UMTS LTE Downlink Cell Size Calculation

Winton Afri1, Sonja Zentner Pilinsky2

1

University of Split, University department of vocational study, Livanjska 5, 21000 Split Croatia.
2
Polytechnic of Zagreb, Vrbik 8, 10000 Zagreb Croatia
sonja.zentner@tvz.hr

Abstract This paper deals with cell size calculations for UMTS
LTE downlink. As LTE uses adaptable modulation technique, the
possibility to use various modulation techniques in cells with
different size was analyzed. At the basis of Okomura-Hata
propagation model, the equation for maximal cell radius was
calculated taking into account the height and gain of both base station
and mobile station antenna, transmitter power and losses and receiver
sensitivity and losses. Various simulations were performed to give
insight into signal propagation in European urban and suburban area.
At the basis of simulations it is shown for these areas that UMTS cell
structure and size can be used also for LTE cells which will be
covered with 64QAM modulation.
Keywords UMTS LTE, Cell Size Calculation

I. INTRODUCTION
UMTS UTRAN Long Term Evolution (LTE) was defined
by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project 3GPP to the end of
2009. The first release of LTE provides peak rate of 300 Mbps
and a radio delay of less than 5ms. LTE supports both
frequency division duplex (FDD) and time division duplex
(TDD). LTE has a significant increase in spectrum efficiency
(by a factor of 2 to 3 for the uplink (UL) and 3 to 4 for the
downlink) compared to the previous cellular system. In order
to achieve this goal new functionalities are introduced and
access schemes are selected. Orthogonal Frequency division
Multiplexing (OFDM) is regarded as a key technology given
its high immunity to multipath, spectral efficiency and
bandwidth scalability. OFDMA based multiple access scheme
has been selected for downlink (DL).
Bandwidth efficiency depends of the current modulation
technique. LTE uses adaptable modulation scheme (4QAM,
16QAM, or 64 QAM) with the goal to cover large area of the
cell with the most complex modulation type (64 QAM).
Applied modulation scheme in each area depends of the
stability of radio link (signal to noise ratio SNR).
In urban area, where we must satisfy large number of
mobile users, we have small cell structure. In urban area
average cell size for UMTS users is about one kilometer. This
size of cell is expected also for LTE usage in urban area. For
such cell size and cowering ranges, antenna systems with both
mechanical and electrical downtilt are used [4].
In the paper we analyze which type of modulation can be
dominantly used for covering one call in system with small
cell structure, short covering distances and adaptable
modulation. The emphasis of this paper is on the simulation
method for calculating maximal possible cell size for each
type of modulation.

Second section of the paper presents Propagation model

for UMTS LTE on 2GHz. Third section of the paper considers
cell size calculation by using CCIR (now ITU-R) propagation
model for mobile propagation. Fourth section of the paper
shows results of the mathematical simulations. The emphasis
of this paper is on the simulation method of calculating cell
size for UMTS LTE different modes of operations.
II. PROPAGATION MODEL FOR UMTS LTE ON 2GHZ
Okomura-Hata propagation model for cellular systems in
urban and sub-urban environment was developed at the basis
of Okomura s measurements and empirical data and Hata s
calculations. This model was used by CCIR (Comite
Consultatif International des RadioCommunication, now
ITU-R) to publish a detailed model (so called CCIR model)
which is an empirical formula of combined effects of free
space path loss and terrain-induced path loss [2].
In our work we started our analysis from model with
following parameters given in [1]:
Site to site distance:
500 m;
Carrier frequency:
2.0 GHz;
Carrier bandwidth:
10 MHz;
Distance depended path loss:

I 37.6 log10 R

(1)

where are:
R [km]
I [dB]
P [dB]

Distance in km,
128.12 dB for 2 GHz
20 dB penetration loss

Lognormal shadowing with following parameters: 8 dB std

dev, 50 m correlation distance, 0.5 correlations between sites.
Channel model: 3GPP SCM, extended to 10 MHz
Equation (1) is one very simplified derivation of CCIR
model which gives quick and ad-hoc view in propagation
losses. For our calculations we adopted more detailed CCIR
model [2] as we wanted to analyze the influence of base
station and mobile station antenna heights as well as various
path loss exponents on cell size. The equation we used for
calculating propagation loss is

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54 International Symposium ELMAR-2012, 12-14 September 2012, Zadar, Croatia

105

L dB

69.55 26.16 log10

13.82 log h1

f MMHZ

4.8

a h2

44.9 6.55 log10 h1

4.6

log10 d km

(2)

4.4
4.2

where h1 and h2 are base station and mobile station antenna

heights in meters, respectively, dKm is the link distance in
kilometers, fMHz is the central frequency in megahertz, and
parameters a and B equal respectively

4
3.8
3.6

a h2

1
1 log10 f MHz
1.1

0
7 h2
0.7

1.56
1 56 log10 f MHz

0.8

B 30 25 log10 % of area covereds by buildings

(3)

3.4

(4)

3.2

Equation (2) is recognizable as the Hata model for

medium-small city propagation conditions, supplemented with
a correction factor B which is shown in Fig.1.

