Link Planner

POINT TO POINT WIRELESS SOLUTIONS GROUP

Cambium LINKPlanner User Guide

Version 4.0.0

Accuracy

While reasonable efforts have been made to assure the accuracy of this document, Cambium Networks assumes no liability resulting from any

inaccuracies or omissions in this document, or from use of the information obtained herein. Cambium reserves the right to make changes to any

products described herein to improve reliability, function, or design, and reserves the right to revise this document and to make changes from time to

time in content hereof with no obligation to notify any person of revisions or changes. Cambium does not assume any liability arising out of the

application or use of any product, software, or circuit described herein; neither does it convey license under its patent rights or the rights of others. It

is possible that this publication may contain references to, or information about Cambium products (machines and programs), programming, or

services that are not announced in your country. Such references or information must not be construed to mean that Cambium intends to announce

such Cambium products, programming, or services in your country.

Copyrights

This document, Cambium products, and 3rd Party Software products described in this document may include or describe copyrighted Cambium and

other 3rd Party supplied computer programs stored in semiconductor memories or other media. Laws in the United States and other countries

preserve for Cambium, its licensors, and other 3rd Party supplied software certain exclusive rights for copyrighted material, including the exclusive

right to copy, reproduce in any form, distribute and make derivative works of the copyrighted material. Accordingly, any copyrighted material of

Cambium, its licensors, or the 3rd Party software supplied material contained in the Cambium products described in this document may not be copied,

reproduced, reverse engineered, distributed, merged or modified in any manner without the express written permission of Cambium. Furthermore, the

purchase of Cambium products shall not be deemed to grant either directly or by implication, estoppel, or otherwise, any license under the copyrights,

patents or patent applications of Cambium or other 3rd Party supplied software, except for the normal non-exclusive, royalty free license to use that

arises by operation of law in the sale of a product.

Restrictions

Software and documentation are copyrighted materials. Making unauthorized copies is prohibited by law. No part of the software or documentation

may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any language or computer language, in any form or by

any means, without prior written permission of Cambium.

License Agreements

The software described in this document is the property of Cambium and its licensors. It is furnished by express license agreement only and may be

used only in accordance with the terms of such an agreement.

High Risk Materials

Cambium and its supplier(s) specifically disclaim any express or implied warranty of fitness for any high risk activities or uses of its products including,

but not limited to, the operation of nuclear facilities, aircraft navigation or aircraft communication systems, air traffic control, life support, or weapons

systems (High Risk Use). Any High Risk is unauthorized, is made at your own risk and you shall be responsible for any and all losses, damage or claims

arising out of any High Risk Use.

Trademarks

All product or service names are the property of their respective owners.

Contents

Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1List of figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

1 About This User Guide 6General Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Contacting Cambium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Feedback on LINKPlanner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Cambium Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Reporting problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Warnings, cautions and notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Warnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Cautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

2 Getting started 12LINKPlanner Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

NLoS and LoS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Inputs and Outputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Installing LINKPlanner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Windows Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Mac Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Quick Tutorial - PTP Unlicensed Band . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Creating Project, Sites and Link (Unlicensed Band) . . . . . . . . . . . 17Updating Profile with Obstructions (Unlicensed Band) . . . . . . . . . 21Adjusting Configuration and Requirements (Unlicensed Band) . . . . 22

Quick Tutorial - PTP Licensed Band . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Creating Project, Sites and Link (Licensed Band) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Updating Profile with Obstructions (Licensed Band) . . . . . . . . . . . 29Adjusting Configuration and Requirements (Licensed Band) . . . . . 30

Quick Tutorial - PMP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33Creating Project, Access Points and Subscriber Modules (PMP) . . . . 33Updating Profile with Obstructions (PMP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Reviewing Performance and Adjusting Configuration (PMP) . . . . . . 42

3 Using LINKPlanner 44

i

Starting the Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Main Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Options (Preferences) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Project Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Project Navigation Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

User Interface Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Copy and Paste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Managing List Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59Creating, Saving and Viewing Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59Project Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60Importing Path Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67Project Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69New Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69Sites List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69Viewing and Updating Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69Copying or Importing Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70Creating Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73Displaying the Sites List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75Site Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79Obtaining Link Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79Adjusting Link Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81Link Profile Adjustment Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Bill of Materials for Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101Viewing & saving the project BOM file in MS Excel . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Project Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104Available Antennas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104TDD Synchronization List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105Custom Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106Link Formatting Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108Equipment Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Exporting and Reporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117Exporting Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117Creating Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

4 Planning PTP links 120Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Importing Links from a Spreadsheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121Pasting Links from Spreadsheet Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126Creating PTP Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126Displaying PTP Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Link Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130Link Description and Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135Configuration at Each End . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136Performance Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139Performance Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146Bill of Materials for Link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Advanced Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

ii

Optimizing E1 or T1 Latency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153Setting TDD Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154TDD Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155TDD Synchronization Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157Setting Hot Standby Protection (1+1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162Setting 2+0 Antenna Sharing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170Long Waveguide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177Setting Diversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

5 Planning PMP networks 188Hubs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

Creating Hub Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189Deleting Hub Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189Hub Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190Hub Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190Access Points View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191Bill of Materials for Hub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Access Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193Creating Access Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193Deleting an Access Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193Access Point Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193Access Point Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194Access Point Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194Links to Subscriber Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197Bill of Materials for Access Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197Bill of Materials for Subscriber Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

Subscriber Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199Creating and Deleting Subscriber Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199Subscriber Module Description and Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203Performance Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204Performance Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205Bill of Materials for Subscriber Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

Displaying PMP Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

6 Background Information 210Availability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

ITU-R P530-12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211Vigants - Barnett . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

Path Loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212Free Space Path Loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212Excess Path Loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213Fade Margin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213Fresnel Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214Maximum Path Loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215Paths Over Sea or Very Flat Ground . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

Path Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217Path Profiler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217SRTM Technical Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

Import File Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219Path from Hydra - no Site Names (*.pth) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219Path from Hydra - with Site Names (*.pth) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

iii

Sites from CSV File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219PTP Links from CSV File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219Path from CSV File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220Path from Pathloss (*.txt) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

7 Legal Notices 221Cambium Networks End User License Agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222Grant of License . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222Conditions of Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222Title; Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223Confidentiality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223Right to Use Cambiums Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224Updates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224Disclaimer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225Limitation of Liability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225U.S. Government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225Term of License . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225Governing Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226Assignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226Survival of Provisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226Entire Agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

Third Party Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227Python License . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227wxWidgets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227Genshi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228FormEncode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228Python for Windows Extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228matplotlib . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229NumPy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229Universal Encoding Detector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230Profile Images in Google Earth(TM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238py2app . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238py2exe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239ObjectListView . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239PyYAML . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239Reportlab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240bbfreeze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240markerwithlabel.js . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241SQLAlchemy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

