Cellular network

Top of a cellular radio tower

Indoor cell site in Germany

A cellular network or mobile network is a

communication network where the last
link is wireless. The network is distributed
over land areas called "cells", each served
by at least one fixed-location transceiver,
but more normally, three cell sites or base
transceiver stations. These base stations
provide the cell with the network coverage
which can be used for transmission of
voice, data, and other types of content. A
cell typically uses a different set of
frequencies from neighbouring cells, to
avoid interference and provide guaranteed
service quality within each cell.[1]

When joined together, these cells provide

radio coverage over a wide geographic
area. This enables numerous portable
transceivers (e.g., mobile phones, tablets
and laptops equipped with mobile
broadband modems, pagers, etc.) to
communicate with each other and with
fixed transceivers and telephones
anywhere in the network, via base stations,
even if some of the transceivers are
moving through more than one cell during
transmission.

Cellular networks offer a number of

desirable features:[1]

More capacity than a single large

transmitter, since the same frequency
can be used for multiple links as long as
they are in different cells
Mobile devices use less power than with
a single transmitter or satellite since the
cell towers are closer
Larger coverage area than a single
terrestrial transmitter, since additional
 cell towers can be added indefinitely
and are not limited by the horizon

Major telecommunications providers have

deployed voice and data cellular networks
over most of the inhabited land area of
Earth. This allows mobile phones and
mobile computing devices to be
connected to the public switched
telephone network and public Internet.
Private cellular networks can be used for
research[2] or for large organizations and
fleets, such as dispatch for local public
safety agencies or a taxicab company.[3]

Concept
Example of frequency reuse factor or pattern 1/4

In a cellular radio system, a land area to be

supplied with radio service is divided into
cells in a pattern dependent on terrain and
reception characteristics. These cell
patterns roughly take the form of regular
shapes, such as hexagons, squares, or
circles although hexagonal cells are
conventional. Each of these cells is
assigned with multiple frequencies (f1 –
 f6) which have corresponding radio base
stations. The group of frequencies can be
reused in other cells, provided that the
same frequencies are not reused in
adjacent cells, which would cause co-
channel interference.

The increased capacity in a cellular

network, compared with a network with a
single transmitter, comes from the mobile
communication switching system
developed by Amos Joel of Bell Labs[4]
that permitted multiple callers in a given
area to use the same frequency by
switching calls to the nearest available
cellular tower having that frequency
available. This strategy is viable because a
given radio frequency can be reused in a
different area for an unrelated
transmission. In contrast, a single
transmitter can only handle one
transmission for a given frequency.
Inevitably, there is some level of
interference from the signal from the other
cells which use the same frequency.
Consequently, there must be at least one
cell gap between cells which reuse the
same frequency in a standard FDMA
system.
Consider the case of a taxi company,
where each radio has a manually operated
channel selector knob to tune to different
frequencies. As drivers move around, they
change from channel to channel. The
drivers are aware of which frequency
approximately covers some area. When
they do not receive a signal from the
transmitter, they try other channels until
finding one that works. The taxi drivers
only speak one at a time when invited by
the base station operator. This is a form of
time-division multiple access (TDMA).

History
The first commercial cellular network, the
1G generation, was launched in Japan by
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) in
1979, initially in the metropolitan area of
Tokyo. Within five years, the NTT network
had been expanded to cover the whole
population of Japan and became the first
nationwide 1G network. It was an analog
wireless network. The Bell System had
developed cellular technology since 1947,
and had cellular networks in operation in
Chicago and Dallas prior to 1979, but
commercial service was delayed by the
breakup of the Bell System, with cellular
assets transferred to the Regional Bell
Operating Companies.
The wireless revolution began in the early
1990s,[5][6][7] leading to the transition from
analog to digital networks.[8] This was
enabled by advances in MOSFET
technology. The MOSFET, originally
invented by Mohamed M. Atalla and
Dawon Kahng at Bell Labs in 1959,[9][10]
was adapted for cellular networks by the
early 1990s, with the wide adoption of
power MOSFET, LDMOS (RF amplifier) and
RF CMOS (RF circuit) devices leading to
the development and proliferation of
digital wireless mobile networks.[8][11][12]

The first commercial digital cellular

network, the 2G generation, was launched
in 1991. This sparked competition in the
sector as the new operators challenged
the incumbent 1G analog network
operators.

