Whats New in Atoll 282 Build 3259

What's New in Atoll 2.8.2

What's New in Atoll 2.8.2Several new features and changes have been introduced in the version of Atoll 2.8.2 made available on March 30, 2010. These newfeatures are described below. The new features introduced in the previous releases of Atoll 2.8.1 and Atoll 2.8.0 are described laterin this document. For more information on any of these features, see the online help, the User Manual, the Administrator Manual, andthe Technical Reference Guide.

New Features Introduced in Atoll 2.8.2 (Build 3259)General Features

Coverage Predictions

• Atoll can now use more than one processor/thread for the calculation of a single coverage prediction.

Coverage Prediction Reports

• Atoll can take into account all or only visible clutter classes when generating reports on interference-based coverage predic-tions. This behaviour can be changed through an option in the Atoll.ini file:

• Atoll now displays the percentages of covered clutter classes with respect to the total surface area of all the clutter classescovered by the prediction. You can make Atoll display the percentages of covered clutter classes with respect to the total sur-face area of all the clutter classes within the Focus Zone using an option in the Atoll.ini file.

• Atoll now displays the percentages of covered environment traffic classes with respect to the total surface area of all the envi-ronment traffic classes covered by the prediction. You can make Atoll display the percentages of covered environment traffucclasses with respect to the total surface area of all the environment traffic classes within the Focus Zone using an option in theAtoll.ini file.

WMS Data

• Atoll’s management of WMS data has been improved.• Atoll now supports WMS access to servers that require user names and passwords.

MS SQL Server 2008

• Atoll now supports MS SQL Server 2008.

GUI User Rights

• In addition to "All" and "Customised Only", an intermediate level of access rights to coverage predictions is now available. The"Standard" level provides the user access to customised coverage predictions list only and allows modifying coverage condi-tions and display settings.

Duplicate Sites

• You can choose whether to add a duplicate site to the same site list as the original site or not using an option in the Atoll.ini file.

Leading Zeros Display in CELL_IDENTITY Field

• You can have Atoll display leading zeros in the CELL_IDENTITY field of the Transmitters table in GSM and the Cells tables inUMTS, CDMA2000, and TD-SCDMA using an Atoll.ini option.

Measurement Features

Drive Test Data Management

• The setup dialogue used during the import of drive test data has been made more intuitive. • It is now possible to identify GSM transmitters based on their Cell ID alternatively to the standard (BSIC,BCCH) pair when you

import drive test data.

GSM GPRS EDGE Features

Licence Management for GSM AFP Module

• You can block access to the GSM AFP module licence using an option in the Atoll.ini file.

ACP

• The ACP now indicates whether an added candidate site was from an existing candidate or whether it was based on a location. • The ACP can now apply a height to each candidate site, either from the template used, from the imported candidate sites, or

from values defined per clutter class.• The ACP now enables the user to optimise power using either defined minimum and maximum values or defined offset values.• The ACP now optimises the transmission power.

UMTS HSPA Features

Scrambling Code Audit

• When neighbour conditions are not satisfied, the report indicates the order of the neighbour relation.• Atoll now takes third-order neighbour relations into consideration during the scrambling code audit.

ACP

• The ACP now indicates whether an added candidate site was from an existing candidate or whether it was based on a location.

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• The ACP can now apply a height to each candidate site, either from the template used, from the imported candidate sites, orfrom values defined per clutter class.

• The ACP now enables the user to optimise power using either defined minimum and maximum values or defined offset values.

CDMA2000 1xRTT 1xEV-DO Features

PN Offset Audit

• When neighbour conditions are not satisfied, the report indicates the order of the neighbour relation.• Atoll now takes third-order neighbour relations into consideration during the PN offset audit.

TD-SCDMA Features


• When neighbour conditions are not satisfied, the report indicates the order of the neighbour relation.

WiMAX BWA Features

Point Analysis

• An Interference tab has been added to the Point Analysis tool for WiMAX, permitting the study of the interference experiencedby the receiver. The total interference is displayed along with the interference per interference per source. Additionally, a tooltipgives information on the type of interference for that pixel of the map.

• The Point Analysis tool has been improved with the option of snapping to subscribers during a point analysis. This enables theuser to measure reception and interference at the location of any defined subscriber.

ACP


from values defined per clutter class.• The ACP now enables the user to optimise power using either defined minimum and maximum values or defined offset values.

Subscribers

• When importing a subscriber list, Atoll now enables the user to import subscriber lists using a different coordinate system. Uponimportation, Atoll converts the coordiantes of the subscribers to the system used in the document.

Neighbours

• The Visual Management tool has been improved, enabling the user to opt to display exceptional pairs (forced or forbiddenneighbour relations) on the map.

PUSC 1/2 Segmentation

• Atoll now supports PUSC 1/2 segmentation by allowing free primary subchannel group allocation to segments.

Adaptive MIMO Switching Based on Preamble C/(I+N)

• The adaptive MIMO switching can now be optionally based on the preamble C/(I+N) in addition to preamble C/N.

PUSC Permutation Zone 0

• You can disallow the deactivation of the first downlink PUSC permutation zone, and the modification of the subchannel groupdefinitions for FFT sizes < 1000, using an Atoll.ini option.

Simulation Results

• The following results are now available per site and per cell:

- In addition to the numbers of users, the percentages of users unable to connect for each rejection cause.- The total number of connected users and the numbers of users connected in downlink, uplink, and downlink and uplink both.- The overall connection success rate and the connection success rate per service, i.e., the percentage of connected users

with respect to the number of covered users.• The "No Service" rejection cause has been subdivided as follows:

- No Coverage: If a mobile does not have any best serving cell or if the mobile is not within the service area of its best server.- No Service: If a mobile is not able to access a bearer in the direction of its activity, i.e., UL, DL, or UL+DL.

LTE Features

Inter-cell Interference Coordination

• Atoll now supports static inter-cell interference coordination (ICIC) in uplink using fractional frequency reuse (FFR).

Point Analysis

• An Interference tab has been added to the Point Analysis tool for LTE, permitting the study of the interference experienced bythe receiver. The total interference is displayed along with the interference per interference per source. Additionally, a tooltipgives information on the type of interference for that pixel of the map.

• The Point Analysis tool has been improved with the option of snapping to subscribers during a point analysis. This enables theuser to measure reception and interference at the location of any defined subscriber.

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ACP


from values defined per clutter class.• The ACP now enables the user to optimise power using either defined minimum and maximum values or defined offset values.

Subscribers

• When importing a subscriber list, Atoll now enables the user to import subscriber lists using a different coordinate system. Uponimportation, Atoll converts the coordiantes of the subscribers to the system used in the document.

Neighbours

• The Visual Management tool has been improved, enabling the user to opt to display exceptional pairs (forced or forbiddenneighbour relations) on the map.

Physical Cell ID Allocation Range

• It is possible to allocate physical cell IDs from the entire range (0-503) or from a customised range in which you can exclude auser-defined list of IDs from the automatic allocation.

Number of Connected Users

• You can now set the number of connected users in downlink and uplink for each cell. These numbers can also be calculatedusing Monte Carlo simulations.

Average User Throughput Coverage Prediction

• Average user throughput per pixel can be calculated and displayed using the new display options available in the Coverage byThroughput predictions.

PBCH and PDCCH Coverage Prediction

• Signal level, C/N, and C/(I+N) coverage predictions are now available for PBCH and PDCCH.

Fractional Power Control

• It is now possible to turn off the uplink fractional power control by setting the fractional power control factor to "FPC Off".

Simulation Results

• The following results are now available per site and per cell:

- In addition to the numbers of users, the percentages of users unable to connect for each rejection cause.- The total number of connected users and the numbers of users connected in downlink, uplink, and downlink and uplink both.- The overall connection success rate and the connection success rate per service, i.e., the percentage of connected users

with respect to the number of covered users.• The "No Service" rejection cause has been subdivided as follows:

- No Coverage: If a mobile does not have any best serving cell or if the mobile is not within the service area of its best server.- No Service: If a mobile is not able to access a bearer in the direction of its activity, i.e., UL, DL, or UL+DL.

New Features Introduced in Atoll 2.8.1 (All Released Builds)General Features

Fixed Dongle Driver

• The driver for fixed licenses has been upgraded in the 2.8.1. The new version of the Sentinel SuperPro driver installed withAtoll 2.8.1 is the 7.5.0.

• If you work with a fixed license and are about to install Atoll 2.8.1, you must:

- Unplug the fixed license key.- In the Atoll 2.8.1 setup, select the Dongle Driver for Fixed Licence check box.- Choose to restart the computer after the installation when the setup proposes the option.- Plug in the fixed license key again.

If even after a clean installation Atoll 2.8.1 is unable to access the fixed license key, you must install the Sentinel SuperProdriver manually. The driver’s setup program (SPI750.exe) is located in the Sentinel folder created by the Atoll 2.8.1 setup inthe Atoll installation folder.

Support for Windows Server 2008

• Atoll supports Microsoft® Windows Server 2008 and Citrix MetaFrame 5.0.

Support for Oracle 11g

• Atoll supports and has been tested with Oracle 11g.

Keyboard Shortcuts

• The Ctrl+A and Ctrl+R keyboard shortcuts for zooming in and out on the map have been replaced by more intuitive Ctrl++ andCtrl+– shortcuts.

• Keyboard shortcuts have been added for previous zoom and location (Alt+←) and next zoom and location (Alt+→) on the map.

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• A keyboard shortcut has been added to open the Add-ins and Macros dialogue (Alt+F8).• A keyboard shortcut has been added for creating a new Atoll document from an existing database (Ctrl+Shift+N).

Toolbar

• Undo and Redo icons are now available in the Toolbar.

Antenna Positions at Sites

• As an alternative to defining antenna positions relative to site locations (Dx, Dy), you can now choose to directly enter the actualantenna coordinates for each transmitter.

WLL Propagation Model

• You can define a multiplying factor for diffraction losses calculated by the WLL propagation model.

Standard Propagation Model Calibration

• You can now calibrate the clutter losses along a user-defined distance from the receiver. In the previous releases, this distancewas set to zero for calibration and had to be fixed by the user after the calibration process.

Path Loss Tuning

• You can now defined the maximum permitted values for the total and the local correction. The tuning process is limited by thesecorrections

• You can now defined a minimum threshold under which transmitters are not taken into account for the path loss tuning.• Instead of running a path loss tuning in your project, you can import tuning points (via .pts files) coming from another project.

Data Table Export

• In addition to the data within a table, you can now also export data from fields (columns) belonging to tables related to the tablebeing exported. For example, when exporting data from the Transmitters table, you can also export site coordinates stored inthe Sites table, if you wish.

Coverage Prediction Templates

• Coverage predictions stored in XML template files are directly available in the Calculations menu of the context menus of theTransmitters folder, of a group of transmitters, and of a single transmitter.

Coverage Prediction Export

• Atoll now enables you to export multiple coverage predictions at the same time.

Coverage Prediction Calculation

• The creation and calculation of Atoll coverage predictions has been simplified and improved.

Tool tips on the Sites and Transmitters Folders

• The tool tip now displays the number of elements present in the Sites and Transmitters folders.

User Management Using the Atoll Management Console

• The User Management dialogue now lists all the available projects for which you can manage user accounts and access rights.• You can choose to use operating system authentication for user accounts.

Automatic Refresh with the Creation of a new Station

• You can have Atoll refresh the display automatically each time a new station or a group of stations is dropped on the mapthrough an Atoll.ini option.

Notification for Donor Transmitter Parameter Modifications

• Atoll can notify you whenever a donor transmitter parameter, which has an impact on a repeater, is modified. You can activatethe notification using an Atoll.ini option.

Display Precision of Floating Point Values

• You can set the display precision for floating point values in Atoll dialogues and tables using an option in the Atoll.ini file.

Database Changes History Management

• The Atoll Management Console allows you to keep and manage a history of all the modifications made in the network datatables by different users.

• Among the network data tables for which the change history is managed, you can enable/disable the history management forany table.

• You can also purge old history information to gain disk space.

JPEG2000 Format Support

• Atoll now supports raster files in JPEG 2000 format.

Statistics on Table Data

• Atoll now provides the possibility of displaying statistical information of selected numerical data in data tables.

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Vector Properties

• Atoll now displays the length of vector lines in the properties of the line.

Search Results Display on the Map

• In order to improve the clarity and readability of the search results on the map, a grey line (instead of the current transmittersymbol with grey fill) is used to represent transmitters that do not respect the search criteria.

Geographic Export Zone

• The coverage export zone has been renamed to Geographic Export Zone as it can now be used to export any area of the map,not just coverage predictions.

Planet Antenna Import

• All the fields available in Planet antenna files can now be imported in Atoll (not just a limited set of fields), as long as matchingcustom fields have been added in the Atoll database.

User Configuration Files

• Symbol and label configurations are now stored in the user configuration files for vector data.

Okumura-Hata and Cost-Hata Models

• A new component is now available in the multiplicative factor of .

Co-Planning Improvements

• The update of shared antenna parameters between the linked documents is now automatic. A macro is no longer required forsynchronising these parameters between the linked documents.

• Atoll now allows you to link the Sites folder in the working document when an option is set in the Atoll.ini file.• Atoll offers increased co-ordination of the display in the map window between the working document and the linked document.

