Automation of Planning and Optimisation of LTE Network Présenté Par (HOURI & TERRAS) - Encadreur. BENBAKRETI

Résumé
Le monde entier a tendance à utiliser les applications multimédias de taux élevés. Données à haut
débit sur les réseaux cellulaires permettront une riche gamme de services Multimédia. LTE est la
dernière génération mobile qui réalise la demande de données requises. Le nombre d'abonnés LTE
dans le monde augmente rapidement et nous allons L’attraper dans un avenir proche.
Notre projet vise à L’automatisation des Taches dans la Radio LTE, précisément la Planification
et l’Optimisation du réseau radio.
Le premier chapitre contient une petite description sur évolution de la technologie LTE et son
architecture puis une partie qui décrit les bases d’un réseaux LTE.
Dans le deuxième chapitre On parlera sur processus de planification en passant par le dimensionnement
initial du réseau radio.
Pour le troisième chapitre on se focalisera sur l’optimisation et ses phases d’exécution. On
introduira le cas de handover X2 en détaillant son l’aspect théorique.
Pour partie de l'application qui est venu en dernier contient plusieurs phases :
Une première partie sur la Planification « manuelle » et « automatique » du réseau radio LTE à l’aide
de la solution Forsk Atoll ainsi qu’une comparaison entre les deux approches afin de visualiser
l’utilité de l’automatisation. Après une petite procédure d’optimisation en utilisant Atoll dans
objective est de recherche meilleur coefs pour le model de propagation SPM dans la commune BIR
EL DJIR. Puis On passera à la deuxième partie qui deviser en deux : pré-optimisation dans lequel on
analyse un log file obtenue par le drive testeur dans wilaya de Constantine utilisant outil TEMS
Discovery et d'essayer de résoudre les problèmes qui nous trouvons, et une partie de post-launch
optimisation que nous allons prendre un cas d'étude de l'échec de handover X2 dans la région de Tizi
Ouzou et Ouargla.
Mots-clés : LTE, Automatisation, Planification, Optimisation, Atoll, TEMS, VBscript
I
Abstract
The world has a convergence to use multimedia applications with high throughput. A rich range of
multimedia service in the cellular network needs given a high data rate. The solution for this issues
was LTE. The number of LTE subscribers worldwide is increasing rapidly and we'll catch him in the
near future.
Our project aims at the automation of the tasks in the LTE Radio, precisely the Planning
and Optimizing the radio network.
The first chapter contains a brief description of the evolution of LTE technology and its architecture
and a part that describes the basics of an LTE network.
In the second chapter We will talk about the planning process through the initial sizing of the radio
network.
For the third chapter we will focus on optimization and its execution phases. We will introduce the
case of handover X2 by detailing its theoretical aspect.
A Part of the application which came in last contains several phases:
The first phase about "Manual" and "automatic" planning of the LTE radio network using the Forsk
Atoll solution and a comparison between the two approaches to visualize the utility of automation.
After a small optimization procedure using Atoll in objective is search best coefs for SPM propagation
model in commune BIR EL DJIR. Then we will move to the second phase which is divided in two:
pre-optimization in which we analyze a log file obtained by the drive tester in Constantine's wilaya
using TEMS Discovery tool and try to solve the problems that we find, and a part of post-launch
optimization we will take a study case of handover X2 failure in Tizi Ouzou and Ouargla regions.
Keywords: LTE, Automation, Planning, Optimization, Atoll, TEMS, VBscript
II
Summary
Résumé ..................................................................................................................................................... I
Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... II
Summary ............................................................................................................................................... III
List of Tables .......................................................................................................................................... V
Figures List ............................................................................................................................................ VI
Acronyms .............................................................................................................................................. IX
Remerciements ..................................................................................................................................... XII
General Introduction................................................................................................................................ 1
CHAPITRE I: LTE overview .................................................................................................................. 2
I.1 Evolution of radio communications technologies: ......................................................................... 2
I.2 System overview: ........................................................................................................................... 2
I.2.1 LTE Architecture: ................................................................................................................. 2
I.2.2 Architecture interfaces: ........................................................................................................... 4
I.3 OFDM basics: ................................................................................................................................ 5
I.3.1 Frequency Division Multiplexing: .......................................................................................... 6
I.3.2 OFDM Subcarriers: ................................................................................................................. 6
I.3.3 OFDM Symbol Mapping: ....................................................................................................... 6
I.4 OFDM & multipath propagation (Cyclic prefix): .......................................................................... 7
I.4.1 Time Domain Interference: ..................................................................................................... 7
I.4.2 Cyclic Prefix: .......................................................................................................................... 7
I.5 General OFDMA Structure: ........................................................................................................... 8
I.6 SC-FDMA: ..................................................................................................................................... 9
I.7 OFDMA Verses SC-FDMA:.......................................................................................................... 9
I.8 LTE physical layer: ...................................................................................................................... 10
I.8.1 Frame structure FDD: ........................................................................................................... 10
I.8.2 Subframe structure & CP length: .......................................................................................... 10
I.9 Physical Resource Blocks and Resource Elements: ..................................................................... 11
I.10 Reference Signals:...................................................................................................................... 12
I.10.1 RSRP: .................................................................................................................................. 13
I.10.2 RSSI: ................................................................................................................................... 13
I.10.3 RSRQ: ................................................................................................................................. 13
I.11 LTE Protocols and Layers:......................................................................................................... 13
I.11.1 LTE Protocol Structure: ...................................................................................................... 13
I.11.2 Protocol stack layers: .......................................................................................................... 14
CHPATERE II: LTE Radio planning and Dimensioning ..................................................................... 17
III
II.1 Introduction: .......................................................................................................................... 17
II.2 LTE Dimensioning: ............................................................................................................... 17
II.2.1 Coverage Dimensioning: ............................................................................................... 17
II.2.2 Capacity Dimensioning: ................................................................................................ 21
II.3 LTE Radio planning: ............................................................................................................. 23
II.3.1 Frequency planning: ...................................................................................................... 23
II.3.2 Physical Cell ID planning:............................................................................................. 26
II.3.3 PRACH Planning: ......................................................................................................... 28
CHAPITRE III: LTE optimization ........................................................................................................ 34
III.1 Introduction: .......................................................................................................................... 34
III.2 Optimization process: ............................................................................................................ 34
III.2.1 First phase: .................................................................................................................... 34
III.2.2 Second phase: ................................................................................................................ 35
III.3 Counters and KPI Monitoring: .............................................................................................. 36
III.3.1 Accessibility KPI ........................................................................................................... 36
III.3.2 Retainability KPIs ......................................................................................................... 39
III.3.3 Mobility KPIs: ............................................................................................................... 39
III.4 LTE HO X2: .......................................................................................................................... 40
III.4.1 Idle Mode: Cell reselection: .......................................................................................... 40
III.4.2 Connected Mode: HO: ................................................................................................... 40
III.4.3 HO X2 Process .............................................................................................................. 41
CHAPITRE IV: Application part .......................................................................................................... 44
IV.1 PLANNING........................................................................................................................... 44
IV.1.1 Atoll presentation: ......................................................................................................... 44
IV.1.2 Manual Planning task: ................................................................................................... 44
IV.1.3 Automatic Planning Task: ............................................................................................. 60
IV.1.4 The Comparison between manual and automatic tasks: ................................................ 63
IV.1.5 Propagation model calibration:...................................................................................... 63
IV.2 Optimization: ......................................................................................................................... 72
IV.2.1 Pre-launch optimization: ............................................................................................... 72
IV.2.2 Post-launch optimization: .............................................................................................. 79
General Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 86
References ............................................................................................................................................ xiii
Annexe ................................................................................................................................................. xiv
LTE Channels:............................................................................................................................... xiv
IV
List of Tables
Table 1 :SC-FDMA verses OFDMA ......................................................................................... 9
Table 2 :Some bandwidth used in LTE .................................................................................... 12
Table 3 :NCS for preamble generation (0–3) in low speed cell ............................................... 30
Table 4 :NCS for preamble generation (0–3) in high speed cell. ............................................. 31
Table 5 :preambles format [15] ................................................................................................ 32
Table 6 :PRACH configuration index table [16]...................................................................... 33
Table 7 :comparison between field and network KPIS ............................................................ 34
Table 8 :Comparison between manual and automatic tasks .................................................... 63
Table 9 :down tilt and up tilt proposed .................................................................................... 78
Table 10 :Parameter Administrative state ................................................................................ 81
Table 11 :X2 link status ........................................................................................................... 83
V
Figures List
Chapter 1:
Figure 1- 1 :LTE network elements [1] ..................................................................................... 3

Figure 1- 2 :Use of OFDM in LTE ............................................................................................ 5
Figure 1- 3 :Use of OFDM in LTE ............................................................................................ 6
Figure 1- 4 :OFDM Subcarriers ................................................................................................. 6
Figure 1- 5 :OFDM Symbol Mapping........................................................................................ 7
Figure 1- 6 :Propagation delay exceeding the Guard period ...................................................... 7
Figure 1- 7 :Cyclic Prefix ........................................................................................................... 8
Figure 1- 8 :OFDMA in LTE ..................................................................................................... 8
Figure 1- 9 :Comparison SC-FDMA and OFDMA ................................................................... 9
Figure 1- 10 :LTE physical layer ............................................................................................. 10
Figure 1- 11 :Frame structure FDD .......................................................................................... 10
Figure 1- 12 :Short and long CP............................................................................................... 11
Figure 1- 13 :Physical Resource Block and Resource Element ............................................... 11
Figure 1- 14 :Some bandwidth used in LTE ............................................................................ 12
Figure 1- 15 :The mapping of the reference signal using 2 antennas ...................................... 12
Figure 1- 16 :Protocol stack layers ........................................................................................... 14
Chapter 2:
Figure 2- 1 :LTE dimensioning Process [9] ............................................................................. 17

Figure 2- 2 :Maximum allowed path loss [10] ......................................................................... 18
Figure 2- 3 :Cell area calculation [13] ..................................................................................... 21
Figure 2- 4 :Example frequency re-farming spectrum after introduce LTE technology ......... 24
Figure 2- 5 :1*3*1 Frequency Planning Scheme [14].............................................................. 25
Figure 2- 6 :1*3*1 Frequency Planning Scheme with Increased SINR [14] ........................... 25
Figure 2- 7 :Soft Frequency Reuse ........................................................................................... 26
Figure 2- 8 :PSS and SSS Position in the Downlink Channel (frequency-domain) ................ 27
Figure 2- 9 :PSS and SSS Position in the time domain ............................................................ 27
Figure 2- 10 :RS position in case of 1,2or 4 antenna ports ...................................................... 28
Figure 2- 11 :PCI Collision and Confusion .............................................................................. 28
Figure 2- 12 :PCI Collision and Confusion [16] ...................................................................... 29
Figure 2- 13 :PRACH procedures in contention free. [16] ...................................................... 29
Figure 2- 14 :Example of PRACH Frequency Offset .............................................................. 31
Figure 2- 15 :preambles format [15] ........................................................................................ 32
Figure 2- 16 :distribution of RSI. [16] ..................................................................................... 33
Chapter 3:
Figure 3- 1 :RRC Connection Setup Procedure ....................................................................... 37

Figure 3- 2 :RRC Setup Failure ................................................................................................ 38
Figure 3- 3 :Measurement point for UE-triggered ERAB setup .............................................. 38
Figure 3- 4 :Intra-LTE Handover Using the X2 Interface System Architecture ...................... 41
Figure 3- 5 :Call Flow for Intra-LTE Handover ...................................................................... 42
VI
Chapter 4:
Figure 4- 1 :Organigram ........................................................................................................... 45

