A new release of the LINKPlanner is available from https://support.cambiumnetworks.com/files/linkplanner
The key features of V4.5.0 are:
New or changed features
- Best Server Analysis (Windows version only)
- Added a feature to automatically determine the best access point in a network layer for each subscriber site, based on defined design criteria
This is a standalone feature which requires the Network layer (Access Points) to be defined in a project. The user can then add a list of subscriber sites and then select the Best Server Analysis option from the Project Configuration menu. There are options to select and order the available SM products based on the configuration of the Access Points and define target performance metrics based on modulation mode and fade margin at that mode, as well as the required SM height.
Where multiple SM products are selected the process will choose the first product in the list with the lowest gain antenna, that meets the performance criteria. Integrated antenna options are prioritized over external antennas and user defined antennas before any default external antennas.
- PTP820
- Added 2+2 Hot Standby Configurations for PTP 820C
The 2+2 functionality is a combination of Hot Standby and 2+0. In LINKPlanner it has been modeled using the 2+0 layout with the addition that the user can select the coupler type (Asymmetric or Symmetric). The performance data shown is for the Primary to Primary path of the Hot Standby, however the loss of the secondary path is also shown to give an indication of how much worse the Secondary paths may be.
- ePMP
- Added 4.9 GHz to PMP and PTP Force 200
- PTP 700
- Added the Sync option to HCMP
- PMP 450m
- Highlight ungrouped SMs in the SM table and include a column to show if the SM is grouped
This new feature highlights subscribers which are not grouping with other subscribers on a sector. This is usually an indication of a cluster of SMs in a similar location and if some of these can be moved to adjacent sectors flattening out the angular distribution of subscribers it can improve the performance of the site. This is not always possible where there is little overlap between sectors.
- General
- Added a "Modeled Beamwidth" to the Access Point Equipment panel so that the user can set a narrow beamwidth value to make it easier to plan the network - this replaces the project level Sector Coverage function.
- Existing access points in legacy project files with the Sector Coverage set to Enhanced will have the Modeled Beamwidth set to the enhanced value. All new access points will default to the nominal beamwidth.
- Added a "Modeled Beamwidth" to the Access Point Equipment panel so that the user can set a narrow beamwidth value to make it easier to plan the network - this replaces the project level Sector Coverage function.
This feature allows users to model the new 90/120 deg antennas as either 90 or 120 degrees on different sectors in the same project. Where multiple antennas are overlapped to provide dense coverage in small areas the modeled beamwidth can also be used to reduce the effective beamwidth of a sector making it easier to add subscribers in a narrower arc to a given sector.
This parameter can also be displayed in the Access Point views, either at the PMP or Hub level, where it can be changed for multiple AP’s at the same time using the group edit function.
- Added a "Calc Tilt" option to the Access Point Equipment panel that can be used to calculate the angle which will offer the maximum throughput
This new feature allows users to test a range of mechanical antenna tilts to see which will give the maximum throughput for the Access Point. The optimum choice is automatically ticked, however another row can be highlighted before applying the result to the AP. Depending on the height of the AP antenna and the local topology there may be a single optimum result or a range of tilt angles which will give the same result.
- Added a new report option so that network level and hub level PMP installation reports only contain the access point information.
This option is configured under Tools, Options, Reports. It allows installation reports to be more easily created for just the Access Points and will significantly reduce the size of reports for networks with a large number of subscribers.
- Restricted the input precision of coordinates to 5 decimal places (~1 m)
- This change will allow sites exported through the sites tables to be imported without any loss of precision
- Users may notice a slight change in path length (< 1 m) and minor differences in the predicted performance
- Display a single warning when importing KML/KMZ files with duplicate sites rather than prompting for each site
- Highlight duplicate sites when importing from a CSV file
- Added a separate CSV import command for network sites and subscriber sites
- Added the Spatial Frequency, AP/SM Description and the AP/SM Site Description to the PMP Links table
- Added 3m fixed length cable (RDN5785) to unlicensed PTP cable selection list
- Added the ability to purge unused profiles from the project file to reduce file size
- Added the height labels to both sides of the path profile plot so that it is easier to read the remote height
Bug Fixes
- cnReach
- Prevented error when changing the band after selecting 0.9 GHz / cnReach
- PMP 450m
- Ensure that the groups are always recalculated when the AP or SMs are updated
- Fixed the SM Receive Level calculation so that it uses the user-defined EIRP value rather than maximum power
- Corrected the mechanical tilt range for the antenna
- PMP 450i
- Removed the tilt bracket from the BOM when the 90/120 deg Sector Antenna is selected
- Corrected the mechanical tilt range for the obsolete integrated antenna
- CSV Import
- Fixed the PMP Links CSV importer so that it can handle spreadsheets with additional "ignore" columns
- Allow the user to define multiple APs at the same azimuth in a CSV file
- Allow similar or duplicate sites and links
- General
- Fixed the sort order of items in the tree, tables and CSV export when the names contain "-"
- Corrected the "Max aggregate IP throughput" title in link summary table of project reports
- Fixed the warning when running the change access point command and the current AP is selected
- Prevented the error from occurring when changing the product using the link table on a site page
- Prevented errors on the Mac version when resizing warning panels