Cell signal encoding

To distinguish signals from several
different transmitters, frequency-division
multiple access (FDMA, used by analog
and D-AMPS systems), time-division
multiple access (TDMA, used by GSM) and
code-division multiple access (CDMA, first
used for PCS, and the basis of 3G) were
developed.[1]
With FDMA, the transmitting and receiving
frequencies used by different users in
each cell are different from each other.
Each cellular call was assigned a pair of
frequencies (one for base to mobile, the
other for mobile to base) to provide full-
duplex operation. The original AMPS
systems had 666 channel pairs, 333 each
for the CLEC "A" system and ILEC "B"
system. The number of channels was
expanded to 416 pairs per carrier, but
ultimately the number of RF channels
limits the number of calls that a cell site
could handle. Note that FDMA is a familiar
technology to telephone companies, that
used frequency-division multiplexing to
add channels to their point-to-point
wireline plants before time-division
multiplexing rendered FDM obsolete.

With TDMA, the transmitting and receiving

time slots used by different users in each
cell are different from each other. TDMA
typically uses digital signaling to store and
forward bursts of voice data that are fit
into time slices for transmission, and
expanded at the receiving end to produce
a somewhat normal-sounding voice at the
receiver. TDMA must introduce latency
(time delay) into the audio signal. As long
as the latency time is short enough that
the delayed audio is not heard as an echo,
it is not problematic. Note that TDMA is a
familiar technology for telephone
companies, that used time-division
multiplexing to add channels to their point-
to-point wireline plants before packet
switching rendered FDM obsolete.

The principle of CDMA is based on spread

spectrum technology developed for
military use during World War II and
improved during the Cold War into direct-
sequence spread spectrum that was used
for early CDMA cellular systems and Wi-Fi.
DSSS allows multiple simultaneous phone
conversations to take place on a single
wideband RF channel, without needing to
channelize them in time or frequency.
Although more sophisticated than older
multiple access schemes (and unfamiliar
to legacy telephone companies because it
was not developed by Bell Labs), CDMA
has scaled well to become the basis for
3G cellular radio systems.

Other available methods of multiplexing

such as MIMO, a more sophisticated
version of antenna diversity, combined
with active beamforming provides much
greater spatial multiplexing ability
compared to original AMPS cells, that
typically only addressed one to three
unique spaces. Massive MIMO
deployment allows much greater channel
re-use, thus increasing the number of
subscribers per cell site, greater data
throughput per user, or some combination
thereof. Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
(QAM) modems offer an increasing
number of bits per symbol, allowing more
users per megahertz of bandwidth (and
decibels of SNR), greater data throughput
per user, or some combination thereof.

Frequency reuse
The key characteristic of a cellular network
is the ability to re-use frequencies to
increase both coverage and capacity. As
described above, adjacent cells must use
different frequencies, however, there is no
problem with two cells sufficiently far
apart operating on the same frequency,
provided the masts and cellular network
users' equipment do not transmit with too
much power.[1]

The elements that determine frequency

reuse are the reuse distance and the reuse
factor. The reuse distance, D is calculated
as

where R is the cell radius and N is the

number of cells per cluster. Cells may vary
in radius from 1 to 30 kilometres (0.62 to
18.64 mi). The boundaries of the cells can
also overlap between adjacent cells and
large cells can be divided into smaller
cells.[13]

The frequency reuse factor is the rate at

which the same frequency can be used in
the network. It is 1/K (or K according to
some books) where K is the number of
cells which cannot use the same
frequencies for transmission. Common
values for the frequency reuse factor are
1/3, 1/4, 1/7, 1/9 and 1/12 (or 3, 4, 7, 9 and
12 depending on notation).[14]
In case of N sector antennas on the same
base station site, each with different
direction, the base station site can serve N
different sectors. N is typically 3. A reuse
pattern of N/K denotes a further division in
frequency among N sector antennas per
site. Some current and historical reuse
patterns are 3/7 (North American AMPS),
6/4 (Motorola NAMPS), and 3/4 (GSM).

