Cellular Network Planning and

Optimization
Part VIII: WCDMA link budget
Jyri Hämäläinen,
Communications and Networking Department,
TKK, 15.2.2008
 WCDMA Network planning
High level objectives for the planning process

Coverage
 Guarantee the network ability to ensure the availability of the service in
the entire service area.

Capacity
 To support the subscriber traffic with sufficiently low blocking and delay

Quality
 Linking the capacity and the coverage and still provide the required
QoS.

Costs
 To enable an economical network implementation when the service is
established and a controlled network expansion during the life cycle of
the network.

2
 WCDMA vs GSM, Network planning

Multiservice environment Air interface

Bit rates usually from 8 to 384 kbit/s  Capacity and coverage coupled
together

Bit rate switching
 Neighboring cells coupled via

Multi-RABs interference

Traffic classes  Receiver performance depends on
 Error rates, 10 % FER to 10-6 BER  bit rate, environment
 Delay sensitivity, from 100 ms up  Soft handover & Fast Power Control
to seconds
 Common shared resources

Asymmetric
UL and DL traffic

Common channel data traffic

3
 WCDMA Network planning

DEFINITION PLANNING and IMPLEMENTATION O&M

Network Coverage Parameter Network

Capacity
Configuration Planning and Requirements Planning Optimisation
and Site Selection
Dimensioning Traffic distribution Area / Cell Survey
Service distribution
Propagation specific measurements
Requirements Allowed blocking/queuing
and strategy measurements System features
Coverage Handover Statistical
for coverage, strategies performance
quality and prediction
analysis
capacity, Maximum
per network Quality
service Site
loading Efficiency
acquisition External Interference
Coverage Analysis Availability
optimisation Other RRM
Identification
Adaptation

4
 WCDMA Network planning

Coverage and capacity

DEFINITION coupling PLEMENTATION O&M

Network Coverage Parameter Network

Capacity
Configuration Planning and Requirements Planning Optimisation
and Site Selection
Dimensioning Traffic distribution Area / Cell Survey
Service distribution specific measurements
Requirements Propagation Allowed blocking/queuing
and strategy measurements System features
Coverage Handover Statistical
for coverage, strategies performance
quality and prediction
analysis
capacity, Maximum
per service Site network Quality
Multiple services loading Efficiency
acquisition Exte
Coverage Ana Availability
optimisation Other RRM
Identification
Adaptation

Multiple services

5
 WCDMA Network planning
Experience
on service usage
DEFINITIO ION O&M
from GSM, with
GSM 1800
GPRS and EDGE
propagation
Network measurements Parameter Network
Capacit
Configurati rements Planning Optimisation
and ction
Dimensioning Traffic distribution Area / Cell Survey
Service distribution
Propagation specific measurements
Requirements Allowed blocking/queuing
and strategy measurements System features
Coverage Handover Statistical
for coverage, strategies performance
ality and prediction
analysis
pacity, Maximum
r network Quality
service Site
GSM for loading Efficiency
acquisition External Interference
coverage Analysis Availability
extension Other RRM
Identification
Adaptation
GSM co-siting

6
 Recall: RAB concept
UMTS

TE MT UTRAN CN Iu CN TE
EDGE Gateway
NODE
End-to-End Service

TE/MT Local UMTS Bearer Service External Bearer

Bearer Service Service

Radio Access Bearer Service CN Bearer

Service

Radio Bearer Iu Bearer Backbone

Service Service Bearer Service

UTRA Physical
FDD/TDD Bearer Service
Service

7
 Recall: Service types
Typical services associated with the RABs
 Conversational Speech: Adaptive Multi Rate (AMR)
speech
 Conversational CS data: Video Telephony
 Streaming: Video, audio streaming
 Interactive data: Corporate access, web browsing,
WAP etc
 Background data: E-mails, internet access,
downloads
 Multi-RAB: e.g.speech + e-mail, speech + internet
access, etc

