Planning of GSM and PCN mobile radio networks

This contribution describes the method applied by Alcatel for the planning of cellular mobile radio networks based on the GSM standard at 900 MHz and 1800 MHz. The computer aided planning consists of the steps of network design, field strength prediction, coverage analysis, determination of handover zones, calculation of traffic and dimensioning of the radio interface, calculation of mutual interference conditions for preparation of frequency assignment, frequency assignment without a fixed cluster structure and final radio performance analysis. Digital data bases of terrain height, morpho structure (land usage) and traffic density are applied. Several aspects of the planning method are related to features of GSM technology as digital transmission, discontinuous transmission, frequency hopping traffic and control channel configuration.