actix radioplan acp cookbook atoll 3.12

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Version 3.12 Atoll / Generic

Radioplan ACP Cookbook

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Documentation Version: R-ACP-CB-v3.12, April 2010

Software Version: Actix Radioplan ACP v3.12.8 Actix Radioplan v3.12.8

The content of this manual is provided for information only, is subject to change without notice, and should not be construed as a commitment by Actix. Actix assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies that appear in this documentation.

Copyright © 2003–2010 by Actix GmbH. All rights reserved. Trademark Notice Radioplan is a registered trademark of Actix GmbH in the European Union.

Actix and the Actix logo are trademarks of Actix Ltd. All other product or brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. Contact: Actix GmbH Actix Ltd Altmarkt 10 200, Hammersmith Road

D-01067 Dresden Hammersmith Germany London, W6 7DL tel.: +49 (0) 351 404 29 – 0 United Kingdom fax: +49 (0) 351 404 29 – 50 www.actix.com e-mail: [email protected] www.actix.com

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Contents

1 AIM OF THIS DOCUMENT ............................................................................... 5

2 IMPORT OF PLANNING DATA FROM ATOLL ........................................................... 6

2.1 PREPARATION IN ATOLL ...................................................................................... 6 2.2 STARTING RADIOPLAN ........................................................................................ 7 2.3 IMPORT PROCESS IN RADIOPLAN ............................................................................ 7 2.4 IMPORTED PROJECT IN RADIOPLAN ......................................................................... 9

3 IMPORT AND USE OF DRIVE TEST MEASUREMENTS .............................................. 11

3.1 IMPORT OF MEASUREMENT DATA .......................................................................... 11 3.2 COMPARISON OF PLANNING DATA AND MEASUREMENTS ............................................... 13

3.2.1 Comparison of the pilot RSCP values for the best servers .......................... 14 3.2.2 Comparison of the best serving cell areas ................................................ 15 3.2.3 Finding exchanged sectors and temporarily correcting them ...................... 16 3.2.4 Comparison of the pilot RSCP values for a single cell ................................ 18

3.3 PATHLOSS TUNING .......................................................................................... 20 3.4 REUSE OF THE TUNED PREDICTIONS ...................................................................... 23

4 TRAFFIC MATRIX GENERATION FROM CELL COUNTERS .......................................... 24

4.1 PREPARATIONS IN THE RADIOPLAN PROJECT............................................................. 24 4.2 TRAFFIC MATRIX GENERATION WIZARD .................................................................. 24

5 AUTOMATIC RADIO NETWORK OPTIMIZATION .................................................... 27

5.1 CONFIGURATION OF THE OPTIMIZATION CAPABILITIES ................................................ 27 5.1.1 Sites ................................................................................................... 27 5.1.2 Antenna definitions ............................................................................... 28 5.1.3 Cell parameters.................................................................................... 29

5.2 GENERAL CONFIGURATION OF THE OPTIMIZATION ...................................................... 30 5.2.1 General Settings .................................................................................. 30 5.2.2 Network Layer(s) and Active Cells .......................................................... 31 5.2.3 Clutter-specific coverage targets ............................................................ 31 5.2.4 Traffic matrix and traffic-relevant area .................................................... 32 5.2.5 Analysis settings .................................................................................. 32 5.2.6 Area definition and initial analysis .......................................................... 34 5.2.7 Duplicate the project ............................................................................ 35 5.2.8 Start the optimization: Optimization Wizard ............................................. 35

5.3 CAPACITY AND COVERAGE OPTIMIZATION ............................................................... 36 5.3.1 Configuration of the optimization algorithm ............................................. 36

5.4 SITE SELECTION OPTIMIZATION: MINIMUM NUMBER OF SITES AND CELLS ......................... 39 5.4.1 Preparative steps, specifics .................................................................... 39 5.4.2 Configuration of the optimization algorithm ............................................. 40

5.5 SITE SELECTION OPTIMIZATION: INSERTING A NEW SITE AND ANTENNA HEIGHT

OPTIMIZATION .................................................................................................... 41 5.5.1 Preparative steps, specifics .................................................................... 42 5.5.2 Configuration of the optimization algorithm ............................................. 43

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5.6 SITE INTEGRATION OPTIMIZATION: INSERTING NEW SITES ........................................... 44 5.6.1 Preparative steps, specifics .................................................................... 45 5.6.2 Configuration of the optimization algorithm ............................................. 45

5.7 PROGRESS AND ANALYSIS DURING THE OPTIMIZATION ................................................ 47 5.8 ANALYSIS AND REPORTING OF THE OPTIMIZATION RESULTS .......................................... 47 5.9 MULTI-LAYER OPTIMIZATION WITH CONSTRAINT LAYERS ............................................. 49

6 UPDATING THE PLANNING DATA IN ATOLL ........................................................ 52

6.1 UPDATE THE RADIO NETWORK CONFIGURATION ........................................................ 52 6.2 TUNE ATOLL PREDICTIONS ................................................................................. 53

7 ANNEX .................................................................................................. 55

7.1 PLOTS OF ARBITRARY CELL SPECIFIC DATA ............................................................. 55

8 ABBREVIATIONS ....................................................................................... 57

9 REFERENCES ........................................................................................... 57

Actix Radioplan ACP Cookbook Aim of this Document 5

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1 Aim of this Document

This document represents a short guide for the operation of the Actix Radioplan Automatic Cell Planning (ACP) tool in the radio network optimization process based on

planning data imported from Atoll [A-UM].

The Radioplan ACP supports multi-technology optimization including UMTS, GSM, cdma2000, iDEN, WiMAX, and LTE.

In this document, the optimization process is presented with the main focus on a UMTS network.

The operation of the Radioplan ACP will be explained step by step for the following workflow:

Import of the planning data from the radio network planning tool Atoll

Import and use of the drive test measurement data for:

▫ Comparative analysis of the planning data and measurement data and

▫ Pathloss tuning

Traffic Matrix Generation from Cell Counters

Automatic radio network optimization

▫ Configuration of the optimization capabilities

▫ Configuration of the optimization

▫ Site selection optimization: Minimum number of sites and cells or

Site selection optimization: Inserting a new site as well as antenna height optimization …or Capacity and coverage optimization (i.e. antenna parameter reconfiguration) …or Site integration optimization

▫ Progress and analysis during the optimization

▫ Analysis and reporting of the optimization results

Export of the optimization changes to the radio network planning tool Atoll

Import of

Planning Data

Pathloss Tuning

using

Measurements

Traffic Matrix

Generation from

Cell Counters

Export of

Optimization

Changes

Network

Optimization

Import of Drive Test

Measurements and

Comparative Analysis

The customer-specific adjustments in the Radioplan ACP for CustomerXYZ, described in [XYZ], are assumed for this specification.

This generic document is intended for customization according to the specifics of each customer’s planning and optimization guidelines, process implementation, and workflow.

Further information for the operation of the Radioplan ACP optimization tool can be found

in the product manuals, see chapter 9.

Actix Radioplan ACP Cookbook Import of Planning Data from Atoll 6

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2 Import of Planning Data from Atoll

The radio network optimization in Radioplan is based on planning data. This data must be

imported from the planning tool.

Atoll version 2.8.0 or later is assumed for the following description.

2.1 Preparation in Atoll

It is assumed that the Geo data of the traffic is located in a folder which Radioplan can access. The one-time preparation of this data is described in [R-Atoll].

In order to import an Atoll project into Radioplan, the following steps are to be performed in Atoll:

Open the respective Atoll project.

Confirm that the references to the clutter map and the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) map are valid: e.g. in Geo tab Properties of the respective clutter or DEM map, the specified

Source File should be valid. Embedded maps are supported as well.

Define the spatial limitation of the radio network to be optimized through the Computation Zone and the Focus Zone:

▫ The Focus Zone should contain the target area for optimization.

▫ The Computation Zone should contain a larger area around the Focus Zone such that, during the optimization, relevant influences from/on stations outside of the Focus Zone are taken into consideration.

Confirm that a filter does not hide sites which should be imported into Radioplan. Such a filter can be removed under e.g. Sites Remove the Polygon Filter or by

removing the Filtering Zone defined in the Geo tab.

Confirm that all transmitters which are to be imported into Radioplan are activated:

▫ Indoor transmitters should be deactivated.

▫ Candidate sites for site selection or integration should be activated.

Confirm that the pathloss data is valid for all active transmitters: e.g. under Transmitters Properties Propagation; click Statistics; then the

value for Number of transmitters to recalculate should be equal to 0 / Number.


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2.2 Starting Radioplan

In Atoll, Radioplan can be started by clicking on the Actix Radioplan icon or by selecting Tools Launch Actix Radioplan from the menu.

This opens the Radioplan application window.

2.3 Import Process in Radioplan

To start the import process in Radioplan for an Atoll project, select File Import Atoll

Project... from the menu.

This opens the Connect to Atoll host dialog. Select the Atoll host or indicate that Atoll runs

locally and click Connect .


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This opens the Atoll Import Project via COM dialog.

If the Traffic Matrices field is empty or not pointing to the associated traffic data, then the

appropriate Traffic data must be selected with the respective button .

All other settings should remain unchanged. A more detailed description can be found in

[R-Atoll].

After clicking OK for these settings, the Coordinate Systems dialog shows up. The coordinate systems (projection and display) are taken from the Atoll project; so normally no changes need to be applied.

By clicking OK, the import process starts. This process is logged in the message window at the bottom of the Radioplan application window. At the same time, all potential errors and warnings will be shown.

If a traffic matrix is imported, then shortly after the import process has been started the Atoll traffic import dialog shows up. It lists each imported traffic file together with the matching name of the traffic map item from the Atoll Geo tab tree.


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If the matching is correct, nothing needs to be changed. Otherwise, the association between the File Name and the Configuration can be defined by clicking the corresponding

button.

After clicking OK the import process continues.

When the import process is finished, the imported project is automatically opened and displayed in the main Radioplan window.

Atoll can now be closed.

2.4 Imported Project in Radioplan

The planning data from the imported project can now be inspected (e.g. by clicking the

icon for the clutter matrix).

For a multi-technology network optimization in the Radioplan ACP, each technology-

specific Atoll project (e.g. for UMTS and for GSM) has to be imported separately. Then, the projects can be merged in Radioplan using Merge Projects... from the project name context menu of either of the Radioplan projects. For more information refer to [R-UG].

Further additional raster data (e.g. land maps or vector data such as streets) can be imported in addition to the automatically imported geo data (Clutter, DEM, Traffic) by selecting File Import Raster Image... or Vector Image... from the menu.