8
 What’s usually available

Typical first releases Typical 2004/5 releases

of R99 WCDMA of WCDMA (R4)
Conversational
Speech Speech 4,75-12,2kbps AMR CS

Conversational Speech
Conversational Speech 12.2 kbps Circuit Switched Conversational CS Data 64kbps CS

57.6 kbps CS
Conversational CS
Conversational CSData
Data 64 kbps Circuit Switched 64/64 kbps PS
Streaming 64/128 kbps PS
Streaming
Streaming 57.6 kbps Circuit Switched 64/256 kbps PS

Variable rate Packet Switched Interactive PS 64/64 -> 128/384 kbps

Interactive
Interactive UL/DL 64/64, 64/128, 64/384
Combinations of AMR
Combination of Multi-RAB speech and up to 64/384 kbps
Multi-RAB
Multi-RAB Conversational Speech and PS Interactive
Interactive 64/64
Combinations of CS
Multi-RAB conversational
data and up to 64/384 kbps
PS Interactive/ Multiple PS
Interactive
HS-DSCH (HSDPA) 1.8->3.6Mbps (R5, 1H2006)
Conversational PS Data 64->128 kbps PS (R5)

E-DCH (HSUPA) 0.7->1,5Mbps (R6)

9
 Traffic types

RT guaranteed bit-rate & delay traffic is the most
demanding type of traffic for cell design (especially high
bit-rate)
 Conversational class circuit switched voice (not demanding due to
slow bit-rate)
 Conversational class circuit switched video telephony (more
demanding for maintain QoS than to the cell design, CS bearer not
utilising capacity optimally)
 Streaming class circuit and packet switched data (very demanding,
especially high-bit rate packet switched)

NRT Intercative/Background traffic is less demanding
type of traffic for cell design due to bursty and non-
guaranteed nature

So far in live 3G networks, the amount of video
telephony and streaming packet switched data is
minimal compared to Intercative/Background traffic and
voice
10
 Traffic dimensioning

When predicting the traffic for High uptake scenario
3G plan, issues should be
100 %
considered as
80 %
 Terminal penetration (2G/3G) 60 % 3.G

 Operator market share 40 %

2.5G
2G
 Subscriber prediction 20 %

 Amount of roamers 0%
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
 User profiles
 Service usage per profile Traffic growth per month avg. user

200
190
180
170
160

T otal traffic in M B per m on th

150
140
130
120
110
100
90 Data usage
80
70 Voice
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
2004
2005
2006
2007
11
2008
Years 2009
 Traffic dimensioning

Due to CDMA-characteristics and
multi-service nature of WCDMA,
without accurate traffic modeling and
predictions the capacity and coverage
of the network is difficult to plan.

The modeling can be based on the
knowledge of GSM/GPRS and internet
usage patterns as well as on
assumptions of service usage

Predicting the amount of usage and
usage locations is of high importance,
because of the fluctuating nature of
the traffic –> simulations with various
traffic scenarios needed.

User scenarios/profiles should be
created together with business
planning and should support the
selected strategy in the dimensioning
12
Traffic dimensioning example for interactive class

Amount of web
pages to be
downloaded per
subscriber
Number of
Payload
subscribers

Amount of Offered
active users traffic

nsubs n pagesY Abps

M≈ =
3600 R peakτ session R peakτ session

Maximum
RAB bitrate Session efficiency,
incl overhead and
retransmissions

13
 Traffic dimensioning in planning tools

Typical traffic dimensioning in a 3G planning tool

14
 Traffic dimensioning in planning tools

In PS connections
associated parameters
need to be decided per
service. Example:

15
 WCDMA Network dimensioning

Typically initial dimensioning produces the rough esitimation on
needed equipment amount & configuration for a service area

• As most UMTS networks are built on top of existing GSM networks, the
process is focused to estimate what level of coverage/capacity can be
achievied with re-use of GSM grid 16
 WCDMA Link Budget

NodeB Losses NodeB Eb/No

TX- (cable, antenna
power feeders gain
etc.) Pathloss
Interference Soft Terminal Ec/Io Processing
margin Hand- antenna Terminal gain
over gain losses
gain (e.g.
body loss)
Depends on
Depends on e.g. used service i.e
amount of users and the RAB (radio
distribution access bearer)

17
 WCDMA Link Budget

Due to difference in Eb/No requirement, processing gain and
receiver sensitivity for each user, the calculated pathloss (and
cell size) is different for each user.

