connect user reference guide.pdf

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CONNECT

User Reference Guide

Version 5.1


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Copyright 2006 AIRCOM International LtdAll rights reserved

ADVANTAGE, AIRCOM, ARRAY WIZARD, ASSET3g, CONNECT, DATASAFE,

ENTERPRISE, NEPTUNE, OPTIMA, QUALITA, RANOPT, TARGET andWEBWIZARD are recognised trademarks of AIRCOM International.

Microsoft Word, Microsoft Office, Windows, Windows 95, Windows 98,Windows NT, Windows XP and MS-DOS are trademarks of the MicrosoftCorporation.

Other product names are trademarks of their respective companies.

This documentation is protected by copyright and contains proprietary andconfidential information. No part of the contents of this documentation may bedisclosed, used or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without the priorwritten consent of AIRCOM International.

Although AIRCOM International has collated this documentation to reflect thefeatures and capabilities supported in the software products, the company makes nowarranty or representation, either expressed or implied, about this documentation,its quality or fitness for particular customer purpose. Users are solely responsible forthe proper use of ENTERPRISE software and the application of the results obtained.

An electronic version of this document exists on our website.

This User Reference Guide finalised on 19thJanuary 2006.

Refer to the Online Help for more information.

This User Reference Guide prepared by:

AIRCOM International LtdGrosvenor House65-71 London RoadRedhillSurrey RH1 1LQENGLAND

Telephone: +44 (0) 1737 775700

Support Hotline: +44 (0) 1737 775777Fax: +44 (0) 1737 775770Web: http://www.aircom.co.uk


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Can You Improve

Our User Assistance?

Do the Help and User Reference Guides Help You?

AIRCOM is always working to improve the online Help and User Reference Guidesfor our products, so that your job is easier to do.

Even if you would not normally do so, please take a look at the Help or UserReference Guide next time you are unsure of how to do something and if you haveany comments or questions that could help us improve them, please email us on:[email protected].

We highly value your comments, suggestions, and criticisms. If you did not find theuser assistance you were looking for, needed more assistance than the online Helpor User Reference Guides provided, or have any suggestions for futureimprovements to our information, we want to know.

Specifically, consider:

Is the information accurate and complete?

Is the information helpful does it answer your question about the program?

Are there any words that you would like to be put into the index?


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CONNECT User Reference Guide Page iVersion 5.1

Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction

Obtaining User Assistance 2

About the ENTERPRISE User Reference Guides 3Using ENTERPRISE User Reference Guide PDFs 4Obtaining Further Information and Services 4Obtaining Support 5

Chapter 2 The CONNECT User Interface

About the Menus in CONNECT 8

About the Options Menu 8About the Database Menu 8

About the Equipment Menu 8About the Tools Menu 9

About the Reports Menu 9

About the CONNECT Toolbar 10

About the CONNECT Map View Window 10

About the CONNECT Map View Toolbar 12Displaying Link Information on the Map 13

About the CONNECT Height Profile Window 14

About the CONNECT Site Database Window 15

About the Link Database Window 18

Sorting Data in the Link Database 19Searching for a Link 20

About the Link Types Database Window 21

About the CONNECT Equipment Database Windows 22

About the CONNECT Preferences Dialog Box 22

About the Intermodulation Display Window 23

Chapter 3 Before Starting Planning

Setting Your Preferences 26

Setting Preferences on the CONNECT Tab 26Setting Earth Radius Preferences 27

Setting Diffraction Preferences 28Setting Distance Preferences 28Setting Network Preferences 28

Defining Link Types 29

Defining and Storing Equipment Details in CONNECT 30

Adding Equipment Suppliers' Details 31

Defining Radio Equipment Parameters 32

Defining the General Parameters for Radio Equipment 32Defining the Costs for Radio Equipment 33

Defining the Parameters of Radio Equipment 33Defining the Frequency of Radio Equipment 35

Defining the Losses for Radio Equipment 36


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Page ii CONNECT User Reference GuideVersion 5.1

Defining Fading Signature Parameters for Radio Equipment 37

Defining Microwave Antenna Parameters 38

Defining Link Terminal Equipment 39

Defining Feeders 40

Defining Channel Information 41

Which Frequencies Should I Use? 42

Defining C/I Objectives in CONNECT 42

Importing and Exporting Equipment and Link Details 44

What Files are Relevant To Transmission Planning? 44Importing Microwave Antennas 45Exporting Links 45

Creating Microwave Link Fields 46

Examples of Microwave Link Fields 47

Defining A Link Template in CONNECT 47

Tips on Setting Up Link Templates 49Defining a Link Template Based on an Existing Link 50

Defining Single Link and Range Templates 51

Setting Distance Ranges for Link Templates 52

Defining a Hub Template in CONNECT 53

Setting Up a Template Based on an Existing Hub 54

Chapter 4 Designing the Physical Network

Adding and Editing Links 58

Adding and Editing Point to Multi-point Links 58

Adding Passive Repeater Links 59

Highlighting Links 62

Adding Links Based On Line Of Sight Reports 63

Deleting Links 64

Changing Many Links Simultaneously 64

Adding and Editing Objects in the Link Database Window 65

About Height Profiles 66

Displaying Height Profiles for Existing Links 66Viewing Map Data or User-Defined Height Profiles 67

Calculating the Minimum Antenna Height 72

Completing the Minimum Antenna Height Calculation 74

Defining Clutter Heights Over a Profile 75

About Multi-path Reflections 75

Displaying Multi-path Reflections 76

Chapter 5 Calculating the Link Power Budget

How to Calculate the Link Budget 80

Apportioning Availability and Error Performance 80

About Multi-path Fading 81

About Diffraction (k-)Fading 82

Configuring Network Elements 82


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CONNECT User Reference Guide Page iiiVersion 5.1

Viewing and Editing Point to Multi-point Hub Information 83

Configuring Point to Multi-point Sectors 84

Adding Point to Multi-point Sector Information on the General Tab 84Adding Point to Multi-point Sector Information on the Antennas Tab 85Configuring the Point to Multi-point Carriers 85

Configuring the Links 87

Defining the General Properties for Links 88Defining the Linkends of Links 90Defining Antennas for Linkends 91Defining Feeders for Linkends 92Defining Passive Repeaters on Linkends 92

Checking for High Low Conflicts 96

Viewing High Low Conflicts on the Map View 97

Using Diversity in the Link Database 98

Frequency Diversity 98Angle Diversity 99

Space Diversity 100

Defining Link Calculation Parameters 101

Defining Link Propagation Prediction Information for ITU-R P.530-7 101Defining Link Propagation Prediction Information for ITU-R P.530-10 103Defining Link Propagation Prediction Information for Vigants 104Defining Rainfall Information for Link Calculations 105Defining Link Outage Period Information 106Defining Link Performance Objectives 106

Viewing Link Budget Calculation Results 107

About Viewing Main and Diversity Link Budget Information 108Viewing the Link Budget Performance Results 108Viewing Link Fade Margin Performance Results 110

Viewing Link Outage Performance Results 110Viewing Link Reliability Performance Results 111

Viewing Link Objectives Performance Results 112

Calculating Information for Multiple Links 113

Creating Link Chains 113Viewing and Editing Link Chains 115How is Unavailability Calculated for Link Chains? 115

Chapter 6 Analysing Interference

Analysing Links for Interference 118

About the Interference Analysis Dialog Box 120

About the Data Shown in the Interference Analysis Dialog Box 121Viewing Interference in the Map View Window 123Loading Interference Data 123Viewing and Editing Intermodulation Data 124

Chapter 7 Planning Routes and Timeslots

Calculating the Route 127

Creating Routes for Logical Connections 130

Manually Creating Routes 132

About Timeslot Mappings 133

Creating and Editing Timeslot Mappings 133


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Page iv CONNECT User Reference GuideVersion 5.1

Example of Timeslot Mapping 134

Chapter 8 Producing Reports in CONNECT

Producing Line of Sight Reports 136

Example Line of Sight Report 138

Displaying Line of Sight Data in the Map View Window 139

Producing Interference Reports 141

Producing High Low Conflict Reports 142

About the Information Shown in the High/Low Conflicts Report 142Loading High Low Conflicts 143Viewing High Low Conflicts 143

