Wireless Communications

A little history and evolution

of mobile radio
z 1897:
Marconi invented wireless concept p
z 1960’s & 1970’s:
Bell laboratories developed the
cellular concept
z 1970’s:
D l
Development t off highly
hi hl reliable,
li bl miniature
i i t
solid state radio frequency hardware
z Wireless
Wi l communication
i ti era was b born
1
 Wireless Communications
z Cellular phone users
1984 - 25,000
1994 - 16 million
1997 - 50 million
2000 - Number of wireless users =
Number of wired users
2005 – 1.9
1 9 billion users worldwide

2
 Examples of
Mobile Radio Systems Used in
everyday life:
z Garage door openers
z Remote controllers for home
entertainment
z Cordless telephones
z Hand--held walkie-
Hand walkie-talkies
z Pagers/beepers
z Cellular telephones
3
 ... Examples of Mobile Radio Systems
z Mobile – Describes a radio terminal
attached
tt h d tto a high
hi h speedd mobile
bil platform
l tf
(e.g., A cellular phone in a fast moving
vehicle)
vehicle).
z Portable – Describes a radio terminal that
can be hand
hand--held and used by someone at
walking speed (e.g., cordless telephone).
z Subscriber – Mobile or p portable user.
z Base stations – Link mobiles through a
backbone network.
4
 Types of Mobile Radio
Transmission Systems
z S
Simplex – Communication
C is
possible only in one direction,
(e g paging systems)
(e.g., systems).
z Half Duplex – Two way
communication but uses the
communication,
same radio channel for both
transmission and reception.
User can only transmit or
receive information.
5
 ...Types
Types of Mobile Radio
Transmission Systems
z Full Duplex – Simultaneous
two--way radio transmission and
two
reception between subscriber
and base station.
z Two simultaneous but
separate channels (FDD) or
z Adjacent timeslots on a
single radio channel (TDD)

6
 Cordless Telephone Systems
z Full duplex communication
z Few hundred meters
wireless
Public link
Fixed
Switched Port
Telephone
Network (Base
Station)) cordless
(PSTN) handset

7
 Paging Systems:
Wide Area System
Th paging
The i controlt l center
t
dispatches pages received
from the PSTN throughout
several cities at the same time.

8
 Wide Area Paging
g g System
y
Landline link City 1:
Paging
terminal
PSTN Landline link
Paging Cit 22:
City
control Paging
center terminal
City N:
Paging
Satellite link terminal

9
 Paging systems are
communication systems
that send brief messages to
a subscriber...
z Numeric messages
z Alpha--numeric message
Alpha
z Voice message
z News headlines
z Stock quotes
z Faxes
10
 Paging Systems
Coverage Area
z 2 to
t 5 km
k
z Within individual buildings
z W ld id coverage
Worldwide

11
 Cellular
System
Base stations
(towers)
provide radio
access
between
mobile users
and MSC.
Mobile Switching
Center PSTN

12
 Base Station - Mobile Network

RVC
FVC
RCC
FCC

Forward Voice Channel

Reverse Voice
i Channel
h l
Forward Control Channel
Reverse Control Channel
13
 Functions of Cellular System
z Provides wireless connection
t the
to th PSTN forf any user location
l ti
within the radio range of the system.
z High capacity is achieved:
z by limiting the coverage of each
base station transmitter to a small
geographical area called a cell
cell,, and
z by reusing the same radio channels in
another base station located some
distance awayy – Frequency
q y reuse.
14
 ...Functions
Functions of Cellular System
z Switching system, called
handoff,
h d ff, enables
handoff bl callll to proceed
d
uninterrupted when the
user moves from one cell to another.
another
z Typical MSC handles
100 000 cellular users and
100,000
5,000 simultaneous conversations
at a time.
time

15
 Telephone
p Call Made
To Mobile User...

16
 I
Incomingi Base Stations
Telephone
Call to
Mobile X
Step 1 2 6
2,

Mobile 5
Switching 4 3, 7
Center
Mobile X
PSTN

17
 Brief Outline of Cellular Process:
Telephone Call Placed to a Mobile User
Step 1 – The incoming telephone call to
Mobile X is received at the MSC.
Step 2 – The MSC dispatches the request
to all base stations in the cellular system.
Step
S 3 – The Th base
b stations
i b
broadcast
d
the Mobile Identification Number (MIN),
telephone number of Mobile X, X as a paging
message over the FCC throughout the
cellular system.
y
18
 ...Telephone
Telephone Call Placed to Mobile User
Step 4 – The mobile receives the paging
message sentt byb the
th base
b station
t ti it
monitors and responds by identifying
itself over the reverse control channel
(RCC)..
(RCC)
Step 5 – The base station relays the
acknowledgement sent by the mobile
and informs the MSC of the handshake.
Step 6 – The MSC instructs the base station
to move the call to an available voice
channel
h l within
ithi the
th cell.
ll
19
 ...Telephone
Telephone Call Placed to Mobile User
Step 7 – The base station signals the
mobile
bil to
t change
h frequencies
f i tot an unused d
forward and reverse voice channel pair.
At the point another data message (alert(alert)) is
transmitted over the forward voice channel
((FVC)) to instruct the mobile to ring.
g
Now the call is in progress. The MSC
adjusts the transmitted power of the
mobile and changes the channel of the
mobile end and base stations in order to
maintain call quality
quality. This is called handoff
handoff..
20
 Mobile 3
Switching
Center
2
PSTN Telephone
1 Call Placed
by Mobile X

21
 ...Telephone
Telephone Call Placed by Mobile
Step 1 – When a mobile originates a call,
it sends
d ththe base
b station
t ti itits telephone
t l h
number (MIN), electronic serial number
(ESN) and telephone number of called
(ESN),
party. It also transmits a station class
mark ((SCM)) which indicates what the
maximum power level is for the
particular user.
Step 2 – The cell base station receives
the data and sends it to the MSC.

22
 ...Telephone
Telephone Call Placed by Mobile
Step 3 – The MSC validates the request,
makes connection to the called party
through the PSTN and validates the
base station and mobile user to move
to an unused forward and reverse
channel pair to allow the conversation
to begin.

23
 Roaming
z All cellular systems provide
a service
i called
ll d roaming
roaming.
i .
This allows subscribers to operate
in service areas other than the one
from which service is subscribed.
z When a mobile enters a city or
geographic area that is different
from its home service area, it is
registered as a roamer in the new
service area.

24
 … Roaming
z Periodically, the MSC issues
a global
l b l command d over eachh
FCC in the system, asking for
all mobiles which are previously
unregistered to report their MIN and
ESN over the RCC for billing g purposes.
p p
z If a particular mobile user has roaming
authorization for billing purposes, MSC
registers the subscriber as a valid
roamer.

25
 Frequency Spectrum Allocation for
US Cellular Radio Service
Channel Center Frequency
Number (MHZ)
1 ≤ N ≤ 799 .03 N + 825
990 ≤ N ≤ 1023 .03
03 (N – 1023) + 825
1 ≤ N ≤ 799 .03 N + 870
990 ≤ N ≤ 1023 .03
03 (N – 1023) + 870
Channels 800-
800-989 are unused.
26
 Trends in Cellular Radio
Personal Communications:
A Comparison of
Mobile Communication Systems -
Mobile Station...
Station...

27
 Required
Service Coverage
C
infra--
infra
Com- Hardware
C
Com- H d Carrier
C i F ti -
Function-
Function
range plexity cost frequency ality
structure
TV ttrans-
trans-
remote low low low low infra--red
infra mitter
control
Garage
g
door <100 trans-
trans-
low low low low MHz mitter
opener
Paging
system hi h
high hi h
high l
low l
low <1 GHz
GH receiver
i

Cordless <100 trans-

trans-
phone low low moderate low ceiver
MHz
Cellular trans-
trans-
phone high high high moderate <1 GHz ceiver

28
 Trends in Cellular Radio
Personal Communications:
A Comparison of
Mobile Communication Systems -
Base Station...
Station...

