Knowing

Drive Test is conducted for checking coverage criteria of a cell site with RF drive test tool. The data collected by drive test tool as Log files is analyzed to evaluate various RF parameters of the network.

• Drive Route and Site Data for the sites to be driven is taken from customer
• Drive Test LOG File of the specified Drive Route / Site is saved and the same will be handed over to customer at the end of the day
• Drive Test Resource identify routine field optimization issues like cable swapping, missing neighbors etc., and rectify the same with the help of the customer.

This way mobile phone companies can decide how to improve their network coverage in a certain geographical area.


Normally it is conducted in a car, with one driver and one or two drive testing engineers checking the data and navigating the driver to the right direction if necessary. These drive testing engineers first reach to the tower location and make physical optimization by inspecting issues like cable swapping, improper hardware, alarms, antenna tilting (machenical and electrical), antenna orientation.After field or physical optimization he starts drive testing by his vehicle. Drive testing engineer collects network data by making a lot of calls (short and long). The data collected includes data for serving cell as well as the neighbours.This data collected helps us to find and analyze the problems in the network.

Drive Test performance  measurements are carried out  for the following reasons:

•  Test the network from the subscribers point of view
•  Test the complete system, end to end
• Benchmark performance against competitor networks
• Test specific important routes and areas
• Test in-building coverage for specific buildings(Metro, Airport, office etc.) called walk test.

Equiment Necessary for Drive testing :

• Vehicle
• Drive test mobile phone (e.g Ericsson TEMS)
• Dongle (network inspection USB)
• External vehicle mounted GPS
• Laptop with drive test software and GPS connection capability and data cables, multi-connector port etc.

Network Optimization Tools Used are as  following:

• TEMS Investigation
• Agilent E6474A
• Neptune
• CDMA Air Interface Tester (CAIT)
• TEMS DeskCat
• Actix Analyze

Here i am suggesting some precautions for beginners in drive testing -

1. Before starting your drive test, Collect all your equipment like GPS, Dongle, Data cables, laptop etc.  You should check your kit properly working and properly setup. Also check site data, mapinfo etc. should be installed on your system.
2. Make sure all USBs are properly attached and must not be loose, otherwise it will create problem while drive testing
3. At physical optimization time, you should have proper safety measures.
4. First analyze the problem, then start driving to optimize the network problem.
5. Dont forget to play and save logfile before starting drive testing.

 For any other help regarding drive testing, feel free to comment. Enjoy !!

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