Second Generation (2G) Cellular

Dr. A. Chockalingam
Assistant Professor
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore-12

achockal@ece.ucsd.edu
http://www.ece.iisc.ernet.in/~achockal

2G Cellular Systems

GSM
European Digital Cellular Standard
TDMA Access Technology

IS-54/IS-136
North American Digital Cellular Standard
TDMA Access Technology

IS-95A
North American Digital Cellular Standard
CDMA Access Technology

Dr. A. Chock

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

GSM

Global System for Mobile communications

OMC

BTS

PSTN

BSC
MS

MSC

BTS

ISDN
BTS

BTS

HLR

BSC

AUC

Network and Switching

Subsystem (NSS)

BTS
MS

Base Station Subsystem (BSS)

Dr. A. Chock

VLR

MS: Mobile Station

BTS: Base Transceiver Station
BSC: Base Station Controller
AUC: Authentication Center

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

Data
Networks

Public Networks
MSC: Mobile Switching Center
HLR: Home Location Register
VLR: Visitor Location Register
OMC: Operation Maintenance Center

GSM - Interfaces

BTS

MSC

BSC

BTS

PSTN

MS

A Interface

BTS

(standardized)

SS7

Abis Interface
(standardized)

GSM Radio Air

Interface (standardized)

Dr. A. Chock

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

GSM: Services & Features

Teleservices
standard mobile telephony, both mobile originated
and mobile terminated

Data Services
computer to computer traffic (e.g., Async Data)
Digital Fax

Supplementary Services
Caller ID, Short Messaging Service (SMS)

Subscriber Identity Module (SIM)

user memory device to activate service from any
GSM phone

Dr. A. Chock

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

GSM: Air Interface

TDMA access technology

25 MHz BW spectrum on both directions
890 to 915 MHz Reverse link (mobile-to-base)
935 to 960 MHz Forward link (base-to-mobile)

200 KHz RF carriers

8 TDMA slots on each carrier (i.e., each 200
KHz carrier can support 8 simultaneous calls)
(25 MHz / 200 KHz) * 8 = 1000 traffic channels
13 Kbps vocoder rate (half rate vocoder can
double capacity)

Dr. A. Chock

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

GSM: Air Interface

Slow frequency hopping to mitigate fading effects

Channel data rate : 270.833 Kbps
GMSK modulation with 0.3 BT product
Channel types
Traffic Channels (TCH) - carry traffic signals
Full Rate TCH, Half Rate TCH

Control Channels (CCH) - carry call control signals

Broadcast Channel (BCH)
Common Control Channel (CCH): Paging and Random
Access Channels
Dedicated Control Channel (DCCH)

Dr. A. Chock

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

TDMA Frame in GSM

Time
Slot

577 microseconds

GSM TDMA Frame

(8 time slots = 4.615 milliseconds)

Dr. A. Chock

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

GSM: Normal Traffic Burst

0
7

Training
Sequence

F
L
A
G

148 BITS

T
A
I
L

DATA
(e.g. encoded voice)

57 BITS

3 BITS

Dr. A. Chock

F
L
A
G

1 BIT

26 BITS

DATA
(e.g. encoded voice)

1 BIT

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

57 BITS

T
A
I
L

3 BITS

GSM: Air Interface

Downlink Control Signaling

Frequency Correction: Sends a frequency
reference.
Synchronization: Sends a timing reference.
Broadcasting: Broadcasts general information
about the Base Station.
Paging: Notifies the mobile of incoming calls.
Assigns a traffic channel to a mobile.

Uplink Signaling
Random Access Channel: used by mobiles to
request a traffic channel

Dr. A. Chock

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

10

GSM: Channel Interaction

Mobile - Base Station Initialization

Mobile identifies a Frequency Correction burst on the
Frequency Correction Channel.
Mobile synchronizes timing using a synchronization burst
on the Synchronization Channel.
Mobile obtains general system information over the
Broadcast channel.

Mobile - Base Station Communication

Mobile and Base communicate over Random Access and
Paging channels when not involved in a call.
Mobile and Base communicate over Traffic channels while
involved in a call.