If the total available bandwidth is B, each

cell can only use a number of frequency
channels corresponding to a bandwidth of
B/K, and each sector can use a bandwidth
of B/NK.
Code-division multiple access-based
systems use a wider frequency band to
achieve the same rate of transmission as
FDMA, but this is compensated for by the
ability to use a frequency reuse factor of 1,
for example using a reuse pattern of 1/1.
In other words, adjacent base station sites
use the same frequencies, and the
different base stations and users are
separated by codes rather than
frequencies. While N is shown as 1 in this
example, that does not mean the CDMA
cell has only one sector, but rather that the
entire cell bandwidth is also available to
each sector individually.
Recently also orthogonal frequency-
division multiple access based systems
such as LTE are being deployed with a
frequency reuse of 1. Since such systems
do not spread the signal across the
frequency band, inter-cell radio resource
management is important to coordinate
resource allocation between different cell
sites and to limit the inter-cell interference.
There are various means of Inter-Cell
Interference Coordination (ICIC) already
defined in the standard.[15] Coordinated
scheduling, multi-site MIMO or multi-site
beamforming are other examples for inter-
cell radio resource management that
might be standardized in the future.
Directional antennas

Cellular telephone frequency reuse pattern. See U.S.

Patent 4,144,411

Cell towers frequently use a directional

signal to improve reception in higher-
traffic areas. In the United States, the
Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) limits omnidirectional cell tower
signals to 100 watts of power. If the tower
has directional antennas, the FCC allows
the cell operator to broadcast up to 500
watts of effective radiated power (ERP).[16]

Although the original cell towers created

an even, omnidirectional signal, were at
the centers of the cells and were
omnidirectional, a cellular map can be
redrawn with the cellular telephone towers
located at the corners of the hexagons
where three cells converge.[17] Each tower
has three sets of directional antennas
aimed in three different directions with
120 degrees for each cell (totaling 360
degrees) and receiving/transmitting into
three different cells at different
frequencies. This provides a minimum of
three channels, and three towers for each
cell and greatly increases the chances of
receiving a usable signal from at least one
direction.

The numbers in the illustration are channel

numbers, which repeat every 3 cells. Large
cells can be subdivided into smaller cells
for high volume areas.[18]
Cell phone companies also use this
directional signal to improve reception
along highways and inside buildings like
stadiums and arenas.[16]

Broadcast messages and

paging
Practically every cellular system has some
kind of broadcast mechanism. This can be
used directly for distributing information to
multiple mobiles. Commonly, for example
in mobile telephony systems, the most
important use of broadcast information is
to set up channels for one-to-one
communication between the mobile
transceiver and the base station. This is
called paging. The three different paging
procedures generally adopted are
sequential, parallel and selective paging.

The details of the process of paging vary

somewhat from network to network, but
normally we know a limited number of
cells where the phone is located (this
group of cells is called a Location Area in
the GSM or UMTS system, or Routing Area
if a data packet session is involved; in LTE,
cells are grouped into Tracking Areas).
Paging takes place by sending the
broadcast message to all of those cells.
Paging messages can be used for
information transfer. This happens in
pagers, in CDMA systems for sending SMS
messages, and in the UMTS system where
it allows for low downlink latency in
packet-based connections.

Movement from cell to cell

and handing over
In a primitive taxi system, when the taxi
moved away from a first tower and closer
to a second tower, the taxi driver manually
switched from one frequency to another
as needed. If communication was
interrupted due to a loss of a signal, the
taxi driver asked the base station operator
to repeat the message on a different
frequency.

In a cellular system, as the distributed

mobile transceivers move from cell to cell
during an ongoing continuous
communication, switching from one cell
frequency to a different cell frequency is
done electronically without interruption
and without a base station operator or
manual switching. This is called the
handover or handoff. Typically, a new
channel is automatically selected for the
mobile unit on the new base station which
will serve it. The mobile unit then
automatically switches from the current
channel to the new channel and
communication continues.

