E3125/6/1 INTRODUCTION TO CELLULAR COMMUNICATIONS

UNIT 6

INTRODUCTION TO CELLULAR COMMUNICATIONS

OBJECTIVES

General Objective

To understand the basic concept of cellular communications. At the end of the unit you will be able to: explain the evolution of cellular telephone system. define the term cellular and explain its basic function. name the basic element of cellular system. draw a simplified cellular telephone system and explain the function of each part. explain the services of analog and digital cellular system. name the types of antenna used for cellular communications.

Specific Objectives :

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INPUT

6.0

Introduction Millions of people around the world use cellular phones. There are such great facilities with a cell phone; you can talk to anyone on the planet from just about anywhere else. These days, cell phones provide an incredible of functions, and new ones are being added at a breakneck pace. Depending on the cell-phone model, you can:

store contact information make task or to-do lists keep track of appointments and set reminders use the built-in calculator for simple math send or receive e-mail get information (news, entertainment, stock quotes) from the Internet play simple games integrate other devices such as PDAs, MP3 Players and GPS receiver.

Cellular phone systems can be analog or digital. Older systems are analog and newer systems are digital. Cellular phones offers full-duplex transmission.

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6.1

Evolution of Mobile Communications

Early Stages: 1G to 3G Electromagnetic waves were first discovered as a communications medium at the end of the 19th century. The first systems offering mobile telephone service (car phone) were introduced in the late 1940s in the United States and in the early 1950s in Europe. Those early single cell systems were severely constrained by restricted mobility, low capacity, limited service, and poor speech quality. The equipment was heavy, bulky, expensive, and susceptible to interference. Because of those limitations, less than one million subscribers were registered worldwide by the early 1980s. First Generation (1G): Analog Cellular The introduction of cellular systems in the late 1970s and early 1980s represented a quantum leap in mobile communication (especially in capacity and mobility). Semiconductor technology and microprocessors are made smaller, lighter in weight, and more sophisticated. As a result mobile systems are practical reality for many more users. These 1G cellular systems still transmit only analog voice information. The most prominent 1G systems are Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT), and Total Access Communication System (TACS). With the 1G introduction, the mobile market showed annual growth rates of 30 to 50 percent, rising to nearly 20 million subscribers by 1990. Second Generation (2G): Multiple Digital Systems The development of 2G cellular systems was driven by the need to improve transmission quality, system capacity, and coverage. Further advances in semiconductor technology and microwave devices brought digital transmission to mobile communications. Speech transmission still dominates the airways, but the demands for fax, short message, and data transmissions are growing rapidly. Supplementary services such as fraud prevention and encrypting of user data have become standard features that are comparable to those in fixed networks. 2G cellular systems include GSM, Digital AMPS (D-AMPS), code division multiple access (CDMA), and Personal Digital Communication (PDC). Today, multiple 1G and 2G standards are used in worldwide mobile communications. Different

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standards serve different applications with different levels of mobility, capability, and service area (paging systems, cordless telephone, wireless local loop, private mobile radio, cellular systems, and mobile satellite systems). Many standards are used only in one country or region, and most are incompatible. GSM is the most successful family of cellular standards (GSM900, GSMrailway [GSMR], GSM1800, GSM1900, and GSM400), supporting some 250 million of the worlds 450 million cellular subscribers with international roaming in approximately 140 countries and 400 networks. 2G to 3G: GSM Evolution Phase 1 of the standardization of GSM900 was completed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) in 1990 and included all necessary definitions for the GSM network operations. Several tele-services and bearer services have been defined (including data transmission up to 9.6 kbps), but only some very basic supplementary services were offered. As a result, GSM standards were enhanced in Phase 2 (1995) to incorporate a large variety of supplementary services that were comparable to digital fixed network integrated services digital network (ISDN) standards. In 1996, ETSI decided to further enhance GSM in annual Phase 2+ releases that incorporate 3G capabilities. GSM Phase 2+ releases have introduced important 3G features such as intelligent network (IN) services with customized application for mobile enhanced logic (CAMEL), enhanced speech compression/decompression (CODEC), enhanced full rate (EFR), and adaptive multirate (AMR), highdata rate services and new transmission principles with high-speed circuit-switched data (HSCSD), general packet radio service (GPRS), and enhanced data rates for GSM evolution (EDGE).

