Cellular Networks

1G and 2G
4G& 3G
5G
Motivation
• In the early years of mobile radio systems, a large coverage
was achieved by using a single high-powered transmitter
with the antenna mounted on tall tower.
• Although a large coverage could be attained by this
approach, it does not allow the reuse of the same radio
frequencies due to interference
• The cellular concept was invented in solving the spectral
congestion and user capacity.

Top of a cellular radio tower

Cellular Telephone System
• Cellular telephony is a system-level concept, which replaces a single
high power transmitter with a large number of low-power
transmitters for communication between any two devices over a large
geographic area.
• Offer very high capacity in a limited spectrum without major
technological changes.
• Each cellular base station is allocated a group of radio channels within
a small geographic area called a cell.
• Primary goal of the cellular telephone network is to provide wireless
communication between two moving devices
• Mobile stations and stationary unit, commonly referred to as land-line unit.
Cellular Telephone System
• Cellular system comprises the following basic components:
• Mobile Stations (MS): Mobile handsets, which is used by an user to
communicate with another user
• Cell: Each cellular service area is divided into small regions called cell
• (5 to 20 Km)
• Base Stations (BS): Each cell contains an antenna, which is controlled by a
small office.
• Mobile Switching Center (MSC): Each base station is controlled by a switching
office, called mobile switching center
But what’s cellular?
MSC

BS

PSTN
Frequency Reuse Principle
• Cellular telephone systems rely on an intelligent allocation and reuse
of channels.
• Each base station is given a group of radio channels to be used within
a cell.
• Base stations in neighboring cells are assigned completely different
set of channel frequencies.
• By limiting the coverage areas, called footprints, within cell
boundaries
• Same set of channels may be used to cover different cells separated
from one another by a distance large enough to keep interference
• Cells with the same letter use the same set of frequencies, called
reusing cells.
• N cells which collectively use the available frequencies (S = k.N) is known as
cluster.
• If a cluster is replicated M times within a system, then total number duplex
channels (capacity) is C = M.k.N
• As the demand increases in a particular region, the number of
stations can be increased by replacing a cell with a cluster
• Here cell C has been replaced with a cluster
Transmitting and Receiving
• Transmitting involves the following steps:
• A caller enters a 10-digit code (phone number) and presses the send button.
• The MS scans the band to select a free channel and sends a strong signal to send the
number entered.
• The BS relays the number to the MSC.
• The MSC in turn dispatches the request to all the base stations in the cellular
system.
• The Mobile Identification Number (MIN) is then broadcast over all the forward
control channels throughout the cellular system. It is known as paging.
• The MS responds by identifying itself over the reverse control channel.
• The BS relays the acknowledgement sent by the mobile and informs the MSC about
the handshake.
• The MSC assigns an unused voice channel to the call and call is established.
Transmitting and Receiving
• Receiving involves the following steps:
• All the idle mobile stations continuously listens to the paging signal to detect
messages directed at them.
• When a call is placed to a mobile station, a packet is sent to the callee’s home
MSC to find out where it is.
• A packet is sent to the base station in its current cell, which then sends a
broadcast on the paging channel.
• The callee MS responds on the control channel.
• In response, a voice channel is assigned and ringing starts at the MS.
Mobility Management
• A MS is assigned a home network, commonly known as location area.
• When an MS migrates out of its current BS into the footprint of
another, a procedure is performed to maintain service continuity,
known as Handoff management.
• An agent in the home network, called home agent, keeps track of the
current location of the MS.
• The procedure to keep track of the user’s current location is referred
to as Location management.
• Handoff management and location management together are
referred to as Mobility management.
Handoff
• At any instant, each mobile station is logically in a cell and under the
control of the cell’s base station.
• When a mobile station moves out of a cell, the base station notices the
MS’s signal fading away and requests all the neighboring BSs to report the
strength they are receiving.
• The BS then transfers ownership to the cell getting the strongest signal and
the MSC changes the channel carrying the call.
• The process is called handoff.
• There are two types of handoff
• Hard Handoff - In a hard handoff, which was used in the early systems, a MS
communicates with one BS. As a MS moves from cell A to cell B, the communication
between the MS and base station of cell A is first broken before communication is
started between the MS and the base station of B.
• Soft handoff- For smooth transition from one cell (say A) to another (say B), an MS
continues to talk to both A and B. As the MS moves from cell A to cell B, at some
point the communication is broken with the old base station of cell A.
Roaming
• Two fundamental operations are associated with Location
Management
• location update and paging.
• When a Mobile Station (MS) enters a new Location Area, it performs a
location updating procedure by making an association between the foreign
agent and the home agent.
• One of the BSs, in the newly visited Location Area is informed and the home
directory of the MS is updated with its current location.
• When the home agent receives a message destined for the MS, it forwards
the message to the MS via the foreign agent.
• An authentication process is performed before forwarding the message.
Cellular Network Generations
– 0G: Briefcase-size mobile radio telephones
– 1G: Analog cellular telephony
– 2G: Digital cellular telephony
– 3G: High-speed digital cellular telephony (including video
telephony)
– 4G: IP-based “anytime, anywhere” voice, data, and multimedia
telephony at faster data rates than 3G
(to be deployed in 2012–2015)
– 5G under development
First Generation System
• The first generation was designed for voice communication.
• One example is Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) used in North
America.
• AMPS is an analog cellular phone system.
• It uses 800 MHz ISM band and two separate analog channels; forward and
reverse analog channels.
• The band between 824 to 849 MHz is used for reverse communication from
MS to BS.
• The band between 869 to 894 MHz is used for forward communication from
BS to MS.
• AMPS uses Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) to divide each 25-MHz
band into 30-KHz
First Generation System

Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS)

Second Generation
• First generation cellular network was developed for analog voice
communication.
• To provide better voice quality, the second generation was developed
for digitized voice communication.
• Three major systems were evolved
• D-AMPS is essentially a digital version of AMPS and it is
backward compatible with AMPS. It uses the same bands
and channels and uses the frequency
• The Global System for Mobile (GSM) communication is a
European standard developed to replace the first
generation technology. Uses two bands for duplex
communication
• IS-95 CDMA: IS-95 is based on CDMA/DSSS and FDMA
medium access control technique.
Third Generation
• Third generation (3G) technologies are mentioned below:
• Allow both digital data and voice communication.
• To facilitate universal personnel communication.
• Listen music, watch movie, access internet, video conference, etc.
• Criteria for 3G Technologies are:
• Voice quality: Same as present PSTN network.
• Data rate: 144Kbps (car), 384 (pedestrians) and 2Mbps (stationary).
• Support for packet-switched and circuit-switched data services.
• Bandwidth of 2 MHz.
• Interface to the internet. ITU developed a blueprint called Internet Mobile
Communication for year 2000 (IMT2000).
International Mobile Telecommunications- IMT
GSM -2G
• Abbreviation for Global System for Mobile Communications
• Concurrent development in USA and Europe in the 1980’s
• The European system was called GSM and deployed in the
early 1990’s
GSM Services
• Voice, 3.1 kHz
• Short Message Service (SMS)
– 1985 GSM standard that allows messages of at most 160 chars. (incl. spaces) to
be sent between handsets and other stations
– Over 2.4 billion people use it
• General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)
– GSM upgrade that provides IP-based packet data transmission up to 114 kbps
– Users can “simultaneously” make calls and send data
– GPRS provides “always on” Internet access and the Multimedia Messaging
Service (MMS) whereby users can send rich text, audio, video messages to each
other
– Performance degrades as number of users increase
– GPRS is an example of 2.5G telephony – 2G service similar to 3G
GSM Channels
Downlink
Channels
Uplink

• Physical Channel: Each timeslot on a carrier is referred to as a physical channel

• Logical Channel: Variety of information is transmitted between the MS and BTS.
Different types of logical channels:
– Traffic channel
– Control Channel
GSM Frequencies
• Originally designed on 900MHz range, now also available on 800MHz,
1800MHz and 1900 MHz ranges.
• Separate Uplink and Downlink frequencies
– One example channel on the 1800 MHz frequency band, where RF carriers are
space every 200 MHz

