier.

Uplink Coverage This layer displays whether there is traffic coverage onthe uplink (if at least one uplink modulation and codingscheme is available) for the best carrier.

Uplink Best AvailableModulation

This layer displays the best uplink modulation andcoding scheme available at the bin, for the bestcarrier. It is the best uplink modulation and codingscheme whose coverage probability is above the celledge coverage probability target.

Uplink Maximum AchievableSpectral Efficiency

This layer displays the maximum spectral efficiencythat can be achieved on the uplink. The maximumspectral efficiency that can be achieved depends onradio conditions. Subscribers (i.e., locations) that havea high signal-to-interference ratio can achieve higherspectral efficiency than subscribers/locations thathave a poor signal-to-interference ratio.

Uplink Margin This layer displays the difference between the actualuplink C/(N+I) and the required C/(N+I) by the bestavailable modulation, expressed in dB. Diversity gainand fade margins are also included.

Uplink Coverage Probability This layer displays the service coverage probability for



Layer Descriptionthe uplink modulation. It depends on the slow fadingstandard deviation.

Uplink Maximum AchievableData Rate

This layer displays the maximum achievable data rateon the uplink, for the best carrier. It depends on thebest available uplink modulation and coding scheme.Spatial multiplexing gains are also included.

Uplink Average Data Rate This layer displays the average data rate in the uplink,for the best carrier. It depends on the coverageprobability of all uplink modulation and codingschemes.

Uplink Transmit Power This layer displays the required transmit power on theuplink at each bin.

Composite Coverage This layer displays the coverage status for the bestcarrier.

Four classes are defined:

n both downlink and uplink (i.e. thereis coverage)

n downlink only (coverage istherefore uplink limited)

n uplink only (coverage is thereforedownlink limited)

n none (no coverage)

Worst Margin This layer displays the lowest margin on the downlinkand the uplink for the best carrier expressed in dB.

Worst Co-channelInterfering Sector

This layer displays the name of the sector that createsthe highest level of co-carrier interference on the bestcarrier.


Chapter 10



Carrier-Specific LTE Analysis Layers

LTE Analysis layers are grouped into common layers and carrier-specificlayers. The carrier-specific layers represent the performance of onecarrier. Table 1 details the carrier-specific layers.

Table 1: Carrier-Specific Layers

Layer DescriptionBest Server This layer displays the best server on the downlink. This

layer is based on the downlink reference signal powervalues.

Composite Best Server This layer is the same as the best server layer, exceptthat for sectors with repeaters, the repeater and itsdonor are treated as one combined sector.

Best Server SignalStrength

This layer displays the best server signal strength onthe downlink at each bin. This layer is based on thedownlink PA power values.

Best Server ReferenceSignal Strength

This layer displays the best server reference signalstrength at each bin.

RSRP This layer displays the best server Reference SignalReceived Power (RSRP) for the best carrier at each bin.The layer includes both the slow fading standarddeviation and the cell edge coverage probability (asdefined in the LTE Analysis Settings dialog box).

Best SynchronizationSignal Strength

This layer displays the best synchronization signalstrength at each bin.

<Nth> Best Server This layer displays the Nth best server on the downlink.This layer is based on the downlink reference powervalues.

<Nth> Best ServerReference Signal Strength

This layer displays the Nth best server reference signalstrength at each bin.

Synchronization SignalC/(N+I)

This layer displays the synchronization signal C/(N+I)at each bin.

Reference C(N+I) This layer displays the reference signal C/(N+I) at eachbin.

RSRQ This layer displays the Reference Signal ReceivedQuality (RSRQ) value at each bin.

Handover Status This layer displays whether the handover is possible("Yes") or not. The status is determined using the A3handover threshold defined on the Configuration tab inthe Site Editor.


Chapter 10

Layer DescriptionNumber of PotentialHandover Sectors

This layer displays the number of sectors that have asignal strength within the number of dB defined for theA3 handover threshold.

Handover Sector Priority This layer displays the sector that has the strongestsignal strength (ignoring the best server) and that has asignal strength within the number of dB defined for theA3 Handover Threshold parameter.

Reference CoverageProbability

This layer displays the probability of coverage for thesignal at each bin. It depends on the Reference SignalC/(N+I), as well as on the slow fading standarddeviation value.

Reference Coverage This layer displays whether there is reference signalcoverage. It depends on the Reference Signal Coverageprobability and the cell edge coverage probabilitytarget.

MIMO Type The layer displays the type of MIMO technique used ateach bin.

Three classes are defined:

n None

n Diversity

n MIMO (Spatial Multiplexing)

Diversity Gain This layer displays the downlink diversity gain at eachbin. It depends on the antenna systems of best serverand CPE, and on the antenna algorithm selected by thebest server.

Spatial Multiplexing Gain This layer displays the downlink spatial multiplexinggain at each bin. It depends on the antenna systems ofbest server and CPE, on the antenna algorithm selectedby the best server and on the downlink C/(N+I) level atthe bin.

Interference Coordination This layer displays the interference coordination statusat each bin:

n Inner cell

n Outer cell

Downlink C/I This layer displays the C/I ratio of the downlink trafficdata.



Layer DescriptionDownlink C/(N+I) This layer displays the C/(N+I) ratio of the downlink

traffic data.Downlink Coverage This layer displays whether there is traffic coverage on

the downlink (if at least one downlink modulation andcoding scheme is available).


This layer displays the best downlink modulation andcoding scheme available at the bin. It is the bestdownlink modulation and coding scheme whosecoverage probability is above the cell edge coverageprobability target.


This layer displays the best downlink modulation andcoding scheme available at the bin, for the best carrier.It is the best downlink modulation and coding schemewhose coverage probability is above the cell edgecoverage probability target.

Downlink MaximumSpectral Efficiency

This layer displays the maximum spectral efficiencythat can be achieved on the downlink. The maximumspectral efficiency that can be achieved depends onradio conditions. Subscribers (i.e., locations) that havea high signal-to-interference ratio can achieve higherspectral efficiency than subscribers/locations that havea poor signal-to-interference ratio.

Downlink Margin This layer displays the difference between the actualdownlink C/(N+I) and the required C/(N+I) by the bestavailable modulation, expressed in dB. Diversity gainand fade margins are also included.

CQI This layer displays the CQI value that corresponds withthe downlink maximum spectral efficiency value (inuseful bits/symbol) at each pixel.

Downlink CoverageProbability

These layers display the service coverage probabilityfor the downlink modulation. It depends on the slowfading standard deviation.

Downlink Probability This layer displays the service coverage probability forthe best available downlink modulation and codingscheme. It depends on the slow fading standarddeviation.

Downlink MaximumAchievable Data Rate

This layer displays the maximum achievable data rateon the downlink. It depends on the best availablemodulation and coding scheme. Spatial multiplexinggains are also included.




Chapter 10

Layer DescriptionDownlink Average DataRate

This layer displays the average data rate on thedownlink. It depends on the coverage probability of alldownlink modulation and coding schemes.

Uplink C/I This layer displays the C/I ratio of the uplink trafficdata.

Uplink C(N+I) This layer displays the C/(N+I) ratio of the uplink trafficdata.

Uplink Coverage This layer displays whether there is traffic coverage onthe uplink (if at least one uplink modulation and codingscheme is available).

Uplink Best AvailableModulation

This layer displays the best uplink modulation andcoding scheme available at the bin. It is the best uplinkmodulation and coding scheme whose coverageprobability is above the cell edge coverage probabilitytarget.

Uplink Maximum SpectralEfficiency

This layer displays the maximum spectral efficiencythat can be achieved on the uplink. The maximumspectral efficiency that can be achieved depends onradio conditions. Subscribers (i.e., locations) that havea high signal-to-interference ratio can achieve higherspectral efficiency than subscribers/locations that havea poor signal-to-interference ratio.

Uplink Margin This layer displays the difference between the actualuplink C/(N+I) and the required C/(N+I) by the bestavailable modulation, expressed in dB. Diversity gainand fade margins are also included.

Uplink CoverageProbability

These layers display the service coverage probabilityfor the uplink modulation. It depends on the slow fadingstandard deviation.

Uplink Probability This layer displays the service coverage probability forthe best available uplink modulation and codingscheme. It depends on the slow fading standarddeviation.

Uplink Maximum Data Rate This layer displays the maximum achievable data rateon the uplink. It depends on the best available uplinkmodulation and coding scheme. Spatial multiplexinggains are also included.

Uplink Average Data Rate This layer displays the average data rate in the uplink.It depends on the coverage probability of all uplinkmodulation and coding schemes.

Uplink Transmit Power This layer displays the required transmit power on theuplink at each bin.



Layer Description

Composite Coverage This layer displays the coverage status.

Four classes are defined:

n both downlink and uplink (i.e., thereis coverage)

n downlink only (coverage is thereforeuplink limited)

n uplink only (coverage is thereforedownlink limited)

n none (no coverage)

Worst Margin This layer displays the lowest margin on the downlinkand the uplink expressed in dB.

Worst Co-ChannelInterfering Sector

This layer displays the name of the sector that createsthe highest level of co-carrier interference.


Chapter 10

Defining default analysis settings

If you want to use the same settings for a number of analyses, you can definedefault settings. When you create a new analysis, these defaults areautomatically used.

To define default analysis settings

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Network Analyses category,right-clickWiMAXLTE Analyses and choose Default AnalysesSettings.

The WiMAXLTE Analysis Settings dialog box opens.

2 Define the default settings that you want to use, and clickOK.


Creating A WiMAX Analysis

Creating and generating a network analysis

When you create a new analysis, it is displayed in the Project Explorer in theNetwork Analyses category under the WiMAXLTE Analyses node. You cancreate any number of analyses for a project.

When you finish creating a network analysis, you can generate it immediatelyor save the analysis settings without generating it.


To create and generate a network analysis

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Network Analyses category,right-clickWiMAXLTE Analyses and choose New.

The Network Analysis Wizard opens.

2 On each page of the Wizard, provide the required informationand clickNext.

3 On the System page, provide the required information and clickNext.

WiMAX User Guide 309

Chapter 11

4 On the Analysis page, provide the required information, and clickNext.

5 On the last page of the Wizard, complete the final step and clickFinish.

310 WiMAX User Guide


Network Analysis Wizard

The Network Analysis Wizard steps you through the process of generating anetwork analysis (i.e., a nominal analysis). A nominal analysis enables you toperform a preliminary analysis of your network and is quicker than a MonteCarlo simulation because it does not use multiple runs to distributesubscribers. Instead, this analysis method uses traffic power and noise risevalues to determine coverage and transmitted signal strengths.


Chapter 11

Analysis



Best Server

Signal Strength Threshold—type in this box the signal strength above whicha server can be considered the best server.

Nth Best Server—choose from this list the number of the Nth Best Server forwhich to generate a grid. For example, if you want to produce grids of thefourth best server at all locations, choose “4”.


Chapter 11

Best Server Selection Based On

Reference Signal Strength—choose this option if you want the simulation toselect the best server according to the reference signal strength.

RSRQ—choose this option if you want the simulation to select the best serveraccording to the reference signal receive quality.

Number Of Handover Candidates—choose from this list the number ofhandover candidates to consider in the network analysis.

Interference Coordination Scheduling—choose from this list the type ofscheduler to use in order to efficiently coordinate interference. This box is notavailable if the selected frequency band does not support interferencecoordination. The following options are available:

n Basic—optimizes resource allocations through minimalinteraction between eNodeBs.

n Advanced—optimizes resource allocations through fast andcomprehensive communication between eNodeBs. As a result,the Advanced scheduler reduces more efficiently the amount ofdownlink interference.

Reference Signal Receive Quality (RSRQ)—type in this box the referencesignal strength receive quality threshold used to determine the referencesignal coverage.

Mobile Speed (km/h)—choose from this list the mobile speed for which youwant to create an analysis. The mobile speeds that are listed are those youdefined in the network settings.

Probability of Collision Curve—displays the name of the mapping curve touse for the probability of collision.

Browse—click this button to open a .cls file.

Edit—click this button to open the Curve Editor.



Number of Uplink Resource Blocks per User

All Available Resource Blocks—choose this option to specify that allresource blocks are used by each subscriber on the uplink.

User-Defined Number of Resource Blocks—choose this option to specifythe number of resource blocks used by each subscriber on the uplink. If youinput a number that is greater than the total number of resource blocks, theanalysis will automatically use all resource blocks.


Chapter 11

Uplink Power Control

Full—choose this option to use full power control on the uplink.

Fractional P0—choose this option to use uplink fractional power control. Youmust specify a power control value in dBm and define a pathloss compensationfactor. When you choose this option, the transmitted power used for themobile equipment is impacted and, hence, so is the uplink CNIR value.




Interference Grid—displays the interference grid that will be used duringthe analysis. If you use an interference grid, the downlink other systeminterference value defined in the LTE sector settings will be ignored by theanalysis. At each bin, the value will be replaced by the value provided in thegrid.

Browse—click this button to open a .grd file containing interferencevalues to use in place of the sector-based downlink interference values.

Remove— click this button if you do not want to use an interferencegrid.