29
 Coverage Required Com- Hardware Carrier Function
Com- Function--
Service range infra--
infra plexity cost frequency ality
structure
TV
remote low low low low infra--red receiver
infra
control
Garage
g
door <100
low low low low MHz receiver
opener
Paging trans--
trans
system hi h
high hi h
high hi h
high hi h
high <1 GHz
GH mitter
Cordless <100 trans-
trans-
phone low low low moderate ceiver
MHz
Cellular trans-
trans-
phone high high high high <1 GHz ceiver

30
 The Cellular Concept –
System Design Fundamentals
z The cellular concept was a major
breakthrough in solving the problem
off spectral
t l congestion
ti and d user
capacity..
capacity
z Replaces single high power
transmitter (large cell) with many
low power transmitters (small cells),
cells),
each providing coverage to only a
small portion of the service area.
31
 Frequency Reuse
Each cellular base station is
allocated
ll t d a group off radio
di
channels.
Base stations in adjacent cells are
assigned channel groups which
contain different channels than
neighboring cells.

32
 Cellular Frequency Reuse Concept
Cells with the same letter, use B
the
th same sett off frequencies.
f i G C
A
A cell cluster is outlined F D
in bold, and replicated over E B
B G C
the coverage area. G C A
A F D
In this example, the F D E
E
cluster size, N, is equal to 7;
andd the
th frequency
f reuse factor
f t is i 1/7,
1/7
since each cell contains 1/7 of the total
number of available channels.
channels
33
 Choices of Hexagonal Cell
Factors:
z Equal area
z No overlap between cells

Choices:
S
S S

A1 A2 A3

34
 For a given S
A3 > A1
A3 > A2
Here, A3 provides maximum
coverage area for a given value of S.
S
Actual cellular footprint is determined
by the contour of a given transmitting
antenna.
By using hexagon geometry,
geometry the
fewest number of cells covers a given
geographic
g g p region.
g
35
 Channel Capacity
Let a cellular system have total of
S duplex
d l channels
h l for
f use.
If S channels are divided into N cells
(i a cluster)
(in l ) into
i unique
i andd disjoint
di j i
channel groups which each has the
same number of channels
channels, total number
of available radio channels is:
S = KN
Where K is the number of channels / cell.

36
 …Channel
Channel Capacity
If a cluster is replicated M times
within
i hi the
h system, theh totall
number of duplex channels, C,
or the capacity,
capacity is

C = MKN = MS.
MS
Cluster size N = 4, 7 or 12

37
 Design of cluster size N
In order to connect without g
gaps
p
between adjacent cells (to tessellate
tessellate))
N = i2 + ij + j2
Where i and j are non-
non-negative integers
Example i = 2, j = 1
N = 22 + 2(1) + 12 = 4 + 2 + 1 = 7

38
 To Find the Nearest
Co--channel Neighbor of
Co
Particular Cell:
z Move i cells along any chain
or hexagon.
h
z Then turn 60 degrees
counterclockwise and
move j cells.

39
 How to Locate CoCo--channel
Cells in a Cellular System
In this
A A example,
N = 19
( i.e.,
A i = 3,
A j = 2)
A
Ad t d from
Adapted f
A [Oet83] ©
A IEEE
IEEE.
40
 Example
If a particular FDD cellular
telephone
t l h system
t hhas a ttotal
t l
bandwidth of 33 MHz,
and if the phone system uses
two 25 KHz simplex channels to
provide full duplex voice and
control channels...
p the number of
compute
channels per cell if
N = 4, 7, 12.

41
 Solution
Total bandwidth = 33 MHz
Channel bandwidth = 25 KHz x 2 = 50 KHz
Total avail. channels = 33 MHz / 50 KHz = 660
N = 4 Channel per cell = 660 / 4 =
165 channels
N = 7 Channel per cell = 660 / 7 =
95 channels
N = 12 Channel per cell = 660 / 12 =
55 channels
42
 Channel Assignment Strategies:
Fixed Channel Assignments
z E h cellll is
Each i allocated
ll t d a pre-
pre-determined
d t i d
set of voice channels.
z If all the channels in that cell are occupied,
occupied
the call is blocked, and the subscriber
does not receive service.
z Variation includes a borrowing strategy:
a cell is allowed to borrow channels from a
neighboring cell if all its own channels are
occupied. This is supervised by the MSC.

