PROCESS DOCUMENTATION FOR CARRYING OUT

VARIOUS TYPES OF

SURVEY JOBS REQUIRED BY CLIENT RELATED

TO MOBLIE

COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
INTRODUCTION

This document represents the working procedure undertaken by Infinite Tele

Solutions (ITS) and the explanation about the projects handled by ITS.

ITS FOCUS ON

 RF Survey (For New BTS Installation)

 Civil Survey (For New Sites & Existing Sites)
 BTS Survey (For Up gradation /Sharing of Existing Sites)
 Microwave Survey

COMMENCEMENT OF THE PROJECT

 Award of contract / LOI via client.

 Movement of coordinator and field engineers to the area headquarter.
 Requirement of skilled field engineers with proper tools which are issued by
ITS.
 Engineers should carry all required documents along with them and fill them
on completion of work and submit the filled doc to the client’s office or area
manager of that particular area.
 Submission of Daily Activity Report (DAR) to the manager / coordinator.
 Submission of MIS by manager/ coordinator.
 Submission of weekly report to the client.
 Follow up for gaining WCC from the client once documents being submitted to
the head office.
 Raise Invoice on getting WCC from client.
 Tracking payment.
 Conclusion
 TYPES OF SURVEY

1. RF Survey
2. Civil Survey
3. Microwave Survey

1. RF Survey : It is further divided into two parts.

a) Nominal Cell Planning (NCP)
b) Blind Survey

a) Nominal Cell Planning : The team moves to the particular geo-coordinates where already sites
exist and need to further expansion which is provided by the Planner. The survey team moves to
the nominal point and following points to be noted by the team :
i. Responsibility Matrix
ii. Site Hunting
• Search Ring
• Building Selection
• Site Candidates
iii. Transportation and Accommodation

RESPONSIBILITY MATRIX
• The Matrix clearly defines the responsibilities to be performed by the contractor
and the customer.
• A copy of the organizational structure or layout must be provided for every new
member joining a survey team.
• There must be a co-ordination system defining the agreed process flow for the
duration of the survey.

SITE HUNTING
Search Ring:-

• For GSM for a grid type of 1.5 kms in an urban area, the proposed site location is
allowed to be off grid up to 300 ms.
• Search ring radius is normally set to 100 ms for urban area and 200 ms for rural and
suburban areas.

BUILDING SELECTION
• For other areas where building heights are not the same, selection is addressed by
considering antenna heights, obstructions, leasing contract, access for equipment delivery and
installation.
• In places where building heights are approximately the same, the best choice is the one
nearest the nominal site location.

SITE CANDIDATES
 Choosing the best site candidate
• Closest to the nominal site.
• Most strategic location to fulfill coverage.
• Better leasing contract offered.
• Clear from present & upcoming obstructions.
• Better access for installation.
• Ease of equipment & antenna installations

TRANSPORTATION AND ACCOMODATION

• This involves preparation of cash advances, plane tickets, hotel reservations
and others. These facilities should be there so that team can easily commute and other processes
can take place at ease.

b) Blind Survey : This survey is similar to the NCP but the difference is in the beginning of the
process where only the geo coordinates is provided by the planner to the team to a new place
where no pre site exist. The team has to search all the hot spots for installation of new BTS and
can make a ring.

RF Survey Procedure
Basic Preparation
 Prepare the RF site survey form
 Site List:-List of sites to be surveyed is provided in advance at least one day prior to the actual
site survey. It is good to always check the immediate vicinity of the sites to be surveyed on the
planning tool plots and maps to have an understanding on what the site is intended to cover.

 Survey Materials:-Prepare all materials to be used and place them in a handy manner and
comfortable bag.
The tools to be carried with the team are as follows:
 GPS
 Binoculars
 Magnetic compass
 Measuring Tapes
 Digital Camera
 Laptop
 Mobile Phone

SITE
Before going out, it is wise to fill out known dates on the survey form such as Site name, Site ID,
Site Address.

SURVEYOR
 Similarly fill up the name of the surveyor and date of survey.

