Downlink Capacity of UTRAN reusing Frequencies of a DVB-T Network

with Negligible Influence on DVB-T Performance

Jörg Huschke1); Wolfgang Rave2); Thomas Köhler2)
1) Ericsson Research, Ericsson Eurolab Deutschland GmbH
Neumeyerstrasse 50; 90411 Nürnberg; Germany
Joerg.Huschke@eed.ericsson.se
2) Dresden University of Technology - Mannesmann Mobilfunk Chair for Mobile Communications
Helmholtzstrasse 18; 01062 Dresden; Germany
rave@ifn.et.tu-dresden.de

Abstract-The paper investigates the possibility of reusing and conclusions of this paper also apply to other broadcast
frequencies of a terrestrial digital video broadcasting (DVB-T) networks.
network for a UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network
(UTRAN) with negligible influence on the DVB-T performance. Section II introduces the cellular layout and frequency pat-
A frequency division duplex (FDD) UTRAN is deployed such tern of the coexistence scenario. The calculation of the
that it can reuse all frequencies of the DVB-T network in each UTRAN capacity is derived from interference distributions in
DVB-T frequency reuse cluster in the downlink, with a prede- section III. After an overview on the simulation models in
fined level of (negligible) interference from the UTRAN to DVB-
T. The downlinks of both networks can thus coexist in the same section IV, results for the UTRAN capacity and DVB-T out-
frequency spectrum, thereby increasing the spectral efficiency. age are presented in section V. A brief extension of the scope
The uplink of UTRAN-FDD is assumed to operate in traditional to DVB-T single frequency networks follows in section VI.
non-coexistence and is therefore not considered. Close to 100% The issue of inter frequency handovers, necessary because
of the capacity of a non-coexisting UTRAN are achievable for
typical UTRAN cell sizes, with only marginal increase of outage
coexistence requires multiple frequencies for a single
in the DVB-T network. UTRAN coverage, is addressed in section VII, before closing
conclusions are drawn in section VIII.
I. INTRODUCTION This work was sponsored by the COMCAR research proj-
ect [1] of the German Ministry for Research and Education.
Terrestrial Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB-T) is being
gradually introduced in Europe, replacing analogue TV in the II. COEXISTENCE SCENARIO
frequency band 470-862 MHz until the year 2010. In the DVB-T transmitter sites are assumed to be positioned on a
same time frame, the demand for 3G services is expected to grid of equilateral triangles, resulting in hexagonal cell
increase beyond what can be served in the spectrum currently shapes. Since the focus is on the operation of DVB-T in form
already designated or under discussion to be designated to 3G of a multi frequency network (MFN), adjacent transmitters
systems. In particular the downlink capacity of the current use different frequencies. The solid hexagons in Figure 1
spectrum plan will then not suffice for the huge demand for (left) form an example of a cellular layout of DVB-T with a
asymmetric, downlink biased services that are anticipated to frequency reuse of 7. The cells using a certain (arbitrarily
dominate in the future. selected) frequency group are highlighted by thick lines.
This motivates investigations in the possibilities to intro- Light gray (green) lines connect adjacent cells using this fre-
duce downlinks of 3G systems into further parts of the spec- quency group. These lines form equilateral triangles.
trum, in coexistence with other systems. The frequency band
below 1GHz, to a large extent used for TV broadcasting, is UTRAN cell DVB-T
Cells with the B
especially attractive for 3G services, since it permits in addi- cluster
same letter
cells
G C
tion better performance at high velocities of mobile receivers shift use the same A
frequency
and better rural coverage than higher frequency bands. vector
F B
B B
B B C C
D
UTRAN
This paper shows that it is possible to operate the downlink B
B B C C
E
A A C C
C cells
of the UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network in Frequency G C A A A B
A A
Division Duplex mode (UTRAN-FDD), specified by 3GPP, A G
C

