It’s well known that the configuration of the base station antenna is critical. It must have the right direction, tilt and pattern. With three radio systems this could require up to 18 radomes on a site if single band antennas are used. A radio engineering challenge then becomes a mechanical engineering and planning permission nightmare. Multi-band antennas overcome many of the challenges but they require a difficult compromise. How do you get the best overall network performance when the component radio systems are tied together? An antenna can’t be pointed one way for one system and another for another system.
“With Multi-System Optimization in Capesso™ the engineer can weight various performance targets to reflect their value to the operator,” said Dr Martin Toeltsch CTO and co-founder of Symena. “For example when the paying traffic is light on the UMTS system performance can be set to satisfy a requirement while GSM performance is maximised in the cash cow network. Of course in time these weights will change. Capesso™ can then recommend parameter changes to meet those new requirements.”
Multi-System Optimization is ideal for meeting challenges associated with overlaying UMTS and GSM networks. It can also be used for finding the best configuration when different radio systems must work together. Multi-System Optimization supports all of the radio standards supported by Capesso™ including UMTS, CDMA2000, GSM and TD-SCDMA. It is currently in use at several customers.