Planning Guideline: Air Interface Dimensioning: Issued by Communication Mobile Networks © Siemens Ag 2006

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Planning Guideline:
Air Interface Dimensioning
Issued by
Communication Mobile Networks
Com MN PG NT NE 1
Munich
© SIEMENS AG 2006
The reproduction, transmission or use of this document or its contents is not permitted without express written authority.
Offenders will be liable for damages. All rights, including rights created by patent grant or registration of a utility model or
design, are reserved. Technical modifications are possible. Technical specifications and features are binding only in so
far as they are specifically and expressly agreed upon in a written contract.
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Planning Guideline: Air Interface dimensioning s
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Contents
0 GENERAL INFORMATION..................................................................................................................... 3
0.1 HISTORY ............................................................................................................................................... 3
0.2 ABBREVIATIONS, DEFINITIONS AND EXPLANATIONS ............................................................................ 3
1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 7
2 RADIO PROPAGATION ENVIRONMENT ........................................................................................... 8

2.1 CLUTTER TYPES .................................................................................................................................... 8
2.2 CELL TYPES .......................................................................................................................................... 9
2.3 CHANNEL MODEL .................................................................................................................................. 9
3 POWER BUDGET PARAMETERS ....................................................................................................... 10
3.1 BTS TRANSMISSION POWER ................................................................................................................ 11
3.2 MS TRANSMISSION POWER.................................................................................................................. 12
3.3 BTS SENSITIVITY ................................................................................................................................ 12
3.3.1 Sensitivity reference ports ............................................................................................................. 14
3.3.2 TMA and noise figure of the system .............................................................................................. 15
3.4 MS SENSITIVITY ................................................................................................................................. 17
3.5 DIVERSITY TECHNIQUES ..................................................................................................................... 18
3.5.1 2 branch RX diversity.................................................................................................................... 19
3.5.2 4 branch RX diversity.................................................................................................................... 20
3.5.3 TX diversity Antenna Hopping ...................................................................................................... 21
3.5.4 TX diversity Time Delay................................................................................................................ 22
3.6 RX/TX ANTENNA GAIN....................................................................................................................... 24
3.7 COMBINER INSERTION LOSSES ............................................................................................................ 24
4 PROPAGATION RELATED PARAMETERS...................................................................................... 26
4.1 LOG-NORMAL FADING AND STANDARD DEVIATION ............................................................................. 26
4.2 INDOOR CASE ...................................................................................................................................... 28
4.3 INTERFERENCE DEGRADATION MARGIN .............................................................................................. 28
4.4 BODY LOSS ......................................................................................................................................... 29
5 MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE PATHLOSS CALCULATION ............................................................... 30
5.1 EQUIVALENT ISOTROPIC RADIATED POWER EIRP ........................................................................... 30
5.2 POWER BUDGET CALCULATIONS ......................................................................................................... 30
5.3 (E)GPRS LINK BUDGET ...................................................................................................................... 34
5.4 POWER BUDGET BALANCE .................................................................................................................. 37
6 RADIO PROPAGATION PREDICTION .............................................................................................. 38
6.1 PROPAGATION SLOPE .......................................................................................................................... 38
6.2 ONE SLOPE MODEL .............................................................................................................................. 39
6.3 TWO SLOPE MODEL ............................................................................................................................. 41
6.4 CELL SIZE EVALUATION ...................................................................................................................... 42
7 GRID PLANNING .................................................................................................................................... 45
7.1 OMNI CELL.......................................................................................................................................... 45
7.2 3-SECTORS SITE................................................................................................................................... 46
7.3 6- SECTOR SITES .................................................................................................................................. 47
7.4 2- OR 1-SECTOR SITES (ROAD SITE) ..................................................................................................... 49
8 LINK BUDGET APPLICATION CASES .............................................................................................. 51
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0 General Information
0.1 History
Version Date Reason for Changes

1.0 26.06.2006 1st version of document
0.2 Abbreviations, Definitions and Explanations
Abbreviation Definition, explanation

8PSK 8 Phase Shift Keying
2RX Receiver diversity: 2 RX paths
4RX Receiver diversity: 4 RX paths
A1/2 Frequency dependent part
Acell Cell coverage
ACOM Antenna Combiner
AH Antenna Hopping
AMCO Amplifier Coupler
Asite Area covered by one site
B Receiver bandwidth
BCCH Broadcast Control Channel
BER Bit Error Rate
BLER Block Error Rate
BSRX sensitivity BTS CU sensitivity
BSTX pwr BTS CU output power
BSTX pwr_max Peak RF power at CU
BTS Base Transceiver Station
BTSone Classic BTS (e.g. BS20, BS60)
BTSplus Base Transceiver Station Second Generation (e.g. BS240)
c Clutter correction factor
C/(N+I) Carrier to noise and interference ratio
C/N Carrier to noise ratio
CDF Cumulative Distribution Function
CS Circuit Switched
CU Carrier Unit
D Site-to-site distance
d(hMS) MS antenna height correction
DCS Digital Communication System
DIAMCO Di - Amplifier Multi Coupler
DL Downlink
du Dense urban
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Eb Energy of a single data bit
Eb/No Signal to noise ratio per bit
ECU EDGE Carrier Unit
ECU V3 ECU version 3.0
EDGE Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution
EGPRS Enhanced General Packet Radio Service
EIRP Equivalent Isotropic Radiated Power
erf Error function
ERP Equivalent Radiated Power
ETSI European Telecommunications Standards Institute
f Frequency
F BTS Noise figure of BTS at antenna port
FDUAMCO Flexible Duplexer Amplifier Multi Coupler
FER Frame Erasure Rate
FH Frequency Hopping
FICOM Filter Combiner
FlexCU Flexible Carrier Unit
Fx Noise factor
γ Propagation slope
GDL Antenna BTS TX antenna gain
GDL TX div Downlink diversity gain
GMS antenna MS antenna gain
GMSK Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying
GPRS General Packet Radio Service
Gr Antenna gain
GSM Global System for Mobile Communications
Gt Transmitter antenna gain
GUL antenna UL antenna (RX antenna) gain of the BTS
GUL diversity UL diversity gain
Gx Power amplification factor
hb Antenna height
hBS Height of base station
hMS Height of MS
HPDU High Power Duplexer Unit
HT Hilly Terrain
HT 100 Hilly Terrain at 100 km/h
HW Hardware
IR Incremental Redundancy
IURS Improved Uplink Receiver Sensitivity
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k Boltzmann constant
L System loss factor (e.g. cable and combiner loss)
LA Link Adaptation
Lbackoff Static power reduction
Lbody loss Body loss
Lcombiner loss Antenna combiners insertion loss
LDL cable_loss DL cable loss
LHPDU HPDU loss
Lincar Incar losses
Linterference deg Interference degradation margin
Llog-normal margin Log-normal fading margin
LMS cable loss RF cabling loss of the MS
LNF Low Noise Filter
LNF margin Log Normal Fading margin
LOS Line Of Sight
Lpenetration Penetration losses
LUL cable loss BTS UL antenna cabling loss
MAPL Maximum Allowable Pathloss
MCS Modulation and Coding Scheme
MS Mobile Station
MSRX sensitivity MS sensitivity
MSTX pwr max Peak RF power of the MS
MUCO Multi Coupler
N Number of sites required to cover certain area
n Propagation model exponent
NF Noise Figure
No Noise spectral density
P Area to be covered by sites
P Noise Thermal noise
PCS Personal Communication System
PDCH Packet Data Channels
Pr Power at the receiver antenna
PRACH Packet Random Access Channel
PS Packet Switched
PSK Phase Shift Keying
Pt Transmitter power
R Cell range
r Distance between the base station antenna and the mobile
RA250 Rural Area 250 km/h
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RBER Residual Bit Error Rates
RF Radio Frequency
RLC Radio Link Control
RX Receiver
si Distance dependent part
su Suburban
T Noise temperature
T bit Duration of the bit time
TMA Tower Mounted Amplifier
TRX Transmitter/Receiver
TS Timeslot
TU3 Typical Urban 3 km/h
TU50 Typical Urban 50 km/h
TX Transmitter
U Urban
UL Uplink
USF Uplink State Flag
V-pol Antenna with vertical polarization plane
x0 Minimum RX input power for (x) % location probability
X-pol Antenna with ± 45° polarization planes
λ Wavelength
σ Standard deviation
σ LNF(i) Indoor standard deviation
σ LNF(o) Outdoor standard deviation
σ LNF(o+i) Standard deviation for both indoor and outdoor
x Minimum RX input power for 50% location probability
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1 Introduction
This document describes Air interface network dimensioning that is to be carried out
in a very early phase of network implementation, i.e. prior to any installation or
network elements. The purpose of Air interface dimensioning is to estimate how the
available geographical area that is to be served by the GERAN radio network can
and shall be covered, i.e. how the available geographical area can be subdivided into
cells and areas served by particular sites.
The following section contains the description of the link budget calculation. It starts
with the discussion of the propagation environment in the chapter 2. Then hardware
related link budget parameters are described (chapter 3).
Afterwards parameters related to the propagation phenomena are outlined