Figure 4- 2 :Creation new project using database .................................................................... 45
Figure 4- 3 :LTE sites table ...................................................................................................... 46
Figure 4- 4 :LTE transmitters table .......................................................................................... 46
Figure 4- 5 :clutter import ........................................................................................................ 47
Figure 4- 6 :result of clutter import .......................................................................................... 47
Figure 4- 7 :Importing map ...................................................................................................... 48
Figure 4- 8 :Algeria map (result of importing map) ................................................................. 48
Figure 4- 9 :Oran map .............................................................................................................. 49
Figure 4- 10 :Oran communes .................................................................................................. 49
Figure 4- 11 :Filtering zone ...................................................................................................... 50
Figure 4- 12 :Result of importing google map ......................................................................... 50
Figure 4- 13 :final result ........................................................................................................... 51
Figure 4- 14 :Step 1: starting of PCI planning ......................................................................... 51
Figure 4- 15 :Step 2 :Choosing PCI calcul. .............................................................................. 52
Figure 4- 16 :Step 3: Occurrence ............................................................................................. 52
Figure 4- 17 :Step 4: Result...................................................................................................... 52
Figure 4- 18 :Step 1: Choosing PRACH calcul........................................................................ 53
Figure 4- 19 :Step 2: Occurrence ............................................................................................. 53
Figure 4- 20 :Step 4: Result...................................................................................................... 54
Figure 4- 21 :Coverage by TX ................................................................................................. 54
Figure 4- 22 :coverage by signal level ..................................................................................... 55
Figure 4- 23 :Coverage by C/(I+N) level ................................................................................. 55
Figure 4- 24 :Coverage by RSRQ level. .................................................................................. 56
Figure 4- 25 :Coverage by RSSI level. .................................................................................... 56
Figure 4- 26 :Coverage by PDSCH level. ................................................................................ 57
Figure 4- 27 :Overlapping area ................................................................................................ 57
Figure 4- 28 :Generate report ................................................................................................... 58
Figure 4- 29 :Generate report ................................................................................................... 58
Figure 4- 30 :Export report....................................................................................................... 58
Figure 4- 31 :Exported report to Excel..................................................................................... 59
Figure 4- 32 :google earth export ............................................................................................. 59
Figure 4- 33 :bmp export .......................................................................................................... 59
Figure 4- 34 :Histogram ........................................................................................................... 60
Figure 4- 35 :Opening script .................................................................................................... 61
Figure 4- 36 :Choosing willaya ................................................................................................ 61
Figure 4- 37 :Choosing commune ............................................................................................ 62
Figure 4- 38 :Choosing prediction ........................................................................................... 62
Figure 4- 39 :RSRQ Export ...................................................................................................... 63
Figure 4- 40 :Propagation Theory ............................................................................................ 64
Figure 4- 41 :Scanner used in DT ............................................................................................ 65
Figure 4- 42 :CW MEASURMENT Table .............................................................................. 66
Figure 4- 43 :Opening an existing document ........................................................................... 66
Figure 4- 44 :Import CW measurement ................................................................................... 67
Figure 4- 45 :Result of import cw measurement ...................................................................... 67
VII
Figure 4- 46 :Choosing propagation model.............................................................................. 68
Figure 4- 47 :Calculate signal level.......................................................................................... 68
Figure 4- 48 :Result before calibration..................................................................................... 69
Figure 4- 49 :calibration on SPM propagation model .............................................................. 69
Figure 4- 50 :Calibration process ............................................................................................. 70
Figure 4- 51 :Obtained result of calibration process ................................................................ 70
Figure 4- 52 :signal level in area before calibration process .................................................... 71
Figure 4- 53 :signal level in area after calibration process....................................................... 71
Figure 4- 54 :Import log file ..................................................................................................... 72
Figure 4- 55 :Result of importing data file ............................................................................... 73
Figure 4- 56 :Result of importing data file ............................................................................... 73
Figure 4- 57 :coverage by RSRP .............................................................................................. 74
Figure 4- 58 :Topography of the area ....................................................................................... 74
Figure 4- 59 :The tunnel located in the area ............................................................................. 74
Figure 4- 60 :SINR is degraded in the area covered by the drive test ...................................... 75
Figure 4- 61 :overlapping Area ................................................................................................ 75
Figure 4- 62 :SITE18 is overshooting ...................................................................................... 76
Figure 4- 68 :The cross feeder notices ..................................................................................... 79
Figure 4- 69 :Average of inter eNB HO preparation and SR ................................................... 79
Figure 4- 70 :Average of inter eNB neighbor preparation SR ................................................. 80
Figure 4- 71 :Example of trace ................................................................................................. 80
Figure 4- 72 :Average of HO preparation attempt and SR for SITE1 ..................................... 81
Figure 4- 73 :Average of preparation HO attempt and SR for SITE2 ..................................... 81
Figure 4- 74 :HO inter eNB attempt and SR ............................................................................ 82
Figure 4- 75 :HO inter eNB preparation attempt and SR ......................................................... 82
Figure 4- 76 :Average of LTE_RRC_Dropate and of E_RAB DR .......................................... 82
Figure 4- 77 :Average of Attempt x2 and S1 based .................................................................. 83
Figure 4- 78 :Neighbor distribution of SITE3 .......................................................................... 84
Figure 4- 79 :Neighbor distribution of SITE4 .......................................................................... 84
Figure 4- 80 :Average preparation SR ..................................................................................... 85
Figure 4- 81 :Attempt X2 and S1 preparation after creating X2 link ...................................... 85
VIII
Acronyms
LTE Long term evolution
MME Mobility Management Entity
P-GW Packet Data Network (PDN)Gateway
RSRP Reference Signal Receive Power
RSRQ Reference Signal Receive Quality
RSSI Received Signal Strength Indicator
S-GW Serving Gateway
SIB System Information Block
SINR Signal-to-Interference-Plus Noise Ratio
UE User Equipment
UL Uplink
UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System
PDN Packet Data Network
NAS Non Access Stratum
BMP Bitmap
DL Downlink
DTM Digital Terrain Map
EIRP Equivalent Isotropic Radiated Power
EPS Evolved Packet System
E-RAB Evolved-Radio Access Bearer
E-UTRAN Evolved Universal Terrestriel Radio Access Network
FDD Frequency Division Duplex
FMT Field Measurement Tool
HARQ Hybrid Automatic Repeat ReQuest
HO Hand Over
HSS Home Subscriber Server
ID Identity
KPI Key Performance Indicator
MAPL Maximum Allowed Path Loss
MIMO Multiple Input Multiple Output
OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing
PCI Physical Cell Identity
PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel
PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel
PRACH Physical Random Access Channel
PSS Primary Synchronisation Symbol
PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel
PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel
QoS Quality Of Service
RRC Radio Resource Control
RS Reference Signal
SSS Secondary Synchronization Signal
TDD Time Division Duplex
TD-SCDMA Time-Division-Synchronous Code-Division Multiple Access
Vbscript Visual Basic Script
VoIP Voice Over IP
eNodeB Evolved Node B
IX
« Je dédie cet événement marquant de ma vie à la mémoire de
mes défunts père et grand-père. J’espère que maintenant,
ils apprécient cet humble geste comme preuve de
reconnaissance de la part d’un fils qui a toujours prié pour
le salut de leurs âmes. Puisse Dieu, le tout puissant, les
avoir en sa sainte miséricorde. Je le dédie aussi à ma mère
qui m’a toujours encouragé et épaulé dans les moments
difficiles jusqu’à cet instant. A mes oncles et mes tentes, et
en fin mes amis ‘Omar, Yassine, Youcef, Anis, Lotfi,
Rabie, Chafik, Mohammed (El Mannschaft) ’ »
TERRAS Anouar
X
“Firstly, I would like to take this moment to thank
ALLAH the most powerful, who facilitate things for me
and put me in a good condition.
I would like to dedicate this work:
To my dear mother and father who support me and
believing in me through my education years: emotionally,
financially and mentally.
To my brother HAMZA and my sisters for their
support Wishing them success in their lives.
To My dear fiancée who helped me and support me in
my Hard times and may ALLAH bless her.
To all my friends.”
thank you All
HOURI Mohamed Lotfi
XI
Remerciements
Nous tenons à remercier toutes les personnes qui ont contribué au succès
de notre projet de fin d’études et qui nous ont aidé lors de la rédaction de ce
document.
Tout d'abord, nous adressons nos remerciements à notre professeur, Mr

BENBAKRETI Samir qui nous a aidés dans l’élaboration du plan de travail. Son
écoute et ses conseils nous ont permis de rédiger un document de qualité.
Nous tenons à remercier vivement notre encadreur de stage, Mr SAID

Khireddine pour son accueil, le temps passé ensemble et le partage de son
expertise au quotidien. Grâce aussi à sa confiance nous avons pu profiter d’une
expérience de stage d‘excellence.
Nous remercions également toute l'équipe NOKIA West pour leur accueil,
leur esprit d'équipe et de nous avoir beaucoup aidé à comprendre les valeurs
professionnelles et scientifiques d’un ingénieur. Ainsi que toute l’équipe
pédagogique de l'INTTIC et les intervenants professionnels responsables de la
formation Ingéniorat d'état.
Merci infiniment
XII
General introduction
General Introduction
The Telecommunication world is facing nowadays a big challenge since the number of
subscribers, mobile phone, smart phones, notebooks, cameras IP and laptop has been increasing
especially since 2005. Thus, in order to satisfied end user, network operator and network
provider, the 3GPP sets up the LTE (Long Term Evolution) study item for feasibility in
December, 2004, and sets up the LTE work item for standards in September, 2006.
When it comes to LTE radio network operations, time and resources are the biggest constrains
that face engineers in their daily tasks. As it is frequently important to focus and concentrate on
high priorities tasks and operations, this leaves no doubt that low priority tasks would be
processed at the end of the pile.
The main objective in this project was to maintain the priority of lower tasks in way that doesn’t
interfere with the two previously said constrains: Time consumption and resource allocation.
reducing time and optimizing resources for such tasks has been possible by automating them,
it is defined as moving the routinely tasks to an automatic action that could be adapted to the
scale and the complexity of the project leaving engineers more concentrated on new tasks
processing. Once the new tasks processes become understandable, they can be automated too.
This project was proposed by NOKIA in order to boost their efficiency when it comes to
deploying and maintaining LTE networks, allowing to reduce global processing delay.
Our project is divided into four chapters: the first one, will give an Overview about LTE
technology and the technique used for radio communication, the second chapter aims to
describe different process of Planning of LTE radio access networks, In the third chapter we
provide an optimization process as an important step in any network planning, Finally we ended
by an application which is divided in many part : planning (Manual and automatic using
VBScript) and optimization step, the objective wasn’t really to automate it but to dealing
various network problems and performance indicators monitoring.
1
CHAPITRE I : LTE overview
CHAPITRE I: LTE overview
I.1 Evolution of radio communications technologies:

Mobile communication technologies pass from the first generation which was an analogue
mobile radio system, the second generation and the first digital mobile systems, and finally the
third generation network which is first mobile systems handling broadband data. However,
every one of the previous technologies shows their limits Through time because of the explosion
of terminals and user equipment which Drained the network capacities and mad the operators
investing more than make profits.
To satisfy the increase demand of users in term of data, the operators had to find new solutions
by introducing new technologies with higher performances, we are talking here about the LTE.
I.2 System overview:

I.2.1 LTE Architecture:
The LTE network architecture is designed with the goal of supporting packet-switched traffic
(there are no circuit switched) with seamless mobility, quality of service (QoS) and minimal
latency.
A packet-switched approach allows for the supporting of all services including voice through
packet connections. The high-level network architecture of LTE is composed of two main part,
as mentioned in Figure 1.1:
E-UTRAN (Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network), referred as SAE (System
architecture Evolution).
EPC (Evolved Packet Core), also referred as LTE Together LTE and SAE makes what we
called EPS (Evolved Packet System).
2
Figure 1- 1 :LTE network elements [1]
I.2.1.1 EPC (Evolved Packet Core):

The LTE core network consists of all the equipment that support IP connectivity between multi-
technology domains in the 4G architecture. It ensures the management of users, of mobility, of
service quality and of security, using equipment such as the MME (Mobility Management
Entity), S-GW (Serving Gateway), PDN-GW (Packet Data Network Gateway) and PCRF
(Policy and Charging Rules Function). [1]
 Mobility Management Entity (MME) :
The Mobility Management Entity (MME) is the main control element of the LTE Access
Stratum. The MME has three roles:
NAS signaling between MME and eNodeB:
 EPC bearer management (QoS control).
 Generation of paging messages.
 Idle state mobility management (UE tracking and reach ability).
Inter CN node signaling (3GPP Networks):
 Selection of Serving GW, PDN GW and MME/SGSN (handover).
 Roaming.
Security Management :
 Ciphering and integrity protection of NAS signaling.
 Authentication.
 The Home Subscriber Server (HSS):
Is a central database that contains information about all the network operator's subscribers.
3
 Serving Gateway :
Another element of the EPC, which serves as a router for tunneling and management of user
data is known as the Serving Gateway (S-GW). It forwards all connected-state UE originated
and terminated data between the eNodeB and P-GW.
 The Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW):
The interface which enables the EPC and its elements to interact with and connect to the
services of the Service Domain (i.e. to Packet Data Networks) is called the Packet Data Network
Gateway (in further text P-GW). It is the main router that performs traffic directing and filtering
functions required by some external services, and through which a UE obtains an IP address at
start-up, enabling its always-on connectivity and allowing it to browse the web or use IMS
operation.
 Policy and Charging Resource Function:
The process responsible for the Policy and Charging Control of the elements in the EPC is
called Policy and Charging Resource Function (PCRF), and responsible for quality-of-service
(QoS) handling and charging.
I.2.1.2 E-UTRAN (Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network):
E- UTRAN, simply consists of Users equipment known as the terminals and a network of
eNodeBs, there is no centralized controller in E- UTRAN as the case in UMTS technology
(RNC), eNodeBs are normally interconnected with each other by means of an interface known
as “X2” and to the EPC by means of the S1 interface - more specifically, to the MME by means
of the S1-MME interface and to the S-GW by means of the S1-U interface, wich we will speak
all about later in this chapter.
I.2.2 Architecture interfaces:
S1-MME: This is the reference point for the control plane protocol between E- UTRAN and
the MME.
S1-U: This reference point based on the GTP-U protocol between the E-UTRAN and
Serving GW. This interface supports SAE bearer user plane tunneling and inter eNodeB path
switching during handover.
S5: This reference point between the serving SAE gateway and PDN SAE gateway can be based
on GTP protocol or IETF-based. It is used to support mobility when the mobile moves out of
the scope of the serving SAE gateway.
X2: This interface point between a different eNodeB’s. Its principal functions are:
-Context transfer from source eNB to target eNB;
4
-Control of user plane tunnels between source eNB and target eNB.
-Handover cancellation.
-Error indication.
-Trace functions
S11: Interface between MME and SGW.
S10: Interface between MMEs. It is needed to switch or roam from one MME to another.
S6a: Interface between MME and HSS. It enables transfer of subscription and authentication
data for authenticating/authorizing user access to the evolved system (AAA interface) between
MME and HSS.
S8 interface: The interface between the access SGW and the home PGW when roaming.
SGI: Interface between PGW and network.
S3: Reference point between MME and SGSN for signaling via GTP-C protocol (GTP Control)
exchanged at intersystem handover.
Uu: Reference point between mobile and eNode-B for signaling and traffic. Mobile
signalization is exchanged with eNode-B throw RRC Protocol (Radio Resource Control) and
with MME throw NAS Protocol (Non Access Stratum) corresponding to the mobility and
session management. [2]
I.3 OFDM basics:

The LTE air interface utilizes two different multiple access techniques both based on OFDM
(Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing):
OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) used on the downlink.
SC-FDMA (Single Carrier - Frequency Division Multiple Access) used on the uplink.
Figure 1- 2 :Use of OFDM in LTE
The concept of OFDM is not new and is currently being used on various systems such as
Wi-Fi and WiMAX. In addition, it was even considered for UMTS back in 1998.
5
I.3.1 Frequency Division Multiplexing:

OFDM is based on FDM (Frequency Division Multiplexing) and is a method whereby multiple
frequencies are used to simultaneously transmit information. Figure 1.3 illustrates an example
of FDM with four subcarriers. These can be used to carry different information and to ensure
that each subcarrier does not interfere with the adjacent subcarrier, a guard band is utilized. In
addition, each subcarrier has slightly different radio characteristics and this may be used to
provide diversity. [3]
Figure 1- 3 :Use of OFDM in LTE
I.3.2 OFDM Subcarriers:

OFDM follows the same concept as FDM but it drastically increases spectral efficiency by
reducing the spacing between the subcarriers. Figure 1.4 illustrates how the subcarriers can
overlap due to their orthogonality with the other subcarriers, i.e. the subcarriers are
mathematically perpendicular to each other. As such, when a subcarrier is at its maximum the
two adjacent subcarriers are passing through zero. [3]
Figure 1- 4 :OFDM Subcarriers
I.3.3 OFDM Symbol Mapping:

The mapping of OFDM symbols to subcarriers is dependent on the system design. Figure1.5
illustrates an example of OFDM mapping. The first 12 modulated OFDM symbols are mapped
6
to 12 subcarriers, i.e. they are transmitted at the same time but using different subcarriers. The
next 12 subcarriers are mapped to the next OFDM symbol period. In addition, a CP (Cyclic
Prefix) is added between the symbols. [3]
Figure 1- 5 :OFDM Symbol Mapping
I.4 OFDM & multipath propagation (Cyclic prefix):

I.4.1 Time Domain Interference:
The Guard Period should be designed such that it is always longer than the multipath delay
spread, in order to avoid inter-symbol interference between successive OFDM symbols. Note
that in the example of the following figure, the Guard Period is too short, so there will be inter-
symbol interference! [4]
Figure 1- 6 :Propagation delay exceeding the Guard period
I.4.2 Cyclic Prefix:

A CP (Cyclic Prefix) is utilized in most OFDM systems to combat multipath delays. It
effectively provides a guard period for each OFDM symbol. Figure 1.7 illustrates the Cyclic
7
Prefix and its location in the OFDM Symbol. Notice that the Cyclic Prefix is effectively a copy
taken from the back of the original symbol which is then placed in front of the symbol to make
the OFDM symbol (Ts).
The size of the Cyclic Prefix relates to the maximum delay spread the system can tolerate. As
such, systems designed for macro coverage, i.e. large cells, should have a large CP. This does
however impact the system capacity since the number of symbols per second is reduced. [3] [4]
Figure 1- 7 :Cyclic Prefix
I.5 General OFDMA Structure:

The E-UTRA downlink is based on OFDMA. As such, it enables multiple devices to receive
information at the same time but on different parts of the radio channel. In most OFDMA
systems, this is referred to as a “Subchannel”, i.e. a collection of subcarriers. However, in E-
UTRA, the term Subchannel is replaced with the term PRB (Physical Resource Block).
Figure 1.8 illustrates the concept of OFDMA, whereby different users are allocated one or
more resource blocks in the time and frequency domain, thus enabling efficient scheduling of
the available resources. [3]
Figure 1- 8 :OFDMA in LTE
8
I.6 SC-FDMA:
Since the high PAPR of OFDM is difficult to tolerate for the transmitter of the mobile terminal,
it is necessary to find a solution. Thus in the uplink direction the 3GPP uses SC-FDMA for
multiple access which is valid for both FDD and TDD modes of operation.
In SC-FDMA each symbol is sent one at a time similarly to Time Division Multiple Access
(TDMA) systems such as GSM.
The need for guard band between different users can be avoided like the downlink OFDMA
principle and instead a CP is added d periodically to the transmission to prevent inter-symbol
interference. [3]
I.7 OFDMA Verses SC-FDMA:

The main reason SC-FDMA was specified for the uplink was because of its PA (Power
Amplifier) characteristics. Typically, the SC-FDMA signal will operate with a 2-3dB lower
PAPR (Peak-to-Average Power Ratio). This makes the system more efficient, thus increasing
the battery life for mobile users. SC-FDMA is also better when it comes to larger cell coverage.
It must be noted that OFDMA is better in a number of areas, such as Inter-symbol orthogonality
and the ability to provide a more flexible frequency domain scheduling mechanism. This
increases the system performance. Table 1 highlights three main features and indicates which
technology is best suited. [3] [4]
Feature SC-FDMA OFDMA
Low PAPR Y X
Performance X Y
Table 1 :SC-FDMA verses OFDMA
Figure 1- 9 :Comparison SC-FDMA and OFDMA
9
I.8 LTE physical layer:

LTE physical layer provides the basic bit transmission functionality over air and based on
OFDMA in DL & SC-FDMA in UL (this is the same for both FDD &TDD mode of operation).
[4]
Figure 1- 10 :LTE physical layer
I.8.1 Frame structure FDD:

- FDD frame structure (also called type 1 frame) is common to both UL &DL.
- Divided into 20 x 0.5ms slots.
The Structure has been designed to facilitate short round trip time, it’s mentioned in the
figure 1.11.
Figure 1- 11 :Frame structure FDD
I.8.2 Subframe structure & CP length:

-Subframe length: 1 ms for all bandwidths.
-Slot length is 0.5 ms. (1 Subframe = 2slot).
-Slot carries 7 symbols with normal CP or 6 symbols with long CP, while CP length depends
on the symbol position within the slot:
 Normal CP: symbol 0 in each slot has CP = 5.21 µs; remaining symbols CP = 4.7 µs.
10
 Extended CP: CP length for all symbols in the slot is 16.6 µs.
Figure 1- 12 :Short and long CP
I.9 Physical Resource Blocks and Resource Elements:

A PRB (Physical Resource Block) consists of 12 consecutive subcarriers and lasts for one slot,
i.e. 0.5ms. Figure 1.13 illustrates the size of a PRB.
The NRB DL parameter is used to define the number of RB (Resource Blocks) used in the DL
(Downlink). This is dependent on the channel bandwidth. In contrast, NRB UL is used to
identify the number of resource blocks in the uplink. Each RB (Resource Block) consists of
NSC RB subcarriers, which for standard operation is set to 12.
The PRB is used to identify an allocation. It typically includes 6 or 7 symbols, depending on
whether an extended or normal cyclic prefix is configured.
The term RE (Resource Element) is used to describe one subcarrier lasting one symbol. This
can then be assigned to carry modulated information, reference information or nothing. [3] [4]
Figure 1- 13 :Physical Resource Block and Resource Element
11
Channel bandwidth
(MHZ) 1.4 3 5 10 15 20
Number
Of 72 180 300 600 900 1200
subcarriers
Number of
resource bloc 6 15 25 50 75 100
Table 2 :Some bandwidth used in LTE
I.10 Reference Signals:

Reference Signals are an Important factor regarding estimating the channel status. allocated by
the transmitter in order to recover the transmitted information correctly by removing the
channel effects. [5]
The mapping of the reference signal on the resource grid therefore depends on the antenna
configuration.
Figure 1- 15 :The mapping of the reference signal using 2 antennas Figure 1- 14 :Some bandwidth used in LTE
12
I.10.1 RSRP:
The Reference Signal Received Power, expressed in dBm. With this parameter, different cells
using the same carrier frequency can be compared and handover or cell reselection decisions
can be taken. For example, a strong and hence very good RSRP value equals −50 dBm on a
logarithmic scale or 0.000001mW (10−9 W) on a linear scale. A weak RSRP value, which still
allows reception in practice but at lower speeds, is−90dBm, which equals 0.000000001mW
(10−12 W) on a linear scale. [6]
I.10.2 RSSI:
The Received Signal Strength Indication. This value includes the total power received,
including the interference from neighboring cells and other sources. [6]
I.10.3 RSRQ:
The Reference Signal Received Quality. The better this value the better can the signal of the
cell be received compared to the interference generated by other cells. The RSRQ is usually
expressed on a logarithmic scale in decibel (dB) and is negative as the reference signal power
is smaller than the overall power received. The closer the negative value is to 0, the better the
RSRQ. In practice, an RSRQ of−10 results in very low transmission speeds. An RSRQ of−3 or
higher results in very good transmission speeds if the overall signal strength (RSRP) of the cell
is also high. [6]
I.11 LTE Protocols and Layers:

I.11.1 LTE Protocol Structure:
The radio protocol structure for LTE can be separated into control plane and user
plane architecture for managing information.
I.11.1.1 Control Plane:
Control plane describes the protocol stack(s) required to transport control (signaling) traffic.
The control plane includes additionally the Radio Resource Control layer (RRC) which is
responsible for configuring the lower layers.
The Control Plane handles radio-specific functionality which depends on the state of the user
equipment which includes two states: idle or connected:
First for idle Mode The UE camps on a cell after a cell selection or reselection process, it also
monitors a paging channel to detect incoming calls and acquire system information. In this
mode, control plane protocols include cell selection and reselection procedures. Second for the
Connected Mode The UE supplies the E-UTRAN with downlink channel quality and neighbor
13
cell information to enable the E-UTRAN to select the most suitable cell for the UE. In this case,
control plane protocol includes the Radio Link Control (RRC) protocol.
I.11.1.2 User plane:
A User Plane describes the protocol stack(s) required to transport “data” traffic. Data traffic
includes any user bearer traffic such as voice or video packets, Internet access, email, And so
on.
I.11.2 Protocol stack layers:
The protocol stack defines three layers: the physical layer (layer 1), data link and
access layer (Layer 2), and transport layer (layer 3). [11]
Figure 1- 16 :Protocol stack layers
I.11.2.1 layer 1 (Physical layer):

The LTE air interface physical layer offers data transport services to higher layers. The access
to these services is through the use of a transport channel via the MAC sub-layer.
The physical layer performs the following functions for data transmission: Channel coding to
protects the information bits against transmission errors on the transport channel, and
modulation and demodulation of physical channels, and The multicarrier modulation which
combines the signal to be transmitted on each antenna of the multi-carrier according to the
principle of OFDM for the downlink and SC-FDMA in uplink., Sync, to acquire and maintain
synchronization in time and frequency with the carrier of the issuer, multiple Input Multiple
Output (MIMO) antenna processing, the radio measurements to estimate the signal quality of
the serving cell, or the received power levels of another cell. [7]
14
I.11.2.2 layer 2 (data link and access layer):

The layer 2 consists of three sublayers:
 MAC (Medium Access Control):
The MAC sublayer is the mapping between the logical and transport channels, it multiplexes
RLC packets into a single MAC PDU for transmission by the Physical Layer. And performs
the following functions:
✓ Scheduling.
✓ HARQ (Error correction).
✓ Logic channel priority Processing.
✓ PDU packetizing and Demultiplexing.
 RLC layer (Radio Link Control):
RLC is located on top of the MAC-layer and below the PDCP-layer. The main tasks of the RLC
protocol are :
✓ Transfer of upper layer Protocol Data Units (PDUs) in one of three modes:
Acknowledged Mode (AM), Unacknowledged Mode (UM) and Transparent Mode (TM)
✓ Error correction through ARQ
✓ Reordering of RLC data PDUs
✓ Packet assembly and disassembly
 PDCP layer (Packet Data Convergence Protocol):
The PDCP is located in the Radio Protocol Stack in the LTE Air interface on top of
the RLC layer. The PDCP performs the following functions:
✓ transfer of user and control plane data to and from upper layers.
✓ header compression and decompression function for user plan data (ip data)
✓ Detection and removal of duplicates (PDCP data unit received twice).
✓ encryption and integrity protection and verification of control plane data. [11]
I.12.2.3 Layer 3 (Application layer):
It is divided into two sublayers: The non-access stratum (NAS) and Radio Resource Control
(RRC):
Non Access Stratum (NAS):
The non-access stratum (NAS) protocols form the highest stratum of the control plane between
the user equipment (UE) and MME, it sits on top of RRC.
15
NAS protocols support the mobility processing in idle state of the UE and the session
management procedures to establish and maintain IP connectivity between the UE and a PDN
GW.
Radio Resource Control (RRC):
The RRC layer supports all the signaling procedures between the terminal and the eNodeB.
This includes transmission of broadcast information like system information (MIB, SIB), cell
(re)selection control and broadcast and multicast services. Also, it is responsible to establish
and maintain services in-between UE and EPC, like paging, radio connection (establishment,
release and modification), handover control, measurement control, security control and radio
configuration control (ARQ, HARQ), the RRC layer also control QoS, with priority allocation
and prioritization bit rate for each resource bearer and transfers dedicated control information to the
UEs using NAS signaling. [8]
16
CHPATERE II: LTE Radio planning and Dimensioning

II.1 Introduction:
The radio network planning process is designed to maximize the Network coverage, whilst at
the same time providing the desired capacity. In order to achieve this, there are a number of
steps that are typically performed, these include: dimensioning, detailed planning and
optimization (pre-launch and post-launch optimization).
II.2 LTE Dimensioning:

Dimensioning is the initial phase of network planning. It provides the first estimation of the
network coverage and capacity. The purpose of dimensioning is to estimate the required number
of radio base stations needed to support a specified traffic load in an area. [9]
The figure bellow show LTE Dimensioning method:
Figure 2- 1 :LTE dimensioning Process [9]
II.2.1 Coverage Dimensioning:

Coverage dimensioning is the first step in the process of dimensioning, it is used to determine
the coverage area of each eNodeB. Coverage Dimensioning based on radio link budget means
that RLB is of central importance to coverage planning in LTE.
II.2.1.1 Link budget:
Radio link budget aiming to calculate UL/DL maximum allowed path loss named MAPL, using
MAPL and suitable propagation model (which can be generally seen as a function about path
loss (PL) and distance between UE and eNB), and average cell coverage radius can be
calculated. Finally, with cell radius, radio network planners can easily figure up the site
coverage area and site count for given area and that the target of coverage Dimensioning. [10]
17
Figure 2- 2 :Maximum allowed path loss [10]
 Calculation of maximum allowed path loss MAPL:

The Maximum Allowable Path Loss (MAPL) formula expresses the maximum allowable
attenuation of the radio wave traversing the air interface. Together with the propagation model,
it is used for cell range estimation. MAPL is usually presented in a logarithmic scale. The
formula comprises all the gains and losses that can be experienced in the system. The formula
is the same for DL and UL and is independent from the chosen operating band. [11]
 MAPL for Uplink:
MAPLUL = EIRPUL – SeNBRX – LNF – IMUL + GeNBantenna + GULshad – LeNBfeeder - Lpen

[11]
Where:
 MAPLUL - maximum allowable path loss for uplink.

