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2013-12-03, 01:38 PM
AT321_RN_E0 Atoll Microwave 3.2.1 Release Notes
1
Atoll Microwave 3.2.1 Release Notes
New features and other changes introduced in Atoll Microwave 3.2.1 are described below. For more information, refer to the online help, the
User Manual, the Administrator Manual, and the Technical Reference Guide.
Release Note for Build 5871 (25 November 2013)
Working Environment
Explorer Windows
• You can now create folders and subfolders in the Network and Geo explorers for organising vector and image data. Atoll allows you
to create as many folders and subfolders as required and move vectors and images from one folder to another or to the root level.
Display Properties of Objects
• Objects displayed by discrete values of one of their parameters are now coloured based on a predefined palette of 36 colours. The
predefined palette uses different colours for nearby objects.
• Using the Atoll.ini file, you can replace the predefined colour palette with your own colour palette containing as many colours as
needed.
• It is possible to switch back to the previous method of colouring (dynamic shading which applies similar colours to nearby objects) by
setting another option in the Atoll.ini file.
• Numerical values are now sorted correctly when display is set to discrete values. For example, 0, 1, 2, 3, ... instead of 0, 1, 10, 11, ....
Distance Measurement on the Map
• If the Tip Text button on the Map toolbar is active, distance measurement information is now also displayed in a tip bubble next to
the distance measurement tool cursor on the map. This information is still displayed in the status bar as in previous releases.
Table Import from Text Files
• The process of importing data from text files to any data table has been improved. You can now select the import mode, Add or
Update and add, when importing data from a text file to a table in Atoll.
• When you export the contents of a table to a text or CSV file, carriage returns within text fields are now replaced with "\n" instead of
spaces. You can define a different escape sequence, for example, spaces, through an option in the Atoll.ini file.
Print Preview
• A Preview button is now available in the Print Setup dialog box.
• You can now define a printing zone containing more than one polygon. Each polygon of the printing zone is printed on a separate
page. The print preview also shows each polygon of the printing zone on a separate page.
Database Management
Database Providers and Connections
• "Oracle Provider for OLE DB" has been added to the list of OLE DB providers in the Atoll management console. On the other hand,
"Microsoft OLE DB Provider for Oracle" is no longer available.
• Universal data link (UDL) files are no longer supported for creating new Atoll documents from a database.
Custom Fields
• It is now possible to assign a custom field to more than one field group by defining a semicolon‐separated list of group names in the
GROUP_NAME field of the CustomFields table.
Antennas and Equipment
Antenna Patterns
• By default, vertical antenna patterns are now displayed pointing to the right instead of the top.
Microwave Link Networks
Analysis Report
• The analysis report now displays average yearly global link estimates under adaptive modulation. This includes estimates of the
duration of cutoff periods and the percentage of non‐cutoff time.
Performance Objectives
• The definition of performance objectives has been enhanced.
• In addition to SESR, ESR and BBER, radio indicators such as the received signal level and the thermal fade margin can be used as
performance parameters for TDM link classes. For these performance parameters, you have to define a target signal level and a
target thermal fade margin. In the analysis, the performance objective is considered as reached if the calculated value (received
signal level or thermal fade margin) exceeds the target level.
• For SESR, ESR, and BBER performance parameters, you can define the performance objectives in terms of cutoff probability, cutoff
duration, or non‐cutoff percentage. All these indicators are calculated and displayed in the property dialog box, i.e., the cutoff
duration and the non‐cutoff percentage are automatically derived from the cutoff duration and vice‐versa.
2
Atoll Microwave 3.2.1 Release Notes © Forsk 2013
• In the properties dialog box of microwave links, other transmission links and multi‐hops, Atoll provides tables where you can view
the selected performance objectives (SESR, ESR, BBER, RXLEV, MARG) for the specified link class.