25

20

Low covering

15

10

20

30

40

50

60

70
hBTS(m)

80

Figure 2. Path loss exponent as function of the BS antenna heights

III. CELL SIZE CALCULATION

For calculations of cell size we have taken as a first
condition the theoretical limit, which says that received power
PR has to be higher or equal to receiver sensitivity SR

High covering

30

PR

(6)

SR

In case when the receiving power is on the threshold

(receiver sensitivity SR is always defined for some BER e.g.BER=10-6 and modulation type e.g.- BPSK1/2) maximal link
distance which means maximal cell radius is achieved.

Real interval of building density

10

-5

10

15

20

25

% of area covered of building

More strict and prompt calculations have to take into

account also the feeding, feeder losses, antennas gain etc. By
using CCIR model (2) and typical link values such as transmit
power, transmit feeder loss, antenna gain etc., we have derived
maximal cell distance or cell radius as

Figure 1. Correction factor B as function

of the % area covered of building.

PT LT GT GR LR S R

d
A. Path loss exponent calculation
In offered model for calculating path loss in (1), path loss
exponent is 3.76. But in real situation path loss exponent
depends of the base station antenna height. For that reason and
for better understanding of the influence of different
conditions to the path loss calculation we will use CCIR
formula and path loss exponent calculation given in equation
(2). By using equation (2) we can express path loss exponent
as;
(5)
44.9 6.55 log10 h1 /10
/

10

a h2

(7)

PT[dBm]

Transmit power,

LT[dB]
GT [dBi]
GR [dBi]

Transmit feeder loss,

Transmit antenna Gain,
Receiver antenna Gain,

LR [dB]
SR [dBm]

Receiver feeder loss,

Sensitivity of receiver which equals received
power PR in our case

fMHz [MHz]
h1 [m]
h2 [m]

Carrier frequency
Base station antenna height
Mobile station antenna height

B [dB]

Building density correction factor from

eq. (4)
Correction factor from eq.(3)

54 International Symposium ELMAR-2012, 12-14 September 2012, Zadar, Croatia

106

13
13.82
82 log
l 10 h1

44.9 6.55 log10 h1

where are:

a(h2) [dB]

th

69 55 26
69.55
26.16
16 log
l 10 f MHz

BP
SK
1/2
QP
SK
1/2
QP
SK
3/4
16Q
AM
16Q 1/2
AM3
/4
64Q
AM1
/2
64QA
M3/4

10
8
6
4
2
0

10

15

20

Figure 3. Result of simulations; Change of maximal covering

distance as function of % of area covering by building
with type of modulation as parameter
100

BP
SK
1/
2

70

80

QP
SK
3/4
PS
K1
/2

90

60
50
40
g=10%
h2=1.8 m
PT=46 dBm
GT=18 dB
f=2 GHz

30
20
10

IV. SIMULATIONS RESULTS

In all our simulations we adjusted all parameters as close
as possible to proposed UMTS LTE standards and terrain
conditions for European urban area. Some results of our
simulations are given in this chapter. These results quite good
describe the situation in LTE systems and give good insight
into conditions where we can expect to use 64QAM and where
we have to use other types of modulation.

25

% of area covered by building

M1/2
16Q
AM
3/4
16
QA
M1
/2

= -99 [dBm]
= -96[dBm]
= -94 [dBm]
= -90 [dBm]
= -87 [dBm]
= -82 [dBm]
= -80 [dBm]

h1=40 m
h2=1.8 m
PT=46 dBm
GT=18 dB
f=2 GHz

12

3/4

SR(BPSK1/2)
SR(QPSK1/2)
SR(QPSK3/4)
SR(16QAM1/2)
SR(16QAM3/4)
SR(64QAM2/3)
SR(64QAM3/4)

14

64QA

Different types of modulation and different redundancy

coding cause different threshold. In our simulations we use the
following receiver threshold values (BER10-6) calculated from
empirical data we had [5]:

16

64QAM

The UMTS-LTE transmitter [3] is based on conventional

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) system
structure. The blocks of digital data (traffic) are paralleled and
mapped in the complex data blocks using different modulation
techniques 4QAM, 16QAM, and 64 QAM respectively. Each
complex data block, also referred to as symbol, is attached to
an individual sub-carrier. These modulation schemas use also
UMTS-LTE Pilot Structure (the proposed LTE pilot insertion),
zero padding, IFFT, and cyclic prefix.

dmax - maximal cell radius in km

Base station power 46 dBm (40W);

Terminal power 23 dBm (0.2W).

