Cellular Communications

System & Networking Section

UniKL MIIT
 Introduction
 One of the many reasons for developing a
cellular mobile telephone system and
deploying it in many cities is the operational
limitation of the conventional mobile
telephones systems
 Different countries have adopted different
cellular communication systems
 Although the basic concepts for cellular
communications technology were proposed
in the 1940s it was not until the mid-1980s
that the radio technology and systems were
deployed to enable widespread availability
 Introduction
 These days, cellular phones provide so
many functions, mainly for communication
 Cellular phone system can be analog (old
ones) or digital and it offers full-duplex
transmission
GENERATIONS OF
CELLULAR
COMMUNICATION
TECHNOLOGY
Evolution of Cellular Communications
Evolution of Cellular Communications
GENERATION APPROX LAUNCH FOCUS
YEAR

1G 1979 Mobile voice

2G 1991 Mobile voice

3G 2001 Mobile Broadband

4G 2009 Mobile Broadband

5G 2020 (expected) Ubiquitous connectivity

 The evolution of cellular communications networks is commonly

known by 1G, 2G, 3G and 4G designations.
 We are currently in the fourth generation (4G)
Generations of Cellular Technology
 0G
◦ Mobile radio telephones were used for military communications in
early 20th century
◦ Car-based telephones first introduced in mid 1940s
◦ Single large transmitter on top of a tall building
◦ Single channel used for sending and receiving
◦ In 1950s “push-to-talk” was introduced. To talk, user pushed a
button, enabled transmission and disabled reception. CB-radio, taxis,
police cars use this technology
◦ IMTS (Improved Mobile Telephone System) introduced in 1960s.
Used two channels (one for sending, one for receiving), so need for
push-to-talk
Generations of Cellular Technology
 1G - Analog Voice (AMPS/TACS/NMT)
◦ Introduced in the late 1970s, the first cellular
systems were analog voice
◦ Years later, some 1G cellphones occasionally
provided wireless data service to a laptop by
connecting them to the laptop's dial-up modem,
but hookups were precarious, and when it
worked, the data transfer rate was minuscule
◦ Poor voice quality, battery life, security and
handoff capability.
Generations of Cellular Technology
 2G/2.5G - GSM/CDMA, GPRS/EDGE/IS95-B
◦ Refers to the digital voice systems of the 1990s, replacing
analog phones and based on the TDMA and CDMA air
interfaces
◦ First deployed in Europe, GSM became the predominant
TDMA-based cellular system worldwide
◦ 2G introduced encryption
◦ 2.5G - Data networks (GPRS, IS-95B) were added, enabling
Internet access and e-mail with slow downstream speeds up
to approximately 200 Kbps. It can also be used for services
such as Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) access,
Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), and for Internet
communication services such as email and World Wide Web
access.
◦ 2.75 – EDGE technology is an extended version of GSM. It
allows the clear and fast transmission of data and information
up to 384kbps speed.
Generations of Cellular Technology
 3G - WCDMA/HSDPA and CDMA2000
◦ Introduced higher transfer rates, up to 200 kbps, and
later versions could achieve multiple megabits per
second.
◦ Features faster access to the Internet with
downstream speeds up to 1 Mbps and more
depending on the 3G version.
◦ The predominant 3G technologies on the GSM side
are WCDMA and HSDPA with CDMA2000 on the
CDMA side
◦ 3G also embraces worldwide roaming for global
travelers
Generations of Cellular Technology
 4G – LTE/WiMAX/HSPA+
◦ LTE: Starting in the 2011 time frame, GSM and CDMA
carriers embraced LTE, which offers higher speeds than
3G networks. LTE embodies the design goals of the IP
Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), which integrates all
communications using the IP protocol (voice, video, e-
mail, Web, messaging, etc.)
