cdma2000 user guide

>> cdma2000User Guide

version 5.3.2

Copyright © 2011

Mentum S.A. All rights reserved.

Notice

This document contains confidential and proprietary information of Mentum S.A. andmay not be copied, transmitted, stored in a retrieval system, or reproduced in anyformat or media, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of Mentum S.A.Information contained in this document supersedes that found in any previousmanuals, guides, specifications data sheets, or other information that may have beenprovided or made available to the user. This document is provided for informationalpurposes only, and Mentum S.A. does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy,adequacy, quality, validity, completeness or suitability for any purpose theinformation contained in this document. Mentum S.A. may update, improve, andenhance this document and the products to which it relates at any time without priornotice to the user. MENTUM S.A. MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED,INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THOSE OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESSFOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THIS DOCUMENT OR THEINFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN.

Trademark Acknowledgement

Mentum, Mentum Planet, Mentum Ellipse, Mentum Fusion, Mentum CellPlanner, andMentum LinkPlanner are registered trademarks owned by Mentum S.A. MapInfoProfessional is a registered trademark of PB MapInfo Corporation. iBwave is atrademark owned by iBwave. This document may contain other trademarks, tradenames, or service marks of other organizations, each of which is the property of itsrespective owner.

Last updated November 21, 2011

Contents

CHAPTER 1 Introduction 1

Features of Mentum Planet 2

Project Explorer 2

Site Editor 2

Traffic Map Generator 2

Interference Matrix Generator 2

Neighbor Plan Generator 3

Network Data Import Wizard 3

Survey Data tool 3

Subscriber Settings 3

Data Manager 3

Automatic Cell Planning tool 4

Microwave Links 4

MapInfo Professional 4

Using this documentation 5

User documentation updates 5

Online Help 5

Documentation library 7

Notational conventions 7

Textual conventions 7

Contacting Mentum 9

Getting technical support 9

Send us your comments 10

CHAPTER 2 Overview of Mentum Planet planning 11

Network planning modeling best practices 12

Forecasting network traffic 13

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Predicting the traffic of a target market 13

Traffic model outputs 14

Transforming census information into a traffic map 14

Geodata requirements 14

Workflow for cdma2000 network design using Mentum Planet 16

CHAPTER 3 Understanding the fundamentals of Mentum Planet 18

Understanding projects 19

Understanding project data types 20

Understanding MapInfo tables 20

Understanding grids 20

What is a grid? 21

Understanding grid types 21

Numeric grids 22

Classified grids 22

Understanding project geodata 24

Heights folder 25

Clutter folder 25

Clutter Heights folder 25

Polygons folder 26

Custom folder 28

Understanding project files 29

Site files 29

Workspaces 29

Understanding the Project Explorer 31

Understanding the Project Explorer data window 33

Using multiple data windows 34

Access to commands 35

Filtering Project Explorer data 36

Defining user preferences 38

To define user preferences 38

Understanding the project folder structure 40

Creating and using workspaces 44

To create a workspace 44

To open a workspace 44

To associate a workspace with a project 45

Attaching files to a Mentum Planet project 46

To attach a file to a project 46

To open an attached file 46

To remove an attached file from a project 47

Working with site sets 48

Master site set 49

Site subsets 49

Active site set 49

Site table 50

To update a site set 50

To copy the active site set 51

To change the active site set 52

To compare site sets 52

To compare a site set to the network 53

To merge a subset into the active site set 54

To create a shared site set 55

To update a shared site set 55

To remove a site set 55

To rename a site set 56

To view the site set description 56

To edit the site set description 56

Working with map layers 57

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To manipulate map layers with the Project Explorer 58

To manipulate map layers with the Layer Control 59

Working with geodata folders 61

To manage geodata files 61

To group geodata files 62

Defining the coordinate systems to use in a project 63

To define the coordinate system for sites 63

Defining color profiles 65

To choose color profiles 65

To create a color profile 65

CHAPTER 4 Creating a project 68


Creating projects 70

To create a project 71

To view or edit project settings 72

Migrating projects 74

Batch migration of projects 74

Improved data validation 75

Upgrade paths 75

Important considerations when migrating projects 76

Workflow for migrating Mentum Planet projects 78

To migrate projects from Mentum Planet 4.x 80


To migrate projects in a batch 82

Creating a network overlay 83

To create a network overlay 83

Opening and closing projects 85

To open a project 85

Restoring projects 87

To restore a project 87

Saving projects 88

To save a project 88

To back up a project 88

CHAPTER 5 Working with propagation models 89

Workflow for propagation modeling 90

Workflow for model tuning 91

Understanding the role of propagation models 92

Understanding propagation model types 94

Planet General Model 94

PGM-A model 96

Predict 4 model 96

Predict-Air 98

Universal Model 99

Q9model 99

Longley-Rice model 101

Understanding model tuning 103

Understanding clutter classes and clutter properties 104

Tuning the Planet General Model using AMT 105

To tune the Planet General Model using AMT 105

Tuning models using the Clutter Absorption Loss tuner 108

To tune a model using the Clutter Absorption Loss tuner 108

Tuning a propagation model 111

Guidelines for model tuning 112

Creating and editing propagation models 113

To define a new propagation model 113

To edit propagation model settings 113

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To view or hide unassigned propagation models 115

CHAPTER 6 Defining network settings 116

Workflow for defining network settings 117

Understanding network settings 118

Technology types 118

Carriers 118

EV-DO Rev. A linkmodeling 118

General settings for cdma2000 119

Correlation model settings for cdma2000 120

Power control settings for cdma2000 120

Carrier settings for cdma2000 122

PA threshold 122

Bearer settings for cdma2000 123

Base station types 123

Defining network settings 124

To define network settings 124

CHAPTER 7 Configuring and placing sites 125

Workflow for configuring and placing sites 126

Using site templates 127

To create a site template 127

To rename a site template 128

To set the site template as active 128

To view a site template 128

To delete a site template 128

Understanding sites and sectors 129

General site parameters 129

Channel element parameters 130

General sector parameters 130

Custom user data 130

Link parameters 131

Carrier parameters 131

PN Offset parameters 131

General carrier parameters 132

Implementation parameters 132

Power parameters 134

Neighbor list 134

Antenna Systems 134

Placing sites automatically 135

Determining site placement in the Basic mode 135

Determining site placement in the Advanced mode 136

To place sites in Basic mode 138

To place sites in Advanced mode 140

Defining link configurations 142

Losses and gains 142

To define link configurations 145

To view or hide unassigned link configurations 145

Creating and editing sites 146

To create a new site 146

To edit site parameters 146

To create a new site based on an existing site 148

Site Editor 148

Link 148

Antennas 148

Predictions 149

Mode 150

Information 150

Status Bar 150

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Site Editor 150

PN Offset 150

Status Bar 151

Site Editor 152

Implementation 152

Quality Parameters 152

Sector Loading 153

Status Bar 154

Site Editor 154

Powers 154

Pilot Power 154

Control Power 154

Traffic Channel Power 155

Other User Interference 155

Status Bar 155

CHAPTER 8 Adding repeaters 156

Understanding repeaters 157

Types of repeater implementations 158

Using split sectors 158

Using distributed antenna systems 159

Repeaters and predictions 159

Workflow for adding repeaters to sectors 160

Adding repeaters to sectors 161

To add repeaters to sectors 161

Site Editor 163

Configuration 163

Carriers 163

Equipment 163

Status Bar 164

Site Editor 164

Donor 164

Type 164

Status Bar 165

Site Editor 165

Link 165

Service 165

Prediction 166

Isolation 166

Status Bar 167

Locating repeaters in a Map window 168

To locate repeaters in a Map window 168

CHAPTER 9 Defining subscribers 169

Understanding subscribers 170

Workflow for creating subscriber types 171

Defining subscriber equipment types 172

cdma2000 bearers 172

To define subscriber equipment types 172

Defining subscriber services 174

To define subscriber services 174

Defining subscriber types 175

Example 175

To define subscriber types 176

Defining environment settings 178

To define environment settings 180

CHAPTER 10 Generating network analyses 182

Understanding network analyses 183

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Prediction view files 183

Workflow for generating an analysis 184

Defining default analysis layers 185

To define default analysis layers 185

Defining default analysis settings 186

To define default analysis settings 186

Creating and generating a network analysis 187

To create and generate a network analysis 187

Network Analysis Wizard 189

Analysis 190

Best Server 190

EV-DO Carrier 190

Traffic Loading 190

Other System Interference 191

Network Analysis Wizard 192

System 192

Carriers 192

Subscriber 192

Generating an existing analysis 193

To generate an existing analysis 193

Viewing analysis layers 194

To view analysis layers 194

Generating multiple analyses 195

To generate multiple analyses 195

Deleting analyses 196

To delete analyses 196

Recoloring best serving sector layers 197

To recolor best serving sector layers 197

Examining layer statistics 198

Workflow for analyzing pilot pollution 199

Using the CDMA Pixel Info tool for Mentum Planet 200

To obtain per-pixel information about an analysis 200

Pilot Pollution Inspector 202


System 204

RF 204

Forward Loading 204

Analysis Info 204


Subscriber 205

Analysis Info 206


Analysis Settings 206

Display 207

Legend Profile 207

Analysis Info 207

Analyzing pilot pollution for Mentum Planet sectors 208

To analyze Pilot pollution for Mentum Planet sectors 209

CHAPTER 11 Generating Monte Carlo simulations 211

Understanding Monte Carlo simulations 212

The phases of a Monte Carlo simulation 212

Placing subscribers in a random pattern 213

Sorting subscribers by priority 213

Analyzing the reverse link and forward link 213

Generating operating points and subscriber information 214

Defining the number of Monte Carlo runs 215

Convergence method 215

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Level of Convergence calculation 215

Factors affecting the required number of runs 217

Understanding Monte Carlo simulation layers 219

Workflow for generating a Monte Carlo simulation 221

Defining default Monte Carlo simulation settings 222

To define default Monte Carlo simulation settings 222

Creating and generating a Monte Carlo simulation 223

To create and generate a Monte Carlo simulation 223

Monte Carlo Simulation Wizard 225

System 226

Subscriber Types 226


Analysis 227

Best Server 227

Other System interference 227


Monte Carlo 229

Viewing discrete subscribers 230

To view discrete subscribers 230

Generating an existing Monte Carlo simulation 231

To generate an existing simulation 231

Viewing simulation layers 232

To view simulation layers 232

Deleting simulation layers 233

To delete simulation layers 233

Updating cdma2000 target values with Monte Carlo results 234

To update cdma2000 target values 234


To calculate layer statistics 236

Understanding reports 240

The sector/carrier report 241

The subscriber report 246

The throughput report 254

Creating reports 257

To create reports 257

CHAPTER 12 Generating PN Offset Plans 260

Understanding PN offset planning 261

How PN codes are assigned in Mentum Planet 261

Preparing input data for PN offset planning 264

Neighbor plan 264

Interference matrix 264

Workflow for generating PN offset plans 265

Creating PN offset plans 266

To create a PN offset plan using current sector settings 266

To create a PN offset plan using the PN Offset Planning tool 267

Analyzing PN offset plans 273

To analyze a PN offset plan 274

To view PN offset plan analysis layers in a Map window 275

To display a PN offset plan analysis report 275

Displaying PN offset reports 277

To display a PN offset report 277

Applying PN offset plans 281

To apply a PN offset plan to all the sectors in a project 281

CHAPTER 13 Working with the Tabular Editor 282

Working with the Tabular Editor 283

To edit sites, flags, or link configurations 283

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CHAPTER 14 Importing and exporting data 286

Importing, replacing, and exporting project data 287

Importing data 287

Replacing data 288

Exporting data 288

To export project data 289

To import project data 290

Importing network data into Mentum Planet projects 293

Binding network data 293

Viewing the results of data binding 293

To import network data 293

Appendix A Mentum Planet file types 297

Understanding project folders and files 298

Project files 298

Output files 299

MapInfo files 299

Appendix B Modeling cdma2000 Networks 300

Interference 301

Forward linkinterference 301

Reverse linkinterference 302

Pilot interference 303

Forward link traffic interference 304

Controlling interference 305

Slow fading 307

How slow fading is modeled 307

Using a correlation model to model slow fading 307

Determining the mean correlation factor 309

Slow fading margin 309

Soft handover gains 310

Penetration losses 312

Appendix C cdma2000 Analysis layers 313

Common cdma2000 Analysis Layers 314

Carrier-Specific cdma2000 Analysis Layers 317

cdma2000 User Guide xv

CHAPTER 1 Introduction

This User Guide provides an overview of the full life cycle of a wirelessnetwork, and includes information on the tools and procedures that arecommon to all network technologies. Many procedures, for example networkanalyses, are dependent on the technology being used, and are not included inthis User Guide. For more information on technology-specific procedures, seethe appropriate User Guide.

This chapter covers the following topics:

Features of Mentum Planet 2

Using this documentation 5

Contacting Mentum 9

cdma2000 User Guide 1

Chapter 1

Features of Mentum Planet

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

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

Project Explorer

The Project Explorer organizes all components of a project into a hierarchicalstructure, enabling you to easily manage all project-related data including sites,project information, network analyses, network data, and surveys. You can sortcomponents such as sites and antenna patterns by their characteristics and managesupport documents such as census tract data, capacity planning information, or RFdesign review documents. Shortcut menus give you quick access to a wide variety ofcommands.

Site Editor

The Site Editor brings together all the parameters you need to specify when definingbase station technologies, sites, and sectors. This includes the link configuration, theimplementation settings as well as general site and sector settings.

Traffic Map Generator

Using the Traffic Map Generator, you can create traffic maps based on varioussources of data, including market information, demographics, vehicular traffic, andswitch statistics. You can combine this information with clutter information for yourcoverage area for an even more accurate assessment of traffic loading for yourwireless network. You can also scale traffic maps to better meet your requirements.

Interference Matrix Generator

The Interference Matrix Generator analyzes the potential for co-channel andadjacent-channel interference in your wireless network. If required, you can includetraffic map information in the interference matrix calculations. Interference matrices

2 cdma2000 User Guide

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Introduction

are required input for the Neighbor List Generator and the AutomaticFrequency Preamble and Perm Base Planning tool.

Neighbor Plan Generator

You can use the Neighbor Plan Generator to create, view, edit, and compareneighbor lists for single-technology networks and for multi-technologynetworks. Neighbor plans can be based on cell adjacency or interference.Multiple user-defined criteria determine neighbor selection. You can alsoimport and export neighbor plans.

Network Data Import Wizard

You can import switch statistics for use in traffic maps, interference matrices,neighbor lists, and other Mentum Planet analysis tools. Performance-relateddata you can import includes dropped call rates, blocked call rates, and trafficlevels. The Network Data tool can also produce a thematically mapped displayof the imported data by sector.

Survey Data tool

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

Subscriber Settings

The Subscriber Settings dialog box contains all the parameters you need todefine the characteristics of your network subscribers including the mobileequipment and services they use as well as the Quality of Service thresholds.

Data Manager

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


Chapter 1

Automatic Cell Planning tool

Using the Optimization features of Mentum Planet, you can extend coverage andincrease capacity by fine tuning antenna parameters and by activating only thosesites that best fit the network design and goals.

Microwave Links

You can visualize microwave transmission links within the context of your MentumPlanet projects and perform basic microwave planning tasks when designing yourwireless network.

Using the shortcut menus that are accessible within the Microwave category in theProject Explorer, you can create microwave links between sites by selecting thesites in the Project Explorer Sites category and using the shortcut commands andyou can view links in the Map window.

MapInfo Professional

Mentum Planet includes a full version of MapInfo Professional, an industry standardmapping tool that gives you access to a full suite of raster and vector analysis tools,cartographic-quality tools, and advanced thematic mapping capabilities. For a list ofnew features in MapInfo 10.5, see the MapInfo Professional User Guide located in themapinfo folder within the Mentum Planet installation folder.


Introduction

Using this documentation

Before using this documentation, you should be familiar with the Windowsenvironment. It is assumed that you are using the standard Windows desktop,and that you know how to access ToolTips and shortcut menus, move and copyobjects, select multiple objects using the Shift or Ctrl key, resize dialog boxes,expand and collapse folder trees. It is also assumed that you are familiar withthe basic functions of MapInfo ProfessionalÒ. MapInfo Professional functionsare not documented in this User Guide. For information about MapInfoProfessional, see the MapInfo online Help and MapInfo Professional User Guide.You can access additional MapInfo user documentation from the Pitney BowesBusiness Insight website at

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

All product information is available through the online Help. You access onlineHelp using the Help menu or context-sensitive Help from within a dialog box bypressing the F1 key. If you want to view the online Help for a specific panel ortab, click in a field or list box to activate the panel or tab before you press theF1 key. The following sections describe the structure of the online Help.

User documentation updates

User documentation is continually evolving to address feedback or introduceimprovements. You can download the latest user documentation from theCustomer Care Product Downloads page where it is available as a separatedownload from the software.

Online Help

From the Help menu, you can access online Help for Mentum Planet softwareand for MapInfo Professional. This section describes the structure of theMentum Planet online Help.

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

n help on all dialog boxes

n procedures for using the software


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

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

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

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

Chapter 1

n an extensive Mentum Planet documentation library in PDF format

The following sections provide details about the resources available through theonline Help.

Resource Roadmap

When you first use the online Help, start with the Resource Roadmap. It describesthe types of resources available in the online Help and explains how best to usethem. It includes a step-by-step guide that walks you through the availableresources.

Knowledge Base

You can access the Knowledge Base maintained by the Customer Care group byclicking the Knowledge Base button on the online Help toolbar or by choosing theKnowledge Base command from the Help menu. The Knowledge Base containscurrent information on Mentum products such as How To procedures as well assolutions to issues.

Printing

You have two basic options for printing documents:

n If you want a good quality print of a single procedure or section, youcan print from the Help window. Click Print in the Help window.

n If you want a higher quality print of a complete User Guide, useAdobe Reader to print the supplied print-ready PDF file contained inthe Mentum Planet documentation library. Open the PDF file andchoose File Print.

Library Search

You can perform a full-text search on all PDF files contained in the Mentum Planetdocumentation library if you are using a version of Adobe Reader that supports full-text searches. The PDF files are located in the Mentum\Planet\Help\User Guidesfolder.

You can also perform a search on all online Help topics by clicking the Search tab inthe Help window. Type a keyword, and click List Topics to display all Help topics thatcontain the keyword. The online Help duplicates the information found in the User


Introduction

Guide PDF files in order to provide more complete results. It does not duplicatethe information in the Release Notes, or Glossary.

“What’s This?” Help

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

User Guides

All User Guides for Mentum Planet software is easily accessible as part of theonline Help.

Documentation library

Mentum Planet comes with an extensive library of User Guides in PDF format.You can access PDF versions of the user guides by navigating to the Help/UserGuides folder within the Mentum Planet installation folder or by choosing theGuides command from the Mentum Planet Help menu.

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

Notational conventions

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

Textual conventions

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

bold text

Bold text is used in procedure steps to identify auser interface element such as a dialog box, menuitem, or button.

For example: In the Select Interpolation Methoddialog box, choose the Inverse DistanceWeighting option, and click Next.

courier textCourier text is used in procedures to identify textthat a user must type.For example: In the File


http://www.mentum.com/

Chapter 1

Name box, type Elevation.grd.

bright bluetext

Bright blue text is used to identify a link to anothersection of the document. Click the link to view thesection.

Menu arrows are used in procedures to identify asequence of menu items that you must follow.

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

< >

For example, if a menu item changes depending onthe chosen unit of measurement, the menustructure would appear as Display <unit OfMeasurement>.


Introduction

Contacting Mentum

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

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

Getting technical support

You can get technical support by phone or email, or by visiting the Self-ServicePortal on the Mentum website at http://www.mentum.com/customer-care.

When you call for technical support, ensure that you have your product IDnumber and know which version of the software you are running. You canobtain this information using the About command from the Help menu.

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

The technical support options available depend on the edition of the softwareyou are using as shown in Figure 1.1. For more details about the levels ofsupport, see the Mentum website.

Figure 1.1: Abbreviated list of support options


http://www.mentum.com/customer-care

http://www.mentum.com/customer-care

Chapter 1

North America

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

Fax: +1 819 483-7050

Email: [email protected]

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

Europe, Middle East, and Africa

Phone: +33 139 26 46 42 (Paris)

Fax: +33 1 39264601


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

Asia Pacific (excluding Japan)

Phone: +852 2593 1287

Fax: +852 2593 1234


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

Japan

Phone: +81 3 6861 7555

Fax: +81 3 5847 7901


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

Send us your comments

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

[email protected]


CHAPTER 2 Overview Of Mentum PlanetPlanning

Using Mentum Planet, you can model networks designed for cdma2000communication. This chapter describes key planning processes and theworkflow you should adopt.


Network planning modeling best practices 12

Forecasting network traffic 13

Workflow for cdma2000 network design using MentumPlanet 16


Chapter 2

Network planning modeling best practices

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

n balancing coverage, quality, and capacity

n minimizing costs and complexity

To design a network that successfully addresses these basic tenets of networkplanning, you need to create an accurate model of the radio propagation and of thesubscriber traffic. The accuracy of the network model is highly dependent on theaccuracy of the data you use as the foundation of the project.

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

n up-to-date geodata

n accurate and up-to-date survey data

n tuned propagation models that are appropriate for the environmentand data

n accurate and up-to-date site configuration information


Overview Of Mentum Planet Planning

Forecasting network traffic

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

When analyzing a network, the traffic loading at each sector is calculatedbased on the location of subscribers across the network, their utilization ofnetwork resources, and the modulation assigned to them. Higher modulationformats means that a subscriber can support more traffic. For example, if asubscriber is assigned a modulation of 16QAM, they will support more trafficthan a subscriber with a modulation of QPSK.

Knowing the location of users within a network is an important network designelement. A network is designed to support the expected traffic and the qualityof the design depends on how well the demand (i.e., the traffic model) and thecapacity match. For this reason, it is very important that high-traffic areas areserved with high signal quality in order to improve the overall system capacity.

Predicting the traffic of a target market

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


Chapter 2

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

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

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

n Telecom related data: this data provides information such as mobilephone subscriber density, Internet connection density, and otherrelated parameters that can be useful in identifying the location ofpotential subscribers. The processing of this data is very muchdependent on the format (vector or raster) and units.

Processing the data can take many forms and requires that you understand some ofthe Mentum Planet GIS features. The proposed sequence of data processingdescribed here should be seen as an example and might not be applicable to yoursituation.

Traffic model outputs

When modeling the traffic of a market, the objective is to spatially represent thedensity of potential subscribers. Such values are continuous in nature and willtherefore be best represented by a numeric grid (.grd file). You can generate a gridof the market demand using the GIS and traffic modeling features of Mentum Planet.

Transforming census information into a traffic map

Because census information is generally provided in a vector format where attributes(such as the population) are attached to a region, you will need to transform thisinformation into a traffic map. For information on generating traffic maps, see“Managing Traffic” in the Mentum Planet User Guide.

Geodata requirements

Predicting network propagation accurately is highly dependent on the quality andtype of geographical data (i.e., geodata) you use. Table 1.1 indicates the suitabilityof common data types for the different technologies.



Table 1 Data requirements for various data types

Frequency Range (GHz)

Data Type (Meters)2.5-3.6 GHzNomadic/Mobile

2.5-3.6GHz Fixed

GreaterThan 3.6GHz Fixed

20-30 meter resolutionheight and clutter (landuse) data

Acceptable Acceptable Notsufficientfor LOSestimation

5-meter resolutionDigital Terrain Model(DTM)

Difficult to usewith standardmodels

Difficult touse withstandardmodels

Ideal forLOSanalysis atlow cost

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

Ideal for urbanareas

Ideal forurban areas

Ideal forurbanareas


Chapter 2

Workflow for cdma2000 network design using MentumPlanet

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

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

Step 2 If required, prepare your data.

n Verify that your data is in a format that Mentum Planet 5 can use. Seethe Grid Analysis User Guide for information on importing grids.

n If you want to perform propagation model tuning or generate mergedpredictions, you need to import survey data. See the Mentum PlanetUser Guide for information on importing and filtering surveys.

Step 3 Customize your Mentum Planet environment by specifying default settingsand actions for projects.

Step 4 Create a new project or open an existing project. A Mentum Planet projectstores all the information required to simulate the network. In otherwords, it contains the network and all details related to it. You can createa project with as little as a DEM and later add a clutter grid, propagationmodels, and so on. The Project Wizard makes project creation simple.

Step 5 Define network settings.

Step 6 Configure and place sites.

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

Step 7 Optionally, create the groups and flags you need to organize and managesites. See “Working with Sites and Sectors” in the Mentum Planet UserGuide.

Step 8 Define propagation models. Propagation models are the basis ofpredictions.



Step 9 Optionally, compare and analyze survey data. See “ManagingSurvey Data” in the Mentum Planet User Guide.

Step 10 Optionally, generate predictions. You can generate predictionsindependent of network analyses or as part of the network analysisprocess. See “Generating Predictions” in the Mentum Planet UserGuide.

Step 11 Optionally, generate traffic maps for the services and area that youplan to analyze. See “Managing Traffic” in the Mentum Planet UserGuide.

Step 12 Optionally, optimize your network design. See "Optimizing NetworkDesign" in the Mentum Planet User Guide.

Step 13 Define subscriber attributes including equipment and services.

Step 14 Define environment settings for each clutter class.

Step 15 Generate a nominal analysis or a Monte Carlo simulation and viewresults.

Step 16 Generate and review layer statistics.

Step 17 Optionally, generate interference matrices in order to determinewhether there is potential interference between sectors. See“Working with Interference Matrices” in the Mentum Planet UserGuide.

Step 18 Optionally, generate neighbor plans in order to examine the effectneighboring sites have on network coverage and capacity. See“Managing Neighbor Relationships” in the Mentum Planet UserGuide.

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


CHAPTER 3 Understanding The FundamentalsOf Mentum Planet

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



Understanding project data types 20

Understanding project geodata 24

Understanding project files 29

Understanding the Project Explorer 31

Defining user preferences 38

Understanding the project folder structure 40

Creating and using workspaces 44

Attaching files to a Mentum Planet project 46

Working with site sets 48

Working with map layers 57

Working with geodata folders 61

Defining the coordinate systems to use in a project 63

Defining color profiles 65


Chapter 3

Understanding projects

A project contains and organizes all of the information pertaining to a particularwireless network. This includes

n digital terrain models

n clutter information

n propagation models

n site locations

n sector equipment, including antennas

n sector groups

n link configurations

n flags

n traffic maps

n survey data

n network data

n any documents you want to attach to the project

A project also contains the results of predictions and network analyses made on thebasis of this information.


Understanding The Fundamentals Of Mentum Planet

Understanding project data types

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

Understanding MapInfo tables

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

In Mentum Planet , MapInfo tables store

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

n points, such as tower locations or survey result

n lines and polylines, such as roads

n polygons, such as bodies of water or county boundaries

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

Understanding grids

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

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


Chapter 3

What is a grid?

A grid is made up of regularly spaced square cells, called bins, where each bin has avalue and a color representing the value. If there are several bins between twoknown locations, the change in color between these bins indicates how the valueschange. All data that varies through space is captured at discrete sample locationswhere the value is known. For example, an RF engineer performs a survey to recordthe signal strength from a sector. Readings are collected every second. In a vector-based GIS system, there are limited ways to portray this kind of data. Some of themore traditional ways are to label each individual sample location with the knownvalue, to create graduated symbols at each sample site where the symbol sizereflects the sample’s value, or to generate contour lines or contour regions depictinglocations of equal value (see Figure 3.1). Another common method of displayingsurvey data in a vector-based GIS system is to thematically shade points based onsignal strength.

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

The problem with these methods is that it is difficult to portray how the data changesbetween known locations. Grids, on the other hand, easily display how the datachanges between locations.

Understanding grid types

Mentum Planet supports two types of grids:

n numeric grids—use numeric attribute information

n classified grids—use character attribute information



Numeric grids

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

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

Classified grids

Classified grids are best used to represent information that is more commonlyrestricted to a defined boundary. They are used in the same way that a regionis used to describe a boundary area, such as a land classification unit or acensus district. In this case, the grid file does not represent information thatvaries continuously over space. In Figure 3.3 a land classification grid displayseach bin with a character attribute attached to it that describes the land typeunderlying it. A common type of classified grid is a Best Serving Sector


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analysis layer. In Mentum Planet , classified grid files use a .grc file extension.Classified grids have a corresponding .tab file containing important metadata thatdescribes the grid file.

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

TIP: Grids can easily be converted to vector format by contouring and vector-baseddata can be converted to grids. For more information, see “Creating Grids UsingOther Methods”, in the Grid Analysis User Guide.



Understanding project geodata

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

CAUTION: Longitude/latitude projection is not supported for geodata. Youmust re-project the original geodata into a meter coordinate system (e.g.,UTM).

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

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

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

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

n Polygons—an optional folder that contains files used todefine 3D regions building models.

n Custom—an optional folder that contains geographic filesthat do not fit into the other geodata folders. This folder istypically used to store 2D vector data such as streets anddemographic data.

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

TIP: Specialized geodata is available from Mentum. See the Mentum Geodataweb page at http://www.mentum.com/index.php?page=geodata&hl=en_US.


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

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

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CAUTION: Files in the Heights, Clutter, Clutter Heights, and Polygons folder shoulduse the same map projection. Files in the Custom folder do not have to use the samemap projection as other geodata files.

Heights folder

The Heights folder contains one or more Digital Elevation Models (DEMs). Each grid(.grd) file contains, for each bin, the height in meters or feet of the terrain above sealevel. Using Mentum Planet , you can build height files from point data or use manyindustry standard data formats. Each height file has a corresponding .tab file thatcontains important metadata about the grid file.

When the Heights folder contains multiple grid files, each grid file must use the samecoordinate system, but may have a different resolution. The primary height file,defined on the Geodata tab in the Project Settings dialog box, should geographicallycontain all of the other grid files in the Heights folder.

Clutter folder

The Clutter folder contains one or more clutter files in classified grid (.grc) format.Each classified grid file contains, for each bin, the clutter class that covers themajority of the bin. Clutter files are derived from aerial/satellite imagery orgenerated from digitized maps. Each clutter file has a corresponding .tab file thatcontains important metadata about the classified grid file.

You are not required to choose a clutter file when you create a project. However,using clutter files is fundamental to increasing the accuracy of predictions whenusing propagation models that support clutter attenuation parameters (e.g., Predict4 and the Planet General Model). Without land-use information, predictions cannotmodel the effects of man-made structures or trees.

When the Clutter folder contains multiple classified grid files, each classified grid filemust use the same coordinate system, but may have a different resolution. Theprimary clutter file, defined on the Geodata tab in the Project Settings dialog box,should geographically contain all of the other classified grid files in the Clutter folder.

Clutter Heights folder

The Clutter Heights folder is an optional folder that contains one or more clutterheight files in numeric grid format. Each grid (.grd) file specifies, for each bin, the



mean height above ground level of the clutter specified in the clutter file overthe bin. Height values must always be greater than or equal to -400 m.

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

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

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

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

Polygons folder

The Polygons folder is an optional folder that contains one or more polygonfiles in MapInfo table (.tab) format. Each row in a table file specifies a polygonor region object. Typically, individual polygon files are used to define polygonsof different types (e.g., one polygon table defines building contours, andanother defines vegetation contours).

Polygon table files must contain at least the columns specified in Table 1, while3D polygon tables files must also contain either of the columns specified inTable 2. Tables may contain other columns such as street address, buildingpopulation, attenuation factor, or other user-defined or model-specificcolumns.


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Table 1 Required polygon table columns

Fieldname

Type Comment

Polygon_ID

Character (64) Unique ID to represent eachpolygon object

Polygon_Type

Character (256) Descriptive information about apolygon; such as, “Building”,“Vegetation”, or “Water”.

Height values for 3D polygons are specified in either this AMSL or AGL column.Polygons are considered 2D when a polygon table file does not contain either theAMSL or AGL columns.

Table 2 Required 3D polygon table columns

FieldName

Type Comment

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

AGL Float A floating point number representing theheight above ground level.

NOTE: The measurement unit used by values in the AMSL and AGL columns arespecified in the metadata associated with the .tab file. Use the following integervalues to specify measurement units:

n 2—Inchesn 3—Feetn 5—Millimetersn 6—Centimetersn 7—Meters

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



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

Custom folder

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

n boundaries

n road networks

n railway networks

n water ways

n aerial or satellite photos

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

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


Chapter 3

Understanding project files

When you create a project in Mentum Planet , you are prompted to select a projectfolder, specify the project heights grid file and, optionally, a project clutter file. Youmust also define the project technologies, the default settings files, and thecoordinate system. The site set is automatically created.

Site files

When you create a project, a default site set is added to the Project Data category ofthe Project Explorer as shown in Figure 3.4. A site set defines a collection of sites andcontains the site data. You can create multiple site sets within a Mentum Planetproject but only one site set is active at any one time. It is the active site set thatyou modify when you change site parameters. Using multiple site sets enables youto have several versions of the same network available and offers more flexibility tocreate and analyze “What-If” scenarios. See “Working with site sets”.

The site information required to display sites in the Map window is duplicated in thesite table (i.e., in the .tab file) as shown in “Appendix A: Site Table Format”.Additional site table columns are also available if you want to query the site datausing MapBasic functionality; however, you cannot update site data by modifying the.tab file as this data is always updated from the internal Mentum Planetproject,which is held in-memory and stored in the project file.

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

CAUTION: To update the site table (.tab) file, right-click the Sites node and chooseUpdate Site File. Site updates are not automatically added to the site table.

CAUTION: Do not update the site table manually using MapBasic or MapInfofunctionality.

Workspaces

A workspace (.wor) file records which MapInfo files are open, the position of eachMap window and the properties of each layer it contains. You can save your workingconfiguration to a workspace file whenever you want. This feature is particularlyuseful for features such as print layouts. If you associate a workspace with a project,that workspace is opened whenever you open the project.



