Configuring Cell Power and AWGN Power Levels

Last updated: July 4, 2006

General Description

The test set's base station emulator provides control over the following RF power levels:

Cell Power: Î_or is defined in C.S0011 as the received power spectral density of the Forward Channel as measured at the mobile station antenna connector. The Forward Channel is defined as a CDMA Channel from a base station to mobile stations. The Forward Channel contains one or more code channels that are transmitted on a CDMA frequency assignment using a particular pilot PN offset (see Configuring Forward Channel Power Levels and Walsh Codes ). If you have accounted for path loss (see Amplitude Offset ) between the test set output port and the mobile station antenna connector, then cell power is equivalent to Î_or .
AWGN (Additive White Gaussian Noise) Power: I_oc is defined in C.S0011 as the power spectral density of a band-limited white noise source (simulating interference from other cells) as measured at the mobile station antenna connector. If you have accounted for path loss, then AWGN power is equivalent to I_oc .
Total RF Power: The total RF power is the sum of cell power and AWGN power. I_o is defined in C.S0011 as the total received power spectral density, including signal and interference, as measured at the mobile station antenna connector. If you have accounted for path loss, then total RF power is equivalent to I_o .

Front Panel Operation Summary

To access the cell power parameter using the test set's front panel, see How Do I Change Call Parameters? .

To access the AWGN power parameter using the test set's front panel, see How Do I Change AWGN Power Levels? .

These power levels are displayed in the Generated Power Level Information table (see Generated Power Level Information (for Test Application) ).

Generated Power Level Information (for Test Application)

For the lab application , the test set has the ability to simulate two individual base stations, referred as Cell 1 power and Cell 2 power. The total RF power consists of Cell 1 power, Cell 2 power and the AWGN power if their states are on (see Generated Power Level Information (for Lab Application) ). The Cell 1 power used in the lab application is identical to the Cell power used in the test application. For more information about Cell 2 power which is only available in the lab application, see Configuring Cell 2 Used for Soft/Softer Handoff .

For the lab application , an external AWGN value is displayed when the test set is configured to generate faded forward channel signals with AWGN. This setup requires a rear panel digital bus connection to an external PC running Baseband Studio software. See Digital Bus Information for details.

Generated Power Level Information (for Lab Application)

GPIB Commands Summary

The test set includes commands to set the desired cell power and AWGN power levels. You may also query what you've set these desired power levels to, as well as query what the total RF power will be based on your desired cell power and AWGN power levels. See RF Power Levels .

The test set also includes commands to query the current level of cell power, AWGN power, and total RF power. See RF Power Levels . These CALL:STATus commands are query only. They return values that indicate the test set's actual hardware settings and hardware status. Actual hardware settings can differ from the desired level you've set. When no error conditions exist, the commands used to set the desired level will return the same results as the commands used to query current level. For example, "CALL:AWGNoise:POWer?" will return the same value as "CALL:STATus:AWGNoise:POWer?" when no error conditions exist.

RF Power Levels
Parameter	Current Level	Desired Level
Cell Power	CALL:STATus:CELL[1]:POWer:[AMPLitude][:SELected]?	CALL[:CELL[1]]:POWer[:SAMPlitude][:SELected]
AWGN Power	CALL:STATus:AWGNoise[:INTernal]:POWer[:AMPLitude][:SELected]?	CALL:AWGNoise[:INTernal]:POWer[:SAMPlitude]<[:SELected]\|:DIGital2000\|:DIGital95>
Total RF Power	CALL:STATus:TOTal:POWer[:AMPLitude][:SELected]?	CALL:TOTal:POWer[:AMPLitude][:SELected]? (query only)

Cell Power, AWGN Power and Total RF Power Ranges

The range of values that you can set these power levels to differs from the actual hardware range of the source. This is due to compensation for path loss between the test set RF output port and the mobile station antenna connector (see Amplitude Offset ).

For example, if you enter a value of -30 dBm for desired CW cell power, this indicates that you want -30 dBm of power at the mobile station antenna connector. So, if you have indicated an amplitude offset of -3.5 dB exists between the test set's RF In/Out port and the mobile station antenna connector, the source will actually have to output -26.5 dB in order to deliver -30 dB to the mobile station's antenna connector. Thus, with an amplitude offset of -3.5 dB, the settable range of CW cell power is -130.5 dB to -13.5 dB. The actual power range at a given time is defined by adding the value of the associated amplitude offset to the actual hardware range. If you select an invalid combination of power levels and amplitude offsets, an error message will appear.

Range of Power Levels
Parameter	Actual Hardware Range with Amplitude Offset = 0 (RF In/Out Port)	Actual Hardware Range with Amplitude Offset = 0 (RF Out Only Port)	Setting (or Query) Range
Cell Power (AMPS, CW)	-127 dBm to -10 dBm	-119 dBm to -2 dBm	-177 dBm to +40 dBm
Cell Power (DIG95, DIG2000)	-120 dBm/1.23 MHz to -13 dBm/1.23 MHz	-115 dBm/1.23 MHz to -5 dBm/1.23 MHz	-170 dBm/1.23 MHz to +37 dBm/1.23 MHz
AWGN Power (DIG95, DIG2000)	-120 dBm/1.23 MHz to -15 dBm/1.23 MHz	-115 dBm/1.23 MHz to -7 dBm/1.23 MHz	-170 dBm/1.23 MHz to +35 dBm/1.23 MHz
Total RF Power	-120 dBm/1.23 MHz to -10.88 dBm/1.23 MHz	-115 dBm/1.23 MHz to -2.88 dBm/1.23 MHz	-170 dBm/1.23 MHz to +42 dBm/1.23 MHz

NOTE

When the cdma2000 lab application is installed and selected, the test set has the ability to simulate two individual base stations, referred as Cell 1 Power and Cell 2 Power. The Cell 1 Power used in the lab application is identical to the Cell Power used in the test application. For more information on Cell 2 which is only available in the lab application, see Configuring Cell 2 Used for Soft/Softer Handoff .

Rules for Setting Power Levels and Amplitude Offsets

The difference between cell power and AWGN power must not be more than 20 dB when both power states are set to ON.
The total RF power and amplitude offset must not set the source outside its valid hardware range.