Center Frequency (MHz)—type in this box the center frequency of theinterference source.

Bandwidth (MHz)—type in this box the bandwidth of the interfering signal.


Chapter 11

Network Analysis Wizard

The Network Analysis Wizard steps you through the process of generating anetwork analysis (i.e., a nominal analysis). A nominal analysis enables you toperform a preliminary analysis of your network and is quicker than a MonteCarlo simulation because it does not use multiple runs to distributesubscribers. Instead, this analysis method uses traffic power and noise risevalues to determine coverage and transmitted signal strengths.



System

Frequency Band—choose from this list the frequency band of the networkyou want to analyze. You define frequency bands in the Network Settings.


Chapter 11

Subscriber

Equipment Type—choose from this list the equipment type for which youwant to generate an analysis. The equipment type is defined in the SubscriberSettings.

Environment—choose from this list the environment for which you want togenerate an analysis. You define environment settings (e.g., slow fadingstandard deviation, penetration loss, fast fading margin, etc.) in theEnvironment Editor.

Cell Edge Coverage Probability—type in this box the target probability ofcoverage at the cell edge when determining the quality of service.



Generating an existing analysis

You can generate an analysis after it has been created in the wizard. You cangenerate an existing analysis as many times as required. If you edit a sectorin the Site Editor, your sector updates are used in subsequent analysis runs.

To generate an existing analysis

n In the Project Explorer, in the Network Analyses category,right-click the analysis node for which you want to generateanalysis layers and choose Generate.


Chapter 11

Viewing analysis layers

Once you have generated your analysis, you can view the analysis layers thatit contains.

To view analysis layers

1 In the Project Explorer, choose the Network Analysescategory.

2 Right-click an analysis layer under theWiMAXLTE Analysis nodeand choose View.

The analysis layer is displayed in the Map window.

TIP: To remove an analysis layer from the Map window, in the ProjectExplorer, in the Network Analyses category, under the WiMAXLTE Analysisnode, right-click an analysis layer, and choose Remove.



Generating multiple analyses

You can use the Analysis Generator to select multiple analyses to generatesequentially. Using this method you can, for example, select a series ofanalyses to generate overnight.

You can update sector information that impacts a selected analysis, howeverthe analysis only uses the updated information if it has not yet started togenerate.

To generate multiple analyses

1 Choose Tools Analysis Generator.

2 In the Analysis Generator, specify which analyses you want togenerate and click Start.

Analyses are generated in the order displayed in the AnalysisGenerator. Sector information for each analysis listed is collected whenthe analysis starts. If you change sector parameters and the analysishas not yet started, changes will be included in the results.

TIP: To reorder entries in the Analysis Generator, click the column title.


Chapter 11

Deleting analyses

Files generated from a network analysis can take up a lot of hard disk space.You can delete analyses that are no longer required.

To delete analyses

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Network Analyses category, doany of the following:

n Choose one or more analyses, right-click and choose Delete.

n Expand an analysis node, choose one or more analysis layers,right-click and choose Delete.

2 In theMentum Planet dialog box, click Yes.

The analyses or analysis layers you chose are removed from the ProjectExplorer and the files are deleted from the project folder.



Recoloring best serving sector layers

The Best Serving Sector Recolor tool enables you to change the color schemeused to display best serving sector analysis layers (classified grid files).

You can use the colors defined in a sector display scheme or choose from thedefault color schemes used to display best serving sector analysis layers.Sector display schemes enable you to display analysis layers based on sectorproperties, such as the downlink load. When you use a sector display schemewith the Best Serving Sector Recolor tool, only the colors that have beendefined for the scheme are used; other sector display scheme settings, suchas symbol and size, are ignored.

For information about defining sector display schemes, see “Customizingsector symbols for multiple sites” in “Working With Sites and Sectors”, in theMentum Planet User Guide.

To recolor best serving sector layers

1 Choose Tools Best Serving Sector Recolor.

The Best Serving Sector Recolor dialog box opens.

2 ClickBrowse, navigate to the <technology>_Analyses folderwith the project folder, choose the best serving sector layer (.grc)file that you want to recolor, and clickOpen.

3 In the Apply Scheme section, choose a color scheme and clickApply.

The best serving sector layers are displayed in the Map window usingthe new color scheme.

NOTE: You can modify an existing sector display scheme from within in theBest Serving Sector Recolor dialog box by right-clicking a scheme andchoosing Edit.


Chapter 11

Examining layer statistics

You can calculate statistics on the individual analysis layers that you havegenerated, including preamble plan analysis layers. You can calculate statisticsbased on the entire numeric grid (.grd) file, an area grid, or a selection in theMap window. You can further customize the statistics based on a clutter gridfile, traffic map, or a user-defined filter.

After you calculate statistics, you can export statistics to Excel or to .csv files.In Excel, you can display statistics in a myriad of different ways as shown inFigure 8.1.

Figure 8.1 Example of layer statistics displayed in Excel.

For information on how to generate layer statistics, see “To calculate layerstatistics”.


#To_calculate_layer_statistics




Generating Monte Carlo Simulations

Chapter 12 Generating Monte Carlo Simulations

A Monte Carlo simulation generates information about sectors, channels,and subscribers in your network. Using the information gathered througha Monte Carlo analysis, you can establish cell loads and determine theoperating points of the base stations. This chapter describes how togenerate a Monte Carlo simulation and view results.

Because of the detail in Monte Carlo simulations, they can take sometime to generate. For quicker, but less detailed, analyses you cangenerate a WiMAXLTE analysis. See “Chapter 8: Generating Analyses”.


Understanding Monte Carlo simulations 329

Defining the number of Monte Carlo runs 333

Understanding Monte Carlo simulation layers 337

Workflow for generating a Monte Carlo simulation 341

Defining default Monte Carlo simulation settings 342

Creating and generating a Monte Carlo simulation 343


System 348



Analysis 351





Monte Carlo 356


Chapter 12

Generating an existing Monte Carlo simulation 358

Viewing simulation layers 359

Updating analysis cell loads with Monte Carlo results 360



Analysis Settings 368


Layers 375

Layer Information 376

Classification Settings 377

Creating reports 379

Deleting simulation layers 382



Understanding Monte Carlo simulations

A Monte Carlo simulation uses Monte Carlo simulation techniques todetermine the characteristics of your network over repeated runs.

A run consists of the distribution of random numbers of subscribersthroughout the analysis area in a random pattern, and an analysis of theuplink and downlink. On the last run, operating points and discretesubscriber information are generated. Once the runs are complete, youcan view simulation layers and, if required, use the cell load informationfor further analysis.

Statistically, individual runs are of little value. However, over manyMonte Carlo runs, the average result provides a realistic representationof network performance. The results are averaged to create theoperating points that are used when you generate simulation layers.

The following sections describe the phases of a Monte Carlo run andexplain the methods for determining howmany runs are required.

The phases of a Monte Carlo simulation

There are four general phases in a Monte Carlo simulation. They involve:

n placing subscribers in a random pattern

n sorting subscribers based on their assigned priorities

n analyzing the downlink and the uplink

n generating operating points and subscriber information

Once convergence is reached, if there are any remaining networkresources available and you choose to use a Scheduler, the Schedulerwill allocate them based on subscriber priorities.


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Placing subscribers in a random pattern

Each run begins with the placement of subscribers in a random patternthroughout the simulation area. This pattern is created using input values fromthe channels defined for the band and the subscribers defined in theSubscriber Editor. The random distribution pattern corresponds to the trafficmap, and is an efficient method for establishing transmission patterns whenthe exact location of each subscriber cannot be established.

Sorting subscribers by priority

On each run, subscribers are served based on their assigned priorities. Thehighest priority in each case is 1 while the lowest priority is 100. For eachsubscriber type, you define the following priorities:

n a subscriber type priority—defined on the Configuration tab foreach subscriber type.

n a service priority—defined on the Load tab for each subscriberservice

n a Quality of Service priority—defined on the Quality of Servicetab and organized around QoS classes

Analyzing the downlink and uplink

The goal of the uplink and downlink analysis phase is to determine thesubscribers who can be served, taking into account the impact of each servedsubscriber on the network.

The analysis begins by considering the subscribers in the simulation, then theserving sectors for each subscriber.

The downlink analysis

n determines whether the preamble signal strength andpreamble C/(N+I) are above the targets



n allocates a downlink permutation zone to the subscriber

n analyzes whether the MAP C/(N+I) signal is above thetarget

n calculates the received signal-to-noise ratio C/(N+I) andchecks that the required coverage probability is achieved

n checks that the user limit, downlink load and throughputlimit are not exceeded

n determines whether the preamble signal strength andpreamble C/(N+I) are above the targets

n allocates a downlink permutation zone to the subscriber

n analyzes whether the MAP C/(N+I) signal is above thetarget


n checks that the user limit, downlink load and throughputlimit are not exceeded

The uplink analysis

n determines the best uplink server that is also the bestdownlink server

n determines the best uplink server that is also the bestdownlink server

n allocates an uplink permutation zone to the subscriber


n calculates the noise rise and checks that the limit is notexceeded on all sectors

n checks that the cell radius and uplink load are notexceeded

The simulation also checks the quality thresholds defined for each sector.


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Generating operating points and subscriber information

On the last run, operating points and subscriber information are generated.Operating points provide detailed information about each sector, channel, andsubscriber type in the simulation. The operating points are averaged andstored. You can examine detailed operating point data by viewing thegenerated layers.

Subscriber information provides details on the coverage status of subscribers(also known as discrete subscribers). Snapshots of each subscriber’s statusare compiled on each run of the simulation. When the simulation is complete,you can view the subscriber spreading layer as well as the service status ofeach subscriber. You can also view reports on the statistics collected. See“Creating reports”.



Defining the number of Monte Carlo runs

Before you generate a Monte Carlo simulation, you must define theconvergence criteria that determines when the simulation stops. If yougenerate too few runs, the results will not accurately reflect thedistribution of subscribers within the network. If you generate too manyruns, the processing time can be high unnecessarily. In order to avoideither of these extremes, you define the level of convergence, whichconsiders the number of subscribers blocked during a single run. If thisnumber is stable over several runs, the simulation ends.

Convergence method

The distribution of subscribers is affected by the traffic density. Whenthere is greater traffic density, fewer runs are required.

Using this approach, the runs continue until the level of convergencetarget is reached. After each run, the tool calculates the level ofconvergence value (see “Level of Convergence calculation”). When thelevel of convergence is within the specified range (e.g., by default, within5% of the target values), the simulation ends.

To achieve results that are statistically valid, you must determine anappropriate level of convergence. If you specify a low value (forexample, 1%), more runs will be required for the solution to converge. Alow level of convergence generally requires a higher resolution digitalterrain model (DTM) to ensure accurate results. If the DTM has a lowresolution, small variations in the interference calculations between runsmight cause significant differences in the coverage area for a particularsite.

The required level of convergence option requires a minimum of fiveruns to complete.


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Level of Convergence calculation

The following calculations are used to determine the level of convergenceduring a run.

First, the number of blocked users is calculated using Equation 9.1.

Equation 9.1 Mean number of blocked users

Where:

is the mean number of blocked users for a particular run

is the number of simulation runs

The divergence of consecutive values is continually calculated using the meanvalue. For example:

Equation 9.2 Divergence of consecutive values



The value from Equation 9.1 and the divergence value from Equation9.2 are then used to determine the level of convergence value, as shownin Equation 9.3.

Equation 9.3 Level of convergence calculation

If the analysis does not achieve what you consider to be an accuratemodel of the network using the number of runs that you specified, youcan generate additional runs. See “Generating additional runs for aWiMAX Monte Carlo simulation” .

Factors affecting the required number of runs

The number of runs required to achieve a given level of accuracy canvary dramatically based on several factors including:

n the number of bins in the simulation, which is directlyproportional to the simulation area and resolution. Thenumber of bins in the simulation has an impact as it willprovide the number of potential points for subscribers.The more potential points for subscribers, the greater thelikelihood of variation.

n the number of subscribers to be spread. This, coupledwith the type of subscriber (for example, high data ratesubscribers) and the traffic map, has potentially the


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greatest impact on the number of runs required. If you spreadvery few subscribers over a large area, then you need manyruns to get a good statistical representation. If thesesubscribers are spread in a limited area, then fewer runs arelikely required.

n the impact of each individual subscriber on the simulation.Higher data rate subscribers create a bigger load and have abigger impact in all respects.

n the potential variation in the locations of the subscribers in thesimulation according to the assigned traffic maps. A flat trafficmap will likely require more runs than a map where all of thesubscribers are concentrated.

n the number of sectors in the simulation. A greater number ofservers, coupled with the potential for overlapping coverageareas, and gaps in coverage, results in a higher potential fordifferent sectors providing service, and more runs beingrequired.

In general, the greater potential variability then the greater the number ofruns required to ensure a reasonable level of accuracy. It is often useful to doa single run first, especially for large simulation areas. A single run can identifyobvious errors quickly, for example, incorrect PA power settings for a sector.