Producing Link Profile/Budget Reports 143

Editing What is Displayed in the Link Profile/Budget Report 144Printing Link Profile/Budget Reports 146

Producing Intermodulation Reports 147

Saving Intermodulation Reports 148Filtering Data Shown in Intermodulation Reports 148

Producing Customised Link Reports 148

Producing Hub Reports 149

Producing Customised Node Reports 150

Producing Cost Reports 150

Producing Traffic Reports 150

Producing Clearance Information Reports 151

Appendix A CONNECT File Formats and Examples

Microwave Antenna File Formats 153

Example Microwave Antenna (*.txt) File 155Example Microwave Antenna (*.mwa) File 155

PlaNet Link File Format 157

PlaNet Microwave Database Files 157PlaNet Status Files 161PlaNet Database Files 162

MapInfo Export File Formats 164

Radio Equipment Parameters 166

Examples of C/I Objectives 167

Example of C/I Objectives 1 167Example of C/I Objectives 2 167Example of C/I Objectives 3 168Example of C/I Objectives 4 168Example of C/I Objectives 5 169Example of C/I Objectives 6 169Example of C/I Objectives 7 170

ITU Regions 170


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CONNECT User Reference Guide Page vVersion 5.1

Appendix B How Selective Fading Outage Is Calculated

Signature Information Method 171

Approximation Method 172

Dispersive Fade Margin Method 173

Vigants Method 173

Appendix C Performance Calculations

Link Budget Equations 175

Free Space Loss Calculation 175Atmospheric Absorption Calculation 176Obstruction Loss Calculation 177Rx Antenna Signal Strength Calculation 178Total Antenna Gain Calculation 178

Fade Margin Equations 178

Flat Fade Margin Calculation 178Interference Margin Calculation 179Threshold Degradation Calculation 179Flat Fade Margin After Interference Calculation 179Dispersive Fade Margin Calculation 179Composite Fade Margin Calculation 180Required FM Against Rain Calculation 180

Outage Equations 181

Flat Outage Calculation 181Selective Outage Calculation 181Cross-Polarisation Outage (Clear-Air) Calculation 182

Total Annual Outage Calculation 184Outage After Diversity Calculation 186

Improvement Factor Calculations 186Outage Probability Due To Clear-Air Effects Calculation 197Outage Probability Due To Precipitation Calculation 197

Reliability Equations 199

Unavailability Caused By Equipment Calculation 199Annual Availability and Reliability Calculation 200Worst Month Availability and Reliability Calculation 200Converting Average Month to Shorter Worst Periods 201

Objectives Equations 201

Objectives Calculations for Links Below Primary Rate (ITU-T G821) 202Objectives Calculations for Links Above Primary Rate (ITU-T G826) 203

Passive Repeater Equations 206

Back to Back Antennas Passive Repeater Calculations 206Reflective Passive Repeater Calculations 209

Interference Equations 211

Analysing Interference at a Linkend 211Total Interference at a Linkend Calculation 212Interfering Link Power Budget Calculation 212Calculating the Interference Angle Between Antennas 213Carrier to Interference Ratio (C/I) Calculation 215

Intermodulation Equations 215


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Page vi CONNECT User Reference GuideVersion 5.1

Appendix D Rainfall Fading Calculations

Calculating Specific Attenuation and Rainfall 217

About the Polarisation Effect on Propagation 218

Equation for Predicting Specific Attenuation Due to Rain 218

Graph Showing Attenuation Due to Cloud and Fog 219

Calculating the Rain Intensity 220

Extracting Values From the Automatic Rain Zone Lookup Tables 220Interpolating Values For the Automatic Rain Zone 221Using the Rain Intensity Formula 222

Crane Model Attenuation Calculations 223

Calculating Attenuation for Path Lengths in Sub-range 1 223Calculating Attenuation for Path Lengths in Sub-range 2 223Calculating Attenuation for Path Lengths 22.5 km or Above 224

Glossary of Terms

Index


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CONNECT User Reference Guide Page 1Version 5.1

Introduction

CONNECT is a network transmission and microwave link planning software tool thatenables you to design and evaluate microwave networks. You can view performancecalculations to assess link reliability, as well as analyse line of sight, link quality and

interference. CONNECT can also record link capacity and equipment costs across thenetwork, and can present information in customisable reports.

You can run CONNECT as part of the ENTERPRISE suite allowing it to integrate withcell site locations and transceiver requirements, or as a standalone physical linkplanner.

You can use CONNECT to design any architecture that you want, for example branchconnections, multiple hops, loops or point to multi-point.

CONNECT is based on ITU recommendations and link performance and qualitycalculations are based on ITU R P.530-7 or 530-10. For information on purchasingthese documents, see the International Telecommunications Union website at

http://www.itu.int/.

Using CONNECT, you can consider two key aspects of transmission network design:

Item Description

Physical Links and Topology You can define the radio equipment, antennas and feeders to be used at the link ends.

You can specify the frequencies to be used on the microwave links, and can perform a fullinterference analysis (in accordance with ITU recommendations).

You can use the Height Profiler and the Map View to assess line of sight, using chosenresolutions.

Logical Routing You can automatically or manually choose primary and secondary routes in the network andcan perform mapping of BTS timeslots to those of the BSC and MSC.

In This Section

Obtaining User Assistance

C H A P T E R 1


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Page 2 CONNECT User Reference GuideVersion 5.1

Obtaining User Assistance

Using Online Help

ENTERPRISE products come with a complete system of online Help which you canaccess in three ways:

From the Help menu, click Help Contents. Scroll through the table of contents andchoose a relevant topic to display.

To search for something particular, from the Help menu, click Help Contents andon the Index tab, type in a word.

Context-sensitive help is available for most of the dialog boxes. Therefore, to getrelevant Help about using a dialog box, in the dialog box, press F1.

We value your comments, suggestions, and criticisms. If you did not find the Help

you were looking for, needed more assistance than the online Help provided, or haveany suggestions for future improvements to our online information, we want toknow. Please email your comments with the subject 'ENTERPRISE Manuals' to theappropriate address as described in Obtaining Support on page 5.

Using ENTERPRISE User Reference Guides

AIRCOM also provides a series of User Reference Guides for its software tools. Forinformation on the full range available, see About the ENTERPRISE User ReferenceGuides on page 3.

You can view the manuals supplied as PDFs (Adobe portable document format) on

the ENTERPRISE CD, or print out your own copies of them on a postscript printer.

Tip :You can choose to install the PDFs on your PC when installing.

Note :Adobe and Acrobat are trademarks of Adobe Systems, Incorporated.

For any further documentation, such as application notes and extra referenceinformation, please email the support team at the address described in ObtainingSupport on page 5.


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About the ENTERPRISE User Reference Guides

This table describes the manuals:

This Manual Contains Information On

What's New The main difference between the latest versions of the ENTERPRISEsuite.

ENTERPRISE Administration and Installation Guide Installing and configuring ENTERPRISE, your network, and Oracledatabases. Using Administrator to create users and groups, and setpermissions.

Also contains information on software licensing.

ENTERPRISE User Reference Functionality that is common to more than one of the products in theENTERPRISE suite, including how to access, view, edit and store data.

Also contains reference information about file formats.

ENTERPRISE Database Reference The relationships between tables in the database and the contents of eachtable.

ADVANTAGE User Reference Using ADVANTAGE to plan and optimise networks automatically, analysenetwork performance, identify problem cells/areas, use networkperformance data and more.

Array Wizard User Reference Using Array Wizard to automatically generate coverage predictions andbest server arrays, which gives you instantaneous display of coverage andinterference information for pre-selected filters when loaded into ASSET3g.

ASSET3g User Reference Using ASSET3g, the network planning and analysis tool, to design a rangeof 2g and 3g networks.

Includes information on hierarchical network planning, propagationmodelling, service and bearer definition, coverage analysis, traffic planning,neighbour planning, frequency planning, CW data analysis, detailedreporting, analysis arrays and simulation of network performance.

ASSET3g Technical Reference A separate technical reference for ASSET3g, which contains a list of arraydescriptions and information on many of the algorithms used.

CONNECT User Reference Using CONNECT, the network transmission and microwave link planningsoftware for full network physical link design and logical link design.

Also contains CONNECT specific reference information.