Atoll co-ordinates the display for the following:- Geographic data: Atoll synchronises the display of geographic data such as clutter classes and the DTM. If you select or

deselect one type of geographic data, Atoll makes the corresponding change in the linked document.- Zones: Atoll synchronises the display of filtering, focus, computation, hot spot, printing, and geographic export zones. If you

select or deselect one type of zone, Atoll makes the corresponding change in the linked document.- Map display: Atoll co-ordinates the display of the map in the map window. When you move the map, or change the zoom

level in one document, Atoll makes the corresponding changes in the linked document.- Point analysis: When you use the Point Analysis tool, Atoll co-ordinates the display on both the working document and the

linked document. You can select a point and view the profile in the main document and then switch to the linked documentto make an analysis on the same profile but in the linked document.

• In multiple technology co-planning documents, the tooltip now displays information on all displayed coverage predictions inboth the working and linked documents when the pointer hovers over a point in the map window.

Creation of User Density Traffic Maps from Sector Traffic Maps

• You can create user density traffic maps from sector traffic maps. User density traffic maps created from sector traffic mapsextract and display the exact number of users per unit of surface, i.e., the density of users, taking into account any clutterweighting defined for the sector traffic maps.

Document Technology Information

• Atoll displays the technology of the current Atoll document in the title bar.

Customised Studies

• The management of customised studies has been greatly simplified.

Table Export and Import Using Keyboard Shortcuts

• You can export the Sites, Transmitters, Links, Multi-Hops, and Point to Multipoint tables to text files by selecting the corre-sponding folder or subfolder in the Explorer window and pressing CTRL+E. When a table is exported using this shortcut, allthe fields of the table are exported, along with the Header, using the Field Separator and Decimal Symbol defined in theRegional Options of the computer.

• You can import the Sites, Transmitters, Links, Multi-Hops, and Point to Multipoint tables from text files by selecting the corre-sponding folder or subfolder in the Explorer window and pressing CTRL+I.

Rectangle Drawing Tool

• A new icon for drawing rectangles is available in the Vector Edition toolbar. You can use this tool to draw rectangular vectorsas well as rectangular computation, focus, hot spot, printing, and coverage export zones.

Grouping by Computation or Focus Zone

• Atoll now allows the user to group sites, transmitters, and microwave links by either the computation zone or the focus zone.

Southeast Coordinates of Geo Data Files

• Atoll now displays the southeast coordinates of geographic data files in the Geocoding tab of the Properties dialogue.

B3hTx dlog

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Paths to Linked Geo Data Files

• You can enable the Find button in the Properties dialogues of linked geographic data files by setting an option in the Atoll.inifile. This allows you to change the path of linked geographic data files without having to delete and then reimport them.

TAB Reference File for BMP, TIF, and PNG Export

• When exporting BMP, TIF, and PNG files, Atoll can export the georeference information in a TAB file instead of the defaultrespective World files (BPW or BMW for BMP, TFW for TIF, and PGW for PNG). For this, you have a new option in the Atoll.inifile.

Inactive Transmitter Symbol on the Map

• Inactive transmitter symbols are shown empty (without any colour fill) in the Map window.

Remote Antenna Symbol on the Map

• Now you can display remote antennas on the map using a unique, non-modifiable symbol. For this, you have a new option inthe Atoll.ini file.

Path Loss Calculation Over NoData Values for DTM and Clutter Classes

• Now you can make Atoll not calculate path losses on the pixels located over nodata values defined in the DTM and clutterclasses files by adding an option in the Atoll.ini file.

Traffic Update in Sector Traffic Maps

• When working with sector traffic maps, Atoll now enables the user to update the distribution of terminals and mobilities to reflectchanges made after the traffic map has been created.

User Rights Management

• Users with read only access rights to propagation models are not allowed to add or delete propagation models.• You can define whether Atoll should ask for password confirmation for a user account or not when opening/creating Atoll doc-

uments connected to a database with user rights management.• You can disallow saving and opening ZIP files through an Atoll.ini option.

• You can disallow the creation of new Atoll documents from templates through an Atoll.ini option.• You can block access to the Add-ins and Macros dialogue through an Atoll.ini option.

Transmitter Symbol

• When using the Search Tool, all the transmitters that do not fulfil the search criteria are displayed as grey lines on the map.You can make these transmitters keep their original symbols through an Atoll.ini option.

Co-planning Improvements

• Atoll now allows the user to unlink linked co-planning documents.• When creating a transmitter in a co-planning environment based on an existing transmitter in the linked document, Atoll now

creates a site if there is no site where the new transmitter is located.

• The update of shared antenna parameters between the linked documents is now operational for repeaters and remoteantennas.

Print Setup

• Print setup has been improved, with a greater ability to define a legend for a printed map.

Export to Google Earth Add-in

• The version 2.0 of the Export to Google Earth add-in for Atoll is now available. This version includes the following improve-ments:

- The add-in can now be used to export microwave links, their heights, and activity statuses to Google Earth.- Other microwave link properties can also be exported to Google Earth and displayed inside tooltips.- Fresnel ellipsoids can be generated for microwave links and exported to Google Earth as well.- The add-in draws pylons at site locations exported to Google Earth.- The add-in’s dialogue has been improved. The coverage plots available for export are now presented in the form of a list.- For the current Atoll document, the add-in’s dialogue stores in memory the options previously selected by the user.

GSM GPRS EDGE Features

Packet Throughput Studies

• All the packet throughput studies have been grouped a unique "Packet Throughput and Quality" coverage prediction.• New display options are available in order to show on the map

- The RLC/MAC throughput per timeslot- The Application throughput per timeslot for a user-selected service- The Max Application Throughput taking into account the number of timeslots used by the terminal (number of timeslots per

carrier and number of carriers in case of EDGE evolution)- The End User Throughput taking into account the traffic load and consequently the throughput reduction factor available in

the user-selected dimensioning model

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Subcells Information Display

• The Subcells table has been improved. Instead of a single Subcells table with all information, there are now three tables:

- Subcells Table: The basic information defining the subcell.- Traffic Data: Information describing the traffic of the cell. Because subcells share the traffic of the transmitter, in most cases,

the traffic data for all TRXs is displayed together. - AFP Indicators: The information displayed comes from the results of an AFP model.

Modelling of the Frequency Hopping Gain in GSM studies

• You can model the increased resistance of the radio link to fast fading when frequency hopping is used. To model this, youhave to add fields defining the MAL length in the coding scheme and codec configurations. Atoll selects the appropriate opti-mised codec (resp. coding scheme) which provides a better quality indicator (resp. throughput) as the MAL increases.

C/I Coverage

• Coverage by C/I level and Interfered zones coverage predictions have been improved. Atoll now enables you to study interfer-ence on a single channel.

Interference Matrix Calculation

• If for the evaluation of the IM service areas, the C2 option is selected, the traffic taken into account is the packet-switched one.In other words, the percentage of interfered traffic is evaluated over the appropriate type of traffic.

• Atoll now enables you to recalculate existing interference matrices, instead of deleting and recreating them with the sameparameters. This is especially useful when the network has changed, thereby invalidating the existing interference matrices.

Traffic Capture Evolution

• A new option is available when running the traffic capture in order to assign the traffic of a specific traffic map to a specific HCSlayer. In other words, the overlapping between HCS layers can be avoided. As a consequence, you can retrieve the sameamount of traffic per transmitter as an output of the traffic capture than the traffic defined per transmitter in the input cell trafficmap.

Network Dimensioning

• A new output is available in the results of the dimensioning model in order to display the number of required TRXs beforedimensioning. It permits to evaluate the delta between the initially estimated number of required TRXs and the number ofrequired TRXs estimated by Atoll.

Frequency-Dependant Indoor Loss

• An additional indoor loss can now be defined per frequency band. If this additional indoor loss is defined, the total indoor lossused in calculations is the sum of the indoor loss defined per clutter class and this additional indoor loss per frequency band.In order to be able to define frequency-dependant additional indoor loss, you must first add a new field in the Frequency Bandstable in the database. For more information, see the Administrator Manual.

Transmitter’s Channel List

• The Channels column now supports compressed format. You can enter channels directly (separating them with a comma, asemi-colon, or a space) or you can enter a range of channels separating the first and last channel with a hyphen (for example,entering "1-5" corresponds to "1 2 3 4 5").

Repeaters Connected to Remote Antennas

• Atoll now supports repeaters added to remote antennas.

Channel Search Tool

• Separate colours are now used to display transmitters with co-channel BCCH and TCH TRXs.

• The channel search tool can generate a report listing all the transmitters that use the searched channel (co-channel) and itsadjacent channels (adjacent or twice adjacent).

VoIP Modelling

• A new type of service "Packet Constant Bit Rate" has been introduced in order to model Vo-IP like services.• The previous type "Packet" has been renamed into "Packet Max Bit Rate".• Constant Bit Rate packet-switched services are managed identically than other packet-switched services, except that their

traffic is expressed in the same way than circuit services (Erlangs or Call duration depending on the type of traffic maps).Erlangs are transformed into kbps by multiplying them by the service Guaranteed Bit Rate.

Network Dimensioning and KPIs Calculation

• You can now directly calculate the required number or TRXs based on traffic figures. Instead of extracting a traffic demandfrom a default traffic capture, you can now use the user-defined traffic demand present in the subcells table.

• The Dimensioning/KPIs calculation dialogue has changed so that you can select either the default traffic capture of the subcellstable for the required traffic demand.

• The commands to run dimensioning or KPIs calculation has moved. Instead of running these from an existing capture, they arenow available from the Transmitters context menu in the Traffic section.

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Subcells Table Management

• Atoll now offers the user the same flexibility in data management in the subcell tables as in other tables. For example, the usercan now copy and paste and import and export data.

Comparison of Existing and Allocated Neighbour Lists

• You can compare the automatic allocation results proposed by Atoll with the current neighbour list (existing neighbours) in yourdocument.

Neighbour Allocation Audit

• Audit of intra- and inter-technology neighbours can now list the existing neighbours that are located at distances greater thana defined distance.

First TRX Index

• By default, TRXs are indexed by Atoll starting at index 0. You can make Atoll start the indexing at 1 through an Atoll.ini option.

AFP Outputs

• Atoll now enables you to filter and sort the results of an automatic frequency allocation for analysis before the results are com-mitted.

• Atoll now displays the TRXs which have been deleted during the AFP process by the use of the strategy "Optimisation of thenumber of TRXs". The aim of this strategy is to maximise the correctly served traffic and to minimise the blocking cost.

ACP

• Atoll ACP now uses Atoll's Legend Window. The results of any ACP optimisation map can be incorporated into the Atoll LegendWindow along with the results of any coverage prediction.

• Atoll ACP can now optimise antenna height in both new and existing Atoll projects.• The configuration of the antenna masking methods ACP can use has been improved. ACP now reduces the number of path

loss matrices pre-calculated, saving both time and computer resources.• The ACP map comparison feature has been improved. You can now compare ACP maps with Atoll coverage predictions.• Atoll ACP can now optimise the antenna azimuth for asymmetric antennas.• Atoll ACP now supports exporting coverage maps in many different vector and raster formats.

• ACP can now optimise additional electrical tilt.• ACP now allows the use of traffic maps that will be used to generate traffic. Additionally, Atoll allows the definition of the reso-

lution of the extracted traffic and the traffic weighting.

• Atoll ACP now locks the antenna height on all sectors of a site by default. If the height of one antenna on a site is changedduring optimisation, the height of the other antennas are modified accordingly. If desired, the antenna height of each antennaon a site can be optimised individually.

• Atoll ACP can now lock the antenna azimuth on all sectors of a site, thereby retaining the inter-sector angle separation betweensectors.

• When an optimisation is based on an existing coverage prediction, Atoll ACP uses the ranges and colours defined in theselected coverage prediction as the default for the optimisation maps.

• Atoll ACP now enables the use of Atoll's hot spot zones as well as the use of imported ArcView SHP files as hot spot zones.• When an Atoll ACP optimisation is running, the progress dialogue has an additional dialogue displaying the number of optimi-

sations made to the network up to that point.• Atoll ACP now enables the user to create hot spot zones based on the area of the Atoll document covered by selected clutter

classes. Atoll ACP enables the user to set objectives for each clutter-class-based hot spot zone and gives the results of theoptimisation for each hot spot zone.

• Atoll ACP can now add candidate sites from a list of defined sites, as well as from existing sites on the network. The ACP canalso optimise these sites before they are added to the network.

GSM AFP Features

Network Size Limitation

• The AFP can now load and work with more than 32768 subcells. Although this number of subcells is no longer a limitation, thefrequency domain size (times the number of transmitters in the loaded network) still represents an upper limit. In order for theAFP to load and work with a large number of transmitters, the used frequency domain will still have to be reduced.

Separation Constraints

• You can reinforce the separation constraints from the AFP output dialogue. When separation constraints are not respectedbetween neighbours, co-site transmitters or within transmitters, you can click on the displayed violation to force the creation ofexceptional separation constraints between the two items in violation. The creation of new exceptional pairs will modify theconstraint priority since exceptional pairs will be respected first compared to standard separation constraints. When the newpairs are created, you will have to run again an AFP session.

Intermodulation Cost

• A new cost modelling the potential intermodulation effect has been added to the AFP cost components. This cost componenthas the goal of avoiding the cases were intermodulation can cause problems. The intermodulation violations are summarizedas a tax, since they always have relatively low interference probabilities. The Tax is applied when the combinations of allocated

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frequencies generates a frequency already allocated within the same site. Depending on the type of combination (order, har-monics, various amplification spreading violation), if the combination of DL frequencies may affect or not UL frequencies, or ifthe intermodulation may take place within a same site, BTS or equipment, this tax is weighted accordingly.

UMTS HSPA Features

Station Templates

• You can assign carriers to sectors individually in a station template.



Voice over IP (VoIP) Support

• Atoll enables you to model VoIP over high speed channels.

