RF Design Guidelines

No true RF engineering can take place without some RF design guidelines,
whether formal or informal. However, with the level of complexity introduced
when integrating a 2.5G or 3G platform into an existing system, the
need for a clear definitive set of design guidelines is paramount for success.
Although this concept seems straightforward and simple, many wireless
engineering departments when pushed have a difficult time defining what
exactly their design guidelines are.
The actual format, or method of how it is conducted, should be structured
in such a fashion as to facilitate ease, documentation, and minimization for
formal meetings. For most of the design reviews, a formal overhead presentation
is not required; instead, a meeting with the manager of the department
is the level of review that is needed. It is also important that another
qualified member of the engineering staff reviews the material in order to
prevent the common or simple mistakes from taking place. Ensuring that a
design review process is in place does not eliminate the chances of mistakes
occurring. Design reviews ensure that when mistakes do take place, the
how, why, and when issues needed to expedite the restoration process are
already in place.

It is highly recommended that the department’s RF design guidelines
are reasonably documented and updated on a predetermined basis, yearly
at a minimum. The use of design guidelines will facilitate the design review
process and establish a clear set of directions for the engineering department
to follow. The RF design guidelines will also ensure that a consistent
approach is maintained for designing and operating the capital infrastructure
that has or will be put into place within the network.
The actual design guidelines that should be utilized by the RF engineers
need to be well documented and distributed. The design guidelines, however,
do not need to consist of voluminous amounts of data. The design
guidelines should consist of a few pages of information that can be used a
quick reference sheet by the engineering staff. The design guideline sheet
has to be based on the system design goals and objectives set forth in the
RF system design.
The actual content of the design guideline can and will vary from operator
to operator. However, it is essential that a list of design guidelines be put
together and distributed. The publication and distribution of RF design
guidelines will ensure a minimum level of RF design specifications exist in
the network.
The proposed RF design guideline is shown in Table 9-4 and is a generic
wireless system. The guideline can easily be crafted to reflect the particular
design guidelines utilized for the market where it will be applied. In
addition, a need exists to have RF design criteria for each technology platform
with links to each other to ensure that one platform, by mistake, is not
factored over another.