Enhancedcellular cellulartelephone telephonetechnology technology Enhanced haslowered loweredcosts costsand andcontributed contributedto tothe the has wideruse useof ofmobile mobiletelephones, telephones,not notonly only wider forvoice voicebut butalso alsofor forfax faxand anddata datafrom from for laptopcomputers computers laptop

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6.2

Cellular Telephone A cellular telephone is basically a two-way walkie-talkie that acts like a telephone. With a walkie-talkie, you either talk or you listen; with a cell phone, you can talk and listen at the same time. You can dial a number to place a call. You can receive calls. You can do fancy things like three-way calls, conference calls, call hold, and voice mail. 6.2.1 Basic Cellular Telephone Concepts Provisioning for each region is planned according to an engineering plan that includes cells, clusters, frequency reuse, and handovers. Cells A cell is the basic geographic unit of a cellular system. The term cellular comes from the honeycomb shape of the areas into which a coverage region is divided. Cells are base stations transmitting over small geographic areas that are represented as hexagons. Each cell size varies depending on the landscape. Because of constraints imposed by natural terrain and man-made structures, the true shape of cells is not a perfect hexagon. Clusters A cluster is a group of cells. No channels are reused within a cluster. Figure 6.1 illustrates a seven-cell cluster. Frequency Reuse Because only a small number of radio channel frequencies were available for mobile systems, engineers had to find a way to reuse radio channels to carry more than one conversation at a time. The solution the industry adopted was called frequency planning or frequency reuse. Frequency reuse was implemented by restructuring the mobile telephone system architecture into the cellular concept.

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Figure 6.1 A Seven-Cell Cluster

The concept of frequency reuse is based on assigning to each cell a group of radio channels used within a small geographic area. Cells are assigned a group of channels that is completely different from neighboring cells. The coverage area of cells is called the footprint. This footprint is limited by a boundary so that the same group of channels can be used in different cells that are far enough away from each other so that their frequencies do not interfere (see Figure6.2). Cells with the same number have the same set of frequencies. Here, because the number of available frequencies is 7, the frequency reuse factor is 1/7. That is, each cell is using 1/7 of available cellular channels.

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Figure 6.2 Frequency Reuse Cell Splitting Unfortunately, economic considerations made the concept of creating full systems with many small areas impractical. To overcome this difficulty, system operators developed the idea of cell splitting. 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 service levels in heavy-traffic regions, while larger, less expensive cells can be used to cover remote rural regions (see Figure 6.3).

Figure 6.3 Cell Splitting

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Handoff / Handover The final obstacle in the development of the cellular network involved the problem created when a mobile subscriber traveled from one cell to another during a call. As adjacent areas do not use the same radio channels, a call must either be dropped or transferred from one radio channel to another when a user crosses the line between adjacent cells. Because dropping the call is unacceptable, the process of handoff was created. Handoff occurs when the mobile telephone network automatically transfers a call from radio channel to radio channel as mobile crosses adjacent cells (see Figure 6.4).

Figure 6.4 Handoff between Adjacent Cells

During a call, two parties are on one voice channel. When the mobile unit moves out of the coverage area of a given cell site, the reception becomes weak. At this point, the cell site in use requests a handoff. The system switches the call to a stronger-frequency channel in a new site without interrupting the call or alerting the user. The call continues as long as the user is talking, and the user does not notice the handoff at all.

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6.2.2

Basic Elements of Cellular system The cellular system offers mobile and portable telephone stations the same service provided to fixed stations over conventional wired loops. It has the capacity to serve tens of thousands of subscribers in a major metropolitan area. The cellular communications system consists of the following four major components that work together to provide mobile service to subscribers.

Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) or Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)

Mobile Telephone Switching Office (MTSO) Cell Site With Antenna System Mobile Subscriber Unit (MSU)

Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) The PSTN is made up of local networks, the exchange area networks, and the long-haul network that interconnect telephones and other communication devices on a worldwide basis. Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) The Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) is a proposed network designed by the major telephone companies in conjunction with the Consultative Committee for International Telephony and Telegraphy (CCITT) with the intent of providing worldwide telecommunications support of voice, data, video, and facsimile information within the same network. Mobile Telephone Switching Office (MTSO) The MTSO is the central office for mobile switching. It houses the mobile switching center (MSC), field monitoring, and relay stations for switching calls from cell sites to wire line central offices (PSTN). It is a sophisticated computer that monitors all cellular calls, tracks the location of all cellular-equipped vehicles traveling in the system, arranges

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handoffs, keeps track of billing information, etc. In analog cellular networks, the MSC controls the system operation. The MSC controls calls, tracks billing information, and locates cellular subscribers. The Cell Site/Radio Base Station (RBS) The term cell site is used to refer to the physical location of radio equipment that provides coverage within a cell. At the cell site, a base station is equipped to transmit, receive, and switch calls to and from any mobile unit within the cell to the MTSO. A list of hardware located at a cell site includes power sources, interface equipment, radio frequency transmitters and receivers, and antenna systems. Mobile Subscriber Units (MSUs) The mobile subscriber unit consists of a control unit and a transceiver that transmits and receives radio transmissions to and from a cell site. The following three types of MSUs are available:

the mobile telephone (typical transmit power is 4.0 watts) the portable (typical transmit power is 0.6 watts) the transportable (typical transmit power is 1.6 watts)

The mobile telephone is installed in the trunk of a car, and the handset is installed in a convenient location to the driver. Portable and transportable telephones are hand-held and can be used anywhere. The use of portable and transportable telephones is limited to the charge life of the internal battery.

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Cell site antenna

Mobile unit or pocket cellular telephone Cell site

ISDN

Figure 6.5 Cellular network between PSTN, MTSO and RBS 6.3 Call Processing Within a cellular system, call can take place between a wireline party and a mobile telephone or between two mobiles telephones. Wireline-to-mobile calls The cellular systems switching center receives a call from a wireline party through a dedicated interconnect line from the public switched telephone network. The switch translates the received dialing digits and determines whether the mobile unit to which the call is destined is on or off hook (busy). If the mobile unit is available, the switch pages the mobile subscriber. Following a page response from the mobile unit, the switch assigns an idle channel and instructs the mobile unit to tune in to that channel. The mobile unit sends a verification of channel tuning via the controller in the cell site and then sends an audible

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cal/progress tone to the subscribers mobile telephone, causing it to ring. The switch terminates the call progress tones when it receives positive indi cation that the subscriber has answered the phone and the conversation between the two parties has begun. Mobile-to-wireline calls A mobile subscriber who desires to call a wireline party first enters the called number into the units memory using Touch-Tone buttons or a dial on the telephone unit. The subscriber then presses a send key, which transmits the called number as well as the mobile subscribers identification number to the switch. If the identification number is valid, the switch routes the call over a leased wireline interconnection to the public telephone network, which completes the connection to the wireline party. Using the cell-site controller, the switch assigns the mobile unit a nonbusy user channel and instructs the mobile unit to tune into that channel. After the switch receives verification that the mobile unit is tuned to the assigned channel, the mobile subscriber receives an audible call progress tone from the switch. After the called party picks up the phone, the switch terminates the call progress tones and the conversation can begin. Mobile-to-mobile calls Calls between two mobile units are also possible in the cellular radio system. To originate a call to another mobile unit, the calling party enters the called number into the units memory via the touchpad on the telephone set and then presses the send key. The switch receives the callers identification number and the called number and then determines if the called unit is free to receive a call. The switch sends a page command to all cell-site controllers, and the called party (who may be anywhere in the service area) receives a page. Following a positive page from the called party, the switch assigns each party an idle user channel and instructs each party to tune into their respective user channel. Then the called partys phone rings. When the system receives notice that the called party has answered the phone, the switch terminates the call progress tone, and the conversation may begin between the two mobile units.

