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Improving HSDPA Indoor Coverage and Throughput by Repeater and

Dedicated Indoor System

Article  in  EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking · January 2008

DOI: 10.1155/2008/951481 · Source: DBLP

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Hindawi Publishing Corporation
EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking
Volume 2008, Article ID 951481, 11 pages
doi:10.1155/2008/951481

Research Article
Improving HSDPA Indoor Coverage and Throughput by
Repeater and Dedicated Indoor System

Tero Isotalo, Panu Lähdekorpi, and Jukka Lempiäinen

Department of Communications Engineering, Tampere University of Technology, P.O. Box 553, 33101 Tampere, Finland

Correspondence should be addressed to Tero Isotalo, tero.isotalo@tut.fi

Received 5 September 2008; Accepted 14 December 2008

Recommended by Ibrahim Develi

The target of the paper is to provide guidelines for indoor planning and optimization using an outdoor-to-indoor repeater or a
dedicated indoor system. The paper provides practical information for enhancing the performance of high-speed downlink packet
access (HSDPA) in an indoor environment. The capabilities of an outdoor-to-indoor analog WCDMA repeater are set against
a dedicated indoor system and, furthermore, compared to indoor coverage of a nearby macrocellular base station. An extensive
measurement campaign with varying system configurations was arranged in different indoor environments. The results show
that compared to dedicated indoor systems, similar HSDPA performance can be provided by extending macrocellular coverage
inside buildings using an outdoor-to-indoor repeater. According to the measurements, the pilot coverage planning threshold of
about −80 dBm ensures a 2500 kbps throughput for shared HSDPA connections. Improving the coverage above −80 dBm seems
to provide only small advantage in HSDPA throughput. Of course, the pilot planning thresholds may change if different channel
power allocations are used. In addition, network performance can be further improved by increasing the antenna density in the
serving distributed antenna system. Finally, good performance of repeater implementation needs careful repeater gain setting and
donor antenna siting.

Copyright © 2008 Tero Isotalo et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License,
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

1. INTRODUCTION in 1999, and commercial networks were launched between

2001 and 2003. The basic UMTS system provided user
Evolution of mobile communication systems started to roll level throughput of 384 kbps for the downlink (DL) and
on in the 1980s when the first analog 1st generation (1G) 64 kbps for the uplink (UL), which was later updated
frequency division multiple access (FDMA) mobile networks to 384 kbps as well. Together with the conquest of the
were launched. In the early 1990s, the first 2nd generation internet, requirements for mobile broadband access grew
(2G) global system for mobile (GSM) communications and higher data rates were needed to fulfill the requirements.
networks were launched in Europe, as well as corresponding Release 5 (R5) specifications included improvements for
time division multiple access (TDMA) systems in the US. R99, and most importantly, introduced high-speed downlink
Until the early 2000s, the networks were mainly used for packet access (HSDPA) for UMTS, which enables above
speech communication. Data connections, limited to tens 10 Mbps data rates for downlink, thus providing high-quality
of kilobits per second (kbps), played only a minor part broadband access for mobile users.
in the system. In the early 2000s, when 1G networks HSDPA is an add-on for R99, thus all functionalities
started to disappear, the first 3rd generation (3G) networks of R99 remained, and new properties have been added to
were launched: universal mobile telecommunications system enable the high data rates in downlink. Channel bandwidth
(UMTS) in Europe/Japan, and CDMA2000 in the US remained the same, and the main sources for high data rates
were introduced, both using code division multiple access are fast adaptation for radio channel changes, higher-order
(CDMA) technology, and providing significantly higher data modulation, and shared channel, which enable scheduling of
rates compared to earlier systems. all cell resources for one user when necessary.
The first specification of UMTS, Release 99 (R99), was Both the modulation and the channel coding rate can
published by 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) be changed to adapt to the fast changes in radio channel
2 EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking

quality, the target being to always provide the best achievable data rates, however, are significantly lower due to the changes
throughput. In addition to quadrature phase-shift keying in radio interface (lower MCS), parameterization of Node Bs,
(QPSK), 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM) limited transmission capabilities between Node B and RNC,
was introduced for HSDPA, doubling the available through- and hardware limitations at Node B and user equipment
put in good radio channel conditions. Regardless of power (UE).
control, due to the small dynamic range in the downlink The target of the paper is to discover the coverage
direction, R99 Node B (UMTS base station) often sends requirements for different average and momentary HSDPA
with higher downlink power than needed for the used 50% data rates, in the dedicated indoor system and outdoor-to-
channel coding and QPSK modulation, and higher data rates indoor repeater implementation. In addition, performances
can be achieved without any drawbacks. Efficient utilization of indoor and repeater systems are compared.
of adaptive modulation and coding (AMC) requires real- The paper is organized as follows. First, the used
time knowledge of channel quality, which is provided by the radio system is shortly described and Section 2 introduces
channel quality indicator (CQI) messages. CQI messages are the indoor environment and principles of repeaters and
sent by the mobile every 2 milliseconds, thus Node B can distributed antenna systems. The measurement setup and the
change the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) every 2 measurement environment are described in Section 3 and
milliseconds (transmission time interval (TTI)) [1, 2]. the measurement results are shown in Section 4. The results
In addition to AMC, hybrid automatic repeat request are concluded in Section 5.
(HARQ) and fast scheduling were introduced to accelerate
network performance. In R99, retransmissions were made in 2. INDOOR COVERAGE PROVIDERS
radio link control (RLC) layer by radio network controller
(RNC). The procedure was fastened by bringing retransmis- In the era of line telephones, wireless communication
sions from the RNC to Node B, and down to the physical networks were mainly used for speech connections and
layer. Also soft combining was implemented for efficient out of office, thus requirements for indoor coverage and
utilization of all received data. In HSDPA, all users share capacity were modest, and low service probabilities were
the radio resources. HSDPA uses 1–15 channelization codes, accepted indoors. However, cellular 3G networks are planned
with fixed spreading factor of 16. Thus, all available radio to compete equally with fixed broadband services, and high
channel resources can be utilized for HSDPA use. One user coverage quality is also presumed in all indoor locations.
can have all the available resources if needed, and multiple
access principle is fulfilled by scheduling the resources 2.1. Macrocellular indoor coverage
consecutively for each user. To ensure fast scheduling, the
scheduling functionality is located in Node B on MAC layer Moderate indoor coverage can be provided as a side product
[1, 2]. of macro-/microcellular planning, as outdoor signal propa-
R5 also introduces new channels to the system on the gates inside buildings despite higher attenuation. However,
physical layer and transport layer. The most important is building penetration loss can be as much as 20 dB, and
the transport layer high-speed downlink shared channel propagation loss indoors are often tens of dBs [3, 4], which
(HS-DSCH) which carries the user data of the downlink limits the coverage in larger buildings and buildings in cell
physical high-speed physical downlink shared channels (HS- edges. Indoor users also require higher downlink power,
PDSCHs) separated by channelization codes. High-speed which increases the total interference level in the network.
shared control channel (HS-SCCH) on the physical layer Indoor coverage from outdoor base stations at the cell edge
carries information for demodulating HS-DSCH correctly. could be improved by higher cell overlapping, but this may
Uplink feedback information, such as CQI and acknowl- deteriorate the outdoor network performance due to pilot
edgment/nonacknowledgment messages are sent on phys- pollution and higher soft handover overhead. Therefore,
ical high-speed dedicated physical control channel (HS- it is often impossible to achieve good indoor coverage
DPCCH). HSDPA also utilizes R99 channels, and it is good throughout the building provided by the outdoor network.
to note that the user data in the uplink is sent similarly as in
the R99 [1, 2]. 2.2. Dedicated indoor systems
WCDMA downlink physical layer maximum total user
data rate can be approximately calculated as Dedicated indoor systems (Figure 1) can be implemented
using pico- or femtocells, distributed antenna system (DAS),
W ·N ·c·m
Rphy = , (1) radiating cables, or optical solutions [5–7]. In a distributed
SF antenna system, one base station is used to provide service
where W is the system chip rate (3.84 Mcps), N is the number for large areas via multiple antennas. The base station is
of allocated channelization codes, c is the channel coding connected to the antennas via splitters, tappers, and coaxial
rate, m is the number of bits per symbol for used modulation, cables [8]. Since the coverage areas are rather scattered,
and SF is the spreading factor for the physical channel. and difficult to estimate accurately in indoors, typically
Where R99 data connection provides maximum 480 kbps in omnidirectional or lightly directional antennas are used with
physical layer (N = 1, c = 0.5, m = 2, SF = 8), R5 HSDPA DAS. Picocell is a base station equipped with an antenna,
can reach up to 14.4 Mbps in optimal radio channel and typically mounted on the equipment itself, and femtocells are
system conditions (N = 15, c = 1, m = 4, SF = 16). Practical similar to picocells with smaller transmission power enabling
Tero Isotalo et al. 3

Mother cell
Repeater Donor antenna

Service antennas Service antennas

Indoor Node B
Macrocellular Macrocellular
Node B Node B

Figure 1: Dedicated indoor system using a dedicated indoor base Figure 2: Outdoor-to-indoor repeating.
station.

