Chapter Two

Cellular Networks

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 Basics of Cellular Networks
• Cellular radio is a technique that was developed to increase
the capacity available for mobile radio telephone service.
• Prior to the introduction of cellular radio, mobile radio
telephone service was only provided by a high-power
transmitter/receiver.
• Cellular Network Organization
– a cellular network is the use of multiple low-power
transmitters, on the order of 100W or less
– Because the range of such a transmitter is small, an area can be
divided into cells, each one served by its own antenna.
– Each cell is allocated a band of frequencies and
– Each cell is served by a base station, consisting of transmitter,
receiver, and control unit.
– Adjacent cells are assigned different frequencies to avoid
interference or crosstalk
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 Basics of Cellular Networks
• The first design decision to make is the shape of cells to
cover an area.
– A matrix of square cells would be the simplest layout to
define
– However, this geometry is not ideal.
– If the width of a square cell is d, then a cell has four
neighbors at a distance d and four neighbors at a distance
2d.
– As a mobile user within a cell moves toward the cell's
boundaries, it is best if all of the adjacent antennas are
equidistant.
• This simplifies the task of determining when to switch the user
to an adjacent antenna and which antenna to choose.

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 Basics of Cellular Networks
• A hexagonal pattern provides for equidistant
antennas
• A precise hexagonal pattern is not used.
• Variations from the ideal are due to
– Topographical limitations,
– Local signal propagation conditions, and
– Practical limitation on sitting antennas

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Basics of Cellular Networks

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 Basics of Cellular Networks
• Frequency Reuse
– Each cell has a base transceiver.
– The transmission power is carefully controlled to allow
communication within the cell using a given frequency
band while limiting the power at that frequency
– Within a given cell, multiple frequency bands are assigned,
the number of bands depending on the traffic expected.
– A key design issue is to determine the minimum separation
between two cells using the same frequency band, so that
the two cells do not interfere with each other.
– Objective is to reuse frequency in nearby cells
• 10 to 50 frequencies assigned to each cell
• Transmission power controlled to limit power at that
frequency escaping to adjacent cells
• The issue is to determine how many cells must intervene
between two cells using the same frequency 6
 Basics of Cellular Networks
• Increasing Capacity
– as more customers use the system, traffic may
build up so that there are not enough frequency
bands assigned to a cell to handle its calls.
– A number of approaches have been used to cope
with this situation, including the following:
• Adding new channels - growth and expansion can be
managed in an orderly fashion by adding new
channels.
• Frequency borrowing - frequencies are taken from
adjacent cells by congested cells.
– The frequencies can also be assigned to cells
dynamically.
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 Basics of Cellular Networks
• Cell splitting - Cells in areas of high usage can be split into
smaller cells.
– Generally, the original cells are about 6.5 to 13 km in size.
– The smaller cells can themselves be split; however, 1.5-km cells
are close to the practical minimum size as a general solution
– Handoff – transferring of the call from one base transceiver to
another
• As the cells get smaller, these handoffs become much more
frequent.
• Cell sectoring - a cell is divided into a number of wedge-
shaped sectors, each with its own set of channels, typically 3
or 6 sectors per cell.
• Microcells – antennas move to buildings, hills, and lamp posts
– Microcells are useful in city streets in congested areas, along
highways, and inside large public buildings.
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Cellular System Overview

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 Operation of Cellular Systems
• Issues Vital to cellular networks
• Frequency allocation
• Licensed- are reliable and offer better performance than
unlicensed frequency bands which are low cost and
easy to deploy but interference is common
• Many providers
• Multiple Access
• Many users
• Wide area of coverage
• Traffic management
• Location management
• High mobility (in cars, trains)
• Multiple suppliers
• Handoff management, roaming
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• Handoff - Is the procedure for changing the assignment of a mobile unit
from one BS to another as the mobile unit moves from one cell to another.
– Guard channel – offers a means of improving the probability of a
successful handoff by reserving a certain number of channels allocated
exclusively for hand off request
– Usually given higher priority than initial call
– Selecting the threshold signal level is vital
• Too small – lost connection
• Too large - unnecessary handoffs

