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THE CAPACITY OF A WCDMA NETWORK: A CASE STUDY T.

Griparis, T M Lee Bechtel


ABSTRACT This paper discusses the WCDMA radio capacity tests undertaken on trial and live networks to investigate both single-cell and network WCDMA radio capacity. Without intercell interferences we would consider the following expression:

UL =
1. INTRODUCTION The paper begins by highlighting the theory behind radio load in a CDMA network, the predicted capacity of a WCDMA network in both the uplink and downlink and the factors that affect this capacity. The paper then details the results of the single cell capacity tests undertaken and shows how it is possible to be able to support very high number of users in a single cell and how this single cell capacity could be used to estimate the capacity of a loaded WCDMA network. To verify this estimation a number of tests for a number of services (Voice, PS64kbps, PS128kbps, PS384kbps) were performed in a fully loaded network. 2. THEORETICAL CELL CAPACITY 2.1 Uplink Cell Capacity The uplink capacity depends on the noise rise generated by the users in the uplink. Typically one operator would restrict the acceptable UL load to a certain UL noise rise. To assist in defining the theory behind Uplink Cell Capacity it is helpful to define UL as the uplink load, NRUL as the uplink noise rise, I0 as the noise floor of the cell, Pi as the received power from user i connected to the serving cell, and Prx-total as the total received power in the uplink. The noise rise in the uplink is the increase in noise compared to the noise floor of the NodeB, thus:

P
i =1

(2) However, this would not take into account the increase of load related to mobiles connected to other cells. The concept of noise rise means that we consider an infinite noise rise when the load is 100%. In other words:

Prx _ total

NRUL =

1 1 UL
(3)

And replacing NRUL by its expression, we obtain:

UL = 1

Prx _ total I 0 1 = NRUL Prx _ total

(4)

This expression shows that the load in uplink is only due to the power received from the UEs and not to the noise of the NodeB. Indeed the total received noise breaks down to:

Prx _ total = I 0 + I int racell + I int ercell = I 0 + (1 + F ) Pi


i =1

(5)

With

I F = int ercell = I int racell

P
j =1 N i =1

NRUL =

Prx _ total I0

(6)

(1) The total UL load is not a straightforward concept when considered with both intracell and intercell interferences.

where F is the intercell over intracell interference ratio and Pj as the received power from user j connected to another cell.

Texas Wireless Symposium 2005

Finally the UL load can be derived as:

UL = (1 + F )

P
i =1

NodeBs power amplifier. Each user will use a share of the NodeBs transmit power and the more users on the cell the stronger the power required for each individual user. The DL power required for a user i is given by: (7)

Prx _ total

Ptx _ i =

with F = 0 we obtain the single cell equation (2). The power required for an individual user can be detailed as follows

(12) where I0 is the noise floor of the mobile, Iintra is the intracell interference, Iinter is intercell interference and PLi is the path loss for user i. A user does not interfere with itself and DL spreading codes from the same cell are pseudo orthogonal. Note that P-SCH and S-SCH channels are not spread and are therefore not orthogonal however this fact is negligible given their activity factors compared to dedicated channels. The DL intracell interference can be expressed as:

( I 0 + I int ra + I int er ) EbNoi PLi PGi

EbNoi ui Pi = ( Prx _ total Pi ) PGi

(8)

where ui is the activity factor of user I, EbNoi is the required energy per bit vs the noise spectral density and the PGi the processing gain of user i. Note that Pi depends on the received interference, however a user does not interfere with itself and therefore the equation can be rearranged as follows:

I int ra =

( Ptx _ total Ptx _ i )


PLi

Pi Prx _ total i

1 PGi 1+ EbNoi ui

(9)

(13) where is the orthogonality factor, using 0 as perfect orthogonality and 1 as no orthogonality, Ptx_i as the transmit power for user i and Ptx_total as the total transmit power in the downlink. Intercell interferences can be simply expressed as a factor of the total DL power of the serving NodeB, using FDL as the intercell over intracell interference ratio in the downlink:

Finally the uplink load equation can be written as

UL = (1 + F )

(10) assuming that all users have the same radio environment, use the same service (same EbNo) and considering the case of a single cell, we obtain the simplified formula of uplink load for N users:

1 PGi i =1 1+ EbNoi u i

I int er = FDL

Ptx _ total PLi

(14) From previous equations we can derive the downlink power of user i as:
Ptx _ i = EbNoi ( I 0 PLi + ( + FDL ) Ptx _ total Ptx _ i ) PGi (15)

UL

(11) This formula can be used to assess the uplink EbNo from the uplink capacity curves. The uplink capacity will also be expressed as the maximum number of users N where a defined uplink load target (e.g. 4dB) will be reached. 2.2 Downlink Cell Capacity In the downlink the capacity will depend on the downlink transmit power, which is limited by the power of the

1 = N PG 1+ EbNo

Since the total DL power is a sum of common channels and dedicated channels, again if we assume that all users have the same radio conditions and require the same individual DL power, then: (16) where PCCH is the total power used for downlink common channels and N the number of users. Ptx_i can finally be rearranged as

Ptx _ total = PCCH + N Ptx _ i

Ptx _ i =

(17) In a single cell case at low path loss the equation can be simplified to:

( I 0 PL + ( + FDL ) PCCH ) PG ( ( N 1) + FDL N ) EbNo

Depending on the UL load target the capacity figures are: UL_load = 3dB -> 50 users UL_load = 4dB -> 60 users Note that these figures are given for 100% activity, which is not realistic in a real network. Values closer to 50 60 % are typical and these will lead to a lower UL noise rise per user and a higher capacity for a single cell. Also, in a multi-cell environment some interference will be generated by users connected to neighbouring cells, leading to a lower number of users for the same noise rise. In the UL the influence of the path loss is minimal. Even at higher path loss the capacity figures will remain the same. As long as the UE does not reach its maximum power, the received Prx_i will be the same, and so will be the noise rise. The received Prx_i will only increase if the user reaches cell edge. There the UE TX power will start saturating and the uplink SIR (Signal to Interference Ratio) target will rise. 3.2 Single Cell Downlink Measurements AMR 12.2k Capacity in the downlink will depend on the maximum and minimum downlink powers for individual radio links Pmax and Pmin. We will assume that for a low path loss, an infinite DL power control range is obtained with the following settings: Pmax = 31dBm & Pmin = 6dBm.

Ptx _ i =

PCCH
PG ( N 1) EbNo

(18) This formula can be used to assess the downlink EbNo of the mobile. Note also that this formula is only valid for infinite downlink power control range. However allocated downlink power can be limited by maximum and minimum downlink power for individual radio links, Pmax and Pmin. The required Ptx_i may be lower than Pmin. Typically if Pmin is 16 dBm and the required Ptx_i is 15 dBm, in this case Ptx_i = Pmin at low path loss. 3 SINGLE CELL CAPACITY MEASUREMENTS The network configuration consisted of only one cell on air and admission control was disabled. All handsets were of similar brand and located indoor at a very low path loss (CPICH_RSCP around -70dBm). Best effort was made to keep the activity factor as close to 100% as possible (continuous tone for AMR and ftp download for PS). Connections were set up one at a time, with one minute intervals between each additional user. 3.1 Single Cell Uplink Measurements AMR 12.2k The measured uplink noise rise vs. the number of calls for the single cell case is given below in Figure 1. Given the results the best match with theory was obtained for an EbNo = 5dB.

Figure 2: Measured Single Cell DL Power Rise (AMR Voice). Given the above results the best match with theory was obtained for a downlink EbNo of 7.5dB and assuming an orthogonality factor of 0.5. The following chart compares downlink capacity for various minimum and maximum power settings. Figure 1: Measured Single Cell UL Noise Rise (AMR Voice)

For PS 128k a maximum number of 15 users per cell was reached, this limit was not due to the DL power rise but was due to the code limit of the cell. (Code limit = Spreading Factor 1). With more than 11 users, the DL power is lower than expected. We believe the reason for this is a reduction in activity factor in relation with increasing BLER. As explained before, with non-optimised TCP settings, RLC retransmissions can induce a reduction of application throughput. With DL PS 384k the maximum power of the base station was reached. We introduced the saturation ratio as the ratio between the number of samples of total DL power at maximum level (43.2dBm) and the total number of samples and the overload ratio as the ratio between the number of samples of total DL power above an overload target (41dBm) and the total number of samples.

Figure 3: Measured Single Cell DL Power Rises for different Pmin (AMR Voice) The higher Pmin, the higher the load. Similarly the lower Pmax, the lower the load. A trade-off between capacity and quality must be achieved. Typically at low path loss the required downlink power for an individual link depends on the environment and not on the path loss. Theory can be applied to assess the required Ptx_i, using an EbNo of 7.5dB and an orthogonality of 0.5, Ptx_i is 15dBm. Setting Pmin greater than the required Ptx_i will ensure that no dynamic power control is required at low path loss and that the block error rate is null. Better quality is obtained at the expense of some capacity loss. Similarly increasing Pmax will extend the downlink cell range but lower capacity. 3.3 Single Cell Downlink Measurements PS Data For PS services, activity was generated by means of ftp downloads. However it was difficult to guarantee 100% activity with ftp, since the application throughput is driven by TCP. Optimising the TCP receive window size on the laptop helped improve the throughput and enhance the activity in the downlink. The following curve is for DL PS 128k.

Figure 5: Measured Single Cell DL Power Rise (PS 384k) We notice that with more than 3 users, the maximum power of the base station is reached and therefore quality is not guaranteed to any of the users on the cell, and congestion can take place with 3 4 users. It was possible to fit 7 users on the cell however quality is seriously hampered which leads to more retransmissions and lower throughput for all. 4 NETWORK CAPACITY MEASUREMENTS Following on from the single cell tests a number of tests were also performed in a loaded network to consider the effect of other cell interferences on the downlink capacity of a cell. Using an experimental network a test cell was chosen and all cells surrounding the test cell were artificially loaded in the downlink to 60% downlink load. The test cell was then loaded with voice and data calls and the power rises on the downlink were logged.

Figure 4: Measured Single Cell DL Power Rise (PS 128k)

5 CONCLUSIONS 4.1 Downlink Network Capacity for AMR 12.2k The figure below shows the downlink power rise and the number of users vs. time. As can be seen from the graph the cell was able to handle 38 voice calls (100% voice activity factor) before reaching its maximum transmit power of 20W. This paper has presented the theory behind the uplink and downlink capacity of a WCDMA network. It has presented single cell and network capacity measurements using a commercial NodeB and terminal. The results obtained are very encouraging and in line with theoretical calculations.

Figure 6: Measure Network DL Power Rise (AMR Voice) Given a downlink load target of 60% it can be seen from the graph that around 30 voice calls (100% VAF) could be handled at this load, this result therefore suggests that with a typical VAF of 60% then a cell in a network surrounded by cells loaded to 60% downlink load will have a voice capacity of approximately 50 calls. Similar downlink capacity tests with the surrounding cells loaded were performed for PS data (64k, 128k and 384k with 100% downlink activity) and a summary of these results is given in the table below. Service Max Capacity (60% DL Load) Voice (AMR 12.2k) 50* PS 64k 14 PS 128k 8 PS 384k 3 *Estimation from 30 calls with 100% VAF Table 1: Loaded network downlink capacity results Clearly in the downlink the required EbNo is very much dependant on the terminal performance. Therefore the above results are valid only for the single terminal type used during the trials. For the next few years we are likely to see variations in these figures for different terminals however, in the longer term it is expected that the trend will be upwards.

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