Subject: [NEXTEL-1] The Risk & Reward of Network Optimization- It's NOT just "Basic Physics"

From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 21 May 2004 18:50:28 -0400

This is only one part of the puzzle. Another part resides in the OMC-R.
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The Risk & Reward of Network Optimization- It's NOT just "Basic Physics"

Carriers need to balance the benefits of optimizing their networks
against the inherent risks.

BY ELLIOTT DRUCKER
MAY 15, 2004
WIRELESS WEEK

The two most important elements for ensuring wireless customer
satisfaction are service quality (including completeness of coverage)
and pricing. The wireless network's technical design directly influences
both of these factors: service quality for obvious reasons and pricing
because network capital expenditure is the biggest factor in determining
the cost of delivering wireless services. All else being equal, carriers
that can deliver a given level of service at a lower capital cost will
be able to charge customers less.

This rudimentary foray into economics suggests that wireless carriers
should care passionately about maximizing the capital efficiency of
their networks, mainly by achieving the highest possible capacity and
coverage from their existing infrastructure deployments. In recent
years, dozens of hardware and software tools have been developed and
marketed to assist carriers in such network optimization. Some, like
frequency plan optimization software for narrowband technologies, have
been quite successful. Still, most networks today operate far below
optimal efficiency. To understand why, consider the costs and potential
risks inherent in network optimization as well as the potential rewards.

Aside from frequency planning that is applicable only to narrowband
systems, such as GSM and TDMA, network optimization mainly involves
adjustments in base station configurations, or more specifically in the
configuration of base station antenna systems. Capacity and coverage are
dictated by management of RF propagation and interference. These are
determined – to the extent that they can be controlled – by the
placement and orientation of base station antennas.  (User locations and
traffic densities also are important, but the operator has little
control over where people make calls.) Certainly, for the best
optimization, carriers must take into account network operational
factors such as downlink transmit power levels and handoff parameters,
but there is usually a relatively narrow window over which these can be
adjusted while maintaining proper network operation. Bottom line, the
majority of wireless network optimization, aside from frequency
planning, where applicable derives from optimizing base station antenna
configurations.

What factors are involved in this optimization? The most obvious one is
location.  Site location usually is the most critical engineering
decision in base station deployment. Running a close second is choosing
heights for antennas relative to the surrounding physical environment.
But antenna location and height optimization are more applicable to new
base station deployments than to existing infrastructure, and the
primary objective of optimization is to minimize the need for adding new
base stations. The configuration parameters of most interest when
considering existing base stations are antenna type selection (relating
primarily to horizontal beam widths), sector azimuth orientation (i.e.
direction of horizontal beam center), and angle of vertical beam tilt.

Studies and carefully controlled trials show configuration optimization
leads to significant performance improvements in most existing wireless
networks. So why isn't everyone doing it? Cost is one factor. Besides
the engineering expense of developing the optimization plan, executing
it typically involves a good deal of costly antenna crew time. But
probably the biggest impediment to widespread configuration optimization
is the risk of screwing things up. Existing networks may not operate
efficiently, but at least they provide acceptable, if not superior,
coverage and service quality. Making major changes, particularly in an
effort to improve capacity, may cause unanticipated service problems.
Executing configuration changes in 100 sites might take a month or so.
If the results are less than satisfactory, it would likely take as long
to revert to the previous network design.

If engineers could execute antenna configuration changes quickly on
command, they could significantly reduce the cost and risk of
large-scale optimization. And now at least one company offers products
that allow just that. At the CTIA Wireless 2004 conference in Atlanta,
KMW Communications of Cerritos, Calif., unveiled a line of antenna
systems that engineers can use to remotely reconfigure azimuth, tilt and
even horizontal beam width. Equipped with such antennas and a central
control system, a carrier could execute configuration changes in
hundreds of base stations simultaneously and in a matter of minutes. If
major problems arise, the changes could be undone just as quickly.

Carriers have to balance the benefits of configuration optimization with
the costs and risks involved. Innovations such as the
KMW antennas offer the promise of a significant change in that balance
and could give carriers a winning proposition.

http://www.wirelessweek.com/article/CA417731?spacedesc=Departments&stt=000

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