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Continuous Wave Testing-Practical Method

Continuous Wave testing-1st Phase of RF / Network Planning. This document contain step wise approach to complete the whole CW testing process

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Pranabjyoti Hazarika
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216 views

Continuous Wave Testing-Practical Method

Continuous Wave testing-1st Phase of RF / Network Planning. This document contain step wise approach to complete the whole CW testing process

Uploaded by

Pranabjyoti Hazarika
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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CW Testing- Continuous Wave Testing

CW testing is Continuous Wave Testing.


CW testing is the First Phase of Telecom/Mobile Network/Radio Frequency (RF) Planning.
Network Planning/ RF Planning is always start with Continuous Wave Testing Method for all
GREENFIELD project.
The main aim of doing CW testing is to gather information to design a propagation model of transmitted
signal for mobile communication.
It is carried out to gather actual propagation of mobile signals in different terrain and clutter.
Basic of doing this test is to measure or to know the actual distance, a transmitted signal would travel
from a Mobile Base Station that we simply say MOBILE TOWER or SITE.
Propagation Model primarily depends on geography and terrain of a circle.
Secondly it also depends on clutter type e.g. Dense Urban (High rise congested buildings), Urban or
Rural area.
This is the traditional method and best method for Model Tuning/Model designing.
This is applicable for all technologies that may be 2G, 3G, LTE or 5G. It is mainly Spectrum dependent
test.
With the help of CW testing and Model tuning we can design a model for our network to generate
coverage prediction and network planning.
Quality of any network depends on the accuracy of the Propagation Model designed based on CW
testing and Model Tuning.

Basic concept of CW testing is very simple-

1. It has one transmitter along with Omnidirectional antenna which will transmit frequency of
corresponding licensed frequency (e.g. 1800Mhz, 900MHz band)
2. A receiver (Drive test kit) will move around the transmitter and checked for signal strength. How
far the Receiver can receive signal from the static transmitter.

Set up of CW Testing:
The CW testing equipment contains-
1. Transmitter
2. Omnidirectional Antenna.
3. Power supply to provide power to the transmitter.
4. Drive test Kit as a receiver.

Now there are two Scenarios for CW Testing.

Scenario-1:

Suppose in a telecom circle or LSA (usually a state e.g. Assam Circle, Maharashtra Circle) there is no
Operator is having a new technology (e.g. 4G-LTE or 5G)
When we are planning to start this new technology (e.g. 4G-LTE or 5G) or new frequency band (e.g.
2300MHz, 2100MHz band) in that telecom circle we first have to
Start with Continuous Wave Testing (CW) method.
Then we will use the above mentioned equipment for doing the CW testing.
In transmitter we can set our required frequency to radiate (e.g. 2300MHz band).
Scenario-2:

Suppose in a Telecom Circle Operator-A is already giving service of 4G in 2300MHz band.


Operator-B is a newcomer and planning to start 4G network in same frequency band 2300MHz in that
same circle.
In this case we do not require to set up the transmitter for radiating the licensed frequency band.
Instead we can use a SIM of Operator-A and do the drive test to check actual coverage level.
In that case we do not require the CW testing set up as the existing operator’s SITE
(BTS/nodeB/eNodeB) will do the actual transmission of signals.
Drive test will be carried out by using existing operator’s SIM card.

But if Operator-A is providing services in 2300MHz band and Operator-B is going to operate 4G in
2500MHz band then this method will not work.
We can use SIM card method only for same frequency band.
For different frequency band we must go for normal Continuous Wave testing method with
Transmitter+Omnidirectional antenna.

Data Collection by Drive test Method:


The transmitter should place in such a location that it is at the top of a high rise building or some high
rise locations from where Omni-directional antenna can radiate to a maximum distance.
Drive test need to carry out in different clutter e.g. Dense Urban, Urban and rural area.
Propagation of signal will be different in different clutter based on penetration losses.

Collection of Samples and Plotting:


In CW testing we would collect samples with the help of drive test kit.
Collected samples can be easily imported in MapInfo Planning Tool.
We will discuss about MapInfo tool separately. You can visit my youtube videos to know basic of
MapInfo functionality.
https://www.youtube.com/user/hazarikap (Pranabjyoti Hazarika)

In the above picture it is showing that Transmitter is placed in a fixed position and transmitted a
frequency band say 2100MHz (Suppose 5MHz frequency range in 2100MHz band)
The Drive test car with kit were roaming in the town on the motor-able roads.
We have bifurcated all the collected samples in two different parts.

1. Good Quality received signal : received level from 0 to -93 dBm (Color GREEN)
2. Poor Quality received signal : received level from -93 to -120 dBms (Color RED)
Now we can see that till 500m distance we are getting GOOD signal level (Color GREEN) in that
particular area of a Town.
Beyond 500m distance in some areas we got POOR signal (Color RED).
If we consider this part of the town as URBAN, then we can come to a conclusion that for URBAN area
we will consider coverage of a site till 500m distance in 2100MHz band.
If we do 4, 5 sample test in 4, 5 different URBAN areas of different towns then accuracy of the
conclusion of coverage prediction will be improved.

But still with 1 sample test also we can conclude to a good value.

Clutter wise sample collection:

So we have completed CW testing and sample collection in 1 clutter, i.e. URBAN


Now we will identify a location of the same town or in different town with high rise congested building
area as DENSE URBAN.
In DENSE URBAN we may get a GOOD signal level travelling to a distance of 300m instead of 500m.
In RURAL area this distance may increase upto 1.5Km, 2Km or may be upto 4Km depending on the
band of Frequency.
More Frequency band less travelling distance because of more losses in high frequency.
E.g. 900MHz band signal may travel upto 4Km in rural area, whereas 1800MHz band can travel upto 2
to 2.5 Km.

So now we are having collected data/ samples for all 3 category of clutter i.e. DENSE URBAN, URBAN
and RURAL.
We also come to a conclusion that with suppose 2100 MHz band we are getting GOOD signal strength
For DENSE URBAN-300m
URBAN-500m
RURAL-1.5 Km

Drawback of CW Testing:
Drawback of CW testing are
1. CW testing model tuning is based on outdoor coverage only. We don’t collect samples inside a
building to measure indoor coverage.
2. Time taking method.
3. Lot of iterations.
4. Analogous Transmitter.
Rest it is the best method of sample collections for Model tuning.

In next phase we will discuss about MODEL TUNING which is the 2nd Phase of Network/ Radio
Frequency (RF) Planning.

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