Wireless and Mobile Communication

The Cellular Engineering Fundamentals

Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Bahir Dar University
BIT

2015 E.C.

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Outline

1 Introduction
2 Frequency Reuse
3 Channel Assignment Strategies (CAS)
4 Interference & System Capacity
5 Trunking & Grade of Service
6 Enhancing Capacity And Cell Coverage
7 Mobility Management
8 Radio Resource & Power Management
9 Security in Wireless Networks

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 Introduction

Cellular Systems-Basic Concepts

The cellular concept was a major breakthrough in solveing the

problem of spectral congestion and user capacity.
It offers very high capacity in a limited spectrum allocation without
major technological changes.
High capacity is achieved by limiting the coverage area of each BS to
a small geographical area called cell.
Replaces high powered transmitter with several low power
transmitters.
Each BS is allocated a portion of total channels and nearby cells are
allocated completely different channels.
All available channels are allocated to small no of neighboring BS.

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 Introduction

Cellular Systems-Basic Concepts

Interference between neighboring BSs is minimized by allocating

different channels.
Same frequencies are reused by spatially separated BSs.
Interference between co-channels stations is kept below acceptable
level.
Additional radio capacity is achieved.
The problem of an imbalance between the available number of
channels and an arbitrary large number of subscribers is solved by
frequency reuse.

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 Frequency Reuse

Frequency Reuse

Used by service providers to improve the efficiency of a cellular

network and to serve millions of subscribers using a limited radio
spectrum
After covering a certain distance a radio wave gets attenuated and
the signal falls below a point where it can no longer be used or cause
any interference
A transmitter transmitting in a specific frequency range will have only
a limited coverage area
Beyond this coverage area, that frequency can be reused by another
transmitter.
The entire network coverage area is divided into cells based on the
principle of frequency reuse

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 Frequency Reuse

Frequency Reuse

Technique for using a specified range of frequencies more than

once in the same radio system so that the total capacity of the
system is increased without increasing its allocated bandwidth.
Frequency reuse schemes require sufficient isolation among the signals
that use the same frequencies so that mutual interference among
them is controlled at an acceptable level.

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 Frequency Reuse

Frequency Reuse

A cell = basic geographical unit of a cellular network; is the area

around an antenna where a specific frequency range is used.
When a subscriber moves to another cell, the antenna of the new cell
takes over the signal transmission
A cluster is a group of adjacent cells, usually 7 cells; no frequency
reuse is done within a cluster
The frequency spectrum is divided into sub-bands and each sub-band
is used within one cell of the cluster
In heavy traffic zones cells are smaller, while in isolated zones cells are
larger

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 Frequency Reuse

Frequency Reuse

The design process of selecting and allocating channel groups for all
of the cellular base stations within a system is called frequency reuse
or frequency planning.
Cell labeled with same letter use the same set of frequencies.
Cell Shapes: Circle, Square, Triangle and Hexagon.
Hexagonal cell shape is conceptual , in reality it is irregular in shape

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 Frequency Reuse

Frequency Reuse

Figure: Illustration of the cellular frequency reuse concept. Cells with the same
letter use the same set of frequencies. A cell cluster is outlined in bold and
replicated over the coverage area. In this example, the cluster size, N, is equal to
7 and the frequency reuse factor is 1/7 since each cell contains one-seventh of the
total number of available channels.

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 Frequency Reuse

How Often Are Frequencies Reused?

Frequency Reuse Factor

The frequency spectrum designated for use by cellular systems can be

reused by different CLUSTERS.
We mean by cluster here the configuration of cells over which the
complete frequency band is divided and this configuration of cells is
repeated over and over.
The frequency reuse factor is defined as
1
number of cells in the cluster system
.
Valid clusters are those that produce six cells at the same distance
from a single reference cell with the same frequency.
Let us consider the following cluster shapes with different frequency
reuse factors:
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 Frequency Reuse

How Often Are Frequencies Reused?

1-Cell Frequency Reuse Cluster (Frequency Reuse Factor = 1) [Valid]:

This indicates that the entire frequency range is used in a cell and
then reused in the adjacent cells.
Because all cells share the same frequency, there is a lot of
interference in this system, making it impracticable.
It’s worth noting that each cell is surrounded by 6 cells with the same
frequency band.

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 Frequency Reuse

How Often Are Frequencies Reused?

