EDX WP Int MC Plan Using EDX SignalPro PDF
EDX WP Int MC Plan Using EDX SignalPro PDF
EDX WP Int MC Plan Using EDX SignalPro PDF
Overview
EDX SignalPro is widely considered to be the industry standard for mission-critical P25 and TETRA system planning for public safety and other applications. As such, SignalPro has met the challenges presented by the evolution of mission-critical radio systems beyond dispatch (PTT) to the systems of today that include high-speed wireless data using 700 MHz D-block LTE. 15 LTE-specific studies are available, including CQI, adaptive modulation data rate, FFR zones, ICIC capacity impact, system traffic and UE power level predictions using deterministic methods for downlink and stochastic or Monte Carlo methods for the uplink. With these capabilities, combined with a powerful automatic channel and PCI assignment tools, high-performance LTE systems can be easily planned and analyzed using SignalPro with the optional network design modules. Multiple systems that serve the same area can also be planned and analyzed in a common project, making it easy to design and visualize performance of P25/TETRA, LTE and backhaul (Multipoint) that are common to a mission-critical network.
An example of the base station receiver parameters that can be specified in SignalPro is shown below. An optional dialog is available to specify tower-top amplifier and multicoupler parameters. This dialog will automatically calculate the receiver system noise figure.
Mission-critical radio systems contain many unique characteristics that need to be considered during the radio system design. These include, not only talk-out and talk-back coverage (signal strength), but simulcast delay spread, capture ratio, the impact on uplink performance from the use of voting receivers and detailed statistics of network reliability. Studies in SignalPro that are tailored for LMR system analysis include: Percent log-normal reliability Uplink percent log-normal reliability Uplink percent log-normal reliability using voting receivers Received power at best voting receiver from remote Simulcast RMS delay spread Maximum simulcast delay spread Number of servers within capture ratio Number of base receivers with power above threshold TIA/TSB-88 Monte Carlo studies. These are important for evaluating and ensuring P25 system performance during the development phase. Available TSB-88 Studies in SignalPro include: o TSB-88 Monte Carlo bounded area coverage o TSB-88 Radius-of-operation overlap reliability o Aggregate simulcast Monte Carlo reliability o Simulcast delay spread using Hesss calculation
An example SignalPro TSB-88 study plot of a UHF T-band P25 system in Eugene, Oregon showing the simulcast delay spread:
The study plot is shown overlaid on a Microsoft Bing aerial map, available in SignalPro. SignalPro not only has a complete suite of analysis capabilities for mission-critical networks, but additional automated design capabilities are available in the optional design modules. These network design module capabilities include automated frequency planning (AFP) with support for separate uplink and downlink channel sets and custom channel pairs including non-standard frequency splits. The lists of available channels for AFP assignment can be customized for each base station, which is especially useful for sections of the network where certain channels cannot be used in one or more base stations due to licensing and coordination restrictions.
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LTE OFDMA/SC-FDMA modulation regions downlink & uplink LTE CQI regions downlink & uplink LTE adaptive modulation downlink & uplink data rates UE power when using power control Inter-eNodeB handoff regions Inter-RAT (multi-system) handoff regions LTE FFR zones LTE average uplink CQI using Monte Carlo simulations LTE uplink interference statistics LTE number of ICIC (Inter-Cell Interference Coordination) suppressed interferers
An example downlink CQI regions plot of a Eugene, Oregon 700 MHz LTE system overlaid on existing UHF T-band P25 sites (with additional LTE sectors and sites added):
Conclusion
As mission-critical networks evolve into complex multi-layered, multiband, multiple-technology systems, it becomes essential to use radio planning software with the power and flexibility to design and simulate networks using P25, TETRA, LTE, WiMAX technologies and multiple network topologies. EDX SignalPro is the ideal radio network design tool for planning all aspects of mission-critical networks.