a very small coverage area for, for example, home/office use. the noise originating from the equipment (repeater and
Radiating cables can be used to provide smooth coverage for Node B). The thermal noise density of a single component
limited areas [9]. Optical solution is an antenna system where can be generally expressed in the form
antenna/amplifier units are connected to base station by
optical cables, providing a very flexible system with minimal NTH = kT, (2)
cable loss [7].
The benefits of the pico base station are easy installation where k is the Boltzmann constant and T is the noise
and high capacity per antenna unit, whereas DAS requires temperature of a component. The noisy components are
antenna cable installation, providing a wide range of cover- illustrated in Figure 3 in a case with and without repeater.
age from one base station. Earlier studies for DAS with R99 By using (2) and Figure 3, the combined noise contribution
UMTS indicate that the ensuring coverage is the primary rule at Node B becomes
for planning, and the enhancement of increasing the antenna    
N0 = k Ta + TR GT + k Ta + TB , (3)
density is rather small [10]. However, similar measurements
for HSDPA indicate that increasing the antenna density where Ta is the ambient temperature, and TR and TB are
could improve the HSDPA capacity in poor coverage [11]. the noise temperatures of the repeater and base station
System simulations for HSDPA DAS systems emphasize the equipment. The gain and loss components on the link
importance of dedicated indoor systems for ensuring indoor between the repeater and the base station are combined into
coverage [12], but verifying measurement results are lacking. a parameter

2.3. Repeaters GT = GR ·GD ·LP ·GA . (4)

Repeaters can be considered as an alternative solution to In (4), GR is the repeater gain, GD and GA are the antenna
the dedicated indoor systems. Outdoor-to-indoor (Figure 2) gains of the repeater donor and the Node B, and LP is the
repeating can be used to improve coverage in an indoor repeater donor link loss. EFB for the total noise contribution
environment by exploiting the existing outdoor macrocel- in an unloaded network scenario can now be defined as the
lular network. The signal from the outdoor network can relation of the signal-to-noise ratios between the input and
be captured using a rooftop antenna and forwarded inside the output (Figure 3):
the building using cables. Furthermore, the received signal
can be amplified before retransmission and the building Sin /Nin W Sin /kTa
EFB = =   
penetration loss can be avoided. Single antenna or DAS Sout /Nout W Sout / k(Ta + TR )GT + k Ta + TB
can be used indoors to provide the extension in signal (5)
coverage offered by the repeater. Repeaters in this paper
stand for simple bidirectional linear amplifiers that can be if Sin = Sout and W is the signal bandwidth. Equation (5) can
installed in the cell area to provide an amplified replica of be then further simplified to form
the received UMTS frequency bands. As the whole band    
Ta + TB + Ta + TR GT
is amplified without signal regeneration, interference from EFB = , (6)
other UMTS mobiles is included in the amplification process. Ta
Therefore, only out-of-band interference is filtered out. which can be reproduced to form
Repeater amplification ratio (repeater gain) can be adjusted
to tune the effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) level at EFB = FB + GT ·FR (7)
the serving antennas in the downlink.
The impact of a repeater on the noise experienced by the by using the definition for the noise figure [13].
base station receiver can be represented by using effective As visualized in (2)–(7), the amount of total noise at
noise figure of the base station (EFB ) as presented in [13]. the Node B receiver depends on the noise properties of the
The definition of EFB is based on the thermal noise including repeater equipment and on the loss and gain components in
4 EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking

LP Ta capable UMTS Node Bs, connected to a distributed antenna

GD GA
system either directly or via a donor antenna and an analog
Repeater Node B WCDMA repeater. DAS consisted of 1/2 inch feeder cables
Donor
link connected to omnidirectional antennas with a 2 dBi gain,
Sin Sout
GR and in addition 7/8 inch feeder cables were used with the
Nin Nout repeater. Depending on the serving antenna configuration,
the signal from Node B or repeater was transmitted either
TR TB
directly to the antenna or split into 3 equal parts. For
the dedicated indoor system, the signal was additionally
Figure 3: The effective noise figure of the base station can be attenuated by 30 dB to be able to study HSDPA performance
calculated taking the ratio of the SNR at the Node B antenna in a coverage limited network. The relevant parameters of an
connector (repeater not installed) and the SNR at the Node B indoor system are listed in Table 1.
receiver output.
Measurement equipment consisted of a category 5/6
HSDPA data card [19] with maximum bitrate of 3.6 Mbps
(N = 5, c = 0.75, m = 4, SF = 16 in (1)), con-
the donor link. Thus, the repeater configuration (including nected to a laptop computer, equipped with a WCDMA
the location, gain, and donor antenna properties) affects the field measurement software [20]. The used data card was
performance of the donor macro cell as well. Thereby, it calibrated only for commercial use, thus absolute values
is important to consider the effects to the donor macro- of radio channel measurements may include some error.
cell together with the repeater service area performance. Therefore, the analysis of the results is mainly based on
Increased noise level is visible in the uplink noise plus relative comparison of the measured scenarios.
interference value measured by the base station. In the repeater configuration, the mother cell was a
In order to achieve successful repeater operation, the macro-/microcellular base station equipped with a direc-
donor and serving antennas must be placed in a way tional antenna at the height of rooftops. The donor antenna
that the isolation requirement between the two antennas is was a typical macrocellular antenna with a horizontal
fulfilled. Referring to [14], the isolation between the repeater beamwidth of 65◦ and a gain of 17.1 dBi [21], installed on
donor and serving antenna should be at least 15 dB higher the roof of a building (Figure 5(d)). The donor antenna
than the repeater gain. If the isolation is insufficient, self- was pointed toward the mother cell antenna, located 10◦
oscillation (reamplification of the repeater own signal) of off from the mother cell antenna main beam direction.
the repeater totally blocks the mother cell. To prevent self- At the reference repeater configuration, the pilot signal
oscillation, automatic gain control (AGC) is implemented in level difference to the neighboring macrocell measured at
the repeater to automatically keep the repeater gain at a safe the repeater serving antenna was about 10 dB (ΔP =
level. RSCPBestCell − RSCP2ndBestCell = 10 dB). Additionally, the
Some studies have been made considering repeaters as impact of poor repeater location or installation was studied
a method of improving HSDPA performance in indoor by misorienting the repeater donor antenna from the mother
environment. In [15], the performance of outdoor-to- cell direction toward a neighboring sector. Then the received
indoor repeating was measured in WCDMA Release 99 signal code power (RSCP) difference between the serving and
macrocellular network. The measurements in [15] were neighboring cell was reduced to about 0 dB (ΔP = 0 dB).
done in a building measuring the signal-to-interference This illustrates the case when repeater is installed on soft or
ratio (SIR) from the primary common pilot channel (P- softer handover region in the network.
CPICH). The results indicated that the average indoor The distance between the mother cell antenna and the
SIR level was remarkably improved due to an amplified repeater donor antenna was about 450 meters. The radio
signal through repeater. The improved pilot channel SIR path between the mother cell and donor antenna was
can be seen as improved HSDPA coverage and capacity, optically in line of sight, but Fresnel zone of the radio path
since higher modulation and coding schemes can be utilized. was not clear because some trees and rooftops were in the
Furthermore, the indoor HSDPA coverage and capacity have way. An analog WCDMA repeater [22] with varying gains
been studied together with repeaters [16] by system level (55, 65, and 75 dB) was used to amplify the signal of the
simulations. The HSDPA bitrate experienced by the indoor wanted WCDMA frequency band from the donor antenna
mobile users was seen to clearly increase together with the in the downlink and from the serving DAS in the uplink
increased repeater gain [16, 17]. (Figure 4(b)). Relevant parameters of the repeater are listed
in Table 1.
3. MEASUREMENT SETUP The measurements were carried out in a university
building, representing different environments; a dense office
Measurements were performed in a UMTS system, based corridor, a long wide open corridor, and a large open area
on 3GPP Release 5 specification [18]. The network included in the entrance hall, where approximate room heights
a fully functional RNC connected to a core network. The were 2.5 m, 6 m, and 6 m, respectively. 1 antenna and 3
measurements were performed with two different indoor antennas with constant antenna spacing were placed at
systems: a dedicated indoor system (Figure 4(a)), and an the height of 2 m, 4.5 m, and 4.5 m, respectively (Figures
outdoor-to-indoor repeater (Figure 4(b)). Both used HSDPA 5(b)-5(c)). The measurements were carried out on different
Tero Isotalo et al. 5

Node Service HSDPA

RNC B Attenuation Splitter antennas UE

−30 dB 120 m +2 dBi

−16.8 dB

−30 dB 95 m
−5 dB 25 m +2 dBi
−12.6 dB
−4.2 dB
(a)

Node Mother Donor Service HSDPA

RNC B cell UE
antenna antenna Repeater Splitter antennas

+17.1 35 m +(55, 65, 120 m +2 dBi

dBi −2.5 dB 75) dB −16.8 dB

+17.1 35 m +(55, 65, 95 m −5 dB +2 dBi

dBi −2.5 dB 75) dB −12.6 dB 25 m
−4.2 dB
(b)

Figure 4: System block diagrams and antenna configurations for (a) dedicated indoor system measurements and (b) outdoor-to-indoor
repeater measurements, both with 1 and 3 antenna DASs.

