NETWORK PLANNING FUNCTIONS FOR EXCEL 97 Author: Matti Manninen

1. GENERAL
The network planning function library for Excel 97 is created mainly to help network planners maintain the existing models created in Excel 5.0. Like with the standard functions it is important to know the input arguments and place them properly. In some cases there are limitations for the range of one or more of the input arguments (e.g. for Okumura-Hata or Walfish-Ikegami cell range calculations) which are internally checked, but the user should be aware that "garbage in - garbage out" rule is valid. The names very often give a hint about the output or the purpose of functions and arguments. The library was originally developed by Jordan Kalev for Excel 4. The most of the functions are kept unchanged in this version. However, there are some new functions and some old functions have new inputs. This version is coded with Microsoft Visual C++ version 5.0. The library is compiled to Excel stand-alone DLL (extension *.XLL).

2. VERSION
The current version of the function library is 1.0a. Note, that the file name is kept the same (NPFun32.xll) when new releases are introduced.

3. INSTALLATION
Installation of the function library is made as simple as possible. There are three ways how the function library can be used.

3.1. OPEN COMMAND The function library can be open and activated by choosing the Open command in File menu. The DLL will register all the functions in the library but will not create any menus. 3.2. XLSTART DIRECTORY The NPFun32.xll file can be placed in Excel 97s XLStart directory. All the files in that directory are open automatically every time Excel is opened. The directory is (usually) located in ..\Microsoft Office\Office directory. 3.3. ADD-INS MANAGER Maybe the most conveniet way to install the function library is to place the file NPFun32.xll in users home directory and use Add-Ins Manager to register the DLL. The location of the file can be selected freely because with Add-Ins Manager the file can be browsed by selected Add-Ins in the Tools menu. If the function library does not appear on the list of Add-Ins Manager (text NPfun32 version 1.0a) press Browse button and find the file NPfun32.xll. Once the library is activated it is loaded automatically every time when Excel is opened.

4. UPDATE
If you have previously installed NPFun32.xll, you should simply replace the old file with the new one. Make sure that EXCEL is switched off before you do the update! 4 DESCRIPTION To make the description more compact the following notation has been used for the arguments and the return values: Real , Integer (I), String , Logical , Percent (%). Note that the percent values must always be in the 0.0-1.0 range!

A very simple notation has been used for the base stations, so that all the relevant info is given in the name. The string may have two or three fields separated with # and is constructed like this: BTS#D#211 where the first field is BTS, the second is optional field for Diversity, RF head, Booster, Cema or pre-Amplifier, and the third field gives the TRXs per sector one after another. In case of 10 TRX per sector 0 must be used instead. Here are several correct examples of base station names:
BTS#2 BTS#A#21 Omni BTS, no diversity, RF head or pre-amplifier, 2 TRXs Two-sector BTS, pre-amplifier, 2+1 TRXs

BTS#RD#322 Tri-sector BTS, RF head and diversity, 3+2+2 TRXs

4.1. LOCATION PROBABILITY AND SLOW FADING MARGIN FUNCTIONS npLocProb(mar,dev,slope) Parameters:

mar dev slope 3 and 5

Margin (dB), i.e. slow fading margin Standard deviation (dB), usually 7-8 dB The slope of the propagation loss curve, normally between The location probability as a value between 0 and 1, i.e. 94%

Returns:

corresponds to 0.94 npSFMargin(lpc,dev,slope) Parameters:

lpc dev slope 3 and 5

Location probability Standard deviation (dB), usually 7-8 dB The slope of the propagation loss curve, normally between The slow fading margin to be used (dB)

Returns:

4.2. ERLANG FORMULAE

npErlbChs(traf,prob) Parameters:

traf prob

Traffic in Erl Blocking probability as a value between 0 and 1, i.e. 2%

corresponds to 0.02 Returns: (I) The number of traffic channels needed npErlbProb(traf,chs) Parameters:

traf chs

Traffic in Erl (I) Number of traffic channels Blocking probability

Returns:

npErlbTraf(prob,chs) Parameters:

prob chs

Blocking probability as a value between 0 and 1 (I) Number of traffic channels The traffic in Erl

Returns:

4.3. PROGAPAGION MODELS npRangeOH(freq,hbs,hms,ploss) Parameters:

freq hbs hms ploss

Frequency in MHz BS antenna height (m) MS antenna height (m) Path loss in dB, say coming from the PBGT calculations The cell range (km)

Returns:

npRangeWI(freq,hbs,hms,ploss,rw,ro,bs,bh) Parameters:

freq hbs

Frequency in MHz BS antenna height (m)

hms ploss rw ro bs bh

MS antenna height (m) Path loss in dB, say coming from the PBGT calculations Road width (m) Road orientation angle (degrees) Building separation (m) Building height (m) The cell range (km)

Returns:

4.4. GSM RELATED FUNCTIONS npGsmTchs(trx,hr) Parameters:

trx hr

(I)

Number of TRXs Half Rate use in percent

Returns: (I) The number of the traffic channels npGsmTrx(chs,hr) Parameters:

chs hr

(I)

Number of traffic channels Half Rate use in percent The number of the TRXs as a real number, i.e. 2.7

Returns:

npGsmTraffic(trx,prob,hr) Parameters:

trx prob hr

Number of TRXs Blocking probability in percent, value between 0 and 1 Half Rate use in percent The traffic in Erl

Returns:

4.5. COORDINATE FUNCTIONS npRectX(lo,la,cm) Parameters:

lo la cm

Longitude in degree Latitude in degree Central meridian in degree The UTM X co-ordinate. Please remember in geography X

Returns: means Y!

npRectY(lo,la,cm) Parameters:

lo la cm

Longitude in degree Latitude in degree Central meridian in degree The UTM Y co-ordinate. In math this corresponds to X!

Returns:

npDistance(x1,y1,x2,y2) Parameters:

x1 y1 x2 y2

X co-ordinate of the first point Y co-ordinate of the first point X co-ordinate of the second point Y co-ordinate of the second point The distance between the two points

Returns:

4.6. SITE RELATED FUNCTIONS npSiteAreaK(site) Parameters:

site

Site configuration as a string, say BTS#211 meaning triThe coefficient needed to calculate the coverage area of a site

sector BTS 2+1+1 TRXs Returns:

npSiteCells(site) Parameters:

site

Site configuration as a string

Returns: (I) The number of the cells or sectors, i.e. npSiteCells("BTS#00")

will return 2. npSiteTRX(site) Parameters:

site

Site configuration as a string

Returns: (I) The number of the TRXs, i.e. npSiteCells("BTS#43") will return 7. npSiteTraf(site) Parameters:

site bp hr

Site configuration as a string Blocking probability as percent Half Rate use in percent The traffic served by the site in Erl

Returns:

4.7. BASE STATION FEATURE RELATED FUNCTIONS npIsDir(site) Parameters:

site

Site configuration as a string 0 if the site is omni 1 otherwise

Returns:

npIsDiv(site) Parameters:

site 1

Site configuration as a string if diversity is implemented 0 otherwise, i.e.

Returns:

npIsDiv(BTS#D#111) will return 1. npIsRFHead(site) Parameters:

site 1

Site configuration as a string if RF Head is implemented 0 otherwise, i.e.

Returns:

npIsDiv(BTS#DR#1) will return 1. npIsAmplifier(site) Parameters:

site 1

Site configuration as a string if Amplifier is implemented 0 otherwise, i.e.

Returns:

npIsDiv(BTS#A#22) will return 1. npIsCEMA(site) Parameters:

site 1

Site configuration as a string if CEMA is implemented 0 otherwise, i.e.

Returns:

npIsDiv(BTS#C#22) will return 1. npIsBooster(site) Parameters:

site 1

Site configuration as a string if Booster is implemented 0 otherwise, i.e.

Returns:

npIsDiv(BTS#B#22) will return 1.