DATASAFE User Reference Using DATASAFE, our network configuration tool to implement both smalland large scale changes to networks

DIRECT User Reference Using DIRECT to design telecommunications networks of different networklayers. Explains how to plan cellular, PSTN and data networks at a bothgeneral and strategic level.

Also contains DIRECT specific reference information.

NEPTUNE User Reference Using NEPTUNE to collect, import and analyse testmobile data and usingthe optional module, PROBE for additional analysis.

Also contains reference information on NEPTUNE file formats.

OPTIMA User Reference Using OPTIMA to view performance data and statistics both withENTERPRISE and standalone using OPTIMA Lite.

QUALITA User Reference Using QUALITA including information on how to create Service LevelAgreements, setting Quality of Service filters and benchmarks, configuringreports and enabling QoS degradation analysis.

RANOPT User Reference Using RANOPT to efficiently find faults in your network, optimise andvalidate its performance prior to commercial launch.


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This Manual Contains Information On

TARGET User Reference Using TARGET as an administrator to design forms, Gantt charts andreports. Using TARGET to view and edit information about your networkand its roll out.

Also contains TARGET reference information.

WEBWIZARD User Reference Using WEBWIZARD to display GIS and report information of network data,including creating layers, regions, nodes, layer types, administering andconfiguring the system and using the GIS view, explorer and reportviewers.

Using ENTERPRISE User Reference Guide PDFs

To use the PDFs:

1 Make sure you have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your PC. If you do nothave this, you can install it from the ENTERPRISE CD, or get it from the Adobe

website.2 Navigate to the Docs folder in the location where you installed the product.

3 If this folder does not exist or is empty, modify your ENTERPRISE installationnow and choose to install them. To do this:

From the Control Panel, double-click Add/Remove Programs.

In the list of items, choose the correct version of ENTERPRISE and click theAdd/Remove button.

When prompted, select Modify then click Next twice until you are on theSelect Components page of the installation wizard.

Ensure that the documentation you require is selected.

4 When installed, in the Docs folder, double-click the pdf file that you want to open.

Obtaining Further Information and Services

As well as providing a comprehensive User Assistance system of online Help andUser Reference Guides, AIRCOM additionally provides:

Knowledgebase

In the Product Support section of the AIRCOM website, you can view our searchable

Technical Database (Knowledgebase). It contains articles created by our supportprofessionals who have resolved issues for our customers, and is constantly updated,expanded, and refined to ensure that you have access to the very latest information.

Note : To access the Knowledgebase, you must have a customer web account.

Product Support

For information on AIRCOM Product Support, see Obtaining Support on page 5.

Training

If you require details of mobile and fixed network training courses run by AIRCOM,please contact us at the appropriate email address described in Obtaining Support on

page 5 or via our website.


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Consultancy Services

AIRCOM also provide full radio consultancy services in Network Audits, BusinessPlanning Support, Licence Applications, Radio Network Planning,Telecommunications Research and System Modelling and Propagation Analysis and

Modelling.

Obtaining Support

Logging Support Requests Online

To log a support request online:

1 Go to the AIRCOM website, at http://www.aircom.co.uk.

2 Click the link to Support.

3 Log in, using your customer web account username and password.

4 In the Technical Support pane, click Online Helpdesk System.

5 Click Log New.

6 Enter the details of your request, and then click Log.

Logging Support Requests via Telephone or Email

Alternatively, this table shows the contact details for any support or assistance youmay require:

Type of Query Contact Email

You have a difficulty you cannot resolve

yourself using the Online Help

North America

Tel : +214 576 2700Fax : +1 214 576 2794

[email protected]

South AmericaTel : +55 12 39412199Fax :+55 12 39113727

[email protected]

You have found a possible fault in thesoftware

SingaporeTel : +65 6372 0548Fax : +65 6372 0350

[email protected]

Middle East and AfricaTel : +971 4 391 2640Fax : +971 4 391 8660

[email protected]

South Africa

Tel : +27 11 745 1475Fax : +27 11 465 1517

[email protected]

Europe and Rest of WorldTel : +44 1737 775777Fax : +44 1737 775770

[email protected]

You cannot find the Help you were lookingfor

You would like to suggest futureimprovements to the online information

You require further documentation, such asapplication notes and further referenceinformation

UK Documentation [email protected]

You require updated versions of PDF files Visit the AIRCOM website athttp://www.aircom.co.uk


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Type of Query Contact Email

You require details of mobile and fixednetwork training courses run by AIRCOM

Competence Development Solutions [email protected]

When contacting us with a support query, it would help us if you: Give us as much information as possible about the problem and the context in

which it occurred

State the version and build you are using

Have all the details of your query to hand

Are logged into the ENTERPRISE application

Can send extracts of your data sets if we need them to reproduce your problem


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The CONNECT UserInterface

As part of the ENTERPRISE suite, CONNECT retains the common look and feel of allthe tools. For detailed descriptions of the user interface and functionality whichCONNECT shares with other ENTERPRISE tools, see the ENTERPRISE UserReference Guide. The ENTERPRISE User Reference Guide is a useful introduction toany of the tools in the suite because it includes information on:

Adding and storing equipment details

Viewing and controlling the display of data in the Map View window

Adding and editing data in the Map View window and in the Site Databasewindow

Using filters, fields and polygons Importing and exporting data

Therefore this User Reference Guide should be used in conjunction with theENTERPRISE User Reference Guide.

In This Section

About the Menus in CONNECTAbout the CONNECT ToolbarAbout the CONNECT Map View WindowAbout the CONNECT Height Profile Window

About the CONNECT Site Database WindowAbout the Link Database WindowAbout the Link Types Database WindowAbout the CONNECT Equipment Database WindowsAbout the CONNECT Preferences Dialog BoxAbout the Intermodulation Display Window

C H A P T E R 2


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About the Menus in CONNECT

The File, View, Window menus in CONNECT contain core functionality described inthe ENTERPRISE User Reference Guide. The following menus contain CONNECT-

specific information: Options menu

Database menu

Equipment menu

Tools menu

Reports menu

About the Options Menu

Use the Options menu to:

Access the Link Types database

Set C/I Objectives

Set channel numbers

About the Database Menu

Use the Database menu to:

Access the Site Database

Access the Link Database

Access the Logical Connections database

Define templates for network elements

Set a default prefix for automatic site and link identifiers

Configure the hexagon radius settings

Define static and dynamic filters

Create temporary filters with the Selection Expert

Define contacts

About the Equipment Menu

Use the Equipment menu to define:

Microwave antennas

Radios

Link terminals

Feeders


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About the Tools Menu

Use the Tools menu to:

Access the Line of Sight Wizard to check for line-of-sight

Access the Interference Wizard to perform an interference analysis

Access the High Low Conflict Wizard to check for high/low conflicts

Access the Chain Availability Wizard to create link chains

Access the Route/Capacity/Timeslot Planner

Route logical connections

Access the GPS interface

All these functions are described in the appropriate chapter.

About the Repor ts Menu

Use the Reports menu to:

Generate link profile/budget reports

Generate link intermodulation reports

Generate link reports

Generate hub reports

Generate node reports Generate cost reports

Generate traffic reports

For more information on how to generate reports, and for details of the informationcontained within them, see Producing Reports in CONNECT on page 135.


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About the CONNECT Toolbar

CONNECT extends the main ENTERPRISE toolbar with the following additions:

Additions to the main ENTERPRISE toolbar, if you have CONNECT installed

As well as these main toolbar additions, there are extra buttons made available on theMap View window and Height Profile window. These are described in the followingsections.

About the CONNECT Map View Window

The Map View window is a fundamental part of all the tools in the ENTERPRISEsuite. In it, you can view the different data sets available within ENTERPRISEincluding site data, connectivity and mapping data.

The Map View window and Site Database window are fully synchronised so thatchanges you make in one are reflected in the other. Similarly, when you clicksomething in the map, the Site Database window updates dynamically to display theselected network element.

CONNECT extends the core Map View to include functionality specific to networkplanning and also allows you to display more information about links on the map.

To open a Map View window:

Click the Open Map View window button .


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This picture shows an example Map View window:

Links displayed in a Map View window

For further information about the functionality of the Map View window, see theENTERPRISE User Reference Guide.


