Cellular Wireless Networks

Principles
Operation
Capacity
Interference
Acknowledgements to: 1G to 4G systems
1.Dr. Lawrie Brown (UNSW@ADFA) for the
Lecture slides on “Data and Computer
Communications”, 8/e, by William Stallings,
Chapter 14 “Cellular Wireless Networks”.
2.Lecture Slides on Chapter 4,” Communication Maria Leonora Guico
Networks “ by Leon Garcia and Widjaja
Tcom 126 2nd Sem Lecture 1
 Cellular Wireless Networks
 key technology for mobiles, wireless nets etc
 developed to increase mobile phone capacity
 based on multiple low power transmitters
 area divided into cells
 in a tiling pattern to provide full coverage
 each with own antenna
 each with own range of frequencies
 served by base station
 adjacent cells use different frequencies to avoid crosstalk
Cellular Geometries
Cell Site vs Cell
•The cell site is a location or a point, the cell is a wide geographical area.
• Most cells have been split into sectors or individual areas to make them
more efficient.
• Antennas transmit inward to each cell and cover a portion or a sector of
each cell, not the whole thing. Antennas from other cell sites cover the
other portions.
•The cell site equipment provides each sector with its own set of channels.
•In this example, the cell site transmits and receives on three different sets
of channels, one for each part or sector of the three cells it covers.
Cell site vs Cell (2)
•Most people see the cell as the blue hexagon, being defined by
the tower in the center, with the antennae pointing in the directions
indicated by the arrows.
• In reality, the cell is the red hexagon, with the towers at the
corners.
• The confusion comes from not realizing that a cell is a geographic
area, not a point. We use the terms 'cell' (the coverage area) and
'cell site' (the base station location) interchangeably, but they are
not the same thing."
Basic Concepts
 Frequency Reuse
 A region is partitioned into cells
 Each cell is covered by base station
 Power transmission levels controlled to minimize inter-cell interference
 Spectrum can be reused in other cells
 Handoff
 Procedures to ensure continuity of call as user moves from cell to another
 Involves setting up call in new cell and tearing down old one
 Frequency Reuse
 must manage reuse of frequencies
 power of base transceiver controlled
 allow communications within cell on given frequency
 limit escaping power to adjacent cells
 allow re-use of frequencies in nearby cells
 typically 10 – 50 frequencies per cell
 example for Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS)
 N cells all using same number of frequencies
 K total number of frequencies used in systems
 each cell has K/N frequencies
 K=395, N=7 giving 57 frequencies per cell on average
Frequency Reuse
 Adjacent cells may not use
2 same band of frequencies
 Frequency Reuse Pattern
7 3 specifies how frequencies are
1
reused
 Figure shows 7-cell reuse:
6 4 frequencies divided into 7
groups & reused as shown
5 2
 Also 4-cell & 12-cell reuse
2 7 3 possible
 Note: CDMA allows
7 3 1
adjacent cells to use same
1 6 4 frequencies
6 4 5
5
Frequency
Reuse
Patterns
Frequency Reuse Factor
 No. of subscribers who can use the same set of frequencies (channels) in
non-adjacent cells at the same time in a small area (city) is dependent on
the total number of cells in the area
 Number of simultaneous users is called the frequency reuse factor (FRF)
FRF = N
C
where: FRF = frequency reuse factor (unitless)
N = total number of full-duplex channels in an area
C = total number of full-duplex channels in a cell
Frequency Reuse
In characterizing frequency reuse, the following parameters are
commonly used:
D = minimum distance between centers of cells that use the
same band of frequencies (called cochannels)
R = radius of a cell
d = distance between centers of adjacent cells (d = √3R)
N = number of cells in repetitious pattern (reuse factor), each
cell in pattern uses a unique band of frequencies.
With a hexagonal cell pattern, the following values of N possible
 N = I2 + J2 + (I x J), I, J = 0, 1, 2, 3, …
 Possible values of N are 1, 3, 4, 7, 9, 12, 13, 16, 19, 21, etc
Reuse Distance
Reuse Distance (2)

N (reuse pattern
D
or cluster size)
3.46R 4
4.6R 7
6R 12
7.55R 19
 Cluster size and First Tier
 Geometry of a hexagon is such that the number of cells
per cluster can only have values that satisfy the equation
N = i2 +ij + j2
where N = number of cells per cluster
i and j = nonnegative integer values
 Process of finding tier with nearest co-channel cells (first
tier) is:
1. Move i cells through the center of successive cells.
2. Turn 60o in a counterclockwise direction.
3. Move j cells forward through the center of successive cells.
First Tier Co-channel Cells
(Sample figure for 19-cell cluster)
Increasing Capacity (1)
 Add new channels
 not all channels used to start with
 Frequency borrowing
 taken from adjacent cells by congested cells
 or assign frequencies dynamically
 Cell splitting
 non-uniform topography and traffic distribution
 use smaller cells in high use areas
Increasing Capacity (2)
 cell sectoring
 cell divided into wedge shaped sectors (3–6 per cell)
 each with own channel set
 directional antennas
 microcells
 move antennas from tops of hills and large buildings to tops of
small buildings and sides of large buildings
 use reduced power to cover a much smaller area
 good for city streets, roads, inside large buildings
Cell Splitting
Cell Sectoring
 In basic form, antennas are omnidirectional
 Replacing a single omni-directional antenna
at base station with several directional
antennas, each radiating within a specified
sector.
Cell Sectoring (2)
 Achieves capacity improvement by essentially rescaling the
system.
 By using sectorized antennas (120 degrees, 60 degrees) co-
channel interference is reduce.
 Less co-channel interference, number of cells in a cluster can be
reduced which leads to more channels per cell.
 Larger frequency reuse factor, larger capacity
Micro Cell Zone Concept
 Large control base station is replaced by
several lower powered transmitters on the
edge of the cell.
 The mobile retains the same channel and
the base station simply switches the
channel to a different zone site and the
mobile moves from zone to zone.
 Since a given channel is active only in a
particular zone in which mobile is traveling,
base station radiation is localized and
interference is reduced.
Typical Parameters of Traditional Cells

Macrocell Microcell

Cell Radius 1 to 20 km 0.1 to 1 km

Transmission Power 1 to 10 W 0.1 to 1 W

Average Delay Spread 0.1 to 10 uS 10 to 100 ns

Maximum Bit Rate 0.3 Mbps 1 Mbps

Cell Splitting vs Cell Sectoring
- Using Cell-Splitting and Sectoring to Improve
Capacity/Coverage of Cellular Systems
- Cell splitting is achieved by installing smaller cells
(microcells) in saturated macrocellular regions. More
channels become available to users that appear in the
saturated region (based on demand and economic
consideration)
As a service area becomes
full of users, this approach
is used to split a single
area into smaller ones.
In this way, urban centers
can be split into as many
areas as necessary to
provide acceptable/sound
service levels, while larger,
less expensive cells can be
used to cover remote rural
regions
Handoff/Handover
- Process of transferring a call from one base
station to another when a user's radio signal
becomes weaker at the first and stronger at the
second base station.
- "Weaker" and "stronger" is quantified by a
signal threshold level, which is above the
minimum signal level for acceptable voice
communications.
- Selecting this threshold level is critical to:
1)ensure unnecessary handoffs do not occur;
and
2)call dropping does not occur
Handoff (2)
• Handoffs require a
change in frequency
for the mobile phone;
must be seamless to
subscriber
• Blocking occurs
when there are no
usable channels
available in the target
cell to switch on
Handoff (3)
Stages of handoff:
1. Initiation – either mobile unit or the network determines
need for handoff and initiates necessary network
procedures
2. Resource reservation – reserve voice and control
channels needed to support handoff
3. Execution – actual transfer of control from one base
station to another base station
4. Completion – unnecessary network resources are
relinquished and made available to other mobile units
Kinds of handoff:
• Hard handoff: break-before-make process
• Soft handoff: no perceivable interruption of service (200
ms). Mobile unit establishes contact with new base station
before giving up current radio channel
Handoff Threshold
 Handoff threshold: typically, -90~-100 dBm (1~10uW)
Roaming
 MS moves to a new cell
 The new cell is served by a new MSC
 i.e. handoff that results in MSC change
 Mobile unit moves from one cell to another – possibly from
one company’s service area into another company’s service
area (requiring roaming agreements)
Channel Capacity
 Consider a system with a fixed number of full-duplex channels
available in a given area, with each service area divided into
clusters and allocated a group of channels, divided among N
cells (cells have same no. of channels but do not cover same size
area)
 Total number of cellular channels available in a cluster is: F =
GN
where: F = no. of full-duplex channels in a cluster
G = number of channels in a cell
N = number of cells in a cluster
 When a cluster is duplicated m times in a given service area, the
total no. of full-duplex channels is: C = mF
where: C = total channel capacity in a given area
m = number of clusters in a given area
Capacity
Total number of users, n

m(W / N )
n=
B

where:
W = total bandwidth
N = frequency reuse factor
B = channel bandwidth
m = number of cells required to cover an area
Interference in Cellular Systems
 Two major kinds:
Co-channel interference
Adjacent-channel interference
Co-channel Interference
• Interference between two cells using the
same set of frequencies
• Certain minimum distance must separate
co-channels to reduce co-channel
interference
 Co-channel Interference

