Link Budget

INTRODUCTION
A link budget is a method of calculation used to determine the signal strength that a receiver will receive from a transmitter located some distance away. In the GSM environment, it is critical to balance the link budget on the uplink and downlink. Different coverage on the uplink and downlink results in the dissipation of unnecessary energy resulting in increased interference to other users in the network, increased costs and increased handover failures. Objective he factors affecting the link budget will be reviewed and link budgets will be determined for various operating scenarios. hese link budgets will be developed using spreadsheets. Scope o be determined. References !. "overage Area# Definition, $ "overage %. &ropagation into and within 'uildings (. ransmission )eeder *oss able +. I ,eference Data for ,adio -ngineers, . th ed. /oward Sams, 0ew 1ork !234, pp. %56! to %56%. .. -.0. Skomal, 7"haracteristics of 8rban Median Incidental Man6Made ,adio 0oise,9 0ational elecommunications "onference ,ecord, /ouston, e:as, December +63 !25%, pp !2'6! to !2'6.. 3. ;.D &arsons, 7 he Mobile ,adio &ropagation "hannel9, !22% pp %.. <(=%. 5. >.".1 *ee, 7Mobile "ommunications Design )undamentals9, % nd edition.

PROCEDURE
!ctors "ffecting t#e Link Budget !. Receive Sensitivit$% he sensitivity of the receiver of either the base station or the mobile phone in d'm. %. eeder Loss% he attenuation of the amplitude of the radio fre?uency signal over the length of the co6a:ial cable, measured in d'. (. &!st 'e!d "(p)ifier *&'"+ ,!in% he gain of an amplifier situated at the top of a mast, measured in d'. his value should reflect the improvement in system sensitivity due to the introduction of the M/A. +. "ntenn! ,!in% he amount of gain an antenna has relative to an isotropic radiator, measured in d'i. .. Diversit$ ,!in% he gain in the received signal strength by using multiple antennas separated from each other either in space or in polarity to overcome fading, measured in d'. 3. Bod$ Pro-i(it$ Loss% he loss due to the shielding effect of the body on radio waves, measured in d'.

5. Bui)ding Penetr!tion Loss% he loss associated with the attenuation of the radio signal due to building walls and floors, measured in d'. 4. C!r Penetr!tion Loss% he loss associated with the shielding effect of the body of the car on the radio signal, measured in d'. 2. Dup)e-er Loss% he loss associated with the insertion of a duple:er in the transmit and receive path of the antennas, measured in d'. !=. Sp)itter Loss% he loss associated with the insertion of a splitter in the transmit and receive path of the antennas, measured in d'. !!. Output Po.er% he power transmitted by the base station or the mobile phone, measured in d'm. !%. !de &!rgin% he margin introduced to overcome the fact that the received radio signal is destructively interfered due to reflections off ob@ects near the vicinity of the receiver, measured in d'. !(. re/uenc$ 'opping ,!in% he gain introduced by fre?uency hopping due to reduced interference in the network. !+. P!t# Loss% Attenuation of the radio signal due to propagation losses. !.. S)!nt Po)!ri0!tion Loss ADownlink pathB C due to difference in propagation characteristics. Aonly downlink, as uplink loss is taken into account by reducing the polariDation diversity gainB. T$pic!) 1!)ues of !ctors "ffecting t#e Link Budget% ,eceive Sensitivity eeder Loss )or .=mE *engthF3=m using ! .G4H feeder )or .=mE *ength F3=m using 5G4H feeder )or (3mE *ength F.=musing 5G4H feeder )or %.mE *ength F(3m using 5G4H feeder Do.n)ink Po.er "(p)ifier ,!in Up)ink &!st 'e!d "(p)ifier ,!in "ntenn! ,!in 3= degree panel omni6directional Diversit$ ,!in "ross6polariDation Diversity /oriDontal Diversity Bod$ Pro-i(it$ Loss Bui)ding Penetr!tion Loss C!r Penetr!tion Loss S)!nt Po)!ris!tion Loss Dup)e-er Loss 'ase Station 6!!= d'm Mobile &hone 6!=+ d'm use (.= d' use (.. d' use (.= d' use %.. d' ..( d' +.. d' !4.. d' !=.. d' (.. d' (.. d' 'etween % and + d' !4.+ d' 4.. d' !.. d' =.. d'

Sp)itter Loss *2 .!$+ Output Po.er Mobile A2==B 'ase station rural 'ase station urban !de &!rgin Co((ents Concerning eeder Loss

( d' (( d'm +5 d'm +. d'm Iutdoor 2.5 d', 2.$ probability of coverage across the cell