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About the CONNECT Map View Toolbar

Both CONNECT and ASSET3g add this toolbar to the Map View window:

CONNECT Map View toolbar

Since these tools are shared with other products in the ENTERPRISE suite, see theENTERPRISE User Reference Guide for information on using them.


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Displaying Link Information on the Map

In the Map View, you can display:

Primary and secondary routes

Allocated and available capacity

Frequencies

Receiver, adjacent, and co-channel interference, no interference, high low conflictsor invalid links

Point to multi-point link hubs

For information on how to display these items, see the ENTERPRISE User ReferenceGuide.

This picture shows an example map view, where the colours represent different linktypes pink is satellite, red is microwave and green is fibre optic.

Map View displaying different link types


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About the CONNECT Height Profile Window

Use the CONNECT Height Profile window to see a two dimensional cross-section ofthe terrain between two points on the map. The plot shows:

Line of sight (LOS) between the two points

Clearance, or height of an obstruction

The distance between the two points

The bearing from due north of the end point from the start point

The angle of the elevation of the end point from the start point (a positive valuemeans a downward tilt, a negative value means an upward tilt)

Any resultant signal loss

Any obstructions, shown as vertical red lines

To access the CONNECT Height Profile window:

From the View menu, click Height Profile.

The Height Profile window shares functionality with other tools in the ENTERPRISESuite. This diagram shows the buttons which CONNECT adds to the Height Profilewindow and the Height Settings button, whose functionality has been extended byCONNECT:

CONNECT's Additional Height Profile Buttons

For information about using the basic Height Profile window, see the ENTERPRISEUser Reference Guide.

For information on using the Height Profile window in CONNECT, see About HeightProfiles on page 66.


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About the CONNECT Site Database Window

The ENTERPRISE database stores all the items needed for the design and build of acomplete cellular network. All the information that you add or edit in ENTERPRISE is

stored in the one ENTERPRISE database. For ease of use, this information is dividedinto various windows, for example, network elements, link information, equipmentdetails, and site information.

Use the Site Database window for adding and editing all network elements. Forinformation about the main functionality of the Site Database, see the ENTERPRISEUser Reference Guide.

To access the Site Database window:

From the Database menu, click Sites.

When you first open the Site Database window, it looks similar to this:

Site Database Window


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If you click the button to expand the window, you will see that the left-hand panecontains your network hierarchy and when you select an item in this pane,information related to the item appears on the right-hand side of the window. Theinformation changes depending on your selection.

In the left-hand pane, which can be resized:

You can use the Filter box to select what is displayed in the hierarchy. Whatever isdisplayed are all the items, for example all of the cells, that are present in the filterselected in the Filter box.

Items marked with an asterisk * indicate that changes have been applied to thisitem but not committed. For information about applying and committing, see theENTERPRISE User Reference Guide.

You can display the hierarchy according to logical linking of equipment, physicallinking of equipment or physical linking of Properties by using the Site Database

Settings dialog box.

CONNECT adds extra tabs to the Site Database window. The BSC Route tab appearswhen a BSC is selected:

Example BSC Route tab for a BSC


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The BTS Route tab appears when a site is selected, enabling you to choose to displayprimary and secondary routes for the site:

Example BTS Route tab for a Site


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About the Link Database Window

CONNECT has a Link Database, in which you can view and edit the attributes of allyour links within the ENTERPRISE database.

Tip :Providing you have CONNECT installed, you can open the Link Database in anytool.

To open the Link Database window:

From the Database menu, click Links.

or

From the ENTERPRISE toolbar, click .

When you first open the Link Database, it looks similar to this:

CONNECT Link Database Window

The following table describes what is displayed on each tab:

On this tab You can view

Links Links (point to point and point to multi-point) and hubs

Templates Templates for links and hubs

Chains Chains (cascades of multiple links)

It automatically updates when you create new links, hubs, templates or chains.


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You can use this database to:

Change the link/hub names, and all the physical properties of a link/hubincluding the link type, line of sight status, diversity, geographical information,calculation method, and so on.

Create hub and/or link templates, and edit the physical properties of these.

Add, edit and delete chains (and the links they are comprised of).

Locate links and hubs in the Map View window. To do this, click with the rightmouse button on a link or hub and from the menu that appears, click Locate In 2DView. The Map View window will center the view around the selected object.

The Link Database stores:

All linkend settings such as antenna, power, feeder information.

The calculations you want to use across the link.

The results of calculations for Link Budget, Fade Margin, Outage, Reliability andObjectives under the Performance tab. This performance data is based on theinformation you have entered.

BTS Routes information. When this is entered, the routed data box in the left panedisplays any sites that are routed through the selected link. For more informationon how to create routes, see Planning Routes and Timeslots on page 127.

Mappings how the link is set up and its timeslots.

The filters that the link is associated with.

Sorting Data in the Link Database

In the Link Database, you can sort link, hub, template and chain informationaccording to:

Element name

Time of creation

To do this:

1 Ensure you are in the required view (Links, Templates or Chains).

2

From the View menu, point to either Sort by Name or Sort by Creation, and thenclick the appropriate option:

Ascending : in alphabetical order, or with earliest created shown first

Descending : in reverse alphabetical order, or with last created shown first

The network elements are rearranged accordingly.


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Searching for a Link

To search for the name of a link among those shown in the Link Database:

Type the name of the link, hub, sector or carrier in the Identity box, for example:

To search for all references to a Property:

Type the Property name in the Enter Property ID box:

Tip : Clear this box after you have found what you want, to ensure that all the linksare once again displayed.


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About the Link Types Database Window

CONNECT contains a Link Types database window where you can specify your linktypes, including the chosen media, type of bearer and manufacturer.

Six default link types are set up but you can also add your own types.

You can also set cost parameters (optional) here.

Link Types Database Window


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About the CONNECT Equipment Database Windows

As with the other tools in ENTERPRISE, you can store libraries of information in theequipment databases relating to defined antennas, radio equipment, feeders and so

on. For information about the main Equipment Database windows, see theENTERPRISE User Reference Guide.

CONNECT also provides windows where you can add:

Parameters for radio equipment:

CONNECT Radio Equipment Window

Information for microwave antennas, including frequency band, front to backratio, operating frequency and so on

Information for link terminal equipment, such as input and output type and cost

Tip : When setting equipment parameters, include as much information as possible toget the most accurate result.

About the CONNECT Preferences Dialog Box

Setting the preferences is the very first step when starting to plan your network.To access the CONNECT Preferences dialog box:

From the File menu, click Preferences.

For complete information about setting up preferences in CONNECT, see SettingYour Preferences in CONNECT on page 26.

CONNECT adds an extra tab to the core ENTERPRISE Preferences dialog box calledCONNECT. On this tab you can insert a Mean Time To Repair.

Also, on the CONNECT tab, you can set default Kn values for modulation types. Knvalues are used to calculate selective fading.


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About the Intermodulation Display Window

The Intermodulation Display window displays intermodulation data graphically, so

that you can analyse all linkends at the same site and see where any new interferingfrequencies have been generated within the receiver itself. You can then change thisinformation in the window and apply and commit your changes to the database.

This picture shows an example window:

Example Intermodulation Display window

You can view the display by channel or by centre frequency, by selecting theappropriate option. You can also show restricted data by selecting any filter you havecreated, in the Filter menu.

In this window, the black horizontal line represents the radio spectrum. The followingtable shows the colour coding which is used for blocks along this line:

This Block Represents

Green block Transmitting link

Blue block Receiving link

Half height orange block Second order intermodulation

Quarter height yellow block Third order intermodulation

Red block below frequency spectrum line Collision between transmitting and receiving frequency


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Any multiple links of the same frequency are displayed on top of each other.However, you can display a particular link at the top by selecting the required link inthe list:

Link List

You can use the Intermodulation Display window to:

Edit link frequency

Change link properties

View intermodulation calculations

For more information on intermodulation, see Viewing and Editing IntermodulationData on page 124.


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Before Starting Planning

This chapter describes information that you need before you start planning a networkusing CONNECT.

