Diagnostic Analysis of Radio Propagation in UMTS Networks Using High-Resolution Angle-of-Arrival Measurements

This work describes high-resolution propagation measurements performed as a diagnostic survey in an operational UMTS network. The results were obtained using the measurement system previously presented in. Measurements were performed in a dense urban environment in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Results showed that the measurement approach can be used to create a setup that is similar to the actual network scenario, and that is capable of accurately identifying the dominant propagation effects while moving through the environment. The results are especially important for mobile-system operators, because they revealed some of the causes of inadequate propagation prediction. This underlined the limitations of propagation-prediction models currently used by most mobile-system operators, and the importance of accurate propagation information to obtain the optimal network configuration.