2-Cell Frequency Reuse Cluster [Invalid]:

The allotted band is divided into two bands in this cluster, and the
two subbands are reused in an alternating pattern.
Here, only two cells with the same frequency as a given cell are at the
same distance from it.

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 Frequency Reuse

How Often Are Frequencies Reused?

3-Cell Frequency Reuse Cluster (Frequency Reuse Factor = 1/3) [Valid]:

The assigned band is divided into three bands (perhaps with equal
bandwidth), and the three subbands are alternately reused.
In this layout, no neighboring cells have the same frequency, hence it
is the cluster with the smallest number of cells that allows for
practical frequency reuse.

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 Frequency Reuse

How Often Are Frequencies Reused?

4-Cell Frequency Reuse Cluster (Frequency Reuse Factor = 1/4) [Valid]:

This means that the allocated band is divided into four bands, and
the four subbands are alternately reused. In this configuration, no
neighboring cells have the same frequency.
In this configuration, no neighboring cells have the same frequency.
It should be noted that a slightly different configuration with four
cells in the cluster performs worse than this configuration.

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 Frequency Reuse

How Often Are Frequencies Reused?

5-Cell Frequency Reuse Cluster (Frequency Reuse Factor = 1/5) [Invalid]:

This configuration is invalid because, as shown in the figure below, a

cell does not have six cochannel cells at equal distances.

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 Frequency Reuse

Frequency Reuse
What do We Gain – What do We Loose with Frequency Reuse?

Reusing frequencies by dividing the allocated band by a specific integer

number of cells, assigning one division to each cell, and then repeating the
assignment produces the following trade-off between network capacity and
reception quality:
The higher the number of spectrum divisions over cells, the lower the
network capacity, but cells with similar frequency allocations are
located far apart to each other, resulting in lower interference.

The lower the number of spectrum divisions over cells, the higher the
network capacity, but similar frequency allocations are located very
close to each other, resulting in higher interference.

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 Frequency Reuse

Frequency Reuse

To understand the frequency reuse concept, consider a cellular system

which has a total of S duplex channels available for use.
If each cell is assigned a group of K channels (K ≤ S), and the S
channels are divided among N cells into distinct and disjoint channel
groups with the same number of channels, the total number of radio
channels available can be expressed as

S = kN

The N cells which collectively use the complete set of available

frequencies is called a cluster.
If a cluster is replicated M times within the system, the capacity C of
system is given by
C = MkN = MS (1)

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 Frequency Reuse

Frequency Reuse

The capacity of system is directly proportional to the no of times

cluster is replicated in a fixed service area.
The factor N is called the cluster size and is typically equal to 4, 7, or
12.
Reducing the cluster size N while keeping the cell size constant, more
clusters are required to cover a given area and hence more capacity is
achieved.
A large cluster size indicates that the ratio between the cell radius
and the distance between co-channel cells is large.
The value of N is a function of how much interference a mobile or
base station can tolerate while maintaining a sufficient quality of
communications.

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 Frequency Reuse

Frequency Reuse
Possible Cluster Sizes

The Frequency Reuse factor is given as 1/N, since each cell within a
cluser is assigned only 1/N of total channels.
In order to cover a given area without gaps between adjacent cells ,
the geometery of hexagon is such that no of cells per cluster i.e N,
can only have values which satisfy the equation

N = i 2 + ij + j 2 (2)

N, the cluster size is typically 4, 7 or 12. In GSM normally N =7 is

used.
i and j are integers, Where, i ≥ 0 and j ≥ i
Applying this equation for all possible values of 0 ≤ i ≤ 12 and all
possible values of i ≤ j ≤ 12 gives the table below

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 Frequency Reuse

Frequency Reuse
Relation Between i, j, and N

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 Frequency Reuse

Frequency Reuse
To illustrate the relation between i, j, and N, let us consider the cluster size N = 28. This cluster size
is obtained by having i = 2 and j = 4. Also, assume that in this cluster, one of the cells has been
allocated a channel group A.

