Base Station Survey and Layout

Huawei Wireless Network Planning

Department
 Contents

 About the Service

 Preparation

 Coverage
Requirements

 Site Selection

 Antenna Design

 Survey Documents
 About the Service

 Initial layout design of the base stations is essential to

network planning, which includes:
 A. Determine the frequency multiplex mode based on
the frequency bandwidth;
 B. Estimate the number of base stations in need under
the conditions such as capacity prediction, traffic
distribution and coverage requirements;
 C. Determine theoretical sites of base stations;
 D. Assume the relevant parameters of base stations
such as network layer structure, transmission power,
antenna feeder system, antenna type, height, azimuth,
down-tilt, etc.
 About the Service

 Base station site survey is a major part of determining the base

station layout, which includes optical survey, spectrum survey and
station site survey.
 Optical survey
 The construction environment and
natural environment surrounding
the base stations.
 Spectrum survey
 Electromagnetic environment
 Station site survey
 Installation environment for antennas
and equipment
 Power supply and transmission facilities
 Contents

 About the Service

 Preparation

 Coverage Requirement
s

 Site Selection

 Antenna Design

 Survey Documents
 Preparation

 Get familiar with the project, and try to collect various materials
concerned, including:
 Engineering documents
 Background materials
 Information about existing
network
 Local map, etc.
 Contract configuration list
 The latest site survey table
of network planning
 Preparation

 Preparetools, and ensure they work normally

before setting out;

 Digital camera

 GPS satellite receiver

 Compass

 Ruler

 Portable computer
 Preparation

 Base Station site Survey Preparation Meeting

 Before survey, all the persons concerned shall gather in the survey
preparation & coordination meeting to discuss the following details:
 Electromagnetic background, and to test the electromagnetic
background when necessary;
 Arrangement of people responsible for survey and cooperation;
 Vehicle and equipment preparation;
 Make a survey plan and
determine the survey routes;
 Elementary project concerning transmission,
power supply, etc.
 Contents

 About the Ser

vice

 Preparation

 Coverage Req
uirements

 Site Selection

 Antenna Desig
n

 Survey Docum
ents
 Coverage Requirements

 Coverage of a base station mainly

depends on the following factors:
 Service quality indices
 Output power of the transmitter
 Available sensitivity of the receiver
 Antenna orientation and gain
 Frequency band in use
 Promulgation environment
 Application of diversity reception
 ......
 Contents

 About the Ser

vice

 Preparation

 Coverage Req
uirements

 Site Selection

 Antenna Desig
n

 Survey Docum
ents
 Site Selection

 After preparation and getting informed of coverage

requirements, you can select the base station site. During
determining station site, the following factors shall be taken into
consideration:
 The existing network
 Population distribution and local
customs
 City structure and town chorology
 Major streets and traffic
 Mountains, lakes, rivers, coastlines
 Nature environment
 Long-term development trend, etc.
 Site Selection

 Principles for Base Site Selection

Population distribution
Traffic distribution Select areas with dense
traffic and subscribers
Subscriber flowing tread

Be careful when choosing

Base station surroundings mountains or those near to radars,
radio station, forest, power supply
Signal transmission quality
factory, etc.
 Site Selection

 Principles for base station site selection:

 A. Try to locate the base station at an ideal position in the regular
cellular meshes, and the error shall not exceed one-fourth of the site
radius;
 B. Try to make use of existing facilities without prejudice to the base
station layout, cutting down the construction cost and period;
 C. Normally, do not select mountains with
high elevations at the edges of cities or in
suburbs (100~300 meters or higher than
the elevation of the cities or suburbs) for
the convenience of coverage control and
maintenance, and reducing the difficulty of
project construction;
 Site Selection

 D. Base station should be constructed in a safe place with convenient traf

fic, mains power supply and without occupying too many fertile farmlands;
 E. Try not to construct the base station near a high power radio transmiss
ion station, radar station or other interference sources;
 F. Base station to be constructed shall be far from woods to avoid rapid a
ttenuation of signals;
 G. When constructing a base station in an area with mountains, cliffy ban
ks, or many lakes, or in a hilly city, or in a high metal building, you must c
onsider the influence of signal reflection and time dispersion;
 H. When constructing a base station among buildings, you can make use
of the height of buildings to realize the division of network layer structure;
 I. When there are only a few stations at the beginning of construction, it is
required to ensure good coverage in important areas.
 Contents