on the same frequencies that are concurrently used by a F D A

DVB-T network. A frequency reuse pattern of a DVB-T net-
work is considered as given and a UTRAN is deployed such
that it can reuse all frequencies of the DVB-T network in
each DVB-T frequency reuse cluster in the downlink, with a
predefined level of (negligible) interference from the
UTRAN to DVB-T. Instead of DVB-T, most assumptions
E F D
E
DVB-T co-channel cells
Figure 1: Superimposed layouts of DVB-T cells and UTRAN
cell clusters; left: macroscopic view; right: zoomed section
Around the triangle centers, a UTRAN cell cluster is ar-
ranged of the same size as the DVB-T cells, indicated by
hatched hexagons in Figure 1 left. Each UTRAN cluster con-
sists of multiple cells, all using the same frequency group1 as
the DVB-T cells in the corners of the triangle, as shown in
Figure 1 right. By placing the cluster centers on the centers of
the equilateral triangles the maximum interference from any
UTRAN cell in the cluster to a DVB-T co-channel cell is
minimized. In this example, the resulting UTRAN cluster
structure can be considered as a shifted copy of the DVB-T
cell structure.
The coexistence concept exploits the fact that a digital
broadcasting system requires a frequency reuse factor larger
than 1, typically 7 to 13. This is required even if single fre-
quency networks (SFN) are used, which are addressed in sec-
tion VI in this paper.
In the described coexistence scenario, attention has to be
paid to any inter system interference. Figure 2 illustrates the
received powers from DVB-T and UTRAN along a path
through co-channel cells. Due to the 6 times larger cell den-
sity of UTRAN over DVB-T in this example, the power per
UTRAN cell can be by 30dB smaller than for DVB-T, still
leading to the same received power at the cell edges of either
network.
DVB-T cells
UTRAN
cells same propagation
loss exponent
same received
power at borders
of UTRAN and
DVB-T cells
DVB-T CIR at
cell border
margin between
DVB-T and
UMTS interfer-
ence power
(10km)
Figure 2: Schematic graph of received power of single (--)
and multiple (···) UTRAN and DVB-T () cells
Interference from DVB-T to UTRAN will in general not
degrade the quality-of-service (QoS) the users will experi-
ence, because the transmit power control of UTRAN will
ensure that all user connections will achieve the targeted sig-
nal to interference ratio (SIR). The interference from DVB-T
will, however, reduce the capacity of each UTRAN cell, i.e.
the number of concurrent connections that can be served. The
capacity reduction is the smaller, the smaller the UTRAN cell
is. Thereby, the concept makes use of the fact that UTRAN
commonly will use much smaller cell sizes than DVB-T.
In contrast, DVB-T has no means of power control avail-
able, and therefore the interference from UTRAN may need
to be limited to a level that is negligible to DVB-T. Given a
DVB-T network, with specific frequency reuse factor and cell
sizes, and given the propagation conditions for signals from
UTRAN, the interference from the UTRAN is only depend-
1
The carrier frequency raster of DVB-T and UTRAN is assumed to be equal.
ent on the maximal transmit power of each UTRAN base
station, called Node-B, and proportional to the Node-B den-
sity. In the scenario of Figure 2, the interference from
UTRAN at a DVB-T cell edge is still below that of the clos-
est DVB-T co-channel cell.
Since the transmit power of a Node-B increases with the
traffic load of that Node-B, the interference from UTRAN to
DVB-T can be limited by restricting the load per UTRAN
cell, using an appropriate access control mechanism related to
each cell of the mobile system.
For a given Node-B density that means that the capacity
per UTRAN cell will be somewhat reduced, in coexistence
with DVB-T, compared to a non-coexistence scenario. As
long as the remaining capacity justifies investments of addi-
tional transceiver equipment, the reduced capacity may be
acceptable.
III. RELATIVE UTRAN CAPACITY