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Furthermore, the display settings can be adjusted by selecting Tools Display Settings

from the menu. This is described in the Radioplan User Guide [R-UG].

In contrast to Atoll, there is no “Save” button in Radioplan since the imported and input

data is immediately written to a database. Even in the event of a crash no changes in the project configuration data will be lost.

The functions File Load Project Data and Save Project Data instead refer to a

directory structure with binary and ASCII data for the exchange of individual projects between Radioplan databases.

In order to save memory, all graphical illustrations will be deleted when Radioplan is closed or when the user changes to another project. Should individual layers need to be saved, this can be accomplished by selecting Lock from the context menu of the appropriate layer (also see [R-UG]).

The project is now ready to be optimized (more in chapter 5). However, it is recommended

that measurement data be used in order to increase the accuracy and reliability of the imported planning data (more on this in the next chapter).

Actix Radioplan ACP Cookbook Import and Use of Drive Test Measurements 11

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3 Import and Use of Drive Test Measurements

Radioplan has the capability to use scanner measurements from drive tests in order to

increase the accuracy of the input data for the radio network optimization.

In order to perform pathloss tuning it is necessary to have e.g. pilot RSCP measurements for UMTS or CDMA projects and BCCH carrier RxLev measurements for GSM or iDEN projects. In addition to this, further scanner and other mobile (UE or MS) measurements can be imported, examined, and compared to the planning data.

UMTS measurements will be used as example for the following generic description. The handling of measurements for other technologies is similar.

3.1 Import of Measurement Data

During the measurement data import, UMTS or CDMA measurements are assigned to the cell of the Radioplan project where the measured Scrambling Code is configured and GSM

or iDEN measurements are assigned to the cell where the measured frequency channel number and color code are configured.

For the correct assignment of the measurements to the cells during the import, the network status in the Radioplan project must be the same as in the real network at the

time of the measurements (e.g. UMTS or CDMA code plan or GSM frequency plan and color

codes).

All measurement data to be imported should be in the same folder so that it can be assigned to a single Radioplan result set.

The measurement data from one project in Radioplan can also be accessed by other

projects for analysis and pathloss tuning. If measurement data that was imported in one project is needed in another one, then the measurement data does not need to be imported again. This will be explained in more detail in the next section.

The import of measurement data is started by selecting File Import Measurements...

in the menu. Then, the Import Measurement Data dialog appears where the appropriate import plugin must be chosen.

Measurement data can be imported from a variety of formats of different measurement

systems, see [R-Meas].

UMTS scanner measurements in Agilent ASCII format will be used as an example for the following description. The handling of all other data formats is similar.


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After selecting the import plugin and confirming it by clicking OK, the appropriate measurement import dialog will appear where the following settings are necessary:

The measurement data must be selected. Selecting multiple files is possible by using the <Shift> and <Ctrl> keys.

The flag Map Cell Names … must be selected.

If the same scrambling code is configured in multiple UMTS or CDMA cells or the same frequency channel number and color code are configured in multiple GSM or iDEN cells, then the measurements will be assigned to the closest cell based on the geometric distance.

Measurement data where the detected scrambling code or frequency channel number and

color code are not configured in any cell in the Radioplan project is also imported. Instead of pointing to a cell, it will reference the measured scrambling code or frequency channel number and color code, respectively.

The flag Restrict Data Import to Simulation Area should be set if the measurements cover a much larger area than the simulation area or if faulty GPS

coordinates are presumed.

For the parameters RSCP Threshold [dBm], Ec/Io Threshold [dB] and RSCP Overlap [dB] planning specific values can be given. These values, however, do not have a direct influence on the measurement data import, but rather serve the purpose of deriving other quantities (e.g. pilot pollution etc.) from UMTS or CDMA measurements.

The parameter Cable Loss [dB] refers to the attenuation in the cable before the antenna of the measurement system. It can also correct a systematic

measurement error (offset) during the import.

The goal is to import outdoor ground-level measurements into Radioplan.

If the flag Import Mobile Measurements is set then (if applicable) UE measurement data contained in the files will be imported in addition to the scanner measurements and thus be available for display and analysis.

An explicit name for the Radioplan Result Set can be given in the field Result Set Title (optional). With this name one can distinguish between multiple result sets in the same or different projects when using the measurements (e.g. for pathloss tuning).

All other settings should remain unchanged. A more detailed description can be found in

[R-Meas].

The selected measurement data will be imported after confirming the dialog by clicking Open. The progress bar at the bottom of the display shows the progress of the import process.


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After the import process, the imported measurements will be located in a new result set in the Results tab.

3.2 Comparison of Planning Data and Measurements

The imported measurements can now be compared with the predictions of the Radioplan project. Thereby, deviations between the planning data and the situation in the real network can be identified and, where necessary, corrected before the optimization.

Measurement data can be used which was imported in another Radioplan project by selecting Show Results of all Projects from the context menu of the project name in the

Results tab. Thus, the result sets of all projects in the Radioplan database will be shown.


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3.2.1 Comparison of the pilot RSCP values for the best servers

The pilot RSCP predictions of the best servers can be displayed by clicking the icon Plot

Received Power . In the hereby opened Create Configuration Data Plot dialog, the minimum received power level to be displayed (Min. DL Rx Power [dBm]) and the resolution (Pixel Size [m]) can be set for this plot, among others.

The pilot RSCP measurements of the best servers can be displayed through the Best Pilot RSCP Default Plot: for this select Create Default Plots... from the context menu of the result set name and then, in the opened dialog, select Best Pilot RSCP [dBm]. Additionally, the pixel resolution (Bin Size [m]) and the Area Filter for the display of the measurement

data can be selected.

In order to secure the created plots for further evaluation they can be fixed: for this select Lock from the context menu from each plot name.

In order to compare the two created plots, i.e. for the predictions and

for the measurements, by means of the displayed colors, both plots should

have the same legend. By using legend templates, the legends can easily be carried over to other plots, see [R-UG] (“color palette”, “legend presets”).

In order to display the plots then on top of each other, both of them must be activated in the list of the Layers tab. Here the measurements should be listed above the predictions so that the measurement routes are displayed in front with the predictions as background.

If the mouse pointer is kept still over the plot then the Tooltip with the values in both layers will be shown. The numbering used begins in the layer list at the top.

The difference between both plots can be illustrated in another plot. For example, in order to illustrate the difference obtained from measurements minus predictions, the entry

Coincide with other Layer... must be chosen from the context menu of . The predictions plot must then be chosen as Reference Layer in the hereby opened dialog.


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The DIFFERENCE function is already preset. In addition to this, the plot can be limited to the Simulation Area or Analysis Area (see also [R-UG]).

For the statistical evaluation of the difference, e.g. in the Analysis Area, a histogram can be created from the plot: for this select Histogram from Surface Plot Histogram

(Analysis Area) from the context menu of the active difference plot view in the main window. If the <Shift> button is held while selecting this entry then the histogram will be opened in a separate window, otherwise the difference plot will be shown in the main

window. In the latter case, the Surface Plot view can be restored by clicking on the icon

Surface Plot from the Standard toolbar.

At the bottom of the histogram, the mean and the standard deviation are shown.

The goal of the pathloss tuning will be to reduce the deviation between the predictions and the measurements through a modification of the pathloss predictions.

3.2.2 Comparison of the best serving cell areas

The predicted best serving cell areas can be displayed by clicking on the icon Plot Best

Serving Cell . By default, the color allocation in Radioplan is automatically set based on

the Cell IDs in the project. The color allocation can be shown by activating the icon Draw

Additional Legend or it can be hidden by deactivating the icon. This color allocation

applies to all best server plots (predictions as well as measurements).

The measured best serving cell areas can be displayed through the Best Serving Cell Default Plot: select Create Default Plots... from the context menu of the result set name and then select Best Serving Cell [Cell] from the hereby opened dialog.


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In order to secure the created plots for further evaluation they can be fixed: for this select Lock from the context menu from each plot name.

In order to show the two created plots on top of each other, for the

predictions and for the measurements, both must be active in the list in

the Layers tab .

If the mouse pointer is kept still above the plot then the Tooltip with the values in both layers will be shown.

The EQUAL function is recommended instead of the difference function in order to coincide both plots.

3.2.3 Finding exchanged sectors and temporarily correcting them

In order to perform pathloss tuning, the measurement data must be correctly assigned to its cells (sectors) in the planning data. This takes place on the basis of the corresponding UMTS and CDMA scrambling codes or GSM and iDEN frequency channel numbers and color codes. If there are errors in the planning data or in the installation of the actual network (e.g. exchanged feeders), then Radioplan could assign the measurement data to the wrong

cell. Such errors in the network configuration can be found with the help of Radioplan.

Exchanged sectors can often be found, too, with the help of the Pathloss Tuning Overview dialog, see section 3.3.

Still, the most reliable method is to compare the predicted with the measured best serving

cell areas, as described in section 3.2.2. Then, different colors in the joint display of both

plots, and , can easily be recognized. The Tooltip also shows the different best server names.


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Some mismatch is of course always possible due to differences between measurements and predictions. However, if the best server colors of two co-site cells are exchanged for the drive test routes compared to the underlying predicted best serving cell areas, then it is a clear indicator for exchanged sectors.

Such cases of exchanged sectors must be corrected before the pathloss tuning in Radioplan. If there is just one or only a few such cases, this can be done as follows:

The assignment of the imported measurement data to the respective cells must be exchanged: by selecting Edit... in the context menu of the result set name and changing the cell name in the New Value column in the opened dialog Edit Result Set Identifiers (here e.g.: Cell12B and Cell12C) – see below.

In order to show the new assignment, the plot must be regenerated, which then takes the newly assigned Tooltips due to the exchanged cell names into account.


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This correction enables the correct execution of the pathloss tuning in Radioplan. It is of course understood that cases of exchanged sectors will be independently corrected in the

real network and/or in the original planning data.

3.2.4 Comparison of the pilot RSCP values for a single cell

Pilot RSCP predictions and measurements can also be compared for individual cells for a more detailed analysis.

In the Configurations tab, the pilot RSCP predictions of a cell can be shown by selecting Show Received Power in the context menu of the individual cell (here e.g.: Cell02A).

It is recommended that a meaningful Plot Title is given (e.g. one with the cell name in it)

in the hereby opened Create Configuration Data Plot dialog. Moreover, switching off the

Overwrite existing Layer flag ensures that a previously generated non-locked plot showing a (Best) Pilot Power is not overwritten.

