CHAPTER 2

CELLULAR CONCEPTS
Engr. Naveed Jan

What is MOBILE COMMUNICATION??

Whats Mobility ???

Does it really mean anything on a go ???
Whats Communication ???

MOBILE COMMUNICATION
Mobility in real terms is the effectiveness
of same equipment & services
irrespective of an area (geographical
location).
Communication means interaction of
two entities or devices .
3

What is BTS

A base transceiver station (BTS) is a piece of equipment that facilitates wireless

communication between user equipment (UE) and a network.
A BTS site normally have a tall tower with antennas at the top & necessary
electronics to generate & manipulate the signals.

A typical BTS tower which holds the antenna.

The tower is quite widely misinterpreted as the
BTS itself. The shelter which houses the actual
BTS can also be seen

An actual BTS device

4

What is CELL
Cell is a geographical area in which a clear radio Signal from
one BTS can be sensed.

GSM Cell Types

Macro cells can be regarded as cells where the base
station antenna is installed on a mast or a building above
average rooftop level.
Micro cells are cells whose antenna height is under average
rooftop level; they are typically used in urban areas.
Picocells are small cells whose coverage diameter is a few
dozen metres; they are mainly used indoors.
Femtocells are cells designed for use in residential or small
business environments and connect to the service providers
network via a broadband internet connection

Diff b/w Cellular & Radio (non cellular)

Communication
In RADIO Communication a single high power Transmitter
used to cover a wide range of area.
Cellular Communication network is composed of number of
small cells. The reasons are
1. radio signals at the frequencies used for cellular Comm travel
only a few kilometers from the point at which they are
transmitted.
2. They travel more or less equal distances in all directions;
hence, the area around it where a radio signal can be received
is typically approximately circular.

Diff b/w Cellular & Non Cellular Communication

If the network designer wants to cover a large area, then he must
have a number of transmitters positioned so that when one gets to
the edge of the first cell there is a second cell overlapping slightly,
providing radio signal.
Hence the construction of the network is a series of approximately
circular cells

What are the motivations for this?

The aim is to use spectrum or bandwidth efficiently.
Bandwidth allocation for voice channels (and data) is
limited.
Each cell allows one to use a number of radio
channels.
Adjacent cells use different frequencies.
Each cell has a control channel.
A call started in one zone has to be re-initiated when
moving to a new zone because the call will be
dropped.
10

Why Cells are Theoretically made Hexagons ?

While it might seem natural to choose a circle but
adjacent circles cant be overlaid without
1. Leaving gaps.
2. Or creating overlapping regions.
Thus when considering geometric shapes, triangle,
square & hexagon can cover an entire region.
Hexagons are preferred because
1. It closely approximates a circular radiation pattern
2. Among the three, hexagon has the largest area. Hence
fewer number of cells can cover entire region.
11

Why Cells Theoretically made Hexagons ??

The actual radio coverage is known as the
footprint.
It is determined from the field measurements or
propagation prediction model.
The real footprint is amorphous in nature.

12

Area of a Hexagon
What is the Area of hexagon in terms of R???
Hint:
s=R
R
sh

13

Frequency Reuse
Each cell is assigned a part of the available
frequency spectrum.
Cellular radio systems offer the possibility of
using the same part of the frequency spectrum
more than once.
This is called frequency reuse.
Cells with identical channel frequencies are called
co-channel cells.
The co-channel cells have to be sufficiently
separated to avoid interference.
14

Frequency Reuse Cntd.......

The distance between
these co-channel cells is
achieved by the creation
of a cluster of cells.
The cells which
collectively use the
complete set of
available frequencies is
called a cluster.

15

Frequency Reuse Cntd.......

A cellular system which has a total of n duplex
channels
If each cell is allocated a group of nc channels (nc < n)
if the n channels are divided among N cells
the total number of available radio channels can be

n = nc * N
If a cluster is replicated M times within the system
C = M * nc *N = M * n
The capacity of cellular system is directly proportional
to the number of times a cluster is replicated

16

Frequency Reuse Cntd.......

The factor N is called the cluster size and is typically
equal to 4,7,12.
The value for N is a function of how much interference
a mobile or base station can tolerate while maintaining
a sufficient quality of communication.
If the cluster size N is reduced, more clusters are
required to cover a given area and hence more capacity.
Large cluster size indicates that the co-channel cells
are located far away from each other, hence less
interference.
So cluster size N is a compromise between capacity &
interference.
17

Frequency Reuse Cntd.......

18

Frequency Reuse Cntd.......

the hexagon geometry has exactly six
equidistant neighbors and that the lines joining
the centers of any co- channel cell are
separated by multiples of 60 degrees.
there are only certain cluster sizes and cell
layouts which are possible.
In order to tessellate, the cluster size N should
satisfy

N = i2 + ij + j2
where i greater than or equal to j.
19

Frequency Reuse Cntd.......

20

Frequency Reuse Cntd.......

How many cells per cluster ???
What is the distance between cells with the
same frequency ???

21

Frequency Reuse Cntd.......

* not valid selections.

22

Frequency Reuse Cntd.....

23

Frequency Reuse Distance

An important parameter denoting the amount of frequency
reuse in a certain area is called frequency reuse distance Ru.
Ru is defined as the ratio of the reuse distance, D, between the
centers of the nearest co-channel cells and the cell radius, R.

24

Frequency Reuse Distance Cntd....

From the cell geometry prove that
D / R = 3N

Prove by yourself !
D

25

Co-Channel Interference
Co -channel interference depends on D/R.
D - distance between cells using the same
frequency.
R - radius of each cell.
As D/R increases, co-channel interference
decreases.

How many co-channel interfering

cells are there in first tier?????
26

Co-Channel Interference Cntd....

Always 6 in the first tier e.g. N = 3

27

Co-Channel Interference Cntd....

28

Co-Channel Interference Cntd....

The ratio of carrier to interference power is given by

C / I = carrier power / interference power
= C / { I 1 + I2 + I 3 + I 4 + I 5 + I 6 }
since there are 6 interfering cells in the first tier.
The carrier power is proportional { R }a
where a = propagation path loss slope determined by
the actual terrain environment. It varies between 2 and 5
. A value of 4 is usually assumed for a.
Hence for a fully developed system,
C / I = { R }a/ { 6 D-a }
if we assume that all distances DI are the same.
C / I = 1 / { 6 ( D / R )a}
29

Effect of Imperfect Site Location

What is the C/I in this
case ??
Hint:
Use the same
method as did in ideal
case.

30

Here is the answer

C/I = R-4 / {2 (D R)-4 + 2 (D)-4 + 2 (D + R)-4 }

= 1 /{ 2 (D/R 1)-4 + 2 (D/R)-4 + 2 (D/R + 1)-4}
For N=7, D/R = (3.N) = 4.5826.
C / I = (10 log10 54) or 17 dB i.e. lower than 18
dB.
If all the distances are equal to D - R, then
C/I = R-4 / 6 (D R) -4 or 28 i.e. 14.5 dB

31

To further test your patience!!!

1) Obtain C/I for case where three neighbours
are at (D+R) & other three are at (D-R)

Now to really add to your agony

2) Obtain C/I for the case where only one
neighbour in first tier is at (D+R), all other are
at (D-R).
32

Handover / Handoff Mechanism

Handover, also known as handoff,
is a process to switch an ongoing
call from one cell to the adjacent
cell as a mobile user approaches
the cell boundary.
Handover is an automatic process,
if the signal strength falls below a
threshold level.
It is not noticed by the user
because it happens very quickly
within 200 to 300 ms

The need for a handover may be caused by radio, operation

and management (O&M), or by traffic.
The main reasons are low signal level or high error rate.
33

Handover / Handoff Mechanism

Handover is the process of transferring a call from one base station to another as the user
moves. Handovers should be fast (so overlaps of areas of cells can be minimised); reliable
(dropped calls are more frustrating than blocking - some channels can be reserved for
handovers)

Note the slight

gap in threshold
levels: this
prevents too
many handovers.

Level at A and B

Received Signal Level

Handover +ve threshold

Handover -ve threshold
Minimum acceptable
quality level
Call Termination
Time

user moving

Handover Cntd.......
A handover is performed in three stages.
1. The mobile station (MS) continuously gathers
information of the received signal level of the base
station (BS) with which it is connected, and of all
other BTSs it can detect.
2. This information is then averaged to filter out fastfading effects. The averaged data is then passed on
to the decision algorithm, which decides if it will
request a handover to another station.
3. When it decides to do so, handover is executed by
both the old BS and the MS, resulting in a
connection to the new BS.
35