TIP: To help determine whether additional runs are required, you can viewthe subscriber spreading layer and use the Grid Info tool to see howmanysubscribers are spread across a bin. You can also view the service status layerto see the served status of a subscriber.

You can also examine pre-defined reports to view the operating points. Formore information on reports, see “Creating reports”.



Understanding Monte Carlo simulation layers

Two types of layers are generated after the final Monte Carlo run:

n the subscriber spreading layer—displays howmanysubscribers are spread across a bin. This is the averagevalue over all runs.

n the service status layer (for each subscriber type)—displays the served status of each subscriber using thecolors shown in Table 1


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Table 1 Subscriber status color map

Color Subscriber Status Displays When..Served subscribers All simulation conditions are

met.Blocked (preamblecoverage)

The sectors' signal strength isbelow the signal strengththreshold defined in theWiMAX analysis settings orwhen there are nopermutation zones (asdefined in the networksettings) available.

Blocked (MAPcoverage)

There is no MAP coverage,based on the required MAPC/(N+I) threshold defined inthe WiMAX analysis settings.

Blocked (number ofusers)

The number of subscribersserved by a given sector isgreater than the maximumnumber of subscribersdefined in the Site Editor.

Blocked (downlinkpower)

There are no downlinkmodulation coding schemesthat can be achieved.

Blocked (uplinkpower)

There are no uplinkmodulation coding schemesthat can be achieved.

Blocked (downlinkresources)

There are no downlinkresources (i.e., subchannels)left to serve a particularsubscriber.

Blocked (uplinkresources)

There are no uplink resources(i.e., subchannels) left toserve a given subscriber.

Blocked (uplink noiserise)

The uplink noise rise for anysector is greater than thesector maximum uplink noise



Color Subscriber Status Displays When..rise value as defined in theSite Editor when serving agiven subscriber.

Blocked (maximumpooled throughput)

Serving a given subscriberleads to a site pooledthroughput that is greaterthan the maximum pooledthroughput value defined inthe Site Editor.

Blocked (coveragedistance limit)

The subscriber is outside thelimit best server coveragevalue defined in the SiteEditor.

Color Subscriber Status Displays When..Served subscribers All simulation conditions are

met.Blocked (preamblecoverage)

The sectors' signal strength isbelow the signal strengththreshold defined in theWiMAX analysis settings orwhen there are nopermutation zones (asdefined in the networksettings) available.

Blocked (MAPcoverage)

There is no MAP coverage,based on the required MAPC/(N+I) threshold defined inthe WiMAX analysis settings.

Blocked (number ofusers)

The number of subscribersserved by a given sector isgreater than the maximumnumber of subscribersdefined in the Site Editor.

Blocked (downlinkpower)

There are no downlinkmodulation coding schemes


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Color Subscriber Status Displays When..that can be achieved.

Blocked (uplinkpower)

There are no uplinkmodulation coding schemesthat can be achieved.

Blocked (downlinkresources)

There are no downlinkresources (i.e., subchannels)left to serve a particularsubscriber.

Blocked (uplinkresources)

There are no uplink resources(i.e., subchannels) left toserve a given subscriber.

Blocked (uplink noiserise)

The uplink noise rise for anysector is greater than thesector maximum uplink noiserise value as defined in theSite Editor when serving agiven subscriber.

Blocked (maximumpooled throughput)

Serving a given subscriberleads to a site pooledthroughput that is greaterthan the maximum pooledthroughput value defined inthe Site Editor.

Blocked (coveragedistance limit)

The subscriber is outside thelimit best server coveragevalue defined in the SiteEditor.

The subscriber spreading layer and the service status layer are saved in the<technology>MC_Simulations folder of your project. To ensure that theselayers are always generated during a Monte Carlo simulation, enable theGenerate Layers for 4GMonte Carlo Simulations check box on theMiscellaneous panel in the User Preferences dialog box.



Workflow for generating a Monte Carlosimulation

Step 1 Ensure that you have defined a traffic map for the subscribertypes that covers the same area as your Monte Carlosimulation.

Step 2 If you want to use the same settings for a number ofsimulations, define default simulations settings.

Step 3 Create and generate a new Monte Carlo simulation.

Step 4 View simulation layers.

Step 5 If required, generate additional runs.

Step 6 Generate statistical reports for simulation layers.

Step 7 Create reports for discrete subscriber information andoperating points.

Step 8 Optionally, generate a network analysis.


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Defining default Monte Carlo simulation settings

If you want to use the same settings for a number of Monte Carlo simulations,you can define default settings. When you create a new simulation, thesedefaults are automatically used.

To define default Monte Carlo simulation settings

In the Project Explorer, in theMonte Carlo Simulations category, right-clickWiMAXLTE Simulations and choose Default Simulation Settings.

The Monte Carlo Simulation dialog box opens.

1 Define the default settings that you want to use, and clickOK.



Creating and generating a Monte Carlosimulation

When you create a new simulation, it is displayed in the Project Explorerin the Monte Carlo Simulations category under the <Technology>Simulations node. You can create any number of simulations for aproject. When you finish creating a Monte Carlo simulation, you cangenerate it immediately or save the simulation settings withoutgenerating it.


To create and generate a new Monte Carlo simulation

1 In the Project Explorer, in theMonte Carlo Simulationscategory, right-clickWiMAXLTE FDDWCDMA Simulationsand choose New.

The Monte Carlo Simulation Wizard opens.


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2 On the System page, provide the following information and clickNext.



3 On the Analysis page, provide the following information andclickNext.

4 On theMonte Carlo page, provide the following informationand clickNext.


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5 On the last page of the Wizard, complete the final step and clickFinish.

A new simulation node is created in the Project Explorer.

TIP: To view the settings of a simulation, in the Project Explorer, in the MonteCarlo Simulations category, right-click the simulation and choose ViewSettings.

TIP: To view which sectors are part of a simulation, in the Project Explorer, inthe Monte Carlo Simulations category, right-click the simulation and chooseView Selected Sectors.



Monte Carlo Simulation Wizard

A Monte Carlo simulation takes all subscriber parameters into accountwhen generating simulation layers. To do this, at each Monte Carlo run,Mentum Planet:

n Creates a random pattern of subscribers. The simulationplaces the subscribers at random locations using thetraffic map densities, and determines the subscribertypes from the definitions in the Subscriber Editor.

n Generates downlink and uplink analyses. This uses therandom subscriber pattern to determine the number ofsubscribers that can be served, while taking into accountthe impact of each served subscriber on the network.

n On the last run of the simulation, the simulation tool alsogenerates two additional types of data:

n Operating points— These are the results of the sim-ulation divided by sector, carrier, and subscribertype. Mentum Planet averages these and usesthem to create reports.

n Discrete subscriber information—Mentum Planetcompiles snapshots of each subscriber’s status oneach run of the simulation. When the simulation fin-ishes, the coverage status of each subscriber isstored in a MapInfo table (*.tab).


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System

Frequency Band—choose from this list the frequency band you want tosimulate. You define frequency bands in the Network Settings.



Subscriber Types

Use this section to specify the subscriber criteria to focus on whengenerating the simulation. Enable the check boxes next to thosesubscriber types you want to include in the simulation.

Subscriber Type—displays the name of the subscriber type. Thesubscriber type is defined in the Subscriber Editor.

CPE Type—displays the Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) typeassociated with the subscriber.


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Analysis

Signal Strength Threshold—type in this box the signal strength abovewhich a server can be considered the best server.


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Use this section to specify how the simulation determines the best server ofeach subscriber.

Reference Signal Strength—choose this option if you want the simulation toselect the best server of each subscriber according to the reference signalstrength.

RSRQ—choose this option if you want the simulation to select the best serveraccording to the reference signal receive quality.

Interference Coordination Scheduling—choose from this list the type ofscheduler to use in order to efficiently coordinate interference. This box is notavailable if the selected frequency band does not support interferencecoordination. The following options are available:

l Basic—optimizes resource allocations through minimal interaction betweeneNodeBs.

l Advanced—optimizes resource allocations through fast and comprehensivecommunication between eNodeBs. As a result, the Advanced schedulerreduces more efficiently the amount of downlink interference.

Reference Signal Receive Quality (RSRQ)—type in this box the referencesignal receive quality threshold used to determine the reference signalcoverage.

Probability of Collision Curve—displays the name of the mapping curve touse for the probability of collision.


Edit—click this button to open the Curve Editor.



Uplink Power Control

Full—choose this option to use full power control on the uplink.

Fractional P0—choose this option to use uplink fractional power control.You must specify a power control value in dBm and define a pathlosscompensation factor. When you choose this option, the transmittedpower used for the mobile equipment is impacted and, hence, so is theuplink CNIR value.


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Use Interference Grid—enable this check box to specify an interference gridto use during the analysis. If you use an interference grid, the downlink othersystem interference value defined in the LTE sector settings will be ignored bythe analysis. At each bin, the value will be replaced by the value provided inthe grid.

Browse—click this button to open a .grd file containing interferencevalues to use in place of the sector-based downlink interference values.

Remove—click this button if you do not want to use an interferencegrid.

Center Frequency—click in this box to define the center frequency of theinterference source.

Bandwidth—click in this box to define the bandwidth of the interferencesignal.





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Monte Carlo

Minimum Number of Runs—type in this box to define the minimum numberof runs in the Monte-Carlo simulation.

Maximum Number of Runs—type in this box to define the maximumnumber of runs in the Monte-Carlo simulation.

Required Level of Convergence—type in this box to define the requiredlevel of convergence in order to end the Monte-Carlo simulation.

Scheduler—choose from this list the type of Scheduler you want to use. Thefollowing options are available:

None—resources that remain once subscribers have been served withtheir minimum data rate are not allocated.

Priority—resources that remain once subscribers have been servedwith their minimum data rate are allocated to subscribers based on thepriority defined in the subscriber settings.

Proportional Fair—resources that remain once subscribers have beenserved at their minimum data rates are allocated equally to allsubscribers such that subscribers in better conditions have better datarates.

Proportional Demand—resources that remain once subscribers havebeen served at their minimum data rates are allocated to servedsubscribers. Subscribers with low data rates are given more resources.

Maximum Capacity—resources that remain once subscribers havebeen served at their minimum data rates are allocated to servedsubscribers. Subscribers with high data rates are given more resources.

User-Defined—resources that remain once subscribers have beenserved at their minimum data rates are allocated to served subscribersaccording to the following weight:



The larger the weight, the more resources are assigned to thesubscriber. Use the User-Defined Scheduler when you require acompromise between fairness (as in the proportional demand scheduler)and capacity (as in the maximum capacity scheduler).

Automatically Update Cell Loads—enable this check box to updatecell load values automatically at the end of the simulation.

Display Subscribers at Each Run—enable this check box to display thesubscriber status in the Map window on each simulation run.

Display Convergence Graph—enable this check box to display a graphillustrating the convergence process.


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Generating an existing Monte Carlo simulation

You can generate a simulation after it has been created in the wizard and cangenerate an existing simulation as many times as required. After viewing thesimulation report and discrete subscriber information, you may determinethat additional runs are required to achieve greater accuracy. The additionalsimulation runs are based on the operating points obtained from the existingsimulation. The new results are generated using the statistics collected fromall simulation runs.

NOTE: If you edit a sector in the Site Editor, your updates are used insubsequent simulation runs.

To generate an existing simulation

n In the Project Explorer, in theMonte Carlo Simulationscategory, right-click the simulation node for which you want togenerate layers and choose Generate.



Viewing simulation layers

Once you have generated a simulation, you can view the simulationlayers that it contains.

To view simulation layers

1 In the Project Explorer, choose theMonte CarloSimulations category.

2 Right-click a simulation layer under the WiMAXLTE FDD Simulations node and choose View.

The simulation layer is displayed in the Map window.

NOTE: If you rename a simulation in the Project Explorer, any layerscurrently open or displayed in the Map window will be closed.


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Updating analysis cell loads with Monte Carloresults

Once you have generated a Monte Carlo simulation, you have the option ofusing the results of the simulation to update the target values for the uplinknoise rise and downlink for each sector. These values are used in networkanalyses.

To update analysis cell loads

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Monte Carlo Simulationcategory, right-click a Monte Carlo simulation and do one of thefollowing:

n To Update The Target Values For All Sectors In TheChosen Group, Choose Apply Cell Loads.

n To update the target values for selected sectors within thegroup, choose Apply Cell Loads to Selected Sectors,specify the sectors to which you want to apply changes, andclickOK.

2 In the confirmation dialog box, clickOK.

The values displayed in the Channels table on the Configuration tab areupdated. This includes the Downlink Loading (%), the Uplink Loading(%), the Uplink Noise Rise (%), the Segment Zone Usage (dB), and theAAS Usage (%).



Examining layer statistics

You can calculate statistics on the individual analysis layers that you havegenerated, including preamble plan analysis layers. You can calculatestatistics based on the entire numeric grid (.grd) file, an area grid, or aselection in the Map window. You can further customize the statisticsbased on a clutter grid file, traffic map, or a user-defined filter.

