Simulation of UMTS Capacity and Quality of Coverage in Urban Macro- and Microcellular Environment

Abstract

This paper deals with simulations of a radio interface of third generation (3G) mobile systems operating in the WCDMA FDD mode including propagation predictions in macro and microcells. In the radio network planning of 3G mobile systems, the quality of coverage and the system capacity present a common problem. Both macro and microcellular concepts are very important for implementing wireless communication systems, such as Universal Mobile Telecommunication Systems (UMTS) in dense urban areas. The aim of this paper is to introduce different impacts - selected bit rate, uplink (UL) loading, allocation and number of Nodes B, selected propagation prediction models, macro and microcellular environment - on system capacity and quality of coverage in UMTS networks. Both separated and composite simulation scenarios of macro and microcellular environments are presented. The necessity of an iteration-based simulation approach and site-specific propagation modeling in microcells is proven.