A Man Manual

AMan
User Reference Guide
AWE Communications GmbH
WinProp
User Manual AMan
Table of Contents
Mathematical Symbols.....................................................................................4 1 2 Introduction ...............................................................................................5 Antenna Patterns - Basics ..........................................................................6
2.1 2.2 Isotropic Radiator.....................................................................................................6 Directional characteristic of antennas.........................................................................6
2.3 Gain, Directivity and further Parameters ....................................................................9 2.3.1 Directivity ..........................................................................................................9 2.3.2 Gain ..................................................................................................................9 2.3.3 Characteristic values.........................................................................................10 2.3.4 Half widths ...................................................................................................... 10 2.3.5 Equivalent radiation angle................................................................................. 11 2.3.6 Effective area...................................................................................................11 2.3.7 List of parameters of typical antennas ............................................................... 12 2.4 Mathematical Description of Antenna Patterns.......................................................... 14 2.4.1 Types of patterns ............................................................................................. 14 2.4.2 3D Antenna Patterns ........................................................................................ 15 2.4.3 2x2D Antenna Patterns ..................................................................................... 17 2.5 Conversion of 2x2D Patterns (horizontal & vertical) 3D Patterns ........................... 19 2.5.1 Algorithm 1: Arithmetic Mean (AM)................................................................... 19 2.5.2 Algorithm 2: Bilinear Interpolation (BI) .............................................................. 19 2.5.3 Algorithm 3: Weighted Bilinear Interpolation (WBI) ............................................ 20 2.5.4 Algorithm 4: Horizontal Projection Interpolation (HPI) ....................................... 21 2.5.5 Comparison of conversion algorithms ................................................................ 21
MASC (Multiple Antenna Scenario Configuration)....................................47

3.1 Multiple Antenna Scenario Configuration .................................................................. 47 3.2 Limitations and Assumptions ................................................................................... 48 3.2.1 Far field and near field...................................................................................... 48 3.2.2 Concentration of radiation in a single point ........................................................ 48 3.2.3 Description/definition of the materials ............................................................... 49 3.3 Configurations........................................................................................................49 3.3.1 Mast configuration (e.g. Quasi Omni, Skew, Side Mounted,)............................. 50 3.3.2 Wall configuration (e.g. Antenna in front of a wall)............................................. 54 3.4 Pattern of single antennas used in MASC ................................................................. 56 3.5 Computation of Wave Propagation in MASC ............................................................. 57 3.5.1 Antennas concentrated in single point ............................................................... 57 3.5.2 Tx power of each antenna ................................................................................ 57 3.5.3 Isotropical radiator as a reference ..................................................................... 57 3.5.4 General concept ............................................................................................... 58 3.5.5 Rays considered in computation ........................................................................ 59 3.5.6 Computation of transmission/penetration loss .................................................... 63 3.5.7 Computation of reflection loss ........................................................................... 64 3.5.8 Polarization ...................................................................................................... 64 3.5.9 Superposition of rays........................................................................................ 64 3.6 Mathematical Modeling of the elements in MASC ...................................................... 65
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3.6.1 3.6.2 3.6.3 3.6.4 3.6.5 3.6.6 3.6.7 3.6.8 3.6.9
Mast ................................................................................................................65 Wall.................................................................................................................65 Arms, tubes and sub-arms (to mount antennas)................................................. 65 Radom (of antennas)........................................................................................ 68 Tilts (of antennas) ............................................................................................ 69 Objects with circular cross sections (cylinders) ................................................... 70 Objects with rectangular cross sections (Cuboid)................................................ 70 Positioning of Elements..................................................................................... 71 Consideration of Material Properties .................................................................. 72
3.7 Example: Computation of a Quasi Omni Configuration .............................................. 73 3.7.1 Step 1: Definition of configuration ..................................................................... 73 3.7.2 Step 2: 3D Model of the scenario (incl. coordinate system) ................................ 75 3.7.3 Step 3: Computation of the electrical parameters ............................................... 78 3.7.4 Step 4: Computation of the antenna gain for selected directions ......................... 78 3.7.5 Step 4-A: Field strength of isotropical radiator (reference value) ......................... 79 3.7.6 Step 4-B: Field strength of the configuration (actual value)................................. 80 3.7.7 Step 4-C: Computation of the gain for a single direction ..................................... 81
AMan User Manual.................................................................................82

4.1 Overview ...............................................................................................................82 Antenna Patterns .............................................................................................. 83 Types of Antenna Patterns ................................................................................ 83 Horizontal Antenna Patterns.............................................................................. 83 Vertical Antenna Patterns.................................................................................. 83 Display and Settings of Antenna Patterns........................................................... 84 Creating a new antenna pattern with a scanned data sheet ................................ 86 Graphical input of a new 2D antenna pattern ..................................................... 90 Table based input of a new 2D antenna pattern ................................................. 92 Edit and Modify 2D Antenna Patterns ................................................................ 93 4.2 2D 4.2.1 4.2.2 4.2.3 4.2.4 4.2.5 4.2.6 4.2.7 4.2.8
4.3 2x2D Antenna Patterns ........................................................................................... 96 4.3.1 Types of Antenna Patterns ................................................................................ 96 4.3.2 Working with 2x2D Antenna Patterns ................................................................ 96 4.4 3D 4.4.1 4.4.2 4.4.3 4.4.4 Antenna Patterns .............................................................................................. 98 Hardware and Software Requirements: OpenGL ................................................. 98 Load patterns from file .....................................................................................99 Display of 3D Patterns ...................................................................................... 99 Conversion 2x2D Pattern 3D Pattern ........................................................... 105
4.5 MASC Module (optional)........................................................................................ 106 4.5.1 General Concept............................................................................................. 106 4.5.2 Main Settings ................................................................................................. 107 4.5.3 Settings of Arms............................................................................................. 109 4.5.4 Settings of Antennas, Sub-Arms, Radoms ........................................................ 111 4.5.5 Computation .................................................................................................. 115 4.5.6 Display Options .............................................................................................. 115 4.5.7 File Commands (Save, Load, Export) ............................................................... 115 4.6 File Formats ......................................................................................................... 116 4.6.1 ASCII File Formats for 2D Patterns (horizontal and vertical plane) ..................... 116 4.6.2 ASCII File Format for 3D Patterns.................................................................... 117
Imprint & Contact ........................................................................................119

AWE Communications GmbH 3
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Mathematical Symbols
C D DdB E(, ) G GdB H(, ) Pt r S Si
Directional characteristic Directivity (linear value) Logarithmic directivity [dB] Electrical field strength [V/m] Gain of antenna (linear value) Logarithmic gain of antenna [dB] Magnetic field strength [A/m] Radiated power [W] Radius [m] 2 Power density [W/m ] 2 Power density of an isotropic radiator [W/m ] Angle Phi [Degree] in horizontal plane (spherical coordinate system) Half width in the horizontal antenna pattern [Rad] Theta angle [Degree] Half width in the vertical antenna pattern [Rad] Increment in Phi [Degree] Increment in Theta [Degree] Equivalent radiation angle [Rad] Efficiency of antenna
3dB 3dB
e
User Manual AMan
Introduction
Radio network planning tools rely on accurate wave propagation models to predict the path loss between two arbitrary points. Besides the shielding of objects and multi path propagation (both considered in the propagation models) the antenna pattern of the antennas used for the communication link influence the actual path loss. Therefore the antenna pattern must be described accurately within the radio network planning tool. For this purpose AWE Communications developed the tool AMan (Antenna Manager) to handle antenna patterns with a convenient Windows GUI. The most important features of AMan are: Graphical display of antenna patterns (horizontal or vertical plane) 3D Display of antenna patterns Conversion of commercially available antenna file formats (*.xml, *.msi, *.pln,.) Conversion from 2x2D pattern (horizontal & vertical) to 3D pattern Graphical editor to define manually vertical and horizontal antenna patterns (drawn with mouse and scanned bitmap of pattern as background image)
Fig. 1-1: Vertical (left), horizontal (middle) and 3D pattern (right) of a sector antenna
Besides these important features AMan offers the optional module MASC (Multiple Antenna Scenario Configuration) which is especially important if the influence of the local environment and the mounting of the antenna should be considered and/or if multiple antennas are combined to radiate the same signal and the user wants to see the radiation pattern of the whole configuration to include this actual pattern in his radio network planning process and tool. MASC allows the user to Compute the resulting antenna pattern if different single antennas are combined to a multiple-antenna configurations (incl. individual phase shifters and power splitters) Consider the influence of the mounting of the antenna (masts, arms, tubes, radoms, etc.) on the actual antenna radiation pattern As AMan is able to save the computed patterns in different file formats, it is not limited to the WinProp Radio Network Planning suite. It can also be used for many radio network planning tools as most of the tools are able to read either *.msi or *.xml antenna pattern file formats.
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2.1
Antenna Patterns - Basics

Isotropic Radiator
The ideal antenna operating without any losses and radiating the same power density in all directions is called an isotropic radiator. This antenna is not available in real world but it is used as a reference for all real-world antenna patterns. The power density Si radiated from an isotropic radiator is homogenously distributed over a spherical surface (with the radiator in the center of the spherical surface). With the power Pt0 fed to the antenna this leads to the following power density Si in a distance d:
Si =
Pt 0 4 d
2.2
Directional characteristic of antennas
Commercial antennas do not radiate the same power density into all directions (in contrast to the isotropic radiator presented in section 2.1). There are always some directions with higher power density and others with smaller power density. The direction with the highest power density is called main direction. The antenna pattern describes the dependency of the radiation on the direction. It shows amplitude, phase and polarization assuming far field conditions (i.e. far away from the antenna itself). Spherical coordinates , and are generally used to describe the antenna pattern. As the distance is not relevant in the far field, the antenna pattern itself is a function of the angles and . The pattern of real antennas depend additionally on the frequency. So for different frequencies different patterns must be used. Very often the radiation of the antenna is only measured in the horizontal and in the vertical plane. This reduces the effort and describes the antenna for most applications. Only very accurate wave propagation models (like ray-optical models) will benefit from 3D antenna patterns.
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Vertical Pattern:
Horizontal Pattern:
3D Representation:
Fig. 2-1: Visualization of antenna pattern (Kathrein K739856, www.kathrein.com).
Vertical Pattern:
Horizontal Pattern:
3D Representation:
Fig. 2-2: Visualization of antenna pattern (Kathrein K731620x7, www.kathrein.com).
As the power density is proportional to the electric field strength, very often the electric field strength E(,) is used to describe the antenna pattern. Usually the pattern is normalized on its maximum value, e.g.:
CE ( , ) =
E ( , ) E ( , )max
Since, in the general case, an elliptical polarization is present in the far field, both antenna patterns of the orthogonal polarization, C1(,) and C2(,), are needed for the description of the directional characteristics of the antenna. C1(,) and C2(,) are generally normalized on the maximum value Emax of the highest component:
C1 =
E1( , ) , Emax
C2 =
E2 ( , ) Emax
Cges =
(C
C12 + C22
2 1
+ C22 ) max
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2.3
2.3.1
Gain, Directivity and further Parameters

Directivity
If the main direction of radiation is known, the directivity D can be calculated for each antenna pattern with the following equation:
S D = max Si r = const , P = const

t
radiated by the isotropic radiator (see section 2.1).
Smax indicates the maximum radiated power density and Si indicates the power density
Fig. 2-3: Graphical representation of directivity
It is also possible to determine D from the directional characteristic with:
D=
C ( , ) sin( )
2 =0 =0
d d
If the antenna pattern consists of a discrete number of values, the integrals in the equations must be substituted with a summation with increments and :
D=
4
2 / / i =1 j =1
C (i ,
2
j ) sin( j )
Very often the directivity of an antenna is given in dB. The logarithmic value DdB in dB can be obtained from the linear value D of the directivity with the following equation:
DdB = 10 log D
2.3.2 Gain
In contrast to the directivity (see section 2.3.1), the gain G of an antenna considers additionally the efficiency of the antanna, i.e. not the radiated power density is compared to the isotropical radiator but the power fed to the antenna. So losses in the antenna are included in the value of the gain but not in the value of the directivity:
G=*D
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2.3.3
Characteristic values
Characteristic Values: 20 log(b) 20 log(c) 2 M 2 S Side slope attenuation Reverse slope attenuation 3dB angle of main slope 3dB angle of side slope
Fig. 2-4: Characteristic values of antenna
2.3.4
Half widths
The characteristic values given in section 2.3.3 are applied to the vertical and the horizontal pattern. In case of vertical pattern the variable is used and in the horizontal pattern the variable is used to describe the angles. The 3dB angles (see section 2.3.3) are also called half widths. Directivity is indicated in dB and the lobe width 3dB values are more easily legible in degrees in a directivity pattern. It results in the following adapted dimensional equation (angles values are in degree):
41253 M | M |
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2.3.5
Equivalent radiation angle
Fig. 2-5: Graphical representation of equivalent angle of radiation
e is the equivalent angle which is calculated from the both sides of the half-values of the angles, M and M, of the two planes. e = M M
The radiated power density within the equivalent angle is assumed to be equal to the max. radiated power density (in main direction) and outside the equivalent angle no power is emitted.
D=
4 e
2.3.6
Effective area
Gain and directivity of an antenna in transmitter or receiver operation are equal (reciprocity). Received power Pr is obtained from power density S (i.e. electromagnetic field). Effective area of an antenna Ae is defined according to: Isotropic antenna: Real antenna with directivity D: Pr = Ae * S Aei = 2 / 4 Ae = D * Aei
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2.3.7
List of parameters of typical antennas
Fig. 2-6: Parameters of typical antennas AWE Communications GmbH 12
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/5 Dipole
/2 Dipole
Dipole
3/2 Dipole
2 Dipole
3 Dipole
5 Dipole
10 Dipole
Fig. 2-7: Horizontal pattern of dipole antennas (depending on the length of the dipole)
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2.4
2.4.1
Mathematical Description of Antenna Patterns