To evaluate how using different types of antenna systems impactsnetwork performance:

n Create layer statistics for the Downlink MaximumAchievable Data Rate layer.

n In the Layer Statistics Analysis dialog box, use the bestserver classified grid to calculate statistics.

n In the Report Preview, filter on a given range and choosethe Percentage Sub Area column.

n Click the Generate Sector Display Scheme button anddefine a sector display scheme to apply to the map.

After you calculate statistics, you can export statistics to Excel or to .csvfiles. In Excel, you can display statistics in a myriad of different ways asshown the figure.


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Figure 9.1 Example of graph displays in Excel.


To calculate layer statistics

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Network Analyses category,choose the simulation layers that you want to add to the report,right-click and choose Statistics.

2 To manually add additional simulation layers to the list, clickAddLayer, navigate to the file that you want to add, and clickOpen.

3 In the tree view, choose Analysis Settings.

4 On the Analysis Settings panel, define the analysis area.


n To remove bins with null values from the analysis layercalculations, enable the Exclude Null Values check box.



n To generate additional statistics, broken down by aclassification, enable the Use Classified Grid check box,clickBrowse to navigate to the file, choose the file andclickOK.

Any classified grid can be used to perform different kindsof statistical analysis. For example, to produce astatistical breakdown for each sector, use a best serverlayer as the classification grid. This breaks the statisticsdown by best server area.

n To generate traffic statistics, enable the Use Traffic Mapcheck box and choose a traffic map from the TrafficMap list.

n To generate additional statistics, broken down by aclassification, enable the Use Classified Grid check box,clickBrowse to navigate to the file, choose the file andclickOK.

Any classified grid can be used to perform different kindsof statistical analysis. For example, to produce astatistical breakdown for each sector, use a best serverlayer as the classification grid. This breaks the statisticsdown by best server area.

n To generate traffic statistics, enable the Use Traffic Mapcheck box and choose a traffic map from the TrafficMap list.

n To generate additional statistics, broken down by anumeric classification, enable the Use Numeric Gridcheck box, clickBrowse to navigate to the file, choosethe file and clickOK.

6 To filter the analysis area based on a grid file, enable theApply Area Filter check box.

The area filter is applied globally to all layers.


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7 If you want to define individual area filters for each layer, enablethe Set Area Filter By Layer check box.

8 If you are applying area filters globally to all layers, do thefollowing:

n To define the area raster, clickBrowse, navigate to the gridfile, and clickOK.

n To define the condition for the filter, type an expression in theCondition box. For example, choosing the SignalStrength.grdfile and defining the expression would only consider pixelswithin the analysis area that have a signal strength greaterthan 100.

9 To discard statistical results that only contain zero values, enablethe Discard Result That Only Contains Zero Statistics checkbox.

With this check box enabled, records where all columns contain zerovalues will be removed from the statistical report.

10 In the tree view, expand the Layers node and choose the analysislayer for which you want to obtain statistics.

11 If you want to define classification settings for the analysis layer,define any of the available settings in the ClassificationsSettings section.

12 If you want to define area filters for individual layers and haveenabled the Set Area Filter By Layer check box on the AnalysisSettings panel, click the Area Filters button.

Area filter settings are saved in LayerStatistics.set file located in theSettings/Layer Statistics folders within the project folder.

13 Click Calculate Statistics.

The Report Preview dialog box opens



14 Change the Report Preview display as required using theavailable toolbar buttons

15 To view statistics on column data, choose one or more datacolumns and click the Generate Statistics button.

The Generate Statistics dialog box opens where you can view themean value, the minimum value, the maximum value, the medianvalue, the root mean square, and the standard deviation for eachcolumn.

16 If the report statistics include the site and sector data, youcan create a sector display scheme to apply to report data bydoing the following:

n Choose the column of data for which you want to create asector display scheme.

n Click the Generate Sector Display Scheme button.

17 Define the sector display scheme name and ,in the SectorDisplay Scheme dialog box, define the parameters uponwhich you want the scheme to be based.


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18 To view the layer statistics upon which the scheme is based, clickthe Data button.

19 Review the data and click Close.

20 In the Sector Display Scheme dialog box, save or apply thesector display scheme as required.

21 If the report includes site and sector data, you can display labels inthe Map window based on a selected data column by doing thefollowing:

n Choose the column of data that you want to use as the basis forthe site labels.

n Click the Generate Labels button.

22 To export the data to Excel, in the Report Preview dialog box,click the Export Data To A File button and define export settingsas required.



Layer Statistics Analysis

Use the Layer Statistics dialog box to define and calculate statistics forthe chosen layers in an analysis.


Add Layer—click this button to add a layer to the Layers node in the treeview. Layer statistics are only calculated for the layers in the Layers nodewhen you click the Calculate Statistics button.

Remove Layer—click this button to remove a chosen layer from theLayers node in the tree view. Layer statistics are not calculated for layersthat you remove from the Layer node. Removing a layer does not deleteit from an analysis in the Project Explorer.


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Analysis Settings

Use this section to define the geographic region used to calculate layerstatistics.

Analysis Area—choose from this list an area to define the geographic regionused to calculate layer statistics.

n Current Window—choose this option to use the areadisplayed in the current Map window to calculate layerstatistics.

n Entire Layer—choose this option to use the area of the chosenanalysis layer or layers to generate layer statistics.

n Selected Rectangle—choose this option to use the areaenclosed by a chosen rectangle to generate layer statistics. Usethe MapInfo rectangle drawing tool to draw a rectangle on theCosmetic layer, then choose the rectangle with the MapInfoSelection tool before generate statistics.

Exclude Null Values—enable this check box to remove bins with null valuesfrom the analysis layer calculations and exclude them from the statisticalreport.

Use Classified Grid—enable this check box to choose a classified grid (.grc)file for which to calculate statistics.

The following columns are calculated:

n Percentage Sub Area—displays the percentage of the subarea covered by the clutter class.

n Percentage Total Area—displays the total area covered bythe clutter class.

Classified Grid—this field displays the name of the .grc file chosen for layerstatistic calculation.



Browse—click this button to locate a .grc file for which to calculate layerstatistics. This button is only available when the Use Classified Grid checkbox is enabled.

Use Traffic Map—enable this check box to choose a traffic map forwhich to calculate traffic statistics, which includes total traffic counts ofeach category.

Traffic Map—choose from this list a traffic map to use for calculatingtraffic statistics. This list is only available when the Use Traffic Map checkbox is enabled.

Type—this box displays the measurement units used by the traffic mapchosen from the Traffic Map list.

Use Numeric Grid—enable this check box to choose a numeric grid(.grd) file for which to calculate statistics. Statistics are calculated onlyfor bins defined in the analysis area. "Null" bins are excluded if theDiscard Results That Only Contain Zero Values check box is enabled.

The following columns are calculated:

n Percentage Sub Area—shows the percentage of the area covered bythe clutter class.

n Percentage Total Area—shows the total area covered by the clutterclass.

n Numeric Grid Sum—shows the sum of numeric grid values. Forexample, if the numeric grid selected is a traffic map and the grid usedas input is a best server grid, then for each sector this column shows theamount of traffic served.

n Numeric Grid Mean—shows the mean of the numeric grid values. Forexample, if the numeric grid selected is an "average data rate" grid, andthe grid used as input is a best server grid, then for each sector thiscolumn shows the average data rate over the best serving area of each


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sector.

n Numeric Grid Minimum—shows the minimum numeric grid value. Forexample, if the numeric grid selected is a traffic map, and the grid used asinput is a best server grid, then for each sector this column would show theminimum amount of traffic found in the best serving area of each sector.

n Numeric Grid Maximum—shows the maximum numeric grid value. Forexample, if the numeric grid selected is a traffic map, and the grid used asinput is a best server grid, then for each sector this column shows themaximum amount of traffic found in the best serving area of each sector.

n Numeric Grid Median—shows the median numeric grid value. For example,if the numeric grid selected is a traffic map, and the grid used as input is a bestserver grid, then for each sector this column shows the median amount oftraffic found in the best serving area of each sector.

n Numeric Grid RMS Value—shows the RMS (Root Mean Square) of thenumeric grid values. For example, if the numeric grid selected is an "averagedata rate" grid, and the grid used as input is a best server grid, then for eachsector this column shows the RMS of the average data rate over the bestserving area of each sector.

n Numeric Grid Standard Deviation—shows the standard deviation of thenumeric grid values. For example, if the numeric grid selected is an "averagedata rate" grid, and the grid used as input is a best server grid, then for eachsector this column shows the standard deviation of the average data rate overthe best serving area of each sector.

Numeric Grid—this field displays the name of the .grd file chosen for layerstatistic calculation.

Browse—click this button to locate a .grd file for which to calculate layerstatistics. This button is only available when the Use Numeric Grid check box isenabled.

Apply Area Filter—enable this check box to filter the analysis area using agrid file and a condition applied to the grid file. This filter is applied globally toall layers.



Set Area Filter By Layer—enable this check box when you want todefine individual filters for each layer.

Area Raster—this box displays the name of the grid (.grc or .grd) filechosen to filter the analysis area.

Browse—click this button to locate the grc or .grd file with which to filterthe analysis area. This button is only available when the Apply Area Filtercheck box is enabled.

Condition—type in this box an expression to apply to the chosen grc or.grd file. This box is only available when the Apply Area Filter check box isenabled and the Set Area Filter By Layer check box is cleared. The tablebelow lists the operators that can be used in this box to define anexpression.

Operator Meaning

v Reserved character to stand for"value"

== Equal

!= Not equal

> Greater than

>= Greater than or equal to

< Less than

<= Less than or equal to

&& And

|| Or

The table below contains some examples of typical conditions fornumeric grid files chosen to filter the analysis area.

Condition Meaning

v > 100 && v < 200 Only include pixels from the AreaRaster grid file that have a valuegreater than 100 and less than 200

v > 200 || v < 100 Only include pixels from the AreaRaster grid file that have a valuegreater than 200 or less than 100

v >= 100 Only include pixels from the Area


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Condition Meaning

Raster grid file that have a value ofno less than 100

The table below contains some examples of typical conditions for classifiedgrid files chosen to filter the analysis area.

Condition Meaning

v == "open" || v == "urban" Only include pixels from theArea Raster grid file thathave a value of "open" or"urban"

v != "open" && v != "urban" Only include pixels from theArea Raster grid file that donot have a value of "open"or "urban"

v != "urban" Only include pixels from theArea Raster grid file that donot have a value of "urban"

Discard Result That Only Contains Zero Statistics—enable this check boxto delete rows from the report that contain a value of zero in every column.

Export Format—choose from this list the format in which to output generatedstatistics. The available output formats are as follows:

l Excel—choose this format to automatically display statistics in Microsoft Excelafter they are generated.

l HtmL—choose this format to save generate statistics in HTML (.htm) files.These files are not displayed automatically. One .htm file is created for eachlayer in the Layers node of the tree view. These files are stored in theReports\LayerStatistics\Html folder in the project.

l MapInfo Table—choose this format to save generated statistics in MapInfotable (.tab) files. These files are not displayed automatically. One .tab file iscreated for each layer in the Layers node of the tree view. These files arestored in the Reports\LayerStatistics\MapInfo folder in the project.



If the generated statistics cannot be output in the chosen format, a textfile will be created and automatically displayed.

Calculate Statistics—click this button to use the defined analysissettings to calculate statistics for the analysis layers in the Layers node ofthe tree view.


Chapter 12

Layer Statistics Analysis

Use the Layer Statistics dialog box to define and calculate statistics for thechosen analysis layers.


Add Layer—click this button to add a layer to Layers node in the tree view.Layer statistics are only calculated for the layers in the Layers node whenCalculate Statistics button is clicked.

Remove Layer—click this button to remove a chosen layer from the Layersnode in the tree view. Layer statistics are not calculated for layers that youremove from the Layer node. Removing a layer does not delete it from ananalysis in the Project Explorer.



Layers

Each layer in the Layers node of the tree view has its own Layers panel.Use these panels to view information about and to define classificationsettings for each layer.


Chapter 12

Layer Information

File Name—this box displays the file name of the chosen layer.

Data Type—this box displays the type of data that the chosen layer contains.Layers can contain classified or numeric data.

Units—this box displays the measurement units used by the chosen layer.

Resolution—this box displays the size of the bins in the layer chosen in thetree view.

Area—this box displays the size of the geographic area covered by the chosenlayer.

Classifications—this list displays the classifications contained in the chosenlayer. This list is only available when the Data Type of the chosen layer isClassified.

Zmin—this box displays the minimum Z value that the chosen layer contains.This box is only available when the Data Type of the chosen layer is Numeric.

Zmax—this box displays the maximum Z value that the chosen layer contains.This box is only available when the Data Type of the chosen layer is Numeric.



Classification Settings

Use this section to define classification settings for the layer chosen in thetree view.

Split Classification To Get Site And Sector Names—enable thischeck box to split classifications that combine Site_ID and Sector_ID intoseparate Site_ID and Sector_ID values in the analysis report. This checkbox is only available when the Data Type of the chosen layer is Classified.

The table below contains an example of how classifications that combineSite_ID and Sector_ID would be separated.