POSITION
 Once on site, switch on the GPS for a couple of minutes then take reading of the site co-ordinates
on GPS and check if it is on-grid or off-grid. This is done by comparing the nominal co-ordinates
to the real co-ordinates.
 It is emphasized that the GPS must be set to the correct datum.
 For off-grid evaluate the site location if it is just outside or too far from the search ring.
 If it is just outside the search ring take GPS co-ordinates and address and proceed to the next.
 To confirm the exactness of site co-ordinates, take at least two co-ordinates on each site.

COVERAGE AND CAPACITY

 Evaluate the surroundings on site and decide on the degree of importance of providing
coverage and capacity.
 These data will be used for more extensive planning to balance traffic requirements and
coverage ranges.
 This will be used by the project manager in making priorities.

HEIGHT
 Indicate the type of measurement, building, tower and mast.
 If there is an additional construction on the top of building then measure its height

ANTENNA HEIGHT
 Compare the proposed antenna heights with that of the nominal height. The maximum
allowable deviation is 15%.Antenna height is measured above sea level.

SURVEY REPORT
 It is a good practice to finish and submit survey reports at the end of survey of each day.
 If survey teams are from the main office report must be sent through fax or email.

2. Civil Survey : Before installation of a new site the civil survey takes place which is mainly for
two types – Ground Base Tower (GBT) and Roof Top Tower (RTT).
I. For GBT : Those towers which we install on ground are called GBT. Generally the cost is
more in such installation as compared to RTT as the tower height is needed more. The
following steps we follow during GBT survey are given below.
 Different company uses different kinds of towers and shelter equipments so they
require space accordingly. Make sure proper space arrangement according to company’s
requirement like 40*60 or 50*70 etc.
 Proper access to reach the material.
 Check the availability of electricity of required voltage.
 Check if there any pit exists or the area is sliding then filling required.
 The site should not exist near like lake, pond , river, railway track.
 There should not exist any high extension wire also.
II. For RTT : Those sites which are installed on the roof top of a building is called RTT. The
following points to be noted during the RTT survey.
 Availability of proper space according to company’s requirement.
 Proper access to reach material.
 Arrangement of electricity of required voltage.
  Whether able to use stairs or need to prepare outer stairs. Proper space is available or
not for that.
 Check if the building has bearing capacity of tower load or not.
 Building pillars should have minimum of 14mm or 16mm rods in it.
 High extension wire should not exit there.

3. Microwave survey : It is fundamental to the correct performance of a microwave radio link, that
line of sight is available i.e there is a clear transmission path between the two nodes of the link.
A microwave radio link is usually engineered on the basis of there being a clear line of sight (LOS)
between the antennas at opposite end of the link. For short paths, particularly for high frequencies,
often a simple check as to whether the site can be seen from the roof of a building, possibly using
binocular is all that needed. Matters are not quite simple for longer links, say those of more than
10kms or more between antenna positions. It is not easy to identify a particular radio tower at these
distances, even with binoculars, unless that tower is in a land mark position or visibility is clear.
Impediments to LOS Propagation

• Earth Curvature “Earth Bulge”

• Refractivity effects of atmosphere.
• Proximity of Obstructions
• Reflections
• Absorption & Scattering of atmosphere
• Noise & Interference from other Systems.

Typical Network link for Cellular Network’s

• Frequencies are mainly used for microwave antennas15, 18, 21 GHz.
• Link distance varies.
• Less in cities where density of sites is high.
• Larger distances in less density areas .Maximum distance15 to 20 Kms.
• First Freznel zone clearance preferred .Can work upto 0.6 F within 0.4 F will weaken signal &
make it unsatisfactory.
• Avoid reflection from water surfaces