(chapter 4). The Maximum Allowable Pathloss can then be calculated based on the
directions and formulas presented in chapter 5.
With the Maximum Allowable Pathloss, the cell range can be estimated according to
the propagation model equations given in Prediction Models description (chapter 6).
After selection of an appropriate network layout, according to the information from the
Grid Planning section (chapter 7), the site area and the number of required sites can
be calculated.
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2 Radio propagation environment
Mobile radio communication takes place in an environment which varies substantially

in the propagation characteristics. The most important propagation factors that define
the mobile environment for a particular area are:
• Physical terrain structure (heights, morphology),

• Man-made structures (number, height, materials),
• Foliage and vegetation characteristics,
• Weather conditions.
Impact of these factors depends on the radio frequency at which the system
operates. Moreover, it is influenced by the speed of the mobile. Propagation effects
and their magnitude for slow-moving or stationary mobiles are quite different from
those for mobiles that move with high speeds.
The random nature of the radio propagation requires modelling of the radio channel
in a statistical fashion, based on the measurements. Firstly, a propagation model
which characterizes signal strength over large transmitter-receiver separation
distances is applied. Then slow fading and multi-path fading is modelled.
2.1 Clutter types
Physical terrain structure impacts mobile radio signal propagation significantly. In

order to distinguish different terrain morphology, special 'clutter types' are defined.
During the dimensioning phase, these clutter types are reduced to the main classes:
dense urban, urban, suburban, rural and road.
Urban
The clutter type 'urban' represents areas with high building density as found mostly in
urban environments consisting of large buildings, offices, and shops etc. where
adjacent buildings are clearly separated from each other by free space. The typical
urban scenario should have a mean amount of streets with no distinct street
orientation pattern, the major streets are visible on satellite maps. The buildings
appear distinct from each other. Some small vegetation can be included. The
average height of the buildings is below 40m.
Dense Urban
These are areas within the urban environment with highly concentrated building
density. Single features (i.e. buildings, etc.) do not clearly appear distinct from each
other e.g. on a satellite map. Heights of the buildings can be well above 40m.
Suburban
Areas of housing that include some vegetation, mostly found bordering the urban
areas, spreading outwards from the city centre. The average height of the buildings is
below 15m.
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Road - Quasi Open

This clutter type corresponds to regions (rural areas) outside city areas without large
development: villages, smaller vegetation, roads.
Rural – Open
The rural clutter corresponds to areas without buildings, no vegetation and other
obstacles. This is modelled explicitly as open area (Please check if applicable or if
Road is more suitable for the area described as Rural in the requirements).
2.2 Cell types
In 2G networks different site types can be distinguished: macro, micro and pico sites.
The division is based on the antenna heights with respect to the surrounding objects
(e.g. buildings) and antenna locations.
• Macro antennas located above the rooftop level and outdoor

• Micro antennas located below roof level and outdoor
• Pico antennas located below roof level and indoor
A further distinction of Macro sites can be made depending on the antenna type:
omni- or directional sectored. The layout of sectored sites is chosen among two-
sector, three-sector and six-sector configuration.
2.3 Channel model
The channel model is determined by the subscriber behaviour and location. Link
budget parameters are impacted by selection of the channel model.
The subscriber location is differentiated to indoor/outdoor. Indoor subscribers served

by Macro sites receive a signal level which is attenuated by indoor penetration loss.
Apart from that also indoor standard deviation has to be calculated.
The subscriber perception of propagation phenomena depends on the subscriber

velocity and surrounding environment. Thus the following different channel models,
taking into account all the factors, are defined:
• Static no multipath
• TU3 Typical Urban at 3 km/h
• TU50 Typical Urban at 50 km/h
• RA250 Rural Area at 250 km/h
• HT100 Hilly Terrain at 100 km/h
Please note that channel model is related to the used band. Doubling of the
frequency for the current channel model reduces the subscriber speed to the half,
e.g. TU3 for 900/850 MHz is equivalent to TU1.5 for 1800/1900 MHz.
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3 Power Budget parameters
The term 'power budget' considers calculation of transmitting and receiving part of
the radio link. At the transmitter side, transmitter output power and all the
attenuations / gains in the transmitter path produces output power at the antenna
output . At the receiver side, minimum sensitivity level and receiving path
attenuations / gains produces minimum signal level at the receiving antenna input .
Comparison of both results gives 'Maximum Allowable Pathloss' (MAPL) between

transmitter and receiver at which the minimum sensitivity is met, i.e. the received
signal after path attenuation must exceed the receiver sensitivity, i.e. the lowest
possible receive level the receiver can still manage. Separate power budgets for
each link direction shall be created – downlink and uplink respectively.
The following main factors shall be considered in downlink:
• BTS power (BSTX pwr )

• Antenna combiners insertion loss (Lcombiner loss )
• DL cable loss (LDL cable_loss )
• BTS antenna gain (GDL Antenna )
• MS sensitivity (MSRX sensitivity )
• RF cabling loss of the MS (LMS cable loss)
• MS antenna gain (GMS antenna)
Factors for the uplink, respectively:
• MS power (MSTX pwr max)

• RF cabling loss of the MS (LMS cable loss)
• MS antenna gain (GMS antenna)
• BTS sensitivity (BSRX sensitivity)
• RX antenna gain of the BTS (GUL antenna)
• BTS UL antenna cabling loss (LUL cable loss )
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3.1 BTS transmission power
The output power of the BTSplus base station is determined by the output power of
the transceiver modules (Carrier Units, CU), the loss of the combining units and the
loss of the internal cabling. These power output values are related to the antenna
port of the BTSplus base station.
Reference Port for TX Power
Jumper Jumper
Cable Cable
BTS Cabinet Feeder
Cable
Antenna Interface Module
Antenna
Transceiver Modules
Figure 3-1: TX power reference port
In GMSK, which is a constant envelope modulation type, the amplitude of the GMSK
signal is constant over the whole burst. The power amplifier can operate on a non-
linear working point with high efficiency. In contrast, the 8-PSK modulation scheme
does not have a constant envelope, which implies higher requirement for linearity in
the power amplifier. The working point has to be moved to the linear area.
Consequently, the maximum transmit power of a typical ECU (i.e. EDGE CU) is
reduced when transmitting an 8-PSK signal (i.e. EDGE signal). ECU can of course
transmit GMSK modulated signals (i.e. voice or GPRS). An average power capability
reduction of 2-3 dB must be considered in comparison to GMSK.
Please note that rule above is related to the maximum output power. If the CU
operates below maximum power level (e.g. static power reduction of 2 or 4 dB
implemented by a corresponding setting of parameter PWRRED in the TRX object)
the ECU power capability reduction for 8-PSK is not relevant.
Maximum output Maximum output

power for GMSK power for 8-PSK
[dBm] [dBm]
GSM 850 48,3 46,3
GSM 900 48,3 46,3
ECU V3
GSM 1800 48,3 45,3
GSM 1900 48,3 45,3
GSM 850 47 44
GSM 900 47 44
FlexCU
GSM 1800 47 44
GSM 1900 47 44
Table 3-1 Example typical CU output power

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3.2 MS transmission power
MS transmission powers are given in the specification [45.005].
GSM 400 & GSM 900 &

DCS 1 800 PCS 1 900
Power GSM 850
class Nominal Maximum Nominal Maximum Nominal Maximum
output output output
1 - 1 W (30 dBm) 1 W (30 dBm)
2 8 W (39 dBm) 0,25 W (24 dBm) 0,25 W (24 dBm)
3 5 W (37 dBm) 4 W (36 dBm) 2 W (33 dBm)
4 2 W (33 dBm) - -
5 0,8 W (29 dBm) - -
Table 3-2 GMSK MS transmission power

For 8-PSK mobiles power reduction due to linearity constraints, as outlined in chapter
3.1, is required. In general power reduction of 2-3 dB is applicable.
3.3 BTS sensitivity
Receiver sensitivity is determined by three components:
RX Sensitivity (dBm) = P Noise (dBm) + F BTS (dB) + C/N (dB)
Thermal noise:
P Noise (dBm) = 10 log (k · T · B) + 30
k Boltzmann constant, 1,38 ·10-23 W·s/oK

T Noise temperature, 298 oK = 25 oC
B Receiver bandwidth, 190 kHz
The value of 30 in the above equation means: unit conversion from dB into dBm
(equivalent of multiplication by 1000 in linear measure).
P Noise = - 121.07 dBm
Noise figure of the BTS at the antenna port:
Friis’ formula is utilised for cascaded units:
F BTS (dB) = 10 log ( F1 + (F2 - 1) / G1)
F1 Noise factor of receiver front end (combiner antenna port)

F2 Noise factor of second stage (CU)
G1 Power amplification factor of first stage (combiner)
(Rx-Gain Combiner (Ant / Rx-Out) - cable loss (DUAMCO/ CU)
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Combiner Carrier Unit

F1 F2
G1 G2
Figure 3-2 Noise figures of cascaded units
Carrier to noise ratio required for performance defined by GSM standard:
⎛E 1 ⎞
C / N [dB ] = 10 log ⎜⎜ b ⋅ ⎟⎟ (+ 8PSK [dB ])
⎝ N 0 B ⋅ Tbit ⎠
Eb Energy of a single data bit