Handover Cntd.......
To prevent handover resulting from
temporary fluctuations in the received
signal level, the measurements must be
averaged.
Longer averaging lengths give more reliable
handover decisions, but also result in longer
handover delays.
So its a bit of a trade-off between handover
rate & handover delay
36

Dwell Time
The time over which a call may be maintained
within a cell, without handoff, is called the
dwell time.
Even when a mobile user is stationary,
ambient motion in the vicinity of the base
station and the mobile can produce fading.
Thus even a stationary subscriber may have a
random and finite dwell time.
The statistics of dwell time vary greatly,
depending on the speed of the user and the
type of radio coverage.
37

Mobile Assisted HandOff (MAHO)

In first generation analog cellular system, signal strength
measurement are made by base station and supervised by MSC.
Each base station constantly monitors the signal strengths of all of its
reverse voice channels to determine the relative location of each
mobile user with respect to base station tower.
In addition to measuring the RSSI of calls in progress within a cell, a
spare receiver in each base station, called the locator receiver, is
used to scan and determine signal strengths of mobile users which are
in neighboring cells.
The locator receiver is controlled by the MSC and is used to monitor
the signal strength of users in neighboring cells which appear to be in
need of handoff and reports all RSSI values to the MSC.
Based on the locator receiver signal strength information from each
base station, the MSC decides if a handoff is necessary or not.
38

Mobile Assisted HandOff (MAHO)

In todays second generation system, handoff decisions are mobile
assisted.
In mobile assisted handover (MAHO), every mobile station measures
the received power from the surrounding base stations and continually
reports the result of these measurements to the serving base station.
A handoff is initiated when the power received from the base station of
a neighboring cell begins to exceed the power received from the current
base station by a certain level or for a certain period of time.
The MAHO method enables the call to be handed over between the base
stations at much faster rate than in first generation analog systems since
the handoff measurements are made by each mobile and the MSC no
longer constantly monitors signal strength.
MAHO is practically suited for microcell environments where handoffs
are more frequent.
39

Umbrella Cell Approach

problems arise when design for a wide range of mobile
velocities.
High speed vehicles pass through the coverage region of a
cell within a matter of seconds, whereas pedestrian users
may never need a handoff during a call.
MSC can quickly become burdened if high speed users
are constantly being passed between very small cells.
In practice it is difficult for cellular service providers to
obtain new physical cell site locations in urban areas.(non
technical barriers)
By using different antenna heights and different power
levels, it is possible to provide large and small cells
which are co-located at a single location. This technique is
called the umbrella cell approach
40

Umbrella Cell Approach Cntd.

It provides large area coverage to high speed
users.
And provides small area coverage to users
traveling at low speeds.
The umbrella cell approach ensures that the
number of handoffs are minimized for high
speed users and provides additional microcell
channels for pedestrian users.
41

Umbrella Cell Approach Cntd.

42

IMPROVING CAPACITY &

COVERAGE IN CELLULAR SYSTEM

43

Cell Splitting

Total number of voice channels = C

There are N cells per cluster.
Hence the number of voice channels per cell = C / N
With traffic growth within a cell, all capacity will be
used up. Further growth is only possible by
1. increasing the number of voice channels in the cell, or
2. revising the cell boundaries so that the area formerly
regarded as a single cell can now contain several cells.

This latter process is called cell splitting.

44

Cell Splitting Cntd....

When a cell becomes congested it divides the
cell into smaller cell.
By this way the subdivided cell has its own
base station with small antenna size & low
transmitted power.
cell has smaller radius and the new smaller cell
called the micro cell should be installed
between the existing cells.
The capacity increases due to the additional
number of channel per unit area.
45

Cell Splitting Cntd....

Original Cell distribution

Cell Distribution following the

splitting of the cell labeled A.
46

Cell Splitting Cntd....

After cell splitting, the new small cells are reassigned new
frequencies that do not cause cochannel interference with
adjacent cells as shown in the figure.
In addition, the power transmitted in the small cells is reduced
compared to the power transmitted in the large cells as it
would require much less power to cover the cell compared to
the large cells
In addition to the advantage of having a higher network
capacity due to cell splitting, the reduced transmitted power,
especially by the mobile phone, is another major advantages
because it increases the battery life of these mobile phones.
47

Cell Splitting Cntd....

Cell splitting allows a system to grow by
replacing large cell with smaller, while not
upsetting the channel allocation scheme required
maintaining the minimum number of co-channel
reuse ratio.
The main disadvantage of cell splitting is that it
requires the construction of new towers, which is
very costly.