Dr. A. Chock

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

11

IS-54

IS-54
also known as Digital AMPS (D-AMPS)
upgrade AMPS analog technology to a digital
technology
same spectrum and frequency spacing (30 KHz)
like AMPS
supports 3 or 6 users on a single single 30 KHz
carrier using TDMA scheme with 6 slots
control channels are identical to analog AMPS
control channels, but twice as many control
channels as AMPS

Dr. A. Chock

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

12

IS-54 Radio Interface

Parameters

IS-54 Specifications

Multiple Access
Modulation
Channel bandwidth
Rev Channel band
Fvd channel band
Fvd & Rev channel data rates

TDMA/FDD
Pi/4 DQPSK
30 KHz
824 849 MHz
869 894 MHz
48.6 Kbps

Spectrum efficiency

1.62 bps/Hz

Channel Coding

7 bit CRC and rate convol.

coding of K=6
3 (full-rate speech coder of 7.95
kbps/user)
6 (with half-rate speech coder of
3.975 kbps/user)

Users per channel

Dr. A. Chock

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

13

IS-54 vs IS-136

IS-54 vs IS-136
IS-54 uses 10 Kbps FSK modulated control channels
IS-136 uses 48.6 Kbps digital modulated control
channels
IS-136 does not support 10 Kbps FSK control channel.
So IS-136 user terminals are not compatible with IS-54

IS-136 provides a host of new features and services,

including
short messaging capabilities
private user group features (suited for wireless PBX and
paging applications)
Sleep Mode to conserve battery power

Dr. A. Chock

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

14

GSM / IS-54 Summary

GSM

IS-54

Year of introduction
Multiple Access

1990
TDMA/FDMA/FDD

1991
TDMA/FDMA/FDD

Frequencies

890 - 915 MHz (R)

935 960 MHz (F)
GMSK (BT=0.3)
200 KHz
270.833 Kbps
1000
1.35 bps/Hz
RELP-LTP @ 13 Kbps
CRC with r=1/2; K=5
Conv.
Adaptive

824 849 MHz (R)

869 894 MHz (F)
/ 4 - DQPSK
30 KHz
48.6 Kbps
2500
1.62 bps/Hz
VSELP @7.95 Kbps
7 bit CRC with r=1/2; L=6
Conv
Adaptive

Modulation
Carrier separation
Channel data rate
No. of voice channels
Spectrum efficiency
Speech coding
Channel coding
Equalizers

Dr. A. Chock

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

15

IS-95 CDMA

Direct sequence spread spectrum signaling on

reverse & forward links
Each channel occupies 1.25 MHz
Fixed chip rate 1.2288 Mcps
Variable user data rate - depends on voice activity
Universal frequency reuse
fast power control to overcome near-far problem
RAKE receiver to take advantage of multipath
Soft handoffs
Dr. A. Chock

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

16

CDMA Channels & Frequencies

CDMA frequencies assigned through a 11-bit CDMA

Channel number, N

At Mobile

1 N 777
1013 N 1023
0.030 N 825 MHz
0.030( N 1023) 825 MHz

At Base Station

1 N 777
1013 N 1023
0.030 N 870MHz
0.030( N 1023) 870MHz

Dr. A. Chock

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

17

CDMA Channel & Frequency

Reverse
CDMA Channel

Forward
CDMA Channel

1.25MHz

1.25MHz

CDMA
Channel
Frequency

Frequency
847.74 MHz

Dr. A. Chock

45 MHz

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

892.74 MHz

18

Frequency Reuse CDMA

C
D
B
A

E
G
F
C

B
A
E
G

F
C
D
B

E
G
F
C

D
B

A
E

7 cell Freq Reuse Plan

Dr. A. Chock

A
A
A
A

A
A
A
A

A
A
A
A

A
A
A
A

A
A
A
A

A
A
A
A

Freq Reuse Plan in CDMA

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

19

Spreading Codes in IS-95 CDMA

Two types of spreading codes are used in

IS-95
Walsh codes of length 64 are used on the
forward link (base-to-mobile link)
e.g., c1 = 0 0 0 0
c2 = 0 1 0 1
c3 = 0 0 1 1
c4 = 0 1 1 0

c (k )c (k ) 0, i j
i

used to separate one user from another

PN codes are used on both forward and

reverse (mobile-to-base) links
Dr. A. Chock

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

20

IS-95 CDMA Forward Link

Pilot Channel (Code Channel 0)

provides phase reference for coherent demodulation
pilot strength measurement for handoffs

Paging Channel (up to 7 channels - Code Channels 1 to 7)

sends control messages and page messages
Walsh Code Channels 1 through 7

Sync Channel (Code Channel 32)

broadcasts system timing messages

Traffic Channel (up to 63 channels - remaining code channels)

