Study of Cellular Repeaters for GSM Networks

By:

Megha Mehta E C E - 4 th y e a r 2181152808

TRAINING DETAILS

Organization: Shyam Telecomm Ltd. Location: Udyog Vihar, Gurgaon

(From June 11 to July 21,2011)

Subject of study: Repeater design and assembly

Topics covered:

Company profile Need for repeaters Systems incorporated in repeaters Factors influencing repeater designs Repeater installation and linking Troubleshooting Study of repeater hardware for project

COMPANY PROFILE
STL, a global supplier of
RF repeaters, optical distributed antenna systems,

cellular solutions and other wireless signal

enhancement accessories

to more than 100 networks in five continents.

REASONS FOR WEAK MOBILE SIGNALS

RURAL AREAS
BUILDING CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL BUILDING SIZE MULTIPATH INTERFERENCE DIFFRACTION AND GENERAL ATTENUATION

REPEATERS
COMPONENTS External directional antenna

Donor (external) antenna:

A two way interface: DOWNLINK: RF signal direction going INTO the building, and UPLINK : RF signal being sent OUT of the building.

REPEATERS
COMPONENTS (...contd)
BDA(Bi-Directional RF Amplifier) RF cable distribution network Internal rebroadcast antenna

Repeater Diagram

FUNCTIONAL DESCRIPTION
Hardware physical reception and transmission

Overall repeater system

Software
transmit power, transceiver frequency, and transceiver bandwidth

RF(RADIO FREQUEN C Y ) SUBSYSTEM

Basic responsibilities of the RF section:
Receiving and amplifying the input signal Noise Rejection

Conversion to and from IF frequency to RF

Amplifying DAC output and transmitting signal over

a channel

RF FRONT-END ARCHITECTURE

The need for RF filter

Removes the unwanted

signal known as the image signal successfully demodulates the desired signal Used before the first mixing stage, (i.e. Before entering IF stage)

IF (INTERMEDIATE FREQUENCY) SUBSYSTEM

NEED FOR CONVERSION

IF signal
Baseband processing system

BASEBAND PROCESSING SUBSYSTEM

Main functions of the system:
Encoding/Decoding Modulation/Demodulation Baseband DSP, filtering etc Error correction Signal Correlation Data Link layer interfacing On-the-fly configuration of RF/IF hardware when

needed (using FPGAs or ASIC)

BASEBAND DESIGN

DSPs

Pros
Latency quantifiable Lesser power consumption Greater support for no. of simultaneous operations Greater degree of flexibility

Cons
Latency unavoidable due to run-time uncertainty Tiny fraction of the silicon devoted to computation; rest devoted to moving instructions and data. Power concerns same as FPGA. Cannot execute signals in parallel/pipeline

FPGAs

Pros
Greater computational capacities than DSPs.
Power efficient and reconfigurable Parallel execution supported, hence higher throughput

Cons
Higher static power consumption levels
Programming difficult due to bit images Structural complexity higher

REPEATER LINKING
In a normal repeater:
the user transmits on the input frequency, the

controller recognizes the user and keys the repeater transmitter

When the user unkeys, the controller adds some

'hang time' (also called carrier delay) to the repeater transmitter

REPEATER LINKING
In linked repeaters:
A remote base with three modes- off, receive and

transmit- linked
In the receive or monitor mode the repeater listens

to two frequencies, the normal input and also whatever frequency the remote base radio is listening to.

REPEATER LINKING
Receive: repeater listens to user on normal freq. and on remote base freq.

Transmit: The user speaks and their voice goes out on the repeater and also on the remote base transmitter.

Off: Repeater alone works

Problems with Repeater Installation

Poor choice of site

Wrong antenna
Poor attention to specifications Poor device for signal regeneration

Poor compatibility between operator and repeater

frequency-bands

SITE OPENING &

DEBUGGING

TOOLS FOR OPENING

The tools required are :
One spectrum analyzer ; One signal source; One VSWR tester; Several attenuators; One set of route tester

CHECK ON PROCESS
VSWR test : VSWR of antenna feeder system

Process of antenna installation

Process of equipment installation :
o o o o

equipment is installed securely, height and location of installation are exact connected with feeder line and marks be correct; correct connection with power supply to provide safety and reliability.

Cable laying Marks : Correct and easy for examining; Connection : Correct and secure; Wiring :

sound fastening, straight, smart and reasonable wiring

Grounding : Sound grounding of antenna, feeder and mainframe

OTHER TESTS INVOLVED

Equipment Test

System Test: strengths of various signals

Monitoring System Network Optimization: Antenna power Route test Project location Coverage Quality Within Coverage Area: Field

strength and speech quality

REPEATER DESIGN GUIDELINES

a line-of-sight link between the repeater donor

antenna and the serving donor sector if possible a donor antenna with high gain, narrow beam-width, and a high front to back ratio isolation between repeater input and output Sufficient gain w.r.t input signal

PROJECT
Study of Repeater designing and assembly

REPEATER DESIGNING
Choice of components and assembly of cellular repeater comprising:

receiving and transmitting antennas two 824-894 MHz amplifiers and coupling circuitry

Antenna Selection

The antennas were chosen with three main

objectives:

(1) operation over the 824-894 MHz range, (2) low standing wave ratio (SWR) over this frequency range, and (3) Radiation in all directions except towards the antenna at the other end of the repeater

Coupling Circuitry
Needed to prevent the output of one amplifier from feeding

the input to the other amplifier.

Circulators: Internal isolation circuitry prevents signal

flow in the other directions.

1 3

Duplexers: Essentially bandpass filters passing signals in

one frequency band while rejecting all others.

REFERENCES
Company manuals and literature Guidelines for repeaters:

http://www.qualcomm.com/common/documents/white_pap ers/NetworkPlanningwithRepeaters.pdf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_repeater

Cellular repeaters:

http://www.indoorcellularsolutions.com/how_do_repeaters_

work.html Wikipedia Various papers on repeater implementations

Thank you!