TECHNICAL PRESENTATION

ICS TELECOM FOR MICROWAVE LINKS ICS Telecom is a general simulation and analysis software for radio networks. The wide range of functionalities allows representing in a detailed way any kind of technology on digital cartography. The description hereunder presents the functions useful for microwave links simulation. The reader should keep in mind that the tool offers many others possibilities, for example for mobile (Tetra, 3G, …) or point to multipoint (FWA, LMDS, …) simulation.

1. LINKS DEFINITION The definition of link is done in two steps:

1. Positioning of each stations 2. Parameters definition

Each of these steps can be done manually or by importing an already existing external database.

1.1. Position of the stations The coordinates of the stations can be directly entered. On the other hand, if the user wants to look for the best places to set a new microwave links, ICS Telecom proposes different functions. For example, the areas that can be seen from a particular point or set of points can be displayed. The possible connections between different sites can also be automatically calculated.

Possible connection between sites

A T D I , R a d i o N e t w o r k P l a n n i n g S o l u t i o n Advanced Topographic Development & Images 8 , r u e d e l ’ A r c a d e - 7 5 0 0 8 P a r i s , F r a n c e

Te l : +33 (0 )1 53 30 89 40 - Fax : +33 (0)1 53 30 89 49 S.A. au capital de 500 000 Euros– R.C.S. Paris B 381 829 969 – A.P.E. 742C

1

The engineering functionalities will be detailed later. Note that it is possible to have a real-time visualisation of profiles. According to the position of the mouse, the line of sight and the field att”enuation are displayed.

Real time visualisation of a terrain profile

1.2. Links parameters Once the sites have been set, the parameters necessary to characterise the link can be integrated. Some other information fields (e.g. administrative) are also available as well as links to external files (site photography, follox up documents, …)

A T D I , R a d i o N e t w o r k P l a n n i n g S o l u t i o n Advanced Topographic Development & Images 8 , r u e d e l ’ A r c a d e - 7 5 0 0 8 P a r i s , F r a n c e

Te l : +33 (0 )1 53 30 89 40 - Fax : +33 (0)1 53 30 89 49 S.A. au capital de 500 000 Euros– R.C.S. Paris B 381 829 969 – A.P.E. 742C

2

A T D I , R a d i o N e t w o r k P l a n n i n g S o l u t i o n Advanced Topographic Development & Images 8 , r u e d e l ’ A r c a d e - 7 5 0 0 8 P a r i s , F r a n c e

Te l : +33 (0 )1 53 30 89 40 - Fax : +33 (0)1 53 30 89 49 S.A. au capital de 500 000 Euros– R.C.S. Paris B 381 829 969 – A.P.E. 742C

3

Microwave links parameters It is possible to create or import from text files the following technical libraries for latter reuse:

• Site: Geographical and administrative information

• Equipment: Technical parameters of the MW Stations (1 record per equipment type)

• Antennas: Different ways can be used to described the antennas: - Attenuation patterns in horizontal and vertical - Parabolas according to ITU recommendations (e.g.ITU-F 699). - 3D radiation patterns (RPE or A3D formats). A library with Andrews diagrams is delivered

in standard.

A T D I , R a d i o N e t w o r k P l a n n i n g S o l u t i o n Advanced Topographic Development & Images 8 , r u e d e l ’ A r c a d e - 7 5 0 0 8 P a r i s , F r a n c e

Te l : +33 (0 )1 53 30 89 40 - Fax : +33 (0)1 53 30 89 49 S.A. au capital de 500 000 Euros– R.C.S. Paris B 381 829 969 – A.P.E. 742C

4

• Feeder: Technical description of connexion cables..

A T D I , R a d i o N e t w o r k P l a n n i n g S o l u t i o n Advanced Topographic Development & Images 8 , r u e d e l ’ A r c a d e - 7 5 0 0 8 P a r i s , F r a n c e

Te l : +33 (0 )1 53 30 89 40 - Fax : +33 (0)1 53 30 89 49 S.A. au capital de 500 000 Euros– R.C.S. Paris B 381 829 969 – A.P.E. 742C

5

As an example here is the way to create a MW equipment. The process is the same for any technical library, only the import or description formats are different. a – Manually

b – ASCII text files import.