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

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


Chapter 3

Understanding the Project Explorer

The Project Explorer simplifies viewing and manipulation of Mentum Planet projectdata. It provides

n tree representation of hierarchical relationships such as groups andsites, sites and sectors, analyses and analysis layers

n an indicator showing the number of sites and sectors contained inthe Sites node and individual Group nodes; for example, if a groupname is followed by [10/25/76/5] (see Figure 3.4), then there are10 sites, 25 base stations, 76 sectors, and 5 repeaters contained inthe group.

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

n easy access to all information about a site, sector, or group

n right-click access to relevant commands

n mouse operations (e.g., drag and drop) for tasks such as adding asite to a group

n copy and paste operations

n easy access to Restore functionality where minimized dialog boxes(e.g., the Prediction Generator dialog box and the Point-to-Pointdialog box) can be maximized again.

The Project Explorer is present whenever a project is open, and is initially docked atthe left side of the application window. You can:

n dock the Project Explorer to the right, at the top, or at the bottom ofthe application window by dragging the Explorer window over thearrows that display in the center of the application.

n undock the Project Explorer by dragging it to any location on thescreen. When undocked, both the height and width of the ProjectExplorer are resizable.

NOTE: When docked, only the width of the Project Explorer is resizable.



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

Figure 3.4: Project Explorer


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The Project Explorer can contain one, two, or three data windows. The Data Windowcontrol buttons, located just below the title bar, control how many data windows theProject Explorer displays.

Button Function

Adds another data window at the bottom of the ProjectExplorer. The button is unavailable when there are threedata windows.

Removes the bottom data window in the Project Explorer.The button is unavailable when there is only one datawindow.

Updates the content of the Project Explorer. To reorderitems in the Sites category, right-click the Groups,Repeaters, or Sites node and choose Refresh.

Understanding the Project Explorer data window

Project information is divided into several broad categories:

n Network Analyses

n Operational Data

n Optimization

n Project Data

n RF Tools

n Sites

n Fixed Subscribers

n Microwave

n Monte Carlo Simulations

n Windows

NOTE: By default, the Windows category is not displayed. You can change this byopening the User Preferences dialog box and, on the Project Explorer pane, enablingthe Show Windows category check box. If the project contains many open layers,



displaying the Windows category can impact performance. Instead, use theLayer Control accessible by clicking the Layer Control button on the Maintoolbar.

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

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

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

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

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

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

n To add a site to a group, drag the site into the group from theSites node.

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

Using multiple data windows

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

n view multiple categories of information at once

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

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


Chapter 3

Access to commands

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

Figure 3.5: Right-click commands

Each shortcut menu has a default command that appears in bold. For example, thedefault command for a site node is Edit. You can access these default commandsquickly by double-clicking a node.



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

TIP: Clicking the arrow in the upper right corner of the Project Explorercreates a tabbed version of the Explorer that you can collapse or expand. Tospecify the position of the Project Explorer, drag it onto the arrows that displayin the center of the screen.

Filtering Project Explorer data

Scrolling through a long list of sites or antennas is tedious. To alleviate thisproblem, in the Project Explorer, click next to the Sites node or Antennas nodeand use the filtering capabilities of the Project Explorer to refine the listdisplayed.


Chapter 3

Figure 3.6: Project Explorer window showing filtering capabilities



Defining user preferences

In the User Preferences dialog box, you can specify default settings andactions for Mentum Planet . These defaults are maintained between MentumPlanet sessions and upgrades and preserved across all projects. Preferencesare user-specific so in a centralized work environment (such as when usingCitrix or Windows Terminal Server), user preferences are unique to theindividual who defines them.

User preferences are divided into the following categories:

n General—Mentum Planet startup actions and project datavalidation settings

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

n Project Explorer—performance, site selection, and layerdisplay settings

n Data Manager—logon settings and profile management

n Project Wizard Defaults—default folder settings andgeodata settings

n Microwave—default units for microwave calculations andlocation of geodata files

n Miscellaneous—prediction view, import/export, Monte Carlosimulation, and Automatic Cell Planning settings

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

To define user preferences

CAUTION: The Transmitted Power, Height, Distance, and Coordinatessettings are global parameters that affect the interpretation of all the valuesstored for sites. Use the same units of measure consistently throughout yourproject to avoid inadvertently changing global parameters.

1 Choose Edit Preferences.

The User Preferences dialog box opens.


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2 Define your user preferences as required.

User preferences are maintained between Mentum Planet sessions.

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



Understanding the project folder structure

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

Table 2.3 Project folders

Folder Contents

Antenna Algorithm Files that are used to describe the algorithms usedin various configurations of multiple antennasystems

Antenna Queries Antenna query files

Antennas Files for antennas used in the project

Areas Area classified grid files

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

Backup project data backup

Bin Path loss files

CDMA2000_Analyses cdma2000 analysis files

CDMA2000MC_Simulations

cdma2000 Monte Carlo simulation parameters andresults

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

Environment

FCC Contours FCC region and point files

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

Filters Filter loss (.flt) files

FixedWiMAXFDD_Analyses

Fixed WiMAX FDD network analysis files


Chapter 3

Folder Contents

FixedWiMAXTDD_Analysis

Fixed WiMAX TDD network analysis files

FrequencyPlan WiMAX frequency plans

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

Geodata Mapping data including elevation, clutter, clutterheight, 2D/3D polygon, and other types of mappingdata files such as streets and photographicimagery. The geodata folder must contain a Heightsfolder and a Clutter folder. The Heights folder mustcontain the mandatory primary DTM. The Clutterfolder can be empty.

InterferenceMatrix Interference matrix files

LTE_Analyses LTE analysis files

LTEMC_Simulations LTE Monte Carlo simulation parameters and results

Model Propagation model and clutter property assignmentfiles

NeighborList Neighbor plan files (.xml and .csv).

Network_Data Imported network data files

Optimization Profiles Optimization profile parameters

Optimizations Optimization parameters, scenario parameters,scenario reports, and optimization cache

PerformanceAnalyses

PNOffsetPlanning PN offset plans

PredictionCache Optimized pathloss storage used for networkanalyses and Monte Carlo simulations

PredictionView Optimized pathloss storage used for networkanalyses and Monte Carlo simulations

Profiles Grid color profile files, point-to-point profile settings



Folder Contents

files, and contour color profile files

Propagation_Model_Analyses

Propagation model analysis files

Reports Report files

Scanner Data Scanner data files and templates

Scanner Survey Data Scanner survey data files and templates

ScramblingCodePlanning Scrambling code plans

Sector Display Scheme Sector display schemes

Sector Queries Sector query (.xml) files

Settings Files created by the Traffic Map Generator and LayerStatistics tool

SignalStrength Prediction files for individual sectors

Site Sets Local and shared site sets

Site Templates Local and shared site templates

SPT Files related to the process of merging surveys andpredictions.

Subscriber Data Fixed broadband wireless access database

Surveys Survey files

TDMA_FDMA_Analyses TDMA/FDMA network analysis files

Test Mobile Data Test mobile data files and templates

TrafficMaps Numeric grid and clutter relative weighting files fortraffic maps

WCDMA_Analyses WCDMA network analysis files

WCDMAMC_Simulations WCDMA Monte Carlo simulation parameters andresults


Chapter 3

Folder Contents

WiMAX_Analyses WiMAX network analysis files

WiMAXMC_Analyses WiMAX Monte Carlo simulation parameters andresults

WiMAXMC_Simulations WiMAX Monte Carlo simulation parameters andresults

Workspaces MapInfo workspace files including the defaultProjectOpening.wor file.



Creating and using workspaces

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

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

For more information about workspaces, see “Using Workspaces” in theMapInfo Professional User Guide.

You can define a workspace in your project settings that Mentum Planet willopen when you open the project. By default, Mentum Planet does not associatea workspace with your project; it stores the working configuration in a defaultworkspace. To automatically update a workspace file when you make changes,you must use a defined workspace (.wor) file and enable the WorkspaceAutosave check box on the General tab in the Project Settings dialog box.

To create a workspace

1 Choose GIS Save Workspace.

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

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

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

To open a workspace

1 Choose GIS Open Workspace.

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

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


Chapter 3

TIP: You can also view the contents of a workspace file using a text editor such asNotepad.

To associate a workspace with a project

You can specify a previously-saved workspace that Mentum Planet opens each timeyou open this project. By doing this, you can have the project open with the sameconfiguration of windows and map layers every time.

1 With a project open, choose Edit Project Settings.

The Project Settings dialog box opens.

2 Click the General tab.

3 In theWorkspace section, click Browse beside theWorkspace box,navigate to the workspace you want to use, and then click Open.

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



Attaching files to a Mentum Planet project

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

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

To attach a file to a project

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

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

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

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

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

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

To open an attached file

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


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To remove an attached file from a project

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

The file is deleted from the Attachments folder.



Working with site sets

A site set is a container that holds a selection of sites. Initially, the site set isempty. Once you have placed and configured sites in the network, you canupdate the site set so that it contains project site data. It is the "Master" siteset that contains details of all sites in a project once it is updated. With a siteset update, site data is saved as .csv files in the Sites Sets folder within theproject.

Because you can create subsets of the Master site set, you can work moreefficiently on a specific region of the network by creating and working with onlythe subset you are responsible for. When you make changes to sites in thesubset, these changes are only reflected in the project once you merge thesubset into the Master site set.

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

To facilitate network and site set comparison, Mentum Planet provides aComparison tool where changes are highlighted.

Figure 3.7: Compare to Network example


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Once you have compared the subset to the Master site set and are satisfied with theresults and the changes you have made, you can merge the site subset back into theMaster site set. And, if you are working with the Data Manager, you can then submitthe Master site set to the server project so that others can access your changes. Sitesubsets are not stored in Data Manager.

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

CAUTION: Site sets are only updated when you switch between site sets. You can,however, manually update a site set by right-clicking on the subset and choosingUpdate.

Master site set

When you create a project, a Master site set is automatically created and isidentified with a green plus sign. It is from the Master site set that you create sitesubsets in order to perform specific planning and optimization tasks outside theproduction environment (i.e., in a virtual sandbox). In other words, you can, forexample, generate and examine predictions or network analyses and then makemodifications to site or network parameters without changing the Master site set.

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

Site subsets

A site subset is a copy of specific sites contained in the Master site set. In the ProjectExplorer, a site subset is identified with a green minus sign as shown in Figure 3.8.Using site subsets, you can test various site configurations before applying thesechanges to the project.

Active site set

The sites in the Active site set are those you change when you make site and sectormodifications. The Active site set is identified with a green arrow as shown in Figure3.8.



Figure 3.8: Icons identifies the active site set

Site table

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

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

To update a site set

n In the Project Explorer, in the Project Data category,expand the Site Sets node, right-click a site set and chooseUpdate.


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The .csv files contained in the Site Sets folder within the project arecreated or updated.

To copy the active site set

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

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

n To copy the entire site set, choose Copy.

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

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

n All Sites to include all sites in the subset.

n Current Selection if you have selected specific sectors in the Mapwindow.

n Flag Filtering if you have defined and assigned flags to sectors.Enable the Invert Conditions check box to select those sectors forwhich the applied conditions do not apply.

n Group Selection if you have defined and created groups.

n Query Selection if you have defined and created sector queries.

4 In the Band Filtering section, enable the bands you want to include inyour sector selection.

The sites that will be included in the subset are displayed in the Selected Siteslist.

5 Click OK.

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

NOTE: If the number of sites in a site set is high (i.e., greater than 5 000 sectors),the action of switching between site sets can take some time to complete.



To change the active site set


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

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

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

To compare site sets


2 Ctrl+click to choose the two sites sets you want to compare.

3 Right-click and choose Compare.

The Site Set Comparison dialog box opens.


Chapter 3

4 From the tool strip at the top of the dialog box, choose one of thefollowing options:

n Differences—displays only data that is not in either site set.

n Similarities—displays only data that is in both site sets.

n Only In Master—displays data that is only in the Master site set.

n Only In Network—displays data that is only in the site table (andappears on the map) but which is not contained in the Master siteset.

5 When you have finished analyzing the data, click Close.

To compare a site set to the network


2 Ctrl+click to choose the two sites sets you want to compare.

3 Right-click and choose Compare To Network.



The Compare to Network dialog box opens.

4 From the tool strip at the top of the dialog box, choose one of thefollowing options:

n Differences—displays only data that is not in either site set.

n Similarities—displays only data that is in both site sets.

n Only In Master—displays data that is only in the Master siteset.

n Only In Network—displays data that is only in the site table(and appears on the map) but which is not contained in theMaster site set.

5 When you have finished analyzing the data, click Close.

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

To merge a subset into the active site set



Chapter 3

2 Right-click the site set into which you want data merged and chooseActive.

3 Right-click the subset site set and choose Merge To Active.

Site data in the active site set is overwritten with the data from the subset.

To create a shared site set

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

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

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

To update a shared site set

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

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

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

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

To remove a site set


2 Right-click the site set and choose Remove.

The site set is removed from the list, but the site set files are not deleted fromthe project folder.

CAUTION: If you right-click a site set and choose Delete, the site set files aredeleted from the project folder.



To rename a site set


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

To view the site set description


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

3 Once you have read the description, click OK.

To edit the site set description


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

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


Chapter 3

Working with map layers

You should be familiar with the concept of map layers when you work with MentumPlanet . Each unique layer of information exists as a separate file that can be addedas a layer in a Map window.

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

When you open a grid, the Map window consists of a cosmetic layer and individualmap layers. You can manipulate these layers using the Project Explorer or using theLayer Control.

Figure 3.9: Various map layers covering the same geographic area can hold differenttypes of information.

In the Windows category of the Project Explorer, you can

n view the names of the individual layers

n add or remove layers

n change the position of individual map layers

n make layers visible or invisible, editable or not editable

n open the layer in a new Map window

n make layers selectable and/or editable

n enable automatic labeling of objects, such as sites



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

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

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

To manipulate map layers with the Project Explorer

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

2 Do any of the following:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


Chapter 3

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

n To make a layer selectable, right-click the layer and chooseSelectable if the check box is not already enabled. The Selectablecommand is available only for layers that can be made selectable,such as vector and point layers.

n To make a layer non-selectable, right-click the layer and chooseSelectable if the check box is not already cleared. The Selectablecommand is available only for layers that can be made selectable,such as vector and point layers.

n To automatically label objects on a layer, right-click the layer andchoose Auto Label if the check box is not already enabled. Theavailability of automatic labeling depends on the layer. Usually youuse it on the site table.

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

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

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

To manipulate map layers with the Layer Control

1 Do one of the following:

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

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

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

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

n To add a new map layer, click the Add Layers button, choose alayer, and then click OK.



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

3 Click OK to close the Layer Control dialog box.

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


Chapter 3

Working with geodata folders

The Geodata node in the Project Data category of the Project Explorer bringstogether all of the geographic data contained in a project to enable you to managedifferent types of data in a consistent manner. From the Geodata node, you can

n view geodata files by type or resolution

n add or remove files from geodata folders

n view or hide geodata layers

The folder you define for geodata can be located within the project folder although itdoesn’t have to be. In order to save disk space, the geodata folder can be located ona server or in a common location where multiple users can access it. At a minimum,it must, however, contain a Heights folder and a Clutter folder. The Heights foldermust contain the primary DEM file but the Clutter folder can be empty.

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

To manage geodata files

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


n To add a file to a geodata folder, right-click the geodata foldername, choose Add, choose the file you want to add, click Open,then click OK. If the chosen file was not in the appropriate Geodatafolder, it will be copied to this folder.

n To remove a file from a geodata folder, expand the geodata folder,right-click the file and choose Remove. The chosen file is onlyremoved the geodata folder, it is not deleted from your computer.

n To hide a geodata file, expand the geodata folder, right-click the fileand choose View if the check box is not already cleared.

n To make a geodata file visible, expand the geodata folder, right-click the file and choose View if the check box is not alreadyenabled.



n To view a geodata file in a Browser window, expand thegeodata folder, right-click the file and choose Browse. Youcan only browse MapInfo tables, not grids or other customdata files.

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

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

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

To group geodata files

n In the Project Explorer, in the Project Data category,right-click Geodata, choose Group By, and then choose thetype of grouping that you want.

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


Chapter 3

Defining the coordinate systems to use in a project

You choose which coordinate system you want to use in a Mentum Planet projectwhen you create a project using the Project Wizard. You can change the coordinatesystem on the Coordinate System tab in the Project Settings dialog box as shown inFigure 3.10.

Figure 3.10: Coordinate System tab

To define the coordinate system for sites

1 Choose Edit Project Settings.

2 In the Project Settings dialog box, click the Coordinate Systemtab.

The coordinate system of the project height file is displayed in the TerrainCoordinate System field and cannot be changed because it is the coordinatesystem of the geodata itself. The geodata coordinate system is used fordisplay purposes.

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

In order to create the highest quality network model, you should ideally usethe same coordinate system for the site database as is used for the geodata.



Using a different coordinate system for sites could introduceinaccuracies in predictions.

For information on specific unit settings, press the F1 key.


n Click Apply to save the project settings without closing thedialog box.

n Click OK to save project settings and close the dialog box.


Chapter 3

Defining color profiles

In order to improve the appearance and readability of map layers, you can modifythe default color schemes that Mentum Planet uses for numeric grids. Changing thecolor profiles, affects the grids currently open in Mentum Planet and the new profileswill be used when creating a new project. Existing network analysis layers are notupdated.

You can specify common color profiles that will be applied globally across all projectdata, or you can choose a color scheme (a .vcp file) for specific numeric grids. Colorprofiles are text files saved with a .vcp extension. These files should be saved in the<Mentum Planet installation folder>\Global\Profiles folder.

To choose color profiles

1 Choose Edit Color Profiles.

The Color Profiles dialog box opens.

2 In the Color Profiles dialog box, from the Analysis Type list, choosethe type of analysis for which you want to create color profiles.

The values and colors defined in the profile are shown in the Colors table.

To create a color profile

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



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

3 Click the Color button.


n To add a color inflection point, click Add, define a value for theinflection point, and click OK.

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

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

n To change color values and percentiles, click an entry in theColor Scheme List to make the value editable and type anew value. This will move the inflection point to theappropriate location on the color ramp.

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


Chapter 3

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

n Click Flip if you want the colors associated with inflection points inreverse order.

n Click Revert if you want to return to the color pattern that was inplace before you clicked Flip.

6 If you want to redefine the grid colors based on how they would beilluminated by a single light source, in the Relief Shading section,enable the Enabled check box, and click Properties.

If you want this profile to be available for use with all Mentum Planet projects,save the .vcp file in the <Mentum Planet installation folder>\Global\Profilesfolder. Otherwise, the default location is the Profiles folder within the projectfolder.

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

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

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


CHAPTER 4 Creating A Project

A project can include any of the technologies supported by Mentum Planet.



Creating projects 70

Migrating projects 74

Workflow for migrating Mentum Planet projects 78



To migrate projects in a batch 82

Creating a network overlay 83

Opening and closing projects 85

Restoring projects 87

Saving projects 88


Chapter 4

Understanding projects

A Mentum Planet project contains and organizes all of the information pertaining to aparticular wireless network. At a minimum, a project is created from a DigitalElevation Model (DEM) although you can also include clutter information (i.e., landuse) in a project.

A project contains:

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

n project clutter information

n clutter information for specific environments

n propagation models

n site locations

n sector equipment, including antennas

n groups

n flags

n traffic maps

n operation data (e.g., surveys, network measurement data, neighborlists, interference matrices, frequency plans, etc.)

n any documents you want to attach to the project

A project also contains the results of predictions and network analyses made on thebasis of this information.


Creating A Project

Creating projects

The Project Wizard leads you through the process of creating a project. Inorder to streamline design work, you can specify that the Wizard automaticallydisplays when you start Mentum Planet. If you want Mentum Planet toautomatically open the last project, instead of the Project Wizard, in theStartup Options section of the User Preferences dialog box, choose the OpenMost Recent Project option.

You can use remote project folders to store and access Mentum Planet projectdata. For example, you can use shared project folders for the following types ofproject files to conserve disk space on your workstation:

n bin files

n signal (field) strength files

n prediction view files

By default, these files are saved in the local project folder. If you use sharedproject folders, the project files are stored in the shared folders, instead of thelocal project folder. The shared folders must have read/write accesspermissions for all Mentum Planet users accessing the shared folders.

CAUTION: If you are using shared folders and do not enable thecorresponding check box in the Sharing section of the Advanced Options tab inthe Project Settings dialog box, the shared path is not stored in Data Managerwhen you check in the project. For any Data Manager users who perform a Geton the project, all data will be stored within their local project folder.

When you create a project, you can choose to use a workspace to save yourmap window settings, although this is not required. You can also choose thecoordinate system. For additional information about projections, see“Appendix B, “Elements of a Coordinate System” in the MapInfo ProfessionalUser Guide.


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


Chapter 4

To create a project

1 Start Mentum Planet.

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

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

3 On the Choose Default Settings For Each Enabled Technologypage, specify those technologies you want to include in the project andclick Next.

Default settings are saved in the <Mentum Planet installationfolder>\Global\Technologies folder. If you want to customize the defaultsettings to use each time a new project is created, you can modify the Excelfile.

4 On the Choose Geodata That Covers All Of Your Site Locationspage, click the Browse button and navigate to where the projectgeodata is saved and then click Next.


Creating A Project

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

5 Click Finish.

The project opens in a Map window.

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

To view or edit project settings

1 Choose Edit Project Settings.

The Project Settings dialog box opens.

2 Modify project settings as required.


Chapter 4

NOTE: To open the Project Settings dialog box once a project is open, choose EditProject Settings, or click the Project Settings button on the Network toolbar.

TIP: To make a copy of an existing project, close the existing project and copy thecontents of its project folder to a new project folder. It is not recommended that youcreate the new project folder as subfolder of the existing project folder.

TIP: In the new project folder, you can delete large folders (e.g., Bin,SignalStrength, PredictionView, and <technology>_Analyses) or you can elect not tocopy them because Mentum Planet automatically recreates these folders.


Creating A Project

Migrating projects

Changes to the data storage and management architecture in Mentum Planet5.3 require that projects created in previous versions of the software bemigrated in order to make them consistent with the new data schema. ProjectMigration is an automated process achieved using the Mentum Planet Migratorutility.

CAUTION: After a legacy project has been migrated to Mentum Planet 5.3, itcan no longer be opened in previous versions of Mentum Planet . It isrecommended that you create a complete project backup prior to opening yourproject in Mentum Planet 5.3.

Batch migration of projects

If order to facilitate migration of multiple Mentum Planet projects, the MentumPlanet Migrator includes a Batch Migration command. Batch migration supportsthe same upgrade paths as the Mentum Project Migrator.

To use it, you must first create an .xml configuration file structured as follows:

<?xml version="1.0"?>

<batch_migration>

<localsettings>

<projectsFolder>C:\Projects\BatchMigration</projectsFolder>

<project>C:\Projects\Jun10\Jun10.dBP</project>

<project>C:\Projects\SplitCT\SplitCT.dBP</project>

<project>C:\Projects\Subbands\Subbands.dBP</project>

<summary>C:\Projects\BatchMigrationSummary.xml</summary>

</localsettings>

</batch_migration>

Where:

<projectsFolder> is the root folder that contains the Mentum Planetproject folders to be migrated. This is an optional parameter.


Chapter 4

<project> indicates a single project folder to be migrated. This is an optionalparameter.

<summary> is the file where an overall summary of batch migration isrecorded. This file is overwritten each time a batch migration is completed. Alog file (ProjectMigration.log) is created in each project folder with detailedinformation about the migration.

While the configuration file must conform to the stated structure, you can name thefile as it best suits your needs.

NOTE: If project migration fails for a particular project, the original project is kept,the log files are created and the batch migration continues. When a project migrationis successful, the project is automatically saved.

Improved data validation

Mentum Planet includes stringent data validation controls aimed at preserving dataintegrity and reducing the chance of error or data corruption. As a consequence,project data must be free of inconsistencies to ensure successful migration toMentum Planet 5.3.

Upgrade paths

The Mentum Planet Migrator supports the following upgrade paths:

n Mentum Planet 4.5 (all technologies except iDEN, AMPS, NAPS, IS-136)

n 5.1 (fixed and mobile WiMAX, LTE, cdma2000)

n 5.2, 5.2.1 (all technologies)

NOTE: If you are using versions prior to Mentum Planet 4.5, contact Customer Carefor assistance with project migration. If you are using Data Manager and working in amulti-user environment, the software upgrade must be coordinated such thatMentum Planet and Data Manager Server are both the same version. In thisdeployment model, it is also critical to coordinate data migration from previousreleases.


Creating A Project

Important considerations when migrating projects

Each new version of Mentum Planet brings improvements in all areas of thesoftware. Key areas of change include (but are not limited to):

n Antennas

n Link configurations

n Propagation models

Antennas

A new antenna format (.paf) was introduced that supports complex antennaconfigurations including multiple bands and e-tilt variations. When antennafiles are migrated from earlier version of Mentum Planet (prior to verson 5.0),the files are migrated as they were in the previous version (i.e., with limitedantenna support). To take advantage of the new antenna format, you need tocontact the antenna supplier and obtain multiple band and e-tilt patterns in thePlanet Antenna Format (.paf).

Link configurations

The concept of link configuration files was introduced in Mentum Planet 5. Alink configuration contains the gains and losses that occur as a signal travels.You can assign the same link configuration to several sectors. If you aremigrating a project created in a version of Mentum Planet prior to version 5.0,the migrated project may have a large number of link configurations becausein previous versions of the software the link budget was created per sector.

Propagation models

Propagation models that are not supported in the current version of MentumPlanet (such as the Cost231 model or the Lee Model) are converted to thedefault_PlanetGeneralModel.

In addition, there are several versions of the Predict propagation modelavailable:


Chapter 4

n Version 4.2 contains fixes related to predictions.

n Version 4.3 is based on version 4.2 and incorporates a fix related toclutter class order.

n Version 4.4 is based on version 4.3 and includes the ability to usePredict with very high clutter heights. Use this version only whenmodeling very high clutter.

n Version 4.5 is based on version 4.3 and fixes an issue related topredictions and changes to propagation distance. It also includes afix related to the use of fraction of incident power scattered values.

You can change the version that is used in the Site Editor. Version 4.5 is therecommended Predict version.


Creating A Project

Workflow for migrating Mentum Planet projects

NOTE: Errors that occur during the migration process are clearly identified inthe log (e.g., "Error: Column length (ft) is not part of the Sectors table"). Whileerrors must be rectified in order to continue project migration, warningsprovide important information about migration but do not block the successfulmigration of a project.

NOTE: If order to facilitate migration of multiple Mentum Planet projects, theMentum Planet Migrator includes a Batch Migration command. Batch migrationsupports the same upgrade paths as the Mentum Project Migrator.

CAUTION: It is recommended that you create a complete project backupprior to opening your project in Mentum Planet 5.3. Do not use the Backupcommand. After a legacy project has been migrated to Mentum Planet 5.3, itcan no longer be opened in previous versions of Mentum Planet.

Step 1 Ensure that the project height and clutter files are saved in theGeodata folder (e.g., the DEMmust be saved in theGeodata/Heights folder and the clutter must be saved in theGeodata/Clutter folder).

Step 2 Ensure the project does not contain overlapping bands.

Step 3 Run Data Inspector on the project you want to migrate to identifyany issues prior to migrating the project to Mentum Planet 5.3. Iferrors appear in the Project Status message window, contactCustomer Care for assistance. See ”Getting technical support”.

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

Step 4 Back up all local project data.

Step 5 Do one of the following:

n If you are migrating a project from Mentum Planet 4.x, open theMentum Planet Migrator, migrate the project, save it, and then


Chapter 4

open the project in Mentum Planet.

n If you are migrating a project from Mentum Planet 5.x, open MentumPlanet and choose File Open Project.

Step 6 If issues arise, run Data Inspector on your local project to identify anyknown issues. The Data Inspector shipped with Mentum Planet mayidentify issues that are not detectable in previous versions of the tool. Iferrors appear in the Project Status message window, contact CustomerCare for assistance.

NOTE: When migrating a Mentum Planet project that contains network analyses,the analysis files are copied to the Obsolete folder within the Mentum Planet projectfolder. You can open these files and view the associated analysis layers in MentumPlanet 5.3.

NOTE: If a sector references carriers from different frequency bands, aftermigration the project will contain a single band that encompasses sub-bands.

For example, if sector 1 has carriers from band A and band B, sector 2 has carriersfrom band A and sector 3 has carriers from band B and C, after migration the projectwill contain only band A (if it is the lowest frequency band) with sub-bands A, B, C.Bands B and C will be removed.


Creating A Project

To migrate projects from Mentum Planet 4.x

1 Click Start All Programs Mentum Planet 5.3Mentum Planet Migrator.

The Mentum Planet Migrator opens.

2 Choose File Migrate.

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

4 Choose File Validate Project.

5 If validation is fine, choose File Save Project.

The project is saved with a .planet extension.

6 Choose File Exit.

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

7 Open the newly migrated project in Mentum Planet 5.3.

8 Choose Edit Network Settings.

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

10 Verify all network settings values and click OK once you aresatisfied with the settings.

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

NOTE: The Migrate Files To command is used strictly when you want toconvert antenna files and propagation models contained in an existing projectfor use with the Network Overlay tool. Only site and sector information ismigrated. If you do not migrate the project first, the Network Overlay tool usesa default antenna file and propagation file.


Chapter 4

To migrate projects from Mentum Planet 5.x

1 In Mentum Planet, choose File Open Project and navigate towhere the project is saved, and then click Open.

2 Read the message and click Yes to continue with the migration.

The Project Migrator opens and migration proceeds.

3 Read the information message and click OK.

The projects opens.


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

6 Verify all network settings values and click OK once you are satisfiedwith the settings.

In particular, ensure that you define appropriate values for the Useful Bits PerSymbols column as well as Amplifier Backoff (dB) columns.

NOTE: The Migrate Files To command is used strictly when you want to convertantenna files and propagation models contained in an existing project for use withthe Network Overlay tool. Only site and sector information is migrated. If you do notmigrate the project first, the Network Overlay tool uses a default antenna file andpropagation file.


Creating A Project

To migrate projects in a batch

1 Click Start All Programs Mentum Planet 5.3Mentum Planet Migrator.

The Mentum Planet Migrator opens.

2 Choose File Batch Migration Load Configuration File.

The configuration file is an .xml file with a defined structure.


Chapter 4

Creating a network overlay

Using the Network Overlay tool, you can add sites and sectors to a Mentum Planetproject using the project data you exported from Mentum Planet 4.x or 5.0, 5.1, 5.2,or 5.2.1. You can also create a network overlay within a Mentum Planet project. TheNetwork Overlay tool supports all technologies.

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

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

To create a network overlay

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

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

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

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

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

The Network Overlay Wizard opens.

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

n the version of Mentum Planet used to created the data files.

n the format of the data files.

n the location of the data files.


Creating A Project

4 Click Next and follow the prompts to complete the networkoverlay.

5 When you have specified all required information, click Finish.

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


Chapter 4

Opening and closing projects

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

TIP: If you want Mentum Planet to automatically open the last project, choose theOpen Most Recent Project option on the General panel in the User Preferences dialogbox. If you do not want the last project to open, choose the None option.

CAUTION: When you open a project, existing 4.x predictions are automaticallymigrated. After predictions have been converted for use in the latest version ofMentum Planet, you cannot use them or view them in previous versions of MentumPlanet. You should create a backup copy of legacy predictions before opening theproject.

To open a project


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

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

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

n In Mentum Planet, choose File Recent Projects <ProjectName>.The path to the project is displayed in the Mentum Planet taskbar atthe bottom of the application window.

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

The project opens in a Map window.

TIP: To view two projects side-by-side, you can open multiple instances of MentumPlanet on your workstation.


Creating A Project

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


Chapter 4

Restoring projects

Each time you save a project, a copy is stored in the Backup folder within the projectfolder. When a project has been terminated abnormally, you can choose to restorethe last saved version of the project or the last opened version of the project.

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

To restore a project

1 Start Mentum Planet .

2 Choose File Restore.

The Restore Project Files dialog box opens.

3 Click the Browse button next to the Restore Project Files From boxand navigate to the .planet file saved in the Backup folder within theproject folder, and then click OK.

4 Click the Browse button next to the Restore Project Files To boxand navigate to the original folder where project files were saved, andthen click OK.


Creating A Project

Saving projects

You can save project data at any time without closing a project. It isrecommended that you save your project periodically in order to avoid the lossof data in the event of a network or system failure. You can also save a namedbackup of your project. This can be useful if you want to save the project atvarious stages in the network development.

To save a project

n Choose File Save Project.

The project is saved in the project folder.

To back up a project

1 Choose File Back Up Project.

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

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


CHAPTER 5 Working With Propagation Models

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

A set of propagation models is installed with Mentum Planet and is copied tothe project folder when you create a new project. This chapter describes howto choose and edit a number of propagation models.

It also describes how to use the Model Tuning tool to automatically adjust theparameters of a propagation model based on measurement data in order toproduce signal strength predictions that are as accurate and realistic aspossible.


Workflow for propagation modeling 90

Workflow for model tuning 91

Understanding the role of propagation models 92

Understanding propagation model types 94

Understanding model tuning 103

Understanding clutter classes and clutter properties 104

Tuning the Planet General Model using AMT 105

Tuning models using the Clutter Absorption Loss tuner 108

Tuning a propagation model 111

Guidelines for model tuning 112

Creating and editing propagation models 113


Chapter 5

Workflow for propagation modeling

Step 1 Create and edit propagation model.

Step 2 Tune the propagation model.


Working With Propagation Models

Workflow for model tuning

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

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

Step 3 Tune the propagation model. See:

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

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

Step 4 Validate the model.

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

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

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

The data in the model tuning report does not provide a comparisonbetween the survey data and the final prediction. In most cases,the differences will be negligible; however, if required, you cangenerate an additional prediction and use the Compare to Gridfeature to view final comparison statistics. See “Combining andcomparing surveys” in the Mentum Planet User Guide.