Survey Instruments: Transmission Planner to ensure, that, LOS coordinator and LOS Survey
Teams have minimum Survey gadgets which are (not limited to) given below.
• Laptop with Microwave Planning Tool having requisite digital terrain database maps of the area
under study and data bases for the equipments to be used for designing the entire network.
• Paper maps of Minimum 1:50,000 scales or less. It is essential, that, LOS Survey teams have one
set of maps while carrying out survey, another set of maps to be with LOS coordinator.
• Magnifying Glass, graph paper, stationary items : Essential
• Scientific Calculator : Essential
• Copy of Network Design Criteria : Essential
• Global Positioning System (GPS) : Essential
• Digital/Analogue Altimeter (0.5/1.0 M resolution) : Essential
• Prismatic Compass : Essential
• High Resolution Binoculars : Essential
• Digital Camera : Essential
• Rotring Scale 1 : 100, 125, 200, 250, 500, 750 : Essential
• Measuring Taps 5 and 50 Meter : Essential
• Communication Equipment-Mobile/Walkie-talkie : Essential
• Teodolite/Telescope : Optional
• Heliograph/Mirrors : Optional
• Lamps with Reflectors : Optional
• Blimps/Balloons with flags at 1 Meter interval : Optional
• Ladders/Poles/Flags/Helmets/Safety Belts etc. : Optional

How Far we can go

The range of LOS communication systems is mostly limited by following interlinked parameters.
• Type of Terrain:
• Earth Bulge and value of modified earth curvature to be taken for the location on earth.
Earth Bulge = d1xd2/12.75 K, where K is modified earth curvature.
Value of earth bulge becomes at K 1.333 = d1xd2/17 and at K 0.67 = d1xd2/8.5
• First Fresnel Zone Radius = 17.3√ d1xd2/FD
• Actual obstructions along the Line of Sight (LOS) forming a link.
• Free Space Loss = 92.44+20 log F (GHz)+20 log D (Km)
• Antenna Gain = 17.5+20log D(m)+20log F (GHz)
• Transmitted Power
• Transmission line losses.
• Frequency of Operation.
• Received Level
• Receiver Threshold
• Signal to Noise ratio
• Fade Margin Requirement
• Desired Reliability Requirements

1. Clear Cut Idea of Design Criteria: - Transmission Planner, LOS coordinator and LOS
Team members should have not only copies of Design criteria with them, but also should have
clear cut idea of Network Design.
2. After receipt of Site Details TX Coordinator should Generate Network Diagram and Path
Profile in the available Software Tool with DTM Data of the region.
3. Map Studies: - It will be found, that, a through map study will narrow down the problem
considerably for access network in general and multi-repeater systems with a wide range of
choices in particular. By checking a number of possible routes from map data alone, it will be
usually possible to reduce the choice down to a few alternatives. Map study done in advance even
for individual hops (both access and backbone networks) is likely to reduce time taken in field to
half. It is desirable, that, LOS Surveyors make it a habit to carry out map study of the area before
visiting the sites. With the data of map study available it is required to draw a Path Profile on
Graph Paper (Specifically for Backbone Links). Comparing Two Path Profiles Tx Engineer
should be able to make out the type of Terrain, Critical points along the LOS and tentative Tower
Heights required. With this type of information on hand, Survey team should go out for LOS
Survey.
 4. Site marking: - Determining precise co-ordinates, ground elevation (HASL), pinpointing
potential obstacles (trees, buildings etc.) on the point-to-point microwave path is a critical part of
the design process.
Site location maps to be studied thoroughly to obtain best access route to the site
• On the way to site make note of accessibility to site which is very important for the visit by future
teams.
• If it is existing site detailed information may have to be collected from the concerned agency viz
existing tower, equipment room, power plant lay outs and their details etc.
All collected data to be re-confirmed.
If site is new site is too verified from maps.
After proper verification of the site following data is to be collected.
Site co-ordinates: six digit co-ordinates to be marked. Cross checked by GPS, maps.
• Altitude (HASL): Site altitude is to be properly checked and cross checked from near by bench
mark, barometric altimeter of 0.5/1.0 M resolution, maps and GPS. Correct altitude of site and
intervening terrain will determine the Tower Heights at both ends.
• Marking and making lay out of site with some reference points with bearing angle from north and
distance viz near by hill top, chimneys, buildings, transmission tower or any permanent structure.
This is again important for the visit by future teams.
• Marking of azimuthal angle (from Map) towards other site/sites. Check near end obstructions by
using compass, binoculars/Teodolite/distance height meter.
Site Data Form should be completed in all respects before leaving the site. Photographs to be taken for
site details and towards each azimuthal antenna direction for near end obstructions.

