rewords for this book. I would like to also thank students of University of Delhi, Rajat Budhiraja and Sandeep Makker, whose contributions during the course of writing this book were immense. Thanks are also due to Azizah Aziz for helping me during the last phases of writing this book. I would also like to thank Joydeep Hazra, Rafael Sanchez, Massimiliano Mattina and Lino Dalma who provided the material for the appendices. A big thanks goes to the team at John Wiley & Sons for their guidance and legendary patience during the course of writing this book. Finally, I would like to thank my parents Mrs Sarojini Devi Mishra and Mr Bhumitra Mishra who gave me the inspiration to undertake this project and deliver it to the best of my capability. Ajay R Mishra Introduction With each passing day, the maturity level of the mobile user and the complexity level of the cellular network reaches a new high. The networks are no more 'traditional' GSM networks, but a complex mixture of 2G, 2.5G and 3G technologies. Not only this, but new technologies beyond 3G are being utilised in these cellular networks. The very existence of all these technologies in one cellular network has brought the work of designing and optimisation of the networks to be viewed from a different perspective. Gone are the days of planning GSM, EGPRS or WCDMA networks individually. Now the cellular network business is about dimensioning for new and advanced technologies, planning and optimising 3G networks, while upgrading 2G/2.5G networks. This is not to mention the hard work required to maintain these networks in the phases after designing, implementing and commissioning. This book has been written keeping the present day in mind. There are many instances where a practical approach has been followed in writing this book; e.g. problems faced by design and optimisation engineers have been provided with the solutions in an easy-to-follow approach. The project management related issues that have an impact on network planning have been covered as it gives the r