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planning(Wireless)-18：Coverage
Indicators (1)
  Posted：2021-11-23 08:12Views：782Comments：0

Issue 18: Coverage Indicators (1)

The previous two issues have introduced the knowledge about transmit
power, including transmit power of RF module and the coverage signal
power of cells of different RATs. In the next two issues, we will discuss the
basic knowledge of network evaluation — coverage indicators.
Rxlev ： Received signal level. It describes the statistical parameters of the
received signal strength (level). It is used as the basis for RF power control
and handover. Value range: -110 dBm to -47 dBm.

C/I：Carrier to interference ratio. The carrier-to-interference ratio, also called

interference protection ratio, refers to the ratio of the received useful signal
level to the level of all non-useful signals. C/I = (All useful signals carrier)/(All
useless signals interference).

In the GSM system, the requirements for the carrier-to-interference ratio are
as follows:
1） Intra-frequency C/I ratio: C/I >= 9 dB;
Add a 3 dB margin in the project, that is, C/I >= 12 dB

2） Adjacent-frequency carrier-to-interference ratio: C/I > = -9 dB;

Add a 3 dB margin in the project, that is, C/I >= -6dB

RSCP：Indicates the received signal code power of the pilot channel CPICH. It
reflects the signal strength of the pilot channel of a cell in a specific
coverage area. Value range: -116 dBm to -25 dBm.

RTWP ： Indicates the received total wideband power. It reflects the signal
strength within the receive bandwidth of the NodeB antenna port. It can be
used to monitor the uplink channel status of the NodeB in real time. This
counter is used for routine site fault locating and is seldom used in network
planning.

Ec/Io：Indicates the ratio of the RSCP of the signal level to the total received
noise Io. It indicates the ratio of the received signal strength to the
interference level of the neighboring cell. Ec/Io of pilot channel and Ec/Io of
traffic channel are classified into Ec/Io of pilot channel. In general, Ec/Io of
pilot channel is also the Ec/Io of pilot channel during network evaluation. The
specific formula is as follows:
 Parameter Meaning Unit
Ec/IoPilot Ec/Io of pilot channel dB
Neighboring cell interference factor at
f
the cell edge
ηDL Total downlink load of a cell
Maximum transmit power of a single
Pmax dBm
carrier
CLPilot Downlink coupling loss of pilot channel dB
No Thermal noise power dBm
Noise coefficient at the top of the
NF dB
mobile phone

According to the formula, Ec/Io is affected by signal level, neighboring cell interference,
cell load, and carrier power. The following figure shows the simulated trends of Ec/Io
with load changes when the pilot power is set to 33 dBm. The analysis of the influencing
factors of Ec/Io and the corresponding solutions are also one of the important contents
of network insight.
RSRP: Reference signal receiving power, which is an average value of signal
power received on all REs that carry the reference signal in an OFDM symbol;
This parameter specifies the downlink pilot strength of a cell (power of a
single pilot subcarrier). Noise and interference are not included. Value range:
-140 dBm to -43 dBm. The previous issue describes how to calculate the LTE
reference signal power. For details, see the following sections: LINK

RSSI: Indicates the received signal strength indicator (RSSI). RSSI indicates
all the signals received within the symbol. (including pilot signal and data
signal, neighboring cell interference signal, noise signal, etc.) Average value
of power; That is, the total power of all subcarriers in the entire frequency
band, including interference and noise. This counter is seldom used in
network planning.

SINR：Indicates signal to interference plus noise ratio. SINR is a ratio of the

strength of the received wanted signal to the strength of the received
interference signal (noise and interference), and may be simply understood
as a "signal-to-noise ratio". The SINR has an important impact on user
experience. The following figure shows the relationship between the SINR
and the throughput at a site. The throughput increases with the SINR
increase.
RSRQ：Indicates the ratio of RSRP to RSSI. Because the bandwidths used for
measurement may be different, RSRQ is adjusted by using a coefficient NRB
(number of RBs of carriers). That is, RSRQ = NRB x RSRP/RSSI. Assume that
the number of RBs NRBs is 100 in the 20 MHz bandwidth. The preceding
equation is converted to dBm for representation, that is, N = 100. Therefore,
the relationship is as follows: RSRQ = 20 dB + RSRP – RSSI. RSRQ is often
used to set drive test indicators and parameter thresholds during network
optimization, and is seldom used in network planning.

1. GSM, UMTS, and LTE coverage indicators

2. Difference of coverage indicators of different RATs

What is the basic measurement quantity

of LTE coverage and signal quality?
[ No edit permission. ]
Summary：The following are the most basic measurement quantities in LTE and are the
most concerned in routine tests. The RSRP (Reference Signal Received Power) is used to
measure the power of the downlink reference signal. It is similar to the RSCP of the
CPICH in the WCDMA network and can be used to measure the downlink coverage. The
difference is that the RSRP refers to the energy of each RE, which is different from the
full

The following are the most basic measurement quantities in LTE and are the most

concerned in routine tests.

The RSRP (Reference Signal Received Power) is used to measure the power of the

downlink reference signal. It is similar to the RSCP of the CPICH in the WCDMA network

and can be used to measure the downlink coverage. The difference is that the RSRP

refers to the energy of each RE, which is different from the full bandwidth energy.

RSRQ (Reference Signal Received Quality) is used to measure the receive quality of the

reference signals of a specific cell in the downlink. Similar to CPICH Ec/Io in WCDMA. The

definitions of the two are similar. RSRQ = RSRP * RB Number/RSSI, the difference is that

the RSRQ is measured relative to each RB in the protocol.

RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) refers to the total power received by the MS,

including useful signals, interference, and background noise. It is consistent with the

concept of RSSI in UMTS.

