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G-NetLook Pro Manual

1. Introduction

2. Tabs

 2.1 MAP

 2.2 CELL

 2.3 LOG

 2.4 CHART

 2.5 HP (Height Profile)

 2.6 REPORT

3. Settings

4. Actions

5. Cell file

6. Neighbors file

7. Online database

8. App folder

Introduction

G-NetLook Pro is an Android app for mobile network optimization.
It can be used for visualization of mobile network, G-NetTrack Pro logfiles postprocessing, neighbor cells planning and antenna tilt adjustment.

Here is a video demonstration of G-NetLook Pro

Here is a video showing planning of multi technology wireless network using G-NetLook Pro

   Using application you can:
– view basestations locations and sector azimuths
– visualize neighbor relations and spot missing or unnecessary neighbor relations
– open and analyze G-NetTrack logfiles
– see charts for different measurements
– see measurement statistics
– see height profile between serving cell and measurement point
– automatically plan  neighbor cells and detect missing neighbor cells
– automatically calculate antenna tilts

Tabs

There are five tabs with different information – MAP, CELL, LOG, CHART and Height Profile. The information displayed on each tab is

2.1 MAP Tab

MAP tab shows the network basestations and logfile measurement points. The controls on this tab are:
– Tab selector – for changing tabs. Tabs can also be changed via horizontally sliding
– Thematic map drop down menu – when logfile is loaded, the thematic maps can be changed via this menu. You have to wait till the thematic map is redrawn.
– Cell Search – when cell data is loaded a specific cell can be find typing the cellname in search area
– Move Forward button – for moving in forward direction through logfile measurements
– Move Backwards button – for moving backwards through logfile measurements
– Play/Pause – for automatically moving forward through logfile measurements
– Legend – changes automatically based on the selected themeatic map
– Floorplan selector – available only when floorplans are loaded

2.2 CELL Tab

CELL tab shows following information:
– first row – information about number of cells and neighbor relations in cellfile and neifile
– selected cell information – shows information about currently selected cell. Cell can be selected in two ways – from map (when click on cellname or middle of cell line) or when search for cell through Cell Search control.
– neighbor cell information – shows neighbor relations, technology of neighbor cells and layer of neighbor cells

On CELL tab there are also buttons for starting features like:
– CELL COVERAGE – export of antenna beamwidth planes in kml format for visualization in Google Earth. See demo video – here
    The kml file contains three planes:
    – central (max power) – angle=tilt
    – upper (-3dB) – angle = tilt-verticalbeamwidth/2
    – lower (-3dB) – angle = tilt+verticalbeamwidth/2

– NEIGHBORS ANALYZER – this feature can be used in two ways:
    – for automatic neighbor cells planning – if neighbors cells are not defined
    – for missing neighbor cells detection – if there are already defined neighbor cells
See video demo – here


– TILT OPTIMIZER – for antenna tilt automatic calculation
See video demo – here

2.3 LOG tab

LOG tab shows information about currently selected measurement point.
Additionally the following values are calculated (when cell data is available and loaded before the logfile is loaded):
– serving distance – the distance between serving cell and measurement point
– serving bearing – the absolute value of the angle between serving cell azimuth and line between serving cell and measurement point – usually this angle is 0-90 degrees. Bigger values usually indicate swapped feeders on a site.
– serving antenna height – the height of the antenna on the serving cell

2.4 CHART tab

Here chart representation of different measurement entities are visible.

2.5 HP (Height Profile) tab

In this tab the height profile between serving cell and measurement point is visible.

2.6 Report tab

In this tab the measurement statistics presented as histogram charts are visible.

Settings

Map View

– Map type
– Show Traffic
– Show Buildings
– SHow Inddor

Cell Data

– Load only sites in view – adjust the map view before loading site data in order to filter the loaded cells. Use this when you have a big number of cells in your cellfile
– Show Cell Names
– Cell Size
– Cells Font Size
– Cell Thickness
– Neighbor Cell Line thickness

Log Data

– Point Size
– Serving Cell Line thickness
– Serving Cell Font Size
– Log Reduction Factor – Use this to reduce the number of measurement points. If it is set to 10, every 10th measurement point will be loaded.

