Internal

WCDMA RNP CW Test

and Propagation
Model Tuning
www.huawei.com

HUAWEI
TECHNOLOGIES Co., Ltd.
Page
2

HUAWEI Confidential

Introduction
CW test (Continuous Wave test) is an
important step of Propagation Model
Tuning. According to the CW test data
(including latitude/longitude and
received level) and corresponding
Digital maps, we can get the accurate
Propagation Model through tuning.

Page 3

CONTENT
Chapter 1 Principle of Radio
Propagation and CW Test

Chapter 2 CW Test Flow

Chapter 3 Analysis of CW Test Data
Chapter 4 Propagation Model
Tuning

Page 4

Principle of Radio Propagation and CW Test

Section 1 Basic Principle of

Radio Propagation
Section 2 Principle of

Propagation Model Tuning

Section 3 Purpose of CW

Test
Section 4 Basic Principle of

CW Test

Page 5

Radio Waveband Classification

Frequency
3-30Hz
30-300Hz
300-3000Hz
3-30KHz
30-300KHz
300-3000KHz
3-30MHz
30-300MHz
300-3000MHz
3-30GHz
30-300GHz

Classification

Designation

Extremely Low
Frequency
Voice Frequency
Very-low Frequency
Low Frequency
Medium Frequency
High Frequency
Very High Frequency
Ultra High Frequency
Super High Frequency
Extremely High
Frequency

ELF
VF
VLF
LF
MF
HF
VHF
UHF
SHF
EHF

300-3000GHz
Frequencies in different bands have different propagation characteristics.

Page 6

Generation of Electromagnetic Wave

Based on Maxwell equations set:

The variable magnetic field can excite eddy electric field and variable electric
field can also excite eddy magnetic field.

Continuous electromagnetic oscillation (electromagnetic wave) forms due to

mutual excitation of alternating electric and magnetic field.

The speed of electromagnetic wave only varies with electric and magnetic
characteristics of medium. The propagation speed of electric microwave in
vacuum equals that of light in vacuum.

Light and electromagnetic wave are essentially the same. Light is

electromagnetic wave of a certain wavelength.

Oscillator

Magnetic field

Magnetic field
Electric field

Electric
field
Transmission direction of electric
wave

Page 7

Electric field

Propagation Path

Perpendicular incidence wave

and ground reflection wave
(most common propagation modes)

Mountain diffraction wave

(shadow area signal source)
Page 8

Troposphere reflection wave

(the propagation is very random)

Ionosphere refraction wave

(beyond-the-horizon communication path)

Propagation of Electromagnetic Wave

Ripple in the pond: Energy is propagated around from the source point
and gradually weakens.
Electromagnetic wave is similarly propagated except that (when the
radiation source is isotropically effective ideal point source):

It is propagated in the form of spherical wave in three-dimension

space.

The propagation media are different, including air, obstacle and

reflector.

Page 9

Characteristics of Radio
Propagation

Electric wave propagation system

LOS and NLOS

of Land Mobile Communications

Radio
propagation in
actual
environment

Page 10

Reflected wave of building

Diffracted wave
Direct wave
Reflected wave on the ground

Characteristics of Radio Channels

Radio channels vary

with users position
and time.

Pr (dBm)

Fast fading
Slow fading

-20

Multipath scattering
-40
and obstruction
result in acute
changes to received
Slow
fading
power.
-60

Attenuation: Pr is in direct
proportion to 1/dn.

Shadow: obstructed by
barriers
Fast fading

Multipath effect
Fast changes to signal
strength at small
distance and time
interval
Doppler frequency
Page 11
shift

10

20

30

d (m)

Diversity Technology
Measures against fast fading- diversity
technologies
Explicit diversity

Space diversity
Polarization diversity
Frequency diversity GSM-frequency hopping; WCDMAspread spectrum

Implicit diversity

Page 12

Implicit diversity uses signal processing technologies to

hide diversity functions into signals under transmission,
such as RAKE reception technology, interleaving and error
code correction.
Regarded as time diversity

Delay Spread

Multipath propagation: Signals on different paths reach the

receiver at different time.
When the receiver fails to distinguish multipath signals, cochannel interference (CCI) occurs. In the WCDMA system,
only the multipath delay larger than one chip period (0.26s,
78m) can be recognized.
Typical value (s): Open < 0.2, Suburban = 0.5, Urban = 3
Solutions

Page 13

Equalization
Equalizationand
andRAKE
RAKEtechnology
technology

Doppler Frequency Shift

Example of Doppler effect: A train is passing

by you.

