EDX Route Studies use a Transmitter/Base/Hub/Router site (see Transmitter/Base/Hub/Router Sites) at one end, and a mobile/remote unit placed at uniform distances along a specified route. It is basically an Area Study, where the study results are confined to the specified route. You cannot specify more than one mobile unit per study, so all the study points along the route will have the same height and equipment parameters. For more details, see Mobile/Remote Unit.

A Route Study may be used to predict the received signal power, signal-to-interference ratios, simulcast delay spread, and other relevant radio link performance information from one or more base stations to discrete points along a user-defined route such as a rail line, roadway, or even a flight plan (since route elevations may be given in meters above ground level or above mean sea level).

Selecting Studies>Route Studies from the main menu will bring up the following dialog box:

Calculate/Current/Group/Name/Transmitter Group/Rx ID

For each study listed in this window, you’ll see the 6 columns listed in the title of this section. The Calculate column toggles whether that particular study will be calculated on the next Route Study run. Selecting the Current check box determines which study will be shown in the main map window. Only one study can be shown at a time. The Name column shows the name of the selected study. The last two columns show the Transmitter group and mobile/remote unit (Rx Id) on which the study will run. For more information and details on groups and grouping, see Transmitter/Base/Hub/Router Sites.

The Label field allows you enter a unique identifier for each study listed. This can be useful if you’re running the same study on different groups. For example, if you set up and run 4 Received Power at remote studies, you’ll see Received Power at remote listed 4 times in the Map Layers list. You won’t know which one is which at the moment. Giving each their own label makes it easier to identify them in the Map Layers list.

Define Study Route

The defining characteristic of a route study is the signal results being confined to a route. Clicking the Define Study Route button brings up the following dialog box, which is used to enter information about the Study Route:

Name of file defining study route

A defining study routes file contains a description of the routes that are to be modeled in the Route Study. It can be either a MIF (MapInfo) file that describes a polyline (such as a route or rail route) or a BNA polyline file. For MIF files, only the polyline ("PLINE") object type is accepted. A BNA polyline file can be created using the Draw>Polyline selection. Click the browse button to select your file. For more information on how to draw routes, see Polygon/Polyline/Service Area Boundary.

Another method to create the route file utilizes working with other geographic layers. As described in the Setup Map Layers, you can add geographic files to the main map display. One set of maps is the EDX GIS map layer which contain roads, streets, rails, rivers, etc. You can also add external files like a “.shp” file of rail routes.

For example, if the EDX GIS rails layer has been added to the map, you can then use the Draw menu to draw a polygon around the subsection of visible rails you’re interested in studying. Once the polygon has been drawn, right-click on one of the polygon lines and you’ll see a selection in the contextual sub-menu to Create a BNA file from items within the polygon. After saving the “.bna” file as the defining study route, it can be selected using the Browse button.

Alternatively, you can use the Key in route coordinates button to add your own points of known latitude and longitude, and save that to a file.

Point Spacing

This section of the Define Study Route dialog box is where we configure how we’re going to place the mobile/remote units along the path for calculation. The most common method is to select the Interpolate point spacing along route radio button, and set the value of the Point spacing along field to match or slightly oversample the highest resolution data (terrain or clutter) that you’re using. For example, if you have 30-meter resolution terrain and 10-meter clutter, then to take full advantage of the clutter resolution, you’d set the Point spacing along value to .03 km, or .0128 miles respectively. There are exceptions to this, which will be discussed in greater detail in Propagation Model.

Selecting the Use raw file data radio button uses the control points in the defining study route “.bna” file as the calculation locations. For most users, the route only has control points where the route changes direction, which is usually not enough points for effective calculations. The exception would be if your “.bna” file was composed of something like a large number of meter locations.

Mobile/Remote elevation at each point on route

Fields in this section affect how the mobile/remote height will be determined. The Used method selected... radio button selection will use the height value stored in the specific mobile/remote unit (Rx Id) selected for the study.

The Use *.ELEV route file radio button uses an external elevation file that has the heights at each point along the route. See Appendix G. Geographic, Image and Other Map Data Files for more details on this file and its creation. This separate elevation file is particularly useful when modeling complex mobile trajectories such as an aircraft taking off, climbing, cruising, descending, and landing.