Before starting transmission planning in CONNECT, you must:

Produce a network diagram that follows nominal transmission planningconstraints

Decide on the type of network connections (links) and initial data capacities thatCONNECT requires to model the network

Use ASSET3g to set up a plan with fixed positional BTS data

or

Define a design solely in CONNECT (without specific BTSs)

In This Section

Setting Your PreferencesDefining Link TypesDefining and Storing Equipment Details in CONNECTDefining Radio Equipment ParametersDefining Microwave Antenna ParametersDefining Link Terminal EquipmentDefining FeedersDefining Channel InformationDefining C/I Objectives in CONNECTImporting and Exporting Equipment and Link Details

Creating Microwave Link FieldsDefining A Link Template in CONNECTDefining Single Link and Range TemplatesDefining a Hub Template in CONNECT

C H A P T E R 3


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Setting Your Preferences

Before starting to plan a network, always make sure that you have set yourpreferences properly, for example, earth radius, k value and network type. Also,

decide on which of the three calculation methods you want to use, and optionally, thedefault Kn values.

To open the Preferences dialog box:

From the File menu, click Preferences.

For information on the core Preferences dialog box, see the ENTERPRISE UserReference Guide.

This section describes what you should set on the various tabs of this dialog box.

Sett ing Preferences on the CONNECT Tab

CONNECT adds its own specific tab to the core ENTERPRISE Preferences dialog box,where you can:

Set a Mean Time To Repair, that is, a value in hours that represents the averagetime taken to fix equipment. This default value can be changed per link in the LinkDatabase. MTTR is used in unreliability and availability calculations in the LinkDatabase.

Tip :If you set the MTTR as 0, equipment failures will be regarded as having noimpact.

Disable the auto Terrain Roughness Factor calculation. If you disable this, you can

considerably reduce the time taken to create point to multi-point links.

Warning :This value is used in the propagation prediction calculation (530-10calculation method), so care should be taken when disabling it.

If you want to see a link highlighted in the Map View Window when you select itin the Link Database or choose to locate it in the Map View window, select theHighlight Selected Link checkbox.

Set the Default Kn values for modulation types. These values are used when thereis no information relating to radio equipment signature in the database.

This table shows default Kn values for modulation types (normalised signature

outage) figures as set out by the ITU:Modulation Method Kn

64QAM 15.4

16QAM 5.5

8PSK 7

4PSK 1


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To set the default Kn values for modulation types:

1 Click New.

2 Type the modulation method, Kn value and bits per symbol.

3 Click OK.

Tip :To edit an existing value, click Update.

For detailed information regarding signature data, see the recommendation in ITU-RF. 1093-1.

Setting Earth Radius Preferences

On the Earth radius tab of the Preferences dialog box, you can set the effective earthradius. Most of the calculations used in CONNECT (obstruction loss, minimumantenna height, line-of-sight wizard, and so on) use this value and therefore it is very

important to make sure that the correct kvalue is used before you begin planning thenetwork.

To do this:

1 Type the actual earth radius in the True earth radius box.

2 Type the kvalue (or kfactor) in the K factor value box. The k factor describes thebending of rays due to their refraction in the atmosphere.

Tip :Usually k is 4/3, that is, 1.33333.

CONNECT multiplies the two figures to give the effective earth radius.

If you want to analyse abnormal conditions in the whole network area, you cantemporarily change the kvalue, and then look at the calculation results (for example,the result of interference analyses). If you do this, remember to change the value backagain.

Tip :Analysing one hop over terrain in abnormal conditions can be done in the HeightProfile window by changing the kvalue (change the nominal effective earth Knom-value).


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Setting Diffraction Preferences

On the Diffraction tab, you define the calculation method that will be used forobstruction loss calculations (in case of diffraction). The obstruction loss is dependenton frequency, clearance, obstacle shape and size. Therefore it is important to make

sure that the correct calculation method is used when obstruction takes place.

Tips :

In most cases, the Terrain Averaging method will provide accurate results, so youmay wish to begin with this method until you encounter a knife edge for aparticular link.

When calculating obstruction loss for a single hop, it might be useful to change thediffraction calculation method here temporarily, to get a more exact value for theobstruction loss. If you wish to do this, you will need to select the User Definedcheck box and type the value that you have just calculated before changing the

diffraction calculation method back to the original one in the Preferences dialogbox. This will prevent the wrong diffraction loss calculation method being usedlater on in the project.

For information about the diffraction methods, see the ENTERPRISE User ReferenceGuide.

Setting Distance Preferences

On the Distance tab of the Preferences dialog box, set the units of distance to eithermetric or imperial. You can also use the metric to imperial calculator, which enablesyou to quickly convert to other units. To do this:

Select the type of units you are converting from, type in the number, select theunits you want to convert to, and click Do Conversion.

Setting Network Preferences

On the Network tab of the Preferences dialog box:

Set the network type you require. Choose between GSM, AMPS/TDMA andTETRA.

Choose the preferred method for creating links:

Select For

Don't Auto-Create NetworkConnections

Physical links not to be created when you add a new network element.

Auto-Create For Current NetworkType

Physical links to be automatically created between a newly added BSC and thenearest MSC, or between a newly added site and the nearest BSC or distributionnode, depending on what you have selected in the in BTS parenting pane.

To see these changes, ensure you select to view links in the Map View window:

Auto-Create For All Network Types Physical links to be automatically created as with Auto-Create For Current NetworkType, but just not take into consideration the network type at all.


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If you are using GSM or TETRA, you can also choose the method of parenting fornew sites that you add in the Map View window:

Select For

Add New BTSs to nearest BSC New sites to be connected directly to the BSC

Add New BTSs to nearest Distribution Node New sites to be connected to the BSC via the distribution node

For example, if you choose to parent new sites on distribution nodes, then chooseto display the Site Database window by Physical Links in the Site DatabaseSettings dialog box, sites are displayed under distribution nodes.

Defining Link Types

Within your network, you may use a variety of different link types to connect yournetwork elements, depending on your cost and bearer requirements.

In CONNECT, there are six default types ready for you to use, but you can also addyour own types in the Link Types database. To do this:

1 From the Options menu, click Link Types.

2 Click Add.

3 Select the new link type, and define the following details:

Item Description

ID The name of the link type

Bearer The transmission method used by the link (microwave, fibre optic cable, coaxialcable, satellite, twisted pair or leased line)

Installation Cost The cost of installing the link

Annual Maintenance Cost The cost of maintaining the link, per year

Annual Rental Cost/km The annual cost paid to lease the link per km (leased line only)

Manufacturer The name of the manufacturer of the link

Comments Any additional planning comments you may wish to include

Note :You cannot set the capacity for a link type; instead it is defined per link inthe Link Database, or in a link template.

For microwave links using radio equipment on linkend A you can also set a total

capacity in the Radio Equipment database. For information on how to do this, seeDefining Radio Equipment Parameters on page 32.


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Defining and Storing Equipment Details in CONNECT

As with the other tools in ENTERPRISE, you can store libraries of information in theequipment databases relating to defined antennas, radio equipment, feeders and so

on. Include as much information as possible per item, so as to avoid any futureconfusion.

Store equipment details to:

Keep the network components details easily accessible

Eliminate the need for a separate database

Eliminate potential errors by referring to an equipment definition rather thanhaving duplicates

Eliminating errors by having detailed parameters held against each equipmentcomponent

Use the complete equipment inventory to accurately calculate the radiatingcharacteristics (for example EiRP) of the site

Attach photographs to each component for easy identification

If you do not include all the information required for link planning, CONNECT willwarn you. For example, if your link budget calculation is not complete this will, inturn, affect the link quality and performance calculations.

To access the equipment databases:

From the Equipment menu, click the appropriate equipment type.

This table shows some tips for defining the most important equipment when usingCONNECT:

When Defining It Is Important That

Microwave antennas You set all receive combinations (HH, VV, HV, VH) in order for frequency planning to bedone correctly. To do this, on the Antennas Mask tab, click the Edit button. For moreinformation, see Defining Microwave Antenna Parameters on page 38.

Radio equipment You set all essential parameters as an equipment description, since most manufacturersproduce a radio series with various capacities, modulation schemes and frequencies. Formore information, see Defining Radio Equipment Parameters on page 32.

Link terminal equipment You include additional information here that you might find useful when planning a network,such as the model of indoor unit, type of cross connector and so on.

The cost parameter enables you to assign a unit cost to a particular equipment type thusgiving a weighting of suitability of a particular link terminal type.

You can also include a photograph of the equipment.

For more information on defining link terminal equipment, see Defining Link TerminalEquipment on page39.

Feeders All feeder related parameters required for link planning purposes are included on the Lossestab. You must type the loss figure on a per metre basis (not dB/100 m) and correspondingloss for a frequency band.

Feeder parameters are important to realistically model losses incurred in microwave linkequipment. This is especially important because losses incurred at SHF are usually greaterthan those experienced at UHF. Cost parameters can be added if thought appropriate. Formore information, see Defining Feeders in CONNECT on page40.


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Masts, BTS equipment, cabinsand cell equipment

You include any information here that you require. Mast heights may vary throughout thenetwork as BTSs will be generally lower than the transmission towers, so you may want tocreate one mast configuration for BTS height and another for intermediate hops servingmerely as transmission backhaul.

For information on storing these details in ENTERPRISE, see the ENTERPRISE User

Reference Guide.

Ensure that all changes and updates are applied and committed to the database beforeexiting CONNECT.

Adding Equipment Suppl iers' Details

To assist you in defining your equipment, you may want to store key equipmentsuppliers' details. To do this:

1 From the Equipment menu, click Suppliers.

2

In the dialog box that appears, click Add.3 In the Equipment Supplier Properties dialog box, type the required supplier

details, such as Name, Address and E-mail.

This picture shows an example:


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Defining Radio Equipment Parameters

The parameters for radio equipment can usually be found in the manufacturersdatasheets, although signature information for multi-path fading characteristics is

often hard to find.The radio equipment may initially be selected by considering the transmissioncapacity, minimum performance, availability, cost and the general performance of themanufacturer. When particularly long or difficult paths are encountered it may benecessary to reconsider the performance required of the radio equipment.

To define radio equipment parameters:

1 From the Equipment menu, click Radios.

2 In the dialog box that appears, add information to the parameter tabs as required.

Defining the General Parameters for Radio EquipmentWhen defining radio equipment parameters, you can use the General tab to providean equipment description. Most manufacturers produce a radio series with variouscapacities, modulation schemes and frequencies, which you could optionally enterhere. For example:

Tip : When typing a Part ID name, include the radio equipment name, carrierfrequency and capacity, such as DMC 7, 16x 2 (that is a 7 GHz radio that has capacityof 16 x 2 Mbits/s) so you can see all this information at a glance in the Link Database.

Now use the information in the following sections as a guide to what to add on theRadio Equipment tabs.


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Defining the Costs for Radio Equipment

When defining radio equipment parameters, you can use the Costing tab to evaluatethe total cost of a site. You can include the supplier name and the cost of the radioequipment.

These details are defined in the Equipment Supplier properties dialog box.

Defining the Parameters of Radio Equipment

When defining radio equipment parameters, specify the following actual equipmentspecifications (which you can usually get from manufacturer's datasheets) on the Infotab:

Item Description

Manufacturer The name of the manufacturer of the radio equipment.

Equipment Family The name of the equipment family that the radio equipment belongs to.

Min TX Power andMax TX Power

The minimum and maximum transmit power. These are the lowest and highest power, beforethe antenna, that the radio will radiate at, in dBm. Without adding other attenuators, amanufacturer will state in what size steps the radio can reach this level typically 2 dB or 5 dBsteps.

MTBF The mean time between failures in the link.

The manufacturer may provide this to show how reliable the component is. A nominal outdoorexample would be one failure every 40 years.

This value is used to calculate unavailability caused by equipment.

Note : The MTBF value should be valid for an outdoor unit + indoor unit and since the sameoutdoor unit can operate with several different indoor units, this value varies significantly. Thatis, the actual MTBF value is dependent on:

The outdoor unit type (FlexiHopper, MetroHopper, DynaHopper, DMR, and so on)

The indoor unit type (FIU 19, RRIC, W, CE, and so on)

Used capacity (2x2 Mbit/s, 4x2 Mbit/s, 8x2 Mbit/s and so on)

Protection used

XPIC Select the check box to enable a cross polar interference canceller on this radio equipment.

XPIF If you have enabled an XPIC on this radio equipment, you can type your own cross polarisationimprovement factor, which will be used in the link calculations.

Threshold 1 and 2 The receiver threshold is the minimum signal level that the radio is able to discriminate a signalfrom the noise floor for a particular signal quality (or Bit Error Rate), usually 10 -3or 10-6 . Thislevel is typically around the 80dBm level.

Protected Indicates whether or not the radio equipment is protected.


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Item Description

FKTB (in dBm) The threshold for thermal noise at the receiver.

Where:

F = Receiver front-end noise figure (can be supplied by the equipment vendor)

K = Boltzmans constant

T = Thermal Noise Temperature (taken to be 290 Kelvins)

B = Bandwidth of the receiver (Hz)

If you are creating new radio equipment, you can enter the F, T and B values yourself, and thenclick Calculate to generate the FKTB value.

- or -

If you want to set a specific FKTB value yourself, select the Override option and type your ownvalue in.

Note :If you have imported your radio equipment, some of the values may already be present.

This picture shows an example of the Info tab:

Example Radio Equipment Info tab


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Defining the Frequency of Radio Equipment

When defining radio equipment parameters, follow these steps to add information tothe Frequency tab:

1 On the Frequency tab, specify the frequency band and minimum and maximumoperating frequencies in GHz. Typical bands are 7 GHz, 10 GHz, 13 GHz, 18 GHz,23 GHz and 38 GHz, and the operating frequencies are supplied by themanufacturers.

Ensure you set the correct values, as frequency band is an important value for theinterference calculation. If you use this radio in these calculations and itsfrequency is not appropriate, CONNECT will warn you.

2 Also specify the radio frequency bandwidth in MHz. This is the transmitted signalbandwidth, and is determined by the modulation scheme you are using (definedin the Preferences dialog box). The higher the modulation scheme, the lower the

bandwidth requirement. Typically, a 34Mbit/s radio operating at QPSK has thesame bandwidth requirement as an STM-1 radio operating at 64QAM.

This information should also be supplied by the manufacturer, but in general, agood guideline for remembering the bandwidth for a QPSK or QAM modulationscheme is:

2 x E1 requires 3.5 MHz

4 x E1 requires 7 MHz



3 Specify whether the traffic channel for the radio equipment is PDH or SDHcapacity type.

4 Specify the radio capacity that refers to the number and configuration types oflinks, for example 4 x E1 (for PDH capacity type), giving a total capacity of 8192Kbps, or 8 x STM16 (for SDH capacity type), giving a total capacity of 19,906,560Kbps.

Note :This capacity will be used for any microwave link with this radio equipmentset on linkend A.

5 Select the appropriate duplexing method, either Time Division Duplex (TDD) or

Frequency Division Duplex (FDD). For more information about these duplexingmethods, see About Duplexing Methods on page 36.

6 Now set the equipment losses on the Loss tab.


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About Duplexing Methods

Digital systems can use either Time Division Duplex or Frequency Division Duplex(FDD). The main differences between duplexing methods are shown in this picture:

In the TDD duplexing method the radio will transmit and receive on the samechannel (frequency), whereas with the FDD duplexing method the radio will transmit

and receive at different frequencies. FDD/TDD is a combination of both methods.

Defining the Losses for Radio Equipment

On the Loss tab, you can define the branching losses for four modes of link diversityprotection. For more information on protecting links in the Link Database, see UsingDiversity in the Link Database on page 98.

When defining radio equipment parameters, follow these steps for information onwhat to add to the Loss tab:

1 Ensure you view manufacturers datasheets for accurate branching loss values.

2 On the Loss tab, set all losses (filters, circulators and so on) in dB summed as asingle Rx branching loss and a single Tx branching loss for these modes of usage:

Mode Description

Single An unprotected system (losses here are commonly the result of filters and circulators).

HSB (Hot Standby) In this configuration, there is a complete set of equipment. If a failure occurs in theprimary radio, switching allows the second radio to transmit, usually on the samemicrowave antenna and feeder.

HSB+space diversity This is a combination of HotSB and space diversity.

1+1(single ant) An inband frequency diversity, where two links are set up over the same hop route toallow for constant link stability, with a single antenna.

1+1(2 ant) As 1+1(single antenna) but with 2 antennas.

The values defined here are used in link budget calculations.