Chapter 5

Understanding the role of propagation models

Propagation models simulate how radio waves travel through the environment fromone point to another. Because of the complex nature of propagation modeling andthe great amount of information needed to perform an accurate estimation of pathloss, there will always be differences between the path loss estimation of a modeland real-world measurements. Nevertheless, some models are inherently moreaccurate than others in specific situations, and it is always possible to refine a model(or its understanding of the environment) so that it better matches the real world.There are several things you can do in order to minimize discrepancies between thepropagation model and the real world, including choosing an appropriate model andcalibrating it effectively.

To model the real-world behavior of a network and account for how radio wavesreact to elevation changes and clutter (e.g., reflection, diffraction, and scattering),you must account for features in the environment such as the surface of the terrain(e.g., hilly or flat) and the presence of lakes. Ground cover such as buildings andtrees must also be taken into consideration because of the influence they have onradio propagation, particularly at the frequencies used by mobile networks.

Although it is possible to create predictions without a clutter file, using one willproduce much more accurate predictions. The clutter file (in the form of a classifiedgrid) details surface features that are classified into meaningful categories (orclasses). It is important to be flexible in defining the physical properties associatedwith each clutter type. For example, land on the west coast of North Americacategorized as forest may have physical properties significantly different fromsimilarly categorized land on the east coast. Because of the vast differences possiblebetween clutter classes, it is important to create and tune a propagation model foreach clutter class. For example, for a large urban city center, you might create adense urban model, an urban model, and a suburban model each tuned to reflect aspecific area of the region. In order to improve the accuracy of predictions, it iscommon to use three or four propagation models for a specific market. This isbecause some models are inherently more capable of adjusting to changes in theenvironment. Also, the more deterministic a model is, the more adaptable it is aswell.

Propagation models are organized in the Project Data category of the ProjectExplorer. The icons of propagation models that have been assigned to a sector aredisplayed in color. The icons of propagation models that have not been assigned to asector, but are located in the Model folder of the project, appear dimmed.



You can find more information in the following documents:

n Federal Communications Commission. “Methods for PredictingInterference from Response Station Transmitters and toResponse Station Hubs and for Supplying Data on ResponseStation Systems.” MM DOCKET 97-217

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

You can find detailed information about propagation models in the followingdocuments available in the <Mentum Planet installation folder>\Help folder:

n Predict Technical Note

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

n Planet General Model Technical Note

n Mentum Planet User Guide

n Universal Model User Guide


Chapter 5

Understanding propagation model types

This section describes the propagation model types that Mentum Planet supports.Slope-based models, such as the Okumura-Hata model, take clutter into accountautomatically when generating predictions. Deterministic models, such as thePredict 4 model, depend on the model of the environment and the specification ofclutter property assignments. Table 4.1 rates how each of the three mainpropagation models perform when used under certain conditions.

Table 1 Ratings for popular propagation models

Used... Predict 4 Planet General ModelUniversalModel

For macro-cell planning Good Good Excellent

For mini-cell planning Poor Fair Excellent

For micro-cell planning Very poor Fair Excellent

Over large propagationdistances

Excellent Fair Good

With no model tuning Fair Poor Good

With cluster tuning Fair Poor Good

On a per-sector basis Fair Fair Excellent

With mergedpredictions

Good Fair Good

Planet General Model

The Planet General Model is a flexible hybrid model that can be used to model manydifferent kinds of propagation environments. This model has been available for morethan 10 years and enables you to migrate data from versions as far back as Planet2.8 to Mentum Planet and obtain the same coverage results. The Planet GeneralModel has become an industry standard and can be used when migrating projectsfrom other wireless planning products.

You can use the Planet General Model to model many different kinds of propagationenvironments. The path loss equation incorporates losses due to a number of models(such as Okumura-Hata), contributors, and coefficients that can be pieced togetherto create a user-defined propagation model. Some of these are defined by



algorithms derived from statistical data. These algorithms are quite accurateunder specific conditions, but become less appropriate as the terrain andclutter varies from these conditions. Various correction factors exist tocompensate for these varying conditions, and it is very important for thesevalues to be assigned accurately in order to make models simulate the realsituation.

The Planet General Model predicts the path loss for each element within theprediction area. This is achieved by constructing a terrain and clutter profilefrom the base station (transmitter) to each element and then computing thepath loss for that profile. In order to ensure that path loss at each elementwithin the prediction region is computed, a profile can be constructed to eachelement on the perimeter of the prediction region. Thus the number of radials,, is given by

However, for most practical applications, a fraction of the above number ofradials is sufficient. A corresponding signal strength at each element is alsocomputed using the antenna pattern.

One of the most visible differences between the Planet General Model usedwith Planet 2.8/Planet DMS and the one used with Mentum Planet is the shapeof the prediction area; Planet 2.8/Planet DMS uses a square prediction area,whereas Mentum Planet defines a circular prediction area. Although the shapeand the total area of the prediction areas are markedly different, this has noeffect on the computed path loss or signal strength values. Using simplegeometry, you can convert Planet 2.8 Prediction Size to Mentum PlanetPropagation Distance using

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

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


Chapter 5

You can use 3D building data with the Planet General Model. To do this, you must firstconvert the 3D data into new clutter classes, which represent the height of thebuildings. Then, you need to define clutter properties such that each class isassigned a height equal to the height of the building. Using the model in this way canincrease the accuracy substantially in urban areas. The best resolution for this typeof model is 5-10 meters.

PGM-A model

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

Some of the characteristics that differentiate PGM-A from the Planet General Modelinclude the following:

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

n There is some variation in the method for computing received signalstrength and diffraction loss.

n The Planet General Model allows you to specify how the radio waveis modeled over the horizon as a result of the earth’s atmosphere.

n The Planet General Model allows you to apply Okumura correctionfactors.

Predict 4 model

Predict 4 is a general-purpose model intended for macrocell planning.

CAUTION: The Predict 4 propagation model is not a ray-tracing model and, as such,should not be used with high-resolution data.

Instead, it is best used with geodata with a resolution between 20 to 30 meters. Youcan use it in most circumstances, regardless of the kind of terrain, if detailed terrainor clutter information or both are available. The following cases are exceptions:

n for very short paths, for example micro-cellular paths, in which thelocations of individual buildings are important



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

n when a very rapid calculation is wanted, because the CRC-Predict model is more computationally intensive than mostmodels

The path loss calculation in the Predict 4 model is designed for the VHF to UHF(30 MHz to 3 GHz) frequency range. The physical principles used by the Predict4 model are also applicable up to 30 GHz. However, accurate predictions forthat range depend on very detailed and accurate terrain data, and currentlythere are no supporting test measurements. Also, above 10 GHz, rainattenuation becomes significant. The principal algorithm is a diffractioncalculation, based on the Fresnel-Kirchoff theory that takes terrain intoaccount in a detailed way. An estimate of the additional loss for obstructionssuch as trees, buildings, or other objects is included when data on clutterclasses are available. Tropospheric scatter is included for long paths.Estimates of time and location variability can be made.

The diffraction algorithm samples the propagation path from the transmitter tothe receiver and determines the signal strength at many points in space. First,the wave field is determined as a function of height (a vertical column of manyvalues) above a terrain point close to the transmitter by an elementarycalculation. Then, using the Huygens principle of physical optics, each of thesefield points is regarded as a source of radiation, and from them, the signalstrength is calculated a little farther away. In this way, a marching algorithmsimulates the progress of the radio wave from the transmitter to the end of thepath. Even though the signal strength is calculated at many points, an efficientintegration algorithm and a choice of only the most important signal strengthpoints permit the integration calculation to be fast enough for practical use.

The Predict 4 model also uses surface-type or clutter data in its calculations.Because Predict 4 is a deterministic model, the more precise and physicallyrealistic terrain and clutter information you use, the more accurate the outputtuned model will be.

Clutter interacts with the algorithm in two ways:

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

n As the wave propagates over the ground toward a distantreceiver, the effective height of the ground is assumed to be


Chapter 5

the real height of the ground plus the assumed clutter height.

n Clutter close to the receiver is assumed to terminate close to thereceiver, e.g., 50 meters. That is, the receiving antenna is notassumed to be on the doorstep of a building, or in the middle of aforest, but rather on a street or in a road allowance in the forest.Part of the calculation is an estimate of the attenuation from theclutter down to street level.

In addition to the height and distance of solid (opaque) clutter, there is an additionalattenuation, entirely empirical, which takes into account trees and other absorbingmaterial adjacent to the receiving antenna. This attenuation factor (expressed indecibels) is the parameter most easily used to make median predictions agree withmeasurements in a particular area (model tuning).

NOTE: For more information on the Predict 4 model, see the Predict Technical Note.

Predict-Air

CAUTION: Only masked path loss is calculated and saved in the prediction files. Asa result, if you change any site setting (other than transmitted power), all of theprediction files are regenerated.

Predict Air is a unique model designed for high-altitude communication (e.g., aircraftto ground) where the signal is being broadcast upwards (between 0 and +90/-90degrees). It is based on the Predict 4.0 propagation model. You can use the PredictAir model in two modes:

n AMSL (Above Mean Sea Level) Mode—in this mode, you candefine the antenna height. For the purpose of propagationcalculation, the receive height remains at a constant height abovesea level.

n AGL (Above Ground Level) Mode—in this mode, the receiverantenna height will be relative to the ground level as defined by theinput Digital Elevation Model (DEM).

Unlike the Predict 4 model, this new model will not generate path loss predictions(grid files) which can be re-masked. It is also important to note that you cannot tunePredict Air models.



NOTE: The Point-to-Point tool does not support the Predict Air propagationmodel; however, the Predict 4 model provides results similar to the Predict Airmodel when used in AGL mode.

Universal Model

The Universal model is only available if you have purchased a license. You canobtain detailed information about the Universal model by pressing the F1 keyfrom the Universal Model Parameters dialog box. The online Help containscontext-sensitive help and provides access to the Universal Model User Guide.

The Universal model is a high-performance deterministic propagation modelthat has been integrated into Mentum Planet . Unlike other propagationmodels, the Universal model automatically adapts to all engineeringtechnologies (i.e., micro, mini, small, and macro cells), to all environments(i.e., dense urban, urban, suburban, mountainous, maritime, and open), and toall systems (i.e., GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, WIFI, WIMAX, LTE) in a frequencyrange that spans from 400MHz to 5GHz.

In addition, the Universal Model:

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

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

n outperforms other models in terms of the speed and accuracyof predictions.

Q9 model

The Q9 propagation model is based on the Okumura-Hata model. Using thevariables shown in Figure 1, it calculates the expected pathloss between thetransmitter and the receiver using the terrain profile. In other words, itconsiders a cross-section of the earth along a straight line between thetransmitter and the receiver. This propagation model is most useful forfrequency bands in the 150-2000 MHz range and works best within a radius of


Chapter 5

0.2-100 km. The Q9 model is intended for use with high-resolution elevation andclutter data.

Pathloss depends on frequency as well as the antenna heights of the transmitter andthe receiver. The Q9 model allows for both uptilt and downtilt of antennas and takesinto account the vertical antenna pattern.

There are three input values that the Q9 model considers:

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

n Extra losses that occur when wave propagation is disturbed byobstacles such as mountain peaks. When the distance between thetransmitter and receiver becomes sufficiently large, a correction dueto earth’s curvature is necessary.

n Land use code loss.

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

Figure 5.1: The process of calculating pathloss

The equation below details the formula used to calculate pathloss.



Where:

Lbis the pathloss

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

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

is a parameter related to the knife-edge diffraction

KDFR is the contribution from knife-edge diffraction in dB

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

Longley-Rice model

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

The Longley-Rice model is applicable to point-to-point communicationsystems in the 20 MHz to 10 GHz range over different types of terrain(Rappaport, 1996). The Longley-Rice model operates in two modes. The point-to-point mode uses terrain information if it is available, while the point-to-areamode uses techniques that estimate the path-specific parameters when littleterrain information is available.


Chapter 5

In point-to-point mode, median path loss is predicted by using troposphericrefractivity and terrain geometry. However, only some features of the terrain areused. The terrain profile is used to find effective antenna heights, horizon distancesand elevation angles as seen from the antennas, the angular distance for a trans-horizon path, and the terrain irregularity of the path. The prediction is performed interms of these parameters. A ray optic technique using primarily a two-ray groundreflection model is used within the radio horizon. The two or three isolated obstaclescausing the greatest obstruction are modeled as knife edges using the FresnelKirchoff theory. Forward scatter theory is used to make troposcatter predictions forlong paths and far field diffraction losses are predicted using a modified Van der Pol-Bremmer method (Rappaport, 1996). The Longley-Rice point-to-point model is alsoreferred to as the Irregular Terrain Model (ITM) (Hufford, et al. 1982).

Although the point-to-area mode is an old method, it is still perhaps the best methodof estimating path loss in open country if the only parameters known about theground are its irregularity and (less importantly at UHF) its electrical constants.

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

n Frequency: 20 MHz to 10 GHz

n Distance: 1 km to 2000 km

n Antenna Heights: 0.5 m to 3000 m

n Polarization: Vertical or Horizontal

References

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

n Rappaport, T.S.Wireless Communications: Principles and Practice.Prentice Hall, 1996.

n Hufford, Longley, and Kissick. “A Guide to the Use of the ITSIrregular Terrain Model in the Area Prediction Mode”, U.S.Department of Commerce. April 1982.



Understanding model tuning

The termmodel tuning applies generally to the process of adjusting theparameters of a propagation model in order to generate predictions that are asaccurate and realistic as possible.

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

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

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

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


Chapter 5

Understanding clutter classes and clutter properties

Propagation models perform path loss calculations based on the types of clutterthrough which the signal passes. The terrain is classified into clutter classes basedon land use or ground cover, e.g., Industrial, Residential, Forest. For each clutterclass, a set of clutter properties is specified, depending on the propagation model. Allmodels (with the exception of the Universal Model)specify clutter absorption loss.Some models specify additional properties, such as average obstacle height.

For your project, the clutter file specifies the clutter class for each bin of thecoverage area. Before you can generate signal strength predictions or do modeltuning, you must define the values of the clutter properties for each clutter class.These values are saved in the Propagation Model File (.pmf). Your choice of groundtype for each clutter class sets default values for numeric properties, such as ClutterAbsorption Loss. You can edit these values. Usually this is done as part of modeltuning.



Tuning the Planet General Model using AMT

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

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

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

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

To tune the Planet General Model using AMT

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

The Model Tuning dialog box opens.

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

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

4 To edit the AMT, click Edit Tuner.


Chapter 5

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

For information on using the Standard AMT option, see “Tuning the PlanetGeneral Model using AMT” in the Planet General Model Technical Note.

Custommodel parameter values will not be optimized. If a factor cannot beoptimized, a suitable default value is used.

6 To define custom correlation or cross-correlation values, in theCorrelation/Cross-Correlation Threshold Values section, typevalues in any of the following boxes:

n Correlation P3T

n Correlation P4T

n Cross-Correlation P35T

n Cross-Correlation P45T

Defining a custom correlation or cross-correlation value is useful if you wantto optimize a particular factor that does not meet the threshold requirements.



For example, if p4T = 0.4, and p4 = 0.15, K4 cannot be optimized. Youcan enable K4 to be optimized by setting p4T to 0.1.

If you chose to define custom thresholds, the resulting factors mightproduce an invalid model. Before applying the model, you must ensurethat the ranges you have specified are valid. For more information, seethe Planet General Model Technical Note.

7 Save the settings in a Planet AMT settings (.set) file if requiredand click OK.

8 In the Model Tuning dialog box, click OK to begin the modeltuning process.

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

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


Chapter 5

Tuning models using the Clutter Absorption Loss tuner

Using the Clutter Absorption Loss (CAL) tuner, you can determine the appropriateclutter property assignment values for clutter absorption loss for a single site. TheCAL tuner can be used to optimize all propagation model types, except for third-party models.

The Clutter Absorption Loss tuner enables you to calculate the mean error betweenthe predicted signal strength and the survey data for each clutter class. The meanerror is then used as the value for the clutter absorption loss of each clutter class inthe clutter property assignment file.

Tuning is different for slope-based models and deterministic models such as Predict4. Slope-based models take clutter into account automatically when generatingpredictions. For example, when using the Okumura-Hata model, you can choosefrom four clutter classes: Urban, Suburban, Quasi-Open, and Open. Each clutterclass implies a generalized clutter environment that affects the slope of the model’salgorithm. When using the Planet General Model, you can set many parameters.

The Predict 4 model, however, depends on the model of the environment and thespecification of clutter property assignments. The Predict 4 algorithm interacts witha model of the clutter environment in a deterministic fashion to predict path loss.Path loss is calculated by simulating the propagation of a radio wave as it passesover various terrain features.

Model tuning with survey data for all models involves updating the clutter absorptionloss values. Model tuning for the Predict 4 model involves the additional step ofadjusting the clutter property assignments for average obstacle height and groundtype.


To tune a model using the Clutter Absorption Loss tuner

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

The Model Tuning dialog box opens.



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

3 To edit the CAL Tuner, choose Edit Tuner.

4 Modify Tuner settings as required and click OK.

5 In the Model Tuning dialog box, click OK to begin the tuningprocess.

The Model Tuning dialog box opens and displays the progress of themodel tuning process.

6 When the process is complete, click Close in the Model Tuningdialog box.

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

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

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


Chapter 5

TIP: You can edit the properties of the tuned model using the Propagation ModelEditor. To access the Propagation Model Editor, expand Propagation Models in theProject Data category of the Project Explorer, right-click the tuned model and chooseEdit.



Tuning a propagation model

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

For detailed information about:

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

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

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


Chapter 5

Guidelines for model tuning

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

n Aggregate survey data in order to account for Rayleigh fading. See“Modifying survey data” in the Mentum Planet User Guide.

n Ensure that the frequency of the input model used in model tuning isaccurate and the receiver height corresponds to measured data.

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

n Verify that the model uses clutter heights that are recommended orappropriate for the model.

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

n Create one model to cover all surveys with similar characteristics.For example, for a given metropolitan area, start with one inputpropagation model. Tune one model for the sub-urban area. Usingthe same input model, tune a second model for very dense urbanand downtown area. The tuned models will provide reasonablyaccurate predictions for topologies of similar clutter characteristics(such as neighboring regions). This approach can be fine tuned bysubdividing the metropolitan area to more than two areas andgenerating corresponding models for each area.



Creating and editing propagation models

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

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

To define a new propagation model

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

The Create New Propagation Model dialog box opens.

2 From the Propagation Model Type list, choose the model onwhich you want to base your new model, and then click OK.

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

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

For detailed information on the settings available on these tabs, pressF1 for online Help.

5 Click OK.

To edit propagation model settings

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Project Data category, expandPropagation Models, right-click a propagation model andchoose Edit.


Chapter 5

The Propagation Model Editor opens.

The tabs that are displayed in the Editor depend on the model you havechosen.

2 In the Propagation Model Editor, modify the settings on any of thefollowing tabs:

n Settings—allows you to set frequency, receiver height, and earthcurvature. Enables you to use a different resolution heights file orclutter file with the propagation model than that which is specified inthe project settings. This is useful if you want to generate aprediction where you are using a high-resolution grid in urban areasand a lower-resolution grid in the rest of the project area.

n Clutter Properties—allows you to specify whether or not themodel uses a clutter grid and allows you to define the physicalproperties of the environment that affect predictions. The valuesassigned to the electrical and physical properties for each clutterclass are determined from observations of the physical area andfrom data gathered during surveys.

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



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

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

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

n Effective Antenna Height—allows you to define theeffective antenna height using one of seven algorithms: baseheight, spot height, average height, slope, profile, absolutespot height, or ground reflection slope. This tab is specific tothe Planet General Model.

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

3 Click OK to save propagation model settings.

When you choose the ground type for the Predict 4 model, the ClutterAbsorption Loss is set to 0. When you optimize survey results using theModel Tuning tool, the tool calculates the Clutter Absorption Loss.

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

To view or hide unassigned propagation models

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

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

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


CHAPTER 6 Defining Network Settings

After you create a project, you must define the network settings. Networksettings include the technology type, supported modulations, frameconfiguration, and the spectrum allotment. This chapter describes how todefine network settings.


Workflow for defining network settings 117

Understanding network settings 118

Defining network settings 124


Chapter 6

Workflow for defining network settings

Step 1 Specify the technologies supported by the network.

Step 2 Define the spectrum allocation.

Step 3 For each available technology, specify which channels (or carriers) areavailable, define available modulations, and determine the frameconfiguration.

Step 4 Create base station types and define general base station parametersincluding supported modulations.

Step 5 Define neighbor plan parameters such as the maximum number ofneighbors supported.


Defining Network Settings

Understanding network settings

Network settings define the technology type, supported carriers, and thespectrum definitions that apply to your network. All network settings aregrouped in the Network Settings dialog box.

Technology types

Mentum Planet supports cdma2000, WCDMA, WiMAX TDD, Fixed WiMAX TDD,Fixed WiMAX FDD, LTE FDD, and TDMA/FDMA technologies as well as a generictechnology. You define which technologies are available on the SpectrumAllocation tab. It is important to configure bands correctly in order to avoidcases where a single real physical band is defined to several sub-bands;therefore, making it difficult to manage the carriers correctly at the sectorlevel.

Carriers

Carriers define the frequencies available in your network and the bandwidth ofeach. They are automatically calculated according to the available spectrumand channel bandwidth specified on the Spectrum Allocation tab. After carriersare calculated, you can assign them to individual sectors. Once you do so, youcannot modify the spectrum allocation or carriers. The start and endfrequencies are read-only when the carriers are in use. You can define multiplebands per technology and overlapping between bands is allowed.

Each sector in the network is assigned to a single band but can be allocatedone or more carriers within that band. Subscriber equipment is configured tosupport one or more bands.

EV-DO Rev. A link modeling

Flexible packet length support for reverse links is an important feature of EV-DO Rev. A. In Rev. 0, reverse link packets are transmitted in fixed 16-slotframes, resulting in a fixed latency target and low link efficiency. In Rev. A, the16-slot reverse link frame is divided into four 4-slot frames. The introduction ofsub-frames allows the transmission of the reverse packet in one, two, three, orfour sub-packets, providing incremental redundancy for early termination. Inaddition, the number of different payload sizes has increased from five totwelve. Therefore, reverse link data can be transmitted in one of twelve


Chapter 6

payload sizes in one, two, three, or four sub-frames, which results in an increaseddata rate (up to 1843.2 kbps) and a substantially reduced latency.

Mentum Planet 4.5 supported EV-DO reverse link modeling of fixed 16-slot timeframes. This capability is improved in Mentum Planet 5.2 by supporting flexiblepacket lengths as well as the explicit modeling of acknowledgement (ACK), reverserate indicator (RRI), and auxiliary pilot channel gain. You can define EV-DO Rev. Areverse link bearers for various latency target and payload size combinations. Thedefault data channel TxT2P gain settings are provided for 1% PER targets. You canmodel reverse data rates up to 1843.2 kbps with different latency targetrequirements.

General settings for cdma2000

The general settings enable you to view the spreading chip rate of the system, andto define

n the pilot pollution margin, which is used to determine pilot polluterswhen generating analyses. Servers outside of this range are notconsidered polluters.

n interference settings for other systems. These values are used toaccount for interference that is not specifically modeled in MentumPlanet.

You can also choose curves for pilot factor mapping and usage factor mapping. Thepilot factor mapping and usage factor mapping are combined in the Pilot - PollutionIndex layer. The Pilot - Pollution Index layer shows the proportion of traffic likely tobe affected by pilot pollution, providing a lesser weighting to areas where pilotpollution may exist but the affected traffic is low. The curves are used as follows:

n Pilot Factor Mapping—This curve maps pilot factors to pilot ratios.The pilot factor is a non-dimensional factor from 0 to 1. Typically, ifthe pilot ratio exceeds 7 dB, establishing a pilot is unlikely. If it isless than 7 dB, establishing a pilot is more likely. The pilot factor ishigh (close to one) if establishing a pilot in a bin is unlikely, and low(close to zero) if establishing a pilot is likely.

n Usage Factor Mapping—This curve maps usage factors to userdensities. The usage factor is a non-dimensional factor from 0 to 1that is determined for each bin in the analysis area. The usage factoris high (close to one) in bins where the need to establish a pilot is



high, and low (close to zero) in bins where the need toestablish a pilot is low.

You can edit the usage and pilot curves to modify the relationship between theX- and Y-axes. This relationship affects the final calculated Pilot PollutionIndex values. Adjusting the usage and pilot curves enables you to modelpossible changes to your network or isolate any factors causing pilot pollution.For example, if you move the usage curve to the right, higher userdensity/average user density ratio values must be met before the bins areconsidered to be areas where the need for pilot coverage is high.

NOTE: The X-axis of the usage factor curve is in milli-Erlangs per km2. If youhave assigned a traffic map with values in subscribers per km2 to anysubscriber types, the values will be converted to Erlangs per km2 before theusage factor curve is applied.

Correlation model settings for cdma2000

The correlation model settings enable you to define settings for modelingfading. You can define settings for the following two types of correlationmodels for slow fading of signals:

n Angular—uses a correlation factor for each pair of signalsreceived by the mobile from different sectors. The correlationfactor is based on the angular separation of the two sectors atthe mobile. The correlation factors are used in the calculationof handover gain and in the generation of fading signal values.

n Non-angular—uses correlation factors for co-site sectors andnon-cosite sectors.

Power control settings for cdma2000

The power control settings enable you to define power control errors that youcan simulate during an analysis.

Power control errors are caused by delays of power control commands andpower control step, and can affect network performance. Effective powercontrol decreases the interference across the network. Forward link powercontrol ensures the traffic power meets the mobile’s Eb/No requirement,without using excessive power. If the traffic power is excessive, capacity-


Chapter 6

limiting interference occurs on other traffic and pilot signals. Likewise, on the reverselink, inadequate power control can lead to interference on the network if the mobileis using excessive power to communicate with the site. As more users are added to anetwork, the received noise level at the site increases. In order for the mobile tomaintain an acceptable Eb/No, it needs to increase the transmitted power.

If the user is moving closer to the site, and/or comes out of a shadowed area, thereceived signal at the site will increase quickly. This improves the voice quality of thesignal but also greatly increases the interference experienced by other users and, inturn, reduces their voice quality. To prevent the increase in interference, very fastmobile traffic power control is required. cdma2000 technology achieves this fastpower control by having the site measure the uplink Eb/No value and assess thequality of service for every user to which it is connected, many hundreds of times asecond. With each measurement, two situations can arise:

n the measured Eb/No is too high, in which case the site commandsthe mobile to decrease the power it transmits

n the measured Eb/No is too low, in which case the site commands themobile to increase the power it transmits

If a mobile is in soft handoff, there are two or more servers in its active set. Themobile decreases the power it transmits if any of the servers commands, but onlyincreases the power if all the servers command it. This difference gives rise to thesoft handoff gain, which is described in more detail in the next section.

If a user moves behind a building, for example, the mobile must power up in order tocontinue to stay connected. Likewise, if a user moves close to a site, the mobilemust power down in order to reduce the interference it creates. Power control signalsare transmitted up to 1.5kHz on both the forward link and reverse link. The ability ofthe network to fully realize the benefit of the power control is dependent on theresponse time of both inner and outer loop power controls. Outer loop power controlis the more restrictive of the two, because it depends on the frame duration andinterleaving of data between frames.

Due to these response time considerations, the power level needed to achieve therequired Eb/No will not be exactly maintained. To accommodate the power delays, itis desirable to model the power control error statistically.



Carrier settings for cdma2000

The carrier settings enable you to define the power amplifier (PA) threshold,noise rise, and preference weightings for the carriers that you created on theSpectrum Allocation panel. The PA threshold, noise rise, and preferenceweightings are soft thresholds. When you generate an analysis, subscriberswill be allocated to carriers according to the preference weightings until eitherthe PA threshold or noise rise value is reached on a carrier. Then, subscriberswill be distributed on carriers for which a threshold has not been reached.

If there are no more carriers, the traffic will exceed the soft limits rather thanbe blocked.

You can also define the standard that is assigned to each carrier:

n IS-95—the carrier supports Interim Standard 95 (IS-95)traffic only. Traffic on this carrier will be limited to bearers withradio configurations RC1 and RC2.

n 1xRTT—the carrier supports single carrier (1x) radiotransmission technology (1xRTT). Traffic on this carrier ispermitted in all radio configurations.

n EV-DO—the carrier supports Evolution - Data Only (EV-DO)traffic (IS-856). When the carrier supports EV-DO an EV-DOnode is added to the Network Technologies tree view fromwhere you can define EV-DO parameters including whetherEV-DO Revision 0 or Revision A is supported.

PA threshold

The PA Threshold value is a soft target. When you generate an analysis,subscribers will be allocated to carriers according to the Preference Weightingsuntil either the PA Threshold or Noise Rise value is reached on a carrier. Then,subscribers will be distributed on carriers for which a threshold has not beenreached. If, however, soft targets have been reached on all available carriers,then the analysis will carry subscribers until other hard limits defined in thesector settings are reached. The PA Threshold does not apply to EV-DOcarriers.


Chapter 6

Bearer settings for cdma2000

A radio bearer is a collection of radio network resources that is required to support aparticular service data rate at a given error performance requirement. Standardcdma2000 bearers are configured with a direction (forward link or reverse link).

Base station types

Base station types are used to define different base station configurations in termsof the modulations supported and are also used in neighbor planning.



Defining network settings

When you define network settings, you specify the technology types for theproject. You also define the channels supported, the available downlink anduplink modulations, as well as the frame configuration.


To define network settings


2 On the Network Technologies panel, enable the technologiessupported by the network.

3 In the tree view, choose Spectrum Allocation.

4 Click the cdma2000tab and add or remove bands as required.

5 In the tree view, choose cdma2000.

6 On each tab, define parameters as required.


CHAPTER 7 Configuring And Placing Sites

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


Workflow for configuring and placing sites 126

Using site templates 127

Understanding sites and sectors 129

Placing sites automatically 135

Defining link configurations 142

Creating and editing sites 146


Chapter 7

Workflow for configuring and placing sites

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

n by defining a new site

n based on the settings of an existing site

n based on a site template

Step 2 Define the supported antenna system.

Step 3 Define sector parameters.

Step 4 Define traffic settings.

Step 5 If required, edit placed sites and sectors.

Step 6 If required, save a site template.


Configuring And Placing Sites

Using site templates

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

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

To create a site template

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

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

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

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

2 Type a name for the site template.

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

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

4 Click OK.

The site template is added to the Project Explorer.


Chapter 7

To rename a site template

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Sites category, expand the SiteTemplates node, right-click the site template you want to rename,and choose Rename.

2 Modify the name as required.

To set the site template as active

n In the Project Explorer, in the Sites category, expand the SiteTemplates node, right-click the site template you want to be activeand choose Active.

The active site template is used when creating new sites. If there is no activesite template, default values are used.

To view a site template

n In the Project Explorer, in the Sites category, expand the SiteTemplates node, right-click the site template you want to view,and choose View.

The site template opens in Excel.

To delete a site template

n In the Project Explorer, in the Sites category, expand the SiteTemplates node, right-click the site template you want to delete,and choose Delete.



Understanding sites and sectors

A site is a fixed geographical location. At the site, there are technology-specific base stations, each with associated sectors as illustrated in Figure 7.1.Hence, antenna systems can be shared between sectors that support differenttechnologies.

Figure 7.1: Example of how a site, base stations, and sectors relate.

In the Site Editor, you can access all pertinent information about a site,associated base stations and the sectors they support. This includes linkinformation, quality and performance criteria, as well as details about thesupported antenna systems as shown in Figure 7.2.

Figure 7.2: Site Editor

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

You can view and update site and sector parameters using the Tabular Editor.

General site parameters

On the General tab at the base station level, you define the throughput thatyou want the site and the channel elements to support. You also assign a base


Chapter 7

station type.

Channel element parameters

The parameters on the Channel Element tab enable you to define how best toallocate sector resources so that the maximum number of subscribers are served.

General sector parameters

On the General tab at the sector level, you define the flags and groups that areapplicable to the sector and you specify the frequency band supported.

Custom user data

You can add additional attributes to project data in order to clarify or expand on it.This is particularly useful when you are working in a multi-user environment whereprojects are being shared.

There are two types of custom user data:

n user data that can be shared with others and is saved in DataManager

n user data that is only saved locally and is not stored in DataManager

For custom data to be shared using Data Manager, the Data Manager Administratormust define the attributes and type definitions. The name and type of the attribute isthen displayed on the User Data tab and you can specify a value for it. The Sharedcheck box is enabled to indicate that the data is saved in Data Manager when sharingprojects.

On the other hand, if you only need to save the custom data locally, you can defineattributes and type definitions in the project settings. These attributes are alsodisplayed on the User Data tab but the Shared check box is cleared indicating thatthe information will be saved locally and cannot be shared using Data Manager.

You can add custom user data to base stations, sites, sectors, repeaters, antennas,and carriers.



Link parameters

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

Carrier parameters

All the carriers available in the network are listed on the Carriers tab. Byenabling a check box next to a carrier, you make the carrier available to thesector.

PN Offset parameters

There are two ways to assign PN offset values:

n Manually—On the PN Offset tab, assigning a PN offset valueto one or more sectors that are to be included in the PN offsetplan and if required, changing the associated search windowsettings. The PN offset for a sector (a value from 0 to 511)corresponds to a starting point in a PN offset index. If youassign PN offset values to sectors manually, you must specifyenough separation between time shifts to avoid interferencebetween sectors.

n Automatically—using PN offset plans and the PN Offset Tool.

Search windows are set using an index value, which corresponds to a windowsize in chips. The valid index values and corresponding window sizes (in chips)are shown in


Chapter 7

Table 1 Search window settings

Index Value Window Size (Chips)

0 4

1 6

2 8

3 10

4 14

5 20

6 28

7 40

8 60

9 80

10 100

11 130

12 160

13 226

14 320

15 452

General carrier parameters

On the General tab at the carrier level, you define the maximum number of Walshcodes that can be allocated to traffic channels as well as antenna parameters(including split section definitions) and power amplifier (PA) parameters.

