Avacend has an unparalleled expertise in providing complete network lifecycle support right from inception to operation.
The main objective of Avacend’s RF Planning activity is to achieve the maximum capacity for a network while providing acceptable quality of service to the cellular users since we know that in a cellular system, coverage and quality of the network are inversely proportional, ie. when coverage increases it degrades the quality. Our RF planning activity ensures adequate network capacity and flexibility to the network to support the increased traffic requirements while being cost effective.
Avacend’s RF planning activity deals with all the parameters related to radio waves which include frequency planning, location of antennas, antenna tilt & height besides continuous optimization of the network. The two objectives of our RF planning activity for a cellular system are Coverage and Capacity. The Coverage part of our RF planning activity involves ensuring that sufficient RF signal strength is available for a call or data session within a given geographical area of the system. Our Capacity planning activity involves ensuring the system’s capability to sustain the given number of subscribers. As capacity and coverage are interrelated, to improve coverage, capacity has to be sacrificed, while to improve capacity, coverage has to be sacrificed. Avacend’s RF planning team has 2 major responsibilities to adhere to:-
- Network planning for new sites
- Maintenance and optimization of the present network
Our network planning activity for new sites involves analysis of RF drive test results, frequency planning, post-optimization of sites, site location, antenna tilt, antenna height, link budget calculations, transmission planning. In addition, the data from the OMC as well as neighbouring cells definition and coverage area are some of the aspects considered by us while maintaining and optimising existing sites of the network
Avacend’s RF teams study the possible locations for a BTS site as one cannot randomly install a BTS without proper planning, because if a BTS is installed at a wrong location, it will not only degrade the network by creating interference to nearby BTS sites but will also not generate the required revenue needed by the telecom operators. Our RF teams decide the proper location of BTS sites after carefully examining the results obtained from the RF drive tests.
Avacend’s RF Drive Test activity comprises the measurement and assessment of the coverage, capacity and Quality of Service (QoS) of the mobile radio network. Our Drive Test engineers use a vehicle fitted with test engineering phones and measurement receivers interfaced with data logging RF drive test tools such as TEMS, NEMO, etc. to detect and record the RF parameters of the network within a given geographical area. The data collected during our RF drive test activity includes parameters such as Signal intensity, Signal quality, Interference, Dropped calls, Blocked calls, Anomalous events, Call statistics, Service level statistics, Quality of Service (QoS) information, Handover information, Neighbouring cell information, GPS location coordinates, etc.
Avacend’s team of RF Analyzers undertake analysis of the RF Drive test log files using RF tools such as Mapinfo, producing results which allows us to analyze the radio network, simulate changes of network parameters, simulate changes of the network design, optimize the RF network, plan future roll-out phases and produces statistics on the selected results.
Our RF Planning teams carry out Link budged calculations so as to quantify the radio link’s performance in terms of the various gains and losses associated with the RF signal while travelling from the transmitter to the receiver. The link budget calculation enables us to estimate the maximum allowable path loss, which we require for calculating the base antenna heights.
Avacend undertakes the transmission planning activity which is an important part of mobile communication as it involves connectivity of the BTS site with the BSC. Based on the drive test results our transmission planners decide if the BTS site is to be connected to the BSC directly or through a neighbour site using either a microwave radio link or via fibre optic cable. Our transmission planning teams study and analyze the neighbours of the BTS site while planning and establishing connectivity. When connectivity is to be established using a microwave radio link, we also undertake a Line of sight (LOS) study to ensure feasibility of the microwave link.
Avacend undertakes RF optimization of cellular networks be it 2G, 3G, LTE or 4G as they have to be optimized post deployment to provide better coverage, throughput, lower latency and seamless integration as per the specifications. The optimization process we undertake comprises several steps starting with drive testing where all performance parameters are tested and logged in the field after the network is active. We test for different coverage & propagation scenarios along with their respective models (e.g., pedestrian, indoor, vehicular). The field data is then used to calibrate the models for better network performance and coverage. Based on the collected data, our RF planning engineers analyze the performance and decide if more BTSs, eNBs are to be added for coverage, mainly pico and femto cells, in the areas that show degraded power levels or data throughput. For example, we use Femto cells in LTE to provide service for households and small businesses. The optimization process is an iterative one with no specific steps involved but rather a set of consistent procedures that characterizes network performance and coverage within a certain area based on which actions are accordingly taken by our RF teams.
RF planning and optimization is carried out by our Engineers using post processing software & applications such as TEMS Investigation, Mapinfo Professional, Google Earth, Saltlake, Netnumen, etc.