 EIRP - equivalent isotropic radiated power:
EIPRUL = PUETx + GUEantenna - Lbody [11]
- UE Max power (dBm) is 23dBm (200mW).

- Antenna gain is proportional to the physical size, signal frequency and antenna
Vertical & Horizontal beam width, 0dB in the uplink typically.
- body loss for the uplink it is 0dB.
 SeNBRx - receiver sensitivity:
SRx = Nt + SINR + fnoise + 10log(Bw) [12]
- “Nt” Thermal noise is defining with formula: Nt = K T B [11]
18
Where “K” Boltzmann constant = [1.38 x 10-23J/k°] and “T” Temperature [290
Kelvin], “B” bandwidth and in LTE, it can be 1.4MHz/3MHz/5 MHz/10 MHz/15
MHz/20 MHz.
- Required “SINR” is a simulated valus.it is related to the target MCS.
- “fnoise” Noise Figure of Nokia eNodeB is 2.3dBm for FDD mode.
- “BW” Bandwidth per resource block: 180 kHz.
 LNF - log normal fading margin.
 IM - interference margin.
 Gantenna - antenna gain:
- eNB antenna gain changes with the antenna type and frequency band, for Nokia
Network the value is typically 18dBi for directional antenna (3 sectors).
 Gshad - gain against shadowing.
 Lpen - penetration loss.
 Lfeeder - feeder loss:
- is the sum of all signal losses caused by antenna line outside the base-station
cabinet, a feederless solution is preferred by Nokia which gives 0.4dB only.
 Lbody - body loss:
- body loss is 0dB in the uplink.
 MAPL for Downlink:
MAPLDL = EIRPDL – SUERX – LNF – IMDL + GUEantenna + GDLshad – Lpen

[11]
Where:
 MAPLDL - maximum allowable path loss for Downlink.

 EIRP - equivalent isotropic radiated power:
EIRPDL = PeNBTx + GeNBantenna – LeNBfeeder [11]
- For Nokia Network eNodeB Max Total Power (dBm) is 46dBm (40W).
- eNodeB Antenna Gain is 18dBi (3 sectors).
- The same as uplink 0.4dBi using feederless solution.
 SUERx - receiver sensitivity:
- The same formula as the uplink but “fnoise” Noise Figure UE is typically 7dBm.
 LNF - log normal fading margin.
19
 IM - interference margin.
 Gantenna - antenna gain:
- Typically, UE antenna gain is assumed to be 0dBi.
 Gshad - gain against shadowing.
 Lpen - penetration loss.
After we have completed the computation of the MAPL it is necessary to choose the model of
propagation to appropriate and to solve equation MAPL = L (d) knowing that “L” is the path
loss and “d” is the cell range, there are several models of propagation It is typically a function
of frequency, distance, antenna heights, terrain, clutter and other conditions.
The propagation model that we will used in our project is the Standard Propagation Model
because it has characteristics which are suitable with the environment that will be planned
(Dense Urban).
 Standard Propagation Model:
The Standard Propagation Model is a propagation model based on the Hata formulas and is
suited for predictions in the 150 to 3500 MHz band over long distances (from one to 20 km).
It is best suited to GSM 900/1800, UMTS, CDMAOne and CDMA2000, and WiMAX and
LTE radio technologies. This model uses the terrain profile, diffraction mechanisms
(calculated in several ways) and take into account clutter classes and effective antenna heights
in order to calculate path loss.
The model may be used for any technology; it is based on the following formula:
Lmodel = K1 + K2log(d) + K3log(HTxeff) + K4 x Diffraction loss + K5 log(d) x log(HTxeff) + K6(HRxeff)

[20]
+ K1log(HRxeff) + Kclutterf(clutter)
With:
K1: constant offset (dB).
K2: multiplying factor for log(d).
d: distance between the receiver and the transmitter (m).
K3: multiplying factor for log(HTxeff).
HTxeff: effective height of the transmitter antenna (m).
K4: multiplying factor for diffraction calculation. K4 has to be a positive number.
Diffraction loss: loss due to diffraction over an obstructed path (dB).
K5: multiplying factor for log(HTxeff)log(d).
K6: multiplying factor for HRxeff.
20
K7: multiplying factor for log (HRxeff)

HRxeff: effective mobile antenna height (m).
Kclutter: multiplying factor for f(clutter).
f(clutter): average of weighted losses due to clutter.
II.2.1.2 Cell Area-Site Area and Site Number:
After cell radius (d) has been determined, cell area can be calculated. The way the cell area is
calculated depends on the chosen cell type:
Figure 2- 3 :Cell area calculation [13]
o “A” represent cell area and R stands for cell range.

o For site area is the number of sectors (cells = S) per site:
𝑨𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒆=𝑨𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒍 ×𝐒
For example, for three-sector-site, S=3.
Finally, to get number of sites (eNBs) due to coverage:
𝑨
NeNBs = Where A, is the studied zone area. [13]
𝐀 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞
II.2.2 Capacity Dimensioning:

Capacity planning gives an estimate of the resources needed for supporting a specified offered
traffic with a certain level of QoS.
Link Budget (Coverage Planning) gives the maximum allowed path loss and the maximum
range of the cell, whereas coverage Planning takes into account the interference by providing a
suitable model. LTE also exhibits soft capacity like its predecessor 3G systems.
21
Therefore, the increase in interference and noise by increasing the number of users will decrease
the cell coverage forcing the cell radius to become smaller.
In LTE, the main indicator of capacity is SINR distribution in the cell. In this study, for the sake
of simplicity, LTE access network is assumed to be limited in coverage by UL direction and
capacity by DL.
The evaluation of capacity needs the following two tasks to be completed:
• Being able to estimate the cell throughput corresponding to the settings used to derive
the cell radius
• Analyzing the traffic inputs provided by the operator to derive the traffic demand,
which include the amount of subscribers, the traffic mix and data about the geographical
spread of subscribers in the deployment area.
II.2.2.1 Average Cell Throughput:
The target of capacity planning exercise is to get an estimate of the site count based on the
capacity requirements. Average cell throughput is needed to calculate the capacity-based site
count.
The most accurate evaluation of cell capacity (throughput under certain constraints) is given by
running simulations. Since, the dimensioning is usually done, the best solution to derive cell
throughput is direct mapping of SINR distribution obtained from a simulator into MCS (thus,
bit rate).
II.2.2.2 Traffic demand estimation and Overbooking factor:
Since the given bandwidth can only deliver a certain amount of capacity, then the traffic demand
needs to be understood. The complex part is the analysis of the peak hours of different
subscriber types and traffic profiles. The required result is the overbooking factor that describes
the level of multiplexing or number of users sharing a given channel or capacity.
As coverage planning, also capacity planning is done separately for different service areas
(urban, suburban and rural).
If we use requirements corresponding to the peak hour traffic, then it would lead to over
dimensioning. Precious resources will be wasted in other hours of the day. For this reason, it is
important to define the overbooking factor (OBF), OBF is the average number of users that can
share a given unit of channel. The channel unit used in dimensioning is the peak data rate.
However, it is not safe to dimension the network with 100 percent loading. In most of data
networks, the utilization factor is less than 85 percent in order to guarantee Quality of Service
22
(QoS). So the higher this parameter, the longer will be the average waiting time for users
accessing the channel.
II.2.2.3 Capacity based site count:
With the knowledge of traffic demand estimation and the factors involved in it, Overall data
rate required can be calculated. Based on the overbooking factor described above, the total data
rate for the capacity calculation is:
𝑶𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒍𝑫𝒂𝒕𝒂𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒆 = 𝑵𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝑶𝒇𝑼𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒔. 𝑷𝒆𝒂𝒌𝑫𝒂𝒕𝒂𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒆. 𝑶𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈𝑭𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓
The number of sites necessary to support the above calculated total traffic is simply:
𝑶𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒍𝑫𝒂𝒕𝒂𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒆
𝑵𝒖𝒎𝑺𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒔𝑪𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚 =
𝑺𝒊𝒕𝒆𝑪𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚
Where the 𝑺𝒊𝒕𝒆𝑪𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚 is a multiple of the Cell Throughput, which depends on the number
of cells per site (Not considering any hardware limitation).
As already done for the coverage evaluation, the site count is performed for each type of service
area. Capacity based site count is usually higher than the coverage based counterpart in a fully
functional network. In real networks, this number is smaller in the earlier years of network
operation, when the number of users is quite less. But as the demand increases and more users
are added to the service, the capacity based site count takes the lead and smaller cells are
required. The larger of the two counts is used as a final number as a dimensioning output.
II.3 LTE Radio planning:

The purpose of the network planning is to construct a radio network, define a set of site locations
whose capacity and coverage area are both as large as possible and which can adapt to the
network development and capacity extension in the future, at a certain cost and guaranteeing
the network service quality.
Before network get launched there some parameters that must be planned first because of
their importance like the PCI, PRACH and frequency planning.
II.3.1 Frequency planning:

The operating bands are already used by other technologies like GSM and UMTS, and the
introduction of LTE requires a re-farming of the bands.
The range of channel bandwidths supported by LTE allow a flexible re-farming of existing
Operating bands. In general, operators are limited by the quantity of spectrum allocated by
23
the national regulator, for example a 5 MHz LTE channel could replace a single UMTS
channel or 1.4 MHz in LTE could replace 7 GSM channels, the figure below illustrates the
examples of LTE channels introduced within spectrum used by GSM and UMTS:
Figure 2- 4 :Example frequency re-farming spectrum after introduce LTE technology
The operator has to decide whether to deploy LTE with a narrow channel
Bandwidth or a wide channel bandwidth, a configuration should be made according to a

methodology:
 Frequency re-use 1*3*1:

The first digit (i.e. “1”x3x1) represents the number of sites used in the reuse pattern before a
frequency is assigned again, the second digit (i.e. 1x”3”x1) represents the number of sectors
deployed in each site and The third digit (i.e. 1x3x”1”) represents the number of channels or
carriers distributed across the sectors of each site.
This configuration allows each cell (sector) to use the full allocated spectrum, means Higher
spectrum efficiency (high throughput) but it also opens the door for inter-site and inter-sector
interference which is detrimental for urban LTE deployment due to the High site density.
The figure bellow shows how frequency is deployed using full spectrum:
24
Figure 2- 5 :1*3*1 Frequency Planning Scheme [14]
 Frequency re-use 1*3*3:

What distinguishes the first from the second is that the second allows to each cell “1/3” of the
total allocated spectrum (the peak throughputs are limited) as shown in the figure below, this
allows each cell to achieve relatively high SINR because levels of inter cell interference are
reduced by the frequency domain isolation.
Figure 2- 6 :1*3*1 Frequency Planning Scheme with Increased SINR [14]
25
There is another methodology know under the name of Soft Frequency Reuse 1*3*1 (SFR)
which consist of dividing the entire LTE carrier bandwidth into 3 sub-sections, each sector in
the cell edge, the user uses one sub-section (1/3 of the total spectrum) named “primary band”.
As a result, the interference level between sectors can be reduced, thereby enhancing the
Throughput of these users.
For the users are in the center of the cell they will use the secondary band which is the
remaining carrier bandwidth “2/3” as shown below:
Figure 2- 7 :Soft Frequency Reuse
For NOKIA network the re-use which is rather preferred is the first one because each operator
is in the race of achieved the best throughput means uses of the full spectrum band of LTE.
II.3.2 Physical Cell ID planning:

II.3.2.2 Definition:
PCI is used to identify radio signals of the different cells, in terminal.
There are 504 unique physical layer cell identities. These identities are organized in
168 groups of 3.
PCI = 3 SSS + PSS
Where:
 PSS: Primary Synchronization Signal
 SSS: Secondary Synchronization Signal
A physical layer cell identity is thus uniquely defined by the SSS in the range of 0 to
167, representing the physical layer cell identity group, and the PSS in the range of 0 to 2,
representing the identity within the group.
Both PSS and SSS transmitted once every 5 ms, they are mapped into the first 31 subcarriers
either side of the DC subcarrier. Therefore, they use six resource blocks with five reserved
subcarriers on each side, as shown in the following figure.
26
Figure 2- 8 :PSS and SSS Position in the Downlink Channel (frequency-domain)
PSS is present in subframe 0 and 5 (7th OFDM symbol) and is mapped on 72 subcarriers
in the middle of the band. while the SSS is mapped to the 6th OFDM symbol in subframe 0 and
5 also it is mapped on 72 subcarriers in the middle of the band. as shown in the following
figure:
Figure 2- 9 :PSS and SSS Position in the time domain
The Physical Layer Cell Identity has an impact upon the allocation of resource elements
to the reference signal and the set of physical channels.
Position of RS in time domain is fixed: slots 0 and 4 of the PRB, each RB reserves REs for 4,
8, or 12 RS depending on whether this is 1, 2, or 4 antenna ports, respectively, as is shown
below:
27
Figure 2- 10 :RS position in case of 1,2or 4 antenna ports
II.3.2.2 PCI Planning Recommendations:

It is highly recommended to avoid any kind of PCI confusion and collision in this planning step:
Figure 2- 11 :PCI Collision and Confusion
 PCI Collision:
A PCI collision occurs between two intra-frequency cells that use an identical PCI. In this case,
UEs in the overlapping area of the two cells cannot implement signal synchronization or
decoding. Figure 9 shows a PCI collision between cell A and cell B.
 PCI Confusion :
A PCI confusion occurs between a detected cell and a neighboring cell if the two cells have the
same frequency and PCI and if the reference signal received power (RSRP) of the two cells
reaches the handover threshold. The PCI confusion may lead to UE handover failures or service
drops.
II.3.3 PRACH Planning:
II.3.3.1 PRACH Planning configuration:
Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) is the LTE UL control channel which the UE use
to initiate the Random Access (RACH) procedure which RACH is a basic LTE procedure
used to establish uplink synchronization and start the uplink transmission
28
Two cells must be different within the PRACH re-use distance to increase the RACH
decoding success rate.
Various scenarios involving PRACH usage:
 UE transiting from RRC_IDLE to RRC Connected state. (contention based)

 RRC Connection Reestablishment. (contention based)
 UE handover. (contention free or non-contention based)
 when UE needs to send new UL data. (contention based) or needs to receive new DL
data (contention free) (Synchronization lost). [16]
SIB2:
 RootSeqIndex.
 PrachConfIndex.
 PrachFreqOff.
 HighSpeedFlag.
 ZeroCorrelationZoneCong.
Figure 2- 12 :PCI Collision and Confusion [16]
Figure 2- 13 :PRACH procedures in contention free. [16]
29
PRACH configuration of a LTE cell can be differentiated from its neighboring cells by:
II.3.3.1.1 Code domain:

PRACH Cyclic Shift (planning of prachCS) and Root Sequence Index (planning of rootSeqIndex).
A. Root Sequence parameters:

 Root Sequence Index and Zero Correlation Zone:
The random access preambles are generated from:
 Zadoff-Chu root sequences (838 in Total 0837) with zero Correlation zone.
 One or several sequences (length 839 each).
There are 64 preambles sequences available in each cell.
In case the 64 preambles cannot be generated from a single root Zadoff-Chu sequence, then
remaining preambles are obtained from the root sequences with the consecutive logical indexes
until all the 64 sequences are found. [15] [16]
Ncs Ncs No of preamble per root sequence index R(Km)

Config sequence
1 13 64 1 0.76
2 15 55 2 1.04
3 18 46 2 1.47
4 22 38 2 2.04
5 26 32 2 2.62
6 32 26 3 3.48
7 38 22 3 4.33
8 46 18 4 5.48
9 59 14 5 7.34
10 76 11 6 9.77
11 93 9 8 12.20
12 119 7 10 15.92
13 167 5 13 22.78
14 279 3 22 38.8
15 419 2 32 58.83
0 839 1 64 118.9
Table 3 :NCS for preamble generation (0–3) in low speed cell
30
 High speed flag:

PrachCS also depends on the high speed flag:
Zero Correlation Zone Ncs Value
Configuration Unrestricted set Restricted set
0 0 15
1 13 18
2 15 22
3 18 26
4 22 32
5 26 38
6 32 46
7 38 55
8 46 68
9 59 82
10 76 100
11 93 128
12 119 158
13 167 202
14 279 237
15 419 -
Table 4 :NCS for preamble generation (0–3) in high speed cell.
II.3.3.1.2 Frequency domain:

PRACH Frequency Offset (planning of prachFreqOff), In exceptional cases (when the first
rule cannot be fulfilled).
It governs which frequency resource UE can use for the RACH required.
Example: if the value of PRACH Frequency Offset is 7 UE than we can use form PRB 7 to 12
for RACH request. [15]
Figure 2- 14 :Example of PRACH Frequency Offset
II.3.3.1.3 Time domain:

PRACH Configuration Index (planning of prachConfIndex), If the second step is not feasible
or not sufficient.
This configuration let us knew the position of the preamble in time domain and also defined
the format of preamble used.
31
3GPP (TS36.211) specify 4 random access format for FDD. [15] [16]
Figure 2- 15 :preambles format [15]
Preamble Duplex Mode CP Duration Sequence Garde Total Typical Max

Format (us) Duration(us) Time(us) Length(ms) Cell
Range(Km)
0 FDD/TDD 103.13 800 96.88 1 14.5
1 FDD/TDD 648.38 800 515.63 2 77.3
2 FDD/TDD 203.13 800 196.88 2 29.5
3 FDD/TDD 684.38 800 715.63 3 100.2
4 TDD 14.58 133 9.38 0.6 1.4
Table 5 :preambles format [15]
With using Table 6 we can know in which frame and sub frame we are
PRACH Preamble System SubFrame PRACH Preamble System SubFrame

Config Index Format Frame Number Config Format Frame Number
Number Index Number
0 0 Even 1 32 2 Even 1
1 0 Even 4 33 2 Even 4
2 0 Even 7 34 2 Even 7
3 0 Any 1 35 2 Any 1
4 0 Any 4 36 2 Any 4
5 0 Any 7 37 2 Any 7
6 0 Any 1,6 38 2 Any 1,6
7 0 Any 2,7 39 2 Any 2,7
8 0 Any 3,8 40 2 Any 3,8
9 0 Any 1,4,7 41 2 Any 1,4,7
10 0 Any 2,5,8 42 2 Any 2,5,8
11 0 Any 3,6,9 43 2 Any 3,6,9
12 0 Any 0,2,4,6,8 44 2 Any 0,2,4,6,8
13 0 Any 1,3,5,7,9 45 2 Any 1,3,5,7,9
14 0 Any 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 46 N/A N/A N/A
15 0 Even 9 47 2 Even 9
16 1 Even 1 48 3 Even 1
17 1 Even 4 49 3 Even 4
18 1 Even 7 50 3 Even 7
19 1 Any 1 51 3 Any 1
20 1 Any 4 52 3 Any 4
21 1 Any 7 53 3 Any 7
22 1 Any 1,6 54 3 Any 1,6
23 1 Any 2,7 55 3 Any 2,7
24 1 Any 3,8 56 3 Any 3,8
32
25 1 Any 1,4,7 57 3 Any 1,4,7

26 1 Any 2,5,8 58 3 Any 2,5,8
27 1 Any 3,6,9 59 3 Any 3,6,9
28 1 Any 0,2,4,6,8 60 N/A N/A N/A
29 1 Any 1,3,5,7,9 61 N/A N/A N/A
30 N/A N/A N/A 62 N/A N/A N/A
31 1 Even 9 63 3 Even 9
Table 6 :PRACH configuration index table [16]
II.3.3.2 Practical PRACH Planning scenarios

PRACH Ncs Physical Root Planning Steps: [15] [16]
 Identify the cell radius in Km.

 Select the preamble format based on cell radius.
 Using PRACH format and cell radius to find the corresponding Ncs value
 Identify the number of physical roots based on the Ncs value.
 EXAMPLE:
1- Cell radius =10 Km.
2- using the TABLE 5:
PRACH format  0
3- using TABLE 3:
Ncs Config Ncs No of preamble per sequence root sequence index R(Km)
11 93 9 8 12.20
Ncs  93
4- defining number of root sequence per cell:
839/93=9.0215 which means 9 preambles per root sequence.

We know that every cell need 64 preambles so:
64/9=7.11 which means we need 8 rot sequence pes cell.
Figure 2- 16 :distribution of RSI. [16]
33
CHAPITRE III : LTE optimization
CHAPITRE III: LTE optimization

III.1 Introduction:
Optimization is necessary so the network performance satisfies certain thresholds or targets for
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) agreed beforehand with the operator. After a network is built
and before is launched on air it is necessary to perform the pre-launch optimization where the
common process is to divide the network in groups of sites (clusters) and optimize these clusters so
agreed KPIs are achieved during pre-launch optimization there is changes may happen for example
physical changes (antenna tilt, azimuth) and parameter changes (e.g. Tx Power).
As there is no/very little traffic on the network, counters don’t provide statistically reliable
information. Therefore, the main optimization method during the pre-launch optimization to
achieve certain field KPIs is drive testing.
After the launch, networks are ‘alive’, always changing (e.g. traffic conditions, addition
of new sites, new software upgrades) so optimization is still needed to keep the high level of
performance defined by the KPIs. Since there is traffic on the network, counter information is
reliable and it is possible to have a centralized view of how the whole network is performing.
III.2 Optimization process:

III.2.1 First phase:
On first place, customer and NSN need to agree on the KPIs that will reflect the network
performance and the KPIs that need to be achieved once the optimization has concluded. There
are two different sets of KPIs:
Field KPIS Network KPIS

Derived from drive test measurements Obtained through NetAct Reporter
used during the network pre-launch Used during the network post-launch
optimization. optimization
related to coverage and call performance Based on counters
Its main scope is to find installation errors is not limited to a certain area but to the
and adjust whole network.
antenna azimuths and tilts.
Table 7 :comparison between field and network KPIS
34
III.2.2 Second phase:

III.2.2.1 Pre-launch optimization:
Is the step between the planning and the ‘commercial’ launch of a network. It is usually
performed at two different levels: cluster and network level.
The cluster test assumes that each eNodeB that is part of the cluster has passed the individual
site acceptance test and is performing to the agreed upon criteria (KPIs, no alarms, etc).
Once the acceptance is carried out cluster per cluster it is possible to pass to the second level,
that is: the network acceptance where the network acceptance tests are completed after verifying
the network status and doing some optimization if necessary.
the Cluster and Network Acceptance Process. This process can be divided into four main
phases:
 Preparation
 Measurement Phase
 Optimization Phase
 Reporting Phase
III.2.2.1.1 Preparation Phase
The preparation phase can be divided in two sub-phases:
III.2.2.1.1.1 Project Setup Phase
The network planning work has been completed and the LTE sites previously commissioned
and integrated and are fully functional. Main steps of this phase are the following:
 Define/identify the different clusters in which the network will be subdivided for the
pre-launch optimization tasks.
 Define the drive routes that will be used to check the performance of the network.
It is necessary to check that sites are on air and that the data-build for each is consistent with
what it was planned and agreed with the customer prior to the measurement phase.
III.2.2.1.1.2 Acceptance Setup Phase
It basically refers to an Assessment of the network to ensure network is ready for acceptance.
Assessment consists on diverse checks (site/clusters/network).
III.2.2.1.2 Measurement Phase
 Initial or iterative cluster/network drive test measurement campaigns and using a Field
Measurement Tool (FMT)
 Drive testing will be performed randomly within the LTE network coverage.
35
 Measurements will be collected in good and poor radio conditions with vehicle speeds
reasonable for the type of road.
III.2.2.1.3 Optimization Phase
Analysis of measurements using tools (e.g. TEMS Discovery or Actix Analyser). If the analysis
of the measurements shows that KPIs requirements are not fulfilled, it is necessary to
investigate the reasons and correct them by defining and implementing necessary changes to
the network (e.g. tilts, azimuths and parameters) based on the results of the measurement
analysis.
III.2.2.1.4 Reporting Phase
Once the drive test performance KPIs are passed the final cluster acceptance report is created
and presented to the customer for acceptance, the format of the report is agreed with the
customer.
III.2.2.2 Post-launch optimization:
Once the network put to commercial use, the operator continues to perform network
optimization again and again to meet its customer demand or avoid network complains
(coverage issues, call success rate and performance degradation, etc.).
the case of post-launch optimization it will be mainly based on counters.
there is a monitoring period to verify if the issue has been solved and if there has been some
improvement. If KPIs thresholds/target levels are still not passed more optimization is needed,
otherwise, a final report collecting the improvements in performance is generated for customer
approval
III.3 Counters and KPI Monitoring:

III.3.1 Accessibility KPI
Accessibility KPIs characterize the accessibility of a service, or service element to its users.
They are expressed as a ratio of successful service requests to the total number of attempts.
(This group of KPIs corresponds to the category of "service accessibility KPIs). [17]
III.3.1.1 RRC Setup Success Rate:
RRC connection establishment success rate. This KPI describes the ratio of all successful RRC
establishments to RRC establishment attempts for E-UTRAN network. This KPI is obtained by
the number of all successful RRC establishments divided by the total number of attempted RRC
establishments
36
Figure 3- 1 :RRC Connection Setup Procedure
Once the RRC connection request message is received, the eNodeB should respond by sending
an RRC connection setup message. In case of successful RRC connection establishment, the
UE will return a RRC connection setup complete message to the eNodeB Using a simple
equation, the RRC connection setup success ratio can be computed per cell as follows:
RRCConnectionSuccessService [18]
𝑅𝑅𝐶𝑆𝑆𝑅 𝑺𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒆 = 𝑋100%
RRCConnectionAttemptService
The counters measure the number of RRC connection setup requests for different causes in a
cell. The RRC Connection Request message is the first RRC signaling message sent from the
UE to the eNodeB. The corresponding counter are incremented by 1 each time the eNodeB
receives an RRC Connection Request message from the UE. Note: The L.RRC.ConnReq.Att
counter is incremented by 1 when the eNodeB receives the message for the first time. The
counter will not be incremented repeatedly, if the eNodeB receives the message for multiple
times.[18]
RRC Setup Failure Reason :

 Resource allocation failure (admission failure).
 No response from UE (Poor coverage or terminal problem).
37
Figure 3- 2 :RRC Setup Failure
III.3.1.2 E-RAB Success Rate:

An E-RAB is the access layer bearer for carrying service data of users. The E-RAB setup
success rate in a cell directly represents the capability of the cell to provide E-RAB connection
setups for users. [18]
Figure 3- 3 :Measurement point for UE-triggered ERAB setup
Number of ERAB Connection setup attempts is collected by the eNodeB at measurement point
A and the number of successful ERAB connections is counted at measurement point B.
Note that the eNodeB needs to specify the Quality of Service (QoS) Class Identifier (QCI) for
VoIP in the ERAB setup message.
38
The voice service can be identified by the QoS information, in particular the QCI in the ERAB
Setup Request message. In general, QCI 1 is assigned to the voice service.
ERABSetupSuccess
ERABS _ SR( ALL )   100% [18]
ERABSetupAttempt
III.3.1.3 Call Setup Success Rate:

This KPI can be used to evaluate the call setup success rate of all services including the VoIP
service in a cell or a cluster. This KPI is calculated based on the KPI of RRC Setup Success
Rate (Service) and the KPI of ERAB Setup Success Rate (All). [18]
RRCConnectionSccessService S1SigConnectEstablishSuccess ERABSetupSuccess
CSSR = 𝑋 𝑋 𝑋100%
RRCConnectionAttemptService S1SigConnectEstablishAttempt ERABSetupAttempt
III.3.2 Retainability KPIs

This KPI can be used to evaluate the call drop rate of all services in a cell or a cluster, including
VoIP service. Each E-RAB is associated with the QoS information.
E-RAB includes both the E-RAB radio bearer and corresponding S1 bearer. Any abnormal
release on either bearer causes call drop and therefore is counted into the call drop rate. [18]
E-RAB Release :
 Normal release
 Released with the normal procedure, the statistic is based on each QCI index
 Abnormal release
 Considered as service(call) drop, the statistic can be based on different release
cause and each QCI index
Possible causes :
 EPC failure
 Radio link failure
 Handover failure
 Transport failure
 Network congestion [18]
ERABAbnormal Re lease
CDR ( ALL )   100% [18]
ERAB Re lease
III.3.3 Mobility KPIs:

Mobility KPIs are used to evaluate the performance of E-UTRAN mobility, which is critical to
the customer experience. Several categories of mobility KPIs are defined based on the following
39
handover types: intra-frequency, inter-frequency, and inter-Radio Access Technology (RAT).

Basically three major groups of problems due to mobility can be identified when monitoring
the E-UTRAN:
 handover preparation failures;

 handover execution failures;
 Data forwarding failures.
Handover preparation is the phase in which the target cell assigns the necessary radio resources
for taking over the connection and sending back a handover command message containing the
new radio parameters to the source cell. Root causes for handover preparation failures are
insufficient resources in the desired target cell, signaling transport between the source and target
cell, protocol errors in one of the involved peer entities, and parametrization errors in the
network configuration.
The handover execution phase starts when the previously received handover command message
is sent to the UE and successfully finished after the UE has arrived at the target cell. Handover
execution can fail because the UE refuses to execute the handover by sending a RRC
reconfiguration failure message or if radio contact with the UE is lost during handover
execution on the radio interface
III.4 LTE HO X2:

Before moving to X2 HO we will mentioned UE modes:
III.4.1 Idle Mode: Cell reselection:
Cell reselection handles which cell, technology, and layer the UE will camp on. Thus, cell
reselection is not purely technical but quite dependent on the operator strategy and preferences.
UE receives the cell-reselection information through the SIB (System Information Blocks).
When receiving the SIB 1 the UE is able to receive scheduling information for all other SIBs.
SIB2 to SIB8 are scheduled on the PDSCH like any other user data or signaling instead of in
the PBCH like in WCDMA
III.4.2 Connected Mode: HO:

An LTE handover can be either X2 handover using X2 interface or S1 handover using S1
interface.
40
III.4.2.1 X2 Handover:
IV.4.2.1 The X2 interface connects two eNodeBs. If there is an X2 connection between
them(source and target). AND the X2 connection is available for handover, X2
handover is initiated. Once the handover is completed, the two eNodeBs
communicate with each other to control the handover, without MME’s intervention.
III.4.2.2 S1 Handover:
The S1 interface connects E-UTRAN (eNodeB) and EPC (i.e. MME for control messages, or
S-GW for user packets). Happened if:
o there is no X2 connection between a source eNodeB and a target eNodeB.

o there is an X2 connection, but the connection is not allowed for handover.
o handover preparation between a serving cell and a target cell fails, then S1 handover is
initiated.
Once the handover is completed, the source eNodeB begins to communicate with the target
eNodeB via MME to control the handover
III.4.3 HO X2 Process
Intra-LTE (Intra-MME/SGW) handover using the X2 interface is used to handover a UE from
a source eNodeB (S-eNB) to a target eNodeB (T-eNB) using the X2 interface when the
Mobility Management Entity (MME) and Serving Gateway (SGW) are unchanged.
This scenario is possible only when there is a direct connection exists between source eNodeB
and target eNodeB with the X2 interface.
Figure 3- 4 :Intra-LTE Handover Using the X2 Interface System Architecture
41
In case of intra-LTE handover using X2 interface the UE is source eNodeB and is in

connected stated and the goal is to move the UE to target eNodeB. The X2 handover
procedure is performed without Evolved Packet Core (EPC) involvement, i.e. preparation
messages are directly exchanged between the S-eNB and T-eNB. The release of the resources
at the source side during the handover completion phase is triggered by the T-eNB.
Figure 3- 5 :Call Flow for Intra-LTE Handover
1/UE is in connected state and a data call is up. Data packets are transferred to/from the UE
to/from the network in both directions (DL as well as UL).
2/The network sends the MEASUREMENT CONTROL REQ message to the UE to set the
parameters to measure and set thresholds for those parameters. Its purpose is to instruct the UE
to send a measurement report to the network as soon as it detects the thresholds.
3/The UE sends the MEASUREMENT REPORT to the S-eNB after it meets the measurement
report criteria communicated previously. The S-eNB makes the decision to hand off the UE to
a T-eNB using the handover algorithm (HO decision); each network operator could have its
own handover algorithm.
4/The S-eNB issues the RESOURCE STATUS REQUEST message to determine the load on
T-eNB (this is optional). Based on the received RESOURCE STATUS RESPONSE, the S-eNB
can make the decision to proceed further in continuing the handover procedure using the X2
interface.
42
5/The S-eNB issues a HANDOVER REQUEST message to the T-eNB passing necessary
information to prepare the handover at the target side (e.g., UE Context which includes the
Security Context and RB Context (including E-RAB to RB Mapping) and the Target cell info).
6/The T-eNB checks for resource availability and, if available, reserves the resources and sends
back the HANDOVER REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGE message
7/The S-eNB generates the RRC message to perform the handover, i.e, RRCCONNECTION
RECONFIGURATION message including the mobilityControlInformation. The S-eNB
performs the necessary integrity protection and ciphering of the message and sends it to the UE.
8/The S-eNB sends the eNB STATUS TRANSFER message to the T-eNB
9/The S-eNB starts forwarding the downlink data packets to the T-eNB for all the data bearers
(which are being established in the T-eNB during the HANDOVER REQ message processing).
10/In the meantime, the UE tries to access the T-eNB cell using the non-contention-based
Random Access Procedure. If it succeeds in accessing the target cell, it sends the RRC
CONNECTION RECONFIGURATION COMPLETE to the T-eNB.
11/The T-eNB sends a PATH SWITCH REQUEST message to the MME to inform it that the
UE has changed cells. The MME determines that the SGW can continue to serve the UE.
12/The MME responds to the T-eNB with a PATH SWITCH REQ ACK message to notify the
completion of the handover.
13/The T-eNB now requests the S-eNB to release the resources using the X2 UE CONTEXT
[19]
RELEASE message. With this, the handover procedure is complete.
43
CHAPITRE IV : Application part
CHAPITRE IV: Application part

IV.1 PLANNING
Our application objective concerning LTE planning was to perform planning process
including: PCI planning, RSI planning and predictions reporting.
We divided this section into two part: Manual part, which includes manual interaction with
Atoll software. And Automatic part to introduce task automation in Atoll planning process.
in our application we worked on many willaya including their communes for example
Mostaganem, Tlemcen, Chlef, Ghardaia, Sidi Bel Abbess, but we focused on Oran and its
communes to show the necessity of the automation part.
IV.1.1 Atoll presentation:
Atoll is a comprehensive multi-technology and user-friendly radio-planning environment that
runs on Microsoft Windows operating systems. Atoll supports wireless telecom operators
throughout their network planning and optimization cycle, from initial design to densification
and optimization. Atoll supports a full range of implementation scenarios, from stand-alone to
enterprise-wide server-based configurations using distributed and parallel computing.
Advanced network design features of Atoll:
● A high-performance propagation calculation engine.
● Multi-layered and hierarchical network support.
● Traffic modelling.
● Automatic frequency and code planning and network optimization.
● Full support of GSM/GPRS/EDGE, CDMA IS-95, UMTS HSPA, CDMA2000, TD-
SCDMA, and WiMAX BWA technologies.
● Planning of integrated multi-technology networks (2G/2.5G, 2G/3G, etc.).
IV.1.2 Manual Planning task:

in planning process, project Atoll may pass at many phases, the figure bellow show life of
Atoll project during the planning:
44
Figure 4- 1 :Organigram
IV.1.2.1 Create a New project:
There are two ways to create a New Atoll Document:

- From a document Template.
- From Existing Database.
Figure 4- 2 :Creation new project using database
45
The Table below shows the LTE sites from database containing sites name, coordinates and
other descriptive parameters.
Figure 4- 3 :LTE sites table
The next Table shows the LTE transmitters from same database It is also simplified and
contains only main descriptive parameters as the belonging site, status, antenna type, height
and azimuth.
Figure 4- 4 :LTE transmitters table
46
IV.1.2.2 Importing geographical data environment:

A/Step one:
The first step is to import several data types which include importing:
 Clutter classes
By importing a clutter classes to atoll it helps to define geographic zone depending on it type,
means whether it is a forest, a suburban or urban zone, etc. it is a complex cartographic data
that helps to improve the propagation modelling.
 DTM (Digital Terrain Model):
It presents the altitude to the project which allows to give better prediction by taking the
geographic data into consideration in calculation.
 Vectors:
It gives a descriptive information about major roads, highways, coastline, railways and river
lakes, vectors are important to atoll project because it help to give better prediction in case of
highway or a railway.
The figure 4.5 presents the three different data types that we need to import
Figure 4- 5 :clutter import
The figure 4.6 shows the result after the import is done.
Figure 4- 6 :result of clutter import
47
B/Step two:
The next step is to import the country map means Algeria map and its willaya
division, this map gives a better visual and makes working with zones easily, it just needed to
select the willaya we want to use for predictions and calculations,
the figure bellow shows Algeria map.
The next figure illustrates how to import geographical data environment:
Figure 4- 7 :Importing map
Figure 4- 8 :Algeria map (result of importing map)
48
The next figure illustrates the area we are going to work on i.e. Oran:
Figure 4- 9 :Oran map
It is possible to import and add a map of communes when we need to work on communes, (like
our case).
The figure below shows the Atoll map window after import communes.
Figure 4- 10 :Oran communes
C/Step three:
At this level, it is necessary to choose the right zone type that we need want to work on,
and that by filtering the willaya aiming to working on (Oran).
49
Note there are several zone types in Atoll:

Filtering zone: helps to deny all the others sites a transmitter out of the wanted zone i.e. the
selected willaya (in our case we chose Oran as application example).
So Anything outside a Filter will not be taken into account during the Calculations
Computation zone: Define which Transmitters have to be taken into account in the
calculation. Define in which area the prediction plot will be displayed
Focus zone: as its name refer to, allows to focus the reports only on the geographic zone
selected, so a site coverage percentage for example will be proportional only with the zone
selected i.e. Oran surface.
Figure 4- 11 :Filtering zone
It is possible to import also online map like OpenStreet Map; it helps a lot for focusing with
high precision a specific geographic zone as shown in figure
Figure 4- 12 :Result of importing google map
50
As a final result the following figure shows the location of the sites on the map that we
imported.
Figure 4- 13 :final result
IV.1.2.3 Automatic PCI Planning:

Figures below show the PCI planning steps and result in Atoll:
Figure 4- 14 :Step1: starting of PCI planning
51
Figure 4- 15 :Step 2 :Choosing PCI calcul.
Figure 4- 16 :Step 3: Occurrence
Figure 4- 17 :Step 4: Result.
52
IV.1.2.4 Automatic PRACH RSI Planning

The Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) is used to transmit the random access
preamble used to initiate the random access procedure. This channel allows UEs to achieve
uplink time synchronization.
The following figure show the PRACH RSI planning steps including the result:
Figure 4- 18 :Step 1: Choosing PRACH calcul
Figure 4- 19 :Step 2: Occurrence
53
Figure 4- 20 :Step 4: Result.
IV.1.2.5 Working with predictions:

We’ve choose as prediction:
 COVERAGE BY TRANSMITER (DL):
Allows to have a visual information about individually the coverage of cells and sites,
Figure 4- 21 :Coverage by TX
 Coverage by signal level RSRP(DL):

Helps to spot bad coverage zones by allowing degraded color for decreasing interval value of
signal level (green for good signal level and red for bad signal level).
54
Figure 4- 22 :coverage by signal level
 Coverage by C/(I+N) level:

Gives visual information about the SINR, this coverage could be calculated by PDSCH,
RSRQ or RSSI
Figure 4- 23 :Coverage by C/(I+N) level
The result:
55
Figure 4- 24 :Coverage by RSRQ level.
Figure 4- 25 :Coverage by RSSI level.
56
Figure 4- 26 :Coverage by PDSCH level.
 Overlapping zones:
Helps to detect pilot pollution zones (locations where more than four cells coverage overlap
between them).
Figure 4- 27 :Overlapping area
IV.1.2.6 Exporting and Studying predictions:

After predictions has been calculated in selected Commune (in our case bir el djir-ORAN)
after being filtered to ignore other communes (used as computation zone), we can either
generate a report which gives us concentrate information about LTE coverage over a specific
57
zone, using this report allows to operators used as benchmarking comparison between other
operators. The following figure shows how to generate report:
Figure 4- 28 :Generate report
The next figure illustrates report example of coverage by signal level RSRP:
Figure 4- 29 :Generate report
And then export the report to excel format as it shown below:
Figure 4- 30 :Export report
58
Figure 4- 31 :Exported report to Excel
There are many ways to export the result for example a bmp format or google earth as it
shown below:
Figure 4- 32 :google earth export
Figure 4- 33 :bmp export
59
Or we can generate histograms from the prediction result, as presented in the figure below:
Figure 4- 34 :Histogram
IV.1.3 Automatic Planning Task:

IV.1.3.1 Introduction:
In this part of atoll task automation, the objective was to reduce time of predictions
calculation, in place of launching the prediction one by one knowing that there are several
predictions and it took much time to complete them, is just need to select the meant commune
and launch all the wanted predictions in once using a script, that will reduce the time.
Atoll provides a set of programmable extensions enabling users to enhance the already rich
functionalities available in Atoll.
we programmed a script using VBScript language which can do all that task in just double
click on file with extension ".VBS" with a minimum interaction with user, we summarized the
work of script in the following steps:
step 1:
execution of the script with double click on file with ".VBS" extension using automatically
Microsoft Windows Basic Script Host means it doesn’t need any software to be executed, as it
presented in the following figure
60
Figure 4- 35 :Opening script
step 2
The second step is to choose the willaya we want to launch the predictions in as in our case
ORAN, as it shown below:
Figure 4- 36 :Choosing willaya
step 3
This step consists of choosing the meant commune for launch the calculations of predictions
in this selecting area, in our case we choose BIR EL DJIR as a study case, as it shown in the
next figure:
61
Figure 4- 37 :Choosing commune
step 4:
After choosing commune (BIR EL DJIR), the next step would be choosing predictions set, it
is possible to choose more than one prediction. Once the prediction calculation completed, it
is directly shown on the Atoll map window:
Figure 4- 38 :Choosing prediction
Step 5:
after the calculation finished the result will be exported as image BMP and EXCEL format in
directory called "export"
62
Figure 4- 39 :RSRQ Export
IV.1.4 The Comparison between manual and automatic tasks:

After executing both tasks we recorded time for making comparison between them, the table
below illustrates the result we've get:
Task Days Hr min sec keyboard Left button Right button Double click
Manual 0 0 51 45 0 252 54 33
Automatic 0 0 6 14 26 0 0 1
Table 8 :Comparison between manual and automatic tasks
As we can see from the table there are huge difference between both tasks, knowing that we
calculated predictions for 3 communes of ORAN with 6 predictions and export the results in a
folder.
The manual task took us 51 min and 45 second comparing with automatic task which scored
just 6 min and 14 second for 3 communes, working with manual in willaya containing for
example 69 communes the time will be duplicated, so the solution is to use our script for
reducing the time.
IV.1.5 Propagation model calibration:
IV.1.5.1 Objective:
The objective of the calibration is to find an accurate model for propagation losses is a leading
issue when planning a mobile radio network. Two strategies for predicting propagation losses
are in use these days; one is to derive an empirical propagation model from measurement
63
data, and the other is to use a deterministic propagation model. Atoll proposes a macro cell
propagation
model, the Standard Propagation Model (SPM), based on empirical formulas and a set
of parameters.
When Atoll is installed, the SPM parameters are set to their default values. However, they
can be adjusted to tune the propagation model according to actual propagation
conditions. This calibration process of the Standard Propagation Model facilitates
improving the prediction reliability.
Before we proceed in steps of calibration the propagation model we prefer to start with some
definitions to get acknowledgement of some terms.
 continuous wave - CW:
A continuous wave or continuous waveform (CW) is an electromagnetic wave of
constant amplitude and frequency , it is also the name given to an early method
of radio transmission .
 CW measurement:
CW measurements, i.e., measurements made in the field for a single transmitter at a given
frequency (continuous wave),
 Radio wave propagation theory:
There are basically two ways the radio wave can propagate through the radio channel:
 propagation in free space or Line Of Sight (LOS)
 Multipath propagation or Non Line Of Sight (NLOS)
Figure 4- 40 :Propagation Theory
Multipath is the addition in level and phase of different components:

•direct path: direct transmission between transmitter and receiver
64
•reflected path: indirect path due to reflection on various faces of the environment (e.g.
buildings).
•diffraction: a wave direction change at passage on buildings edges
•absorption: attenuated transmission due to crossing through an obstacle (e.g. building)
 Collecting cw measurement:
During measurement campaigns, the technician tests:
 Network coverage test
 The establishment of the call (absence of failure).
 Maintaining communication during a certain period (no drop) and Handover
test.
 The quality of the communication (UL & DL throughput test).
It is highly recommended to use a drive test equipment called scanner for high
precision
Figure 4- 41 :Scanner used in DT
After getting the record of radio wave it will be saved in file called log file, we used a tool
(TEMS DISCOVERY OR ACTIX) that allow us extract the signal level (RSRP) for the area
covered by the drive test in our case its BIR EL DJIR, an excel file will be obtained
As presented in the following figure:
65
Figure 4- 42 :CW MEASURMENT Table
IV.1.5.2 Calibration procedure:

Step 1:
Setting up the calibration project it is consists of creating an Atoll document with all of the
network and geographical data necessary to recreate the CW measurement survey area , in our
case BIR el DJIR, as it shown in the figure bellow :
Figure 4- 43 :Opening an existing document
66
Step 2:
The next step is to import the CW measurement data and filter them in order to ensure that
only meaningful data is used for calibration. The following figure illustrate how to import a
CW measurement:
Figure 4- 44 :Import CW measurement
The next figure illustrates the result of import CW measurement file:
Figure 4- 45 :Result of import cw measurement
67
step 3:
choosing the propagation model before launch signal level calculation
Figure 4- 46 :Choosing propagation model
Figure 4- 47 :Calculate signal level
68
The following figure illustrate the result before calibration:
Figure 4- 48 :Result before calibration
Step 4:
Launch the calibration on SPM propagation model:
Figure 4- 49 :calibration on SPM propagation model
69
Figure 4- 50 :Calibration process
Step 5:
After finish calibrating the SPM model propagation we commit the new value to the old value
and recalculate signal level again the result is presented in the following figure:
Figure 4- 51 :Obtained result of calibration process
70
The figure 4.52 present prediction before calibration process:
Figure 4- 52 :signal level in area before calibration process
And the figure 4.53 present prediction after calibration process:
Figure 4- 53 :signal level in area after calibration process
71
IV.2 Optimization:
IV.2.1 Pre-launch optimization:
IV.2.1.1 Presentation of the tool:
IV.2.1.1.1 Tems discovery:
After the planning has been finished and before the site launching (commercial use) or after, a
verification procedure it is required to check network performance and therefore we need a
tool that can do the Optimization part one of them named “TEMS Discovery”.
Tems discovery device (Desktop Platform) it’s a post-processing tool for TEMS investigation
multi-logfile analysis that can be tailored to fit and improve processes by combining logfiles
from major drive-test tool vendors.
IV.2.1.1.2 Supported technologies:
TEMS Discovery Supports all major wireless technologies:
 LTE, TD-LTE, EV-DO (Rev. 0/A/B), WCDMA/HSDPA/HSUPA/HSPA+.
 WiMAX, IS-95/cdma2000 1x, GSM/GPRS/EDGE.
 TD-SCDMA, Wi-Fi.
IV.2.1.1.3 TEMS Discovery Key Features:
 Automatic Data Processing.
 Versatile Data Analysis.
 Scripting.
 Reporting.
 Volte Analytics.
 Benchmarking –Analytics.
IV.2.1.2 Analysis:
Before starting analyzing we have to load data file which are classified by name or date and
saved on Driver phone
Figure 4- 54 :Import log file
72
Figure 4- 55 :Result of importing data file
After loading our log file, we started analyzing them, the cluster located in Constantine, the
following figure shows the drive test path extracted from Tems discovery tool
Figure 4- 56 :Result of importing data file
73
During the analysis we noticed very poor RSRP in some places as shown in the following figure
4.57
Figure 4- 57 :coverage by RSRP
After investigation, we found that the first case illustrated in the previous figure poor RSRP
due to the topography as presented in the two figures bellow:
Figure 4- 58 :Topography of the area
For the second case the low RSRP due to tunnel located in this area as presented in next
figure
Figure 4- 59 :The tunnel located in the area
74
As a solution to those two problems is to try to tilt up or down tilt antenna but it will not really
improve signal level because of area topography.
Lower RSRP wasn't the only point, we remarked also that the SINR is degraded in the area
covered by the drive test, as showing bellow:
Figure 4- 60 :SINR is degraded in the area covered by the drive test
After some researches we found that many sites are overshooting (covered) in same point, as
presented in the next figure:
Figure 4- 61 :overlapping Area
75
We took samples of sites for better view as presented below:
Figure 4- 62 :SITE18 is overshooting
Figure 4- 63 : SITE19 is overshooting
76
77
As we can see those sites are cover the same point which makes SINR goes down this caused
what we called pilot pollution. To solve this issue, a proposed solution which is down tilt the
antenna to reduce cell radius in each site.
The following table illustrate proposed tilt to solve this issue:
Cells actual tilt proposed tilt

SITE23 4° 6°
SITE19 6 8
SITE18 * *
SITE21 * *
SITE22 * *
SITE20 * *
Table 9 :down tilt and up tilt proposed
There is also a cross feeder between sector 87 and 88 of SITE23 due to implementation error, it
was discovered while checking why RSRP is poor in specific zone, as presented in the following
figure:
78
Figure 4- 68 :The cross feeder notices
The solution for this problem is to switch the cables of antenna port between sector 87 and
sector 88 in this SITE.
IV.2.2 Post-launch optimization:
IV.2.2.1 Study case of handover X2 failure:
This section represents some cases of handover X2 failure and how we reacted to improve the
network performance.
IV.2.2.1.1 HO Preparation Success Ratio:

A degradation in inter eNB HO preparation was noticed after analyzing KPIs of HO SR as
presented in the following figure:
Figure 4- 69 :Average of inter eNB HO preparation and SR
E-UTRAN HO Preparation Success Ratio, inter eNBs X2 based is around 86 % in Ouargla cluster
in place of 99.94 %.
79
After check we noticed that the issue was with SITE1 all incoming handover with it is degraded as
we can see below:
Figure 4- 70 :Average of inter eNB neighbor preparation SR
After we made trace we noticed that handover with MME ID 0 is failing with cause Target Not
Allowed below an example:
Figure 4- 71 :Example of trace
HO fail because we need to have same MME in source and target for successful X2 handover, the
same issue was noticed in other site SITE2.
The table below present the work done for unlock both sites by unlock a parameter called
administrative state:
3: locked
1: unlocked
80
Old NEW
lnMmeId administrativeState administrativeState name
0 3 1 SITE1
0 3 1 SITE2
Table 10 :Parameter Administrative state
After activating this parameter for booth sites:

For SITE1: incoming HO preparation SR was increased from around 60 % to 100%:
Figure 4- 72 :Average of HO preparation attempt and SR for SITE1
For SITE2: we noticed stability in incoming HO prep SR:
Figure 4- 73 :Average of preparation HO attempt and SR for SITE2
IV.2.2.1.2 X2 link Status:

While doing daily optimization a high level of handover failure was detected in Tizi Ouzou noticed
from analyzing KPIs, as handover process contain two phases, we started investigation on
Preparation Phase before moving to execution phase.
The figure bellow illustrates HO SR and attempted of inter eNB HO where the failure was detected:
81
Figure 4- 74 :HO inter eNB attempt and SR
Handover success rate is aimed to be about 98 to 99 % but it was degraded to 89 %

In another side, there was degradation on SR Prep Phase in Tizi Wilaya from 99.94 to 93.93 %
Figure 4- 75 :HO inter eNB preparation attempt and SR
There is no impact on RRC DR or ERAB DR in Tizi Ouzou Wilaya:
Figure 4- 76 :Average of LTE_RRC_Dropate and of E_RAB DR
82
After investigation in preparation phase we found that the problem was in X2 link between the
source and target eNB where the link was unavailable what made S1 occupies the handover
process, as presented in the following figure:
Figure 4- 77 :Average of Attempt x2 and S1 based
X2 link for SITE3 & SITE4 was unavailable.

