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Coverage optimization is an important process for the operator as it is a crucial prerequisite towards offering a satisfactory quality of service to the end-users. The first step of this process is coverage prediction, which can be performed by interpolating geo-located measurements reported to the network by mobile users equipments. In previous works, we proposed a low complexity coverage prediction algorithm based on the adaptation of the Geo-statistics Fixed Rank Kriging (FRK) algorithm. We supposed that the geo-location information reported with the radio measurements was perfect, which is not the case in reality. In this paper, we study the impact of location uncertainty on the coverage prediction accuracy and we extend the previously proposed algorithm to include geo-location error in the prediction model. We validate the proposed algorithm using both simulated and real field measurements.The FRK extended to take into account the location uncertainty proves to enhance the prediction accuracy while keeping a reasonable computational complexity.

Abstract-Coverage planning and optimization is one of the most crucial tasks for a radio network operator. Efficient coverage optimization requires accurate coverage estimation. This estimation relies on geo-located field measurements which are gathered today during highly expensive drive tests (DT); and will be reported in the near future by users' mobile devices thanks to the 3GPP Minimizing Drive Tests (MDT) feature [1]. This feature consists in an automatic reporting of the radio measurements associated with the geographic location of the user's mobile device. Such a solution is still costly in terms of battery consumption and signaling overhead. Therefore, predicting the coverage on a location where no measurements are available remains a key and challenging task. This paper describes a powerful tool that gives an accurate coverage prediction on the whole area of interest: it builds a coverage map by spatially interpolating geolocated measurements using the Kriging technique. The paper focuses on the reduction of the computational complexity of the Kriging algorithm by applying Fixed Rank Kriging (FRK). The performance evaluation of the FRK algorithm both on simulated measurements and real field measurements shows a good tradeoff between prediction efficiency and computational complexity. In order to go a step further towards the operational application of the proposed algorithm, a multicellular use-case is studied. Simulation results show a good performance in terms of coverage prediction and detection of the best serving cell.

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