EDX Radio Planning Tools

Coordinate Systems

A coordinate system is a way of identifying the location of a point on the earth’s surface. Latitude/longitude is one type of coordinate system. Hundreds of other coordinate systems are used around the world to identify locations in specific countries or regions. All coordinate systems have an origin and a grid of vertical and horizontal lines over a flat map for a portion of the earth. Coordinate systems are based on a variety of projections, geodetic datums and other reference information.

In Australia

• Australian Map Grid (Datum: AGD66, AGD84)
• Map Grid of Australia (Datum: GDA94 === WGS84)
• Conversion between two systems is possible by adding or subtracting a certain shift.
• Note: Old 9 arcsec PTR format can only be used with the AGD66 datum

EDX software has a powerful feature that allows you to easily import, export and share data with other applications. If you would like to exchange data with Excel, you must first open a project in your EDX software. Once the project is open, select the menu Utilities/Connectivity/Excel. The items in this menu will allow you to select which type of data you wish to manipulate in an Excel spreadsheet

• Export Sites/Sectors from EDX into Excel
• Import Sites/Sectors from Excel into EDX
• Edit EDX projects in Excel and export changes to EDX
• Note: The coordinate system in Excel document is based on WGS 84 datum.

ComputaMaps Data (500 m Resolution)

The free terrain and clutter data found on the Computamaps.com website is compatible with EDX software. This data can be downloaded free of charge from http://www.computamaps.com and then converted into EDX formats if you need to use multiple files.

For convenience, TeleResources have downloaded the data for Australia and converted the clutter data into EDX .GCV format. This data will be distributed free of charge to customers who purchase a new copy of EDX software. It will also be provided to existing customers who wish to upgrade their old versions of EDX or renew a maintenance agreement.

SRTM 3 Arcsec Terrain Data

SRTM Terrain data available from the USGS in .HGT format can now be directly used with the latest versions of EDX Software. The EDXCV conversion utility can also convert this data to the standard EDX .201 format.

SRTM data now covers the entire globe including Australia in 3 arcsec data resolution free of charge. It can be downloaded from ftp://e0dps01u.ecs.nasa.gov/srtm/Australia/

The size of this data is in excess of 1 GBytes, therefore, TeleResources can provide a CD of zipped files covering all of Australia to customers who have a current maintenance agreement or proceed with an upgrade. We will also provide the CD for every new purchase free of charge.

Note: This data might take into account tree and building elevations in addition to terrain height. Also areas near the coast line might have some small negative or positive values caused by presence of waves or clouds. Furthermore, there are some missing values or voids in the data, but this can be complemented by the Australian .201 9 arcsec data.

Create/Edit an Antenna Pattern File

If you would like to use a directional antenna for one of your transmitter sites, you first need to have the information describing the horizontal and vertical plane patterns in a data file that can be used by EDX tools. EDX software supports full three-dimensional descriptions of antenna patterns.

The pattern file you need may already be part of the EDX antenna pattern file library. If the pattern file is not available, you can create it using a word processor or text editor following the format in Appendix I. Alternatively, you can use the “Create/Edit antenna pattern” utility to create the file.

Note: RFS World can now provide antenna patterns in EDX .pat format for the broadcasting industry and MSI Planet format for the Telco sector. The MSI Planet format can be converted into EDX .pat format using the antenna conversion utility provided by EDX. The utility available on EDX website: http://www.edx.com/support/utilities.html

Adding Background Images

A very detailed base map for your communication system studies can be cre-ated using scanned images of actual maps or photographs. Commonly avail-able scanners for your PC can be used to create Tagged Image File Format (TIFF or just TIF) graphics files that can then be imported into EDX software. Topographic maps in 1:250k and 1:100k scale maps are now available for most of Australia in electronic Tiff/Tab format. These maps are geo-referenced and can be displayed directly in EDX. These maps can be purchased from Maptrax in Queensland. Please refer to: http://www.Maptrax.com.au

Note: The maps need to be in Tiff/Tab format and based on the WGS84 Lat/Long (Decimal Degrees) coordinate system. Also make sure you request the maps with no frames so they can be tiled together to cover large areas.

Printing in EDX

One common question in printing with EDX software is that what is printed on the page is not what you expected.

The print out size is controlled by the "Scale" setting found in the Map -> Current Map View dialog. This scale is correct for the print out. For example, if it is set to 1 km/cm then a 1 cm distance on the print out will represent 1km.

The computer screen display is not necessarily the view that will print. This is because the view you see on the screen is based on what display settings you have. For example, a particular Scale setting inside the EDX program will show a larger map area on 1280 by 960 resolution than on 1024 by 768 resolution. The only way to determine what the print out will look like before you print is to use Print Preview. The Print Preview will show you what will be printed to the size of paper that you have set for your printer.

MapInfo

1. In the process of extracting the coverage prediction into MIF/MID format, there are few mismatches in pixels. These minor gaps can be eliminated using MapInfo Snap/Thin Process. This can be identified when you convert the pixels into contours.
2. When a pixel based coverage map is opened in MapInfo it takes a long time to view the map. During this process of displaying the pixels, MapInfo cannot be accessed. We can make this process a bit faster by switching off the Redraw feature:

Atoll

1. When Atoll is installed in a 32-bit operating system, each ATL project file would have a maximum size of 2GB.
2. If you wish to benefit from more memory for your Atoll processes, try one of the following recommendations:
   • Re-balance the memory between the Kernel and applications by adding the /3GB switch to the boot.ini line corresponding to your OS
   • 3GB will be available for each Atoll process instead of 2GB (1GB will be assigned to Kernel memory instead of 2GB)
   • If you change your OS to Windows server 2003 64 bits, 4GB will be available for each Atoll process instead of 2GB, with no effect on the Kernel memory.
3. The best way to reduce your project file size is to store your path-loss matrices, terrain and clutter data and other map vector files to external locations and point to them within the project.
4. To reduce the amount of time on path-loss calculations, draw a computation zone to restrict the area to be calculated.

• Dead Reckoning is recommended for drive testing within an urban environment. This ensures no loss of data whilst going through covered areas. Dead Reckoning sensors will augment the performance of GPS by bridging the gaps when GPS is not available.
• While planning Drive Test routes one should consider driving in and out of the perimeter of the transmitter as this would indicate areas which dropped calls are most frequent.

• If test antennas are placed on top of the car whilst drive testing then attenuators (with approx 10db loss) should be used to simulate real time environments of phones within the car.
  
  
• With Multiple test units, a synchronised GPS signal is recommended as this would allow a clearer and more uniform reading.
  
  
• To Prevent OH&S hazards whilst using Multiple Testing Units it is recommended to calculate total power consumption of the vehicle and alter the vehicles alternator to match the power consumption levels (remember to also add radio and air conditioning powers for comfort).
  
  
• To help isolate problems it is important to be consistent with the simulation environment for each drive test. For example, allocating the same antennas for the same Testing Units could isolate faulty antennas.

• Should not be obstructed by any dense objects as this would provide extra loss.
• Should be placed on a even surface to allow an even distribution of RX levels.
• Antennas should be spaced out evenly to prevent interference between each other.