Then when setting the parameters for a station, the equipment can be directly selected. It is possible to use many antennas of the same type or of different type on the same hop. Space and frequency diversity can be modelised. A passive reflector can be modelised as a panel or as a back-to-back. The parameters are set in the following window:

A T D I , R a d i o N e t w o r k P l a n n i n g S o l u t i o n Advanced Topographic Development & Images 8 , r u e d e l ’ A r c a d e - 7 5 0 0 8 P a r i s , F r a n c e

Te l : +33 (0 )1 53 30 89 40 - Fax : +33 (0)1 53 30 89 49 S.A. au capital de 500 000 Euros– R.C.S. Paris B 381 829 969 – A.P.E. 742C

6

Link budget calculation:

A T D I , R a d i o N e t w o r k P l a n n i n g S o l u t i o n Advanced Topographic Development & Images 8 , r u e d e l ’ A r c a d e - 7 5 0 0 8 P a r i s , F r a n c e

Te l : +33 (0 )1 53 30 89 40 - Fax : +33 (0)1 53 30 89 49 S.A. au capital de 500 000 Euros– R.C.S. Paris B 381 829 969 – A.P.E. 742C

7

1.3. Propagation models The propagation models implemented within ICS Telecom are already very rich. They are based on the following principle:

• Choice of a general propagation model (Fresnel, Okumura-Hata, Cost 231, ITU-R P.370-7, ITU-R P.525, …) for free space attenuation calculation

• Choice of a diffractions modelisation (Bullington, Deygout 66 and 94, ITU-R P.526, …) • Choice of a subpath attenuation modelisation in order to balance the « optimism » of

diffraction models • Atmospherics conditions consideration (gas attenuation, rain, equivalent earth radius, …) • Reflection consideration • All results given by standards models can be adapted to specific propagation conditions

(example: offset as aX+b). • User defined models can be implemented using external DLL.

Propagation model choice The influence of the clutter (ground occupancy) can be either set automatically or defined by the user.

A T D I , R a d i o N e t w o r k P l a n n i n g S o l u t i o n Advanced Topographic Development & Images 8 , r u e d e l ’ A r c a d e - 7 5 0 0 8 P a r i s , F r a n c e

Te l : +33 (0 )1 53 30 89 40 - Fax : +33 (0)1 53 30 89 49 S.A. au capital de 500 000 Euros– R.C.S. Paris B 381 829 969 – A.P.E. 742C

8

Clutter characteristics definition All simulation parameters can be saved in a file in order to be sure to reuse each time the same model for the same conditions. ICS TELECOM also proposes different methods for reliability calculation:

• Barnett-Vigants. • ITU-R 530-9. • Siemens empirical method. • Rain can be taken into account using ITU rain zone or Crane modelisation. The user can also

set the rain rate manually.

A T D I , R a d i o N e t w o r k P l a n n i n g S o l u t i o n Advanced Topographic Development & Images 8 , r u e d e l ’ A r c a d e - 7 5 0 0 8 P a r i s , F r a n c e

Te l : +33 (0 )1 53 30 89 40 - Fax : +33 (0)1 53 30 89 49 S.A. au capital de 500 000 Euros– R.C.S. Paris B 381 829 969 – A.P.E. 742C

9

A T D I , R a d i o N e t w o r k P l a n n i n g S o l u t i o n Advanced Topographic Development & Images 8 , r u e d e l ’ A r c a d e - 7 5 0 0 8 P a r i s , F r a n c e

Te l : +33 (0 )1 53 30 89 40 - Fax : +33 (0)1 53 30 89 49 S.A. au capital de 500 000 Euros– R.C.S. Paris B 381 829 969 – A.P.E. 742C

10

2. ENGINEERING

2.1. General conception and engineering functions The sites that have to be interconnected (the customer sites) might be defined as (for example) base stations with their own technical parameters (antenna pattern, power, frequency, …) and a position (coordinates and height). From this configuration, a MW network can be automatically calculated according to the following principles:

• Calculation of all possible connections between this sites, according to terrain (use of the digital elevation model), the propagation conditions (propagation model or visibility test) and reception criterias (threshold). This calculation is based on a point to point method and is very fast.