◦ WIMAX: Sprint was the first carrier to offer a 4G
cellular network in the U.S. Using the WiMAX
technology, 4G service was rolled out to major cities in
2009, providing faster downloads than Sprint's 3G
service
◦ HSPA+: In late 2010, the ITU officially designated HSPA+
as a 4G technology, having previously defined it as 3G
Generations of Cellular Technology
BASIC CELLULAR
CONCEPTS
Basic Cellular Telephone Concepts
 Provisioning for each region is planned according
to an engineering plan that includes:
1. Cells
 Basic geographic unit onto which a coverage region is divided
(honeycomb shape)
 Size varies depending on the landscape – true shape is not a
perfect hexagon
 Types of cells:
 macrocell – their coverage is large (aprox. 6 miles in diameter);
used in remote areas, high-power transmitters and receivers are
used
 microcell – their coverage is small (half a mile in diameter) and are
used in urban zones; low-powered transmitters and receivers are
used to avoid interference with cells in another clusters
 picocell – covers areas such as building or a tunnel
Basic Cellular Telephone Concepts
1. Clusters
 A group of cells
 No channels are reused within a cluster
 The frequency spectrum is divided into subbands and
each subband is used within one cell of the cluster
Basic Cellular Telephone Concepts
3. Frequency reuse
(frequency planning)
◦ Reuse of radio channels to
carry more than one
conversation at a time
◦ Each cell is assigned with a
group of radio channels
that is completely different
from neighboring cells
◦ The footprint is limited by
boundary so that the same
group of channels can be
used in different cell that
are far enough away from
each other
◦ Cells with the same
number have same set of
frequencies
 Basic Cellular Telephone Concepts
4. Cell Splitting
 As the service area becomes full of users, the approach
is used to split a single area into smaller ones
 Urban centers can be split into as many areas as
necessary to provide acceptable service levels in heavy-
traffic regions
 Larger and less expensive cells can be used to cover
remote rural regions
Basic Cellular Telephone Concepts
5. Handoffs (Handovers)
• As adjacent areas do not use the same radio
channels, a call must either be dropped or
transferred from one radio channel to
another when a user crosses the line
between adjacent cells
• Handoff occurs when the mobile telephone
network automatically transfers a call from
radio channel to radio channel
 During a call, 2 parties are on one voice channel
 When mobile unit moves out of the coverage area of a
given cell site, the receptions become week
 At this point, the cell site in use requests a handoff
 The system switches the call to a stronger-frequency
channel in a new site without interrupting the call or
alerting the user
Basic Cellular Telephone Concepts
6. (Additional) Roaming
• Allows subscribers to operate in service
areas other than the one from which
service is subscribed
• When a mobile enters a geographic area
that is different from its home service area,
it is registered as a roamer in the new
service area
• Once registered, roaming mobiles are
allowed to receive and place calls from that
area, and billing is routed automatically to
the subscriber’s home service provider
BASIC CELLULAR
ELEMENTS
Basic Elements of Cellular System
 The cellular system offers mobile and portable
telephone stations the same service provided
to fixed stations over conventional wired loop
 In providing mobile service to subscribes, the
system needs to:
1. Have connection to PSTN or ISDN networks
 PSTN: Made up of local networks, the exchange and the
long-haul network that interconnect telephones & other
communication devices on worldwide basis
 ISDN: Providing worldwide telecommunications support of
voice, data, video & facsimile information within the same
network
Basic Elements of Cellular System

2. Mobile Telephone Switching Office (MTSO)

• Central office for mobile switching
• Houses mobile switching center (MSC), field
monitoring and relay stations for switching calls
from cell site to wire line central office (i.e. PSTN)
• Monitors all cellular calls
• Tracks the locations of all cellular-equipped
vehicles travelling in the system
• Arranges handoffs
• Keeps track of billing information
Basic Elements of Cellular System
3. Cell Site with Antenna System (Radio Base
Station)
• Physical location of radio equipment that provide
coverage within a cell
• A base station is equipped to transmit, receive &
switch calls to and from any mobile unit within the
cell to the MTSO
• Hardware includes power sources, interface
equipment, radio frequency transmitters &
receivers, and antenna systems
Basic Elements of Cellular System
4. Mobile Equipment (Mobile Subscriber
Unit)
 Consists of control unit and a transceiver that
transmits and receives radio transmissions to
and from a cell site
 3 types:
 The mobile telephone (typical transmit power is
4.0W)
 The portable (typical transmit power is 0.6W)
The transportable (typical transmit power is
1.6W)
CELLULAR
TECHNOLOGY
 Digital Cellular Telephone
 Benefits (as compared to analog):
◦ Less sensitivity to noise
◦ More phone calls per channel
◦ Easier computer control
◦ Voice, data and fax can be integrated into a single
system
◦ Better compression can lead to better channel
utilization
◦ Error correction codes can be used for better
quality
◦ Sophisticated encryption can be used
 Digital Cellular Telephone
 Among popular systems:
◦ Global System for Mobile Communications
(GSM)
◦ Personal Communication Systems (PCS)
Global System for Mobile
Communications (GSM)
 2G standard that was developed to solve the
fragmentation problems
 First total digital cellular system designed to use the
services of ISDN to provide a wide range of network
services
 Uses the 1.71 to 1.785 GHZ band for uplink signals and
1.805 to 1.88 GHz band for downlink signals
 TDMA: Used TDM to allow 8 simultaneous calls to use
each channel
 Implement Gaussian minimum shift keying (GMSK) as
modulation technique, a narrowband form of FSK
GSM Architecture
 GSM Architecture
 Mobile station
◦ Communicates across Um interface (air interface)
with base station transceiver in same cell as mobile
unit
◦ Mobile equipment (ME) – physical terminal, such as a
telephone or PCS
◦ ME includes radio transceiver, digital signal processors
and subscriber identity module (SIM)
◦ GSM subscriber units are generic until SIM is inserted
GSM Architecture
◦ Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card
 A memory card (integrated circuit) holding identity
information, phone book etc.
 GSM system support SIM cards
 Other systems, like CDMA do not support SIM cards, but have
something similar called Re-Usable Identification Module
(RUIM)
 SIMs roam, not necessarily the subscriber devices
 SIM may be protected against unauthorized use by a password
or personal identity number (PIN).
GSM Architecture
◦ International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI)
key
 A unique 15 digit number identifying each phone, is
incorporated in the cellular phone by the
manufacturer
 When a phone tries to access a network, the service
provider verifies its IMEI with a database of stolen
phone numbers; if it is found in the database, the
service provider denies the connection
 The IMEI is located on a white sticker/label under the
battery, but it can also be displayed by typing *#06#
on the phone
GSM Architecture
◦ International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) key
 A 15-digit unique number provided by the service provider and
incorporated in the SIM card which identifies the subscriber
 IMSI enables a service provider to link a phone number with a
subscriber
 first 3 digits of the IMSI are the country code