The pilot RSCP measurements of a cell can be displayed by double-clicking on the

parameter RSCP - Cell [dBm] in the Results tab. (The other RSCP … result set parameters should not be used for this plot!)

The respective cell must be chosen from the ID list in the hereby opened Parameters for Active Project dialog. In addition to this, the resolution (Pixel Size / Avg. Dist. [m]) and the Spatial Restrictions, among others, can be chosen for the plot.

The other settings should remain unchanged. A more detailed description can be found in [R-UG].


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In order to compare the two created plots by means of the displayed colors, both plots must have the same legend. By using legend templates, the legends can easily be carried over to other plots, see [R-UG] (“color palette”, “legend presets”).

In order to display the plots then on top of each other, both must be activated in the list

of the Layers tab.

If the mouse pointer is kept still over the plot then the Tooltip with the values in both layers will be shown.

A difference plot and the statistical analysis can be performed in the same way as was described for the pilot RSCP values of the best servers.


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3.3 Pathloss Tuning

The measurement data is used before the radio network optimization in order to increase the reliability of the pathloss data.

The automatic pathloss tuning in Radioplan directly corrects the predicted pathloss

matrices for UMTS and CDMA based on the pilot RSCP measurements and for GSM and iDEN based on the BCCH carrier measurements from the drive tests. Thus, if a “before-after” comparison is desired, then the corresponding “before” plots must be created before the tuning.

It is a precondition that the measurements are correctly assigned to the cells in the planning data – as described before.

By choosing Measurements Tune Pathloss Matrices... from the main menu, the Pathloss

Tuning dialog will be opened where the following settings are necessary:

Choose the project from which the imported measurements are to be used.

Choose one or more result sets with the measurements to be used for pathloss tuning, i.e. the result set(s) must be marked (here: in blue).

The Resolution of Control Points should be set to about the mean distance between the streets of the drive test.

The Measurement Data Bin Size [m] should be set equal to (but not smaller than) the pixel size of the pathloss matrices. It serves the purpose of condensing the

measurements before pathloss tuning.

By clicking Show Grid of Control Points, the raster will be shown as a graphical layer Tuning Grid (Control Points) according to the configured control points.

All other settings should usually remain unchanged. A more detailed description can be found in [R-Meas].

After confirming the dialog with OK, the measurements are preprocessed and thereby cell-

wise compared to the pathloss matrices. The result is a statistical overview per cell in the Pathloss Tuning Overview dialog.


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By double-clicking on the head of a column in that dialog, the entire table can be sorted, for the clicked parameter in ascending or, with the next double-click, descending order.

In the last column Comment, each of the preprocessed cells is classified. For cells with especially large deviations between the measurements and the predictions

(more than +/-10 dB Global Offset), the comment Check Difference is used.

The Global Offset [dB] is the mean value of all differences (measurements minus

the co-located predictions) for all bins with measurements. A positive value may indicate a too pessimistic prediction on average, whereas a negative value may indicate a too optimistic prediction.

Based on the number of measurement bins per cell (columns Number of Measurements Bins for Global Tuning or … for Local Shadowing) and their distribution over the cell area, a recommended pre-selection of the cells to be

tuned is given (the flags: Enable Tuning, Local Shadowing) and, if Enable Global Calibration had been checked before in the Pathloss Tuning dialog, also Global Offset Correction). These flags can be individually modified by the user.

If a cell without measurements (No Measurements) is found directly in the area that should be covered by the drive test, then it could be that this cell was not turned on during the drive test or that the UMTS and CDMA scrambling code or GSM and iDEN frequency channel number or color code do not correspond to the

configured values in the planning data.

If there were Not Enough Measurements for a cell then further measurements should be performed. If this is not possible then the cell could also be tuned with a similar Global Offset to the cells surrounding it.

Before confirming the dialog, the cause for the large deviations should be determined in the cells with the comment Check Difference.

In order to localize the problem cases, the appropriate cell can be marked and the Find Selected Cell button should be pressed. This will highlight and center the cell‟s site in the

Radioplan main window (in the background). In order to see the main window, the Pathloss Tuning Overview dialog can be minimized.

In addition to this, in Radioplan, all cell-specific values, including those from the Pathloss Tuning Overview dialogs, can be displayed as a “Cell Visual” or a “Mapped Surface Plot”,

see section 7.1.


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Possible causes for large mean deviations (Global Offset [dB]) between measurements and predictions are:

1. Limited accuracy of the prediction model and its input parameters like e.g. clutter and building data This is the main reason for the pathloss tuning.

2. Wrong assignment of the measurements to the cells in the planning data, e.g. by exchanged sectors (switched feeders) or changes in the UMTS and CDMA code plan or GSM and iDEN frequency plan and color codes This must be avoided, see

section 3.2.3.

3. Differences between the configuration of the planning data and the real network (antenna type, downtilt, azimuth, pilot power, DL cable loss) In case of doubt, it is

recommended to perform a site audit.

4. Low number of measurement data for the corresponding cell and poor measurement coverage of the area where the cell should be well received Collect further

measurements if possible.

5. Incorrect configuration of the measurement system Perform a new drive test or

correct a systematic error during the import of the measurements by setting the appropriate cable loss, see section 3.1.

6. Large deviations to the normal outdoor received level during the drive test at 1.5m above the ground e.g. by driving next to a large truck, close to a noise reduction wall, through a tunnel, or over a high bridge The parts of the drive test in the tunnel or

on a high bridge can be factored out through the definition of sub-polygons in the Analysis Area of the Radioplan project. Then, in the Pathloss Tuning dialog, the flag Filter Measurement by Analysis Area must be set.

If the points 2 to 6 can be excluded with a high probability then an inexplicably large Global Offset can be manually corrected based on the values in surrounding cells with similar antenna installations.

If Global Offset Correction is enabled, it is strongly recommended to limit the Global Offset to +/-10dB. For that purpose, the values in the Pathloss Tuning Overview dialog can be edited. The reason is that, according to the Radioplan pathloss tuning method, all areas of each pathloss matrix without measurements will be modified by the respective

Global Offset. Thus, modifications at areas without a crossing drive test will be limited to a maximum change of +/-10 dB.

In case of doubt, the tuning for a cell can also be completely turned off by deactivating the Enable Tuning flag. Thus possibly large jumps between the tuned and unchanged pathloss matrices must be accepted.

In order to save the settings that are used for the pathloss tuning, the contents of the

table in the Pathloss Tuning Overview dialog should be copied via the clipboard (<Ctrl>-C) and archived in another application before executing the pathloss tuning.

After confirming the settings in the Pathloss Tuning Overview dialog with Commit, the

pathloss tuning is executed and directly changes the pathloss matrices in the Radioplan project.

This means that all plots of the configuration data will now use the tuned predictions, e.g.

by clicking on the icon Plot Received Power the tuned pilot RSCP predictions of the best servers will be displayed now.

As a result, a new comparison can be made between the pilot RSCP measurements

and the tuned pilot RSCP predictions , as described in

section 3.2.1 for the measurements and the original predictions. The histogram created from the difference plot should show that the mean error, as well as the standard

deviation, has been reduced.


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3.4 Reuse of the Tuned Predictions

If the pathloss predictions for a cell in a Radioplan project are tuned once, they can be archived: in the project with the tuned predictions select File Export Export Tuned

Predictions... from the menu and enter the intended folder.

The pathloss matrices of the Radioplan project will then be saved in the given folder in the Radioplan format *.wpl.

This way the tuned predictions can be reused in other Radioplan projects where the

respective cells are contained: after the import of the planning data with the untuned predictions select File Import Import Tuned Predictions... from the menu and then the

corresponding folder with the tuned predictions.

Thereby the tuned predictions will automatically be assigned to the corresponding cells based on their cell name and will replace the untuned pathloss matrices if they match the position, dimension and resolution of the existing untuned pathloss matrices, see also

[R-UG].

Actix Radioplan ACP Cookbook Traffic Matrix Generation from Cell Counters 24

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4 Traffic Matrix Generation from Cell Counters

If not available as part of the planning data import, instead a traffic map can be created in

Radioplan from cell counter traffic values (switch data). The traffic is spread to the best serving cell areas. Thereby, weighting by clutter and other maps (e.g. population) as well as an Rx Power cut-off threshold for the serving area can be applied.

In contrast to such type of traffic maps created in a planning tool, the traffic map in Radioplan can be created for the best serving cell areas based on the tuned predictions.

The values in a Radioplan traffic matrix always represent spatial densities: <anything> / km2 . What kind of traffic values the matrix contains (e.g. Erlang, number of users, throughput) depends on the input data and the configuration of the respective Service Profile.

4.1 Preparations in the Radioplan Project

Before starting the Traffic Matrix Generation, the following preparative steps are required:

Select the network layer(s) and activate the cells for the best server calculation: The traffic matrix is created for the active cells of the selected network layer(s).

Define a Service Profile as part of the Radioplan project user configuration, to which the generated traffic matrix shall be attached to.

A set of profiles representing a generic user can be created easily by selecting Add Generic User Profiles from the context menu of the User folder in the project tree.

Define the Simulation Area such that it includes the best serving areas of the cells to be considered.

optionally: If a map other than clutter shall be used for traffic weighting, it must be displayed as a surface plot in the Radioplan Layers tab.

4.2 Traffic Matrix Generation Wizard

A 3-page wizard guides the user through the traffic matrix generation. It is started by selecting Tools Traffic Matrix Generation . This opens the first page of the wizard.

The cell traffic values can either be loaded from a text file (*.txt, *.csv, or *.dat) or be

copied via the clipboard into the table. In either case the data must be provided in 2 columns:

in the 1st column: the cell name (as defined in the Radioplan project)

in the 2nd column: the traffic value of that cell; Typically, the traffic value represents Erlang or the number of users, but any other data (e.g. data rate, throughput) can be used as well.


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Then the input data should be checked by clicking the Check Input Data button. If each active cell in the active network layer(s) of the Radioplan project is associated with a traffic value, the opened message box says “Traffic Input Data are valid” and, by clicking Next ,

the second page of the wizard is shown.

Otherwise, the opened message box indicates that cells without traffic value were found and these cells are listed with “no Value found” in the table.

Then the following options are possible:

Simply add the missing traffic values by editing the respective fields in the grid, eventually Check Input Data again, and proceed by clicking Next.

There are two scenarios to cope with missing traffic values:

▫ Consider Cells with Traffic Value only :

The traffic matrix generation will be executed as if only the cells with a traffic value would be active. By checking Permanently deactivate Cells without Traffic Value , the cells without traffic values will remain deactivated in the Radioplan project as a result of the traffic matrix generation.

