SOFTWARE ASSISTS IN PCS BUILDOUT

Successful deployments of personal communications services networks rely on frequency conflict analysis and cost-effective infra-structure rollouts. To help carriers achieve these goals, Radio Dynamics Corp. is offering its Poseidon engineering software package.

Regardless of air interface, frequency band or geography, microwave relocation is an implementation obstacle PCS operators cannot avoid. The key is minimizing the impact. Playing a role in five of the first six U.S. PCS deployments, Poseidon is designed to identify potential conflicts and minimize the number of relocations necessary.

The software visually dis-plays blockage and relocation schemes for each PCS frequency, relative position and terrain cross section. It ex-ports complete ASCII files that interface with common database applications.

Poseidon incorporates protection criteria from Annex A of Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) Bulletin 10-F, which specifies methods for computing interference objectives of analog microwave radios. "These standard equations tell you how to compute the interference of the system into the microwave," explained Kathleen Dodd, general manager of Radio Dynamics. "It's important that you are compliant with the standard and calculate the interference correctly."

Using the FCC database for information on existing microwaves, Poseidon calculates interference areas and identifies the minimum number of paths requiring relocation.

"Not all the microwave need to be moved in order to deploy," she continued. "We can identify what channel operators should start deploying on. There may be 30 microwave paths that show interference on channel 11, but they may only have to move two microwave systems to start up."

Access to the full spectrum block dictates moving all interfering system. Deferring the relocation costs until necessary allows operators to spend capital judiciously.

"If you look at the industry as a whole, all the microwave will be replace over time." Said Lamar Cossey, manager of microwave relocation at Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems Inc. "But its quite an expensive outlay to say you are going to replace everything today."

The ability to prioritize and minimize relocations is important to deployment. "When you look at the bottom line of PCS going from red to black, relocation makes a big difference." Said Gordon Wiles, senior manager of engineering at BellSouth Mobility DCS. "Poseidon has saved us tens of millions of dollars."

The carrier evaluated and used other analysis products in its PCS rollout but wasn't satisfied with the conservative approach taken. "Programs would tell me I was interfering with microwave links, in some cases, hundreds of kilometers outside of my market area," he said.

Western Wireless Corp. further validated Poseidon's interference identification performance. "Everybody has come into this process with a slightly different viewpoint. We came in wanting to turn up our systems very rapidly and Poseidon allows that," agreed Doug Forbes, Western's general manager for PCS Development.