No Noise spectral density
Eb/No Signal to noise ratio per bit, simulated decoder sensitivity
B Bandwidth
T bit Duration of the bit time (3,69 µs)
8PSK (dB)Bit rate / Symbol rate (for EDGE-8PSK only) = 3
10 log 3 = 4.77 [dB],
Eb ⎛ 1 ⎞ Eb
C / N [dB ] = + 10 log ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ = + 1,54 dB (+ 4,77 dB EDGE − 8 PSK )
N0 ⎝ 190 kHz ⋅ 3,69 µs ⎠ N 0
When RX diversity features (chapter 3.5) are applied the sensitivity of the BTS
receiving system is improved. This is reflected in sensitivity values of the Carrier
Unit. Separate sensitivity values are reported for CUs in case of:
• No diversity
• 2RX diversity
• 4RX diversity
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3.3.1 Sensitivity reference ports
RX Sensitivity values are referenced to the Antenna Port of the BTS system.
For a BTS without TMA the reference port for RX sensitivity data is the antenna
connector of the BTS equipment (i.e. Antenna Interface Modules of the BTS -
DUAMCO / FDUAMCO in BTSplus).
Reference Port for Sensitivity
Jumper Jumper
BTS Cabinet Cable Feeder Cable
Cable
Antenna Interface Module
Antenna
Transceiver Modules
Figure 3-3 Sensitivity reference port for a BTS without TMA
Sensitivity of BTS without TMA, referred to the antenna, will be decreased by the loss
of the feeder cable (and jumper cables).
For the systems with TMA the reference port for RX sensitivity is the antenna
connector of the TMA.
Reference Port for TX Power Reference Port
for Sensitivity
Jumper Feeder Jumper

BTS Cabinet Cable Cable Cable
Antenna Interface Module TMA

Antenna
Transceiver Modules
Figure 3-4: Sensitivity reference port with TMA
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3.3.2 TMA and noise figure of the system
As described in previous chapters receiver sensitivity is determined by three

components:
RX Sensitivity (dBm) = P Noise (dBm) + F BTS (dB) + C/N (dB)
The BTS RX system consists of the number of cascaded devices (e.g. cable,
duplexers, combiners etc.). Each device introduces noise caused by signal
processing and thermal noise. In such a case system noise figure is calculated using
Friis' formula.
For a system without TMA:
Sensitivity
Reference point
Feeder Combiner RX input

F1=3dB F2=1.9 dB F3=12.5dB
G1=-3dB G2=22 dB G3=0dB
Figure 3-5 System without TMA
F BTS (dB) = 10 log (F2 + (F3-1) / G2)
F2 Noise factor of combiner (linear units)

F3 Noise factor of CU (linear units)
G2 Power amplification factor of combiner (linear units)
NF w/o TMA
dB linear
Combiner gain 22 158,5
Combiner NF 1,9 1,5
TRX gain 0 1,0
TRX NF 12,5 17,8
System NF 2,19 1,7

Table 3-3 Example of system noise figure calculations without TMA
Please note that the sensitivity reference port is placed after a feeder, and feeder
losses have to be taken into account during link budget calculations.
In order to improve system performance in UL a Tower Mounted Amplifier (TMA) can

be used. The purpose of the TMA is to amplify the received signal before it is further
attenuated in the antenna feeder.
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For systems with TMA the sensitivity reference port is changed. Thus the formula for
calculations of the system noise figure has to be modified accordingly.
Sensitivity
Reference
TMA Feeder Combiner RX input

F1=1,8dB F2=3dB F3=6.3 dB F4=12.5dB
G1=25 dB G2=-3dB G3=-1 dB G4=0dB
Table 3-4 System with TMA
⎛ F − 1 F3 − 1 F4 − 1 ⎞
FBTS [dB ] = 10 log⎜⎜ F1 + 2 + + ⎟
⎝ G1 G1 ⋅ G2 G1 ⋅ G2 ⋅ G3 ⎟⎠
F1 Noise factor of TMA (linear units)

F2 Noise factor of feeder (linear units)
F3 Noise factor of combiner (linear units)
F4 Noise factor of CU (linear units)
G1 Power amplification factor of TMA (linear units)
G2 Losses of feeder (linear units)
G3 Power amplification factor of combiner (linear units)
G4 Power amplification factor of CU (linear units)
NF with TMA
dB linear
TMA gain 25 316,2
TMA NF 1,8 1,5
Cable loss -3 0,5
Cable NF 3 2,0
Combiner gain -1 0,8
Combiner NF 6,3 4,3
TRX gain 0 1,0
TRX NF 12,5 17,8
System NF 2,20 1,7

Table 3-5 Example of system noise figure calculations with TMA
Two aspects of the TMA utilisation have to be considered: the sensitivity reference
port is moved to the TMA input, and the system noise figure includes the noise figure
of the TMA. The former aspect helps to neglect feeder losses in the link budget
calculations. The latter impacts the sensitivity, provided that the TMA noise figure is
significantly different than that of the Antenna Interface Module (e.g. FDUAMCO) and
the resulting system noise figure is different from the one of the no-TMA case.
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There are two modes of combiner RX path operation: AMCO mode with LNF
Amplifier, and MUCO mode (Multi Coupler) without LNF amplifier. Each mode is
characterised by different noise figure and attenuation. With the Siemens TMA (high
gain), the combiner must be switched to the 'MUCO mode', which implies that the
system gain remains unchanged (the TMA gain is equal to that of the LNF amplifier).
Please note that the sensitivity is always related to a certain noise figure, which is
resulting from all the elements present in the receiving path – Combiner, CU etc. This
means that changes of any element / noise figure (e.g. combiner type with different
noise figure) impact the sensitivity figures. Always the system noise figure must be
taken into consideration.
3.4 MS sensitivity
The reference sensitivity performance in terms of frame erasure (FER), bit

error (BER), or residual bit error rates (RBER) (whichever is appropriate) is specified
according to the type of channel and the propagation conditions. The sensitivity level
is defined as the input level for which this performance is met. Sensitivity shall in any
case be better than the specified reference sensitivity level (see table below).
Reference sensitivity
GSM 900 MS
for GSM 900 small MS -102 dBm
for other GSM 900 MS -104 dBm
DCS 1 800 MS
for DCS 1 800 class 1 or class 2 MS -100 / -
102 dBm
for DCS 1 800 class 3 MS -102 dBm
PCS 1 900 MS
for PCS 1 900 MS -102 dBm
for other PCS 1 900 MS -104 dBm
Table 3-6: MS reference sensitivity
For (E)GPRS, the MS receiver reference sensitivity is defined as the minimum input
signal level for which the reference performance in terms of BLER is met.
Reference Performance
Packet Data Channels (PDCH) BLER ≤ 10%
Uplink State Flags (USF) BLER ≤ 1%
Packet Random Access Channels (PRACH) BLER ≤ 15%
Table 3-7 (E)GPRS MS receiver reference performance
BLER is the Block Error Rate, referring to all erroneously decoded data blocks
including any headers, stealing flags, parity bits as well as any implicit information in
the training sequence.
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For PDCH the BLER refers to RLC blocks, and hence there can be up to two block
errors per 20ms radio block for EGPRS MCS7, MCS8 and MCS9. For USF, the
BLER only refers to the USF value.
Reference sensitivity figures are presented in the respective specifications [45.005]
3.5 Diversity techniques
Diversity techniques help to improve the link performance by using uncorrelated

copies of the signal. Diversity can be used in both directions: uplink and downlink.
RX diversity helps to mitigate fading effects by combining received paths at the
receiver.
Rx diversity gives benefits for uplink limited scenarios. When the size of site
configurations increase, higher combiner losses may lead to downlink limited
scenarios. In such cases, an improvement of the downlink part is required.
A common method is to replicate downlink paths in order to obtain uncorrelated
signal copies at the MS receiver.
The problem is to de-correlate signals at the transmitter side in order to avoid
interferences there. Two main methods are used: Antenna Hopping and Time delay.
Figure 3-6: TX diversity
Please note that in case the diversity gain is already considered in the BTS receiver
sensitivity, there is no need to count it separately in the Link Budget.
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3.5.1 2 branch RX diversity
Antenna diversity provides measures to compensate instantaneous fading

phenomena of a single Rx-path by a second, equivalent, but non-correlated Rx-path.
The efficiency of antenna diversity, i.e. the improvement of the up-link performance,
expressed as 'diversity gain', depends on the obtainable grade of de-correlation of
both diversity-RX-paths of the up-link.
There are two possible solutions of RX diversity: space diversity due to differing Rx
positions and polarization diversity due to differing polarization planes.
Space diversity requires two V-pol antennas separated by distance D >10λ, where D
means the distance between antennas and λ is wavelength for certain frequency.
Rx3 div
Tx1/Rx1 D
Tx3/Rx3
Rx1 div
Rx2 div Tx2/Rx2
Figure 3-7: Example 3 sector site layout with space diversity
Polarisation diversity requires dual-polarized antenna with two antenna arrays within
the same physical unit. The two antenna arrays are usually oriented in ± 45º
polarization planes. The antenna is also referred to as 'X-pol' or 'cross-pol'.
Tx3/Rx3/ Tx1/Rx1
Rx3 div Rx1 div
Tx2/Rx2
Rx2 div
Figure 3-8: 3 Example 3 sector site layout with X-pol antennas
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3.5.2 4 branch RX diversity
4-branch RX diversity utilises 4 separate antenna paths. Using a maximum ratio