▫ Consider all Cells : The traffic matrix generation assumes zero traffic for the undefined cells,

thus creating zero traffic in their best serving areas.

By clicking Next the second page of the wizard is shown.

Here, the traffic weighting can be specified:

In the table, weighting factors can be defined per clutter class. Customized weighting factors are shown automatically. Nevertheless, they can be edited by the user.

Below the table, a raster layer can be selected for the weighting. This layer has to be created before starting the Traffic Matrix Generation wizard (see section 4.1).


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Both methods can be used independently or in combination. In any case, the weights just inhomogeneously spread the cell traffic value to the pixels of the cell‟s best serving area while the total traffic in the cell area remains the same.

By clicking Next the third and last page of the wizard is shown.

Here, the following calculation and output options can be defined:

The resolution of the traffic matrix to be created.

Optionally, areas where a cell is best server, but still a minimum received power is not exceeded, can be excluded from the traffic matrix generation. Assuming that

no traffic could be served from such areas, there is also no traffic spread to those areas from the cell counter traffic.

The traffic can be scaled by a factor.

The Service Profile must be specified to which the created traffic matrix is attached. This profile has to be created before starting the Traffic Matrix Generation wizard (see section 4.1).

Optionally, the created traffic matrix can be plotted automatically at the end of the generation process. The unit, which only applies to that plot, can be specified.

By clicking Run the traffic matrix is generated and attached to the specified Service Profile.

Actix Radioplan ACP Cookbook Automatic Radio Network Optimization 27

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5 Automatic Radio Network Optimization

By the automatic optimization using the Radioplan ACP, an improved radio network

configuration is generated which maximizes the coverage and minimizes the interference and, thus maximizes capacity and service quality.

In the pre-rollout phase, this goal is reached particularly through the choice of appropriate sites as well as of initial cell parameters. In the post-rollout phase, the antenna configurations (electrical and mechanical tilt, azimuth, and type/pattern) and, if applicable,

the beacon signal transmit powers of the cells can be changed. Moreover, new sites can be

integrated in an existing network.

5.1 Configuration of the Optimization Capabilities

The general optimization capabilities of the radio network configuration to be optimized are defined in the Radioplan project.

The changes to the site location or antenna configuration are generally limited technically or by regulatory restrictions. These optimization capabilities provide the outermost range for the changes by the Radioplan ACP.

5.1.1 Sites

By double-clicking on the corresponding site name in the configuration tree or by choosing Settings... in the context menu of that site, the Site Settings dialog will be opened. In this dialog the site-specific optimization capabilities can be defined.

The flag Is Reconfigurable must be deactivated for sites whose antenna configurations and

transmit powers are not allowed to be changed at all by the optimization.

The flag Lock Angle between Cells during Azimuth Optimization must be activated for sites with an antenna installation with coupled azimuths. Then, the antenna azimuth of any cell at this site can only be changed for all cells together without changing the azimuth relations between the cells, e.g. entire antenna mast must be turned.


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The flag Is Removable during Site Selection must be activated for sites which are not necessary, i.e. they are allowed to be removed from the radio network configuration during site selection optimization.

The parameter Rollout Status can serve two purposes, if “Consider Configured Rollout

Status of Sites” is enabled in the Cost Control settings (refer to section 5.3.1):

In Capacity and Coverage as well as Site Integration optimization: Cost parameters (“RPI” thresholds, cost and effort limits) are only applied to changes at the Existent sites.

In the “Remove Redundant Sites/Cells” task of a Site Selection: Removable sites are prioritized: Not Existent sites are examined at first, followed by Planned for Acquisition sites, and finally by Existent sites.

Already existing sites should normally not be removed, of course. The term Existent refers

for example to existing 2G sites in a 3G network plan that may or may not be used for the 3G network.

By means of the parameter Site Candidate Group, alternative site candidates can be grouped together for the “Site Candidate Groups” task of the site selection optimization. These may also be site candidates at the same location, but different antenna heights.

These parameters can also be defined for multiple sites at once in the Site Settings Overview dialog by selecting Settings Overview… from the context menu of an arbitrary site or by selecting the menu entry File Current Project Site Settings.

5.1.2 Antenna definitions

In order to optimize the electrical tilt, the antenna definitions in Radioplan should be

combined in families.

An antenna family is made up of a set of antenna definitions for the same antenna model just with different electrical tilts. During the optimization, the antenna definition with the appropriate electrical tilt can be substituted.

In general, the antenna families are defined automatically during the import of the

planning data. Therefore, the antenna definitions should apply a defined naming scheme, for example:

<antenna family name>_<electrical tilt [°]>

<antenna family name>_T<electrical tilt [°]>

Many further naming schemes can be customized in the planning tool import module.


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The corresponding antenna definitions for defined antenna families are sorted in the Antennas folder in the configuration tree in a subfolder for each antenna family. Antenna definitions that do not have a corresponding family are found in the No Family folder.

If the antenna definitions for an antenna family are not available, electrical tilt optimization can be performed instead using the Additional Electrical Downtilt (AEDT) approximation (refer to [R-ACP] for details).

In order to optimize the antenna type, i.e. by exchanging the antennas used, the antenna

definitions in Radioplan must be put into groups.

An antenna group is made up of a set of antenna definitions of different antenna models,

i.e. of different antenna families. During the optimization, the original antenna definition of a cell can then be replaced with an antenna definition from up to 5 fixed antenna groups for a cell, see section 5.1.3.

Antenna groups are defined by the parameter Alternative Antenna Group in the Antenna

Settings dialog. All antennas in a group should be given the same group name which can be freely defined by the user.

These parameters can also be defined for multiple antennas at once in the Antenna Settings Overview dialog by selecting Settings Overview… from the context menu of an arbitrary antenna, antenna family or in the Antennas folder or by selecting the menu entry File Current Project Antenna Settings.

5.1.3 Cell parameters

For the optimization of cell parameters, the range of values for each cell and its reconfigurable parameters can be defined in Radioplan. They should include the technical limitations of the changes for each antenna installation and therefore represent the largest range possible.

During the optimization, only the reconfigurable parameters of the cells can be changed and these parameters can only be changed within their defined range of values. A further

prerequisite for this is that the site is configured as “Reconfigurable”.

Further change limitations are possible in the configuration of the optimization algorithm.

If the optimization capabilities of the cell parameters are already defined in the planning data, they can normally be imported automatically from the planning tool.

By double-clicking on the corresponding cell name in the configuration tree or by choosing Settings... in the context menu of that cell, the Cell Settings dialog will be opened. In this dialog the cell-specific optimization capabilities can be defined. In the Optimization tab, the reconfigurable parameters and their corresponding range of values can be set.

The Shared flag indicates whether the respective cell parameter can be changed only together for all of a site‟s cells that share this antenna. This flag can be used to define

additional constraints in case of multi-band and multi-technology antennas.


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Parameter-dependent costs have to be defined for the ACP in the Optimization Wizard, see section 5.3.1.

These parameters can be defined for multiple cells at once in the Cell Optimization Settings Overview dialog by selecting Optimization Settings Overview… from the context menu of an arbitrary cell (for the technology of that cell), or by selecting the menu entry File

Current Project Cell Optimization Settings (for all cells across all technologies and their

technology-independent parameters).

5.2 General Configuration of the Optimization

Before the optimization can be started through the Optimization Wizard, several underlying

settings should be defined or the appropriate configuration should be verified.

All optimization settings, which are defined in the Analysis Settings and in the Run Optimization wizard, can also be loaded from an *.ini file by the menu entry Optimization

Load Configuration … .

5.2.1 General Settings

From the General Settings, the highlighted parameters are also relevant for the optimization. They can be opened by the menu entry Tools General Settings….

The pixel size in the Raster Matrix Display Settings determines the display resolution of all

surface plots. Note however that the pixel size applied internally to all optimization calculations is a separate parameter in the Analysis Settings, see section 5.2.5.

It is recommended to restrict the plots to the

simulation area in order to speed up the plots.

The Noise Floor can be defined for each technology. It is used for calculations and plots of interference (RSSI) or signal-to-interference ratios (Ec/Io and C/I). For more information, refer to [R-ACP].


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5.2.2 Network Layer(s) and Active Cells

The network configuration to be optimized includes the selected network layer(s) and their active cells.

For a cell to be considered by the Radioplan ACP, its Active flag must be enabled in front of the respective cell symbol in the Radioplan Configuration tree or in the Active column of the Cell Settings Overview dialog.

Radioplan supports projects with multiple technologies (CDMA, GSM, iDEN, UMTS, WiMAX, LTE) as well as hierarchical cell structures by means of multiple network layers. Usually, their definition is a result from the planning data import.

For a (mono-layer) Radioplan ACP optimization, the network layer to be optimized can be

selected from the combobox in the Surface Plots toolbar.

In case of multi-layer projects, e.g. with multiple GSM frequency bands,

one or more Target Layers for optimization are defined by the checked boxes in the Network Layers dialog, which is opened by clicking

the icon (tooltip Manage Network Layers) from the Surface Plots toolbar.

Restrictions to the selection apply.

Constraint layers for optimization are defined at a later stage in the Optimization Wizard

(refer to section 5.9). For more information on creating and modifying network layers in Radioplan, refer to [R-UG].

5.2.3 Clutter-specific coverage targets

In order to determine the portion of the covered area, clutter-specific target thresholds can be defined for the GSM and iDEN BCCH carrier RxLev_DL and C/I or for the UMTS and CDMA pilot RSCP and Ec/Io.

A base target for each coverage criterion is defined for the entire project area for each

technology, i.e.:

for GSM and iDEN the Minimum RxLev_DL [dBm] and Minimum C/I [dB] and

for UMTS and CDMA the Minimum Pilot RSCP [dBm] and Minimum Pilot Ec/Io [dB] .

These parameters can be defined in the Analysis Settings dialog, which can be opened by the entry Optimization Analysis Settings... from the menu, see section 5.2.5. They can

also be defined at the page of the Optimization Wizard for the Target Layers Settings, see section 5.3. In case of multi-layer optimization, these parameters can additionally be

defined for the Constraint Layers at the respective page of the Optimization Wizard, see section 5.9.

Clutter-specific offsets (relative to that base target) can be defined in the Clutter Classes Settings dialog. The effective target is the sum of the base target and the offset.

Since the planning data import allows them to be preconfigured, the clutter-specific offsets are generally automatically defined.