SplitCombined ID Site Sector

Site_1_1 Site_1 1

Site_1_2 Site_1 2

Site_1_3 Site_1 3

Site_2_1 Site_2 1

Site_2_2 Site_2 2

Site_2_3 Site_2 3

Threshold Definition—type in this box a list of values separated bysemi-colons define the data ranges for which to calculate statistics. Thedefault thresholds are set by equally dividing the range of Z valuescontained in the chosen layer. This box is only available when the DataType of the chosen layer is Numeric.

For example, if the Zmin box displays 0 and the ZMax box displays 100,the default thresholds would be set to 25; 50; 75. Using the exampledefault thresholds, statistics would be calculated for the following fourdata ranges:

n 0 (Zmin) ~ 25

n 25 ~ 50

n 50 ~ 75

n 75 ~ 100 (Zmax)


Chapter 12

If you have data that has a value that is the same as a threshold value, it willbe associated with the first range found in the threshold definition (based onascending order). Therefore, for example, a value of 25 goes to the 0 (Zmin)~ 25 range instead of the 25 ~ 50 range.

Classification Name—type in this box a name for the classification to displayin the analysis report.

Area Filters—click this button to define an area filter for individual layers. Thisbutton is not available if you have not enabled the Set Area Filter By Layercheck box on the Analysis Settings panel.

Calculate Statistics—click this button to use the defined analysis settings tocalculate statistics for the analysis layers in the Layers node of the tree view.Layer statistics automatically open in the Report Viewer.



Creating reports

After generating a Monte Carlo simulation, you can view details of thesimulation in the Report Preview dialog box and export the reports toExcel for further analysis.

To create reports

1 In the Project Explorer, in theMonte Carlo Simulationscategory, right-click a simulation and choose GenerateReports and then choose one of the following options:

n Sector/Channel—contains analysis information sortedby sector and channel including PA power, preamblepower, downlink load, uplink noise rise, etc.

n Subscribers—contains the reasons subscribers wereblocked on either a global or per sector/channel basis.

n Throughput—contains throughput information sorted bysubscriber type, service, and environment on either aglobal or per subscriber basis.

n All Run Sector/Channel—contains analysis informationfor each run performed in the simulation sorted by sectorand channel.

2 In the Report Preview dialog box, do any of the following:

n To change the columns displayed in the dialog box, clickthe Change Options button.

n To sort the data in ascending order, click the Sort InAscending Order button.

n To sort the data in descending order, click the Sort InDescending Order button.

3 To view statistics on a particular column in the report, choosea data column and click the Generate Statistics button.


Chapter 12

The Generate Statistics window opens where you can view the meanvalue, the minimum value, the maximum value, the median value, theroot mean square, and the standard deviation.

4 If the report statistics include the site and sector data, you cancreate a sector display scheme to apply to report data by doingthe following:

n Choose the column of data for which you want to create asector display scheme.

n Click the Generate Sector Display Scheme button anddefine the sector display scheme settings you want to use.

5 If the report statistics include the site and sector data, you candisplay labels in the Map window based on a selected data columnby doing the following:

n Choose the column of data that you want to use as the basis forthe site labels.

n Click the Generate Labels button.

6 To export the data to Excel, in the Report Preview dialog box,click the Export Data To A File button.

The Export Options dialog box opens.



7 In the Select Export format section, choose one of thefollowing options:

n Excel—to export statistics to an Excel (.xls) file.

n CSV—to export statistics to Comma Separated Values(.csv) file.

8 If you are exporting to Excel, do the following:

n To open the file once the export is complete, enable theOpen File Or Folder Upon Export check box.

n In the Export Settings section, clickBrowse to define afile name.

n To use a template, enable the Use A Template checkbox and clickBrowse to specify the template file.

n If the template uses macros, enable the Use Macroscheck box.

9 If you are exporting to .csv files, do the following:

n In the Export Settings section, enable the ExportHeader Row if you want to include a header in theexported files.

n ClickBrowse to define a folder for the exported output.

10 ClickOK.


Chapter 12

Deleting simulation layers

Files generated from a simulation can take up a lot of hard disk space. You candelete simulations that are no longer required.

To delete simulation layers

1 In the Project Explorer, in theMonte Carlo Simulationscategory, do any of the following:

n Choose one or more simulation layers, right-click and chooseDelete.

n Expand a simulation node, choose one or more simulationlayers, right-click and choose Delete.

2 In theMentum Planet dialog box, click Yes.

The simulation layers you chose are removed from the Project Explorerand the files are deleted from the project folder.



Chapter 12 Generating Fixed SubscriberAnalyses

There could be many reasons for generating a fixed subscriber analysis.It depends on the environment you are modeling and the resources athand. You could, for example, be modeling a fixed network. Or, due tocapacity requirements, you could be modeling a hybrid network withsupport for both mobile users and fixed subscribers.

By generating a Mentum Planet fixed subscriber analysis, you canevaluate and analyze network performance at discrete subscriberlocations with a variety of equipment configurations.


Understanding fixed subscriber analyses 384

Editing fixed subscribers 387

Generating and viewing a fixed subscriber analysis 388

Fixed Analysis Wizard 390

Analysis 391


Preamble CINR Measurements 393

Probability of Collision 394

Prediction At 395

Analyzing a single fixed subscriber 396


Chapter 12

Understanding fixed subscriber analyses

An unprecedented demand for wireless data and many advances in mobilecommunication technologies are behind the need to move third generation(3G) networks to forth generation (4G) wireless solutions.

Two popular 4G technologies, LTE and WiMAX, not only enable true mobilebroadband capabilities but also the convergence of fixed and mobile services.The all-IP based packet core network architecture and the high-efficientflexible air interface of 4G networks offers operators great opportunities andcapabilities to deploy integrated applications that provide high-speed mobilityservices, as well as fixed broadband wireless access services.

In addition to the nature of fixed locations, the services and applications usedby fixed subscribers, quality of service requirement, can be very different fromthe ones that are typically used bymobile subscribers.

The behaviors and usage patterns of two types of subscribers can also be verydifferent. Therefore, when planning or optimizing a 4G-based system thatprovides hybrid mobility and fixed access services, you need to ensure that thenetwork not onlymeest the performance requirement imposed bymobilesubscribers, but also supports and delivers the robust quality of service to fixedsubscribers.

Mentum Planet fixed subscriber analyses provide you with the tools you needto evaluate and analyze network performance at discrete subscriber locationswith variety of CPE configurations.

Before you generate an analysis

The first step in creating a fixed subscriber analysis is to create a fixedsubscriber table. You then place subscribers on the map. Subscriberinformation along with the equipment configuration is saved in a subscribertable as a comma separated value file and stored in the Fixed SubscriberTables folder within the project. You can edit subscriber information using theSubscriber Editor or by editing the subscriber table directly.

You can set the subscriber prediction type to be either ground level orequipment antenna height. This enables you to model different types of fixed



terminal equipment. The equipment antenna height type of prediction isparticularly useful when an external antenna is used on the CustomerPremise Equipment (e.g., when the equipment is mounted on top of abuilding). For these types of predictions, point-to-point predictions aregenerated on-the-fly from all the neighboring sectors to the terminalequipment. Neighbors are those sectors with a prediction distance that isgreater than the distance between the sector and the terminalequipment location.

TIP: You can import an existing fixed subscriber database or you candefine subscribers in the Tabular Editor or Excel worksheet.

How the analysis is performed

Instead of analyzing every bin in a area for a particular type of subscriberequipment, service, and environment, and then generating a set ofanalysis layers in a mobile network analysis, the fixed subscriber analysisanalyzes network performance at discrete subscriber locations defined inthe fixed subscriber table. If required, for each subscriber, you candefine a unique configuration (e.g., locations, CPE with integratedantenna, or CPE with directional antenna mounted at roof top). Forexample, at the same location, you may have multiple subscribers buteach subscriber is at a different height. This is a configuration that wouldbe required if subscribers, for example, in the same apartment buildingare located on a different floor (i.e., at a different level).

For every subscribers, the analysis predicts the signal strengths at thelocation, and determine the best parent server and the potential secondbest server. The downlink and uplink performance, in terms of bestavailable modulation, maximum achievable data rate, coverageprobability, margins, etc. are then analyzed. The analysis results of eachsubscriber are stored in the fixed subscriber table.


Chapter 12



Editing fixed subscribers

Before you can accurately analyze fixed subscribers, you need to ensurethat the subscriber configuration mirrors the real-world characteristics ofthe users.


TIP: To edit subscriber information for many subscribers, right-click thesubscriber table and choose one of the following commands:

n Edit to modify information in the Tabular Editorn Open In Excel to modify information in Excel

To edit fixed subscribers using the Subscriber Editor

1 In the Map window, right-click a subscriber and choose EditFixed Subscriber.

2 In the Subscriber Editor, define subscriber parameters asrequired and clickOK.


Chapter 12

Generating and viewing a fixed subscriber analysis

When you create a new fixed subscriber analysis, it is displayed in the ProjectExplorer in the Fixed Subscribers category. You can create any number ofanalyses for a project.


To generate a fixed subscriber analysis

1 In the Project Explorer, right-click the subscribers table andchoose Analyze.

2 In the Sector Selection dialog box, specify those sectors youwant to analyze and clickNext.

3 On each page of theWizard, provide the required informationand clickNext.

4 On the Analysis page, provide the required information.



5 Click Finish.

To view analysis results

n Right-click the subscriber table and choose Open InExcel.


Chapter 12

Fixed Analysis Wizard

The Fixed Analysis Wizard steps you through the process of generating ananalysis. By studying a fixed subscriber analysis, you can determine thenetwork performance at a discrete location (i.e., at the point where the fixedsubscriber terminal is located).



Analysis

Frequency Band—choose from this list the frequency band you want toinclude in the analysis.


Chapter 12


Preamble Signal Strength—choose this option if you want the simulation toselect the best server according to the preamble signal strength.

Preamble C(N+I)—choose this option if you want the simulation to selectthe best server according to the signal-to-interference ratio on the preamblesignal.

Uplink Coverage Required—enable this check box if uplink coverage isrequired in order for the simulation to determine the best server.



Preamble CINR Measurements

Reuse 1 Scheme—choose this option if you want Preamble C/(N+I)measurements only. Sector preamble assignments are not taken intoconsideration.

Reuse 3 Scheme—choose this option if you want Preamble C/(N+I)measurements to be influenced by sector preamble assignments.


Chapter 12

Probability of Collision

Segmented PUSC Curve—displays the name of the curve file selected forsegmented PUSC zones.


Edit— click this button to open the Curve Editor.

Other Permutation Zones Curve—displays the name of the curve fileselected for other permutation zones.


Edit— click this button to open the Curve Editor.



Prediction At

Ground Level—choose this option if you want to generate ground-levelpredictions.

CPE Antenna Height Level—choose this option if you want to generatepoint-to-point predictions for each subscriber at their equipmentantenna height. The CPE Antenna Height Level prediction option is themore accurate of the two options and is useful when the equipment usesan external antenna that is mounted, for example, on the roof of abuilding. When you choose this option, neighboring sectors are thosesectors with a prediction distance greater than the distance between thesector and the equipment location.


Chapter 12

Analyzing a single fixed subscriber

In order to evaluate the impact of a subscriber, you can generate an analysisof a single subscriber.


To analyze a single subscriber

1 In the Map window, right-click a subscriber, and choose EditFixed Subscriber.

2 In the Subscriber Editor, click the Analyze tab, and specify thefrequency band, sector selection as well as the predictionparameter, and then clickAnalyze.

The Values column is updated with data from the analysis.


Generating Frequency And PreamblePhysical Cell ID Plans Automatically

Chapter 13 Generating Frequency AndPreamblePhysical Cell ID Plans Automatically

This chapter explains how to create a frequency plan using theInteractive Frequency and Preamble Planning tool.

This chapter explains how to create a frequency plan and physical cell IDplan using the Automatic Frequency and Physical Cell ID Planning tool.


Understanding automatic frequency and physical cell ID planning 399

Understanding frequency and physical cell ID planning constraintsand costs 400

Addressing frequency planning requirements 401

Workflow for automatic frequency and cell ID planning 403

Creating a frequency plan 404


General 409

Interference Matrix 410

Plan Generation Option 411


Frequency 413

Interference Threshold 414

Carrier Allocation Cost 415



Physical Cell ID Planning 418

Optimization 419



Chapter 13

Setting up general frequency and physical cell ID planning parameters 421

Generating and viewing a frequency or physical cell ID plan 423

Applying a frequency or physical cell ID plan to sectors 424



Understanding automatic frequency andphysical cell ID planning

With the goal of increasing network capacity, the frequencies andphysical cell IDs used in a LTE network need to be reused efficiently.

Frequency planning

Building a frequency plan manually is a labor intensive, error-proneprocess. Using the Automatic Frequency and Physical Cell ID Planningtool, you can generate a frequency or cell ID plan automatically.