• The selection of performance objectives has been improved. You can now choose the type(s) of objective(s) to be considered for
quality and availability (from ITU‐T G.821, ITU‐T G.826, or ITU‐T G.828 recommendations for the quality objectives and ITU‐T G.821
or ITU‐T G.826 for availability objectives, or a customised objective). This can be defined in the properties dialog box of the Links
folder.
• ITU‐T Y.1541 performance objectives can be used for quality analysis of links equipped with an IP radio. To be available, this feature
requires some changes in the database structure. For further information, please contact the support team.
Calculations, Parameters, and Models
• A new directory, C:\<ATL_path>\<ATL_name>.profiles, is created when link budgets or interference are calculated. This directory
contains files that store the calculated path profiles. These path profiles are calculated once and stored in the external files in order
to be reused when link budgets and interference are calculated again. You can also disable this feature by setting an option in the
Atoll.ini file.
• Analysis parameters considered in link budget and interference calculations are no longer managed as global parameters. They can
be now configured in a dedicated property dialogue before performing the analysis.
• Atoll now supports ITU‐R P.837‐5 and ITU‐R P.837‐6 recommendations. This method can be selected in the propagation model
properties to evaluate the rainfall rate, and in the link properties to determine the rainfall rate exceeded 0.01% of the average year
for the microwave link.
• The attenuation caused by the reflections can be now considered in the link budget if configured in the propagation model.
Microwave Channel Allocation
• The Semi‐automatic Channel Allocation tool has been renamed to Interactive Channel Allocation. In addition, the tool has been
improved. It is no longer a modal dialog box, but a window. Therefore, after you have assigned the channel(s) to the microwave link,
you can keep the Interactive Channel Allocation window open and perform an interference analysis to check the quality of new
allocated channel(s).
Interference Analysis
• Two interference calculation options have been added to Atoll graphical user interface. You can decide if you want to ignore the
interference generated by the standby and diversity‐standby channels, and the interference received from co‐site sources. These
options were previously available in the Atoll.ini file.
• You can now configure Atoll to load a default display configuration in the Channel Arrangement by specifying a configuration file in
the Atoll.ini file.
1
Atoll Microwave 3.2.1 Release Notes
New features and other changes introduced in Atoll Microwave 3.2.1 are described below. For more information, refer to the online help, the
User Manual, the Administrator Manual, and the Technical Reference Guide.
Release Note for Build 5871 (25 November 2013)
Working Environment
Explorer Windows
• You can now create folders and subfolders in the Network and Geo explorers for organising vector and image data. Atoll allows you
to create as many folders and subfolders as required and move vectors and images from one folder to another or to the root level.
Display Properties of Objects
• Objects displayed by discrete values of one of their parameters are now coloured based on a predefined palette of 36 colours. The
predefined palette uses different colours for nearby objects.
• Using the Atoll.ini file, you can replace the predefined colour palette with your own colour palette containing as many colours as
needed.
• It is possible to switch back to the previous method of colouring (dynamic shading which applies similar colours to nearby objects) by
setting another option in the Atoll.ini file.
• Numerical values are now sorted correctly when display is set to discrete values. For example, 0, 1, 2, 3, ... instead of 0, 1, 10, 11, ....
Distance Measurement on the Map
• If the Tip Text button on the Map toolbar is active, distance measurement information is now also displayed in a tip bubble next to
the distance measurement tool cursor on the map. This information is still displayed in the status bar as in previous releases.
Table Import from Text Files
• The process of importing data from text files to any data table has been improved. You can now select the import mode, Add or
Update and add, when importing data from a text file to a table in Atoll.
• When you export the contents of a table to a text or CSV file, carriage returns within text fields are now replaced with "\n" instead of
spaces. You can define a different escape sequence, for example, spaces, through an option in the Atoll.ini file.
Print Preview
• A Preview button is now available in the Print Setup dialog box.
• You can now define a printing zone containing more than one polygon. Each polygon of the printing zone is printed on a separate
page. The print preview also shows each polygon of the printing zone on a separate page.