In WCDMA the Node B and UE also need to use more power
for the demanding users, especially if connecting from a
distance (large pathloss)

As a rule of thumb
 coverage for 128kbps
NRT PS service in normal
loading conditions equals
GSM1800 voice
 coverage for 384kbps
384kbps
NRT PS service in normal
loading conditions is
~10dB worse than AMR12.2
voice
AMR voice

18
 Link budget, 12.2 kbps speech
12.2kbps voice, DL 12.2kbps voice, UL
Target load 0.75 0.5
Transmitter characteristics Total transmitter power 20 W 0.125 W
Transmitter power on TCH 0.348718 W 0.125 W
25.42474 dBm 20.9691 dBm
TX antenna gain 17.42531 dBi 0 dBi
TX cable loss 2 dB 0 dB
TX Body loss 0 dB 2 dB
Transmitter EIRP 40.85005 dBm 18.9691 dBm

Receiver characteristics RX antenna gain 0 dBi 17.42531 dBi

and margins Thermal noise density -174 dBm/Hz -174 dBm/Hz
Receiver noise figure 8 dB 5 dB
Receiver noise density -166 dB -169 dB
Receiver noise power -100.157 dBm -103.157 dBm
Spreading gain 24.97971 dB 24.97971 dB
Required Eb/No 7 dB 5 dB
Interference margin 6.0206 dB 3.0103 dB
Required signal power -112.116 dBm -120.126 dBm
RX Cable loss 0 dB 2 dB
RX Body loss 2 dB 0 dB
Diversity gain 0 dB 3 dB
Fast fading margin 0 dB 3 dB
Soft handover gain 1 dB 2 dB
Coverage probability (cell edge) 0.9 0.9
Shadow fading std deviation 6 dB 6 dB
Shadow Fading Margin 7.5 dB 7.5 dB
Indoor penetration loss 0 dB 0 dB 19
Allowed propagation loss 146.4659 dB 149.0205 dB
 Link budget, TX characteristics
12.2kbps voice, DL 12.2kbps voice, UL
Target load 0.75 0.5
Transmitter characteristics Total transmitter power 20 W 0.125 W
Transmitter power on TCH 0.348718 W 0.125 W
25.42474 dBm 20.9691 dBm
TX antenna gain 17.42531 dBi 0 dBi
TX cable loss 2 dB 0 dB
TX Body loss 0 dB 2 dB
Transmitter EIRP 40.85005 dBm 18.9691 dBm

 Network load assumption for dimensionning (target

loading)
 The target load level of the network should be based on as
accurate predictions of service&traffic mix distribution and
growth as possible

20
 Target load

Target load%
 Urban macro cells 50-60% (demanding traffic & user profiles,
buildings restrict cell dominance, shadowing)
 Urban micro cells 70% (small cells, traffic hotspots and indoor)
 Rural 30-40% (coverage important, lower traffic, different user
profiles)
 Not higher than 75% (UL hard to manage, interference explodes)

Too high initial target can result in too dense network (expensive) if
the traffic or use of resources is estimated wrongly. Network can
also be hard to manage in terms of cell overlapping → cell
dominance to be guaranteed.

Too low initial target can result to coverage holes and capacity
problems, if the traffic proves to be higher than predicted or
resources are utilised differently.

21
 Target load

DL load can be dimensioned to be higher than UL load

With high and very asymmetric traffic load (~80/20) or indoors, DL
can easily limit the capacity of a cell in practise
 DL power shared with users, coverage very dependent of loading
 DL capacity depends more on propagation and multipath than the UL
capacity, because of the use of orthogonal codes

DL load usually bigger than UL load (traffic asymmetry, bigger
Eb/No requirements, overhead due to SHO...)

DL is not so hard to manage when close to maximum loading is
utilised, due to effective averaging of transmitted powers

DL resources will usually be utilised in full (available capacity is
given to the users in the cell → no waisting of air capacity →
happier users

22
 TX power
12.2kbps voice, DL 12.2kbps voice, UL
Target load 0.75 0.5
Transmitter characteristics Total transmitter power 20 W 0.125 W
Transmitter power on TCH 0.348718 W 0.125 W
25.42474 dBm 20.9691 dBm
TX antenna gain 17.42531 dBi 0 dBi
TX cable loss 2 dB 0 dB
TX Body loss 0 dB 2 dB
Transmitter EIRP 40.85005 dBm 18.9691 dBm

In calculation of TCH transmission power we have used the formula

(1 − Control overhead) ⋅ Total TX power

PTX ,TCH =
Load target ⋅ Maximum number of users
In this case we have assumed that maximum number of speech users is 65

23
 TX power in BS

Recall the control overhead

The maximum number of users for a certain service can

be computed using DL load equations (to be explained
later)

It is important to notice that by decreasing the DL load
target the TCH power can be increased and cell
coverage increased.
24
 RX characteristics
Receiver characteristics RX antenna gain 0 dBi 17.42531 dBi
and margins Thermal noise density -174 dBm/Hz -174 dBm/Hz
Receiver noise figure 8 dB 5 dB
Receiver noise density -166 dB -169 dB
Receiver noise power -100.157 dBm -103.157 dBm
Processing gain 24.97971 dB 24.97971 dB
Required Eb/No 7 dB 5 dB
Interference margin 6.0206 dB 3.0103 dB
Required signal power -112.116 dBm -120.126 dBm
RX Cable loss 0 dB 2 dB
RX Body loss 2 dB 0 dB
Diversity gain 0 dB 3 dB
Fast fading margin 0 dB 3 dB
Soft handover gain 1 dB 2 dB
Coverage probability (cell edge) 0.9 0.9
Shadow fading std deviation 6 dB 6 dB
Shadow Fading Margin 7.5 dB 7.5 dB
Indoor penetration loss 0 dB 0 dB

Receiver noise figure is usually between 5 to 9 dB and BS have better

NF. Precise value of this parameter is product specific.

25
 RX characteristics
Receiver characteristics RX antenna gain 0 dBi 17.42531 dBi
and margins Thermal noise density -174 dBm/Hz -174 dBm/Hz
Receiver noise figure 8 dB 5 dB
Receiver noise density -166 dB -169 dB
Receiver noise power -100.157 dBm -103.157 dBm
Processing gain 24.97971 dB 24.97971 dB
Required Eb/No 7 dB 5 dB
Interference margin 6.0206 dB 3.0103 dB
Required signal power -112.116 dBm -120.126 dBm
RX Cable loss 0 dB 2 dB
RX Body loss 2 dB 0 dB
Diversity gain 0 dB 3 dB
Fast fading margin 0 dB 3 dB
Soft handover gain 1 dB 2 dB
Coverage probability (cell edge) 0.9 0.9
Shadow fading std deviation 6 dB 6 dB
Shadow Fading Margin 7.5 dB 7.5 dB
Indoor penetration loss 0 dB 0 dB

Receiver noise density (per Hz) is a sum of receiver noise figure and
thermal noise density.
Receiver noise power is equal to receiver noise density x chip rate
26
 RX characteristics
Receiver characteristics RX antenna gain 0 dBi 17.42531 dBi
and margins Thermal noise density -174 dBm/Hz -174 dBm/Hz
Receiver noise figure 8 dB 5 dB
Receiver noise density -166 dB -169 dB
Receiver noise power -100.157 dBm -103.157 dBm
Processing gain 24.97971 dB 24.97971 dB
Required Eb/No 7 dB 5 dB
Interference margin 6.0206 dB 3.0103 dB
Required signal power -112.116 dBm -120.126 dBm
RX Cable loss 0 dB 2 dB
RX Body loss 2 dB 0 dB
Diversity gain 0 dB 3 dB
Fast fading margin 0 dB 3 dB
Soft handover gain 1 dB 2 dB
Coverage probability (cell edge) 0.9 0.9
Shadow fading std deviation 6 dB 6 dB
Shadow Fading Margin 7.5 dB 7.5 dB
Indoor penetration loss 0 dB 0 dB

Processing gain is the chip rate divided by user bit rate

27
 RX characteristics
Receiver characteristics RX antenna gain 0 dBi 17.42531 dBi
and margins Thermal noise density -174 dBm/Hz -174 dBm/Hz
Receiver noise figure 8 dB 5 dB
Receiver noise density -166 dB -169 dB
Receiver noise power -100.157 dBm -103.157 dBm
Processing gain 24.97971 dB 24.97971 dB
Required Eb/No 7 dB 5 dB
Interference margin 6.0206 dB 3.0103 dB
Required signal power -112.116 dBm -120.126 dBm
RX Cable loss 0 dB 2 dB
RX Body loss 2 dB 0 dB
Diversity gain 0 dB 3 dB
Fast fading margin 0 dB 3 dB
Soft handover gain 1 dB 2 dB
Coverage probability (cell edge) 0.9 0.9
Shadow fading std deviation 6 dB 6 dB
Shadow Fading Margin 7.5 dB 7.5 dB
Indoor penetration loss 0 dB 0 dB

Eb/No values can be obtained by link simulations. There are also

informative values given in 3GPP specifications. Eb/No values are
usually provided by the network vendor
28
 Eb/No

While Ec/Io is defined before the signal de-spreading

operation and Eb/No after de-spreading.
 Ec/Io can be be determined for the signal ”in the air”

So Eb/No depends on the service (bit rate, CS/PS,
receiving end) & vendor

Ec/Io is service independent

Typical Eb/No values
 AMR 12.2 kbps speech (BLER <7*10^-3) [UL 4-5 dB, DL 7-8 dB]
 CS 64 kbps data (BER <10^-4) [UL 2-3 dB, DL 6-7 dB]
 PS Streaming 64 kbps (BER<10^-3) [UL 3-4 dB, DL 7-8 dB]
 PS data 64 kbps (BLER <7*10^-3) [UL 2-3 dB, DL 5-6 dB]
 PS data 384 kbps (BLER <7*10^-3) [UL 2-3 dB, DL 5-7 dB]

29
 RX characteristics
Receiver characteristics RX antenna gain 0 dBi 17.42531 dBi
and margins Thermal noise density -174 dBm/Hz -174 dBm/Hz
Receiver noise figure 8 dB 5 dB
Receiver noise density -166 dB -169 dB
Receiver noise power -100.157 dBm -103.157 dBm
Processing gain 24.97971 dB 24.97971 dB
Required Eb/No 7 dB 5 dB
Interference margin 6.0206 dB 3.0103 dB
Required signal power -112.116 dBm -120.126 dBm
RX Cable loss 0 dB 2 dB
RX Body loss 2 dB 0 dB
Diversity gain 0 dB 3 dB
Fast fading margin 0 dB 3 dB
Soft handover gain 1 dB 2 dB
Coverage probability (cell edge) 0.9 0.9
Shadow fading std deviation 6 dB 6 dB
Shadow Fading Margin 7.5 dB 7.5 dB
Indoor penetration loss 0 dB 0 dB

Interference is a function of loading. In UL the value can be obtained

from equation
Interference margin = −10 ⋅ log10 (1 − Target load )
This value can be used also in DL. 50% load => 3dB margin, 75% load30
=> 6dB margin
 Interference margin

Receiver background noise increases in

proportion to the increase of the users

This needs to taken into account in the link
budget with a specific interference margin, which
is directly related to the loading

31
 Interference margin
Interference binds the capacity
1,2
and coverage
1

0,8

Cell range
The more traffic is brought to
the cell, more interference is 0,6
produced
0,4

0,2

In order to win the interference

0
the terminals have to increase 0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1
their TX-power Cell loading