Cell ID planning

In an LTE network, reference signal symbols inserted on the downlink,are used for channel estimation and signal demodulation. They arecombined with a pseudo-random sequence and a orthogonal sequencein order to enable cell searches. It is during cell searches that theprimary synchronization signal provides the cell identity (i.e., 0, 1, or 2)and the secondary synchronization signal determines the cell identitygroup. In order to minimize interference, cells belonging to the same siteare assigned cell identities from the same cell identity group.

TIP: To achieve an equitable balance, you should plan frequencies andcell IDs at the same time.


Chapter 13

Understanding frequency and physical cell IDplanning constraints and costs

Constraints and costs play a pivotal role in frequency and physical cell IDplanning.

Frequency, preamble, and perm base planningconstraints

The constraints considered by the Automatic Frequency and Physical Cell IDPlanning tool include the settings in the Interference Threshold section and thecarrier separations (i.e., the spacing required to separate each carrier at thesite and sector level) defined on the Frequency tab.

Frequency and physical cell ID planning violation costs

Violation costs are the cost factors that are incurred whenever a frequency orphysical cell ID planning constraint is not respected. Frequency or physical cellID planning constraints are defined in the Automatic Frequency and PhysicalCell ID Planning dialog box.

The violation cost values you enter in the Interference threshold section foreither co-channel or adjacent channel interference is multiplied by theinterference defined in the interference matrix. Each cost contributes to theoverall cost associated with the assignment of a specific channel to a sector.



Addressing frequency planning requirements

Various planning scenarios exist, each having specific requirements interms of frequency or physical cell ID planning. Using Mentum Planet andthe Automatic Frequency and Physical Cell ID Planning tool, you canovercome the challenges of frequency and physical cell ID planning ineach specific case.

You can choose to allocate frequencies or physical cell IDs to new sectorsonly. In this case, the assignments for existing sectors are not changed;however, they are considered in the new plan.

NOTE: The Automatic Frequency and Cell ID Planning tool does notsupport single channel, non-segmented frames or multiple channel,segmented frames.

Single-channel PUSC subchannel group planning

In an OFDMA network, subcarriers are grouped into subchannels.Subchannels are shared bymultiple users in different time slots.Subcarriers are assigned to subchannels using various permutationschemes including the Partial Usage of Subchannels (PUSC) permutationscheme where subchannels are divided into six groups. There is nointerference between sectors using different subchannel groups whenthe same permutation scheme is used to form the subchannel groupsand there is perfect orthogonality amongst the subcarriers. Using aPUSC scheme reduces interferences at the cost of sector throughput. Tocounter the loss of throughput, you can use Fractional Frequency Reuse(FFR) where users close to the base station operate on all availablesubchannels while users at the edge operate on a fraction of all availablesubchannels.

Assigning frequencies in this scenario in such a manner as to minimizethe possible interference between sectors using the same subchannelgroups presents challenges, which you can overcome using the AFPPPlanning tool.


Chapter 13

NOTE: In single channel scenarios, only segmented frames are supported.

Multi-channel frequency planning

One of the ways to reduce co-channel interference is to use make multiplechannels available across the network. The challenge of doing so is then toplan and assign frequencies using the most optimal configuration; one whereboth the co-channel and adjacent channel interference is minimized. Using theAFPP Planning tool, you can achieve this goal.

NOTE: In multi-channel scenarios, only non-segmented frames aresupported.



Workflow for automatic frequency and cell IDplanning

Step 1 Create a group of sites that you will use for your interferencematrix, neighbor list, and frequency or physical cell IDplanning. See Chapter 1, “Working with Sites and Sectors”, inthe Mentum Planet User Guide.

Step 2 Create an interference matrix and a neighbor list using thesame group of sites. See Chapter 7, “Working withInterference Matrices”, and Chapter 8, “Working withNeighbor Lists”, in the Mentum Planet User Guide.

Step 3 Define settings and create a frequency or physical cell ID plan.See “Creating a frequency or physical cell ID plan”.

Step 4 Apply the frequency or physical cell ID plan to the sectors inyour network. See “Applying a frequency or physical cell IDplan to sectors”.


Chapter 13

Creating a frequency plan

To create a frequency or physical cell ID plan with the Automatic Frequencyand Physical Cell ID Planning tool, you must first choose a group of sites, andan interference matrix, and a neighbor list. The Automatic Frequency andPhysical Cell ID Planning tool looks at the weightings contained in theinterference matrix to determine the co-channel and adjacent channelinterference. It then assigns a violation cost when the thresholds you havedefined are breached.

You can save the current frequency or physical cell ID assignments for yoursectors as a plan, and make the plan available under the LTE Frequency andPhysical Cell ID Plans node in the Project Explorer.

For more information on how to create a group of sites, see Chapter 1,“Working with Sites and Sectors”, in the Mentum Planet User Guide. For moreinformation on interference matrices, see Chapter 7, “Working withInterference Matrices”, in the Mentum Planet User Guide. For moreinformation on neighbor lists, see Chapter 8, “Working with Neighbor Lists”, inthe Mentum Planet User Guide.


To create a frequency plan

1 In the Project Explorer, in the RF Tools category, right-click theLTE FDD Frequency And Physical Cell ID Plans node andchoose New.

The LTE FDD Automatic Frequency and Physical Cell ID Planning dialogbox opens.



2 Click any of the following tabs and define the requiredparameters:

n General—allows you to define the name, frequency bandand group to plan for. You can also specify the neighborlist and interference matrix you want to use.

n Frequency—allows you to define the interferencethresholds, the carrier allocation costs as well as solutioncriteria. This tab is only available when you choose theFrequency Plan or Frequency Plan and Physical Cell IDPlan option on the General tab.

n Physical Cell ID—allows you to define the additionalconstraints for physical cell ID planning. This tab is onlyavailable when you choose the Physical Cell ID Plan or theFrequency Plan and Physical Cell ID Plan option on theGeneral tab.


Chapter 13

n Progress—allows you to view the progress and messages thatoccur during the creation of the plan. You can also see the costassociated with the initial plan as well as the cost associatedwith the plan generated at each iteration. This is usefulbecause you can see whether the tool has completed sufficientiterations to create a plan that meets your requirements.

3 Click one of the following buttons:

n To save the frequency or physical cell ID plan, click Save.

n To create a frequency plan or physical cell ID plan, clickGenerate.This button is not available when there are no interferencematrices in the project.

n To close the dialog box without saving a frequency or physicalcell ID plan, click Cancel.

TIP: You can copy an existing frequency or physical cell ID plan using theSave Copy As command available by right-clicking an existing frequency orphysical cell ID plan and choosing Save Plan As. This can be useful if you wantto experiment with different scenarios.

To save current frequency and physical cell IDassignments

1 In the Project Explorer, in the RF Tools category, right-clickLTE Frequency and Physical Cell ID Plans and choose SaveCurrent.

2 In the Save Current Network As dialog box, do the following:

n In the Plan Name box, type a name for the plan.

n From the Frequency Band list, choose the frequency for whichyou want to create a plan.

3 ClickOK.



The frequency and physical cell ID plan is added to the LTEFrequency and Physical Cell ID Plans node.


Chapter 13

Automatic Frequency and Physical Cell ID Planning

Use the Automatic Frequency and Physical Cell ID Planning dialog box to definethe settings you want to use to create a frequency plan. Automatic frequencyplanning uses the settings that you define to create a plan automatically withthe lowest cost that violates the fewest constraints. An optimal frequency planefficiently reuses frequencies while minimizing the total interferenceexperienced in a network.

You can also create a physical cell ID plan. LTE supports 504 different physicalcell IDs ranging from 0 to 503. The generation of a frequency or physical cellID plan is realized through a series of iterations. Each iteration creates a plan.



General

Plan Name—type in this box a name for the frequency and physical CellID plan. This box is unavailable when you are viewing the properties ofan existing plan.

Group to Plan—choose from this list the sector group for which youwant to plan frequencies and/or physical cell IDs. To plan for all sectors,choose All Sectors. This box is unavailable when you are viewing theproperties of an existing plan. Generally, the group to consider willencompass a larger area then the group to plan but will include the areacovered by the sectors for which you are planning frequencies.

Frequency Band—choose from this list the frequency band for which tocreate the frequency plan.


Chapter 13

Interference Matrix

Name—choose from this list the interference matrix you want to use in theplanning process.

Absolute Cost—choose this option to use the affected area or the affectedtraffic from the interference matrix as displayed. Using this option results in amore optimal distribution of CNIR (weighted by area or traffic)

Relative Cost—choose this option to use the affected area or the affectedtraffic from the interference matrix as a percentage.

Neighbor List—choose from this list the neighbor list to include in theplanning process.



Plan Generation Option

Frequency Plan—choose this option to generate a frequency plan only.

Physical Cell ID Plan—choose this option to generate a physical cell IDplan only.

Frequency Plan and Physical Cell ID Plan—choose this option togenerate both a frequency plan and a physical cell ID plan.


Chapter 13

Automatic Frequency and Physical Cell ID Planning



Frequency

Use this tab to define interference thresholds and carrier allocation coststo be used by the frequency planning algorithm. The carrier spacingbetween any two carriers is calculated according to their centerfrequencies. A constraint is violated if the separation between twocarriers assigned to the same sector or site is less than the predefinedminimum separation. This tab is not visible when you choose the PhysicalCell ID option on the General tab.


Chapter 13

Interference Threshold

Use this section to define interference thresholds and associated violationcosts to be used by the frequency planning algorithm. These settingsrepresent the amount of interference between any two sectors in terms of co-channel and adjacent channel interference. By default, the relative affectedarea or relative affected traffic value is used to evaluate the level ofinterference between a pair of sectors. If the plan you are creating isencompasses more than a single carrier, the Adjacent Channel row is notavailable.

Threshold (%)—click in this field to define the maximum amount ofinterference allowed before a violation cost is incurred.

Violation Cost—click in this field to define the cost incurred when thethreshold is surpassed.



Carrier Allocation Cost

Same Sector—type in this box the violation cost incurred when theassociated carrier separation is violated on the same sector. This settingrepresents the minimum separation between carriers that are assignedto the same sector. The separation unit is a carrier bandwidth (i.e., aseparation of 2 equals two carrier bandwidths). The minimum samesector carrier separation is 1. If a sector needsmore than one carrier ,the minimum separation between carriers is 1 x carrier bandwidth. Thesame carrier will not be used twice by the same sector.

Same Site—type in this box the violation cost incurred when theassociated carrier separation is violated on the same site. This settingrepresents the minimum separation between carriers that are assignedto the same site. The separation unit is a carrier bandwidth (i.e., aseparation of 2 equals two carrier bandwidths).

Neighbor—type in this box the violation cost incurred when theassociated carrier separation is violated between neighbors. This settingrepresents the minimum separation between carriers that are assignedto neighbor. The separation unit is a carrier bandwidth (i.e., a separationof 2 equals two carrier bandwidths). If no neighbor list is selected on theGeneral tab, this column is not available.

Add—click this button to add a row to the Carrier Allocation Cost table.

Remove—click this button to remove the Carrier Allocation Cost table.

Keep Existing Carrier Assignments—enable this check box if youwant to keep the existing carrier assignments.


Chapter 13

Algorithm Ending

Manual—choose this option to stop the planning process by clicking Stop orwhen the maximum number of runs has been reached.

Convergence—choose this option to stop the planning process using theconvergence criteria you define. The algorithm will stop when one of the threedefined criteria is met.

Minimum Number of Runs—type in this box the minimum number ofiterations you want to generate.

Maximum Number of Runs—type in this box the maximum number ofiterations you want to generate whether convergence is reached or not.

Required Convergence Level—type in this box the required level ofconvergence in order to end the planning process.



Automatic Frequency and Physical Cell IDPlanning


Chapter 13

Physical Cell ID Planning



Optimization

Use Same Cell Identity Group for Co-Site Sectors—enable thischeck box to assign the same cell identity group to co-site sectors.

Avoid Same Physical Cell ID for Neighbor Sectors—enable thischeck box to eliminate or minimize instances where the same physicalcell ID is assigned to neighboring sectors.

Different Downlink Reference Signal Sequences—enable this checkbox to use different reference signal sequences on the downlink. Whenyou choose this option, the algorithm assigns physical cell IDs so thatdifferent downlink reference signal sequences will be used by interferingsectors.

Different Uplink Reference Signal Sequences—enable this checkbox to use different reference signal sequences on the uplink. When youchoose this option, the algorithm assigns physical cell IDs so thatdifferent uplink reference signal sequences will be used by interferingsectors.

Keep Existing Physical Cell ID Assignments—enable this check boxif you want to keep the existing physical cell ID assignments.

Reserve Physical Cell ID—type in this box the Physical Cell IDnumbers you want to exclude from the planning process. You can typereserved physical cell ID numbers separated by a comma (e.g., 5,6,7) oryou can enter a range (e.g., 5-7).


Chapter 13

Algorithm Ending

Manual—choose this option if you want to click Stop to end the planningprocess. As the Automatic Frequency and Physical Cell ID Planning tool worksto generate a solution, the Generate button changes to a Stop button. Clickingthis button will end the planning process.

Convergence—choose this option to define the end point of the planningprocess and define the convergence criteria.

Minimum Number of Runs—type in this box the minimum number ofiterations you want to generate.