 About the Service

 Preparation

 Coverage Require
ments

 Site Selection

 Antenna Feeder D
esign

 Survey Document
s
 Antenna Feeder System-Combining and Distribution Unit

 Introduction to Antenna Feeder System

The antenna feeder system is composed of combining and distribution unit,

feeder, tower top amplifier, and antenna:
Combining and distribution unit
Function:
 Mainly for receipt and sending of signal duplex, transmission of signal
combining, filtering, receipt of signal filtering, low noise amplification
and distribution, provision of feed circuit of tower top amplifier;
realization of multiple transmission signals and common use of the units
of one antenna by several received signals.
Type:
 At present, Huawei can provide the following combining and distribution
units: SCU, CDU, EDU, etc.
 Antenna Feeder System—Combining and Distribution Unit

 Comparison of Insertion Loss of Combining and Distribution Units:

Transmission Channel Loss (dB)

Type of Combiner
Minimum Typical Value Maximum

EDU 0.7 1 1.25

Dual CDU
(without via 0.7 1 1.25
combiner)
CDU 4.3 4.5 5.1

CDU+SCU 7.3 8 8.2

CDU+CDU 4.3 4.5 5.1

 Antenna Feeder System—Tower Top Amplifier

 Tower Top Amplifier

Function:
 Improves the sensitivity of base station receipt system.
Type:
 As an alternative, the tower top amplifier shall be selected
according to the frequency band used in the system.
 The base station with CDU pattern may use simplex tower
top amplifier and triplex tower top amplifier; the base station
with combiner mode shall use duplex tower top amplifier;
 Antenna Feeder System—Feeder

 Feeder:
Frequently-used specification:
 ½", 7/8 ", 5/4 "
How to choose a feeder:
 Use 5/4 “ feeders for 900MHz and over 80 meters of length;
 5/4″feeders for 1800MHz and over 50 meters of length;
 The curvature of the feeders shall not be too large, and the
conductor surface is required to well connected with the ground.
feeder loss:
 900M: Approximate 5dB/100m on 7/8″feeders; about 3dB/100m
on 5/4″feeders.
 1800M: : Approximate 6dB/100m on 7/8″feeders; about
4dB/100m on 5/4″feeders.
 Antenna Feeder System—Antenna

 Antenna
 GSM mobile communication system often adopts directional an
tenna with a horizontal beam width of 90°or 65° and omnidirecti
onal antenna based on the shape or range of the service area,
channel number and other conditions;
 For Indoor coverage or tunnel coverage with micro cells, and ot
her special conditions, distributed antenna and leakage cables
may be used; for city-concentrated area, in order to decrease i
nterference to the adjacent cells, 65°antenna is adopted normal
ly; in a suburb with a small number of subscribers, 90°direction
al antenna or omnidirectional antenna is adopted; at present, th
e following company’s are in use: Kathrein, Allgon, Xi’an Haitia
n, Andrew, etc.
 Antenna Feeder System—Antenna

 Antenna Performance Indices:

 Antenna has many performance indices, of which the

following items are the most important for network
planning:
 Frequency Range
 Gain
 Polarization
 Horizontal/Vertical half-power beam width
 Down-tilt
 Antenna Feeder System—Antenna

 Forexample, the direction figures of Kathr

ein 739649 directional antenna are as follo
ws:
 Antenna Feeder System—Antenna

 The
direction figures for Andrew CT1D0F-0087-011
Omnidirectional Antenna are as follows:
 Antenna Feeder System - Antenna

 Performance of Frequently-used Indoor

Antennas
 Antenna Feeder System—Antenna

 Distributed Antenna System

 With the development of GSM
system, subscribers raise more
and more requirements on mobile
communication network. Good
coverage in large buildings,
highways/ railway tunnels, metros,
and other special areas requires
distributed antenna system;
 Distributed antenna system
consists of leakage cable, coaxial
feeder distributed antenna, optical
fiber feeder distributed antenna,
etc.;
 Antenna Feeder Design

