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This chapter covers some of the issues that may arise concerning path profiles, line-of-sight
requirements, input signals and their variation, diversity, reflections and frequency planning.
In addition, surveying possible radio-link paths and site requirements are discussed.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
II
PATH AND FREQUENCY PLANNING
This section will cover some of the issues that may arise concerning
path profiles, requirements regarding line-of-sight, input signal and
their variation, diversity, reflections and frequency planning. A section
is included which deals with the survey of possible radio-link paths and
site requirements.
Repeater
station
Terminal
Terminal station
station Repeater
Repeater station
station
Figure 1: Radio link between two terminal stations showing repeater station.
Ericsson AB 1
Advices:
4) Be aware that the term “radio relay” is also intended for radio
equipment.
2 Ericsson AB
Curved ray
True-earth radius
Straight Ray
Equivalent-earth radius
Ericsson AB 3
k= -1
k= ∞
k=1
k=0.5
k=0.33
ace
Eart h Surf
Figure 3: Equivalent earth with different ray beam curvatures for different
values of the earth-radius factor.
Advices:
4) Low k-values lower the LOS (demand higher antenna heights) but
offer better protection against interference from other stations. Higher
k-values give higher LOS (demand lower antenna heights) but expose
the link to interference from other stations.
4 Ericsson AB
A M B
dA dB
R
R = 547 ⋅
d A ⋅ (d − d A ) d A ⋅ (d − d A )
f ⋅d
R = 17.32 ⋅
f ⋅d
GHz
Provided that there is no obstacle within the first Fresnel zone, obstacle
attenuation can be ignored, and clearance demands are in most cases
satisfied. If one has, for example, a backbone network operating at a
lower frequency than for example 7 GHz, the path length may require
more clearance than that required by the first Fresnel zone. One may be
required to keep the first Fresnel zone free from obstacles at a smaller
effective earth-radius than for k=4/3. For example, the requirement may
entail a free first Fresnel zone for k=0.5.
On the other hand, at frequencies less than about 2 GHz, one may be
able to tolerate some obstacle attenuation. The need for clearance for
these frequency bands must be calculated for each individual path.
Some examples of how the radius of the Fresnel zone varies with path
length for different frequency bands are shown in Table 1. The table
shows the Fresnel zone’s mid-path, which provides an indication of the
clearance requirements that are demanded.
Ericsson AB 5
Advices:
1) The higher the frequency the smaller the Fresnel zone and
consequently more vulnerable to non-LOS effects (object attenuation).
2) Low k-values lower the LOS (demand higher antenna heights) but
offer better protection against interference from other stations. Higher
k-values give higher LOS (demand lower antenna heights) but expose
the link to interference from other stations.
hc = LOS-clearance hc
The direct path between the transmitter and the receiver needs a
clearance above the ground or any obstruction of at least 60% of the
radius of the Fresnel zone in order to insure free-space propagation.
Clearance values have to fit the local climate conditions.
6 Ericsson AB
Advices:
1) Low k-values lower the LOS (demand higher antenna heights) but
offer better protection against interference from other stations. Higher
k-values give higher LOS (demand lower antenna heights) but expose
the link to interference from other stations.
2) The most common discrepancy arises when the radius of the first
Fresnel zone is not compensated for its vertical projection. The more
inclined the path is the more correction is required.
Ericsson AB 7
d1 ⋅ d 2
Earth elevaition
∆h =
Elevation, m
2⋅ k ⋅ R
∆h
d1 d2
Distance, km
A radio ray beam may be shown as a straight line in a path profile that
is constructed having an earth radius factor that corresponds to the
conditions defined by a normal atmosphere for the particular
geographical locations at which the sites are located.
The parameter (dN/dh) that may be used for the calculation of the
particular k-value for different parts of the world is discussed in section
2.2.
The path profile chart may now be completed. Antenna height and line-
of-sight information are added to the chart. Adding the first Fresnel
radius to the chart will allow the determination of free line-of-sight and
whether or not sufficient clearance exists along the path. The path
profile is to clearly indicate any forest areas, buildings and other man-
made obstructions, see Figure 7.
8 Ericsson AB
2.7 Outage
Outage is generally defined as the probability that a pre-defined bit-
error ratio is exceeded during a certain measured period. The concept of
outage comprises quality (error performance) and availability events
that are referred to a given bit-error ratio.
Ericsson AB 9
MSC/
MG
MSC/ Core Network
MG SDH links
Ring/mesh
10 Ericsson AB
2 Mb/s
2 Mb/s
34 Mb/s
8 Mb/s
8 Mb/s
34 Mb/s 8 Mb/s
2 Mb/s
Three wide subscriber categories are now part of the access network:
fixed, mobile and cordless applications (terminal mobility in a fixed
network, for instance DECT) as used in the office by several medium
and large companies.
Ericsson AB 11
Considering the physical and logical aspects, it is safe to say that the
access network is the only portion of a network showing both physical
and logical characteristics.
The end site supports transmission in only one direction (for instance,
carrying traffic into the access portion or out of it). It can either be a
site providing the user access to a radio base station or an end customer,
or it can be a site interfacing the mobile switches and the core network.
For an end site providing user access, the capacity normally ranges
from 2 up to 34 Mbit/s. Redundancy is normally not required.
For a site interfacing switches and the core network, see Figure 8, the
capacity normally ranges from 34 Mbit/s up to 155 Mbit/s.
Redundancy is normally required. Both point-to-point and point-to-
multipoint end sites are foreseen. The end site should be flexible in
order to support traffic interfaces ranging from multiple E1s, E2, E3,
and STM-1.
12 Ericsson AB
Ericsson AB 13
MSC
3.5.1 Chain/Tandem
This type of configuration consists of linking RBS sites in a chain such
that the previous RBS sites in the chain act as active repeaters for the
last one; see Figure 11. This often provides minimum length per link
and normally a cost-effective solution.
14 Ericsson AB
MSC
This configuration has two main disadvantages: 1) since the links are
connected in sequence it is expected poorer hardware availability
caused by hardware faults, 2) capacity requirement increases along the
chain toward the RNCs. Drop insert or DCC/DXC (Digital Cross
Connect) may help to minimize capacity requirements.
• Some sites may be situated too far from the RNC, thus increasing
fading probabilities.
MSC
MSC
16 Ericsson AB
MSC
RNC
RNC
Node B
Node B
3.5.5 Mesh
The mesh configuration is a mixture of the previous described
configurations and currently employed to improve the availability to the
network, see Figure 16.
RNC
18 Ericsson AB
BSC/RNC
BSC/RNC
Figure 18: The capacity growth (thicker lines) and new sites and paths
(dashed lines).
Ericsson AB 19
BSC/RNC
20 Ericsson AB
BSC/RNC
Figure 20: More intelligence at the nodes and a network manager are
introduced when the transport network becomes more dense and
complex.
Ericsson AB 21
National
Core
Regional
Local
Access
Access
Find/verify:
22 Ericsson AB
5 Microwave design
Microwave design is necessary when a completely new or currently
existing network is build. Some general aspects involved in the design
of a microwave network are its purpose, technical requirements,
flexibility, and future network expansion and implementation time. For
upgrade or expansion of existing network a detailed analysis of the
current network status is very important.
Ericsson AB 23
INPUT
Conclusion
Start-up Initial Site Detailed
Design/planning Selection/survey Design/planning
• Quality
• Availability/unavailability
• Traffic requirements and capacity
The manner in which one goes about determining the requirements
pertaining to the dimensioning of individual radio-link paths is a
function of the configuration and the dimensioning of the local network.
In some cases surrounding networks may also be involved. Every
network component path is to exhibit a level of availability and quality
such that the entire connection, subscriber-to-subscriber, maintains the
overall standards that were selected.
24 Ericsson AB
Waveguide Waveguide
Splitter Antenna Antenna Splitter
Transmitter / Transmitter /
Receiver Wave guide Receiver
Wave guide
Output
ain
Bra
G
Power nch
na
ing
L
ten
osse
s
An
Pr o
pag
atio
Transmitted Power
nL
oss
Branc
es
hing L
osses
Received Power
in
Ga
a
nn
te
Unfaded
An
Fade
Margin
Receiver Thresh.
Value
Advices
Ericsson AB 25
Advices
Ericsson AB 27
A B
3) Vertical polarization gives less loss. For large grazing angles the
difference between vertical and horizontal polarization is substantial.
4) Changing the antenna heights can move the location of the reflection
point. This approach, usually known as the “Hi-Lo technique”, force
the reflection point to move closer to the lowest antenna by affecting
the height of the higher antenna. The grazing angle increases and the
path becomes less sensitive to k-value variations.
28 Ericsson AB
5) The more intensive rain, the shorter it will last and the more limited
the rain cells will be.
Ericsson AB 29
0 dB 0 dB 6 dB 16 dB 20 dB
2) If 60% of the first Fresnel zone is free from obstacle then the
obstacle loss is 0 dB.
3) If the LOS is about to strike the obstacle, then the obstacle loss is 6
dB.
40 dB
20 dB
10 dB
30 Ericsson AB
1) Climate, terrain and path length are factors that affect the degree to
which a radio-link path is sensitive to fading.
5.3.1 Rain
Advices
2) Other forms of precipitation (snow, hail, fog and haze) do not affect
radio-relay links as much as rain events and can therefore be considered
as negligible.
4) Reducing path clearance will reduce the effect of flat fading because
risk for multipath propagation is decreased. However, this technique
may increase the risk for refraction-diffraction fading.
5) Multipath flat fading is more likely on path across flat ground than
on paths over rough terrain.
7) Multipath flat fading is normally most active during early and later
summer (late spring and early autumn).
Ericsson AB 31
Advices
2) Increasing the output power in order to reduce the outage time for
selective fading doesn’t give any improvement. It only increases the flat
fading or reduces the thermal noise power received without having any
influence on the effects (amplitude and group delay distortions across
the channel) of selective fading.
5.3.4 Refraction-diffraction
Advices
5.4.1 Introduction
The objective of frequency planning is to assign frequencies to a
network using as few frequencies as possible and in such a manner, that
the quality and availability of the radio-link path is minimally affected
by interference.
32 Ericsson AB
B Tx= f2
Rx = f1
Real path
A
Tx= f1 Virtual paths
Rx = f2
Virtual paths
Tx= f1
Rx = f2 C Real path Tx= f2
Rx = f1
D
Figure 27: Far interference scenario with two radio-link paths and four
interfering paths.
Far interference is often the primary factor that limits the number of
paths that can be set up within a given geographical area. Planning a
network that is “free” from the effects of far interference requires the
following issues:
Ericsson AB 33
f1 f2 2f2-f1 3f2-2f1
frx ftx
34 Ericsson AB
P1
P2
P2 = P1 − A A = Coupling loss
Ericsson AB 35
STEP 1: Outline the overall structure of the network by pointing out the
location of RBS sites, RNCs, Hubs, PoCs and MGWs.
36 Ericsson AB
B) In a ring with odd number of sites, the transmitter of the first site
will be assigned the same duplex half as the receiver of the last site
(which is the first site in a closed ring). This would probably cause
serious interference. For instance, assigning L to the transmitter in the
first site of a ring composed of five sites would give the following
result: site 1 (L), site 2 (H), site 3 (L), site 4(H) and site 5 (L).
Site 1 will have one more transmitter sending in H, which is exactly the
same, duplex half used by the receiver in the connection between site 1
and site 2. This problem is best resolved by using channels from
another suitable band.
Transmitters using upper and lower duplex halves are sometimes forced
to mix on the same site. In this case, near interference has to be
evaluated. The main parameters in the evaluation of near interference
are the isolation (antenna separation) between transmitters and
receivers on the same site, the frequency separation and the receiver’s
capability of blocking (filtering) unwanted signals.
Ericsson AB 37
STEP 9: Repeat step 8 until the quality and availability objectives of all
portions of the network are accomplished.
STEP 10: The total analysis is finished and the network will have the
final parameter values (channel, polarization, antenna size, frequency
band, etc) as given by the last iteration circle.
Advices
38 Ericsson AB
10) Interfering signals are not always in line of sight! Low k-values
decrease the line of sight (demand higher antenna heights) but offer
better protection against interference from other stations.
11) Never mix transmitters (or receivers) using upper and lower duplex
halves on the same site. All transmitters (or receivers) on one site
should have the same duplex half!
Ericsson AB 39
17) Far interference is often the primary factor that limits the number of
paths that can be set up within a given geographical area.
Since paths of a chain have very sharp angles, using the same channels
by changing polarization (H/V) may be a good alternative to alternate
two channels in the chain. Figure 30 shows channel 1 used alternately
with horizontal (H) and vertical (V) polarization. Upper (U) and lower
(L) duplex halves for the transmitters are illustrated in each site.
Figure 30: Alternating polarization with the same channel along the
chain.
f1/V L
Toward RNC
U
f1/H
L
Figure 31: Alternating polarization with the same channel for sharp
angle separation in a tree configuration.
40 Ericsson AB
f1/V
U L
f1/H f1/V
Toward RNC
L U
f1/H
U
U
f1/H f2/V
U
Toward RNC f1/V
L
f2/V
f2/H
f1/V U
U
U
Ericsson AB 41
Toward RNC
1 2
4 3
5
If the objectives are not accomplished
change network parameters and perform
a new quality and availability calculation
42 Ericsson AB
Advices
3) The quality and unavailability objectives for the all portions in the
HRX and HRP are to be accomplished concurrently.
Ericsson AB 43
10 Frequency (GHz) 20
15) Networks that are better than good are a waste of money!
44 Ericsson AB
Monitored hot standby is preferred and means that the functions of the
standby component should work properly and optimally whenever
required. Monitored implies electronic control/supervision.
Advices
6.2 Diversity
Diversity is a well-established method to overcome the effects of
multipath fading. The most common forms of diversity in LOS links are
space and frequency diversity. Frequency and space diversity can also
be combined giving better improvement than sole frequency or space
diversity. Other diversity forms (for instance, polarization, angle
diversity, and “hybrid” diversity) are known, although not commonly
employed.
Ericsson AB 45
C
-10
Fading depth, dB
Without diversity
-20
gain
With diversity
-30
improvement B
-40 A
-50
10-2 10-3 10-4 10-5 10-6 10-7
Probability of exceeding the fading depth, %
46 Ericsson AB
Reflector
Pa
hA th
Pat B
Site A Site B
Obstacle
Ericsson AB 47
Site B
Reflector 1
Pa h C
th Pat
B
hA
Pat
Reflector 2
Site A
waveguide
Back-to-Back
Antennas
Pa
th
B
A
th
Pa
Site A Site B
Advices
48 Ericsson AB