Limit of Liability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

8 Changes to LINKPlanner 243Changes since version 4.0.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244

Changes in version 4.0.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244Changes since version 3.0.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

Changes in version 3.6.6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245Changes in version 3.6.5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245Changes in version 3.6.4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246Changes in version 3.6.3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

iv

Changes in version 3.6.2 (limited release) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247Changes in version 3.5.5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247Changes in version 3.6.1 (limited release) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248Changes in version 3.6.0 (limited release) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248Changes in version 3.5.4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249Changes in version 3.5.3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249Changes in version 3.5.2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250Changes in version 3.5.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251Changes in version 3.5.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251Changes in version 3.4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252Changes in version 3.3.3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253Changes in version 3.3.2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253Changes in version 3.3.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254Changes in version 3.3.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254Changes in version 3.2.2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255Changes in version 3.2.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255Changes in version 3.2.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255Changes in version 3.1.2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256Changes in version 3.1.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256Changes in version 3.1.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257Changes in version 3.0.0.rc2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257Changes in version 3.0.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258Changes in version 2.6.2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260Changes in version 2.6.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260Changes in version 2.6.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260Changes in version 2.5.2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261Changes in version 2.5.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261Changes in version 2.5.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262Changes in version 2.4.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262Changes in version 2.4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263Changes in version 2.3.10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263Changes in version 2.3.9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263Changes in version 2.3.8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264Changes in version 2.3.7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264Changes in version 2.3.6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264Changes in version 2.3.5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265Changes in version 2.3.4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265Changes in version 2.3.3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265Changes in version 2.3.2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265Changes in version 2.3.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266Changes in version 2.3.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266Changes in version 2.2.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266Changes in version 2.1.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267Changes in version 2.0.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

9 Glossary 268

10Credits 270

Index 271

v

List of Figures

2.1 User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142.2 Inserting Site 1 (Unlicensed) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182.3 Inserting Site 2 (Unlicensed) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182.4 Inserting Link (Unlicensed) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192.5 Requesting Profiles (Unlicensed) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202.6 Link Equipment (Unlicensed) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212.7 Path Profile (Unlicensed) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212.8 Profile Editor (Unlicensed) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222.9 Path Profile with Obstructions (Unlicensed) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222.10 Adjust Both Ends of Unlicensed Link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232.11 Performance Unacceptable at Both Ends of Unlicensed Link . . . . 232.12 Adjust Both Ends of Unlicensed Link Again . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232.13 Performance Acceptable at Both Ends of Unlicensed Link . . . . . . 242.14 Inserting Site 1 (Licensed) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262.15 Inserting Site 2 (Licensed) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262.16 Inserting Link (Licensed) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272.17 Requesting Profiles (Licensed) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282.18 Link Equipment (Licensed) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292.19 Path Profile (Licensed) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292.20 Profile Editor (Licensed) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302.21 Path Profile with Obstructions (Licensed) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302.22 Adjust Both Ends of Licensed Link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312.23 Performance Unacceptable at Both Ends of Licensed Link . . . . . . 312.24 Adjust Both Ends of Licensed Link Again . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312.25 Performance Acceptable at Both Ends of Licensed Link . . . . . . . 322.26 Inserting Hub Site Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342.27 Create a Hub Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342.28 Navigation Tree with one Hub Site and One Access Point . . . . . . 352.29 Access Point Equipment (PMP 450) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362.30 Inserting Susbcriber Site 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362.31 Inserting Susbcriber Site 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372.32 Add new Subscriber Modules to Access Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372.33 Navigation Tree with two Subscriber Modules on one Access Point 382.34 Subscriber Module Equipment (PMP 450) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392.35 Requesting Profiles (PMP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

1

LINKPlanner User Guide, Release 4.0.0

2.36 Path Profile (PMP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402.37 Profile Editor (PMP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412.38 Path Profile with Obstructions (PMP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412.39 Performance Unacceptable at Both Ends of PMP Link . . . . . . . . . 422.40 Adjust Both Ends of PMP Link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422.41 Performance Acceptable at Both Ends of PMP Link . . . . . . . . . . . 422.42 Detailed Performance at Both Ends of PMP Link . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

3.1 Main Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453.2 Options (Preferences) Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463.3 Templates Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473.4 Access Token Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493.5 Graphics Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503.6 Project Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503.7 Navigation Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 523.8 Smart Paste Dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563.9 Editing a Property for Multiple Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 583.10 Project Node Tutorial in Navigation Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 593.11 General Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603.12 Project Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613.13 Offline Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 623.14 Site Pop-up Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 633.15 Site Properties Dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 633.16 Custom Icons and Label Positioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 633.17 Google Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 643.18 Google Earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 643.19 Choosing the template file type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 683.20 Importing From a Spreadsheet Using Copy and Paste . . . . . . . . . 713.21 Table Import Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 713.22 Selecting Columns to be Imported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 723.23 Value Cannot be Interpreted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 723.24 Map of Newly Imported Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 733.25 New Network Site Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 743.26 Network Sites List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 753.27 Sites Pop-up Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 753.28 Convert between Network and Subscriber Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . 763.29 Details in Site Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 773.30 PTP Links in Site Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 773.31 Links Graph in Site Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 783.32 Display Properties in Site Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 783.33 Progress Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 803.34 Request Profiles Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 813.35 Google Earth(TM) Aerial Photograph with Distances Shown . . . . . 823.36 Google Earth(TM) Aerial Photograph (Zoomed) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 823.37 Fresnel zone representation in Google Earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 833.38 Profile Visualization Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 853.39 Profile Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 863.40 Profile Updated With Tree Obstructions (in green) . . . . . . . . . . . 863.41 Adding a Profile Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 873.42 Setting a Constant Gradient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 883.43 Path Profile Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

2 List of Figures


3.44 Original path profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 893.45 Adjusted path profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 903.46 Unadjusted profile near antenna site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 913.47 Map of Addislade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 913.48 Obstructions and higher ground near Addislade . . . . . . . . . . . . 923.49 Profile Updated with Map and Google Earth Results . . . . . . . . . . 933.50 GPS Calibration Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 943.51 Using a ruler to estimate height . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 953.52 Results of site survey at Addislade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 963.53 Profile updated with site survey results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 963.54 Unadjusted profile near high point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 973.55 Map of Hp1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 983.56 Estimated obstruction height near Hp1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 983.57 GPS Calibration Point near Hp1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 993.58 Profile updated with Hp1 survey results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1003.59 Bill of Materials for Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1023.60 Available PTP Antennas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1043.61 TDD Synchronization List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1063.62 New Custom Field Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1073.63 Create Custom Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1073.64 Custom Field List Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1083.65 Custom Field Choice Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1083.66 Link Formatting Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1093.67 Rule Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1103.68 Rule Expression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1113.69 Formatting Rules Pop-up Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1123.70 Equipment Templates Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1133.71 Equipment Template Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1143.72 Links Pop-up Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1153.73 Equipment Templates Pop-up Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

