10 September, 2008, Leatherhead, UK - AIRCOM has released details of a new module for the world’s number one planning tool, ASSET. Called ASSET ACP, AIRCOM has in-built a range of proven optimisation algorithms, taken from their fully functioning ACP (Automatic Cell Planning)  tool, ADVANTAGE. The new ACP module enables operators to rapidly design antenna subsystem configuration and power settings.

Historically, ACP has remained a specialist art form, requiring laborious set-up by highly technical planning experts. Incredibly simple to use, the ASSET ACP module can be used by all planners, amplifying the benefits throughout an operator, allowing expert resource free to concentrate their efforts in more challenging tasks. In less than 10 mouse clicks, users can begin start optimising network plans from within ASSET ACP, achieving typical improvements of around 10% in planning KPIs.

ASSET ACP has been designed to deliver automation with the minimum of manual effort. Using the same familiar user interface as ASSET, ASSET ACP is an easy way to add ACP capabilities, delivering outstanding ROI at a remarkably low cost. Network plan performance can now be maximised quickly and cost effectively.

Containing simple definitions and automated preparation of planning data needed to run optimisations, using ASSET ACP eliminates the risk of data transfer errors and accelerates start times. Automation of these activities can result in improvements on manual designs by over 10% and can increase engineering efficiency by up to eight times. Analysis of results is fully integrated with ASSET, making reporting and analysis of results extremely easy to interpret.

Using ASSET ACP as part of the plan design, one customer has been able to maximise the initial planned performance resulting in measured improvements of 6% in the live network. ASSET ACP can also reduce or eliminate the need for costly drive testing. Using ASSET ACP, a leading European tier one operator has realised measured improvements of over 8%, without the use of any drive test measurements. In the same customer, more than £300m additional revenue was forecasted over an ASSET ACP optimised 3000 site network.

ASSET ACP is ideally suited to maximising the efficiency of day to day radio network planning activities.  For more sophisticated and larger scale planning and optimisation activities, AIRCOM offers ADVANTAGE, our full, stand alone ACP tool that fulfils the most demanding radio plan optimisation requirements.

ASSET is part of AIRCOM’s ENTEPRISE suite of planning and optimisation tools that deliver complete network performance.