When the interference grows

in the cell the most far away New users cannot Cell range
terminal from the NodeB access the cell
from distance decreases
cannot win the interference
even with the maximum TX-
power
32
 RX characteristics
Receiver characteristics RX antenna gain 0 dBi 17.42531 dBi
and margins Thermal noise density -174 dBm/Hz -174 dBm/Hz
Receiver noise figure 8 dB 5 dB
Receiver noise density -166 dB -169 dB
Receiver noise power -100.157 dBm -103.157 dBm
Processing gain 24.97971 dB 24.97971 dB
Required Eb/No 7 dB 5 dB
Interference margin 6.0206 dB 3.0103 dB
Required signal power -112.116 dBm -120.126 dBm
RX Cable loss 0 dB 2 dB
RX Body loss 2 dB 0 dB
Diversity gain 0 dB 3 dB
Fast fading margin 0 dB 3 dB
Soft handover gain 1 dB 2 dB
Coverage probability (cell edge) 0.9 0.9
Shadow fading std deviation 6 dB 6 dB
Shadow Fading Margin 7.5 dB 7.5 dB
Indoor penetration loss 0 dB 0 dB

The required signal power (also called as sensitivity) represents the

weakest signal that can be received by the receiving antenna.

33
 RX characteristics
Receiver characteristics RX antenna gain 0 dBi 17.42531 dBi
and margins Thermal noise density -174 dBm/Hz -174 dBm/Hz
Receiver noise figure 8 dB 5 dB
Receiver noise density -166 dB -169 dB
Receiver noise power -100.157 dBm -103.157 dBm
Processing gain 24.97971 dB 24.97971 dB
Required Eb/No 7 dB 5 dB
Interference margin 6.0206 dB 3.0103 dB
Required signal power -112.116 dBm -120.126 dBm
RX Cable loss 0 dB 2 dB
RX Body loss 2 dB 0 dB
Diversity gain 0 dB 3 dB
Fast fading margin 0 dB 3 dB
Soft handover gain 1 dB 2 dB
Coverage probability (cell edge) 0.9 0.9
Shadow fading std deviation 6 dB 6 dB
Shadow Fading Margin 7.5 dB 7.5 dB
Indoor penetration loss 0 dB 0 dB

Fast fading margin = power control headroom

34
 Fast fading margin

PC headroom is an overhead on the transmit power a
terminal needs to make in the UL. This overhead
ensures that the UL PC is able to compensate for deep
fades at cell border

PC Headroom is a function of UE speed, and the
overhead is largest for relatively slowly moving UEs
(<50km/h)
 Typical value is 3dB for urban and 4dB elsewhere
 Depends on assumed SHO gain and Eb/No -values
 In an operational network, the required TPC headroom can vary
from 0 to over 8dB

PC headroom is usually not needed in the downlink,
since all mobile terminals are served simultaneously with
comparatively less power than the maximum output
power of the node B.

35
 RX characteristics
Receiver characteristics RX antenna gain 0 dBi 17.42531 dBi
and margins Thermal noise density -174 dBm/Hz -174 dBm/Hz
Receiver noise figure 8 dB 5 dB
Receiver noise density -166 dB -169 dB
Receiver noise power -100.157 dBm -103.157 dBm
Processing gain 24.97971 dB 24.97971 dB
Required Eb/No 7 dB 5 dB
Interference margin 6.0206 dB 3.0103 dB
Required signal power -112.116 dBm -120.126 dBm
RX Cable loss 0 dB 2 dB
RX Body loss 2 dB 0 dB
Diversity gain 0 dB 3 dB
Fast fading margin 0 dB 3 dB
Soft handover gain 1 dB 2 dB
Coverage probability (cell edge) 0.9 0.9
Shadow fading std deviation 6 dB 6 dB
Shadow Fading Margin 7.5 dB 7.5 dB
Indoor penetration loss 0 dB 0 dB

In soft handover two signals are combined

36
 Soft/Softer handover
• Soft/Softer Handover gain develops from combining of
signals either in node B’s RAKE or RNC. In Downlink
signals are combined in terminal’s RAKE receiver
• Uplink Soft Handover gain comes from RNC frame
selection combining. Gain is not achieved as concrete
gain in radio interface, but as more stable power control.
• In Uplink Softer HO maximum ratio combining is
performed in node B’s RAKE => gain 1-3 dB
• Downlink Soft HO:n maximum ratio combining is
performed in terminal’s RAKE => gain 1-2 dB

37
 RX characteristics
Receiver characteristics RX antenna gain 0 dBi 17.42531 dBi
and margins Thermal noise density -174 dBm/Hz -174 dBm/Hz
Receiver noise figure 8 dB 5 dB
Receiver noise density -166 dB -169 dB
Receiver noise power -100.157 dBm -103.157 dBm
Processing gain 24.97971 dB 24.97971 dB
Required Eb/No 7 dB 5 dB
Interference margin 6.0206 dB 3.0103 dB
Required signal power -112.116 dBm -120.126 dBm
RX Cable loss 0 dB 2 dB
RX Body loss 2 dB 0 dB
Diversity gain 0 dB 3 dB
Fast fading margin 0 dB 3 dB
Soft handover gain 1 dB 2 dB
Coverage probability (cell edge) 0.9 0.9
Shadow fading std deviation 6 dB 6 dB
Shadow Fading Margin 7.5 dB 7.5 dB
Indoor penetration loss 0 dB 0 dB

Shadow fading margin has been discussed previously, but let’s recall
some issues

38
 Shadow fading margin (SFM)

SFM is needed because the buildings and other obstacles between
the UE and Node B are causing changes in the received signal level at
the receiver

SFM is taken into account in the WCDMA link budget to assure a
minimum signal level with the wanted probability

According to measurements in live UMTS network, it has been noticed
that the practical SFM and standard deviation values are nearly the
same for WCDMA and GSM
Shadow fading
margin
Network area/
Standard deviation
Parameter Area Area
probabil probabil
Some values that are ity 90% ity 95%
used based on
measurements Dense urban / 8,5 dB 6 dB 9,5 dB
Urban
Sub-urban 7,2 dB 4,7 dB 7,6 dB

Rural 6,5 dB 3,9 dB 6,6 dB

39
 Cell range
Allowed propagation loss 146.4659 dB 149.0205 dB

Range (Okumura-Hata path loss model) Unit

Carrier frequency 2100 MHz
BS antenna height 25 m
MS antenna height 1.5 m
Parameter A 46.3
Parameter B 33.9
Parameter C 44.9
MS antenna gain function (large city) -0.00092
Path loss exponent 3.574349
Path loss constant 137.3351 dB
Downlink range 1.800742 km
Uplink range 2.12287 km
Cell range 1.800742 km

It seems that WCDMA and GSM 1800 admit pretty same speech
coverage (recall that GSM 1800 range were round 1.58 km). Actually if
we would have used the same cable loss then cell range would have
been 1.58 km also for WCDMA. Yet, WCDMA link budget contains
much more parameters => more potential error sources in dimensioning.
40
 Link budget, 384kbps data
384kbps data, DL 384kbps data, UL
Target load 0.75 0.5
Transmitter characteristics Total transmitter power 20 W 0.25 W
Transmitter power on TCH 5.666667 W 0.25 W
37.53328 dBm 23.9794 dBm
TX antenna gain 17.42531 dBi 0 dBi
TX cable loss 2 dB 0 dB
TX Body loss 0 dB 0 dB
Transmitter EIRP 52.95858 dBm 23.9794 dBm

Receiver characteristics RX antenna gain 0 dBi 17.42531 dBi

and margins Thermal noise density -174 dBm/Hz -174 dBm/Hz
Receiver noise figure 8 dB 5 dB
Receiver noise density -166 dB -169 dB
Receiver noise power -100.157 dBm -103.157 dBm
Processing gain 10 dB 10 dB
Required Eb/No 7 dB 3 dB
Interference margin 6.0206 dB 3.0103 dB
Required signal power -97.1361 dBm -107.146 dBm
RX Cable loss 0 dB 2 dB
RX Body loss 0 dB 0 dB
Diversity gain 0 dB 3 dB
Fast fading margin 0 dB 4 dB
Soft handover gain 1 dB 2 dB
Coverage probability (cell edge) 0.9 0.9
Shadow fading std deviation 6 dB 6 dB
Shadow Fading Margin 7.5 dB 7.5 dB 41
Indoor penetration loss 0 dB 0 dB
Allowed propagation loss 143.5947 dB 140.0511 dB
 TX power
384kbps data, DL 384kbps data, UL
Target load 0.75 0.5
Transmitter characteristics Total transmitter power 20 W 0.25 W
Transmitter power on TCH 5.666667 W 0.25 W
37.53328 dBm 23.9794 dBm
TX antenna gain 17.42531 dBi 0 dBi
TX cable loss 2 dB 0 dB
TX Body loss 0 dB 0 dB
Transmitter EIRP 52.95858 dBm 23.9794 dBm

Data terminal may have

higher TX power
Recall the calculation of TCH transmission power

(1 − Control overhead) ⋅ Total TX power

PTX ,TCH =
Load target ⋅ Maximum number of users
Now maximum number of users is only 4 => BS TX power on TCH is high

42
 Receiver characteristics
Receiver characteristics RX antenna gain 0 dBi 17.42531 dBi
and margins Thermal noise density -174 dBm/Hz -174 dBm/Hz
Receiver noise figure 8 dB 5 dB
Receiver noise density -166 dB -169 dB
Receiver noise power -100.157 dBm -103.157 dBm
Processing gain 10 dB 10 dB
Required Eb/No 7 dB 3 dB
Interference margin 6.0206 dB 3.0103 dB
Required signal power -97.1361 dBm -107.146 dBm
RX Cable loss 0 dB 2 dB
RX Body loss 0 dB 0 dB
Diversity gain 0 dB 3 dB
Fast fading margin 0 dB 4 dB
Soft handover gain 1 dB 2 dB
Coverage probability (cell edge) 0.9 0.9
Shadow fading std deviation 6 dB 6 dB
Shadow Fading Margin 7.5 dB 7.5 dB
Indoor penetration loss 0 dB 0 dB

Processing gain is smaller due to higher data rate

Eb/No in UL is also slightly smaller.

43
 Cell range
Allowed propagation loss 143.5947 dB 140.0511 dB

Range (Okumura-Hata path loss model) Unit

Carrier frequency 2100 MHz
BS antenna height 25 m
MS antenna height 1.5 m
Parameter A 46.3
Parameter B 33.9
Parameter C 44.9
MS antenna gain function (large city) -0.00092
Path loss exponent 3.574349
Path loss constant 137.3351 dB
Downlink range 1.496663 km
Uplink range 1.191201 km
Cell range 1.191201 km

Now system is clearly uplink limited (it was downlink limited for
speech). Yet this is only problem for symmetric services. Usually
384kbps is used for web browsing which is putting more pressure on
DL. If cell dimensioning is done for speech then DL 384kbps coverage
may not be a serious problem but capacity becomes soon a bottleneck
since system may support only few 384kbps users. 44
 Cell range

In previous link budgets indoor penetration loss

were 0dB. If we assume 20dB penetration loss
(usual value) then
Allowed propagation loss 126.4659 dB 129.0205 dB
Downlink range 0.496488 km
12.2kbps speech Uplink range 0.585303 km
Cell range 0.496488 km

Allowed propagation loss 123.5947 dB 120.0511 dB

Downlink range 0.41265 km
384kbps data Uplink range 0.32843 km
Cell range 0.32843 km

Inter-site distance (3 sector cell) = 3 x range. Hence, inter-site

distances are 1488m for speech and 984m for 384kbps data (UL). In
practise inter-site distances are even smaller in urban areas due the
45
more pessimistic (realistic) parameters.