!(. As can be seen from the above figures, the feeder loss can vary according to the type of feeder and the length of feeder used. he feeder loss generally also takes into account any loss through connectors, which, depending on the type of antenna configuration used, may vary from . to 2 connectors. he loss through connectors could be taken as a separate entity. he reference document, ransmission )eeder *oss able, can be used to determine the values for feeder losses to be used in link budget calculations. &lease note that in this procedure, the connector losses have been included in the figures used for the feeder losses. S#!do. !ding &!rgin !+. he shadow fading margin of 2.5 d' ensures better than 2.$ probability of coverage averaged across the entire area of the cell, given a standard deviation of fading of 2 d'. Measurements of the M 0 network show prediction errors typically with a standard deviation of 4 to 2 d'. &lease consult the reference document, "overage Area# Definition, $ "overage for more information on these values. !.. Shadow fading margins for different values of standard deviation may be obtained from able !, which was developed by integration across the cell area. he numbers are based on a sectoriDed configuration, but figures for the omnidirectional case will be similar. !3. )or the indoor case, a median building penetration loss of !+ d' and standard deviation of fading of !% d' have been applied, resulting in an additional margin of !4.+ d' for indoor coverage. &lease consult the reference document, &ropagation into and within buildings for more information on the figures to be used in the link budget. St!nd!rd devi!tion of f!ding *dB+ 5 5.. 4 4.. 2 !.! =.2 =.5 =.+ =.! 6(.2 6+.+ 6+.2 6... 63.= 63.4 65.. 64.% 64.2 62.5 64.5 62.. 6!=.( 6!!.! 6!%.= 6!=.= 6!=.2 6!!.4 6!%.5 6!(.5 6!%.! 6!(.! 6!+.% 6!..% 6!3.(

2.. 6=.! 63.3 6!=.+ 6!%.4 6!+.3 6!5.+

!= 6=.+ 65.% 6!!.! 6!(.5 6!..3 6!4..

!=.. 6=.3 65.5 6!!.2 6!+.3 6!3.. 6!2..

!! 6=.2 64.( 6!%.3 6!..+ 6!5.+ 6%=.3

!!.. 6!.% 64.2 6!(.+ 6!3.( 6!4.+ 6%!.5

!% 6!.. 62.+ 6!+.! 6!5.! 6!2.( 6%%.4

5.$ 2=$ 2.$ 25$ 24$ 22$

T!b)e 34 )ading margin for given probability of coverage, versus standard deviation of fading

!5. Suggested values of fade margin as given by Mercury Ine6%6Ine for different environment types are given in the table belowC Dense6 suburb 4.(2 8rban6 sec 2.+5 8rban6 omni ..25 Subur6 sec !(..3 Subur6 omni !=.=3 ,ural6 sec !+.%= ,ural6 omni !=.5= 8nits d'

)ade Margin

R!dio B!se St!tion Po.er Output !4. he ma:imum power output of the different types of ,'Ss varies according to the configuration employed. he output power of a ,'S %=== with a "D86A is %.. d' higher than a ,'S %==. he loss between the transmitter and the antenna connector on the ,'S %=== with a "D86" is . d'. he loss between the transmitter and the antenna connector on the ,'S %== is . d'. o balance the link budget, the power settings of the different types of ,'Ss should be ad@usted accordingly. he table below provides some suggested power settings so that the power output is the same after the combiner. 8rban Areas ,ural Areas ,'S %== +. d'm +5 d'm "D86A +( d'm +. d'm "D86" +. d'm +5 d'm

&!n5(!de Noise Leve ) 6 Noise )oor !2. It is important that the ambient noise level be considered for these calculations. he calculated values for urban areas vary and can have a spread of up to %=d'. he highest measured values are at about %=db above the ambient thermal noise floor of !(+d'm .. According to the I /andbook + the difference between the received man made noise spectral density and the thermal noise spectral noise density at 2==M/D is around %=d'. his is agreement with literature where the possibility of having man6made noise in an urban area being higher than !4d' above the ambient noise floor is less than !$ 3. hese sources are therefore in agreement that the man6made noise level is at a level of about C Ambient 0oise *evel J 6!(+ d'm K %=d' J 6!!+d'm he receive sensitivity level for both the ' S and the MS are above this value A6 !!=d'm and <!=+d'm respectivelyB and therefore it can be assumed that the ambient noise level does not need to be considered for the purposes of this document. If a signal to noise ratio of better than +d' is desired then the appropriate receive level should be used in the link budget for the uplink path. In specific situations, where the noise level e:ceeds the receive sensitivity, the link budget has to be calculated with the noise level as the determining factor for allowable path loss instead of the receive sensitivity. Link Budget %=. )our link budgets are given below for two different environments Aoutdoor applications, indoor applications, outdoor application with uplink M/A and outdoor application with dGlink &A and uplink M/A respectivelyB.

