Creating a Traffic Map per Sector

The section explains how to create a traffic map per sector in Atoll to model traffic.

You can input either the throughput demands in the uplink and in the downlink or the number of users per activity status . A coverage prediction by transmitter is required to create this traffic map. If you do not already have a coverage prediction by transmitter in your document, you must create and calculate it. For more information, see "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter".

To create a traffic map per sector:

1. Click the Geo tab of the Explorer window.

2. Right-click the Traffic folder. The context menu appears.

3. Select New Map from the context menu. The New Traffic Map dialogue appears.

4. Select Traffic Map per Sector.

5. Select the type of traffic information you want to input. You can choose between Throughputs in Uplink and Downlink or Number of Users per Activity Status.

6. Click the Create button. The Map per Sector dialogue appears.

 

Note: You can also import a traffic map from a file by clicking the Import button. You can import AGD (Atoll Geographic Data) format files that you have exported from another Atoll document.

7. Select a coverage prediction by transmitter from the list of available coverage predictions by transmitter.

8. Enter the data required in the Map per Sector dialogue:

- If you have selected Throughputs in Uplink and Downlink, enter the throughput demands in the uplink and downlink for each sector and for each listed service.

- If you have selected Number of Users per Activity Status, enter the number of users active in the uplink, in the downlink and in the uplink and downlink, for each sector and for each service.

 

Note: You can also import a text file containing the data by clicking the Actions button and selecting Import Table from the menu. For more information on importing table data, see "Importing Tables from Text Files".

9. Click OK. The Sector Traffic Map Properties dialogue appears.

10. Select the Traffic tab. Enter the following:

a. Under Terminals (%), enter the percentage of each type of terminal used in the map. The total percentage must equal 100.

b. Under Mobilities (%), enter the percentage of each mobility type used in the map. The total percentage must equal 100.

c. Under Clutter Distribution, for each clutter class, enter:

- A weight to spread the traffic over the vector.

- The percentage of indoor users. An additional loss will be counted for indoor users during Monte-Carlo simulations.

11. Click OK. Atoll creates the traffic map in the Traffic folder.

You can update the information, throughput demands and the number of users, on the map afterwards. You can update Sector traffic maps. You must first recalculate the coverage

prediction by transmitter. For more information, see "Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter". Once you have recalculated the coverage prediction, you can update the traffic map.

To update the traffic map:

1. Click the Geo tab of the Explorer window.

2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the Traffic folder.

3. Right-click the sector traffic map that you want to update. The context menu appears.

4. Select Update from the context menu. The Map per Sector dialogue appears.

Select the updated coverage prediction by transmitter and define traffic values for the new transmitter(s) listed at the bottom of the table. Deleted or deactivated transmitters are automatically removed from the table.

5. Click OK. The Traffic Map Properties dialogue appears.

6. Click OK. The traffic map is updated on the basis of the selected coverage prediction by transmitter.

Making a Coverage Prediction by Transmitter

A coverage prediction by transmitter allows the user to predict coverage zones by transmitter at each pixel. You can base the coverage on the signal level, path loss, or total losses within a defined range. For a transmitter with more than one cell, the coverage is calculated for the cell with the highest power.

To make a coverage prediction by transmitter:

1. Click the Data tab in the Explorer window.

2. Right-click the Predictions folder. The context menu appears.

3. Select New from the context menu. The Study Types dialogue appears.

4. Select Coverage by Transmitter and click OK.

5. Click the General tab.

On the General tab, you can change the default Name, Resolution, and the storage Folder for the coverage prediction, and add some Comments. For more information on the storage of coverage predictions, see "Defining the Storage Location of Coverage Prediction Results". Under Configuration, you can create a Filter to select which sites to display in the results. For information on filtering, see "Filtering Data".

6. Click the Condition tab (see Figure   13.16 ). On the Condition tab, you can define the signals that will be considered for each pixel.

- At the top of the Condition tab, you can set the range of signal level to be considered.

- Under Server, select "All" to consider all servers. Selecting "All" or "Best Signal Level" will give you the same results because Atoll displays the results of the best server in either case. Selecting "Best Signal Level" necessitates, however, the longest time for calculation.

When you select "Best Signal Level" or "Second Best Signal Level," you can also define a Margin that Atoll will take into consideration.

- If you select the Shadowing Taken into Account check box, you can change the Cell Edge Coverage Probability.

- You can select the Indoor Coverage check box to add indoor losses. Indoor losses are defined per clutter class.

 

Figure 13.16: Condition settings for a coverage prediction by transmitter

7. Click the Display tab.

For a coverage prediction by transmitter, the Display Type "Discrete Values" based on the Field "Transmitter" is selected by default. Each coverage zone will then be displayed with the same colour as that defined for each transmitter. For information on defining transmitter colours, see "Display Properties of Objects".

8. Click OK to save your settings.

9. Click the Calculate button ( ) in the Radio toolbar to calculate the transmitter coverage prediction. The progress of the calculation, as well as any error messages, is displayed in the Event Viewer.

Once Atoll has finished calculating the coverage prediction, the results are displayed in the map window (see Figure   13.17 ).

 

Figure 13.17: Coverage prediction by transmitter