Doppler frequency shift in Mobile

Communications
f1

f3
f2
V (k m /h )

Page 14

Loss
Diffraction loss

Penetration loss
T

T
R

Clutter loss

Page 15

Penetration Loss
Indoor signals depend on penetration loss of building.
Signals are different at the indoor window and in the middle of room.
Building materials have great effect on penetration loss.
The reference angle of electromagnetic wave have great effect
on penetration loss.
w1
0 0

d
D

w2

0 0

E2

WdBm

XdBm

Penetration
Penetrationloss=X-W=B
loss=X-W=BdB
dB

Page 16

E1
Reflection and refraction of
electromagnetic wave through
the wall

Penetration Loss
Obstacle/penetration loss is:
Partition obstruction: 5 20dB
Floor obstruction: 20dB
Obstruction of furniture and other barriers: 2
15dB
Thick glass: 6 10dB
Penetration loss of the carriage of the train: 15
30dB
Penetration loss of lift: 30dB or so
Loss of thick leaves: 10dB

Page 17

Radio Propagation Environment

Radio propagation environment determines the

propagation models directly. And propagation
environment is impacted by the following factors:
Landform (terrain): mountain, hill, plain, waters, and
vegetation
Clutter: building, road and bridge
Noise: natural noise and artificial noise
Climate: rain, snow and ice (tiny effect on UHF band)

Page 18

Radio Propagation Environment

Type of radio environment

Radio environment is classified as follows, according to ITU-R

P.1411-1 and specific conditions in China.
Propagation
environment
Dense urban
Urban
Suburban
Rural
Mountainous areas
Road
Indoor

Page 19

Description
Many tall buildings, signals fail to diffract from the roof of
building .
Signals can diffract from the roof due to low buildings and wide
streets.
Low and sparse buildings
Low and sparse buildings, but with lots of vegetation

Radio Propagation Environment

Type of propagation environment

The corresponding cell type is as follows:

Cell type

Cell type

Typical antenna installation

Macro-cell

>500 m

Installed outdoors, higher than average height of

surrounding roofs

Micro-cell

100~500m

Installed outdoors, lower than average height of

surrounding roofs

Pico-cell

<100m

Installed outdoors or indoors, lower than height of all

roofs

Type of other new cells, such as Minicell

Page 20

Principle of Radio Propagation and CW

Test

Section 1 Basic Principle of

Radio Propagation
Section 2 Theory of

Propagation Model Tuning

Section 3 Purpose of CW

Test
Section 4 Basic Principle of

CW Test

Page 21

Radio Propagation Model

Propagation model is used to predict

the effect of terrain,
obstacle and artificial environment on
the path loss.

WCDMA
WCDMAcommon
commonpropagation
propagationmodels
models

Page 22

Radio Propagation Model

Common propagation models

Okumura/Hata model
For: 900M 1500MHz
COST231-Hata model
For: 1500-2000MHz
COST231 Walfish-Ikegami model
For: 800M-2000MHz
Keenan-Motley model
For indoor propagation
Propagation model in UNET
For macro cell on 300M 2000M

Page 23

Radio Propagation Model

Model in UNET:

L=K1 + K2log(d) + K3log(HTxeff) + K4Diffraction

+ K5log(d)log(HTxeff) + K6(HRxeff) + Kclutterf(clutter)
K1: constant (dB)
K2: multiplier factor of log(d)
d: distance between Tx antenna and Rx antenna (m)
K3: multiplier factor of log(HTxef)
HTxeff: effective height of Tx antenna (m)
K4: multiplier factor of diffraction loss, which must be a positive value
Diffraction loss: diffraction loss through the path with barriers (dB)
K5: multiplier factor of log(HTxef)log(d)
K6: multiplier factor of HRxeff
HRxeff : effective height of Rx antenna (m)
Kclutter: multiplier factor of for f(clutter)
f(clutter): average weighted loss caused by clutter

Page 24

Principle of Radio Propagation and CW Test

Section 1 Basic Principle of

Radio Propagation
Section 2 Theory of

Propagation Model Tuning

Section 3 Purpose of CW
Test

Section 4 Basic Principle

of CW Test

Page 25

Purpose of CW Test
GPS

Page 26

Compare CW test
data with prediction
results, and then
tune the propagation
parameters to
improve the accuracy
of coverage
prediction.

Principle of Radio Propagation and CW

Test

Section 1 Basic Principle of

Radio Propagation
Section 2 Theory of

Propagation Model Tuning

Section 3 Purpose of CW

Test
Section 4 Basic Principle of

CW Test

Page 27

Basic Principle of CW Test

Typification
The CW test data must represent the
characteristic of electromagnetic wave in this
area.

Balance
The CW test data must represent the
characteristic of electromagnetic wave by the
proportion of different clutters in this area.