Cell Visibility

Check or uncheck different technologies and layers cells to show or hide them on the map.

Export

– Include missing neighbors in export – check it if you want missing neighbors to be exported in text and kml export files.

Online Data

– Use custom online data URL – check it if you want to use external database for log data and site data. If it is not checked then G-NetReport online database will be used.
– Online Log Data URL – input the URL of php script for log data reading from external database
– Online site data URL – input the URL of php script for site data reading from external database.
– Auto refresh time interval – interval for auto refresh when online log data is loaded.

Misc

– Screen orientation – select screen orientation
– API key for height profile – for unlimited and better elevation service you can use your own key from Google. Get your key here – https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/elevation/get-api-key
– Keep the api in background – check this to allow app to work in background. Also check in your phone settings that it is allowed for the app to work in background.
– Keep screen on – keeps the screen on while the app is working.
Settings are activated via Menu – Settings. There are several group of settings, which are related to different app features:

Menu buttons

Tabs button

Changes the tabs. Tabs can be changed also by sliding.

Step backward button

When logfile is opened it changes measurement points in backward direction

Step forward button

When logfile is opened it changes measurement points in forward direction

Play/Pause button

When logfile is opened it plays/pauses measurements

Reload online measurements button

When online log data is opened it reloads the online data. The button is visible only when online data is loaded.

Auto refresh online measurements button

When online log data is opened it activates/deactivates auto refresh of the online data. The button is visible only when online data is loaded. Set the auto refresh interval in Settings – Online Data.

Actions Menu

Load Site Data

Loads the data from cellfile and neifile containing cell information and neighbor cells list. The files are in folder G-NetLook/celldata

Load Logfile

Loads the selected logfile. There is a sample logfile in folder G-NetLook/celldata. Several logfiles can be added if they are opened one after another.

Close Logs

Closes the opened logfiles.

Load Online Site Data

Loads site data from G-NetReport online database. This is an experimental feature.

Load Online Log Data

Loads the measurements from G-NetReport online database. You can use G-NetReport to send automatically measurement data to database.

Load Floorplan

Load floorplan from image files located in \floorplan folder. Index file index.txt describing edge locations also should be present in the folder

How to load floorplans:
1. In folder G_NetLook/floorplan put the floorplan images and create text index file (index.txt) with rows for each image and following content (tab delimited)
imagename longitudeSW latitudeSW longitudeNE latitudeNE
where SW and NE are South – West corner and North – East corner.

example:
1-floor.png 23.378626 42.660569 23.381324 42.662407

2. Go to Menu – Load Floorplan. The floorplans will be shown on map and for each floorplan a kml file will be created to be used with Google Earth. Notice that you have to change the image location tag <href> if you copy kml file and intend to use it on your computer.

Here you can download floorplan sample.

Load G-NetTrack database

Loads sites from G-NetTrack app database. You must have G-NetTrack Pro app installed on the same device.

Tilt Optimizer

Adjust the tilts for all cells in visible area of the map. You can view recommended tilt for each cell in Cell tab when you select a cell.

Neighbors Analyzer

Analyzes neighbor cells of imported cells. You can view missing neighbor information for each cell in Cell tab when you select a cell.

Multi cell coverage

Multi Cell Coverage – Creates kml export for several cells whic are in current map view – the kml is organized in technology and cell layer. The kml file contains three planes:
– central (max power) – angle=tilt
– upper (-3dB) – angle = tilt-verticalbeamwidth/2
– lower (-3dB) – angle = tilt+verticalbeamwidth/2
See demo video – here

Export Cells KML

Export the visible cells in map view and neighbor relations as a kml file, which can be opened in Google Earth.
Here is a sample kml export and here is a video demo.

Export Cells Text

Export the visible cells in map view and neighbor relations as a text file.

Export Logfiles KML

Export the loaded logfiles as different kml files, which can be opened in Google Earth. You can select which kml files to be generated in Settings – KML Export.

G-NetLook Web

Opens G-NetLook Web app page.

