KYAMBOGO

UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS INDUSTRIAL TRAINING REPORT FOR THE PERIOD OF SEPTEMBER 2008 TO OCTOBER 2008 FOR ACADEMIC YEAR 2007/2008 YEAR 3. AT: MTN UGANDA LIMTED P.O. BOX 24624 KAMPALA TEL: 0312212333 THE HEAD OF DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS 06/U/350/ETD/GV ANGOIS RICHARD EMONG BACHELORS OF ENGINEERING IN TELECOMMUNICATIONS ENGINEERING CHARLES WAJEGA (Eng)

PRESENTED TO:

BY: COURSE:

SUPERVISOR:

INSPECTOR: OKUONZI JOHN (Mr.)

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DECLARATION. I Angois Richard Emong do declare that the work in this report is of my original knowledge except where it has been acknowledged by reference and it has never been submitted to any institution or any university for exams or marking.

Date: .. Sign: .. (Presenter)

Date: .. Sign: (Supervisor)

DEDICATIONS I dedicate this report to my Wife Sylvia Nakitto & my Dear Son Crispin Vincent Emong for Thier moral & financial support and my mother Mrs. Emong Mary Acen and Mrs. Emong Margaret. I also dedicate it to my friends and more so the technical staff of MTN (U) Ltd.

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ABSTRACT This report aims at giving both practical and theoretical activities carried out during my industrial training period. It includes also outlines the technical lay out of a field work report and methods of solving the upcoming Telecommunications impairments provides and complete information as far as electrical and electronics engineering is concerned. It is my hope that this report will provide a better knowledge and understanding towards the use of electrical and electronics equipment & handling of faults in relation to timely escalations in the Operations & Maintenance Department (NOC).

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PREFACE. The purpose of this report is to provide the basic knowledge in GSM, Microwave transmission planning and operational concepts. The various transmission media Optic fiber, copper, twisted pairs are also discussed in this report. The criteria for choosing which transmission media best meet the MTN needs is based on comparative analysis. Of theses optic fiber is still the best though Uganda is not selfsufficient in it. Funds targeted for these projects by Telecommunication Companies should be spent in logical and accountable ways. This report will create awareness to students of the new technologies in the World of communication today. It will also enable organizations and development planners improve on their choices and decision making, monitoring the implementation and success of management plans. The report is composed of 10 chapters which are well documented, illustrative, but not all inclusive. It is intended to demonstrate that measurable progress is taking place in the Telecommunication Industry today. The scope of the report is based on research work, interviews, observations, literature reviews and the physical geographical site surveys made.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I wish to express my humble thanks to the Almighty God the creator of the universe, without Him my training would not have been possible. Also my thanks go to the entire staff and management of MTN Uganda Limited, without pointing out individuals but they all did a tremendous and recommendable work towards my training. My thanks also extended to the Lecturing Staff of Electrical Department and many others who did a lot towards my studies. Also my thanks go to my friends Wassajja Phillip,Mugisa Kenneth ,Peter Nakeba who showed me co-operation and teamwork throughout my training. Finally special thanks goes to Mr. and Mrs. Eyatu Joseph Oriono for the financial support towards my education and not forgetting my dear mother Acen Mary, Akello Margaret and Emong Stephen and sisters. Also not forgetting my late dad Mr.Emong Vincent who brought me up with a heart of loving each other.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION -------------------------------------------------------------------------1 1.1 OBJECTIVES OF THE INDUSTRIAL TRAINING. ---------------------------------------------1

THE TRAINING ORGANIZATION.------------------------------------------------------------2 2 MTN UGANDA COMPANY HISTORY.--------------------------------------------------2 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 3 MTN ORGANIZATION (CORPORATE) STRUCTURE.----------------------------------------3 MTN COVERAGE ANALYSIS. -------------------------------------------------------------4 DISTRIBUTION. --------------------------------------------------------------------------5 CUSTOMER CARE.-----------------------------------------------------------------------5 SERVICES OFFERED BY MTN UGANDA.--------------------------------------------------7

GSM TECHNOLOGY.--------------------------------------------------------------------8 3.1 INTRODUCTION TO GSM TECHNOLOGY. -------------------------------------------------8 3.2 THE MAIN FEATURES OF GSM WERE TO BE; ---------------------------------------------9 3.3 GSM REQUIREMENTS. ------------------------------------------------------------------9 3.4 GSM INFORMATION ------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 3.4.1 Quality. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 3.4.2 Security. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 10 3.4.3 Convenience.------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 3.4.4 Roaming. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 3.5 GSM NETWORK COMPONENTS AND OPERATION.----------------------------- 11 3.5.1 Mobile Station (MS) ------------------------------------------------------------ 12 3.5.2 Base Station Controller (BSC) ------------------------------------------------- 12 3.5.3 Base Transceiver Station (BTS). ---------------------------------------------- 12 3.5.4 Mobile Switching Center (MSC) ----------------------------------------------- 13 Functions of the MSC. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13 3.6 HOME LOCATION REGISTER (HLR). --------------------------------------------------- 14 3.7 VISITOR'S LOCATION REGISTER (VLR).------------------------------------------------ 14 3.8 AN IMEI (INTERNATIONAL MOBILE EQUIPMENT IDENTITY).----------------------------- 15 3.9 EQUIPMENT IDENTITY REGISTER (EIR). ----------------------------------------------- 15 3.10 CENTRAL EQUIPMENT IDENTITY REGISTER (CEIR) --------------------------------- 15 3.11 AUTHENTICATION CENTER (AUC).-------------------------------------------------- 15 3.12 SMSC (SMS CENTER OR SERVICE CENTER). -------------------------------------- 16

GSM ACCESS TECHNOLOGY.------------------------------------------------------- 17 4.1 TIME DIVISION MULTIPLE ACCESS (TDMA). ------------------------------------------- 17 4.1.1 Advantage of TDMA. ----------------------------------------------------------- 17 4.1.2 Disadvantages of TDMA. ------------------------------------------------------ 18
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4.2 CODE DIVISION MULTIPLE ACCESS (CDMA).------------------------------------------ 18 4.2.1 Comparison between CDMA and GSM.--------------------------------------- 19 4.2.2 CDMA advantages over GSM ------------------------------------------------- 20 5 GSM CHANNEL CONCEPTS.--------------------------------------------------------- 21 5.1 CONTROL CHANNELS.----------------------------------------------------------------- 21 5.2 BROADCAST CHANNELS (BCHS). ----------------------------------------------------- 22 Logical channel ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22 Direction -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22 BTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22 MS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22 5.3 COMMON CONTROL CHANNELS (CCCH) ---------------------------------------------- 23 5.4 DEDICATED CONTROL CHANNEL (DCCH). -------------------------------------------- 23 5.5 TRAFFIC CHANNELS.------------------------------------------------------------------- 24 5.6 BURST TYPES.------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24 6 NETWORK OPTIMIZATION -------------------------------------------------- 26 6.1 PLANNING STAGES.-------------------------------------------------------------------- 26 6.1.1 Benefits of Optimization-------------------------------------------------------- 26 6.1.1.1Assessment of Solution Quality ------------------------------------------------------- 26 6.1.1.2High-quality Planning Results---------------------------------------------------------- 26 6.1.1.3Managing Network Growth.------------------------------------------------------------- 27 6.1.1.4Optimization Measures ------------------------------------------------------------------ 27 Adjusting of antenna direction. ----------------------------------------------- 27 6.2 DIMENSIONING ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 27 6.3 GSM PLANNING----------------------------------------------------------------------- 28 6.4 REDUCED PLANNING TIME ---------------------------------------------------- 29 6.5 GSM FREQUENCY BANDS ----------------------------------------------------- 29 6.6 RADIO PLANNING IN GSM ------------------------------------------------------------- 29 6.7 ROLE OF RADIO PLANNING ---------------------------------------------------- 30 7 TOOLS USED IN PLANNING -------------------------------------------------- 31 7.1 7.2 8 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 8.8 ASSET PLANNING TOOL -------------------------------------------------------- 31 OPTIMA ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 31 IDENTIFICATION OF THE AREA---------------------------------------------------------- 32 USE PLANNING TOOLS ---------------------------------------------------------------- 32 CARRY OUT SITE SURVEY ------------------------------------------------------ 32 TAKE CONTRACTORS.----------------------------------------------------------- 33 ISSUE A WORK ORDER.---------------------------------------------------------- 33 IMPLEMENTATION. -------------------------------------------------------------- 33 DRIVE TESTS. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 34 PROCEDURES FOR BRINGING UP SITES.----------------------------------------------- 34
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THE PROCESS OF PLANNING A SITE ------------------------------------- 32

8.8.1 Procedures. ------------------------------------------------------------------- 35 8.8.2 Choosing TCH and BCCH for a Particular cell------------------------- 35 9 GPRS TECHNOLOGY.----------------------------------------------------------- 38 9.1 GPRS SERVICE NODES.--------------------------------------------------------------- 39 9.1.1 Serving GPRS support node (SGSN).----------------------------------------- 39 9.1.2 Gateway GPRS support node (GGSN). --------------------------------------- 39 9.2 SOME OF THE APPLICATIONS FOR GPRS ---------------------------------------------- 41 9.2.1 Chat ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 41 9.2.2 Textual and visual information--------------------------------------------- 41 9.2.3 Still images. ------------------------------------------------------------------- 41 9.2.4 Moving images.--------------------------------------------------------------- 41 9.2.5 Web browsing----------------------------------------------------------------- 42 9.2.6 Audio--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 42 9.2.7 Corporate e-mail. ------------------------------------------------------------ 42 9.2.8 Internet E-mail --------------------------------------------------------------- 42 9.2.9 File transfer------------------------------------------------------------------- 43 10 MICROWAVE TRANSMISSION AND PLANNING.----------------------------------- 44 10.1 MICROWAVE TRANSMISSION. ------------------------------------------------------- 44 10.1.1 Introduction. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 44 10.2 WHY USE RADIO COMMUNICATIONS? ----------------------------------------------- 45 10.2.1 Cost----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 46 10.2.2 Quick set-up -------------------------------------------------------------------- 46 10.2.3 Can be relocated --------------------------------------------------------------- 46 10.2.4 Inaccessibility------------------------------------------------------------------- 46 10.3 WHY USE MICROWAVES? ----------------------------------------------------------- 46 10.3.1 Overcrowding of the lower Bands --------------------------------------------- 46 10.3.2 Wider bandwidth is available--------------------------------------------------- 47 10.4 MICROWAVE PLANNING. ------------------------------------------------------------ 47 10.4.1 Site selection ------------------------------------------------------------------- 48 10.4.2 The effect of local terrain on site selection.------------------------------------ 48 10.4.3 The effects of local metrological conditions on site selection ----------------- 49 10.4.4 The effect of existing structures and other factors on site selection. --------- 49 10.4.5 Microwave radio path calculations--------------------------------------------- 50 10.4.6 Obtaining terrain data from maps---------------------------------------------- 50 10.4.7 Drawing a path profile of the terrain ------------------------------------------- 51 10.5 EFFECTIVE EARTH CURVATURE ----------------------------------------------------- 51 10.5.1 Fresnel zone clearance. ------------------------------------------------------- 52 10.5.2 Path clearance criteria.--------------------------------------------------------- 53 10.5.3 Good Terrain may be classified as:-------------------------------------------- 54 10.5.4 Normal Terrain may be classified as:------------------------------------------ 55 10.5.5 Bad Terrain is classified as:---------------------------------------------------- 55