Page 28

CONTENT
Chapter 1 Principle of Radio
Propagation and CW Test

Chapter 2 CW Test Flow

Chapter 3 Analysis of CW Test Data
Chapter 4 Propagation Model
Tuning

Page 29

CW Test Flow

Section 1 Site

Selection
Section 2 Building Test

Platform in Networking
Section 3 Drive Test

Page 30

Site Selection
Principles of site selection
Number of sites: It is usually agreed that a minimum of 5 sites

should be tested in large and dense city, but one site is enough in
normal city, which mainly depends on antenna height and EIRP.
Representation: Site selection should aim to cover all types of

clutter (from the digital map) in the coverage zone.

Multiple models: Define the corresponding zone of each model if

the test environment requires multiple models to describe its

propagation characteristics.
Overlap: Increase measurement overlap area between each site as

much as possible. But reasonable inter-site distance should be

ensured.
Obstacle: The data should be filtered in the subsequent processing

if obvious obstacle exists.

Page 31

Site Selection

5m

Standards of site selection

a. Antenna height should be greater than 20m.
b. The antenna should be 5m higher than the
nearest obstacle.
c. The obstacle mainly refers to the highest
building on the roof where the antenna is installed.
The building where the site is located should be
higher than average height of surrounding
buildings.

Page 32

CW Test Flow

Section 1 Site

Selection
Section 2 Building Test

Platform in Networking
Section 3 Drive Test

Page 33

Building Test Platform in Networking

Tx subsystem: Tx antenna, feeder, high-frequency signal
source and antenna holder
Rx subsystem: test receiver, GPS receiver, test software and
laptop

Tx antenna

TMA

Signal source

RF cable 1

RF cable 2

Rx antenna
High frequency
signal source

Page 34

Power supply

Drive test
instrument
Build-in GPS

Laptop

Building Test Platform in Networking

Record the gain of the following parts on
signals during networking:

Tx power of signal source

Loss of RF cable
Gain of Tx antenna
Gain of Rx antenna

Page 35

CW Test Flow

Section 1 Site

Selection
Section 2 Building Test

Platform in Networking
Section 3

Page 36

Drive Test

Drive Test
Keep to the following standards to select a test path
Landform: The test route must cover all main landforms in the area.
Height: The test route must cover landforms with different height in

this area if the landforms are up-and-down.

Distance: The test route must cover different positions from the site

in the area.
Direction: The test points must be consistent on the horizontal and

vertical route.
Length The total distance of one CW test should be longer than

60km.
Number of test points: The more, the better.
Overlap: Overlap the test route in different sites as much as

possible to improve the reliability of models.

Obstacle: Shadow areas behind this wall should be avoided when

antenna signals are obstructed by the wall at a side.

Page 37

Drive Test
Lee criteria for sampling: 50 samples by 40
The maximum vehicle speed: Vmax=0.8/Tsample
Delete test results from the sampled data under abnormal
conditions:

Fading over 15~30db without reasonable

causes
In tunnels
Under the viaducts
Select test routes from the main lobe coverage area if
directional antennas are adopted for a CW test.

Page 38

CONTENT
Chapter 1 Principle of Radio
Propagation and CW Test

Chapter 2 CW Test Flow

Chapter 3 Analysis of CW Test Data
Chapter 4 Propagation Model
Tuning

Page 39

Analysis of Test Data

Section 1 Data Filtering

Section 2 Data

Dispersion
Section 3 Data Binning
Section 4 Format

Conversion

Page 40

Data Filtering
Data to be filtered is as follows:
1. Data tested in the places where GPS is
unable to locate accurately (such as
under the overhead rack, in the tunnel).
2. Data obtained when the distance to
antenna is too near or far.
3. Data obtained with too weak signals.
4. Error data caused by inexact AP
(antenna pattern).
5. Other data inconsistent with the
requirements during the route design of
CW test.

Page 41

Analysis of Test Data

Section 1 Data Filtering

Section 2 Data

Dispersion
Section 3 Data Binning
Section 4 Format

Conversion

Page 42

Data Dispersion
Propagation in mobile communications can be
indicated as follows:

r(x) = m(x)r0(x)

x L

1
m( x )
r ( y )dy

2L xL

X: distance
r(x): received signals
r0(x): Raileigh Fading

m(x): local mean value, the combination of long-term

fading and space propagation loss
2L: average length between sampling areas, also
called intrinsic length

Page 43

Data Dispersion
The CW test is to obtain the local mean value of each
geography location in some areas as far as possible, i.e. the
difference of r(x) and m(x) should be the minimum value. In
this sense, effect of Raileigh Fading should be excluded.
When the intrinsic length equals 40 wavelength and the
number of sampling points is 50, the difference of test data
and actual local mean value can be less than 1dB according
to Lee criteria.
Intrinsic length is average length for binning (2G band is 6 m
long, namely, 40 wavelength)
Since the locating speed of GPS is far lower than the
receiving speed of the receiver, the dispersion processing is
required before the binning.