48

Cell Sectoring
Sectoring increases the SIR so that the cluster size may
be reduced.
In this approach, first the SIR is improved using the
directional antennas, then capacity improvement is
achieved by reducing the number of cells in the cluster,
thus increasing the frequency reuse.

49

Cell Sectoring Cntd.

When sectoring is employed, the channels
used in a particular cell are broken down into
sectored groups and are used only within
particular sector.
Assuming seven-cell reuse, for the case of 120
degrees sectors.
the number of interferers in the first tier is
reduced from six to two.

How come ????

50

Cell Sectoring Cntd.

No sectorization

Sectorization implemented

51

Cell Sectoring Cntd.

52

Cell Sectoring Cntd..

The reduction in interference increases SIR
which allows us to reduce the cluster size.
Hence capacity is increased.
For example:
If N= 7 with 120 degree sectoring, the SIR
increases to 24.5 dB.

Can you Prove it ????

53

Answer for dullards !!!

The worst case carrier to interference ratio is
given by
C/I = R-4 / { (D + 0.7R)-4 + (D)-4 }
= 1 / { (D/R + 0.7)-4 + (D/R)-4 }
For N=7, D/R = (3.N) = (21) .
Hence
C/I = 1 / { ((21) + 0.7)-4 + ((21) )-4 }
or C/I = 24.5 dB.
54

Cell Sectoring Cntd..

So far we have shown that sectoring improves
SIR.
Now if we prove that reducing cluster size
with sectoring can increase the capacity, our
job will be done.

But who will bell the cat ????

55

Take Some pain Guyzzz !!!!

Calculate C/I for the case of 120 degrees
sectoring with N=4
Calculate C/I for 60 degrees sectoring with
N=7
Last but not the least
Measure C/I for N= 4 & N= 12 with 60
degrees sectoring
Give your overall comments about the
combination giving best results in terms of
capacity & Interference.

56

Micro Cell Zone Concept

Do you really believe cell sectoring is an
ultimate solution ???
Do you think of any disadvantage it
contains ???

57

Micro Cell Zone Concept

The two main disadvantages of sectoring are
1. It increases intra-cell handovers
2. The trunking efficiency is decreased

Micro Cell Zone Concept covers both points

58

Micro Cell Zone Concept

In this scheme
Sectors are converted to zones.
mobile travels from one zone to other zone
within the cell, retains the same channel.
Thus unlike in sectoring, a handoff is not
required at the MSC.
In this way a given channel is active only in
the particular zone in which the mobile is
traveling
59

Micro Cell Zone Concept

while the cell maintains a particular coverage
radius, the co-channel interference in the cellular
system is reduced because
1.A large central base station is replaced by
several lower powered transmitter on the
edges of the of the cell.
2.Decrease co-channel interference improves the
signal quality and also leads to an increase in
capacity without the degradation in trucking
efficiency
60

Micro Cell Zone Concept

61

Near Far Effect

As name suggests, its the effect of near
users transmission on far user.
If both using adjacent channels, the effect is
pronounced.
If near users power is more, the effect is
even more prominent.

62

Near Far Effect Cntd....

The receiver will not be able to decode far
user mainly because
1.Filter are ideally not very sharp.
2.Signal from far user deteriorates enough when
reaches BTS.

So whats the solution ?????

63

Near Far Effect Cntd....

Two proposed solutions are
1. Deployment of POWER CONTROL.
2. Proper distribution of Channel frequencies.
(adjacent channels should be separated far
enough).

64

Near Far Effect Cntd....

65

Near Far Effect Cntd....

Cell
A1

Cell
B1

Cell
C1

Cell
A2

Cell
B2

Cell
C2

Cell
A3

Cell
B3

Cell
C3

1
10
19
28

2
11
20
29

3
12
21
30

4
13
22
31

5
14
23
32

6
15
24
33

7
16
25
34

8
17
26
35

9
18
27
36

Cell
A1

Cell
B1

Cell
C1

Cell
D1

Cell
A2

Cell
B2

Cell
C2

Cell
D2

Cell
A3

Cell
B3

Cell
C3

Cell
D3

1
13
25

2
14
26

3
15
27

4
16
28

5
17
29

6
18
30

7
19
31

8
20
32

9
21
33

10
22
34

11
23
35

12
24
36

66