5. PATH PROFILING
• After two site of a link are finalized, draws a straight line on maps connecting two
adjacent sites.
• Carefully trace from one site to another, marking altitudes of all obstacles or
obstructions and possible points of reflection
• Mark the mid point, which is point of maximum earth bulge and to be marked as obstacle
• Path profiles are plotted on graph paper and/or recorded for feeding in to computer software.
• Altitudes of all obstacles between two sites are marked on the map and verified by
actual visit along the line of sight direction from site A to site B are to be taken in to account at 1-2
km intervals (In case of Access Network it may be taken at 0.1-0.5 Km depending on hop length).
• Carefully mark water bodies viz lakes, rivers, ponds etc for evaluation of reflection points.
• Contour interval is at 5/10/20 M, bench mark heights can be located in the maps, and
heights of most of the hill tops are also given. Altimeters may be calibrated from known bench
marks.
• Study of maps will give an idea, which of the critical points have to be visited and how
to approach them during actual survey.
• Make visit along the line of sight confirm the data and in case of deviation, the same is
recorded.
• Basic idea behind LOS Survey is to ascertain clear Line-of-Sight for each hop. The
methods to confirm LOS depend on the terrain data, hop length, available gadgets available at the
disposal of the LOS Survey teams. However following methods (not limited to) may be adopted
for confirmation of Line-of-Sight between two sites in a hop.
 1. Intracity Access Network: - The hops are mostly in large cities, high rise buildings
and other man made structures may have to be encountered. Efforts should be made to get
1:25,000 or lesser scale maps. LOS may be confirmed by:
• Map terrain data, confirmation of altitudes at sites and intervening obstacles by
0.5/1.0 M resolution Altimeters. Confirmation of exact heights of near end and intervening
obstructions. Path Profile. Confirmation of LOS by visual inspection, Binoculars, we may make
use of ladders, flags, mirrors, lamps, Cherry pickers and balloons at the other end.
2. Intercity Backbone Network: - The hops are long special efforts are required to
confirm LOS for backbone links. LOS may be confirmed by:
• Map terrain data, confirmation of altitudes at sites and intervening obstacles by
0.5/1.0 M resolution Altimeters. Confirmation of exact heights of near end and intervening
obstructions. Thorough map study, field survey, collection of data and correctly transfer of data to
Path Profiles is the best way of confirming LOS.
• In some cases where is difficult to conclude if LOS is clear or not we may
establish LOS with the help of Binoculars/Teodolite/Telescope, and we may make use of mirrors
during the day time, lamps during the night time and balloons with flags at 1 Meter interval at the
other end.
• Link Data Forms should be completed in all respects before leaving the two
sites forming a link.

6. Working out Tower Heights at Site (In case of doubt):- LOS surveyor can work out tower heights at
site with following minimum items.
Paper maps min 1: 50,000 scale or less
Scientific calculator
Graph paper cm scale
Rotring scale 1: 100, 125, 200, 250, 500, 750.
360° angular scale
0.5 mm pencil, rubber etc.
After thorough map study, visit to both the sites and route tracking of a hop, mark on graph paper
two sites with hop distance as calculated from the map. From the tabulation of distance v/s
obstructions find out and plot on graph altitudes and actual obstructions (trees, Buildings) at centre
and minimum one most critical point on either side of the hop. On top of it adds height of
trees/obstructions, earth bulge and first freznal zone distances as per clearance criteria. Joining
lines from one site to other after clearing the three (minimum) obstacles will give desired tower
heights at both the sites of the hop. A worked out sample is attached as an example.
7. Transfer of Field Data to Microwave Planning Tool: - The complete acquired data for each hop is
transferred to Microwave Planning tool for evaluation and working out antenna heights as per given
designed clearance criteria. Optimize the Antenna heights in the tool when other hops are added up in
the network. In case Tower heights are within network design parameters, work out fade margin and
reliability for each hop.

Important Note: - Precaution may please be taken, while planning a site on the top of the hill. RF
planner may like the site to be at the top of the hill but due to an element of error in computer terrain
database site be found at the slope of the hill. Care may be taken when difference is noticed between
computer terrain and terrain in the field. In such cases use only verified data.