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10.6 SITE SURVEYS. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 55 10.7 FREQUENCY PLANNING ------------------------------------------------------------- 56 10.7.1 Interference--------------------------------------------------------------------- 56 10.7.2 Interference mechanisms. ----------------------------------------------------- 56 11 TRANSMISSION MEDIA. -------------------------------------------------------------- 58 11.1 INTRODUCTION. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 58 11.1.1 Switching:----------------------------------------------------------------------- 58 11.1.2 Transmission: ------------------------------------------------------------------ 58 11.1.3 Access points /destination/end-points: ---------------------------------------- 58 11.2 OPEN WIRES.----------------------------------------------------------------------- 59 11.3 UNTWISTED PAIRS ------------------------------------------------------------------ 59 11.4 TWISTED PAIRS. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 60 11.5 COAXIAL CABLE.-------------------------------------------------------------------- 61 11.6 OPTICAL FIBRES. ------------------------------------------------------------------- 61 11.7 ADVANTAGES OF OPTIC FIBER. ----------------------------------------------------- 62 11.7.1 Bandwidth ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 62 11.7.2 Speed--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 62 11.7.3 Distance ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 62 11.7.4 Resistance---------------------------------------------------------------------- 63 11.7.5 Reliability ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 63 11.7.6 Maintenance-------------------------------------------------------------------- 63 11.7.7 Versatility ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 63 11.7.8 Safety--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 63 11.7.9 Size, Weight and Flexibility ---------------------------------------------------- 64 11.7.10 Low Transmission Loss ----------------------------------------------------- 64 11.8 DISADVANTAGES OF OPTIC FIBER.-------------------------------------------------- 64 11.9 OPTICAL TIME DOMAIN REFLECTOMETER (OTDR).---------------------------------- 65 11.10 SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS. ------------------------------------------------------ 65 11.11 LASER----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 65 12 PDH AND SDH. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 66 12.1 PLESIOCHRONOUS DIGITAL HIERARCHY. ------------------------------------------- 67 12.2 SYNCHRONOUS DIGITAL HIERARCHY (SDH). --------------------------------------- 68 12.2.1 SDH frame structure.----------------------------------------------------------- 69 12.2.1.1Section Overheads---------------------------------------------------------------------- 69 12.2.1.2Path Overheads ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 70 12.2.2 Pointer. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 70 12.2.2.1SDH Equipment-------------------------------------------------------------------------- 70 12.2.2.2Add-Drop Multiplexer ------------------------------------------------------------------- 70 12.2.3 Cross connect switch ---------------------------------------------------------- 71 12.2.4 Regenerator -------------------------------------------------------------------- 71 12.3 MULTIPLEXING WITH SDH ---------------------------------------------------------- 71

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SDH HAS A LOT OF ADVANTAGES:----------------------------------------------------------- 72 13 MTN SOFTWARE SUPPORT.--------------------------------------------------------- 73 13.1 HOW DATA IS GENERATED. --------------------------------------------------------- 74 14 RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION. ------------------------------------------ 78 15 REFERENCES ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 80

CHAPTER 1 1 INTRODUCTION

Industrial training is one of the requirements undertaken by student in order to learn practical skills and real life scenarios outside the class room. It gives a training which will help when on job in the related fields and some of the objectives of the Industrial training I went through from September 2008 to October 2008 in MTN Uganda are as below. The scope of the training was through lectures, observations, research and Site surveys. This report covers the training conducted in the Planning and Optimization department. 1.1 Objectives of the Industrial training. The training has enabled us gain a systematic introduction to the ways of industry and developing talent and attitudes, so that I can enjoy fully, a career in engineering while recognizing my responsibilities as a professional engineer of the future. It has also given me an understanding of real life situations in industrial organizations and their related environments and accelerating the learning process of how my knowledge could be used in a realistic way, enabling me to execute more informed judgment and accepting responsibility for it. I have been able to recognize that financial and economic limitations play a more important role in all engineering activities. Understanding the formal and informal relationships in an industrial organization so as to promote favorable human relations and teamwork. Understanding that the problems encountered in the industry rarely have unique solutions and gaining experience to select the optimal solution from the many alternatives available. Developing personality & communication skills for future roles as Managers in engineering. Engineering student will appreciate the fact that engineering is an expanding field and that learning has no limitations. Enjoy reading this report every where you go

CHAPTER 2 THE TRAINING ORGANIZATION. 2 MTN Uganda company history.

On October 21 1998, MTN Uganda Limited launched commercial services in Uganda, just six months after acquiring and signing of the license. MTN has since grown to be the leading Telecommunications Company in Uganda servicing in excess of 2,000,000 customers and it is still growing Recent research and studies have continued to show that MTN is the leading Telecommunication Company in Uganda .MTN Uganda Limited has also provided fixed line terminals that are used by most of Ugandas corporate as fixed line substitutes. Before MTN launched its services the teledensity in Uganda was one of the lowest in Africa at 0.27%.Today MTN has contributed hugely to the growth increase to 4.2%. mobile and fixed line services. MTN Uganda Limited built its first fiber optic line. It was the first Network in Africa to implement dual band technology MTN holds more than 68% of the mobile market in Uganda. The license required that MTN provide 89,000 lines in the first five years of operation. MTN adopted wireless approach to providing telecommunications services to the Ugandan market. The wireless approach has proved to be convenient and quicker in achieving most rolling out services.

2.1

MTN organization (Corporate) structure.

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

HUMAN RESOURCE

CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER

CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER

CHIEF TECHNICAL OFFICER

CHIEF FINANCE OFFICER

INTERNAL AUDIT

LEGAL

OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE

INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING

IMPLEMENTATION

SYSTEMS PLANNING

TRANSMISSION PLANNING AND OPTIMIZATION MICROWAVE / FIBRE

GSM PLANNING AND OPTIMIZATION

SOFTWARE SUPPORT

Figure 1.

The Industrial training was conducted in the Infrastructure Planning under the Technical Department in the fields of transmission, GSM planning and Optimization and also in Software support.

2.2

MTN coverage analysis.

As the leading telecommunications company in Uganda, MTN is focused on providing communication services countrywide. We believe that through access to communications comes development. MTN Uganda is part of MTN International with operations in South Africa, Rwanda, Nigeria and Cameroon. Despite insufficient infrastructure (power, roads) MTN has covered in excess of 90% of the urban population, providing services in over 150 towns and villages and their immediate environments. MTN Uganda's policy of affordable tariffs and availability of services, backed by distribution and innovative marketing, opened up a broad market to telecommunications. MTN's network coverage advantage has become one of the company's main features. To date MTN has border-to-border coverage. 52 district capitals and over 150 towns have network coverage. From Kisoro (Rwanda border), to Busia - Malaba at the Kenya border to Arua and Koboko at the Sudan/Congo border to Kabale and Kisoro close to the Rwanda border, MTN has got network coverage. Quality of Network

MTN as a group prides itself in provision of quality services. MTN has invested heavily in the best equipment available. The MTN Uganda switch installations boast the most up to date infrastructure and systems. Ericsson provides all MTN technical infrastructures. Three large capacity switches with complete back up guarantee that the network operates smoothly all year round. This same technology is able to support all value-added services that MTN offers to its customers, such as, voice mail, SMS, data. MTN has also installed high technology equipment at all its base stations in the country. MTN commissioned the first dual band network in Africa. It means that customers have access to better network quality as well as more capacity. MTN prides itself in bringing better quality services to our customers and shows that MTN is at the forefront of technological innovation in bringing you a clear, congestion free and high clarity network.

2.3

Distribution.

The distribution network of MTN is an important factor to MTN's rapid growth. The establishment of sales outlets and MTN kiosks in strategically convenient locations has created employment for hundreds of Ugandans. With over 4000 outlets, customers have access to MTN services at the nearest location. 2.4 Customer Care.

Customer care is a key component of MTN's operations in Uganda. As a result, MTN Uganda has the biggest customer services center in Uganda offering the largest language preference base and extended hours of operation. MTN Uganda was the first company to introduce a dedicated customer care center in Uganda. MTN has subsequently established customer services points at Shoprite, lugogo Mall, General Post Office and in Jinja. MTN offers Customer Care in over 19 local and international languages when customers call the 123 help line.

The map below shows the MTN geographical coverage in Uganda.

figure 2.

2.5

Services offered by MTN Uganda.

MTN offers fixed and mobile wireless telecommunication services. Mobile services became the popular choice to most MTN customers because of the convenience in getting the line and the obvious advantage of one owning a telephone. One of MTN's most passionately pursued goals is making telecommunications accessible to the wider population. The prepaid option where customers just get a phone and pay upfront for their credit has aided this objective.

Contract arrangements are also available to mainly business and corporate market where bills are paid in arrears. Other value-added-services such as roaming, voicemail, short mail, fax mail and SMS are offered. MTN's fixed lines services have been mostly available to the corporate and business market segments. MTN has managed to install thousands of such lines across Uganda since its launch. Most of the large Multi-national corporations and businesses in Uganda use the MTN network for their communication needs.

The Fiber Optic Line allows MTN to provide a wide array of telecommunication services, including of course, voice and fax, but more importantly broad band, high speed data and multi-media services. Broadband services are essential to allow corporate, businesses and individuals to take advantage of the information age. Thus MTN has become your total telecommunication solutions provider. Shared Access Services - Payphones MTN also provides shared access services in form of Payphones. Consequently, a separate entity was established in 1999 to manage the roll out of pay phones. MTN Publicom was formed.

Over 2500 pay phones were installed in less than 24 months and the demand for these is growing. The payphones also use wireless technology and can be used to make both local and international calls. CHAPTER 3 3 3.1 GSM TECHNOLOGY. Introduction to GSM technology.

The development of GSM started in the early 1980s. It was seen then as the mainstay of the plans for Europes mobile communication infrastructure for the 1990s. Today, GSM and its DCS 1800 and PCS 1900 versions have spread far beyond Western Europe with networks installed across all continents. The first was to establish a team with the title "Groupe Spciale Mobile" (hence the term "GSM", which today stands for Global System for Mobile Communications) to develop a set of common standards for a future panEuropean cellular network. The second was to recommend that two blocks of frequencies in the 900 MHz band be set aside for the system. By 1986 it was clear that some of these analogue cellular networks would run out of capacity by the early 1990s. As a result, a directive was issued for two blocks of frequencies in the 900 MHz band, albeit somewhat smaller than recommended by the CEPT , (Conference of European Posts & Telegraphs) to be reserved absolutely for a pan-European service to be opened in 1991. In the meantime the GSM members were making excellent progress with the development of agreed standards. One major decision was to adopt a digital rather than an analogue system. The digital system would offer Improved spectrum efficiency Better quality transmission New services with enhanced features including security.

 It would also permit the use of Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) technology which would lead to smaller and cheaper mobiles, including hand held terminals. Finally, a digital approach would complement the development of the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) with which GSM would have to interface 3.2 The main features of GSM were to be;

International Roaming ability, Good sound quality, Small cheap handsets and ability to handle high volumes of users. Today there are approx. 105 countries with GSM networks or planned networks and many more are planned with around 32 million subscribers world wide on the 139 networks. This accounts for over 25% of the world's cellular market. 3.3 GSM Requirements.

The quality of Voice in the GSM system must be better than that achieved by the 900MHz analogue systems over all the operating conditions. The system must offer encryption of user information The system must operate in the entire frequency band 890-915MHz and 935-960MHz. An international standardized signaling system must be used to allow the interconnection of mobile switching center's and location registers. Minimize modifications to the existing fixed public networks. Design the system so handset costs are minimized, handsets must also be able to be used in all participating countries. Maximum flexibility for other services like ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network). System should maximize the functions and services available to cater for the special nature of mobile communications.

3.4

GSM Information

3.4.1 Quality. With digital, sound quality is sharp and clear. Background sounds and static are vastly reduced and crossed-line conversations are also eliminated. In comparison with analogue there are also far fewer dropouts, and overall the quality is more like that of a fixed telephone. 3.4.2 Security.