The exact details of the mobile system's

move from one base station to the other
vary considerably from system to system
(see the example below for how a mobile
phone network manages handover).

Mobile phone network

WCDMA network architecture

The most common example of a cellular
network is a mobile phone (cell phone)
network. A mobile phone is a portable
telephone which receives or makes calls
through a cell site (base station) or
transmitting tower. Radio waves are used
to transfer signals to and from the cell
phone.

Modern mobile phone networks use cells

because radio frequencies are a limited,
shared resource. Cell-sites and handsets
change frequency under computer control
and use low power transmitters so that the
usually limited number of radio
frequencies can be simultaneously used
by many callers with less interference.

A cellular network is used by the mobile

phone operator to achieve both coverage
and capacity for their subscribers. Large
geographic areas are split into smaller
cells to avoid line-of-sight signal loss and
to support a large number of active
phones in that area. All of the cell sites are
connected to telephone exchanges (or
switches), which in turn connect to the
public telephone network.

In cities, each cell site may have a range of

up to approximately 1⁄2 mile (0.80 km),
while in rural areas, the range could be as
much as 5 miles (8.0 km). It is possible
that in clear open areas, a user may
receive signals from a cell site 25 miles
(40 km) away.

Since almost all mobile phones use

cellular technology, including GSM, CDMA,
and AMPS (analog), the term "cell phone"
is in some regions, notably the US, used
interchangeably with "mobile phone".
However, satellite phones are mobile
phones that do not communicate directly
with a ground-based cellular tower but
may do so indirectly by way of a satellite.
There are a number of different digital
cellular technologies, including: Global
System for Mobile Communications
(GSM), General Packet Radio Service
(GPRS), cdmaOne, CDMA2000, Evolution-
Data Optimized (EV-DO), Enhanced Data
Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), Universal
Mobile Telecommunications System
(UMTS), Digital Enhanced Cordless
Telecommunications (DECT), Digital AMPS
(IS-136/TDMA), and Integrated Digital
Enhanced Network (iDEN). The transition
from existing analog to the digital
standard followed a very different path in
Europe and the US.[19] As a consequence,
multiple digital standards surfaced in the
US, while Europe and many countries
converged towards the GSM standard.

Structure of the mobile phone

cellular network
E…

A simple view of the cellular mobile-radio

network consists of the following:

A network of radio base stations

forming the base station subsystem.
The core circuit switched network for
handling voice calls and text
A packet switched network for handling
mobile data
 The public switched telephone network
to connect subscribers to the wider
telephony network

This network is the foundation of the GSM

system network. There are many functions
that are performed by this network in order
to make sure customers get the desired
service including mobility management,
registration, call set-up, and handover.

Any phone connects to the network via an

RBS (Radio Base Station) at a corner of
the corresponding cell which in turn
connects to the Mobile switching center
(MSC). The MSC provides a connection to
the public switched telephone network
(PSTN). The link from a phone to the RBS
is called an uplink while the other way is
termed downlink.

Radio channels effectively use the

transmission medium through the use of
the following multiplexing and access
schemes: frequency division multiple
access (FDMA), time division multiple
access (TDMA), code division multiple
access (CDMA), and space division
multiple access (SDMA).

Small cells E…
Small cells, which have a smaller coverage
area than base stations, are categorised
as follows:

Microcell, less than 2 kilometres

Picocell, less than 200 metres
Femtocell, around 10 metres

Cellular handover in mobile phone

networks
E…

As the phone user moves from one cell

area to another cell while a call is in
progress, the mobile station will search for
a new channel to attach to in order not to
drop the call. Once a new channel is found,
the network will command the mobile unit
to switch to the new channel and at the
same time switch the call onto the new
channel.