Limit calculation distances to sector study radius

The Limit calculation distances... checkbox works with the value store in the Approximate sector range field, located in the Transmitter/Base/Hub/Router Site details>Study sector/Sector range dialog box. When checked, this field limits the sector calculation range to what’s set in Approximate sector range field. So, if part of the route is outside this range, no calculations to that part of the route will be performed.

Add Study

Clicking the Add Study button in the Route Studies for Map View dialog box brings up the Route Study Details dialog box, shown below, where you can set up a new route study so it will be added to the Route Studies for Map View dialog box list. 

Appendix F. Area, Route and Multipoint Study Methods describes in detail the methods used for each Study Name.

Study Group/Study Name

This is where you pick the study you want to set-up and run. Clicking the Study Name drop-down list allows you to see the full list of route studies that are available in your product. Notice that the default Study Group is Basic. This is the group of studies that are available in the basic EDX software products (Signal and SignalPro). If you have SignalPro and any of the add-on modules such as WiMAX or Mobile/Cellular, clicking on the Study Group drop-down list will show additional study groups, like WiMAX or Mobile/Cellular. Selecting one of these other groups, then browsing the Study Name drop-down list will show additional studies available through that module. 

Primary Transmitter Group/Secondary Transmitter Group

As mentioned in Multipoint Studies, you can sort your transmitters into groups. This is where you pick the group on which you want to run your study. If you haven’t sorted your transmitters into groups, then by default the study will run on the master group, and will include all transmitters marked as active in the group. Normally only the Primary Group is set and considered in the study. However, there are studies, like the C/I ratio Primary Group TX’s to Secondary Group TXs, that need two groups in order to run the study.

Study Display Style

Clicking the Study Display Style button within any study brings up the following dialog box where you can set how the study will look on the main map.

If the Use symbol selection is toggled, the symbol drop-down list and Point size boxes can be modified to configure the shape and size of the study results placed at each study location. Using this method, if you zoom in close enough to the route, you’ll see each individual study point on the route as a discrete point. 

Toggling the Use line radio button option, the line width field can now be modified. Using this method, all the study points within a given range and color will be connected with a line of that color, instead of as a discrete point.

Set Signal/Color Levels

The Set signal/color levels button brings up the following dialog box where you can set the number of levels you want to see in your study. Depending on which Study Name was selected in the previous dialog box, the number and type of Set signal/color levels options displayed will vary, and may be limited. For example, selecting the Shadow map study bring up a dialog box where you can only have two levels: LOS and Shadowed. 

Selecting a Received power at remote study brings up a dialog that allows you to set up to 10 different levels. Type in the number of levels you want and hit tab to exit the field and set the new levels. Set the color for a level by clicking the Color box for that level. 

Clicking the Symbol drop-down list allows you set a different symbol to be painted on the screen. However, leaving it the solid color is usually the best option for study clarity. At the bottom of the Symbol drop-down list is a (blank) NO_SYMBOL choice, which can be useful in certain circumstances. For example, you’re running an RSSI study where all you care about is signal above a certain threshold, like -90dBm. You can’t have less than two levels, so normally you’d be stuck with color in the display below the threshold in which you’re interested. However, selecting the NO_SYMBOL for the results below your threshold will effectively remove them from the final display. You’ll still see the results in the status bar, but not on the screen.

The Values column is where you type the numbers that represent the edges of the ranges you’re interested in showing. 

The Description column allows you to add notes for each level that can be displayed in the legend window next to the signal level.

Set color theme as default

EDX software has defaults color settings for all the studies that return a colored display for the result. Clicking this button will overwrite the EDX defaults color scheme for this study name with what you’ve set for this study. It won’t override the colors of existing studies, but will apply to any new study you add. You can also change the defaults manually. For more information, see the Study Preferences.

Uplink Calculation

The next items in the Route Study Details dialog box are the Uplink calculation selections. For studies that use uplink path loss data, the user has the option of toggling either the Use Downlink Path radio button, which includes the downlink path loss data in the calculation or the Independent Calculation radio button which calculates the uplink path loss data separately. A separate uplink path loss calculation is recommended when at least one of the sectors in the study group has different receive antenna type or height (AGL) than the transmitter antenna.