43
 Channel Assignment Strategies:
Dynamic Channel Assignments
z Voice
V i channels
h l are nott allocated
ll t d to
t
different cells permanently.
z Each time a call request is made,
made the
serving base station requests a channel
from the MSC.
z The switch then allocates a channel to
the requested
q call,, based on a decision
algorithm taking into account different
factors - frequency re- re-use of candidate
channel,
h l costt factors.
f t
44
 ...Channel
Channel Assignment Strategies:
Dynamic Channel Assignments
Dynamic channel assignment is
more complex (real time), but
reduces likelihood of blocking.
blocking

45
 Handoff Strategies
Handoff - when a mobile moves into
a different
diff t cellll while
hil a conversation
ti
is in progress, the MSC automatically
transfers the call to a new channel
belonging to the new base station
z Important task in any
cellular radio system
z Handoffs must be p performed
successfully, as infrequently as
possible and not visible to users.

46
 A Handoff Scenario
at Cell Boundary...

47
 (a) Improper
p ope Handoff
a do Situation
S tuat o
Receeived ssignal llevel Level at point A

Handoff threshold
Pn
Minimum acceptable
p
signal to maintain the call Pm
Level at point B
(call is terminated)
Time
A B Pn– Pm = ∆
BS1 BS2 ∆ should not be too large
48
 … Handoff Scenario at
Cell Boundary
Pn – Pm = ∆
∆ should be optimal value
∆ too large:
too manyy handoffs
∆ too small:
chance of call being lost

49
 (b) Proper
ope Handoff
a do S Situation
tuat o
Receeived ssignal llevel Level at point B

Level at which
handoff is made

Time
Ti
A B
BS1 BS2
50
 Dwell time
z Time over which a call may
b maintained
be i t i d within
ithi a cell,
ll
without hand-
hand-off.
z Each base station constantly
monitors the signal strength of all its
reverse voice channels to determine
the relative location of each mobile
user with respect to the base station
tower.

51
 … Dwell time
z Mobile assisted hand-
hand-off (MAHO) -
Every
E mobile
bil station
t ti measures th the
received power from surrounding
base stations and continuously
reports the results of these
measurements to the serving g base
station - Faster hand
hand--off rate.
z Inter--system handoff -
Inter
One cellular system to a different
cellular system.

52
 Interference and
System Capacity
Major limiting factor in
performance of cellular radio
systems - two main types:
z Co
Co--channel interference
z Adjacent channel
interference

53
 Co--Channel Interference
Co
Cells that use the same set
off frequencies
f i are called
ll d
co--channel cells.
co cells.
Interference
I t f between
b t
the cells is called
co--channel interference.
co interference.

54
 Co--Channel Interference
Co
Signal to interference ratio
(SIIR) or S/ I for a mobile
(S
receiver is given by:
io
SIR = S /(i ∑
S/ I = SI = 1 Ii)

S = signal power from designated base

station

55
 First Tier of Co-
Co-channel Cells
for a Cluster Size of N = 7
When the mobile is at the
cell boundary (point A),
it experiences worst case
co--channel interference on
co
the forward channel.
The marked distances between the
mobile and different co-
co-channel cells
are based on approximations made
for easy analysis.

56
 First Tier of A
Co--Channel
Co
Cells for a A A
D+R
Cluster Size
of N = 7 D R
D+R
Ii = Interference D-R A
power caused
by the ith A D A
D-R
interfering
co--channel cell
co
A
57
 Assumptions
For any given antenna
(base station) the power
at a distance d is given by:

Po Pr
d

Pr = Po ((d / do) -n ; n is p
path loss exponent
p
58
 ...Assumptions
Assumptions
io -n
-n
Hence S / I = R / ∑ (D i )
Hence,
i=1

io = totall number
b off first
fi layer
l interfacing
i f i cells
ll
If the mobile is at the center of the cell,, Di = D
io
-n
n -n
n -n
n
S / I = R / (D) ∑ 1 = (R / D) / io
i=1