supports variable data rates at 9600, 4800, 2400, or 1200 bps

Dr. A. Chock

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

21

Forward Link Channel Structure

Forward CDMA Channel
(1.25 MHz Chl. Tx by Base Stn

Pilot
Chl

W0

Sync
Chl

W32

Paging
Chl. 1

Paging
Chl. 7

W1

W7

Traffic
Chl. 1

W8

W63

W9

Traffic data

Dr. A. Chock

Traffic
Chl. 55

Traffic
Chl. 2

Power Control
Sub channel

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

22

FL Modulation Structure
W0
1.2288 Mcps

Pilot Chl: all 0s

W32

Sync Chl
1200 bps

To Quadrature
Spreading

Convol. Encoder/
Repetition

4800 bps
Block
Interleaver

1.2288 Mcps

To Quadrature
Spreading

Wp
Paging Chl Convol. Encoder/
Repetition
9600 bps

Block
Interleaver

4800 bps
2400 bps

Paging Chl p
Long code Mask

Dr. A. Chock

1.2288 Mcps

Long Code
Generator

1.2288 Mcps To Quadrature

Spreading

19.2 Kbps

19.2 Kbps

Decimator

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

23

FL Modulation Structure
Power Control
Bit
User data Convolutional
Encoder
9600 bps
and Repetition
4800 bps
r=1/2, K = 9
2400 bps

19.2 k
Block
Interleaver

1200 bps

M
U
X

Walsh
Code
1.2288 Mcps
Symbol
cover

Scrambling

Quadrature
Spreader

800 Hz
Long Code
generator

Decimator

Decimator

1.2288 Mcps

I-Chl Pilot
PN Seq
Baseband
filter

Long code
for nth user

Q-Chl Pilot
PN Seq
Baseband
filter

Forward CDMA Traffic Channel Structure

Note: Pilot PN Offset identifies the base station

Dr. A. Chock

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

24

FL Modulation Parameters
Sync Channel
Parameter

Data Rate (bps)

User Data Rate

1200

Coding rate

1/2

Repetition

Coded data rate

PN Chips/coded data bit

4800
256

PN chip rate (Mcps)

1.2288

PN Chips/bit

1024

Dr. A. Chock

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

25

FL Modulation Parameters
Paging Channel
Parameter

Data Rate (bps)

User Data Rate

9600

4800

2400

Coding rate

1/2

1/2

1/2

Repetition

Coded data rate

PN Chips/coded data bit

19,200
64

19,200
64

19,200
64

PN chip rate (Mcps)

1.2288

1.2288

1.2288

PN Chips/bit

128

256

512

Dr. A. Chock

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

26

FL Modulation Parameters
Forward Traffic Channel
Parameter

Data Rate (bps)

User Data Rate

9600

4800

2400

1200

Coding rate

1/2

1/2

1/2

1/2

Repetition

Coded data rate

PN Chips/coded data bit

19,200
64

19,200
64

19,200
64

19,200
64

PN chip rate (Mcps)

1.2288

1.2288

1.2288

1.2288

PN Chips/bit

128

256

512

1024

Dr. A. Chock

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

27

IS-95 CDMA Reverse Link

Reverse CDMA Channel

(1.25 MHz Chl. Rx by Base Stn

Access Access
Chl. 1 Chl. 2

Access
Chl. n

Traffic
Chl. 1

Traffic
Chl. 2

Traffic
Chl. 3

Traffic
Chl. m

Addressed by long code PNs

Dr. A. Chock

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

28

IS-95 CDMA Reverse Link

Access Channels
enables mobile to communicate non-traffic information (e.g.,
call request) in random access mode
fixed data rate at 4.8 kbps
identified by a distinct access channel long code sequence
offset
a paging channel number is associated with access channel

Traffic Channels
identified by long distinct user code offset
data rate 9.6, 4.8, 2.4, 1.2 Kbps
data is convolutionally encoded, block interleaved, 64-ary
orthogonal modulated, and direct sequence spread before
transmission

Dr. A. Chock

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

29

RL Modulation Structure
Long code Mask
for user n

Information
Convolutional
bit
Encoder
9600 bps
and Repetition
4800 bps
r=1/3, K = 9
2400 bps
1200 bps

Long Code
generator

Code
symbol

PN chip

Code
symbol

Block
Interleaver
28.8 Ksps

1.2288 Mcps

Walsh
chip

64-1ry
Orthogonal
Modulator

Zero offset
Pilot PN
Seq Q Chl

Data
burst
randomizer

307.2 Kcps

Zero offset
Pilot PN
Seq I Chl
Baseband
filter

Reverse CDMA Traffic Channel Structure

Dr. A. Chock

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

1/2 PN chiip
delay=406.9 ns

D
Baseband
filter

30

RL Modulation Parameters
Reverse Traffic Channel
Parameter

Data Rate (bps)

User Data Rate

9600

4800

2400

1200

Coding rate

1/3

1/3

1/3

1/3

Tx Duty Cycle (%)

100

50

25

12.5

Coded data rate (sps)

