Antenna parameters:

Selection of Antenna parameters:
Antenna parameters such as height, orientation and tilt are so chosen to obtain the best possible coverage with the least possible signal suppression.
Height: Height ranges from 20m to 30m (for rooftop antennas) and 35m to 50m (for ground base towers) depending upon the height of clutter and the area in  vicinity.
Orientation: Orientation of the antennas is the direction at which the specified area to be covered. The orientation angle for the sectors is taken in the clockwise direction considering north as the reference at 0°.
Tilt: This is done to carry out the process of either decreasing or increasing the coverage area of a sector. This is done to avoid interference arising out of the fact that the sector under consideration is radiating out of the desired area of its coverage and hence affecting other neighboring sectors.
Tilt is given by the following means:
·         Electrical tilt: This tilt is given by changing the phase relations in between various elements of an antenna. If a down tilt is being given electrically, then there will be a down tilt in both the front and the back lobe of the antenna.
·         Mechanical tilt: This tilt is given manually by changing the angle antenna makes with the vertical. If a down tilt is being given mechanically, then there will be a down tilt in the front lobe but an up tilt in the backlobe.
 Mechanical tilt is more often used than electrical tilt.
After simulating the above inputs planning tool can be used to generate various images to check the resultant network. Some of the important images that are used to analyze the network are as follows:
  • Downlink best signal strength: The image provides a comprehensive knowledge of the zones receiving signal sent out by Base Transceiver Station (BTS) and the
amount of signal received. This signal is the signal received by our handsets or Mobile Stations (MS).
  • Downlink best Server/Sector: Different antennas of the site are called sectors. With the help of this image an RF engineer can visualize the amount of signal that is being released by each sector of the site.      

The initial stage of planning and designing the network is followed by a second stage of optimization of network.

No comments: