Basic Drive Test Procedure

5th Oct 2020

Agenda
1. What is Drive Testing ?
2. Requirements for Drive Test
3. Types of Drive Test
4. Preparation Before Drive Test
4.1 Test Route
4.2 Engineering Parameter (EP)
4.2.1 Mechanical Tilt and Electrical Tilt
4.2.2 Site Type
4.3 KPI Threshold
5. Testing way according to Testing Area
5.1 Stationary Test
5.2 Mobility Test
5.3 Indoor Test or Walk Test
6. Basic Drive Test Methodology
7. Drive Test and optimization Procedure
8. Rigging Job
1 What is Drive Testing ?

Drive testing is a method of measuring the coverage, capacity and quality of

service (QOS) of a mobile radio network.
At this stage, the main focus is on
 Fundamental end-to-end service accessibility targets e.g Calls set up
success rates, call drop rates etc.
 Performance targets such as coverage related targets (such as Signal
strength, signal quality)
 Speed performance (Download speed, Upload speed)
2 Requirements for Drive Testing
• DT software
Nemo Outdoor, TEMS Investigation, Pilot Pioneer, Genex Probe, etc.
• Test equipment compactible with DT software Connection to vehicle
power source
Smart phone
Data card DC-AC converter

• Test SIM card

• GPS (USB connection) Laptop with DT software Smart phone

• Vehicle (Car, Motorbike, boat..) USB hub

PC Tel Scanner

• DC-AC converter
• Scanner (optional) USB GPS receiver
Data connection Data Card
Power connection
• Laptop
• USB Hub
• USB cable
3 Types of drive test

Generally drive testing can be categorized into 4 types:

 Performance Analysis usually made into clusters (grouping of cells), an area with
some sites of interest. They can also be performed in specific situations, as to answer
a customer complaint.
 Integration of New Sites and change parameters of Existing Sites
 Marketing are usually requested by the marketing area of the company, for example
showing the coverage along a highway, or at a specific region/location.
 Benchmarking tests aims to compare the competing networks. If the result is better,
can be used as an argument for new sales. If worse, it shows the points where the
network should be improved.
4 Preparation Before Drive Test

• Site Status
• Site Access
• Test Route
• Cell File
• Engineering Parameter
• KPI Threshold
4.1 Test Route

 Quality routes are pre-defined pathways, and that must be performed

periodically, usually 6 months.
 Test route must be approved by customer and satisfied with customer
requirements and testing purposes.
 These routes should cover the relevant areas of the network, such as large
customers and companies, bridges and major Avenues, etc.
 Test route must cover all cell coverage areas and first layer sites.
 Normally 2km length for no nearby sites.
4.1 Test Route

Single Site Test Route Cluster Test Route

10 Sites cluster
First layer

Target SSV Site

4.2 Engineering Parameter (EP)

EP is engineering design file with collected data for whole network such as site locations,
cell information and radio parameters configured in network.
Site Name HleDan University PO HleDan University PO HleDan University PO

Cell Name HleDan University PO_0A HleDan University PO_2B HleDan University PO_3C

Cell ID 13480 13481 13482

Sector ID 1 2 3

Longitude 96.1334 96.1334 96.1334

Latitude 16.826 16.826 16.826

Carrier No 115 241 199

PN 114 282 450

Antenna Height 30 30 30

Azimuth 70 190 270

M-Tilt 8 6 6

E-Tilt 0 0 0

Site Type GBT GBT GBT

Antenna Model LBX-6516DS-VTM LBX-6516DS-VTM LBX-6516DS-VTM

4.2.1 Mechanical Tilt and Electrical Tilt

M-tilt

Adjust
nuts

E-tilt:
Mtilt: Modified radiation pattern by changing
Physical adjustment to antenna down tilt signal phase of each element of antenna
4.2.1 Mechanical Tilt and Electrical Tilt

In shown in figure, mechanical tilt results into pattern blooming while electrical tilt
suppresses the pattern bloom.
4.2.2 Site Type (Green Field)

Self Supporting Tower Tree Tower Mono Pole Guy Tower

4.2.2 Site Type (Rooftop and COW)

Cell on Wheel (COW) Rooftop Tower Rooftop Pole

4.3 KPI Threshold

For acceptance, need to define acceptable KPIs level before project start.
Basic DT KPIs are as follow:
1. Signal strength, RSCP (dBm)
2. Signal Quality, Ec/Io (dB)
3. Throughput, DL or UL (Kbps)
4. CSSR, CDR, HOSR (%)
As per customer requirement, need to add or modify DT report KPIs.
KPI Threshold
KPI Excellent Good Average Poor Very Bad
Color

RSCP (dBm) +INF to -75 -75 to -85 -85 to -95 -95 to -105 -105 to -INF
Ec/Io (dB) +INF to -8 -8 to -10 -10 to -12 -12 to -14 -14 to -INF

DL Throughput (Kbps) >2048 1024 to 2048 512 to 1024 256 to 512 <256

UL Throughput (Kbps) >1024 512 to 1024 512 to 512 128 to 256 <128

CSSR >=98%

CDR <=2%

HOSR >=98%
5 Testing way according to Testing Area

There have 3 kind of testing way according to testing area.