The investigated downlink capacity measure for UTRAN is
derived in the following. The UTRAN transmit power control
adjusts the power Pm for each user equipment (UE) m to
reach a target SIR Xtar:
Pm ⋅ G m
X tar = (1)
Im
Gm: pathgain between UE m and serving Node-B
Im: total effective interference at UE m
Neglecting common control channels, the total power PU of
the Node-B is the sum of the powers for all M UEs. Assum-
ing there is no limit on the powers Pm for individual UEs, and
that all users aim for the same Xtar, then it follows, using
Eq.(1):
M M
Im
PU = ∑ Pm = X tar ∑
(2)
m =1 m =1 G m
If the number of UEs is large, the sum in Eq.(2) can be ap-
proximated by the expectation value:
PU ≈ X tar ⋅ M ⋅ E{I/G} for M >> 1 (3)
If this equation is solved for M, it can be interpreted to be
the capacity of a UTRAN cell for a given maximum power
PU of the Node-B. Since M is inversely proportional to Xtar,
and since we are interested in a capacity measure that is only
dependent on the characteristics of the radio conditions I and
G, Eq.(3) is solved for the normalized capacity measure
C=M·Xtar:2
C = M ⋅ X tar = PU ⋅ (E{I / G})
−1
(4)
C can be expressed as in [2] in terms of the UTRAN inter
cell interference IUU (and finally of the UTRAN inter cell to
intra cell interference ratio FU) and the orthogonality factor α,
2
Soft handover is not considered in the capacity calculation, since [2] indi-
cates that the effect on the relative capacity (defined below) is negligible.
but instead of the thermal noise, the DVB-T interference IDU converted for a portable outdoor receiver at a height of 1.5m.
is considered, because it is dominant. IDU is expressed by the The curve is defined for distances larger than 10km and re-
equal power PD of all DVB-T transmitters and the cumulative sembles a power law with exponent 5.5 in the range up to
pathgain GDU from those to the UEs: 200km. Below 10km the curve is extended by a power law
−1 with an exponent γD=3.3. GDU is the sum of the pathgain to
  P ⋅ G ⋅ α + I UU + I DU  cochannel and to adjacent channel transmitters, whereby for
C = E  U  = the latter the adjacent channel suppression (ACS) given in
  PU ⋅ G  Table 1 is taken into account. Therein the smaller ACS is the
−1 worst case, belonging to the unfiltered modulation spectrum,
  I P ⋅G 
= E α + UU + D DU  = (5) whereas the larger ACS assumes some reasonable filtering.
  PU ⋅ G PU ⋅ G  All ACS values assume ideal rectangular receiver filters.
For UTRAN the pathgain over a path distance d is modeled
−1
 for a base station antenna height of 15m above roof top as3:
P G 
= α + FU + D E  DU  G / dB = −119.8 + 37.6 ⋅ lg(d / km) (8)
 PU  G 
Within UTRAN and DVB-T, terminals are served by the base
Since the UTRAN cells are all of equal size, the distribu- station transmitters experiencing the largest pathgain.
tion of G is the same in each UTRAN cell. In contrast,
GDU=GDU,b depends on the position of the cell b relative to Table 1: Simulation parameters
the DVB-T transmitters.
Parameter DVB-T UTRAN
FU depends on the number KU of cells per cluster, and on
adjacent channel sup- DVB-T: 30dB [4] / 45dB DVB-T: 47dB [5]
the considered cell b, i.e. FU=FU,b(KU), since the UTRAN pression to
inter cell interference increases with the number and relative UTRAN: 32dB [4] / 47dB UTRAN: 49dB [5]
position of UTRAN cells neighboring a considered cell b. bandwidth 8MHz 5MHz
If PU,b=PU is the same for all UTRAN cells, then C=Cb is thermal noise power -100 dBm -98 dBm
different for each UTRAN cell b. Since it is generally desired cell radius 20 km parameter
that the cell capacity should be the same in each cell
transmit power [EIRP] 40 kW parameter
(Cb=C=const.), for the considered homogeneous networks, it
is necessary that PU,b is adapted individually for each cell. orthogonality α - 0.4
Denoting the cumulative power of all cells in a cluster by log-normal fading 5.66 dB uncorrelated between paths
PUC, this power can be approximated for large KU by: standard deviation (equivalent to 8dB for correlation of 0.5)

