Watch freeFree preview · Search ring to parameter sheet: who decides what — opens in the course player
5G RAN Planning & Design
Radio planning taught as arithmetic you can reproduce and defend in a design review — a link budget that ends in a cell radius, a capacity chain that ends in a site count, and the parameter sheet that leaves your desk. Every number is computed from stated inputs against two 3GPP reference cases, urban and rural, lifted from a single published evaluation table so no two lessons can disagree.
What you'll learn
- Install the role frame, the two numbers a plan actually promises, the question that orders every later decision, and the first row of the ledger — derived, not looked up.
- Separate the three kinds of propagation model, read the four terms every path-loss formula is built from, and learn where the standard scenarios stop being valid — then turn shadow fading and building loss into margins you can spend, and a measured plot into an argument rather than a photograph.
- Converge everything declared so far into one column of decibels: three metrics a datasheet quotes as if they were one, the four components of radiated power, the ledger row by row, the channel that actually sets the cell edge — and the distance, spacing and site count that fall out of it.
- Turn a distance into a rate: three capacity numbers and which one you may commit to, the quality surface a coverage map cannot show, an offered load you can defend, and what one cell truly carries — then reconcile the coverage and capacity site counts against the grid that already exists.
- Frequency reuse planning is gone; identity, sequence and area planning are not. Give physical cell identities, root sequences, neighbour lists and tracking areas a defended value each — then close the package with an honest statement of what is verified and what belongs to optimisation.
Module 1 — The planner's frame: from a live cell to a document set
4 lessons · 2 lab · ≈33 minInstall the role frame, the two numbers a plan actually promises, the question that orders every later decision, and the first row of the ledger — derived, not looked up.
Module 1 — The planner's frame: from a live cell to a document set
4 lessons · 2 lab · ≈33 minInstall the role frame, the two numbers a plan actually promises, the question that orders every later decision, and the first row of the ledger — derived, not looked up.
- 18:34Search ring to parameter sheet: who decides whatWatch free
- 26:56Edge rate at an edge probability: what a plan promisesFree with an account
- 37:56Coverage-limited or capacity-limitedFree with an account
- 49:13The noise floor and receiver sensitivity, derivedFree with an account
- ~5 minWhose Signature Is On It?Checkpoint
Eight steps run from a circle on a map to a cell carrying traffic, and three come back with your name on them. File each under the engineer who actually decides it.
- ~7 minDerive the FloorInteractive lab
A reviewer points at the bottom row of your link budget and asks where it came from. Build it in front of them — physics, hardware, then the choices.
Module 2 — Propagation and prediction: the loss side, and how far to trust it
6 lessons · 2 lab · ≈52 minSeparate the three kinds of propagation model, read the four terms every path-loss formula is built from, and learn where the standard scenarios stop being valid — then turn shadow fading and building loss into margins you can spend, and a measured plot into an argument rather than a photograph.
Module 2 — Propagation and prediction: the loss side, and how far to trust it
6 lessons · 2 lab · ≈52 minSeparate the three kinds of propagation model, read the four terms every path-loss formula is built from, and learn where the standard scenarios stop being valid — then turn shadow fading and building loss into margins you can spend, and a measured plot into an argument rather than a photograph.
- 18:47Empirical, scenario-stochastic and deterministic models: three kindsRequires subscription
- 28:55Distance, frequency, height and clutter: the four termsRequires subscription
- 38:49Urban macro, street canyon and rural macro: the scenario models and their limitsRequires subscription
- 48:11Shadow fading: from a standard deviation to a margin you can spendRequires subscription
- 58:47Outdoor-to-indoor loss: the wall that decides where the cell endsRequires subscription
- 68:15Prediction versus measurement: tuning a model, and what a plot never showsRequires subscription
- ~6 minCan This Model Answer That?Checkpoint
Five predictions, each produced by a tool that raised no objection. Decide whether the model may be used — and if not, whether it is the wrong family or outside its own range.
- ~6 minBuy the ProbabilityInteractive lab
Turn a coverage promise into the decibels it costs, read off the width the scenario publishes, and watch what the last few points are worth.
Module 3 — The budget that ends in a cell radius
6 lessons · 2 lab · ≈59 minConverge everything declared so far into one column of decibels: three metrics a datasheet quotes as if they were one, the four components of radiated power, the ledger row by row, the channel that actually sets the cell edge — and the distance, spacing and site count that fall out of it.