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 Handoff Detection Strategies

• Mobile – Controlled handoff(MCHO)

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 Handoff Detection Strategies
Mobile – Controlled handoff(MCHO)
• In this strategy, the MS continuously Monitors the
radio signal strength and quality of the surrounding
BSs,
• When predefined criteria are met, then the MS
checks for the best candidate BS for an available
traffic channel and requests the handoff to occur
• This is not that much useful type of handoff strategy
as there is a lots of burden to the mobile station

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 Handoff Detection Strategies
Network – Controlled Handoff (NCHO)
• In this strategy, the surrounding BSs, the MSC or
both monitor the radio signal.
• When the signal’s strength and quality deteriorate
below a predefined threshold, the network arranges
for a handoff to another channel

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 Handoff Detection Strategies
• Mobile – Assisted Handoff (MAHO)
• It is a variant of NCHO strategy.
• In this strategy, the network directs the MS to
measure the signal from the surrounding BSs and to
report those measurements back to the network.
• The network then uses these measurements to
determine where a handoff is required and to which
channel
• The most popular type of handoff strategy because
the mobile is measuring the signal strength which
will give the accurate result and all the processing
will be done at the network that will reduce the
load on the mobile station
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 Types of Handoff with reference to link
transfer
Hard handoff – “break before make”
• Old connection is broke before a new connection is
activated
• Primarily used in FDMA ad TDMA system (e.g GSM)
• Different frequency rages used in adjacent cells to
minimize the interference

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 Types of Handoff with reference to link
transfer
Soft handoff – “make before break”
• New connection is activated before the old is
broken
• Used in UMTS to improve the signal quality
– Uplink and downlink signals may be combined
for better signal
– A Mobile may in UMTS spend a large part of
the connection time in soft handover
– Better connection reliability
• It is more seamless handover
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 Four types of Handoff
1. Intra Cell handoff
2. Inter Cell or Intra – BSC handoff
3. Inter – BSC or Intra- MSC handoff
4. Inter – MSC handoff

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 Handoff with reference to the network
Intersystem Handoff
If a mobile moves form one cellular system to a
different cellular system controlled by a different MSC,
an intersystem handoff becomes necessary. (e.g GSM
to WCDMA to LTE)

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• Performance metrics used to make the handoff decision.
– Cell blocking –
• The probability of a new call being blocked, due to heavy
load on the BS traffic capacity.
• the mobile unit is handed off to a neighboring cell based not
on signal quality but on traffic capacity.
– Call dropping - The probability that, due to a handoff, a
call is terminated.
– Call completion - The probability that an admitted call is
not dropped before it terminates.
– Probability of unsuccessful handoff - The probability that a
handoff is executed while the reception conditions are
inadequate.
– Handoff blocking - The probability that a handoff cannot
be successfully completed.
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– Handoff probability - The probability that a
handoff occurs before call termination.
– Rate of handoff - The number of handoffs per
unit time.
– Interruption duration: The duration of time
during a handoff in which a mobile unit is not
connected to either base station.
– Handoff delay: The distance the mobile unit
moves from the point at which the handoff
should occur to the point at which it does occur.

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 Multiple Access Methods
• Is the technique that lets multiple mobile users to share
the allotted spectrum in the most effective manner
• Since spectrum is limited , the sharing is necessary to
improve the overall capacity of the geographical area
• This is carried out by permitting the available bandwidth
to be used simultaneously by different users
• In computer networks, the multiple access method
permits various terminals to connect to the same
multipoint transmission medium to transmit over it and
share its capacity
• Depending the channel type, specific multiple access
techniques can be used for communication
– FDMA, TDMA and CDMA are the most common
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 Multiple Access Methods
• FDMA – Frequency Division Multiple Access
– The total bandwidth available to the system is
divided into frequencies
– Is used mainly for analog transmission
– All users share the satellite simultaneously but
each user transmits at single frequency.
– Used 30 KHz for each user.