PUC = K U ⋅ E{PU ,b } (6) V. RESULTS

b

Using this equation, then Eq. (5) can be rewritten as: For a frequency reuse factor N=13 and equal power for
each of the KU=61 UTRAN cells, Figure 3 shows that the
−1
  IUU ,b, m PD GDU ,b, m  normalized capacities Cb of the cells are similar, except for
C = α + E  +  (7) one cell, that suffers from strong adjacent channel interfer-
b, m P / K ⋅ G
  UC U m PUC / KU Gm  ence (ACI). The cell capacities can therefore be equalized by
For convenience of comparison of C with the normalized
capacity C0 of a standard UTRAN that is not interfered by 1.5
normalized capacity

DVB-T, the ratio CR=C/C0 is used in the presentation of re-

sults. C0 can be calculated from Eq. (7) for PD=0.
Cb per cell

1
In the vicinity of DVB-T transmitters, GDU can become
very large. In order to avoid that the small fraction of such
locations excessively reduces C, the largest 1% of the distri- 0.5 5% blocking
bution of the term in the expectation in Eq. (7) is excluded, ACS: 45dB
2% blocking
PUC /PD=-10dB
which means that those 1% of the UEs requiring the largest 1% blocking
power Pm are denied service (blocked). 0
1 11 21 31 41 51 61
IV. SIMULATION MODELS UTRAN cell number b in cluster
The distributions of G, GDU and of the DVB-T CIR is de-
Figure 3: UTRAN cell individual capacities for equal powers
termined by simulations considering a grid of user locations.
Antennas at the transmitters and at the receivers are omni-
directional. Propagation is modeled at 800MHz. For DVB-T 3
This model overestimates the pathgain for d>250km, because then the
the propagation curve of Figure 10 in [6] for transmit and pathgain in dB actually increases nearly linearly with d. This range is,
however, not relevant in the considered simulation scenario with 3 inter-
receive antenna heights of 150m and 10m, respectively, was
fering cell tiers.
a moderate adaptation of the cell individual powers PU,b, ex- cluster is kept constant. Therefore only the case for KU=61 is
cept for the cell with strong ACI. For this cell, in practice the shown in Figure 5 and Figure 6, corresponding to a cell ra-
range may have to be reduced in addition, but for the simula- dius of 2.5km.
tion it has been assumed that this is not necessary.
1
For a frequency reuse factor N=13, Figure 4 shows the
relative UTRAN capacity CR=C/C0. With increasing KU, CR 0.9 9
hex1
rises already at a smaller power ratio PU/D=PUC/PD, because 0.8 12hex1
for the smaller UTRAN cells, less power is required for the 13hex2
0.7 7hex1
same per-cell capacity. 13hex1

CR = C/C0
0.6 13
1 mono

reuse factor N =13 0.5

pattern type hex−1
0.8 ACS=45dB 4
ACS =45 dB 0.4 hex1
reuse 13
Ku = 61 0.3
CR = C/C0

0.6
K = 37
u 0.2
Ku = 19 K =7
u
0.4
0.1
Ku = 1 cluster size Ku =61
0.2 0
−30 −25 −20 −15 −10 −5 0 5
PU/D= PUTRAN/PDVB [dB]

0
−30 −25 −20 −15 −10 −5 0 5
PU/D= PUTRAN/PDVB [dB] Figure 5: Relative UTRAN capacity versus power ratio for a
selection of scenarios
Figure 4: Relative UTRAN capacity versus power ratio; for
varying number KU of UTRAN cells per DVB-T cell. 16
pattern 5%-CIR [dB] 4
For a given PU/D, CR increases with the UTRAN cell den- 4-hex1 16.7 hex1
14
sity. This is a favorable dependency, because areas with high 7-hex1 22.9 7hex1
cell densities are generally those where large capacity is re- 12 9-hex1 24.7 13
hex2
DVB Outage (5 perc.)

quired, and that is where large extra capacity achievable by 12-hex1 27.5
13-hex1 28.3
coexistence with a broadcasting system would be most wel- 10
th