 Antenna Feeder Design

 The antenna feeder configuration plan is worked out based on operators’

requirements on coverage and capacity, and in the light of detailed type
configuration, installation environment and other practical conditions of a
certain base station.
Selection of Combiner
 Normally depends on the coverage requirements of a base station, by
giving consideration to network development tendency;
Selection of feeders
 The type of feeders is mainly determined according to the length of lines
in need;
Selection of tower top amplifier
 During tower top amplifier configuration, the coverage radius of cells
may be increased;
 Antenna Feeder Design—How to Choose An Antenna

 How to Choose An Antenna

 How to Choose An Antenna is an important part that may

determine the network quality;
 Antenna shall be selected as per the coverage and service
quality requirements within the base station service area,
traffic distribution, topographic and landforms conditions, with
consideration to the coverage and interference details of the
entire network;
 The environment for the use of antennas may be divided into
the following types according to the topographic conditions or
traffic distribution:
 Urban, suburb, rural area, highway, hilly area, coastal
area, tunnel, indoor, etc.
 Antenna Feeder Design - How to Choose An Antenna

 How to Choose An Antenna for Urban Base Stations

 A. Generally, directional antenna with a horizontal half-power angle of 6
0 ～ 65°is used;
 B. Normally, antenna with a medium gain at about 15dBi is used;
 C. It’s better to select antenna with a certain electric Down-tilt (3 ～ 6°);
 D. Bipolarization antenna is suggested.
 Antenna for Suburban Base Stations
 A. Whether to use directional antenna with a horizontal half-power angle o
f 65°or 90° is determined by the practical conditions;
 B. Normally, antenna with middle or high gain at about 15 ～ 18dBi is sele
cted;
 C. Whether to adopt preseted Down-tilt shall be determined on the basis o
f practical conditions;
 D. Bipolarization or vertically polarized antenna can be used.
 Antenna Feeder Design—How to Choose An Antenna

 Antenna for Rural Base Stations

 A. 90°or 120°directional antenna or omnidirectional antenna can
be used according to the practical conditions and requirements;
 B. The gain of the selected directional antenna is normally high
(16 ～ 18dBi);
 C. Normally, preseted Down-tilt antenna is not used; zero filling
antenna can be selected in prior for high stations;
 D. Vertically polarized antenna is suggested.

 Antenna for Highway Base Stations

 A. Generally, directional antenna with narrow wave beam and hi
gh gain is used, or an 8-shaped antenna, omnidirectional antenn
a or deformed omnidirectional antenna according to the practical
conditions;
 B. As highway base stations require longer coverage, generally,
preseted Down-tilt antenna is not applied;
 C. Vertically polarized antenna is suggested;
 D. It is appropriate not to select the directional antenna with too l
arge front to rear ratio.
 Antenna Feeder Design—Antenna Height

 Principle for Determining Antenna Height

 The antennas for different cells within one base station can be of different heights,
which may be restricted by the installation space in a certain direction or required
by cell planning;
 In urban areas with smooth terrain, the effective height for ordinary antennas shall
be at about 25m;
 For suburban and rural base stations, the heights of antennas can be increased to
about 40m.
 Too high antenna may decrease the coverage
level near the antenna (which is known as
Under-Tower Black); the problem of an
omnidirectional one is extremely serious;
 Too high antenna may result in serious
problems such as handover coverage,
same/neighboring frequency interference,
and affect the network quality.
 Antenna Feeder Design—Direction Angle

 Principle for Determining Antenna azimuth Angle

 The antenna azimuth angle shall be determined from the entire network. Providing meetin
g the coverage requirements, try to ensure identical angles of the three sectors of each ba
se station in the urban area with partial trimming; for the base station in the connection are
a of urban and rural areas, communication trunk roads, and suburban isolation stations, th
e direction angle of antenna shall be adjusted according to the important coverage objects.
 The main lobe of antenna shall point at the area with densely concentrated traffic to streng
then the signal intensity in that area and improve the conversation quality;
 The main lobe of the antenna shall be kept away from the same frequency cell to effectivel
y decrease interference;
 The cross coverage depth of the antennas in neighboring sectors in an urban area shall no
t exceed 10%;
 The cross coverage depth of neighboring cells in a suburb area, or rural area shall not be t
oo large; the angle of the antennas in neighboring sectors within the same base station sh
all not be less than 90°;
 To avoid handover coverage, in the area with thickly concentrated cities, the main lobe of
antenna shall orient straighter streets.
 Antenna Feeder Design—Down-tilt