Implementation parameters

Implementation parameters are related to the quality of service provided by thesector and to the traffic loading of the sector.



Quality of service parameters include the maximum speed at which vehicularsubscribers can travel and still be supported by the sector. If the vehicularsubscriber travels at a higher speed than the maximum speed, the subscriberis not carried by the sector. The maximum speed parameter enables you toensure that fast-moving subscribers are not served by certain sectors (forexample, microcells). You can define the speeds of vehicular subscribersdifferently for difference clutter classes using the Environment Editor (forexample, subscribers in an area classified as highway are expected to move ata higher speed than subscribers in an area classified as street.)

The reverse noise rise parameter represents the traffic loading on the reverselink. It is defined as the total interference power received by the sector riseabove the sector’s thermal noise. The parameter affects the calculation ofrequired reverse transmit power.

The forward total traffic power parameter represents the total traffic powertransmitted by the sector in order to carry a certain traffic load. The parameteraffects the calculation of forward link interference.

For EV-DO sectors

The forward average throughput is calculated based on the forward pilot Ec/Ioof each served subscriber. Because all subscribers share, in time, the sameforward carrier, the average cell throughput for the reference schedulingscheme is based on the assumption that each subscriber is served on an equaltime, round-robin basis.

The Scheduler Gain curve, defined on the Implementation tab of the Site Editorfor EV-DO sectors, can be used to introduce a gain in cell throughput incomparison to the equal time round-robin scheduler, which is the referencescheduler scheme. The gain is a result of the throughput enhancement; at acost to fairness in serving subscribers, of other Schedulers, such as theProportional Fair scheduler, in the optimization of the timing, duration, andfrequency when a subscriber is served; in other words, the difference in theway these schedulers trade-off throughput and fairness by taking advantageof multi-user diversity.

If no Scheduler Gain curve is assigned, no gain is applied, resulting in a 100%value for gain, representing equal time, round-robin scheduling. Normally, theProportional Fair scheduler would have a gain superior to equal time round-robin scheduling. The gain would increase from 100% for 1 subscriber to apeak of approximately 200% for 10 to 16 subscribers in an urban environment,because the former takes an increasing advantage of multi-user diversity


Chapter 7

(serving a subscriber primarily when the channel conditions are most favorable,referred to as “upfade”).

The parameters on the Implementation tab center around the performance andquality of the signal provided by the sector. This includes filter loss parameters andquality parameters (such as the best server coverage threshold).

Power parameters

Power parameters define the power requirements for the sector. You can view thepower distribution.

Neighbor list

It is on the Neighbor List tab in the Site Editor that you can specify how to determinecandidate neighbors (i.e., what is the allowable distance between neighbors) as wellas which sites are not to be considered as part of the neighbor planning process (andare black listed). You can also view neighbor candidates in the Map window.

Antenna Systems

In the Site Editor, you define various elements of the antenna system including theantenna pattern, associated antenna parameters, and location, which are groupedon the General tab making it easy to set up a non co-located sector. You can alsodefine the degree of correction to apply during antenna masking in order to improvemodeling of the antenna backlobe in predictions, specify optimization constraints toconsider in automatic cell planning and, if available, you can specify custom antennaattributes.

You can also access the Antenna Editor where you can define more detailedelements of the antenna system including the settings related to the use of multipleantennas, the master antenna, or the antenna element.



Placing sites automatically

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

n Basic—the tool generates hexagons based on the criteria youdefine and places a site at the center of each hexagon usingeither the default site configuration or the site template youspecify. If you are using a clutter file, you can exclude clutterclasses such that no sites will be placed within them.

n Advanced —the tool generates complex shapes based on theplanning strategy you choose and the criteria you define(including clutter-specific criteria) and places a site at thecenter of the shape using the site template you specify. Eachsite is given a level of priority that determines whether itbecomes a possible site candidate. In Advanced mode, youcan use a traffic map in order to generate more accurateshapes. In addition, you can use existing and candidate sitesin the site placement process.

Determining site placement in the Basic mode

Step 1 The ASPT divides the selected polygon into a series of hexagonsbased on the hexagon radius or the number of hexagons you definein the generation options.

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


Chapter 7

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

Determining site placement in the Advanced mode

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

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

n Expansion, where there are existing sites

Step 2 Depending on the settings you define, the ASPT displays possible sitelocations on the map. In Advanced mode, there are three types of sitesidentified during the automatic site placement process:

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

n Candidate Sites—sites you have placed in the network at possiblesite locations.

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



You can specify when to place a site in individual clutter classes andwhich site template you use. You can also define propagation modelparameters including the site radius, the minimum and maximumsite radius, the Okumura class as well as the frequency band(whether network-defined or user-defined).

Step 3 A possible site is placed at the center of each shape using the sitetemplate that you specify. If the planning strategy you choose is"Expansion" with existing sites, then existing sites are consideredfirst in the planning process, candidate sites are considered next,and new sites are placed to fill in any gaps. In the illustration thatfollows, the blue sites are existing sites, the green sites arecandidate sites, and the purple sites are new sites. Candidate sitesare considered in order of priority (defined in the Site Editor).

Step 4 When you create sites, candidate sites become permenant sitesand are added to the Sites node in the Project Explorer. New sitesare placed in gap areas, added to the Project Explorer and placed onthe map. A new local group is also created that contains the newlycreated sites.


Chapter 7


To place sites in Basic mode

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

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

n Create an area grid.

2 Choose Optimization Automatic Site Placement.

The Automatic Site Placement dialog box opens.



3 In the Mode section, choose the Basic option.

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

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

n Area—to identify the region within which you want to placesites using an area grid. When you use this option, you mustfirst have created an area grid.

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

6 Click Generate.


Chapter 7

To place sites in Advanced mode

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

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

n Create an area grid.

2 Choose Optimization Automatic Site Placement.

The Automatic Site Placement dialog box opens.

3 In the Mode section, choose the Advanced option.

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

n General—includes network planning strategy (i.e., greenfield orexpansion), existing and candidate site selection, and region



definition.

n Site Templates—includes site template for each class,ability to adjust antenna heights, minimum and maximumantenna heights as well as minimum and maximum trafficloads.

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

5 Click Generate.

Cells are placed across the region.


Chapter 7

Defining link configurations

Link configurations track the gains and losses that occur as a signal travels. In otherwords, a link configuration calculates the radiated power for a sector based on thepower output of the sector’s power amplifier (PA) plus or minus system gains andlosses. In Mentum Planet , you define link configurations in the Link ConfigurationEditor. You can define several link configurations for a project. When linkconfigurations are assigned to sectors, the link configuration icon is blue as shown inFigure 7.3.

Figure 7.3: Assigned link configuration identified with a blue icon.

Losses and gains

For both the downlink and uplink, a default antenna gain value is added based on theantenna type assigned to the sector. You cannot modify this value. Initially, thevalue is 0 but will be updated once the link configuration is assigned to a sector. Adefault Feeder value on both the downlink and the uplink is added to account forcable and connector losses and a main feeder loss is calculated by multiplying thecable length defined on the Link tab and the main feeder loss per meter defined inthe associated link configuration. The main feeder value is always included in the linkconfiguration calculations.

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

You can add additional losses and gains as required. Because the Friis noise formula(see Equation 7.1) is used to calculate the Uplink Noise Figure, the order of the itemsin the Link Configuration Editor must match the hierarchy of the sector hardware(see Figure 7.4). By default, the BTS Noise Figure is always the last item in the list.



Figure 7.4: Example sector hardware configuration

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

Equation 7.1 Friis noise formula


Chapter 7

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

Figure 7.5: Information section on the Link tab in the Site Editor.

If you are using an Excel spreadsheet to import link configuration settings, you mustuse the Index column to specify the order of the items in the Losses and Gains list.For more information, see “Importing and exporting project data” in “Working WithNetwork and Project Data”, in the Mentum Planet User Guide.




To define link configurations

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

The Link Configuration Editor opens.

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

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

To view or hide unassigned link configurations

n In the Project Explorer, in the Project Data category,right-click Link Configurations and choose one of thefollowing commands:

n Show Unassigned Link Configurations—displays inthe Project Explorer those link configurations that havenot been assigned to a sector.

n Hide Unassigned Link Configurations—hides in theProject Explorer those link configurations that have notbeen assigned to a sector.


Chapter 7

Creating and editing sites

Once you have defined site and sector parameters, you can create a site templatebased on these settings and use this template to add similar sites to the network.See “Using site templates”.

Once a site has been placed, you can change any of the settings that have beendefined. If you have acquired GPS readings for all your sites and you want to updatethe position of a sector, you can edit the site location manually.

For more information on general site, base station, and sector properties, see“Working with Sites and Sectors”, in the Mentum Planet User Guide.


CAUTION: By default, site updates are saved in the site set. To update the sitetable (.tab) file, you must right-click the Sites node and choose Update Site File. Siteupdates are not automatically added to the site table.

To create a new site

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Sites category, do one of thefollowing:

n To use a specific site template, expand the Site Templates node,expand the Local or Shared node, and right-click the templateupon which you want to base the site, then choose New Site.

n To use the active site template, right-click the Sites node andchoose New Site.The active site template is identified with a green arrow.

2 Click in the Map window at the location where you want to place thesite.

To edit site parameters

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Sites category, expand the Sitesnode, right-click the site you want to edit, and choose Edit.



2 Modify site parameters as required.

3 To change the antenna systems available for this site, do one ofthe following:

n In the tree view, right-click the Antennas node, and chooseAdd.

n Click the Add Antenna System button at the top of thedialog box.

A default antenna system is added.

4 Choose the newly-added antenna system and modify antennaparameters as required.

TIP: To define parameters for all sectors at the site, click the Tabular Editbutton.

TIP: You can also edit sites by clicking the Edit Site button on the Sitetoolbar, and then clicking in the Map window to select the sector.


Chapter 7

TIP: To move a site, open the Site Editor, change the x and y coordinates, and clickApply. To get the coordinates from the map, click the Get Coordinates from Mapbutton, click in the Map window at the desired location, and click Apply.

To create a new site based on an existing site

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Sites category, right-click the site thatyou want to copy and choose Place Copy.

2 In the Map window, click once on a location to place the site.

The created site is displayed in the Map window and a site having the nameCopy of <site name> is added to the Sites category in the Project Explorer.

3 In the Project Explorer, right-click the newly copied site and chooseEdit.

4 In the Site Editor, adjust site parameters as required.

Site Editor

Link

Use this tab to specify the link configuration.

Antennas

Antenna—choose from this list the antenna system for the selected sector. Theantenna systems listed are those displayed in the Site Editor tree view.

Power Split—type in this box how antennas at the sector share available power (asa percentage).

Edit—click this button display the General tab for the antenna where you can modifyantenna values and location coordinates.

Remove—click this button to remove an antenna if you are using split sectors.

Link Configuration—choose from this list the link configuration you want toassociate with the sector. Click the View button to view the details of the link



configuration. The Link Configuration list and the View button are not availablefor cdma2000 sectors because the link configuration is defined at the carrier-level.

Cable Length—type in this box the length of the feeder cable. This value isincluded in the main feeder loss calculated in the associated link configuration.

View—click this button to display the General tab for the selected antenna.

Add—click this button to add additional antenna systems to the sector if youare using split sectors. Split sectors use several directional antennas totransmit the same signal.

Predictions

Use this section to define the propagation model, the number of radials, theprediction distance as well as the prediction mode.

Model—choose from this list the propagation model for the selected site.

Edit—click this button to modify the current propagation model.

Distance—type in this box the maximum distance from the sector to calculatesignal strength.

Number of Radials—type in this box the number of radials originating from asite along which to calculate predictions. More radials produce a more accuratebut slower calculation.

NOTE: If you are using the Planet General Model, the number of radials youdefine is rounded up to the closest number divisible by four. For example, ifyou set the number of radials to 357 then when generating predictions MentumPlanet uses 360 radials.


Chapter 7

Mode

Use this section to specify the type of prediction to associate with the sector.Propagation models cannot always account for the complexities of signalpropagation in urban environments. Hence, to predict more accurately how a signalwill behave, you can merge survey and prediction data. This is valuable becausesurvey data represents the actual coverage provided by the network, improving theaccuracy of your predictions.

Merged—enable this check box to merge model predictions with survey data. Clearthe check box to generate predictions using only the assigned propagation model.

Interpolation Distance—type in this box the distance used to set the surveyweighting value used to calculate merged prediction values. The survey weightingvalue is a value between 0 and 1 determined using linear interpolation and thedistance between a prediction point and the nearest survey point. The weight of theprediction is 1 minus the survey weighting value.

Information

The Information section displays the power settings for the sector.

Status Bar

Use the status bar to view messages and warnings. For example, if a sector uses anantenna that does not support the band assigned to the sector, the warning "Someantennas are used outside their operating bands" is displayed in the status bar at thebottom of the dialog box.

Site Editor

PN Offset

Use this tab to define PN offset planning settings such as the PN offset and searchwindow sizes for the active neighboring sets of sectors. Search window sizes are setusing an index value, which corresponds to a window size in chips.

Search window settings



Index Value Window Size (Chips)

0 4

1 6

2 8

3 10

4 14

5 20

6 28

7 40

8 60

9 80

10 100

11 130

12 160

13 226

14 320

15 452

PN Offset—type a PN offset value to assign a specific PN offset value to thesector.

SRCH_WIN_A—type in this box the index value corresponding to the size ofthe search window associated with the set of active and candidate pilots.

SRCH_WIN_N—type in this box the index value corresponding to the size ofthe search window associated with the set of neighbor pilots.

Status Bar

Use the status bar to view messages and warnings. For example, if a sectoruses an antenna that does not support the band assigned to the sector, thewarning "Some antennas are used outside their operating bands" is displayedin the status bar at the bottom of the dialog box.


Chapter 7

Site Editor

Implementation

Quality Parameters

Pilot Detection Threshold—type in this box the minimum pilot signal to noise ratio(Ec/Io) value required for a pilot signal to become the primary server (i.e., bestserver) of the active set. If no pilot signal has an Ec/Io value above the pilotdetection threshold, when a subscriber attempts a connection, the call will berefused.

Rules for determining an active set

The active set consists of one primary server and, if in handoff, a number ofsecondary servers.

Primary server:

Ec/Io > Pilot Detection Margin

Secondary server:

Ec/Io > T DROP; and Maximum Active Server limit is not exceeded; and Max Intra-site Server limit is not exceeded

Maximum Noise Rise—type in this box the maximum noise rise permitted for thesector. This value is used to limit the number of subscribers in a system based onnoise rise.

Maximum Users (Per Sector)—type in this box the maximum number ofinstantaneous subscribers permitted for the carrier used by the sector. Limiting thenumber of subscribers on a per sector basis increases call blocking to controlinterference between subscribers in the same sector and maintains good call qualityand system stability. This box is only available for 1XRTT carriers.

T Drop—type in this box the threshold value below which a pilot is to be removedfrom the active set. If the pilot signal is above the T Drop threshold, then it is acandidate for the active set. The number of servers in the active set is limited to thevalue defined in the Maximum Active Servers box in the relevant Mobile EquipmentTechnology Band. For example, if the number of active servers is set to three and the



fourth server is within the T Drop threshold, then the fourth server is a pilotpolluter. This value is used when generating pilot pollution analysis layers.

Rule for determining pilot polluters

Pilot polluter:

Server is not the primary or secondary server (i.e., the server is not inthe active set); and Ec/Io > Pilot Pollution Margin

(The Pilot Pollution Margin value is defined on the General tab for cdma2000panel in the Network Settings dialog box.

Maximum Intra-site Servers—type in this box the maximum number of co-site sectors allowed to be in soft handover. For example, a maximum of 2 co-site sectors may be in soft handover for a user, even if a third sector satisfiesthe selection criteria.

Maximum Cell Radius—type in this box the maximum cell radius of thesector. The sector will not carry discrete subscribers beyond the maximumradius.

Maximum Speed—type in this box the maximum speed that subscribers in aVehicular environment can be traveling to be served by the sector.

The maximum speed value is used when you generate a Monte Carlo analysis.If a randomly generated subscriber is traveling at a speed that exceeds thesector limit, the subscriber will not be served by the sector.

You can use this option to ensure that fast-moving subscribers are not servedby specific sectors (for example, microcells). You define the maximum speedparameter on the Implementation tab in the Site Editor. The measurement ofkm/h is always used for the Maximum Speed value if you have chosen eithermeters or kilometers as your unit of measure for distance on the Units pane ofthe User Preferences dialog box. km/h is always used instead of m/h becauseit is much more commonly used.

Sector Loading

Reverse Noise Rise—type in this box a target noise rise value for the sector.

Forward Total Traffic Power—type in this box a target total traffic powervalue for the sector.


Chapter 7

Status Bar

Use the status bar to view messages and warnings. For example, if a sector uses anantenna that does not support the band assigned to the sector, the warning "Someantennas are used outside their operating bands" is displayed in the status bar at thebottom of the dialog box.

Site Editor

Powers

PA Power—type in this box the maximum power amplifier (PA) power output by thesector on this carrier.

Total Power (EIRP)—type in this box the total power (EIRP) output by the sectoron this carrier.

Pilot Power

Absolute Value (dBm)—type in this box an absolute value for the pilot powersupported by the sector on this carrier. When you enter an absolute value, thepercentage of PA power this equates to is automatically displayed in the % of PAPower box.

% of PA Power—type in this box the percentage of the total PA power valuesupported by the sector on this carrier. When you enter a percentage, the absolutevalue this equates to is automatically displayed in the Absolute Value box.

Control Power

Channel Name—displays the channel name (i.e., synchronization or paging).

Relative To Pilot Power (dB)—type in this box the amount of control powerrelative to the pilot power supported by the sector on this carrier.

% of PA Power—type in this box the percentage of the PA power allocated to thecontrol powers.



Traffic Channel Power

Power Limit—displays the maximum/minimum power limit label.

Relative to Pilot Power (dB)—type in this box the amount of traffic channelpower relative to the pilot power supported by the sector on this carrier.

% of PA Power—type in this box the percentage of the PA power allocated tothe traffic channel power.

Other User Interference

Average RACH Interference Power—type in this box the average randomaccess channel interference power for the sector on this carrier.

Status Bar

Use the status bar to view messages and warnings. For example, if a sectoruses an antenna that does not support the band assigned to the sector, thewarning "Some antennas are used outside their operating bands" is displayedin the status bar at the bottom of the dialog box.


CHAPTER 8 Adding Repeaters

In order to increase network coverage, you can add repeaters to your network.Repeaters are electronic devices that receive a signal, amplify it, and thenretransmit it at a higher power. This chapter describes how to add repeaters toyour project.


Understanding repeaters 157

Workflow for adding repeaters to sectors 160

Adding repeaters to sectors 161

Locating repeaters in a Map window 168


Chapter 8

Understanding repeaters

Repeaters are used to retransmit signals received from donor sectors to locationsthat have insufficient coverage. For example, repeaters can be used to extendcoverage or fill in shadow areas caused by hills, large buildings, and other structuresthat obstruct signals.

A repeater receives a signal from the donor antenna of a donor sector, and thenamplifies and retransmits the signal through its service antenna. Repeaters areprimarily used to reduce path loss without providing an increase in network capacity.Generally, repeaters add noise and amplify noise in the uplink, which can limit theireffectiveness; however, a well placed repeater can reduce noise levels within anetwork and enhance the overall capacity.

Implementing repeaters can be an efficient and cost-effective method of increasingthe received signal strength for mobiles in an area without having to place additionalsites.

A repeater’s power is defined by its Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP). EIRPmeasures the maximum radiated power in the direction of the maximum gainrelative to an isotropic antenna (typically in the direction the antenna is pointing).

The EIRP of repeaters is based on the power of the first active carrier, and iscalculated as shown in Equation 8.1.

Equation 8.1 Repeater EIRP


Adding Repeaters

Types of repeater implementations

There are several different ways to implement repeaters in a network. Forexample, in areas where

n there are a lot of buildings, you could implement split sectorswhere several directional antennas are used to transmit thesame signal. See “Using split sectors”.

n you want to extend indoor coverage, you could implement aDistributed Antenna System (DAS). See “Using distributedantenna systems”.

Using split sectors

When split sectors are used in the network, sectors use several directionalantennas to transmit the same signal. In Mentum Planet , you define split


Chapter 8

sectors in the Site Editor by adding additional antennas on the Link tab for the sectoryou want to use.

Using distributed antenna systems

When distributed antenna systems are used in the network, the transmitted power isdivided between several elements in the network and consists of split sectors andrepeaters depending on the maximum distance between antennas.

Repeaters and predictions

When you generate predictions for a sector that has one or more repeaters assignedto it, signal strength grid (.grd) files are generated for the sector and for eachrepeater. The analyses use the separate predictions for the donor sectors andrepeaters.

A combined signal strength file is also generated, which merges the separate sectorand repeater signal strength files. Combined signal strength predictions are usedwhen the full coverage area of a sector is required, such as when you generate atraffic map or interference matrix, or analyze the interference between two sectors.

After you have generated predictions for a sector, you can choose to view aprediction for the donor sector or individual repeaters. You can also view a combinedprediction that displays the combined signal strengths of the donor sector and all ofits repeaters. For information on generating and viewing predictions, see “Chapter 8:Generating Predictions” in the Mentum Planet User Guide.


Adding Repeaters

Workflow for adding repeaters to sectors

Step 1 Configure and place sites.

Step 2 Add repeaters to sectors with insufficient coverage.


Chapter 8

Adding repeaters to sectors

When you add a repeater to a sector, you define general settings, such as the donorsector for which the repeater will retransmit a signal, and the location of therepeater. You must also define settings for service and donor antennas, predictions,repeater links, implementation criteria (such as filters and quality limits), as well asconfiguration settings.

The gain of a repeater in Mentum Planet is maintained at a constant level. Anychanges to the donor sector and repeater system that affect the power received bythe repeater will result in a similar change in the EIRP of the repeater. For example, achange in the masked pathloss between the donor sector and the repeater, thedonor sector’s pilot power, or the antenna system at the donor sector which resultsin a change to the EIRP of the sector, will result in a similar change in the EIRP of therepeater. The EIRP value at the repeater will also change in line with a change ineither of the repeater’s antenna systems. As such, it is important to review repeatersettings following any changes of this nature.


To add repeaters to sectors

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Sites category, right-click the sectorto which you want to add a repeater, and choose Add Repeater.

2 Click in the Map window in the location where you want to add therepeater.

A repeater is added to the Map window and, in the Project Explorer, a repeaternode is added beneath the associated sector. In addition, a new site is addedto the Sites node. This new site contains only the repeater location andrepeater parameters. For example, if you add a repeater to Site 2, sector 2, anadditional site is added.


Adding Repeaters

3 To view the repeater settings, in the Project Explorer, double-click the repeater node.

4 Define repeater parameters as required.


Chapter 8

TIP: You can change the status of a repeater by right-clicking a repeater node inthe Project Explorer and choosing Active. A check mark indicates that the repeater isonline.

TIP: For maximum accuracy, enter a measured value of pathloss in the MaskedPath Loss From Donor box. The measured pathloss can be determined by measuringthe signal strength with a known EIRP from the donor sector. If you choose tocalculate the masked path loss, ensure you specify an appropriate model. The mostappropriate propagation model will depend on the specifics of the environmentbetween donor sector and the repeater donor antenna. If you suspect obstruction atthe repeater location, choose a deterministic model with the correct receiver height.You may need to create a model specifically for repeater installations.

Mentum Planet will not update the stored masked pathloss automatically, even if thecurrent value is generated using the Calculate Masked Pathloss dialog box. If thereare changes to the network that would impact the pathloss between the donor sectorand the repeater, you must apply a new value to the repeater, either by manuallyentering a new value in the Repeater Settings dialog box or re-calculating the valueusing the Calculate Masked Pathloss dialog box.

Site Editor

Configuration

Carriers

Status—enable the check box next to those carriers you want the repeater tosupport.

Carrier Name—displays the carrier name. The carrier name is defined in thenetwork settings.

Equipment

Pilot Power EIRP—displays the pilot EIRP for the repeater based on the donorsector pilot EIRP, masked pathloss, as well as various system losses. For acdma2000 repeater, the EIRP value is the pilot EIRP based on the pilot power of thefirst carrier on the donor sector.


Adding Repeaters

Repeater Gain—type in this box the system gain experienced by therepeater. The value in the Power EIRP box is updated based on the value youenter.

System Losses—type in this box the system losses experienced by therepeater. The value in the Power EIRP box is updated based on the value youenter.

Forward Maximum Power Per Carrier—type in this box the maximumpower output per carrier.

Status Bar

Use the status bar to view messages and warnings. For example, if a repeateruses an antenna that does not support the band assigned to the repeater, thewarning "Some antennas are used outside their operating bands" is displayedin the status bar at the bottom of the dialog box.

Site Editor

Donor

Use the Donor tab to define the parameters of the relationship between therepeater and its donor sector, including the donor antenna (i.e., the repeaterantenna that receives the signal from the donor sector on the downlink andtransmits the amplified signal to the donor sector on the uplink) for RFrepeaters.

Type

RF—enable this option to indicate that the donor antenna receives the signalfrom a conventional RF signal.

Fiber—enable this option to indicate that the donor antenna receives thesignal from a fiber-optic cable. When the Fiber option is enabled, the DonorAntenna parameters are not available.

Donor Antenna—displays the name of the donor antenna.

Edit—click this button to change the antenna parameters and location.


Chapter 8

Link Configuration—choose from this list the link configuration you want toassociate with the repeater.

View —click this button to open the link configuration dialog box. Values are read-only.

Cable Length—type in this box the length of the feeder cable. This value is includedin the main feeder loss calculated in the associated link budget.

Model—choose from this list the propagation model with which to calculate themasked path loss.

Edit—click this button to open the Propagation Model Editor where you can changethe settings defined for the model.

Masked Pathloss—click in the box to define a masked pathloss value for the donor.

Calculate—Calculate—click this button to automatically calculate the maskedpathloss for the donor using the selected propagation model.

Status Bar

Use the status bar to view messages and warnings. For example, if a repeater usesan antenna that does not support the band assigned to the repeater, the warning"Some antennas are used outside their operating bands" is displayed in the statusbar at the bottom of the dialog box.

Site Editor

Link

Service

Antenna—choose from this list the service antenna system used to retransmit thesignal received from the donor sector.

Power Split—type in this box how the power is to be divided between the serviceantennas. This field is only available if there is more than one service antenna.

Edit—click this button to open the Antenna - General tab where you can change theantenna parameters.

Remove—click this button to remove the antenna.


Adding Repeaters

Link Configuration—choose from this list the link configuration you want toassociate with the service antenna.

Cable Length—type in this box the length of the feeder cable. This value isincluded in the main feeder loss calculated in the associated link budget.

View—click this button to open the link configuration dialog box. Values areread-only.

Add—click this button to add additional service antennas to the link. When youclick add, a new Antenna section is added on the tab.

Prediction

Model—choose from this list the prediction model for the repeater.

Edit—click this button to open the Propagation Model Editor where you canmodify propagation model settings.

Distance—type in this field the maximum distance from the repeater tocalculate signal strength.

Number of Radials—type in this field the number of radials originating from asite along which to calculate predictions. More radials produce a more accuratebut slower calculation.

Isolation

Additional Isolation—type in this box a value in dB that will be added to thetotal isolation calculated.

Isolation—displays the calculated isolation based on the masked pathloss(i.e., free space propagation including antenna gains) between the donor andservice antenna as well as the additional isolation value you define. TheIsolation box is not available if there is no defined donor sector (i.e., this is anorphaned repeater) or if the donor type is fiber. If you are using split sectors,the isolation calculation is based on the first service antenna.


Chapter 8

Status Bar

Use the status bar to view messages and warnings. For example, if a repeater usesan antenna that does not support the band assigned to the repeater, the warning"Some antennas are used outside their operating bands" is displayed in the statusbar at the bottom of the dialog box.


Adding Repeaters

Locating repeaters in a Map window

You can use the Project Explorer to locate repeaters in a Map window.

To locate repeaters in a Map window

n In the Project Explorer, in the Sites category, right-clickthe repeater and choose Locate.

The repeater is selected in the Map window.


CHAPTER 9 Defining Subscribers

Subscribers are categorized into types, which are used when you generate ananalysis of your network. Creating subscriber types that account for thepossible variations of subscribers enables you to generate reliable andcomprehensive analyses of your network.


Understanding subscribers 170

Workflow for creating subscriber types 171

Defining subscriber equipment types 172

Defining subscriber services 174

Defining subscriber types 175

Defining environment settings 178


Chapter 9

Understanding subscribers

The nodes within the Subscriber Settings dialog box represent building blocks forsubscriber types:

n Equipment Types—include the types of mobile equipment andantennas that are available in your network as well as the bearersavailable on each type of equipment.

n Services—relate to the applications that a subscriber uses and thelevel of service required. This includes the activity factors used tocalculate the effective amount of time that a subscriber uses aservice. This also includes the quality of service requirements.

n Subscriber Types—consolidate the information from the othernodes in the Subscriber Settings dialog box into variouscombinations to represent the mix of subscribers in your network.

When you define subscribers, you begin at the top of the tree view by definingequipment types. You then define services and finally, you define subscriber types.For each subscriber type, you must choose an equipment type and traffic map. Youcan define multiple usage types, each of which comprises weightings to spreadsubscribers within the four different environments. You also define a service type.

For a detailed example of how to define a subscriber type, see “Defining subscribertypes”. This example shows you how to define usages, explains the effect ofweighting, and describes how the settings that you specify for the subscriber typetranslate into a real-world scenario.


Defining Subscribers

Workflow for creating subscriber types

Step 1 Generate traffic maps for the services and area that you want toanalyze. For information on creating traffic maps, see “ManagingTraffic”, in the Mentum Planet User Guide .

Step 2 Define equipment types including hardware and bearers.

Step 3 Define services including the load and quality of service parameters.

Step 4 Create subscriber types and define the subscriber configurationincluding priority, equipment type, and usages.

Step 5 Define environment settings.


Chapter 9

Defining subscriber equipment types

A mobile equipment type is a detailed definition of the equipment used by aparticular type of subscriber in the network. Each type of equipment has its ownparticularities in terms of the technology it supports, the hardware specification ithas, and the bearers it can use.

Subscriber equipment types you define are added to the Equipment Types node inthe Subscriber Editor tree view.

cdma2000 bearers

Bearers represent the traffic channels in terms of their service data rate. You firstdefine the modulations used by the bearers in the Network Settings dialog box.Standard cdma2000 bearers are configured with a direction (uplink or downlink).Bearers are displayed on the Bearers tab associated with each equipment type.


To define subscriber equipment types

1 Choose Edit Subscriber Settings.

The Subscriber Settings dialog box opens.



2 In the tree view, right-click Equipment Types, and choose Add.

A new subnode is added to the Equipment Types node.

3 In the tree view, choose the equipment type you just added.

4 Define equipment type parameters as required.


Chapter 9

Defining subscriber services

Service types are the applications that your subscribers are using.


To define subscriber services



2 In the tree view, right-click Services, and choose Add.

A new subnode is added to the Services node.

3 In the tree view, choose the service you just added.

4 Define service parameters as required.



Defining subscriber types

Subscriber types are defined by:

n the subscriber equipment used

n the traffic map on which the subscriber type is based

n the different kinds of services that a subscriber uses and thequality that applies to each service

n the environments where the usage takes place

The information contained in a subscriber type is used when you generateMonte Carlo simulations or analysis layers. The environment weightingsdefined for each subscriber type reflects the probability that a particularsubscriber type will use a specific service in a specific environment. Forexample, if a Subscriber using a VoIP service is more likely to be using thisservice indoors rather than while in a vehicle than you could set the IndoorWeight to 2 and the Vehicular Weight to 1.

The total number of subscribers is defined by the traffic map and scaling, notby the number of usage types or environments. The total number ofsubscribers for each subscriber type is spread across the usage types andenvironments defined for the subscriber type.

Example

You might create a subscriber type called Advanced Business that representssubscribers who use mobiles as their primary business tools. The subscribersrepresented by this type use their mobiles for everything from downloadingemail to placing cellular calls. After you create the usage types, you can assigna ratio to determine the proportion of the traffic that is in each of the availableenvironments. In addition, you can set the service type and quality type foreach usage type. For example, if you set up four usage types for the AdvancedBusiness subscriber type, you could assign the weightings, service types, andquality types shown in "Example usage type settings" on next page.


Chapter 9

Table 1 Example usage type settings

Usagetype

IndoorDeepIndoor

Outdoor VehicularServicetype

1 5 5 5 5 Voice

2 1 2 1 0 Video

3 2 2 4 0 WWW

4 2 2 4 0 Email

In this example, the total weighting value calculated across all usage types is 40.Therefore, the Advanced Business subscriber type uses Usage 1 50% of the time,Usage 2 10% of the time, Usage 3 20% of the time, and Usage 4 20% of the time.


To define subscriber types





2 In the tree view, right-click Subscriber Types, and choose Add.

A new subnode is added to the Subscriber Types node.

3 In the tree view, choose the subscriber type you just added.

4 Click the Description tab, define a name and specify anyadditional comments required.

5 Click the Configuration tab and define the subscriber typeconfiguration as required.


Chapter 9

Defining environment settings

During a Monte Carlo simulation, subscribers are spread across the analysis areabased on the traffic map and then sorted according to:

n the subscriber type priority (defined on the Configuration tab foreach subscriber type)

n the service priority (defined on the Load tab for each service)

n the QoS class priority (defined on the Quality of Service tab)

Mentum Planet then determines in which clutter class a subscriber is located andassesses the impact of environmental traits on the signal and service using theenvironment settings you define as well as the usage weightings specified for eachsubscriber type. For each usage type, you can define a weighting indicating theamount of time that usage type occurs in each environment (for example, you coulddefine a business subscriber who uses voice service in an outdoor environment 10%of the time). For all of the environments, you can define the penetration loss and therequired fast fading margin.

