UMTS/HSPA and LTE-A Radio Network Performance Analysis and Evaluation, Case of Jimma Town

Abstract

ellular communication technology have established a remarkable successes & introduced felicitous solutions to alleviate exasperating quality of service (QoS) challenges. It is mightily envisaged that cellular networks have often been deployed ensuring seamless accommodation of users growing demand with deep insight of usability and feasibly. In this regard, several mobile network operators (MNOs) in low income countries often failed to serve with unabated mobile network & imperiled the business due to limitations while evaluating socio-economic status, information communication technology (ICT) literacy status, device eco system, traffic usage trend & other essential technical preempts that are needed to be addressed during pre-deployment stages. Moreover, users’ quality of experience (QoE) would essentially be maintained as key part of initial planning and aftermath optimization. Field reliant drive testing and operations support system (OSS) based key per formance index (KPI) measurements were carried out for both third generation (3G) and fourth generation (4G) cellular networks of Jimma town. Actix and SAP business object tools are used to analyze both test measurements respectively. In this thesis, aforementioned multiple rendering test scenarios and techniques are implemented for both data and voice assessment tests respectively. On the top of this, viability and impact assessment of LTE-A layering and post layering perfor mance of UMTS/HSPA network is analyzed. Following analysis & evaluation of both test scenarios, the result depicts that poor coverage, quality and throughput distributions that are observed in numer ous parts of the town. These problems are mainly associated with to capacity limitations & RF optimization setbacks. This work makes a far-reaching use of live network KPI measurement & analysis in purpose of improving coverage, ca pacity and quality performance of Jimma town 3G and 4G networks using radio parameter tuning and network upgrading. With a best practice exploration, the throughput performance of a proposed HSPA+ release 9 is simulated.