The Clutter Classes Settings dialog can be opened by double-clicking Clutter Classes in the configuration tree under the folder Environment Clutter.


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5.2.4 Traffic matrix and traffic-relevant area

For Radioplan ACP, the main function of a traffic matrix is to determine the significance of an area for optimization. High traffic values increase the significance of optimization of the respective pixels accordingly. Pixels without traffic may be excluded from optimization.

If no traffic matrix is available, still an optimization for an assumed homogeneous traffic distribution is possible.

If traffic data is available, it is usually imported as part of the planning data, see chapter 2.

A traffic matrix can also be created easily from cell counter traffic values using the Traffic Matrix Generation, see chapter 4.

A traffic matrix is attached to a Service Profile in the User / Service Profiles subfolder of the configuration tree. It can be displayed by the entry Show this Matrix from its context menu.

Despite the displayed unit “Erl/km2”, the interpretation of the traffic matrix values may depend on the service profile. Typically, they represent a number of users simultaneously active with that service.

For the consideration of a traffic matrix, its Service Profile must be referenced by an active UE Profile. A UE Profile is activated by checking its box in the configuration tree. Furthermore, the traffic of a UE Profile can be scaled by the Service Portion in the UE

Profile Settings, which can be opened by double-clicking on the corresponding UE Profile name in the configuration tree or by choosing Settings... in the context menu of that UE Profile.

In case of a multi-layer project, a UE Profile with its traffic can be assigned to a specific

Network Layer. As default, a UE Profile is assigned to ALL network layers. This means that its traffic is shared out equally among all optimized network layers in the project.

In order to use the traffic matrices for optimization the Consider Traffic Distribution flag

must be activated. Moreover, if areas without traffic shall not be optimized and even disregarded by the optimization, then the Mask Regions With Zero Traffic flag must be activated. Both flags are contained in the Analysis Settings as well as in the Target Layers Settings page of the Optimization Wizard, see sections 5.2.5 and 5.3, respectively.

Then, the total traffic effective to optimization can be displayed for any technology by the menu entry Optimization (…) Analysis Plots Absolute Traffic and for UMTS and CDMA

additionally by the menu entry Optimization CDMA & UMTS Analysis Plots Equivalent

Traffic per Pixel.

In case of multi-layer optimization, these traffic flags can additionally be defined for the Constraint Layers at the respective page of the Optimization Wizard, see section 5.9.

5.2.5 Analysis settings

One or more network layer(s) selected for optimization, see section 5.2.2, can be analyzed using the analysis plots from the Optimization menu. The Analysis Settings are the basis for the analysis.

Moreover, most of the analysis settings can also affect the optimization results.

The Analysis Settings dialog is opened by the menu entry Optimization Analysis

Settings.... The contents of the dialog depend on the technology of the Network Layer(s) selected for optimization, e.g. for CDMA and UMTS network layers:


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The value Calculation Pixel Size [m] significantly determines the relative processing time as well as the amount of RAM needed for the optimization. Doubling the pixel size reduces the processing time by a factor of 4.

This value should not be smaller than the pixel resolution of the input data, especially the

pathloss matrices. For very large areas, a larger value, e.g. 50 m, can be chosen as long as the smallest cell area can still be represented by several pixels.

Using even larger values is also good for comparing optimization strategies with each other (i.e. different settings of the optimizer or constraints) in a short amount of time before the best settings are used for the actual optimization using a finer resolution.

The parameters Minimum Pilot RSCP [dBm] and Minimum Pilot Ec/Io [dB] are the project-

wide basis for the consideration of the clutter-specific coverage targets for CDMA and UMTS pilot RSCP and pilot Ec/Io, see section 5.2.3. For GSM and iDEN layers, the corresponding parameters Minimum RxLev_DL [dBm] and Minimum C/I [dB] are available.

The parameter DCH Network Load has two purposes for CDMA and UMTS layers:

It is used for calculating the interference (Io) for Ec/Io. In this respect, the Minimum Pilot Ec/Io [dB] parameter should be defined taking the DCH Network Load into consideration, since for a higher load, the same Ec/Io value is harder to achieve.

It controls the trade-off between the primary target “maximum interference minimization” (= 0%) and the side constraint “maximum traffic load balancing” (= 100%). This means that in a quite full network it is more important to achieve a balanced traffic load in all cells even if not all changes to reduce the interference are possible as they would be in a rather empty network.

Constraint:

Traffic Load Balancing

Target:

Interference Minimization

Maximum

Interference Minimization

for 0% Network Load

Maximum

Traffic Load Balancing

for 100% Network Load

By selecting Selection of Reconfigurable Cells… Cells Located in Analysis Area, the cells

whose reconfiguration should be evaluated for reaching an optimal network configuration

in the Analysis Area are limited to cells within the Analysis Area polygon only.

By selecting one of the other options, the Radioplan ACP selects these cells automatically. With Selection of Reconfigurable Cells… Best Cells in Analysis Area, some cells may also

be located outside of the Analysis Area as long as they are best server at some point within the Analysis Area polygon. And with Selection of Reconfigurable Cells… Cells

Within Margin in Analysis Area, even more cells outside of the Analysis Area may be reconfigured as long as they are received at some point within the Analysis Area polygon

within the configured margin below the best server.


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Activating Consider Traffic Distribution is strongly recommended if a reliable traffic map is available in the project. Optionally, Mask Regions With Zero Traffic can be checked in order to disregard any zero-traffic areas. Further information can be found in [R-ACP].

5.2.6 Area definition and initial analysis

The “Analysis Area” sets the optimization focus, i.e. it is the main target area for optimization in the Radioplan ACP.

The entire area to be considered (“Simulation Area”) should be larger than the “Analysis Area” in order to avoid a negative effect on the border regions during the optimization.

The Analysis Area determines the optimization capabilities and targets:

Through the Selection of Reconfigurable Cells in the Analysis Settings, this area determines which cells are actually allowed to be changed during the optimization.

During the site selection optimization, only active Site Candidate Groups within this area are optimized. Moreover, only sites within this area, which are defined as “Removable”, are allowed to be switched off.

The optimization target shall be maximized in the Analysis Area. Depending on the type of optimization, different targets and combinations of them are possible.

The Simulation Area mainly determines the calculation time, but also the optimization constraints:

The entire area is calculated in order to take into account any interdependencies with the Analysis Area.

It is one of the optimization constraints to in no way allow the initial conditions in the Simulation Area to worsen with respect to the optimization criteria applied in the Analysis Area.

Both areas can be configured in several ways:

Assuming the corresponding area definitions are contained in the planning data, then normally these are automatically imported.

They can be imported in vector data formats by the entry Import... in the context menu of the Areas folder in the configuration tree. Any area in the Areas folder can then be set as Analysis Area or as Simulation Area by the respective context menu entries.

They can be drawn in Radioplan by selecting Add New Area in the context menu of the Areas folder in the configuration tree. It activates the Add or Modify Area

drawing mode .

In the drawing mode a new polygon can be drawn or by selecting Edit this Area on an existing area, an existing polygon can be changed. When drawing a new polygon, the corners are determined by simply clicking the left mouse button, and double-clicking sets the last corner. An open polygon is automatically closed by connecting the beginning and ending points.

An area can be a combination of multiple sub-

polygons. Hence, when editing an existing polygon, after drawing a new polygon the shown dialog appears. By selecting Replace, a new area is created and replaces the existing one. By the option Add, an area can be composed of several polygons, see [R-UG] for further information.

By selecting another tool mode, e.g. the Pointer , the drawing mode is deactivated.


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5.2.7 Duplicate the project

The optimization should be performed with a copy of the Radioplan project.

A copy of the project is created by selecting Duplicate Project from the context menu of the project which is to be copied.

The project copy has the same name as the original project with the exception that the copy has an additional time stamp.

When switching to the duplicated project, all data of the Configuration and the Results tabs remain saved in the original project, but only the plots which are locked (with Lock) are saved.

On the other hand, the new duplicate project contains all Configuration data and all locked plots, but not the Results data. Therefore, it can be useful to unlock the plots in the original project before the duplication, but lock them again before switching to the

duplicate project.

The new project is opened by double-clicking on the name of the project copy. In order to change the name of the project one can either double-click the project name again or select Settings... from the context menu. In the Project Settings dialog, which is opened, the parameter Project Title can be edited.

5.2.8 Start the optimization: Optimization Wizard

All necessary optimization settings can be reviewed step by step with the help of the Optimization Wizard. In this way, no step will be forgotten and the user is guided through

the initialization process.

The Optimization Wizard must be opened to configure and to start the optimization. This can be

done either by clicking the Run Optimization icon or by selecting Optimization Run Optimization

from the menu.

At the first page of the Optimization Wizard, the user can select a predefined optimization template. If no template shall be used, then Show Optimization Wizard must be activated and the Next button leads to the Optimization Task page of the wizard.

The appearance of this page depends on the tech-

nology of the Network Layer(s) selected for optimi-zation (see section 5.2.2), here e.g. for UMTS.

The optimization algorithm must be chosen in the Optimization Task section.

A selection of analysis plots is available in the Automatic Plots section. These plots are automati-cally generated during the optimization in order to

give an overview of the individual improvements during the process and after the optimization.

The Remove Present Plots flag in the Plot Options serves the purpose of deleting all previously generated (but not locked) optimization plots before the automatic plots are generated. The flag Automatic Plot Update causes the plots to be

continuously refreshed during the optimization,


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however, this causes extra calculation time. The user can also decide at any time during the optimization whether to use this function by clicking the icon Request Plot Update

During Optimization Run .

5.3 Capacity and Coverage Optimization

In order to maximize the coverage for a radio network configuration or to secure the coverage and to minimize the interference (and, by that, maximize the capacity and quality), a capacity and coverage optimization is performed. The cell specific antenna

configurations and the transmit powers, if applicable, can be changed to achieve these goals. The costs implied by the implementation of these changes in the live network are considered as a constraint.

5.3.1 Configuration of the optimization algorithm

All optimization settings, which are defined in the Run Optimization wizard, can also be loaded from an *.ini file by the menu entry Optimization Load Configuration … .

5.3.1.1 Capacity and Coverage Optimizer Settings

At the Optimization Task page of the Optimization Wizard, see section 5.2.8, Capacity and

Coverage must be chosen as the optimization algorithm. Then, the Capacity and Coverage Optimizer Settings dialog is opened by clicking the Configure Optimizer button.

By the Optimize checkboxes, the user can select the cell parameters to be optimized.