4.1 Link Data in a Spreadsheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1214.2 Table Import Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1224.3 Selecting Columns to be Imported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1234.4 Link Value Cannot be Interpreted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1234.5 Map of Newly Imported Sites and Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1244.6 Merging Duplicate Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1254.7 Importing Links From a Spreadsheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1264.8 New PTP Link Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1274.9 PTP Links List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1284.10 PTP Links Pop-up Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1284.11 Editing a Property for Multiple Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1294.12 Link Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1304.13 Equipment (unlicensed bands) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1314.14 Equipment (licensed bands) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1324.15 TDM Equipment Configuration (PTP 810 Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1344.16 Profile with Trees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1354.17 Configuration at Each End (one end shown) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1364.18 Additional Feeder Losses in Licensed Band . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1384.19 Select Transmit Frequencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1394.20 Performance Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

List of Figures 3


4.21 Operating Conditions for PTP 250 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1414.22 Performance Summary with E1/T1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1434.23 Performance Summary with TDM for PTP 810 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1444.24 Detailed Availability Information (ITU Model) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1454.25 Performance Charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1474.26 Performance Charts for Adaptive Symmetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1484.27 Performance Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1484.28 Bill of Materials for Link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1504.29 Bill of Materials Icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1504.30 Bill of Materials Optional Extras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1514.31 Lowest Telecoms Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1544.32 TDD Synchronization Error Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1554.33 TDD Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1554.34 Basic TDD Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1564.35 Interference Between ODUs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1584.36 Separation of PTP 600 Units on a Mast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1594.37 Unsynchronized Frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1604.38 Synchronized Frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1624.39 Navigation Tree for Protected (1+1) link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1634.40 Link Node Information for Protected (1+1) link . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1634.41 Detailed Reports Information Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1674.42 Detailed Reports Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1674.43 Proposal Report Performance Information for Protected (1+1) Link 1694.44 Navigation Tree for 2+0 Cross-Polar link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1714.45 Navigation Tree for 2+0 Co-Polar link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1714.46 Navigation Tree for 2+0 XPIC link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1714.47 Link Node Information for PTP 800 2+0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1724.48 Link Node Information for PTP 810 2+0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1734.49 Equipment (2+0) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1744.50 Configuration at Each End for 2+0 Cross-Polar . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1744.51 Configuration at Each End for 2+0 Co-Polar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1754.52 Select Transmit Frequency 2+0 Co-Polar Adjacent Channel Error . 1764.53 Link Equipment for Long Waveguide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1774.54 End Equipment for Long Waveguide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1784.55 Losses (Long Waveguide) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1794.56 Losses (Long Waveguide for IRFU) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1804.57 Reflection Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1824.58 Profile with Reflection Visible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1824.59 Profile with Reflection Obscured . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1834.60 Space Diversity Deployment (unlicensed bands) . . . . . . . . . . . . 1844.61 Configuration of Space Diversity (unlicensed bands) . . . . . . . . . 1844.62 Space Diversity Deployment (licensed bands) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1854.63 Configuration of Space Diversity (licensed bands) . . . . . . . . . . . 1854.64 Height Clearance between main antennas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1864.65 Height Clearance between main and diverse antennas . . . . . . . . 186

5.1 New Hub Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1895.2 Delete Hub Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1905.3 Hub Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1905.4 Access Point View on Hub Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1915.5 Bill of Materials for Hub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

4 List of Figures


5.6 New Access Point Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1935.7 Access Point Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1945.8 Access Point Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1955.9 Links to Subscriber Module View on Access Point page . . . . . . . . 1975.10 Bill of Materials for Access Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1975.11 Aggregate Bill of Materials for Subscriber Modules on an Access

Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1985.12 New PMP Link Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2005.13 New Subscriber Module Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2005.14 Subscriber Module Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2015.15 Subscriber Module Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2025.16 PMP Profile with Trees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2045.17 PMP Link Performance Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2055.18 PMP 450 Link Performance Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2065.19 Bill of Materials for Subscriber Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2075.20 Bill of Materials Optional Extras for Subscriber Module . . . . . . . . 2075.21 PMP Network Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

6.1 Free Space Path Loss at 5.8 GHz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2136.2 Fade Margin vs Excess Path Loss for 99.99% Link Availability . . . . 2146.3 Fresnel Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2156.4 Propagation Over The Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

List of Figures 5

CHAPTER 1

About This User Guide

The purpose of this user guide is to describe how to install and use CambiumLINKPlanner.

Cambium Networks provides the LINKPlanner application with the followingproducts:

PTP 250, PTP 300, PTP 400, PTP 500, PTP 600, PTP 650, PTP 800 and PTP 810equipment.

PMP 450, ePMP equipment

Use LINKPlanner to help predict where and how equipment will work. It allows thenetwork planner to answer these questions:

Will each link transmit data fast enough for the user?

Will each link be reliable enough for the user?

Which Access Point will be best for a subscriber?

If any problems are experienced with LINKPlanner, see Contacting Cambium

Getting started

To understand the concepts of LINKPlanner, see LINKPlanner Concepts

If any problems are experienced with LINKPlanner, see Contacting Cambium.

To install or upgrade the software, see Installing LINKPlanner.

How to use LINKPlanner

To perform a quick test of the feasibility of a planned link, follow the proceduredescribed in:.

PTP Unlicensed Band Tutorial - for PTP 250, PTP 300, PTP 400, PTP 500, PTP600 and PTP 650 link planning.

PTP Licensed Band Tutorial - for PTP 800 and PTP 810 link planning.

PMP Tutorial - for PMP 450 and ePMP network planning.

If the resulting performance predictions look promising, plan the link in greaterdetail as described in Using LINKPlanner.

6


Supporting information

For more information about link planning, such as path loss, path profiles andfile formats, see Background Information.

For licensing and third party information, see Legal Notices.

For a history of LINKPlanner software changes, see Changes to LINKPlanner.

For definitions of common terms, see Glossary.

7


General Information

Purpose

Cambium Networks documents are intended to instruct and assist personnel inthe operation, installation and maintenance of the Cambium Networks equipmentand ancillary devices. It is recommended that all personnel engaged in suchactivities be properly trained.