1. Stationary Test
2. Mobility Test
3. Indoor Test
5.1 Stationary Test
At the best radio location required to perform for all carriers.
1. Voice call to determine if any call failure or block calls
2. IRAT test for network reselection
3. Throughput /Latency test using http / ftp and speed test.

To find best radio location for each sector:

4. Line of sight location from antenna Antenna pattern
5. No blocking from test place to antenna
6. Lesser back loop coverage
7. Nearest location from antenna

Best stationary test location

5.2 Mobility Test
Check intra cell HO in dedicated mode clockwise and anti
clockwise 2 rounds for each direction
Check inter cell HO in dedicated mode for the 1st layer per cell Intra cell HO
both ways.
Check coverage and quality of network with forcing function,
Inter cell HO
idle mode, dedicated mode.
Idle Mode: No call and no data using at idle sate A B

Dedicated mode: call initiate or start data using will enter to

dedicated mode.
Forcing Function: lock to specific function. Site A signal power decreasing
Site B signal power increasing
• Frequency lock: lock to carrier frequency
• Cell lock: lock to selected cell (PCI, CID, PSC etc…)
• Technology lock: lock to 2G, 3G ,4G etc..
• Band lock: lock to 900, 2100, 1800 etc…
5.3 Indoor Test or Walk Test
 The service of information collection is not only limited to
outdoor measurements based inside a vehicle (Drive Test), but
also include measurements pedestrian indoor environments
(Walk Test).
 Generally, outdoor signals are stronger than indoor signals
within the coverage area of a macro base station.
 More than 70% of voice traffic and 90% of data traffic are
generated indoors, hence it's important to have a strategy to
measure indoor cellular coverage, network Quality of
Experience(QoE) to optimize network to provide better Quality
of Service (QoS) to customers.
 Since it is testing inside building or underground, GPS receiver
is not working and test engineer need to use hand plotting for
GPS signals.
6 Basic Drive Test Methodology

Call Test: Voice call from MS1 to MS2 with long call (HOSR measurement) ,short
call (CDR, CSSR measurement)
Data Test: Download and upload data testing from ftp or http server. (sometime
customer request to test you tube, web browsing etc.…)
MOS Test: Mean opinion score (MOS) use to measure audio quality range from
1 to 5. (MOS score 5 is best result)
Scanner Test: Scanning desire frequency channel. Scanner can test all
frequency channels same as idle mode at one time.
Latency Test: Mainly for LTE test: Ping test, PDP activation, CSFB etc.
Interference Test: To check interference signals with spectrum analyzer.
7 Drive Test and optimization Procedure

Problem
Drive Test Date Analysis Corrective Action Drive Test
Identification

KPI Meet Done

Problem Identification
• Cell overshooting which is a result of improper
network design when planning networks KPI Meet
• Black spots i.e. non-coverage spots Corrective Actions • Improve coverage
• Interference areas which are usually highly populated • Parameter optimization on cell • Reduce call drops in a network
and result in call drops towers • Higher data throughputs for the
• Sectors receiving poor signal quality (slow data • Addition/deletion of neighbor cells users
speed, dropped calls, etc.) • Reducing the power levels of • Reduced handover failures
• Handover failures between cell sites sectors to avoid cell overshooting • Competitive edge in the market
• Redesigning of radio planning • Reduced customer complaints
8 Rigging Job

During optimization process, there have three types of rigging job as:
Rigger Audition
Physical Tuning

Rigger Audition is the rigging job to verified actual on site physical data is matching
with plan data.
Physical Tuning is the optimization process to change on site physical data as per
analysis results or network requirements.
8 Rigging Job

Safety Helmet
Rigger must be follow Health and Safety Rules.
Safety Belt
Below parameters need to measure or adjust:
Gloves
1. Site location
2. Mechanical Tilt
Working at Safety Shoe
3. Electrical Tilt height certificate

4. Antenna Height
5. Antenna Model
6. Azimuth
8 Rigging Job

Safety Helmet
Adjustable wrench (25mm & 10mm)
Tool bag

Safety Belt Plier Cable tie cutter Compass Screwdriver set

Reflective Belt

GPS Inclinometer

Safety Grooves 100m measure tape Waterproof Tape

Smart phone with angle

camera lite app Wrench Set
Cable Tie Color Tape
Safety Shoe

Required Tools for Rigging Job

8 Rigging Job

Site Location (GPS) M-Tilt measurement E-Tilt measurement

8 Rigging Job

Actual antenna height is

located at middle of antenna

Starting point of measure tape

must touch to the ground

Antenna Height Measurement Antenna Model

8 Rigging Job

Azimuth measurement confirm with google earth view and compass

Thank You
Connected Engineering
742, Zalila 4 st, 16/1 Ward, Thingangun, Yangon