3 Now set the selective fading parameters on the Signature tab.


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Defining Fading Signature Parameters for Radio Equipment

When defining Radio Equipment, you include information related to ITU-regulatedselective fading on the Signature tab. Selective fading is only relevant when hoplength is really long, used capacity is large and low frequencies are used.

This picture shows an example Signature tab:

Example Signature tab

On this tab, the following abbreviations are used:

This Abbreviation Stands For

W Minimum Signature Width (GHz)

B Frequency Notch Attenuation (dB)

TAU Frequency Delay (ns)

m Minimum Phase Conditions

nm Non-Minimum Phase Conditions

Not all manufacturers make the required link parameters readily available and the

method you use will depend on what information you have.Tip :Of the three methods, the Signature method is generally regarded as the mostaccurate and is the only method considered in the most recent ITU-Rrecommendation (ITU-R P.530-10). It is also the method most commonly supportedby equipment manufacturers.

Important : The multi-path outage calculation results will be based on these parametersand is only valid for the specific error rate corresponding to these values. If the resultsof these calculations are required at a different error rate, you must include thesignature data for this new error rate.

For information on the methods that you can use, see How Selective Fading Outage Is

Calculated on page 171.


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Defining Microwave Antenna Parameters

As antennas are important elements of a network, many parameters can be held

against each antenna including:

Radiation patterns (masks)

Manufacturer name

Polarisation type (vertical/horizontal/cross polar)

Tilt method (mechanical/electrical)

Photograph

Other data (automatically calculated from the antenna patterns) is also stored forantennas:

Horizontal and vertical beamwidths

Electrical tilt angle if electrical tilt is present

You can either set parameters and radiation patterns for the microwave antennas yourequire or you can import them from *.mwa or *.txt files. For information on the fileformat, see CONNECT File Formats and Examples on page 153.

To define a required Microwave antenna pattern:

1 From the Equipment menu, click MW Antennas.

2 Select the project folder in which you want to store the antenna.

Tip :You can create a new folder by selecting an existing project folder, clickingwith the right mouse button and then clicking New Folder.

3 Click with the right mouse button on the selected folder, and click NewMWAntenna.

4 On the General tab, type the Part ID (or name) of the antenna, and a briefdescription if required. Click Photo and browse to any bitmap that you want toassociate with this antenna.

5 On the Costing tab, type the name of supplier and the cost for each antenna.

6 On the Mask tab, select the appropriate view. These views show antenna

characteristics graphically the first letter shows the polarisation that the antennatransmits and the second letter shows the polarisation of the signal being received.V stands for vertical and H for horizontal.


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7 Click the Edit button, and in the dialog box that appears, adjust the angle and lossof the antenna if required, by either:

Selecting the appropriate set of values from the menu, then clicking Apply andOK.

or

Setting a new set of values for angle and loss, then clicking Apply and OK.

Important :Ensure that you have defined all of the required antenna radiationpatterns (VV, VH, HV and HH). Lacking one antenna radiation pattern mightaffect interference calculation results.

8 On the Info tab, define information such as gain, frequency band and operatingfrequency minimum and maximum values.

Defining Link Terminal EquipmentIt is recommended that you include the necessary terminal equipment that you intendto use in your project, for example multiplexers, indoor units and so on, before youstart planning.

This information is important for costing your network.

To do this:

1 From the Equipment menu, click Link Terminals.

2 Click Add, and on the General tab name your new piece of equipment. Then type

a description which should include any information that you might find usefulwhen planning a network, such as the model of indoor unit, type of crossconnector and so on. Click Photo and browse to any bitmap that you want toassociate with this terminal equipment.

3 On the Costing tab, type the supplier (from those you have set in the EquipmentSuppliers dialog box) and a unit cost. This cost parameter gives a weighting ofsuitability to a particular link terminal type.

4 On the Info tab, type the manufacturer's name, and Input and Output types.


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Defining Feeders

A microwave station includes 'plumbing', which typically consists of lengths ofwaveguides and connectors used to connect the transmitter and receiver to the

antenna. It is important to define your feeders as accurately as possible, because theyincur losses which will affect the performance of your network.

To define feeders in CONNECT:

1 From the Equipment menu, and click Feeders.

The Feeders window displays the feeders available to the current project.

2 Click Add. A feeder with a default name appears in the list.

3 Select the new feeder and on the General tab:

In the Part ID box, type the user-defined name of the selected feeder to amaximum length of 18 characters

Click Photo to display a photograph of the component or to search for andassign a photograph

4 On the Costing tab:

Select one of the manufacturers from the list of suppliers that you have defined

Add a unit cost for the feeder

5 On the Losses tab:

Specify the frequency band that the feeder is valid for

Specify the feeder loss on a per metre basis (not dB/100 m)

The total loss of all connectors (around 0.5-1 dB per station) should also beincluded

Specify the feeder weight, in kg per metre

Feeder parameters are important to realistically model losses incurred in microwavelink equipment. This is especially important because losses incurred at SHF areusually greater than those experienced at UHF.

These losses are used in the link budget calculations and can be viewed on the LinkBudget sub-tab of the Performance tab of the Link Database. For more information,see Viewing the Link Budget Performance Results on page 108.


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Defining Channel Information

To speed up and facilitate transmission network planning, you can predefinechannels with a name that makes it easier to refer to throughout CONNECT rather

than having to remember the channel centre frequencies. This will make frequencyplanning easier.

Tip :Before you start link planning, define all licensed frequencies in the database tosimplify the process and avoid typing errors.

To define channel relevant information:

1 From the Options menu, click Bands Channels.

The Channel Editor appears.

2 Click Add in the left-hand pane.

3 In the ID box, name the new band.

Tip : Band names should reflect the radio model, the band used (for example, 38,for the channels incorporating radios at the 38GHz band) and the capacity.

4 In the Bandwidth box, set the bandwidth.

5 Click Add in the right pane to add a channel.

6 Add all the relevant information for a channel including the up/down (Hi/Lo)link frequencies. This makes it easier to allocate channels when setting up the linkfrequency bands in the Link Database.

Tip : It is suggested that you divide the channels based on channel width and band.

For example:

7 Continue until you have set all the available channels in this table.


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Which Frequencies Should I Use?

Certain frequencies, because of their propagation properties, are more suited tospecific usage. Transmission planning needs high frequencies to send high capacity,and this reduces the distance a signal is able to propagate. Factors such as hopdistance, frequency band used, climatic conditions, rainfall and terrain all affect thefrequency that the network will use. Different frequency bands react differently toclimatic and atmospheric conditions. Therefore you should consult ITU documents asappropriate. For information on purchasing ITU documents, see the InternationalTelecommunications Union website at http://www.itu.int.

When planning frequency bands, you must take note of the current radio band usagein the appropriate World Region. For more information, see the ITU documents. Youshould also consult the radio allocation agency for the respective country. This sectiondescribes some allocation within the UK, and further information can be found at

http://www.itu.int.

This table shows UK band allocations for point-to-point microwave transmission:

Frequency Capacity Available Hop Distance Fading

7GHz Med-High >30km Multi-path

10GHz Low-Med-High 15 30km Multi-path

13GHz Low-Med-High 15 30km Multi-path

18GHz Low-Med-High 15 30km Rain and Multi-path

23GHz All 5 - 15km Rain

38GHz All, within short ranges Up to 5km Rain

Defining C/I Objectives in CONNECT

C/I Objectives are needed in CONNECT when interference analyses are to be used,and are used to estimate the impact of an interfering signal (with a set bandwidth) ona particular piece of radio equipment.

The C/I Objectives dialog box contains ratios that are used by CONNECT to estimatethe impact on a specific piece of radio equipment of an interfering signal with a setbandwidth. Every piece of radio equipment must have a table of C/I objectives

corresponding to each possible interferer bandwidth. C/I objectives are normallyavailable from equipment vendors. This enables you to model the possibleinterference overlap between the wanted/unwanted signals and correspondingbandwidth associations.

When you run an interference analysis, the T/I values obtained are compared to theC/I Objectives of the equipment, which helps to analyse the impact of the interferenceon the links.

C/I are dependent upon the type of modulation process used and the quality of theradio equipment, therefore they have to be defined for each radio separately. Forexample, a simple 4 PSK modulation system will only require a C/I objective of

15dBm and a 128 QAM modulation technique will require a C/I objective of 30dB.