combining of all four receive branches gives an additional diversity gain of up to
2,5 dB, when compared with 2-branch receive diversity. Processing of 4 independent
RX paths is performed by means of FlexCU. It requires 2 FlexCU halves working
together, so only coverage mode (1 FlexCU acting as 1 TRX) of the unit is possible.
TX -0 T X -0
R X -a R X -N
R X -b R X -D IV 1 S ig n a l B a se b a n d
P ro ce ssin g S ig n a ls
TX -0 T X -0
R X -c R X -D IV 2
R X -d R X -D IV 3
R X -N ... m a in re ce ive r
R X -D IV 1 /D IV 3 ... d ive rsity re ce ive r
Figure 3-9 FlexCU in 4 RX mode
Please note that 4RX requires the double number of antennas and RX paths,
however the increased site coverage for uplink limited cases may lead to significant
site count reduction.
4RX may be realised on X-pol antennas, however space separation is required
between antenna units.
20
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Xpol Ant 1
Xpol Ant 0
Space
D
ACOM ACOM
RX 10 20 RX 13 23 RX 12 22 RX 14 24
TRX 10 TRX 11
TRX 1 TRX 20 TRX 21 TRX 2
FlexCU-0 FlexCU-1
Figure 3-10 4RX realization with X-pol antennas
For the most space-critical cases it is possibly to use an 'XX-pol' antenna which holds
2 separate X-pol antennas in one radome. In such a solution sufficient separation
between the antenna ports shall be must be ensured by the manufacturer.
3.5.3 TX diversity Antenna Hopping
The idea of 'antenna hopping' idea is to transmit each burst on one antenna only, but
to change antennas within the interleaving period. This helps to compensate the
effects of fast fading, especially in deployments with limited spectrum. This feature
can be used in combination with synthesized FH.
The gain from antenna hopping can be seen as with frequency diversity where the
number of “virtual” hopping frequencies is equal to the number of hopping antennas,
multiplied by the number of really hopping frequencies.
In particular, the frequency diversity gain would result from an equivalent number of
frequencies given by the following relation:
21
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# Equivalent frequencies = # Frequencies · # Antennas
Where:
# Antennas stands for the actual number of antennas used for antenna hopping
# Frequencies stands for the actual number of frequencies used in the
synthesised FH
Please note that higher gains of the feature are expected for a limited spectrum. The
reason is that the hopping gain tends to saturate for higher number of hopping
carriers. Major benefits are expected for static and slow moving MS. The gain
depending on terminal velocity is in the range of 0.5 … 2 dB.
Voice and circuit switched data benefit well from additional diversity due to their
strong forward error correction. High data rate coding schemes of GPRS (e.g. CS4)
and EGPRS (e.g. MCS 9) have few forward error correction coding. I.e. these coding
schemes perform better without additional diversity.
Antenna Hopping is a pure software solution and doesn’t require additional hardware
to be added.
3.5.4 TX diversity Time Delay
With TX diversity Time Delay the same signals are transmitted simultaneously by two
Carrier Units (CU) connected to two different antennas. They operate at the same
frequency, one acting as “master” device and the other one as “slave”. Signals are
decorrelated by a particular time shift between them. The gain is achieved by the
doubled downlink paths and by an increased radiated EIRP output power as seen by
receiver.
Figure 3-11: Time shift between signals
22
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Sector 0
Sector 0
Antenna 0
Antenna 1
Antenna 0
Antenna 1
DUAMCO 2:2 DUAMCO 4:2
TX -1
TX -3
TX -0
TX -1
TX -2
TX -0
Master
Master
Slave
Slave
CU 0 CU 3 CU 0 CU 1 CU 2 CU 3
Figure 3-12 No TX diversity (left) and TX diversity Time Delay (right)
As can be noticed in the picture above, apart from the double number of TRXs, TX
diversity requires the double number of TX paths, which, in some cases, may lead to
the necessity to use higher order combiners (e.g. DUAMCO 4:2 instead of DUAMCO
2:2 on Figure 3-12). These solutions, however, increase the losses in the TX path
due to higher combiner losses and reduce gains coming from TX diversity.
This can be avoided by using double number of combiners and number of antennas
(e.g. 2 * DUAMCO 2:2 instead of one DUAMCO 4:2 - Figure 3-13).
Sector 0
Antenna 2
Antenna 3
Antenna 0
Antenna 1
2:2 2:2
TX -1
TX -3
TX -0
TX -2
Master
Master
Slave
Slave
CU 0 CU 1 CU 2 CU 3
Figure 3-13 TX diversity with 4 antennas
The solution with 4 antennas requires the double amount of hardware units, however,
due to increased cell range in the DL, we can expect significant savings in the
number of sites (examples in chapter 8).
23
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Additionally, the advantage of the '4-antenna-solution' is that it can be easily

combined with 4RX diversity in order to match the ranges in UL and DL.
Example configurations using different TX diversities are presented below.
Table 3-8 Example budget for different TX diversity options
The figures below present the cell area increase when additional gains are achieved
due to application of Transmit Diversity.
TX diversity 2dB DL
No TX diversity TX diversity 2dB DL gain gain + 3dB EIRP
Figure 3-14 Cell ranges with different diversity options
3.6 RX/TX antenna gain
Since usually the same antenna is used for RX and TX, the same antenna gain can
be used in downlink/uplink directions. Antenna gains depend on the type and are
project specific.
3.7 Combiner insertion losses
Antenna combiner insertion losses shall be considered in downlink. They depend on

the combiner type. Please note that after the capacity calculation the link budget has
to be revised in order to check whether number of TRXs suits assumed combiner
order.
24
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Antenna
Jumper connector to antenna
Outdoor jumper cable
Jumper connector to TMA
Tower Mounted Amplifier
Feeder connector to TMA
Feeder cable
Feeder connector to indoor

equipment of jumper cable
Indoor jumper cable
Jumper connector to BTS
Figure 3-15: Antenna system elements
25
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4 Propagation related parameters
4.1 Log-normal fading and standard deviation
A radio signal is subject of slow fading modelled by a Gaussian distribution. The

received signal strength is a random process, and it is only possible to estimate the
probability that the received signal strength exceeds a certain threshold. Log-normal
fading effect is not considered in standard propagation models, thus the predicted
thresholds are with 50 % probability at the cell edge.
To consider the probability that more than 50% of the signal strength values are
above the threshold, a log-normal fading margin has to be calculated. The standard
deviation of the Gaussian distribution must be derived from measurements and
depends on the clutter type. Calculations can be performed using Jake’s formulas:
2
∞ 1⎛ x −x ⎞
1 − ⎜ 0 ⎟ 1 1 ⎛ x −x ⎞
P(x ≥ x0 ) = ∫e
2⎝ σ ⎠
dx = − erf ⎜ 0 ⎟
σ 2π x= x0
2 2 ⎝σ 2 ⎠
where
P (x ≥ x0 ) Result. loc. prob. at all edge

x Min. RX input power for 50% loc. prob.
x0 Min. RX input power for (x) % loc. prob.
The LNF margin is calculated as x * σ, where x is the variable in the cumulative

normal function (F(x)) when F(x) has the value of the border percentage given by
Jake’s formula. F(x) is usually tabularised.
Location probability at LNF margin [dB]

cell border [%]
50 standard deviation x 0
60 standard deviation x 0.2533471031358
Table 4-1 LNF margin calculations
26
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A higher location probability decreases the maximum cell radius. The reason is that,
with constant transmitted power and receiver sensitivity, the addition of a fading
margin causes the decrease of the cell radius in order to maintain a signal level at
the sensitivity threshold.
Location probability 50%

LNF margin=0 dB
Signal level at the cell edge
-102 dBm =-102 dBm - 0dB
R
Location probability 90 %
LNF margin=10.5 dB
Signal level at the cell edge
-102 dBm =-91.5 dBm - 10.5 dB
Figure 4-1: Impact of the location probability on the cell radius
Conversion of the cell edge probability into cell area probability can be obtained by
Jake’s formula. It gives a relation for the probability that a certain value P at the cell
boundary at radius R is exceeded and the corresponding probability for the whole
cell. It is based on the log distance path loss model.
The area coverage probability:

1⎧ ⎛ 2 ab + 1 ⎞ ⎡ ⎛ ab + 1 ⎞ ⎤
Fu = ⎨1 + erf (a ) + exp ⎜ ⎟ ⎢1 − erf ⎜ ⎟⎥
⎝ b ⎠⎣ ⎝ b ⎠⎦
2
2⎩
where
x −x 10n log10 (e )
a= 0 b=
σ⋅ 2 σ⋅ 2
a
2
erf (a ) = ∫e
−v 2
dv
π v =0
hb Antenna height
x Min. RX input power for 50 % loc. prob.
x0 Min. RX input power for (x) % loc. prob.
n propagation model exponent
27
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erf error function
4.2 Indoor case
A Mobile radio signal from the macro station inside the building is attenuated by
building structures. The difference between an outdoor and indoor signal level is
characterised by the penetration losses. They can be seen as the difference between
the average signal strength in the free space next to the building and the average
signal strength over the ground floor of the building.
The building penetration loss for different buildings is log-normal, distributed with a
standard deviation (σ LNF(i) ).
Apart from the fluctuation coming from log-normally distributed penetration losses,
the indoor signal is subject to outdoor log-normal fading. In order to take into account
both effects, a joint standard deviation has to be calculated.
The following formula covers both deviations:
σ LNF(o+i) = σ LNF (o) 2 + σ LNF (i) 2
Where:
σ LNF ( o+i ) Standard deviation for both indoor and outdoor
σ LNF (o ) Outdoor standard deviation
σ LNF (i ) Indoor standard deviation
Penetration losses depend on many factors as building materials, structure and

environment.
Similar to building penetration loss is in-car penetration loss. The margin is added to
compensate signal decrease when MS is located inside the car.
4.3 Interference degradation margin