Export Settings

Export app settings as text file in app folder.

Import Settings

Imports app settings from settings text file.

Settings

Opens the settings page.

Help

Opens G-NetLook Pro manual.

Exit

Exits the app.

Cellfile

If you have cell information you can create a cellfile and view the sites on the map. In order to do this create cellfile and put it into folder G_NetLook/celldata. The cellfile should be named cellfile.txt. The cellfile format is tab delimited text file with following columns:

CELLNAME – name of the cell – you can put anything here
LAT – latitude in decimal format
LONG – longitude in decimal format
LAC – LAC of the cell – number
CELLID – CELLID of the cell – number
AZIMUTH – azimuth of the antenna – number. If you put 360, the cell will be shown as circle. If you want to change the size of the circle put values > 360. Then the circle radius will be value-360.
TECH – technology – 2G, 3G or 4G
NODE – for GSM is empty, for 3G is RNC and for 4G is eNodeB ID – this column is mandatory only for 4G. For 3G you can skip it if “LAC-CELLID” is unique

Optionally you can add the following columns. If you add them you can use this cellfile also with other tools on the site like G-NetTrack and G-NetEarth:
– HEIGHT – antenna height in meters
– TILT – antenna tilt in degrees – positive values are for downtilt and negative for uptilt
– HORIZBEAM – horizontal beamwidth of the antenna. Here it is better to put angle between sectors – usually 120 degrees. Then multicell coverage will be seen better.
– VERTBEAM – vertical beamwidth of the antenna
– PSC – primary scrambling code – for 3G only
– LAYER – up to 4 (1,2,3,4 ) layers per technology (2G/3G/4G) – with layer information you can make your map view show different cell layers with different colors. Use 1 for lower layer and 4 for higher layer. For example for operator with GSM900/1800, 4 UMTS frequencies and 2 LTE frequencies it will be: GSM900 – 1, GSM1800 – 2, UMTS F1 – 1, UMTS F2 – 2, UMTS F3 – 3, UMTS F4 – 4, LTE F1 – 1, LTE F2 – 2
– INFO – Whatever is written there will be displayed in NEI tab when the cell is serving cell. Use semicolon “;” for new row.

Here is a sample cellfile.

Neighbors file

You can use neighbors file to load it and visualize neighbor relations between cells in the network. Neghbors file – neifile.txt contains information about neighbor relations. It is tab delimited text file with two columns SOURCE and TARGET containing cell names from cellfile.

Here is a sample neifile.

Online database

You can use your own database using G-NetReport Pro for Android for measurments or public G-NetReport database.


How to create your database and set the app to use it:
1. Download scripts – http://www.gyokovsolutions.com/downloads/scripts/gnetlook_scripts.rar

2. Measurements logdata
– for measurements use G-NetReport Pro. Read in app instruction how to create your measurements database.
– for reading logdata from database the script logdata.php is used. Copy it to your server and change connection parameters (server, database, user, password). Put the URL of the script in Settings – Online Data – Online Log Data URL. Make sure Settings – Online Data – Use custom online data URL is checked.

3. Cells database
– for cell data use create_celltable.txt script to create table called ‘cells’ in your database.
– for reading celldata from database the script sitedata.php is used. Copy it to your server and change connection parameters (server, database, user, password). Put the URL of the script in Settings – Online Data – Online Site Data URL. Make sure Settings – Online Data – Use custom online data URL is checked.

App folder

There is difference in location for app folder on devices before Android 11 and devices with Android 11 and more. The reason is introduced “app sandboxing” in Android 11. This means every app has access only to its folder and the location of the folder is hard coded.

Before Android 11:
The app folder is <phone storage>/G-NetLook

Android 11:
The app folder is
<phone storage>/Android/data/com.gyokovsolutions.gnetlookpro/files/G-NetLook
Note that for Android 11 phones you have to put text logfiles that you want to analyze in this app folder in order app to be able to access them.

With Android 11 to access the app folder you can use:
– file manager app that has access to all folders. If file manager app does not have such access due to “sandboxing” it won’t be able to access app folder.
– USB connection with cable to PC

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