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CONNECT is expecting to get all capacity combinationswithin the band (all thecapacity combinations needed during interference analysis). If some of the tables aremissing, CONNECT gives a warning when interference analysis is used. If there is amissing C/I objective, CONNECT will use the user-defined C/I value so define this

default C/I value before you run interference analysis.C/I objectives are usually available from equipment vendors. You should define theseobjectives before you start using the interference analysis part of CONNECT, becauseeach piece of radio equipment must have a table of C/I objectives corresponding toeach possible interferer bandwidth. To do this:

1 Ensure that you know where the existing carrier frequencies lie in the frequencybands in question.

2 From the Options menu, click C/I Objectives.

3 In the dialog box that appears, specify an ID, choose the radio equipment used

and define the carrier and interferer bandwidths.

4 Click Add and set up a table of frequency separations and C/I objectives. Thesetables will be used to calculate the interference margin, which is displayed for alink in the Link Database, on the Fade Margin sub-tab of the Performance tab.


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Importing and Exporting Equipment and Link Details

You can import and export equipment details in CONNECT, for MW antennas, radioequipment, link terminal equipment, feeders, masts, BTS equipment, cabins, cell

equipment, link types, C/I objectives, bands channels and supplier and contactdetails.

Note :You can also export equipment details when you export an entire ENTERPRISEproject. For information on how to do this, see the ENTERPRISE User ReferenceGuide.

What Files are Relevant To Transmission Planning?

Of the files that may be created when exporting an entire ENTERPRISE project, thoseof interest to transmission planners are shown in this table:

This information Is Contained in This FileRadio equipment radioequip.aid

Link terminal linktermequip.aid

Feeder/waveguide feeder.aid

MW antenna mwantennatype.aidmwmask.aid

Cabin cabin.aid

Filters filter.aid

Fields flags.aid

C/I objectives ciobj.aid

ciobjentry.aid

Channel channel.aidband.aid

Linktype linktype.aid

Msc-related information msc.aid

Bsc-related information bsc.aid

Bts-related information bts.aid

Equipment vs. site information interconnect.aid

Bearing vs. other link information linkend.aid

Property related information siteaddress.aid

Mast related information tower.aid


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Importing Microwave Antennas

If required, you can import microwave radiation patterns from .mwa files. To do this:

1 From the File menu, point to Import, then Equipment and then click MW

Antennas.2 Select the file(s) you require.

Now when you view the Equipment database window for MW antennas, theyhave been imported.

For information on the microwave antenna file format, see CONNECT FileFormats and Examples on page 153.

You can also import microwave antennas as *.txt files in the Import All Equipmentdialog box, as part of larger ENTERPRISE project in an *.aii file, or as an *.xml file. Formore information on how to import microwave antennas using these file formats, seethe ENTERPRISE User Reference Guide.

Exporting Links

You can export links (and the Properties connected by these links) from anENTERPRISE project to MapInfo (*.mif and *.mid) files. These are text files used byMapInfo to generate displays. To export your links to MapInfo files:

1 Ensure you have MapInfo installed, unless you want to use non-earth projections.

2 From the File menu, point to Export, Project Data and then click MapInfo Links.

3 Click Next.

4 Choose the way in which you want to select the links (and if required, theirassociated Properties), either by selecting a catchment area on the Map Viewwindow, or by selecting a filter:

If you opt to choose by filter, select the appropriate filter here as well

If you opt to choose by view, you can choose the view shortly on the next pageof the wizard

5 Specify the name(s) of the file(s) that you want to export the data to, by eithertyping the name in the appropriate box or browsing to the correct file.

You can export three different types of network element separately: point to point

(PtP) links, point to multi-point (PmP) links, passive repeater (PR) links andProperties. This is because the different link types can have different fieldsassociated with them.

6 If you have opted to choose by filter, click Finish. The links (and, if required, theirProperties) contained in this filter are exported to the file in the specified location.

or

If you have opted to choose by view, click Next.

7 If you have multiple Map Views, select the one that you wish to use by clickingthe Select View button, and then clicking the Map View window containing the

links (and Properties) that you want to export.

8 Click Next.


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9 If you do not have MapInfo installed then you will be prompted to browse for afile called MAPINFOW.PRJ. If you do not have this file, then in the Open dialogbox, click Cancel. Non-earth projections will be used.

10 Select the co-ordinate system to be used for the MapInfo that is to be exported.This should match the co-ordinate system used in the settings of the project thatyou want to export to.

11 Click Finish. The links (and Properties) contained in this view are exported to thefile in the specified location.

Note : When you select either the View or Filter option, the report will include theProperties at either end of a link whose link centre lies within the view or filter.

12 For information on the file formats used to export links and Properties to aMapInfo *.mif and *.mid file, see CONNECT File Formats and Examples on page153.

Creating Microwave Link Fields

You can use fields to record and identify the progression of your network and itselements from initial design through to rollout, and even beyond this. A link field, forexample, can indicate whether the link is proposed, under development oroperational.

It is strongly recommended that you create fields as early in the project as possible.

Tip :Fields can be used to record other information, for example, the region that thelink is in or the planner in charge of maintaining the link.

You create fields using ENTERPRISE Administrator. For details on how to definemicrowave link fields, refer to the ENTERPRISE Installation and AdministrationGuide.


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Examples of Microwave Link Fields

Examples of microwave link fields might include the following:

Group Fields

Media -MicrowaveFibreLeased lineCopper

Hop length -< 1 km1 7 km7 13. km> 13 km

Link LOS Status UnknownTemporaryMap NO LOS

Map LOSConfirmed No LOSConfirmed LOSAppliedInstalledCommissionedOK

Antenna Diameter -0.3m0.6m1.2m1.8m2.4m

Packet 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Band 2 GHz7 GHz10 GHz13 GHz15 GHz

Defining A Link Template in CONNECT

You can define a template to use as a basis for your links, which will save you timelater on.

Note :The link template can be used for point to point, point to multi-point links andpassive repeater links.

You can create a link template from scratch, or based on an existing link that you havecreated.

To create a link template from scratch:

1 From the Database menu, click Links.

2 Click the Templates tab.

or

From the View menu, click Templates.


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3 In the Link Selection pane, select the type of link template you want to create.

If you are creating either a PtP or PmP link template, you should also select thesingle template option. For more information, see Defining Single Link and RangeTemplates on page 51.

4 Click with the right mouse button, and from the menu that appears, click AddTemplate:

5 Ensure that the Details pane is visible; if not, click the button.

6 Define the settings that you require, for example, by setting radio equipment,antennas and so on. See Configuring the Links on page 87 for more information ondoing this.


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Tips on Setting Up Link Templates

When setting up your link template, use the following table to help you definesettings in the Link Database.

You can set templates for both main and diversity information, by selecting theappropriate option at the top of the Linkend Settings sub-tabs.

On this tab And this sub-tab Do this

Type In the Link Type box, ensure that you have selected the typeyou require, for example, Default Microwave.

Keep the LOS status as Unknown unless otherwise verified.

General

Status Select the most common fields from any microwave fieldgroups that you have created. Each new hop will have thesedefault settings in the Link Database.

Linkend Settings Radio Select the most common radio equipment from those you

defined and a threshold value (a safe one is BER ).

Add any other information as required.

Frequency Select the Channel Based check box, choose the band, andin the Channel field the most commonly used channel for thethat band.


Antenna Click the Add Antenna button to create a new antenna, for thelinkends A and B. Choose vertical polarisation (because it ismost common).


Other sub-tabs Select the most commonly used items and values or define

the default losses and values that you require.For more information on this, see Configuring the Links onpage87.

Calculation Choose the method and fill in the corresponding information.

For information on this, see Defining Link CalculationParameters on page101.

When you have entered all of the template details, if you want to make this templatethe default that will be used, ensure that the template's default radio button isselected:

Now when you add a new link, the default information for that link is taken from thetemplate you have set up.


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Defining a Link Template Based on an Exist ing Link

If you have created a link and think that its attributes would be useful to save and re-use, you can save it as a link template.

Note :It will still operate as a link in its own right, only its values will be copied foruse as a template.

Defining Links as Templates in the Link Database

To define a link as a

connect user reference guide.pdf

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