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If a mobile subscriber wishes to initiate a call and all user channels are busy, the switch sends a directed retry command, instructing the subscriber to reatternpt the call through a neighboring cell. If the system cannot allocate a user channel through the neigh boring cell, the switch transmits an intercept message to the calling mobile unit over the control channel. Whenever the called party is off hook, the calling party receives a busy signal. Also, if the called number is invalid, the system either sends a reorder message via the control channel or provides an announcement that the call cannot be processed.

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Before Before you you proceed proceed to to the the activity, activity, try try to to look look at at some some of of these these examples. examples. Let Let me me see see .Ummh!! .Ummh!! There There are are just just two two simple simple questions. questions. II can can make make it!! it!!

Example 6.1 What is a cellular telephone? Solution to Example 6.1 A cellular telephone is basically a two-way walkie-talkie that acts like a telephone. With a walkie-talkie, you either talk or you listen; with a cell phone, you can talk and listen at the same time. Example 6.2 The cellular communications system consists of FOUR major components that work together to provide mobile service to subscribers. What are those? Solution to Example 6.2 The FOUR major components are: Public switched telephone network (PSTN) or ISDN, mobile telephone switching office (MTSO), cell site with antenna system, and mobile subscriber unit (MSU).

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Activity 6A

TEST YOUR UNDERSTANDING BEFORE YOU CONTINUE WITH THE NEXT INPUT! 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 List FOUR items that include in an engineering plan to form a cellular telephone system. What is PSTN? Explain what a handoff is. Define RBS.

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Feedback to Activity 6A

6.1

Provisioning for each region is planned according to an engineering plan that includes cells, clusters, frequency reuse, and handovers.

6.2

The PSTN is made up of local networks, the exchange area networks, and the long-haul network that interconnect telephones and other communication devices on a worldwide basis.

6.3

When the MTSO assigns a new channel to an active cellular telephone that enters a new cell.

6.4

The term cell site is used to refer to the physical location of radio equipment that provides coverage within a cell. At the cell site, a base station is equipped to transmit, receive, and switch calls to and from any mobile unit within the cell to the MTSO.

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INPUT

Cellular telephones are now easily carried in a pocket or purse. That salesman is able to keep in constant contact with his client and his office staff while making his daily sales calls.

6.4

Analog Cellular Telephone The cellular telephone concept was an intriguing idea that added a depth or spatial dimension to the conventional wireline trunking model used by the public telephone network at the time. The predominant cellular system operating in the US is the Advanced Mobile Phone System, AMPS. There are two minor variations of AMPS: EAMPS and NAMPS. They are all basically the same and were the basis for the European analog cellular system. AMPS - Advanced Mobile Phone System Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murry Hill, New Jersey, proposed the cellular telephone concept as the Advanced Mobile Telephone System (AMPS). The radio transceivers used with AMPS cellular telephones use narrowband frequency modulation (NBFM) with an audio-frequency band 300Hz to 3 kHz and a maximum frequency deviation of 12 kHz for 100% modulation. The Original system had 666 channels (42 control, 624 voice).

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E-AMPS - Extended AMPS The current system has 832 channels (42 control, 790 voice) and has replaced AMPS as the US standard. N-AMPS - Narrowband AMPS The new system has three times as many voice channels as EAMPS with no loss of signal quality. Motorola developed a narrowband AMPS (N-AMPS) to increase the capacity of the AMPS in large cellular market. With N-AMPS, the maximum frequency deviation is reduced, which lowers the signal to interference ratio, somewhat degrading the audio quality. TDMA - Time Division Multiple Access Also referred to as DAMPS, Digital AMPS, or US Digital. This system uses time slots within each channel to increase capacity over analog cellular systems. All phones synchronize to the time slots to prevent transmission collision. ETACS European Total Access Communication System ETACS is virtually identical to AMPS except ETACS is limited to a 25kHz bandwidth. ETACS also uses a different method of formatting subscriber telephone numbers (called the mobile identification number or MIN) because of the need to accommodate different country codes throughout Europe and area codes in the United States. 6.5 Digital Cellular Telephone Most newer cellular telephones are digital. Some of the new cellular systems are expected to use the microwave bands. These telephones offer the benefits of less sensitivity to noise, more telephone calls per channel, and easier computer control. The FCC has set aside the 1.7 - 1.9 GHz for the digital cellular are popular digital cellular telephone and other wireless services. There

telephones systems : the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) used in Europe and the Personal Communication Systems (PCS) used in the United states. Each of these systems is describe below. Figure 6.6 shows the components of a typical digital cellular system.