For each clutter type, you can define the characteristics of the environments withinthat clutter type. The available environments are:

n Outdoor—open air environments

n Vehicular—moving vehicles

n Indoor—buildings or structures (normally representing areas wheresingle wall penetration is required)

n Deep Indoor—in-building areas where two-wall penetration isrequired, or dense buildings where higher than normal penetrationlosses are experienced

You can enable one or more of the environments for a clutter type. For each clutterclass, you indicate which environments you want to account for and then specify thefollowing parameters:

n Downlink Orthogonality—this value represents the signal’sorthogonality factor in the environment of the clutter.

n Slow Fading Standard Deviation—this value is used to model theshadowing from obstacles that cannot be handled by a propagationmodel. Slightly higher values (approximately 8 dB) may be



appropriate for high density urban areas, lower values(approximately 6.5 dB) for open areas.

n Outdoor Fast Fading Margin—this value represents theextra margin required for fast power control to overcomeRayleigh (fast) fading in the Outdoor environment of thisclutter type. Rayleigh fading is a variation of spatial path lossthat occurs on the scale of a few wavelengths; the wavelengthof a 2 000 MHz carrier is about 15 cm (6 inches).

n Outdoor Penetration Loss—this value represents thepenetration loss to apply on received and transmitted signalsin the Outdoor environment for a specific clutter type.

n Vehicular Fast Fading Margin—this value represents thetransmit power headroom required for fast power control tooccur and overcome Rayleigh (fast) fading in the Vehicularenvironment of this clutter type. Rayleigh fading is a variationof spatial path loss that occurs on the scale of a fewwavelengths; the wavelength of a 2 000 MHz carrier is about15 cm (6 inches).

n Vehicular Penetration Loss—this value represents thepenetration loss to apply on received and transmitted signalsin the Vehicular environment for a specific clutter type.

n Vehicular Speed—this value represents the typical movingspeed of a mobile subscriber in a vehicular environment for aspecific clutter type.

n Indoor Fast Fading Margin—this value represents theextra margin required for fast power control to occur andovercome Rayleigh (fast) fading in the Indoor environment ofthis clutter type. Rayleigh fading is a variation of spatial pathloss that occurs on the scale of a few wavelengths; thewavelength of a 2 000 MHz carrier is about 15 cm (6 inches).

n Indoor Penetration Loss—this value represents thepenetration loss to apply on received and transmitted signalsin the Indoor environment for a specific clutter type

n Deep Indoor Fast Fading Margin—this value representsthe extra margin required for fast power control to take placeand overcome Rayleigh (fast) fading in the Deep Indoorenvironment of this clutter type. Rayleigh fading is a variationof spatial path loss that occurs on the scale of a few


Chapter 9

wavelengths; the wavelength of a 2 000 MHz carrier is about 15 cm(6 inches).

n Deep Indoor Penetration Loss—this value represents thepenetration loss to apply on received and transmitted signals in theDeep Indoor environment for a specific clutter type

When you generate the analysis, you specify the subscriber environment you wantto model (i.e., Outdoor, Indoor, Deep Indoor, Vehicular). When you generate aMonte Carlo simulation, if an environment does not apply to a particular type ofclutter (for example, if the deep indoor environment does not apply to the Urban -Commercial clutter type, the simulation will not place any subscribers in that type ofclutter in that environment.

To define environment settings

1 Choose Edit Environments.

The Environment Editor opens.

2 For each clutter class, do any of the following:

n Double-click in a table cell and type a new value.

n Click the down arrow in a table cell and choose a new value.

n Enable or clear the check box for the chosen setting.



n Click the down arrow next to a table heading to display all thedata or a particular subset.

n Right-click in a table cell to copy and paste data.

3 Use the buttons on the tool strip to change the display and accessadditional tools such as the Show Graph window as well as theGenerate Statistics and Generate Labels features.

Press the F1 key for more information on the Environment Editor.


CHAPTER 10 Generating Network Analyses

cdma2000 analyses contain the information you require to determine thecoverage of your network. This chapter describes how to generate cdma2000analyses and view results. It also explains how to create statistics that youcan use to validate your network design.

For information on how to generate detailed subscriber information or cellloads, see “Generating Monte Carlo Simulations”.


Understanding network analyses 183

Workflow for generating an analysis 184

Defining default analysis layers 185

Defining default analysis settings 186

Creating and generating a network analysis 187

Generating an existing analysis 193

Viewing analysis layers 194

Generating multiple analyses 195

Deleting analyses 196

Recoloring best serving sector layers 197


Workflow for analyzing pilot pollution 199

Using the CDMA Pixel Info tool for Mentum Planet 200

Analyzing pilot pollution for Mentum Planet sectors 208


Chapter 10

Understanding network analyses

In Mentum Planet 5.x, you can generate an analysis with nothing more than theequipment type and, for cdma2000 or WCDMA, a service defined in the subscribersettings. This decreases the time required to prepare for network analysis andresults in less time being required to generate the analysis layers; however, thistype of analysis does not generate detailed subscriber information. The analysis runsonly once and generates analysis layers automatically.

Prediction view files

Prediction view files contain predicted signal strength values for all potential serversat each bin and are created when you generate an analysis. Using prediction viewfiles results in faster analyses because Mentum Planet only reads one file to accessinformation about signal strength for all potential servers.

Prediction view files work at a single resolution. If you are analyzing a large area withmostly low resolution data and small amounts of higher resolution data, the diskspace requirements can be significantly higher than the combined disk spacerequirements of the prediction data if the analysis is carried out at the higherresolution. This is because the prediction view files will be created at the higherresolution over the entire area. Also, separate prediction views are created for eachof the required analysis resolutions, which can further add to disk spacerequirements.

For example, an area that is 100 km x 100 km with a 10-meter resolution and anaverage of 10 overlapping predictions requires approximately 2 GB of disk space forprediction view files, whereas an area that is 200 km x 200 km with a 5-meterresolution and an average of 10 overlapping predictions requires approximately 32GB of disk space for prediction view files.


Generating Network Analyses

Workflow for generating an analysis

Step 1 If you want to use the same settings for a number of analyses,define default analysis settings.

Step 2 If you want to generate the same layers for a number of analyses,define default layers settings.

Step 3 Create and generate a new analysis.

Step 4 View analysis layers.

Step 5 Generate layer statistics for analysis layers.


Chapter 10

Defining default analysis layers

By default, all of the available analysis layers are generated. To avoid lengthygeneration times when working with a large project, you can exclude layers from theanalysis generation that you do not need. The analysis layer filter enables you todefine a default list of analysis layers that is available for all of the cdma2000analyses that you create for the current project.

To define default analysis layers

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Network Analyses category, right-click cdma2000 Analyses and choose Default Layers.

2 In the cdma2000 Analysis Layers dialog box, enable the check boxnext to those layers you want to generate by default, and click OK.



Defining default analysis settings

If you want to use the same settings for a number of analyses, you can definedefault settings. When you create a new analysis, these defaults areautomatically used.

To define default analysis settings

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Network Analysescategory,right-click cdma2000 Analyses and choose Default AnalysesSettings.

The cdma2000 Analysis Settings dialog box opens.

2 Define the default settings that you want to use, and click OK.


Chapter 10

Creating and generating a network analysis

When you create a new analysis, it is displayed in the Project Explorer in theNetwork Analyses category under the Cdma2000 Analyses node. You can createany number of analyses for a project.

When you finish creating a network analysis, you can generate it immediately orsave the analysis settings without generating it.


To create and generate a network analysis

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Network Analyses category, right-click Analyses and choose New.

The Network Analysis Wizard opens.

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

3 On the System page, provide the required information and click Next.



4 On the Analysis page, provide the required information, andclick Next.


Chapter 10

5 On the last page of the Wizard, complete the final step and click Finish.

Network Analysis Wizard

The Network Analysis Wizard steps you through the process of generating a networkanalysis (i.e., a nominal analysis).

Using a network analysis, you can perform a preliminary analysis of your networkbased on the sector downlink and uplink traffic loads (as defined on the Configurationtab in the sector settings). You define load values for sectors based on:

n the traffic load projections of your network

n the sector loads from a Monte Carlo simulation

n traffic statistics collected from the real network data



A network analysis allows you to generate analysis layers that representcoverage and capacity performance, as well as interference environment ofyour network.

Analysis

Use the Analysis page to define network analysis settings.

Best Server

Best Ec Threshold—type in this box the signal strength of the Best Ec abovewhich a server can be considered the best server.

Nth Best Server For Delta Layer—choose from this list the number of theNth Best Server for which to generate a grid. For example, if you want toproduce grids of the fourth best server at all locations, choose “4”.

EV-DO Carrier

Use Pilot Ec/Nt For Data Rate Layer Generation—choose this option ifyou want the simulation to use the pilot Ec/Nt when generating data ratelayers. When this option is not selected, the forward Ec/Nt is used.

Use Pilot Ec/Nt For Coverage Layer Generation—choose this option ifyou want the simulation to use the pilot Ec/Nt when generating coveragelayers. When this option is not selected, the forward Ec/Nt is used.

Traffic Loading

Use The Loading Defined In Sector Settings—choose this option to usethe sector loading values defined on the Implementation tab in the Site Editor.

Use Global Loading—choose this option to define global loading valuesincluding the percentage of traffic on the reverse link, the available trafficpower on the forward link, and the EV-DO forward activity factor.

Use The Loading From The Monte Carlo Simulation—choose this optionto use the cell loading values calculated in a Monte Carlo simulation.


Chapter 10

Use Soft Handoff Gain—enable this check box to use the soft handoff gain due tomacro-diversity. When you use the soft handoff gain, the PA power of mobiles inhandoff will be reduced. If cleared, the calculated handoff gain is not taken intoaccount for the reverse link analysis for the mobile.

Generate Pilot Pollution Index Layer—enable this check box to generate thepilot pollution index layer. This analysis layer displays areas in your coverage regionwhere pilot coverage is not sufficiently met. This index is created based on howmany users are in an area (usage factor) and the probability of pilot coverage (pilotfactor) in that area. Areas in which the pilot signal is problematic (for example, thereis a low pilot-to-interference ratio) and/or usage patterns are high (for example,there is a high concentration of users in relation to the available signal strength) arehighlighted in the Pilot Pollution Index analysis layer.

The pilot factor is a non-dimensional factor, from 0 to 1. High values (close to one)identify bins where establishing a pilot is unlikely; low values (close to zero) identifybins where establishing a pilot is likely. The pilot factor corresponds to the pilot ratio.Typically, if the pilot ratio exceeds 7 dB, establishing a pilot is unlikely. If it is lessthan 7 dB, establishing a pilot is more likely.

Traffic Map—choose from this list a traffic map to use when generating theanalysis.

Other System Interference

Interference Grid—displays the interference grid that will be used during theanalysis. If you use an interference grid, the downlink other system interferencevalue defined in the sector settings will be ignored by the analysis. At each bin, thevalue will be replaced by the value provided in the grid.

Browse—click this button to open a .grd file containing interference values touse in place of the sector-based downlink interference values.

Remove— click this button if you do not want to use an interference grid.

Center Frequency (MHz)—type in this box the center frequency of theinterference source.

Bandwidth (MHz)—type in this box the bandwidth of the interfering signal.



Network Analysis Wizard

The Network Analysis Wizard steps you through the process of generating anetwork analysis (i.e., a nominal analysis).

Using a network analysis, you can perform a preliminary analysis of yournetwork based on the sector downlink and uplink traffic loads (as defined onthe Configuration tab in the sector settings). You define load values for sectorsbased on:

n the traffic load projections of your network

n the sector loads from a Monte Carlo simulation

n traffic statistics collected from the real network data

A network analysis allows you to generate analysis layers that representcoverage and capacity performance, as well as interference environment ofyour network.

System

Carriers

Enable the check box next to those carriers you want to include in the analysis.

Subscriber

Equipment Type—choose from this list the equipment type for which youwant to generate an analysis. The equipment type is defined in the SubscriberSettings.

Service—choose from this list the service for which you want to generate ananalysis. The service is defined in the Subscriber Settings.

Environment—choose from this list the environment for which you want togenerate an analysis. You can define environment settings (e.g., slow fadingstandard deviation, penetration loss, fast fading margin, etc.) in theEnvironment Editor.


Chapter 10

Generating an existing analysis

You can generate an analysis after it has been created in the wizard. You cangenerate an existing analysis as many times as required. If you edit a sector in theSite Editor, your sector updates are used in subsequent analysis runs.

To generate an existing analysis

n In the Project Explorer, in the Network Analyses category,right-click the analysis node for which you want to generate analysislayers and choose Generate.



Viewing analysis layers

Once you have generated your analysis, you can view the analysis layers thatit contains.

To view analysis layers

1 In the Project Explorer, choose the Network Analysescategory.

2 Right-click an analysis layer under the Analysis node andchoose View.

The analysis layer is displayed in the Map window.

TIP: To remove an analysis layer from the Map window, in the ProjectExplorer, in the Network Analyses category, under the cdma2000 Analysesnode, right-click an analysis layer, and choose Remove.


Chapter 10

Generating multiple analyses

You can use the Analysis Generator to select multiple analyses to generatesequentially. Using this method you can, for example, select a series of analyses togenerate overnight.

You can update sector information that impacts a selected analysis, however theanalysis only uses the updated information if it has not yet started to generate.

To generate multiple analyses

1 Choose Tools Analysis Generator.

2 In the Analysis Generator, specify which analyses you want togenerate and click Start.

Analyses are generated in the order displayed in the Analysis Generator.Sector information for each analysis listed is collected when the analysisstarts. If you change sector parameters and the analysis has not yet started,changes will be included in the results.

TIP: To reorder entries in the Analysis Generator, click the column title.



Deleting analyses

Files generated from a network analysis can take up a lot of hard disk space.You can delete analyses that are no longer required.

To delete analyses

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Network Analyses category, doany of the following:

n Choose one or more analyses, right-click and choose Delete.

n Expand an analysis node, choose one or more analysis layers,right-click and choose Delete.

2 In the Mentum Planet dialog box, click Yes.

The analyses or analysis layers you chose are removed from the ProjectExplorer and the files are deleted from the project folder.


Chapter 10

Recoloring best serving sector layers

The Best Serving Sector Recolor tool enables you to change the color scheme usedto display best serving sector analysis layers (classified grid files).

You can use the colors defined in a sector display scheme or choose from the defaultcolor schemes used to display best serving sector analysis layers. Sector displayschemes enable you to display analysis layers based on sector properties, such asthe downlink load. When you use a sector display scheme with the Best ServingSector Recolor tool, only the colors that have been defined for the scheme are used;other sector display scheme settings, such as symbol and size, are ignored.

For information about defining sector display schemes, see “Customizing sectorsymbols for multiple sites” in “Working With Sites and Sectors”, in the MentumPlanet User Guide.

To recolor best serving sector layers

1 Choose Tools Best Serving Sector Recolor.

The Best Serving Sector Recolor dialog box opens.

2 Click Browse, navigate to the <technology>_Analyses folder with theproject folder, choose the best serving sector layer (.grc) file that youwant to recolor, and click Open.

3 In the Apply Scheme section, choose a color scheme and click Apply.

The best serving sector layers are displayed in the Map window using the newcolor scheme.

NOTE: You can modify an existing sector display scheme from within in the BestServing Sector Recolor dialog box by right-clicking a scheme and choosing Edit.



Examining layer statistics

You can calculate statistics on the individual analysis layers that you havegenerated, including preamble plan analysis layers. You can calculatestatistics based on the entire numeric grid (.grd) file, an area grid, or aselection in the Map window. You can further customize the statistics based ona clutter grid file, traffic map, or a user-defined filter.

After you calculate statistics, you can export statistics to Excel or to .csv files.In Excel, you can display statistics in a myriad of different ways as shown inFigure 10.1 .

Figure 10.1: Example of layer statistics displayed in Excel.

For information on how to generate layer statistics, see “To calculate layerstatistics”.


Chapter 10

Workflow for analyzing pilot pollution

Minimizing pilot pollution is an iterative process; you may need to repeat the steps inthe workflow to achieve the desired results. The workflow outlined in this sectionshows the typical order of steps only. Depending on your work practices, you maynot complete the steps in the same order.

Step 1 Generate a network analysis that uses a Monte Carlo simulation, or usedrive test data to identify potential polluters.

Step 2 Use the Pilot Pollution Inspector to identify polluters.

Step 3 Modify the configuration of polluter sectors.

Step 4 Regenerate predictions for the modified sectors.

Step 5 Use the Pilot Pollution Inspector to verify the improvements.

Step 6 Generate an additional network analysis to evaluate the overall impact ofthe sector configuration changes.



Using the CDMA Pixel Info tool for Mentum Planet

You can obtain per-pixel information about an analysis by selecting an area inthe Map window and using the CDMA Pixel Info tool.

For each technology type and carrier that you choose, the CDMA Pixel Infodialog box displays:

n the pixel co-ordinates (location)

n the number of predictions available

n uplink details, including:

n Best Servern Required EIRPn EIRP Marginn Coverage Probability

n downlink details, including:

n Service Best Servern Service Eb/Non Service Marginn Coverage Probabilityn Received Noise

n CPICH details, including:

n received powern Ec/Ion masked pathloss, polluter indicator, and server statusat the specified pixel location

To obtain per-pixel information about an analysis

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Network Analyses category,expand Cdma2000 Analyses, right-click the analysis for whichyou want to obtain per-pixel information and choose Pixel Info.

The CDMA Pixel Info dialog box opens.


Chapter 10

2 Specify any parameter changes in the following list boxes. You canupdate these parameters in order to select a different analysis:

n Type—the technology for which the analysis was generated

n Analysis—the name of the analysis you selected

n Carrier—the carrier for which you want to view analysis information

The equipment type, service, and environment for the analysis you select alsodisplay at the top of the CDMA Pixel Info dialog box and are read-only.

3 Click in the Map window to display analysis information for each pixel inthe CDMA Pixel Info dialog box.



TIP: You can also access the CDMA Pixel Info tool by clicking the CDMA PixelInfo button on the RF Tools toolbar.

Pilot Pollution Inspector

Use the Pilot Pollution Inspector dialog box to identify polluting sectors atspecific locations, modify the appropriate sector settings, and then view theeffect of your changes. The level of pilot pollution is analyzed by comparing thepowers of the pilot channels with the power of the best serving pilot channel,taking into account the active set (set of pilot signals currently participating inthe call) and the pilot pollution threshold.

Before you use the Pilot Pollution Inspector, you need to identify the areasaffected by pilot pollution. For example, you can generate a Rapid Planning orMonte Carlo analysis and examine the Pilot - Ec/Io layer. You can also usedrive test data or network data to identify problem areas.

When you click a location in a Map window, the Pilot Pollution Inspectoranalyzes that specific location for pilot pollution based on settings you definefor carriers, forward loading, and subscribers. For the specified location, thePilot Pollution Inspector displays the following information in a graph window:


Chapter 10

n Best serving sector

n soft handover sectors

n polluting sectors (if any)

Horizontal lines in the graph window indicate the thresholds for the best-serving,handover, and polluting sectors.

Pilot Pollution settings are grouped on the following tabs:

n System

n Subscriber

n Analysis Settings


Use the Pilot Pollution Inspector dialog box to identify polluting sectors at specificlocations, modify the appropriate sector settings, and then view the effect of yourchanges. The level of pilot pollution is analyzed by comparing the powers of the pilotchannels with the power of the best serving pilot channel, taking into account theactive set (set of pilot signals currently participating in the call) and the pilotpollution threshold.

Before you use the Pilot Pollution Inspector, you need to identify the areas affectedby pilot pollution. For example, you can generate a Rapid Planning or Monte Carloanalysis and examine the Pilot - Ec/Io layer. You can also use drive test data ornetwork data to identify problem areas.

When you click a location in a Map window, the Pilot Pollution Inspector analyzesthat specific location for pilot pollution based on settings you define for carriers,forward loading, and subscribers. For the specified location, the Pilot PollutionInspector displays the following information in a graph window:


n soft handover sectors




Horizontal lines in the graph window indicate the thresholds for the best-serving, handover, and polluting sectors.

Hide Settings—enable this check box to display the Pilot Pollution Inspectorsettings and analysis results. If you clear this check box, only the graph isdisplayed.

System

Use this tab to choose the carrier that you want to analyze and the forwardload that you want to use in the analysis.

RF

Carrier—choose from this list the carrier that you want to analyze.

Forward Loading

Use the Loading Defined in Sector Settings—choose this option to use theForward Total Traffic Power value defined on the Implementation panel of thecdma2000 Sector Settings dialog box.

Use Global Loading—choose this option to use a percentage of the total PApower for the analysis. In the adjacent box, type the percentage value thatyou want to use. This value will override the total traffic power defined forindividual sectors.

Use Loading From Analysis—choose this option to use the forward loadingvalues from an analysis. From the adjacent list, choose an analysis that youwant to use. The forward loading values from the analysis will be used.

Analysis Info

When you click a location in a Map window, the following information isdisplayed in the Analysis Info section:


n soft handoff sectors


Chapter 10


n the level of interference caused by each polluter

In the Map window, lines are drawn from the chosen analysis location to each of thecorresponding sectors: Best Server, Handoff, Pilot Polluter, and Pilot Detected. Thecolor of the lines corresponds to the colors used in the graph window.

Update—click this button after you have modified the System, Subscriber, orAnalysis Settings to refresh the information displayed in the Pilot Pollution Inspectordialog box. The information displayed is for the last are you clicked in the Map samewindow.

Export Report—click this button to export an Excel (.xls) report about the areasaffected by pilot pollution.


Hide Settings—enable this check box to display the Pilot Pollution Inspectorsettings and analysis results. If you clear this check box, only the graph is displayed.

Subscriber

Use this panel to define the subscriber type and environment used for the pilotpollution analysis.

Subscriber Type—choose this option to use a predefined subscriber type for thepilot pollution analysis. From the adjacent list, choose a subscriber type.

Nominal Subscriber—choose this option to use a nominal subscriber type for thepilot pollution analysis. When you choose this option, you must type values in thefollowing boxes:

Antenna Gain—type in this box the antenna gain for the mobile equipment bandtype used by the nominal subscriber

Maximum Active Servers—type in this box the maximum number of handoffservers supported by the equipment type used by the nominal subscriber

Noise Figure—type in this box the noise figure at the receiver for the equipmenttype used by the nominal subscriber

Environment—choose from this list the type of environment or the analysis.



Analysis Info

When you click a location in a Map window, the following information isdisplayed in the Analysis Info section:





In the Map window, lines are drawn from the chosen analysis location to eachof the corresponding sectors: Best Server, Handoff, Pilot Polluter, and PilotDetected. The color of the lines corresponds to the colors used in the graphwindow.

Update—click this button after you have modified the System, Subscriber, orAnalysis Settings to refresh the information displayed in the Pilot PollutionInspector dialog box. The information displayed is for the last are you clickedin the Map same window.

Export Report—click this button to export an Excel (.xls) report about theareas affected by pilot pollution.


Hide Settings—enable this check box to display the Pilot Pollution Inspectorsettings and analysis results. If you clear this check box, only the graph isdisplayed.

Analysis Settings

Use this panel to modify how pilot pollution information is displayed in thegraph window of the Pilot Pollution Inspector dialog box and in the Mapwindow.


Chapter 10

Display

Maximum Polluters—type in this box the number of sectors that you want todisplay in the Pilot Pollution Inspector graph window and the Map window.

Pilot Value—choose from this list choose the value that you want to use for thedisplay in the graph window.

Legend Profile

Edit—click this button to use the Legend Editor to modify the current color settingsfor the sector categories.

Load—click this button to load an existing legend color profile.

Save—click this button to save the current legend color profile.

Analysis Info

When you click a location in a Map window, the following information is displayed inthe Analysis Info section:





In the Map window, lines are drawn from the chosen analysis location to each of thecorresponding sectors: Best Server, Handoff, Pilot Polluter, and Pilot Detected. Thecolor of the lines corresponds to the colors used in the graph window.

Update—click this button after you have modified the System, Subscriber, orAnalysis Settings to refresh the information displayed in the Pilot Pollution Inspectordialog box. The information displayed is for the last are you clicked in the Map samewindow.

Export Report—click this button to export an Excel (.xls) report about the areasaffected by pilot pollution.



Analyzing pilot pollution for Mentum Planet sectors

pilot pollution occurs when there is an excessive number of pilot signals withhigh power levels. pilot pollution can create high levels of interference,resulting in dropped calls, poor voice quality, and poor data throughput.

The CPICH Pollution Inspector enables you to identify polluting sectors atspecific locations, modify the appropriate sector settings, and then view theeffects of your changes. The level of pilot pollution is analyzed by comparingthe powers of the pilot channels with the power of the best serving pilotchannel, taking into account the active set (the set of pilots currentlyparticipating in the call) and the CPICH pollution margin.

Before you use the Pilot Pollution Inspector, you need to identify the areas thatmay be affected by pilot pollution. For example, you can generate a MonteCarlo simulation and examine the Pilot- Delta Ec/Io layer from a Networkanalysis. You can also use drive test data or network data to identify potentialproblem areas.

When you click a location in a Map window, the Pilot Pollution Inspectoranalyzes the location for pilot pollution based on specific carrier, downlinkloading, and subscriber settings. You can use settings from a network analysisor define these settings in the Pilot Pollution Inspector dialog box.

For a specified location, the Pilot Pollution Inspector displays the followinginformation in a graph window:

n best serving sector



Horizontal lines in the graph window indicate the threshold levels for the bestserving, handover, and polluting sectors. You can define the number ofpolluting sectors that are displayed in the graph window, as well as the colorsand pilot value (Ec/Io or Ec) used for the display. Additional location and sectorinformation is displayed in the Analysis Info section (see Figure 9.1).

Figure 9.1 Pilot Pollution Inspector dialog box


Chapter 10

In the Mentum Planet Map window, lines are drawn from the specified analysislocation to each of the corresponding sectors: Best Server, Handoff, Pilot Polluter,and Pilot Detected (see Figure 9.2). The color of the lines corresponds to the colorsused in the graph window of the Pilot Pollution Inspector.

Figure 10.2: Map window displaying the Pilot - Delta Ec/Io analysis layer. For thespecified location, the Pilot Pollution Inspector adds lines indicating the best servingsector (green), handoff sectors (yellow), and polluting sectors (red).

After you have identified the polluting sectors, you can leave the Pilot PollutionInspector dialog box open, use the Site Editor to change the antenna downtilt,azimuth, or height for the polluting sectors, and then update the display in the PilotPollution Inspector dialog box to see the effects of your changes.

To analyze Pilot pollution for Mentum Planet sectors

1 Do one of the following to open the Pilot Pollution Inspector:

n In the Project Explorer, in the Monte Carlo Simulationscategory, right-click a simulation and choose Pilot PollutionInspector.



n On the RF Tools toolbar, click the Pilot Pollution Inspectorbutton, click an area in the Map window, then in the SelectSectors dialog box, choose the group of sectors that youwant to include in the analysis and click OK.

The Pilot Pollution Inspector dialog box opens. If you open the PilotPollution Inspector from a simulation node in the Project Explorer, thesector, subscriber, carrier, and loading information from the simulationis used. You can use the settings from the simulation or edit them asrequired.

2 Define the parameters you want to use with the Pilot PollutionInspector as required.

3 Click on a location in the Map window that you have identified asbeing affected by Pilot pollution.

The Pilot Pollution Inspector dialog box displays Pilot pollutioninformation for the location.

4 If you want to save a report containing information for the locationcurrently displayed in the Pilot Pollution Inspector dialog box,click Export Report, type a name in the File Name box, andthen click Save.

The location and pollution information is saved in a Microsoft Excel file.

NOTE: After you have clicked an area in the Map window, you can modify anyof the System, Subscriber, or Analysis Settings and then click Update torefresh the information displayed in the Pilot Pollution Inspector dialog boxbased on the new settings.


CHAPTER 11 Generating Monte CarloSimulations

A Monte Carlo simulation generates information about sectors, channels, andsubscribers in your network. Using the information gathered through a MonteCarlo analysis, you can establish cell loads and determine the operating pointsof the base stations. This chapter describes how to generate a Monte Carlosimulation and view results.

Because of the detail in Monte Carlo simulations, they can take some time togenerate. For quicker, but less detailed, analyses you can generate a analysis.See CHAPTER 10 Generating network analyses on page 182.


Understanding Monte Carlo simulations 212

Defining the number of Monte Carlo runs 215

Understanding Monte Carlo simulation layers 219

Workflow for generating a Monte Carlo simulation 221

Defining default Monte Carlo simulation settings 222

Creating and generating a Monte Carlo simulation 223

Viewing discrete subscribers 230

Generating an existing Monte Carlo simulation 231

Viewing simulation layers 232

Deleting simulation layers 233

Updating cdma2000 target values with Monte Carloresults 234


Understanding reports 240

Creating reports 257


Chapter 11

Understanding Monte Carlo simulations

A Monte Carlo simulation is a static analysis method that uses Monte Carlosimulation techniques to determine the characteristics of your network overrepeated runs.

A run consists of the distribution of random numbers of subscribers throughout theanalysis area in a random pattern, and an analysis of the reverse link and forwardlink. On the last run, operating points and discrete subscriber information aregenerated. Once the runs are complete, you can view simulation layers and, ifrequired, use the cell load information for further analysis.

Statistically, individual runs are of little value. However, over many Monte Carloruns, the average result provides a realistic representation of network performance.The results are averaged to create the operating points that are used when yougenerate simulation layers.

From a network analysis point of view, the ultimate goal of a Monte Carlo simulationis to obtain loading values on both the downlink and uplink for all sectors and carriersincluded in the simulation. These loading values are used to produce coverage andinterference layers, which provide you with a visual representation of networkperformance.

The following sections describe the phases of a Monte Carlo run and explain themethods for determining how many runs are required.

The phases of a Monte Carlo simulation

There are four general phases in a Monte Carlo simulation. They involve:

n placing subscribers in a random pattern

n sorting subscribers based on their assigned priorities

n analyzing the forward link and the reverse link

n generating operating points and subscriber information

Once convergence is reached, if there are any remaining network resourcesavailable and you choose to use a Scheduler, the Scheduler will allocate them basedon subscriber priorities.


Generating Monte Carlo Simulations

Placing subscribers in a random pattern

Each run begins with the placement of subscribers in a random patternthroughout the simulation area. This pattern is created using input values fromthe channels defined for the band and the subscribers defined in the SubscriberEditor. The random distribution pattern corresponds to the traffic map, and isan efficient method for establishing transmission patterns when the exactlocation of each subscriber cannot be established.

Sorting subscribers by priority

On each run, subscribers are served based on their assigned priorities. Thehighest priority in each case is 1 while the lowest priority is 100. For eachsubscriber type, you define the following priorities:

n a subscriber type priority—defined on the Configuration tab foreach subscriber type.

n a service priority—defined on the Load tab for each subscriberservice

n a Quality of Service priority—defined on the Quality of Servicetab and organized around QoS classes

Analyzing the reverse link and forward link

The goal of the everse link and forward link analysis phase is to determine thesubscribers who can be served, taking into account the impact of each servedsubscriber on the network.

The analysis begins by considering the subscribers in the simulation, then theserving sectors for each subscriber.

The reverse link analysis

n determines the best reverse link server that is also the bestorward link server

n identifies the second and third best reverse link servers

n calculates the handoff gain based on the degree of correlationof the active serving sectors and adjusts the reverse link linkpower accordingly


Chapter 11

n calculates the received signal-to-noise ratio (Eb/No) and checksthat the required coverage probability is achieved

n calculates the noise rise and checks that the limit is not exceededon all sectors

n checks that the cell radius and speed limit are not exceeded

The forward link analysis

n calculates the required forward link power of the serving sector

n determines whether the received serving sector pilot power-tointerference ratio (Ec/Io) is above the target

n calculates the received signal-to-noise ratio (Eb/No) and checksthat the required coverage probability is achieved

n checks that the channel element, user limit, PA power, throughput,and code limits are not exceeded

The simulation also checks the quality thresholds defined for each sector.

Generating operating points and subscriber information

On the last run, operating points and subscriber information are generated.Operating points provide detailed information about each sector, channel, andsubscriber type in the simulation. The operating points are averaged and stored. Youcan examine detailed operating point data by viewing the generated layers.

Subscriber information provides details on the coverage status of subscribers (alsoknown as discrete subscribers). Snapshots of each subscriber’s status are compiledon each run of the simulation. When the simulation is complete, you can view thesubscriber spreading layer as well as the service status of each subscriber. You canalso view reports on the statistics collected. See “Creating reports”.



Defining the number of Monte Carlo runs

Before you generate a Monte Carlo simulation, you must define the

convergence criteria that determines when the simulation stops. If yougenerate too few runs, the results will not accurately reflect the distribution ofsubscribers within the network. If you generate too many runs, the processingtime can be high unnecessarily. In order to avoid either of these extremes, youdefine the level of convergence, which considers the number of subscribersblocked during a single run. If this number is stable over several runs, thesimulation ends.

Convergence method

The distribution of subscribers is affected by the traffic density. When there isgreater traffic density, fewer runs are required.

Using this approach, the runs continue until the level of convergence target isreached. After each run, the tool calculates the level of convergence value(see “Level of Convergence calculation”). When the level of convergence iswithin the specified range (e.g., by default, within 5% of the target values),the simulation ends.

To achieve results that are statistically valid, you must determine anappropriate level of convergence. If you specify a low value (for example,1%), more runs will be required for the solution to converge. A low level ofconvergence generally requires a higher resolution digital terrain model (DTM)to ensure accurate results. If the DTM has a low resolution, small variations inthe interference calculations between runs might cause significant differencesin the coverage area for a particular site.

The required level of convergence option requires a minimum of five runs tocomplete.

Level of Convergence calculation

The following calculations are used to determine the level of convergenceduring a run.

First, the number of blocked users is calculated using Equation 11.1.


Chapter 11

Equation 11.1 Mean number of blocked users

Where:

is the mean number of blocked users for a particular run

is the number of simulation runs

The divergence of consecutive values is continually calculated using the mean value.For example:

Equation 11.2 Divergence of consecutive values

The value and the Equation 11.2divergence value from Equation 11.1 are thenused to determine the level of convergence value, as shown in Equation 11.3.