Types of patterns
An antenna radiates in all directions. Therefore 3D patterns are required to describe the gain individually for each direction. For some applications the radiation in the horizontal plane and the radiation in the vertical plane is sufficient. These patterns are called 2x2D patterns. The following two figures show the 3D pattern and the 2x2D patterns of a half wave dipole.
=90
=0
Hertz Dipole Halfwave Dipole
=0
=90
Fig. 2-9: Horizontal pattern (left) and vertical pattern (right) of a halfwave dipole
Fig. 2-9: 3D view of antenna pattern of (half wave) dipole
It is obvious that accurate computations are only possible with 3D patterns. AMan includes therefore a module to convert 2x2D patterns to 3D patterns (see section 2.5). Antenna patterns can be defined in any coordinate system. Spherical coordinate systems are most commonly used to define antenna patterns.
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2.4.2
3D Antenna Patterns
3D patterns can be defined in any coordinate system. Spherical coordinate systems are most commonly used to define antenna patterns.
= 270
Z
= 270
Y
= 180 = 180 = 90 = 90
Fig. 2-10: Coordinate system for 3D antenna patterns
= 0 = 0
Figure 2-10 shows the coordinate system used in WinProp for the 3D display of antenna patterns. The main direction of radiation is = 0 and = 0. Figures 2-11 to 2-13 show the 3D pattern as well as the vertical and horizontal plane of a Kathrein K739856 antenna together with the coordinate systems used for display in AMan.
Fig. 2-11: 3D display of K739856 AWE Communications GmbH 15
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Fig. 2-12: Vertical plane radiation pattern of K739856
Fig. 2-13: Vertical plane radiation pattern of K739856 AWE Communications GmbH 16
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2.4.3
2x2D Antenna Patterns
The radiation patterns in the horizontal and in the vertical plane are available for nearly all commercial antennas. Full 3D patterns are not always available as they are more complicated to be measured.
Fig. 2-14: K7230211 antenna as given in Kathrein catalogue
The 2D antenna pattern is the graphical representation of the directional characteristic in a 2D plane. A polar diagram is used to describe the antenna pattern. While the vertical pattern results from C (, =const.), the horizontal pattern is formed from C ( = const., ). In order to get smaller values, the pattern is very often displayed in a logarithmic scale (dB). AMan offers both modes (linear or logarithmic). The term radiation lobe is used for antennas whose radiation is concentrated in certain sectors. It is defined as the part of the directional characteristic which is limited by the angle with minimum field strength. If the considered lobe contains the main direction of transmission, it is called main lobe, otherwise, secondary lobe. The lobe width, e.g. 3dB, indicates the angular expansion of the main lobe in a directivity pattern. The main direction of transmission is located inside the main lobe. The lobe width half value appears at the definition value of 3dB, i.e. a dropping in the Field strength of 1 / 2 and/or a dropping of the radiation to the half of the maximum value. Figures 2-15 and 2-16 show the coordinate systems used to display the patterns in the 2D view in AMan. Figures 2-13 and 2-12 show the vertical and the horizontal pattern of a typical antenna with the coordinate system used.
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= 270
Y
= 180
= 0
= 90
Fig. 2-15: Coordinate system of horizontal pattern (if viewed from top)
= 270
Z
= 180
= 0
= 90
Fig. 2-16: Coordinate system of vertical pattern
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2.5
Conversion of 2x2D Patterns (horizontal & vertical)
3D Patterns
The 3D pattern of an antenna can be computed based on the pattern of the vertical and horizontal plane. AMan offers four different conversion algorithms. The user can decide which algorithm should be used.
2.5.1
Algorithm 1: Arithmetic Mean (AM)
The most simple algorithm searches for the two angles and the gain Gtilt in the vertical () and the gain Grot in the horizontal () plane. The arithmetic mean of Grot (horizontal pattern) and Gtilt (vertical pattern) represents the actual gain G (, ).
G ( , ) =
Grot ( ) + Gtilt ( ) 2
Patterns generated with this algorithm are not very accurate. Therefore this algorithm is not recommended (it is only implemented for comparison with other tools).
2.5.2
Algorithm 2: Bilinear Interpolation (BI)
As defined in figure 2-17, four gain values are determined in the horizontal and vertical patterns depending on the two angles and . The gain values are weighted with their angle distances:
G ( , ) =
GV (2 ) + ( ) GV ( ) + G H ( ) + ( 2 ) GV (0 ) + ( ) + + ( 2 )
Z G1
Theta
G2
1 2
G1
1
Ph i
2 X G2
-Y
Fig. 2-17: Angles and gains used for the bilinear interpolation AWE Communications GmbH 19
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2.5.3
Algorithm 3: Weighted Bilinear Interpolation (WBI)
This algorithm is almost identical to the algorithm presented in section 2.5.1. The gains and angle distances are also read from the vertical and horizontal pattern and are weighted according to their distances. In contrast to algorithm 2, the vertical angles are additionally weighted with the Factor (1-sin ). Therefore the gain values read from the vertical pattern are no longer relevant in the horizontal plane (i.e. for = 90) and the horizontal pattern is therefore more accurate. The mathematical equation for the computation of the weighted bilinear interpolation is:
G ( , ) =
( G
1
12 1 2 + (1G 2 + 2G1 ) 2 2 (1 + 2 ) (1 + 2 ) (1 + 2 ) 1 2 2 + (1 + 2 ) 1 2 2 (1 + 2 ) (1 + 2 )
+ 2G 1 )
An alternative method to describe the interpolation is given below:

Z
Theta
Gtilt2 Grot2
dro t2
P(theta, phi)
dtil t2
drot1
dtilt1
Grot1
Ph i
Gtilt1 -Y
Fig. 2-18: Angles and gains used for the weighted bilinear interpolation
G (, ) =
dtilt1 Gtilt 2 + dtilt 2 Gtilt1 + drot1 (1 sin ) Grot 2 + drot 2 (1 sin ) Grot1 dtilt1 + dtilt 2 + drot1 (1 sin ) + drot 2 (1 sin )
The weighted bilinear interpolation leads to more accurate results compared to algorithm 2. The mean error is approx. 1.3 dB and the standard deviation is 0.6 dB for a /2-Dipole. This algorithm (together with algorithm 2) was published by F. Gil, A. Claro, J. Ferriera, C. Pardelinha, and L. Correia, with the title A 3D Interpolation Method for Base-Station-Antenna Radiation Patterns in IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, Vol. 43, No.2, April 2001. The most accurate results can be obtained with this algorithm, if the main radiation of the antenna is in the horizontal plane.
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2.5.4
Algorithm 4: Horizontal Projection Interpolation (HPI)
If the main radiation is not in the horizontal plane (e.g. if the antenna has an electrical or mechanical downtilt), the pattern computed with algorithms 2 and 3 becomes less accurate. Especially in these cases the HPI algorithm should be used. The HPI algorithm takes the gain of the horizontal pattern GH ( ) as a basis and considers a correction term for the influence of the vertical pattern GV ( ) . Therefore the gains GH ( ) and GV ( ) in the horizontal and vertical pattern, respectively, are taken and processed by using the following equation:
(G H (0) GV ( )) + (G H ( ) GV ( )) G ( , ) = G H ( )
Hereby it is assumed that the horizontal and vertical patterns are two sections of the 3D antenna pattern. This means that the two following conditions are fulfilled: G H (0 ) = GV (0 ) and G H ( ) = GV ( ) in the case without electrical tilt G H (0) = GV ( ) and G H ( ) = GV ( ) in the case with electrical tilt
2.5.5
Comparison of conversion algorithms
In this section the four presented interpolation algorithms are compared on one hand visually when looking on the resulting 3D patterns and on the other hand analytically when using the resulting 3D patterns for the path loss prediction. For the comparison three different antennas from Kathrein are going to be evaluated with different values concerning the horizontal and vertical half power beam width (HPBW):
Name 741 794 741 984 742 211
Type X-Pol X-Pol X-Pol
Frequency 2110 MHz 1855 MHz 1855 MHz
HPBW (H) 65 87 67
HPBW (V) 7 26 14
Max. gain 18.5 dBi 11.5 dBi 15.5 dBi
Elect. tilt 2 0 6
Fig. 2-19: Antennas (and their characteristic values) taken into account for the comparison
As reference for the comparisons always the measured 3D antenna pattern is available (in all three examples). These measured 3D patterns are provided by the manufacturer of the antennas (Kathrein). In the following an individual subsection is dedicated to each antenna, comparing the results of the different interpolation algorithms (on one hand by the resulting 3D antenna patterns and on the other hand by predictions of the received power when using the corresponding interpolated 3D antenna).
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2.5.5.1
Antenna 741 794
The antenna 741 794 is a sector antenna with 65 horizontal and 7 vertical half power beam width and 2 electrical downtilt. The horizontal and vertical patterns of this antenna are given in figure 2-20 while the real, i.e. measured, 3D pattern is visualized in figure 2-21. The sketch of the 3D pattern is taken from a side view, i.e. the main lobe of the antenna characteristic is oriented towards the right. The views in figure 2-22 represent the interpolated 3D patterns for the four different interpolation algorithms. Similar to the measured 3D antenna pattern also these figures show the side view of the antenna with the main lobe oriented towards the right.
Fig. 2-20: 2D antenna patterns in horizontal and vertical plane (logarithmic scale)
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Fig. 2-21: Real (measured) 3D antenna pattern (linear scale)
Fig. 2-22: Interpol. 3D patterns by AM (top left), BI (top right), WBI (bottom left), HPI (bottom right) AWE Communications GmbH 23
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Comparison of Wave Propagation Results for Tx height of 20m
Fig. 2-23: Prediction of received power if using the measured 3D antenna pattern (Tx height 20 m)
Fig. 2-24: Prediction of received power using the interpolated 3D pattern (AM algorithm)
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Fig. 2-25: Prediction of received power using the interpolated 3D pattern (BI algorithm)
Fig. 2-26: Prediction of received power if using the interpolated 3D pattern (WBI algorithm)
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Fig. 2-27: Prediction of received power using the interpolated 3D pattern (HPI algorithm)
The plots of the predicted received power for the transmitter height of 20m show the influence of the antenna pattern on the computation of the wave propagation. At the first view all the figures look very similar, however after detailed analysis there are some differences visible. Comparison Measured 3D Pattern AM algorithm BI algorithm WBI algorithm HPI algorithm Polarization +45 Mean value [dB] Std. Dev. [dB] 0.57 -0.32 -0.77 0.17 2.41 2.14 2.10 2.00 Polarization -45 Mean value [dB] Std. Dev. [dB] 0.07 -1.03 -1.28 -0.20 1.81 2.41 2.00 1.42
Fig. 2-28: Numerical evaluation of the power predictions (measured 3D - interpolated 3D) for Tx height 20m
The numerical evaluation of these differences is given in the table above. According to this evaluation the HPI has the best performance, i.e. the smallest error with respect to the measured 3D antenna pattern. However all the different interpolation algorithms are in the same range (at least concerning the standard deviation).
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Fig. 2-29: Prediction of received power using the measured 3D antenna pattern (Tx height 10 m)
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Fig. 2-32: Prediction of received power using the interpolated 3D pattern (WBI algorithm)
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The plots of the predicted received power for the transmitter height of 10m show the influence of the antenna pattern on the wave propagation computation. Also for this reduced transmitter height all the figures look very similar, however after detailed analysis there are some differences visible. Comparison Measured 3D Pattern AM algorithm BI algorithm WBI algorithm HPI algorithm Polarization +45 Mean value [dB] Std. Dev. [dB] 0.19 -0.72 -1.68 -0.23 1.58 1.71 1.84 1.41 Polarization -45 Mean value [dB] Std. Dev. [dB] 0.07 -1.43 -2.06 -0.34 0.78 2.21 1.85 1.11
Fig. 2-34: Numerical evaluation of the power predictions (measured 3D interpolated 3D) for Tx height 10m
The numerical evaluation of these differences is listed in the table above. According to this evaluation the AM algorithm has the best performance, i.e. the smallest error with respect to the measured 3D antenna pattern. However, the HPI algorithm achieves nearly the same performance.
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2.5.5.2
Antenna 741 984
The antenna 741 984 is a sector antenna with 87 horizontal and 26 vertical half power beam width and no electrical downtilt. The horizontal and vertical patterns of this antenna are given in figure 2-35 while the measured, 3D pattern is visualized in figure 2-36. The sketch of the 3D pattern is taken from a side view, i.e. the main lobe of the antenna characteristic is oriented towards the right. The views in figure 2-37. represent the interpolated 3D patterns for the four different interpolation algorithms. Similar to the measured 3D antenna pattern also these figures show the side view of the antenna with the main lobe oriented towards the right.
Measured 2D and 3D Patterns
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Fig. 2-36: Measured 3D antenna pattern (linear scale)
Interpolated 3D Patterns
Fig. 2-37: Interpol. 3D patterns by AM (top left), BI (top right), WBI (bottom left), HPI (bottom right)
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The plots of the predicted received power for the transmitter height of 20m show the influence of the antenna pattern on the wave propagation computation. When comparing the different power plots there are some differences visible concerning the main lobe and also the side lobes. Comparison Measured Pattern AM algorithm BI algorithm WBI algorithm HPI algorithm
Fig. 2-43:
Polarization +45 Mean value [dB] Std. Dev. [dB] 0.07 2.18 0.55 -0.51 1.07 1.06 0.91 0.85
Polarization -45 Mean value [dB] Std. Dev. [dB] 0.21 1.81 0.68 0.51 1.09 0.94 0.98 0.93
Numerical evaluation of the power predictions (measured 3D interpolated 3D) for Tx height 20m
The numerical evaluation of these differences is listed in the table above. According to this evaluation again the AM algorithm has the best performance, i.e. the smallest error with respect to the measured 3D antenna pattern. However, both the HPI and the WBI algorithm achieve nearly the same performance.
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The plots of the predicted received power for the reduced transmitter height of 10m show the influence of the antenna pattern on the computation of the wave propagation. When comparing the different power plots there are some differences visible concerning the main lobe and also the side lobes. Comparison Measured Pattern AM algorithm BI algorithm WBI algorithm HPI algorithm
Fig. 2-49:
Polarization +45 Mean value [dB] Std. Dev. [dB] 0.05 2.48 0.76 -0.32 0.64 1.08 0.73 0.63
Polarization -45 Mean value [dB] Std. Dev. [dB] 0.14 1.96 0.78 0.29 0.63 0.86 0.70 0.72
The numerical evaluation of these differences is listed in the table above. According to this evaluation again the AM algorithm has the best performance. However, the HPI algorithm achieves nearly the same performance.
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2.5.5.3
Antenna 742 211
The antenna 742 211 is a sector antenna with 67 horizontal and 14 vertical half power beam width and 6 electrical downtilt. The horizontal and vertical patterns of this antenna are given in figure 2-50 while the measured 3D pattern is visualized in figure 2-51. The sketch of the 3D pattern is taken from a side view, i.e. the main lobe of the antenna characteristic is oriented towards the right. The views in figure 2-52 represent the interpolated 3D patterns for the four different interpolation algorithms. Similar as for the measured 3D antenna pattern also these figures show the side view of the antenna with the main lobe oriented towards the right.
Real 2D and 3D Patterns
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Fig. 2-51: Real (measured) 3D antenna pattern (linear scale)
Interpolated 3D Patterns
Fig. 2-52: Interpol. 3D patterns by AM (top left), BI (top right), WBI (bottom left), HPI (bottom right)
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The plots of the predicted received power for the transmitter height of 20m show the influence of the antenna pattern on the wave propagation results. When comparing the different power plots there are some differences visible, especially concerning the main lobe and the side lobes. Comparison Measured Pattern AM algorithm HPI algorithm BI algorithm WBI algorithm
Fig. 2-58:
Polarization +45 Mean value [dB] Std. Dev. [dB] -0.26 -0.62 0.71 -1.34 1.84 1.52 2.10 1.90
Polarization -45 Mean value [dB] Std. Dev. [dB] -0.28 0.50 0.91 -1.12 2.57 2.41 2.04 2.05
The numerical evaluation of these differences is listed in the table above. According to this evaluation again the HPI and the AM algorithm have the best performance, i.e. the smallest error with respect to the measured 3D antenna pattern.
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The plots of the predicted received power for the reduced transmitter height of 10m show the influence of the antenna patterns on the wave propagation results. When comparing the different plots there are some differences visible concerning the main lobe and also the side lobes. Comparison Measured Pattern AM algorithm HPI algorithm BI algorithm WBI algorithm Polarization +45 Mean value [dB] Std. Dev. [dB] -0.73 -0.98 0.16 -2.27 1.73 1.78 2.44 2.04 Polarization -45 Mean value [dB] Std. Dev. [dB] -0.82 0.08 0.36 -2.09 1.86 1.56 1.57 1.84
Fig. 2-64: Numerical evaluation of the power predictions (measured 3D interpolated 3D) for Tx height 10m
The numerical evaluation of these differences is listed in the table above. According to this evaluation the HPI has the best performance, i.e. the smallest error with respect to the measured 3D antenna pattern.
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Conclusions In this section the four different interpolation algorithms are compared to one another by analyzing the predicted power plots which are computed taking into account the corresponding antenna pattern. This comparison is performed for three typical antennas used in the wireless communications domain (the antennas have different characteristics concerning the vertical and horizontal half power beam width). Each of the antennas is used with two polarizations (+45/-45) and for two different heights of the transmitting antenna (one location below rooftop level and one above rooftop level). Therefore the achievement of generalizing results should be ensured. Taking into account all the different cases the simple AM algorithm and the HPI algorithm have the best performance concerning the numerical evaluation. As the latter method indicates the better agreement of the interpolated 3D pattern to the measured 3D pattern when comparing the 3D views, this algorithm is recommended as default algorithm. Additionally the HPI is the more generalizing approach due to the higher number of considered parameters (i.e. more information of the horizontal and vertical pattern is evaluated).. The Bilinear Interpolation Methods (BI as well as WBI) produce good results concerning the agreement of the 3D view (when comparing the measured 3D pattern to the interpolated 3D pattern), however the accuracy of these methods for the power prediction does not reach the accuracy of the HPI algorithm.
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3
3.1
MASC (Multiple Antenna Scenario Configuration)