he following tables show the ma:imum path loss to ensure minimum receive sensitivity on the uplink and downlink paths Aas calculated by the formula belowB. he -I,& for the mobile or base station is calculated in otal A!B. he receive level, at the mobile and base station antennas, to ensure minimum receive sensitivity is calculated in otal A%B. he sum of the environmental losses is calculated in otal A(B. his total A(B takes into accounts factors such as body pro:imity loss, building penetration loss, fading margin etc. besides path loss. Ma:. &ath loss J otal A!B < otal A%B K otal A(B he calculated value for the ma:imum path loss can be used to determine the area of coverage for each siteGcell. "))o.!b)e P!t# )oss !nd &!-i(u( Ce)) R!dii he table, below, summarises the allowable path loss and ma:imum cell radii for each type of case studyGenvironment. It is important to note that the cell radii are reduced for indoor coverage A2== M/DB and for outdoor coverage at !4== M/D as compared to outdoor coverage at 2==M/D. he allowable path loss in each case study is the lower of the allowable uplink and downlink values as calculated in the case studies. he ma:imum cell radius is as calculated by the Ikumura /ata propagation model. Environ(ent Iutdoor coverage A2== M/DB Indoor coverage A2== M/DB Iutdoor with uplink M/A A2== M/DB Iutdoor with dGlink &A and uplink M/A A2== M/DB Iutdoor coverage A!4== M/DB &!-% P!t# Loss 378%8 dB( 39;%7 dB( 3:;%8 dB( 3::%9 dB( 37<%9 dB( &!-% Ce)) R!dius *Urb!n !re!s+ 9%:7 k( 3%3; k( 7%;3 k( :%97 k( 3%89 k(

=;; &'0 Link Budgets

UPLIN> &obi)e Iutput &ower Misc. *oss Antenna Gain )eeder loss Total (1) Ce)) ,: Sensitivity )eeder *oss Misc. *oss Antenna Gain Duple:er *oss M/A Gain Diversity Gain Total (2) Environ(ent 'ody pro:imity loss 'ldg penetration loss "ar penetration loss )ade Margin )re?. /op. Gain Total (3) Max. Path Loss DEGREE OF IMBALANCE UPLIN> &obi)e Iutput &ower Misc. *oss Antenna Gain )eeder loss DO?NLIN> Ce)) (( d'm Iutput &ower = d' "ombiner *oss ! d'i Antenna Gain = d' )eeder *oss Duple:er *oss (+ d'm Total (1) &obi)e 6!!= d'm ,: Sensitivity 6( d' )eeder *oss = d' Misc. *oss !4.. d'i Antenna Gain 6=.. d' Slant &olarisation *oss = d' (.. d' 6!%4.. d'm Total (2) 6% = = 62.5 = 6!!.5 d' d' d' d' d' d' Environ(ent 'ody pro:imity loss 'ldg penetration loss "ar penetration loss )ade Margin )re?. /op. Gain Total (3) +5 d'm 6. d' !4.. d'i 6( d' 6=.. d' .5 d'm 6!=+ d'm = d' = d' ! d'i 6!.. d'

6!=(.. d'm 6% = = 62.5 = 6!!.5 d' d' d' d' d' d'

!.=.4 d'm Max. Path Loss % d'

!+4.4 d'm

DO?NLIN> Ce)) (( d'm Iutput &ower = d' "ombiner *oss ! d'i Antenna Gain = d' )eeder *oss Duple:er *oss +5 d'm 6. d' !4.. d'i 6( d' 6=.. d'

Total (1) Ce)) ,: Sensitivity )eeder *oss Misc. *oss Antenna Gain Duple:er *oss M/A Gain Diversity Gain Total (2) Environ(ent 'ody pro:imity loss 'ldg penetration loss "ar penetration loss )ade Margin )re?. /op. Gain Total (3) Max. Path Loss DEGREE OF IMBALANCE UPLIN> &obi)e Iutput &ower Misc. *oss Antenna Gain )eeder loss Total (1) Ce)) ,: Sensitivity )eeder *oss Misc. *oss Antenna Gain Duple:er *oss M/A Gain Diversity Gain Total (2) Environ(ent

(+ d'm Total (1)

.5 d'm

&obi)e 6!!= d'm ,: Sensitivity 6!=+ d'm 6( d' )eeder *oss = d' = d' Misc. *oss = d' !4.. d'i Antenna Gain ! d'i 6=.. d' Slant 6!.. d' &olarisation *oss = d' (.. d' 6!%4.. d'm Total (2) 6!=(.. d'm 6% 6!4.+ = 62.5 = 6(=.! d' d' d' d' d' d' Environ(ent 'ody pro:imity loss 'ldg penetration loss "ar penetration loss )ade Margin )re?. /op. Gain Total (3) 6% 6!4.+ = 62.5 = 6(=.! d' d' d' d' d' d'

!(%.+ d'm Max. Path Loss %.= d'