Cambium Networks disclaims all liability whatsoever, implied or express, for anyrisk of damage, loss or reduction in system performance arising directly orindirectly out of the failure of the customer, or anyone acting on the customersbehalf, to abide by the instructions, system parameters, or recommendationsmade in this document.

8 Chapter 1. About This User Guide


Contacting Cambium

Feedback on LINKPlanner

We appreciate feedback from the users of our documents. This includes feedbackon the structure, content, accuracy, or completeness of our documents. Sendfeedback to [email protected].

You can receive help from the wider LINKPlanner community through theLINKPlanner forum:http://www.cambiumnetworks.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=47.

Cambium Networks

Support website: http://www.cambiumnetworks.com/support

Main website: http://www.cambiumnetworks.com

Sales enquires: [email protected]

Support enquires: [email protected]

Telephone number list:http://www.cambiumnetworks.com/support/contact-support

Address:

Cambium Networks Limited,

Linhay Business Park,

Eastern Road,

Ashburton,

Devon, UK,

TQ13 7UP

Reporting problems

If any problems are encountered when using LINKPlanner, follow this procedure:

1. Search this help document for a solution

In the Table of Contents

In the Index (Windows only)

In the Search (Windows only).

2. Ensure that the latest version of LINKPlanner software is installed (availableat http://www.cambiumnetworks.com/linkplanner)

3. Search the release note for this version of the product (available athttp://www.cambiumnetworks.com/linkplanner)

4. Ask your Cambium products supplier to help.

5. Escalate the problem to Cambium Networks Technical Support as follows:

Either: send an email to [email protected]

Contacting Cambium 9

mailto:[email protected]://www.cambiumnetworks.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=47http://www.cambiumnetworks.com/supporthttp://www.cambiumnetworks.commailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.cambiumnetworks.com/support/contact-supporthttp://www.cambiumnetworks.com/linkplannerhttp://www.cambiumnetworks.com/linkplannermailto:[email protected]


Or: Contact Cambium Support athttp://www.cambiumnetworks.com/support/open-a-support-case

10 Chapter 1. About This User Guide

http://www.cambiumnetworks.com/support/open-a-support-case


Warnings, cautions and notes

The following describes how warnings and cautions are used in this document andin all documents of this Cambium document set.

Warnings

Warnings precede instructions that contain potentially hazardous situations.Warnings are used to alert the reader to possible hazards that could cause loss oflife or physical injury. A warning has the following format:

Warning text and consequence for not following theinstructions in the warning.

Cautions

Cautions precede instructions and are used when there is a possibility of damageto systems, software, or individual items of equipment within a system. However,this damage presents no danger to personnel. A caution has the following format:

Caution text and consequence for not following the instructions in thecaution.

Notes

A note means that there is a possibility of an undesirable situation or providesadditional information to help the reader understand a topic or concept. A notehas the following format:

Note text.

Warnings, cautions and notes 11

CHAPTER 2

Getting started

This section describes the main concepts of LINKPlanner and how to install thesoftware:

LINKPlanner Concepts

Installing LINKPlanner

This section also contains quick tutorials for experienced Windows or Mac users.They describe how to create a project to analyze the performance of a single link.

Quick Tutorial - PTP Unlicensed Band (for PTP 250, PTP 300, PTP 400, PTP500, PTP 600 and PTP 650 links).

Quick Tutorial - PTP Licensed Band (for PTP 800 and PTP 810 links).

Quick Tutorial - PMP (for PMP 450 and ePMP networks).

12


LINKPlanner Concepts

NLoS and LoS

The Cambium Networks Series of point-to-point (PTP) wireless Ethernet bridgesand point-to-multipoint (PMP) wireless broadband solutions are designed tooperate in non-line-of-sight (NLoS) and line-of-sight (LoS) environments. Linkplanning and estimation enable a link of known quality to be installed.LINKPlanner uses path profile data to predict the data rates and reliability overeach link, through adjustment of antenna height and RF power. When the link isinstalled, the mean path loss can be checked to confirm these predictions.

Architecture

The LINKPlanner is an application that runs on Windows or Macintosh. It performsthe calculations from the ITU recommendations ITU-R P.526-10 and ITU-R P.530-12to predict NLoS and LoS paths for anywhere in the world. Path profile data can beobtained in a number of different ways depending upon global location. Cambiumprovides a method for obtaining path profile data; see Path Profiles. Trees andbuildings (obstructions) can modify this profile, and often the path must besurveyed to establish the correct estimation.

The main concepts of LINKPlanner are:

Project: a set of data about the sites and links in a wireless network.

Network Site: the location of a PTP outdoor unit and its antenna or a PMPHub Site.

Subscriber Site: the location of a PMP Subscriber Module outdoor unit andantenna.

Hub Site: a location which contains one or more Access Point outdoor unitsand antennas.

Access Point: an outdoor unit and antenna which connects to multipleSubscriber Modules.

Subscriber Module: an outdoor unit and antenna at a customer or remotepremises.

Link: a wireless connection between two PTP sites or between an AccessPoint and a single Subscriber Module.

Path: an alternative wireless link between two PTP units at different sites,when each site has multiple units.

Inputs and Outputs

The main inputs to LINKPlanner are:

Site name, position, maximum antenna height and site definition; network orsubscriber (input by the user).

Details of the equipment and license restrictions (selected by the user).

LINKPlanner Concepts 13


Required performance targets for each link or network (input by the user).

Profile of the terrain along the path of each link (obtained using a Cambiumtool).

Details of any obstructions or reflections that may affect the performance ofa link (obtained from maps, survey data and Google Earth(TM)).

The main output from LINKPlanner is a performance summary that shows how wellthe link is predicted to perform in response to the selected combination of inputs.It shows predicted and required throughput performance and availability at eachend of the link.

User Interface

The following example shows the LINKPlanner User Interface for the Tutorialproject, which models a PTP network linking three sites, one of which is also a HubSite containing one Access Point, which is connected to two Subscriber Modules:

Figure 2.1: User Interface

14 Chapter 2. Getting started


LINKPlanner Concepts 15


Installing LINKPlanner

Windows Installation

If LINKPlanner is to be used with non-Roman character sets, then installone of these two fonts:

Arial Unicode MS. This is optionally installed as part of MicrosoftOffice.

Bitstream Cyberbit.

To install LINKPlanner in Windows:

1. Download and run LinkPlannerSetup.999.exe (where 999 is version identity).

2. The Welcome to the Cambium LINKPlanner Setup Wizard page isdisplayed. Click Next.

3. The Select Destination Location page is displayed. If a different folderis required, click Browse and choose the required folder. Click Next tocontinue.