- A new type of service "Packet (HSPA) Constant Bit Rate" in the service property dialogue is used to describe the VoIPservice.

- VoIP traffic has the highest priority in Monte-Carlo simulations and is processed before other packet (HSDPA) and packet(HSPA) service users. Finally, HS-SCCH-less operation and intelligent scheduling are modelled.

Soft Handover Modelling for HSUPA

• Atoll now models soft handover for HSUPA channels. Soft handover is considered in Monte-Carlo simulations, coverage pre-dictions and point analysis.



Carrier Support per Service

• More than one preferred carrier per service can be modelled by Atoll. For this, you have to add a new field in the Services table.• You can allow a service to only access the selected preferred carrier(s). If a service is restricted to preferred carriers only, a

user of this service will be rejected if not able to connect to one of the preferred carriers. For this, you have to add a new fieldin the Services table.

Macro-diversity Gains• The calculation and use of macro-diversity gains can be disabled through the Atoll.ini file.

Neighbour Importance Calculation

• Atoll now enables you to calculate the importance of neighbour relations when the neighbour relations have been imported.

R99 Bearer Selection Table

• The R99 Bearer Selection table is now available in the Reception Equipment properties instead of the R99 Bearer properties.

Inter-carrier and Inter-technology Neighbour Allocation

• You can prevent Atoll from allocating inter-carrier and inter-technology neighbours to cells located on sites whose equipmentdoes not support the compressed mode. This can be activated by setting an option in the Atoll.ini file.





Scrambling Code Allocation

• You can select the scrambling code allocation strategies to be available to the user in the automatic allocation dialogue by set-ting an option in the Atoll.ini file.

• You can now define a fixed interval between the primary scrambling codes assigned to cells on a same site. This constraint isconsidered when the allocation is based on a Distributed strategy (Distributed per Cell or Distributed per Site). It is not appliedby default and must be activated by setting an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information about setting options in the atoll.inifile, see the Administrator Manual.

Primary Scrambling Code Locking

• You can lock primary scrambling codes of cells so that they are not modified by the automatic allocation. For this, you have toadd a new field in the Cells table.

© Forsk 2010 AT282_WN_E0 9


Primary Scrambling Code Audit

• The reuse distance condition results in the primary scrambling code audit now list the distance between the cells, that do notrespect the reuse distance condition, and the reuse distance.

Monte-Carlo Simulation Results

• Atoll displays the number and the percentage of delayed users in the Statistics tab of the simulation results. In addition, it detailsthe different reasons for delay.

• Atoll displays the average HSDPA throughput per user in the Cells tab of the simulation results. This result is available only ifyou have chosen to display and work with peak values of the HSDPA throughputs per mobile, cell, and site in simulation results.In Average Simulation results, the average HSDPA throughput per user can be calculated excluding the simulations where noHSDPA users were served. You can activate this calculation option using an Atoll.ini option.

• The Ec/I0 of rejected mobiles are hidden by default. You can display these values by setting an option in the Atoll.ini file.• In addition to the total connection success rate per cell, the connection success rate for each service is also available.• Atoll displays the transmitted HSDPA power for each cell. It corresponds to the HSDPA power used to serve HSDPA bearer

users in the cell.

Uplink Total Losses Coverage Prediction

• You can activate the Uplink Total Losses and Minimum Uplink Total Losses display options in the Coverage by Signal Levelprediction through an Atoll.ini option.

ACP


• Atoll ACP can now optimise antenna height in both new and existing Atoll projects.• The configuration of the antenna masking methods ACP can use has been improved. ACP now reduces the number of path

loss matrices pre-calculated, saving both time and computer resources.• The ACP map comparison feature has been improved. You can now compare ACP maps with Atoll coverage predictions.• Atoll ACP can now optimise the antenna azimuth for asymmetric antennas.• Atoll ACP now supports exporting coverage maps in many different vector and raster formats.

• ACP can now optimise additional electrical tilt.









Station Templates

• You can assign carriers to sectors individually in a station template.





Voice over IP (VoIP) Support

• Atoll enables you to model VoIP over EVDO Rev. A. This feature is not available by default; you must add new fields in thedatabase in order to activate it. For further information, please contact the support team.



10 AT282_WN_E0 © Forsk 2010






PN Offset Allocation

• You can select the PN offset allocation strategies to be available to the user in the automatic allocation dialogue by setting anoption in the Atoll.ini file.

PN Offset Audit

• The reuse distance condition results in the PN offset audit now list the distance between the cells, that do not respect the reusedistance condition, and the reuse distance.

PN Offset Locking

• You can lock PN offsets of cells so that they are not modified by the automatic allocation. For this, you have to add a new fieldin the Cells table.

Macro-diversity Gains

• The calculation and use of macro-diversity gains can be disabled through the Atoll.ini file.

Uplink Total Losses Coverage Prediction

• You can activate the Uplink Total Losses and Minimum Uplink Total Losses display options in the Coverage by Signal Levelprediction through an Atoll.ini option.


• In addition to the total connection success rate per cell, the connection success rate for each service is also available.

TD-SCDMA Features





Automatic Neighbour Allocation

• The automatic neighbour allocation has been improved. As TD-SCDMA networks work in N-frequency mode, the neighbourallocation is performed for master carriers only.







Scrambling Code Allocation

• You can select the scrambling code allocation strategies to be available to the user in the automatic allocation dialogue by set-ting an option in the Atoll.ini file.

• You can now define a fixed interval between the scrambling codes assigned to cells on a same site. This constraint is consid-ered when the allocation is based on a Distributed strategy (Distributed per Cell or Distributed per Site). It is not applied bydefault and must be activated by setting an option in the Atoll.ini file. For more information about setting options in the atoll.inifile, see the Administrator Manual.

Scrambling Code Relativity Clusters

• You can define scrambling code relativity clusters for scrambling codes with low orthogonality.• Close neighbours can be defined based on a minimum importance value and a maximum distance.• Close neighbours are allocated scrambling codes from different relativity clusters in order to avoid scrambling code interfer-

ence.• You can set a constraint violation cost for the close neighbours constraint.

© Forsk 2010 AT282_WN_E0 11



• The reuse distance condition results in the scrambling code audit now list the distance between the cells, that do not respectthe reuse distance condition, and the reuse distance.

Scrambling Code Locking

• You can lock scrambling codes of cells so that they are not modified by the automatic allocation. For this, you have to add anew field in the Cells table.

Carrier Support per Service

• More than one preferred carrier per service can be modelled by Atoll. For this, you have to add a new field in the Services table.• You can allow a service to only access the selected preferred carrier(s). If a service is restricted to preferred carriers only, a

user of this service will be rejected if not able to connect to one of the preferred carriers. For this, you have to add a new fieldin the Services table.


• In addition to the total connection success rate per cell, the connection success rate for each service is also available.

WiMAX BWA Features

Cell-level Information

• The segment number and cell permbase corresponding to the current preamble index are displayed in the Cells table and inthe Cells tab of a transmitter’s properties dialogue.

Access to IEEE Parameters

• You can make IEEE parameters (numbers of subcarriers and subchannels) unmodifiable by adding an option in the Atoll.ini file.

Coverage by Segment

• A new coverage display option is available for the Effective Signal Analysis (DL) coverage prediction that colours pixelsaccording to the segment number derived from the preamble index of the serving cell.

Preamble C/(I+N) Analysis on Test Mobile Data

• You can now carry out preamble C/(I+N) coverage predictions on test mobile data.

Cell Definition per Sector in Station Templates

• You can now create sites with more than one cell per sector from station templates.• You can assign different channel numbers to cells of different sectors in station templates.• You can assign different preamble indexes (WiMAX 802.16e) to cells of different sectors in station templates.

Preamble Index Allocation• The Preamble Index Status of any cell can be set to Segment Locked before running an automatic preamble index allocation.

A Segment Locked preamble index may be modified by the automatic allocation, but can only be replaced with a preambleindex corresponding to the current segment number of the cell.

• The preamble index allocation now takes into account the collision of preamble indexes between neighbours of a cell. Ideally,no two neighbours of a cell should be allocated the same preamble index.

Preamble Index Audit• The preamble index audit lets you check for co-site cells that have preamble indexes corresponding to the same or different

segment numbers.• The audit lets you verify if two neighbours of a cell have the same preamble index assigned.

Coverage by Uplink Transmission Power

• You can now carry out a Coverage by C/(I+N) (UL) and display the uplink transmission power used at each pixel.

Indoor Subscribers and Subscriber Mobility Types

• You can now defined whether a subscriber is located indoors or outdoors, and select a mobility type for each subscriber. Indoorlosses are applied in the case of indoor subscribers during calculations, and the mobility types are used to identify the thresh-olds and graphs to use.

Bearer Selection

• By placing an option in the Atoll.ini file, you can make Atoll use only the bearers which are common between the cell's andterminal's WiMAX equipment for downlink and uplink bearer selection.

Permutation Zone Selection Criterion

• You can now choose between preamble C/N and preamble C/(I+N) as the permutation zone selection criterion to be comparedwith the quality thresholds defined for the permutation zones.


• Atoll now enables you to calculate the importance of neighbour relations when the neighbour relations have been imported.The calculated importance can then be used by an AFP tool to assign frequencies.

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Inter-technology Interference

• You can model the effect of interference from external networks working under another technology (CDMA, TDMA or OFDM).or external sources.

• You can set the inter-technology DL noise rise level for each cell to model the effect of interference from external mobiles onyour network in the downlink.

• You can set the inter-technology UL noise rise level for each cell to model the effect of interference from external base stationsand mobile on your network in the uplink.

• You can set inter-technology interference reduction factors to model the effect of interference from external transmitters (of alinked project in co-planning) on your network in the downlink.

• Inter-technology interference affects all interference-based calculations.

Inter-technology Neighbour Allocation

• You can now carry out inter-technology neighbour allocation, between WiMAX and any other technology, based on coveragearea overlappings.

Point Analysis Details

• Allocated bandwidth in terms of the number of subchannels is now also listed in the point analysis details on the Signal Analysistab.

New Cell Creation

• You can now add a new cell to a transmitter by selecting New Cell from the transmitter's context menu.

Minimum Signal to Thermal Noise Threshold

• You can define a limit on the received signal level with respect to the thermal noise level. This value is used as a filter criterionon interferers. Interferers with a signal to thermal noise level lower than this value will be discarded.



Shadowing Margins

• The approach for applying the C/I shadowing margin to C/(I+N) has changed. Please refer to Chapters 4 and 9 of the TechnicalReference Guide for more details.

MIMO Interference Calculation

• In case of more than one antenna being used at an interferer, the interference from all the antennas can be taken into account.For this, you have to set an option in the Atoll.ini file. You may have to review the STTD/MRC gains set in the WiMAX equipmentaccordingly.

Useful Signal Level Calculation

• The useful signal level calculation may exclude the energy corresponding to the cyclic prefix part of the total symbol duration,hence taking into account only the energy belonging to the useful symbol duration. In order to do so, you have to set an optionin the Atoll.ini file. Independent of the option, interference levels are calculated for the total symbol durations, including theenergy useful symbol duration and the cyclic prefix energy.

Columns Displayed in Subscriber Lists

• You can select the columns to display in subscriber lists, and their order, in the Properties dialogue of the Subscribers folder.


• You can set a global value of the Preamble C/N Threshold.



AFP Cost Component Weights

• You can modify the default weights of the AFP cost components (distance, interference matrices, and neighbour relations)through the Atoll.ini file.

Preamble Index Allocation Cost Component Weights

• You can modify the default weights of the automatic preamble index allocation cost components (distance, interferencematrices, and neighbour relations, and preamble index, segment, and cell permbase constraint violations) through the Atoll.inifile.

ACP


• Atoll ACP can now optimise antenna height in both new and existing Atoll projects.

© Forsk 2010 AT282_WN_E0 13


• The configuration of the antenna masking methods ACP can use has been improved. ACP now reduces the number of pathloss matrices pre-calculated, saving both time and computer resources.

• The ACP map comparison feature has been improved. You can now compare ACP maps with Atoll coverage predictions.• Atoll ACP can now optimise the antenna azimuth for asymmetric antennas.• Atoll ACP now supports exporting coverage maps in many different vector and raster formats.










• You can use the ACP to optimise your WiMAX network with any other technology network (GSM, UMTS, or LTE). For this, youmust activate an option in the ACP.ini file.

LTE Features

Cell-level Information

• The P-SCH ID and S-SCH ID corresponding to the current physical cell ID are displayed in the Cells table and in the Cells tabof a transmitter’s properties dialogue.

• The reference signal, SCH and PBCH, and PDSCH and PDCCH transmission powers calculated from the max power and theEPRE offsets are displayed in the Cells table and in the Cells tab of a transmitter’s properties dialogue.

TDD Frame Configurations• TDD frame configurations now also include the configuration "D-UUU D-UUD" for half-frame switching point periodicity.

Cell Definition per Sector in Station Templates

• You can now create sites with more than one cell per sector from station templates.• You can assign different channel numbers to cells of different sectors in station templates.• You can assign different physical cell IDs to cells of different sectors in station templates.

Coverage by Uplink Transmission Power• You can now carry out a Coverage by C/(I+N) (UL) and display the uplink transmission power used at each pixel.

Indoor Subscribers and Subscriber Mobility Types

• You can now defined whether a subscriber is located indoors or outdoors, and select a mobility type for each subscriber. Indoorlosses are applied in the case of indoor subscribers during calculations, and the mobility types are used to identify the thresh-olds and graphs to use.

Bearer Selection

• By placing an option in the Atoll.ini file, you can make Atoll use only the bearers which are common between the cell's andterminal's LTE equipment for downlink and uplink bearer selection.

Cell Selection

• You can now choose between Random and Sequential cell selection modes for allocating traffic to cells of the same transmitter.

Inter-cell Interference Coordination

• Static inter-cell interference coordination using fractional frequency reuse is now available in the downlink.• Static ICIC enables the use of 1/3rd fractions of channel bandwidths at cell edges in order to decrease interference and improve

the CINR.• Which third fraction of the channel bandwidth is used by any cell depends on its PSS ID. Therefore, you can now create frac-

tional frequency plans automatically using the automatic physical cell ID allocation feature.• The definition of cell edge is based on the difference between the path loss from the second best server and from the best

server. A coverage prediction option is also available in the Effective Signal Analysis (DL) coverage prediction for studyingwhich pixels belong to the depending on this delta path loss.

14 AT282_WN_E0 © Forsk 2010


Fractional Uplink Power Control

• Fractional uplink power control modelling has been added.• You can set the fractional power control factor (alpha) and the maximum PUSCH C/(I+N) per cell. The fractional power control

factor is used in compensation of the path loss from the best server. The maximum PUSCH C/(I+N) gives the nominal PUSCHpower parameter for all the mobiles served by a cell.

Physical Cell ID Allocation

• The physical cell ID allocation now takes into account the collision of physical cell IDs between neighbours of a cell. Ideally, notwo neighbours of a cell should be allocated the same physical cell ID.

• With the implementation of the static inter-cell interference coordination using fractional frequency reuse, the physical cell IDallocation now has an impact on the fractional frequency planning. Fractional frequency plans are linked with the PSS ID allo-cation.

Physical Cell ID Audit• The audit lets you verify if two neighbours of a cell have the same physical cell ID assigned.

Neighbour Importance Calculation• Atoll now enables you to calculate the importance of neighbour relations when the neighbour relations have been imported.

The calculated importance can then be used by an AFP tool to assign frequencies.

Inter-technology Interference

• You can set the inter-technology DL noise rise level for each cell to model the effect of interference from external mobiles onyour network in the downlink.

• You can set the inter-technology UL noise rise level for each cell to model the effect of interference from external base stationsand mobile on your network in the uplink.

• Inter-technology interference affects all interference-based calculations.

Inter-technology Neighbour Allocation

• You can now carry out inter-technology neighbour allocation, between LTE and any other technology, based on coverage areaoverlappings.

Point Analysis Details

• Allocated bandwidth in terms of the number of frequency blocks is now also listed in the point analysis details on the SignalAnalysis tab.

New Cell Creation

You can now add a new cell to a transmitter by selecting New Cell from the transmitter's context menu.

Frame Details

• Atoll calculate and display the numbers of resource elements corresponding to different LTE physical signals and logical chan-nels in downlink and uplink.

Minimum Signal to Thermal Noise Threshold

• You can define a limit on the received signal level with respect to the thermal noise level. This value is used as a filter criterionon interferers. Interferers with a signal to thermal noise level lower than this value will be discarded.



Shadowing Margins

• The approach for applying the C/I shadowing margin to C/(I+N) has changed. Please refer to Chapters 4 and 10 of the Tech-nical Reference Guide for more details.

Support for 8 Antenna Ports

• Transmitters and terminals can now support eight antenna ports for transmission and reception.

RSRP, RSSI, and RSRQ

• Atoll now supports RSRP, RSSI, and RSRQ as defined by the 3GPP:- RSRP: Average Reference Signal Received Power per subcarrier.- RSSI: Received Signal Strength Indicator. This is the sum of all the signal powers, from the server and interferers, and

thermal noise received over the used channel bandwidth.- RSRQ: Reference Signal Received Quality is the ratio of RSRP to RSSI.- The cell edge definition is now based on RSRP instead of the reference signal C/N. The per-cell Reference Signal C/N

Threshold has been replaced with a Min RSRP value. When opening existing documents, the Reference Signal C/NThreshold values are automatically converted into min RSRP values. It is recommended that you verify that the conversionhas been correctly carried out.

- These calculations are available in coverage predictions as well as Monte Carlo simulation results.

© Forsk 2010 AT282_WN_E0 15


Downlink Transmission Power Calculation

• You can directly set the downlink reference signal energy per resource element.• You can now set separate power offsets for PBCH and PDCCH. PBCH used to be combined with the SS, and PDCCH with

PDSCH.

MIMO Interference Calculation

• In case of more than one antenna being used at an interferer, the interference from all the antennas is now taken into account.You may have to review the diversity gains set in the LTE equipment accordingly. You can switch back to the previous model-ling approach by setting an option in the Atoll.ini file.

Useful Signal Level Calculation

• The useful signal level calculation now takes into account the useful symbol energy (Es), i.e., excluding the energy corre-sponding to the cyclic prefix part of the total symbol duration. However, you can include the cyclic prefix energy in the usefulsignal level calculation by setting an option in the Atoll.ini file. Independent of the option, interference levels are calculated forthe total symbol durations, including the energy useful symbol duration and the cyclic prefix energy.

Schedulers

• A Round Robin scheduling method is now available in the Schedulers table.• The Proportional Fair scheduler can use a multi-user diversity gain graph in order to model the effect of fast fading on resource

scheduling.

Columns Displayed in Subscriber Lists

• You can select the columns to display in subscriber lists, and their order, in the Properties dialogue of the Subscribers folder.


• You can set a global value of Min RSRP.• The coverage conditions definition has been improved to match the 3GPP requirements. Neighbour allocation is now based

on RSRP margin and Min RSRP (global or per-cell) values.



AFP Cost Component Weights

• You can modify the default weights of the AFP cost components (distance, interference matrices, and neighbour relations)through the Atoll.ini file.

Physical Cell ID Allocation Cost Component Weights

• You can modify the default weights of the automatic physical cell ID allocation cost components (distance, interferencematrices, and neighbour relations, and physical cell ID, PSS ID, and SSS ID constraint violations) through the Atoll.ini file.

Transmit Diversity Gain on Reference Signals

• Through an Atoll.ini option, you can choose to:- Include the reference signal subcarriers simultaneously transmitted on both antenna ports 0 and 1 when calculating the

when calculating the instantaneous reference signal power. For more than one transmission antenna port, antenna ports 0and 1 transmit reference signals using different subcarriers during the same OFDM symbol.

- Apply the transmit diversity gains (the same used for PDSCH) instead of doubling the number of subcarriers used for trans-mitting reference signals when using more than one antenna port.

ACP

• Atoll ACP now supports the optimisation of LTE networks. ACP optimises reference signal coverage and RS CINR.• Atoll ACP enables you to weight the importance of the objectives.• During an optimisation, ACP can make the following changes to the network in order to meet the objectives:

- Adjust the azimuth of each sector antenna.- Adjust the mechanical down tilt of each sector antenna.- Adjust the electrical down tilt of each sector antenna.- Select the best antenna model from a list of available antennas.- Adjust the power of each sector antenna.

• Coverage maps are used for the optimisation process, however, traffic maps can be used for weighting network load distribu-tion.

• Atoll ACP supports the use of the Volcano propagation model. If you have a licence for the Volcano propagation model, youcan use it with the Atoll ACP. For more information, contact Forsk support.

• Atoll ACP enables you to export the results of an LTE optimisation as an XML file as well as in the form of a TXT, XLS, or HTMLfile.

• Atoll ACP uses Atoll's Legend Window. The results of any ACP optimisation map can be incorporated into the Atoll LegendWindow along with the results of any coverage prediction.

• Atoll ACP can optimise antenna height in both new and existing Atoll projects.• ACP reduces the number of path loss matrices pre-calculated, saving both time and computer resources.

16 AT282_WN_E0 © Forsk 2010


• You can compare ACP coverage maps with Atoll coverage predictions.• Atoll ACP can optimise the antenna azimuth for asymmetric antennas.• Atoll ACP supports exporting coverage maps in many different vector and raster formats.










Measurement Features

Naming Convention

• Test Mobile Data have been renamed into Drive Test Data.

Drive Test Statistics

• Similarly to CW Measurements, you can now display statistics on Drive Tests in order to compare predicted and measuredvalues.

• Since many type of measurements can be managed, running statistics consists in defining the correspondence between thefields dedicated to measurements and the fields dedicated to predictions.

CW Measurement Management

• You can now merge the CW measurement data of a same transmitter in a unique table. Thanks to this, you can work with thefiltering assistant on several measurement data related to the same transmitter

• Statistics functionalities have been improved. In addition to the global statistics and the statistics per clutter class, you can nowdisplay statistics per transmitter and per measurement path.

• For global statistics, the statistics per transmitter and per measurement path, you can now display the Root Mean Square andthe Correlation Factor, in addition to the mean error and the standard deviation.

• You can shift a set of points on the map in order to correct their position and place them on the roads of the project.

CW Measurements and Drive Test Data Filtering

• You can use the focus zone to keep measurement points inside the focus zone when filtering.

CW Measurements and Drive Test Data Configurations

• CW measurement and drive test data filtering parameters are now stored in user configuration files.

• The import configuration files for CW Measurements and Drive Test Data now also store the parameters set in the General tabof the Import dialogue.

Microwave Radio Links Features

Modifying Microwave Links Directly on the Map

• The following changes can now be done using the mouse:

- You can change the azimuth of the antenna,- You can change the antenna position relative to the site,- You can select another site for the link extremity.

Antenna Positions at Sites

• As an alternative to defining antenna positions relative to site locations (Dx, Dy), you can now choose to directly enter the actualantenna coordinates for each link and repeater.

Line of Sight Report

• The line of sight report can be calculated for two different k factor values.• In addition to the default set of fields calculated by Atoll, you can now include other information (e.g., site parameters) in the

report.

© Forsk 2010 AT282_WN_E0 17


360° View Tool

• The 360° View tool has been improved. It now shows the points of highest elevations in every direction around the selectedsite. Neighbour sites around the studied one are displayed according to their directions and Atoll indicates if the site is visible,partly visible or hidden from the studied site. This representation helps you select a receiver site among neighbours and deter-mine at which height you should install an antenna on the receiver site. You can also display the terrain profile between thestudied site and the neighbour site. Finally, new buttons enable you to change the angle of view and the azimuth of the studiedsite easily.

Analysis Report

• The analysis report available for each microwave link can be exported in RTF format.• You can now insert an extract of the map window showing the studied link and the surrounding area in the report. This option

is called "Link on the map" and available when you configure the report.

Link Budget Report for Multiple Microwave Links• In addition to the default set of fields calculated by Atoll, you can now include other information (e.g., site , link, frequency band

related parameters) in the report.• You can save the selection of fields to be displayed in the link budget report in a configuration file, enabling you to quickly apply

the same settings every time you calculate a link budget report.• Link budget report results can be calculated for two BER values.

Geoclimatic Parameters

• The Geoclimatic tab of the microwave link property dialogue has been improved. Geoclimatic parameters available in the tabdepend on the selected quality and availability calculation methods.

• A new option is available in the Models tab of the Microwave Links property dialogue when you select Vigants-Barnett as qualitycalculation method. It allows you to define the geoclimatic factor (K) value for each microwave link.

Equipment

• Atoll enables you to import equipment files that are in standard NSMA (National Spectrum Managers Association) formatdefined by the recommendation WG 21.99.051.

IRF Definition

• Access to IRF features (the IRF table and the assistant for IRF definition) has changed. They are now regrouped with equip-ment features.

• You can create IRF graphs between transmission and reception equipment from T/I graphs. You can use either the T/I graphsdefined for equipment or the T/I graphs available in the Theoretical Graphs table.

Interference Calculation• The ITU-R P.452 propagation model used to calculate interference has been improved. It is now based on the recommendation

P.452-12.• New options enable you to select the sites to be considered as interferers. You can take into account only co-channel sites, all

sites within a certain distance, or lets Atoll select the interfering sites according to the percentage of interfered bandwidth.These options are available in the Interference tab of the Microwave Radio Links property dialogue.

• Interference calculation for links with 2+0 configurations has been improved. You can now decide if you want Atoll to ignoreinterference generated by channels of the same link on each other. This new option also applies to parallel links (i.e., linkssharing the same link extremities). It is available in the Interference tab of the Microwave Radio Links property dialogue.

Interference Report for Multiple Microwave Links• In addition to the default set of fields calculated by Atoll, you can now include other information (e.g., site, link, frequency band

related parameters, etc.) in the report.• You can save the selection of fields to be displayed in the interference report in a configuration file, enabling you to quickly

apply the same settings every time you calculate an interference report.• Interference report results can be calculated for two BER values.

Channel Search Tool• A channel search tool is now available. It allows you to view the channel reuse on the map.

Intermodulation Products• Atoll can calculate and display third-order intermodulation products.

Global Parameters

• Atoll enables you to select if you want to calculate link budget and interference results for one or two BER values.

Tool tips on Microwave Links Folders

• The tool tip now displays the number of elements present in the Links, Multi-Hops, and Point to Multipoint folders.

Microwave Link Properties

• Atoll helps you to select the suitable frequency sub-band by filtering frequency sub-bands according to the installed equipment.

18 AT282_WN_E0 © Forsk 2010


Microwave Link Profile Printing

• Information about the microwave link (name of the microwave link, frequency, name of SiteA and SiteB, site coordinates, etc.)is available when printing the microwave link profile.

Terrain Sections

• The Terrain Section Properties dialogue available for any terrain section can now be accessed by right-clicking the Terrain Sec-tion tab of the Microwave Link Analysis Tool window.

API – Development Kit Features• The GSM AFP API now provides an interface for adding a new TRX with a specific number.

New Features Introduced in Atoll 2.8.0 (All Released Builds)General Features

Scanned Image Files

• Atoll now supports scanned image files in PNG formats.

Station Templates

• A table containing all station templates is available. When you right-click the Transmitters folder, select Network Settings andStation Templates.

Export of Tables in MS Excel Files

• You can export Atoll data tables to MS Excel files. It is also possible to open the exported table in MS Excel as soon as theexport is complete.

Workspace Windows Behaviour

• When you open a new workspace window (map window or a table) while another workspace window is maximized, Atollrestores all the windows to their normal sizes. A new option lets you open all new windows as maximized when you are viewingworkspace windows as maximized.

Tip Text for Coverage Predictions

• If you have more than one coverage prediction displayed on the map, the tool tips display the tip text for all the coverage pre-dictions available at a pixel up to a maximum of 30 lines. This default maximum can be changed by setting an option in theAtoll.ini file.

Scroll Bars in the Workspace

• Atoll’s workspace includes scroll bars to improve the usage of the space available for the map and table windows.

Database Connection Parameters

• Atoll stores in memory the last server name and user name used to open a document from a database.

Propagation Models

• Okumura-Hata and Cost-Hata model dialogues have been modified so that you can apply an additional correction on theselected formula for each clutter class. Diffraction losses can be weighted using a multiplying factor; this parameter can bedefined for each formula.

• Okumura-Hata and Cost-Hata model can now be calibrated using CW measurements through an automatic calibration wizardsimilar to the one of the Standard Propagation Model.

Path Loss Tuning

• The path loss tuning for repeaters and remote antennas is now supported. From a measured signal level, Atoll can extract thespecific contributions from the donor transmitter and the repeater/remote antenna itself. The path loss tuning is then based onthe contribution of each item and works similarly than for standard transmitters

Improvements in User Account Management in Multi-user Environments

• Using the Atoll Management Console, you can create, edit, delete, and deactivate user accounts.• You can set database access rights for each user.• You can set access rights to various objects in the Atoll interface (radio data tables, properties dialogues, coverage prediction

parameters, propagation models, etc.) for each user.

Parallel Calculations

• A maximum of 8 (instead of 4) parallel threads can be run when performing calculations.• You can set different numbers of calculation threads for different types of calculations, i.e., path losses, Monte Carlo simula-

tions, coverage predictions, neighbour allocations, microwave link analyses.

Distributed Calculation Server

• More than one instance of the distributed calculation service can be run on a server. You can run up to 10 distributed calculationservices on the same machine.

© Forsk 2010 AT282_WN_E0 19


XML File Encoding

• XML-format files generated by Atoll are now UTF-8 encoded. These files include CFG, GEO, and XML files.

Antenna Pattern Precision

• Atoll allows you to enter antenna pattern attenuations for as many as 720 angles. Therefore, attenuation values can also bedefined for angles other than integer values from 0° to 359°.

Portable Project Archives

• You can make archives (ZIP files) containing an ATL file and all the linked geographic data directly from Atoll. You can alsoextract the contents of such archives and open the ATL file directly in Atoll without the need of any external compression utility.

Information Displayed in the Point Analysis Profile Tab

• The cell edge coverage probability used for calculating the shadowing margin is also included in the information displayed onthe Profile tab of the Point Analysis window.

Creation and Deletion of Symmetric Neighbour Relations

• Symmetric neighbour relations can be created and deleted directly in the neighbour relations tabs of the cells’ properties dia-logue.

Coverage Calculation Resolution for Automatic Neighbour Allocation

• You can set calculation resolutions for the coverage calculations performed for automatic neighbour allocations.

Performing Calculations in Read-Only Documents

• In 2.7.1, it is not possible to run calculations in read-only Atoll documents by default. However, you can change this defaultbehaviour using an option in the Atoll.ini file, and run calculations even if a document is read-only.

Compatibility Between Document, Database, and Atoll Versions

• The management of compatibility between document versions, database versions, and Atoll versions has been improved. Forfurther information, see the Administrator Manual.

Rounding of Real Values to Integers in Profile Extraction

• Real values for altitudes read from DTM files are rounded up or down to their nearest integer values. For example, 98.8 m usedto be rounded to 98 m, but with the new method, it is rounded to 99 m.

Printing

• Atoll now offers access to print preview from the toolbar.• Print setup has been improved.

- You can now set variables such as the date and time in the header or footer when you print maps.- You can now save your print setup in a configuration file, enabling you to quickly apply the same settings every time you

print.- The print setup has been improved, allowing you to define the position of the map title, the header or footer, or the logo with

greater precision.

Polygon Zones

• The hot spot zones have been improved. You can now import individual polygons to an existing set of hot spot zones.

Display of Coverage Prediction Comments in the Legend Window

• You can display the contents of the Comments box of coverage prediction properties in the Legend window by setting an optionin the Atoll.ini file.

Display of Active and Inactive Repeaters in the Explorer

• The status of repeaters (active or inactive) is now visible by the colour of the symbol on the Data tab of the Explorer window.

Licence Management for ACP and AFP Modules• You can block access to GSM, UMTS, and WiMAX ACP module licences and to WiMAX and LTE AFP module licences using

options in the Atoll.ini file.

GSM GPRS EGPRS Features

Transmitter Identity

• A new ID field is available for assigning a user-defined network-level ID for each transmitter.

Graphic User Interface

• Packet-Switched related equipment, Codec Equipment and TRX Equipment have respectively been renamed GPRS/EDGEConfiguration, Codec Configuration and TRX Configuration.

• The transmitter folder context menu has been re-organised in order to locate the GPRS/EDGE, Codec and TRX configurationsin the Network Settings part

• Codec Modes and Coding Schemes can now be accessed from a read-only table

20 AT282_WN_E0 © Forsk 2010


EDGE Evolution

• The EDGE evolution has been implemented in this release with the introduction of new coding schemes (with higher-ordermodulation and use of turbo codes), the support of dual carriers and dual antennas terminals with the aim to increase the userthroughputs.

• 3 new default GPRS/EDGE configurations has been added to introduce the new coding schemes (DAS and DBS) and relatedthresholds.

• Some information (Modulation, EDGE or GPRS) previously contained in GPRS/EDGE configurations have been transferred tothe read-only coding scheme table.

• The Coding Scheme prediction study has been improved so that results are not given any more in term of index (value intervals)but in term of coding scheme name (discrete values). To keep your previous coding scheme studies consistent, you will haveto re-run them with the new display option.

Automatic Selection of Best Server in Point Analysis

• In the Reception and Results tabs, a thick black line from the pointer to its best server is displayed in the map window. Thebest server of the pointer is the transmitter from which the pointer receives the highest signal level.

• In the Interference tab, the transmitters are sorted in the list of transmitters in the order of decreasing signal level received atthe pointer location.

Transmitter, Repeater, and Remote Antenna Coverage Areas

• Through an option in the Atoll.ini file, you can create a "Coverage by Aerial" signal level coverage prediction which lets youdefine the display settings for repeaters and remote antennas independently of their associated transmitters.

Traffic Maps• The way of creating traffic maps in Atoll has changed. The graphical user interface has been simplified. Traffic maps have been

regrouped by category. You can find three categories, traffic maps per user profile, traffic maps per sector and traffic maps peruser density (No. Users/km2). After selecting the first category, you can choose between two options, Based on User ProfileDensities or Based on Environments of User Profiles.

AFP wizard and result dialogues• The AFP wizard dialogues have been modified in order to introduce the new AFP options and reorganise the functions• The AFP result dialogue is now made of 3 tabs:

- The Summary tab shows the variation from the initial plan to the best obtained plan

- The Allocation tab displays the obtained allocation in details as in previous releases

- The Subcell tab provides the initial and final following information, if estimated during the AFP session:

- Subcell AFP indicators- Preferred frequency groups- Subcell traffic loads

Prediction Studies

• The correctly served traffic can now be provided in interference studies reports. To make this available, select the columnTraffic (Erlangs - Based on Traffic Load). The total traffic is also displayed for each transmitter.

Neighbour Visual

• The selection of transmitters has been improved when the neighbour visual management mode is active. When there is morethan one transmitter with the same azimuth on the site, clicking the transmitter in the map window opens a context menuallowing you to select the transmitter you want.

• The visual management of neighbour relations has been improved. You can now display the neighbour links of a transmitteraccording to any attribute of the Intra-technology Neighbours table, or according to the neighbour frequency band, the neigh-bour HCS layer or the neighbour cell type. For example, you can distinguish on the map 900-900, 1800-1800 and 900-1800neighbour relations.

• Neighbour management functions available in the Intra-technology Neighbours table now support neighbour relation multi-selection. Therefore, you can make several neighbour relations symmetric or delete several symmetric neighbour relations inthe table at once. In addition, the Symmetrise and Delete Link and Symmetric Relation commands are available when usingthe Intra-technology tab of the transmitter property dialogue to allocate or delete neighbours.

Coexistence of Networks

• You can model the effect of interference from coexisting GMS/GPRS/EDGE networks. The feature allows you to study theeffect of interference on your network from other parts of your own GMS/GPRS/EDGE network and from the GMS/GPRS/EDGE networks of other operators.

Inter-technology Interferences

• You can model the effect of interference from external networks working under another technology (CDMA, TDMA or OFDM).or external sources. These interferences may be due to adjacent channel interferences, wideband noise or intermodulations.

• The addition of a new field at the TRX level (Inter-technology DL noise rise) allows you to model the effects of external receiverson the network receivers.

© Forsk 2010 AT282_WN_E0 21


• The definition of inter-technology interference reduction factors allows you to model the effect of external transmitters (of alinked project in co-planning) on the network receivers.

• The effect of inter-technology interferences can be seen on any study where interferences are evaluated, including in the pointanalysis window.

Automatic Cell Planning Features

• An Automatic Cell Planning module is now available with the GSM module. The ACP enables engineers to automatically findthe best network settings to improve network quality thanks to the optimisation of both coverage and overlapping areas.

• The ACP module is primarily designed to improve existing networks by reconfiguring the main parameter that operators cancontrol remotely: antenna electrical tilt. It can also be used during the initial planning stage by enabling the selection of theantenna, its azimuth, and the mechanical tilt.

• The ACP module also enables the user to select the best sites and sectors using the site selection process.• The optimisation is based on coverage maps, and traffic maps are fully supported for weighting network load distribution.• The antenna tab enables you to group antenna patterns into groups of physical antennas (i.e., all patterns related to the same

physical antenna) and group the physical antennas at different frequencies into radomes.• The optimisation enables you to manage radio layers (GSM 900/GSM 1800) and merge them to optimise dual band GSM net-

works.• Atoll ACP allows you to specify different quality targets for the computation zone and for focus zone. It also enables you to use

Hot Spots and allows you to specify different quality targets for each Hot Spot zone and display final results per zone.• Atoll ACP enables you to produce an implementation plan based either on a maximum cost or on a compromise between

quality and cost. For example, the reconfiguration cost for the antenna type, azimuth, tilt, and power can be defined; a site visitor site selection can also be considered in terms of cost.

• The ACP module is designed to be accurate by correctly modelling most propagation models. It can be easily extended foroperator-specific propagation models.

• Co-planning Features

- When working with multi-technology projects, you can now modify the properties of maps individually for each technology.For example, in a combined UMTS-GSM project, you can modify the properties for the RSCP maps (UMTS) and the BCCHmaps (GSM) separately.

• Atoll ACP now enables you to export the results of a GSM optimisation as an XML file as well as in the form of a TXT, XLS, orHTML file.

• ACP now takes repeaters and remote antennas into account when optimising a network.• Atoll ACP now supports the use of the Volcano propagation model. If you have a licence for the Volcano propagation model,

you can use it with the Atoll ACP. For more information, contact Atoll support.

GSM AFP Features

Separation Constraint Details in AFP Results

• You can set display filters in the AFP results dialogue in order to list separation constraint violations for the co-transmitter, co-site, neighbour separation, and exceptional separation cases.

Average Downlink Power Control Gain

• Average downlink power control gains are applied when interference matrices are read in order to be used in calculations (IFP,AFP, etc.).

Cost function based on maximisation of correctly served traffic

• Instead of minimizing the AFP cost as it was done in previous releases, the AFP now tries to maximize the amount of correctlyserved traffic and to avoid blocking.

• The AFP is now capable of optimising the number of required TRXs in order to reduce the interferences. The number ofrequired TRXs will be reduced in case the subcell load is low and increased in case of highly loaded subcells. If the number ofrequired TRXs is modified by the AFP, the subcell traffic loads may be modified and KPIs have to be re-estimated. Two modelsof optimisation have been implemented in the AFP

• A new component of the cost estimating the blocked traffic has been introduced (Blocking cost). The correctly served traffic isthe difference between the total traffic and the blocked traffic.


Dual-band Networks

• You can now plan dual-band CDMA networks in a single CDMA2000 1xRTT 1xEV-DO document (e.g. a network comprising1900 MHz and 700 MHz transmitters).

- The frequency band definition has been removed from the Global Parameters tab of the Transmitters property dialogue.You can now define the frequency bands used in the network and each carrier type in the Frequency Bands table.

- You can select a frequency band for each transmitter.

- You can define the frequency bands with which terminals are compatible. Atoll takes this information into account to deter-mine the user active set. Users can only be connected to transmitters using a frequency band supported by the terminal.

22 AT282_WN_E0 © Forsk 2010


Power Values

• The total power defined in the cell properties can be either an absolute value (expressed in dBm), or a percentage of the max-imum power supported by the cell. This option can be defined in the Global Parameters tab of the transmitter properties dia-logue. Atoll automatically converts the value when the option is changed.