With CDMA, multiple CDMA handsets

share a specific radio channel. The signals
are separated by using a pseudonoise
code (PN code) that is specific to each
phone. As the user moves from one cell to
another, the handset sets up radio links
with multiple cell sites (or sectors of the
same site) simultaneously. This is known
as "soft handoff" because, unlike with
traditional cellular technology, there is no
one defined point where the phone
switches to the new cell.
In IS-95 inter-frequency handovers and
older analog systems such as NMT it will
typically be impossible to test the target
channel directly while communicating. In
this case, other techniques have to be
used such as pilot beacons in IS-95. This
means that there is almost always a brief
break in the communication while
searching for the new channel followed by
the risk of an unexpected return to the old
channel.

If there is no ongoing communication or

the communication can be interrupted, it is
possible for the mobile unit to
spontaneously move from one cell to
another and then notify the base station
with the strongest signal.

Cellular frequency choice in mobile

phone networks
E…

The effect of frequency on cell coverage

means that different frequencies serve
better for different uses. Low frequencies,
such as 450  MHz NMT, serve very well for
countryside coverage. GSM 900
(900 MHz) is a suitable solution for light
urban coverage. GSM 1800 (1.8  GHz)
starts to be limited by structural walls.
UMTS, at 2.1 GHz is quite similar in
coverage to GSM 1800.
Higher frequencies are a disadvantage
when it comes to coverage, but it is a
decided advantage when it comes to
capacity. Picocells, covering e.g. one floor
of a building, become possible, and the
same frequency can be used for cells
which are practically neighbors.

Cell service area may also vary due to

interference from transmitting systems,
both within and around that cell. This is
true especially in CDMA based systems.
The receiver requires a certain signal-to-
noise ratio, and the transmitter should not
send with too high transmission power in
view to not cause interference with other
transmitters. As the receiver moves away
from the transmitter, the power received
decreases, so the power control algorithm
of the transmitter increases the power it
transmits to restore the level of received
power. As the interference (noise) rises
above the received power from the
transmitter, and the power of the
transmitter cannot be increased anymore,
the signal becomes corrupted and
eventually unusable. In CDMA-based
systems, the effect of interference from
other mobile transmitters in the same cell
on coverage area is very marked and has a
special name, cell breathing.
One can see examples of cell coverage by
studying some of the coverage maps
provided by real operators on their web
sites or by looking at independently
crowdsourced maps such as OpenSignal.
In certain cases they may mark the site of
the transmitter, in others, it can be
calculated by working out the point of
strongest coverage.

A cellular repeater is used to extend cell

coverage into larger areas. They range
from wideband repeaters for consumer
use in homes and offices to smart or
digital repeaters for industrial needs.
Coverage comparison of different E…

frequencies

The following table shows the dependency

of the coverage area of one cell on the
frequency of a CDMA2000 network:[20]

Frequency (MHz) Cell radius (km) Cell area (km2) Relative Cell Count

450 48.9 7521 1

950 26.9 2269 3.3

1800 14.0 618 12.2

2100 12.0 449 16.2

See also
Lists and technical information:

Mobile technologies
GSM
IS-95
 UMTS
CDMA2000
LTE
5G
Cellular frequencies
GSM frequency bands
UMTS frequency bands
LTE frequency bands
5G frequency bands
Deployed networks by technology
List of UMTS networks
List of HSDPA networks
List of HSUPA networks
List of HSPA+ networks
 List of TD-SCDMA networks
List of CDMA2000 networks
List of LTE networks
List of deployed WiMAX networks
List of 5G networks
Deployed networks by country (including
technology and frequencies)
List of mobile network operators of
Europe
List of mobile network operators of
the Americas
List of mobile network operators of
the Asia Pacific region
 List of mobile network operators of
the Middle East and Africa
List of mobile network operators
(summary)
Mobile country code - code, frequency,
and technology for each operator in
each country
Comparison of mobile phone standards

Equipment:

Cellular repeater
Cellular router
Professional mobile radio (PMR)
OpenBTS
Other:

IUC: Interconnected Usage Charge

Cellular traffic
MIMO (multiple-input and multiple-
output)
Mobile edge computing
Mobile phone radiation and health
Network simulation
Radio resource management (RRM)
Routing in cellular networks
Signal strength
Title 47 of the Code of Federal
Regulations