Database Management
Database Providers and Connections
• "Oracle Provider for OLE DB" has been added to the list of OLE DB providers in the Atoll management console. On the other hand,
"Microsoft OLE DB Provider for Oracle" is no longer available.
• Universal data link (UDL) files are no longer supported for creating new Atoll documents from a database.
Custom Fields
• It is now possible to assign a custom field to more than one field group by defining a semicolon‐separated list of group names in the
GROUP_NAME field of the CustomFields table.
Antennas and Equipment
Antenna Patterns
• By default, vertical antenna patterns are now displayed pointing to the right instead of the top.
Microwave Link Networks
Analysis Report
• The analysis report now displays average yearly global link estimates under adaptive modulation. This includes estimates of the
duration of cutoff periods and the percentage of non‐cutoff time.
Performance Objectives
• The definition of performance objectives has been enhanced.
• In addition to SESR, ESR and BBER, radio indicators such as the received signal level and the thermal fade margin can be used as
performance parameters for TDM link classes. For these performance parameters, you have to define a target signal level and a
target thermal fade margin. In the analysis, the performance objective is considered as reached if the calculated value (received
signal level or thermal fade margin) exceeds the target level.
• For SESR, ESR, and BBER performance parameters, you can define the performance objectives in terms of cutoff probability, cutoff
duration, or non‐cutoff percentage. All these indicators are calculated and displayed in the property dialog box, i.e., the cutoff
duration and the non‐cutoff percentage are automatically derived from the cutoff duration and vice‐versa.
2
Atoll Microwave 3.2.1 Release Notes © Forsk 2013
• In the properties dialog box of microwave links, other transmission links and multi‐hops, Atoll provides tables where you can view
the selected performance objectives (SESR, ESR, BBER, RXLEV, MARG) for the specified link class.
• The selection of performance objectives has been improved. You can now choose the type(s) of objective(s) to be considered for
quality and availability (from ITU‐T G.821, ITU‐T G.826, or ITU‐T G.828 recommendations for the quality objectives and ITU‐T G.821
or ITU‐T G.826 for availability objectives, or a customised objective). This can be defined in the properties dialog box of the Links
folder.
• ITU‐T Y.1541 performance objectives can be used for quality analysis of links equipped with an IP radio. To be available, this feature
requires some changes in the database structure. For further information, please contact the support team.
Calculations, Parameters, and Models
• A new directory, C:\<ATL_path>\<ATL_name>.profiles, is created when link budgets or interference are calculated. This directory
contains files that store the calculated path profiles. These path profiles are calculated once and stored in the external files in order
to be reused when link budgets and interference are calculated again. You can also disable this feature by setting an option in the
Atoll.ini file.
• Analysis parameters considered in link budget and interference calculations are no longer managed as global parameters. They can
be now configured in a dedicated property dialogue before performing the analysis.
• Atoll now supports ITU‐R P.837‐5 and ITU‐R P.837‐6 recommendations. This method can be selected in the propagation model
properties to evaluate the rainfall rate, and in the link properties to determine the rainfall rate exceeded 0.01% of the average year
for the microwave link.
• The attenuation caused by the reflections can be now considered in the link budget if configured in the propagation model.
Microwave Channel Allocation
• The Semi‐automatic Channel Allocation tool has been renamed to Interactive Channel Allocation. In addition, the tool has been
improved. It is no longer a modal dialog box, but a window. Therefore, after you have assigned the channel(s) to the microwave link,
you can keep the Interactive Channel Allocation window open and perform an interference analysis to check the quality of new
allocated channel(s).
Interference Analysis
• Two interference calculation options have been added to Atoll graphical user interface. You can decide if you want to ignore the
interference generated by the standby and diversity‐standby channels, and the interference received from co‐site sources. These
options were previously available in the Atoll.ini file.
• You can now configure Atoll to load a default display configuration in the Channel Arrangement by specifying a configuration file in
the Atoll.ini file.