13-hex2 13mono
come. ACS:30dB 25.9
8
In Figure 5, CR is plotted versus PU/D for a number of com- ACS:45dB 28.3
binations of the reuse factors N, the ACS and the frequency 6 13-mono 27.0
13hex1
pattern types [3]. The types denoted hex1 and hex2 have hex- 9hex1
agonal co-channel cell symmetry, but are different in respect 4
ACS = 45 dB
12hex1,alt
to the adjacent channel cell arrangement. Hex1 maximizes the 2
reuse 13
adjacent channel cell distance within each network, which
cluster size K =61
can lead to overlap of UTRAN and DVB-T cells on adjacent 0
u
−30 −25 −20 −15 −10 −5 0 5
channels in coexistence. This overlap is avoided by hex2 PU/D= PUTRAN/PDVB [dB]

patterns and thereby the same CR is reached for smaller PU/D

than for hex1. In the pattern denoted mono (for monoclinic Figure 6: DVB-T outage versus power ratio for a selection of
symmetry) the co-channel distances between UTRAN and scenarios
DVB-T are increased, resulting in larger CR than for hex1 [3].
For N=13, ACS=30dB and hex2, the DVB-T outage is in-
Figure 6 shows that the DVB-T outages corresponding to
creased to 10% already for PU/D=0, because in this pattern,
the configurations of Figure 5 increases with PU/D. The outage
adjacent cells use adjacent channels, which leads to increased
is defined as the fraction of locations with CIR smaller than a
interference within DVB-T. For ACS=45dB, this effect is
target CIR, whereby the latter is chosen such that an outage
negligible, but in this case, the CR curves are similar for the
of 5% results for PU/D=0 and hex1. This is a generally envis-
hex1 and the hex2 pattern, so that overall the hex1 pattern
aged outage percentage for the considered portable outdoor
outperforms the hex2 pattern.
reception of DVB-T. The table in Figure 6 reveals that for
In the mono-pattern, the co-channel distance in DVB-T is
smaller N, the 5%-CIR of DVB-T for PU/D=0 decreases. Cor-
reduced along one direction, leading to an increased outage of
respondingly the DVB-T transmit power PD can be reduced,
7% already for PU/D=0.
too, while still maintaining the desired 5%-CNR to 5%-CIR
For N=4, a CR of only about 10% is achievable for marginal
ratio of about 2dB. Therefore, less absolute power per
DVB-T outage increase. However, this reuse factor is not
UTRAN cell is required for the same PU/D than for large N.
suitable for DVB-T anyway, because the 5% percentile CIR
The DVB-T outage is almost independent of KU, since the
is with only 16.7dB not optimal for DVB-T. N=9 to N=13 are
cumulative power PUC emitted from all UTRAN cells in a
suitable candidate reuse factors for the considered DVB-T
MFNs. Already for N=9, 90% relative UTRAN capacity are
achieved for a DVB-T outage increase from 5% to only 6%.
For N=13 and the hex2 pattern with ACS=45dB, this relative
UTRAN capacity is achieved already for PU/D=0.1. This cor-
responds to a power of 66W (EIRP) per UTRAN cell, which
is in the order of transmit powers envisaged for non-
coexisting cells.
VI. EXTENSION TO DVB-T SINGLE FREQUENCY NETWORKS
In the previous section it has been shown that the coexis-
tence becomes difficult for decreasing reuse factor of DVB-
T. Therefore it is of interest to consider the coexistence con-
cept for a DVB-T employing Single Frequency Networks
(SFNs), i.e. a reuse of 1 over a number of neighbored trans-
mitters. In contrast to UTRAN, adjacent DVB-T transmitters
may only use the same frequency if they broadcast the same
information. If DVB-T is to provide regionally varying con-
tent, the SFNs need to be of limited extent. Such an SFN can
be considered as a cell, served by multiple transmitters.
Even without regionally varying content, the size of a cell
covered by an SFN needs to be limited, at least for the gener-
ally preferred DVB-T modulation types 16QAM and
64QAM, due to self interference between the signals from
remote transmitters within the SFN.
At least SFNs covering adjacent regions need to use differ-
ent frequencies, leading to a minimum theoretical reuse factor
of 3 between SFNs. In practice a minimum reuse factor of 4
or 5 is necessary [7], with 7 being a typical value.
From the results found for a DVB-T MFN, some conclu-
sions can be drawn for SFNs. The locations facing largest