Multiple Antenna Scenario Configuration
Antenna patterns from the manufacturer of the antenna are always measured in anechoic chambers. So the mounting of the antenna at a mast or in front of a wall is not considered in the pattern. But obviously mast and/or wall have a significant influence on the actual antenna pattern. MASC allows to consider mast/wall, arms, tubes, radoms, etc. and their influence on the actual radiation pattern of the antenna. Sometimes the same signal is radiated with multiple antennas (via power splitters and phase shifters) to obtain special antenna patterns (e.g. quasi omni configurations). MASC can also compute these antenna patterns based on the superposition of multiple single antennas fed with different powers and phases.
Fig. 3-1: Two sector antennas mounted at the same mast
The actual antenna patterns (either 2x2D or real 3D) computed with MASC are saved in the standard file formats of AMan and can be exported to many other file formats (e.g. *.msi, *.pln, *.xml,). So the computed patterns can also be used together with other prediction models and radio network planning tools. The scenario incl. mast, arms, tubes, radoms, is modeled in 3D and automatically generated based on some parameters (distances, lengths, materials,) defined by the user. MASC generates not only all objects of the scenario automatically, it also generates the coordinate system. So the user can focus on what is actually important (the properties of the individual antennas mounted at the mast) and MASC organizes the other things. In 2x2D mode the vertical as well as the horizontal pattern contain the direction with the highest gain (at this point vertical and horizontal pattern intersect). Especially if antennas with tilts are used this is very complex because the horizontal pattern is shifted horizontally. The vertical plane is defined with two vectors and one point: Vector from point with highest gain towards the center of the spheroid of the computation (see section 3.5.4) Vector of z axis Center of the spheroid of computation (see section 3.5.4). The horizontal plane is defined with two vectors and one point: Horizontal vector (no z component) Normal vector of vertical antenna pattern point with highest gain The computation can be scaled to obtain very fast first results and to get the highest achievable accuracy (requiring longer computation time).
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3.2
3.2.1
Limitations and Assumptions

Far field and near field
From the theoretical point of view, ray optical algorithms can only be used in the far field of the antenna and are only valid if the obstacles are large compared to the wavelength. Additionally, they do not consider coupling between adjacent antennas. If the near field must be computed, models based on the electromagnetic field theory are required. E.g. the Method of Moments (or something similar). But these models suffer from long computation times. MASC uses ray optical methods and not the Method of Moments because of the computation time. Short computation times are only achievable with ray optical models. And the error concerning the accuracy is acceptable.
3.2.2
Concentration of radiation in a single point
In MASC (and in most wave propagation models), an antenna is concentrated in a single point of radiation and the pattern (far field pattern!) of the antenna (obtained from the manufacturer of the antenna) will be used for the computation. In reality this is obviously different. Antennas have a given mechanical size and are radiating not only from a single point but from the whole aperture. MASC reduces the antennas to single point radiators. The antenna pattern of the individual antenna is applied to the single point radiator. So radiation is concentrated in a single point. But the mechanical size of the antenna and its radom is also considered in MASC - for the interaction (transmission, reflection, diffraction) with signals radiated from other antennas. The concentration of the radiation into a single point is required because of the patterns of the single antennas. All patterns of these commercial antennas are far field patterns (see section 3.4) assuming the radiation from a single point. So considering the actual mechanical aperture would require new patterns which are not available for most antennas. With the concentration of the radiation to a single point, the error shown in figureFehler! Verweisquelle konnte nicht gefunden werden. is included in the results. Radiation concentrated in a single point Actual radiation
Shielded Region
Shielded Region
Antenna 1 (transmiiting)
Object (shileidng)
Antenna 1 (transmitting)
Object (shielding)
Strahlende Punktquelle
Fig. 3-2: Comparison between single point radiation and actual radiation
The error shown in figure 3-2 is obviously big if the size of the antennas is large and the distance between them is small. As soon as the distances between the antennas are multiples of the antenna size, the error can be neglected.
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3.2.3
Description/definition of the materials
The materials of the mounting elements as well as walls, masts, etc. are assumed to be isotropical and homogenous (i.e. not different electrical properties depending on the direction of propagation in the medium). Materials are characterized by their electrical properties (transmission loss, reflection loss). AWE Communications offers an EXCEL sheet where these properties for different frequency bands and materials are listed. Also the conversion from dielectricity, permeability and conductance to transmission and reflection loss are given in this sheet. The material properties of each element used for the mounting of the antenna (e.g. mast, arm, sub-arm, tube, radom, wall,) can be defined individually to describe the scenario as accurate as possible. Reasonable default values are suggested by the software. MASC is based on the assumption, that the radom of a single antenna is included in the pattern used for this antenna. Therefore the radom is not considered for this antenna. It is only considered as a shielding and/or reflecting element for all other antennas.
3.3
Configurations
MASC supports antennas mounted at masts as well as antennas mounted in front of walls:
Fig. 3-3: Dialog for definition of configuration AWE Communications GmbH 49
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The following configurations are supported: - Quasi Omni ( Mast configuration) - Skew ( Mast configuration) - Side-Mounted ( Mast configuration) - Antenna in front of a wall ( Wall configuration) The difference between the first three configurations (Quasi-Omni, Skew and Side-Mounted) is only the angle between arm and antenna. But as these angles can be defined by the user, each configuration can be described by the mast configuration. . The Antenna in front of a wall configuration is totally different as the antennas are mounted at a wall instead of a mast.
3.3.1
Mast configuration (e.g. Quasi Omni, Skew, Side Mounted,)

Antenna 1 Arm 1
The mast configuration allows the combination of multiple single antennas with a power splitter. So for example a homogenous 360 degree coverage can be achieved (if all antennas are fed with the same signal and power). With different settings in the power splitter or with non-equal angles between the antennas, the radiation can be concentrated into dedicated directions. The example in figure 3-4 shows a configuration with multiple antennas mounted around a mast. The number of antennas as well as their azimuth and elevation (tilt) can be defined by the user.
Mast
Arm 2 Antenna 2
Arm 3 Antenna 3
Fig. 3-4: Example for Quasi-Omni Configuration
Figure 3-5 shows additional sub-arms at the end of one arm. Each antenna can be mounted additionally at such a sub-arm. The azimuth of this sub-arm can be defined arbitrarily and it is independent of the azimuth of the main arm. So two antennas with different azimuth orientation can be mounted at the same arm.
Fig. 3-5: Example of Quasi Omni with sub-arms
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The difference between Quasi Omni, Skew and Side Mounted is the value of the azimuth angle between antenna/sub-arm and arm. In Skew the init value should be 90 (i.e. main radiation is tangential to mast), while in Quasi Omni as well as in Side mounted the init value should be 0 (i.e. main radiation of antenna is orthogonal to mast).
Quasi Omni and Skew configurations allow multiple antennas at one mast while Side Mounted is generally limited to one antenna.
In MASC the azimuth angles between subarms/antennas and arms can be defined individually and the number of antennas can also be defined by the user. Therefore the user has not to specify explicitly the configuration (Quasi-Omni, Skew, Side-Mounted ) to be used. Only the mast configuration must be selected. By defining the azimuth angles and the number of antennas, the user selects a configuration implicitly. Figures 3-4, 3-7 and 3-7 show a typical Quasi Omni (see fig. 3-4), a typical Skew (see fig. 3-7) and a typical Side Mounted (see fig. 3-7) configuration. Therefore all three configurations Quasi Omni, Skew and Side Mounted can be modeled with the mast configuration of MASC.
Antenne
Antenne Mast Antenne
Antenne
Fig. 3-7: Example for Skew Configuration
Antenne Mast
Fig. 3-7: Example for Side-Mounted Configuration AWE Communications GmbH 51
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For a mast configuration the following parameters can be defined: Number of (single) antennas considered: arbitrary (depends on RAM) Antenna o Antenna type: directional (sector) antennas or omni antennas o Pattern of single antenna can be loaded from file Mast (see section 3.6.1) o Diameter of mast o Height of mast o Material of mast (reflection and transmission loss, see section 3.6.9) Arms at mast (see section 3.6.3) o Diameter and length of each arm as well as height where arm is mounted at mast o Material of arm (reflection and transmission loss, see section 3.6.9) o Azimuth of arm [0..360] o Azimuth of antenna [0..360, relative to arm] (0 is equal to direction of arm) o Elevation (tilt) of antenna [-90..90] Radom (see section 3.6.9) o Size and type (rectangular, circular) of radom (see section 3.6.4) o Material of radom (reflection and transmission loss, see section 3.6.9) Electrical parameters o Power splitter: relative split between antennas must be defined (e.g. 1:1:2:1). o Phase shifter: phase shift between antenna can be defined.
Side-Mounted configurations are depending on the shadowing of the mast and arms and on
the reflections at the mast and arms. Depending on the distance between antenna and mast, different radiation directions can be generated (see figure 3-8).
Distance Antenna-Mast: /4
Distance Antenna-Mast: /2
Fig. 3-8: Examples of Side-Mounted configurations
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Fig. 3-9: Examples of horizontal antenna patterns (Quasi-Omni configurations)
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3.3.2
Wall configuration (e.g. Antenna in front of a wall)
The wall configuration an be used, if the antennas are mounted at or in front of a wall. Very often only one antenna is mounted but in MASC the number if only limited by the RAM. The wall configuration consists at least of an antenna, the arm to mount the antenna and a wall (see figure 3-10).
Seitenansicht
Seitenansicht
Gebudewand
Gebudewand
Draufsicht
Gebudewand
Draufsicht
Gebudewand
Fig. 3-10: Example for wall configuration
The wall configuration considers shadowing of the wall as well as reflections at the wall. If the transmission/penetration loss of the wall is very high, the radiation into the direction of the wall is suppressed. Very important is the consideration of the reflection at the wall, because the reflected rays are superposed to the direct rays and depending on the phase difference between the two rays, the superposed signal can be decreased or increased (see figure 3-11). In this configuration very often only one antenna is considered. Of course, the software itself can handle an arbitrary number of antennas. In case of multiple antennas, the orientation of the wall is defined with the first antenna in the list of antennas. The computation of one reflection is sufficient to obtain the required accuracy. The size of the wall is assumed to be infinite, so diffractions at the wedges of the wall are neglected.
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Fig. 3-11:
Influence of wall on antenna pattern of a GSM 900 directional antenna,. The distance between antenna and wall is 10 cm in both figures on the top and 150 mm in the figures in the lower line.
.
The wall configuration considers the following parameters: Number of (single) antennas considered: arbitrary (depends on RAM) Antenna o Antenna type: directional (sector) antennas or omni antennas o Pattern of single antenna can be loaded from file Wall (see section 3.6.2) o Size of wall o Material of wall (reflection and transmission loss, see section 3.6.9) Arms at mast (see section 3.6.3) o Diameter and length of each arm as well as height where arm is mounted at mast o Material of arm (reflection and transmission loss, see section 3.6.9) o Azimuth of arm [0..360] o Azimuth of antenna [0..360, relative to arm] (0 is equal to direction of arm) o Elevation (tilt) of antenna [-90..90] Radom (see section 3.6.9) o Size and type (rectangular, circular) of radom (see section 3.6.4) o Material of radom (reflection and transmission loss, see section 3.6.9) Electrical parameters o Power splitter: relative split between antennas must be defined (e.g. 1:1:2:1). o Phase shifter: phase shift between antenna can be defined.
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3.4
Pattern of single antennas used in MASC
For each antenna used in the configurations presented in section 3.3, a far field radiation pattern is available. This pattern is measured in an anechoic chamber and does not include any masts, arms, walls, etc.. Only the radom of the antenna is included. If the antenna consists of multiple dipoles, the pattern describes the radiation of the superposed signal radiated from all dipoles. An isolated analysis of a single dipole is not possible. The radiation is concentrated in a single point even if multiple dipoles are used to build the antenna (see also section 3.2.2). The pattern is provided by the manufacturer of the antenna and it is either 2x2D (horizontal and vertical plane) or real 3D (see figures 3-12 and 3-13). With the algorithms presented in section 2.5 it is possible to compute the 3D pattern based on the vertical and horizontal 2D patterns. Figure 3-13 shows an example of such a 3D pattern based on the patterns shown in figure 3-12.
Fig. 3-12:
Vertical (left) and horizontal (right) antenna pattern (Antenna Kathrein K739856)
MASC works always with 3D patterns of each single antenna used in the configuration. If the 3D pattern is not available, it is interpolated with the HPI algorithm as described in section 2.5.4. The shielding of the radom of an antenna is obviously not considered in its own radiation pattern but for all other antennas of the configuration. The influence of mast, arms, etc. on the radiation pattern is considered for each antenna. The gain of the antenna can either be relative to an isotropic radiator (values in dBi) or on a half-wave dipole (values in dBd). The conversion between both values is possible with the gain of the half wave dipole (2.1 dBi)
Fig. 3-13: Interpolated 3D Antenna Pattern (Antenna Kathrein K739856) 56
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3.5
3.5.1
Computation of Wave Propagation in MASC