Maximum Number of Runs—type in this box the maximum number ofiterations you want to generate whether convergence is reached or not.

Required Convergence Level—type in this box the required level ofconvergence in order to end the planning process.



Setting up general frequency and physical cellID planning parameters

Before generating a frequency or physical cell ID plan, you must definegeneral planning settings such as the plan name, specify the group toplan for, as well as the neighbor list and interference matrix to use in theplanning process.

To set up general frequency and physical cell IDparameters

1 In the Automatic Frequency and Physical Cell IDPlanning dialog box, click the General tab.

2 In the Plan Name box, define a name for the plan.

3 From the Groups To Plan list, choose the group for whichyou want to plan or, to plan for all sectors in the project,choose All Sectors.

4 From the Frequency Band list, choose the band for whichyou want to generate a plan.

5 In the Interference Matrix section, from the Name list,choose the interference matrix that you want to use in theplanning process.

6 In the Interference Matrix section, choose one of thefollowing options:

n Absolute Cost—uses the affected area from theinterference matrix (in kilometers squared) and results ina more optimal distribution of CNIR (weighted by area ortraffic)

n Relative Cost—uses the affected area from theinterference matrix (as a percentage).


Chapter 13

7 To use a neighbor list, enable the Neighbor List check box and,from the associated list, choose the neighbor list you want to use.

8 In the Plan Generation Option section, choose one of thefollowing options:

n Frequency Plan—to generate only a frequency plan

n Physical Cell ID Plan—to generate only a physical cell ID plan

n Frequency Plan and Physical Cell ID Plan—to generate both afrequency plan and a physical cell ID plan



Generating and viewing a frequency or physicalcell ID plan

Once you have generated a frequency or physical cell ID plan, you candefine display options, choose which reports to view, save a report, andapply the plan to a project.

To generate a frequency or physical cell ID plan

1 In the Automatic Frequency and Physical Cell IDPlanning dialog box, clickGenerate.

The Generate button is unavailable if there are no interferencematrices in the project.

2 To manually stop plan generation, click the Stop button.

3 When the frequency or physical cell ID plan has stopped,click Save to save the frequency plan and Close to close thedialog box.

4 In the Project Explorer, in the RF Tools category, right-click the frequency plan you just generated, and choose oneof the following commands:

n View in Map Window—to view a display of carrier,physical cell IDs, physical cell ID groups, or physical layeridentities associated with each sector in the Map window.

n Display Report—to view the report in the ReportPreview dialog box.


Chapter 13

Applying a frequency or physical cell ID plan tosectors

After you create a frequency or physical cell ID plan, you can apply it to thesectors in the group that you used to create the frequency or physical cell IDplan. You can also remove any existing carrier assignments from the sectors inthe group.

To apply a frequency plan to sectors

1 In the Project Explorer, in the RF Tools category, right-click thefrequency plan you just generated, and choose Apply.

2 In the Information dialog box, click Yes.

TIP: To view the settings used to generate the frequency plan, right-click thefrequency or physical cell ID plan and choose Properties.


Working With The Tabular Editor

Chapter 14 Working With The Tabular Editor

A key stage of network planning revolves around the analysis of networkdata and the subsequent updates to network and site parameters thateventually produce a networkmodel with which you are satisfied. TheTabular Editor is a powerful tool that you can use to globally edit projectparameters.


Working with the Tabular Editor 426


Chapter 14

Working with the Tabular Editor

Using the Tabular Editor, you can quickly and easily modify project data. Byfreezing panes, you can compare values and analyze results. Information isorganized on separate worksheets (see Figure 14.1). The worksheets andcolumns that the Tabular Editor displays depends on how you open the dialogbox. For example, you can open the Tabular Editor from the Sites node in theProject Data category and view all site, sector, and antenna information. Or,you can open it from the Link Configuration node to view only the linkconfigurations contained in your project.

If custom data columns have been created by the Data ManagerAdministrator, these columns will be available on the Sites and/or Sectorsworksheets in the Tabular Editor after you have connected to Data ManagerServer. You can add values or edit existing custom column data using theTabular Editor.

Figure 14.1: Tabular Editor displaying project worksheets

NOTE: If you want to globally edit network settings, you must use theImport/Export Wizard. Network settings are not visible in the Tabular Editor.

To edit sites, flags, or link configurations

1 In the Project Explorer, do any of the following:


Working With The Tabular Editor

n To edit site parameters, in the Sites category, right-clickthe Sites node and choose Tabular Edit.

n To edit Flags, in the Sites category, right-click the Sitesnode and choose Tabular Edit.

n To edit link configurations, in the Project Data category,right-click Link Configurations and choose TabularEdit.

2 To modify data, in the Tabular Editor, do any of thefollowing:

n Double-click in a table cell and type a new value.

n Click the down arrow in a table cell and choose a newvalue.

n Enable or clear the check box for the chosen setting.

n Right-click in a table cell to copy and paste data.

n Click the down arrow next to a table heading to display allthe data or a particular subset. When a filter has beenapplied, the down arrow changes to the filter icon.

3 To change the Tabular Editor display, do any of thefollowing:

n Click the Change Options button to specify whichworksheets and columns to display in the Tabular Editor.

n Click the Sort Ascending button to reorder the rowsbased on the data in the selected column.

n Click the Sort Descending button to reorder the rowsbased on the data in the selected column.

n Place the pointer between column headings to increase ordecrease the size of the column.

n Enable the Freeze Panes check box to lock rows andcolumns in one area so that they remain visible when youscroll. This is useful, for example, if you want to freeze a


Chapter 14

particular column and then scroll through subsequent columnscomparing the values.

4 To copy data to the clipboard, click the Copy To Clipboardbutton.

5 To paste from the clipboard, click the Paste From Clipboardbutton.

6 To view statistics on column data, choose one or more datacolumns and click the Generate Statistics button.

The Generated Statistics dialog box opens where you can view statisticalinformation for each column you chose.

7 To display labels in the Map window based on column data, click atab in the Tabular Editor that contains site or sector columns,choose a data column, and click the Generate Labels button.

Labels are displayed in the Map window at each site.

8 When you have finished modifying or examining the data, clickClose.

NOTE: There are some columns that you cannot edit in the Tabular Editor.These columns are grayed out.

TIP: To quickly copy a value across all rows in a column in the Tabular Editor,type the new value in the first cell of the column, click the column header toselect the column, and press CTRL+D. Then, click outside the column to makethe updates. Click Apply to save your changes.

TIP: To update displayed information with current data, click the Refreshbutton. This update may be longer than when you click Apply because all datais recomputed.


Importing And Exporting Data

Chapter 15 Importing And Exporting Data

You can import and export project data using Microsoft Excelspreadsheets (.xls or .xlsx) or comma separated value (.csv) files. This isuseful when you want to analyze data and, based on your analysis, editsite, sector, and network parameters.


Importing, replacing, and exporting project data 430

Importing network data into Mentum Planet projects 437


Chapter 15

Importing, replacing, and exporting project data

Using the Import/Export Wizard, you can view project data in Microsoft Excelspreadsheets (.xls or .xlsx) or comma separated value (.csv) files. When youexport data from your project to a spreadsheet, individual worksheets arecreated in the .xls file or .xlsx for each category of project data. When youexport project data to .csv files, a folder is created containing individual .csvfiles for each project data category. You can choose the types of project datathat you want to import or export. For example, you could import or exportonly site and sector location data, but not the detailed sector settings. You canalso import or export project data only for specific sectors.

You can use the Import/Export command-line utility (iecon.exe) to exportMentum Planet data to an .xls file, .xlsx, .csv file, or database. You can thenmake changes to the data and use iecon.exe again to import the data backinto Mentum Planet or Data Manager. The iecon.exe utility is useful if you wantto automate the import and export of data using scripts (e.g., if you want tomake Mentum Planet data accessible to other systems via a database orimport updates to projects from another source). See “Appendix A:Import/Export Command-Line Utility” in the Data Manager ServerAdministrator Guide. When you use the iecon utility to import sites andsectors, you must always include the Summary.csv file in the data import.

TIP: To specify the Import/Export Excel file format, choose EditPreferences. In the User Preferences dialog box, in the tree view, chooseMiscellaneous. In the Import Export Settings section, choose the default Excelfile extension (i.e., the Excel 2007-2003 format (.xls) or the new ExcelWorkbook format (.xlsx)).

CAUTION: If your project is stored in Data Manager, and you export it andre-import it using the Import/Export tool, Data Manager will treat it as a newproject if you use the Replace All Data option. In this case, if you want tocontinue using the existing project, you must merge the new project into theexisting project. See Chapter 2, “Using Data Manager” in the Data ManagerUser Guide.



Importing data

You can use .xls, .xlsx or .cvs files to add or remove sites, edit projectsettings, and then import the new or updated data. Each worksheet in an.xls file, .xlsx or each .csv file you use to import project data mustcontain the required and mandatory columns, and must be formattedcorrectly for the type of data in a column (i.e., text or numeric). Unlessyou specifically request that data be replaced on import, data is neverremoved from a project when you use the Import Wizard. For example,if the worksheet or .csv file from which you are importing does notcontain all of the sectors currently in your project, only the sectors listedin the worksheet or .csv file are updated in the project. The other sectorsin your project are not affected by the Import Wizard. If you are workingwith a large project and only want to update specific project data, youcan import individual worksheets or .csv files, and include only the sitesor sectors that require updating or are being added.

For descriptions of worksheets or .csv files and the columns they contain,valid values and ranges, and an indication of required and mandatorycolumns, see the Import Export Table Parameters folder in the MentumPlanet Help folder.

TIP: To ensure the proper worksheet or .csv file format whenimporting, use previously exported .xls, .xlsx or .csv files to edit orupdate project data.

Replacing data

When you import data, you can choose to replace specific data. This canbe useful, for example, if:

n you want to delete sites from your project. When youdelete a site, however, you must delete the site from alldependent worksheets.


Chapter 15

n you want to change the prefix used in the site IDs (e.g., from“Site” to “Ott”). When you change site IDs, however, you mustchange the site ID on all dependent worksheets.

n you want to share and merge project data.

Exporting data

When you export data to a spread sheet, individual worksheets are created inthe .xls or .xlsx file for each category of project data. When you export data toa .csv file, a folder is created containing individual .csv files for each categoryof project data. In addition, a Summary worksheet or .csv file is also createdfor the exported project. For descriptions of the data types that can beexported, and the corresponding location (dialog box) of the field in theMentum Planet graphical user interface, see the Import Export TableParameters folder in the Mentum Planet Help folder.

By default, when you export data, the site coordinates are saved in theLongitude/Latitude (WGS 84) projection and the sector coordinates are savedin the projection specified when you originally created the project. If youimport an exported .xls file, .xlsx or .csv files, only the site and sectorcoordinate systems are imported from the Summary worksheet or .csv file.

To export project data


n If you want to export project data for all sites and sectors,choose Data Export.

n If you want to export project data for individual sites, sectors,or groups, in the Project Explorer, in the Sites category,choose one or more groups, sites, or sectors, right-click andchoose Export.

n If you want to export repeater data, in the Project Explorer,in the Sites category, right-click the Repeaters node, andchoose Export.



n If you want to export project data based on enabled flagconditions, in the Project Explorer, in the Sitescategory, right-click the Flags node, and choose Export.

The Export Wizard opens.

2 On the Data Selection page, in the Tables list, enable thecheck boxes for each of the tables that you want to export.

Each selected table is exported to an individual worksheet in anExcel file or a single comma separated value file. For example, ifyou enable only Sites and Sectors, then only the basic site andsector information will be exported. When you enable the Sectorscheck box in the Tables box, by default, the Bin File Name, the BinHash Code, the Signal Strength File Name, and the Signal StrengthHash Code columns are not enabled (i.e., they are cleared).

3 In the Columns list, for each of the tables that you chose inStep 2, enable the check boxes for each of the columns thatyou want to export.

4 ClickNext.

5 On each page of the Wizard define the required parameters.

6 On the last page of the Wizard, click Finish.


Chapter 15

To import project data

When you import data, the coordinate systems (along with the distance andheight units) are imported from the Summary worksheet or .csv file and, ifrequired, sites and sectors are reprojected automatically. A list of supportedprojections is contained in the mapinfo.prj file located in the <Mentum Planetinstallation folder>\mapinfo folder. Additional information about projectionscan be found in Appendix B, “Elements of a Coordinate System” in the MapInfoProfessional User Guide.

CAUTION: All values in the Excel file from which you are importing must usethe default units indicated in the worksheet column names, and the file mustcontain required and mandatory columns.

1 If you want to import general site, sector and project data, chooseData Import Project Data.

The Import Wizard opens.

2 On the File Location page, do one of the following:

n If you want to import project data from an .xls or .xlsx file,choose theMicrosoft Excel option.



n If you want to import project data from a folder of .csvfiles, choose the Comma Separated Values Text Filesoption.