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Figure 6.6 6.5.1

Digital Cellular System

GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) Global System is a second generation cellular system standard that was developed to solve the fragmentation problems. GSM was the worlds first totally digital cellular telephone system designed to use the services of ISDN to provide a wide range of network services. GSM services follow ISDN guidelines and are classified as either teleservices or data services (computer-to-computer communication and packet-switched traffic). It uses the 1.71 to 1.785 GHz band for uplink signals (signals from the cell user to the cell site) and 1.805 to 1.88 GHz band for downlink signals (from cell site to user). GSM uses time-division multiplexing to allow eight simultaneous telephone calls to use each channel. This system is known as time-division multiple access (TDMA). The type of modulation used is called Gaussian minimum shift keying (GMSK), a narrow-band form of FSK.

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The system architecture for GSM as shown in Figure 6.8 consist three primary subsystem of GSM which are Base Station Subsystem (BSS), Network and Switching Subsystem (NSS), and the operational Support Subsystem (OSS).

Figure 6.7 GSM system architecture Base Station Subsystem (BSS) known as the radio subsystem it provides and manages radio-frequency transmission paths between mobile units and the mobile switching center (MSC) it also manages the radio interface between mobile stations and all other GSM subsystem. each BSS consists of many base station controllers (BSC) which are used to connect the mobile subscriber (MS) to the NSS through one or more MSCs. Network and Switching Subsystem (NSS) the NSS manages switching functions for the system and allows the MSCs to communicate with other telephone networks such as the public switched telephone service and ISDN.

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Operational Support Subsystem (OSS) the OSS supports operation and maintenance of the system and allows engineers to monitor, diagnose, and troubleshoot every aspect of the GSM network. 6.5.2 PCS-1900 - Personal Communication System A cellular telephone system using Code Division Multiple Accessing (CDMA) is commonly referred to as a personal communications system (PCS). The CDMA system was recently standardized by U.S. Telecommunications Industry Association as Interim Standard 95 (IS-95). CDMA allows users to differentiate from one another by a unique code rather than a frequency or time assignment, increased capacity and improved performance and reliability. Personal Communications Service (PCSs) or Personal Communications network (PCNs) is an all-digital service that operates in the 1,900MHz-frequency range and is available in metropolitan areas. Digital cellular shares the 800MHz-frequency band with analog and is usually available where analog service is offered. IS-54 and IS-95 are designed to use the same frequency range now used by the AMPS system. The IS-54 system uses TDMA with three calls per 30 KHz channel. The modulation scheme is referred to DQPSK (differential quadrature phase shift keying) with improved synchronization features and narrower bandwidth. The IS-95 system uses CDMA or spread spectrum. Recall that spread spectrum is both a modulation scheme and a multiplexing method. It uses 20 channels spaced at 1.25 MHz intervals. The modulation is QPSK.

6.6

PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE SYSTEM (PCSS) Mobile Satellite Systems (MSS) provide the vehicle for a new generation of wireless telephone services called personal communications satellite systems (PCSS). Personal communications satellite services , however, use low earth-

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orbit (LEO) and medium earth-orbit (MEO) satellites that communicate directly with small, low-power mobile telephone units. PCSS telephones will be able to make or receive calls at anytime, anywhere in the world. One of the top providers in the PCSS is Iridium. Iridium is a satellite-based

wireless personal communications network designed to permit a wide range of mobile telephone services including voice , data , networking, facsimile, and paging. The system is called Iridium because Iridiums original design called for 77 satellites. The final design, however, requires only 66 satellites. The 66vehicle low earth-orbit (LEO) interlinked satellite constellation can track the location of a subscribers telephone handset, determine the best routing through a network of a ground-based gateways and intersatellite links, establish the best path for telephone call, initiate all the necessary connections, and terminate the call upon completion. Figure 6.8 shows an overview of Iridium system.