4. The Select Start Menu Folder page is displayed. If a different folder isrequired for the shortcuts, click Browse and choose the required folder. ClickNext to continue.

5. The Ready to Install page is displayed. If the Destination location andStart Menu folder are correct, click Install, otherwise click Back.

6. The installation progress page is displayed, followed by the Completingthe Cambium LINKPlanner Setup Wizard page. Click Finish. Softwareinstallation is now complete.

Mac Installation

To install LINKPlanner on a Mac, open the readme file provided and follow theinstructions.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arial_Unicode_MShttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitstream_Cyberbit


Quick Tutorial - PTP Unlicensed Band

This section is a quick tutorial for experienced Windows or Mac users. It describeshow to create a project to analyze the performance of a single PTP link operatingin an unlicensed frequency band (below 6 GHz) between two sites.

Before starting this tutorial, complete the following steps:

1. Install the software in the usual way. See Installing LINKPlanner.

2. Start the application.

3. Enter the correct details in the Options (Preferences) page. Ensure that Emailaddress and Network Settings are correct. See Options (Preferences).

4. Register with the path profile service. See Options (Preferences).

There are three parts to this tutorial:

1. Create a project with two sites and one link. See Creating Project, Sites andLink (Unlicensed Band).

2. Update the path profile for the link with obstructions. See Updating Profilewith Obstructions (Unlicensed Band).

3. Adjust the antennas at both ends of the link and confirm that the selectedequipment meets the performance requirements. See AdjustingConfiguration and Requirements (Unlicensed Band).

Creating Project, Sites and Link (Unlicensed Band)

To create a project with two sites and one link:

1. Click New Project .

The Project Page is displayed

2. Enter Customer Information and Default settings for new links.

Click Save Project

Save the project as Tutorial.ptpprj.

3. Click New Network Site

The Add New Network Site page is displayed. Enter this data:

Name: North Middle School

Maximum Height: 10 meters

Latitude: 39.74828N

Longitude: 104.84861W

Description: Antenna mounted on school building

Quick Tutorial - PTP Unlicensed Band 17


Figure 2.2: Inserting Site 1 (Unlicensed)



Name: Park Lane Elementary


Latitude: 39.75914N


Description: Antenna mounted in school yard

Figure 2.3: Inserting Site 2 (Unlicensed)

5. Click New PTP Link

The Add New PTP Link page is displayed.

Select the two sites to be linked: North Middle School and Park LaneElementary.



Figure 2.4: Inserting Link (Unlicensed)

If requesting path profiles automatically the profile request is sent to theCambium Path Profiler and will automatically appear in the profile window.

6. If requesting profiles manually click Project, Get Profiles.

The Request Profiles page is displayed. Tick the link North Middle School toPark Lane Elementary (if not already ticked).



Figure 2.5: Requesting Profiles (Unlicensed)

The profile request is sent to the Cambium Path Profiler and willautomatically appear in the profile window.

7. Configure the link equipment, see Equipment (unlicensed bands):

Band: 5.8 GHz

Product: PTP 650

Capacity: Full (Up to 450 Mbps)

Regulation: United States

Precise Network Timing: Disabled

Bandwidth: 45 MHz

E1/T1: None

Optimization: IP

Sync: Disabled

Symmetry: Symmetric

Dual Payload: Enabled

Highest Mod Mode: 256QAM 0.81

Lowest Ethernet Mode: BPSK 0.63 Sngl

Master: North Middle School



Figure 2.6: Link Equipment (Unlicensed)

8. Click Save Project

Updating Profile with Obstructions (Unlicensed Band)

Obtain the path profile for the link and update it with obstructions:

1. The profile in LINKPlanner will automatically appear in the profile window

2. Review the Profile.

Figure 2.7: Path Profile (Unlicensed)

3. Check that the profile is accurate and identify any obstructions that mayaffect signal quality.

The profile can be verified using Google Earth(TM), maps, GPS data and sitevisits. It is particularly important to verify the antenna heights, to measureinterference and to identify obstructions near both ends of the Fresnel zone.

For more information, see Using Google Earth(TM).

4. Double-click on the profile. The Profile Editor is displayed. Enter a 4 meterhigh Obstruction at Range 0.501 km and a 3.5 meter high Obstruction atRange 0.678 km.

The + and - buttons may be used to add and remove points. For moreinformation, see Updating Link Profiles.



Figure 2.8: Profile Editor (Unlicensed)

5. Review the profile. Obstructions are shown in green.

Figure 2.9: Path Profile with Obstructions (Unlicensed)


Adjusting Configuration and Requirements (Unlicensed Band)

Adjust the antennas at both ends of the link and confirm that the selectedequipment meets the performance requirements:



1. Adjust the Antenna Heights in the Link Page to given values and addInterference Density. Adjust the Interference Density to the required value.

Figure 2.10: Adjust Both Ends of Unlicensed Link

2. Insert target values in the Link Page data rate boxes for Mean ThroughputRequired, Minimum Throughput Required and Minimum ThroughputAvailability Required.

Observe that the predicted values are now red because they are less thanrequired values.

Figure 2.11: Performance Unacceptable at Both Ends of Unlicensed Link

3. Select different antennas and change Antenna Heights in the Link Page.Adjust User limits if required.

Figure 2.12: Adjust Both Ends of Unlicensed Link Again

4. Confirm that the predicted values are no longer red.



Figure 2.13: Performance Acceptable at Both Ends of Unlicensed Link




Quick Tutorial - PTP Licensed Band

This section is a quick tutorial for experienced Windows or Mac users. It describeshow to create a project to analyze the performance of a single PTP link operatingin a licensed frequency band (6 GHz or greater) between two sites.







1. Create a project with two sites and one link. See Creating Project, Sites andLink (Licensed Band).

2. Update the path profile for the link with obstructions. See Updating Profilewith Obstructions (Licensed Band).

3. Adjust the antennas at both ends of the link and confirm that the selectedequipment meets the performance requirements. See AdjustingConfiguration and Requirements (Licensed Band).

Creating Project, Sites and Link (Licensed Band)

To create a project with two sites and one link:




Click Save Project

Save the project as Tutorial2.ptpprj.



Name: Wood Farm


Latitude: 50.44138N


Description: Antenna mounted on roof

Quick Tutorial - PTP Licensed Band 25


Figure 2.14: Inserting Site 1 (Licensed)



Name: West Tower


Latitude: 50.44840N


Description: Antenna mounted on tower

Figure 2.15: Inserting Site 2 (Licensed)

5. Click New PTP Link

The Add New PTP Link page is displayed.