Antennas concentrated in single point
As already mentioned in section 3.2.2, the antenna pattern is based on the assumption of radiation from a single point (therefore they are only valid in larger distances (several wave lengths) to the antennas. In the near filed different approaches are used to determine the radiated field (FEM, MoM,). Due to this single point radiator concept, the propagation can be approximated with spherical waves (and different gains in different directions). If the distances to obstacles are several wave lengths (what is true for the frequencies in cellular wireless (more than 800 MHz) and the configurations supported with MASC (see section 3.3.1)), the local wave front is nearly planar and the well known equations to compute the reflection, penetration and diffraction losses can be applied.
3.5.2
Tx power of each antenna
To compute the electric field strength radiated from an antenna, the transmitted signal power must be known. In MASC the user has not to specify the power because the resulting pattern is always independent of the absolute power (only relative power ratios between different antennas are important). Therefore a reference Tx power of 1 W is applied for each antenna. If power splitters are used, the power is split between the antennas according to the settings of the power splitter. Example: 4 antennas fed with power splitter 1 : 1 : 5 : 5. The powers of the antennas are 0.2 W (antenna 1 and 2) and 1 W (antenna 3 and 4). The isotropical radiator (see next section) is also fed with the sum of all single antennas (in the example above this would be 0.2 W + 0.2 W + 1 W + 1 W = 2.4 W reference power.
3.5.3
Isotropical radiator as a reference
The isotropical radiator is used as reference for the computation of the resulting antenna pattern. It radiates the same power density in all directions and is described in section 2.1. As already mentioned, the isotropical radiator is a single point of radiation. The coordinates of this point are determined based on the coordinates of the single antennas used in the configuration. In a first step, the geometrical mean Mgeo of the single antennas (each of them concentrated in a single point, see section 3.5.1) is determined. Each antenna is weighted with its individual part of the Tx power (if power splitters are used). So in power splitter mode, Mgeo will be closer to the high power antennas. The total Tx power Pt0 fed to the isotropical radiator is the sum of the powers fed to the individual antennas (see section above). With this power the received power Pr in a distance r can be computed with
Pr =
Pt0 Gt Gr 02
( 4 r )
For the computation of the resulting antenna pattern the field strength and not the power is relevant. Therefore the power density Sr is computed with
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Sr =
With
Pt0 Gt 4 r 2
Eeff ZF 0
2
Sr =
the power density Sr can be transformed to the effective electric field strength Eeff (ZF0 is the free space impedance and its value is 120 ).
3.5.4
General concept
The geometrical mean Mgeo (see section 3.5.3) is used as center of the computation spheroid. The radius of the spheroid is rK and can be very large to be sure that all objects of the configuration (masts, walls, arms,) are inside the spheroid (the radius used is between 500 and 1000 m, depending on the objects of the configuration) but the actual value has no influence on the accuracy of the results.
Quasi Omni
Berechnungskugel
Antenne-vor-Wand
Berechnungskugel
geo
geo
Fig. 3-14: Spheroid used for computation
If a 3D pattern is computed, each point on the spheroid is computed (angle resolution is 1 degree in horizontal and 1 degree in vertical plane, leading to 360 x 180 values). If only a 2x2D result is required, only 2 x 360 values are determined. The increment/resolution is not fixed to 1 degree. For accelerated computations also 2 and even 5 degree steps can be used. For each value the field strength Eiso of the isotropical radiator is determined (see section 3.5.3). As all points on the spheroid have the same distance to the geometrical center point Mgeo, it is sufficient to compute the field strength Eiso only once and use the same value for all pixels to be determined on the spheroid. After this initial step, the (complex) field strength Et of the actual configuration is computed as a superposition of the contributions from all single antennas reaching the point currently examined. The computation of this field strength Et is explained on the following pages. The quotient
G=
E tat E iso
represents the gain in the direction towards the point on the spheroid currently examined. Only the magnitude of the complex field strength is used as the phase is not written in the result. After all points on the spheroid are computed, the resulting pattern is available.
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3.5.5
3.5.5.1
Rays considered in computation

Rays
In the basic version only the direct ray from the antenna (single point, see section 3.2.2) to the examined point on the spherical surface (see section 3.5.4) is considered. All transmissions of this ray are evaluated. A consideration of reflections and diffractions makes no sense because of the assumption of a single point radiation source (see section 3.2.2). The reflection conditions (angle of incident ray = angle of reflected ray) are seldom true (in contrast to a real antenna which is not concentrated in a single point) and therefore nearly no reflected rays are found. Figure 3-15 shows this effect. If the antenna is reduced to a single point, many diffracted rays are neglected (especially if the distance between antenna and objects is small). A real antenna (not reduced to a single point) would have reflections at the object. Due to the fact that the reflection loss reduces the power of this ray, the error in the superposition of the reflected and direct rays can be neglected (if 10 dB or more reflection loss is applied, the sum of both rays in logarithmic scale is nearly identical to the direct ray alone).
Antenne als Punktquelle

Empfnger
Antenne (real)
Empfnger
Sender (Punktquelle)
Sender (Real)
The only exception is the reflection at the mast itself. Fig. 3-15: Example for wall configuration As the mast is very often built with metal, the reflection loss is very low. So reflections at the mast are not attenuated significantly and therefore they have a strong influence on the superposed signal power (they can destruct the radiated signal in one direction). The same applies to the wall if the antenna is mounted in front of the wall. Therefore reflections at walls are also considered.
3.5.5.2
Direct Ray
The direct ray from the single antennas to the spherical computation surface (see section 3.5.4) are very important. They have as many transmissions/penetrations (see section 3.5.5.3) as required. The contribution of the direct rays to the total field strength are computed with the equations given in section . If there are additionally transmissions/penetrations, the additional loss due to these interactions (see section 3.5.5.3) is added to the loss of the direct ray.
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3.5.5.3
Transmissions/Penetrations along rays
The number of transmissions/penetrations are not limited in the rays considered for the computation. The transmission/penetration loss of an object intersecting any ray must be added to the free space loss LFS of this ray,:
LFS = 10 lg = 20 lg
Pt0 Pr
= 10 lg Pt0 10 lg Pr 10 lg Gt 10 lg Gr
4 r
An object is defined as a planar polygon (see chapter 3.6). The material properties of the objects can be defined individually (see section 3.6.9). The determination of the intersection between a ray and an object is explained with a simple example. If more objects must be considered, this analysis must be made for each object individually. As all objects are planar, they can be represented by their normal vector nW (see figure 3-16). On the following pages the transmission o the ray between the two points P1 and P2 will be considered. The point Q is computed as intersection between the line represented by P1 and P2 and the object (described by the normal vector nW and its distance to the origin of the coordinate system). If nW is parallel to the direction from P1 to P2, no transmission/penetration is assumed.
P2 nW r Q P1
Fig. 3-16: Intersection of ray and object
Objekt
If Q is between the points P1 and P2 and if Q is inside the polygon representing the object, a transmission/penetration occurs and its transmission/penetration loss (material dependent, see section 3.6.9) must be added to the free space loss (see above) of the ray between P1 and P2. If Q is outside the polygon or not between P1 and P2, no additional loss due to transmission/penetration must be considered.
P2
Q P2 P1
Objekt P1
Objekt
Fig. 3-17: Transmission/penetration must be considered or can be neglected
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3.5.5.4
Reflected Rays
Due to the very small distances between the reflecting objects and the concentrated point of radiation, the reflection is only considered correctly if the object is significantly larger than the wavelength and larger than the distance between object and center of radiation. This is not valid for most objects (except of the wall in the configuration antenna in front of w a wall (section 3.3.2)). So theoretically the reflections at masts, arms and radoms should not be computed. But to obtain good and accurate results, the reflections are important. And therefore they are included in the computation. Reflections at mast and wall are extremely important because the reflection loss is not very high and the signal might have a phase shift of 180 to the direct signal in some directions - which leads to destructive interference and therefore to an elimination of the radiation into this direction. So the reflections are important and must be considered. Reflections at radoms can be neglected because their attenuations are high and so the superposition to direct paths (without reflections) is nearly invisible in the resulting antenna pattern. The computation of the reflected ray will be shown in the following example. The ray emitted from P1 will be received by P2 and the reflection at the wall is analyzed. If more than only one object must be considered, then this step must be repeated for each object. In a first step, the image of P1 relative to the wall is determined. The distance dPW of the point P1 from the wall is computed with the normal vector nW of the wall.
P1 P2
Wand
Fig. 3-18: Scenario for the reflection
The image P1A is determined by multiplying the normal vector of the wall with -2 * dPW and adding it to P1 (see also the two figures below):
P1A = P1 2 * dPW * nW
P1 P2 dPW nW Wand
Fig. 3-19: Geometry to compute the reflection
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P1 P2 dPW nW Wand dPW P1A

Fig. 3-20: Image of the transmitter
If the line from P1A to P2 is intersecting the polygon representing the wall, this point of intersection is named Q and represents the point of reflection.
P1 P2 nW Q Wand P1A
Fig. 3-21: Computation of reflection point Q
The angle of reflection between the ray and the wall is determined with the scalar product of the normal vector nW and the vector q of the reflected ray (from Q to P2).
P1 P2 nW Q P1A
Fig. 3-22: Computation of the angle of reflection AWE Communications GmbH 62
q Wand
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The angle of reflection is determined with:
cos ( ) = nw * q
With the angle a and the material properties of the wall/object (see section 3.6.9) the reflection loss can be determined accurately. More information related to the determination of the reflection loss can be found in section 3.5.7. This reflection loss is then subtracted from the free space loss given by
P1 r1 P2 r2 Wand
LFS = 10 lg = 20 lg
Pt0 Pr
= 10 lg Pt0 10 lg Pr 10 lg Gt 10 lg Gr
4 r
with the path length r as a sum of the distance r1 from P1 to point Q and distance r2 from point Q to P2:
Fig. 3-23: Computation of the angle of reflection
r = r1 + r2
For both parts of the reflected ray (from P1 to Q and from Q to P2), the transmissions/penetrations must be determined additionally (see previous section).
3.5.5.5
Diffracted rays
The explanations for the reflected rays with the size of the objects and their distance to the radiator (see previous section) is even more important for the diffractions. And the diffraction losses are high compared to the reflection losses. So MASC does not consider any diffractions in the computation of the resulting patterns. Diffractions would only be interesting if no reflecting or transmitting ray would reach the point currently examined. But this can never be the case as an unlimited number of transmissions/penetrations are supported and therefore at least the direct ray is examined for each point examined.
3.5.6
Computation of transmission/penetration loss
For each element an individual transmission/penetration loss can be defined (in dB). If a ray is penetrating the object, this loss is added to the propagation loss of the ray. AWE Communications offers a table (MS EXCEL Sheet) with different materials and their specific losses, depending on the thickness. So the user can enter the material and the thickness and the sheet provides the appropriate transmission/penetration loss to be used. Transmission/penetration of dielectric objects does not lead to a phase shift. Therefore no additional phase offset is added to the phase of the ray at the receiver.
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3.5.7
Computation of reflection loss
Similar to the reflection, described in the previous subsection, an individual transmission/ penetration loss can be defined (in dB) for each element. If a ray is reflected at the object, this loss is added to the propagation loss of the ray. AWE Communications offers a table (MS EXCEL Sheet) with different materials and their specific reflection losses. So the user can enter the material and the sheet provides the appropriate reflection loss to be used. Reflections at dielectric surfaces does lead to a phase shift of 180. Therefore an additional phase offset of 180 is added to the phase of the ray at the receiver and considered during the superposition (see section 3.5.9). The angle dependency of the reflection loss is not considered in MASC as its influence is not so high with respect to the accuracy of the modelling of the scenario.
3.5.8
Polarization
The polarization of the electromagnetic wave has a strong influence on the resulting antenna pattern. But to consider polarization in the resulting pattern, also the input patterns of the single antennas must have information about the polarization. But this polarization data is not available for most patterns of commercially available antennas. So if the input does not include the polarization, it makes no sense to consider polarization in the result. Therefore the result is independent of the polarization of the signals.
3.5.9
Superposition of rays
The individual rays are superposed with consideration of the phase information. This leads to constructive and destructive interference in the results. Depending on the path length and frequency, the phase of the signal and the complex electric field vector are computed. The Phase i of ray i is depending on the path length r and the wave length of the signal (c0 is the velocity of light and f the carrier frequency):
i =
* 360 =
r f * 360 c0
For each reflection in the ray, an additional phase shift of 180 is considered. The total field strength Etot is the coherent (i.e. incl. phase) superposition f the electric field strengths of the different paths:
Etot = Ei = Eeffi ( cos i + j sin i )

The generated output file does not contain any information concerning the phase (because all radio network planning tools would not consider this information),. Therefore in the generated results only the magnitude of the electric field strength relative to the isotropical radiator is considered (see section 3.5.4):
G=
E tat E iso
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3.6
Mathematical Modeling of the elements in MASC
In this subsection the mathematical modeling of the objects (masts, walls, arms,) to describe the scenario is given. Only the objects relevant for the computation are modeled. Small objects like skews, nuts, etc. are not modeled because their influence is quite small.
3.6.1
Mast
The mast is used for many configurations (see section 3.3.1) and is described with: Cylinder with circular cross section Diameter of the cross section defined by the user Height of the mast defined by the user Material properties (reflection and transmission loss) defined by the user Smooth surface (only specular reflection, no scattering)
As the mast is a cylinder with circular cross section, the information related to circular objects given in section 3.6.6 applies also for the mast.
3.6.2
Wall
In the configuration antenna in front of a wall (see section 3.3.2) the wall is very important and must therefore be modeled accurately with the following parameters: Planar object with rectangular shape (quadrate) Length of the side of the quadrate can be defined by the user Material properties (reflection and transmission loss) defined by the user Smooth surface (only specular reflection, no scattering)
3.6.3
Arms, tubes and sub-arms (to mount antennas)
Antennas are mounted at arms. They are orthogonal to the surface (mast or wall) and consist always of a pair of two arms. One above the other. At these arms a tube is mounted vertically. At the tube there are at least two sub-arms to mount the antennas at the tube. All elements of the arms and sub-arms are geometrically centered. The cross section of the tubes is always circular (the information related to circular objects given in section 3.6.6 applies here). The tube is open at its ends (see figure 3-24). Sometimes the antenna is mounted at the tube without sub-arms (see figure 3-25). Therefore the user can enable or disable the sub-arms for each antenna individually in MASC.
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Mast
Ausleger
Antennenradom
A C
C A
Seitenansicht (a) Draufsicht (b)
Fig. 3-24: Side-view (a) and top view (b) of the arms (A) mounted at the mast (M). The antenna (R) is mounted with sub-arms (C) at the vertically oriented tube (B)
Fig. 3-25: Side-view of the arms (A) mounted at the mast (M). The antenna (R) is mounted without sub-arms at the vertically oriented tube (B)
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For each arm the azimuth can be defined individually. North means 0 with increasing values towards East (=> 90 means East). So multiple arms and antennas can be arranged around a single mast (see figure 3-26). Antennas can be rotated in azimuth relative to the arm (see figure 3-27). The rotation axis is the vertically mounted tube and the sub-arms are also rotated together with the antenna. As this azimuth value is relative to the orientation of the arm, an azimuth of 0 is equal to the direction of the arm. Positive values for the azimuth are describing a rotation clock-wise (from top-view). Figure 3-27 shows an example with a relative rotation/azimuth of 45.
270
60
240
120
180
Fig. 3-26: Top view on a configuration with six arms with different azimuth angles
Fig. 3-27: Top view of a 45 azimuth rotated antenna. Antenna (R) and sub-arm (C) are rotated in the horizontal plane around the tube (B). The location of the arms (A) and tube (B) is not influenced.
45
It is also possible to mount multiple antennas with different azimuth at one tube/arm (see figure 3-28). The number of antennas to be mounted at the same arm is not limited by MASC.
-60
C
Fig. 3-28: Top view on a configuration with two antennas (R), mounted at one tube/arm. The azimuth of the antennas is 60. AWE Communications GmbH 67
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3.6.4
Radom (of antennas)
The radom of the antenna is a protection of the radiating elements. The influence of the radom on the radiation of the antenna is already included in the pattern of the antenna but in MASC the influence (mainly shielding) of the radom on other antennas mounted at the same mast is considered. The cross section of radoms are either circular cylinders (for omni-directional antennas) or rectangular (for sector antennas). Of course the user can select the cross section of the radoms individually for each antenna (see figure 3-29)
Fig. 3-29: Example for the radom of an omni antenna (a) and a sector antenna (b)
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3.6.5
Tilts (of antennas)
Antennas can have a tilt (uptilt or downtilt). Theoretically tilts with a maximum of 90 are possible. Positive values describe uptilts and negative values are used for downtilts. Practically tilts are most often negative (i.e. downtilts) and are in the region between 0 and 20. A downtilt leads to a rotation at the lower end (bottom) of the antenna (see figure 3-30) while an uptilt leads to a rotation at the upper end (top) of the antenna (see figure 3-31).
C A
A C
Fig. 3-30: Example for an antenna (R) with a tilt of -5 (downtilt)

C A
A C
Fig. 3-31: Example for an antenna (R) with a tilt of +5 (uptilt)
The sub-arms should be longer in case of a tilt but in MASC this effect is not modeled as its influence on the accuracy is not visible in the output pattern.
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3.6.6
Objects with circular cross sections (cylinders)
As already mentioned several times, objects with circular cross sections can be approximated with multiple planar rectangles (see figure 3-32) without a big influence on the accuracy of the results. For the mast this approximation is only used for the determination of the transmissions/penetrations (see section 3.5.5.3), i.e. for the determination of the shielding of the mast. For the reflections at the mast (see section 3.5.5.4) the ideal circular cross-section is used to obtain a high accuracy in the results. At least 6 (better 10) planar rectangles should be used to approximate the cylinder accurately.
n = 10
z y x
modellierter Zylinderquerschnitt
D
realer Zylinderquerschnitt
a
b
Fig. 3-32: Modeling of a circular cylinder with multiple planar rectangles
Parameters for the cylinder are: height of cylinder diameter of cylinder number of corners (for polygon approximating the cross section) Location of center of ground plane The bottom and ceiling of the cylinder are not modeled because their influence can be neglected.
3.6.7
Objects with rectangular cross sections (Cuboid)
Objects like arms or tubes can also have a rectangular cross-section and therefore the user can also model these cuboids with the following parameters: Width Depth Height Position (x-y-z Coordinates) Each cuboid consists of bottom, ceiling and 4 walls. But bottom and ceiling of the cuboid are not modeled as their influence on the resulting pattern can be neglected. The radoms of sector antennas (see section 3.6.4) can be approximated with cuboids. The cross section of sub-arms is always a quadrate (width and depth are identical).
User Manual AMan
3.6.8
Positioning of Elements
The objects describing the scenario must be positioned relative to one another. This can be defined via x-y-z-coordinates in the coordinate system. As this is very complicated for the user, MASC generates the coordinates automatically after requesting some simple parameters from user. All values, entered by the user, are relative values to the border of the wall or mast or arm (see below). 3.6.8.1 Arms (at masts) The arms are starting inside the mast (inner circle of polygon, see figure 3-33) to guarantee that there are no gaps between mast and arm which would have a significant influence on the accuracy of the pattern.
n = 10
modellierter Mastquerschnitt realer Mastquerschnitt Inkreis des Polygons
Hauptarme eines Auslegers

Fig. 3-33: Top view on real and modeled mast incl. inner circle of modeled mast (and four arms)
oberer Hauptarm
Both arms are horizontal and are oriented radial towards the center of the mast. The distance a between the two arms as well as the height h at the mast (see figure 3-34) can be defined by the user.
Mast
unterer Hauptarm
Fig. 3-34: Vertical Positioning of arms at mast AWE Communications GmbH 71
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3.6.8.2
Arms (at walls)

z'
Both arms are horizontal and orthogonal to the wall. The distance between the arms can be defined by the user. The distance of the arms from the borders of the wall can also be defined by the user. Origin of the coordinate system is the lower left corner of the wall (see figure 3-35).
Wand
oberer Hauptarm x' Mitte z' unterer Hauptarm
x'
Fig. 3-35: Positioning of the arms on the wall
3.6.8.3 Tube (vertical) The vertical tube is always fixed in front of the two arms (see sections before). Its vertical center is on the height exactly between the two arms. This is identical to the description given in section 3.6.3.
3.6.8.4 Sub-Arms Sub-arms are optional. If they are used, they are always fixed at the tube (see section before and section 3.6.3). Similar to the arms, the distance between the sub-arms is also defined by the user. The sub-arms are vertically centered to the tube. Their azimuth orientation is defined by the user and is similar to the azimuth of the antenna itself.
3.6.8.5 Radom Omni as well as sector radoms (i.e. circular as well as rectangular cross section) are mounted directly at the sub-arms (if used) or at the tube (if no sub-arms are used). The azimuth and the tilt are defined as described in sections 3.6.4 and 3.6.5.
3.6.9
Consideration of Material Properties
The material properties of each object can be defined individually. To have a simple interface for fast computations the user has to defined only reflection loss (in dB) transmission/penetration loss (in dB)
A table with electrical properties of different materials can be obtained from AWE Communications. Please ask if you are interested in this document.
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3.7
Example: Computation of a Quasi Omni Configuration
Der vorgestellte Algorithmus zur Berechnung des resultierenden Antennendiagramms soll in diesem Kapitel anhand eines Beispiels erlutert werden. Da sich die Konfigurationen Quasi-Omni, Skew und Side-Mounted in eine Konfiguration berfhren lassen (siehe dazu auch die Ausfhrungen im Kapitel), wird nur ein Beispiel fr alle drei Konfigurationen vorgestellt.
3.7.1

Step 1: Definition of configuration

Quasi-Omni configuration Number of antennas: N = 3 o 1 Antenna at first arm o 2 Antennas together at second arm Diameter of mast: 500 mm Height of mast: 10 m Material of mast: Steel Properties of arms and antennas: o Arm1: Height (mounted): 9 m Material: Steel Length of both arms: 300 mm Distance between both arms: 500 mm Vertical tube: Cross section: Rectangular Length (Height): 1000 mm Width (cross section): 50 mm Azimuth of arm: 180 Antenna 1-1: Azimuth: 0 (relative to arm) Elevation: 0 Phase offset: 0 Radom: o Type: Cuboid o Dimension: (W x D X H): 150 mm x 50 mm x 800 mm o Material: Steel o Arm 2 Height (mounted): 9 m Material: Steel Length of both arms: 450 mm Distance between both arms: 500 mm Vertical tube: Cross section: Rectangular Length (Height): 1000 mm Width (cross section): 50 mm Azimuth of arm: 0 Antenna 2-1: Azimuth: 45 (relative to arm) Elevation: 0 Phase offset: 0
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The following configuration is examined (these parameters must be defined by the user):
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Sub-arm: o Width: 40 mm o Distance between mounting points: 100 mm o Length: 50 mm Radom: o Type: Cuboid o Dimensions: (W x D X H): 150 mm x 50 mm x 800 mm o Material: Steel Antenna 2-2: Azimuth: 315 (relative to arm) Elevation: 0 Phase offset: 0 Sub arm: o Width: 40 mm o Distance between mounting points: 100 mm o Length of sub-arms: 50 mm Radom: o Type: Cuboid o Dimensions (W x D X H): 150 mm x 50 mm x 800 mm o Material: Steel: o Power splitter: Antenna 1-1 - Antenna 2-1 - Antenna 2-2 : 2:1:1
Fig. 3-36: Example
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3.7.2
Step 2: 3D Model of the scenario (incl. coordinate system)
The 3D model of the scenario is computed automatically by MASC. Depending on the approximation of circle by polygons, different objects are generated. If a polygon with 6 corners is used for the mast. the following 64 objects are generated to describe the scenario: (All coordinates in meter. One line describes one object. Each object has 4 corners. Syntax: Number Corner 1.x, Corner 1.y, Corner 1.z Corner 2.x, Corner 2.y, Corner 2.z,....)
Mast: 1 0.217, 2 0.217, 3 0.217, 4 -0.000, 5 -0.217, 6 0.000, 0.125, -0.125, -0.125, -0.250, -0.125, 0.250, 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000, 0.217, -0.000, -0.217, -0.217, -0.217, 0.250, 0.125, -0.250, -0.125, 0.125, 0.125, 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000, 0.217, -0.000, -0.217, -0.217, -0.217, 0.250, 0.125, -0.250, -0.125, 0.125, 0.125, 10.000 10.000 10.000 10.000 10.000 10.000 0.217, 0.217, 0.217, -0.000, -0.217, 0.000, 0.125, -0.125, -0.125, -0.250, -0.125, 0.250, 10.000 10.000 10.000 10.000 10.000 10.000
Arm 1, lower part: 7 0.025, -0.550, 8 0.025, -0.550, 9 -0.025, -0.550, 10 0.025, -0.550, Arm 1, upper 11 0.025, 12 0.025, 13 -0.025, 14 0.025, part: -0.550, -0.550, -0.550, -0.550,
8.700 8.750 8.700 8.700
0.025, 0.025, -0.025, 0.025,
-0.215, -0.215, -0.215, -0.215,
8.700 8.750 8.700 8.700
-0.025, -0.025, -0.025, 0.025,
-0.215, -0.215, -0.215, -0.215,
8.700 8.750 8.750 8.750
-0.025, -0.025, -0.025, 0.025,
-0.550, -0.550, -0.550, -0.550,
8.700 8.750 8.750 8.750
9.250 9.300 9.250 9.250
0.025, 0.025, -0.025, 0.025,
-0.215, -0.215, -0.215, -0.215,
9.250 9.300 9.250 9.250
-0.025, -0.025, -0.025, 0.025,
-0.215, -0.215, -0.215, -0.215,
9.250 9.300 9.300 9.300
-0.025, -0.025, -0.025, 0.025,
-0.550, -0.550, -0.550, -0.550,
9.250 9.300 9.300 9.300
Arm 1, vertical tube: 15 0.025, -0.600, 16 0.025, -0.550, 17 -0.025, -0.600, 18 0.025, -0.600,
8.500 8.500 8.500 8.500
-0.025, -0.025, -0.025, 0.025,
-0.600, -0.550, -0.550, -0.550,
8.500 8.500 8.500 8.500
-0.025, -0.025, -0.025, 0.025,
-0.600, -0.550, -0.550, -0.550,
9.500 9.500 9.500 9.500
0.025, 0.025, -0.025, 0.025,
-0.600, -0.550, -0.600, -0.600,
9.500 9.500 9.500 9.500
Arm 1, Antenna 1-1, Radom: 19 -0.075, -0.600, 8.600 20 -0.075, -0.600, 9.400 21 0.075, -0.650, 8.600 22 -0.075, -0.650, 8.600 23 0.075, -0.600, 8.600 24 0.075, -0.650, 8.600 Arm 2, lower part: 25 -0.025, 0.700, 26 -0.025, 0.700, 27 0.025, 0.215, 28 -0.025, 0.215, Arm 2, upper part: 29 -0.025, 0.700, 30 -0.025, 0.700, 31 0.025, 0.215, 32 -0.025, 0.215, Arm 2, vertical tube: 33 0.025, 0.750, 34 0.025, 0.700, 35 0.025, 0.700, 36 -0.025, 0.700,
-0.075, -0.075, 0.075, -0.075, -0.075, -0.075,
-0.650, -0.650, -0.600, -0.600, -0.600, -0.650,
8.600 9.400 8.600 8.600 8.600 8.600
0.075, 0.075, 0.075, -0.075, -0.075, -0.075,
-0.650, -0.650, -0.600, -0.600, -0.600, -0.650,
8.600 9.400 9.400 9.400 9.400 9.400
0.075, 0.075, 0.075, -0.075, 0.075, 0.075,
-0.600, -0.600, -0.650, -0.650, -0.600, -0.650,
8.600 9.400 9.400 9.400 9.400 9.400
8.700 8.750 8.700 8.700
-0.025, -0.025, 0.025, -0.025,
0.215, 0.215, 0.700, 0.700,
8.700 8.750 8.700 8.700
0.025, 0.025, 0.025, -0.025,
0.215, 0.215, 0.700, 0.700,
8.700 8.750 8.750 8.750
0.025, 0.025, 0.025, -0.025,
0.700, 0.700, 0.215, 0.215,
8.700 8.750 8.750 8.750
9.250 9.300 9.250 9.250
-0.025, -0.025, 0.025, -0.025,
0.215, 0.215, 0.700, 0.700,
9.250 9.300 9.250 9.250
0.025, 0.025, 0.025, -0.025,
0.215, 0.215, 0.700, 0.700,
9.250 9.300 9.300 9.300
0.025, 0.025, 0.025, -0.025,
0.700, 0.700, 0.215, 0.215,
9.250 9.300 9.300 9.300
8.500 8.500 8.500 8.500
-0.025, -0.025, 0.025, -0.025,
0.750, 0.700, 0.750, 0.750,
8.500 8.500 8.500 8.500
-0.025, -0.025, 0.025, -0.025,
0.750, 0.700, 0.750, 0.750,
9.500 9.500 9.500 9.500
0.025, 0.025, 0.025, -0.025,
0.750, 0.700, 0.700, 0.700,
9.500 9.500 9.500 9.500
Arm 2, Antenna 2-1, Sub-arm (lower part): 37 -0.032, 0.729, 8.910 -0.004, 38 -0.032, 0.729, 8.950 -0.004, 39 -0.004, 0.757, 8.910 -0.039, 40 -0.032, 0.729, 8.910 -0.067, Arm 2, Antenna 2-1, Sub-arm (upper part): 41 -0.032, 0.729, 9.050 -0.004, 42 -0.032, 0.729, 9.090 -0.004, 43 -0.004, 0.757, 9.050 -0.039, 44 -0.032, 0.729, 9.050 -0.067, Arm 2, Antenna 2-1, Radom: 45 0.000, 0.831, 8.600
0.757, 0.757, 0.792, 0.764,
8.910 8.950 8.910 8.910
-0.039, -0.039, -0.039, -0.067,
0.792, 0.792, 0.792, 0.764,
8.910 8.950 8.950 8.950
-0.067, -0.067, -0.004, -0.032,
0.764, 0.764, 0.757, 0.729,
8.910 8.950 8.950 8.950
0.757, 0.757, 0.792, 0.764,
9.050 9.090 9.050 9.050
-0.039, -0.039, -0.039, -0.067,
0.792, 0.792, 0.792, 0.764,
9.050 9.090 9.090 9.090
-0.067, -0.067, -0.004, -0.032,
0.764, 0.764, 0.757, 0.729,
9.050 9.090 9.090 9.090
-0.035,
0.866,
8.600
-0.141,
0.760,
8.600
-0.106,
0.725,
8.600
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46 0.000, 47 -0.106, 48 0.000, 49 0.000, 50 -0.035, Arm 51 52 53 54 Arm 55 56 57 58 Arm 59 60 61 62 63 64 0.831, 0.725, 0.831, 0.831, 0.866, 9.400 8.600 8.600 8.600 9.400 -0.035, -0.141, -0.035, -0.106, -0.141, 0.866, 0.760, 0.866, 0.725, 0.760, 9.400 8.600 8.600 8.600 9.400 -0.141, -0.141, -0.035, -0.106, -0.141, 0.760, 0.760, 0.866, 0.725, 0.760, 9.400 9.400 9.400 9.400 8.600 -0.106, -0.106, 0.000, 0.000, -0.035, 0.725, 0.725, 0.831, 0.831, 0.866, 9.400 9.400 9.400 9.400 8.600
2, Antenna 2-2, Sub-arm (lower part): 0.004, 0.757, 8.910 0.032, 0.004, 0.757, 8.950 0.032, 0.032, 0.729, 8.950 0.067, 0.004, 0.757, 8.910 0.039, 2, Antenna 2-2, Sub-arm (upper part): 0.004, 0.757, 9.050 0.032, 0.004, 0.757, 9.090 0.032, 0.032, 0.729, 9.090 0.067, 0.004, 0.757, 9.050 0.039, 2, Antenna 2-2, Radom: 0.106, 0.725, 8.600 0.106, 0.725, 9.400 0.000, 0.831, 9.400 0.106, 0.725, 9.400 0.106, 0.725, 8.600 0.141, 0.760, 8.600
0.729, 0.729, 0.764, 0.792,
8.910 8.950 8.950 8.910
0.067, 0.067, 0.067, 0.039,
0.764, 0.764, 0.764, 0.792,
8.910 8.950 8.910 8.950
0.039, 0.039, 0.032, 0.004,
0.792, 0.792, 0.729, 0.757,
8.910 8.950 8.910 8.950
0.729, 0.729, 0.764, 0.792,
9.050 9.090 9.090 9.050
0.067, 0.067, 0.067, 0.039,
0.764, 0.764, 0.764, 0.792,
9.050 9.090 9.050 9.090
0.039, 0.039, 0.032, 0.004,
0.792, 0.792, 0.729, 0.757,
9.050 9.090 9.050 9.090
0.141, 0.141, 0.035, 0.141, 0.000, 0.035,
0.760, 0.760, 0.866, 0.760, 0.831, 0.866,
8.600 9.400 9.400 9.400 8.600 8.600
0.035, 0.035, 0.035, 0.141, 0.000, 0.035,
0.866, 0.866, 0.866, 0.760, 0.831, 0.866,
8.600 9.400 8.600 8.600 9.400 9.400
0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.106, 0.106, 0.141,
0.831, 0.831, 0.831, 0.725, 0.725, 0.760,
8.600 9.400 8.600 8.600 9.400 9.400
(The origin of the coordinate system is the center of ground plane of the mast. The center can be defined arbitrarily important is only the relative location of the elements to one another). The coordinates of all 3 antennas (each concentrated in a single point) in the above mentioned coordinate system: Antenna 1-1: Antenna 2-1: Antenna 2-2: x = 0,0 mm x = -141,42 mm x = 141,42 mm y = -725,0 mm y = 866,42 mm y = 866,42 mm z = 9000,0 mm z = 9000,0 mm z = 9000,0 mm
The coordinates of the (geometrical) point of radiation Mgeo in the above mentioned coordinate system is: xgeo = (2 * 0,0 ygeo = (2 * (-725,0) zgeo = (2 * 9000,0 + 1* (-141,42) + 1 * 141,42) / 4 + 1* 866,42 + 1* 9000,0 + 1 * 866,42) / 4 + 1 * 9000,0) / 4 = 0,00 mm = 282,84 mm = 9000,00 mm
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Fig. 3-37: 3D view of the 64 objects describing the scenario listed before
Fig. 3-38: 3D view of the 64 objects describing the scenario listed before AWE Communications GmbH 77
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3.7.3
Step 3: Computation of the electrical parameters
The spheroid for the computation (see section 3.5.4) has a radius of 1000 m. All points to be computed and all objects are inside the spheroid. The center of the spheroid is the point Mgeo (see step 2). The transmitter power of the single antennas is according to the power splitter defined as: - Antenna 1-1: 1,0 Watt - Antenna 2-1: 0,5 Watt - Antenna 2-2: 0,5 Watt Transmitter power of isotropical radiator (used as reference to determine the gain of the actual antenna configuration): Pt0 = (1,0 + 0,5 + 0,5 ) Watt = 2 Watt The antenna patterns of antenna 1-1, 2-1 and 2-2 are either already in 3D or they have to be interpolated from 2x2D to 3D with the algorithms presented in section 2.5).
3.7.4
Step 4: Computation of the antenna gain for selected directions
Only points of the spheroid (see step 3) are computed. In 3D mode all points on the spheroid are examined while in 2x2D mode the computation is done the following way: 1. The points in the horizontal plane (including Mgeo) are computed 2. The max. gain in the horizontal plane is determined. 3. The points on the vertical plane, defined with Mgeo . the vector of the z-axis and the vector from Mgeo to the point with max gain, are computed 4. The point with max gain in the vertical pattern is determined. If this point is not in the horizontal plane (already computed in 1), the horizontal plane is parallel moved from Mgeo to this point with max gain and the horizontal pattern is re-computed in this plane. The computation is made in the coordinate system defined in step 2. An arbitrary point P has the coordinates (xP, yP, zP) and is on the spheroid used for the computation. . The difference vector between P and Mgeo is defined as:
x xP xgeo = y = yP ygeo z z z P geo