References
References
1. Guowang Miao; Jens Zander; Ki Won
Sung; Ben Slimane (2016).
Fundamentals of Mobile Data
Networks. Cambridge University
Press. ISBN 978-1107143210.
2. Tom Simonite (24 January 2013).
"Google's Private Cell Phone Network
Could Be a Threat to Cellular Carriers |
MIT Technology Review" .
Technologyreview.com. Retrieved
23 November 2013.
3. "Be Mobile, Stay Connected | PMN" .
Privatemobilenetworks.com.
Retrieved 23 November 2013.
4. U.S. Patent 3,663,762 , issued 16 May
1972.
5. Golio, Mike; Golio, Janet (2018). RF
and Microwave Passive and Active
Technologies . CRC Press. pp. ix, I-1,
18–2. ISBN 9781420006728.
6. Rappaport, T. S. (November 1991).
"The wireless revolution". IEEE
Communications Magazine. 29 (11):
52–71. doi:10.1109/35.109666 .
7. "The wireless revolution" . The
Economist. 21 January 1999.
Retrieved 12 September 2019.
8. Baliga, B. Jayant (2005). Silicon RF
Power MOSFETS . World Scientific.
 ISBN 9789812561213.
9. Sahay, Shubham; Kumar, Mamidala
Jagadesh (2019). Junctionless Field-
Effect Transistors: Design, Modeling,
and Simulation . John Wiley & Sons.
ISBN 9781119523536.
10. "Remarks by Director Iancu at the
2019 International Intellectual
Property Conference" . United States
Patent and Trademark Office. 10 June
2019. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
11. Asif, Saad (2018). 5G Mobile
Communications: Concepts and
Technologies . CRC Press. pp. 128–
134. ISBN 9780429881343.
12. O'Neill, A. (2008). "Asad Abidi
Recognized for Work in RF-CMOS".
IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society
Newsletter. 13 (1): 57–58.
doi:10.1109/N-SSC.2008.4785694 .
ISSN 1098-4232 .
13. J. E. Flood. Telecommunication
Networks. Institution of Electrical
Engineers, London, UK, 1997. chapter
12.
14. "Phone Networks" . The Reverse
Phone. 8 June 2011. Archived from
the original on 30 April 2012.
Retrieved 2 April 2012.
15. Pauli, Volker; Naranjo, Juan Diego;
Seidel, Eiko (December 2010).
"Heterogeneous LTE Networks and
Inter-Cell Interference Coordination"
(PDF). Nomor Research. Archived
from the original (PDF) on 3
September 2013. Retrieved 2 April
2012.
16. Drucker, Elliott, The Myth of Cellular
Tower Health Hazards , archived from
the original on 2 May 2014, retrieved
19 November 2013
17. "Cellular Telephone Basics" .
Privateline.com. 1 January 2006. p. 2.
 Archived from the original on 17 April
2012. Retrieved 2 April 2012.
18. U.S. Patent 4,144,411 – Cellular
Radiotelephone System for Different
Cell Sizes – Richard H. Frenkiel (Bell
Labs), filed 22 September 1976,
issued 13 March 1979
19. Paetsch, Michael (1993): The
evolution of mobile communications
in the US and Europe. Regulation,
technology, and markets. Boston,
London: Artech House (The Artech
House mobile communications
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20. Colin Chandler (3 December 2003).
"CDMA 2000 and CDMA 450" (PDF).
p. 17.

Further reading
P. Key, D. Smith. Teletraffic Engineering
in a competitive world. Elsevier Science
B.V., Amsterdam Netherlands, 1999.
ISBN 978-0444502681. Chapter 1
(Plenary) and 3 (mobile).
William C. Y. Lee, Mobile Cellular
Telecommunications Systems (1989),
McGraw-Hill.

External links
 Raciti, Robert C. (July 1995). "CELLULAR
TECHNOLOGY" . Nova Southeastern
University. Retrieved 2 April 2012.
Ignatov, D. Yu.; Filippov, A. N.; Ignatov, A.
D.; Zhang, X. (December 2016).
"Homogenous Network Optimization" .
doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.20183.06565/6 .

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