MOBILE COMMUNICATION

WHAT IS MOBILE COMMUNICATION

A wireless form of communication in which data

and voice is emitted, transmitted and received
via microwaves.
This type of communication allows individuals
to converse with one another and/or transmit or
receive data while moving from place to place.
BASIC STRUCTURE OF MOBILE
COMMUNICATION
COMPONENTS OF THE NETWORK

Mobile Station (MS): The Mobile Station (MS) communicates the

information with the user and modifies it to the transmission
protocols of the air interface to communication. The mobile station
has two elements Mobile Equipment (ME) and Subscriber Identity
Module (SIM)

Mobile Equipment (ME): ME is a piece of hardware that contains

all the components needed for the implementation of the protocols to
interface with the user and the air-interface to the base stations.

Subscriber Identity Module (SIM): This is a smart card issued

at the subscription to identify the specifications of a user such as
address and type of service. The calls are directed to the SIM
rather than the terminal.
COMPONENTS OF NETWORK
Base Station (BS): A base station transmits and receives user
data. In case of mobile, a base station is capable to handle the
calls of several subscribers simultaneously.

Base Transceiver Station (BTS): The user data transmission

takes place between the mobile phone and the base station (BS)
through the base transceiver station.

Transceiver: A device capable of simultaneously transmitting

and receiving radio signals.

Mobile Switching Center (MSC): MSC is the hardware part of

the wireless switch that can communicate with PSTN switches as
well as other MSCs in the coverage area of a service provider. The
MSC also provides for communication with other wired and
wireless networks as well as support for registration and
maintenance of the connection with the mobile stations.
RADIO TRANSMISSION TECHNIQUES
RADIO TRANSMISSION TECHNIQUES
Based on the type of channels being utilized, mobile radio transmission
systems may be classied as the following three categories

Simplex System: Simplex systems utilize simplex channels i.e., the

communication is unidirectional. One example of such a system is a
pager.

Half Duplex System: Half duplex radio systems that use half duplex
radio channels allow for non-simultaneous bidirectional communication.
At a time, the user can only transmit or receive information. A walkie-
talkie is an example of a half duplex system which uses push to talk and
release to listen type of switches.

Full Duplex System: Full duplex systems allow two way

simultaneous communications. Both the users can communicate to each
other simultaneously. This can be done by providing two simultaneous
but separate channels to both the users. This is possible by one of the two
following methods.
HOW IS A CALL MADE USING MOBILE
There are four types of channels that take active part during a mobile
call. These are:
Forward Voice Channel (FVC): This channel is used for the
voice transmission from the BS to the MS.
Reverse Voice Channel (RVC): This is used for the voice
transmission from the MS to the BS.
Forward Control Channel (FCC): Control channels are
generally used for controlling the activity of the call, i.e., they are
used for setting up calls and to divert the call to unused voice
channels. Hence these are also called setup channels. These channels
transmit and receive call initiation and service request messages. The
FCC is used for control signaling purpose from the BS to MS.
Reverse Control Channel (RCC): This is used for the call control
purpose from the MS to the BS. Control channels are usually
monitored by mobiles.
HOW IS A CALL MADE USING MOBILE?
MULTIPLE ACCESS TECHNIQUES
In wireless communication systems, it is often desirable to allow
the subscriber to send information simultaneously from the mobile
station to the base station while receiving information from the
base station to the mobile station.

To handle as many calls as possible in a given bandwidth with a

sufficient level of quality of service, multiple access techniques are
used.

There are several different ways to allow access to the channel.

These includes mainly the following:
Frequency division multiple-access (FDMA)
Time division multiple-access (TDMA)
Code division multiple-access (CDMA)
FDMA

Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) FDMA is the basic

technology for advanced mobile phone services. The features of FDMA
are as follows.

FDMA allots a different sub-band of frequency to each

different user to access the network.
If FDMA is not in use, the channel is left idle instead of
allotting to the other users.
FDMA is implemented in Narrowband systems and it is less
complex than TDMA.
Tight filtering is done here to reduce adjacent channel
interference.
The base station BS and mobile station MS, transmit and
receive simultaneously and continuously in FDMA.
 TDMA
Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) In the cases where continuous
transmission is not required, there TDMA is used instead of FDMA.
The features of TDMA include the following.

TDMA shares a single carrier frequency with several users where

each users makes use of non-overlapping time slots.
Data transmission in TDMA is not continuous, but occurs in
bursts. Hence hands- off process is simpler.
TDMA uses different time slots for transmission and reception .
TDMA has an advantage that is possible to allocate different
numbers of time slots per frame to different users.
Bandwidth can be supplied on demand to different users by
concatenating or reassigning time slot based on priority.
CDMA

Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) Code division multiple access

technique is an example of multiple access where several transmitters
use a single channel to send information simultaneously. Its features
are as follows.

In CDMA every user uses the full available spectrum instead

of getting allotted by separate frequency.
CDMA is much recommended for voice and data
communications.
While multiple codes occupy the same channel in CDMA, the
users having same code can communicate with each other.
CDMA offers more air-space capacity than TDMA.
The hands-off between base stations is very well handled by
CDMA.