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 Frequency Reuse

Frequency Reuse
We see that the nearest cells with the same channel group A (Called
Co-Channel Cells) can be located by:
1 Moving perpendicular to any of the 6 surfaces of the original cell and

passing over j = 4 cells then rotating 60o counter-clock wise and

moving along i = 2 cells to reach all adjacent cochannel cells (RED
Arrows in the above figure),
2 Moving perpendicular to one of the surfaces of the original cell and

passing over i = 2 cells then rotating 60o clock wise and moving
along j = 4 cells to reach all adjacent co-channel cells (BLUE Arrows
in the above figure).
Comments about Different Cluster Sizes:
The practical cluster sizes are generally 4, 7, and 12.
Other cluster sizes either result in too much interference (such as
N = 1) or waste system resources by insuring a very low interference
level that is much lower than the maximum acceptable value (such as
N = 27).
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 Channel Assignment Strategies (CAS)

Fixed Channel Assignment

For efficient utilization of the radio spectrum, a frequency reuse

scheme that is consistent with the objectives of increasing capacity
and minimizing interference is required.
Channel Assignment Strategies (CAS) can be classified as either fixed
or dynamic
The choice of CAS impacts the performance of system.
In Fixed CA each cell is assigned a predetermined set of voice channels
Any call attempt within the cell can only be served by the unused
channel in that particular cell
If all the channels in the cell are occupied, the call is blocked. The
user does not get service.
In some variants of FCAs, a cell can borrow channels from its
neighboring cell if its own channels are already occupied.

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 Channel Assignment Strategies (CAS)

Dynamic Channel Assignment

Voice channels are not allocated to different cells permanently.
Each time a call request is made, the serving BS request a channel
from the MSC.
MSC allocates a channel to the requesting cell using an algorithm
that takes into account
likelihood of future blocking
The reuse distance of the channel ( should not cause interference)
Other parameters like cost
To ensure min QoS, MSC only allocates a given frequency if that
frequency is not currently in use in the cell or any other cell which
falls within the limiting reuse distance.
DCA reduce the likelihood of blocking and thus increases trunking
capacity
This system requires the MSC to collect real-time data on the
channel occupancy, traffic distribution, and radio signal strength
indications of all channels continuously.
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 Channel Assignment Strategies (CAS)

Exercise

A total of 33 MHz bandwidth is allocated to a FDD cellular system

with two 25 KHz simplex channels to provide full duplex voice and
control channels. Compute the number of channels available per cell
if the system uses
1 4 cell
2 7 cell
3 12 cell
reuse technique
Assume 1 MHz of spectrum is allocated to control channels. Give a
distribution of voice and control channels.

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 Interference & System Capacity

Interference & System Capacity

The problem of temporal congestion within the electromagnetic
spectrum causes susceptibility and interference issues with mobile
communications equipment.
It is the limiting factor in the performance of cellular systems.
Interference can be caused by a collision with another mobile in the
same cell or by a call in the neighboring cell or the adjacent cell.
There can be interference between the base stations operating at
same frequency band or any other non-cellular system’s energy
leaking inadvertently into the frequency band of the cellular system.
If there is an interference in the voice channels, cross talk is heard
and will appear as noise between the users.
Interference in the control channels leads to missed and blocked calls
due to errors in digital signaling.
Interference can be divided into 2 parts: co-channel interference and
adjacent channel interference.
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 Interference & System Capacity

Co-channel interference (CCI)

It is necessary to reuse frequency bandwidth over relatively small

geographical areas in order to make efficient use of available spectrum.
Increasing frequency reuse, however, increases interference, reducing
system capacity and service quality.
Cells that use the same set of frequencies are called co-channel cells.
Co-channel interference is the cross talk between two different radio
transmitters using the same radio frequency as is the case with the
co-channel cells.
CCI can occur as a result of adverse weather conditions, poor
frequency planning, or an overcrowded radio spectrum.

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 Interference & System Capacity

Co-channel interference (CCI)

If the cell size and transmitted power at the base stations are the
same, then CCI becomes independent of transmitted power and
depends on the radius of the cell (R) and the distance between the
interfering co-channel cells (D).
If D/R ratio is increased, then the effective distance between the
co-channel cells will increase and interference will decrease.
The parameter Q is called the frequency (co-channel) reuse ratio and
is related to the cluster size. For hexagonal geometry
D √
Q= = 3N (3)
R
From the above equation, a small value of 'Q' provides larger cellular capacity
since the cluster size 'N' is small.
However, a large 'Q' improves the transmission quality, due to a smaller level of
co-channel interference. But this means lesser capacity.
A trade-off must be made between these two objectives.
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 Interference & System Capacity

Calculating Q

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 Interference & System Capacity

Co-channel interference (CCI)

The Signal to Interference Ratio (SIR) for a mobile receiver which

monitors a forward channel can be calculated as
S S
= PM (4)
I i=1 Ii

where M is the number of co-channel interfering cells, S is the desired signal power from the desired
base station and Ii is the interference power caused by the i-th interfering co-channel base station.