Max. Steps Up and Max. Steps Down define a search window,

relative to the current setting of the corresponding parameter for each

cell, at the beginning of each optimization run. These settings, in conjunction with Max. Number of Optimization Runs, result in the possible range of values for changing a parameter relative to the initial value of the cell.

The step size is defined for each parameter in each cell: typically 1° for tilt steps and 10° for azimuth steps, see section 5.1.3.

Thus, for example, values of 2 for

Max. Steps Up and Down for

Azimuth (Phi) together with a Max. Number of Optimization Runs of 2 will result in a possible maximum azimuth change of +/- 40° through the optimization.

The Radioplan ACP optimization result is a trade-off between performance improvement and implementation costs. This trade-off is controlled by the user through setting the

possible range of values (Parameter Space) and the RPI values (Required Performance Improvement) and is illustrated in the adjoining figure.

The RPI values determine how large the benefit of a parameter change has to be before the optimization algorithm will accept the change. The RPI value is a measure for the

relative improvement of the objective function for coverage and/or capacity, as applicable.


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A small RPI value (0 … <1) leads to many changes whereas a large RPI value (>1 … 10) only allows a few changes with a large benefit.

lowest

Cost for

ImplementationPa

ram

ete

r S

pa

ce

RPI Values

medium

medium

maximum

Performance

Improvement

low high

sm

all

la

rge

The example shown above refers to an existing network, i.e. changes to the Remote Electrical Tilt (RET) are very easy (RPI=0.1), as low costs are associated with their implementation. Further changes to the electrical tilt are already more difficult for the optimization (RPI=1), and changes to the mechanical tilt or to the azimuth even more (e.g. RPI=5 for mechanical tilt, i.e. 5x and 50x as much as RET respectively) because their implementation in the network is considerably more costly.

In contrast to that, very low RPI values (e.g. 0.01) should be configured for a “Greenfield” optimization or for the optimization of the initial settings of a fill-in site, as there are normally no costs for the changes at this stage.

The option Preferred Objective gives the user the possibility to choose between maximum coverage (UMTS and CDMA: RSCP or GSM and iDEN: RxLev_DL) and minimum interference / maximum capacity (UMTS and CDMA: Ec/Io or GSM and iDEN: Overlap) as the preference. As the objectives of reducing interference increasing coverage are not

always contradictive, generally both criteria increase when RSCP preferred or Ec/Io preferred is selected, just with a different emphasis.

For the outer settings (…) only, only the single indicated goal is followed even if there is a loss to the other. Therefore, both of these settings should only be used as an exception.

The option Preferred Coverage Objective gives the user the possibility to choose the coverage definition. Area only counts the covered pixels only, whereas Traffic only accumulates the traffic values in the covered pixels. In case of Area and Traffic both

calculations apply.

For each coverage calculation method, the Min. (…) Covered Area and Min. (…) Covered Traffic define the target percentages for coverage in the Analysis Area. Namely, the defined ratio of the pixels in the Analysis Area should be covered (Covered Area) or the defined ratio of the traffic should be covered by the covered pixels in the Analysis Area (Covered Traffic), respectively.

It is recommended to activate Use Clutter Dependent (…) Coverage Constraints in order to

ensure that those coverage target percentages are equally applied to all clutter classes.

Further information can be found in [R-ACP].

By clicking OK, the settings are applied and saved in the Radioplan project. The following page is opened by clicking Next at the current wizard page. For a single-layer optimization, just click again Next to get to the page with the Settings for Target Network Layers. (For the specifics of multi-layer optimization with Constraint Layers, see section 5.9.)

The „Settings for Target Network Layers‟ page mainly contains the Analysis Settings that were already configured through the Optimization menu, see section 5.2.5.


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Then, if no constraint network layers were selected, the Cost Control Settings page is

opened by clicking Next again.

5.3.1.2 Cost Control Settings

The core Radioplan ACP concept of cost control are the “RPI” values, see section 5.3.1.1. Additionally, the cost and effort associated with each type of optimization change can be configured and the accumulated cost and effort can be monitored so that a rough

estimation of the implementation cost and effort is possible.

In order to cope with a limited budget, also limits for the optimization process can be defined. However, even without a configured limit it is easy to derive the set of changes for a limited budget after a completed optimization by means of the Optimization Progress chart, see section 5.8.

By activating the options Use Cost Limit and Use Effort Limit and setting appropriate limits, the optimization will not perform any changes that would exceed these limits.

An activated Consider configured Rollout Status of Sites flag has two effects:

In the Remove Redundant Sites/Cells tasks during a site selection optimization, different priorities of removable sites are considered, see section 5.4.1.2.

During a Capacity and Coverage optimization costs and efforts are only accumulated for “Existent” sites.

By clicking Next at this page, the final Configuration Summary page is opened. With according user rights the defined optimization settings can now also be saved as a new optimization template.

Finally, the optimization is started by clicking Run at the Configuration Summary page.


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5.4 Site Selection Optimization: Minimum Number of Sites and Cells

In the pre-rollout phase, a radio network design can be validated and the initially planned number of new sites and cells can be automatically reduced until the minimum required

coverage target has been reached.

Likewise, this optimization scenario can be used to consolidate a post-rollout, live network if two radio networks are merged or shared.

5.4.1 Preparative steps, specifics

5.4.1.1 Import of the planning data

Every set of data for all sites must be created in the planning tool including all site and transmitter/cell parameters, especially all predicted pathloss data, and imported into

Radioplan, see chapter 2.

In the pre-rollout scenario, the antenna properties of the radio network configuration, especially the tilts, should not be pre-optimized with the goal of minimizing interference, pilot pollution, cell overlapping, etc.

5.4.1.2 Configuration of the optimization capabilities

In a newly imported Radioplan project, the Is Removable flag is activated by default for all sites. However, if during the “Remove Redundant Sites/Cells” task of the site selection optimization certain sites should be kept in the optimized radio network configuration, then their Is Removable flag must be deactivated.

The parameter Rollout Status can be used to prioritize the “removable” sites, see section 5.1.1.


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The cell parameters of all sites remaining after site and cell removals can be optimized according to their optimization capabilities (see section 5.1.3) in order to maximize the coverage and capacity with clear emphasis on the coverage.

5.4.1.3 Area definition

All sites that shall be tested (“Removable”) must be located in the Analysis Area.

For the “Remove Redundant Sites/Cells” function of the site selection optimization, it is therefore sufficient to define an Analysis Area which includes all these sites.

In defining the Analysis Area it should also be considered that it determines optimization capabilities and targets, see section 5.2.6.

Since the CDMA and UMTS Pilot RSCP Coverage or GSM and iDEN RxLev_DL Coverage

remains the same in the best case (however it mostly decreases) when sites are removed, the site selection optimization can be performed such that only the initial coverage area is considered. Therefore, the Consider Initial (…) Coverage Area Only flag must be activated, e.g. in the Analysis Settings dialog (see section 5.2.5).

If this option is not used and the Pilot RSCP or RxLev_DL Coverage in the Analysis Area

before the optimization is less than the required percentage (e.g. 95 %), which is given in the optimization configuration (Min. Required (…) Covered Area [%] and/or … Covered Traffic [%]), see section 5.4.2, then the site selection algorithm will begin with an optimization of the cell parameters in order to raise the coverage at first.



At the Optimization Task page of the Optimization Wizard, see section 5.2.8, Site Selection must be chosen as the optimization algorithm. Then, the Site Selection Settings dialog is opened by clicking the Configure Optimizer button.

In order to minimize the number of sites in connection with an optimization of the coverage for the remaining sites, the flags Remove Redundant Sites and Capacity and Coverage must be activated.

If it should be checked in the radio network configuration with minimum sites which cells can still be removed then the flag Remove Redundant Cells must be activated as well.

Clicking the Configure Capacity and Coverage Optimizer... button opens the Capacity and Coverage Optimizer Settings dialog. For the pre-rollout scenario, the constraints for the antenna parameter changes should be set as freely as possible in order to give the optimization algorithm the largest amount of flexibility.


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Therefore, all antenna parameters (Antenna Type, Mech. Tilt (Theta), Electrical Tilt, Remote Electrical Tilt and Azimuth (Phi) flags) should be activated

if possible. In addition to this, a large search window is recommended, i.e. high values for the parameters Max. Steps Up and Max. Steps Down as well as low RPI values (e.g. 0.1), since there are no cost for changing the initial settings of a planned site in the

computer, see section 5.5.2.

However, for the post-rollout scenario, those settings should be defined according to the

cost of the changes, as shown in section 5.3.1.1.

The site selection Business Rules dialog is opened by clicking the Configure Business Rules… button in the Site Selection Settings dialog.

The flag Avoid Large Coverage Gaps should always be activated

in order to ensure that any uncovered pixels or areas are evenly distributed in the optimization area.

The flag Check Maximum Users per Cell should be activated, if the respective cell constraints shall be considered. Then, no optimization parameter change is accepted, that would increase the number of users at any cell above the cell‟s constraint.

The Minimum Site Count defines the minimum target number of

sites. If it is reached during optimization, then no further sites will be removed.

By activating the flag Limit Capacity Optimization to Surrounding Cells, it can be prevented that the tool proposes undesired changes of cells far away from removed sites or cells.

By activating the flag Check Cell Load, a site or cell is not removed, if by that any DL cell transmit power would exceed the a cell‟s Maximum Output Power. For that purpose, the built-in Performance Predictor estimates the absolute DL cell transmit powers using the

Equivalent Traffic per Pixel.

If the flag Show Extended Summary Statistics is enabled, the built-in Performance Predictor calculates certain UMTS network performance statistics based on Monte-Carlo simulations for the status before and after optimization. These statistics are then additionally reported in the Extended Network Statistics tables of the Optimization Summary.

Furthermore, the highlighted parameters in the Site Selection Settings dialog are relevant. More information on this can be found in [R-ACP].

By clicking OK the settings are accepted and saved in the Radioplan project. For further steps see section 5.3.1.

5.5 Site Selection Optimization: Inserting a new Site and Antenna Height Optimization

In case multiple alternative candidates (“Site Candidate Group”) are available for a new site (a.k.a. search ring), the best site can be chosen based on coverage and capacity. Thereby, the initial cell parameters of the new site and the existing sites in the surrounding will be optimized as well.

Multiple new sites can be chosen and optimized at once.


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If the alternative candidates are just variations of the same site with different antenna heights, then automatic antenna height optimization can be performed.



Every set of data for all site candidates must be created in the planning tool including all site and transmitter/cell parameters, especially all predicted pathloss data, and, together with the planning data of the existing sites, be imported into Radioplan, see chapter 2.

5.5.1.2 Pathloss tuning

If the pathloss predictions for the existing sites were already tuned and saved, see

section 3.3, then these tuned predictions can be easily imported into the Radioplan project after the planning data import. This can be accomplished by selecting File Import

Import Tuned Predictions... from the menu.

Normally, measurement data is not available for a planned site. In this case, the UMTS and CDMA pilot RSCP or GSM and iDEN RxLev_DL values of the new site are possibly not directly comparable to the existing sites. As a result, unbalanced best server areas from

the new site and the existing sites could result in an unrealistic optimization result.

In order to avoid this, it is possible to tune the pathloss predictions for the new site with a Global Offset, instead of with measurements. A Global Offset should be applied that is typical for sites in the vicinity with similar antenna heights. For getting a quick overview of those characteristics of surrounding cells, that cell-specific data can be plotted using a Cell Visual, as described in Annex 7.1.

In addition to the description in section 3.3, the Global Offset [dB] value for the cells of the

new site can be edited in the Pathloss Tuning Overview dialog. Afterwards, the flags Enable Tuning and Global Offset Correction for the cells of the new site must be activated. The Local Shadowing flags for these cells should be deactivated. The Enable Tuning flag is automatically deactivated for the Already Tuned predictions.

In this way the pathloss predictions for the new site are corrected with a constant offset which, on average, is used for the neighboring cells as well.


In the case of exclusively optimizing the antenna height, the candidate groups are automatically recognized based on the equal site coordinates.

Otherwise, each group of alternative candidates for a new site (a.k.a. search ring) must be declared as a candidate group. The site parameter Site Candidate Group serves this

purpose, see section 5.1.1. Up to 10 groups can be distinguished in the optimization.

Within each candidate group, at least at one site the Transmitter Activated flags of all cells must be enabled. All site candidates‟ Transmitter Activated flags may be enabled as well.

Since, in general, fewer parameter changes (e.g. only changes to the electrical tilt) from optimization are desired for existing sites than are possible in a newly planned site, the optimization capabilities of the cell parameters, see section 5.1.3, can be configured as follows.

First, the flags Reconfigurable Mechanical Tilt, Reconfigurable Azimuth and Reconfigurable Antenna Type for all cells are to be deactivated. This is done by choosing Optimization Settings Overview... from the context menu of an arbitrary cell. In the opened Cell Optimization Settings Overview dialog, all flags in the corresponding column can be deactivated as follows:

first deactivate the flag in the first row of the table,


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then click on the head of the table to mark the entire column and

finally by selecting Fill Down from the context menu of an arbitrary element in the column (shortcut: <Ctrl>-D), the deactivated status is copied down the entire column.

Only the Reconfigurable Electrical Tilt flag remains activated for all cells (as well as the

Reconfigurable (…) Power flag since this option is typically not used in the optimization in connection with antenna parameter changes).

Now, optimization capabilities for the cells of the new site candidates can individually be

expanded by clicking the Configure Sites or Cells icon and surrounding the site candidates with a polygon in the configuration mode. If the <Ctrl> button is pressed while

closing the polygon with a double-click, the Cell Optimization Settings Overview dialog is opened for the cells in the chosen area. Here, the Reconfigurable (...) flags can be reactivated as necessary in order to optimize the initial cell parameters in conjunction with the site candidate selection.


All site candidates must be located in the Analysis Area.

For the “Site Candidates Group” function of the site selection optimization, it is therefore sufficient to define an Analysis Area that contains all site candidates to be optimized.

In defining the Analysis Area, it should also be considered that it determines optimization capabilities and targets, see section 5.2.6.

In determining the size of the Simulation Area, the Relevant Cells plot can help, which is created by the menu entry Optimization (…) Analysis Settings Best Cell Areas

Relevant Cells.

In this plot, only the best server areas of those cells are shown that are received in the Analysis Area within a given margin below the power received from the best cell. The margin (default: 15 dB) is configurable in the Analysis Settings, see section 5.2.5. Thus, all cells that are relevant for the optimization of the Analysis Area are shown.

If the Simulation Area is larger than the colored illustration of the cell areas, it makes

sense to reduce the size of the Simulation Area such that only the sites with colored cell areas are included. This minimizes the calculation time for the optimization.

The Analysis Area or the Simulation Area can be modified by selecting Edit this Area from their context menu, see section 5.2.6.



At the Optimization Task page of the Optimization Wizard, see section 5.2.8, Site Selection must be chosen as the optimization algorithm. Then, the Site Selection Settings dialog is opened by clicking the Configure Optimizer button.


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The flags Site Candidate Groups, Optimize Site Candidates and Capacity and Coverage must be activated for a site candidate selection in conjunction with an optimization of the initial cell parameters as well as the coverage and capacity of the surrounding.

If the site candidates only involve groups of sites at the same location, just with different

antenna heights, the Alternative Antenna Heights only flag should be activated. Then the candidate groups will automatically be recognized and the antenna height will be optimized.

The Capacity and Coverage Optimizer Settings dialog is opened by clicking the Configure Capacity and Coverage Optimizer... button.

Provided that the different optimization capabilities at the existing sites and at the

new site candidates are configured as in section 5.5.1.3, all antenna parameters (Antenna Type, Mech. Tilt (Theta), Electri-cal Tilt, Remote Electrical Tilt and Azimuth (Phi) flags) can be activated here. Nevertheless, changes to the electrical tilt

are then only allowed at the existing sites.

In addition to this, all changes may be made easy by low RPI values (e.g. 0.1), as there are no costs for changing the initial settings of a planned site candidate.

Furthermore, the highlighted parameters are relevant. Further information can be found in [R-ACP].

By clicking OK the settings are accepted and saved in the Radioplan project. For further steps see section 5.3.1.

5.6 Site Integration Optimization: Inserting new Sites

In contrast to the Site Candidate Groups task of the Site Selection optimization, see section 5.5, the Site Integration is a simplified optimization process for the case that there are no alternative candidate locations anymore. It is based on the Capacity and Coverage optimization, see section 5.3.

Thus, if one or more already selected sites are to be integrated in an existing network by an according antenna parameter optimization of the new sites and the existing sites, then

the site integration optimization can be applied. This can be done in the pre-rollout phase as well as during the drive-test-based optimization immediately after the site installation.


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All data sets of all new and the existing sites including all site and transmitter/cell parameters, especially all predicted pathloss data, must be imported from the planning tool into Radioplan, see chapter 2.

5.6.1.2 Pathloss tuning

If the new sites have been installed already and drive tests have been carried out as part of the integration / optimization effort, the drive test measurements can be used for pathloss tuning, see chapter 3.


The cell optimization settings should reflect the actual reconfiguration capabilities as accurate as possible.

For existing sites the Rollout Status must be set to “Existent” to ensure that the inherent cost thresholds (“RPI”, see section 5.3.1.1) are applied during the optimization to any change at these sites. For the other rollout states as well as for the sites to be integrated, no cost will be assumed for any parameter change.

Which sites are to be integrated, will be defined later in the Run Optimization wizard.


All sites to be integrated must be located in the Analysis Area.

Since the Analysis Area also determines optimization capabilities and targets, see section 5.2.6, it should include at least the sites to be integrated plus the area around

them, where the optimization effort should be focused.

The Simulation Area should include a buffer zone of a few tiers of surrounding sites, which may be interdependent with the sites to be integrated.

In determining the size of the Simulation Area, the Relevant Cells plot can help, which is created by the menu entry Optimization (…) Analysis Plots Best Cell Areas Relevant

Cells., see also section 5.5.1.4.

The Analysis Area or the Simulation Area can be modified by selecting Edit this Area from their context menu, see section 5.2.6.


All optimization settings, which are defined in the Run Optimization wizard, can also be

loaded from an *.ini file by the menu entry Optimization Load Configuration … .

At the Optimization Task page of the Optimization Wizard, see section 5.2.8, Site

Integration must be chosen as the optimization algorithm. Then, the Site Integration Settings dialog is opened by clicking the Configure Optimizer button.

It contains the same settings like the Capacity and Coverage optimization, see section 5.3.1.1. And for more information, refer to [R-ACP].


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5.6.2.1 Sites to be integrated

If Site Integration has been selected at the Optimization Task page of the wizard, then clicking Next opens the Site Integration page, where the sites “To Be Integrated” have to be selected.

For reference, the configured Rollout Status of each site is displayed. All sites selected as

“To Be Integrated” as well as all other sites with a Rollout Status other than “Existent” will

be considered to imply no cost for changes.

By clicking Next, the same optimization wizard pages still follow as described for the

Capacity and Coverage optimization in sections 5.3.1.1 and 5.3.1.2.


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5.7 Progress and Analysis During the Optimization

At the beginning of the optimization, the plots selected at the second Optimization Wizard page (Automatic Optimization Plots) are created for both the initial state of the optimization ... (Begin Opt.) and for the changed state during the running optimization ... (Running Opt.).

The plots can be updated during the optimization by clicking the Request Plot Update

During Optimization Run icon of the optimization toolbar. The automatic update is activated or deactivated by the menu entry Optimization Automatic Plot Update .

During the running optimization, optimization progress is continuously logged in the Optimization tab of the message window. The values given at the beginning of the lines

run until 100% and give the ratio of the already checked parameters to the entire amount of parameters to be checked in all optimization runs.

The optimization progress, in terms of the Covered Area and Covered Traffic improvements of the applicable measure in the Analysis Area (AA), can be observed in the Optimization Progress Chart (here, for UMTS, the pilot RSCP and the pilot Ec/Io are the applicable

measures). This window is opened by clicking the Optimization Progress Chart icon.

The performance improvements can be displayed over the evaluation steps of the optimization algorithm or, alternatively, over the accumulated costs or effort of the changes. The costs depend on the settings defined in the Cost Control Settings, see section 5.3.1.2

5.8 Analysis and Reporting of the Optimization Results

The end of the optimization is indicated by the automatic opening of the ... Results dialog.

The following example is the result of a UMTS coverage and capacity optimization, see

section 5.3.


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The ... Results dialog contains a table with all the cells of the project as well as the reconfigurable cell parameters. For site selection optimization, the Active State is also reconfigurable for each cell. Changes to a parameter are highlighted in green.

Instead of the final, complete optimization result, also any intermediate result can easily be selected and analyzed further in exactly the same manner like the final result by clicking the Pick Intermediate Results from History Dialog button, which opens the

Optimization Progress Chart . Then, the intermediate optimization results for every point can be shown in the Optimization Results dialog by a right mouse click on the point and selecting Show in Results Dialog… .