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 Multiple Access Methods
• Pros
– Very Simple to design
– Narrowband (no ISI)
– ISI - is a form of distortion of a signal in which
one symbol interferes with subsequent symbols)
– Synchronization is easy
– No interference among users in a cell
• Cons
– Narrowband interference
– Static spectrum allocation
– Freq. reuse is a problem
– High Q analog filters or large guard band required
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Multiple Access Methods

Example FM Radios

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 Multiple Access Methods
• TDMA – Time Division Multiple Access
– A time slot is assigned to each call during the conversation,
a regular space in a digital stream
– This technology enables three different users to use one
frequency at the same time.
– Used same 30 KHz channels, but with three users sharing
them (3 slots)
• Pros
– Better suited for digital
– Often gets higher capacity (3 times higher here)
– Relaxes need for high Q filters

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 Multiple Access Methods
• Cons
– Strict synchronization and guard time needed
– Still susceptible to jamming, other-cell interference
– Often requires equalizer

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 1G - First-Generation Analog
• Analog and circuit switched
• The most advanced 1G system in North America is Advanced
Mobile Phone Service (AMPS)
– In North America, Two 25-MHz bands are allocated to AMPS
• One for transmission from base to mobile unit
• One for transmission from mobile unit to base
– Each band split in two to encourage competition
– The control channels are data channels operating at 10 kbps.
– The conversation channels carry the conversations in analog
using frequency modulation.
– The number of channels is inadequate for most major markets,
so some way must be found
• either to use less bandwidth per conversation or
• to reuse frequencies.
– For AMPS, Frequency reuse exploited
– Uses FDMA 28
 2G - Second Generation- Digital
• Based on digital transmission
• provide higher quality signals, higher data rates for
support of digital services, and greater capacity.
• Uses TDMA and CDMA
– E.g. IS-95 (CDMA), GSM(TDMA)
• Different approaches in US and Europe
• US: divergence(difference or disparity)
– Only one player (AMPS) in 1G
– Became several players in 2G due to competition
• Europe: Convergence(coming together)
– 5 incompatible 1G systems (no clear winner)
– European PTT development of GSM (uses new
frequency and completely digital communication) 29
 Differences Between First and Second
Generation Systems
• Digital traffic channels – first-generation systems are
almost purely analog; second-generation systems are
digital
• Encryption – all second generation systems provide
encryption to prevent eavesdropping
• Error detection and correction – second-generation
digital traffic allows for detection and correction,
giving clear voice reception
• Channel access – second-generation systems allow
channels to be dynamically shared by a number of
users
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• 2.5G
– Circuit switching and Packet switching
– GPRS (General Packet Radio Service)
• 40 kbps data
• 2.75G
– EDGE (Enhanced Data Rate for GSM
Evolution)
– 100 kbps

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 3G - Third Generation
• Voice quality comparable to the public switched telephone
network
• 144 kbps data rate available to users in high-speed motor
vehicles over large areas
• 384 kbps available to pedestrians standing or moving
slowly over small areas
• Support for 2. 048 Mbps for office use
• Symmetrical and asymmetrical data transmission rates
• Support for both packet switched and circuit switched data
services
• Supports multimedia services (data, voice, video, image)
• Support for a wide variety of mobile equipment
• Flexibility to allow the introduction of new services
and technologies 32
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 4G – Fourth Generation
• Provides mobile ultra-broadband Internet access
• Maximum 100 Mbps for high mobility
communication
• 1 Gbps for low mobility communication (such as
pedestrians and stationary users)
• Be based on an all-IP packet switched network.
– Does not support traditional Circuit-switched
telephony service, but all IP based communication
• Predecessors - Mobile WiMAX (802.16e) and LTE
(Long Term Evolution)
• WiMAX 2.0 and LTE Advanced
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• 1G • 3G

• 2G • 4G

• 2.5/2.75G • 5G

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Basic Elements of Satellite communications

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