Bits per Walsh symbol

28,800
6

28,800
6

28,800
6

28,800
6

Walsh symbol rate

4800

4800

4800

4800

Walsh chip rate (Kcps)

307.2

307.2

307.2

307.2

Walsh symbol duration

(microsec)
PN chips per code symbol

208.33

208.33

208.33

208.33

42.67

42.67

42.67

42.6

PN chips per Walsh symbol 256

256

256

256

PN Chips per Walsh chip

PN chip rate (Mcps)

1.2288

1.2288

1.2288

1.2288

Dr. A. Chock

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

31

Power Control

To combat the effect of fading, shadowing and

distance losses
Transmit only the minimum required power to
achieve a target link performance (e..g, FER)
Minimizes interference
Increases battery life

FL Power Control
To send enough power to reach users at cell edge

RL Power Control
To overcome near-far problem in DS-CDMA

Dr. A. Chock

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

32

Power Control

Types of Power Control

Open Loop Power Control
Closed loop Power Control

Open Loop Power Control (on FL)

Channel state on the FL is estimated by mobile
RL Transmit power made proportional to FL channel Loss
Works well if FL and RL are highly correlated
which is generally true for slowly varying distance and
shadow losses
but not true with fast multipath Rayleigh fading
So open loop power control can effectively compensate for
distance and shadow losses, and not for multipath fading

Dr. A. Chock

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

33

Power Control

Closed Loop Power Control (on RL)

Base station measures the received power
Compares it with the desired received power (target
Eb/No)
Sends up or down command to mobile asking it to
increase or decrease the transmit power
Must be performed fast enough a rate (approx. 10
times the max. Doppler BW) to track multipath
fading
Propagation and processing delays are critical to
loop performance

Dr. A. Chock

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

34

Power Control in IS-95

At 900 MHz Carrier frequency and 120 km/h mobile speed,

Doppler = 100 Hz

In IS-95A, closed loop power control is operated at 800 Hz

update rate

Power control bits are punctured into the traffic data stream

Closed loop power control step size is +/- 1 dB

Power control bit errors do not affect performance much

Coding and interleaving has effect on CLPC performance

Both open (outer) and closed (inner) loops drive the

transmit power to ensure a target FER of 1%
Dr. A. Chock

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

35

RAKE Receiver

4 RAKE fingers are used in the Mobile

Receiver
3 fingers for tracking and demodulating multipath
components of the FL CDMA channel
1 finger is used for searching and estimating the
signal strength on different pilots
used to select the desired (strongest) base station in idle
mode
for generating pilot strength information messages
during traffic mode to enable Handoff

Dr. A. Chock

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

36

Handoffs in IS-95 CDMA

Types of Handoff
Soft Handoff
Mobile commences commun with a new base station without
interrupting commun with old base station
same freq assignment between old and new base station
provides different site selection diversity

Softer handoff
Handoffs between sectors in a cell

CDMA-to-CDMA Hard Handoff

Mobile transmits between two base stations with different
frequency assignment

Dr. A. Chock

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

37

Soft Handoff Architecture

Switch Diversity:
MSC selects the bit stream with
lower error rate

MSC

To other switch

BSC

BSC

R
BTS

R
BTS

BTS
Old Link

New Link

R - Handoff request sent to the

old cell on the degrading link
Mobile

Dr. A. Chock

BTS

Energy measurements are made at

the mobile

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

38

Handoff Procedure

Pilot Sets
Active Set
Pilot associated with FL traffic channels assigned to the mobile

Candidate Set
Pilots that are not in Active Set but are received by the mobile
with sufficient strength

Neighbor Set
Pilots not in Active or Candidate Set but are likely candidates
for handoff

Remaining Set
Set in the current system on current freq assignment, excluding
the above 3 sets

Dr. A. Chock

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

39

Handoff Example
Pilot
Strength
T_ADD
T_DROP

(1) (2) (3)

Neighbor
Set

Candidate
Set

(4)

(5) (6) (7)

Time
Neighbor
Set

Active Set

T_TDROP

Dr. A. Chock

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

40

Handoff Example (..contd)

(1) Pilot strength exceeds T_ADD. Mobile sends a Pilot
Strength Measurement Message (PSMM) to base station and
transfers pilot to the Candidate Set
(2) Base station sends a Handoff Direction Message (HDM)
(3) Mobile transfers pilot to Active Set and sends s Handoff
Completion Message (HCM)
(4) Pilot strength drops below T_DROP. Mobile starts handoff
drop timer
(5) Handoff drop timer expires. Mobile sends a PSMM
(6) Base station sends a HDM
(7) Mobile moves pilot from Active Set to Neighbor Set and
sends a HCM

Dr. A. Chock

WW'99, Dept of ECE,

41