The average received power at distance d is approximated by

 −n
d
Pr = P0 (5)
d0
Where P0 is received power at reference distance do and n is the path loss exponent

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 Interference & System Capacity

Co-channel interference (CCI)

If Di is the distance of the i-th interferer from the mobile, the received power at a
given mobile due to i-th interfering cell is proportional to (Di )−n
When the transmited power of each base station is equal and the path loss
exponent is same throughout the coverage area, then SIR can be approximated as

S R −n
= PM −n
(6)
I i=1 Di

where the mobile is assumed to be located at R distance from the cell center.
Considering only the first layer of interfering cells, if all the interfering base stations
are equidistant from the reference base station and if this distance is equal to the
distance 'D' between cell centers, then the above equation can be simplified to
√ n
S (D/R)n 3N
= = (7)
I M M
which is an approximate measure of the SIR.

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 Interference & System Capacity

Co-channel interference (CCI)

We can go for a more approximate calculation for co-channel SIR.

This is the example of a 7 cell reuse case with n=4.

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 Interference & System Capacity

Co-channel interference (CCI)

The mobile is at a distance of D-R from 2 closest interfering cells and

approximately D+R/2, D, D-R/2 and D+R distance from other interfering
cells in the first tier.
S R −4
= (8)
I 2 (D − R)−4 + 2 (D + R)−4 + 2 (D)−4

which can be rewritten in terms frequency reuse ratio Q as

S 1
= (9)
I 2 (Q − 1) + 2 (Q + 1)−4 + 2 (Q)−4
−4

For N = 7, the co-channel reuse ratio Q is 4.6, and the worst case
S/I is 49.56 (17dB).

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 Interference & System Capacity

Exercise

If a signal to interference ratio of 15dB 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
1 n=4
2 n=3
Assume that there are 6 co-channel cells in the first tier, and all of them
are at the same distance from the mobile. Use suitable approximations.

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 Interference & System Capacity

Adjacent Channel Interference (ACI)

This is a different type of interference which is caused by adjacent

channels i.e. channels in adjacent cells.
It is the signal impairment which occurs to one frequency due to
presence of another signal on a nearby frequency.
This occurs when imperfect receiver filters allow nearby frequencies to
leak into the passband.
Can be minimized by careful filtering and channel assignments.
Channels are assigned such that frequency separations between
channels are maximized.
For example, by sequentially assigning adjacent bands to different cells

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 Interference & System Capacity

Adjacent Channel Interference (ACI)

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 Trunking & Grade of Service

Trunking

Cellular radio systems rely on trunking to accommodate a large

number of users in a limited radio spectrum.

Trunking allows a large no of users to share a relatively small number

of channels in a cell by providing access to each user, on demand,
from a pool of available channels.

In a trunked radio system (TRS) each user is allocated a channel on a

per call basis, upon termination of the call, the previously occupied
channel is immediately returned to the pool of available channels.

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 Trunking & Grade of Service

Key Definitions

Setup Time: Time required to allocate a radio channel to a

requesting user
Blocked Call: Call which cannot be completed at the time of request,
due to congestion (lost call)
Holding Time: Average duration of a typical call. Denoted by H (in
seconds)
Request Rate: The average number of calls requests per unit time (λ)
Traffic Intensity: Measure of channel time utilization or the average
channel occupancy measured in Erlangs. Dimensionless quantity.
Denoted by A
Load: Traffic intensity across the entire TRS (Erlangs)

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 Trunking & Grade of Service

Erlang-a unit of traffic

The fundamentals of trunking theory were developed by Erlang, a

Danish mathematician, the unit bears his name.
An Erlang is a unit of telecommunications traffic measurement.
Erlang represents the continuous use of one voice path.
It is used to describe the total traffic volume of one hour
A channel kept busy for one hour is defined as having a load of one
Erlang
For example, a radio channel that is occupied for thirty minutes
during an hour carries 0.5 Erlangs of traffic
For 1 channel
Min load=0 Erlang (0% time utilization)
Max load=1 Erlang (100% time utilization)