• The SCH power and the paging power values are now automatically converted when the DL Powers option (Absolute or Rel-ative to Pilot) is changed in the Global Parameters tab of the transmitter properties dialogue.

Default Orthogonality Factor

• The default orthogonality factor is no longer available in the Global Parameters tab of the Transmitters Property dialogue. Asother default values, you can define this parameter in the Default Values tab of the Clutter Classes property dialogue.

Traffic Maps• Two new traffic maps are available. You can create a traffic map per sector and input the total number of users including all

activity statuses. Finally, Atoll supports traffic maps per user density where each pixel is assigned a total number of usersincluding all activity statuses per km2.

• The way of creating traffic maps in Atoll has changed. The graphical user interface has been simplified in order to introducethe new traffic maps. Traffic maps are now classified in three categories, traffic maps per user profile, traffic maps per sectorand traffic maps per user density (No. Users/km2). For each category, the user can choose between different options (e.g.Based on user profile densities or Based on environments of user profiles for the first category).

Monte Carlo Simulations• The best server determination mode in the Monte Carlo simulation has been modified. Before the Atoll version 2.8.0, the best

server determination used to be performed by selecting the best carrier within transmitters according to the selected method(defined in the site equipment) and then the best transmitter using the best carrier. Now, Atoll selects a best transmitter percarrier, evaluates the candidate transmitters and then determines the best carrier within the candidate transmitters. This newmethod allows dual-band transmitters of a site to share the traffic load on both frequency bands. It impacts the results for singlefrequency band networks as well.

• When you replay a group of simulation(s), you can now decide if you want to take into account traffic parameter modifications(such as, maximum and minimum traffic channel powers allowed, Eb/Nt thresholds, etc.).

• Atoll displays the number of connected users per frequency band in the Statistics tab of the simulation properties dialogue. Thisnew result enables you to analyse the user distribution between frequency bands for dual-band networks.



Point Analysis: Enhancements of the Results tab

• In addition to the previously displayed information (current position and height of the receiver, clutter class it is situated on,signal strength from each transmitter), by selecting a specific Terminal, Service, Mobility, Carrier, Atoll now displays for eachtransmitter Ec/Io, DL and UL Eb/Nt values and its PN Offsets.

Cell Identity

• A new ID field is available for assigning a user-defined network-level ID for each cell.

Neighbour Visual

• The selection of cells has been improved when the neighbour visual management mode is active. When there is more thanone cell on the transmitter, clicking the transmitter in the map window opens a context menu allowing you to select the cell youwant.

• The visual management of neighbour relations has been improved. You can now display the neighbour links of a cell accordingto any attribute of the Intra-technology Neighbours table, or according to the neighbour carrier. Therefore, you can view on themap intra-carrier and inter-carrier neighbour relations.

• Neighbour management functions available in the Intra-technology Neighbours table now support neighbour relation multi-selection. Therefore, you can make several neighbour relations symmetric or delete several symmetric neighbour relations inthe table at once. In addition, the Symmetrise and Delete Link and Symmetric Relation commands are available when usingthe Cells tab of the transmitter property dialogue to allocate or delete neighbours.



• The addition of a new field at the cell level (Inter-technology DL noise rise) allows you to model the effects of external receiverson the network receivers.

• The addition of a new field at the cell level (Inter-technology UL noise rise) allows you to model the effects of external basestations or mobiles on the network base stations.


• The effect of inter-technology interferences can be seen on any study where interferences are evaluated.• A new study called Inter-technology DL interferences is now available in the study list.

© Forsk 2010 AT282_WN_E0 23


UMTS HSPA Features

Power Values

• The total power defined in the cell properties can be either an absolute value (expressed in dBm), or a percentage of the max-imum power supported by the cell. This option can be defined in the Global Parameters tab of the transmitter properties dia-logue. Atoll automatically converts the value when the option is changed.

• The SCH power, the CCH power, the HS-SCCH power and the HSUPA power values are now automatically converted whenthe DL Powers option (Absolute or Relative to Pilot) is changed in the Global Parameters tab of the transmitter properties dia-logue.

Default Orthogonality Factor

• The default orthogonality factor is no longer available in the Global Parameters tab of the Transmitters Property dialogue. Asother default values, you can define this parameter in the Default Values tab of the Clutter Classes property dialogue.

Channel Elements

• Channel elements consumed by HSUPA bearer users are now taken into account in the Monte Carlo simulation. The numberof channel elements required by each HSUPA bearer can be defined in the HSUPA Resource Consumption table. The max-imum number of channel elements on each site is a common pool of channel elements for R99 and HSUPA bearer users.

Iub Backhaul Throughput

• For each site, you can now define a maximum Iub backhaul throughput. This constraint may be considered in the Monte Carlosimulation. Atoll checks if the maximum Iub backhaul throughput on the site is not exceeded. If exceeded, users are down-graded to a lower bearer that requires a lower Iub backhaul throughput and finally rejected (R99 and HSUPA bearer users) ordelayed (HSDPA bearer users) when the limit is still exceeded.

• New results related to the Iub backhaul throughput are available in the different tabs of the simulation property dialogue (Sta-tistics, Sites, Transmitters, Mobiles tab).

Traffic Maps• You can now define uplink and downlink activity factors for packet-switched services. Atoll considers these parameters to deter-

mine the probability of activity for each user during Monte-Carlo simulations. These parameters are used when working withtraffic maps per sector and traffic maps per user density.

• Two new traffic maps are available. You can create a traffic map per sector and input the total number of users including allactivity statuses. Finally, Atoll supports traffic maps per user density where each pixel is assigned a total number of usersincluding all activity statuses per km2.

• The way of creating traffic maps in Atoll has changed. The graphical user interface has been simplified in order to introducethe new traffic maps. Traffic maps are now classified in three categories, traffic maps per user profile, traffic maps per sectorand traffic maps per user density (No. Users/km2). For each category, the user can choose between different options (e.g.Based on user profile densities or Based on environments of user profiles for the first category).

Monte Carlo Simulations• The new best server determination mode, implemented in the Atoll version 2.7 and available by setting an option in the Atoll.ini

file, is now the default method of the Monte Carlo simulation. This method allows dual-band transmitters of a site to share thetraffic load on both frequency bands. It impacts the results for single frequency band networks as well.

• When you replay a group of simulation(s), you can now decide if you want to take into account traffic parameter modifications(such as, maximum and minimum traffic channel powers allowed, Eb/Nt thresholds, etc.).



Point Analysis: Enhancements of the Results tab

• In addition to the previously displayed information (current position and height of the receiver, clutter class it is situated on,signal strength from each transmitter), by selecting a specific Terminal, Service, Mobility, Carrier, Atoll now displays for eachtransmitter Ec/Io, DL and UL Eb/Nt values and its Scrambling Codes.

Cell Identity


HARQ

• Atoll fully models the effect of HARQ on HSUPA throughputs. You can display the average RLC throughput as well as theaverage application throughput when calculating HSUPA coverage predictions.

Transmitter, Repeater, and Remote Antenna Coverage Areas

• Through an option in the Atoll.ini file, you can create a "Coverage by Aerial" signal level coverage prediction which lets youdefine the display settings for repeaters and remote antennas independently of their associated transmitters.

24 AT282_WN_E0 © Forsk 2010


Neighbours




HSPA+

• Improvements introduced by the release 7 of the 3GPP UTRA specifications and referred to as HSPA+ are modelled into Atoll.

- You can define in cell properties if the cell supports HSPA+ and which MIMO system, i.e. transmit diversity or spatial mul-tiplexing, is used.

- You can select the number of transmission and reception antenna ports used for MIMO in transmitter properties.

- The description of HSDPA and HSUPA bearers has been enhanced in order to take into account the support of higher ordermodulations in DL and UL. You can define the modulation supported by the bearer. Finally, new HSDPA and HSUPAbearers are available in the respective tables.

- The description of HSDPA and HSUPA UE categories has been enhanced in order to take into account the support of MIMOsystems in DL and higher order modulations in DL and UL. You can define the highest modulation scheme used by thecategory (i.e. 64QAM in DL and 16QAM in UL) and whether the HSDPA UE category supports MIMO systems or not (i.e.transmit diversity or spatial multiplexing). Finally, new HSDPA and HSUPA UE categories are available in the respectivetables.

- The terminal description has been improved. You can define if the terminal supports HSPA+ and the number of receptionantenna ports available for MIMO.

- A new tab (MIMO tab) allowing you to model gains generated by MIMO systems is available in reception equipment prop-erties. Transmit diversity gains as well as spatial multiplexing capacity gains can be defined for different numbers of trans-mission and reception antenna ports, mobility types and HSDPA bearers.

- Offsets with respect to the transmit diversity gain values and a spatial multiplexing gain factor can be defined per clutterclass.






• The effect of inter-technology interferences can be seen on any study where interferences are evaluated.• A new study called Inter-technology DL interferences is now available in the study list.

Test Mobile Data Import with Scrambling Codes as Integers

• You can force the conversion of scrambling codes to integer values when importing test mobile data by adding an option in theAtoll.ini file.

Automatic Cell Planning Features

• Optimisation Setup:

- The ACP configuration dialogue has been improved with the following new options

- The antenna tab has been improved and now enables you to group antenna patterns into groups of physical antennas(i.e., all patterns related to the same physical antenna) and group the physical antennas at different frequencies intoradomes.

- The optimisation tab now enables you to manage the radio layers to be optimised separately.- The objective tab now enables you to specify different quality targets for the computation zone and for focus zone.- The ACP now gives more detailed information when transmitters cannot be linked.

• Cost Control for Implementation Plan:

- In the previous Atoll version, the optimisation was based only on quality without taking into account the cost of changes forthe operator (for example, the site visit cost, or the reconfiguration costs for antenna parameters). The cost function hasbeen improved and now enables you to produce an implementation plan based either on a maximum cost or on a compro-

© Forsk 2010 AT282_WN_E0 25


mise between quality and cost. For example, the reconfiguration cost for the antenna type, azimuth, tilt, and power can bedefined; a site visit or site selection can also be considered in terms of cost.

• Co-planning Features

- When working with multi-technology projects, you can now modify the properties of maps individually for each technology.For example, in a combined UMTS-GSM project, you can modify the properties for the RSCP maps (UMTS) and the BCCHmaps (GSM) separately.

• Atoll ACP now enables you to export the results of a UMTS optimisation as an XML file as well as in the form of a TXT, XLS,or HTML file.

• ACP now takes repeaters and remote antennas into account when optimising a network.• Atoll ACP now supports the use of the Volcano propagation model. If you have a licence for the Volcano propagation model,

you can use it with the Atoll ACP. For more information, contact Atoll support.

TD-SCDMA Features

Power Values

• The DwPCH power and the Other CCH power values are now automatically converted when the DL Powers option (Absoluteor Relative to Pilot) is changed in the Global Parameters tab of the transmitter properties dialogue.

Traffic Maps• Two new traffic maps are available. You can create a traffic map per sector and input the total number of users including all

activity statuses. Finally, Atoll supports traffic maps per user density where each pixel is assigned a total number of usersincluding all activity statuses per km2.

• The way of creating traffic maps in Atoll has changed. The graphical user interface has been simplified. Traffic maps are nowclassified in three categories, traffic maps per user profile, traffic maps per sector and traffic maps per user density (No. Users/km2). For each category, the user can choose between different options (e.g. Based on user profile densities or Based on envi-ronments of user profiles for the first category).

Monte Carlo Simulations

• When you replay a group of simulation(s), you can now decide if you want to take into account traffic parameter modifications(such as, maximum and minimum traffic channel powers allowed, Eb/Nt or C/I thresholds, etc.).

HSDPA Bearers

• A more exhaustive list of HSDPA bearers is available by default in the TD-SCDMA project template. The template contains 252HSDPA bearers.

HSDPA Coverage Prediction Display Types

• A number of new display types are available in the HSDPA coverage prediction:

- For all timeslots:

- Minimum, average, and maximum HS-PDSCH RSCP.- Minimum, average, and maximum HS-PDSCH Ec/Nt.

- For a given timeslot:

- Uplink and downlink maximum A-DPCH Eb/Nt- HS-SCCH power, RSCP, and Ec/Nt.- HS-SICH power, RSCP, and Ec/Nt.- HS-PDSCH RSCP and Ec/Nt

Smart Antenna Models

• A new smart antenna model is available. The Conventional Beamformer model performs beamforming in both downlink anduplink.

• You can display the downlink smart antenna results diagrams taking into account the effect of the single element antenna pat-tern. In this case, the angular distributions of the downlink transmitted power density are displayed multiplied by the singleantenna element patter.

N-Frequency Mode: Automatic Frequency Allocation Improvements

• The calculation of weighted distance between transmitters for allocating master and slave carriers has been improved. Theweighted distance takes more into account the effect of transmitter azimuths.

N-Frequency Automatic Carrier Allocation

• Automatic carrier allocation can be performed using Co- and Diff-N-Frequency strategies.• Automatic master carrier allocation can be performed separately than automatic allocation of all the carriers.



26 AT282_WN_E0 © Forsk 2010


Multi-Cell Joint Detection

• Atoll models multi-cell joint detection which is used to decrease uplink interference from mobiles in other cells during MonteCarlo simulations.

Cell Identity


Neighbour Visual Management




WiMAX BWA Features

Support for Multi-cell Transmitters

• The WiMAX module now lets you create transmitters with more than one cell (carrier).• Different cell selection methods are available for selecting the reference cell from among the available cells in the best serving

transmitter. These cell selection methods are used in coverage prediction calculations, point analysis, calculations on sub-scriber lists, and in Monte Carlo simulations.

