Wireless Communications & Networks

Question Bank
Unit 1
1. a) Mention the frequency bands, multiple access and type of modulation used for various
wireless communication standards such as AMPS, IS-95, PACS, CDPD and GSM.
b) Why do paging systems need to provide low data rates? How does a low data rate leads
to better coverage?
2. Discuss the historical overview of Wireless Communications.
3. Discuss in detail about the following:
a) Paging System b) Cordless System
4. Qualitatively describe how the power supply requirements differ between mobile and
portable cellular phones, as well as the difference between packet pagers and cordless
phones. How does coverage range impact battery life in a mobile radio system?
Unit 2
1. List the significant improvements introduced in the first, second and third generation
standards of cellular communication systems.
2. What is the difference between WLAN and Bluetooth technologies? Explain in detail.
3. Compare the various enhancements of IEEE 802.11.
4. (a) Compare the 2nd generation wireless networks with first generation networks.
(b) Discuss the special characteristics of 3rd generation wireless networks.
Unit 3
1. What are the advantages of cellular mobile communication systems over conventional
mobile telephone systems?
2. Describe the procedure for locating the cochannel cells in the first tier using regular
hexagonal patterns for cellular architecture. Illustrate the procedure for a cluster size of 12.
3. Explain in detail about following related cellular communication system:
a) Frequency Reuse
b) Cell Splitting
c) Cell Sectoring
4. Explain in detail about following related to cellular communication system:
a) Hand off mechanisms
b) Interference and System capacity
5. If a signal to interference ratio of 20 dB is required for satisfactory forward channel
performance of a cellular system, what is the frequency reuse factor and cluster size that
should be used for maximum capacity if the path loss exponent is (a) n=5, (b) n=4? Assume
that there are 6 cochannel cells in the first tier, and all of them are at the same distance
from the mobile. Use suitable approximations.

Unit 4
1. On what basis are multiple access radio protocols classified? Distinguish between Various
types of multiple access protocols.
b) Suggest at least five different means to increase the radio coverage of a cell.
2. (a) Mention the salient features of TDMA.
(b) If a normal GSM time slot consists of 6 trailing bits, 8.25 guard bits, 26 training bits and 2
traffic bursts of 58 bits of data, find the frame efficiency.
3. (a) Define the efficiency of TDMA. Explain with necessary mathematical equations.
(b) In an un-slotted ALOHA system, the packet arrival times form a Poisson process having a
rate of 103 packets/ sec. If the bit rate is 10 Mbps and there are 1000 bits / packet. Find (i)
the normalized throughput of the system and the number of bits per packet that will
maximize the throughput.
4. Discuss the following Spread Spectrum Multiple Access techniques used for a cellular
network:
a) FHMA b) CDMA
5. a. Show that the maximum throughput in slotted ALOHA is given by 0.368.
b. Assume that a non-linear amplifier is used to broadcast FDMA transmissions for the US
AMPS standard. If control channel 352 and voice channel 360 are simultaneously transmitted
by a base station, determine all cellular channels on the forward link that might carry
interference due to inter modulation.
6. a) Find the intermodulation frequencies generated if a base station transmits two carrier
frequencies at 1930 MHz and 1932 MHz that are amplified by a saturated clipping amplifier. If
the mobile radio band is allocated from 1920 MHz to 1940 MHz, designate the IM frequencies
that lie inside and outside the band.
b) if GSM uses a frame structure where each frame consists of 8 time slots, and each time
slot contains 156.25 bits, and data is transmitted at 270.833 kbps in the channel, find (a) the
time duration of a bit, (b) the time duration of a slot, (c) the time duration of a frame, and (d)
how long must a user occupying a single time slot must wait between two simultaneous
transmissions.