Office corridor Office corridor

route service antenna

Open area Open area

Open corridor route service antenna
Open corridor
1st floor LOS route 2nd floor service antenna

(a) (b)

Office corridor Repeater

service antennas donor
antenna
Direction
Open area towards
Open corridor service antennas mother
2nd floor service antennas cell
5th floor

(c) (d)

Figure 5: (a) Measurement routes for all indoor and repeater measurements, (b) antenna locations for 1 antenna, (c) 3 antennas, (d) and
repeater donor antenna.

routes, consisting of line-of-sight (LOS) and nonline-of- of one meter. During the measurements, the network was
sight (NLOS) signal paths in open corridor and open area, empty, thus, no other traffic was present. Hypertext transfer
and only NLOS in the office corridor (Figure 5(a)). The protocol (HTTP) download was used to create traffic on the
measurements were carried out by establishing one HSDPA downlink, and the measuring UE requested full downlink
data connection and repeating each measurement route throughput (TP).
several times. The measurements were done at walking To indicate coverage and quality of the received radio
speed, and the measuring UE was placed on a trolley at height signal, typical WCDMA network performance indicators
6 EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking

Table 1: System parameters. discussing separately different issues risen from macro-
cellular, outdoor-to-indoor repeater, and dedicated indoor
Value Unit
configurations. Next, the results of the selected scenarios are
Indoor system parameters studied focusing on the coverage requirements for certain
Max. total DL power 38 dBm HSDPA capacities. Lastly, selected examples of raw measure-
Common pilot channel power 30 dBm ment data are shown to illustrate the system behavior.
Power allocated for HSDPA 5 W
Repeater parameters 4.1. Indoor coverage from macrocellular network
Maximum repeater DL power 35 dBm
Maximum repeater UL power 20 dBm Since macrocellular networks are a common way for pro-
viding indoor coverage, indoor performance of a nearby
Repeater noise figure 3 dB
outdoor Node B was measured for the reference of com-
Repeater donor antenna gain 17.1 dBi
parison. Coverage varied in different indoor locations. In an
Donor antenna beamwidth 65 deg office corridor, coverage was poor (mean RSCP −119.1 dBm)
and HSDPA connection could not be established. For open
corridor and open area environment, macrocellular coverage
as RSCP and received signal strength indicator (RSSI) was better (mean RSCP −104.3 dBm and −101.4 dBm),
were used. RSCP is the received power of P-CPICH after providing acceptable or good HSDPA throughput (mean TP
despreading. RSSI is the total received power over the whole 1373 kbps and 1892 kbps), respectively.
wideband channel. RSCP indicates purely the coverage of the
cell and
4.2. Outdoor-to-indoor repeater
EC RSCP
= (8) Based on the measurement results, implementation of an
I0 RSSI
outdoor-to-indoor repeater enhances significantly indoor
can be used as a coverage quality indicator, since it takes coverage and HSDPA performance. In all environments and
into account the noise-and-interference level. With the scenarios with a repeater, HSDPA performance is clearly
used configuration, in empty network and close to Node improved compared to macrocellular. Depending on the
B antenna, maximum value of EC /I0 is −3 dB, and after environment, repeater gain GR , and antenna configuration,
a user establishes a shared HSDPA connection, EC /I0 is pilot coverage was improved by between 13.9 and 41.2 dB,
reduced to −7 dB. Measurement of the HSDPA throughput and HSDPA throughput by between 247 and 1628 kbps
on the medium access control layer (MAC) indicates the (Table 2).
available system capacity. MAC throughput corresponds to Increasing the GR has a positive impact on the coverage,
physical layer throughput, with constant, approximately 5% but the challenge in planning is to find out the optimal
overhead. All the measured throughput values are with one value of GR from a system performance point of view.
user and for HSDPA with 5 code transmissions; throughput The minimum required GR for improving the coverage
per code is one fifth of the presented values. The results depends at least on the outdoor and indoor environments,
can be converted for 10 codes with rather small error. If the and the system configuration. The limits for the maximum
same power per code is allocated, the available throughput repeater gain are set by the repeater equipment, donor and
at the air interface with 10 codes should be theoretically serving antenna isolation, and uplink received noise plus
doubled, but in practice, for example, nonorthogonality interference power (PNI ). The measurements were done with
between the codes may cause some error. CQI is not a direct three different GR s, in 10 dB steps. In the measurements, the
radio interface measurement, but a vendor-specific value repeater antenna isolation requirement was fulfilled in all
generated at the mobile, based on, for example, RSCP and measured configurations. This was resolved by observing the
EC /I0 measurements. However, CQI is a useful indicator, functionality of the automatic gain control function of the
since Node B decides the used modulation and coding repeater. Since the increase in the measured average RSCP
scheme based on mobile CQI reports. Uplink noise plus values equal approximately to the repeater gain steps (10 dB),
interference power level (PNI ) is measured at Node B, which the automatic gain control has not been activated and the
sends the value to the UE in system information block 7 at isolation has remained sufficient.
the beginning of each connection. The resolution for the PNI Already the lowest measured GR (55 dB) clearly provides
value reporting is one dBm. Too high PNI is one limiting improved performance in all environments. GR 65 dB pro-
factor when maximizing repeater gain. In an empty- or low- vides good performance, and the best HSDPA performance
loaded network, the impact of the repeater to the uplink load was always achieved with the highest GR (75 dB). Optimal GR
and system uplink performance is visible in the PNI . can be found, when the coverage and capacity requirements
can be met without deteriorating mother cell operation.
4. MEASUREMENT RESULTS PNI in empty network was measured as −105 dBm
(Table 2). Impact of the repeater with GR 55 dB is not yet
The measurement results are presented focusing on the visible in the PNI and GR 65 dB increases PNI by one dB,
essential observations from the measurement data. First, thus the impact on the mother cell is rather small. With GR
averaged results of all measurements (Table 2) are covered, 75 dB, PNI has risen by 5 dB to −100 dBm, which already had
Tero Isotalo et al. 7

