ZTE UniPOS CNP-MW for Intelligent Microwave Network Planning

As communications become more enriched and diversified, people are demanding more from radio communications. Microwave transmission is an important part of radio communications, but it has developed so rapidly that traditional network planning technologies cannot deal with it. Network complexity increases as TDM networks have evolved to hybrid TDM-IP or all-IP networks. Joint, intelligent planning of radio and microwave networks is needed to address present and future needs.

An intelligent planning tool must have the following functions:

●    intelligent batch analysis of microwave link line of sight

●    automatic network topology planning based on the condition and requirements of links

●    automatic link parameter matching based on the parameters and performance indicators of links

●    unified planning platform for radio and microwave networks and for seamless data integration

●    end-to-end service planning that includes preliminary network planning, in-depth planning, and network OAM planning.

ZTE has developed a microwave network planning tool called UniPOS CNP-MW. This tool builds on traditional network planning technologies but allows more intelligent microwave network planning. ZTE UniPOS CNP-MW improves customer satisfaction by speeding up the network design process and reducing TCO. This tool is now widely used in pre-sales planning and for project execution.

Features of ZTE UniPOS CNP-MW

ZTE UniPOS CNP-MW is part of ZTE’s radio network planning platform and uses intelligent planning technologies for microwave network planning. The tool has all the functions of traditional network planning technologies, but it also supports intelligent planning of large networks. It can be used in a variety of transmission network planning scenarios.

Automatic topology planning

ZTE UniPOS CNP-MW can be used to quickly generate a large network topology. It can provide a topology plan when a radio network suffers from frequent site changes. If site properties, antenna height, maximum direction number, link depth and other parameters are set, ZTE UniPOS CNP-MW can automatically search for and use a particular topology. With this function, efficiency of topology planning increases more than 30% in flat regions and 60% to 70% in hilly regions.

Intelligent LOS analysis

LOS is greatly affected by terrain. Traditional network planning for undulating terrain requires manual LOS analysis, which is inefficient. With intelligent LOS analysis, LOS routes are analyzed in batches when parameters such as clearance and antenna height have been set.

Intelligent capacity planning

As TDM networks evolve to TDM-Ethernet and all-IP networks, network planning becomes more difficult because of the features of IP services. Convergence of services and network scaling of different carriers varies according to the network layer and customer levels. As a result, more factors need to be taken into consideration when planning a network. Parameters such as convergence site, redundancy rate, and convergence rate may be set according to service trends. Intelligent capacity planning is used to automatically calculate the capacity of the entire network and output the transmission requirements for the upper-layer transmission network. This ensures rapid and comprehensive data exchange.

Intelligent planning technologies help make network planning more efficient and reduce network planning costs. One-click antenna height optimization, intelligent template-based link matching, one-click batch parameter configuration, and flexible conversion of planning result forms mean that planning personnel do not need such a high degree of skill in using microwave planning software. Efficiency is improved, and instances of incorrect are reduced.

Efficiency of ZTE UniPOS CNP-MW in a Typical Scenario

Microwave network planning includes a pre-sales bidding phase and a project execution phase. These two phases have different requirements in terms of improving energy efficiency.  In the pre-sales bidding phase, topology analysis, capacity planning, and link performance analysis can be affected by frequent site changes in a radio network. In the project execution phase, plan modification, frequency configuration, and report-making can be affected by limited frequency resources.

The Sri Lanka 150-hop microwave network project is a typical model for analyzing the efficiency of microwave network planning. After ZTE UniPOS CNP-MW was used, network planning efficiency increased 75% in the pre-sales bidding phase and 60% in the project execution phase.