interference from cochannel SFNs and from UTRAN are
those at the fringe of a SFN. Still assuming omnidirectional
transmitters, the effect of aggregation of signal power from
multiple transmitters of the SFN cell serving a considered
DVB-T receiver in such locations can be neglected. Com-
paring further a SFN with a MFN of the same reuse factor
and with the same cell size, then the reuse distances are natu-
rally the same. Therefore, the dominating effect of SFNs is
that the distance to the serving transmitter is reduced by a
ratio K D , where KD is the number of transmitters per SFN.
Assuming now that the SIR X at the cell border is given by
X = ( D / R)γ / 2 , (9)
where D is the DVB-T cochannel reuse distances, R«D is
the DVB-T cell radius and γ is the pathloss exponent, then the
reuse factor NS required for SFNs to achieve the same X as
for MFN, can be calculated from the reuse factor NM for
MFNs:
NS = NM / KD , (10)
This equation relates the MFN results found for a reuse
factor NM to those that can be expected for a SFN with reuse
factor NS, provided that both reuse factors are large. Other-
wise, if NS is only in the order of 3 or 4, then the mutual inter-
ference will be underestimated, because then some UTRAN
cells will be adjacent to cochannel DVB-T cells.
Further studies are necessary to show if coexistence of
UTRAN and DVB-T SFNs with practical reuse factors of
about N=7 are feasible.
VII. INTELLIGENT UTRAN INTER FREQUENCY HANDOVER
Between UTRAN cell clusters, an inter frequency handover
is necessary in the basic concept described in section II. Such
handovers are undesired between cells, since they imply
overhead that is on the expense of data throughput. Network
initiated inter frequency handovers between transceivers
within the same cell, however, cause smaller overhead.
Inter cell inter frequency handovers can be avoided if cells
at the borders between clusters have at least one frequency in
common. Even if only the frequencies shared with DVB-T
are available, this can be achieved by adding one frequency
of the adjacent clusters to these cells. Using appropriate tech-
niques, the UTRAN Radio Network Controller can command
all UEs in the area between adjacent cells belonging to adja-
cent clusters to perform an inter frequency handover to the
common frequency of those adjacent cells. On this frequency,
UEs benefit from soft handover even across cell clusters.
VIII. CONCLUSION
Coexistence of the UTRAN downlink with a digital video
broadcasting network below 1GHz has shown to be feasible
in some considered scenarios of practical relevance for the
example of DVB-T. More than 90% of the capacity of a non-
coexisting UTRAN are achievable for UTRAN cell sizes be-
low 2.5km, with only marginal increase of outage in the
DVB-T network from 5% to 6%.
The number of available carriers to a UTRAN cell in co-
existence with DVB-T according to the presented concept is
equal to the number of carriers per DVB-T cell. In the fre-
quency range 470 – 862 MHz that is in many countries in-
tended for the introduction of DVB-T, about 4 to 6 carriers
per DVB-T cell are envisaged to be practical. This approach
provides the additional UTRAN capacity that will be required
for converged services with digital broadcasting.
IX. REFERENCES
[1] COMCAR project page: http://www.comcar.de
[2] Kimmo Hiltunen, Riccardo De Bernardi: WCDMA Capacity Estimation;
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[3] W. Rave et. al.: Geometric Characteristics of and SIR in Two Coexisting
Cellular Radio Networks using the same Frequencies; European Wire-
less 2002; Florence; February 2002
[4] ETSI EN 300 744 V1.2.1 (1999-01) Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB);
Framing structure, channel coding and modulation for digital terrestrial
television; Fig. 12
[5] 3GPP TS 25.104 v340 (2000-09); UTRA (BS) FDD; Radio transmission
and Reception, Table 6.3
[6] ITU-R: “VHF AND UHF PROPAGATION CURVES FOR THE
FREQUENCY RANGE FROM 30MHz TO 1000MHz”; Rec. ITU-R
P.370-7;1995
[7] R. Brugger: Kanalbedarf und Spektrumseffizienz flächendeckender
DVB-T-Sendernetze; Technischer Bericht Nr. B 162/98; Institut für
Rundfunktechnik; 1998 (in German)