Table 2: Numerical averaged measurement results.

Gain, GR RSCP [dBm] EC /I0 [dB] TP [kbps] Mean CQI PNI [dBm]
Number of service antennas 1 3 1 3 1 3 1 3 1 3
Office corridor
Macrocellular — −119.1 −17.6 n/a n/a −105
Repeater 55 −98.7 −97.5 −11.8 −11.4 2012 2212 15.2 15.9 −105 −105
Repeater 65 −90.3 −88.5 −11.0 −10.5 2563 2948 17.1 18.1 −104 −104
Repeater 75 −80.7 −77.9 −10.1 −9.8 2926 2974 18.2 18.5 −100 −100
Indoor — −104.5 −101.9 −11.1 −9.2 1174 1562 12.5 14.7 −105 −105
Open corridor
Macrocellular — −104.3 −10.7 1373 10.9 −105
Repeater 55 −86.3 −83.9 −8.1 −10.5 1818 2566 15.9 17.0 −105 −105
Repeater 65 −77.1 −74.4 −7.6 −10.3 2231 2871 16.2 17.4 −104 −104
Repeater 75 −67.3 −64.5 −7.7 −9.6 2173 3001 15.5 17.6 −100 −100
Repeater ΔP = 0dB 55 −92.9 −89.9 −12.3 −12.3 1497 1553 14.6 14.2 −105 −105
Repeater ΔP = 0dB 65 −83.9 −80.2 −11.6 −11.4 1579 1633 15.2 15.2 −104 −104
Repeater ΔP = 0dB 75 −73.2 −70.3 −11.6 −12.1 1450 1516 14.6 13.9 −99 −99
Indoor — −91.1 −95.7 −8.9 −8.7 2315 2043 17.1 16.4 −105 −105
Open area
Macrocellular — −101.4 −13.3 1892 15.5 −105
Repeater 55 −87.5 −82.9 −11.0 −10.6 2139 2416 16.1 16.7 −105 −105
Repeater 65 −79.5 −73.6 −10.5 −10.6 2640 2895 17.2 17.5 −104 −104
Repeater 75 −69.7 −63.5 −10.3 −10.2 2879 3007 17.7 18.4 −100 −100
Indoor — −95.4 −94.7 −8.0 −7.9 2260 2313 16.7 17.0 −105 −105

