an improved radio deployment tool for determining cell boundaries is disclosed . an rdt used to carry - out active deployment procedures consists of an rdt wireless handset that a deployment engineer uses to generate test signals , and an rdt base station that is used to measure the rssi of the test signals sent by the rdtwh . the rdtbs factors in the impact of short - term fades and dispersion , as well as long - term fading , by measuring and processing bit error rate and received signal strength intensity levels . ber levels can be measured for signals whose rssi - levels have been driven into a testing range at which signals are susceptible to short - term fades and dispersion . a sufficient resolution of ber measurements is achieved by filling the payload fields of test packets exchanged by the rdtwh and rdtbs , with ber test data . the payload fields of the test packets can be filled by pressing down the mute button of the rdtwh .