Standardized to a length of 1 m this leads to the vector
x = y = z
(x ) +( y ) +(z )
2 2 d d d
x y z
Point P and vector describe in the 3D antenna pattern the following azimuth und tilt :
User Manual AMan
x tan y 180 + tan x y = 180 + tan x y x 360 + tan y
if if if if
x 0, y 0 x 0, y 0 x 0, y 0 x 0, y 0
(assuming the x-axis is equal to 0 and the y axis is equal to 90).
= acos (z)
(assuming 0 is equal to the positive z axis and 90 is horizontal plane) For the computation of the first horizontal pattern, is equal to 90 and is incremented between 0 and 360. For the computation of the vertical pattern, is equal to 0 and is incremented between 0 and 180. In 3D computation mode both angles must be incremented to sample all directions.
3.7.5
Step 4-A: Field strength of isotropical radiator (reference value)
The field strength of the isotropical radiator at the point P is used as a reference. The isotropical radiator is located at Mgeo (see step 2) and has the coordinates (xgeo, ygeo, zgeo). To get the field strength the following steps are required: Distance d between P and Mgeo (with Pythagoras)
d=
(x x ) +( y y ) +(z z )
2 2 1 geo 1 geo 1 geo
Computation of power density Siso at point P
Siso =
Pt0
4 d 2
with Pt0 describing the sum of all transmitted antenna powers (see step 3). Computation of the effective electric field strength Eiso at the pixel P based on the power density Siso and the impedance of the free space ZF0 = 120
Eiso = Siso * Z F 0
2
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3.7.6
Step 4-B: Field strength of the configuration (actual value)
For each antenna the measured field strength in the point P is determined. The computation is similar to the computation for the isotropical radiator (see step 4-A in section before). Distance d between P and radiation center of the antenna (xant, yant, zant)
d=
-
( x1 xant ) + ( y1 yant ) + ( z1 zant )

2 2
Computation of power density Sant of direct ray at point P
S ant =
Ptant 4 d 2
with Ptant representing the Tx power of the antenna (see step 3). Computation of effective electrical field strength Ean-FSt at P based on power density Sant and impedance of free space ZF0 = 120
Eant FS = Sant * Z F 0
2
Computation of penetration/transmission loss LT according to section 3.5.5.3. Subtraction of penetration/transmission loss LT leads to actual received electrical field strength at point P (based on direct ray):
Eant 0 = Eant FS LT
Depending on the path length d and the frequency f, the phase of the signal is determined (with wave length and velocity of light c0):
i =
-
*360 =
d f *360 c0
Additionally the computation of reflected rays is possible (see section 3.5.5.4). For the computation of reflected rays each object is examined whether a reflection is possible or not (see section 3.5.5.4.). Additionally the penetration/transmission must be considered if the reflected ray intersects further objects (see section 3.5.5.3). If the reflected rays exists (i.e. point of reflection Q is inside the object), this leads to the power density
P1 r1 P2 r2 Wand
S ant =
4 ( r1 + r2 )
Ptant
with Ptant representing the transmitter power of the antenna (see step 3).
Fig. 3-39: Reflection
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Computation of the effective electric field strength Ean-FSt at point P based on power density Sant and impedance of free space ZF0 = 120 :
Eant refl = Sant * Z F 0 Computation of the reflection loss LR of the reflected ray as explained in section 3.5.7. Computation of the transmission/penetration loss LT of the reflected ray as explained in section 3.5.6. Subtracting the transmission loss LT and the reflection loss LR leads to the actually received field strength at point P (on the basis of the reflected ray):
Eant i = Eant refl LT LR
Depending on the path length d of the reflected ray and the frequency f (and wave length ), the phase of the reflected ray is determined with the velocity of light c0:
i =
*360 + nR *180 =
d f *360 + nR *180 c0
For each reflection (nR reflections are in the ray), an additional phase shift of 180 is added.
The contributions of the direct and reflected rays are superposed considering their phases (see section 3.5.9):
E Ant = Ei = Eanti ( cos i + j sin i )

These rays are determined for each antenna and all rays are superposed with the equation above. The total field strength EAnt is the magnitude of the coherent (incl. phase) superposed field strengths of the rays of the individual antennas.
3.7.7
Step 4-C: Computation of the gain for a single direction
The antenna gain GP at point P is the quotient of the actual field strength (see step 4-B) and the field strength of the isotropical radiator (see step 4-A) at point P:
GP =
E Ant = Eiso
S Ant Siso
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4
4.1
AMan User Manual

Overview
The program is based on the document/view architecture which separates program data from their representation. Different views are used to represent the different antenna patterns. A document represents the entity that the user generally opens with the instruction Open from the menu File and stores with the instruction Save from the same menu. However, a view is assigned to a document and works between the document and the user as an interface. The view represents an image of the document on the display and interprets the inputs of the user as processes for the document. The view also creates figures for printing and for the preview. This program is considered an MDI-application (multiple document interface). It means that several documents can be opened and each document appears in its own child window. A new item of the document class is generated for each new document opened. The main window presents the window framework, a header with the title and a menu and a symbol bar. It contains no views windows rather than it only frames the work area. The view window of the respective documents is displayed in the child window frameworks (shown in Figure 4-1). Child Window
Main Frame Menu Bar Symbol Bar View Window
Fig. 4-1: AMan: Documents and Views AWE Communications GmbH 82
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4.2
4.2.1
2D Antenna Patterns
Types of Antenna Patterns
Two types of 2D antenna patterns can be visualized in 2 modes with AMan: A. Horizontal Patterns A1. Logarithmic display scale A2. Linear display scale B. Vertical Patterns B1. Logarithmic display scale B2. Linear display scale Antenna patterns are represented with many (sample) points representing the gain in different directions.
4.2.2
Horizontal Antenna Patterns
The 2D horizontal pattern is displayed with top view. The angle stretches from 0 to 360 and is oriented counterclockwise. Generally the direction of 0 is describing the direction with max. gain. But this is not mandatory. Also other directions can be used. But as the direction of 0 is very often visualized in radio planning tools it helps the network planner if the main energy is also radiated into this direction.
The file extensions of the horizontal antenna patterns are:

Extension *.ahb *.aha Meaning Antenna Pattern Horizontal Binary Antenna Pattern Horizontal ASCII File Format Description not published section 4.6.1
4.2.3
Vertical Antenna Patterns
In the 2D vertical pattern the angle stretches also from 0 to 360 and is oriented clockwise. 0 is to the sky and 180 is down to the bottom. 90 (and 270) represents the horizontal plane.
The file extensions of the vertical antenna patterns are:

Extension *.avb *.ava Meaning Antenna Pattern Vertical Binary Antenna Pattern Vertical ASCII File Format Description not published section 4.6.1
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4.2.4
Display and Settings of Antenna Patterns
Patterns are represented with many points defined in spherical coordinates. The user can open a 2D antenna pattern via the menu File and item Open File. It is displayed directly after loading. Via the menu Settings the user can adjust the visualization of the pattern. Figure 4-2 shows the dialogue for the 2D display settings. The user can select a logarithmic scale by enabling the corresponding check box. It should be mentioned that the values of the gain are always given in dB (i.e. logarithmic). Enabling the logarithmic scale leads to a logarithmic separation of the gain values. See figure 4-3 for more details. In figure 4-3 the same pattern is shown in linear and logarithmic scale. For most applications the linear scale is used as the values are already in dB. Maximum and minimum gain are used to define the range of gain values shown in the display.
Fig. 4-2: Settings for 2D view
And the distance between the circles represents the interval between the gain values of the circles shown on the display (see figure 4-4 for some examples). The update of the display can be accelerated if not the whole display is always updated during the manual definition of the values (see section 4.2.8). The limitation of the angle during the drawing of antenna patterns helps if the values are defined manually with the mouse by clicking on the display. If enabled the modification of a single value is always limited to the angle of the value and no further values are modified (see section 4.2.8).
Fig. 4-3: Linear (left) and logarithmic (right) scale for the 2D antenna display (same antenna in both figures) AWE Communications GmbH 84
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Fig. 4-4: Different settings for max and min gain in 2D pattern mode (same antenna pattern used for upper and lower part of the figure. Only settings for display are different as shown on the right part of the figure)
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4.2.5
Creating a new antenna pattern with a scanned data sheet
Step 1: Loading the background bitmap The antenna pattern can be created based on a graphical representation of the measured radiation pattern. An example for such a pattern is given in figure 4-5.
Fig. 4-5: Horizontal and vertical antenna pattern (measured or data sheet)
To generate this pattern very fast, the figures of the patterns (as shown in figure 4-5) should be scanned. The scanned bitmap should be saved in *.bmp format (standard bitmap). Then the user has to generate a new pattern via the menu File and the item New 2D Antenna Pattern (see figure 4-6). Via the menu Bitmap and the item Import Bitmap the user has to select the scanned bitmap of the measured radiation pattern (see figure 4-7). Now the bitmap is displayed on the screen and the pattern can be drawn onto the bitmap after adjusting the coordinate system of AMan to the system of the scanned bitmap. (An example of such a bitmap is distributed together with the AMan software package)
Fig. 4-6: Generating a new 2D pattern
Fig. 4-7: Loading the bitmap AWE Communications GmbH 86
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Figure 4-8 shows the display after importing the bitmap. Obviously the coordinate systems do not match.
Fig. 4-8: Display after bitmap was imported
The bitmap can be processed with different operations to adapt it to the display of AMan. First the bitmap can be moved via the menu Bitmap => Move Bitmap or via the icon in the toolbar. The bitmap can then be moved by clicking with the left button of the mouse on the point of the bitmap (e.g. the center of the pattern) and then (while the button is still pressed) moving the mouse pointer to the corresponding point of coordinate system of AMan.
Fig. 4-9: Display after bitmap was moved (center of coordinate systems match) AWE Communications GmbH 87
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The bitmap can be scaled to enlarge it (if it was very small) or to resize it in any direction. This is done via the menu Bitmap and the item Zoom factor for bitmap or alternatively the icon can be clicked in the toolbar. After this selection the a dialog shown in figure 4-10 opens.
Fig. 4-10: Scale/zoom factor for display of bitmaps
The user can enter the scale/zoom factor and can resize the bitmap. After entering a new factor of 150% the display changes from figure 4-9 to figure 4-11.
Fig. 4-11: Display of bitmaps after scaling the bitmap
Of course the bitmap can be restored to its original size with the icon bar or via the menu Bitmap => Original size of bitmap.
from the tool-
The bitmap can be hidden via the icon => Display bitmap.
from the toolbar or via the menu Bitmap
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Step 2: Adaptation of the coordinate system of AMan to the background bitmap In order to adapt the coordinate system to the bitmap, several steps are required: Move the center of the pattern on the bitmap to the center of the coordinate system (as described in step 1). Select either linear or logarithmic representation of the diagram with the settings (see figures 4-2 and 4-3 as well as the explanations on page 68). Define the max and min gains of the display of the pattern as explained in figure 4-2. In the example given in figure 4-11, the max gain of the pattern on the bitmap is 0 dB and the scale is logarithmic. An interval of 2 dB is recommended for the distance between the circles.
Fig. 4-12: Display of bitmap and AMan matched
An exact adjustment enables a stretching and a compression of the diagram. By clicking with the left mouse button on the most outer circle of the coordinate system, the system can be moved while the key is pressed. Further scaling can be made by shifting the most inner circle in the same way. Finally the coordinate system can be rotated (if required). This is enabled by clicking with the left mouse button on one of the diagram axes. If the key is pressed , the coordinate system is rotated according to the mouse movements. Rotations with 90 can be done via the tool
Now the coordinate system is defined properly and the pattern can be drawn as described in next section.
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4.2.6
Graphical input of a new 2D antenna pattern
After a new pattern is created as described in section 4.2.5 (with or without bitmap), the user must first decide if it is a vertical or a horizontal pattern. This is asked after clicking with the mouse button anywhere in the display.
Fig. 4-13: Selection of vertical or horizontal pattern
The user can define the gains in different directions by clicking with the right mouse button on the screen. This action inserts points with defined angle/gain relation (see figures 4-14 and 4-15). If the mouse cursor is located on a point already defined and if the right mouse button is clicked, a context menu appears to ask if the already defined value should be deleted (as it is not possible to define to different gains for the same angle). With the left mouse button points already defined can be moved (while the button is pressed). The point currently selected is automatically changed to the current mouse position if the limitation of the angle in the settings (see figure 4-2) is not enabled. If it is enabled, only the selected point is modified. A higher drawing accuracy enables an increasing of the zoom factor or the use of the zoom window. All tools related to zoom operations can be found in the menu View or in the zoom toolbar:
In the Edit menu a UNDO function is available. If a point is drawn wrong the user has the option to remove it from the list via the UNDO command. Especially if patterns are generated by the user (either drawn manually or entered numerically), many points are not defined. To increase the accuracy (especially for 2x2D 3D interpolation, see section 4.4.4), the user can interpolate the pattern. The angle increment after the interpolation between the pixels can be defined in a dialogue (see figure 4-21). Figure 4-22 shows an example of such an interpolation.
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Fig. 4-14: Inserting sample points to describe the antenna pattern (display with bitmap)
Fig. 4-15: Inserting sample points to describe the antenna pattern (display without bitmap)
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4.2.7
Table based input of a new 2D antenna pattern
After a new pattern is created as described in section 4.2.5 (with or without bitmap), the user must first decide if it is a vertical or a horizontal pattern. This is asked after clicking with the mouse button anywhere in the display.
Fig. 4-16: Selection of vertical or horizontal pattern
If the pattern is available in a table, the angles and gains can be numerically defined via a dialogue. Via the menu Edit and the item Insert new points the user get the possibility to define the gains in different directions with the dialogue shown in figure 4-18. Please avoid a multiple definition of different gains for the same angle. This could lead to misinterpretation of your data. Within the dialog, the last inserted point can also be removed again.
Fig. 4-17: Insert new values manually
Fig. 4-18: Insert a new gain/angle combination
Especially if patterns are generated by the user (either drawn manually or entered numerically), many points are not defined. To increase the accuracy (especially for 2x2D 3D interpolation, see section 4.4.4), the user can interpolate the pattern. The angle increment after the interpolation between the pixels can be defined in a dialogue (see figure 4-21). Figure 4-22 shows an example of such an interpolation.
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4.2.8
Edit and Modify 2D Antenna Patterns
An antenna pattern loaded from a file or drawn manually can be modified by shifting, inserting or deleting points. The pattern itself is defined with different points as shown in figure 4-15. On these points the following operations are possible: Move points Points can be moved after clicking with the left mouse button on a point and while the button is pressed, the mouse is moved to the new location of the point. After the button is released the point is finally moved to this location. During the mouse movement the angle can either be limited to the sector between the two adjacent points or the point can be substituted with the neighboring one if the angle sector of the neighboring point is reached. The current setting is defined with the Angle limitation checkbox in the settings dialogue (see figure 4-2). UNDO for movements is possible and is available in the menu Edit => Undo move point. Insert new/additional points As described in sections 4.2.6 and 4.2.7, points can either be inserted graphically by clicking on the corresponding area in the display with the right mouse button or numerically in a dialogue (see figure 4-18). UNDO for insertions is possible and is available in the menu Edit => Undo insert point. Delete points To delete a point is must be selected with the right mouse button by clicking on it. A context menu will appear and ask if the points should be deleted or not.
On the whole pattern, the following operations are possible: Rotate pattern The values in the pattern can be rotated via the menu Edit => Rotate pattern.... After selecting this menu item, the following dialogue appears:
Fig. 4-19: Settings for rotation
The user can now rotate the values in the pattern. This is especially important if nonWinProp file formats are imported and their coordinate systems have a different orientation (e.g. in the vertical pattern the 0 is in the horizontal plane and 90 are towards the ground. Then the whole pattern can be rotated with 90 to have it in the WinProp format). In the following figure an example is given.
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Fig. 4-20: Rotating a vertical antenna pattern with +90 (be careful: Not the coordinate system on the display is rotated. The values are rotated and the coordinate system was kept)
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Interpolate pattern Especially if patterns are generated by the user (either drawn manually or entered numerically), many points are not defined. To increase accuracy (especially for 2x2D 3D interpolation, see section 4.4.4), the user can interpolate the pattern. The angle increment after the interpolation between the pixels can be defined in a dialogue (see figure 4-21).
Fig. 4-21: Options for the interpolation of an antenna pattern
In figure 4-22 an example for this interpolation is shown.
Fig. 4-22: Interpolation of an antenna pattern AWE Communications GmbH 95
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4.3
4.3.1
2x2D Antenna Patterns

Types of Antenna Patterns
2x2D antenna patterns contain the vertical and the horizontal pattern in the same file. This is very often used in commercial file formats of the antenna manufacturers.
The file extensions of the 2x2D antenna patterns are:

Extension *.msi Meaning MSI Planet File Format File Format Description section Fehler! Verweisquelle konnte nicht gefunden werden. section Fehler! Verweisquelle konnte nicht gefunden werden. section Fehler! Verweisquelle konnte nicht gefunden werden.
*.pln
PLANET File Format (identical to *.msi)
*.xml
XML File Format
Depending on the version of AMan not always all file formats are supported. Please check your version and the filters included in it.
4.3.2
Working with 2x2D Antenna Patterns
If 2x2D antenna patterns are opened via the menu File => Open Antenna Pattern, AMan opens two documents/windows. One window displays the 2D horizontal view and one window displays the 2D vertical view. All operations for the 2D view described in section 4.2 can be applied to the documents. The antenna patterns can also be saved after the modifications. But it must be mentioned, that each pattern (either vertical or horizontal) is saved separately in a file in the 2D antenna file format of WinProp (see sections 4.2.2 and 4.2.3).
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2x2D antenna patterns can also be loaded and directly displayed as 3D pattern (more information related to 3D patterns can be found in section 4.4). In the File menu the Convert MSI to 3D (for *.msi and *.pln) or Convert Aircom XML to 3D (for Aircom *.xml files) commands load the 2x2D pattern and compute the 2x2D=> 3D interpolation (see section 4.4.4). So the pattern will be displayed in 3D view (see section 4.4).
Fig. 4-23: Loading 2x2D pattern in 3D view
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4.4
3D Antenna Patterns
3D antenna patterns describe the radiation of the electromagnetic wave in all directions accurately. Very often the 3D patterns are available from the manufacturer of the antenna. If not is can be interpolated based on the horizontal and vertical 2D patterns (see section 4.4.4).
Fig. 4-24: 3D antenna pattern
4.4.1
Hardware and Software Requirements: OpenGL
Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows NT 4.0 as well as Windows ME, Windows 98, and Windows 95b contain special drivers for fast drawing three dimensional graphics. This interface is called OpenGL and is a standard for 3D data representation.
OpenGL is actually itself a programming language which describes objects in the three
dimensional space with their graphic primitives (point, line, triangle). More complex bodies can be realized from those primitives.
AMan uses OpenGL. So the computer must have installed OpenGL to be able to show the 3D patterns. If problems with the 3D display occur, all (hardware) accelerations of the graphic adapter should be disabled in the system control section (display adapter settings). In case of any further problems please contact the support team of AWE Communications via support@awe-communications.com.
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4.4.2
Load patterns from file
Loading a pattern from a file is possible via the menu File => Open Antenna Pattern.
The file extensions of the 3D antenna patterns are:

Extension *.apb *.apa Meaning Antenna Pattern Binary Antenna Pattern ASCII File Format Description not published section 4.6.2
2x2D patterns (see section 4.3) can be loaded directly in 3D display (if interpolated while loading, see section 4.3.2).
4.4.3
Display of 3D Patterns
After the 3D antenna pattern is read, the user must define the settings for the display (see figure 4-25). The same dialogue is shown after clicking on the Scale button on the control panel (see next page). So the settings can be adjusted also later. First the coordinate system must be selected used for the display. This is similar to the 2D pattern mode. So please refer to figure 4-3 where the same pattern is shown in linear and logarithmic scale. The second radio button selects if the pattern is displayed relative to the max. gain of the pattern or if absolute gain values (in dBi) are displayed. The scale can be defined in the third section. Max and min gain can either be auto-scaled or manually defined. For information the max and min gain in the file are also displayed, so that the user can see which range is required to get a correct impression of the pattern.
Fig. 4-25: 3D antenna pattern
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Functions of the control panel 1) Color for the object lightning 2) Color of the Background
3) Display the frame (grid) 4) Display surfaces instead of wire frame 5) Display the representation mode (linear or log.) 6) All scale settings (see previous page)
7) Resolution/grid of display. Enter new values and click on Apply.
8) Display either horizontal plane, vertical plane or 3D pattern
9) Display pattern and/or coordinate system.
10) Export bitmap as *.bmp

Fig. 4-26: 3D control panel
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With the help of the control panel the display of the antenna pattern can be controlled: 1 The selection of the color to lighten the object is important to emphasize details. Dark colors should be selected. Since the standard color of the surface of the objects is red, the result on the display will not correspond exactly to the selected color (it is a mix of red and the selected color).
Fig. 4-27: Different colors
The background color used is always identical to the color selected (no color mix). While for the printing of the graph, a white background is reasonable, a more impressive result can be obtained with dark backgrounds.
Fig. 4-28: Different background colors
In order to draw the antenna pattern with wire frame, this check box must be enabled.
Fig. 4-29: Same colors but wire frame enabled (left) and disabled (right)
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In order to draw the antenna pattern with filled surfaces instead of a wire frame, this check box must be enabled (be careful: higher computing time necessary if filled objects are selected).
Fig. 4-30: Same colors but filled surfaces enabled (left) and disabled (right)
The program displays the type of scale selected (logarithmic or linear). See figure 4-25.
Fig. 4-31: Everything identical except of the linear (left) and the logarithmic scale (right)
All scale settings can be defined by clicking on this button. The dialog already shown and explained in figure 4-25 appears. Resolution of the display. The finer the value, the slower the display. Value below 1 make no sense as the finest resolution in the pattern itself is 1. To accelerate the display the values can be set to 5. This has no influence on the data itself and its accuracy saved in the file.
Fig. 4-32: Everything identical except of the angle increment: 1 (left) and 5 (right) AWE Communications GmbH 102
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The pattern can be displayed either in 3D mode or the vertical and horizontal planes can be displayed. The user has to select the view with the radio button.
Fig. 4-33: Vertical plane
Fig. 4-34: Horizontal plane
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Fig. 4-35: 3D view
The user can select if the pattern and the coordinate system should be displayed or not. This is especially important for the MASC module (see section 4.5).
10 The user can export the display to a bitmap.
Controlling the display with the mouse, the toolbar or the menu: Apart from the instruction of the control panel the display can also be influenced with the mouse, toolbar or menu. Mouse operations If the left button is clicked and pressed, the 3D view can be moved on the screen according to the mouse movements. With the right button of the mouse the display can be zoomed. For zooming press the right button and keep it pressed while the mouse is moved. This changes the settings of the zoom. Pressing both mouse buttons simultaneously and moving the mouse rotates the antenna pattern on the screen.
Toolbar operations A zoom of the graph is also possible with the toolbar. From the left to the right: First a fit-to-screen button. Second the possibility to define/draw the zoom window with the mouse. And finally the two standard symbols to increase and decrease the zoom factor.
Menu operations The zoom settings (increase, decrease, fit-to-screen) can also be selected in the menu View.
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4.4.4
Conversion 2x2D Pattern
3D Pattern
A 3D antenna pattern can be loaded from a file and displayed (see sections before) or it can be interpolated from a vertical and a horizontal pattern. The interpolation algorithms and their performance are explained in section 2.5. All four algorithms presented in this section are included in AMan and can be selected by the user (see figure 4-36). For such a conversion the increments between the values to be interpolated can be defined to control the accuracy, the file size and the computation time.
Fig. 4-36: Selection of the conversion algorithm
The conversion is possible with: o
File => Convert 2x2D to 3D
WinProp 2D antenna patterns
Only binary files with the extensions *.ahb (horizontal) and *.avb (vertical) can be used. o
File => Convert MSI to 3D

XML antenna patterns
MSI / PLN antenna patterns
File => Convert Aircom XML to 3D

Customer defined antenna patterns File => Convert Customer to 3D This file format supports special formats of the customer (only if desired).
After selecting the settings of the conversion (see figure 4-36), the file(s) to be converted must be selected. Then the file is read, the conversion is computed and the pattern is displayed in 3D view.
Fig. 4-37: Converting 2x2D pattern in 3D view
2x2D antenna patterns can be loaded as well as 3D patterns. But the pattern will always be displayed in 3D view.
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4.5
4.5.1
MASC Module (optional)