Equation 11.3 Level of convergence calculation



If the analysis does not achieve what you consider to be an accurate model ofthe network using the number of runs that you specified, you can generateadditional runs.

Factors affecting the required number of runs

The number of runs required to achieve a given level of accuracy can varydramatically based on several factors including:

n the number of bins in the simulation, which is directlyproportional to the simulation area and resolution. Thenumber of bins in the simulation has an impact as it willprovide the number of potential points for subscribers. Themore potential points for subscribers, the greater thelikelihood of variation.

n the number of subscribers to be spread. This, coupled with thetype of subscriber (for example, high data rate subscribers)and the traffic map, has potentially the greatest impact on thenumber of runs required. If you spread very few subscribersover a large area, then you need many runs to get a goodstatistical representation. If these subscribers are spread in alimited area, then fewer runs are likely required.

n the impact of each individual subscriber on the simulation.Higher data rate subscribers create a bigger load and have abigger impact in all respects.

n the potential variation in the locations of the subscribers in thesimulation according to the assigned traffic maps. A flat trafficmap will likely require more runs than a map where all of thesubscribers are concentrated.

n the number of sectors in the simulation. A greater number ofservers, coupled with the potential for overlapping coverageareas, and gaps in coverage, results in a higher potential fordifferent sectors providing service, and more runs beingrequired.

In general, the greater potential variability then the greater the number of runsrequired to ensure a reasonable level of accuracy. It is often useful to do asingle run first, especially for large simulation areas. A single run can identifyobvious errors quickly, for example, incorrect PA power settings for a sector.


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TIP: To help determine whether additional runs are required, you can view thesubscriber spreading layer and use the Grid Info tool to see how many subscribersare spread across a bin. You can also view the service status layer to see the servedstatus of a subscriber.

You can also examine pre-defined reports to view the operating points. For moreinformation on reports, see “Creating reports”.



Understanding Monte Carlo simulation layers

Two types of layers are generated after the final Monte Carlo run:

n the subscriber spreading layer—displays how manysubscribers are spread across a bin. This is the average valueover all runs.

n the service status layer (for each subscriber type)—displaysthe served status of each subscriber using the colors shown inTable 1

Table 1 Subscriber status color map

ColorSubscriberStatus

Displays When..

Served, notnegotiated

the subscriber was served at the maximum data ratein both directions on the link.

Served,forwardnegotiated

the subscriber was served but the forward link was notat the maximum data rate although the reverse linkwas.

Served,reversenegotiated

the subscriber was served but the reverse link was notat the maximum data rate although the forward linkwas.

Served,negotiated

the subscriber was served but neither the reverse linkor forward link were at the maximum data rate.

Mobile PApower

the subscriber was dropped because the mobile PApower was not sufficient to achieve the Eb/No targeton the reverse link.

Noise RiseThe subscriber was dropped because the mobile signalcaused one or more sectors to exceed its noise riselimit.

Forwardchannelelements

The subscriber was dropped because there wereinsufficient channel elements available on the servingsector.

Reversechannel

The subscriber was dropped because there wereinsufficient channel elements available on the serving


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ColorSubscriberStatus

Displays When..

elements sector.

User limitThe subscriber was dropped because the maximumuser limit was reached on the serving sector.

Sector PApower

The subscriber was dropped due to insufficient PApower at the serving sector.

Trafficpower

The subscriber was dropped due to insufficient trafficpower on the forward link to meet the target.

Pilot power

The subscriber was dropped due to insufficient pilotpower on the forward link, which means that the pilotpower was not sufficient to meet the Ec/Io target ofthe mobile.

UnknownDrop State

The reason that the subscriber has been dropped isunknown.

Speed limitThe subscriber was dropped because he or sheexceeded the speed limit for the sector.

Cell radiuslimit

The subscriber was dropped because he or she wasoutside of the maximum cell radius for the servingsector

Code limitThe subscriber was dropped due to insufficient codeson the forward link.

Throughputlimit

The subscriber was dropped because the throughputlimit for the serving site was exceeded.

The subscriber spreading layer and the service status layer are saved in the<technology>MC_Simulations folder of your project.



Workflow for generating a Monte Carlo simulation

Step 1 Ensure that you have defined a traffic map for the subscriber typesthat covers the same area as your Monte Carlo simulation.

Step 2 If you want to use the same settings for a number of simulations,define default simulations settings.

Step 3 Create and generate a new Monte Carlo simulation.

Step 4 View simulation layers.

Step 5 If required, generate additional runs.

Step 6 Generate statistical reports for simulation layers.

Step 7 Create reports for discrete subscriber information and operatingpoints.

Step 8 Optionally, generate a network analysis.


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Defining default Monte Carlo simulation settings

If you want to use the same settings for a number of Monte Carlo simulations, youcan define default settings. When you create a new simulation, these defaults areautomatically used.

To define default Monte Carlo simulation settings

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Monte Carlo Simulations category,right-click Cdma2000 Simulations and choose Default SimulationSettings.

The Monte Carlo Simulation dialog box opens.

2 Define the default settings that you want to use, and click OK.



Creating and generating a Monte Carlo simulation

When you create a new simulation, it is displayed in the Monte CarloSimulations category of the Project Explorer under thecdma2000 Simulationsnode. You can create multiple simulations for a project.

When you finish creating a Monte Carlo simulation, you can generate itimmediately or save the simulation settings without generating it.

To create and generate a Monte Carlo simulation

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Monte Carlo Simulationscategory, right-click Cdma2000 Simulations and choose New.

The Monte Carlo Simulation Wizard opens.

2 On the System page, provide the following information and clickNext.


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3 On the Analysis page, provide the following information and clickNext.

4 On the Monte Carlo page, provide the following information and clickNext.



5 On the last page of the Wizard, complete the final step and clickFinish.

A new simulation node is created in the Project Explorer.

TIP: To view the settings of a simulation, in the Project Explorer, in the MonteCarlo Simulations category, right-click the simulation and choose ViewSettings.

TIP: To view which sectors are part of a simulation, in the Project Explorer, inthe Monte Carlo Simulations category, right-click the simulation and chooseView Selected Sectors.

Monte Carlo Simulation Wizard

Unlike a network analysis, a Monte Carlo simulation takes all subscriberparameters into account when generating simulation layers. To do this, ateach Monte Carlo run, Mentum Planet:

n Creates a random pattern of subscribers. The simulationplaces the subscribers at random locations using the traffic


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map densities, and determines the subscriber types from thedefinitions in the Subscriber Editor.

n Generates downlink and uplink analyses. This uses the randomsubscriber pattern to determine the number of subscribers that canbe served, while taking into account the impact of each servedsubscriber on the network.

n On the last run of the simulation, the simulation tool also generatestwo additional types of data:

n Operating points— These are the results of the simulationdivided by sector, carrier, and subscriber type. MentumPlanet averages these and uses them to create reports.

n Discrete subscriber information—Mentum Planet compilessnapshots of each subscriber’s status on each run of thesimulation. When the simulation finishes, the coverage statusof each subscriber is stored in a MapInfo table (*.tab).

System

Subscriber Types

Use this section to specify the subscriber criteria to focus on when generating thesimulation. Enable the check boxes next to those subscriber types you want toinclude in the simulation.

Subscriber Type—displays the name of the subscriber type. The subscriber type isdefined in the Subscriber Editor.

Equipment Type—displays the equipment type associated with the subscriber.


A Monte Carlo simulation takes all subscriber parameters into account whengenerating simulation layers. To do this, at each Monte Carlo run, Mentum Planet:

n Creates a random pattern of subscribers. The simulation places thesubscribers at random locations using the traffic map densities, anddetermines the subscriber types from the definitions in theSubscriber Editor.



n Generates uplink analyses. This uses the random subscriberpattern to determine the number of subscribers that can beserved, while taking into account the impact of each servedsubscriber on the network.

n Generates downlink analyses. To do this, the simulation usesthe best serving sector information determined in the uplinkanalysis. On the last run of the simulation, the simulation toolalso generates two additional types of data:

n Operating points— These are the results of thesimulation divided by sector, carrier, and subscribertype. Mentum Planet averages these and uses them tocreate analysis layers.

n Discrete subscriber information—Mentum Planetcompiles snapshots of each subscriber’s status on eachrun of the simulation. When the simulation finishes, thecoverage status of each subscriber is stored in aMapInfo table (*.tab).

Analysis

Best Server

Simulate Power Control Errors—enable the check box to performstatistical modeling of the effect of power control imperfections or errorscaused by delays of power control commands and the power control step. Thischeck box is only available for a Monte Carlo analysis.

Use Soft Handoff Gain—enable the check box to use a calculation of the softhandover gain for the reverse link portion of the Monte Carlo analysis.

Model Slow Fading—enable the check box to apply a statistical modeling ofthe effects of slow fading to the discrete subscribers in the Monte Carloanalysis. This check box is only available for a Monte Carlo analysis.

Other System interference

Interference Grid—displays the interference grid that will be used during theanalysis. An interference grid represents geographical distribution of downlinkinterference power from other system. If you use an interference grid, thedownlink other system interference value defined in the LTE sector settings


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will be ignored by the analysis. At each bin, the value will be replaced by the valueprovided in the grid.

Browse—click this button to open a .grd file containing interference values touse in place of the sector-based downlink interference values.

Remove—click this button if you do not want to use an interference grid.

Center Frequency—type in this box the center frequency of the interferencesource.

Bandwidth—type in this box the bandwidth of the interfering signal.


A Monte Carlo simulation takes all subscriber parameters into account whengenerating simulation layers. To do this, at each Monte Carlo run, Mentum Planet:

n Creates a random pattern of subscribers. The simulation places thesubscribers at random locations using the traffic map densities, anddetermines the subscriber types from the definitions in theSubscriber Editor.

n Generates uplink analyses. This uses the random subscriber patternto determine the number of subscribers that can be served, whiletaking into account the impact of each served subscriber on thenetwork.

n Generates downlink analyses. To do this, the simulation uses thebest serving sector information determined in the uplink analysis.On the last run of the simulation, the simulation tool also generatestwo additional types of data:

n Operating points— These are the results of the simulationdivided by sector, carrier, and subscriber type. MentumPlanet averages these and uses them to create analysislayers.

n Discrete subscriber information—Mentum Planet compilessnapshots of each subscriber’s status on each run of thesimulation. When the simulation finishes, the coverage statusof each subscriber is stored in a MapInfo table (*.tab).



Monte Carlo

Minimum Number of Runs—type in this box to define the minimum numberof runs in the Monte-Carlo simulation.

Maximum Number of Runs—type in this box to define the maximumnumber of runs in the Monte-Carlo simulation.

Required Level of Convergence—type in this box to define the requiredlevel of convergence (as a percentage) in order to end the Monte-Carlosimulation.


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Viewing discrete subscribers

Once you have generated a simulation, you can view the subscribers that it contains.

To view discrete subscribers

1 In the Project Explorer, choose the Monte Carlo Simulationscategory.

2 Right-click a Monte Carlo simulation and choose Display DiscreteSubscribers.

The subscribers are displayed in the Map window.

TIP: To view detailed subscriber information, in the Windows category, right-clickthe subscriber layer, and choose Browse. A Browser table opens with subscriberinformation including the coverage state.



Generating an existing Monte Carlo simulation

You can generate a simulation after it has been created in the wizard and cangenerate an existing simulation as many times as required. After viewing thesimulation report and discrete subscriber information, you may determine thatadditional runs are required to achieve greater accuracy. The additionalsimulation runs are based on the operating points obtained from the existingsimulation. The new results are generated using the statistics collected fromall simulation runs.

NOTE: If you edit a sector in the Site Editor, your updates are used insubsequent simulation runs.

To generate an existing simulation

n In the Project Explorer, in the Monte Carlo Simulationscategory, right-click the simulation node for which you want togenerate layers and choose Generate.


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Viewing simulation layers

Once you have generated a simulation, you can view the simulation layers that itcontains.

To view simulation layers

1 In the Project Explorer, choose the Monte Carlo Simulationscategory.

2 Right-click a simulation layer under the cdma2000 Simulations nodeand choose View.

The simulation layer is displayed in the Map window.

NOTE: If you rename a simulation in the Project Explorer, any layers currently openor displayed in the Map window will be closed.



Deleting simulation layers

Files generated from a simulation can take up a lot of hard disk space. You candelete simulations that are no longer required.

To delete simulation layers

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Monte Carlo Simulationscategory, do any of the following:

n Choose one or more simulation layers, right-click and chooseDelete.

n Expand a simulation node, choose one or more simulationlayers, right-click and choose Delete.

2 In the Mentum Planet dialog box, click Yes.

The simulation layers you chose are removed from the Project Explorerand the files are deleted from the project folder.


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Updating cdma2000 target values with Monte Carlo results

Once you have generated a Monte Carlo simulation, you have the option of using theresults of the simulation to update the target values for the uplink DPCH noise riseand the downlink traffic parameters for each carrier. These values are used innetwork analyses. For more information on cdma2000 analyses, see “GeneratingNetwork Analyses”.

To update cdma2000 target values

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Monte Carlo Simulations category,right-click a Monte Carlo simulation and do one of the following:

n To update the target values for all sectors in the chosengroup, choose Apply Cell Loads.

n To update the target values for selected sectors within the group,choose Apply Cell Loads to Selected Sectors, specify thesectors to which you want to apply changes, and click OK.

2 In the confirmation dialog box, click OK.

The settings are updated for all sectors in the group chosen for the simulation.



Examining layer statistics

You can calculate statistics on the individual analysis layers that you havegenerated, including preamble plan analysis layers. You can calculatestatistics based on the entire numeric grid (.grd) file, an area grid, or aselection in the Map window. You can further customize the statistics based ona clutter grid file, traffic map, or a user-defined filter.

To evaluate how using different types of antenna systems impacts networkperformance:

n Create layer statistics for the Downlink Maximum AchievableData Rate layer.

n In the Layer Statistics Analysis dialog box, use the best serverclassified grid to calculate statistics.

n In the Report Preview, filter on a given range and choose thePercentage Sub Area column.

n Click the Generate Sector Display Scheme button and define asector display scheme to apply to the map.

After you calculate statistics, you can export statistics to Excel or to .csv files.In Excel, you can display statistics in a myriad of different ways as shown inFigure 11.1

Figure 11.1: Example of graph displays in Excel.


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To calculate layer statistics

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Network Analyses category, choosethe simulation layers that you want to add to the report, right-click andchoose Statistics.

2 To manually add additional simulation layers to the list, click AddLayer, navigate to the file that you want to add, and click Open.

3 In the tree view, choose Analysis Settings.

4 On the Analysis Settings panel, define the analysis area.


n To remove bins with null values from the analysis layer calculations,enable the Exclude Null Values check box.

n To generate additional statistics, broken down by a classification,enable the Use Classified Grid check box, click Browse tonavigate to the file, choose the file and click OK.

Any classified grid can be used to perform different kinds of



statistical analysis. For example, to produce a statisticalbreakdown for each sector, use a best server layer as theclassification grid. This breaks the statistics down by bestserver area.

n To generate traffic statistics, enable the Use Traffic Mapcheck box and choose a traffic map from the Traffic Map list.

n To generate additional statistics, broken down by aclassification, enable the Use Classified Grid check box,click Browse to navigate to the file, choose the file and clickOK.

Any classified grid can be used to perform different kinds ofstatistical analysis. For example, to produce a statisticalbreakdown for each sector, use a best server layer as theclassification grid. This breaks the statistics down by bestserver area.

n To generate traffic statistics, enable the Use Traffic Mapcheck box and choose a traffic map from the Traffic Map list.

n To generate additional statistics, broken down by a numericclassification, enable the Use Numeric Grid check box, clickBrowse to navigate to the file, choose the file and click OK.

6 To filter the analysis area based on a grid file, enable the ApplyArea Filter check box.

The area filter is applied globally to all layers.

7 If you want to define individual area filters for each layer, enablethe Set Area Filter By Layer check box.

8 If you are applying area filters globally to all layers, do thefollowing:

n To define the area raster, click Browse, navigate to the gridfile, and click OK.

n To define the condition for the filter, type an expression in theCondition box. For example, choosing the SignalStrength.grdfile and defining the expression would only consider pixelswithin the analysis area that have a signal strength greaterthan 100.


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9 To discard statistical results that only contain zero values, enable theDiscard Result That Only Contains Zero Statistics check box.

With this check box enabled, records where all columns contain zero valueswill be removed from the statistical report.

10 In the tree view, expand the Layers node and choose the analysislayer for which you want to obtain statistics.

11 If you want to define classification settings for the analysis layer, defineany of the available settings in the Classifications Settings section.

12 If you want to define area filters for individual layers and have enabledthe Set Area Filter By Layer check box on the Analysis Settingspanel, click the Area Filters button.

Area filter settings are saved in LayerStatistics.set file located in theSettings/Layer Statistics folders within the project folder.

13 Click Calculate Statistics.

The Report Preview dialog box opens

14 Change the Report Preview display as required using the availabletoolbar buttons



15 To view statistics on column data, choose one or more datacolumns and click the Generate Statistics button.

The Generate Statistics dialog box opens where you can view the meanvalue, the minimum value, the maximum value, the median value, theroot mean square, and the standard deviation for each column.

16 If the report statistics include the site and sector data, you cancreate a sector display scheme to apply to report data by doingthe following:

n Choose the column of data for which you want to create asector display scheme.

n Click the Generate Sector Display Scheme button.

17 Define the sector display scheme name and ,in the SectorDisplay Scheme dialog box, define the parameters upon whichyou want the scheme to be based.

18 To view the layer statistics upon which the scheme is based, clickthe Data button.

19 Review the data and click Close.

20 In the Sector Display Scheme dialog box, save or apply thesector display scheme as required.

21 If the report includes site and sector data, you can display labelsin the Map window based on a selected data column by doing thefollowing:

n Choose the column of data that you want to use as the basisfor the site labels.

n Click the Generate Labels button.

22 To export the data to Excel, in the Report Preview dialog box,click the Export Data To A File button and define exportsettings as required.


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Understanding reports

Monte Carlo simulation reports contain information about all aspects of the network;however, for this information to be useful, you need to understand how to bestinterpret results.

First and foremost, you should keep in mind that a Monte Carlo simulation is a staticmodeling method that cannot account for the time variability of real-world mobilecommunications. As a result, you cannot compare results from the modeled networkwith those in the real-world network without accounting for the differences that existbetween the two. For example,a blocked subscriber in a Monte Carlo simulation isnot the same as a blocked call attempt in a real network. A blocked subscriber inhandoff is also not the same as a handoff failure in a real network. A subscriber whois blocked during a simulation run is simply an active subscriber who cannot beserved by the network because one or more of the defined conditions could not beachieved. Similarly, in a static simulation, a subscriber captured in one run of aMonte Carlo simulation is simply an active subscriber who is trying to use theservices in the network but whether the subscriber is trying to initiate a call or is inthe middle of a call is unknown.

Therefore, comparing the data in Monte Carlo simulation reports with real-worldnetwork statistics has very little practical use, even when the Mentum Planet projectis very well calibrated with real network configurations. What does provide usefulinformation, however, is studying the performance patterns that result from a MonteCarlo simulation with those obtained using real network statistics. For example, thistype of investigation might reveal that a sector has a high number of unservedsubscribers due to link PA limits. This normally indicates a forward capacitylimitation that may have been exhibited by the corresponding sector in the realnetwork. Another example could be when a sector has a high number of unservedsubscribers due to power, which indicates a possible pilot coverage issue at thesector.

Secondly, a Monte Carlo simulation models network performance, not theperformance of a particular radio link nor does it mirror the call processing sequenceused in a real-world network. For example, in a real-world network, a subscriber canbe blocked or dropped for many reasons (e.g., poor pilot coverage or insufficientreverse link power) and this can be captured in different network statistics. In aMonte Carlo simulation, only the reason for which the subscriber is most likely to beblocked is reported, even though the same subscriber could be blocked for otherreasons. This is because in a network model, there is no power being transmitted onthe forward and reverse link for a blocked subscriber and, therefore, the blockedsubscriber does not contribute to the network loading and interference.



In Mentum Planet, there are three types of Monte Carlo reports:

n a sector/carrier report

n a subscriber report

n a throughput report

The sector/carrier report

A sector/carrier report provides information about the allocation and usage ofradio resources for every sector/carrier combination used to carry traffic to thesector. Key data includes the amount of power transmitted on the forward linkto carry subscriber traffic. Detailed information is provided at per carrier, perservice, and per environment type level. This report also details the totalinterference received at every sector as a consequence of serving thesubscribers at the sector. The total interference received is normally quantifiedas the noise rise, which represents the loading on the reverse link.

Table 1 provides the definition of each column in the report. The first 6 columns(i.e., site, sector, carrier, subscriber type, service, and environment) are self-explanatory, and not included in the table.


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Table 1 Columns in a sector/carrier report

Column Description

Total Server Power (dBm) The total received power from allsubscribers including in-cell(same cell) subscribers and out-of-cell (other cell) subscribers.It represents the total reverselink interference received by acell. The data presented in thecolumn is collected on the finalMonte Carlo simulation run.

Total In-Cell Subscribers Received Power (dBm) The total received power fromthe subscribers within the cell. Itrepresents the same-cellinterference on the reverse link.

Pilot Power (dBm) The power transmitted by Pilotchannel. The amount of pilotpower being transmitted by acarrier is defined on the Powertab in the Site Editor in thesector settings.

Synch Power (dBm) The output power of the syncchannel.

Paging Power (dBm) The output power of the pagingchannel.

EV-DO Forward Activity Factor (%) The activity factor of the EV-DOtraffic channel. It is used by theMonte Carlo simulation to model



Column Description

the bursty nature of packet-switched data traffic. It isdefined as the percenage of timeslots used for traffic datatransmission.

Noise Rise (dB) The noise rise received by thecarrier/sector. It is commonlyused as a performance indicatorfor uplink loading.

Load (%) The traffic load on uplinkchannel. The load presented as apercentage is converted fromthe noise rise.

The relationship between thenoise rise and uplink load is

Load (%) = (1 – 1/(Noiserise))*100

Where, the noise rise is thelinear value.

Frequency Re-Use Efficiency (%) The frequency re-use efficiencygiven as a percentage is a ratiobetween the own-cellinterference and the totalinterference. The own cellinterference (also known assame cell interference) is theuplink interference powerreceived at the base stationfrom all other mobile subscribersin the same cell.


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Column Description

The total interference is the sumof the own cell interferencepower and the other cellinterference power. The othercell interference is theinterference power frommobilesubscribers in other cells.

Frequency re-use efficiency =(own cell interference) / (totalinterference)*100

Other Cell Interference Factor The Other Cell InterferenceFactor (OCIF) given in a linearform, equal to:(other cell interference) / (owncell interference)

F-Factor The F-Factor given as a linearterm, equal to:(own cell interference) / (totalinterference)

Mean Required Receive Power (mW) Mean value of the requiredreceive powers from allsubscribers in the reverse link.

Std Dev. Required Receive Power (mW) The standard deviation of therequired receive powers from allsubscribers in the uplink.



Column Description

Total Traffic Power Per Run (dBm) The total traffic powertransmitted by the downlink1xRTT or IS-95 carrier trafficchannel to carry traffic in thesector. The service activityfactor is accounted for in thetotal traffic channel powercalculation. The 1xRTT or IS-95downlink traffic channel is powercontrolled. The total trafficchannel power transmitted by asector varies in each MonteCarlo simulation run. The datapresented in the column is trafficchannel power per run, which isaveraged over all runs.

Average Traffic Power Per Subscriber (dBm) The average power of a singletraffic channel. This value doesnot include the voice activityfactor.

Max Traffic Power Per Channel (dBm) The minimum traffic channelpower transmitted in order toserve a subscriber in the sector.This value does not include thevoice activity factor.

Min Traffic Per Channel (dBm) Minimum power of the bestserver voice channel. This valuedoes not include the voiceactivity factor.


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Column Description

Frequency Re-Use Factor (F-Factor) The F-factor given as a linearterm, equal to: F-factor = (owncell interference) / (totalinterference)

The subscriber report

The subscriber report contains statistical information about the subscribers analyzedduring a Monte Carlo simulation. The report contains two sub-reports: thesubscriber/sector/carrier, which details data per sector/carrier combination forevery subscriber type that is included in the simulation, and the subscriber/globalreport, which provides a summary of the entire network.

Table 1 provides the definition of each column in the report.



Table 1 Columns in a subscriber report

Column Description

Served The total number of subscribers served bythe carrier. It is an averaged value computedover all Monte Carlo simulation runs.

Blocked The total number of subscribers not servedby the carrier for any reason. It is anaveraged value over all Monte Carlosimulation runs.

Non-Negotiated The column shows the number of subscribersserved with the highest available forwardlink and reverse link bearer data rates.

During a Monte Carlo simulation, if asubscriber cannot be served with the highestavailable bearer data rate on the forward linkand/or reverse link path due to reasons suchas not enough transmit power or therequired Ec/Nt threshold of the bearercannot be met, etc., a lower data rate isnegotiated. A subscriber is a non-negotiatedserved subscriber if neither the forward linknor the reverse link path has beennegotiated to a lower data rate.

Forward Negotiated The number of subscribers served where theforward link path has been negotiated to adata rate lower than that of the highestavailable bearer rate, but the reverse link isserved at the highest available bearer rate.


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Column Description

Reverse Negotiated The number of users served where thereverse link path has been negotiated to adata rate lower than that of the highestavailable bearer rate, but the forward link isserved at the highest available bearer rate.

Negotiated The number of users served where both thereverse link and downlink paths have beennegotiated to a rate lower than that of thehighest available bearer rate.

Not in Handoff The number of subscribers served by theirbest serving sector only, i.e., served whilenot in a handoff state.

Softer Handoff The number of subscribers served in softerhandoff state. A subscriber is in softerhandoff state if servers in the active set arefrom different sectors of the same basestation.

Soft Handoff The number of subscribers served in softhandoff state. A subscriber is in soft handoffstate if servers in the active set are fromsectors of different base stations.

Soft Softer Handoff The number of subscribers served in soft-softer handoff state. A subscriber is in softsofter handoff state if one of the servers isfrom a sector of a different base station, andone server is from an adjacent sector of thesame base station.



Column Description

Softer Softer Handoff The number of subscribers served in softer-softer handoff state. A subscriber is insofter-softer handoff state if all the serversare from the sectors of the same basestation.

4-way Handoff The number of subscribers served in 4-wayhandover state.

5-way Handoff The number of subscribers served in 5-wayhandoff state.



Served by Repeater The number of subscribers who have beenserved by repeaters on the sector as theprimary server.

Handoff With Repeater The number of subscribers served in handoffwhere a repeater on the sector is the handoffserver.

Mobile PA Limit The number of subscribers not served due toinsufficient mobile transmit power to achievethe required Eb/No target on the reverselink.


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Column Description

Reverse Noise Rise The number of subscribers not served due tothe maximum reverse link load beingreached at one or more sectors. A subscriberis not served when the power transmissionon the reverse link will cause any sector toexceed its reverse link load limit. A sector’sreverse link load limit is defined as themaximum allowed noise rise and can bespecified on the Implementation tab in theSite Editor.

Dropped Due To Reverse CELimit

The number of subscribers not served due toan insufficient number of channel elementson the reverse link. During the Monte Carlosimulation, the number of reverse linkchannel elements required by the primaryserver to serve a subscriber is determined. Ifthe number of available channel elements isless than required, the subscriber is notserved. This may happen, for example, if allavailable channel elements have alreadybeen used to serve other users. The numberof channel elements available at a basestation is defined in the Site Editor. The totalnumber of channel elements is a pooledresource that is shared by a carrier across allsectors of the same site.

Handoff Dropped Due ToReverse CE Limit

The number of subscribers not served in softhandoff due to insufficient channel elementson the reverse link. Subscribers served insoft handoff use additional channel elementswhen compared with subscribers who are



Column Description

served when they are not in a soft handoffstate. If there is no channel elementavailable to serve a subscriber in the softhandoff state, the subscriber is not served.

Primary Dropped Due To PA The number of subscribers not served due toinsufficient PA (power amplifier) poweravailable at the serving sector.

Primary Dropped Due To Pilot The number of subscribers not served due topilot coverage is not available at subscriberlocations. The lack of pilot coverage can becaused by the available pilot power beinginsufficient to meet the Ec/Io target requiredby the mobile. The pilot channel is not powercontrolled. The allocation of pilot power isdefined on the Power tab in the Site Editor.

Primary Dropped Due To Traffic The number of subscribers not served on theforward link due to insufficient voice power.

Dropped Due To Forward CELimit

The number of subscribers not served due toinsufficient channel elements on thedownlink. During the Monte Carlo simulation,the number of downlink channel elementsrequired by the primary server to serve asubscriber is determined. If the number ofavailable channel elements is less thanrequired, the subscriber is not served. Thismay happen, for example, if all availablechannel elements have already been used toserve other users. The number of channel


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Column Description

elements available at a base station isdefined in the Site Editor. The total numberof channel elements is a pooled resourcethat is shared by a carrier across all sectorsof the same site.

Primary Dropped Due To Code The number of subscribers not served due toinsufficient channel codes.

Handoff Dropped Due To PA The number of subscribers in a handoverstate who are not served due to insufficientPA power.

Handoff Dropped Due To Traffic The number of subscribers in a handoff statewho are not served due to power limits onRel.99 traffic channel (DPCH) power. Duringa Monte Carlo simulation, the requireddownlink transmit power is determined forevery subscriber. If the required DPCH powerexceeds the maximum power limit, thesubscriber is not served. The DPCH powerlimits are defined on the Powers tab in theSite Editor in sector settings.

Handoff Dropped Due To CE The number of subscribers in a soft handoffstate who are not served due to aninsufficient channel element on the downlink.Subscribers served in soft handover stateuse additional channel elements whencompared with subscribers served who arenot in a soft handover state. If there is nochannel element available to serve asubscriber in soft handover state, thesubscriber is not served.



Column Description

Handoff Dropped Due To Code The number of handoff connections refuseddue to insufficient channel codes.

User Limit The number of subscribers not served due todefined subscriber limit.

Cell Radius Limit The number of subscribers not served due tothe cell radius limit.

Speed Limit The number of subscribers not served due tothe maximum speed limit. If a subscriber invehicle as a moving speed that exceeds themaximum speed limit imposed by theserving sector, the subscriber is not served.The speed of vehicular subscribers is definedby the environment where the subscribersare located. The vehicular speed in differentenvironment types is specified in theEnvironment Editor.

Throughput Limit The number of subscribers not served due tothe throughput limit of the site. The totalthroughput capacity of a site is a pooledresource shared by all carriers and sectors ofthe site. If serving a subscriber causes thethroughput limit to be exceeded, thesubscriber is not served.


Chapter 11

Column Description

Used Reverse ChannelElements

The number of reverse link channel elementsused to serve subscribers.

Required Reverse ChannelElements

The number of reverse link channel elementsthat would be required to serve all servedsubscribers and those refused due toinsufficient channel elements.

Used Forward ChannelElements

The number of forward link channel elementsused to serve subscribers.

Required Forward ChannelElements

The number of forward link channel elementsthat would be required to serve all availablesubscribers (including served subscribersand those refused due to insufficient channelelements).

The throughput report

The throughput report contains information about the total forward link and uplinkthroughput achieved at every sector/carrier combination (i.e., the throughput ondifferent channels). The throughput/sector/carrier is a detailed report that containsinformation at per service, per subscriber type and per sector carrier combinationlevel. The throughput/global is a summary report for the entire network.

Table 1 provides the definition of each column in the report.



Table 1 Columns in a throughput report

Column Description

Primary Forward Throughput (kbps) The total forward link throughput ofthe carrier that is achieved byserving the subscribers in the sectoras the primary server.

Secondary Forward Throughput (kbps) The total forward link throughput ofthe carrier that is achieved byserving the subscribers who are in ahandoff state as the secondaryserver.

Primary Reverse Throughput (kbps) The total reverse link throughput ofthe carrier that is achieved byserving the subscribers in the sectoras the primary server.

Secondary Reverse Throughput (kbps) The total reverse link throughput ofthe carrier that is achieved byserving the subscribers who are in ahandoff state as the secondaryserver.

Percentage of Maximum Forward PooledThroughput (%)

Forward link throughput as apercentage of the maximum forwardlink pooled throughput of the site. Itindicates the percentage of the totalthroughput capacity of the site thathas been used by the carrier.


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Column Description

Average Achieved Rate for ForwardPrimary Subscribers (kbps)

The average forward link data rateachieved by the subscribers whomare served by the carrier as theprimary server.

Average Achieved Rate for ForwardSecondary Subscribers (kbps)

The average forward link data rateachieved by subscribers who areserved by the carrier as thesecondary server.

Average Achieved Rate for ReversePrimary Subscribers (kbps)

The average reverse link data rateachieved by subscribers who areserved by the carrier as the primaryserver.

Average Achieved Rate for ReverseSecondary Subscribers (kbps)

The average reverse link data rateachieved by subscribers who areserved by the carrier as thesecondary server.

Forward Captured SubscriberThroughput (kbps)

The forward link captured subscriberthroughput is calculated bymultiplying the number of servedsubscribers by the service data rateand by the associated serviceactivity factor.



Creating reports

After generating a Monte Carlo simulation, you can view details of thesimulation in the Report Preview dialog box and export the reports to Excel forfurther analysis.

To create reports

1 In the Project Explorer, in the Monte Carlo Simulationscategory, right-click a simulation and choose Generate Reportsand then choose one of the following options:

n Sector/Channel—contains analysis information sorted bysector and channel including PA power, preamble power,downlink load, uplink noise rise, etc.

n Subscribers—contains the reasons subscribers were blockedon either a global or per sector/channel basis.

n Throughput—contains throughput information sorted bysubscriber type, service, and environment on either a globalor per subscriber basis.

n All Run Sector/Channel—contains analysis information foreach run performed in the simulation sorted by sector andchannel.

2 In the Report Preview dialog box, do any of the following:

n To change the columns displayed in the dialog box, click theChange Options button.

n To sort the data in ascending order, click the Sort InAscending Order button.

n To sort the data in descending order, click the Sort InDescending Order button.