Module 3 — The budget that ends in a cell radius
6 lessons · 2 lab · ≈59 minConverge everything declared so far into one column of decibels: three metrics a datasheet quotes as if they were one, the four components of radiated power, the ledger row by row, the channel that actually sets the cell edge — and the distance, spacing and site count that fall out of it.
- 19:05Coupling loss, hardware budget and allowable path loss: three metricsRequires subscription
- 210:37Radiated power and array gain: four components, and the rules that zero themRequires subscription
- 310:16From transmit power to allowable path loss: the ledger, row by rowRequires subscription
- 48:57Which channel sets the cell edge: ranking every link by its budgetRequires subscription
- 59:19From allowable path loss to cell radius, site spacing and site countRequires subscription
- 610:22Height, downtilt, azimuth and sector count: aiming the cell you just sizedRequires subscription
- ~6 minWhich Bracket Is It?Checkpoint
Five numbers, all called the link budget. Two questions separate them: are the propagation margins inside it, and is the antenna array?
- ~7 minWhich Link Runs Out FirstInteractive lab
One handle — how much of the carrier a cell-edge user gets — and every channel budget is recomputed. Find the crossing, then find the floor where the site count stops falling.
Module 4 — Capacity, quality, and the grid you actually inherit
6 lessons · 2 lab · ≈74 minTurn a distance into a rate: three capacity numbers and which one you may commit to, the quality surface a coverage map cannot show, an offered load you can defend, and what one cell truly carries — then reconcile the coverage and capacity site counts against the grid that already exists.
Module 4 — Capacity, quality, and the grid you actually inherit
6 lessons · 2 lab · ≈74 minTurn a distance into a rate: three capacity numbers and which one you may commit to, the quality surface a coverage map cannot show, an offered load you can defend, and what one cell truly carries — then reconcile the coverage and capacity site counts against the grid that already exists.
- 111:26Peak, average and cell-edge: three capacity numbers, one commitmentRequires subscription
- 212:23Best server and the quality surface: what a coverage map cannot tell youRequires subscription
- 311:59The demand side: building an offered load you can defendRequires subscription
- 412:08What one cell carries: the capacity chain, row by rowRequires subscription
- 512:19The grid you inherit: selection, gaps and constructabilityRequires subscription
- 613:28Two site counts, one plan: the regime verdict and the headroomRequires subscription
- ~5 minThree Numbers, One CellCheckpoint
Three throughput figures for the same cell in the same week, all correct. File each condition under the number whose definition it belongs to.
- ~7 minBuild the Demand, Then the VerdictInteractive lab
Build an offered load from population upward, then put it against the count reach demands — and find the load at which the network changes character.
Module 5 — Parameter planning and the design handover
6 lessons · 2 lab · ≈53 minFrequency reuse planning is gone; identity, sequence and area planning are not. Give physical cell identities, root sequences, neighbour lists and tracking areas a defended value each — then close the package with an honest statement of what is verified and what belongs to optimisation.
Module 5 — Parameter planning and the design handover
6 lessons · 2 lab · ≈53 minFrequency reuse planning is gone; identity, sequence and area planning are not. Give physical cell identities, root sequences, neighbour lists and tracking areas a defended value each — then close the package with an honest statement of what is verified and what belongs to optimisation.
- 17:52Reuse one: what is actually reuse-planned in a 5G networkRequires subscription
- 29:09Physical cell identity: collision, confusion and the modulo structureRequires subscription
- 39:19Root sequences and cyclic shift: the door-knock channel encodes your cell radiusRequires subscription
- 48:50Neighbour relations: the list you ship and the list that maintains itselfRequires subscription
- 59:06Tracking areas and notification areas: sizing paging against signallingRequires subscription
- 68:44The design handover: the package, its acceptance state, and what belongs to optimisationRequires subscription
- ~6 minRead the AssignmentCheckpoint
Five identity assignments, each defensible at a glance. Say which rule each one breaks — and which of the two faults lands on the phone rather than the network.
- ~6 minCut the Door OpenInteractive lab
Widen the window each knock is cut into and two counters move against each other: the radius you can resolve, and the preambles one sequence still yields.
New to the terminology? Look up any acronym in the telecom glossary.
Take the certification exam
Earns a certificate35 questions · 60 min · 65% to pass. Score 65%+ to earn your TELCOMA Certified RAN Planning & Design Specialist — a QR-verifiable certificate.
Not ready yet? Take a free 20-question mock exam first.
Study materials
Download the 5G RAN Planning & Design question bank and slide deck — every signal check in the course, with answers, plus every figure.
- Question BankPDF37 KB
- Slide DeckPPTX15 MB
Unlock every lesson in 5G RAN Planning & Design
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