a significant impact on the available uplink capacity. System Thus, the coverage measurements of the repeater and indoor
configuration in the uplink from repeater toward the mother system are not directly comparable. Attenuation was used in
cell has not changed, so the PNI results are the same for order to achieve lower average RSCP to emphasize HSDPA
each environment and antenna configuration. From the set behavior in weaker coverage areas.
of measured repeater gains, 65 dB is the optimum value, since Even with a heavily attenuated signal, a dedicated
the average HSDPA capacity is at a good level (from 2231 indoor system is able to provide satisfactory HSDPA per-
to 2948 kbps), but uplink interference has increased by only formance. Measured mean RSCP values (between −104.5
one dB. With one outdoor-to-indoor repeater per cell, good and −91.1 dBm) are relatively low, but can provide average
indoor coverage and capacity can be provided without any HSDPA throughput between 1174 and 2315 kbps. Removing
deterioration in the mother cell, but limitations may occur if the 30 dB attenuation would either boost the indoor coverage
multiple repeaters are installed under one WCDMA cell. by 30 dB or alternatively enable the implementation of a
Antenna misorientation was studied to illustrate the larger and denser DAS, which indicates very good HSDPA
situation where a repeater is installed in a soft/softer performance expectations.
handover area, or good radio path toward the mother cell is Dividing the signal in several antennas, thus increasing
not available. According to the results, misorientation of the the antenna density, has a clear positive impact on system
repeater donor antenna reduces HSDPA indoor performance coverage and HSDPA capacity. Depending on the environ-
significantly. Comparing ΔP = 10 dB to ΔP = 0 dB, ment and scenario, improvement in RSCP was 1–5 dB, and
RSCP drops by between 5.9 and 6.8 dB and additional improvement in HSDPA throughput was 5–30%.
interference from neighboring cell causes EC /I0 to drop by
between 1.2 and 4.0 dB, resulting in 321 kbps to 1485 kbps 4.4. HSDPA performance analysis
smaller HSDPA throughput values (Table 2) than optimal
donor antenna orientation. This indicates that in repeater Based on the measurement results, coverage requirements for
implementation, special attention should be paid to finding good quality HSDPA performance can be given. The analysis
the optimal location and orientation for the repeater donor is based on coverage-capacity mapping of the measurement
antenna. results. For all the measurements, corresponding measured
RSCP for each measured throughput sample is collected.
4.3. Dedicated indoor system Next, average throughput for each collected RSCP sample
(1 dB accuracy) is calculated. The results of the analysis are
Compared to the repeater serving antenna line, the signal shown in Figures 6–8. Each figure presents separate envi-
from indoor Node B was attenuated by 30 dB (Figure 4). ronment, where the results for macrocellular, indoor, and
8 EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking

3500 3500
HSDPA MAC-hs throughput (kbps)

HSDPA MAC-hs throughput (kbps)

3000 3000

2500 2500

2000 2000

1500 1500

1000 1000

500 500

0 0
−120 −110 −100 −90 −80 −70 −60 −50 −120 −110 −100 −90 −80 −70 −60 −50
RSCP (dBm) RSCP (dBm)

Repeater 55 dB 3 antennas Macrocellular

Repeater 65 dB 3 antennas Repeater 55 dB 3 antennas
Repeater 75 dB 3 antennas Repeater 65 dB 3 antennas
Indoor 3 antennas Repeater 75 dB 3 antennas
Indoor 3 antennas
Figure 6: Average of all TP samples for each RSCP value, office
corridor. Repeater and indoor systems, 3 antenna configuration. Figure 7: Average of all TP samples for each RSCP value, open
corridor. Macrocellular, repeater and indoor systems, 3 antenna
configuration.

all repeater configurations are shown. To improve reliability,

RSCP values that have less than about 30 corresponding 3500
throughput samples are discarded.
Measurements for the dedicated indoor system show that
HSDPA MAC-hs throughput (kbps)