Figure 6.8 Overview of Iridium PCSS mobile telephone systems

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6.7

Types of Antennas Omnidirectional It transmitting equally in all directions.. Usually used in rural areas. Used only one element. It covered a circular shape area, with the base station placed in the middle.(refers to figure 6.9)

Coverage area

RBS

Figure 6.9 coverage areas for omnidirectional antenna.

Directional(Microwave dish) Transmitting signal at certain direction. Three antennas needed in 1200 arrangement (refers to figure 6.10) and close to each other. Used in urban areas which support a lot of subscriber.

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antenna

Sel

Figure 6.10 Directional Antenna.

6.9

Roaming All cellular systems provide a service called roaming. This allows subscribers to operate in service areas other than the one from which service is subscribed. When a mobile enters a city or geographic area that is different from its home service area, it is registered as a roamer in the new service area. This is accomplished over the FCC (Federal Communications Commission), since each roamer is camped on to an FCC at all times. Once registered, roaming mobiles are allowed to receive and place calls from that area, and billing is routed automatically to the subscribers home service provider (Refer Figure 6.11).

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Figure 6.11 concept

Block diagram of a cellular radio network includes roaming

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HINTS AND HELP

Example 6.3

The cellular system utilizes frequency reuse, which allows cells within the system to use the same frequency channel.

What are the two minor variations of the Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS).

Solution to Example 6.3 The two minor variations of the Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) are EAMPS and NAMPS. Example 6.4 List two types of digital cellular telephone services. Solution to Example 6.4 The Digital Cellular Telephone services are GSM and PCS.

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Activity 6B

TEST YOUR UNDERSTANDING BEFORE YOU CONTINUE WITH THE NEXT INPUT!

6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8

Briefly explain AMPS and its TWO minor variations. What is TDMA? Define ETACS Differentiate between Omnidirectional and Directional (Microwave dish) antenna for cellular telephone system.

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Feedback to Activity 6B

6.5

AMPS - Advanced Mobile Phone System Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murry Hill, New Jersey, proposed the cellular telephone concept as the Advanced Mobile Telephone System (AMPS). The radio transceivers used with AMPS cellular telephones use narrowband frequency modulation (NBFM) with an audio-frequency band 300Hz to 3 kHz and a maximum frequency deviation of 12 kHz for 100% modulation. The Original system that had 666 channels (42 control, 624 voice). E-AMPS - Extended AMPS Current system that has 832 channels (42 control, 790 voice) and has replaced AMPS as the US standard N-AMPS - Narrowband AMPS New system that has three times as many voice channels as EAMPS with no loss of signal quality. Motorola developed a narrowband AMPS (NAMPS) to increase the capacity of the AMPS in large cellular market. With N-AMPS, the maximum frequency deviation is reduced, which lowers the signal to interference ratio, somewhat degrading the audio quality.

6.6

TDMA - Time Division Multiple Access Also referred to as DAMPS, Digital AMPS, or US Digital. This system uses time slots within each channel to increase capacity over analog

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cellular systems. All phones synchronize to the time slots to prevent transmission collision. 6.7 ETACS European Total Access Communication System ETACS is virtually identical to AMPS except ETACS is limited to a 25kHz bandwidth. ETACS also uses a different method of formatting subscriber telephone numbers (called the mobile identification number or MIN) because of the need to accommodate different country codes throughout Europe and area codes in the United States. 6.8 Omnidirectional It transmitting equally in all directions.. Usually used in rural areas. Used only one element. It covered a circular shape area, with the base station placed in the middle.(refers to figure 6.9) Directional (Microwave dish) Transmitting signal at certain direction. Three antennas needed in 1200 arrangement (refers to figure 6.10) and close to each other. Used in urban areas which support a lot of subscriber.

