Once the planning and implementation are complete, it is very common practice to run drive tests for the planned sites. Drive tests verify the predictions made by the planning tools, and the results from the drive tests are compared against the results from the simulations. Fine tuning is performed after the drive tests to ensure that the deviation in the results between simulation and drive tests is minimal.
A part of the drive test, parameters like reference signal receive power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), or SINR the UL and DL throughputs at different points of the cell are noted. The results are then compared with the SNR predictions made by the planning tool and deviations are noted and tuned wherever required.
Coverage Planning
Coverage planning targets for the complete service area are
tested to ensure there are no coverage holes (i.e., the UE never experiences a
no-service condition within the entire service area). Coverage plans, however,
do not take into consideration any quality of service that the user experiences
within a cell or site. The end aim is to provide the count of the resources or
eNodeBs and cells that are required for the complete service area.
Some of the most important aspects that need to be
considered as a part of the coverage planning are:
1.
The eNodeB transmitting power and the type of
cell that is being planned. The eNodeB transmitting power is the key for any
coverage planning, and the transmitting power will vary based on the cell size.
For example, a macro cell will have a transmission power of 10 watts per port
(40 watts per cell in cases of MIMO cells). The DL coverage cell radius should
be derived based on the transmission power of the antenna added with the gains
(antenna gain, diversity gain, etc.) with the assumption of path loss (receiver
loss, propagation loss, etc.). Cell radius calculation will be covered in
detail in the link budget calculation section.
2.
The eNodeB receiver sensitivity. In the uplink,
in order to calculate the cell radius, one of the most important parameters
that the operator relies on is the receiver sensitivity of the eNodeB. The
eNodeB receiver sensitivity is a deciding factor for the maximum allowed path
loss between the UE and the eNodeB in the uplink direction, beyond which the
eNodeB cannot differentiate accurately between signal and noise. Better
receiver sensitivity of the eNodeB will directly result in a larger cell radius
(coverage radius) in the uplink. The 3GPP 36.141 defines the test for deriving
the reference sensitivity of a receiver.
The specification also requires
that a receiver sensitivity of less than -100.8 decibel milliwatts (dbm) is
acceptable. However, many vendors have a receiver sensitivity value of around
-102 dbm or better.
3.
UE receiver sensitivity and transmission power.
Similar to the eNodeB receiver sensitivity, UE receiver sensitivity is an
important factor in determining the DL cell radius for coverage planning.
Typically for a macro cell, the UL cell radius will be a limiting factor in comparison
with the DL cell radius simply because of the difference in the transmission powers.
In LTE category 2 UE and onward, the maximum uplink transmit power is 23 db.
4.
Terrain. Terrain is an important consideration
for any site planning and will impact the absorption or attenuation capability
of a site. For example, a site with irregular heights will not have linear loss
and is subjected to shadow areas or reflection, whereas a site with fairly
regular height will have a more predictable linear loss. Similarly, the indoor to
outdoor ratio of a site also makes a difference when it comes to cell radius
calculation (i.e., the penetration losses for an indoor user is higher compared
with that for an outdoor user); therefore, planning an urban cell will be
subject to more losses due to a higher percentage of indoor to outdoor users in
comparison with a rural cell.