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 Trunking & Grade of Service

Erlang-a unit of traffic

For example, if a group of 100 users made 30 calls in one hour, and
each call had an average call duration(holding time) of 5 minutes,
then the number of Erlangs this represents is worked out as follows:

Minutes of traffic in the hour = number of calls x duration

Minutes of traffic in the hour = 30 x 5 = 150

Hours of traffic in the hour = 150 / 60 = 2.5

Traffic Intensity= 2.5 Erlangs

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 Trunking & Grade of Service

Traffic Concepts

Traffic Intensity offered by each user ( Au ): Equals average call arrival

(request) rate multiplied by the holding time (service time)

Au = λ × H (in Erlangs) (10)

For a system containing U users and an unspecified number of

channels, the total offered traffic intensity A, is given by

A = U × Au (in Erlangs) (11)

Traffic Intensity per channel, in a C channel trunked system

(assuming traffic is equally distributed among all channels)

U × Au
Ac = (in Erlangs) (12)
C

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 Trunking & Grade of Service

Trunking & Grade of Service

Note– The offered traffic is not necessarily the traffic which is carried
by the trunked system
The maximum possible carried traffic is the total number of channels
In a TRS, when a particular user requests service and all the available
radio channels are already in use , the user is blocked or denied access
to the system. In some systems a queue may be used to hold the
requesting users until a channel becomes available.

Trunking systems must be designed carefully in order to ensure that

there is a low likelihood that a user will be blocked or denied access.

The likelihood that a call is blocked, or the likelihood that a call

experiences a delay greater than a certain queuing time is called
Grade of Service (GOS).

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 Trunking & Grade of Service

Trunking & Grade of Service

Grade of Service (GOS): Measure of ability of a user to access a

trunked system during the busiest hour. Measure of the congestion
which is specified as a probability.

There are two types of trunked systems which are commonly used
1 Blocked calls cleared(BCC) or Lost Call Cleared(LCC) or Erlang B
systems
The probability of a call being blocked
2 Blocked call delayed or Lost Call Delayed(LCD) or Erlang C systems
The probability of a call being delayed beyond a certain amount of time
before being granted access

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 Trunking & Grade of Service

Blocked Call Cleared Systems

When a user requests service, there is a minimal call set-up time and
the user is given immediate access to a channel if one is available

If channels are already in use and no new channels are available, call
is blocked without access to the system

The user does not receive service, but is free to try again later

All blocked calls are instantly returned to the user pool

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 Trunking & Grade of Service

Modeling of BCC Systems

The Erlang B model is based on following assumptions :

Calls are assumed to arrive with a Poisson distribution

There are nearly an infinite number of users

Call requests are memory less ,implying that all users, including blocked
users, may request a channel at any time

All free channels are fully available for servicing calls until all channels
are occupied

The probability of a user occupying a channel(called service time) is

exponentially distributed. Longer calls are less likely to happen

There are a finite number of channels available in the trunking pool.

Inter-arrival times of call requests are independent of each other

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 Trunking & Grade of Service

Modeling of BCC Systems

Erlang B formula is given by

 
AC
C!
Pr [Bloaking ] = PC Ak
= GOS (13)
k=0 K !

where C is the number of trunked channels offered by a trunked radio

system and A is the total offered traffic.

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 Trunking & Grade of Service

Erlang B

Figure: The Erlang B chart showing the probability of blocking as functions of the
number of channels and traffic intensity in Erlangs.

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 Trunking & Grade of Service

Erlang B GOS

The capacity of a trunked system where blocked calls are lost is

tabulated for various values of GOS and number of channels in the
table

Table: Capacity of an Erlang B system

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 Trunking & Grade of Service

Blocked Call Delayed(BCD) Systems

Queues are used to hold call requests that are initially blocked

When a user attempts a call and a channel is not immediately

available, the call request may be delayed until a channel becomes
available

Mathematical modeling of such systems is done by Erlang C formula

The Erlang C model is based on following assumptions :

Similar to those of Erlang B

Additionally, if offered call cannot be assigned a channel, it is placed in

a queue of infinite length

Each call is then serviced in the order of its arrival

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 Trunking & Grade of Service

Blocked Call Delayed Systems

To find the GOS, it is first necessary to find the likelihood that a call
is initially denied access to the system
The likelihood of a call not having immediate access to a channel (all
channels are already in use) is determined by Erlang C formula

AC
Pr (delay > 0) = A

PC −1Ak
(14)
AC + C ! 1 − C k=0 K !
where C is the number of trunked channels offered by a trunked radio
system and A is the total offered traffic.