Signal Level Display threshold

The next item in the Route Study Details dialog is the Signal level display threshold input field. This threshold value will limit the route study display based on whether the signal received at the CPE from the base is above or below the threshold. By selecting an appropriate value here, you can suppress the display of any study results where the received signal level is below the entered threshold value. See Appendix F. Area, Route and Multipoint Study Methods to understand exactly how this value is used in calculating and displaying a study.

Limit MLS.../Include MIMO...

The Limit MLS... checkbox works with the Approximate sector range field value located in the Study Sector dialog box, which is accessed by clicking the Study sector/Sector range button in the Transmitter/Base/Hub/Router Site Details main dialog box. When checked, it limits the sector calculation range to what is set in the Approximate sector range field.

The Include MIMO... checkbox works with the MIMO/Adaptive drop-down list settings in the Transmitter/Base/Hub/Router Site Details main dialog box. When checked, it will use the chosen MIMO/Adaptive type selected. If no MIMO/Adaptive type has been selected (None), then it’s not included in the calculation.

Noise and Interference option for C/(I+N) and BER studies

In this section, there is a set of radio buttons that give you the option of choosing which quantities are used in the denominator for most C/(I+N) calculations. For some types of analysis, it is helpful to see C/I (Use Interference only) or C/N (Use noise only) to get a view of the extent to which interference or noise alone is affecting the received signal.

Reliability Method

The Reliability Method drop-down list allows you to choose the method that calculates reliability (or availability) for the studies. The parameters and settings for the chosen method are set under Studies>Reliability Methods. To make informed selections using this drop-down list, you should first review Appendix H. Reliability Calculations which describes in detail the ramifications of each selection. 

Uplink Interference Studies

The Uplink Interference Studies section has several settings that affect many of the studies which use uplink (remote to base) interference calculations. The Maximum Number of Interfering Sectors field limits the number of other transmitters that will be considered as interferers. The Interference Sources options allow you to include remote/mobile units as interferers and/or include interference from other base transmitters. 

Mobile/Remote Unit

The Mobile/Remote Unit Id drop-down list lets you specify which unit you want to use for the study. For more details, see Mobile/Remote Unit. You can view and edit the parameters for the selected mobile unit here by selecting one of the units from the drop-down list and then clicking Edit. The Show remote on legend checkbox will show/hide the receive antenna type, height and gain in the legend window when printing.

Modify Study

Returning to the Route Studies for Map View main dialog box (Studies>Route Studies), after a study is highlighted in the list, selecting the Modify Study button opens the Route Study Details dialog box to allow study modifications. The fields in this dialog box are the same as those available when selecting the Add Study button.

Delete Study

For any study selected in the list, selecting the Delete Study button deletes the study and corresponding study layer from the map layers. 

Run Studies

Clicking the Run Studies button will start the calculations for all studies in the list that are checked in the Calculate column. You can also run the studies from the main map window by clicking on the Route Study buttonin the toolbar menu. If you click the drop-down arrow just to the right of the button you can access, edit and run each study individually, without having to go back into the main Route Studies for Map View dialog box. Another option is to use the project pane. Expand Map Views>Initial View>Route Studies and right-click on the study you want to run and a contextual menu displays selection options for the study. Choose Run to start the study.

Following this action, a series of dialog boxes will appear. This first dialog box reports the progress of the study as it calculates the signal levels from each hub transmitter to each study point along the route. When these calculations are done, it will report that it is doing the final composite calculations for the study. If necessary, you can cancel the study operation. However, if you do so, any display results for that study will be removed from the screen until you re-calculate the study. When the route study is completed, the results will appear as colored symbols on your map along the route. See Appendix F. Area, Route and Multipoint Study Methods for more information on how Route Studies are done.

Study Export File Types/Create Export File

From the Route Studies for Map View main dialog box, you have the option of exporting the study results using the Create Export File button in the lower right corner of the dialog box. Select the export type from the Study Export File Types window, then click the Create Export File button to start the export process. You can also export route studies from the Map Layers dialog box (Map>Setup Map Layers) by selecting the route study you want to export, clicking the Export Layer button in the lower right corner, then choosing the export type from the Export MapLayer pop-up dialog box.