18

h1 Base station antenna heights in m

For our simulations we have used some parameters given

in model used in [1]:

10

12

14

16

18

dmax - maximal cell radius in km

Figure 4. Result of simulations; dependence of maximal covering

distance on base station antenna heights for 10% of area
covering by building and different types of modulation

When we analyze the obtained results, from Fig.3 we can

see that for small cells used in urban areas (typically below 1
km radius) 64QAM can be used. When we analyzed the height
of base station antennas we obtained the following results:
In suburban or some urban areas where the percentage of
area covered by building is below or at 10% the antenna
height should be above 20 m to cover the cell with radius of 2
km. Very good results were also obtained for areas with very
high percentage of covering by buildings (i.e. 25% of coverage) where with base stations antennas placed above 20 m,
cells with radius of 1 km can be covered with 64QAM.

K1
BP
S

SK

1/

/2

3/4
QP

QP

SK

QA
M

1/2

3/4

16

64QA

70

AM

80

16Q

3/4

M1/2

90
64QAM

h1 Base station antenna heights in m

100

In the Fig. 3. one can see how maximal distance changes

with different percent of area covering by building with type
of modulation as parameter. In the Fig. 4. and 5. it is shown
how maximal covering distance is influenced by base station
antenna heights with different types of modulation as
parameter.

60
50
40
g=25%
h2=1.8 m
PT=46 dBm
GT=18 dB
f=2 GHz

30
20
10
0

dmax - maximal cell radius in km

Figure 5. Result of simulations; dependence of maximal covering

distance on base station antenna heights for 25% of area
covering by building and different types of modulation

Fig 6. and 7. show three dimensional situations i.e.

maximal distance of covering for different base station
antenna heights and percentage of area covering by building.

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54 International Symposium ELMAR-2012, 12-14 September 2012, Zadar, Croatia

107

systems. By using CCIR path loss model for 2 GHz we have

made mathematical calculation model for different conditions.
Simulations have been performed by using Matlab program.

120

100

In many articles and LTE system descriptions which

describe radio planning for UMTS LTE one can find the
following statement: LTE deliver optimum performance in a
cell size of up to 5 km. It is still capable of delivering effective
performance in cell size of up to 30 km radius. Optimal Cell
size depends of terrain conditions and many different factors
such as frequency, bandwidth, and interference influence of
the neighbouring cells. In this article we used only intra-cell
values, conditions and parameters.

dmax

80

60

40

20

0
0

10

15

20

25

100

50

h1

% density

Figure 6. Result of simulations; How will maximal covering

distance change as function of base station antenna
heights for modo0 (BPSK1/2) and % of area
covering by building

In model we used typical values for terrain conditions of

European urban and suburban areas and UMTS radio links.
Obtained results of simulations describe cell size for different
conditions very realistic and show that for LTE systems same
base station antenna locations as in UMTS systems can be
used if we want to obtain coverage with the most complex
modulation type i.e. 64QAM.
Limiting radius of covering the whole cell with 64QAM
modulation was in all cases at or above 1 km, which is typical
radius for UMTS cells. Thus, LTE cells with radius of
approximately 1 km can be covered with 64QAM and
maximal spectral efficiency can be obtained.

30
25

dmax

20
15

REFERENCES

10

[1]

5
0
100
25
15
10
h1

[2]

20

50
0

5
0

[3]

% density

Figure 7. Result of simulations; How will maximal covering

distance change as function base station antenna
heights for modo6 (64QAM3/4) and % of area
covering by building

[4]

[5]

V. CONCLUSIONS

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Parkvall, Ericsson Research; LTE: The Evolution of Mobile Broadband,
IEEE Communications Magazine April 2009., p.p. 44-51
J.S. Lee, L.E. Miller; CDMA System Engineering Handbook Artech
House, Boston, London, 1988. pp. 165-250
A. Osman and A. Mohammed; Performance Evaluation of a LowComplexity OFDM UMTS-LTE System Department of signal Processing
of Engineering, Blekinge Institute of Technology, Ronneby, Sweden,
IEEE In Vehicular Technology Conference, 2008. VTC Spring 2008.
IEEE (2008), pp. 2142-2146
M. imko, D. Wu, Ch. Mehlfuhrer, J. Eiler and D. Liu; Implementation
Aspect of Channel Estimation for 3GPP LTE Terminals Published in
proc. 17th European Wireless Conference (EW 2011), April, Vienna,
Austria
Mehrnoush Masihpour and Johnson I Agibinya; Planning of WiMAX
and LTE Networks, University of Technology, Sydney Australia, 2011.

In the paper we calculated maximal cell radius for

covering cells with different modulation types in LTE cellular

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