Select the two sites to be linked: Wood Farm and West Tower.



Figure 2.16: Inserting Link (Licensed)

If requesting path profiles automatically the profile request is sent to theCambium Path Profiler and will automatically appear in the profile window.


The Request Profiles page is displayed. Tick the link Wood Farm to WestTower (if not already ticked).



Figure 2.17: Requesting Profiles (Licensed)


7. Configure the link equipment, see Equipment (licensed bands):

Band: 26 GHz

Product: PTP26800 with ODU-A

Regulation: ETSI

Link Type: 1+0

T/R Spacing: Preset to 1008 MHz

Bandwidth: 56 MHz

Modulation Mode: Adaptive

Maximum Mod Mode: 256QAM 0.91 (368.65 Mbps)

Minimum Mod Mode: QPSK 0.80 (77.15 Mbps)

Polarization: Vertical

ATPC: Disabled

Hi: Wood Farm



Figure 2.18: Link Equipment (Licensed)


Updating Profile with Obstructions (Licensed Band)

Obtain the path profile for the link and update it with obstructions:



Figure 2.19: Path Profile (Licensed)




4. Double-click on the profile. The Profile Editor is displayed. Enter obstructionsas shown below.




Figure 2.20: Profile Editor (Licensed)


Figure 2.21: Path Profile with Obstructions (Licensed)


Adjusting Configuration and Requirements (Licensed Band)

Adjust the antennas at both ends of the link and confirm that the selectedequipment meets the performance requirements:

1. Adjust the Antenna Heights in the Link Page to given values.



Figure 2.22: Adjust Both Ends of Licensed Link

2. Insert target values in the Link Page data rate boxes for Mean IP Required.

Observe that the predicted values are now red because they are less thanrequired values.

Figure 2.23: Performance Unacceptable at Both Ends of Licensed Link

3. Select different antennas and change Antenna Heights in the Link Page.

Figure 2.24: Adjust Both Ends of Licensed Link Again

4. Confirm that the predicted values are no longer red.



Figure 2.25: Performance Acceptable at Both Ends of Licensed Link




Quick Tutorial - PMP

This section is a quick tutorial for experienced Windows or Mac users. It describeshow to create a project to connect two Subscriber Modules to an Access Point on aHub Site.







1. Create a project with one hub site, one Access Point and two SubscriberModules. See Creating Project, Access Points and Subscriber Modules (PMP).

2. Update the path profile for the link with obstructions. See Updating Profilewith Obstructions (PMP).

3. Adjust the antennas at both ends of the link and confirm that the selectedequipment meets the performance requirements. See ReviewingPerformance and Adjusting Configuration (PMP).

Creating Project, Access Points and Subscriber Modules (PMP)

To create a project with one Hub Site, one Access Point and two SubscriberModules:




Click Save Project

Save the project as Tutorial_PMP.ptpprj.



Name: Golf Club


Latitude: 39.75093N


Description: Hub Site located at Golf Club

Quick Tutorial - PMP 33


Figure 2.26: Inserting Hub Site Location

4. Click New Hub

The Add New Hub page is displayed.

Select the Network Site to be used as a Hub Site: Golf Club.

Figure 2.27: Create a Hub Site

The Hub Site is now added to PMP Links and automatically has one AccessPoint, Golf Club:1, assigned to it.



Figure 2.28: Navigation Tree with one Hub Site and One Access Point

5. Configure the Access Point, see Access Point Equipment:

Band: 5.8 GHz

Product: PMP450

Country: United States

Sync Input: Generate Sync

Bandwidth: 20 MHz

Color Code: 0

Max Range: 2 miles

Downlink Data: 75 %

Control Slots: 3

Broadcast Repeat Count: 0

Antenna Selection: Cambium Networks 60 deg 5 GHz Sector Antenna (17.0dBi)

Antenna Height: 20m

Antenna Azimuth: 90 degrees

Antenna Tilt: 0 degrees

EIRP: 36 dBm (read only)

Power: 20 dBm

SM Receive Target Level: -50 dBm

Interference?: Tick, -90.0 dBm



Figure 2.29: Access Point Equipment (PMP 450)

6. Click New Subscriber Site

The Add New Subscriber Site page is displayed. Enter this data:

Name: Billings Street


Latitude: 39.74739N


Description: Corner of Billings Street and E. Montview Blvd

Figure 2.30: Inserting Susbcriber Site 1

7. Click New Subscriber Site

The Add New Subscriber Site page is displayed. Enter this data:

Name: Xanadu Street


Latitude: 39.75385N




Description: Customer on Xanadu Street

Figure 2.31: Inserting Susbcriber Site 2

8. Add Subscriber Modules to Access Point

Select the Access Point from the Navigation Tree, see Navigation Tree withone Hub Site and One Access Point. In the Links to Subscriber Modules pane

select Add Subscriber Module , the Add New Subscriber Site isdisplayed. Select the Subscriber Sites to be connected to the Access Point.

Figure 2.32: Add new Subscriber Modules to Access Point

The Subscriber Modules are now added to the Access Point and can beselected from the Navigation Tree.



Figure 2.33: Navigation Tree with two Subscriber Modules on one Access Point

9. Configure the Subscriber Module, see Subscriber Module Equipment:

Band: 5.8 GHz (read only)

Product: PMP450 (read only)

Country: United States (read only)

Bandwidth: 20 MHz (read only)

Color Code: 0 (read only)

Capacity: 20 Mbps

High Priority Channel: Disabled

Max Range: 2 miles (read only)

Downlink Data: 75 % (read only)

Control Slots: 3 (read only)

Antenna Selection: Cambium Networks 55 deg Integrated Antenna (9.0dBi)

Antenna Height: 5m

Antenna Azimuth: 286.2 degrees (read only)

Antenna Tilt: 1.1 degrees (read only)

AP Antenna Gain: 16.4 dBi (read only)

EIRP 31 dBm (read only)

Power: 22 dBm

Interference?: Tick, -90.0 dBm



Figure 2.34: Subscriber Module Equipment (PMP 450)


The Request Profiles page is displayed. Tick the links Golf Club : 1 toBillings Street and Golf Club : 1 to Xanadu Street (if not alreadyticked).

Figure 2.35: Requesting Profiles (PMP)





Updating Profile with Obstructions (PMP)

Obtain the path profile for the link between the Access Point and the SubscriberModules and update it with obstructions:



Figure 2.36: Path Profile (PMP)




4. Double-click on the profile. The Profile Editor is displayed. Enter a 4 meterhigh Obstruction at Range 0.808 km and a 2.5 meter high Obstruction atRange 1.347 km.