!(=.+ d'm

DO?NLIN> Ce)) (( d'm Iutput &ower = d' "ombiner *oss ! d'i Antenna Gain = d' )eeder *oss Duple:er *oss (+ d'm Total (1) +5 d'm 6( d' !4.. d'i 6( d' 6=.. d' .2 d'm

&obi)e 6!!= d'm ,: Sensitivity 6!=+ d'm 6( d' )eeder *oss = d' = d' Misc. *oss = d' !4.. d'i Antenna Gain ! d'i 6=.. d' Slant 6!.. d' &olarisation *oss +.. d' (.. d' 6!(( d'm Total (2) 6!=(.. d'm Environ(ent

'ody pro:imity loss 'ldg penetration loss "ar penetration loss )ade Margin )re?. /op. Gain Total (3) Max. Path Loss DEGREE OF IMBALANCE UPLIN> &obi)e Iutput &ower Misc. *oss Antenna Gain )eeder loss

6% = = 62.5 = 6!!.5

d' d' d' d' d' d'

'ody pro:imity loss 'ldg penetration loss "ar penetration loss )ade Margin )re?. /op. Gain Total (3)

6% = = 62.5 = 6!!.5

d' d' d' d' d' d'

!...( d'm Max. Path Loss +.. d'

!.=.4 d'm

DO?NLIN> Ce)) (( d'm Iutput &ower = d' "ombiner *oss ! d'i Antenna Gain = d' )eeder *oss Duple:er *oss Downlink &A Gain (+ d'm Total (1) +5 d'm 6( d' !4.. d'i 6( d' 6=.. d' ..( d' 3+.( d'm

Total (1) Ce)) ,: Sensitivity )eeder *oss Misc. *oss Antenna Gain Duple:er *oss 8plink M/A Gain Diversity Gain Total (2) Environ(ent 'ody pro:imity loss 'ldg penetration loss "ar penetration loss )ade Margin )re?. /op. Gain Total (3) Max. Path Loss DEGREE OF

&obi)e 6!!= d'm ,: Sensitivity 6!=+ d'm 6( d' )eeder *oss = d' = d' Misc. *oss = d' !4.. d'i Antenna Gain ! d'i 6=.. d' Slant 6!.. d' &olarisation *oss +.. d' (.. d' 6!(( d'm Total (2) 6!=(.. d'm 6% = = 62.5 = 6!!.5 d' d' d' d' d' d' Environ(ent 'ody pro:imity loss 'ldg penetration loss "ar penetration loss )ade Margin )re?. /op. Gain Total (3) 6% = = 62.5 = 6!!.5 d' d' d' d' d' d'

!...( d'm Max. Path Loss =.4 d'

!.3.! d'm

IMBALANCE

38;; &'0 Link Budgets

UPLIN> &obi)e Iutput &ower A"lass!B Misc. *oss Antenna Gain )eeder loss Total (1) Ce)) ,: Sensitivity )eeder *oss Misc. *oss Antenna Gain Duple:er *oss Diple:er *oss 8plink M/A Gain Diversity Gain Total (2) Environ(ent 'ody pro:imity loss 'ldg penetration loss "ar penetration loss )ade Margin )re?. /op. Gain Total (3) Max. Path Loss DEGREE OF IMBALANCE DO?NLIN> Ce)) (= d'm Iutput &ower = d' "ombiner *oss ! d'i Antenna Gain = d' )eeder *oss Duple:er *oss (! d'm Total (1) +( d'm 6( d' !4 d'i 6( d' 6=.. d' .+.. d'm

&obi)e 6!!= d'm ,: Sensitivity 6!=+ d'm 6( d' )eeder *oss = d' = d' Misc. *oss = d' !4 d'i Antenna Gain ! d'i 6=.. d' Slant 6!.. d' &olarisation *oss d' Diple:er *oss d' d' (.. d' 6!%4 d'm Total (2) 6!=(.. d'm 6% = = 62.5 = 6!!.5 d' d' d' d' d' d' Environ(ent 'ody pro:imity loss 'ldg penetration loss "ar penetration loss )ade Margin )re?. /op. Gain Total (3) 6% = = 62.5 = 6!!.5 d' d' d' d' d' d'

!+5.( d'm Max. Path Loss 6! d'

!+3.( d'm

DE INITIONS 0GA RECORDS 0GA PROCEDURE DET"ILS IriginatorGAuthor 0ameC *ocationC &ositionC IriginatorMs ManagerC *ocationC &ositionC 0ational Nuality ManagerC Distribution *istC "UT'ORI@"TION DesignationC 0ameC SignatureC DateC Group -:ecutive IriginatorMs Manager Document IriginatorGAuth or D"S Administrator

Lanagaratnam *ambotharan /ead Iffice &lanning and Iptimisation -ngineer /ilton Goodhead /ead Iffice 0ational ManagerC &lanning and IptimiDation Andrew &ortokallis 0etwork Group