Page 44

Data Dispersion
The principle of dispersion processing is as follows:

Conditions:
There are many test records arranged under
each locating point in time sequence because
the receiving speed of the receiver is far higher
than the locating speed of GPS.
The vehicle speed between two locating points
is uniform.
The time interval between every two
measurement records is the same.
Processing:
Equally distribute these records to the route
section between two points in time sequence so
that there will be sufficient points in every 6m
range on test route.

Page 45

Analysis of Test Data

Section 1 Data filtering

Section 2 Data

Dispersion
Section 3 Data Binning
Section 4 Format

Conversion

Page 46

Data Binning
Objectives:

Reserve the impact of slow fading but eliminate the

fast fading
Methods:

Method 1: make grids for the whole area with 6m

side, perform the arithmetic average for the data
located in each grid, and then take the grid center as
the new location.
Method 2: divide the path into sections in equal
interval with 6m for each, and perform the
arithmetic binning for the data in each section to
select some point for the location of mean value.
Tool: CW Data Editor

Page 47

Analysis of Test Data

Section 1 Data Filtering

Section 2 Data

Dispersion
Section 3 Data Binning
Section 4 Format

Conversion

Page 48

Format Conversion
The data format exported by Agilent E74xx Series is
X

CW_Power_List__
Freq__Hz

CW_Power_List__A
mpl__dBm

Time

Date

Data format imported to UNET is

CW_Power_List__Ampl__dBm

Format conversion can be implemented manually

(saved as .dat file)

Page 49

CONTENT
Chapter 1 Principle of Radio
Propagation and CW Test

Chapter 2 CW Test Flow

Chapter 3 Analysis of CW Test Data
Chapter 4 Propagation Model
Tuning

Page 50

Propagation Model Tuning

Section 1 Preparation
Section 2 Propagation

Model Tuning

Page 51

Preparations
Installing network planning software:

UNET is powerful planning and

optimization software and model tuning is
only one of its functional modules.
Creating a project

In UNET, perform planning and

optimization model tuning based on each
project.
Importing antenna pattern file

Correctly import the antenna pattern

varying with different manufacturers

Page 52

Propagation Model Tuning

Section 1 Preparations
Section 2 Propagation

Model Tuning

Page 53

Propagation Model Tuning Flow

Page 54

Propagation Model Tuning

Establishing a model

Establish a standard macrocell model

to be tuned.
Select the effective antenna height.
Select a calculation method of
diffraction loss.
Importing data

Import CW test data file into the

project.

Page 55

Propagation Model Tuning

Map correction
GPS locating in CW test usually adopts WGS84 and
UTM projection. However, digital maps in China do
not use such projections and reference plane.
Correct digital maps if CW test data does not
correspond to them.
Correction method:
Correct four parameters on rectangular
coordinates in a digital map to realize the
optimal match with the test data.

Page 56

Propagation Model Tuning

Setting Filtering
Distance filtering:
Filter the data of which r is less
than 150m or r is greater than
3000m.
Signal strength filtering:
Filter the data of which Signal is
greater than -40dBm or Signal is
less than -121dB.
Clutter filtering
Filter the Clutter in which
sampling points are less than 300.

Page 57

Propagation Model Tuning

Parameter tuning

L=K1 + K2log(d) + K3log(Heff) +

4Diffraction
+
K5log(d)log(HTxeff) + K6(HRxeff)
+ Kclutterf(clutter)

Tune such parameters as log(d),

log(Heff), Diff, log(d)log(Heff), Hmeff
and Klutter to finally tune SPM
propagation model.

Page 58

Propagation Model Tuning

Page 59

Propagation Model Tuning

ERROR (measurement prediction)

Regression line
calculated
values for the
variable

Page 60

Propagation Model Tuning

Page 61

Propagation Model Tuning

Correction of propagation model parameters in a city

Page 62

Parameter K

Reference value

K1

23.2

K2

44.90

K3

5.83

K4

0.5

K5

-6.55

K6

Propagation Model Tuning

Analysis of correction results
Analyze correctness of the acquired model after
correction.
Evaluate the correctness of the model with Std Dev,
which refer to the binding degree of the acquired
model and actual test environment.
Make Std Dev less than 8 as much as possible in
actual model tuning, which indicates that the tuned
model and actual test environment are well bound.

Page 63

Summary

After completing this course, you should

be able to master:
Principle and purpose of CW test
Process of CW test
Process of propagation model tuning

Page 64