3000
with RSCP −110 dBm, average throughput is at a level from
1200 kbps to 1700 kbps, depending on the environment. 2500
Average throughput increases rather linearly with RSCP up
to −90 dBm, where throughput between 2200 and 2500 kbps 2000
can be achieved.
Measurements with repeaters with a gain between 55 and 1500
75 dB in an office corridor show that at a level of RSCP
1000
−110 dBm, −90 dBm, and −70 dBm, average throughput
of 1600 kbps, between 2700 and 3100 kbps, and 3000 kbps,
500
respectively, can be achieved (Figure 6). Similarly, in an open
corridor, RSCP −90 dBm and −70 dBm provides average 0
throughput of 2300 kbps and between 2900 and 3000 kbps, −120 −110 −100 −90 −80 −70 −60 −50
respectively (Figure 7). In an open area, average throughput RSCP (dBm)
results for RSCP −90 dBm and −70 dBm are 2400 kbps and
Macrocellular
between 2800 and 3000 kbps, respectively (Figure 8). Repeater 55 dB 3 antennas
Additionally, measurements of the macrocellular cover- Repeater 65 dB 3 antennas
age in indoors show that achieved throughput with certain Repeater 75 dB 3 antennas
RSCP is approximately at the same level via a repeater or Indoor 3 antennas
from an indoor system. Moreover, it can be noted that from
Figure 8: Average of all TP samples for each RSCP value,
macrocellular Node B, an average HSDPA throughput of open area. Macrocellular, repeater and indoor systems, 3 antenna
more than between 2000 and 2500 kbps can be achieved in configuration.
indoor locations, where RSCP is above −92 dBm (Figures 7
and 8).
From the results overall, it can be summed up that
RSCP −110 dBm provides average HSDPA throughput above clear enhancement in HSDPA throughput, although some
1000 kbps. Improving the coverage until approximately improvement is visible (Figures 7 and 8). The given pilot
RSCP −80 dBm improves HSDPA throughput up to between coverage thresholds for different average expected HSDPA
2500 and 3000 kbps. Measured average throughput at RSCP throughput values can be used as input for indoor coverage
−50 dBm is between 3000 and 3200 kbps, thus improving planning. It has to be noted that the presented cover-
coverage above RSCP −80 dBm does not seem to provide age thresholds are tied to the used power allocation of
Tero Isotalo et al. 9

−30 3.4 −30 3.4

3.2 3.2
−40 3 −40 3
2.8 2.8
−50 2.6 −50 2.6
RSCP (dBm)

2.4 2.4

TP (Mbps)

TP (Mbps)
−60 −60

RSCP (dBm)
2.2 2.2
2 2
−70 1.8 −70 1.8
1.6 1.6
−80 1.4 −80 1.4
−90 1.2 −90 1.2
1 1
−100 0.8 −100 0.8
0.6 0.6
−110 0.4 −110 0.4
0.2 0.2
−120 0 −120 0
25 30 35 40 5 10 15 20
Time (s) Time (s)
(a) Macrocellular (b) Repeater 55 dB

−30 3.4 3.4

3.2 −30 3.2
−40 3 3
2.8 −40 2.8
−50 2.6 −50 2.6
2.4 2.4
TP (Mbps)

TP (Mbps)
RSCP (dBm)

−60 2.2 RSCP (dBm) −60 2.2

2 2
−70 1.8 −70 1.8
−80
1.6 1.6
1.4 −80 1.4
−90 1.2 1.2
1 −90 1
−100 0.8 −100 0.8
0.6 0.6
−110 0.4 −110 0.4
0.2 0.2
−120 0 −120 0
5 10 15 20 15 20 25
Time (s) Time (s)

TP TP
RSCP RSCP
(c) Indoor (d) Indoor, not attenuated

Figure 9: Examples from raw measurement data for open area environment, 1 antenna configuration. Captured on the second half of the
measurement route, antenna located on the left hand side.

HSDPA and common pilot channel presented in Table 1, 2 milliseconds (transmission time interval). Thus, the mea-
and also differences between different user equipments can surement data provided by the measurement tool is roughly
appear. averaged, and the throughput and RSCP do not always corre-
late perfectly. In macrocellular network (Figure 9(a)), RSCP
4.5. Examples of measurement data varies between −100 dBm and −120 dBm, and throughput
varies between 500 kbps and 1800 kbps.
In Figures 9(a)–9(c), illustrative measurement examples of Figure 9(b) is an example of repeater measurements
three different scenarios and additionally one example out- with 55 dB repeater gain. While walking away from the
side the measurement campaign in Figure 9(d) are presented. antenna, RSCP drops from −60 dBm to −90 dBm. At RSCP
All the examples are screen shots from the measurement −60 dBm, throughput repetitively hits the maximum, but
tool, measured in the open area environment with 1 the continuous drops/fades cause the average throughput to
antenna configuration. Each measurement is started below remain below 3000 kbps. When the local average of RSCP
the antenna, and measured to the end of the measurement falls below −80 dBm, a small drop is visible in the throughput
route (except in the macrocellular scenario, where the signal curve, but maximum throughput is still reached once in a
is coming directly from an outdoor Node B). while.
In the measurement tool, sampling resolution for RSCP Finally, examples of dedicated indoor system mea-
is 600 milliseconds and for throughput is 200 milliseconds. surements are shown. Figure 9(c) illustrates the behavior
In the physical layer, the radio interface indicators are of throughput, when RSCP decreases from −80 dBm to
measured, the CQI is formulated and reported, and the mod- −115 dBm, starting from 3000 kbps, and dropping down
ulation and coding scheme (throughput) is changed every to a level of 2000 kbps. Figure 9(d) shows an example
10 EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking

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