Automatic Frequency Planner (AFP)

• The Atoll WiMAX BWA module includes an optional automatic frequency planning feature. The AFP automatically determinesthe best frequency allocation plan that optimises interference in the network.

• The AFP performs automatic allocation based on interference matrices, neighbour relations and importance, and relationsbased on distance between cells.

• The AFP can also be used to allocate preamble indexes in WiMAX 802.16e documents.• It is possible to allocate preamble indexes from the entire range (0-113) or a reduced range (0-95).• The interference matrices are calculated for all the cells of multi-cell transmitters.

Automatic Preamble Index Allocation

• It is possible to allocate preamble indexes from the entire range (0-113) or a reduced range (0-95).• You can allocate preamble indexes automatically so that the same segment number is assigned to co-transmitter cells.• You can exclude a user-defined list of preamble indexes from the automatic allocation.• The preamble index audit lets you check for co-transmitter cells that have preamble indexes corresponding to the same or dif-

ferent segment numbers.

Effective Signal Point Analysis

• A signal analysis tab is available in the Point Analysis window which gives you the following information:- Preamble: Total losses, received preamble power, preamble total noise (I+N), preamble C/(I+N), azimuth and tilt of the

receiver.- Downlink: Permutation zone, diversity mode, pilot and traffic received powers, traffic total noise (I+N), pilot and traffic C/

(I+N), bearer, channel throughputs, and cell capacities.- Uplink: Permutation zone, diversity mode, received power, total noise (I+N), C/(I+N), bearer, channel throughputs, cell

capacities, and allocated bandwidth throughputs.

WiMAX 802.16e Preamble Interference Correction

• The preamble is considered always segmented in signal level and interference calculations. Preambles use the preamble car-rier sets corresponding to the segment numbers determined from the preamble indexes assigned to the cells.



Definition of Cell Capacity Limits

• A new feature allows you to set the upper limits for downlink and uplink traffic loads for cells. Using these limits, it is possibleto model additional constraints in Monte Carlo simulations, i.e., resource saturation can occur when the user-defined cellcapacity limit is achieved.

• New display options are available for the Coverage by Throughput prediction using which you can calculate and display theactual cell capacity at covered pixels. The cell capacity is limited by the maximum downlink and uplink traffic load constraintdefined per cell.

• Using this feature, it is possible to simulate the effect of infra-structure sharing between operators. If an infrastructure providersupports the traffic of two different operators, it is possible to simulate the network behaviour (cell loads, capacities, and user

© Forsk 2010 AT282_WN_E0 27


rejections) by setting the maximum downlink and uplink traffic loads for cells the way the resources are shared among the twooperators.

Definition of DL:UL Subframe Ratios

• In WiMAX 802.16e documents, you can define the DL:UL subframe ratios for TDD networks in terms of the numbers of symboldurations available in the downlink and uplink subframes. You can still define the ratio in terms of percentage as before.

Coverage by Permutation Zones

• You can calculate and display coverage predictions that colour the covered pixels according to the downlink and uplink permu-tation zones assigned to them.

Coverage by Modulation

• You can calculate and display coverage predictions that colour the covered pixels according to the modulation used by thebearer assigned to them.

Coverage by Uplink Allocated Bandwidth Throughput

• You can calculate and display coverage predictions that colour the covered pixels according to the throughput correspondingto the allocated bandwidth (number of subchannels) in uplink.

Coverage by Uplink Allocated Bandwidth (Number of Subchannels)

• You can calculate and display coverage predictions that colour the covered pixels according to the uplink allocated bandwidth(number of subchannels) after subchannelisation.

Coverage by C/(I+N) Level for 1 Subchannel

• You can calculate and display coverage predictions that colour the covered pixels according to the C/(I+N) level calculated for1 subchannel in uplink.

Quality Indicator Coverage Prediction

• Downlink and uplink quality indicator coverage predictions are now available. These coverage predictions display the valuesof different quality indicators (BLER, BER, etc.) for each pixel based on the C/(I+N) and best bearer available.

Improvements in MIMO Modelling

• Atoll now supports multi-user MIMO (collaborative MIMO or collaborative spatial multiplexing) in the uplink. The MU-MIMOcapacity gain, a result of multiplexing users over two spatially parallel frames, can either be a result of the Monte Carlo simu-lations (RRM) or a user-defined value per cell.

• SU-MIMO (single-user MIMO or spatial multiplexing, SM) and STTD/MRC gains are now available per reception equipment.• Therefore, different gains can be defined for the same combinations of numbers of transmission and reception antennas.• In addition to different mobility types, you can define SU-MIMO and STTD/MRC gains for different bearers, subchannel alloca-

tion modes, and maximum BLER values.• If the spatial multiplexing gain for the exact value of C/(I+N) is not available in the Max MIMO Gain vs. C/(I+N) table, it is inter-

polated from the gain values available for the C/(I+N) just less than and just greater than the actual C/(I+N).

Improvements in Subscriber Lists

• The names of the clutter classes where the subscribers are located and the distances of subscribers from their serving basestations are available in subscriber lists.

• In addition to bearer indexes and permutation zone numbers, the bearer names and subchannel allocation modes corre-sponding to the zone numbers are also listed in the subscriber lists.

Traffic Maps• The way of creating traffic maps in Atoll has changed. The graphical user interface has been simplified. Traffic maps are now

classified in three categories, traffic maps per user profile, traffic maps per sector and traffic maps per user density (No. Users/km2). For each category, the user can choose between different options (e.g. Based on user profile densities or Based on envi-ronments of user profiles for the first category).

Monte Carlo Simulations

• When working with a distributed calculation server, WiMAX Monte Carlo simulations are calculated in parallel if the GeneratorInitialisation is set to 0.

• In addition to bearer indexes and permutation zone numbers, the bearer names and subchannel allocation modes corre-sponding to the zone numbers are also listed in the simulation results.

Smart Antenna Models

• A new smart antenna model is available. The Conventional Beamformer model performs beamforming in both downlink anduplink.

• You can display the downlink smart antenna results diagrams taking into account the effect of the single element antenna pat-tern. In this case, the angular distributions of the downlink transmitted power density are displayed multiplied by the singleantenna element patter.

WiMAX 802.16e Test Mobile Data Import

• In addition to BSID, it is possible to import WiMAX 802.16e test mobile data using the preamble index as cell identifier.

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Uplink Power Control

• Power control in uplink is now performed for all bearers, intermediate or highest available.

Neighbour


• The visual management of neighbour relations has been improved. You can now display the neighbour links of a cell accordingto any attribute of the Intra-technology Neighbours table.


• The automatic neighbour allocation can allocate neighbours to multi-cell transmitters.





• The effect of inter-technology interferences can be seen on any study where interferences are evaluated.

Scheduler Improvements

• You can select the bearer selection criterion for schedulers. Schedulers may choose bearers for users according to the bearerindexes, by comparing the peak MAC throughputs, or by comparing the effective MAC throughputs.

• You can select the uplink subchannelisation (bandwidth allocation) target for schedulers. Subchannelisation may be turned off,or schedulers may perform subchannelisation in order to maintain the connection in uplink or obtain the best bearer.

ACP

• Atoll ACP now supports the optimisation of WiMAX networks. ACP optimises preamble coverage and preamble CINR cov-erage. Atoll ACP also enables you weight the importance of the objectives. During an optimisation, ACP can make the followingchanges to the network in order to meet the objectives:

- Adjust the azimuth of each sector antenna.- Adjust the mechanical down tilt of each sector antenna.- Adjust the electrical down tilt of each sector antenna- Select the best antenna model from a list of available antennas. - Adjust the preamble power of each sector antenna.

• Coverage maps are used for the optimisation process, however, traffic maps can be used for weighting network load distribu-tion.

• Atoll ACP now supports the use of the Volcano propagation model. If you have a licence for the Volcano propagation model,you can use it with the Atoll ACP. For more information, contact Atoll support.

• Atoll ACP now enables you to export the results of a GSM optimisation as an XML file as well as in the form of a TXT, XLS, orHTML file.

LTE Features

Atoll now models LTE networks. The Atoll LTE module enables you to design LTE broadband mobile networks. You can use Atoll toaccurately predict the network’s coverage and behaviour in coverage-limited as well as in interference-limited planning scenarios. Atollalso includes support for advanced antenna diversity techniques such as transmit and receive diversity, single-user and multi-userspatial multiplexing, and adaptive MIMO switching.

The main features in the new LTE module are listed below.

General Features

• Atoll LTE is based on the Atoll core platform and includes all the GUI features of Atoll.• Atoll LTE supports the planning and design of 3GPP LTE broadband cellular networks.• The modelling of the network database is similar to 3G Atoll modules. The network database comprises sites, sectors, and

cells.• Atoll LTE includes a rich and flexible traffic model. You can work with different types of traffic input.• You can work with various geographic data types.• You can create and work with many frequency bands. Each frequency band in Atoll contains channels of a defined bandwidth.

You can also define the sampling frequency and the number of frequency blocks (resource block widths) corresponding to thechannel width of each frequency band. You can define whether a frequency band is FDD or TDD.

• You can network-level parameters which include the cyclic prefix type (normal or extended), the PDCCH and PUCCH over-heads, and the switching point periodicity for TDD networks (half-frame or full-frame). Other control channel overheads aremodelled in Atoll as defined by the 3GPP. Control channels whose corresponding overheads are fixed in Atoll include P-SCH,S-SCH, PBCH, downlink reference signals, and uplink demodulation and sounding reference signals.

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• You can set up as many LTE bearers (i.e., modulation and coding schemes) as required. Each MCS can be assigned a mod-ulation type (QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM, etc.), a coding rate, and a spectral efficiency, which is modelled as bearer efficiency,number of user data bits per modulation symbol, in Atoll.

• It is possible to model reception characteristics for cell as well as UE equipment. Reception characteristics include bearerselection thresholds and various quality indicator graphs (BLER, BER, etc.)

• You can create base station templates and use these templates to quickly create eNode-Bs in your network.

Network Parameters

• The network database comprises sites, sectors, and cells.• The sites database can be imported from existing networks, such as a 3G network.• Transmitter characteristics are fully modelled. These include antenna heights, orientation, patterns, main and secondary

antennas, number of antenna ports in transmission and reception, and amplifier and feeder characteristics.• Path loss matrices and calculation parameters are also calculated and defined per transmitter (sector). You can work with two

path loss matrices per transmitter. A high resolution matrix for precise results near the transmitter, and a low resolution matrixfor interference calculation far from the transmitter.

• Each sector can house one or more cell (carrier).• Different cell selection methods are available for selecting the reference cell from among the available cells in the best serving

transmitter. These cell selection methods are used in coverage prediction calculations, point analysis, calculations on sub-scriber lists, and in Monte Carlo simulations.

• For each cell, you can set:- Transmission frequency and bandwidth- Transmission powers for the downlink reference signals, the SCH and PBCH, and the PDSCH- Physical cell ID- Uplink and downlink capacity limits- Uplink and downlink traffic loads and uplink noise rise- Scheduler and a maximum number of users- Uplink and downlink MIMO support- Performance characteristics- Neighbours

• Cells and UE equipment can use MIMO. The following MIMO systems are supported in Atoll:- Transmit and receive diversity- Single-User MIMO (SU-MIMO) or spatial multiplexing- Multi-User MIMO (MU-MIMO) or collaborative MIMO in uplink- Adaptive MIMO Switching (AMS)

• Different LTE equipment can be created with different SU-MIMO (single-user MIMO or spatial multiplexing, SM) and diversitygains. Therefore, different gains can be defined for the same combinations of numbers of transmission and reception antennaports. If the spatial multiplexing gain for the exact value of C/(I+N) is not available in the Max MIMO Gain vs. C/(I+N) table, itis interpolated from the gain values available for the C/(I+N) just less than and just greater than the actual C/(I+N)

• Multi-user MIMO (collaborative MIMO or collaborative spatial multiplexing) gain can be user-defined or calculated by Atollduring Monte Carlo simulations.

Traffic Modelling Features

• You can create, import, export, and work with multi-service traffic demand maps.• Traffic maps can be generated or imported from different sources (marketing data, OMC, etc.)• Different types of traffic maps can be used (vector, raster, live traffic data, etc.)• Traffic maps are classified in three categories, traffic maps per user profile, traffic maps per sector, and traffic maps per user

density (No. Users/km2). For each category, you can choose between different options (e.g., traffic map based on user profiledensities or based on environments of user profiles, etc.).

• You can model different types of services offered by the network. It is possible to create voice and data type services with dif-ferent priorities. These priorities are used for resource allocation purposes during Monte Carlo simulations.

• For each service you can define the minimum and maximum throughput demands. For voice type services, you can also definethe activity factors.

• You can model services using different VoIP codecs (G.711, G.729, etc.) using the scheduler options. (For more information,see the Tips and Tricks section of the LTE chapter in the User Manual.)

• You can model user equipment (terminals) with minimum and maximum transmission power range, a power control margindefinable globally for all user equipment, antenna patterns, gains and losses. User equipment can be defined to be MIMO-capable or not, with a number of transmission and a number of reception antenna ports available.

• You can set up user profiles describing the usage of different services with different user equipment.• A subscriber database is available in the LTE module for working with fixed subscribers, with their fixed locations, heights,

antenna orientation, patterns, and other parameters.• You can create fixed subscriber databases or import them from existing spreadsheets.• You can display fixed subscribers on the map according to different parameters.• You can assign serving cells to fixed subscribers manually, or have Atoll assign the servers automatically.• You can carry out other calculations on fixed subscribers, such as uplink and downlink signal levels, C/(I+N), bearers, through-

puts, etc.

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Coverage and Capacity Analysis Features

• It is possible to perform coverage predictions using different user equipment.• Coverage predictions can be created for a given cell, a group of cells, or all the cells in the network.• Signal level based coverage predictions available include:

- Coverage by transmitter (best server plot)- Coverage by signal level- Coverage overlapping zones- Coverage by uplink and downlink effective signal levels: These coverage predictions let you study the effective signal levels

and C/N for PUSCH, downlink reference signals, SCH and PBCH, and PDSCH. You can carry out these predictions for aselected terminal type.

• Interference based coverage predictions available include:- Coverage by uplink and downlink C/(I+N) levels: These coverage predictions let you study the total noise (I+N) and C/(I+N)

levels in the uplink and downlink for PUSCH, downlink reference signals, SCH and PBCH, and PDSCH.- Coverage by uplink and downlink best bearers: These coverage predictions display the best modulation and the best mod-

ulation and coding scheme available per pixel in the uplink and downlink. The best bearers are calculated according to theselection thresholds defined in the cell equipment compared with the PUSCH C/(I+N), and according to the selectionthresholds defined in the user terminal equipment compared with the PDSCH C/(I+N).

- Coverage by uplink and downlink throughputs: These coverage predictions display various types of throughputs in theuplink and the downlink available per pixel for the best bearer. You can calculate and display peak RLC, effective RLC(including the effect of retransmissions due to errors), and application throughputs for all the cell resources (channelthroughputs), for cell capacity limits (cell capacities), for the allocated bandwidth in uplink (allocated BW throughputs), andthe cell aggregate throughputs.

- Coverage by uplink and downlink quality indicators: These coverage predictions display the values of different quality indi-cators (BLER, BER, etc.) for each pixel based on the PUSCH or PDSCH C/(I+N) and best bearer available.

• Interference based coverage predictions can either be based on user-defined cell loads or cell loads resulting from a MonteCarlo simulation in Atoll.

• Monte Carlo Simulations:- You can run Monte Carlo simulations based on traffic demand data from maps as well as from fixed subscriber databases.- The Monte Carlo simulations carry out a distribution of users based on user activity probabilities determined from input

traffic data.- The simulation algorithm performs RRM for cells based on the scheduling methods assigned to each cell and the service

characteristics (priority, and minimum and maximum throughput demands).- Different scheduling algorithms are available for radio resource allocation and management during Monte Carlo simula-

tions. You can set scheduler parameters and assign schedulers to cells. Scheduling algorithms available are:- Proportional Fair- Proportional Demand- Max Aggregate Throughput

- After the scheduling has been performed, users can be connected in downlink, uplink, or both, or rejected due to no service,scheduler saturation, or resource saturation.

- eNode-B level simulation results include aggregate eNode-B throughputs (the sums of all the aggregate cell throughputsof cells belonging to the eNode-B), and the numbers of rejected users per rejection cause.

- Cell level simulation results include the uplink and downlink traffic loads, the uplink noise rise, the MU-MIMO gains, theuplink and downlink aggregate throughputs for all and each individual service, and the number of rejected users per rejec-tion cause.

- Simulation results for each individual mobile include the path loss, downlink and uplink received powers for various chan-nels, the used antenna diversity mode, different interference levels and C/(I+N) levels, bearers, various throughputs, andconnection status.

- Monte Carlo simulation results include a statistics tab that provides details of the number users attempting to connect, thenumbers of users connected in uplink, downlink or both, their connection statuses, throughput demands, and allocatedthroughputs, etc.

- The initial conditions tab lists all the parameters used to create the simulation.- Cell load values from Monte Carlo simulations can be stored in the Cells table.

Scheduler Improvements

• You can select the bearer selection criterion for schedulers. Schedulers may choose bearers for users according to the bearerindexes, by comparing the peak RLC throughputs, or by comparing the effective RLC throughputs.

• You can select the uplink bandwidth allocation target for schedulers. Uplink bandwidth reduction may be turned off, or sched-ulers may allocate uplink bandwidth in order to maintain the connection in uplink or obtain the best bearer.

Automatic Allocation Features

• Atoll can perform automatic neighbour allocation that models hard handover based on the downlink reference signal level.• You can define exceptional pairs of cells as input to the automatic neighbour allocation.• The automatic neighbour allocation can take indoor losses into account.• An audit feature is also available for determining inconsistencies in the neighbour relations.• You can also allocate neighbours manually by importing existing neighbour relation data, or by assigning neighbours on the

map using the mouse.• You can perform automatic physical cell ID, P-SCH ID, and S-SCH ID allocation.

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• An audit feature is also available for determining inconsistencies in the physical cell ID plan.• You can also display the distribution of physical cell IDs over the network using a histogram.• The automatic physical cell ID allocation results include initial as well as proposed physical cell IDs, P-SCH IDs, and S-SCH

IDs. The results also list the final cost of the allocation for each cell.• The Atoll LTE module includes an optional automatic frequency planning tool. The AFP automatically determines the best fre-

quency allocation plan to minimize interference in the network.• The AFP performs automatic allocation based on interference matrices, neighbour relations and importance, and relations

based on distance between cells.• The AFP can also be used to allocate physical cell IDs.• The APF results include the initial as well as the proposed frequency plans. The results also list the cost of the proposed allo-

cation for each cell.

Network Verification Features

• You can import and work with LTE test mobile data.• Test mobile data can be imported using a physical cell ID column as the cell identifier in the file to be imported.• You can carry out signal level predictions on test mobile data points.

Other Features

• A search tool is available which lets you search for, and display on the map, frequency bands, channel numbers, physical cellIDs, P-SCH IDs, and S-SCH IDs used by cells.

• You can model the effect of interference from co-existing LTE (or OFDM) networks. The feature allows you to study the effectof interference on your network from other parts of your own LTE network and from the LTE (or OFDM) networks of other oper-ators.

• Power control in uplink is performed during simulations as well as for coverage prediction calculations for all the bearers.• When working with a distributed calculation server, Monte Carlo simulations are calculated in parallel if the Generator Initiali-

sation is set to 0.• Point Analysis Features:

- The Profile tab lets you study the profile between a transmitter and a receiver, and the downlink reference signal receptionand path loss at the receiver.

- The Reception tab lets you study the downlink reference signal reception from various transmitters at the receiver.- The Signal Analysis tab gives you the following information:

- SCH/PBCH: Total losses, received SCH/PBCH power, SCH/PBCH total noise (I+N), SCH/PBCH C/(I+N), azimuth andtilt of the receiver.

- Downlink: Diversity mode, reference signal and PDSCH received powers, PDSCH total noise (I+N), reference signaland PDSCH C/(I+N), bearer, channel throughputs, and cell capacities.

- Uplink: Diversity mode, PUSCH received power, PUSCH total noise (I+N), PUSCH C/(I+N), bearer, channel through-puts, cell capacities, and allocated bandwidth throughputs.

Co-planning Features

Link between .ATL documents

• A new function available from the File menu enables you to switch to co-planning mode easily. Atoll automatically links theTransmitters and the Predictions folders from one document to another.

Coverage Prediction Calculations

• When two documents are linked, you can now calculate in one click coverage predictions defined in the main and linked Pre-dictions folders.

Neighbours• Neighbour management functions available in the Intra-technology Neighbours table now support neighbour relation multi-

selection. Therefore, you can make several neighbour relations symmetric or delete several symmetric neighbour relations inthe table at once. In addition, the Symmetrise and Delete Link and Symmetric Relation commands are available when usingthe Cells tab (or the Inter-technology tab) of the transmitter property dialogue to allocate or delete neighbours.

Inter-technology interferences

• The use of the same or adjacent frequency bands for deploying different networks based on the same or different technologiescreates sources of inter-network interferences. This may cause a capacity reduction in interfered networks. By taking it intoaccount in interference modelling, the radio planner can limit the capacity reduction by optimising the settings of the network.4 types of inter-network interferences can be modelled in Atoll:

- Interferences from external transmitters on the mobiles of the current project: this interferences can be caused the effect ofadjacent channels, wideband noise (thermal noise, phase noise, modulation products and spurious transmissions) andintermodulation. In Atoll, these interferences can be modelled on mobiles in GSM/GPRS/EGPRS, CDMA and WiMAX tech-nologies.

- Interferences from external transmitters on the transmitters of the current project: In the case of a limited separationbetween the external downlink frequency bands and the uplink frequency band or in the case of an interfering TDD network,some transmitter to transmitter interferences may occur. In Atoll, because uplink transmission is not modelled in GSM/GPRS/EGPRS projects, these interferences can be modelled on transmitters in CDMA and WiMAX technologies.

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- Interferences from external mobiles on the transmitters of the current project: In the case of a limited separation betweenthe external uplink frequency bands and the uplink frequency band or in the case of an interfering TDD network, somemobile to transmitter interferences may occur. In Atoll, because uplink transmission is not modelled in GSM/GPRS/EGPRSprojects, these interferences can be modelled on transmitters in CDMA and WiMAX technologies. Assuming the positionof external mobiles is not known, the source of uplink interferences is not distinguished if they are due to external transmit-ters of mobiles. Modelling is treated in the same way.

- Interferences from external mobiles on the mobiles of the current project: In the case of a limited separation between theexternal uplink frequency bands and the downlink frequency band, some mobile to mobile interferences may occur. In Atoll,these interferences can be modelled on mobiles in GSM/GPRS/EGPRS, CDMA and WiMAX technologies.

Microwave Radio Links Features

Database Consistency

• A new tool enables you to check the consistency of some microwave data. You can check frequency related settings (e.g. thefrequency band of antennas, waveguides and equipment installed on the microwave link must be the same as the frequencyband of the microwave link, etc.), if there are undefined multi-hops and point-to-multipoints or unused repeaters, and settingsrelated to specific configurations such as XPIC or space diversity (e.g. a XPIF value must be defined if XPIC is selected, etc.).

Quality and Availability Calculation Methods• ITU recommendations, 530-11 and 530-12, have been implemented. You can select them in order to analyse availability and

quality.

Propagation Models

• The Microwave ITU-R P452 model recommended to calculate interference is available in the Modules tab of the Explorerwindow. Therefore, you can open its property dialogue and configure some parameters (e.g. if you want to consider or notclutter heights in diffraction, etc.).

Antennas

• Atoll displays in the antenna property dialogue the cross polar discriminations for horizontal and vertical polarisations.

Equipment Import

• Equipment files can contain T/I graphs for several pairs of modulations. When importing this kind of file, Atoll imports all T/Igraphs described in the equipment file. The T/I graph defined between identical modulations is stored in the equipment descrip-tion while others are saved in the Theoretical Graphs table. Then, Atoll may use these graphs to calculate IRF graphs takeninto account in interference.

Microwave Links

• New option is available when creating a microwave link using a link template. You can now select in a dialogue the sites youwant to use as link extremities.

• After defining the link class in the Reliability tab of the microwave link properties dialogue, you can view the performance objec-tives of the selected link class.

Port Definition

• Atoll now enables you to model co-channel communication on a link which is used for dual polarized antenna (the samechannel is used on each polarization) or 1+1 configuration with hot standby.

Link Templates

• You can now create new link templates based on existing microwave links.

Repeaters

• A new tool allowing you to place passive repeaters on the map is available in the Microwave toolbar. You can choose the typeof passive repeater you want to create, i.e. a panel reflector or back-to-back antennas.

• The repeater description has been improved. For reflector and back-to-back antenna type repeaters, you can now define theantenna tilts in the repeater properties.

Line of Sight Report

• Atoll displays in the Line of Sight report the direction between Site1 and Site2.

Best Route Between Two Sites

• Atoll provides a new tool in order to find the best route between two sites. The research is based on line of sight criteria andthe maximum number of hops you can define.

Link Profile

• The Values tab has been improved. An editor is available and enables you to modify the microwave link geographic profile(altitude, clutter class, clutter height, clutter categories) and to define the reflection zones.

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Reflection and Diversity Analysis

• Reflection and diversity analysis have been improved. Atoll provides a unique tool allowing you to analyse reflections and toevaluate if diversity techniques can be a solution. A dedicated window is available; it consists of a Report tab and a AttenuationGraph tab. The Report tab contains the reflection analysis and can be configured.

Analysis Report

• When calculating an engineering report on microwave links with a passive repeater, Atoll displays the angle between the inci-dent and the reflected beams.

• When configuring the analysis report, you can choose to display custom fields of sites, antennas and equipment. In addition,you can save the choices you have made as a configuration file. This configuration file can be used the next time you configurea report.

• Atoll displays the required performance objectives even when the calculated thermal fade margin is negative.

EPO Analysis

• Atoll provides in the EPO tab information about the required output power; it indicates how much you have to decrease orincrease the maximum power and displays the required antenna diameter.

Multi-Hop and Point-to-Multipoint Link Management

• Microwave links belonging to a multi-hop or a point-to-multipoint link are listed in the Explorer.• You can activate or deactivate all microwave links of a multi-hop/point-to-multipoint link.

Geo-Climatic Data

• The management of climatic data in microwave link projects has been greatly improved by the introduction of geoclimatic files.Now all climatic conditions such as rain density, vapour density, temperature, and refractivity are stored in the same geo file.

NSMA Antenna Diameter Calculation

• Atoll automatically calculates the diameter of NSMA antennas at the time of the import.

API – Development Kit Features• Atoll development kit installation has been separated from the Atoll installation.• It is possible to delete main and extended path loss matrices via the API.• It is possible to add custom fields to tables in Atoll via the API.

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Whats New in Atoll 282 Build 3259

Documents

cyclic prefix

ul subframe

dependant

additional

additional

technical

iub backhaul

cdma2000 1xrtt