UNIT-3

THE CELLUAR CONCEPT

2/6/16

Dr.Vrince Vimal, MIT, MIET GROUP,

MEERUT

Cellular Systems--Cellular Concepts

The cellular concept was a major breakthrough in solving
the problem of spectral congestion and user capacity. It
offered very high capacity in a limited spectrum allocation
without any major technological changes.
The cellular concept has the following system level ideas
Replacing a single, high power transmitter with many low
power transmitters, each providing coverage to only a small
area.
Neighboring cells are assigned different groups of channels in
order to minimize interference.
The same set of channels is then reused at different
geographical locations.
2/6/16

Dr.Vrince Vimal, MIT, MIET GROUP,

MEERUT

 When designing a cellular mobile communication

system, it is important to provide good coverage
and services in a high user-density area.
Reuse can be done once the total interference
from all users in the cells using the same
frequency (co-channel cell) for transmission
suffers from sufficient attenuation. Factors need to
be considered include:
Geographical separation (path loss)
Shadowing effect
2/6/16

Dr.Vrince Vimal, MIT, MIET GROUP,

MEERUT

Cell Footprint
The actual radio coverage of a cell is known as
the cell footprint.
Irregular cell structure and irregular placing of
the transmitter may be acceptable in the initial
system design. However as traffic grows,
where new cells and channels need to be
added, it may lead to inability to reuse
frequencies because of co-channel
interference.
For systematic cell planning, a regular shape is
assumed for the footprint.
2/6/16

Dr.Vrince Vimal, MIT, MIET GROUP,

MEERUT

2/6/16

Dr.Vrince Vimal, MIT, MIET GROUP,

MEERUT

Frequency reuse
Cellular system depends upon intelligent allocation and
reuse of channels.
Each BS is allocated separate group of channels to be
used in small geographic region called as CELL.
Adjacent cells are allocated separate group of channels.
BS antenna are designed to provide coverage to
particular cell.
By doing this same group of channels can be used again
in separate cells physically at large distance from cell
containing those channels by very well keeping
interference within tolerable limits.
This design process of selecting and allocating the
channels of CBS within system is called as frequency
reuse.
2/6/16

Dr.Vrince Vimal, MIT, MIET GROUP,

MEERUT

 A cellular system which has a total of S

duplex channels.
S channels are divided among N cells, with
each cell uses unique and disjoint channels.
If each cell is allocated a group of k
channels, then
S=kN.
2/6/16

Dr.Vrince Vimal, MIT, MIET GROUP,

MEERUT

Terminology
Cluster size : The N cells which collectively
use the complete set of available
frequency is called the cluster size.
Co-channel cell : The set of cells using the
same set of frequencies as the target cell.
Interference tier : A set of co-channel cells
at the same distance from the reference
cell is called an interference tier. The set of
closest co-channel cells is call the first tier.
There is always 6 co-channel cells in the
first tier.
2/6/16

Dr.Vrince Vimal, MIT, MIET GROUP,

MEERUT

Co-ordinates for hexagonal cellular geometry

With these coordinates, an

array of cells can
be laid out so
that the center of
every cell falls on
a point specified
by a pair of
integer coordinates.
2/6/16

Dr.Vrince Vimal, MIT, MIET GROUP,

MEERUT

2/6/16

Dr.Vrince Vimal, MIT, MIET GROUP,

MEERUT

10

Designing a cellular system

N=19
(i=3, j=2)

2/6/16

Dr.Vrince Vimal, MIT, MIET GROUP,

MEERUT

11

Designing a cellular system

The cluster size must satisfy: N = i2 +
ij + j2 where i, j are non-negative
integers.

2/6/16

Dr.Vrince Vimal, MIT, MIET GROUP,

MEERUT

12

 Can also verify that

where Q is the co-channel reuse

ratio

2/6/16

Dr.Vrince Vimal, MIT, MIET GROUP,

MEERUT

13

Problem

Total 33 MHz b/w allocated to a FDD cellular system which uses 25

kHz simplex channels to provide full duplex voice and control
channels. Find the number of channels available per cell if a
system uses: a) four-cell reuse, b) 7-cell reuse. If 1 MHz of the
allocated spectrum is dedicated to control channels, find an
equitable distribution of control channels & voice channels.
Total b/w = 33 MHz

For N=4,

Total no of ch per cell k = 660/7 = 95 channels

1MHz for control channels ie. 1000/50 = 20 control channels. So

only 640 channels (660-20) would be allotted for voice
For N = 4,

Total no of ch per cell k = 660/4 = 165 channels

For N = 7,

Channel b/w = 2 X 25khz = 50 khz

Total available channels S = 33, 000/50 = 660 channels

5 control ch + 160 voice ch per cell

For N =7,

4 cells with (3 control ch + 92 voice ch) & 2 cells with (3 control + 90 voice ch) &
1 cell with (2 control ch + 92 voice channels)
Each cell with 1 control ch and 4 cells with 91 voice ch and 3 cells with 92 voice
ch

Handover / Handoff
Occurs as a mobile moves into a
different cell during an existing call,
or when going from one cellular
system into another.
It must be user transparent, successful
and not too frequent.
Not only involves identifying a new BS,
but also requires that the voice and
control signals be allocated to channels
Dr.Vrince Vimal, MIT, MIET GROUP,
2/6/16
15
MEERUTnew BS.
associated with the

 Once a particular signal level Pmin is specified

as the minimum usable signal for acceptable
voice quality at the BS receiver, a slightly
stronger signal level PHO is used as a
threshold at which a handover is made.