Receiver sensitivity estimation is based on a noise-limited scenario where the
required carrier to noise ratio (C/N) is taken into account. Interference is not an issue.
In interference limited cases C/N is degraded to C/(N+I). In order to take additional
interference into account, the required signal level must be increased to combat both
noise and interference. Thus, an interference margin is defined for interference
limited systems.
It can , however, be assumed that the cell coverage is dimensioned in such a way
that constant BCCH coverage is assured, which is typically a noise limited scenario.
In such a case the noise typically overrides interference and the interference margin
can be neglected.
28
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In case of interference limited scenarios, the cell range is typically limited by the
capacity of the network resulting in a cell size which is usually much lower than the
one that comes from pure link budget calculations.
4.4 Body loss
The proximity of the human body during the call affects the MS performance. There
are well known effects, such as absorption of energy by the human head, and
deterioration of the antenna efficiency. In order to consider such phenomena, a body
loss margin was introduced. The body loss is smaller for higher frequencies than for
lower ones. The body loss recommended by ETSI is 3 dB.
For handheld data terminals a body loss of 0 dB is assumed.
29
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5 Maximum Allowable Pathloss calculation
5.1 Equivalent Isotropic Radiated Power EIRP
EIRP stands for the power radiated by an isotropic antenna.

The radiated power transmitted by a directional antenna is transposed into the power
radiated by an isotropic antenna by consideration of the antenna gain and the power
at the antenna input. Comparison to the dipole antenna gives ERP; the difference
between EIRP and ERP is 2.15 dB.
The power at the antenna input considers all the losses: static power reduction,
connectors and feeder loses.
EIRPBTS = BSTX pwr_max - Lbackoff - LDL cable_loss - Lcombiner loss + GDL Antenna
EIRPMS = MSTX pwr_max - LMS cable_loss + GMS Antenna
Where
Lbackoff static power reduction (corresponds to parameter PWRRED in TRX

object)
Lcombiner loss antenna combiners insertion loss
BSTX pwr_max peak RF power at the CU
MSTX pwr max peak RF power of the MS
5.2 Power budget calculations
The purpose of the power budget calculations is to determine the maximum

allowable path loss over the air interface between the antennas of BTS and MS.
The maximum Allowable Pathloss (MAPL) is calculated according to the formula:
Downlink:
MAPLDL = BSTX pwr_max – MSRXsensitivity – LossDL – Margins DL + GainsDL
Where
BSTX pwr_max peak RF power at CU

MSRX sensitivity MS sensitivity
LossDL losses of the system

MarginsDL margins coming from the propagation phenomena
GainsDL system gains
30
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Margins:
Margins= Linterference deg margin + Llog-normal margin
Linterference deg margin interference degradation margin

Loss:
Loss= Lbackoff + Lcombiner loss + LDL cable_loss + Lbody_Loss_for _handhelds + LMS cable loss
Lbackoff static power reduction

Lcombiner loss antenna combiners insertion loss
Lbody loss body loss
Lpenetration penetration losses
Lincar incar losses
Lpenetration and Lincar losses should be also used in above equation if applicable.
Gains:
Gains= GDL Antenna + GMS antenna + GDL TX div

GDL TX div downlink diversity gain
Uplink:
MAPLUL = MSTX pwr max - BS RXsensitivity - LossUL + GainUL - MarginUL
Where
MSTX pwr max peak RF power of the MS

BSRX sensitivity BTS sensitivity
LossUL losses of the system

MarginsUL margins coming from the propagation phenomena
GainsUL system gains
Margins:
Margins= Linterference deg margin + Llog-normal margin

Linterference deg margin interference degradation margin
31
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Loss:
Loss= Lbody_Loss_for _handhelds + LMS cable loss + LUL cable loss
If HPDU is used additional LHPDU loss shall be taken into account. In case a TMA is
used LUL cable loss shall be omitted.
Lbody loss body loss

LHPDU HPDU loss
LUL cable loss BTS UL antenna cabling loss
Gains:
Gains= GUL Antenna + GMS antenna + GUL diversity

GUL antenna UL antenna (RX antenna) gain of the BTS
GUL diversity UL diversity gain
Power budget elements are roughly presented in the picture below, together with the
signal variations.
32
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Signal
level
(dBm) Max TX
output
power
minus TX
Loss
plus TX
gains
Max
allowable
Max TX
output
Pathloss
power
Max TX
output
power
minus TX
Loss
RX
power RX Loss
plus
RX
RX
power
Gains RX Interference
RX sensitivity power degradation margin
plus
RX Gains
Min SNR
minus RX
Loss requirement
RX system Noise power Noise

figure
Thermal noise power
Figure 5-1 Power budget elements
Bars in the picture above represents signal variations starting from the transmitter
output, TX path gains and losses, pathloss of the propagation path and
corresponding receiving path items.
In the following table example Link Budget calculations for UL and DL are provided:
33
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
MS data
Max. output-power of MS dBm 33,0 MSTX pwr max
MS sensitivity dBm -105 MSRX sensitivity
MS cable loss dB 0 LMS cable loss
MS antenna gain dBi 0 GMS antenna
EIRP MS dBm -105 EIRPMS = MSTX pwr_max - LMS cable_loss + GMS Antenna
BTS data
BS Peak Power at PA output dBm 47,0 BSTX pwr_max
Backoff dB 0,0 Lbackoff
Combiner loss dB 4,30 Lcombiner loss
DL-Cable Loss dB 1,0 LDL cable_loss
DL-Antenna Gain dBi 18,5 GDL Antenna
Receiver Sensitivity dBm -114,0 BSRX sensitivity
UL-Cable Loss dB 1,0 LUL cable loss
UL-Antenna Gain dBi 18,5 GUL antenna
Diversity Gain in Uplink dB 5,0 GUL diversity
Diversity Gain in Downlink dB 5,0 GDL TX div
EIRP BTS dBm 60,19 EIRPBTS = BSTX pwr_max - Lbackoff - LDL cable_loss - Lcombiner loss + GDL Antenna
Planning data urban
Standard deviation (outdoor) dB 7,0 σoutdoor
Standard deviation (indoor) dB 9,0 σindoor
Joint standard deviation dB 11,4 σi = sqrt(σoutdoor + σindoor)
Loc. prob. at edge % 90 Probedge
Loc. prob. at cell area % 96 Probarea
Log-normal fading margin (indoor) dB 14,6 Llog-normal margin i = f (Probedge, σi )
Log-normal fading margin (outdoor dB 9,0 Llog-normal margin o = f (Probedge, σi )
Body loss for handhelds dB 3 Lbody loss
Incar loss dB 6 Lincar
Indoor penetration loss dB 15,0 Lpenetration
Interference degradation margin dB 3,0 Linterference deg margin
MAPLDL50 = BSTX pwr_max – MSRXsensitivity – LossDL – Linterference deg margin + GainsDL
LossDL = Lbackoff + Lcombiner loss + LDL cable_loss + Lbody_Loss_for _handhelds + LMS cable loss
Max. DL PL outdoor (50 %) dB 164,2 GainsDL = GDL Antenna + GMS antenna + GDL TX div
MAPLUL50 = MSTX pwr max - BS RXsensitivity - LossUL + GainUL - Linterference deg margin
Loss= Lbody_Loss_for _handhelds + LMS cable loss + LUL cable loss
Max. UL PL outdoor (50%) dB 163,5 Gains= GUL Antenna + GMS antenna + GUL diversity
Max. DL PL outdoor dB 155,2 MAPLDL o = MAPLDL50 - Llog-normal margin o
Max. UL PL outdoor dB 154,5 MAPLUL o = MAPLUL50 - Llog-normal margin o
Max. DL PL indoor dB 134,6 MAPLDL i = MAPLDL50 - Llog-normal margin i - Lpenetration
Max. UL PL indoor dB 133,9 MAPLUL i = MAPLUL50 - Llog-normal margin i - Lpenetration
Max. DL PL incar dB 149,2 MAPLDL incar = MAPLDL50 - Llog-normal margin o - Lincar
Max. UL PL incar dB 148,5 MAPLUL incar = MAPLUL50 - Llog-normal margin o - Lincar
Figure 5-2: Example general link budget
5.3 (E)GPRS link budget
With (E)GPRS, the coverage planning becomes more complicated because the
reference sensitivity levels of MS and BTS vary with CS’s / MCS’s. It means that in
the (E)GPRS coverage planning process it is necessary to check in which area of the
radio cell the signal strength is high enough to support a particular coding or
modulation and coding scheme. In this way it is possible to determine in which area
34
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of the cell which the maximum data rate can be offered. This approach refers to a
noise limited scenario where interference is not an issue.
Below the GPRS link budget for TU50FH is presented.
Link budget assumptions (examples):
Band 900 MHz