For any result, whether final or intermediate, the changed cells as well as the tilt and azimuth changes can be displayed by clicking the buttons Overview, Tilt and Azimuth, respectively. These plots can be seen best when the ... Results dialog is minimized.


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The available overview of all changes should be saved from here:

to text file (TAB-delimited ASCII) by clicking the Save Changelist... button or

via the clipboard (<Ctrl>-<Shift>-c, <Ctrl>-v) to another application (e.g. MS Excel or a text editor); for copying, the entire table can be easily marked by clicking on the upper left element.

An overview table of the optimization results, i.e. the Optimization Summary Report, is opened by clicking the Summary Report button in the ... Results dialog. This report contains a summary of the most important optimization settings as well as the optimization results (parameter changes and performance statistics).

If the ... Results dialog is minimized then the automatically generated optimization plots

can be evaluated. In the list of the Layers tab, two layers are provided for each type of plot as previously selected in the Optimization Wizard, see section 5.2.8: one for the

original (... (Begin Opt.)) and one for the optimized network configuration (... (End Opt.)).

A direct comparison of the situation before and after the optimization can be performed easily with the help of the following Radioplan functions, see [R-UG]:

Layer Slide Show function ( icon) or

generating a difference plot (the entry Coincide with other Layer... in the context menu of a plot name)

By clicking the Submit New Values button in the ... Results dialog, the optimization results are saved in the active Radioplan project and thus available for further analysis. Among others, a standardized KPI analysis can be performed, e.g. by the menu entry Tools

Radioplan KPI Analysis .

Since the contents of the Radioplan database will be changed by executing Submit New Values, you are prompted by the query (“Do you want to write the new settings to the database?”), which should be confirmed with Yes.

The changed Azimuth values are applied to the displayed cell symbols only after Submit

New Values is confirmed.

In order to close the Radioplan application after the optimization or in order to switch the Radioplan project, the ... Results dialog must be closed: therefore click the Close Dialog button and if Submit New Values was already performed as described above, then the button Close (Retain Last Submitted Values) can be clicked in the Dismiss Optimization Results dialog.


5.9 Multi-Layer Optimization with Constraint Layers

In case of multi-band and multi-technology antennas, an antenna parameter change may affect at the same time more than one frequency band or technology.

Therefore, a multi-layer optimization distinguishes Target and Constraint network layers. While a capacity and coverage optimization is performed on one or more target layers, the multi-layer optimization ensures that the change of a target layer antenna that is shared with a constraint layer does not degrade the performance of that constraint layer.


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Whether an antenna parameter at a cell in one network layer is shared with other network layers, must be defined beforehand by the cells‟ Shared flags, see section 5.1.3.

Moreover, if the Lock Angle between Cells during Azimuth Optimization flag is activated at a site, this property applies to all cells in all network layers at this site, see section 5.1.1.

Then, a multi-layer optimization can consider such parameter dependencies as additional constraint to a capacity and coverage optimization, see section 5.3.

The target network layer(s) for optimization is/are defined by the selected Network Layers, see section 5.2.2.

All target network layers for optimization must have the same technology (either CDMA, GSM, iDEN, UMTS, WiMAX, or LTE). And CDMA or UMTS target layers must have the same frequency band.

If the Radioplan project contains more network layers than those selected as target, then the possible constraint layers are shown at the second page of the Optimization Wizard. If the Consider Constraints by Shared Antenna Parameters box is checked, then one or more network layers to be considered as constraint can be selected from the list below.

Like the target network layers, all constraint network layers must have the same technology. And CDMA or UMTS constraint layers must have the same frequency band.

If constraint layers have been selected at the Multi-Layer Optimization page of the optimization wizard, then there comes after the Target Layer Settings page an additional page for the Constraint Layer Settings (here e.g. for GSM). They define, which performance must be maintained in the constraint layer(s) while optimizing the target layer(s).


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6 Updating the Planning Data in Atoll

Atoll version 2.8.0 or later is assumed for the following description.

6.1 Update the Radio Network Configuration

The optimization results are saved in the Radioplan database and can be further analyzed from there. In order to store the optimized radio network configuration after verification in

the planning database, the changes can be transferred to Atoll.

Before the export from Radioplan ACP, open the respective project in Atoll that shall be updated by the network optimization results from Radioplan ACP.

Then, the changes to the radio network configuration through Radioplan ACP optimization can be transferred to Atoll by selecting the menu entry File Export Update Atoll

Project... . This opens the Connect to Atoll host dialog. Select the Atoll host or indicate that Atoll runs locally and click Connect .

This opens the Select the Atoll project to update dialog. Make the selection from the drop-down list of the projects currently open in Atoll and click OK.

After an automatic comparison of the network configurations in the Atoll project and in

Radioplan project, this opens the Update Atoll Project (Submit Changes) dialog.


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The table contains the result of that comparison showing all the reconfigurable parameters and their current values in the Atoll and Radioplan (formerly “WiNeS”) projects. If the flag Hide unchanged cells is set, then only the cells with different settings in Atoll and Radioplan are listed.

The Radioplan settings are transferred to the Atoll project by confirming with Commit.

It should be noted that in Atoll the changes are initially only in RAM and must still be saved.

In addition to this, after changing the transmitter parameters, the corresponding pathloss data in Atoll is invalid and must be recalculated.

6.2 Tune Atoll Predictions

The changes to the pathloss predictions through Radioplan Pathloss Tuning can also be

transferred to the original Atoll predictions.

Atoll prediction tuning by Radioplan is subject to the following requirements:

The Atoll pathloss maps must be saved in a directory (\.losses), i.e. they must

not be embedded in the Atoll project.

That directory must be accessible to the Radioplan application.

The prediction files to be tuned must not be locked by any open Atoll project.

Then, the tuning function can be called by the menu entry File Export… Tune Atoll

Predictions… . In the opened dialog, browse to the \.losses folder of the Atoll project and

the select Pathloss.dbf file.

This opens the Tune Atoll Predictions dialog, which lists the Atoll transmitters and corresponding pathloss files that can be tuned.


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By clicking Commit, these Atoll pathloss files are changed to the status of the tuned Radioplan pathloss matrices. Thereby, both types of pathloss matrices are tuned: those calculated for the main propagation model as well as those calculated for the extended propagation model.

Then, further data analysis and processing in Atoll is based on the same status of the data like in Radioplan after pathloss tuning and network optimization.

For more information, please refer to [R-Atoll].

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7 Annex

7.1 Plots of Arbitrary Cell Specific Data

Surface plots can be created for arbitrary cell specific data in Radioplan, e.g. for:

- performance counters from the live network

- cell-specific data from other tools, e.g. simulation results from a planning tool

- the data of all cell-based tables in Radioplan, e.g. the data of the Pathloss Tuning Overview dialog

The data must be available in tabular form, where one column contains the cell name and further columns contain the cell-specific values.

Now the “Embedded Clipboard” must first be opened by selecting Edit Embedded

Clipboard (Table) from the menu.

The cell-specific data must be copied into this table. In order to insert it, the first cell in the Embedded Clipboard must be selected by clicking on it (without activating the cursor in the cell though).

The following example uses data that was copied from the Pathloss Tuning Overview dialog (including the column headers), see section 3.3.

Numerical values (e.g. Global Offset [dB] in column E) as well as string values (e.g.

Comment in column K) can be displayed.

The surface plot is created as follows:

mark the column with the values to be displayed by clicking on the column header (e.g. “E”),

select Graph Selection Mapped Surface Plot (Colored Best Cell Area) from the

context menu of an arbitrary element inside this column,

in the Create Surface Plot from Table dialog, which is now opened, make the following settings:

▫ If the data contains a header, then this line from the table should be set as a

Header Row field, in order to avoid the contents affecting the plots (here: row 1)

▫ In the Cell Name field, the column must be given that contains the cell name

(here: column B, i.e. column 02).

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▫ A name for the surface plot can be given, in the field Caption and Tree Label.

▫ When displaying numerical values, the legend in the created plot is only shown if a unit is given in the Unit field.

▫ The Pixel Size for the plot can be specified.

▫ Select the type of the Mapped Surface Plots: (Note that the Raster Layer takes more time to generate than the Cell Visual.)

▫ Cell Visual: The cell-specific data is mapped to a wedge-like form, which replaces the cell symbol (normally a simple arrow). The cell visual is colored according to the values for each cell and based on the used legend.

▫ Raster Layer: The cell-specific data is mapped to the Best Server areas

that are visible in the plot. Here the Best Server areas are

filled with values and colors according to the values for each cell and based

on the used legend.

By confirming with OK, the surface plot is created in the Radioplan main window. The plot can best be viewed if the Embedded Clipboard is minimized.

For both types of plots, the typical Radioplan display functions are available, including:

Tool tips

Legend and Layer Settings

Furthermore, for the Raster Layer type (right figure), typical Radioplan analysis and export functions of such surface plots are available, including:

Coinciding with other layers

Functions of the Layer context menu, e.g. Histogram, Cell Statistics, Clutter Statistics etc.

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8 Abbreviations

ARFCN Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number

ASM Atoll Synchronization Module

BCCH Broadcast Control Channel

BSIC Base Station Identity Code

CDMA Code Division Multiple Access

COM Component Object Model

DEM Digital Elevation Model

GSM Global System for Mobile Communication

iDEN Integrated Digital Enhanced Network

LTE Long-Term Evolution

MS Mobile Stations

PCPICH Primary Common Pilot Channel

RET Remote Electrical Tilt(ing)

RSCP Received Signal Code Power

RSSI Received Signal Strength Indicator

UE User Equipment

UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System

UTRAN UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network

WiMAX Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access

9 References

[A-UM] Atoll. Global RF Planning Solution. User Manual. Forsk, France.

[R-Atoll] Actix Radioplan. Atoll Synchronization Guide. Version 3.12.6. Actix GmbH,

Dresden, Germany, December 2009.

[R-Meas] Actix Radioplan. Measurements Guide. Version 3.12. Actix GmbH, Dresden,

Germany, June 2009.

[R-ACP] Actix Radioplan. Automatic Cell Planning (ACP) User Guide. Version 3.12. Actix

GmbH, Dresden, Germany, October 2009.

[R-UG] Actix Radioplan. User Guide. Version 3.12.8. Actix GmbH, Dresden, Germany,

February 2010.

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actix radioplan acp cookbook atoll 3.12

Documents