3 To view statistics on a particular column in the report, choose adata column and click the Generate Statistics button.


Chapter 11

The Generate Statistics window opens where you can view the mean value,the minimum value, the maximum value, the median value, the root meansquare, and the standard deviation.

4 If the report statistics include the site and sector data, you can create asector display scheme to apply to report data by doing the following:

n Choose the column of data for which you want to create a sectordisplay scheme.

n Click the Generate Sector Display Scheme button and define thesector display scheme settings you want to use.

5 If the report statistics include the site and sector data, you can displaylabels in the Map window based on a selected data column by doing thefollowing:

n Choose the column of data that you want to use as the basis for thesite labels.


6 To export the data to Excel, in the Report Preview dialog box, clickthe Export Data To A File button.

The Export Options dialog box opens.

7 In the Select Export format section, choose one of the followingoptions:



n Excel—to export statistics to an Excel (.xls) file.

n CSV—to export statistics to Comma Separated Values (.csv)file.

8 If you are exporting to Excel, do the following:

n To open the file once the export is complete, enable the OpenFile Or Folder Upon Export check box.

n In the Export Settings section, click Browse to define a filename.

n To use a template, enable the Use A Template check boxand click Browse to specify the template file.

n If the template uses macros, enable the Use Macros checkbox.

9 If you are exporting to .csv files, do the following:

n In the Export Settings section, enable the Export HeaderRow if you want to include a header in the exported files.

n Click Browse to define a folder for the exported output.

10 Click OK.


CHAPTER 12 Generating PN Offset Plans

In a cdma2000 network, the forward link uses PN offset assignments todistinguish sectors. It is, therefore, important to carefully plan PN offsets inorder to minimize interference. Using the PN Offset Plan Analysis tool, you canvalidate the PN offset plan you generate.


Understanding PN offset planning 261

Preparing input data for PN offset planning 264

Workflow for generating PN offset plans 265

Creating PN offset plans 266

Analyzing PN offset plans 273

Displaying PN offset reports 277

Applying PN offset plans 281


Chapter 12

Understanding PN offset planning

A PN offset is one of 512 codes used to differentiate sectors for communication withmobiles. The PN offset is combined with other data and transmitted on each of theforward channels.

If the same PN sequence is offset by more than one chip, the original PN sequenceand the time-shifted PN sequence are almost non-correlated to each other.Therefore, every sector can use the same PN sequence as long as the assignedvalues are time offset from each other by a predetermined separation (PNincrement).

If these PN codes are not assigned properly, interference can occur because thepropagation delay may set back the time offset between PN codes and causeconfusion at the mobiles. The resulting interference is more harmful compared toother types of interference in a cdma2000 network, especially when it affects theactive pilot. When the active pilot is affected, the false pilot (i.e., interference) istreated like the serving pilot and it is despread by a correlator. Ultimately, theinterference signal becomes very strong after despreading due to the processinggain.

The PN Offset Planning tool can be used to assign PN offsets to sectors correctly andminimize co-PN and adjacent-PN confusion. It can also be used to determine theoptimal PN increment value based on factors such as predicted signal strength,search window size, estimated cell radius, and propagation path loss.

How PN codes are assigned in Mentum Planet

In Mentum Planet, you can use one of two methods to plan PN offsets:

n individual PN offset planning

n group PN offset planning

Using the group planning method, you can assign PN offset values to adjacentsectors as shown in Figure 12.1.


Generating PN Offset Plans

Figure 12.1: PN codes with a PN increment of three assigned to adjacentsectors

With this method, PN offsets are assigned in groups of three (i.e., for a specificpilot increment, the available PN offsets are organized into PN groupscontaining three consecutive PN offsets).

You can specify the separation between PN offsets in the same group bychoosing a value from the list of available separations. The minimum value isequal to the pilot increment. The maximum value is a calculated value. Whenyou choose the minimum separation, the PN offsets are assigned using amethod commonly referred to as “the adjacent sector method”. Whenchoosing the maximum separation, the PN offsets are assigned using a methodcommonly referred to as “the adjacent site method” as shown in Figure 12.2.

Figure 12.2: PN codes with a PN increment of three and a maximumseparation of 168.


Chapter 12

The PN Offset Planning tool uses a variety of input data from your project, includingthe search window sizes from the Site Editor, a neighbor list, and, optionally, aninterference matrix. The search window size is an important element of PN offsetplanning because PN confusion interference occurs when a propagation delay causesa remote false pilot signal to fall into the mobile’s active search window. Whenassigning co-PN offsets, the PN offset planning algorithm ensures that a sufficientpropagation delay difference exists between two co-PNs. Therefore, in the case ofadjacent PN offsets, the algorithm ensures that a propagation delay will not cause aremote PN offset to fall into the mobile’s active search window. For more informationon the search window parameters (i.e., SRCH_WIN_A and SRCH_WIN_N), see theonline Help.

The PN Offset Plan Analysis tool can be used to evaluate the quality of PN offsetplans by identifying the locations where co-PN and adjacent-PN interference mayoccur.

NOTE: If the PN offset analysis reveals that no PN offset was allocated to a sector,it may be that the sector has no coverage. This situation can also occur when theneighbor list used to plan PN offsets is incomplete or incorrect.



Preparing input data for PN offset planning

You create a PN offset plan using a group of sites. Because PN offset planningis a complex process and requires input from several other Mentum Planettools, it is recommended that you create a group of sites to be used across alltools. This approach ensures that your output is consistent and valid. For moreinformation on creating groups of sites, see “Working with Sites and Sectors”,in the Mentum Planet User Guide.

The following sections explain how to prepare data for PN offset planning.

Neighbor plan

A neighbor plan is a required input for PN offset planning. To obtain the mostaccurate results, it is recommended that you import a neighbor plan fromswitch data. However, the neighbor plan can also be created from a modeledinterference matrix.

For more information on neighbor lists, see “Managing Neighbor Relationships”in the Mentum Planet User Guide.

Interference matrix

A modeled interference matrix is an optional input to the PN offset planningtool; however, using an interference matrix generates a more efficient plan. Ifyou choose to include an interference matrix as input to the PN offset planningtool and you also use an interference matrix to create the neighbor list, thetwo interference matrices must cover the same sites.

You can use a traffic map to create the modeled interference matrix for PNoffset planning. For more information on interference matrices, see “Workingwith Interference Matrices”, in the Mentum Planet User Guide.


Chapter 12

Workflow for generating PN offset plans

Step 1 Create a group of sites that you will use for your neighbor list and PNoffset planning. See “Working with Sites and Sectors” in the MentumPlanet User Guide.

Step 2 Generate predictions for the group of sites. For more information ongenerating predictions, see “Generating Predictions”, in the MentumPlanetUser Guide .

Step 3 Create a neighbor list using the group of sites. See “Managing NeighborRelationships” in the Mentum PlanetUser Guide .

Step 4 If you are using an interference matrix, create a modeled interferencematrix using the group of sites. See “Working with Interference Matrices”in the Mentum PlanetUser Guide .

Step 5 Set the search window sizes for the active and neighboring sets ofsectors.

Step 6 Define PN offset settings, generate a PN offset plan and if required,produce a PN offset report.

Step 7 Analyze the PN offset plan for potential co-PN and adjacent-PNinterference.

Step 8 Apply the plan to the sectors in the group.



Creating PN offset plans

There are two methods of creating PN offset plans:

n using sector settings—creates a plan by saving all current PNoffset assignments. This method is useful if you want to savethe current assignments for comparison or to reuse later.

n using the PN Offset Planning tool—creates a plan bygenerating PN offsets for all sectors in the group, or only forthe sectors that do not already have PN offsets assigned. Ifthe PN Offset box on the PN Offset panel in the Site Editor isblank, a sector has no PN offset assigned. When you generatea PN offset plan using the PN Offset Planning tool, PN offsetsare assigned to sectors in a way that minimizes co-PN andadjacent-PN interference.

You can create multiple PN offset plans and analyze them without committingthe associated assignments to the sectors in the project.

NOTE: If you want to globally edit all sectors so that no PN offsets areassigned, in the Tabular Editor, in the cdma2000 Sectors section, change allvalues in the PN Offset column to -1.

To create a PN offset plan using current sector settings

1 In the Project Explorer, in the RF Tools category, right-clickPN Offset Plans and choose New Save Current.

2 In the Save Plan As dialog box, do the following:

n In the Plan Name box, type a name for the new plan.

n From the Group list, choose the sector group for which youwant to create a PN offset plan.

n From the Carrier list, choose the carrier for which you want tocreate a PN offset plan.

3 Click OK.


Chapter 12

The new plan is added to the PN Offset Plans node of the RF Tools category inthe Project Explorer.

To create a PN offset plan using the PN Offset Planning tool

1 In the Project Explorer, in the RF Tools category, right-click PNOffset Plans and choose New Modeled.

2 In the Select cdma2000 Sectors dialog box, choose the sectors forwhich you want to create a PN offset plan by choosing one of thefollowing options in the Sector Selection section:

n All cdma2000 Sectors to create a plan for all sectors in theproject.

n Current Selection if you have selected specific sectors in the Mapwindow.

n Flag Filtering if you have defined and assigned flags to sectors.Enable the Invert Conditions check box to select those sectors forwhich the applied conditions do not apply.

n Group Selection if you have defined and created groups.

n Query Selection if you have defined and created sector queries.

3 In the Band Filtering section, enable the bands you want to include inyour sector selection.

The sectors that will be included in the PN offset plan are displayed in theSelected Sectors list.

4 Click OK.

The PN Offset Planning Tool dialog box opens.

5 In the PN Offset Planning Tool dialog box, under the General node,in the Plan Name box, type a name for the PN offset plan.

6 From the Carrier list, choose the carrier for which you want to generatethe PN offset plan.

7 From the Keep Existing PN Offsets list, choose one of the followingoptions:



n True—preserves PN offsets that are already assigned to anyof the selected sectors

n False—assigns new PN offset values to all of the selectedsectors

8 From the Neighbor List list, choose a neighbor list.

If no neighbor lists are available, you must create one.

9 Under the Pilot Increment node, do one of the following:

n To have the PN Offset Planning tool calculate an incrementvalue automatically, choose True from the CalculateOptimal Value list.

n To define the amount of separation between PN offset valuesmanually, in the Use Specified Value box, type the valuethat will be used to increment the PN offset value before it isassigned to one of the selected sectors. The value that youspecify corresponds to one 64-chip sequence (i.e., a PN offsetof 1 is equal to 64 chips). Typical values for this box are 3, 4,or 6, and specifying any of these reduces the number ofavailable PN codes (e.g., a value of 1 means 512 PN codes areavailable to allocate to sectors; a value of 3 reduces theavailable number of codes to 170; a value of 4 further reducesthe number to 128 codes; and so on).

10 If you want to use an interference matrix when generating theplan, under the Interference Matrix node, choose True fromthe Use Interference Matrix list, and then from theInterference Matrix list, choose a modeled interference matrix.

11 From the PN Allocation Goal list, choose one of the following:

n Minimize—allocates the smallest number of available PNoffsets. This option results in more co-PN sites and leavesmore of the available PN offsets unused for the future.

n Maximize—allocates the largest number of available PNoffsets. This option results in fewer co-PN sites and leavesfewer of the available PN offsets unused for the future.


Chapter 12

n Sequential—allocates PN offsets to the sectors sequentially. PNoffsets are assigned starting from 0 (or if a PN offset has beenretained, the next value) in ascending order.

12 From the Group Planning list, choose one of the following options:

n True—group planning is used in the PN offset planning process. Ingroup planning, PN offsets are assigned in groups of three with aconstant separation (i.e., for a specific pilot increment, the availablePN offsets are organized into PN groups containing threeconsecutive PN offsets). Click the Browse (...) button in theReserved PN Offset box to open the Group Reservation Editor dialogbox. PN offset values will be assigned to adjacent sectors as threeconsecutive PN offsets. PN offsets are assigned starting from thenorth-most sector and then clockwise to the other sectors. With afour or five-sector site, sectors 1, 2, and 3 will use one PN group andthe remaining sectors will use the next available group. With a six-sector site, two PN offset groups will be used.

n False—group planning is not considered in the PN offset planningprocess. Click the Browse (...) button in the Reserved PN Offset boxto open the PN Offset Reservation Editor dialog box.

13 If you are using group planning and you want to customize the degreeof separation between allocated PN offsets, from the Separation box,choose a separation value.

The list of available separation values is calculated based on the pilotincrement you specified in the Use Specified Value box. For example, if youspecified a pilot increment of 4 then the range of available separation values isfrom 4 to 168. If, however, you specified a pilot increment of 5 then the rangeof available separation values is from 5 to 170. When you use the maximumseparation value, you are using a PN offset planning methods commonlyknown as “adjacent site”. When you use the minimum separation value, youare using the “adjacent sector” method.

14 If you are using group planning, in the Group Reservation Editor, doany of the following and click OK:

n to exclude the PN offset 0, enable the Reserve 0 check box.



n to exclude specific PN offset groups, enable the check boxnext to the group. The group is now labeled as “Reserved” andhighlighted in gray.

15 If you are not using group planning but want to reserve PN offsetvalues for future deployment, in the PN Offset ReservationEditor, enable the check box next to the PN Offset values youwant to exclude and click OK.

In a cdma2000 network, mobiles scan for pilots having valid PN codes.Valid PN codes are multiples of the pilot increment value. For example, ifthe pilot increment value is 3, the valid PN codes are incremented by 3up to 510 (i.e., 0, 3, 6, 9,..., 507, and 510). However, the amount ofseparation between the first and last PN codes may not meet the pilotincrement requirement (0 and 510 are separated by 2, not 510). Toprevent this situation, it is recommended that you leave PN code 0reserved when generating a plan.

16 Under the Advanced node, from the Propagation Path LossExponent list, do one of the following:

n Choose a predefined morphology type for the area. Predefinedtypes correspond to the general morphology types and havevalues that range between 3 and 4.

n Choose User Defined and type an exponent value from 2 to10 in the Propagation Path Loss Exponent Value box.

Morphology types describe the physical environment and reflect thenumber of obstructions relative to no obstructions in a given area (forexample, an exponent value of 3 indicates open space).

17 Under the Thresholds node, in the Interference DetectionThreshold box, type the threshold for determining whether adistant pilot signal will be seen as interfering with the servingpilot signal.

If the difference in signal strength between the serving and distant pilotsignals is greater than the specified threshold, the distant pilot signal isnot considered to cause interference because the separation is greatenough.


Chapter 12

18 If you chose an interference matrix from the Interference Matrix listunder the General: Interference Matrix node and want to preventcertain sectors from being labeled interferers, under the Non-Interferer Thresholds node, do the following:

n in the Percentage Affected Area box, type a value from 0 to 10 toindicate the percentage of affected area that may be tolerated. Ifthe affected area is below this threshold, the sector is notconsidered to be interfering with the serving pilot.

n in the Percentage Affected Traffic box, type a value from 0 to 10to indicate the percentage of affected traffic that may be tolerated.If the affected traffic is below this threshold, the sector is notconsidered to be interfering with the serving pilot. If the interferencematrix was not based on a traffic map, this parameter is ignored.

These settings enable you to allow sectors that would normally be consideredinterferers to have co-PN assignments. For example, two sectors may haveco-PN assignments if the sectors have a hill between them (i.e., anyinterference would be so small that it would not be considered a problem).

19 Expand the Cell Radius node and, in the Active Server Thresholdbox, type the minimum signal strength required for a sector to beconsidered as an active server (i.e., a server that serves users as thebest server, the second best server, or the third best server). A sector’scell radius is estimated based on its active area (i.e., the area wherethe sector is an active server) for the purpose of PN offset planning. Thecell radius is used in the co-PN reuse distance and the minimumadjacent-PN distance calculations.

The active server threshold is based on total transmitted power, not pilotsignal strength. When the PN offset planning tool calculates the coverage areabased on signal strength, any bin having a received signal strength below thespecified threshold is ignored. If the signal is stronger than the threshold,coverage is assumed.

20 Click Generate.

The Generate Plan dialog box displays the status of the operation.

21 When the operation completes, click Close.



The new PN offset plan is added to the PN Offset Plans node of the RFTools category in the Project Explorer.

NOTE: When you reserve a PN offset value and this value is part of a PNOffset group, the entire group is considered reserved and will be excluded fromthe PN offset group planning process. You can clear the check box to make theentire group available.


Chapter 12

Analyzing PN offset plans

The PN Offset Plan Analysis tool enables you to evaluate the quality of PN offsetplans by identifying the locations where co-PN and adjacent-PN interference mayoccur.

For example, you can use the PN Offset Planning tool to generate a number ofdifferent plans, and then use the PN Offset Plan Analysis tool to evaluate the qualityof the different plans before you apply a plan to the sectors in your project.

You can generate any of the following analysis layers as part of a PN offset analysis:

n Interference Type—displays the type of interference, which can beany of the following:

n Co-PN interference

n Adjacent-PN interference

n Co- and Adjacent-PN interference

n No interference

n Worst Adjacent-PN Interferer—displays the worst Adjacent-PNinterferer for a given location.

n Adjacent-PN - Delta Pilot Signal Strength—displays the difference inpilot signal strength between the best serving sector and the worstadjacent-PN interferer.

n Worst Co-PN Interferer—displays the worst co-PN interferer for agiven location.

n Co-PN - Delta Pilot Signal Strength—displays the difference in pilotsignal strength between the best serving sector and the worst co-PNinterferer.

NOTE: The Worst Adjacent-PN Interferer and Worst Co-PN Interferer layers do notindicate the victim. The victim is the best serving sector and can be determined fromthe Best Server analysis layer. This information is contained in the PN offset plananalysis report.



To analyze a PN offset plan

1 In the Project Explorer, in the RF Tools category, right-clickthe PN offset plan that you want to analyze and choose AnalyzePlan.

The PN Offset Plan Analysis dialog box opens.

2 In the Detection Threshold box, type the value for determiningwhether a distant pilot signal will be seen as interfering with theserving pilot signal.

If the PN offset plan was created using Mentum Planet, the default is thevalue that was used to create the plan. If the difference between theserving pilot signal strength and the distant pilot signal strength isgreater than this threshold, the distant pilot is not considered

3 In the Output Layers section, enable the check box beside eachof the PN offset analysis layers that you want to generate.

You must choose at least one analysis layer.

4 In the Resolution section, enable one of the following options todefine the analysis resolution:

n Elevation File Resolution—uses the same resolution as thedigital elevation model (DEM) and signal strength predictionfiles.

n User Defined—choose a resolution from the list. Theavailable resolutions are multiples of the DEM resolution.

Using a lower resolution will decrease the accuracy of the PNoffset plan analysis, but will speed up the analysis process.

5 In the Analysis Area section, choose one of the followingoptions to define the area that will be used for the analysis:

n Automatic—the total combined prediction area.

n Current Window—the area displayed within the current Mapwindow.


Chapter 12

n User Defined Area—a predefined area grid. For information oncreating area grid files, see Chapter 14, “Working With Grids”, in theMentum Planet User Guide.

6 Click OK.

The PN Offset Plan Analysis dialog box displays the progress of the analysis.Path loss or signal strength files are updated automatically if required.

7 When the PN offset plan analysis is complete, click OK in the Planetdialog box.

The analysis layers are displayed in the Project Explorer under the PN offset plannode you chose in Step 1.

To view PN offset plan analysis layers in a Map window

n In the Project Explorer, in the RF Tools category, under the PNOffset Plans node, expand a PN offset plan for which you havegenerated an analysis, right-click an analysis layer, and chooseView.

The analysis layer is displayed in the Map window.

NOTE: To remove an analysis layer from the Map window, in the Project Explorer, inthe RF Tools category, under the PN Offset Plans node, right-click an analysis layer,and choose Remove.

To display a PN offset plan analysis report

n In the Project Explorer, in the RF Tools category, right-click thePN offset plan for which you want to view the PN offset analysisreport and choose Display Analysis Report.

The PN offset analysis report is displayed in your default text editor. The report liststhe settings used to create the PN offset plan, the PN offset usage, and the affectedsectors.



NOTE: You can calculate layer statistics for PN offset plan analysis layers byright-clicking a PN offset plan analysis layer and choosing Statistics.


Chapter 12

Displaying PN offset reports

After you generate or update a PN offset plan, you can display the followinginformation in a report (.txt) file:

n the current PN offset plan settings

n the total number of available, reserved, allocated, and unused PNoffset values

n the estimated average cell radius of the sites included in the PNoffset plan

n the number of sectors having PN offset assignments and the PNoffset values assigned to each sector

The Notes column of the PN offset report indicates whether a sector is “interfered” or“not allocated” based on the current PN assignments. While the algorithm in MentumPlanet always attempts to assign PN offsets in such a way as to minimize potentialinterference, in some cases the PN offset plan settings defined cannot be met usingthe available PN offsets. In this case, the algorithm assigns the PN offset value thatcreates the minimum amount of interference. If the Notes column indicates:

n Interfered—there is potential co-PN or adj-PN interference at thesector based on the current PN assignments.

n Not allocated, conflicting neighbors—there is a conflictcontained in the neighbor list

n Not allocated, invalid radius—there is no coverage at the sector.

If there are many interferers flagged in the Notes column, the criteria defined in thePN Offset Plan dialog box may be too stringent (e.g., if the minimum signal strengthis set too low, the radius of the cell’s active area may be over-estimated).

To display a PN offset report

1 In the Project Explorer, in the RF Tools category, right-click the PNoffset plan for which you want a report and click Display Report.

The Report Preview dialog box opens.




n To change the columns displayed in the dialog box, click theChange Options button.

n To sort the data in ascending order, click the Sort inAscending Order button.

n To sort the data in descending order, click the Sort inDescending Order button.

3 To export the data to Excel, in the Report Preview dialog box,click the Export Data to a File button.

The Export Options dialog box opens.

4 In the Select Export format section, choose one of the followingoptions:

n Excel—to export statistics to an Excel (.xls) file.

n CSV—to export statistics to Comma Separated Values (.csv)file.

5 If you are exporting to Excel, do the following:

n To open the file once the export is complete, enable the OpenFile or Folder Upon Export check box.

n In the Export Settings section, click Browse to define a filename.


Chapter 12

n To use a template, enable the Use a Template check box and clickBrowse to specify the template file.

n If the template uses macros, enable the Run Macro check box.

6 If you are exporting to .csv files, do the following:

n In the Export Settings section, enable the Export Header Row ifyou want to include a header in the exported files.

n Click Browse to define a folder for the exported output.

7 Click OK.

8 To view statistics on column data, in the Report Preview dialog box,choose one or more data columns and click the Generate Statisticsbutton.

The Generate Statistics dialog box opens where you can view the mean value,the minimum value, the maximum value, the median value, the root meansquare, and the standard deviation for each column.

9 If the report includes site and sector data, you can create a sectordisplay scheme to apply to report data by doing the following:

n In the Report Preview dialog box, choose the sector property forwhich you want to create a sector display scheme.


10 In the New Sector Display Scheme dialog box, type a name for thescheme and click OK.

11 In the Sector Display Scheme dialog box, define the parametersupon which you want the scheme to be based.

For information on creating sector display schemes, see “Working with Sitesand Sectors” in the Mentum Planet User Guide or press the F1 key for onlineHelp.

12 To view the network data upon which the scheme is based, click theData button.

13 Review the data and click Close.



14 In the Sector Display Scheme dialog box, click one of thefollowing buttons:

n OK—saves the sector display scheme.

n Cancel—closes the dialog box without saving the sectordisplay scheme.

n Apply—applies the sector display scheme to the current Mapwindow.

15 If the report includes site and sector data, you can display labelsin the Map window based on a selected data column by doing thefollowing:

n In the Report Preview dialog box, choose the column of datathat you want to use as the basis for the site labels.



Chapter 12

Applying PN offset plans

Once you have created a PN offset plan and analyzed it for potential co-PN andadjacent-PN interference, you can apply it to all the sectors in your plan.

NOTE: When you apply a plan, any existing PN offset assignments in the group ofsectors are overwritten by the new values in the plan. Therefore, before you apply aplan, if the sectors already have PN offset assignments, you may want to save theexisting assignments before applying the plan.

To apply a PN offset plan to all the sectors in a project

1 In the Project Explorer, in the RF Tools category, right-click the PNoffset plan that you want to apply and click Apply.

2 In the confirmation dialog box, click Yes.

The PN offset assignments in the plan are applied to all the sectors in yourplan.


CHAPTER 13 Working With The Tabular Editor

A key stage of network planning revolves around the analysis of network dataand the subsequent updates to network and site parameters that eventuallyproduce a network model with which you are satisfied. The Tabular Editor is apowerful tool that you can use to globally edit project parameters.


Working with the Tabular Editor 283


Chapter 13

Working with the Tabular Editor

Using the Tabular Editor, you can quickly and easily modify project data. By freezingpanes, you can compare values and analyze results. Information is organized onseparate worksheets (see Figure 13.1). The worksheets and columns that theTabular Editor displays depends on how you open the dialog box. For example, youcan open the Tabular Editor from the Sites node in the Project Data category andview all site, sector, and antenna information. Or, you can open it from the LinkConfiguration node to view only the link configurations contained in your project.

If custom data columns have been created by the Data Manager Administrator,these columns will be available on the Sites and/or Sectors worksheets in theTabular Editor after you have connected to Data Manager Server. You can add valuesor edit existing custom column data using the Tabular Editor.

Figure 13.1: Tabular Editor displaying project worksheets

NOTE: If you want to globally edit network settings, you must use theImport/Export Wizard. Network settings are not visible in the Tabular Editor.

To edit sites, flags, or link configurations

1 In the Project Explorer, do any of the following:

n To edit site parameters, in the Sites category, right-click the Sitesnode and choose Tabular Edit.


Working With The Tabular Editor

n To edit Flags, in the Sites category, right-click the Sitesnode and choose Tabular Edit.

n To edit link configurations, in the Project Data category,right-click Link Configurations and choose Tabular Edit.

2 To modify data, in the Tabular Editor, do any of the following:

n Double-click in a table cell and type a new value.

n Click the down arrow in a table cell and choose a new value.

n Enable or clear the check box for the chosen setting.

n Right-click in a table cell to copy and paste data.

n Click the down arrow next to a table heading to display all thedata or a particular subset. When a filter has been applied, thedown arrow changes to the filter icon.

3 To change the Tabular Editor display, do any of the following:

n Click the Change Options button to specify whichworksheets and columns to display in the Tabular Editor.

n Click the Sort Ascending button to reorder the rows based onthe data in the selected column.

n Click the Sort Descending button to reorder the rows basedon the data in the selected column.

n Place the pointer between column headings to increase ordecrease the size of the column.

n Enable the Freeze Panes check box to lock rows andcolumns in one area so that they remain visible when youscroll. This is useful, for example, if you want to freeze aparticular column and then scroll through subsequent columnscomparing the values.

4 To copy data to the clipboard, click the Copy To Clipboardbutton.

5 To paste from the clipboard, click the Paste From Clipboardbutton.


Chapter 13

6 To view statistics on column data, choose one or more data columnsand click the Generate Statistics button.

The Generated Statistics dialog box opens where you can view statisticalinformation for each column you chose.

7 To display labels in the Map window based on column data, click a tab inthe Tabular Editor that contains site or sector columns, choose a datacolumn, and click the Generate Labels button.

Labels are displayed in the Map window at each site.

8 When you have finished modifying or examining the data, click Close.

NOTE: There are some columns that you cannot edit in the Tabular Editor. Thesecolumns are grayed out.

TIP: To quickly copy a value across all rows in a column in the Tabular Editor, typethe new value in the first cell of the column, click the column header to select thecolumn, and press CTRL+D. Then, click outside the column to make the updates.Click Apply to save your changes.

TIP: To update displayed information with current data, click the Refresh button.This update may be longer than when you click Apply because all data isrecomputed.


CHAPTER 14 Importing And Exporting Data

You can import and export project data using Microsoft Excel spreadsheets(.xls or .xlsx) or comma separated value (.csv) files. This is useful when youwant to analyze data and, based on your analysis, edit site, sector, andnetwork parameters.


Importing, replacing, and exporting project data 287

Importing network data into Mentum Planet projects 293


Chapter 14

Importing, replacing, and exporting project data

Using the Import/Export Wizard, you can view project data in Microsoft Excelspreadsheets (.xls or .xlsx) or comma separated value (.csv) files. When you exportdata from your project to a spreadsheet, individual worksheets are created in the.xls file or .xlsx for each category of project data. When you export project data to.csv files, a folder is created containing individual .csv files for each project datacategory. You can choose the types of project data that you want to import orexport. For example, you could import or export only site and sector location data,but not the detailed sector settings. You can also import or export project data onlyfor specific sectors.

You can use the Import/Export command-line utility (iecon.exe) to export MentumPlanet data to an .xls file, .xlsx, .csv file, or database. You can then make changes tothe data and use iecon.exe again to import the data back into Mentum Planet or DataManager. The iecon.exe utility is useful if you want to automate the import andexport of data using scripts (e.g., if you want to make Mentum Planet dataaccessible to other systems via a database or import updates to projects fromanother source). See “Appendix A: Import/Export Command-Line Utility” in the DataManager Server Administrator Guide. When you use the iecon utility to import sitesand sectors, you must always include the Summary.csv file in the data import.

TIP: To specify the Import/Export Excel file format, choose Edit Preferences. Inthe User Preferences dialog box, in the tree view, choose Miscellaneous. In theImport Export Settings section, choose the default Excel file extension (i.e., theExcel 2007-2003 format (.xls) or the new Excel Workbook format (.xlsx)).

CAUTION: If your project is stored in Data Manager, and you export it and re-import it using the Import/Export tool, Data Manager will treat it as a new project ifyou use the Replace All Data option. In this case, if you want to continue using theexisting project, you must merge the new project into the existing project. SeeChapter 2, “Using Data Manager” in the Data Manager User Guide.

Importing data

You can use .xls, .xlsx or .cvs files to add or remove sites, edit project settings, andthen import the new or updated data. Each worksheet in an .xls file, .xlsx or each.csv file you use to import project data must contain the required and mandatorycolumns, and must be formatted correctly for the type of data in a column (i.e., textor numeric). Unless you specifically request that data be replaced on import, data is


Importing And Exporting Data

never removed from a project when you use the Import Wizard. For example, ifthe worksheet or .csv file from which you are importing does not contain all ofthe sectors currently in your project, only the sectors listed in the worksheetor .csv file are updated in the project. The other sectors in your project are notaffected by the Import Wizard. If you are working with a large project and onlywant to update specific project data, you can import individual worksheets or.csv files, and include only the sites or sectors that require updating or arebeing added.

For descriptions of worksheets or .csv files and the columns they contain, validvalues and ranges, and an indication of required and mandatory columns, seethe Import Export Table Parameters folder in the Mentum Planet Help folder.

TIP: To ensure the proper worksheet or .csv file format when importing, usepreviously exported .xls, .xlsx or .csv files to edit or update project data.

Replacing data

When you import data, you can choose to replace specific data. This can beuseful, for example, if:

n you want to delete sites from your project. When you delete asite, however, you must delete the site from all dependentworksheets.

n you want to change the prefix used in the site IDs (e.g., from“Site” to “Ott”). When you change site IDs, however, youmust change the site ID on all dependent worksheets.

n you want to share and merge project data.

Exporting data

When you export data to a spread sheet, individual worksheets are created inthe .xls or .xlsx file for each category of project data. When you export data toa .csv file, a folder is created containing individual .csv files for each categoryof project data. In addition, a Summary worksheet or .csv file is also createdfor the exported project. For descriptions of the data types that can beexported, and the corresponding location (dialog box) of the field in theMentum Planet graphical user interface, see the Import Export TableParameters folder in the Mentum Planet Help folder.


Chapter 14

By default, when you export data, the site coordinates are saved in theLongitude/Latitude (WGS 84) projection and the sector coordinates are saved in theprojection specified when you originally created the project. If you import anexported .xls file, .xlsx or .csv files, only the site and sector coordinate systems areimported from the Summary worksheet or .csv file.

To export project data


n If you want to export project data for all sites and sectors, chooseData Export.

n If you want to export project data for individual sites, sectors, orgroups, in the Project Explorer, in the Sites category, choose oneor more groups, sites, or sectors, right-click and choose Export.

n If you want to export repeater data, in the Project Explorer, in theSites category, right-click the Repeaters node, and chooseExport.

n If you want to export project data based on enabled flag conditions,in the Project Explorer, in the Sites category, right-click theFlags node, and choose Export.

The Export Wizard opens.



2 On the Data Selection page, in the Tables list, enable the checkboxes for each of the tables that you want to export.

Each selected table is exported to an individual worksheet in an Excelfile or a single comma separated value file. For example, if you enableonly Sites and Sectors, then only the basic site and sector informationwill be exported. When you enable the Sectors check box in the Tablesbox, by default, the Bin File Name, the Bin Hash Code, the SignalStrength File Name, and the Signal Strength Hash Code columns are notenabled (i.e., they are cleared).

3 In the Columns list, for each of the tables that you chose in Step2, enable the check boxes for each of the columns that you wantto export.

4 Click Next.

5 On each page of the Wizard define the required parameters.

6 On the last page of the Wizard, click Finish.

To import project data

When you import data, the coordinate systems (along with the distance andheight units) are imported from the Summary worksheet or .csv file and, ifrequired, sites and sectors are reprojected automatically. A list of supportedprojections is contained in the mapinfo.prj file located in the <Mentum Planetinstallation folder>\mapinfo folder. Additional information about projectionscan be found in Appendix B, “Elements of a Coordinate System” in the MapInfoProfessional User Guide.

CAUTION: All values in the Excel file from which you are importing must usethe default units indicated in the worksheet column names, and the file mustcontain required and mandatory columns.

1 If you want to import general site, sector and project data,choose Data Import Project Data.

The Import Wizard opens.


Chapter 14

2 On the File Location page, do one of the following:

n If you want to import project data from an .xls or .xlsx file, choosethe Microsoft Excel option.

n If you want to import project data from a folder of .csv files, choosethe Comma Separated Values Text Files option.