Channel model TU50FH
outdoor standard deviation бLNF(o) = 8 dB
cell area probability 95%
cell edge probability 86%
Log-normal fading margin 8,7 dB
Uplink Voice CS1 CS2 CS3 CS4
Transmitter (MS)
MS Output Power [dBm] 33,0 33,0 33,0 33,0 33,0
Ms Antenna Gain [dBi] 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0
Body Loss [dB] -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0
EIRP [dBm] 30,0 30,0 30,0 30,0 30,0
Receiver (BTS)
BTS Receiver Sensitivity [dBm] -116,2 -116,2 -113,7 -112,2 -107,0
BTS Antenna Gain [dBi] 18,0 18,0 18,0 18,0 18,0
Diversity gain [dB]* 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0
Cable loss [dB] -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0
Indoor loss [dB] -15,0 -15,0 -15,0 -15,0 -15,0
Interference degradation margin [dB] -2,0 -2,0 -2,0 -2,0 -2,0
Log-normal fading margin [dB] -8,7 -8,7 -8,7 -8,7 -8,7
Allowed Uplink Path Loss [dB] 135,5 135,5 133,0 131,5 126,3
* Diversity Gain included in sensitivity
Downlink Voice CS1 CS2 CS3 CS4
Transmitter (BTS)
BTS Output Power [ECU V3] [dBm] 48,3 48,3 48,3 48,3 48,3
BTS Antenna Gain [dBi] 18,0 18,0 18,0 18,0 18,0
Combiner loss (DUAMCO 4:2) [dB] -4,3 -4,3 -4,3 -4,3 -4,3
Cable loss [dB] -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0
EIRP [dBm] 59,0 59,0 59,0 59,0 59,0
Receiver (MS)
MS Receiver Sensitivity [dBm] -104,0 -102,0 -99,0 -97,0 -88,0
MS Antenna Gain [dBi] 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0
Diversity gain [dB] 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0
Indoor loss [dB] -15,0 -15,0 -15,0 -15,0 -15,0
Body loss [dB] -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0
Interference degradation margin [dB] -2,0 -2,0 -2,0 -2,0 -2,0
Log-normal fading margin [dB] -8,7 -8,7 -8,7 -8,7 -8,7
Allowed Downlink Path Loss [dB] 134,3 132,3 129,3 127,3 118,3
Table 5-1 Link Budget calculation for GPRS
For the EGPRS case the difference is that for 8-PSK MCS’s the maximum CU
transmit power is decreased.
Link budget assumptions (examples):

35
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Band 900 MHz

Channel model TU50
outdoor standard deviation бLNF(o) = 7 dB
cell area probability 95%
cell edge probability 85%
Log-normal fading margin 7,3 dB
EGPRS Link Budget

Frequency 900 Mhz, TU50, outdoor
Uplink Voice MCS1 MCS2 MCS3 MCS4 MCS5 MCS6 MCS7 MCS8 MCS9
Transmitter (MS)
MS Output Power dBm 33,0 33,0 33,0 33,0 33,0 33,0 33,0 33,0 33,0 33,0
8-PSK power decrease dB 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0
MS Antenna Gain dBi 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0
Body Loss dB -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0
EIRP dBm 30,0 30,0 30,0 30,0 30,0 27,0 27,0 27,0 27,0 27,0
Receiver (BTS)
BTS Receiver Sensitivity (2RX div) dBm -116,1 -115,4 -113,9 -110,6 -107,3 -108,9 -107,0 -103,3 -99,4 -97,9
BTS Antenna Gain dBi 18,0 18,0 18,0 18,0 18,0 18,0 18,0 18,0 18,0 18,0
Diversity gain* dB 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0
Cable loss dB -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0
Indoor loss dB 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0
Interference degradation margin dB -2,0 -2,0 -2,0 -2,0 -2,0 -2,0 -2,0 -2,0 -2,0 -2,0
Log-normal fading margin dB -7,3 -7,3 -7,3 -7,3 -7,3 -7,3 -7,3 -7,3 -7,3 -7,3
Allowed Uplink Path Loss dB 151,8 151,1 149,6 146,3 143,0 141,6 139,7 136,0 132,1 130,6
Downlink Voice MCS1 MCS2 MCS3 MCS4 MCS5 MCS6 MCS7 MCS8 MCS9
Transmitter (BTS)
BTS Output Power [ECU V3] dBm 48,3 48,3 48,3 48,3 48,3 46,3 46,3 46,3 46,3 46,3
BTS Antenna Gain dBi 18,0 18,0 18,0 18,0 18,0 18,0 18,0 18,0 18,0 18,0
Combiner loss (DUAMCO 4:2) dB -4,3 -4,3 -4,3 -4,3 -4,3 -4,3 -4,3 -4,3 -4,3 -4,3
Cable loss dB -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0
EIRP dBm 59,0 59,0 59,0 59,0 59,0 57,0 57,0 57,0 57,0 57,0
Receiver (MS)
MS Receiver Sensitivity dBm -104,0 -100,5 -98,5 -94,5 -89,0 -93,0 -91,0 -84,0 -83,0 -78,5
MS Antenna Gain dBi 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0
Diversity gain dB 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0
Indoor loss dB 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0
Body loss dB -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0 -3,0
Interference degradation margin dB -2,0 -2,0 -2,0 -2,0 -2,0 -2,0 -2,0 -2,0 -2,0 -2,0
Log-normal fading margin dB -7,3 -7,3 -7,3 -7,3 -7,3 -7,3 -7,3 -7,3 -7,3 -7,3
Allowed Downlink Path Loss dB 150,7 147,2 145,2 141,2 135,7 137,7 135,7 128,7 127,7 123,2
Table 5-2 Example Link Budget calculation for EGPRS
36
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5.4 Power budget balance
The maximum range of a two-way radio communication system is restricted by the

weakest transmission direction. Difference in coverage for uplink and downlink
direction gives any benefit since additional transmit power does not mean any
improvements in the coverage area but generates additional interference and costs.
A balance of uplink and downlink is required to assure that cell ranges in DL and UL
are the same. In other words, the sensitivity limit of the MS is reached at the same
point as the sensitivity limit of the BTS. Since the antenna gain is symmetrical, the
balance is independent of the BTS antenna.
Please note that link budget parameters (e.g. penetration losses, log-normal fading)
are clutter specific, hence balancing is related to the specific environment and MS
class.
Moreover it also depends on the service, so even if for voice service the link budget
is balanced, for (E)GPRS the system becomes unbalanced.
The following actions are possible for an uplink limited scenario:

• static decrease of the BTS power (by a corresponding PWRRED parameter
setting)
• RX diversity improvements on the BTS side (2RX as standard, improved to 4RX
diversity)
• TMA employments
• IURS feature activation
Downlink limited:
• TX diversity at the BTS side
• Combiners of lower attenuation
37
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6 Radio propagation prediction
A propagation model gives relations between the path loss L and distance r between
the base station antenna and the mobile, the frequency f, the heights of the base
station antenna and MS antenna and the clutter type.
6.1 Propagation slope
The 'free space propagation model' [6] is used to predict the signal strength when a
LOS (Line Of Sight) is between transmitter and receiver. This scenario is rather rarely
applicable for a real mobile radio environment. However, the free space propagation
model shall be treated as a first step of expected signal strength evaluation.
Pt Gt G r λ 2
Pr ( r ) =
( 4π ) 2 r 2 L
Where:
Pr power at the receiver antenna
Pt transmitter power
Gt transmitter antenna gain
Gr antenna gain
λ wavelength
r distance between transmitter and receiver
L system loss factor (e.g. cable and combiner loss)
The equation above shows that the received power falls off as the square of the
transmitter-receiver separation distance. Expressed in terms of dB this means that
the received power decays with distance at a rate of 20 dB/decade.
This power decay is represented by the path loss, which is a positive quantity of
signal attenuation.
The path loss in the free space propagation model is represented by:
⎛P ⎞ ⎛ λ2 ⎞
PL[ dB] = 10 log⎜⎜ t ⎟⎟ = −10 log⎜ ⎟
⎜ (4π )2 r 2 ⎟
⎝ Pr ⎠ ⎝ ⎠
The free space propagation model is insufficient for a real mobile radio environment,
where is no LOS. The Log-distance Path Loss Model takes into account different
propagation environments by using a specific path loss exponent (propagation slope)
for a particular type of propagation environment.
The propagation slope γ is determined by field measurements. The equation below

describes the power decay in dependency of γ.
38
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γ
⎛r ⎞
Pr ( r ) = Pr ( r0 )⎜ 0 ⎟
⎝r⎠
Pr(r0) reception power level in a close-in reference distance r0 which ensures far
field conditions.
Pr(r0) can be obtained by measurements or by prediction of the free space

propagation model. The resulting path loss is given by
⎛r⎞
PL[ dB] = PL( r0 ) + 10γ log⎜⎜ ⎟⎟
⎝ r0 ⎠
The table below shows propagation slopes for different propagation environments:
Propagation environment Path loss exponent