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KEY FACTS
CELLULAR TELEPHONE to the central office. MOBILE TELEPHONE SWITCHING OFFICE (MTSO) HANDOFF ROAMING : : : Coordinates all mobile calls between cell sites and the central office. When the MTSO assigns a new channel to an When a cellular telephone operates outside a : The cell-site active cellular telephone that enters a new cell. registered metropolitan area. CELL SITE (RADIO BASE STATION) controller manages each of the radio channels at each site, supervises calls, turns the radio transmitter and receiver on and off, injects data onto the control and user channels, and performs diagnostic test on the cell-site equipment. PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES : telecommunications technology. A digital wireless : A telephone technology employing

low-power mobile radio transmission rather than a subscriber loop connection

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SELF-ASSESSMENT

You are approaching success. Try all the questions in this self-assessment section and check your answers with those given in the Feedback on SelfAssessment given on the next page. If you face any problems, discuss it with your lecturer. Good luck. Question 6-1 a. b. Explain the basic concept of frequency reuse. What is the primary purpose of cell splitting.

Question 6-2 a. b. Name the basic element of cellular system. Briefly describe the function of a mobile telephone switching office (MTSO). Question 6-3 a. b. c. What is meant by the term PCS? Where are GSM system used? List and briefly describe the THREE primary subsystem of GSM.

Question 6-4 a. Explain the difference between iridium system and roaming system.

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Feedback To Self-Assessment

Have you tried the questions????? If YES, check our answers now. Answer 6-1 a. Frequency reuse was implemented by restructuring the mobile telephone system architecture into the cellular concept. The concept of frequency reuse is based on assigning to each cell a group of radio channels used within a small geographic area. Cells with the same number have the same set of frequencies. Because only a small number of radio channel frequencies were available for mobile systems, engineers had to find a way to reuse radio channels to carry more than one conversation at a time. b. To overcome the concept of creating full systems with many small areas impractical system operators the idea of cell splitting was developed. 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 service levels in heavy-traffic regions, while larger, less expensive cells can be used to cover remote rural regions. Answer 6-2 a. The cellular communications system consists of the following four major components that work together to provide mobile service to subscribers.

Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) or Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)

Mobile Telephone Switching Office (MTSO)

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Cell Site With Antenna System Mobile Subscriber Unit (MSU)

d.

The MTSO is the central office for mobile switching. It houses the mobile switching center (MSC), field monitoring, and relay stations for switching calls from cell sites to wire line central offices (PSTN). It is a sophisticated computer that monitors all cellular calls, tracks the location of all cellular-equipped vehicles traveling in the system, arranges handoffs, keeps track of billing information, etc. In analog cellular networks, the MSC controls the system operation. The MSC controls calls, tracks billing information, and locates cellular subscribers.

Answer 6-3 a. A cellular telephone system using Code Division Multiple Accessing (CDMA) is commonly referred to as a personal communications system (PCS). The CDMA system was recently standardized by U.S. Telecommunications Industry Association as Interim Standard 95 (IS-95). CDMA allows users to differentiate from one another by a unique code rather than a frequency or time assignment, increased capacity and improved performance and reliability. Personal Communications Service (PCSs) or Personal Communications network (PCNs) is an all-digital service that operates in the 1,900MHz-frequency range and is available in metropolitan areas. Digital cellular shares the 800MHz-frequency band with analog and is usually available where analog service is offered. b. Digital cellular telephones systems. c. Three primary subsystem of GSM are Base Station Subsystem (BSS), Network and Switching Subsystem (NSS), and the operational Support Subsystem (OSS). Base Station Subsystem (BSS) known as the radio subsystem it provides and manages radio-frequency transmission paths between mobile units and the mobile switching center (MSC)

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it also manages the radio interface between mobile stations and all other GSM subsystem. each BSS consists of many base station controllers (BSC) which are used to connect the mobile subscriber (MS) to the NSS through one or more MSCs.

Network and Switching Subsystem (NSS) the NSS manages switching functions for the system and allows the MSCs to communicate with other telephone networks such as the public switched telephone service and ISDN. Operational Support Subsystem (OSS) the OSS supports operation and maintenance of the system and allows engineers to monitor, diagnose, and troubleshoot every aspect of the GSM network. Answer 6-4 a. Iridium is a satellite-based wireless personal communications network designed to permit a wide range of mobile telephone services including voice , data , networking, facsimile, and paging. All cellular systems provide a service called roaming. This allows subscribers to operate in service areas other than the one room which service is subscribed. Once registered, roaming mobiles are allow to receive and place calls from that area, and billing is routed automatically to the subscribers home service provider.