5G New Radio (NR) Network Planning for Smart Port Digitalisation: A Case Study of the Merak Port at 3.5 GHz Frequency

In this study, 5G radio frequency (NR) network planning is carried out at a frequency of 3.5 GHz using Atoll 3.4 software. The goal of this planning is to estimate the network coverage in the Merak Port area, which has a planning area of 0.474 km<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup>. The Urban Macro (UMa) propagation model, based on the 3GPP TR 38.901 standard, is used for both uplink and downlink signals in two design scenarios. Scenario 1 focuses on the downlink outdoor-to-outdoor (O2O), while scenario 2 addresses the uplink outdoor-to-outdoor (O2O). The study analyzes line of sight (LOS) conditions considering three main parameters: secondary synchronous reference signal received power (SS-RSRP), SS signal-to-noise ratio, and interference ratio (SS-SINR) for downlink, Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), and physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) C/(I+N) for uplink. The results show that downlink SS-RSRP levels are highest in scenario 1, with an average value of -78.08 dBm, classified as “good” covering $98.43 \%$ of the area. SS-SINR parameters have an average value of 4.16 dB, covering $73.378 \%$ of the area with a “normal” classification. For scenario 2, the uplink parameters PUSCH and PUCCH C/(I+N) had an average value of 10.33 dB, classified as “normal” and covering 100% of the Merak Port area.