59
 For a hexagonal geometry

=√(3N) = Q - co
D / R =√ co--channel
reuse ratio

[√(3N) ] n / io
S / I = [√

60
 Maximum co-
co-channel interface
– when mobile is at cell
boundary.
boundary For N = 7

S / I~
I R-4 /
I~R
2(D-R)-4+2(D+R)-4+ 2D-4]
[ 2(D-

61
 Adjacent Channel Interference
z Interference resulting from
signals which are adjacent in
frequency to the desired signal.
z D to
Due t imperfect
i f t receiver
i filters
filt thatth t allow
ll
nearby frequencies to leak into pass band.
z Can
C be b minimized
i i i d by
b careful
f l filtering
filt i and d
assignments; and, by keeping frequency
separation between channels in a given cell
as large as possible, the adjacent channel
interference mayy be reduced considerably. y
62
 Trunking and Grade of Service
z Cellular radio system relies on trunking to
accommodated t a large
l numberb off users in
i
a limited radio spectrum - How a large
population can be accommodated by a
limited number of services.
z Trunking - each user is allocated a
channel on a per-
per-call basis; and upon
termination of the call, the previously
occupied channel is immediately returned
to the pool of available channels
z I iti t d by
Initiated b Danish
D i h mathematician,
th ti i EErlang.
l
63
 Grade of Service (GOS)
Measure of ability of the user to
access a ttrunked
k d system
t d during
i ththe
busiest hour during a week, month or year.
Example: 4 - 6 pm on Thursday or Friday
Example:
evening.
Traffic intensity (Aμ Erlang) of each user is:
Aμ = λ H
λ - Average number of call requests per unit
time
64 H - duration of a call
 Total Traffic Intensity
For system entering U users,
the
th total
t t l offered
ff d ttraffic
ffi intensity
i t it
A is given as:
A = U Aμ Erlangs
If there are C channels in the system,
system
average intensity per channel is:
Ac = U Aμ / C

65
 Blocked Calls Cleared System

zNo queuing for call requests

zIfno channels are available, the

requesting
ti user isi blocked
bl k d without
ith t
access and is free to try again later.

66
 Calculation of GOS
z Assuming a finite number of
available
il bl channels
h l C,
C and
d using
i
queuing theory, we obtain:
GOS = Probability (call is blocked)
C
= [Ac / C! ]/ [ ∑ Ak / k!]
k=0

67
 Calculation of GOS
z AMPS cellular is designed
for
f GOS = 0.02
0 02
z This is called Erlang
g B formula
(Appendix A) - Figure 3.6 (2.6 in 1st edition)
in book.

68
 Blocked calls delayed system
z Queue is provided to hold calls which are blocked.
If a channel is not available immediately
immediately, the call
request may be delayed until a channel becomes
available
z Prob [Delay > 0 ] = Ac / [ A c + C!

C-1
( 1 – A / C )] [ ∑ Ak / k!]
k 0
k=0
z Prob [Delay > t sec ] = Prob [Delay > 0 ] x
x e – (C
(C--A) t / H

69
 Blocked calls delayed system
z Average Delay D for all calls in a
queued
d system
t is
i given
i by:
b

z D=P
Prob
b [Delay
[D l > 0 ] H / C
C--A

z This is called Erlang C formula -

Figure 3.7 (Figure 2.7 in 1st Edition)
of book

70
 Example
z A hexagonal cell in a 4- 4-cell system has
a radius
di off 1.387km;
1 387k and d a total
t t l off 60
channels are used within the entire system.
z If the load / user is 00.029
029 Erlangs,
Erlangs
λ = 1 call per hour, compute the
following for an Erlang C system that
has a 5% probability of a delayed call.
a. How manyy users p per square
q km
will the system support?
b. What is the Prob [ Delayy > 10s ]]?
71
 Solution
z Cell radius = R = 1.387 km
z Area covered per cell =
2.598 ((1.387))2 = 5 sq
q km
z Number of cells per cluster = 4
z Total
T t l number
b off channels
h l per cellll =
60 / 4 = 15 channels

72
 ... Solutions
a. From Erlang C chart, GOS = 0.05, C = 15,
z Traffic intensity A = 9.0 E
z Number of users
= total traffic intensity / Traffic per user
= 9.0 / 0.029 = 310 users
z Number of users per sq. km =
310 / 5 = 62 users per sq
sq. km
km.
73
 ... Solutions
b. Prob [[Delayy > 10s]] = Pr [Delay
[ y > 0 ] e –(C
(C--A) t / H

= 0.05 x e –(15
(15--9) 10 / H

Aμ / λ = 0.029 hr
H = Aμ
= .029 x 60 x 60 seconds
= 104.4 seconds
05 e –(15
Prob [Delay > 10s] = 00.05 (15--9) 10 / 104.4
104 4

= 0.0281
= 2.81%
2 81%
74
 Improving Capacity in
Cellular Systems
z As demand for wireless services
increases, the number of channels
assigned to a cell is not enough to
support the required number of users.
z Solution is to increase channels per
unit coverage area.