Unlike analogue, everything you say and send within the digital network is safe and secure. Some features are user authentication that prohibits unauthorized access, encryption key distribution that guarantees the privacy of the call and caller identification restrictions that can prevent the delivery of the calling users number to the receiver.

3.4.3 Convenience. With digital, better technology means better battery life. You get up to twice as much talk time from each battery charge, compared with analogue. In addition the digital service allows more calls to be handled at any one time, therefore reducing congestion in areas of dense population and high usage.

3.4.4 Roaming. With digital, you are able to use your mobile phone, and number in other countries around the world that operate a GSM network. Or you can just take your SIM card and use another GSM phone. Your home carrier must have a roaming agreement in place and must be notified before leaving so that you can be activated in that country. All you need to do is

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switch on the phone at your destination and you will automatically log into the network. Dependent on the country you can still use your old SIM, but some countries will require you to get a loan SIM from your carrier before going there. This will give you a new number whilst in that country but you can easily set up a diversion to the new number if need be. 3.5 GSM NETWORK COMPONENTS AND OPERATION.

The GSM network is divided into two systems. Each of these systems are comprised of a number of functional units which are individual components of the mobile network. The two systems are: Switching System (SS). Base Station System (BSS). In addition, as with all telecommunications networks, GSM networks are operated, maintained and managed from computer computerized centers. Switching system Base station system
BSC BTS MS
A-bis Um

HLR

MSC
PSTN/ ISDN

VLR
A

BSC

BTS

EIR

AUC Data Terminal

X.25

OMC & NMC

Figure 3

Operations Terminal

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---------------------------- signaling transmission Call connections and signaling transmission OMC: Operations and Management Center NMC: Network Management Center. The rest of the GSM network components and their functions are described below. 3.5.1 Mobile Station (MS) A Digital Mobile Phone and a SIM card make up the Mobile Station. The SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) is a card that fits into your handset and is one of two sizes - either full size (same size as a credit card) or the smaller plug in version. The SIM microprocessor is based on a silicon chip which is designed to tolerate temperatures between -25 Degrees Celsius and +70 Degrees Celsius, and will also withstand up to 85% humidity. However silicon is fragile and, therefore, if the card is tampered with, physically or electronically, the card will be rendered useless. The SIM contains all of your identification details, such as your IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity. This is a numeric string, where the first 3 digits represent the country where the SIM is from, the next represent the operator in that specific country. The other digits represent the subscribers identity in his home-network), phone memories, billing information, SMS text messages, pin numbers and international roaming information. 3.5.2 Base Station Controller (BSC) The Base Station Controller manages multiple BTS's. It controls the allocation and release of radio channels and handovers between cells. 3.5.3 Base Transceiver Station (BTS). The Base Transceiver Station consists of a radio transceiver with antenna that covers a single cell. It handles the communications with the MS via radio interface. BTS are all
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connected together to allow you to move from one cell to another. A series of BTS's are connected to each Base Station Controller, the BSC keeps a eye on each call and decides when to pass the call off to another BTS and to which one. Several BSC's are controlled by the Mobile service Switching Center (MSC), the MSC works with four databases (HLR, VLR, EIR and the AuC) and together they manage the communications between Mobile Station user and the other network types. Each of the databases has a separate job, these are as follows 3.5.4 Mobile Switching Center (MSC) The Mobile Switching Center is the interface between the base station system and the switching subsystem of the mobile phone network. Furthermore, the MSC is also the interface between the cellular network and the PSTN (Public Switching Telephone Network). Functions of the MSC. The MSC generates all billing records and ensures that all usage is directed to the appropriate account. The MSC has a relatively complex task, as unlike a conventional telephone exchange, when GSM subscribers make calls they could be anywhere within the network. The MSC must ensure that calls are routed through to those subscribers, wherever they are and wherever they move to throughout the duration of each cell. This situation becomes even more complex when two mobile subscribers wish to contact each other from two distant locations. In order to simplify the subscriber management function, a specific service area is allocated to each MSC. The MSC has to control the switching of tariff to and from the subscribers within its service area which involves the coordination of all radio resources and the inter cell hand-off activities.

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3.6

Home Location Register (HLR).

The HLR is the central data base for all the subscribers which contain details on the identity of each subscriber, the services to which they have access and the locations where the subscriber was last registered. All subscriber administration procedures are communicated to the HLR where the data is stored until it is required by another part of the Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN). The two key references used to route calls to each subscriber are the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) and the Mobile Subscriber Integrated Services Digital Network (MSISDN) number. The IMSI is the unique number allocated to the subscriber which is stored in the SIM Card and is used by the network for internal communications. When the SIM Card is inserted into a Mobile Equipment it becomes a Mobile Station. The MSISDN is the subscriber's mobile number which is linked to the IMSI in the HLR. Incoming calls to a subscriber are translated back to the IMSI at the HLR thus enabling them to be delivered to the Mobile Station. Once the Mobile Station's MSISDN has been used to identify the IMSI, the HLR verifies the subscription records to ensure that the call can be delivered to the last known location of the Mobile Station. 3.7 Visitor's Location Register (VLR).

The VLR is a database that is linked to an MSC and temporarily stares information about each Mobile Station within the area served by that MSC. The information that is temporarily stored in the VLR is sufficient to allow any Mobile Station within that MSC area to make and receive calls. This includes the Mobile Station's identity, the area in which it was last registered and data pertaining to the subscriber and any supplementary services that have been selected by the subscriber. The MSC refers to the VLR each time that a Mobile Station attempts to make a call in order to verify that the request can be fulfilled. This process is to establish that no call restrictions or call barring instructions are in place.

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3.8

An IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity).

This Card is the serial number of the GSM phone. This is fixed in the phone and cannot be changed. The SIM card contains an IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) number that identifies the user to the network along with other user and security information. 3.9 Equipment Identity Register (EIR).

The EIR ensures that all Mobile Equipment's are valid and authorized to function on the PLMN. Three categories exist on the EIR, a white list, a gray list and a black list. The white list comprises the IMEI ranges of all the Mobile Equipment's that have been approved by any one of the three European, GSM approval centers. Any Mobile Equipment that appears on the gray list will be allowed to function but will trigger an alert to the network operator. This facility allows the network operator to identify any subscriber that is using a lost or stolen Mobile Equipment. Mobiles that are lost or stolen can be blacklisted which will prevent them from functioning on the home PLMN or on other PLMNs around the world. 3.10 Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) The advantage in having the CEIR concept is that it empowers each network operator to restrict or prevent the operation of any given MS throughout all PLMNs that are linked up to the CEIR. 3.11 Authentication Center (AUC). The authentication center is used to validate the SIM Card being used by the Mobile Station. Secret information that is held in the AUC and which is also contained within the SIM Card is used to perform a complex mathematical calculation. Authentication occurs if the results of these two calculations agree.

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3.12 SMSC (SMS Center or Service Center). The SMSC handled all the SMS messages that are sent. The messages are sent on a data channel so you can receive them whilst on a call. Is a gateway switch where the call is directed when setting up a call to a GSM user. The GMSC looks for the subscriber by interrogating the right HLR which then interrogates the VLR and routes the incoming call towards the MSC where the subscriber can be reached. GSM Call termination.

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CHAPTER 4. 4 GSM ACCESS TECHNOLOGY.

The frequency bands allocated are 890-915MHz and 935-960MHz. half is used for transmitting and the other half is used for receiving. To allow maximum number of users access, each band is subdivided into 124 carrier frequencies spaced 200 KHz apart, using FDMA (Frequency Division Multiple Access) techniques. 4.1 Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA).

Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) is a technology for shared medium (usually radio) networks. It allows several users to share the same frequency by dividing it into different time slots. The users transmit in rapid succession, one after the other, each using their own timeslot. This allows multiple users to share the same transmission medium ( radio frequency) whilst using only the part of its bandwidth they require. Used in the GSM, PDC ( Personal Data Communicator), satellite systems,local area networks, physical security systems,and combat-net radio systems. By applying TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) techniques, each of these carrier frequencies is further subdivided into time slots which provide each user with the carrier frequency for approximately 0.577ms. This equates to approx. 217 jumps per second, but amongst a very small frequency range so encryption is a must for proper security of calls. In fact it is not exactly that, it is hopping 13 times every 60 ms, which gives 13/0.06 per second. 0.577ms = 13 frames/60 ms /8 time slots there is also an extension band of 15 MHz in both directions (uplink and down link). 4.1.1 Advantage of TDMA. A major advantage of TDMA is that the radio part of the mobile only needs to listen and broadcast for its own timeslot. For the rest of the time, the mobile can carry out. measurements on the network, detecting surrounding transmitters on different

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frequencies. This allows safe inter frequency handovers, something which is difficult in CDMA systems, This in turn allows for co-existence of microcell layers with macrocell layers. But, CDMA supports "soft hand-off" which allows a mobile phone to be in communication with up to 6 base stations simultaneously, a type of "samefrequency handover". The incoming packets are compared for quality, and the best one is selected. This enables CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) to perform in areas where TDMA calls would be dropped. 4.1.2 Disadvantages of TDMA. A disadvantage of TDMA systems is that they create interference at a frequency which is directly connected to the time slot length. This is the irritating buzz which can sometimes be heard if a GSM phone is left next to a radio. Another disadvantage is that the "dead time" between time slots limits the potential bandwidth of a TDMA channel. This is why early efforts to incorporate timeslots into UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication Services) failed, leaving UMTS as a purely CDMA technology. 4.2 Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA).

CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) is a form of multiplexing (access to the same resource will be given to more than one user), which allows the use of a particular frequency for a number of signals, optimizing the use of available bandwidth. It is a cellular technology that uses spread-spectrum techniques. In CDMA technology every channel uses the full available spectrum. Individual conversations are encoded with a pseudorandom digital sequence.

CDMA employs analog-to-digital conversion (ADC) in combination with spread spectrum technology. Audio input is first digitized (ADC) into binary elements. The frequency of the transmitted signal is then made to vary according to a defined pattern (code), so it can be intercepted only by a receiver whose frequency response is programmed with the same

18

code, so it follows exactly along with the transmitter frequency. There are trillions of possible frequency-sequencing codes; this enhances privacy and makes cloning difficult. The technology is used in ultra-high-frequency (UHF) cellular telephone systems in the 800-MHz and 1.9-GHz bands.

Since bandwidth is the major problem in the modern times the CDMA has a very clear advantage over the GSM in these terms. The number of channels (users) that can be allocated in a given bandwidth is comparatively higher for CDMA than for GSM. The cost of setting up a CDMA network is also comparatively less than the GSM network. Due to these advantages there is high probability that CDMA technology will dominate the future of mobile communications. The technologies are normally evaluated on the following three parameters namely the data transmission capacity, security and radiation levels. Following table indicates the data transmission of different technologies: Cellular technology Generation Data transmission capacity GSM CDMA (IS-95B) CDMA 2000 Table 1. 4.2.1 Comparison between CDMA and GSM. As already explained, CDMA uses a radically different approach to what GSM does. It assigns a unique "code" to put multiple users on the same wideband channel at the same time. The codes so-called "pseudo-random code sequence" is used by both the mobile 2G 2.5G 3G 56 Kps 64 Kps - 140 Kps 2 MBps

19

station (handset) and the base station to distinguish between conversations. This gives a greater level of privacy and security to the communication. As far as radiation level concerned, CDMA is the most harmless one among all existing technologies. Of course, it transmits microwaves while on standby mode, like other technologies do. However, CDMA technology checks 800 times per second its transmission level. Therefore, radiation level is 10 times less than GSM. Another important thing to point out is that CDMA system transmits signals only when the user starts conversation. Simply saying, when you're listening the other ends conversation, you are not affected by microwave as the speaking person does. It appears that CDMA would be the dominating technology in future and Mobile Forensics has to gear itself to the requirements of the CDMA technology. 4.2.2 CDMA advantages over GSM Better call quality with more consistent and improved sound Less call congestion, decreasing the likelihood of not being able to get through to the person you are calling. Superior area coverage per tower compared to analogue and GSM networks, making it particularly suitable for regional and rural areas. Increased call privacy, calls will be safe from the casual eavesdropper. Also reduces the possibility of crossed lines. Reduced interference with other electronic devices such as radios Lower battery drain, increasing talk time

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CHAPTER 5. 5 GSM Channel concepts.

Many logical channels exist each designed to carry different message to or from an MS. All information to and from an MS must be formatted correctly ,so that the receiving device can understand the meaming of different bits in the message, some bits carry data itself others are used as training sequence. There are several types of burst.the relationship between bursts and logical channels are as shown in the diagram below. 5.1 Control Channels.

When an MS is switched on,it searches for a BTS to connect to.The MS scans the entire frequency band or optionally ,uses a list containing the allocated carrier frequenciesfor this operator. When the MS finds the strongest Carrier,it must then determine if it is a control channel. It does so by searching for particular logical channel called Broadcast Channel (BCCH). A frequency carrying BCCH contains important information for an MS,including the current location area identity ,synchronisation, information and Network identity.without such information, an MS cannot work with an network.This information is broadcast at regular intervals ,leading to the term BroadCast Channel(BCH) information. Figure 6. Below shows the logical channels

Logical Channels

Control Channel Elements

Traffic Channels

21 BCH
CCCH

DCCH

Half Rate

Full Rate and EFR

5.2

Broadcast Channels (BCHs). Direction Downlink point to multipoint BTS Transmits a carrier frequency MS Identifies BCCH carrier by the carrier frequency and synchronizes with the frequency. Synchronizes with Transmits the frame structure information about within a particular cell the TDMA frame and ensures that the structure in a cell (frame number and chosen BTS is a GSM BTS BSIC can the BTS identity only be decoded by (Base station identity code (BSIC) an MS if the BTS belongs to a GSM ) network. Receives LAI and will Broadcasts some signal to the network general cell information such as as part of the Location Updating Location area procedure if the LAI Identity (LAI), is different to the one maximum output power allowed in the already stored on its cell and the identity SIM.MS sets its out of BCCH carriers for put power level based on the neighboring cells BCCH.the MS stores the list of BCCH carrier frequencies on which Receiver level measurement is done for handover

Logical channel Frequency correction channel (FCCH)

Synchronization Channel (SCH)

Down link point to multipoint

Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH)

Down link point to multipoint

Table 2. When the MS has finished analyzing the information on a BCH it has all the information required to work with the network. However if the MS roams to another cell it must repeat the process of reading FCCH, SCH and BCCH in the new cell.

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If the mobile subscriber then wishes to make or receive a call, the common Control channel (CCCH) must be used. 5.3 Common Control Channels (CCCH) Logical channels Paging Channel (PCH) Direction Downlink, point to point. BTS Transmits a paging message to indicate an incoming call or short message. Thepaging message contains the identity number of the mobile subscriber that the network wishes to contact. Receives accessrequest from MS for call setup/location update /SMS. Assigns a signaling channel(SDCCH) to the MS MS At certain time intervals the MS listens to the PCH. If it identifies its own mobile subscriber identity number on the PCH, it will respond.

Random Access Channel (RACH).

Uplink, point to point.

Access Grant Channel.(AGCH)

Down link point to point

Answers a paging message on the RACH by requesting a signaling channel. Receives a signaling Channel assignment (SDCCH).

Table 3. At this stage the MS and BSS are ready to begin call set-up procedures .For this the MS and BSS use Dedicated Control Channels (DCCHs). 5.4 Dedicated Control Channel (DCCH). Direction Uplink and down link, point to point BTS The BTS switches to the assigned SDCCH, used for call set-up signaling. TCH is assigned on here. (SDCCH is also used for SMS MS The MS switches to the assigned SDCCH. Call set-up is performed .The MS receives a TCH assignment information (carrier
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Logical channel Stand alone Dedicated Control Channel (SDCCH)

Cell Broadcast Channel (CBCH)

Slow Associated Control Channel (SACCH)

messages to MS) Uses this logical channel to transmit short message service cell broadcast. Uplink and downlink, Instructs the MS on point to point. the allowed transmitter power and parameters for time advance. SAACH is used for SMS during a call. Downlink, point to multipoint, mapped on SDCCH

and time slot). MS receives cell broadcast messages.

Fast Associated Control Channel (FACCH). Table 4.

Uplink and downlink point to point.

Transmits handover information.

Sends averaged measurements on its own BTS (signal strength and quality) and neighboring BTSs (signal strength). The MS continues to use SACCH for this purpose during a call. Transmits necessary handover information in access burst.

5.5 Traffic channels. Once call set-up procedures have been completed on the control physical channel, the MS tunes to a traffic physical channel. It uses the Traffic Channel (TCH) logical Channel. There are two types of TCH: Full Rate (TCH): transmits full rate speech (13kbits/s).A full rate TCH occupies one physical Channel. Half Rate (TCH/2): transmits half rate speech (6.5kbits/s). Two half rate TCHs can share one physical channel, thus doubling the capacity of a cell.

5.6

Burst types. Burst type

Purpose

Used by

Contents
24

Normal

Used to carry information on traffic and control channels.

BCCH, PCH, AGCH, SDCCH, CBCH, SACCH, FACCH, TCH

Frequency Correction

Used for frequency synchronization of the mobile

FCCH

Two blocks of 57 bits each for traffic. Training sequence (26bits) Steal flags (1 bit each) to indicate that FACCH has temporarily stolen 57 bits. Tail bits (always 000). Guard period: 8.25 bit duration. 142 frequency correction bits Tail bits Guard period: 8.25 bit durations Two blocks of 39 bits for TDMA frame structure information 64 synchronization bits Tail bits. Guard period: 8.25 bit durations 41 synchronization bits 36 bits of access information. Tail bits Guard period: 68.25 bit durations. A longer GP is used because its the first transmission from the mobile no timing advance information is available. Pattern consists of training sequence and a mixed bits pattern.

Synchronization

Used for frame synchronization of the mobile

SCH

Access

Used for random and handover access

RACH, FACCH

Dummy

Used when on other channel requires a burst to be sent and carries no information.

All free TS on C0 (1-7)

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CHAPTER 6. 6 Network Optimization

Today, optimization is often seen as a post-planning process, responsible for improving a given situation. To maximize the overall profit, however, optimization must take a more global perspective. It must be fully integrated into all strategic and operational decisions, and in particular, optimization technologies should already be embedded within the initial 6.1 Planning stages.

6.1.1 Benefits of Optimization There are manifold benefits of optimization for telecommunication service providers. 6.1.1.1 Assessment of Solution Quality Modern optimization technologies add a new quality to the planning process. In addition to the computation of network configurations, they provide information to assess the quality of a solution. It becomes possible to give serious answers to the question how bad a decision could be in the worst-case, or on the positive side, to see that one took an excellent or even an optimal decision.

6.1.1.2 High-quality Planning Results It is possible to evaluate and compare numerous solutions in short computation times. The consequence is high-quality planning results. The planning process itself and its results in particular become reproducible and more reliable. Aside from this, the dependency of planning departments from employee turnover is reduced.

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6.1.1.3 Managing Network Growth. Adjustment of individual parameters to maximize coverage interference. Minimize dropped calls Minimize number of handovers required Reduce signaling traffic to a minimum. Optimize distribution of the traffic load.

6.1.1.4 Optimization Measures Adjusting of antenna direction. Transmitter power reduction. Antenna direction and tilts. Modification to the frequency plan. Changes to the cell neighbor lists Changes to other BSS parameters especially those to do with handover i.e. Handover parameters and neighbor cell definition. 6.2 Dimensioning

This is about setting the required capacity of the equipment that corresponds to a specific quality of service. In GSM, the capacity on the BTS is factor of quality of service rendered to the subscribers. Graph below shows the differences between the capacity for 1, 2, 3 and 4 Trx orTRU. It also shows the capacity difference for Erlang tables such as Erlang B 2% and 5%, Erlang C 2% and MTN 2%.

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Fig 7: Traffic Model Comparison. Most cellular operators from user response have assumed that, dimensioning the cells so that the traffic carried is within the Erlang B 2% levels, is typically acceptable to the user. MTN Uganda allows the traffic to Erlang B 2% before upgrading the cells capacity. You can refer to Erlang B tables in the appendix

6.3

GSM Planning

Network planning is divided into two levels of details 1. Initial network sizing analysis (Budgetary design) First step to detail network plan Entirely an analytical exercise usually done on a spreadsheet o/p Cell Counts Growth plan No maps, site location, or simulation statistics 2 Detailed network design and analysis (detailed design).

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 Usually done using a network-planning tool. Outputs e.g. Coverage Maps, site location, parameters, specific equipment needs, and more detailed growth plans.

6.4 Reduced Planning Time Today, many planning tasks are solved in a semi-automatic or manual process. Since optimization is accompanied by automation, all its advantages are added in such a situation. In particular, part of the planning can be performed in the background, the overall planning time decreases and, in consequence, the total cost of planning can substantially be reduced.

6.5 GSM Frequency Bands As GSM has grown worldwide, it has expanded to operate at three frequency bands: 900, 1800 and 1900. In Uganda, MTN uses dual band: the usage of two frequencies bands the 900MHZ and 1800MHZ. This enhances capacity and reliability of the network. 6.6 Radio Planning in GSM

This can briefly be described as all the activities involved in determining where to put the site, which sites will be used for radio equipment otherwise a cell extender, which equipment will be used, and whether it is a coverage site or a capacity site. Coverage sites are put where there hasnt been any network before while capacity sites are put to reduce congestion on the already existing site. In planning its not all about the Engineering principles, at the back of ones mind is business and marketing because at the end of it all it is business and money oriented.

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6.7

Role of Radio Planning

To initially design a network that provides basis for a high capacity, high quality network. To ensure continuous and adequate depth of coverage of the required areas without appreciable holes and as well meet the companies marketing plans To ensure adequate network capacity to accommodate the busiest hour with a little chance of congestion To ensure excellent quality. This includes minimal disturbance of the radio signal during the call Planning is also done to achieve a cost effective design while meeting the quality targets Planning also interacts with other departments like marketing, site acquisition, implementation, fixed network planning, operations, customer care and marketing During the life of the network, planners are concerned with a number of activities like Coverage roll-out mostly in early years of the network Capacity growth, this involves additional infrastructure installation as subscribers densities grow and cell sizes reduce Coverage enhancement, which needs to be planned carefully for best effect though it usually happens automatically as cells reduce.

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CHAPTER 7. 7 7.1 TOOLS USED IN PLANNING Asset Planning Tool

ASSET3g is a network planning and analysis tool containing a complete range of functionality for the design and simulation of GSM TDMA, CDMA2000, networks. Its functionality includes hierarchical network planning, propagation modeling, service definition, analysis arrays, neighbor list definition, automatic frequency planning, CW data analysis, detailed reporting and simulation. Offering a purpose designed CDMA planning capability; it avoids limitations evident in alternative systems developed from legacy technologies. With asset it has scanned maps, which are digitized. This tool is used to draw predictions of the network coverage. Here sector antennas can be added and their coverage predicted and compared to other coverage drawn at different positions of the antennas and the best coverage taken. 7.2 OPTIMA logs

OPTIMA is a network performance management and monitoring software that

and stores network parameters, enabling you to gain a complete understanding of the current and past performance of your network. You can use OPTIMA with ENTERPRISE or standalone, as OPTIMA Lite. By accessing and analyzing invaluable performance data, you can: Identify and respond quickly to change Accurately pinpoint extra capacity requirements Deploy network enhancements in a timely and cost effective manner Predict future trends in the network or at any part of the network

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CHAPTER 8. 8 8.1 THE PROCESS OF PLANNING A SITE Identification of the area

Areas for new sites are identified though the following ways Surveys by the company Contract basis like covering all district towns Complaints of poor or no coverage by the public Complaints buy leaders like Members of Parliament 8.2 Use Planning Tools

The different planning tools are used to predetermine the coverage of the network and the equipment to be used the tools include: Asset Optima Neptune Target 8.3 Carry out site survey Site surveys are carried out at various locations where new sites or just cell extenders are being planned. In short they are carried out for all proposed site locations. For the new sites it may be a coverage site or a capacity site. For coverage it means that area had no network before and plans are underway to extend coverage to that place. For capacity it means that coverage has been there but you but there is a lot of load causing congestion on the present site.