• Optimised seeking of nodal sites to interconnect customer sites. The most interesting location for nodal stations are indicated on the ground I order to interconnect the customer sites and the complementary sites.

• Validation of a potential nodal sites by checking the hop condition between this site and the customer sites.

The display of the network is done either on maps or using tables.

Any data can be exported as an image, in an external database (Access, Oracle), or in SHP/DBF format as well as ASCII.

2.2. Dimensioning The user can very easily dimension a particular link. The way each parameter will influence the link can be analysed separately. The optimal heigth of the antennas can be calculated in order to free the first Fresnel ellipsoid. The window used for this dimensioning is shown hereafter.

A T D I , R a d i o N e t w o r k P l a n n i n g S o l u t i o n Advanced Topographic Development & Images 8 , r u e d e l ’ A r c a d e - 7 5 0 0 8 P a r i s , F r a n c e

Te l : +33 (0 )1 53 30 89 40 - Fax : +33 (0)1 53 30 89 49 S.A. au capital de 500 000 Euros– R.C.S. Paris B 381 829 969 – A.P.E. 742C

11

2.3. Availability calculation The availability calculation takes into account the following parameters :

• Positions and technical characteristics of the equipment • Terrain profile between the link elements. • Propagation model. • reliability model (ITU-R 530-9, Barnett-Vigants, …).

It uses the following principle: from the equipment threshold at BER 10-6 and from the received power the margin is deducted. The reliability model uses this margin and the hop length to calculate the availability and the link quality for an objective set by the user (99.9%,99.95%, 99.99%, …). The results are given for one year or for the worst month. Frequency selective fading can also be taken into account.

A T D I , R a d i o N e t w o r k P l a n n i n g S o l u t i o n Advanced Topographic Development & Images 8 , r u e d e l ’ A r c a d e - 7 5 0 0 8 P a r i s , F r a n c e

Te l : +33 (0 )1 53 30 89 40 - Fax : +33 (0)1 53 30 89 49 S.A. au capital de 500 000 Euros– R.C.S. Paris B 381 829 969 – A.P.E. 742C

12

2.4. Path budget There are different ways to see the path budget. In any case, every visualisation accessible through ICS Telecom can be directly printed or saved as an image file. a – Graphic

b – Table

c- EXCEL report

A T D I , R a d i o N e t w o r k P l a n n i n g S o l u t i o n Advanced Topographic Development & Images 8 , r u e d e l ’ A r c a d e - 7 5 0 0 8 P a r i s , F r a n c e

Te l : +33 (0 )1 53 30 89 40 - Fax : +33 (0)1 53 30 89 49 S.A. au capital de 500 000 Euros– R.C.S. Paris B 381 829 969 – A.P.E. 742C

13

Example of a map printing with ICS Telecom

2.5. Interference calculation For every interference calculation, the cross polarisation discrimination is taken into account. It can be modelised as a global parameter or integrated in the antenna pattern (RPE or A3D/X3D). The impact of interferences can be estimated as threshold impairment for the reception at each station. This threshold impairment is then taken into account in the path budget (margin reduction). The threshold impairment is based on the receiver noise level (KTBF) ans the power sum of interferer. This sum takes into account the rejection factor (IRF) that should be applied on each received signal. It is defined by a central frequency, a bandwidth, a polarisation, … These rejection factors can be set by different ways:

• Band rejection (co-channel, adjacent channel, N+2, …) • ETSI tables use • Use of user defined matrices for any pair wanted/unwanted (very useful in the case of

heterogeneous networks) The parameters are entered in the window shown hereafter:

A T D I , R a d i o N e t w o r k P l a n n i n g S o l u t i o n Advanced Topographic Development & Images 8 , r u e d e l ’ A r c a d e - 7 5 0 0 8 P a r i s , F r a n c e

Te l : +33 (0 )1 53 30 89 40 - Fax : +33 (0)1 53 30 89 49 S.A. au capital de 500 000 Euros– R.C.S. Paris B 381 829 969 – A.P.E. 742C