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 Trunking & Grade of Service

Blocked Call Delayed Systems

If no channels are immediately available the call is delayed
And the probability that the delayed call is forced to wait more than t
seconds is given by the probability that a call is delayed, multiplied by
the conditional probability that the delay is greater than seconds
Thus the GOS of Erlang C system is given by

Pr [delay > t] = Pr [delay > 0]Pr [delay > t|delay > 0]

= Pr [delay > 0] exp(−(C − A)t/H)
The average delay D for all calls in a queued system is given by
H
D = Pr [delay > 0]
C −A
where the average delay for those calls which are queued is given by
H/(C − A)
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 Trunking & Grade of Service

Erlang C

Figure: The Erlang C chart showing the probability of a call being delayed as
functions of the number of channels and traffic intensity in Erlangs.

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 Trunking & Grade of Service

Trunking Efficiency

Trunking efficiency is a measure of the number of users which can be

offered a particular GOS with a particular configuration of fixed
channels.
The way in which channels are grouped can substantially alter the
number of users handled by a trunked system.
Example:
10 trunked channels at a GOS of 0.01 can support 4.46 Erlangs,
where as two groups of 5 trunked channels can support 2x1.36=2.72
Erlangs of traffic
10 trunked channels can offer 60% more traffic at a specific GOS
than two 5 channel trunks.
Therefore, if in a certain situation we sub-divide the total channels in
a cell into smaller channel groups then the total carried traffic will
reduce with increasing number of groups
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 Enhancing Capacity And Cell Coverage

Improving Capacity

As demand for service increases, system designers have to provide

more channel per unit coverage area
Common Techniques are: Cell Splitting, Sectoring and Microcell
Zoning
Cell Splitting increases the number of BS deployed and allows an
orderly growth of the cellular system
Sectoring uses directional antennas to further control interference
Micro cell Zoning distributes the coverage of cell and extends the cell
boundary to hard-to-reach areas

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 Enhancing Capacity And Cell Coverage

Cell Splitting

Cell splitting is the process of subdividing a congested cell into

smaller cells each with
its own base station (BS)
a corresponding reduction in antenna height
a corresponding reduction in transmit power
Splitting the cell reduces the cell size and thus more number of cells
have to be used to address a certain area
i.e. it increases the number of times that channels are reused
Idea is to keep Q = D/R constant while decreasing R
More number of cells ⇒ more number of clusters ⇒ more channels
⇒ high capacity

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 Enhancing Capacity And Cell Coverage

Cell Splitting

Cells are split to add channels with no new spectrum usage

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 Enhancing Capacity And Cell Coverage

Cell Splitting

Note that the original base

station A has been
surrounded by six new
microcell base stations.
The smaller cells are added
in such a way as to preserve
the frequency reuse plan of
the system.
For example, the microcell
station labeled G has been
placed between the two
larger stations utilizing the
same channel set G.

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 Enhancing Capacity And Cell Coverage

Cell Splitting-Power Issues

Suppose the cell radius of new cells is reduced by half
What is the required transmit power for these new cells?
Pt1
Pr [at old cell boundary ] = Rn
Pt2
Pr [at new cell boundary ] = n
( R2 )
where Pt1 and Pt2 are the transmit powers of the larger and smaller cell base stations respectively, and
n is the path loss exponent.