3 Click Browse, and do one of the following:

n If you chose the Microsoft Excel option in Step 2, navigate to the.xls or .xlsx file containing the data you want to import, and clickOpen.

n If you chose the Comma Separated Values Text Files option inStep 2, navigate to the folder containing the .csv files you want toimport, and click OK.

4 Click Next.

The Data Selection page lists the tables available to import and options forreplacing project data on import.

5 On the Data Selection page, enable the check boxes for each of thetables that you want to import.

You can click Select All or Clear All to speed up the selection process.



6 If you want to overwrite existing data or remove data from aproject, enable any of the following check boxes.

n All Data—replaces data in all categories listed in the Replacesection.

n Groups—replaces data listed in the Groups category.

n Flags—replaces data listed in the Flags category.

n Site Data—replaces site data including data in the followingcategories: HSN Exceptions, Carrier Exceptions, Color CodeExceptions, Carrier Assignments, and Neighbor Relationshipsare also overwritten.

n Link Configurations—replaces data listed on the link budgetworksheet.

n Network Settings—replaces network setting parameters.

n Environment Settings—replaces all the parameters definedin the Environment Editor.

n Custom Definitions—replaces all custom user datadefinitions defined in the project settings.

7 Before you replace data, click Compare Data to verify that thedata being replaced is what is expected.

When you replace data, the selected data is first deleted from theproject and the new data is then imported into the project. Once datahas been replaced, the original data cannot be recovered.

8 Click Finish.

The project data you chose will be updated or added to your project. TheLog dialog box displays the status of the import operation.

NOTE: Status messages are displayed cumulatively in the Log dialog box.Click the Export button to save the log messages to a text file. Click the Clearbutton to remove all messages from the Log dialog box.


Chapter 14

Importing network data into Mentum Planet projects

Network data is data collected from wireless network switching equipment. Itcontains information about network configuration and performance. You use theNetwork Data Import Wizard to bind network data to Mentum Planet data. The boundnetwork data can then be used in Mentum Planet in traffic maps, interferencematrices, neighbor lists, technology-specific features such as Automatic FrequencyPreamble and Perm Base Planning tool, and for display purposes.

Your network data must be in an Excel spreadsheet or tab-delimited text file.


Binding network data

Binding network data means mapping columns in the network data to Mentum Planetdata columns. In the Network Data Import Wizard, you only need to specify whetheryou want to bind data based both the site ID and the sector ID or only on a sectorproperty that contains unique values for each sector.

Viewing the results of data binding

Once you have mapped the network data to the Mentum Planet data, you can reviewit in the Report Preview dialog box. You can then create a sector display scheme forstatistical data in order to view network data graphically on a map of your network’scoverage area. Any numeric metric, for example, dropped calls or carried Erlangs,can be displayed.

To import network data

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



2 Read the introduction and click Next.

3 On the Choose How You Want The Data Bound page, chooseone of the following options:

n Bind To Site ID/Sector ID—binds the Site ID and theSector ID to columns in the network data file.

n Bind To Unique Sector Property—binds a sector propertywhen it contain unique values for each sector

4 Click in the header row and, from the list, choose the MentumPlanet data to which to bind the network data.

A valid selection displays a green indicator.


Chapter 14

5 Once the data has been successfuly bound, click Finish.

The Report Preview dialog box opens. The Mapping Status column indicateswhether the data is mapped or not in the project.

6 In the Report Preview dialog box, modify the report display asrequired using the available toolbar buttons.



7 If you mapped network data to a sector property, you can createa sector display scheme to apply to network data by doing thefollowing:

n Choose the sector property for which you want to create asector display scheme.


8 Define a name for the sector display scheme and, in the SectorDisplay Scheme dialog box, define the parameters upon whichyou want the scheme to be based.

9 To view the network data upon which the scheme is based, clickthe Data button.

Network data is added to the Operational Data category in the ProjectExplorer.


Appendix A Mentum Planet File Types

When you design a wireless network using Mentum Planet, you will encounterthe file types described in this appendix.

This appendix covers the following topics:

Understanding project folders and files 298


Appendix A

Understanding project folders and files

When you design a wireless network using Mentum Planet, you will encounter the filetypes described in the tables below.

Project files

File Description

.algr An antenna algorithm file saved, by default, in the AntennaAlgorithm folder with the project folder.

.curve A file created in the Curve Editor and stored in the Curves folderwithin the project folder.

.flt A binary file containing the filter loss and frequency offset for eachsector and each equipment type as defined in the Filter Loss dialogbox.

.fpp A frequency plan file.

.paf A Planet Antenna Format file saved in the Antennas folder withinthe project folder.

.pex A compressed file that contains at a minimum an .xml file with thenecessary instructions and structure.

.flt A binary file containing the filter loss and frequency offset for eachsector and each equipment type as defined in the Filter Loss dialogbox.


Mentum Planet File Types

Output files

File Description

.grd /.tab A numeric grid file that is always accompanied by an associated.tab file. The .grd file contains the raw grid and color information.The .tab file is required by MapInfo Professional to open andregister the grid image. The .tab file also contains metadata of thegrid data.

.grc /.tab A grid file that contains integer (not numeric) data. It is alsoreferred to as a classified grid. The .tab file is required by MapInfoto open and register the grid image. The .tab file also containsmetadata on the settings of the grid data.

.imx An interference matrix file.

.nl A neighbor list file.

.pfc A contour color profile with specific break points (ranges) that areapplied when you convert a grid to a vector contour map.

.pfr A text file containing point-to-point profile settings (including datafiles), antenna pattern and azimuth, sector, and receiver values.

MapInfo files

File Description

.map Map file for objects associated with .tab files (see “Output files”).

.id ID of objects associated with .tab file.

.dat Data file associated with .tab or .xml file.

.tda Intermediate file generated by MapInfo when edits have not beensaved. Serves as an intermediate save. Handled only by MapInfo.

.tin Intermediate file generated by MapInfo when edits have not beensaved. Serves as an intermediate save. Handled only by MapInfo.

.tma Intermediate file generated by MapInfo when edits have not beensaved. Serves as an intermediate save. Handled only by MapInfo.


Appendix B Modeling Cdma2000 Networks

This appendix describes factors that influence network coverage and how theyare dealt with during the network analysis process.


Interference 301

Slow fading 307

Penetration losses 312


Appendix B

Interference

cdma2000 networks are limited by interference. In other words, the amount ofinterference in the network determines the capacity and coverage of the network.The following sections describe the different types of interference that can affectnetworks.

Forward linkinterference

Many signals are transmitted on the forward link. These signals can be grouped intotwo categories: physical channels and transport channels.

Physical channels include

n Pilot Channel

n Synchronisation Channel (SCH)

n Dedicated Physical Channels (DPCH)

Transport channels include

n Paging Channel (PCH)

n Random Access Channel (RACH)

n Forward linkShared Channel

Transport channels are mapped onto physical channels. The mobile receiver detectseach physical channel individually because the channels are coded using OrthogonalVariable Spreading Factors (OVSF) also known as Walsh codes. A property of thesecodes is that they are orthogonal to each other, enabling the physical channels to beseparated and spread over the same band and still be recoverable.

The sources of forward linkinterference are:

n Non-orthogonality—interference that occurs due to factors thatreduce the orthogonality of a physical channel, which increaseschannel interference and reduces the available capacity. Generally,factors that reduce the degree of orthogonality include significantmultipath signals with longer time delays, Doppler spread (whichoccurs when users are moving within a multipath environment), and


Modeling Cdma2000 Networks

power amplifier non-linearity. As the degree of orthogonalityof these signals decreases (i.e., non-orthogonality increases),the interference due to these signals on the desired signalincreases and reduces its signal-to-noise ratio. Therefore, thetransmitted power from the site must be increased in order toachieve the required signal-to-noise ratio (Eb/No)Interference caused by the non-orthogonality of the signalstransmitted from the site with which a mobile subscriber iscommunicating is sometimes referred to as in-cellinterference.

n Interference From Other Sites—interference that occursout-of-cell. All the signal energy received at the mobile fromthese other sites is interference (i.e., there is no orthogonalityassociated with these signals from other sites). There aremany locations in the network where this out-of-cellinterference dominates.

n Thermal Noise—interference that occurs at the mobile dueto its own thermal noise (i.e., kTB noise). Thermal noise is theinternal noise of the mobile (i.e., noise that exists when themobile is located far away from all other sources ofinterference).

n Unknown Interference—interference occurring from foreignsources. The source of this interference may not becompletely unknown because there may be energy introducedinto the carrier band from a known adjacent carrier. Anexamination of the spectrummask of adjacent carriers mayindicate the level of interference to expect. Foreigninterference is the difference between the thermal noise, asdescribed above, and the noise measured when you take thesame mobile into a region of the network, with the networkcompletely shut down.

Reverse linkinterference

Reverse link interference refers to noise at the site receivers. Just as there aremany channels associated with the forward link, there are also many channelstransmitted by the mobile on the reverse link. Some of these are accesschannels, used for responding to pages, and general network feedbackrequirements. Others are used specifically for transmitting physical channels


Appendix B

(voice or packet data) and for controlling forward link power while receiving data.

On the forward link, transmitted energy is from one source (the site transmittingantenna) and the energy is received by many receivers (mobiles). Because theforward link uses channelization codes, there can be orthogonality, and this isrealized at the distributed users. This concept does not apply on the reverse linkbecause there are many users transmitting primarily to the one site receivingantenna. The received signals are not time synchronized, and so there is no realpossibility for orthogonality of the received signals.

The sources of reverse link interference are:

n In-cell Interference—caused by users communicating with thesite. Some of these users have their transmitted power controlledby the site and will generally be involved in controlling the forwardlink power. Interference caused by users who are in second, orgreater levels of handover, will likely have their equipment powerscontrolled by a different site, typically the site that is providing thestrongest pilot signal.

n Out-of-cell Interference—caused by signal energy received atthe site receiver from users who are communicating with other sites

n Front End Noise And Foreign Noise—these sources are similarto that described for the forward link interference. The total receivednoise level (Io+No) at the site receiver from each user dependsupon the required Eb/No to achieve an acceptable level of energy atthe receiver. As the noise increases, which happens as more usersaccess the network, the required power from the mobile alsoincreases. When the required power from the mobile exceeds itsmaximum power, the call is dropped or the session is terminated.Just as the total traffic power is required to determine the forwardlink interference, the received noise at the site receiver is requiredto determine the power needed by the users to transmit a viablesignal. Yet, the transmitted power of the mobile affects the receivednoise level.

Pilot interference

It is necessary to determine the pilot coverage for each site because the pilot signaleffectively determines the extent of network coverage on the downlink. The energyper chip per interference density (Ec/Io) is measured on the pilot channel. It is



continuously monitored by the mobiles and compared against the pilot TargetEc/Io and the pilot pollution margin.

The pilot detection threshold value is the minimum pilot signal-to-noise ratio(Ec/Io) value required for adding a pilot to the active set and is defined in theSite Editor. The pilot pollution margin is the Ec/Io margin, relative to the bestserver Ec/Io, within which a pilot signal will interfere with the desired signal,and is defined on the General panel of the Network Settings dialog box.

The sources of pilot interference are

n in-cell interference energy from the other channelstransmitted from the same site as the pilot signal

n out-of-cell interference energy transmitted from all channelsof other sites

n thermal (kTB) noise of the receiver

n energy from external sources

Forward link traffic interference

The DPCH carries voice or data information and must be received by the userwith sufficient power to satisfy quality of service requirements (i.e., therequired Eb/No value must be met by the mobile signal) if the connection is tobe maintained. The Eb/No value is defined as the energy per bit per noisepower density. In reality, the noise is due not only to mobile receiver thermalnoise (kTB noise) but also to noise from other signal sources.

The sources of traffic signal interference are:

n same-cell interference energy from the non-orthogonalcomponent of the other channels transmitted from the samesite from which the traffic signal originates

n other-cell interference energy transmitted from all channels ofother sites

n mobile receiver’s thermal noise

n energy from external or foreign sources

Because the signal is spread over the full bandwidth, the Eb/No benefits fromthe spreading (processing) gain.


Appendix B

Controlling interference

Effective power control decreases the interference across the network. Forward linkpower control ensures the traffic power meets the mobile’s Eb/No requirement,without using excessive power. If the traffic power is excessive, capacity-limitinginterference occurs on other traffic and pilot signals. Likewise, on the reverse link,inadequate power control can lead to interference on the network if the mobile isusing excessive power to communicate with the site. As more users are added to anetwork, the received noise level at the site increases. In order for the mobile tomaintain an acceptable Eb/No, it needs to increase the transmitted power.

If the user is moving closer to the site, and/or comes out of a shadowed area, thereceived signal at the site will increase quickly. This improves the voice quality of thesignal but also greatly increases the interference experienced by other users and, inturn, reduces their voice quality. To prevent the increase in interference, very fastmobile traffic power control is required. cdma2000 technology achieves this fastpower control by having the site measure the uplink Eb/No value and assess thequality of service for every user to which it is connected, many hundreds of times asecond. With each measurement, two situations can arise:

n the measured Eb/No is too high, in which case the site commandsthe mobile to decrease the power it transmits

n the measured Eb/No is too low, in which case the site commands themobile to increase the power it transmits

If a mobile is in soft handoff, there are two or more servers in its active set. Themobile decreases the power it transmits if any of the servers commands, but onlyincreases the power if all the servers command it. This difference gives rise to thesoft handoff gain, which is described in more detail in the next section.

If a user moves behind a building, for example, the mobile must power up in order tocontinue to stay connected. Likewise, if a user moves close to a site, the mobilemust power down in order to reduce the interference it creates. Power control signalsare transmitted up to 1.5kHz on both the forward link and reverse link. The ability ofthe network to fully realize the benefit of the power control is dependent on theresponse time of both inner and outer loop power controls. Outer loop power controlis the more restrictive of the two, because it depends on the frame duration andinterleaving of data between frames.



Due to these response time considerations, the power level needed to achievethe required Eb/No will not be exactly maintained. To accommodate the powerdelays, it is desirable to model the power control error statistically.


Appendix B

Slow fading

The phenomenon of slow fading impacts both the behavior and design of the networkin a number of ways, including slow fading margin and soft handoff gain.

How slow fading is modeled

Slow fading is the change in signal strength due to shadowing and unexpectedobstructions. You can statistically model the effects of slow fading and include thisdata in the analysis of your network. In addition to the implicit effects above, youcan explicitly model the statistical effects of slow fading in the analysis of yournetwork. Explicit slow fading is only modeled as part of the Monte Carlo analysis forpixels that contain subscribers.

The same slow fading values can be used for both the forward link and reverse link,and are correlated between the different sectors with path loss values at thatlocation.

Using a correlation model to model slow fading

This section describes the calculations used by Mentum Planet to model slow fadingusing the angular correlation model.

Angular correlation model equation

Unlike non-angular correlation models, which use a correlation factor for co-sitesectors and another correlation factor for non co-site sectors, angular correlationmodels use a correlation factor for each pair of signals received by the mobile fromdifferent sectors. Equation B.1 enables you to determine the correlation factors forangular correlation models.

Equation B.1 Angular correlation model equation1

Where

is the correlation factor at 0o

is the steepness of the curve for angles less than approximately 20o



is the value of the second term in Equation B.1 at 0o

is the steepness of the curve for angles greater than 20o

is the angle between the sites

In this equation, the correlation factor decreases from at 0o toapproximately zero at 180o. The rate of decrease is controlled by theparameters and .

Example

Figure B.1 displays an example of the correlation factor as a function of theangle between two sites. The data is from urban and suburban macrocells.

Figure B.1: The vertical axis represents the correlation factor, and thehorizontal axis represents the opening angle in degrees.

The table below describes the values used for each parameter in Figure B.1.


Appendix B

Table 1 Parameter values

Parameter Value

0.83

5o

B 0.6

70o

Determining the mean correlation factor

Assuming uniformly distributed angles, the mean correlation factor is provided inEquation C.2.

Equation C.2 Mean correlation factor

Using the parameter values in Table 1, the mean correlation factor is 0.22.

Slow fading margin

The fade margin defines the amount of additional power required for the transmittedsignal to overcome obstacles in the environment and provide the service quality andreliability required. It has no impact on the average amount of power required in theuplink or downlink to achieve the desired performance. Its primary impact is toreduce the extent of the coverage.

In determining the downlink and uplink power levels required to provide service to auser at some specified location (bin), an average power calculation is computedbased upon the average path loss associated with the bin. Coverage is notguaranteed if the required average powers are close to the maximummobile powerlimit. The mobile may not have enough fade margin to allow for power fluctuations,due to local shadowing. This is where coverage probability affects the required fademargin. A high coverage probability produces a relatively high fade margin suitable



for speech services and vehicular users of all services. Reducing the coverageprobability for mobile users with the ability to move their position to find thebest reception reduces the fade margin.

The fade margin requirement increases as the signal variability (standarddeviation) increases. Its requirement will be reduced significantly in regions ofthe network where soft handover gain exists. This occurs because theshadowing of the two sites is not correlated. This implies that fade marginrequirements are minimized where the nominal signal levels from the sites insoft handover are nearly equal.

Soft handover gains

Macro-diversity soft handover gain occurs when a user is receiving a signalfrommore than one site. In this particular case, the variability of the path losscan have a significant impact on the power requirements. As a result of thevariability in the received signals caused by the significant shadowing that canaccompany these signals, a signal which might normally be greater from onesite (e.g., Site_1) may, over some locations in the same general vicinity, beless than that from a different site (e.g., Site_2). In these situations, the userwill be served primarily from Site_2, which will provide the required signalstrength at the mobile using a lower transmitted power level than that whichwould have originated from Site_1. The impact of this is to realize a gain, thusreducing the required power and the interference in the network.

The impact of this macro-diversity gain increases as the signal variabilityincreases (i.e., the standard deviation increases), and as the differencebetween the nominal signal levels from each site decreases (the strength ofthe signals become more equal) as illustrated in Figure B.2.


Appendix B

Figure B.2: The impact of macro-diversity gain

The macro-diversity soft handover gain is fully realized only if the signals comingfrom the two sites are uncorrelated. Where a mobile is in soft handover with two orthree sites with very limited angular separation there is an increased correlation and,hence, a decreased macro-diversity gain.

It is also possible to consider the effects of additional gain due to signal combining atthe mobile. This is made possible due to the rake receiver in the mobile, and,therefore, impacts only the downlink. It is uncertain what the net impact (if any) ofthis gain will be, since the signals from these two different sites are generallyuncorrelated. Therefore, the possible gain associated with this type of signalcombining is not implemented.



Penetration losses

Path loss is calculated using models that are calibrated to give path losspredictions that are appropriate for outdoor services. Generally, surveys areconducted to test the accuracy of the prediction model and these values areinvariably outdoor measurements. Not all users of services are outdoors. It istherefore necessary to address this discrepancy.

Within a bin, some users may be outdoors, some users may be indoors nearwindows, and some users may be located at the center of buildings wherehigher penetration losses occur. Some users of these services will be able tomove about and use services where signals are stronger.

Because of the large variability of signal levels within a bin, it may be possiblefor some users using some services to have coverage, while other users of thesame services may not have coverage due to the higher penetration losses inother locations within the same bin. To deal with how and where a user uses aservice, Mentum Planet allows different proportions of users to be allocated tothe following environments, each with different penetration loss, in eachclutter:

n Outdoor

n Vehicular

n Indoor

n Deep Indoor

1. Cochannel Measurements for Interference Limited Small-Cell Planning, J.Van Rees, AEii, vol. 41, pp318-320, 1987.


Appendix C Cdma2000 Analysis Layers

This appendix lists the analysis layers that you can choose to generate in acdma2000 network analysis. Generating layers enable you to visualize andoptimize the coverage of your network. cdma2000 analysis layers are stored inthe cdma2000_Analyses folder of your project.


Common cdma2000 Analysis Layers 314

Carrier-Specific cdma2000 Analysis Layers 317


Appendix C

Common cdma2000 Analysis Layers

cdma2000 analysis layers are grouped into common layers and carrier-specificlayers. The common layers represent the performance of sectors on the best carrieror the composite plots of multiple carriers (e.g., downlink best carrier layer). Table 1details the common layers.


Cdma2000 Analysis Layers

Table 1 Common cdma2000 analysis layers

Layer Description

1xRTT BestPilot CompositeServer

Identical to the pilot - Best Server layer, except that forsectors with repeaters, the repeater and its donor aretreated as one combined sector.

1xRTT BestPilot CompositeField Strength

Displays the highest pilot signal field strength if there aremultiple pilot signals from different carriers present at abin. The layer is generated only if two or more carriers ofthe same standard (IS-95/1xRTT or EV-DO) are includedin an analysis.

1xEVDO - BestPilot CompositeServer

Displays the coverage area of each sector’s pilot. Forsectors with repeaters, the repeater and its donor aretreated as one combined sector. The layer is generatedwhen two or more carriers of the same standard (IS-95/1xRTT or EV-DO) are included in an analysis.

1xEVDO- BestPilot CompositeField Strength

Displays the highest pilot signal field strength if there aremultiple pilot signals from different carriers present at abin. The layer is generated only if two or more carriers ofthe same standard (IS-95/1xRTT or EV-DO) are includedin an analysis.


Appendix C

Layer Description

1xEVDO - BestPilot CompositeEc/Nt

Displays the highest Pilot Ec/Nt if there are multiple pilotsignals from different carriers present at a bin. The layeris generated only if two or more carriers of the samestandard (IS-95/1xRTT or EV-DO) are included in ananalysis.

1xEVDO -ForwardMulticarrierData Rate

Displays, when the serving sector or subscriber equipmentdoes not support multi-carrier EV-DO, the best EV-DOforward maximum achievable data rate of all EV-DOcarriers used in the analysis.

Displays, when the serving sector or subscriber equipmentdoes support multi-carrier EV-DO, the sum of the X (Xbeing equal to the “maximum number of aggregatedcarriers” defined for the subscriber equipment typeselected for the analysis) greatest EV-DO Forward MaxAchievable Data Rate of all EV-DO carriers that supportmulti-carrier EV-DO and belong to the same frequencyband.

1xEVDO -ReverseMulticarrierData Rate

Displays, when the serving sector or subscriber equipmentdoes not support multi-carrier EV-DO, the best reversemaximum achievable data rate of all EV-DO carriers usedin the analysis.

Displays, when the serving sector or subscriber equipmentdoes support multi-carrier EV-DO, the sum of the X (Xbeing equal to the “maximum number of aggregatedcarriers” defined for the subscriber equipment typeselected for the analysis) greatest EV-DO Reverse MaxAchievable Data Rate of all EV-DO carriers that supportmulti-carrier EV-DO and belong to the same frequencyband.



Carrier-Specific cdma2000 Analysis Layers

cdma2000 analysis layers are grouped into common layers and carrier-specificlayers. The carrier-specific layers represent the performance of one carrier.Table 1 details the carrier-specific layers.


Appendix C

Table 1 Carrier-specific analysis layers

Layer Description

Pilot - BestServer

Displays the coverage area of each sector’s pilot.The coverage area is based on achieving at least the pilot TargetEc/Io defined in the cdma2000 Sector Settings dialog box.

Pilot -CompositeBest Server

Identical to the pilot - Best Server layer, except that for sectorswith repeaters, the repeater and its donor are treated as onecombined sector.

Pilot - BestEc/Io

Displays the pilot Ec/Io at each bin based on the power limitsdefined in the cdma2000 Sector Settings dialog box.

Pilot -Coverage

Displays the coverage area of the Pilot signal. The Pilot coverage isdetermined according to the Pilot target Ec/Io threshold andcomputed Pilot Ec/Io value at each bin. A bin is considered ashaving Pilot coverage if the computed best server Pilot Ec/Io isequal to or exceed the Pilot target Ec/Io threshold.

Pilot - 2ndServer

Displays the second best pilot to be used if it is a candidate for theactive set of sectors

Pilot - 3rdServer

Displays the third best pilot to be used if it is a candidate for theactive set of sectors

Pilot - 4thServer

Displays the fourth best pilot to be used if it is a candidate for theactive set of sectors

Pilot - 5thServer

Displays the fifth best pilot to be used if it is a candidate for theactive set of sectors

Pilot - 6thServer

Displays the sixth best pilot to be used if it is a candidate for theactive set of sectors

Pilot - 7thServer

Displays the seventh best pilot to be used if it is a candidate for theactive set of sectors

Pilot - BestEc Server

Displays the best server at each location where the Best Ec isbetter than the value defined for the best Ec threshold, or null if theBest Ec is worse than the threshold value.

Pilot -CompositeBest EcServer

Identical to the pilot - Best Ec Server layer, except that for sectorswith repeaters, the repeater and its donor are treated as onecombined sector.



Layer Description

Pilot - BestEc

Displays the Ec (the energy received per chip) for the best pilot.

Pilot - TotalEc

Displays the total Ec for the pilots in the active set. The total Ec iscomputed as the sum of Ec powers of the pilots in active set.

Pilot -PollutionIndex

Displays the areas in your coverage region where pilot coverage isnot sufficient.The Pilot - Pollution Index is a numeric grid (.grd) file that uses apercentage for each bin. Values closer to 100% indicate areaswhere pilot pollution and/or pilot coverage may be a problem.This index is created based on the number of users in an area(usage factor) and the probability of pilot pollution (pilot factor) inthat area. High values occur when there is a low pilot-to-interference ratio and/or there is a high concentration of users inrelation to the available signal strength. The usage factor is basedon the traffic map and the usage factor curve defined in theNetwork Settings dialog box and the traffic factor is based on thepilot factor curve defined in the Network Settings dialog box.

Pilot - DeltaEc/Io

Displays the difference in pilot Ec/Io between the best server andthe server that you choose in the Nth Best Server for Delta Layerbox on the System panel of the Analysis Settings dialog box.

Pilot -Number ofPolluters

Displays the number of pilot polluters at each bin.A pilot is a polluter if it is not a best or handoff server and its Ec/Io iswithin the pilot Pollution Margin defined in the Network Settingsdialog box.

Pilot - WorstPolluter

Displays the worst pilot polluter at each bin.

Pilot - Sumof Pilotsminus BestPilot

Displays the total pilot signal strength within the network minus thebest pilot signal strength. This indicates whether the best pilot isthe primary component of the composite signal. In areas wherethere are too many different signals of similar strength, the signal-to-interference ratio will be too high and calls may be dropped. It ismore effective for cdma2000 networks to have a dominant pilotsignal throughout the desired coverage area.


Appendix C

Layer Description

Pilot -Received Io

Displays the total downlink noise received at the mobile receiver.This value represents the downlink received signal strengthincluding thermal noise. This layer applies to EV-DO carriers only.

Pilot - TotalEc/Io

Displays the ratio of total Ec and received Io.

Pilot -Outdoor Io

Displays the total interference outdoors at the location of thereceiver. Thermal noise is not included. This analysis layer does nottake into account the penetration loss or the mobile antenna gain.This layer applies to EV-DO carriers only.

Pilot - InCell To OutOf CellInterference

Displays the in-cell to out-of-cell interference ratio based on theratio of the signal energy from the best serving sector divided bythe energy from all other sectors. The signal energy includesoverhead channels as well as traffic channels. This measurement isalways below zero (i.e., out-of-cell energy is greater than in-cellenergy) at the edge of primary coverage. This layer applies to EV-DO carriers only.

Pilot - i-Factor

Displays the other-to-own cell interference ratio based on all othersectors and the in-cell signal strength. This layer is the reciprocal ofthe Forward - In Cell to Out of Cell Interference layer in linear form.This layer applies to EV-DO carriers.

Forward -Best Server

Displays the service channel coverage area for each sector

Forward -CompositeBest Server

Identical to the forward link - Best Server layer, except that forsectors with repeaters, the repeater and its donor are treated asone combined sector.

Forward -CoverageProbability

Displays the probability of forward link coverage at each bin.

Forward -Eb/No

Displays the downlink service Eb/No at each bin without limiting itto the downlink target Eb/No.The cdma2000 analysis layer generation process assumes thatperfect power control will cause the power to set itself at a levelthat will achieve the target Eb/No.



Layer Description

Forward -Outdoor Io

Displays the total interference outdoors at the location of thereceiver. Thermal noise is not included. This analysis layer does nottake into account the penetration loss or the mobile antenna gain.For EV-DO carriers, this layer is called Pilot - Outdoor Io.

Forward -Received Io

Displays the total downlink noise received at the mobile receiver.This value represents the downlink received signal strengthincluding thermal noise. For EV-DO carriers, this layer is called Pilot- Received Io.

Forward - InCell to Outof CellInterference

Displays the in-cell to out-of-cell interference ratio based on theratio of the signal energy from the best serving sector divided bythe energy from all other sectors. The signal energy includesoverhead channels as well as traffic channels. This measurement isalways below zero (i.e., out-of-cell energy is greater than in-cellenergy) at the edge of primary coverage. For EV-DO carriers, thislayer is called Pilot - In Cell to Out of Cell Interference.

Forward - i-Factor

Displays the other-to-own cell interference ratio based on all othersectors and the in-cell signal strength. This layer is the reciprocal ofthe forward link - In Cell to Out of Cell Interference layer in linearform. For EV-DO carriers, this layer is called Pilot - i-factor.

Forward -MaxAchievableData Rate

Displays the predicted highest achievable forward link data rate perbin.

Forward -BearerCoverage

Displays the coverage probability for each bearer specified in theanalysis.

Forward -MaxAchievableCoverage

Displays the maximum achieved data rates over the analysis area.

Forward -BearerCoverage


Reverse -Best Server

Displays the reverse link coverage for each sector


Appendix C

Layer Description

Reverse -CompositeBest Server

Identical to the reverse link - Best Server layer, except that forsectors with repeaters, the repeater and its donor are treated asone combined sector.

Reverse -CoverageProbability

Displays the probability of reverse link highest bearer coverage.The highest bearer is determined from the bearers available in thesubscriber equipment settings depending on the maximum reverselink data rate defined in the Qualities settings.

Reverse -Req MobileEIRP

Displays the EIRP values for a mobile at each bin that are requiredto close the reverse link. This is calculated as follows:Required EIRP = Required PA Power + Mobile Antenna Gain =Required Eb/No - Processing Gain + Penetration Loss + MaskedPathloss + Noise Rise + Composite Noise Figure + kTBThe composite noise figure is taken from the link budget for thesector (and, optionally, the carrier).The required mobile EIRP will vary for different subscriber types.

Reverse -Mobile EIRPMargin

Displays the difference between the maximum possible mobile EIRPand the actual required EIRP for each bin

Reverse -Load

Displays the best server cell load for each bin. The load at a bin isthe cell loading of the reverse link best server for that bin.

Reverse -MaxAchievableCoverage

Displays the maximum achieved data rates over the analysis area.

Reverse -BearerCoverage


Handoff -Status

Displays the handoff state of each sector within the analysis area.The handoff states are:

n Not in handoff (N)—there is only one availableserver

n Not in handoff (N)—there is only one availableserver



Layer Description

n Soft handoff (S)—the subscriber is served by twosectors from two different sites

n Softer handoff (SS)—the subscriber is served bytwo sectors from the same site

n Softer-Soft handoff (SS-S)—the subscriber isserved by three sectors. The subscriber’s bestserver and either the second or third best server issituated at one site and the remaining server is atanother site.

n Soft-Softer handoff (S-SS)—the subscriber isserved by three sectors. The subscriber’s bestserver is situated at one site and the next two bestservers are situated at another site.

n Soft-Soft handoff (S-S)—all three servers arelocated at different sites

n Softer-Softer (SSS)—the subscriber is served bythree sectors, all from the same site

n 4 Active Servers—the subscriber is served by foursectors (irrespective of the sites)

n 5 Active Servers—the subscriber is served by fivesectors (irrespective of the sites)

n 6 Active Servers—the subscriber is served by sixsectors (irrespective of the sites)

n 7 Active Servers—the subscriber is served by sevensectors (irrespective of the sites)

Handoff -Soft HandoffGain

Displays the reverse link soft handoff gain at each bin. The gain isproduced by the ability of the subscribers and sites to operate at alower power value when engaged in soft handoff and still meet thesystem quality requirements for the FER.

Handoff -ActiveServerCount

Displays the total number of serving sectors (i.e., the sectors in softhandoff)


Appendix C

Layer Description

Handoff -Active SiteCount

Displays the total number of serving sites (i.e., the sites wheresectors are in soft handoff)

Other - PathBalance

Displays the balance between the downlink and reverse link. Thedownlink is considered covered at a bin if both pilot coverage andservice coverage are achieved.Path balance is achieved when the probability of both the reverselink and downlink coverage is equal to or greater than the Cell EdgeCoverage Probability value in the Circuit Switched Service or PacketSwitched Service dialog box.

Other -CombinedProbability

The combined coverage probability for the downlink and reverselink (forward link - Coverage Probability layer and reverse link -Coverage Probability layer). For each pixel, the combinedprobability layer represents the minimum probability of the twolayers.



Layer Description

EV-DO -ForwardMaxAchievableData Rate

Displays the predicted highest achievable forward link data rate perbin. The data rate prediction is based on the predicted Ec/Nt and thefade margin that is required to ensure a certain level of coverageprobability.

EV-DO -ForwardEc/Nt

Displays the ratio of forward channel chip energy to total spectralnoise density for each bin. The mobile predicts the highestachievable data rate based on its Ec/Nt measurement on the pilotchannel. However, the effective data transmission rate can besomewhat higher than the predicted data rate due to the idle slottransmission and early termination of multi-slot transmission. Theidle slot transmissions reduce the interference in the network, andtherefore increase the forward traffic channel Ec/Nt and theprobability of earlier termination of multi-slot transmission.

EV-DO -Pilot Ec/Nt

Displays the pilot Ec/Nt at each bin based on the PA power definedon the Powers tab of the Site Editor. Fade margins are not taken intoaccount.

EV DO -ForwardCoverage At<data_rate>

Displays a coverage map for each EV-DO data rate. By default, thislayer is generated using the predicted forward Ec/Nt.


cdma2000 user guide

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