 Principle for Determining Antenna Down-tilt

 The wave beam tilt of antenna is a basic technology to improve fre

quency multiplex capability;
 To adopt antenna Down-tilt technology can effectively control the
coverage and decrease the interference within the system;
 The antenna Down-tilt angle shall be determined according to the
practical conditions so as to decrease the interference between ce
lls of the same frequency and to ensure meeting the coverage req
uirements;
 Down-tilt determination shall give overall consideration to the trans
mission power of the base station, height of the antenna, cell cove
rage, wireless broadcast environment, and other factors;
 Antenna Feeder Design—Down-tilt

 Antenna wave beam tilt can adopt electric or mechanical pattern: The
electric Down-tilt is related to the mode of the antenna selected;
normally, it is fixed; mechanical Down-tilt can be adjusted but will be
limited by installation fittings and wireless signal spread features;
normally, it shall not exceed 15°;
 Electric Down-tilt and mechanical Down-tilt may lead to different
surface radiation; when the Down-tilt is small, there is little difference;
but with the increase of Down-tilt, the difference becomes bigger:
 Antenna Feeder Design—Antenna Installation

 Notes for Antenna Installation:

 A. Installation environment
 The installation environment includes the surroundings near the antenna
and near the base station. The surroundings near the antenna mainly
consider the isolation between antennas, and the influence of iron
towers and buildings on antennas; the surroundings near the base
station mainly consider the influence of high buildings lower than 500
meters on radio signal transmission.
 Antenna Feeder Design—Antenna Installation

 During the installation of base station antennas, it is required to notice

whether they may lead to big shadow in the coverage area, and to be kept
away from obstacle, for example, in the installation of antennas on the top of
a building, you should make sure no obstacle against radio signal on the top,
and try to install the antennas near the edge
FREQ D (m) h (m)

0～1 0.5
GSM
1 ～ 10 2
900M
10 ～ 30 3

〉 30 3.5

0～2 0.5
GSM
1800M 2 ～ 10 1

〉 10 2
 Antenna Feeder Design—Antenna Installation

 B. Antenna Isolation
 The receiver and transmitter of the base station shall be isolat
ed in a certain degree;
 Isolation between antennas: The attenuation of signals from o
ne port of an antenna to that of the other one in actual installa
tion of antenna;
 GSM system: The isolation between two transmitting antenna
s and between the transmitting and receiving antennas shall
be 30dB at least;
 Antenna vertical layout: Lv=28+40log(k/λ)(dB)
 Antenna horizontal layout: Lv=22+20log(d/λ)-(G1+G2)-(S
1+S2)(dB)
 Antenna Feeder Design—Antenna Installation

 C. Meet the distance requirements for space diversity gain

 For space diversity, the distance between two receiving antennas is required t
o be 12 ～ 18λ;
 The higher the antenna is installed, the bigger the horizontal distance between
diversity antennas is; normally, the diversity horizontal distance shall be equal
0.11 time of the effective height of the antenna;
 To achieve the same diversity effect, vertical diversity distance shall be 5~6 ti
mes of the horizontal diversity distance;
 To reduce the inter influence
of two antennas, the diversity
antenna horizontal distance
at any effective height of
antenna shall be over 3m.
 Contents

 About the Service

 Preparation

 Coverage Requirement
s

 Site Selection

 Antenna Feeder Design

 Survey Documents
 Survey Documents

 Base Station Survey Report

 Accurate and standard documents are of much help

for further network planning and optimization work.
They are a powerful guaranty to the project quality a
nd the basis for future network expansion planning.
 Base station survey report includes base station
survey table and memo;
 Each base station has one survey table which
mainly records the longitude, latitude, antenna
feeder design, surroundings, and other details;
(See Remarks)
Thank You!