14

2.6. Frequency planning Different algorithms for automatic frequency assignment are available. They work according to the following principle: The user defines as band or as high/low frequencies list the channels that can be used. The algorithm looks for the best combination in order to minimise the interferences (calculation described before). The function optimises the re-use of frequencies as much as possible

A T D I , R a d i o N e t w o r k P l a n n i n g S o l u t i o n Advanced Topographic Development & Images 8 , r u e d e l ’ A r c a d e - 7 5 0 0 8 P a r i s , F r a n c e

Te l : +33 (0 )1 53 30 89 40 - Fax : +33 (0)1 53 30 89 49 S.A. au capital de 500 000 Euros– R.C.S. Paris B 381 829 969 – A.P.E. 742C

15

3. INTEGRATION OF ICS TELECOM IN AN EXISTING IT SYSTEM

3.1. Cartographic data The different cartographic layers used within ICS Telecom are the following :

• Digital Terrain or Elevation Model (DTM/DEM) : this is the main layer. It is in a raster format and can have up to 1 meter resolution.

• Image raster: This image can have up to 10 cm resolution. Depending of the use this is a scanned map, an aerial photography a satllite image, …

• Ground occupancy or clutter : up to 20 different classes • Vectorial information: it can be separated in 10 different layers. It allows to use various

information: administrative contour, backbone, other network, …

3D visualisation of a DEM with ICS Telecom

View of an orthophotography created by ATDI

A T D I , R a d i o N e t w o r k P l a n n i n g S o l u t i o n Advanced Topographic Development & Images 8 , r u e d e l ’ A r c a d e - 7 5 0 0 8 P a r i s , F r a n c e

Te l : +33 (0 )1 53 30 89 40 - Fax : +33 (0)1 53 30 89 49 S.A. au capital de 500 000 Euros– R.C.S. Paris B 381 829 969 – A.P.E. 742C

16

Import facilities of the cartographic data are provided within ICS Telecom. • The digital elevation model and the clutter layer can be imported from ASCII Grid format. • Images can be imported from TIFF files (with TFW associated file for georeferences). • Vectors are imported or directly used from DXF, MIF/MID or SHP (shape) formats.

All these formats are standard opened formats. In case of more specific needs, the cartographic department of ATDI can propose a solution. A cartographic coordinates converter within ICS Telecom allows the real-time display in any metric or angular system (UTM, grads/minutes/seconds, …).

3.2. Technical databases ICS Telecom does include its own 32 bits adaptive database engine that can handle any number of transmitters, receivers, radio links..., including their calculated coverage, in sets of 32,000 objects. The database engine allows all the usual database operations (sorting, selecting...). ICS Telecom has also the remarkable capability to extract data from any ODBC compatible database (Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, Informix, Gupta, Microsoft Access...). This feature makes ICS Telecom the perfect tool to work in a large-scale environment as it is easily integrated in a local or an enterprise network.

3.3. Licences ICS Telecom runs under Windows (95, 98, 2000, NT) environment. Licences are materialised by hardware keys (dongles). Two modes are possible: • Stand alone: A dongle is set on each PC that will be used with ICS Telecom. • Network (floating licences): A PC of the LAN is defined as the server. A licence management

application, based on a token principle runs permanently on the server. ICS Telecom is installed on the PC that will be used with ICS Telecom. All calculations are carried out on the local PC.

ICS Telecom permet de travailler en utilisant des données (bases de données cartographiques et/ou bases de données d’équipement) ainsi que des configurations types sur des répertoires partagés. Ainsi des utilisateurs séparés géographiquement peuvent travailler de façon cohérente. La capacité de calcul est définie par la configuration de la machine de chaque utilisateur. De même, le système de licences flottantes (cf. 3.1 plate-forme informatique) facilite l’utilisation par des utilisateurs répartis.