75
 Cell Splitting
z Subdivides a congested cell into
smaller
ll cells,
ll eachh with
ith its
it own
base station.
z I
Increases th
the capacity
it off a cellular
ll l
system.

76
 Sectoring
z Achieves capacity improvement by
essentially rescaling the system.
system
z Cell radius R is unchanged but the
co--channel ratio D / R is decreased.
co
z Capacity improvement is achieved by
reducingg the number of cells in a cluster,,
and this increases frequency reuse.
z Replacing
p g a single
g omni
omni--directional antenna
at base station with several directional
antennas, each radiating within a specified
sector
sector.
77
 Micro Cell Zone Concept
z Large control base station is replaced
by several lower powered transmitters
on the edge of the cell.
z The mobile retains the same channel
and the base station simply switches
the channel to a different zone site and
the mobile moves from zone to zone.
z Since a g
given channel is active onlyy in
a particular zone in which mobile is
traveling, base station radiation is
localized and interference is reduced.
reduced
78
 ... Micro Cell Zone Concept
z The channels are distributed in
ti andd space by
time b allll zones are
reused in co-
co-channel cells.

z Advantage is that while the cell

maintains a particular coverage
radius, co
co--channel interference is
reduced due to zone transmitters
on edge of the cell.

79
 Microwave or

or
Selecto
fiber optic link

S
Base

Zone
station

Z
Tx/Rx Tx/Rx
The Micro
Cell Concept
(Adapted from
Tx/Rx [Lee91b] © IEEE)

80
 Practice Problem
The US AMPS system is
allocated
ll d 500 MH
MHz off spectrum iin
the 800 MHz range and provides
832 channels
channels. 42 of those
channels are control channels.
The forward channel frequency is
exactly 45 MHz greater than the
reverse channel frequency.
q y

81
 … Practice Problem
a. Is the AMPS system simplex,
h
half
half-
lf-duplex
d l or d duplex?
l ?
What is the bandwidth for each
channel and how is it
channel,
distributed between the base
station and the subscriber?

82
 ... Practice Problem
b. Assume a base station
t
transmits
it control
t l information
i f ti
on channel 352 operating at
880.56
880 56 MHZ
MHZ.
What is the transmission
frequency
q y of a subscriber
unit transmitting on
channel 352?

83
 ... Practice Problem
c. The A side and B side cellular
carriers
i evenly l split
lit th
the AMPS
channels.
Find the number of voice
channels and number of
control channels for each
carrier?

84
 ... Practice Problem
d. For an ideal hexagonal cellular
layout
l t which
hi h has
h identical
id ti l cellll
sites, what is the distance
between the centers of the two
nearest co-
co-channel cells:
z For 7 cell reuse?

z For 4 cell re-

re-use?

85
 Solution (a.)
(a )
AMPS system is duplex.
Total bandwidth = 50 MHz
Total number of channels = 832
Bandwidth for each channel
= 50 MHz / 832 = 60 KHz
60 KHz is split into two 30 KHz channels
(forward and reverse channels).
The forward channel is
45 MHz > reverse channel.
86
 Solution (b.)
(b )
For Ffw = 880.560 MHz
Frev = Ffw – 45 MHz
= 835.560
835 560 MHz

87
 Solution (c.)
(c )
Total number of channels = 832 = N
Total number of control channels Ncon = 42
Total
T t l number
b off voice
i channels
h l Nvo =
832 – 42 = 790
Number of voice channels for each carrier =
790 / 2 = 395 channels
Number of control channels for each carrier =
42 / 2 = 21 channels
88
 Solution (d.)
(d )
N=7
Q=D/R= 3 N = 21 = 4.58
ÖD = 44.58
58 R

N=4
Q = 12 = 3.46
Ö D = 3.46
3 46 R

89