◦ Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (TMSI) key

 TMSI – is a temporary number, shorter than the IMSI, assigned
by the service provider to the phone on a temporary basis
 TMSI key identifies the phone and its owner in the cell it is
located; when the phone moves to a different cell it gets a new
TMSI key
 as TMSI keys are shorter than IMSI keys they are more efficient
to send
 TMSI key are used for securing GSM networks
 GSM Architecture
 Base Station Subsystem (BSS)
◦ Provides and manages radio-frequency transmission paths
between mobile units and the MSC
◦ Manages the radio interface between mobile stations and all
other GSM subsystems
◦ Consists of base station controller (BCS) and one or more
base transceiver stations (BTS)
◦ BSC are used to connect the mobile subscriber (MS) to the
NSS through BTS
◦ BSC reserves radio frequencies, manages handoff of mobile
unit from one cell to another within BSS, and controls
paging
 GSM Architecture
 Network & Switching Subsystem (NSS)
◦ Manages switching functions for the system
◦ Allows the MSCs to communicate with other
telephone networks (i.e. PSTN and ISDN)
◦ Mobile Switching Center (MSC) is at core; consists of
several databases
 Home location register (HLR) database – stores information
about each subscriber that belongs to it
 Visitor location register (VLR) database – maintains
information about subscribers currently physically in the
region
 Authentication center database (AuC) – used for
authentication activities, holds encryption keys
 Equipment identity register database (EIR) – keeps track of the
type of equipment that exists at the mobile station
 Personal Communication Systems
(PCS)
 All-digital service that operates in the 1900MHz
frequency range
 Digital and analog cellular shares the 800MHz
frequency band
 IS-54 system uses TDMA with 3 calls per
30KHz channel. The modulation scheme is
DQPSK with improved synchronization features
and narrower bandwidth
 IS-95 system used CDMA (spread spectrum)
modulation scheme and multiplexing standard. It
uses 20 channels spaced at 1.25 MHz intervals.
The modulation is QPSK
APPLICATION OF
CELLULAR
How Cellular Works?
 Each mobile uses a separate, temporary
radio channel to talk to the cell site
 The cell site talks to many mobiles at
once, using one channel per mobile
 Channels use a pair of frequencies for
communication
◦ one frequency (the forward link) for
transmitting from the cell site,
◦ one frequency (the reverse link) for the cell
site to receive calls from the users
How Cellular Works?
 Radio energy dissipates over distance, so
mobiles must stay near the base station
to maintain communications
 The basic structure of mobile networks
includes telephone systems and radio
services
Making A Call
1. When a phone needs to make a call, it sends an access request
(containing phone identification, number) to the BTS; if another
cell phone tries to send an access request at the same time the
messages might get corrupted, in this case both cell phones wait a
random time interval before trying to send again
2. Then the BTS authenticates the cell phone and sends an
acknowledgement to the cell phone
3. The BTS assigns a specific voice channel and time slot to the cell
phone and transmits the cell phone request to the MSC via BSC
4. The MSC queries HLR and VLR and based on the information
obtained, it routes the call to the receiver’s BSC and BTS
5. The cell phone uses the voice channel and time slot assigned to it
by the BTS to communicate with the receiver
Receiving A Call
1. When a request to deliver a call is made in the network, the MSC
or the receiver’s home area queries the HLR; if the cell phone is
located in its home area the call is transferred to the receiver; if the
cell phone is located outside its home area, the HLR maintains a
record of the VLR attached to the cell phone
2. Based on this record, the MSC notes the location of the VLR and
indicated the corresponding BSC about the incoming call
3. The BSC routes the call to the particular BTS which uses the paging
channel to alert the phone
4. The receiver cell phone monitors the paging channel periodically
and once it receives the call alert from the BTS it responds to the
BTS
5. The BTS communicates a channel and a time slot for the cell phone
to communicate
6. Now the call is established
Call Processing
 Wireline-to-mobile calls
◦ The cellular system’s switching center receives a call from a
wireline party through a dedicated interconnect line from the
PSTN
◦ The switch translates the received dialing digits and determined
whether the mobile unit to which the call is destined is on or off
hook (busy)
◦ If the mobile is available, the switch pages the mobile subscriber
◦ Following a page response from the mobile unit, the switch
assigns an idle channel and instructs the mobile unit to tune into
that channel
◦ The mobile unit sends a verification of channel tuning via the
controller in the cell site and than sends an audible call progress
tone to the subscriber’s mobile phone, causing it to ring
◦ The switch terminates the call progress tone when it receives
positive indication that subscriber has answered the phone and
the conversation has begun
 Call Processing
 Mobile-to-wireline calls
◦ A mobile subscriber first enters the called number into the unit’s
memory
◦ The subscriber then presses a send key, which transmits the
called number as well as the mobile subscriber's ID number to
the switch
◦ If the ID is valid, the switch routes the call over a leased wireline
interconnection to the PSTN, which completes the connection to
the wireline party
◦ Using the cell-site controller, the switch assigns the mobile unit a
non-busy user channel and instructs the mobile unit to tune into
that channel
◦ After the switch receives verification that the mobile unit is tuned
to the assigned channel, the mobile subscriber receives an audible
call progress tone from the switch
◦ After the called party picks up the phone, the switch terminates
the call progress tones and the conversation can begin
Call Processing
 Mobile-to-mobile calls
◦ The calling party enters the called number into the unit’s memory and
presses the send key. The switch receives the caller’s ID number and
called the number. Then it will determine if the called unit is free to
receive a call
◦ The switch sends a page command to all cell-site controllers, and the
called party receives a page
◦ Following a positive page from called party, the switch assigns each party
an idle user channel and instructs each party to tune into their respective
user channel
◦ The called party’s phone rings. When the system receives notice that the
called party has answered the phone, the switch terminates the call
progress tone, and the conversation may begin
◦ If the subscriber wishes to initiate a call and all user channels are busy,
the switch sends a directed retry command, instructing the subscriber to
reattempt the call through neighboring cell
◦ If the system cannot allocate a user channel through the neighboring cell,
the switch transmits an intercept message to the calling mobile unit over
control channel. Whenever the called party is off hook, the calling party
receives a busy signal
OTHER RELATED
MATTERS
 Personal Communication Satellite
Systems (PCSS)

 Uses low earth-orbit (LEO)

and medium earth-orbit
(MEO) satellites that
communicate directly with
small, low-power mobile
phone units
 Able to make or receive calls
at anytime, anywhere
 One of the top provider is
Iridium
 Types of Antenna
 Omnidirectional
◦ Transmitting equally in all directions
◦ Usually used in rural areas
◦ Covers a circular shaped area, with base station
placed in the middle
 Directional
◦ Transmitting signals at certain direction (i.e. 3 antenna
needed in 120o arrangement and close to each other
◦ Used in urban areas which support a lot of
subscribers
END OF LECTURE 5
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