Figure 2.37: Profile Editor (PMP)


Figure 2.38: Path Profile with Obstructions (PMP)




Reviewing Performance and Adjusting Configuration (PMP)

Review the performance of the link and adjust the antenna at the SubscriberModule, confirm that the selected equipment meets the performance objectives:

1. View the performance of the link between the Access Point and theSubscriber Module. Performance objective is 64QAM MIMO (6x) at both endsof the link.

Figure 2.39: Performance Unacceptable at Both Ends of PMP Link

3. Select different antenna and change Antenna Height in the Link Page.

If changing equipment parameters at the Access Point andAutomatic Calculations are not enabled, Calculate Now willappear. Select this to update the parameters on all the SubscriberModules, see Project Toolbar .

Figure 2.40: Adjust Both Ends of PMP Link

4. Confirm that the predicted values meet performance objectives.

Figure 2.41: Performance Acceptable at Both Ends of PMP Link



5. Confirm that there is sufficient Fade Margin (System Gain Margin) atthe Max Usable Mode

Figure 2.42: Detailed Performance at Both Ends of PMP Link



CHAPTER 3

Using LINKPlanner

LINKPlanner allows the planner to design both PTP and PMP networks in the sameproject, using many common functions.

To achieve this goal, follow this process:

1. Start the application and set options. See Starting the Application.

2. Build a project to model a PTP link or PMP network See Projects.

3. Enter details of all sites in the project. See Sites.

4. Plan a PTP link, see Planning PTP links or plan a PMP network, see PlanningPMP networks

5. Adjust the link profile to allow for terrain height variance, obstructions andreflection. See Adjusting Link Profiles.

6. View the Bill of Materials for the project. See Bill of Materials for Project.

7. Manage the project, see Project Configuration.

8. Export and report project, network, site and link data. See Exporting andReporting

44


Starting the Application

Start LINKPlanner. The Main Screen is displayed.

Before using the application, set options (preferences in Mac). SeeOptions (Preferences).

Main Screen

The Main Screen consists of two panels:

The left hand panel contains the Project Navigation Tree. This panel is blankuntil one or more projects are opened. See Project Navigation Tree.

The right hand panel is for viewing and editing projects, sites and links. Thispanel initially displays information about the application, with links foropening new and recent projects.

Figure 3.1: Main Screen

Starting the Application 45


Options (Preferences)

Before using LINKPlanner, use the Options page (Preferences in Mac) to enterpersonal information, select units and choose network settings.

To open the Options/Preferences page:

On Windows, click Tools, Options.

On a Mac, open Preferences.

Figure 3.2: Options (Preferences) Page

Personal Information

Enter contact details for the person who prepares link plans on behalf of thecustomer. LINKPlanner uses the email address to obtain Path Profiles (see Options(Preferences) Page).

The Watermark can be used to insert additional watermark text on the pathprofile graph and the interactive map.

46 Chapter 3. Using LINKPlanner


When requesting profiles LINKPlanner will send information, includingyour contact details and path profile coordinates, to Cambium Networks.Cambium Networks stores this information on its servers so that we canprovide the best possible customer service and sales support. Pleasesee http://www.cambiumnetworks.com/privacy for more details.

Templates

Figure 3.3: Templates Page

Choose the directory that contains the LINKPlanner templates and then select thedefault template that will be used when creating a new project.

If the New project template is blank then new projects will use the in-builtLINKPlanner template.

The default template directory contains the following pre-loaded projecttemplates:

ITU-R

Vigants-Barnett

Select the appropriate option as the default template to ensure that all newprojects are automatically configured for the required prediction model.

See Project Templates for details on creating new templates.


http://www.cambiumnetworks.com/privacy


Units

Select the required units for Height, Length, Latitude and Longitude.

Default PTP Regions or Default PMP Regions

Select the priority order for the default licenses for each region for PTP and PMPnetworks.

Network Settings

Select options for connecting to the network. The Get Profiles feature uses thesesettings, as described in Obtaining Link Profiles. LINKPlanner obtains proxysettings automatically from computer system settings. If network connection doesnot work when using the default settings, then enter the correct settings.

To test the settings, click on Test network settings. If the response is notNetwork test succeeded!, review and correct the network settings.

The Proxy Password is not held or transmitted in a secure manner.

Path Profile

Registration is required to get profiles, click Register with the path profileservice to go to the Cambium Support webpage. Sign in or register to get to theLINKPlanner Access Token page. Use the same email address entered in PersonalInformation and click Generate New Token. The Access Token is shown at thetop of the page. An email containing an access token will also be sent to the emailaddress given. Copy the access token and paste into the Access token box onthe Path Profile page.



Figure 3.4: Access Token Page

To test the profile service, click on Test Profile Service. If the response is notAccess details are correct, check that the email address entered in PersonalInformation is the same as entered on the profile registration form and theaccess token has been copied correctly.

To choose when to get profiles click Request profiles manually?, otherwiseprofiles will be requested as soon as a link is created, if a network connectionexists.

Reports

Select the required font and page size for LINKPlanner reports.

Select the option to generate detailed reports. This only applies to Hot Standby,where the detailed reports will give performance information for all paths. Thestandard reports will only provide information for the primary to primary path.

Select the option to hide sites without links. This will generate a report which onlycontains sites which are part of at least one link.

Graphics

Select the default line style and color for links and the default color for sites in theOffline Map.



Figure 3.5: Graphics Page

Bill of Materials

Select the default region option for power leads for PTP equipment. PTP 650 onlysupports the EU and US power leads. FCC and EU kits have defined line cords,RoW kits can have either EU or US line cords, select either EU or US to overridethe default country option. Select Not Specified to allow LINKPlanner choose thedefault option for the country selected.

Select the default region option for power leads for PMP 450 Subscriber Modules.

To automatically add a default ODU part number to the BOM, select Add defaultODUs?. This only applies to PTP 800 and PTP 810 and will add the part numbersfor the lowest sub-band ODU pair for the frequency band, ensure that the correctfrequencies are selected before ordering ODUs.

Project Toolbar

The project toolbar, located above the main screen, allows easy access to anumber of common functions:

Figure 3.6: Project Toolbar



Use the icons to access the following functions:

New Project - Create a new project

Open Project - Open an existing project

Save Project - Save the current project

Copy - Copy a Network Site, Subscriber Site, PTP link, PMP Hub,Access Point or Subscriber Module, select appropriate item beforeselecting Copy.

Paste - Paste a copied item into either the same project (duplicate) ora different project.