• Cell radius is proportional to transmit

power
• More radio channels can be added to a
system by either:
1. decreasing the transmit power per cell
2. making cells smaller
3. filling vacated coverage areas with new cells
 Co-channel Interference
• Where all cells are approximately the same
size, co-channel interference is dependent
on radius ( R ) of the cells and the distance
to the center of the nearest co-channel cell
(D).
• Increasing the D/R ratio (co-channel reuse
ratio, Q) increases the spatial separation
between co-channel cells relative to the
coverage distance, hence reducing co-
channel interference
 Co-channel Interference
• For hexagonal geometry, Q = D/R
where Q = co-channel reuse ratio (unitless)
D = distance to center of the nearest co-channel
cell (kilometers)
R = cell radius (kilometers)
• Smaller Q value, larger channel capacity
(smaller cluster size)
• Large Q value improves co-channel
interference and overall transmission quality
• In actual cellular systems, trade-off is made
between the two conflicting objectives
 Adjacent Channel Interference
• Occurs when transmissions from adjacent
channels (channels next to one another in the
frequency domain) interfere with each other
• Results from imperfect filters in receivers
• Most prevalent when adjacent channel is
transmitting very close to a mobile unit’s receiver
at the same time the mobile unit is trying to
receive transmissions from the base station on an
adjacent frequency (near-far effect)
• Minimized by using precise filtering and careful
channel assignments (maintain reasonable
frequency separation between channels)
• If reuse factor is small, separation between
adjacent channels may not be sufficient
Adjacent Channel Interference
Sample Problems
Capacity Computations
1. A total of 33 MHz are allocated to a system which uses 2x25 kHz for
full duplex (i.e., each channel is 50 kHz). What is the number of
channels for the system?

Since 4 and 7 are popular number of cells per cluster/system. What is

the number of channels per cell?
a. For reuse N = 4:

b. For reuse N = 7:
2. Now assume 1 MHz of the 33 MHz is allocated to control channels.
Each channel is still 50 kHz.

What is the total number of voice (traffic) channels (excluding control

traffic)?

Again, we take N=4 and N=7. What is the number of channels per cell:
For N = 4?

For N = 7?
A total of 33 MHz are allocated to a system which uses 2x25 kHz for
full duplex (i.e., each channel is 50 kHz).
Number of channels per system

33,000kHz
= 660 channels
2 × 25kHz
Number of channels per cell:
a. For reuse N = 4: 660
= 165 channels / cell
4

For reuse N = 7: 660

= 95 channels / cell
7
Now assume 1 MHz of the 33 MHz is allocated to control
channels. Each control channel is still 50 kHz

Total number of voice (traffic) channels is now

32,000kHz
= 640 channels
2 × 25kHz
For N = 4 => 640/4 = 160 voice channels + control
channels.

For N = 7 => 640/7 = 92 channels + control.

Increased Capacity with Cell splitting
1. Determine the channel capacity for a cellular
telephone area comprised of 7 macrocells with 10
channels per cell.
2. What is the channel capacity if each macrocell is split
into four minicells?
3. What is the channel capacity if each minicell is further
split into four microcells?
Increased Capacity with Cell splitting
1. Determine the channel capacity for a cellular telephone area
comprised of 7 macrocells with 10 channels per cell.
10 channels X 7 cells = 70 channels/area
cell area

2. What is the channel capacity if each macrocell is split into four

minicells?
10 channels X 28 cells = 280 channels/area
cell area

3. What is the channel capacity if each minicell is further split into

four microcells?
10 channels X 112 cells = 1120 channels/area
cell area
 Frequency Reuse Example
Assume a system of 32 cells with a cell radius of 1.6 km, a
total frequency bandwidth that supports 336 traffic channels,
and a reuse factor of N = 7.