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For a cell extender site there is no radio equipment at the site the frequencies of a particular site are transmitted to cover a wider are. This is mostly done in rural areas where there is low capacity on cell. In planning this one has to take not of interference seriously. The following are checked for each site survey made: Exact location of the site using GPS. Space for Equipment, including antennas. Cable runs power facilities. Contract with site owner.

In addition the radio environment must be checked to ensure that there is no other equipment on site that causes problems.

8.4 Take contractors. Contractors are taken to the areas in which a new site is to be built. These contractors draw the plan on the area and make the necessary budgets like one for road construction in case there is no access road and these are again presented to planning for approval

8.5 Issue a work order. Work order5s are issued to the implementation group, which works hand in hand with the various contractors 8.6 Implementation.

The implementation group implements whatever the planning departments came up with. This includes setting up new base stations, installing new network infrastructure such as optical fiber links, Upgrading equipment, and troubleshooting microwave links. It works hand in hand with the various contractors employed by MTN Uganda. CARRY OUT

33

8.7

Drive tests.

Drive tests are carried out to know the quality of service the company is rendering to the customers. This is normally done in areas where there are complaints of poor coverage or where a new site has been put to find out the actual signal coverage Here we use a Test Mobile System (TEMS). It is a testing tool used to read and control the information sent over the air interface between the BTS and the MS. It can be used for radio coverage measurements. In addition TEMS can be used for both field measurements and post processing. It consists of an MS with special software, a laptop and optionally a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver The MS can be used in active and idle mode The laptop is used for presentation, control and measurement storage. The GPS receiver provides the exact position of the measurement by utilizing satellites. When satellite signals are shadowed by obstacles the GPS switches to dead reckoning. TEMS measurements can be imported to TEMS cell planner. This means that measurements can be displayed on a map. This helps to compare the measured hand over to be compared with the predicted cell boundaries 8.8 Procedures for Bringing up Sites.

Best Time for setting up a Site: best time for bring up a site depends on the type of site, a new site can be set up at any time. For an existing site, you may need to add a sector on an already existing site; this requires bringing the whole site down, cutting off the traffic on this site. Check the traffic trends and get the time, which has the least traffic. This is the best time to switch the site off and set up a new sector.

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8.8.1 Procedures. 1) Collection of Data to be run The following information is known before starting the data running process in OSS: The BSC and therefore the MSC where the site will be routed from. This depends on the existing capacity on the BSC. This depends on the location of the site and therefore its Location Area (LA). It determines the optimal BSC to be connected to. if a specific BSC is out of capacity, either capacity upgrade or cutover should be performed. Hence the charging Origin (CO), Routing Origin (RO), NCS and EA should be known. Get the CGI for the cell. Get the neighboring cells by looking at ASSET. Be critical about if the neighbor is on same BSC or MSC or a different one. Get the frequencies for the neighbors. Get the TCHs for the cell by correct frequency allocation. For a simple rural site, we can check for the neighbors in ASSET, get their coverage prediction and check the overlaps. Get the neighboring cells for every cell, BCCH NO. and their TCHs. Then you can pick the frequencies for the cell following the following procedures

8.8.2 Choosing TCH and BCCH for a Particular cell When choosing the TCHs for a particular cell the following steps are followed: List the TCHs in ascending order for MTNs case from 84 to 108. Identify the TCHs for all the neighboring cells. Cancel each of the TCHs of the neighboring cells from your list. TCHs, which appear twice in the different cells are cancelled twice, this normally happens in urban cells. Take the TCHs which have not been cancelled at all as long as they have a difference of 2MHz not to cause interference

35

When choosing BCCH the same trick works but here you prefer BCCHs which are quite far away from the neighbors. For urban sites and that have many neighbors frequency planning is done with help of standard documents. Then get the BSIC for the cell, and ensure that the combination for the cell is unique for a BSC and for MTN Uganda. Find out the number of SDCCHs for the cell and the time slot where to place them. If you will use hopping, get some Hopping Sequence Number (HSN). For all Outer or External Cells, know also the BSIC alongside knowing other cell Related information specified in the above steps. Also know other Transmission and information about GSM site and cell.

2). Data Entry This is done after getting all the required data for the cell. After then you run the data. The above general procedures apply to both Ericsson and Huawei sites. Adding a site in Asset Process of adding a site in Asset planning tool so as to analyze the network predictions is as follows Once the asset window is open then you follow the following steps: Add a property by clicking on the add property icon and paste this on the map Add a site by clicking on add MSC then click on add site. Paste this on the property added. A site will be added To add a cell right click on the site added in the site data base then click on add cell specify the cells as A, B, and C if the site has three cells

36

Add the cell attributes from the site database window for each cell. Some of these attributes include:Cell name MNC i.e. 10 for MTN Uganda MCC i.e. 641 for Uganda LAC Equipment i.e. CDU C+ for most sites Antennas Feeder type Mast height which is 24, or 54, or 72 for MTNs case Feeder length Neighbours Prediction model which is suburban 900_50nc for most sites For every change one makes you have to remember to apply and commit to confirm your changes.

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CHAPTER 9. 9 GPRS technology.

GPRS or General Packet Radio Service is a packet switched technology, based on GSM. The radio and network resources of GPRS are only accessed when data actually needs to be transmitted between the GPRS mobile user and the GPRS network. This data is divided into packets and is then transferred via the radio and core GPRS network. Between alternating transmissions, no GPRS network resources need to be allocated. GPRS offers up to 115 kbps, depending on the network availability, channel coding scheme and terminal capability. This increase in speed in GPRS with respect to GSM is achieved by using more than one timeslot of the TDMA frame. Due to the packet switched characteristics of GPRS the allocation of the available timeslots may vary from one instant to the next (e.g. it may have 8 timeslots at one time and 4 later on). The General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a new value added service that allows information to be sent and received across a mobile telephone network. It supplements today's Circuit wireless Switched Data and Short Message Service. Timeslot building requires new functionality on the mobile side. The figure below shows the GPRS system architecture.

38

Figure 8. 9.1 GPRS service nodes.

9.1.1 Serving GPRS support node (SGSN). The Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) provides packet routing to and from the SGSN service area for all users in that service area. 9.1.2 Gateway GPRS support node (GGSN). Gateway GPRS Service Node (GGSN) acts as a gateway between the GPRS network and Public Data Networks such as IP and X.25. GGSNs also connect to other GPRS networks to facilitate GPRS roaming. In addition to adding multiple GPRS nodes and a GPRS backbone, some other technical changes that need to be added to a GSM network to implement a GPRS service. These include the addition of Packet Control Units; often hosted in the Base Station Subsystems, mobility management to locate the GPRS Mobile Station, a new air interface for packet traffic, new security features such as ciphering and new GPRS specific signaling. A charging gateway function to support packet switched transactions. The packet switched traffic is separated from the circuit switched traffic at the BSC/PCU and diverted to the

39

GPRS core network. To support point-to-multipoint features, a point-to-multipoint Service Center (PTM-SC) needs also to be added. Depending on the environmental radio conditions, one of the four coding schemes (CS1, CS2, CS3, and CS4) can be selected. CS1 and CS2 offer good error detection and correction with low throughput; in the first step of GPRS only these two techniques may be used. CS3 and CS4 provide higher throughputs but have little or no error correction capabilities. The table below shows different data rates that can be achieved with the different coding techniques. User Data Rate 1 Timeslot 8 Timeslot CS1 CS2 CS3 15.6 kbps 72.4 kbps 107.2 kbps 124.8 kbps 171.2 kbps CS4 21.4 kbps

9.05 kbps 13.4 kbps

Table 7. Data Rate for GPRS Because GPRS is packet switched traffic, new protocols and channel types are required. In GPRS the mobile device is permanently attached to the network, providing a virtual connection without cost and data transfer (GPRS-Attach). GPRS-Attach procedure is executed whenever a GPRS enabled mobile station is switched on and needs to inform the network about its presence. The two peers of a GPRS attach procedure are the mobile station (MS) and the Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN). Depending on the availability of the packet Common Control Channel (PCCCH), the GPRS-Attach procedure may be executed on Circuit Common Control Channel (CCCCH).

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9.2

Some of the applications for GPRS

A wide range of corporate and consumer applications are enabled by no voice mobile services such as SMS and GPRS. This section will introduce those that are particularly suited to GPRS. 9.2.1 Chat Chat can be distinguished from general information services because the source of the information is a person with chat whereas it tends to be from an Internet site for information services. 9.2.2 Textual and visual information A wide range of content can be delivered to mobile phone users ranging from share prices, sports scores, weather, flight information, news headlines, prayer reminders, lottery results, jokes, horoscopes, traffic, location sensitive services and so on. As such, GPRS will likely be used for qualitative information services when end users have GPRS capable devices, but SMS will continue to be used for delivering most quantitative information services 9.2.3 Still images. Still images such as photographs, pictures, postcards, greeting cards and presentations, static web pages can be sent and received over the mobile network as they are across fixed telephone networks. It will be possible with GPRS to post images from a digital camera connected to a GPRS radio device directly to an Internet site, allowing near realtime desktop publishing. 9.2.4 Moving images. Over time, the nature and form of mobile communication is getting less textual and more visual. The wireless industry is moving from text messages to icons and picture messages to photographs and blueprints to video messages and movie previews being downloaded and on to full blown movie watching via data streaming on a mobile device.
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9.2.5 Web browsing Using Circuit Switched Data for web browsing has never been an enduring application for mobile users. Because of the slow speed of Circuit Switched Data, it takes a long time for data to arrive from the Internet server to the browser. Alternatively, users switch off the images and just access the text on the web, and end up with difficult to read text layouts on screens that are difficult to read from. As such, mobile Internet browsing is better suited to GPRS. 9.2.6 Audio Despite many improvements in the quality of voice calls on mobile networks such as Enhanced Full Rate (EFR), they are still not broadcast quality. There are scenarios where journalists or undercover police officers with portable professional broadcast quality microphones and amplifiers capture interviews with people or radio reports dictated by them and need to send this information back to their radio or police station. Since even short voice clips occupy large file sizes, GPRS or other high-speed mobile data services are needed. 9.2.7 Corporate e-mail. Since GPRS capable devices will be more widespread in corporations than amongst the general mobile phone user community, there are likely to be more corporate email applications using GPRS than Internet email ones whose target market is more general. 9.2.8 Internet E-mail Upon receiving a new email, most Internet email users do not currently get notified of this fact on their mobile phone. When they are out of the office, they have to dial in speculatively and periodically to check their mailbox contents. However, by linking Internet email with an alert mechanism such as SMS or GPRS, users can be notified when a new email is received.

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9.2.9 File transfer As this generic term suggests, file transfer applications encompass any form of downloading sizeable data across the mobile network. This data could be a presentation document for a traveling salesperson, an appliance manual for a service engineer or a software application such as Adobe Acrobat Reader to read documents. The source of this information could be one of the Internet communication methods such as FTP (File Transfer Protocol), telnet, http or Java- or from a proprietary database or legacy platform. Irrespective of source and type of file being transferred, this kind of application tends to be bandwidth intensive. It therefore requires a high-speed mobile data service such as GPRS, EDGE or 3GSM to run satisfactorily across a mobile network.

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CHAPTER 10. 10 MICROWAVE TRANSMISSION AND PLANNING. 10.1 Microwave transmission. 10.1.1 Introduction. Microwave radio refers to point to point fixed links that operate in duplex mode .Duplex operation means that each radio frequency consists of a pair of frequencies for transmit and receive directions, respectively. The base band signal, which contains the user information, occupies a limited bandwidth depending on the modulation scheme used. This signal is modulated onto an RF carrier and is transmitted over the air as an electromagnetic wave front. Microwave links cover the frequency spectrum from 300MHz to approximately 60GHz. The figure below shows a microwave transmission diagram.

44

Short wave guide ODU Coaxial Cable. TX RX ODU RF signal IF signal IDU IDU TX RX

Feed horn

Modem SP

Modem SP

Base band signal

TRUS

MDF

E1 port (G.703) Protocol

E1 port (G.703) Protocol

BTS.

BTS.

Figure 8. BTS: Base Transceiver Station. IDU: Indoor Unit. IF signal: Intermediate frequency MDF: Main Distribution Frame. ODU: Out door Unit. RX : Receiver. TX : Transmitter. 10.2 Why use radio communications? Radio communications are used over cable based communication networks for several reasons:

45

10.2.1 Cost The cost of setting up a cable-based network can be huge, due to the amount of buried or aerial cabling required. The cabling is costly to install and maintain. These problems are remedied by the use of a radio link where the only hardware required is the building for housing the equipment, the equipment itself, the mast and antenna.

10.2.2 Quick set-up The set-up time for a microwave link is a lot shorter than for a cable based network. If there is already a tower and a building located in the link placement area, the installation time is in hours or days. If the tower and equipment building have to be built, the installation time will be measured in weeks rather than months. This would be the case if a similar cable based network would be installed.

10.2.3 Can be relocated Relocation of radio communications equipment is extremely fast as the equipment only has to be moved to another location and set-up along with its antenna. 10.2.4 Inaccessibility In some places the only practical way to provide communications normally due to the terrain is to use a radio-based link as it may be impossible to install a cable-based network. 10.3 Why use microwaves? 10.3.1 Overcrowding of the lower Bands

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The electromagnetic spectrum is a finite natural resource. As the use of electronic communications has increased over the years, the frequency spectrum normally used for radio signals has become rather crowded. Addition of further electronic communications services has increased the number of users. Thanks to technological development, the spectrum is used more efficiently. The future holds more growth in the use of the radio spectrum. The move to higher and higher frequencies has become the solution. First became the move to VHF (very high frequencies), then to UHF (ultra high frequencies) and now to waves called SHF (super high frequencies).

10.3.2 Wider bandwidth is available Moving to the microwave region makes more bandwidth available for an individual signal. For example, a standard AM broad cast station operating on 1000 kHz has a maximum bandwidth of 10 kHz. The bandwidth represents 1% of the spectrum space at that frequency. Considering a microwave carrier operating at 3 GHz, 1% of the spectrum at this frequency is then 30MHz. A bandwidth of 30MHz is incredibly wide compared to the bandwidth at 1000 kHz. 10.4 Microwave Planning. The purpose of microwave planning is to provide the student with sufficient information and knowledge to be able to reliably design digital microwave radio systems.

Microwave planning is divided into the following parts: Site Selection. Microwave radio path calculations. Site survey.

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 Use of computer aided design tools for: Microwave radio path calculations. Frequency planning. Interference Calculations.

10.4.1 Site selection

A number of factors need to be taken into consideration when selecting a microwave radio site. Each of these will have an influence on the cost of installation, maintenance and the performance of the link. 10.4.2 The effect of local terrain on site selection. Terminal sites are more often than not the locations of existing intermediate or terminal facilities. Intermediate sites are, however, chosen with great emphasis placed on terrain considerations.

Of primary importance to any microwave site is effect of terrain on propagation. The effects of terrain on propagation have a direct bearing on the type and cost of antenna and equipment installations required. It is important to consider, not only the present link or links being planned, but also any future links that may be required to operate to or through the site.

The location terrain also has a great bearing on ease, and therefore the cost of providing physical access, mains power supply and all other services to site. The cost of providing these services during the life of site is as important as providing them at installation time. It should be remembered that, if standby power were to be provided, bulk fuel deliveries would be required on a regular basis.

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The terrain at the chosen site will determine the amount and cost of civil works such as site leveling that must be carried out. Geology of the sites is important when costing foundations and footings where structures such as towers are to be erected. Although many of the relevant data may be gathered from maps and plans of the area, it is important to remember that site surveys play an important role in the final site selection decision.

10.4.3 The effects of local metrological conditions on site selection Local wind speeds, rainfall and temperature ranges will influence the cost of any installation and therefore the selection of sites. The amount of any snow or ice accumulation is very important when considering tower dimensions and antenna types.

Unusual weather conditions also seriously affect the choice of sites. Serious propagation problems can arise as a result of local temperature inversions that may occur above wide river valleys and in some coastal areas. The proximity of the site to the sea and the effect of salt blast on installations should also be considered.

10.4.4 The effect of existing structures and other factors on site selection. In many cases a site may be attractive because a structure, such as a tower or tall building, already exists and may be used to support antennas. The proximity of all other structures must be considered carefully to ensure that they do not pose clearance criteria problems for link being planned and other future links.

Not only should the height and nature of all present structures be considered, but also possible future structures must be investigated. This is especially important in the urban environment where planning permission may already in existence for a structure that would

49

seriously obstruct the path being planned. Some sites, especially those in rural areas, may be subjected to planning restrictions that either limits the size of structure or the materials to be used in their construction.

All adjacent man made structures should be investigated to determine their effects upon the system. It must be remembered that the sides of modern buildings not directly in line of site may make very efficient reflectors and therefore cause serious problems. The interference that may be expected from industrial sites, radar installation, aircraft and military sites may be a serious limitation on the height and location of towers and buildings. The effect of large aircraft flying close to or through the line of site may be considerable. 10.4.5 Microwave radio path calculations In its most basic form radio path calculations comprise of the following activities: Gathering the terrain data from maps, between the two sites. Drawing a path profile of the terrain. Calculating the antenna heights for line of sight operation. Selecting the equipment to be used. Calculating a link budget gains minus losses. There is naturally a great deal more to successfully designing a microwave radio path, this will be discussed under Computer aided design tools. 10.4.6 Obtaining terrain data from maps The most common map scale use for drawing path profiles is 1:50,000. The map is 15 north south and 15 east west and 2cm distance on the map is equal to 1km of actual distance.

In order to gather the terrain information between the sites, the sites have first to be located on the map. This is accomplished by using the latitude and longitude coordinates of the site, if known or by local knowledge.

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Once the site positions have been plotted a straight line connecting the two sites is drawn. A ruler, (cm scale), is placed along this line with the zero point of the ruler on the first site. The contour elevations are then recorded against the distance, (in cm), from the first site. The more points recorded the more accurate the final result will be.

Care should be taken to note if the contours are in meters or feet. This is especially important if the record is made over several maps as they may vary depending on the age and locality of the map.

When all the information has been recorded it should be converted to kilometers for the distance and meters for elevation so that it can be plotted on a graph.

10.4.7 Drawing a path profile of the terrain To draw a profile of the terrain data gathered a sheet of graph paper is used and the elevation information is plotted on the Y axis, and distance plotted on the X axis. The points are then connected to give an elevation view of the terrain between the sites. Known obstacles such as trees and buildings can then be plotted on the graph to provide more detailed clutter and obstacle information. A number of factors need to be taken in to account when calculating the height of the link antennas, among these are: The curvature of the earth. Obstructions along the path. Clearance required by the radio beam along the path. Reflections 10.5 Effective earth curvature

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The relative curvature of the earth and the microwave beam is an important factor when constructing a path profile. Although the surface of earth is curved, the microwave beam tends to travel in a straight line. The beam is, however, normally bent down a slight amount by atmospheric refraction. The amount and direction of the bending is described by the effective earth radius coefficient (k).S If the real radius of the earth is multiplied by k, the resulting figure is the radius of a fictitious earth curve. The curve is equivalent to the relative curvature of the microwave beam with respect to the curvature of the earth. It is possible to use the resulting curve to plot the profile of an equivalent curved earth and to represent the microwave beam as a straight line. The formula for calculating the effective earth curvature is: h = (d1x d2)/(12.75 x k) Where: h= meters. d1 = distance in km from the beginning of the profile to the point of interest. d2 = distance in km from the point of interest to the end of the profile. The most common values of k are: K=4/3 K=2/3 K=1/3 For each point on the profile a new elevation should be calculated and plotted, the points joined together. The new profile represents the effective curvature of the earth. 10.5.1 Fresnel zone clearance. Fresnel zones are set of ellipses whose boundary points define the sets of points where direct and indirect rays are separated by multiples of half a wavelength. Each zone represents an equal energy area but the phase of each zone alternates as the Fresnel numbers increase.

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As each of these zones is blocked, the result will either add to or subtract from the overall signal strength at the receiver. When all but the 1st and 2nd zones are blocked a deep negative signal results, this is should be avoided at all costs. When the point is reached where only the 1st Fresnel zone is unblocked, only the positive phases is received and all negative phases are blocked. The result is a signal strength, which is higher than the combination of all the zones being unblocked. With 60% of the 1st Fresnel zone clear the results are the same as if it were completely unblocked. This means that the antennas can be placed to achieve a 1st Fresnel zone clearance of 60% , which is lower than for full clearance.

The formula for calculating the fresnel zone clearance is: F1 = 17.3((d1 x d2)/(f x D)) Where: F1 = 1st Fresnel zone height in meters. d1 = distance in km from the beginning of the profile to the point of interest. d2 = distance in km from the point of interest to end of the profile. D = the path length in km. F = frequency in GHz For each point on the profile a new elevation should be calculated and plotted, a straight line is then drawn through the length of the profile, interesting highest of these points. The resulting height between the line and the ground elevation at each end of the profile is the height of the antennas. 10.5.2 Path clearance criteria. The clearance at any point on path is determined by basic path geometry and changes depending upon the value of the effective earth radius, K. The value of K will change

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throughout the year and also throughout the day. It is therefore important to ensure that sufficient clearance is obtained for various values of K. In general k may be considered to fall within the range infinity to 2/3 with a standard atmosphere being taken as k = 4/3. It is usual to consider the design of a path for k = 4/3 and k = 2/3 because excursions of k beyond these limits is rare is most cases. For high reliability a value of k = should be considered and if the path is highly reflective the path should be examined at value of k = . The terrain over which a radio path passes may be roughly classified into Good terrain, Normal terrain, and Bad terrain. Radio links may be divided into two categories; high capacity above 8Mbps and low capacity below 8Mbps. 10.5.3 Good Terrain may be classified as: Having rare occurrences of calm weather tropospheric layering or temperature inversion, Or Hilly country which does not include wide river valleys or lakes, Or High mountainous country with radio paths high above the valleys, Or Lying between a plain or valley and mountains (high low path), where the elevation angle of the lower station exceeds 0.5. Areas of extreme weather conditions do not apply. The clearance for low capacity systems is: Grazing incidence at k = 0.66 Or 0.6 F1 at k = 1.33 The clearance for highly capacity systems is: 0.3F1 at k = 0.66 Or

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0.6 F1 at k = 1.33 10.5.4 Normal Terrain may be classified as: Flat country if tropospheric layering occurs only occasionally. Or Coastal areas with moderate temperatures provided that links have a steep elevation angle. Or Hot tropical regions (low humidity) The clearance for low capacity systems is: 0.3 F1 at k = 0.66 Or 0.6F1 at k = 1.33 The clearance for high capacity systems is: 0.66F1 at k = 0.66 10.5.5 Bad Terrain is classified as: Humid areas where ground mist is likely to form. Or Flat areas such as wide river valleys, inland lakes or moors. Or Areas where large diurnal variations in temperature and humidity occur. The clearance for low capacity systems is 10.6 Site surveys. Once the site has been selected using maps, and the initial microwave path calculations have been completed. A site survey needs to be carried out before a final decision on the suitability of the site for inclusion in the network is taken.

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During this survey the physical characteristics of the site are determined. Permanent records should be made of the site using: A Global Positioning System (GPS) to determine the true position of the site. Photographs should be taken of the site and surrounding area. A site drawing should be made showing the site layout. A compass should be used to determine the angles to the next sites or angles to any possible obstacles. The availability of mains power and any other utilities should be recorded. A complete record of the site should be made on a standard form and filed with the system documentation. 10.7 Frequency Planning Microwave communication systems work well within well defined frequency bands. For twoway operation, as is generally required, each band is divided into upper and lower halves. Each microwave link has a transmit high and a transmit low end. This arrangement minimizes interference between transmitters and receivers at the same site. It is important to consider the distance of the link when frequency planning. Poor frequency planning and spectrum management results in less efficient use of the available spectrum and hence congestion and frequent redesign of the frequency plan. 10.7.1 Interference Interference is any unwanted signal that would present itself to the receiver section of a radio for demodulation. It can be a delayed copy of the radio links own signal, an adjacent channels signal traveling over the same link, or a signal from another radio link or RF source. 10.7.2 Interference mechanisms. The mechanisms by which interference occurs are numerous.

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Sources of interference may be loosely classified as intra-system sources and external sources. Intra-system interference may be caused by overreach or by interference from an adjacent section or network spur. External interference may come from other terrestrial radio systems, radar systems, satellite systems and industrial complexes.

There are two types of interfering signals: one with a variable Carrier-to-interfering ratio (C/I), the other with a constant C/I. In the former, the interfering signal is constant but the carrier level varies due to fading over the path. In the case of a constant C/I, both the carrier and the interfering signal are affected by the same amount of fading. This is the case when the signals travel over the same path.

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CHAPTER 11. 11 TRANSMISSION MEDIA. 11.1 Introduction. Transmission involves the transfer of information (voice, data text and video) from the source through the transmission media (copper, optic fiber, wireless microwave) to their destination points or access points (GSM sites 2G, CDMA sites, GPRS sites 2.5G. In brief transmission involves three phases:

11.1.1 Switching: Introducing the information (voice, data text and video) in the transmission media. The quality of these signals depends entirely on ones perception. Switching can be done through digital switches or fixed line switches.

11.1.2 Transmission: This is done over air (wireless-microwave) or through the physical media fiber optic cables copper, satellites. 11.1.3 Access points /destination/end-points: These could be GSM sites 2G, CDMA sites; GPRS sites 2.5G that can access the information being sent from the source through the transmission media.

The transmission media often introduces unwanted changes to a signal, which limit the speed and frequency range of the signals that can be transmitted by that media. These unwanted changes are often referred to as noise.

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Lets look at a few of the transmission media available to the modern communicator and discover some of the factors that determine the choices. 11.2 Open wires. Although not often seen in recent years, having been replaced by microwave systems or newer technologies, open wires were used extensively in rural areas of Australia to provide twelve speech channels over a single wire strung between telephone poles (See the photograph below). The system provided a cheap but effective means of communication that was predominant despite many problems of security and line maintenance.

Figure 9. Telephone wires on telegraph posts 11.3 Untwisted pairs Two insulated wires moulded into a straight, flat, parallel pair cable (see figure 3) can be used for short distance or low bit rate communication. This is a cheap method but it is subject to cross talk and spurious noise pick up. The wires are easy to terminate.

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Figure 7: Untwisted pairs consist of two wires moulded into a flat, straight wire. 11.4 Twisted pairs. Two insulated wires are twisted around each other to form a twisted pair. This system leads to better electrical performance and significantly higher bit rates than untwisted pairs. These pairs are often then, in turn, twisted with other pairs to form a cable that is capable of high-speed communication. The twisting of wires around each other helps to reduce the noise by canceling unwanted induced electrical signals and each pair usually carries a single communication. Twisted pairs have become the most common form of transmission media cable used today having applications in telephone and computer networks. By adding a ground shield signal noise from external sources is further reduced. Systems using balanced signals obtain the highest bit rates. The ground shield makes termination a little more difficult.

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Figure 10: Cable consists of three twisted pairs that have been, in turn, twisted and insulated. 11.5 Coaxial cable. Coaxial cable is a two-wire conductor with a larger bandwidth than twisted pair cable. It is used in television, radio and Ethernet connections where each coaxial cable supports about 60 speech channels. The inner cable is heavily insulated so it is safe from bending and crushing and separated from the braided outer conductor as can be seen in figure 5. This outer cable is in turn insulated. The resultant electrical field occurs outside the coaxial cable, thus reducing the level of noise making the medium suitable for conducting high bit rates over longer distances than twisted pairs.

Figure 11: Coaxial cable 11.6 Optical fibres. Optical fiber consists of a glass or plastic core surrounded by a cladding with a higher refractive index. Data is carried as pulses of light from a laser or high-power light emitting diode (LED). The light pulses are contained within the core as a result of internal reflection. The core/cladding interface may be stepped or graded, each producing a different waveform. In a step index fiber, there is a sudden transition in refractive index. A graded index fiber has a gradual transition from high to low index, and much higher performance.

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Optical fiber is non-electrical, and therefore completely immune from electrical radiation and interference problems. It has the highest bit rate of all media. Each fiber optic strand can support thousands of speech channels and multiple television channels simultaneously. High bandwidths give enormous transmission capacity for national and intercontinental links and greater distances can be tolerated between repeaters. The small physical size, non-corrosive construction and immunity from electrical interference make optical fiber a highly attractive form of transmission media. There is a need in optical fiber communication for semiconductors for both the emitter (usually gallium arsenide laser) and the photodetector. Communication signals are converted to light by the emitter and reconverted by the receiver. 11.7 Advantages of Optic fiber. 11.7.1 Bandwidth Optical fibers have an extremely wide band width; therefore a greater volume of information can be carried and delivered greater fidelity than either copper wire or coaxial cable. 11.7.2 Speed Fiber optic networks operate at high speeds up into the gigabits. 11.7.3 Distance Signals can be transmitted further without needing to be refreshed or strengthened. Fiber optic cable can support much higher data rates, and at higher greater distances than coaxial cable making it ideal for transmission or serial digital data.

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11.7.4 Resistance Greater resistance to electromagnetic noise such as radios, motors or other nearby cables. The fiber is totally immune to virtually all kinds of interference, including lightning, and will not conduct electricity. It can therefore come in direct contact with high voltage electrical equipment and power lines. It will also not create ground loops of any kind. Immune to cross talk (light radiated from one optical fiber cannot be recaptured by another optical fiber.) 11.7.5 Reliability When properly designed. It is immune to adverse temperatures and moist life. Long life span, approximately 30 years. No corrosion intermittent or loss signals, not affected by short circuit power surges. 11.7.6 Maintenance Fiber optic cables cost much less to maintain. 11.7.7 Versatility Fiber systems are available for most data, voiced and video communications or static electricity. 11.7.8 Safety There is greater safety because only light is carried in the fiber. Even in the most explosive of atmospheres, there is no fire hazard, and no danger of electrical shock to personnel repairing broken fibers. They provide electrical isolation between the transmitter and the receiver.

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 Since the only carrier in the fiber is light, there is no possibility of a spark from a broken fiber. 11.7.9 Size, Weight and Flexibility Optical fibers have very small diameters so a large number of fibers can be carried in a cable the thickness of a coaxial cable. Due to their light weight, they can be handled and installed much easier than copper cables. 11.7.10Low Transmission Loss Modern optical fiber now has better loss characteristics than coaxial cables. Fibers have been fabricated with losses as low as 0.2db/km. As the basic fiber is made of glass, it will not corrode and is unaffected by most chemicals. It can be buried directly in most kinds of soil or exposed to most corrosive atmospheres in chemical plants without significant concern. 11.8 Disadvantages of Optic fiber. The primary disadvantage of optical fiber is the technical difficulties associated with reliable and cheap connections, and the development of an optical circuit technology that can match the potential data-rates of the cables. The speed of these circuits, which are electronically controlled, is usually the limiting factor on the bit rate. The difficulty of connection and high-cost of associated circuitry result in optical fibers being used only in very high bit-rate communication. Dispersion is clearly the major limitation on bandwidth and counteracting it requires the added cost of more regenerators. They are relatively expensive and more complicated to install than other cables. However the price keeps dropping as this technology becomes more available.
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11.9 Optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR). An instrument used in design and diagnostics that locates faults or infers attenuation in optical networks. The OTDR sends an optical pulse along a fiber to test it. The reflectometer extracts light that is reflected and scattered back, the intensity of which is measured to ascertain the fiber's length and attenuation. This helps in determining whether there are faults in the fiber. A single port fiber optic test instrument, used for the characterization of fiber attenuation, dispersion, uniformity, splice loss, breaks, and length. In conclusion the OTDR is an instrument that characterizes cable loss by measuring the backscatter and reflection of injected light as a function of time. It is useful for estimating attenuation and for locating splices, connections, anomalies and breaks. 11.10 Satellite communications. Satellites are basically microwave repeater stations in the sky. Most of the attention regarding the wonders of the modern telecommunications seems to be focused on fiber optics, but in fact satellites are fast becoming a more popular as a commonplace communication medium. Satellites have major advantages over fiber: satellites can reach places that fiber cannot. Moreover, satellites are a broadcast medium, whereas fiber is point-to-point. Fiber cannot be attached to anything that moves, and it cannot economically reach remote locations. Satellites used to be important for handling telephone calls overseas and to remote locations, but all that changed with fiber optics a decade ago. Todays oceans have been laced with under-sea cables to handle intercontinental telephony. Fiber also has the advantage of lower propagation delay.

11.11 Laser
Transmission of signals can be done using a Laser beam for short distances. A laser link requires line of sight. MTN Uganda has been using Laser link to provide services their corporate customers e.g. for Stanbic Bank (Luwero branch).

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CHAPTER 12 12 PDH AND SDH. The Transmission System is traditionally seen as the link between main WAN switching centers. These Transmission Systems consist of large bandwidth highways that form the backbone to the network. They typically serve many customers each with their own requirements so the systems have to be reliable, resilient and flexible. Rather than have two wires for every voice or data conversation, Time Division Multiplexing is used. ITU-T G.704 defines 32 channels of 64Kb/s to form 2.048Mb/s where channel 0 is used for framing. You will often see the standard G.703 mentioned with G.704, this is because G.703 defines the unframed physical interface coaxial (75 ohm) or RJ48 (120 ohm) used for the E1/T1 connection at the client premises. Channel 0 is for timing used to synchronize the multiplexers at each end of the link. Channels 1 to 15 and 17 to 31 are for voice or data whilst channel 16 is used for Common Channel Signaling (CCS) or Channel Associated Signaling (CAS). Every 3.91 microseconds 8 bits from one channel is sent down the line followed by 8 bits from the next channel during the next 3.91 microseconds and so on in a round robin fashion throughout all the channels, thus 32 channels are used once every 125 microseconds. The connection at the end is either a 75 ohm coax, 120 ohm coax or a 150 ohm UTP/STP. There are three standardized multiplexing hierarchies namely: Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy (PDH) Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) Each of the above is based on time division multiplexing. The concept hierarchy refers to the multiplexing of capacity levels where, in several steps, a number of lower levels form a higher level. PDH, which was developed in the 1950s and 1960s, was brought into use worldwide in the 1970s. As developments in the field of

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semiconductors permitted higher and higher bit rates, higher multiplexing levels were standardized. In the middle of the 1980s, the standardization of SONET was started in the US( United States of America ). One reason for this standardization was to promote competition between the manufacturers of optical equipment. In 1988, the CCITT (presently known as the ITU-T) established a new world standard, based on SONET, for multiplexing digital signals. The new standard was called SDH. PDH, SDH and SONET are all based on the 64 kbit/s digital voice channels of the PCM (Pulse Coded Modulation) technique. 12.1 Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy. PDH is a technology used in telecommunications networks to transport large quantities of data over digital transport equipment such as fiber optic and microwave radio systems. The term plesiochronous is derived from Greek plesio, meaning near, and chronos, time, and refers to fact that PDH networks run in a state where different parts of the network are almost, but not quite perfectly, synchronized. In PDH the lower rate signals are bit interleaved into the hierarchy, thus losing their original interface characteristics. Stuffing techniques are used to ensure that the overall signal can be demultiplexed at the distant end without requiring a common clock.These stuffing techniques are used in PDH Although PDH was a breakthrough in the digital transmission systems, it has a lot of weaknesses: No world standard on digital format (three incompatible regional standards European, North American and Japanese).

No world standard for optical interfaces. Networking is impossible at the optical level.

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Rigid asynchronous multiplexing structure. Limited management capability. Large hardware foot print.

Because of PDH disadvantages, it was obvious that a new multiplexing method is needed hence the introduction of the new method which was called SDH. 12.2 Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH). SDH is an international standard for high speed telecommunication over optical/electical networks which can transport digital signals in variable capacities. It is a synchronous system, which intends to provide a more flexible, yet simple network infrastructure. SDH has several transmission levels namely: - STM-0, STM-1, STM-4, STM-16, STM-64. SONET is a digital transmission format that is used in optical fiber networks to transport high speed data signals. SONET uses standard data transfer rates and defined frame structures format in a synchronous (sequential) format. SONET has several transmission levels namely: - STS-1, STS-3, STS-12, STS-48. SDH (and its American variant- SONET) emerged from standard bodies somewhere around 1990. These two standards create a revolution in the communication networks based on optical fibers, in their cost and performance. In SDH the principle is to synchronously map the lower rate signal into a container that is thus embedded in the overall frame without losing its original interface characteristics. The container is kept synchronized to the frame using pointer techniques,which will be discussed later. An overhead is then added to the container and to the frame that allows manageability of the original signal right through the network. It is this aspect that allows SDH to have such powerful network management capability.

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12.2.1 SDH frame structure. The basic SDH frame consists of a matrix of 8-bit (1bytes) organized into 270 columns and 9 rows. There are three main areas of interest: Section overhead (SOH) AU pointer Payload The SDH frame structure is as shown below:-

9 Columns

Rows 1-3

RSOH

AU Pointer

AUG (Payload)

9 Rows
Rows 5-9 MSOH

270 Columns

Figure12. SDH Frame Structure.

12.2.1.1 Section Overheads The SOH is used for the individual transport system to allow error monitoring, alarm monitoring, services and network management. It contains two parts:

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 A regenerator section overhead (RSOH) A multiplexer section overhead (MSOH) The RSOH is terminated at each regenerator, whereas the MSOH is only terminated at the multiplexer and is unaffected by the regenerator. This facilities monitoring of the path between multiplexers seperately to the individual regenerator sections. 12.2.1.2 Path Overheads Each virtual container is only assembled and disassembled once. A path overhead is carried with the virtual container between different transport systems allowing end circuit monitoring.Two types of path overhead are defined: a high-order path overhead associated with VC-3 and VC-4 levels and a low-order path overhead associated with VC-2 and VC-12 levels. 12.2.2 Pointer. 12.2.2.1 SDH Equipment SDH equipment consists of four basic building blocks: a terminal multiplexer, an add-drop multiplexer, a cross connect switch and a regenerator. Terminal multiplexer A terminal multiplexer is used to terminate a point-to-point SDH link. They typical operate at STM-4 and above and can terminate both SDH and PDH traffic. 12.2.2.2 Add-Drop Multiplexer The ADM is a fundamental building block of an SDH network. It allows one to add and drop tributes without demultiplexing the whole SDH signal. The principle is that tributaries can be extracted and added using software control. The ADMs are typically used for STM-1 and STM-4 capacities because at the STM-16 level and above, cross-connects are usually required. The aggregates are usually termed East and West. The tributaries are transmitted

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to both East and West directions, and on the receive side they can be selected from either the east or West direction via a software switch.

STM-1

Add / Drop Multiplexer (ADM)

STM-1

Tributary interfaces E1, E3, X.21 Data, STM-1 Figure 13. 12.2.3 Cross connect switch Digital cross-connect switches (DXC) are used to cross-connect traffic between aggregate streams. This allows grooming of the SDH traffic and powerful rerouting ability. Higher order cross-connects allow protection of failed circuits using an Automatic Network Protection System (ANPS) 12.2.4 Regenerator A regenerator is a fiber device that restores a degraded digital signal for continued transmission; also called a repeater. 12.3 Multiplexing with SDH

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Figure 14. SDH has a lot of advantages: First world standard in digital format.

First optical Interfaces. Transversal compatibility reduces networking cost. Multivendor environment drives price down

Flexible synchronous multiplexing structure. Easy and cost-efficient traffic add-and-drop and cross connect capability. Reduced number of back-to-back interfaces improves network reliability and serviceability.

Powerful management capability. New network architecture. Highly flexible and survivable self-healing rings available.

Backward and forward compatibility: Backward compatibility to existing PDH Forward compatibility to future B-ISDN.

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CHAPTER 13. 13 MTN SOFTWARE SUPPORT. MTN software department supports the functionality of other sections in the department Some of the software used are OPTIMA, ASSET, WNA (Works Order Authorization). The software department helps in the application support, software installation, fast lines, support of databases especially oracle, software development. Periodic report and statistical data from every node (BSCs, MSCs and HLR) is also generated and presented at the end of every hour by the software department. The diagram below shows how statistics is extracted from the network nodes.

OSS/OMC shell

Nodes

SERIAL CABLE.

FTP (LAN)

Collecting point

Capture PC

LAN

Processor point loading

Loader PC

LAN

Optima, SQL

Database

Figure 15.

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13.1 How data is generated. Data is collected from network nodes and either passed through the serial cable or through the file transfer protocol to the Capture pc which collects the data. Collected data or information containing the status of the different network nodes are sent through the Local Area Network (LAN) to the loader PC for processing. The processed data is then stored in the database and its from there where Planning Engineers can retrieve a particular information about the status of each network node.

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CHAPTER 14. PRACTICAL WORK DONE. Path loss diagrams for Rwagaju-Igayaza microwave link Print profile and network module diagrams of Rwagaju Igayaza
1700

1650

1600

1550

Elevation (m)

1500

1450

1400

1350

1300 0 Igayaza Latitude Longitude Azimuth Elevation Antenna CL 00 48 14.98 S 030 47 07.80 E 347.91 1646 m ASL 30.0 m AGL 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 Path length (30.09 k m) 18 20 22 24 26 28 Rwagaaju Latitude Longitude Azimuth Elevation Antenna CL Aug 26 05 00 32 16.92 S 030 43 43.97 E 167.91 1615 m ASL 30.0 m AGL

Frequency (MHz) = 7500.0 K = 1.33, 0.68 %F1 = 100.00, 60.00

MTN Ug anda

0 0'

Ibanda
15'

f7 /2 LV f7 /2 H

30'
f 7/ 4L V f 7/ 4H

Bushenyi
f7
/3L f7 H

H /3 f7

Rwagaaju

45'

Karamurani Igayaza

f7

Bwenkoma

/2 L

/2

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The work sheet module of Rwagaju Igayaz

summary of the practical work done Profile drawing for Igayaza- Rwagaju Equipment used in the path profile Maps Pencil A meter rule Calculator Computer with software called Pathloss 4.0.
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Site surveys for Masese, and Kasensero, Equipment involved includes: Global Positioning System Site survey form Drive tests for Kasese, Ibanda, Sembabule, Rakai, and Kampala central Equipment involved includes: TEMS phone Lap top computer with TEMS soft ware Inverter Extension cable Phone and laptop chargers Asset frequency updating Here we were updating frequencies in asset to correspond with what is at particular sites because some planners would forget updating this planning tool. Visio Basic network drawings Here net work drawings were being updated putting there new sites which have been recently put up.

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CHAPTER 15.
15 ecommendation and conclusion.

Although MTN is still the leading telecommunication company in Uganda, with network coverage all over the entire country, the company is still growing. With the growing population in Uganda I recommend that a wide range of services in the communication sector be introduced by MTN to meet the challenges a head. This can only be achieved by ensuring that systems are sustainable and rates kept reasonable. The scale and capacity of systems must increase to better manage risks, increase the depth of their expertise, and gain economies of scale and scope. There are many ways by which this can be achieved. Local communities must develop local solutions and objectives, professional regulators must ensure that those solutions are comprehensive and rigorous. Regulation should be results-based and as light-handed as is compatible with the goal of safe and affordable communication. There is need for a new style of regulation that will looks at business plans and proposed rates from the perspective of optimal scale and scope, and measures performance to produce improvement.. Inspection and enforcement should be carried out by qualified staffs who are expert in results-based regulation that takes risk management into account. Systems must look to their customers for financial sustainability. Consumers should pay the full cost of the services they consume, which will require full metering of services. This will help to ensure that systems are not overbuilt, conservation is encouraged and nature is respected. Innovations in technology and training should be used to reduce costs. There is also a role for the company to play in making training programs more easily accessible, especially for staffs this will improve on the services. In conclusion telecommunication is a fast growing technology. The third generation (3G) of technology will require radical GSM network changes but offer even higher data rates than

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MTNs newly introduced GPRS and CDMA technology. With the future plans of introducing the latest EDGE and EGPRS technology, this will enable MTN as a service provider deliver live video and advanced mobile gaming content to the mobile at higher data speeds. Since MTN has had continuous and aggressive growth over the years, it should be able to incorporate many of these changes in its network. With the introduction of GPRS in the form YelloPix and YelloLive, MTN is aiming to provide the best services for its customers.

In conclusion, this training has been very educative, informative and interesting. The objectives of industrial training have been fully and adequately met.

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CHAPTER 16 16 References Below are various references that were used during the training program and compilation of the report.

References for GSM. GSM System Survey-Student Text by Ericsson. http://www.bsnl.in/Telecomguide.asp?intNewsId=5046&strNewsMore=more References for transmission media http://www.tpub.com/neets/tm/111.htm http://www.apertonet.com/en/technology/WP/Interference.shtml References for SDH and PDH Trevor Manning Microwave Radio Transmission Design Published in 1999 by Artech House, INC References for optical fiber. http://www.tpub.com/neets/tm/111.htm References for microwave transmission Trevor Manning Microwave Radio Transmission Design Published in 1999 by Artech House, INC http://www.apertonet.com/en/technology/WP/Interference.shtml http://ntiacsd.ntia.doc.gov/ussg1/uswp1c/WP%201C%20Documents/20002003/034e_ww9.doc Microwave Radio Transmission- Planning Course By Stratex Networks

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 Microwave Path Planning Handbook Prepared by Mike Butterfield MAS Technology (Pty) Ltd http://www.tapr.org/ve3jf.dcc97.html http://www.ips.gov.au/Category/Educational/Other%20Topics/Radio%20Communic ation/Intro%20to%20HF%20Radio.pdf

References for software http://www.w3schools.com/sql/sql-tryit.asp

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