A solution is illustrated bellow in list of eNBs which we should enable X2 link for both direction:
cPlaneIpAddr
x2LinkStatus
adjEnbId
lnAdjId
mrbtsId
lnBtsId
name
01 01 280 3 0 SITE3
02 02 281 3 10.210.33.26 0 SITE3
03 03 282 3 10.210.33.26 0 SITE3
04 04 282 3 10.210.33.26 0 SITE3
05 05 281 3 10.210.33.26 0 SITE3
06 06 283 3 10.210.33.26 0 SITE3
10 10 284 4 10.210.33.55 0 SITE4
11 11 285 4 10.210.33.55 0 SITE4
08 08 290 4 10.210.33.55 0 SITE4
12 12 280 4 10.210.33.55 0 SITE4
13 13 287 4 10.210.33.55 0 SITE4
14 14 288 4 10.210.33.55 0 SITE4
07 07 289 4 10.210.33.55 0 SITE4
15 15 285 4 10.210.33.55 0 SITE4
09 09 253 4 10.210.33.55 0 SITE4
16 16 238 4 10.210.33.55 0 SITE4
17 17 243 4 10.210.33.55 0 SITE4
unavailable. Table 11 :X2 link status
83
X2 link status: 1: available.

X2 link status: 0: unavailable.
For SITE3: bellow you can see neighbor distribution:
Figure 4- 78 :Neighbor distribution of SITE3
For SITE4:
Figure 4- 79 : Neighbor distribution of SITE4
After creating X2 link for SITE3: we noticed a huge improvement in Prep SR (improvement of 396
%) for which are making HO to SITE3: SITETO1, SITETO2, SITETO3, SITETO4, SITETO5,
SITETO6 from 25.24 % to 100 %.
84
Figure 4- 80 :Average preparation SR
The Same improve happened for SITE4.

Conclusion: we noticed that there is improvement increase on X2 attempts and decreased on S1
attempts after create X2 link for worst sites:
Figure 4- 81 :Attempt X2 and S1 preparation after creating X2 link
85
General Conlusion
General Conclusion
Nowadays in Algerian operator’s LTE / 4G is the last network generation and it is still in
initial planning, this new technology has solved many problems facing mobile communication
systems in its last generations previous to LTE system. For very high speed and interoperability
with other old generation networks (3G, 2G ...).
The project was a great opportunity to gather a solid knowledge about LTE system, architecture,
requirements, functions and performances. It allowed us to contribute for the development of
intern operations and utilities.
during the realization of the project we understood the structuration and processing of LTE
radio network planning and optimization,
and had an exceptional chance to put that knowledge in practice by using special tools like
Atoll, TEMS Discovery, Actix, we also had an opportunity to learn scripting using VBscript
language, we had a chance too to calibrate a propagation model using atoll and cw measurement
obtained from drive test data file, we learned also how to analysis this data file and trying to
solve the problems that facing us during the analyzing also generating a report and that in a
short time.
Tasks automation is an investment for vendor and even fort mobile network operator aiming
for efficiency and intern operations development, the automation of LTE planning task was
successful, moreover it motivated every contributing part of the project to expend its area of
action for the coming processes i.e. LTE Optimization Automation and some special case
operations like prediction projects in highways.
86
References
[1] -Nokia Networks, 02_RA41202EN70GLA0_LTE_EPS_Overview.
[2] -ZTE 01-FO_BT1101_C01_1 LTE FDD Principles and Key Technologies-new.
[3] -Huawei LTE Air Interface Training Manual. Issue 01 (2010-05-01).
[4] -Nokia Networks, 03_01_RA41203EN60GLA0_Air_Interface.
[5] -Https://www.netmanias.com/en/post/blog/12993/lte/lte-reference-synchronization-signals
(article by Astro Ahmed Fresh Graduate Telecommunication Engineer at GrEEK CAMPUS).
[6] -FROM GSM TO LTE-ADVANCED AN INTRODUCTION TO MOBILE NETWORKS AND
MOBILE BROADBAND, Revised 2𝐧𝐝 Edition, Martin Sauter Wireless Moves, Germany.
[7] -ZTE: 02 FO_BT1107_E01_1 LTE Physical Layer Analysis.
[8] -https://www.tutorialspoint.com.
[9] -ZTE Document, 05 FO_NP2001_E02 FDD-LTE Radio Network Planning 30P
[10] -NOKIA networks, 06_01_RA41206EN70GLA0_LTE_Link_Budget
[11] -NOKIA networks, Nokia-LTE_Radio_Dimensioning_Guidelines
[12] -ERICSON, LTE-Radio-Dimensioning
[13] -NOKIA Network: 07_01_RA41207EN70GLA0_Cell_range
[14] -NOKIA Network, Nokia_LTE_Radio_Network_Planning_Guidelines
[15] -NOKIA: 11_RA4120BEN50GLA0_Initial_Parameter_Planning
[16]-Talented engineer https://www.talentedengineer.com/watch?v=P9MD_C1w4UY&t=23s RSI
planning in LTE
[17] -05- LTE KPI Overview
Drive Test KPI definition and Measurement Methodology Long Term Evolution “LTE”
[18] LTE eRAN6.0 KPI Introduction
[19] http://www.3glteinfo.com/intra-lte-handover-using-x2-interface/
Prashant Panigrahi December 4, 2013
[20] Propagation_models_calibration_method_ed_8.0
xiii
Annexe
LTE Channels:
The information flows between the different protocols are known as channels and signals. In
LTE system, for both uplink and downlink transmission, we have three kinds of channels:
o The logical channels between the RLC and MAC layers.
o The transport channels between the MAC and physical layers.
o The physical channels between the eNodeB and UE.
which are distinguished by the kind of information they carry and by the way in which the
information is processed. each of these channels type is divided into Uplink and downlink
channels. [11]
 Physical Channel:
Data and signaling messages are carried on physical channels between the different levels of
the physical layer and accordingly they are divided into two parts: Physical Data Channels and
Physical Control Channels.
 Physical data channels:
PDSCH Carries downlink traffic data.
PBCH Carries cell-specific information.
PMCH Carries multi-cell broadcast information.
PUSCH Carries uplink traffic data.
PRACH Sends preamble for UE access.
 Physical Control Channels:
PCFICH Indicates the number of symbols occupied by PDCCH in a sub frame.
PHICH Carries HARQ information.
PDCCH Carries downlink scheduling information.
PUCCH Carries HARQ information.
 Transport Channels:
Transport channels define how and with what type of characteristics the data is transferred by
the physical layer. Data and signaling messages are carried on transport channels between the
MAC and the physical layer. They are defined by how the information is carried.
xiv
Downlink Transport Channels:
BCH (Broadcast Channel): The BCH is a transport channel with fixed transport format. It is
used to transmit the BCCH in the entire cell. It will only support QPSK modulation and no
HARQ or beam-forming is allowed.
PCH (Paging Channel): The PCH is used to carry the PCCH. In contrast to BCH there might
be beam-forming applied to PCH, but still no HARQ is available. Also the channel supports at
least QPSK and 16QAM as modulation scheme and DRX.
DL-SCH (DL Shared Channel): This is the major transport channel in the downlink direction.
It is used to carry mainly DCCH and DTCH. But also BCCH, MCCH and if required MTCH
can be sent on it. The channel supports HARQ, beam-forming and all modulation schemes
QPSK, 16QAM and 64QAM. The DLSCH will support DRX and DTX on UE side to reduce
power consumption of end terminals.
MCH (Multicast Channel): The MCH is used for broadcast and multicast MBMS services. It
thus carries MTCH and MCCH. It will allow at least QPSK and 16QAM as modulation scheme,
64QAM is under investigation. Obviously HARQ cannot be supported as MTCH/MCCH are
point-to-multipoint channels. This channel has a unique special property, as UEs are able to
combine MCH signals from different cells using the same frequency (MBSFN= Multicast
Broadcast Single Frequency Networks). In this case all MBSFN cells must use the same MCH
configuration and must be synchronized with each other.
Uplink Transport Channels:
RACH (Random Access Channel): The RACH is used as initial access request by the UE to the
network. Currently it does not contain logical information, rather the RACH is formed by a
special layer 1 preamble that acts as a channel request message. It is under investigation whether
the RACH should be able to carry logical channel information.
UL-SCH (UL Shared Channel): The UL-SCH is the only uplink transport channel able to carry
logical channel data. Thus CCCH, DTCH and DCCH run over this channel. It supports HARQ
and at least QPKS and 16QAM. [13]

Logical channels:
Logical channels are offered by the MAC layer, it is defined by the type of information it carries
and are generally classified into control channels, used for transmission of control and
configuration information necessary for operating an LTE system, and traffic channels, used
for the user data.
xv
Control Channel - Control-plane information :
BCCH (Broadcast Control Channel): used for transmission of system control information
from the network to all mobile terminals in a cell
PCCH (Paging Control Channel): used for paging of mobile terminals whose location on cell
level is not known to the network and the paging message therefore needs to be transmitted in
multiple cells.
DCCH (Dedicated Control Channel): used for transmission of control information to/from a
mobile terminal.
MCCH (Multicast Control Channel): used for transmission of control information required
for reception of the MTCH
CCCH (Common Control Channel): used for random access information.
Traffic Channels - User-plane information:
DTCH (Dedicated Traffic): used for transmission of user data to/from a mobile terminal. This
is the logical channel type used for transmission of all uplink and non-MBMS downlink user
data.
MTCH (Multicast Traffic Channel): used for downlink transmission of MBMS servic
xvi
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Résumé

Mots-clés : LTE, Automatisation, Planification, Optimisation, Atoll, TEMS, VBscript

Keywords: LTE, Automation, Planning, Optimization, Atoll, TEMS, VBscript

Figure 1- 1 :LTE network elements [1] ..................................................................................... 3

Figure 2- 1 :LTE dimensioning Process [9] ............................................................................. 17

Figure 3- 1 :RRC Connection Setup Procedure ....................................................................... 37

Figure 4- 1 :Organigram ........................................................................................................... 45

Tout d'abord, nous adressons nos remerciements à notre professeur, Mr

Nous tenons à remercier vivement notre encadreur de stage, Mr SAID

CHAPITRE I: LTE overview

I.1 Evolution of radio communications technologies:

I.2 System overview:

Figure 1- 1 :LTE network elements [1]

I.2.1.1 EPC (Evolved Packet Core):

I.3 OFDM basics:

Figure 1- 2 :Use of OFDM in LTE

I.3.1 Frequency Division Multiplexing:

Figure 1- 3 :Use of OFDM in LTE

I.3.2 OFDM Subcarriers:

Figure 1- 4 :OFDM Subcarriers

I.3.3 OFDM Symbol Mapping:

Figure 1- 5 :OFDM Symbol Mapping

I.4 OFDM & multipath propagation (Cyclic prefix):

Figure 1- 6 :Propagation delay exceeding the Guard period

I.4.2 Cyclic Prefix:

Figure 1- 7 :Cyclic Prefix

I.5 General OFDMA Structure:

Figure 1- 8 :OFDMA in LTE

I.7 OFDMA Verses SC-FDMA:

Figure 1- 9 :Comparison SC-FDMA and OFDMA

I.8 LTE physical layer:

Figure 1- 10 :LTE physical layer

I.8.1 Frame structure FDD:

Figure 1- 11 :Frame structure FDD

I.8.2 Subframe structure & CP length:

Figure 1- 12 :Short and long CP

I.9 Physical Resource Blocks and Resource Elements:

Figure 1- 13 :Physical Resource Block and Resource Element

I.10 Reference Signals:

I.11 LTE Protocols and Layers:

Figure 1- 16 :Protocol stack layers

I.11.2.1 layer 1 (Physical layer):

I.11.2.2 layer 2 (data link and access layer):

CHPATERE II: LTE Radio planning and Dimensioning

II.2 LTE Dimensioning:

Figure 2- 1 :LTE dimensioning Process [9]

II.2.1 Coverage Dimensioning:

Figure 2- 2 :Maximum allowed path loss [10]

 Calculation of maximum allowed path loss MAPL:

MAPLUL = EIRPUL – SeNBRX – LNF – IMUL + GeNBantenna + GULshad – LeNBfeeder - Lpen

 MAPLUL - maximum allowable path loss for uplink.

- UE Max power (dBm) is 23dBm (200mW).

- “Nt” Thermal noise is defining with formula: Nt = K T B [11]

 MAPL for Downlink:

MAPLDL = EIRPDL – SUERX – LNF – IMDL + GUEantenna + GDLshad – Lpen

 MAPLDL - maximum allowable path loss for Downlink.

Lmodel = K1 + K2log(d) + K3log(HTxeff) + K4 x Diffraction loss + K5 log(d) x log(HTxeff) + K6(HRxeff)

K7: multiplying factor for log (HRxeff)

Figure 2- 3 :Cell area calculation [13]

o “A” represent cell area and R stands for cell range.

II.2.2 Capacity Dimensioning:

 Frequency re-use 131:

Figure 2- 5 :131 Frequency Planning Scheme [14]

 Frequency re-use 133:

Figure 2- 6 :131 Frequency Planning Scheme with Increased SINR [14]