If there are 32 total cells, determine the following:

1.What geographic area is covered?
2.How many channels are there per cell?
3.What is the total number of concurrent calls that can be
handled?
Repeat for a cell radius of 0.8 km and 128 cells.
Frequency Reuse Example
Generations of Cellular Networks

1G 2G 2.5G 3G 4G

Analog Digital

Circuit-switching Packet-switching
1G Systems
 Goal: To develop a working system that could provide basic
voice service
 Time frame: 1970-1990
 Technology: FDMA/FDD
 Example Systems:
 Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS-USA)
 Total Access Communication System (TACS-UK)
 Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT-Europe)
 Incompatible analog systems
First Generation Analog
 original cellular telephone networks
 analog traffic channels
 early 1980s in North America
 Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS)
 also common in South America, Australia, and
China
 replaced by later generation systems
 2G Systems
 Goal: Digital voice service with improved quality
and also provide better data services
 Time Frame: 1990- 2000
 Technology: TDMA/TDD, CDMA
 Example Systems:
 Global System for Mobile (GSM-Europe)
 IS-136(TDMA)
 IS-95 (CDMA)
 Second Generation CDMA
 provide higher quality signals, higher data rates,
support digital services, with overall greater capacity
 key differences include
 digital traffic channels
 encryption
 error detection and correction
 channel access
 time division multiple access (TDMA)
 code division multiple access (CDMA)
 Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)
 have a number of 2nd gen systems
 for example IS-95 using CDMA
 each cell allocated frequency bandwidth
 is split in two
 half for reverse, half for forward
 uses direct-sequence spread spectrum (DSSS)
 Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)
Advantages
 frequency diversity
 noise bursts & fading have less effect
 multipath resistance
 chipping codes have low cross & auto correlation
 privacy
 inherent in use of spread-spectrum
 graceful degradation
 more users means more noise
 leads to slow signal degradation until unacceptable
Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)
Disadvantages
 self-jamming
 some cross correlation between users if not
perfectly synchronized
 near-far problem
 signals closer to receiver are received with less
attenuation than signals farther away
 Transmissions from remote units more difficult to
recover
IS-95
 second generation CDMA scheme
 primarily deployed in North America
 transmission structures different on forward and
reverse links
 2.5G Systems
 Goal: To provide better data rates and wider range
of data services and also act as a transition to 3G
 Time frame: 2000-2002
 Systems:
 IS-95B
 High Speed Circuit Switched Data (HSCSD)
 General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)
 Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE)
3G Systems
 Goal: High speed wireless data access and unified
universal standard
 Time frame: 2002-
 Two competing standards
 One based on GSM, IS-136 and PDC known as 3GPP
 Other based on IS-95 named 3GPP2
 Completely move from circuit switching to packet
switching
 Enhanced data rates of 2-20Mbps
 Third Generation Systems
 high-speed wireless communications to support multimedia, data, and
video in addition to voice
 3G capabilities:
 voice quality comparable to PSTN
 144 kbps available to users over large areas
 384 kbps available to pedestrians over small areas
 support for 2.048 Mbps for office use
 symmetrical and asymmetrical data rates
 packet-switched and circuit-switched services
 adaptive interface to Internet
 more efficient use of available spectrum
 support for variety of mobile equipment
 allow introduction of new services and technologies
 4G Systems
 Future systems
 Goal:
 High mobility, High data rate, IP based network
 Hybrid network that can interoperate with other
networks
Driving Forces
 trend toward universal personal telecommunications
 universal communications access – capability of using
one’s terminal in a wide variety of environments to
connect to info serices
 GSM cellular telephony with subscriber identity module,
is step towards goals
 personal communications services (PCSs) and personal
communication networks (PCNs) also form objectives
for third-generation wireless
 technology is digital using time division multiple access
or code-division multiple access for spectrum efficiency
and high capacity
 PCS handsets low power, small and light
 CDMA Design Considerations –
Bandwidth and Chip Rate
 dominant technology for 3G systems is CDMA
 3 CDMA schemes, share some design issues 
 bandwidth (limit channel to 5 MHz)
 5 MHz reasonable upper limit on what can be allocated
for 3G
 5 MHz is enough for data rates of 144 and 384 kHz
 chip rate
 given bandwidth, chip rate depends on desired data rate,
need for error control, and bandwidth limitations
 chip rate of 3 Mbps or more reasonable
 CDMA Design Considerations –
Multirate

 provision of multiple fixed-data-rate channels to user

 different data rates provided on different logical channels
 logical channel traffic can be switched independently through
wireless fixed networks to different destinations
 flexibly support multiple simultaneous applications
 efficiently use available capacity by only providing the capacity
required for each service
 use TDMA within single CDMA channel
 or use multiple CDMA codes