General Concept
MASC as described in chapter 3 is fully integrated in AMan. It has a standard API interface, so it can also be integrated as dynamic link library into any other radio network planning tool. It is written in C, so it can be compiled on each platform and operating system providing a C compiler. Project file vs. antenna pattern The user has to define the scenario and the antennas used in the configuration together with all other parameters described in chapter 3. All these settings are saved in a project file with the extension *.ank. The menu File => New Multiple Antenna Config allows the user to initiate a new MASC project. With File => Save and Save As the user can save the project in a *.ank file. A MASC project can be loaded via the menu File => Open Multiple Antenna
Config
Fig. 4-38: Handling of MASC projects
The MASC project (*.ank) and the resulting antenna pattern are different files. In the MASC project only the configuration is described. The resulting antenna pattern is independent of the project settings and must be saved separately via the menu Multiple Antenna Config => Save Antenna Pattern.
Fig. 4-39: Saving antenna patterns
In the menu Multiple Antenna Config the item Save Scenario (WallMan) is also available. With this item the generated objects (masts, walls, arms, radoms,) are exported in WallMan data format to be further processed and analyzed with WallMan. This might be interesting when the material properties must be checked or if further checks are required.
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4.5.2
Main Settings
In the previous section it was described how a new project can be initiated or an existing project can be loaded. After the project is initiated or loaded, the general 3D view appears with two additional control elements (marked with red in figure on the left): Checkbox View => Objects The drawing of the objects (wall, mast, arms, radoms, etc.) can be enabled or disabled. If displayed this helps to understand the configuration and if not displayed it helps to analyze the details of the pattern computed by MASC. Button Configuration With this button the dialogue to define the configuration is called (see figure 4-41).
Fig. 4-40: Control panel in MASC mode
Fig. 4-41: Main settings of MASC configuration AWE Communications GmbH 107
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The main settings (see figure 4-41) contain the following blocks: Scenario Here the user can select if a mast configuration or a configuration in front of a wall is computed. Basic Geometry Here the geometrical properties of the mast or the wall (depending on the scenario, see above) must be defined: o Mast (see section 3.6.1) The height of the mast and its diameter must be defined. And the number of corners to be used to approximate the circular cross section with a polygon (see section 3.6.6). Wall (see section 3.6.2) The length of the wall must be defined (Wall is squared. The length applies therefore to all wedges). And the rotation of the wall. 0 means the wall is parallel to a vector from West to East and perpendicular to a vector from North to South. As North is always assumed to be 0, the wall can be rotated against the arms.
For both configurations the material properties must be defined (see section 3.6.9) here. Arms In this area the user can add arms to the mast or wall (depending on the scenario). Or arms can be deleted if they are no longer required. Of course it is also possible to edit the properties of an arm (see section 4.5.3). The number of arms supported is only limited by the RAM of the PC. Output (Computed Pattern) The type of the output pattern can be defined. Either the very fast computed 2x2D pattern or the full 3D pattern can be computed. Additionally a filter can be enabled to smooth the resulting pattern. The order of the filter can also be defined. For debug purposes a logfile can be enabled. This should be used if a problem occurs on the PC of the customer which cannot be reproduced at the PCs of AWE Communications. Then the logfile should be generated and sent to AWE Communications to help the support engineers to solve the problem. The resolution of the resulting pattern can also be defined. The finer the resolution, the longer the computation time and the more accurate the result. Resolutions below 1 are not possible. Computation parameters To consider the phase correctly when superposing the signals (see section 3.5.9), the frequency must be defined here. Additionally the consideration of reflections for the mast configurations can be enabled. This extends the computation time but improves the accuracy. In the wall configuration the reflections are always determined.
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4.5.3
Settings of Arms
Fig. 4-42: Settings of an arm in the MASC configuration (red part only visible if arm is mounted at wall)
Geometry of Arms
A
According to sections 3.6.8.1 and 3.6.8.2, the arm is not a single arm. It is doubled and the two parts (both marked with A in the figure on the right) are vertically mounted above each other. The distance between the two mounting points can be defined in the Geometry section of the dialogue together with the length of the arms. The height parameter is used for relative vertical adjustment of the antennas at the mast or wall. Especially the differences between the heights of the arms are more important than the absolute values.
M
A
Fig. 4-43: Arms (A) mounted at a mast (M)
The azimuth of the arm must be specified according to sections 3.6.8.1 and 3.6.8.2. 0 is North, 90 is East. Orientation is clockwise. In wall configurations the user must specify additionally the distance between the antenna and the wedge of the wall (see figure 3-35).
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Geometry of the tube Figure 4-43 shows the tube B mounted at the arms. The tube can either have a rectangular cross section or circular cross section (to be approximated with a polygon with a user-defined number of corners, see section 3.6.6). The length of the tube must also be specified. The tube is always vertically centered between the tow arms. Material Properties The material properties of the arms and the tube are assumed to be identical and can be button in the defined via the Material Material Properties section.
Fig. 4-44: Material properties of arms and tube
Fig. 4-45: Material properties to be defined for arms and tube
Antennas In the antenna section different antennas can be added to the arm/tube. Or they can be deleted and removed from this arm. And of course it is possible to edit the properties of the antenna (see section 4.5.4).
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4.5.4
Settings of Antennas, Sub-Arms, Radoms
Fig. 4-46: Properties to be defined for each antenna
The properties of each antenna can be defined individually with the dialogue shown in figure 4-46. On the following pages the different parts of this dialogue are explained: Antenna Pattern Here the user can select the antenna pattern of the antenna as provided by the manufacturer (measured including radom, but without masts or tubes,). MASC supports only the 3D WinProp binary antenna format (see section 4.4). But as also mentioned in section 4.4, many different formats (e.g. *.msi, *.pln, *.xml, *.dat,) can be converted into WinProps binary format with AMan. Orientation The user must specify the azimuth or the antenna relative to the arm. An angle of 0 means the antennas main radiation is radial to the arm. An azimuth of 90 must be used for Skew configurations (see section 3.3.1). An example for two different azimuths can be found in figure 4-47 and figure 4-48. Additionally the downtilt of the antenna must be defined. Positive values mean downtilt, negative values lead to uptilt (see also figure 4-49). Electrical properties The phase offset of the antenna relative to other antennas must be defined here as well as the relative power. The absolute magnitude of the relative power is not relevant. Only the relation to the power values of the other antennas used in this configuration. If a power value of 2 is assigned to the first antenna and a value of 10 to the second antenna, this means that a power splitter of 1:5 is used for feeding the antennas. Further information to the power splitter is given in section 3.5.2. Some results for different power splitters and phase shifters are given in figure 4-50.
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________
Fig. 4-47: Different azimuths for antennas (left: 0, right: +90)
____ Fig. 4-48: Different azimuths for antennas and their influence on the pattern (both configurations have power splitter 1:1 and phase offset 0)
____ _______ Fig. 4-49: Different downtilts for antennas (left: 0, center 5, right: +10) and their pattern (both configurations have power splitter 1:1 and phase offset 0)
____
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0 phase shifter, 1:1 power splitter
Fig. 4-50: Different sets of power splitters and phase shifters for the same antenna configuration and their influence on the resulting antenna pattern
Sub-Arm Properties The user can decide if the two subarms between the tube and the antenna itself are modeled or not. Figure 4-51 shows the modeling with and without the sub-arms.
__________
Fig. 4-51: Modeling with (left) and without (right) sub-arms
The length and the diameter of the sub-arms can be defined. And the vertical separation of the sub-arms (i.e. the distance between the mounting points) can be defined. Of course the material properties can be defined (as already known from the arms, see figure 4-45).
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Radom Properties The radom must be specified by the user. Two different types of radoms are supported (see figure 4-52): Cylinders with circular ground plane and cuboids with rectangular ground plane.
Fig. 4-52: Example for the radom of an omni antenna (a) and a sector antenna (b)
The type of the radom (circular vs. rectangular) must be selected by the user. And the height as well as the geometry of the radom (diameter, width,). For circular radoms the number of corners to approximate the circle can be defined (the higher, the more accurate but also the longer the computation times. See section 3.6.6). Of course the material properties of the radom can also be defined (as already known from the arms and sub-arms, see figure 4-45). The shielding of the radom is not considered for this antenna as it is already included in the antenna pattern of this antenna. But its shielding is considered for all other antennas.
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4.5.5
Computation
If the main dialog of the MASC settings (see figure 4-41) is confirmed with OK, the computation starts. If the computation is done (depending on the scenario and computation mode this could take some minutes), the result is displayed immediately.
4.5.6
Display Options
The display is similar to the display of the 3D antenna patterns (see section 4.4). Two additional elements to control the display in MASC mode are added and explained in section 4.5.2. If only 2x2D instead of 3D is computed, the horizontal and vertical pattern can be displayed. The 3D pattern is not displayed. This 3D pattern view is only possible, if the 3D computation is available.
4.5.7
File Commands (Save, Load, Export)
As already explained in section 4.5.1, the MASC project settings are saved with the File => Save menu and loaded with the File => Open Multiple Antenna Config. The MASC project (*.ank) and the resulting antenna pattern are different files. In the MASC project only the configuration is saved and described. The resulting (computed) antenna pattern (*.apb) is independent of the project settings (*.ank) and must be saved separately via the menu Multiple Antenna Config => Save Antenna Pattern to be used in other radio network planning tools.
Fig. 4-53: Saving antenna patterns
In the menu Multiple Antenna Config the item Save Scenario (WallMan) is also available. With this item the generated objects (masts, walls, arms, radoms,) are exported in WallMan data format to be further processed and analyzed with WallMan. This might be interesting when the material properties must be checked or if further analysis with ray tracing tools are required.
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4.6
4.6.1
File Formats
ASCII File Formats for 2D Patterns (horizontal and vertical plane)
ASCII files describing either the horizontal or vertical antenna pattern can be read with any ASCII text editor and with AMan. These files are therefore ideally suited to exchange information about antenna patterns with any other software package. As already described in section 4.2, two different types of files are supported: Extension *.aha *.ava Meaning Antenna Pattern Horizontal ASCII Antenna Pattern Vertical ASCII Further information see section 4.2.2 see section 4.2.3
*.aha
* Comments * The number of pairs 16 * Theta Attenuation 0.00 -18.00 15.00 -20.00 30.00 -22.80 50.00 -27.00 55.00 -32.00 90.00 -37.00 120.00 -32.00 150.00 -27.00 180.00 -30.00 190.00 -40.00 245.00 -30.00 255.00 -28.00 270.00 -24.50 285.00 -22.00 300.00 -20.50 330.00 -18.00
*.ava
* Comments * The number of pairs 16 * Phi Attenuation 0.00 -18.00 15.00 -26.12 30.00 -32.72 45.00 -37.23 55.00 -39.12 90.00 -39.72 110.00 -39.12 140.00 -37.23 180.00 -38.48 210.00 -39.86 240.00 -38.61 250.00 -37.80 270.00 -35.07 285.00 -31.24 300.00 -27.63 330.00 -18.00
Fig. 4-54: Example for ASCII antenna patterns (2D)
In *.anv and *.anh files, the first value after the comment lines, which may begin either with * or #, is the number of the following pairs of values. The pairs must be in one line and consist always of an angle and a gain information. No information about phases is stored. A new pair must be in a new line. The pairs must neither be ordered in a special way nor they must have a constant angle increment. All undefined angles are interpolated (if required during computation). Angle information is stored in degrees and the gain/attenuation in dB. The gain/attenuation is relative to the isotropical radiator and positive values indicate higher gain (compared to iso) and negative values indicate attenuation (compared to iso). The coordinate systems can be seen in figure 4-55.
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4.6.2
ASCII File Format for 3D Patterns
ASCII files can also be used to describe the 3D antenna pattern. These files can be read with any ASCII text editor and with AMan. Therefore these files are ideally suited to exchange information about antenna patterns with any other software package. As already described in section 4.4, the following file is supported: Extension *.apa Meaning Antenna Pattern ASCII Further information see section 4.4
Comments are defined by the first character in a line. If a line starts either with # or *, AMan assumes a comment line. The triples must be in one line and consist always of two angle (horizontal and vertical) and one gain information. No information about phases is stored. A new triple must always be in a new line (one line can only contain one triple). The triple must neither be ordered in a special way nor they must have a constant angle increment. All undefined angles are interpolated (if required during computation). Angle information is stored in degrees and the gain/attenuation in dB. The gain/attenuation is relative to the isotropical radiator and positive values indicate higher gain (compared to iso) and negative values indicate attenuation (compared to iso). The coordinate systems can be seen in figure 4-55.
= 0
= 90
y
= 0 x = 90
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*.apa
* Comments * Comments * * Theta Phi * Horizontal Vertical 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 40.00 40.00 40.00 40.00 40.00 40.00 40.00 40.00 40.00 70.00 70.00 .. 0.00 40.00 80.00 120.00 160.00 200.00 240.00 280.00 320.00 0.00 40.00 80.00 120.00 160.00 200.00 240.00 280.00 320.00 0.00 40.00
Attenuation relative to iso -17.9900 -17.9900 -17.9900 -17.9900 -17.9900 -17.9900 -17.9900 -17.9900 -17.9900 -19.3000 -20.4500 -20.3400 -20.0000 -19.5600 -19.7600 -19.9600 -19.7100 -19.0300 -23.8800 -24.5100
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Imprint & Contact

This manual is part of the WinProp software suite and property of AWE Communications GmbH. Duplication in whole or in parts without written permission by AWE Communications GmbH is strongly forbidden. AWE Communications Research & Development, Technical Support Otto-Lilienthal-Str. 36 D-71034 Boeblingen Germany Tel: + 49 70 31 71 49 7 0 Fax: + 49 70 31 71 49 7 12 e-mail: support@awe-communications.com AWE Communications Administration, Finances Max-Frisch-Weg 52 D-71116 Gaertringen Germany Tel: +49 70 34 92 99 52 Fax.: +49 70 34 92 99 81 e-mail: mail@awe-communications.com Last edited: 2009-04-16 1998 2009 by AWE Communications GmbH
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MASC (Multiple Antenna Scenario Configuration)....................................47

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3.6.1 3.6.2 3.6.3 3.6.4 3.6.5 3.6.6 3.6.7 3.6.8 3.6.9

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Antenna Patterns - Basics

Directional characteristic of antennas

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Fig. 2-1: Visualization of antenna pattern (Kathrein K739856, www.kathrein.com).

Fig. 2-2: Visualization of antenna pattern (Kathrein K731620x7, www.kathrein.com).

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Gain, Directivity and further Parameters

S D = max Si r = const , P = const

radiated by the isotropic radiator (see section 2.1).

Fig. 2-3: Graphical representation of directivity

It is also possible to determine D from the directional characteristic with:

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Fig. 2-4: Characteristic values of antenna

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Equivalent radiation angle

Fig. 2-5: Graphical representation of equivalent angle of radiation

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List of parameters of typical antennas

Fig. 2-6: Parameters of typical antennas AWE Communications GmbH 12

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Mathematical Description of Antenna Patterns

Fig. 2-9: 3D view of antenna pattern of (half wave) dipole

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Fig. 2-11: 3D display of K739856 AWE Communications GmbH 15

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Fig. 2-12: Vertical plane radiation pattern of K739856

User Manual AMan

2x2D Antenna Patterns

Fig. 2-14: K7230211 antenna as given in Kathrein catalogue

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Conversion of 2x2D Patterns (horizontal & vertical)

Algorithm 1: Arithmetic Mean (AM)

Algorithm 2: Bilinear Interpolation (BI)

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Algorithm 3: Weighted Bilinear Interpolation (WBI)

An alternative method to describe the interpolation is given below: