Wireless Standards

Define a wireless air interface for radio network planning.

Air Interface Definition

The definition of a wireless air interface is mandatory for radio network planning. You have to either select a predefined air interface file (.wst) or define an individual air interface.
CAUTION:
Defining an individual air interface is an advanced feature and is only recommended for experienced users.
It is also possible to modify a predefined air interface in ProMan during the planning process.
Tip: Click File > New Project and from the drop-down list, select Network Planning based on description file for air interface.

If you select Network Planning based on description file for air interface, you must specify the interface definition (.wst) file. In addition, you must select the Scenario such as indoor or urban and specify the geometry database.

Included Air Interfaces

The performance of wireless communication networks depends on the efficient architecture of the network. Due to the wide range of available air interfaces for cellular and broadcast wireless networks (with their different behavior and parameter settings), radio network planning is essential to analyze the performance of the wireless network.

The air interfaces included in the installation include 2G, 2.5G, 3G, LTE, WLAN, WiMAX, TETRA, and other networks. Network simulations are based on the wave propagation results of the transmitters within the network and the definition of the wireless air interface (Figure 1).


Figure 1. Network simulations use the results from the per-transmitter propagation simulations.
The propagation simulations produce per-transmitter power coverage. In conjunction with the air interface and other simulation parameters, these form the input of the network-planning module. One important output is the signal-to-noise-and-interference ratio (SNIR). Received power and SNIR tend to determine whether communication in a particular mode is possible or not. Several other relevant outputs include, for example, maximum data rate, maximum throughput, and cell assignment, see Figure 2.


Figure 2. Network simulations use the results from the per-transmitter propagation simulations.
All settings and parameters of a defined air interface can be exported to a wireless standard file (.wst file). This makes it possible to store the complex collection of parameters to re-use them for the creation of a new network planning project.
Tip: Click File > Export > Export Air Interface Properties (*.wst) to export an air interface.