Creating Measurement/Drive Test Files for EDX

EDX Software supports the use of external measurement files to compare against study results, or to tune propagation models. Given the variety of formats in which measurement files can be saved, the easiest way to work with the files is a .csv (comma delimited) format.

Measurement data file format drive test data may be acquired with testing equipment from a variety of manufacturers, most of which are capable of outputting the data in a comma-delimited ASCII format which give longitude, latitude, and an associated measured value for that location.

It’s possible your measurement file may have captured multiple measurement values; e.g. RSSI, C/I, Data Rate, etc. It’s important to note that EDX works with a single measurement type at a time. For model tuning in EDX, the software uses RSSI/Received power.

Open your file in a spreadsheet editor, and open a blank spreadsheet as well, then copy the columns from your measurement file into the blank spreadsheet file in this order:

Once you’ve copied these values over, add a blank row at the top of column 1.

In this new blank cell (A1), we need to put an index number so SignalPro knows how to read the units of the measured values. The index values and the units they associate with are as follows:

• 4 = dBuV/M

• 5 = dBmW

• 6 = dBuV

• 7 = ratio in dB

Your resulting spreadsheet file should end up looking similar to this:

Save this file as a .csv file. Then open this .csv file in a text editor. It should look like this:

5

-123.3, 45.0, -72

-123.4, 45.1, -72

-123.5, 45.2, -72

-123.6, 45.3, -72

…

Remove any extra commas. Rename the file from yourfilename.csv to yourfilename.dat.

Your file can now be added through the map layers in SignalPro as a display layer and modified to match the colors/ranges of your area study.

It can also be pointed to under Studies>Propagation Models model tuning for use in comparing study results to your measurement results.