WCDMA Downlink Coverage Reduction Due to Adjacent Channel Interference

Abstract

This paper determines the coverage reduction of the Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) downlink in the case of interference, due to adjacent narrowband system. The coverage reduction has been evaluated in terms of blocking area around the interfering base station. The analysis takes into account different interference mechanisms and their individual effects to the coverage. The interference mechanisms which have been considered here are the out-of-band emissions of the base station transmitter, the adjacent channel interference due to non-ideal sideband filtering, the intermodulation and the crossmodulation. The coverage effects in realistic network environment have been computed by using accurate ray-tracing propagation models designed for the path loss calculation in the urban environment. In the numerical examples, the effect of GSM interference has been demonstrated, but the method can be utilized with other narrowband systems as well. The results can be utilized in radio system design, radio network planning (RNP) and the frequency allocation of the WCDMA systems.