New Network Site - Create a new Network Site

New Subscriber Site - Create a new Subscriber Site

New PTP Link - Create a new PTP link

New Hub Site - Create a new Hub Site

New Access Point - Create a new Access Point

New PMP Link - Create a new link between an Access Point and aSubscriber Site

Delete - delete a network site, subscriber site, PTP link, PMP hub,Access Point or Subscriber Module, select appropriate item beforeselecting Delete.

Open in New Window - Creates a new window with the contents ofthe right hand pane, use to compare different links or window views sideby side.

Export to Google Earth - Select at the project node to display all links.Select at the link level to display distance markers on the selected link,other links shown as at the project level.

Create Proposal Report - Select at the project node to generate aproject level PTP Proposal Report, select at the PTP link level to generatea link specific report. Not available for PMP.

Create Installation Report - Select at the PTP Link level to generate aPTP network level Installation Report, select at the PMP link level tocreate a PMP network level Installation Report. Select at the PTP link orSubscriber Module, to generate installation reports specific to the levelselected.

View in Spreadsheet - Only available at the Network Sites, SubscriberSites, PTP Links, PMP Hub and Access Point node levels. Select togenerate a spreadsheet of all parameters available in the list views atthat level.

Enable Automatic Calculation - only used in PMP mode. Select EnableAutomatic Calculation to allow all changes at the Access Point level to



be immediately cascaded to all connected Subscriber Modules.

Running in Automatic Calculation mode may make itslower to make multiple changes at the Access Pointlevel depending on the number of Subscriber Modulesconnected.

Calculate Now - only used in PMP mode and if Automatic Calculationis disabled. Select when all changes on an Access Point have beencompleted to refresh the Subscriber Module information.

Project Navigation Tree

When one or more projects are open, navigate between sites and links using thetree in the left hand panel. The following example shows one open project(Navigation Tree):

Figure 3.7: Navigation Tree

Use the + and - boxes to open and close each level: project, site (network orsubscriber) and link (PTP or PMP). Click on a node to open it for viewing andupdating.

The PTP 800 and PTP 810 products have different types of links which aredifferentiated using the link icon as follows:

Link Type = 1+0



Link Type = 1+1 Hot Standby

Link Type = 1+1 Frequency Diversity

Link Type = 2+0 Cross-Polar

Link Type = 2+0 Co-Polar

Link Type = 2+0 XPIC (PTP 810 only)

The PMP links section has three levels which are differentiated as follows:

Hub Site

Access Point - each Hub Site contains one or more Access Points

Subscriber Module - each Access Point can be connected to one ormore Subscriber Modules

Project Node

To display the Project page, click on a project node, for example Tutorial. SeeProject Page. When a project name is displayed in bold in the navigation tree, itmeans that project details have been inserted or updated but not yet saved.

To save a project, click File, Save (or Save As), or click Save Project . Allproject, site and link data is saved. The project name reverts to normal typefacewhen saved.

To see how many sites and links there are in a project hover the mouse over theproject name in the navigation tree.

Sites Nodes

To display the list of all network sites within the project, click on the NetworkSites node. A network site can be either a PTP end site or a PMP Hub or both. Todisplay the list of all subscriber sites within the project, click on the SubscriberSites node. For either site node list, see Displaying the Sites List.

Individual Site Node

To display the Site page, click on an individual site node from either Network Sitesor Subscriber Sites, for example North Middle School. See Site Page.

PTP Links Node

To display the list of all PTP links within the project, click on the PTP Links node.See Displaying PTP Links.

Individual PTP Link Node

To display the Link page of a PTP link, click on an individual link node, for exampleNorth Middle School to Park Lane Elementary School. See Link Page. If the linkname is displayed in red, it means that the performance of the link is notacceptable.



PMP Links Node

To display the lists of all Hub sites, Access Points and Subsciber Modules within theproject, click on the PMP Links node. See pmp_links

Individual PMP Hub Node

To display the Hub page, click on an individual hub node, for example Golf Club.See Hubs

Individual Access Point Node

To display the Access Point page, click on an individual access point node, forexample Golf Club:1. See Access Points

Individual Subscriber Module Node

To display the Subscriber Module page, click on an individual subscriber modulenode, for example Billings St. See Subscriber Modules

Project Configuration Node

To edit custom antennas, TDD synchronization parameters, custom fields, linkformatting rules and equipment templates, click on the Project Configurationnode. See Project Configuration.

Bill of Materials Node

To view the Bill of Materials (BOM) for the whole project, click on the Bill ofMaterials node. For attribute descriptions, see Bill of Materials for Link.



User Interface Tips

Pages may be detached from the main window to allow multiple pages to beopened concurrently. To detach the currently open page, select the tool bar icon

Open in New Window .

Advanced User Interface Features are described in the following sections:

Copy and Paste

Managing List Views

Copy and Paste

The following items can be copied:

Links

Sites

Access Points

Subscriber Modules

Link Formatting Rules

Path Profiles

Copying Links and Sites

Individual items can be copied by selecting them in the Project Navigation Treeand then click either or Edit - Copy

Multiple sites can be copied in the Sites List.

Multiple PTP links can be copied in the PTP Links List.

Multiple Access Points and Subscriber Modules can be copied in the PMP NetworkLists

The Copy and Paste feature for PMP network items is recommended whenduplicating items between projects, rather than within a project.

The following features are described with respect to PTP Links and Sites.

Individual sites and links can also be copied in the Offline Map by right-clicking theitem and then click Copy from the pop-up menu.

Custom antennas that are used by the link will be copied.

Pasting Links and Sites

The paste commands will be enabled when the clipboard contains LINKPlanneritems and a project is active.

Click or Edit - Paste to paste the contents of the clipboard. When links andsites are pasted into LINKPlanner they are compared against the items that

User Interface Tips 55


already exist in the active project. If the items are similar then the Smart PasteDialog will appear.

Figure 3.8: Smart Paste Dialog

The Smart Paste Dialog is used to merge the items that are in the clipboard withthe existing project. Items in the left-hand lists will not be created in the project. Ifitems are in the right-hand list then new links or sites will be created, even if theyduplicate a site or link in the current project.



If you choose to create a new link, but use the existing sites, then the new link willbe attached to the sites that already exist in the project.

Custom antennas that are used by the link will be automatically addedto the destination project if they do not already exist.

TDD Sync settings will only be applied if the destination projectdoes not already have links that support TDD Sync. Always review the TDDSync settings after pasting.

Managing List Views

LINKPlanner uses list views in

Link Planner

Documents

Transcript of Link Planner