2/6/16

Dr.Vrince Vimal, MIT, MIET GROUP,

MEERUT

16

 =handoff threshold Minimum acceptable

signal to maintain the call
too small:
Insufficient time
to complete handoff
before call is lost
More call losses
too large:
Too many handoffs
Burden for MSC
2/6/16

Dr.Vrince Vimal, MIT, MIET GROUP,

MEERUT

17

Dwell Time
The time over which a user remains within
one cell is called the dwell time.
The statistics of the dwell time are
important for the practical design of
handover algorithms.
The statistics of the dwell time vary greatly,
depending on the speed of the user and the
type of radio coverage.
2/6/16

Dr.Vrince Vimal, MIT, MIET GROUP,

MEERUT

18

Handover indicator
Each BS constantly monitors the signal
strengths of all of its reverse voice channels
to determine the relative location of each
mobile user with respect to the BS. This
information is forwarded to the MSC who
makes decisions regarding handover.
Mobile assisted handover (MAHO) : The
mobile station measures the received power
from surrounding BSs and continually reports
the results of these measurements to the
serving BS.
Dr.Vrince Vimal, MIT, MIET GROUP,
2/6/16
19
MEERUT

Practical handover
The Umbrella Cell
approach will help to
solve this problems.
High speed users are
serviced by large
(macro) cells, while
low speed users are
handled by small
(micro) cells.

Practical handover
A hard handover does break before
make, ie. The old channel
connection is broken before the new
allocated channel connection is
setup. This obviously can cause call
dropping.
In soft handover, we do make
before break, ie. The new channel
connection is established before the
old channel connection is released.
This is realized in CDMA where also
BS diversity is used to improve
boundary condition.

Interference and System Capacity

In a given coverage area, there are several
cells that use the same set of frequencies.
These cells are called co-channel cells. The
interference between signals from these cells
is called co-channel interference.
If all cells are approximately of the same size
and the path loss exponent is the same
throughout the coverage area, the transmit
power of each BS is almost equal. We can
show that worse case signal to co-channel
interference is independent of the
transmitted power. It becomes a function of
the cell radius R, and the distance to the
nearest co-channel cell D.
On control channel I/f leads to missed or block

n urban areas more severe due high RF noise floor

The 2 major types are

Co-Channel interference
Adjacent channel interfernce

2/6/16

Dr.Vrince Vimal, MIT, MIET GROUP,

MEERUT

23

Interference and System Capacity

Q- Co-Channel reuse ratio is given by:-

Let i0 is the no of co- channel nterfering cells than

2/6/16

Dr.Vrince Vimal, MIT, MIET GROUP,

MEERUT

24

 Received power at a distance d from the

transmitting antenna is approximated by

Useful signal at the cell boundary is the

weakest, given by Pr (R). Interference signal
from the co-channel cell is given to be Pr (D
) .

Interference and System

Capacity

D is normally
approximated
by the base
station
separation
between the
two cells D,
unless when
accuracy is
needed.
Hence

Interference and System

Capacity
For the forward link, a very general
case,

where Di is the distance of the ith

interfering cell from the mobile, i0 is
the total number of co-channel cells
exist.

Interference and System

Capacity
If only first tier co-channel cells are
considered, then i0 = 6.
Unless otherwise stated, normally
assuming Di D for all i.

Outage probability
The probability that a mobile station does not
receive a usable signal.
For GSM, this is 12 dB and for AMPS, this is 18
dB. If there is 6 co-channel cells, then

Exercise : please verify this

For n=4, a minimum cluster size of N=7 is needed
to meet the SIR requirements for AMPS.
For n=4, a minimum cluster size of N=4 is required
to meet the SIR requirements for GSM

Outage probability

Outage probability
Approximati
on in
distance has
been made
on the 2nd
tier
onwards.

Outage probability
More accurate SIR can
be obtained by
computing the actual
distance.
Our computation of
outage only based on
path loss. For more
accurate modeling,
shadowing and fast
fading need to be taken
into consideration. This
will not be covered in
this course.

Coverage Problems

Revision:

Recall that the mean measured value,

Measurement shows that at any value of d, the

path loss PL(d) at a particular location is random
and distributed log-normally (normal in dB) about
this mean value.
Pr (d)dB = Pr (d)dB + X
where X is a zero-mean Gaussian distributed
random variable (in dB) with standard deviation
(in dB).

Boundary coverage

There will be a proportion of locations at distance R (cell

radius) where a terminal would experience a received
signal above a threshold . ( is usually the receiver
sensitivity)

where Q(x) is the standard normal distribution.

Cell coverage
Proportion of locations within the area defined by
the cell radius R, receiving a signal above the
threshold .

Cell coverage
Solution can be found using the graph
provided. (n : path loss exponent)

Cell coverage
Example: if n=4, =8 dB, and if the boundary
is to have 75% coverage (75% of the time the
signal is to exceed the threshold at the
boundary), then the area coverage is equal to
94%.
If n=2, =8 dB, and if the boundary is to have
75% coverage, then the area coverage is
equal to 91%.
An operator needs to meet certain coverage
criteria. This is typically the 90% rule 90%
of a given geographical area must be covered
for 90% of the time.

Cell coverage
The mean signal level at any distance is
determined by path loss and the variance is
determined by the resulting fading distribution
(log-normal shadowing, Rayleigh fading,
Nakagami-m, etc). In this course, we will deal
with log-normal shadowing only.
The proportion of locations covered at a given
distance (cell boundary, for example) from BS can
be found directly from the resultant signal pdf/cdf.
The proportion of locations covered within a
circular region defined by a radius R (the cell
area, for example) can be found by integrating
the resultant cdf over the cell area.