3.4. Recommended hardware We strongly recommend running ICS-telecom on high-end PC platform. Here are the recommended characteristics:

• Pentium III Xeon 866 MHz or more, • Chipset Intel 840 or better, • 512 Mb of RDRAM • AGP graphic adapter with 4 Mb of RAM • 10 Gb Ultra-wide SCSI hard disk drive • 19 inches screen • 24x CD-ROM drive • CD writer (for backup)

A T D I , R a d i o N e t w o r k P l a n n i n g S o l u t i o n Advanced Topographic Development & Images 8 , r u e d e l ’ A r c a d e - 7 5 0 0 8 P a r i s , F r a n c e

Te l : +33 (0 )1 53 30 89 40 - Fax : +33 (0)1 53 30 89 49 S.A. au capital de 500 000 Euros– R.C.S. Paris B 381 829 969 – A.P.E. 742C

17

4. REFERENCES Due to the wide range of technologies covered by its software, ATDI’s customers work in various fields. There are telecom operators (mobile or fixe services), broadcast operators, regulators, equipment vendors, consulting companies, … Analogue and digital broadcast

• Europe Communication (France) • CLT-UFA (Luxembourg) • Radio France • Sentech (South Africa) • SOGETEC / NRJ (France) • MTV (Lebanon) • GIE des Indépendants (France) • RTM (Malaysia) • TDF (France)

• FUN Radio (France) • LBC (Lebanon) • RTE (Ireland) • BEL RTL (Belgium) • Radio Maria (Italy) • THOMCAST • IRTE (Italy) • MCR (Monaco) • …

PMR, TETRA, TETRAPOL

• THOMSON-CSF • MATRA Communication • Ministère de la Défense (France) • Marconi (GB) • ASTRID (Belgium) • Ministry of Defence (GB) • Lincolnshire Police (GB) • Philips (Pays-Bas)

• SDIS Gard (France) • Police Authority of Northern

Ireland • Micatel (Switzerland) • SAMU (France) • MOTOROLA (USA) • Ministère de l’Intérieur (France) • …

Wireless in the Local Loop

• Firstmark Europe • Cable & Wireless (GB) • Telkom (South Africa) • ALCATEL • SAGEM • 9 Telecom (France)

• MOTOROLA (USA) • Cegetel (France) • Nortel-Matra (France) • Sagatel (France) • Landtel Europe • …

Tactical Radiocommunication

• Marine Nationale (France) • Armée de l ’Air (France) • Royal School of Signals (GB) • THOMSON-CSF • Cassic (France) • ERGE (France) • Ministère de la Défense (France) • Armée de Terre (France) • STAT (France)

• I2E (France) • DGA – SPOTI (France) • SERTIM (France) • Finnish Army (Finland) • SAFARE-CROUZET • STTE (France) • …

A T D I , R a d i o N e t w o r k P l a n n i n g S o l u t i o n Advanced Topographic Development & Images 8 , r u e d e l ’ A r c a d e - 7 5 0 0 8 P a r i s , F r a n c e

Te l : +33 (0 )1 53 30 89 40 - Fax : +33 (0)1 53 30 89 49 S.A. au capital de 500 000 Euros– R.C.S. Paris B 381 829 969 – A.P.E. 742C

18

Mobiles Radiocommunication (Paging, Cellular…)

• STA (Andorra) • Bouygues Infomobile (France) • Bouygues Telecom (France) • Swisscom (Switzerland) • France Télécom (France)

• ALCATEL Mobile Communications

• EDF (France) • RATP (France) • …

Spectrum Management

• International Telecommunication Union for Yemen

• Agence Nationale des Fréquences, ANFR (France)

• BAKOM (Switzerland) • Agence de Régulation des

Télécommunication, ART (France)

• SuperIntendencia de Telecomunicacion (Ecuador)

• Ministry of Telecommunication (Cyprus)

• JRTV (Jordan) • Radio Authority (GB) • …

A T D I , R a d i o N e t w o r k P l a n n i n g S o l u t i o n Advanced Topographic Development & Images 8 , r u e d e l ’ A r c a d e - 7 5 0 0 8 P a r i s , F r a n c e

Te l : +33 (0 )1 53 30 89 40 - Fax : +33 (0)1 53 30 89 49 S.A. au capital de 500 000 Euros– R.C.S. Paris B 381 829 969 – A.P.E. 742C

19