Planning and Optimization of LTE Radio Access Network for Suburban and Rural Area at Taiz City, Yemen

Abstract

Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks are designed with overlap between cells to support mobility along the network cells and to avoid out of coverage area; especially in suburban and rural area because high mobility. The overlapping results in interferences which reduce network capacity so this paper aims to bring customer demands for high-quality networks. This paper involves a good understanding of radio network planning and optimization of LTE and perform a case study in Taiz governorate with a selected suburban and rural area of 86.846 km2. Self-organizing networks (SONs) are widely considered to improve the end users’ quality of experience. The simulation was performed using ATOLL software. The radio frequency (RF) optimization involves Inter-Cell Interference Coordination (ICIC). The downlink (DL) LTE coverage area is enhanced and increased to 84 km2 with probability of 97%. In addition, the overlapping zone is reduced to 0.4% and the block error rate (BLER ≥ 0.2) is reduced to 2.1% in the DL and (BLER ≥ 0.2) to 0.6% in the uplink (UL).