free space 2
urban area 2,7 to 3,5 (3,5)
shadowed urban 3 to 5 (3,8)
in building LOS 1,6 to 1,8
in building obstructed 4 to 6
Table 6-1: Propagation slopes
6.2 One slope model
The Okumura and Hata formula is based on empirical data measured by Okumura in
60’s. Hata developed a formula with correction terms for different environments. The
model assumes a quasi flat surface i.e. obstacles like buildings are not explicitly
taken into account. Different types of surfaces are distinguished by different
correction factors.
The model is best applicable for cell ranges of 5 ...20 km. Below a range of 1 km it
becomes very rough and unreliable, due to fact that obstacles in the close vicinity of
receiver and transmitter are not taken into account in the formula.
Okumura Hata model
L = 69.55 + 26.16 log( f ) − 13.82 log(hBS ) − d (hMS ) − c + [44.9 − 6.55 log(hBS )] log(d )
Where:
L pathloss
f frequency:
hBS height of base station
hMS height of MS
39
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d distance
c clutter correction factor
⎧3.2[log(11.75hMS )] 2 − 4.97 du, u

d (hMS ) = ⎨
⎩[1.1 log( f ) − 0.7]hMS − [1.56 log( f ) − 0.8] su
du dense urban
u urban
su suburban
Clutter correction factors:
⎧ 0 du , u
⎪ 10 forest
⎪ 2
⎪ ⎡ ⎛ f ⎞⎤
⎪ 2 ⋅ ⎢ ⎜ 28 ⎟⎥ + 5.4
log suburban
c=⎨ ⎣ ⎝ ⎠⎦
⎪4.78[log( f )]2 − 18.33 log( f ) + 40.94 open
⎪
⎪4.78[log( f )]2 − 18.33 log( f ) + 35.94 quasi
⎪
⎩
This model is applicable in the following range of parameters:
Frequency: f = 150 .. 1500 MHz

Height of base station: hBS = 30.. 200 m
Height of MS: hMS = 1.. 10 m
Distance: d = 1.. 20 km
COST 231 – Hata model
Due to fact that Okumura Hata model is not applicable for frequencies >1500 MHz
extended version of Hata model has been developed for the frequency range
1500 - 2000 MHz.
Where:
L pathloss
f frequency
hBS height of base station
hMS height of MS
d distance
c clutter correction factor
40
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The MS antenna height correction formula remains the same as in the previous case.
Clutter correction factors:
⎧− 3 du
⎪0 u
⎪
⎪10 forest
⎪⎪ 2
c = ⎨ ⎡ ⎛ f ⎞⎤
⎪ ⎢ ⎜⎝ 28 ⎟⎠⎥ + 5.4
2 log su
⎪ ⎣ ⎦
⎪4.78[log f ]2 − 18.33 log f + 40.94 open
⎪
⎪⎩4.78[log f ]2 − 18.33 log f + 35.94 quasi
This model is applicable in the following range of parameters:
Frequency: f = 1500 .. 2000 MHz

Height of base station: hBS = 30.. 200 m
Height of MS: hMS = 1.. 10 m
Distance: d = 1.. 20 km
6.3 Two slope model
To improve the unreliability of a 1-slope model in the closer distances, a 2-slope

model was introduced, which has different characteristics in the area close to the
transmitter. Usually the transition point is set at distance of 1 km.
HATA – COST 231 – HATA two slope model
If the equations predict a radio range smaller than 1 km, a transition model is applied.
L = A1 / 2 − d (hMS ) − c + si ⋅ log(d )
Where:
A1/2 frequency dependent part:
A1 = 69.55 + 26.16 log( f ) − 13.82 log(hBS ) f ≤ 1500 MHz

A2 = 46.3 + 33.9 log( f ) − 13.82 log(hBS ) f > 1500MHz
si distance dependent part:
s1 = [44.9 − 6.55 log(hBS )] log(d ) d ≥ 1km

41
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1
s 2 = ( A1 / 2 − (32.4 + 20 log( f ) + 20 log(0.02 ))) ⋅ d < 1km
log 50
6.4 Cell Size evaluation
The output from the power budget calculations is the Maximum Allowable Pathloss
(MAPL). Comparison of the MAPL to the pathloss calculated by assumed
propagation model gives the maximum cell size.
For instance, for the Okumura-Hata (f<1500MHz) 1 slope model the propagation loss
at distance d is:
As for maximum cell size L=MAPL we can deduct the maximum cell range:
d=10α
MAPL − (69.55 + 26.16 log f − 13.82 log hBS − d ( hMS ) − c )

where α =
44.9 − 6.55 log h BS
For frequency >1500MHz, the modified Hata formula is used and thus the maximum
cell range is:
MAPL − ( 46.3 + 33.9 log f − 13.82 log h BS − d ( hMS ) − c )

α=
44.9 − 6.55 log h BS
Please note that the cell size depends on the clutter characteristics and expected
coverage targets (indoor, outdoor etc.).
For the 2 slope model, if the cell ranges are higher than the intercept point (e.g. 1
km), the formulas as above can be applied, however, if the distance is less than the
intercept point, the modified formula shall be used.
In the table below the cell ranges for EGPRS are calculated. The 2 slope model is
used with the intercept point at 1 km, urban outdoor coverage.
42
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MCS Max allowed UL UL coverage Max allowed DL DL coverage
pathloss [dB] radius [km] pathloss [dB] radius [km]
MCS1 160,40 5,74 156,70 4,50

MCS2 158,90 5,20 154,70 3,95
MCS3 155,60 4,19 150,70 3,04
MCS4 152,30 3,38 145,20 2,12
MCS5 150,90 3,08 147,20 2,42
MCS6 149,00 2,72 145,20 2,12
MCS7 145,30 2,14 138,20 1,34
MCS8 141,40 1,66 137,20 1,26
MCS9 139,90 1,50 132,70 0,95
Table 6-2 EGPRS cell ranges in dependency on MCS
The balancing of the system is strictly related to the service. Even if for one service
the system is well balanced (e.g. voice) it remains unbalanced for data services.
The difference in the uplink/downlink coverage radius depends mainly on the
difference between the receiver sensitivity values of the MS and the receiver
sensitivity values of the BTS.
The cell radius decreases with the MCS index for UL. For DL the same tendency can
be observed; however, due to better sensitivity of 8PSK MCSs, the cell range is
slightly increased for MCS5-9. But in general high data rates are available only close
to base station (e.g. based on calculations, MCS9 can only be used in areas whose
distance to the base station does not exceed 1030 m.
According to the link budget it can be defined at which distance from the BTS which
modulation and coding scheme is supported. In the table below the minimum signal
level assuring the availability of the individual coding scheme has been calculated.
The received signal thresholds for outdoor environment listed in the table are
calculated from the assumed values for MS receiver sensitivity, log-normal fading
and body loss. Indoor environment requires penetration loss and indoor standard
deviation to be taken for calculations. Please also note that body loss shall be
considered only for handheld terminals (not for data terminals).
The calculated thresholds define the minimum level at certain pixel of the coverage
plot that has to be provided to meet the requirements for the corresponding MCS.
Frequency 900 Mhz - Urban Areas - TU50 Voice MCS1 MCS2 MCS3 MCS4 MCS5 MCS6 MCS7 MCS8 MCS9
MS Receiver Sensitivity [dBm] -104,0 -100,5 -98,5 -94,5 -89,0 -93,0 -91,0 -84,0 -83,0 -78,5
Indoor loss [dB] 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Body loss [dB] -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3
Log-normal fading margin [dB] -7,3 -7,3 -7,3 -7,3 -7,3 -7,3 -7,3 -7,3 -7,3 -7,3
Threshold [dB] -93,7 -90,2 -88,2 -84,2 -78,7 -82,7 -80,7 -73,7 -72,7 -68,2
Table 6-3 MCS thresholds
43
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In the picture below visualisation of different MCSs ranges is depicted. Please note
that, as far as noise-limited scenario has been considered, the utilization of given
MCS is determined only by the signal level.
It should be kept in mind that the reachable throughput for GPRS and EGPRS data
depends also on the interference situation. Thus for a precise network planning it is
necessary to consider both restrictions: min signal level and interference situation.
Figure 6-1 EGPRS MCS ranges
44
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7 Grid planning
Based on the determined cell range, the corresponding cell area and site-to-site
distance can be calculated. Calculations depend on the selected cell layout. A
traditional hexagonal cell model is mainly used. Further steps depend also on
sectorisation.
Sector cells generally improve the coverage since in this case higher antenna gains
are used which are achieved due to the directional diagram of the antenna. In this
case the antenna characteristic shall be adjusted to the cell pattern, which is going to
be applied to the area to be covered.
Sectorisation additionally helps to cope with interferences since the number of
interfering signals per cell is theoretically reduced. The overall C/I distribution is
improved, what resulting in a lower clutter size and a higher frequency reuse and,
consequently, in a higher total capacity of the network.
In fact, many factors have to be considered when deciding about the cell pattern:
• Traffic density in the area to be covered Æ In this case coverage or capacity is the
limiting factor during grid planning
• Available frequency band Æ frequency reuse to be achieved with assumed cell
layout
• Required coverage and structure of the area to be covered: urban area, road, etc.
• Costs and possibilities of the site installation
• Expected network development path
The number of sites N required to cover certain area P is as follows:
P
N=
Asite
Where Asite is area covered by one site.
7.1 Omni cell
Omni-cells may be chosen in low traffic areas with good radio propagation (open
area), especially dedicated for isolated sites. The antenna gain must correspond to
an omni-directional antenna. The rhomboidal cell layout has to be applied for omni
scenario in order to calculate the required site-to-site distance.
Figure 7-1 Cell shape for omni cell
45
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Respective site to site distance:
Site-to-site
Distance
D = 1,732 * R
Cell range R
Figure 7-2 Site to site distance for omni cell
And cell area:
3 3 * R2
Acell =
2
7.2 3-sectors site
In case of commonly used 3-sectorized sites, a different cell layout can be built
depending on the assumed geometrical representation of each cell of the site:
hexagon or rhomboid.
Hexagonal cells Rhomboidal cells
Figure 7-3: Cell shape of 3-sectorized site
Depending on the assumed cell model, a different site-to-site distance has to be

calculated when planning the homogenous network layout.
46
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Site-to-site distance of
hexagonal sites
D = 1.5 * R
Cell range R
Figure 7-4: Cell range and site-to-site distance for hexagonal cell
Site-to-site
Distance
D = 1,732 * R
Cell range R
Figure 7-5: Cell range and site-to-site distance for rhomboidal cell
The site coverage can be calculated as follows:

Hexagonal cell shape:
3* 3
Acell = * ( R)2
8
Asite = 3 * Acell
where R is the cell range.
Rhomboidal cell shape:
2
3 * Rmax
Acell =
2
Asite = 3 * Acell
7.3 6- sector sites

47
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
The network layout containing 6-sectors site can be modelled in the same way as it is
for 3-sector rhomboidal cells. Higher sectorisation allows the usage of higher antenna
gains than for 3-sector rhomboidal cells.
Figure 7-6 6 sector cell layout
Site-to-site
Distance
D = 1,732 * R
Cell range R
Figure 7-7 Cell range and site-to-site distance for 6 sector site
Cell area:
2
3 * Rmax
Acell =
2
Asite = 6 * Acell
The cell range is estimated from the link budget parameters and the propagation
model. With the same parameters and cell ranges, a 6 sectors site provides
significantly higher coverage area compared to the standard 3 sector cloverleaf
structure.
48
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9,2 km
9,2 km
R*1.5 = 13.8 km
R*1.732 = 16 km
Figure 7-8 3 sector and 6 sectors cell layout comparison
3* 3 * R 2 3 * R2 S 6 R 26 4
S3 = *3 S6 = *6 = ⋅ Cov_gain = S6/S3 = 1.33
8 2 S 3 R 32 3
Thus, 6-sector stands for a solution where relatively high coverage per site can be
achieved.
7.4 2- or 1-sector sites (road site)
Sites along roads can be specified as two- or one-sector sites. In the latter case the
cell illumination will be obtained by a combination of two splitters connected to
directional antennas. The subsequent reduction (about 3dB) of the resulting overall
antenna gain must be taken into account.
Figure 7-9 2 sector road site
Site area:
49
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2
3 R
Acell = *
2 3
Asite = 2 * Acell
where R is the cell range.
50
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8 Link budget application cases
As outlined in the previous chapters, various link budget enhancements can be used
in order to increase the cell range or to balance the link. Gains expected from the
features are summarized in the table below.
Table 8-1 Coverage enhancements features
Respective gains can be entered to the appropriate cells of the budgetary calculation
tools.
Figure 8-1 Relation of sensitivity and RX diversity
If the RX diversity is already considered in sensitivity figures, there is no need to

consider the diversity gain separately.
Gains of TX diversity features can be entered to the appropriate cells.
51
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Figure 8-2 TX diversity gain
The impact of the coverage enhancement features was evaluated for scenarios with
different feature set activated.
General settings:
• Urban + outdoor environment

• Frequency band: 1800 MHz
• Network layout: 3-sectorized clover leaf
• HW configurations: BS 240 w/ 4/4/4, FlexCU / FDUAMCO
With basic configuration (no coverage enhancements) we can obtain the following
results:
Table 8-2 Basic configuration results

The basic scenario is uplink limited: i.e. the path loss difference calculated by
MPL DL - MPL UL[dB] establishes a positive result clearly above 0.
Thus, in order to enhance the cell range in uplink UL diversity feature shall be used.
At first let us utilize 2 RX diversity.
52
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Table 8-3 2RX diversity configuration
Result: the cell's UL range is increased, but we are still UL limited (MPL DL - MPL
UL[dB] >> 0 ). The solution is to use TMA.
Table 8-4 Configuration with TMA

Now the link is well balanced (MPL DL - MPL UL[dB] ≈ 0 ), further DL cell range
improvements may utilize TX diversity antenna hoping (AH). As this is a pure
software feature, no additional hardware changes are required.
Table 8-5 Configuration with Antenna Hopping
There is no big difference in the performance – the reason is that after AH was
switched on the cell configuration is now uplink limited and the full advantage of the
increased DL range can not be exploited. The solution is to improve UL coverage. As
we already utilized 2RX and TMA the only next step is 4RX diversity. This requires
additional antennas to be installed and the RX path to be reconfigured. Please note
that such a solution is feasible only for FlexCU.
53
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Table 8-6 Configuration with Antenna Hopping and 4RX diversity
The scenario is now again DL limited (MPL DL - MPL UL[dB] << 0 ), and the AH gain
produces an additional increase of cell range. However, please note that we are still
able to improve our DL coverage by the TX diversity Time Delay feature. In order to
use the feature we have to use the double number of CUs.
Table 8-7 Configuration with TX diversity Time Delay and 4RX diversity
Please note that advanced configurations require additional hardware: CU,

combiners, antennas etc. which significantly increases site cost. Nevertheless, such
a configuration provides big coverage and the number of sites can be substantially
reduced. For each case the cost calculations have to be performed.
The cell ranges increase and site count reduction is visualized in the picture below.
54
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6 UL (4 RX+ TMA) ; DL (Time 3.73 4.48 31 / 61 %
5 UL (4 RX+ TMA) ; DL (Ant. Hop.) 3.73 3.56 33 / 58 %
4 UL (2 RX+ TMA) ; DL (Ant. 3.15 3.56 43 / 45 %
3 UL (2 RX+ TMA) ; DL (no TX boost) 3.15 3.13 43 / 45 %
2 UL (2 RX) ; DL (no TX boost) 2.76 3.13 55 sites / 30 % site
1 basic scenario (no RX, TX boosts) 2.31 3.13 79
Downlink Uplink Cell
Figure 8-3 UL/DL Cell ranges and site counts
55

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2 RADIO PROPAGATION ENVIRONMENT ........................................................................................... 8

Version Date Reason for Changes

0.2 Abbreviations, Definitions and Explanations

Abbreviation Definition, explanation

Afterwards parameters related to the propagation phenomena are outlined

Mobile radio communication takes place in an environment which varies substantially

• Physical terrain structure (heights, morphology),

2.1 Clutter types

Physical terrain structure impacts mobile radio signal propagation significantly. In

Road - Quasi Open

2.2 Cell types

• Macro antennas located above the rooftop level and outdoor

2.3 Channel model

The subscriber location is differentiated to indoor/outdoor. Indoor subscribers served

The subscriber perception of propagation phenomena depends on the subscriber

Comparison of both results gives 'Maximum Allowable Pathloss' (MAPL) between

The following main factors shall be considered in downlink:

• BTS power (BSTX pwr )

Factors for the uplink, respectively:

• MS power (MSTX pwr max)

Figure 3-1: TX power reference port

Maximum output Maximum output

Table 3-1 Example typical CU output power

MS transmission powers are given in the specification [45.005].

GSM 400 & GSM 900 &

Table 3-2 GMSK MS transmission power

3.3 BTS sensitivity

Receiver sensitivity is determined by three components:

RX Sensitivity (dBm) = P Noise (dBm) + F BTS (dB) + C/N (dB)

P Noise (dBm) = 10 log (k · T · B) + 30

k Boltzmann constant, 1,38 ·10-23 W·s/oK

P Noise = - 121.07 dBm

Noise figure of the BTS at the antenna port:

Friis’ formula is utilised for cascaded units:

F BTS (dB) = 10 log ( F1 + (F2 - 1) / G1)

F1 Noise factor of receiver front end (combiner antenna port)

Combiner Carrier Unit

Figure 3-2 Noise figures of cascaded units

Carrier to noise ratio required for performance defined by GSM standard:

Eb Energy of a single data bit

Reference Port for Sensitivity

Figure 3-3 Sensitivity reference port for a BTS without TMA

Jumper Feeder Jumper

Antenna Interface Module TMA

Figure 3-4: Sensitivity reference port with TMA

As described in previous chapters receiver sensitivity is determined by three

RX Sensitivity (dBm) = P Noise (dBm) + F BTS (dB) + C/N (dB)

For a system without TMA:

Feeder Combiner RX input

Figure 3-5 System without TMA

F BTS (dB) = 10 log (F2 + (F3-1) / G2)

F2 Noise factor of combiner (linear units)

System NF 2,19 1,7

In order to improve system performance in UL a Tower Mounted Amplifier (TMA) can

TMA Feeder Combiner RX input

Table 3-4 System with TMA

F1 Noise factor of TMA (linear units)

System NF 2,20 1,7

The reference sensitivity performance in terms of frame erasure (FER), bit

Table 3-6: MS reference sensitivity

Reference sensitivity figures are presented in the respective specifications [45.005]

3.5 Diversity techniques