UPLINK FREQUENCIES DOWNLINK FREQUENCIES

1710 MHz 1785 MHz 1805 MHz 1880 MHz

UPLINK AND DOWNLINK FREQUENCY SEPARATED BY 95MHZ

Mobile Station (MS)
• MS is the user’s handset and has two parts
– Mobile Equipment
– Subscriber Identity Module

1. Mobile Equipment
– Radio equipment
– User interface
– Processing capability and memory required for various tasks
• Call signalling
• Encryption
• SMS
– Equipment IMEI number
Mobile Station (MS)
2. Subscriber Identity Module
– A small smart card
– Encryption codes needed to identify the subscriber
– Subscriber IMSI number
– Subscriber’s own information (telephone directory)
– Third party applications (banking etc.)
– Can also be used in other systems besides GSM, e.g., some WLAN access points
accept SIM based user authentication
Base Station Subsystem
• Transcoding Rate and Adaptation Unit (TRAU)
– Performs coding between the 64kbps PCM coding used in the backbone
network and the 13 kbps coding used for the Mobile Station (MS)
• Base Station Controller (BSC)
– Controls the channel (time slot) allocation implemented by the BTS
– Manages the handovers within BS’S area
– Knows which mobile stations are within the cell and informs the MSC
• Base Transceiver System (BTS)
– Controls several transmitters
– Each transmitter has 8 time slots, some used for signaling, on a specific
frequency
Network and Switching Subsystem
• The backbone of a GSM network is a telephone network with additional cellular network
capabilities
• Mobile Switching Center (MSC)
– An typical telephony exchange (ISDN exchange) which supports mobile communications
– Visitor Location Register (VLR)
• A database, part of the MSC
• Contains the location of the active Mobile Stations
• Gateway Mobile Switching Center (GMSC)
– Links the system to PSTN and other operators
• Home Location Register (HLR)
– Contain subscriber information, including authentication information in Authentication
Center (AuC)
• Equipment Identity Register (EIR)
– International Mobile Station Equipment Identity (IMEI) codes for e.g., blacklisting stolen
phones
Home Location Register
• Contains all the permanent subscriber information
– MSISDN (Mobile Subscriber ISDN number) is the telephone number of the
subscriber
– International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) is a 15 digit code used to
identify the subscriber
• It incorporates a country code and operator code
– IMSI code is used to link the MSISDN number to the subscriber’s SIM
(Subscriber Identity Module)
– Charging information
– Services available to the customer
• Also the subscriber’s present Location Area Code, which refers to
the MSC, which can connect to the MS.
Other Systems
• Operations Support System
– The management network for the whole GSM network
– Usually vendor dependent
– Very loosely specified in the GSM standards
• Value added services
– Voice mail
– Call forwarding
– Group calls
• Short Message Service Center
– Stores and forwards the SMS messages
– Like an E-mail server
– Required to operate the SMS services
GSM Architecture
GSM System Architecture
PSTN
ISDN
PDN
BSC
MS BTS
MSC

GMSC

BTS BSC
VLR
MS

BTS EIR
AUC
MS HLR
 3G Overview
• 3G is created by ITU-T and is called IMT-2000

ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T

Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA).
Universal Wireless Communications
Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications
GSM Evolution to 3G
High Speed Circuit Switched Data
Dedicate up to 4 timeslots for data connection ~ 50 kbps
Good for real-time applications c.w. GPRS
Inefficient -> ties up resources, even when nothing sent
Not as popular as GPRS (many skipping HSCSD)

Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution

GSM Uses 8PSK modulation
HSCSD
9.6kbps (one timeslot) 3x improvement in data rate on short distances
GSM Data Can fall back to GMSK for greater distances
Also called CSD Combine with GPRS (EGPRS) ~ 384 kbps
Can also be combined with HSCSD
GSM GPRS
WCDMA
General Packet Radio Services
Data rates up to ~ 115 kbps EDGE
Max: 8 timeslots used as any one time
Packet switched; resources not tied up all the time
Contention based. Efficient, but variable delays
GSM / GPRS core network re-used by WCDMA (3G)
Enhanced Data GSM Environment
UMTS
• Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS)
• UMTS is an upgrade from GSM via GPRS or EDGE (Enhanced Data GSM Environment)
• The standardization work for UMTS is carried out by Third Generation Partnership Project
(3GPP)
• Data rates of UMTS are:
– 144 kbps for rural
– 384 kbps for urban outdoor
– 2048 kbps for indoor and low range outdoor
• Virtual Home Environment (VHE)
• is the concept that a network supporting mobile users should provide them the same computing
environment on the road that they have in their home or corporate computing environment.
• Two common ones were UTRA and UTRAN.
• UTRA standards for UMTS radio access
• UTRAN for UMTS radio access network - Radio Network Subsystem- RNS.
• UMTS network architecture can be divided into three main elements:
– User Equipment (UE): The User Equipment or UE is the name given to what was
previous termed the mobile, or cellphone.
– Radio Network Subsystem (RNS): The RNS also known as the UMTS Radio
Access Network, UTRAN, is the equivalent of the previous Base Station
Subsystem or BSS in GSM. It provides and manages the air interface fort he
overall network.
– Core Network: The core network provides all the central processing and
management for the system. It is the equivalent of the GSM Network Switching
Subsystem or NSS.
UMTS Frequency Spectrum
• UMTS Band
– 1900-2025 MHz and 2110-2200 MHz for 3G transmission
– In the US, 1710–1755 MHz and 2110–2155 MHz will be used instead, as the
1900 MHz band was already used.
UTRAN - UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network
• Wide band CDMA technology is selected for UTRAN air interface
– WCDMA -- Wideband Code Division Multiple Access
– TD-SCDMA -- time division synchronous code division multiple access
• Base stations are referred to as Node-B and control equipment for Node-
B is called as Radio Network Controller (RNC).
– Functions of Node-B are
• Air Interface Tx/Rx
• Modulation/Demodulation
– Functions of RNC are:
• Radio Resource Control
• Channel Allocation
• Power Control Settings
• Handover Control
• Ciphering
• Segmentation and reassembly
3.5G (HSPA)
• High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) is an amalgamation of two mobile telephony
protocols, High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and High Speed Uplink
Packet Access (HSUPA), that extends and improves the performance of existing
WCDMA protocols
• 3.5G introduces many new features that will enhance the UMTS technology in
future.
- Adaptive Modulation and Coding
- Fast Scheduling
- Backward compatibility with 3G
- Enhanced Air Interface
4G (LTE)
• LTE stands for Long Term Evolution
• Next Generation mobile broadband technology
• Promises data transfer rates of 100 Mbps
• Based on UMTS 3G technology
• such as smartphones, tablets, netbooks, notebooks and wireless
hotspots.
• 4G technologies are designed to provide IP-based voice, data and
multimedia streaming at speeds of at least 100 Mbit per second and up
to as fast as 1 GBit per second.
• Optimized for All-IP traffic
4G (LTE)
• The high-level network architecture of LTE is comprised of
following three main components:
– The User Equipment (UE).
– The Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN).
– The Evolved Packet Core (EPC).
The User Equipment (UE)
• The internal architecture of the user equipment for LTE is
identical to the one used by UMTS and GSM which is actually a
Mobile Equipment (ME).
– Mobile Termination (MT) : This handles all the communication functions.
– Terminal Equipment (TE) : This terminates the data streams.
– Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) : This is also known as the SIM card for
LTE equipment's. It runs an application known as the Universal Subscriber
Identity Module (USIM).
The Evolved Packet Core (EPC) (The core network)

• The architecture of Evolved Packet Core (EPC)

– These components are like the Earthquake and Tsunami Warning
System (ETWS)
– Equipment Identity Register (EIR)
– Policy Control and Charging Rules Function (PCRF).
• The Home Subscriber Server (HSS- contains information
about all the network operator's subscribers.
• The Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW)
communicates with the outside
• The serving gateway (S-GW) acts as a router, and forwards
data between the base station and the PDN gateway.
• The mobility management entity (MME) controls the high-
level operation of the mobile by means of signaling
messages and Home Subscriber Server (HSS).
• The Policy Control and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) -it
is responsible for policy control decision-making, as well
as for controlling the flow-based charging functionalities
in the Policy Control Enforcement Function (PCEF), which
resides in the P-GW.
Advantages of LTE