4G Wireless Air-Interface: Design Requirements & Criteria - a PDH Online Course for Engineers, Architects and Surveyors

4G Wireless Air-Interface: Design Requirements & Criteria

Course Outline

Most wireless technology upgrades begin with modifying existing cell sites which were previously located for voice/2G mobile coverage only. 3G-to-4G network designs work toward optimizing data throughput and overall data capacity. These networks generally require more cells and greater cell-to-cell isolation to minimize interference. Higher data rates (increased bandwidth) lead to targeting traffic with greater cell density in areas of high demand to accommodate both mobile broadband at ground-level and elevated fixed customer premises equipment (CPE). This course will provide a path forward, enabling both the network planner and the designer to optimize networks for 4G operation.

This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.

Learning Objective

At the conclusion of this course, the student will:

Understand the options and necessity for traffic (data-rate) and demographic planning at the onset of a network upgrade or new network deployment;
Be able to recognize the interplay of network performance prediction and field testing during network development;
Be able to relate the 3GPP modulation and coding category increments to specific field metrics of RSSI/RSCP(dBm) and Ec/Io (dB) or RSRQ (dB) as appropriate;
Understand the use of forward-link assessment as the design basis;
Understand the relationship between available spectrum bandwidth and achievable data rate;
Understand the relationship between traffic (utilization) and achievable data rate;
Understand some general rules for new cell placement in an existing network;
Understand the concept of spatial orthogonality of antennas via polarization selection; and
Understand the role of the antenna vertical radiation pattern shape and downtilt in site placement and coverage.

Intended Audience

This course is intended for build-out program/resource managers, network design engineers, deployment engineers

Benefit to Attendees

The attendee will be able to debunk several common myths; and, also, avoid pitfalls often encountered in wireless design/deployment, including:

The "unloaded" (zero or low traffic) operation is indicative of performance when loaded with traffic
The base station cell/sector coverage can be determined from received signal power alone (RSSI in dBm)
Diversity reception at the base station is always required
A 4G upgrade merely involves replacing the 2G or 3G equipment with the new 4G equipment on existing towers

Course Introduction

Until recently, data operation was constrained to a fixed rate; or, just a few rate options...all employing only Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK) or Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) modulation. The advent of dynamic control of data transmission over a raster of options including coding and Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) degrees and types now enables adjustment of any link bearer services to the highest data rate that the air interface will support. The practical difference in air interface access methods is two fold...CDMA (EV-DO)/UMTS WCDMA overlay, and orthogonal frequency division multiplex (OFDM) employed as frequency division multiple access (FDMA) alone or mixed with time division multiple access (TDMA) on the uplink. Both CDMA methods are treated the same; and, OFDM whether world-wide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) or long term evolution (LTE) are treated the same in air interface design–neglecting handoff methods and details of frequency reuse planning.

This course deals specifically with 3G Partnership Program (3GPP) HSPA+ (CDMA) and LTE (OFDMA), currently the two primary network transmission technologies going forward.

The achievable data rate on any air interface link in a network may be mapped by the ratio of pilot carrier level-to-interference (Ec/Io) for CDMA networks and reference signal level-to-interference ratio...including noise...RSRQ, for OFDMA networks.

Course Content

This course content is in the following PDF document:

4G Wireless Air-Interface: Design Requirements & Criteria

Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you still experience any difficulty in downloading or opening this file, you may need to close some applications or reboot your computer to free up some memory.

Course Summary

Both HSPA+ and LTE air interfaces can be designed using a common process. The course defines this process relative to the upgrade of an existing 2G network. The process embodies the following elements:.

Baseline the performance of existing network topology by computer simulation using 4G parameters
Target the market density geographically; match capacity of network with demand(offered traffic load)...defining new cell location and radius
Locate new cell options using site acquisition process, evaluate options per guidelines provided in the course
Evaluate RF performance of network including candidate new cells under traffic load by computer analysis/simulation
Time-phase upgrade implementation as appropriate to the network business situation

Related Links

www2.census.gov/maps
www.3GPP.com/ftp/specs/archive/

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.