3 ClickBrowse, and do one of the following:

n If you chose theMicrosoft Excel option in Step 2,navigate to the .xls or .xlsx file containing the data youwant to import, and clickOpen.

n If you chose the Comma Separated Values Text Filesoption in Step 2, navigate to the folder containing the .csvfiles you want to import, and clickOK.

4 ClickNext.

The Data Selection page lists the tables available to import andoptions for replacing project data on import.

5 On the Data Selection page, enable the check boxes foreach of the tables that you want to import.

You can click Select All or Clear All to speed up the selectionprocess.

6 If you want to overwrite existing data or remove data from aproject, enable any of the following check boxes.

n All Data—replaces data in all categories listed in theReplace section.

n Groups—replaces data listed in the Groups category.

n Flags—replaces data listed in the Flags category.

n Site Data—replaces site data including data in thefollowing categories: Sites, Sectors, Antennas, etc.Frequency plans, Configuration Links, and Neighbor Listsare also overwritten.

n Link Configurations—replaces data listed on the linkbudget worksheet.


Chapter 15

n Neighbor Lists—replaces neighbor lists.

n Network Settings—replaces network setting parameters.

When you replace data, the selected data is first deleted from theproject and the new data is then imported into the project. Once datahas been replaced, the original data cannot be recovered.

7 Click Finish.

The project data you chose will be updated or added to your project.The Log dialog box displays the status of the import operation.

NOTE: Status messages are displayed cumulatively in the Log dialog box.Click the Export button to save the log messages to a text file. Click the Clearbutton to remove all messages from the Log dialog box.



Importing network data into Mentum Planetprojects

Network data is data collected from wireless network switchingequipment. It contains information about network configuration andperformance. You use the Network Data Import Wizard to bind networkdata to Mentum Planet data. The bound network data can then be usedin Mentum Planet in traffic maps, interference matrices, neighbor lists,technology-specific features such as Automatic Frequency Preamble andPerm Base Planning tool, and for display purposes.

Your network data must be in an Excel spreadsheet or tab-delimited textfile.


Binding network data

Binding network data meansmapping columns in the network data toMentum Planet data columns. In the Network Data Import Wizard, youonly need to specify whether you want to bind data based both the siteID and the sector ID or only on a sector property that contains uniquevalues for each sector.

Viewing the results of data binding

Once you have mapped the network data to the Mentum Planet data,you can review it in the Report Preview dialog box. You can then create asector display scheme for statistical data in order to view network datagraphically on a map of your network’s coverage area. Any numericmetric, for example, dropped calls or carried Erlangs, can be displayed.


Chapter 15

To import network data

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Operational Data category,right-clickNetwork Data and choose New.

2 Read the introduction and clickNext.

3 On the Choose How You Want The Data Bound page, chooseone of the following options:

n Bind To Site ID/Sector ID—binds the Site ID and the SectorID to columns in the network data file.

n Bind To Unique Sector Property—binds a sector propertywhen it contain unique values for each sector

4 Click in the header row and, from the list, choose the MentumPlanet data to which to bind the network data.

A valid selection displays a green indicator.



5 Once the data has been successfuly bound, click Finish.

The Report Preview dialog box opens. The Mapping Status columnindicates whether the data is mapped or not in the project.

6 In the Report Preview dialog box, modify the report displayas required using the available toolbar buttons.


Chapter 15

7 If you mapped network data to a sector property, you can createa sector display scheme to apply to network data by doing thefollowing:

n Choose the sector property for which you want to create asector display scheme.

n Click the Generate Sector Display Scheme button.

8 Define a name for the sector display scheme and, in the SectorDisplay Scheme dialog box, define the parameters upon whichyou want the scheme to be based.

9 To view the network data upon which the scheme is based, clickthe Data button.

Network data is added to the Operational Data category in the ProjectExplorer.


Establishing Height Benchmarks

Chapter 16 Establishing Height Benchmarks

Mentum Planet includes tools you can use to verify if sites or sectors inthe network comply with FCC regulations.


Establishing height benchmarks 442

Interpreting results 445

HBM Analysis Settings 448


Chapter 16

Establishing height benchmarks

The height benchmarking tools in Mentum Planet determine if sites or sectorsin the network comply with FCC regulation 27.1221 for interferenceprotection. The regulation defines the rules for the allowable site height basedon the proximity of a site to regulatory boundaries as well as HAATcalculations.

Details of the height benchmarking are contained in the height benchmarkingtables (i.e., All_Radials.tab, Failing_Radials_Summary.tab, and the Site_Summary.tab). See Interpreting results.

Two methods of height benchmarking are available:

n Closest point—using this method you can establish the heightbenchmarks from a sector or group of sectors to the nearestedge of the selected polygon. The height benchmarking reportdetails which sites and sectors are non-compliant and lists thereasons why. See To establish height benchmarks for theclosest point.

n Multi-radial—using this method you are able to analyzecompliance specifics of a given site and account for exclusionzones such as water or political boundaries. This can be useful,for example, in all areas where inland water or geo-politicalboundaries comprise the boundary of the GSA serviceboundary. The height benchmarking report details whichindividual radials from sites and sectors are non compliant andlists the reasons why. See To establish height benchmarksalong multiple radials.


To establish height benchmarks for the closest point




n Draw a polygon that covers the area where you wantbenchmarks calculated, double-clicking on the end point.

n Open a table that contains a polygon that depicts theservice area.

2 On theMain toolbar, click the Select button and click thepolygon.

3 Choose Tools FCC Height Benchmarking ClosestPoint.

The FCC_HeightBenchmark table opens in a Browser window.

To establish height benchmarks along multiple radials

Sectors must be within the service area. Radial calculations will stop atthe service area boundary.


n To generate height benchmarks for selected sites, in theMap window, select one or more sites.

n To generate height benchmarks for a sector group,choose Tools FCC Height Benchmarking MultiRadial.

2 In the Sector Selection dialog box, choose the sectors forwhich you want to establish height benchmarks and clickOK.


Chapter 16

3 In the HBM Analysis Settings dialog box, define requiredparameters and clickOK.

NOTE: To view height benchmarking details, choose Window New BrowserWindow and open the All_Radials, Failing_Radials, or Site_Summary tables.

TIP: In order to ensure that the exclusion area polygon has the identicalpolyline construction as the target area, you can use MapInfo editing tools tomodify the polyline construction accordingly.



Interpreting results

The Mentum Planet multi-radial height benchmarking tool produces thefollowing tables. Tables are saved in the HBMMulti-Radial Analysis folderwithin the project folder. A user-defined prefix is appended to the tablename.

All_Radials.tab

This table provides a list of all radials in the calculation and related data.The output radial lines are colored based on the field “Delta”. A positivedelta indicates the site is compliant along this radial. A negative “Delta”indicates the amount (in meters) the site would need to be lowered tobecome compliant. The color of the lines is provided to indicate thedegree of non-compliance. See “How to interpret radial color”.

This table includes the following information:

n Site ID—the site identification

n Sector ID—the sector identification

n Longitude

n Latitude

n Radial_Inc—radial increments

n Elevation_m—the elevation (m) at the sector

n Antenna_Height—the height of the antenna

n Boundary_Distance_km—the minimum distance fromthe sector to the boundary of the polygon

n Height_Benchmark—the height benchmark iscalculated as where the boundary distance is inkilometers.

n HAAT_m—the height above average terrain (HAAT) inmeters.


Chapter 16

n Delta—the difference between the HATT and the heightbenchmark value.

n Failing_Radials—indication whether a radial from a site orsector is non-compliant (T/F).

n Exclusion_Zone—indication whether a radial from a site orsector is part of an exclusion zone.

Failing_Radials_Summary.tab

This table provides a list of non-compliant radials in the calculation and relateddata. It includes all the information contained in the All_Radials.tab butincludes only those sites and sectors that are non-compliant.

Site_Summary

This table provides details on the site status (passed/failed). It includes thefollowing columns:

n Site ID—the site identification

n Sector ID—the sector identification

n Longitude

n Latitude

n Num_Radials—the number of radials used in calculations.

n Failing_Radials—the number of radials that are non-compliant.

n Passed—identifies those sites that are compliant and those thatare not.

How to interpret radial color

Height benchmarking results are color coded. The color of a radial indicatesthe degree of infraction as shown in Table 1. Elongated dashed lines indicatethat the radial has crossed an exclusion zone. An example is shown in Figure16.1.



Figure 16.1: Example illustrating radial color-coding.

Table 1 Color codes for radials generated by the height benchmarkingtools

Color Code Degree of Infraction (Value of the Delta)Green Greater than 0Yellow -5 to -10Light Orange -10 to -15Orange -15 to -20Light Red -10 to -25Red -25 or less

TIP: MapInfo data can be visualized, queried and edited using standardMapInfo GIS tools


Chapter 16

HBM Analysis Settings

Use the HBM Analysis Settings dialog box to define how you want benchmarkscalculated and displayed.

Number of Radials—type in this box the number of radials you want toconsider in the calculations.

Sample Interval—type in this box the distance between sample points forthe HAAT calculation. The HAAT calculation is compared to the HeightBenchmark calculation to determine the result of the radial. The default valueis the resolution of the project DEM. When the sample interval is increased, thenumber of sample points decreases along with the calculation time.

Service Area Table—choose from this list the table that defines the targetarea boundaries.

Exclusion Area Table—choose from this list the table that defines areas suchas water or political boundaries that will automatically set the radial to pass theHeight Benchmark test. The exclusion area polygon must have the sameidentical polyline construction as the service area.

Output Table Prefix—type in this box the prefix that will be appended to theoutput tables.

Results To Display—choose any of the following display options:

Table 1 Degree of Infraction

Color CodeDegree of Infraction (Value of the

Delta)Green Greater than 0Yellow -5 to -10Light Orange -10 to -15Orange -15 to -20Light Red -10 to -25Red -25 or less

TIP: To view details of the height benchmarking for all radials, open the All_Radials.tab in a Browser window.



All Radials—if you want results for all radials to be displayed when theFCC height benchmarking calculations are complete. Radials are color-coded to reflect the difference between the HATT and the heightbenchmark value (as shown in the Delta column of the All_Radials table).The following color codes are used.

Failing Radials Summary—if you want only the radials that fail to bedisplayed when the FCC height benchmarking calculations are complete.Radials are color-coded to reflect the degree of infraction. Radials wherethe delta is positive will not be displayed. The following color codes areused.

Color CodeDegree of Infraction (Value of

the Delta)Green Greater than 0Yellow -5 to -10Light Orange -10 to -15Orange -15 to -20Light Red -10 to -25Red -25 or less

NOTE: To view details of the failing radials summary, open the Failing_Radials.tab in a Browser window.

Site Summary—if you want sites displayed and identified using a greencircle (pass) or a red star (fail) when the calculations are complete. Toview details of the site summary, open the Site_Summary.tab in aBrowser window.


Mentum Planet File Types

Appendix A Mentum Planet File Types

When you design a wireless network using Mentum Planet, you willencounter the file types described in this appendix.

This appendix covers the following topics:

Understanding project folders and files 452


Chapter A

Understanding project folders and files

When you design a wireless network using Mentum Planet, you will encounterthe file types described in the tables below.

Project files

File Description.algr An antenna algorithm file saved, by default, in the Antenna

Algorithm folder with the project folder..curve A file created in the Curve Editor and stored in the Curves folder

within the project folder..flt A binary file containing the filter loss and frequency offset for

each sector and each equipment type as defined in the FilterLoss dialog box.

.fpp A frequency plan file.

.paf A Planet Antenna Format file saved in the Antennas folderwithin the project folder.

.pex A compressed file that contains at a minimum an .xml file withthe necessary instructions and structure.

.flt A binary file containing the filter loss and frequency offset foreach sector and each equipment type as defined in the FilterLoss dialog box.

452 LTE TDD User Guide

Mentum Planet File Types

Output files

File Description

.grd /.tab A numeric grid file that is always accompanied by anassociated .tab file. The .grd file contains the raw grid andcolor information. The .tab file is required by MapInfoProfessional to open and register the grid image. The .tab filealso contains metadata of the grid data.

.grc /.tab A grid file that contains integer (not numeric) data. It is alsoreferred to as a classified grid. The .tab file is required byMapInfo to open and register the grid image. The .tab file alsocontains metadata on the settings of the grid data.

.imx An interference matrix file.

.nl A neighbor list file.

.pfc A contour color profile with specific break points (ranges) thatare applied when you convert a grid to a vector contour map.

.pfr A text file containing point-to-point profile settings (includingdata files), antenna pattern and azimuth, sector, and receivervalues.


Chapter A

MapInfo files

File Description

.map Map file for objects associated with .tab files (see “Outputfiles”).

.id ID of objects associated with .tab file.

.dat Data file associated with .tab or .xml file.

.tda Intermediate file generated by MapInfo when edits have notbeen saved. Serves as an intermediate save. Handled only byMapInfo.

.tin Intermediate file generated by MapInfo when edits have notbeen saved. Serves as an intermediate save. Handled only byMapInfo.

.tma Intermediate file generated by MapInfo when edits have notbeen saved. Serves as an intermediate save. Handled only byMapInfo.

454 LTE TDD User Guide

Documents

Lte Fdd User Guide