SINR (Signal-to-Interference plus Noise Ratio) is the signal interference noise ratio,

which is the energy of signal energy divided by interference plus noise.

From the above definition, it is easy to see that the difference between the RSRQ and

the SINR is that the denominator includes itself, interference signals, and noise floor,

and the other includes only interference and noise

Interfaces Description

B MSC – VLR

C MSC – HLR

D VLR – HLR

E MSC – GMSC

F MSC – EIR

G VLR – VLR

Gc GGSN – HLR
Gd SGSN – SMSC

Gf SGSN – EIR

Gn SGSN – GGSN

Gr SGSN – HLR

Gs SGSN – VLR

H HLR – AuC

IuPS RNC – SGSN

IuCS RNC – MSC/VLR

Iub NodeB – RNC

Iur RNC – RNC

Uu UE – NodeB
Il y a cinq types d’interfaces normalisées entre les entités fonctionnelles du réseau UTRAN : IuCS,
IuPS, Uu, IuB et IuR. Les interfaces IuCS et IuPS sont des interfaces externes qui relient le RNC au
cœur de réseau (CN), (Core Network en anglais), l'IuCS supporte le trafic en mode Circuit (voix),
l'IuPS celui en mode Paquet (données). Le Uu est aussi une interface externe (radio), reliant
le Node B avec les équipements utilisateur UE (les mobiles). L’IuB est une interface interne entre le
RNC et le Node B ; il y a aussi l'interface IuR qui est aussi une interface interne qui relie deux RNC
l’un avec l’autre
 GSM
interface Description with position

It is the air interface used between MS and BTS.It carries the GSM
bursts carrying data and control information. Also referred as Air
Um interface.

It is used between BSC and MSC/VLR. It supports 2Mbps standard

A or Asub digital connection as per CCITT.

It is used between BTS and BSC. It supports two types of

communication links viz. traffic channel at 64 kbps and signaling
Abis channel at 16 kbps.

B It is used between MSC and VLR.

C It is used between HLR and GMSC. Also between MSC and HLR.

D It is used between HLR and VLR.

E It is used between MSC and another MSC or G-MSC.

F It is used between EIR and MSC and between EIR and G-MSC.

G It is used between VLR and another VLR.

This tutorial on UMTS covers network architecture in UMTS system.

As shown in the figure there are three main components in UMTS network
architecture, User Equipments is composed of Mobile Equipment (ME) and
USIM. Radio Access Network is composed of NodeB and RNC. Core Network is
composed of circuit switched and packet switched functional modules. For Circuit
switched (CS) operations MSC and GMSC along with database modules such as
VLR, HLR will be available. For packet switched (PS) operations SGSN and
GGSN will serve the purpose. GMSC will be connected with PSTN/ISDN in CS
case. GGSN is connected with Packet data Network (PDN) for PS case.
Interfaces between these entities are summarized below.
Uu interface between UE and NodeB
Iub interface between NodeB and RNC
Iur interface between RNC and RNC
Iu-CS interface between RNC and MSC
Iu-PS interface between RNC and SGSN

LTE EPC Description

 interface

S1 MME Interface for control application protocol between E-UTRAN and MME

Interface for S1 user plane data for each bearer between the E-UTRAN and
S1 U serving gateway. It enables serving gateway to anchor inter-eNB handover.

Connection between SGSN and MME is provided by S3 interface. It enables

S3 information exchange for mobility between inter-3GPP access networks.

Interface between SGSN and serving gateway is referred as S4 interface. It

provides user plane support for mobility support between GPRS core and the
serving gateway. It also enables serving gateway to anchor the inter-3GPP
S4 handover.

S5 interface provides user plane tunneling and tunnel management function

between the serving gateway and PDN gateway. It enables serving gateway to
connect to multiple PDN gateways for providing different IP services to the LTE
S5 UE. Also used for serving gateway relocation associated with the UE mobility.

Interface between MME and HSS is S6a. It is used for transfer of subscription,
S6a authentication and authorization of users.

This Gx interface provides transfer of QoS policy and charging rules from PCRF
Gx to the Policy and Charging Enforcement Function in the PDN gateway.

This control plane interface S11 is used between MME and serving gateway for
S11 EPS management.

This SGi interface is used between PDN gateway and intranet or internet. This
SGi interface is equivalent to Gi interface of GPRS
 LTE
system
interface Description

S1 The S1 interface is defined between E-UTRAN and EPC.

The X2-C interface is defined between eNBs. It is used for transport of X2-
Application Part control plane protocol. It is defined in 3GPP 36.423
document. Functions such as mobility management, handover preparation,
status transfer, UE context release, handover cancel, inter cell interference
X2-C coordination and load management are performed by X2-C interface.

X2-U interface is defined between eNBs that provide user plane per bearer
X2-U GTP-U tunneling. It is used for data forwarding during X2 initiated handover.

It is the reference point between S-GW and PDN-GW. It provides user plane
S8 tunneling and tunnel management. S8 is inter-PLMN variant of S5 interface.

It is the reference point between MMEs. It is used for user information

S10 transfer as well as MME relocation support. It is defined in 29.274 GTPv2-C.

S11 The S11 interface is used between MME and S-GW. It is used to support
interface mobility and bearer management.

S12 The S12 interface is used between S-GW and UTRAN. It is used for direct
interface user plane tunneling during E-UTRAN and UTRAN handovers.

S13 is the reference point between MME and EIR. It is used for UE identity
S13 validation.

SBc This SBc interface is defined between MME and CBC. It is used for warning
 message delivery and control functions.

RX Rx reference point is used between Authentication Framework and PCRF.