Practical Indoor Coverage Solutions for UMTS

Prepared for Shanghai MCC October 2003

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Introduction

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The Need for Indoor Coverage

Chinese cities are increasingly populated with high-rise buildings and underground structures Chinese GSM subscribers are maturing
They expect coverage any time, anywhere

CMCC has used indoor solutions extensively

Most new structures Many older structures ones (hotels, the subway)

There are already high standards and expectations of indoor coverage in China

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The Challenges of UMTS

UMTS is a new technology
Indoor coverage reliability for other cellular technologies has been continuously improved over many years

UMTS supports many services not just voice Challenge is to satisfy subscriber expectations for coverage and service availability on Day One

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Indoor Basics

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The Technical Difficulties of Indoor

Unique features of the indoor environment
Much shorter distances Much lower speeds Non-uniform offered traffic Each deployment is unique (buildings, parking garages, tunnels)

Design challenges
Indoor coverage prediction via software tools nearly impossible Field measurements are essential

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Indoor RF Design
Indoor propagation characterized by high path loss
Due to the density of walls, corridors, small apertures, irregularities

Indoor propagation loss difficult to predict

Due to environmental variations from site to site

Virtually impossible to find a universal propagation model

Propagation measurements in each building type are essential

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Approaching UMTS Indoor Coverage

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GSM Approach to Indoor

GSM uses multi-layer hierarchical cell structures (HCS) to address indoor coverage and capacity
Enabled by FDMA/non-co-channel nature of GSM Each cell/layer has its own radio spectrum

HCS is risky for UMTS

All cells co-channel (common spectrum) UMTS HCS would be too dependent on Compressed Mode Risk of very low performance and capacity
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IS-95/cdma2000 Approach to Indoor

Many solutions to indoor coverage not just one
Macrocell signal penetration of buildings
Macrocell design includes in-building penetration margin

RF repeaters Small base stations with a variety of signal distribution systems

Key challenges are

Managing outdoor coverage penetration to indoors, indoor coverage spillage to outdoors
Recall: all cells are co-channel

Managing handovers between outdoor and indoor

The IS-95/cdma2000 approach is more suitable for UMTS

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UMTS Approach to Indoor

Leverage IS-95/cdma2000 indoor engineering experience
Get UMTS signal indoors using penetration from outdoor macrocells, RF repeaters, and in-building signal distribution

Avoid dependence on Compressed Mode

Indoor coverage co-channel with outdoor Spectrum conserved for capacity expansion

Minimize dependence on GSM

GSM used as last resort indoor coverage, not primary indoor coverage Transition to GSM indoors could result in noticeably degraded performance (PS) or service unavailability (CS64 videophone)

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UMTS Indoor Deployment

As with outdoor design, the goal is to create indoor server dominance
Indoor signal (CPICH Ec/I0) should dominate outdoor signal Re-optimization of outdoor cells might be required

But the indoor signal must be contained

Otherwise, the result is excessive downlink interference and handover to the outdoor cell

These requirements arise due to 100% co-channel nature of UMTS cells

Cannot force UEs onto indoor or outdoor cell using configuration parameters The only solution is to control the RF signal!

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UMTS Indoor/Outdoor Mobility Management

Soft handover when UE moves from indoors to outdoors or vice versa
No hard handover No need for Compressed Mode

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UMTS Indoor Coverage Implementation

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Macrocell Signal Penetration to Indoors

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Macrocell Signal Penetration to Indoors

Outdoor macrocells are designed with an inbuilding penetration margin
Results in increased cell density

This approach is widely used in most cellular deployments to provide basic indoor coverage
No need to make specific investments in individual buildings Moderate engineering and deployment difficulty

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Macrocell Signal Penetration to Indoors

Some indoor cold spots will certainly exist
Some buildings will have penetration losses greater than the designed penetration margin Outdoor cells not optimized for indoor coverage

Some buildings may offer significant traffic

Severe impact on cell capacity if many users are near the MPL (e.g., deep indoors) Outdoor cells might not provide sufficient capacity

Extremely small site spacing can lead to poor performance (pilot pollution)

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RF Repeaters

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RF Repeaters Benefits An RF repeater is a low cost solution for indoor coverage

Small buildings, tunnels, underground parking

To the UE, the repeaters signal appears to be multipath Repeater doesnt generate capacity but does redistribute donor cells capacity efficiently
Useful when traffic is low but excess system capacity is high

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RF Repeaters
Understand Problems and Limitations

Single antenna: no receive (or transmit) diversity Macrocells noise figure increased Both the desired signal and unwanted signals are amplified
Spurious emissions, adjacent channels
90 dB 35 dB 45 dB 5 MHz

53.5 dB
5 MHz

53.5 dB

45 dB

35 dB

5 MHz

5 MHz

5 MHz

f Added delay is significant: 5-6 ms Proper antenna isolation required

0

isolation

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RF Repeaters
Link Budget Comparison
Outdoor User, No Repeater
Outdoor User, No Repeater Channel bandwidth N0 = kT Noise bandwidth (B) BTS noise figure (NF) Noise in channel bandwidth (N0 * NF * B) Radio bearer data rate (not including DCCH) Processing gain Target uplink Eb/N0 (1%/5% BLER target for CS/PS) BTS receive sensitivity Uplink load factor Uplink load margin Maximum UE PA power at antenna connector Base station antenna gain Base station receive cable loss Maximum allowable OUTDOOR path loss (no repeater) unit CS12.2 CS64 PS64 PS128 MHz 3.84 3.84 3.84 3.84 dBm/Hz -174 -174 -174 -174 dBHz 65.8 65.8 65.8 65.8 dB 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3 dBm -104.9 -104.9 -104.9 -104.9 kbps 12.2 64 64 64 dB 25.0 17.8 17.8 17.8 dB 7.1 4.2 3.2 3 dBm -122.7 -118.4 -119.4 -119.6 % 0 0 0 0 dB 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 dBm 21 21 21 21 dBi 16.5 16.5 16.5 16.5 dB 3 3 3 3 dB 157.2 152.9 153.9 154.1

Outdoor User, With Repeater

Outdoor User, With Repeater Channel bandwidth N0 = kT Noise bandwidth (B) BTS noise figure (NF) Noise in channel bandwidth (N0 * NF * B) Radio bearer data rate (not including DCCH) Processing gain Target uplink Eb/N0 (1%/5% BLER target for CS/PS) BTS receive sensitivity Uplink load factor Uplink load margin Maximum UE PA power at antenna connector Base station antenna gain Base station receive cable loss Maximum allowable OUTDOOR path loss (with repeater) unit CS12.2 CS64 PS64 PS128 MHz 3.84 3.84 3.84 3.84 dBm/Hz -174 -174 -174 -174 dBHz 65.8 65.8 65.8 65.8 dB 4.3 4.3 4.3 4.3 dBm -103.9 -103.9 -103.9 -103.9 kbps 12.2 64 64 64 dB 25.0 17.8 17.8 17.8 dB 7.1 4.2 3.2 3 dBm -121.7 -117.4 -118.4 -118.6 % 0 0 0 0 dB 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 dBm 21 21 21 21 dBi 16.5 16.5 16.5 16.5 dB 3 3 3 3 dB 156.2 151.9 152.9 153.1

Indoor User, Subtending Repeater

Indoor User, With Repeater Channel bandwidth N0 = kT Noise bandwidth (B) BTS noise figure (NF) Noise in channel bandwidth (N0 * NF * B) Radio bearer data rate (not including DCCH) Processing gain Target uplink Eb/N0 (1%/5% BLER target for CS/PS) BTS receive sensitivity Uplink load factor Uplink load margin Maximum UE PA power at antenna connector Base station antenna gain Base station receive cable loss Maximum allowable total path loss Repeater gain Path loss to cell site Maximum allowable INDOOR path loss unit CS12.2 CS64 PS64 PS128 MHz 3.84 3.84 3.84 3.84 dBm/Hz -174 -174 -174 -174 dBHz 65.8 65.8 65.8 65.8 dB 4.3 4.3 4.3 4.3 dBm -103.9 -103.9 -103.9 -103.9 kbps 12.2 64 64 64 dB 25.0 17.8 17.8 17.8 dB 7.1 4.2 3.2 3 dBm -121.7 -117.4 -118.4 -118.6 % 0 0 0 0 dB 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 dBm 21 21 21 21 dBi 16.5 16.5 16.5 16.5 dB 3 3 3 3 dB 156.2 151.9 152.9 153.1 dB 90.0 90.0 90.0 90.0 dB 110.0 110.0 110.0 110.0 dB 136.2 131.9 132.9 133.1

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RF Repeaters
Careful Engineering Required

Repeaters should not be used

as a general coverage solution
ANT
MAIN DISTRIBUTION COAXIAL CABLE

RF design, engineering, and

optimization can be tricky

ANT

Leveraging IS-95/cdma2000
experience a must

ANT

ANT

UNDERGROUND PARKING
ANT

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VERTIC AL RACEW AY

First floor utility room

Repeater

Indoor Base Station

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Indoor Base Station

Benefits

If indoor traffic volume is high, a dedicated indoor base station can be used
Unlike other solutions, a dedicated base station provides capacity

The indoor base station uses the same carrier as the macrocell
Indoor/outdoor, outdoor/indoor mobility utilizes soft handover No need for Compressed Mode or hard handover

Can be managed by OMC-R

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Indoor Base Station

Challenges

Existing signal distribution systems might or might not be re-usable We do not recommend using the indoor GSM base station as the primary source of indoor coverage Many indoor base stations within one macrocell can result in excessively long macrocell neighbor lists

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Indoor Signal Distribution Systems

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Fiber Distributed Antenna System

Fiber-optic DAS is a widely used solution for large building indoor coverage
Transmission losses are small so coverage footprint can be large

Engineering relatively straightforward

Antenna locations and fiber routes Downlink power & uplink path loss required at each antenna Smaller equipment count: antennas, hubs, and EOMs

RFFE Nortel BTS MH

EH

LGC DAS

RAU

Indoor Antennas

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Coaxial Distributed Antenna System

RF coaxial DAS can be used in smaller buildings
Transmission losses larger, potential coverage footprint smaller

Engineering can be tricky

Antenna locations and cable routes Complex downlink power & uplink path loss calculations Larger equipment count: combiners, splitters, cables, attenuators, antennas, amplifiers, connectors

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Hybrid Optical/Coaxial Distribution

In-building distribution systems are chosen according to
Cost Building size & shape Pre-existing facilities (e.g., fiber)

Multiple simultaneous (hybrid) solutions are possible

S1

S2

HOTEL COVERAGE

PARKING COVERAGE

S3

POWER AVAILABLE FOR ENHANCED COVERAGE

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DAS Antenna Placement Strategies

From IS-95/cdma2000 Experience

Each floor should utilize multiple antennas Antennas located at corners, radiating inward
Ensures indoor signal dominates outdoor at building edges

Transmit and receive diversity improves indoor performance

UMTS UE sees each antennas signal as another multipath

Ec/Io

Time [chips]

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Leaky Coaxial Antenna Feeder

Leaky cable is suitable for certain situations
Tunnels, indoor corridors

Engineering can be tricky

Complex gain/loss calculations Moderate equipment count: amplifiers, antennas, leaky cable, regular cable, connectors
Building
floor 1

Tunnel

Corridor

radiating cable

feeder

Corridor

Source

Amplifier

Yagi antennas

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How to Choose an Indoor Coverage Solution

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Coverage Solution Selection Process

Each indoor deployment scenario will have a unique solution
Solutions are selected after detailed assessment of each deployment environment

Considerations when choosing a solution include

Cost Flexibility and ease of engineering Capacity requirements

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Summary of Indoor Coverage Solutions

Cost Coverage Capacity

Macrocell Building Penetration depends on penetration margin utilized no deep indoor coverage no benefit potential capacity reduction if indoor traffic is high, or if penetration margin is large moderate ground floors of all building types

RF Repeater hardware: low engineering: high good no benefit

Dedicated Base Station with DAS hardware: high engineering: high excellent excellent larger neighbor list, potential capacity reduction if engineering is improper high highrises, shopping malls, campuses, airports

coverage reduction

Impact on Macrocell Engineering Effort

moderate tunnels, parking garages, small buildings

Typical Deployment Scenarios

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Summary

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A Cost Effective Practical Indoor Solution Summary

Significant UMTS indoor coverage is required from service launch Indoor coverage strategies should be based on CDMA experience rather than GSM experience Indoor coverage will be provided by a mix of solutions, not just indoor base stations

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