On equating the two received powers, we get ⇒ Pt2 = P2t1n

If we take n = 3 and the received powers equal to each other, then

Pt2 = P8t1
In other words, the transmit power must be reduced by 9dB in order
to fill in the original coverage area while maintaining the S/I
requirement
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 Enhancing Capacity And Cell Coverage

Cell Splitting

In practice not all the cells are split at the same time hence different
size cells will exist simultaneously.
In such situations, special care needs to be taken to keep the distance
between co-channel cells at the required minimum, and hence channel
assignments become more complicated.
To overcome handoff problem:
Channels in the old cell must be broken down into two channel groups,
one for smaller cell and other for larger cell
The larger cell is usually dedicated to high speed traffic so that
handoffs occur less frequently
At start small power group has less channels and large power group has
large no of channels, at maturity of the system, large power group does
not have any channel

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 Enhancing Capacity And Cell Coverage

Cell Splitting

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 Enhancing Capacity And Cell Coverage

Sectoring

In this approach
first SIR is improved using directional antennas,
capacity improvement is achieved by reducing the number of cells in a
cluster thus increasing frequency reuse
The CCI decreased by replacing the single omni-directional antenna by
several directional antennas, each radiating within a specified sector

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 Enhancing Capacity And Cell Coverage

Sectoring
A directional antenna transmits to and receives from only a fraction
of total of the co-channel cells. Thus CCI is reduced

Figure: Illustration of how a 1200 sectoring reduces interference from co-channel cells. Out of 6 co-channel
cells in the first tier, only two of them interfere with the center cell. If omni directional antennas were used at
each base station, all six co-channel cells would interfere with the center cell.

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 Enhancing Capacity And Cell Coverage

Problems with Sectoring

Increases the number of antennas at each BS

Decrease in trunking efficiency due to sectoring(dividing the bigger
pool of channels into smaller groups)
Increase number of handoffs(sector-to sector)
Good news:Many modern BS support sectoring and related handoff
without help of MSC

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 Enhancing Capacity And Cell Coverage

Microcell Zone Concept

The Problems of sectoring can be addressed by Microcell Zone

Concept
A cell is conceptually divided into microcells or zones
Each microcell(zone) is connected to the same base
station(fiber/microwave link)
Doing something in middle of cell splitting and sectoring by extracting
good points of both
Each zone uses a directional antenna
Each zone radiates power into the cell.
MS is served by strongest zone
As mobile travels from one zone to another, it retains the same
channel, i.e. no hand off
The BS simply switches the channel to the next zone site
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 Enhancing Capacity And Cell Coverage

Microcell Zone Concept

Typical comparison can be made like this;
Cells typically range in size from two to twenty km in diameter:
Microcells range from about a hundred meters to a kilometer in
diameter

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 Enhancing Capacity And Cell Coverage

Microcell Zone Concept

Reduced Interference (Zone radius is small so small and directional

antennas are used).

Decrease in CCI improves the signal quality and capacity.

No loss in trunking efficiency (all channels are used by all cells).

No extra handoffs.

Increase in capacity (since smaller cluster size can be used).

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 Mobility Management

Mobility Management

The very nature of mobile communications implies that the MS is

constantly changing locations, warranting a need for tracking the
mobile and restructuring existing connections as it moves.

Tetherless access implies that the user has the ability to move around
while connected to the network and continuously possesses the ability
to access the service provided by the system to which the user is
attached.

Mobility Management, which is a combination of Location

management and Handoff management, handles the operations
required for these purposes.

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 Mobility Management

Mobility Management
The ability to move freely leads to a variety of issues because of the
way in which most communication networks operate
First, in order for any message to reach a particular destination, there
must be some knowledge of where the destination is (Location) and
how to reach the destination (Route)
In wireless networks, since the terminal may be anywhere, there must
be a mechanism to locate the terminal in order to deliver the
communication to it.
Location Management refers to the activities a wireless network
should perform in order to keep track of where the MS is.
As discussed earlier, the most common wireless topology uses multiple
cells to provide coverage over a large area.
The location of the MS must be determined such that there is a
knowledge of which point of access (AP or BS) is serving the cell in
which the MS is located
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 Mobility Management

Mobility Management

Secondly, once the destination is determined, it is not enough to

assume that the destination will remain at the same location with
time.
When a MS moves away from a BS, the signal level from the current
BS degrades, and there is a need to switch communications to
another BS.
Handoff is the mechanism by which an ongoing connection between a
MS and a corresponding terminal is transferred from one point of
access to another.
Handoff Management handles the messages required to make the
changes in the fixed network to handle this change in the location of
MS during an ongoing communication

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 Mobility Management

Location Management

Involves tracking of the location of the MS, as it moves, for delivery

of voice or data communication
In any type of network, when a service is requested to another user, a
circuit has to be setup over the fixed part of the wireless network, and
a pair of radio channels has to be allocated to the MS.
Note that this is happened before the actual data exchange has began
However, in order to allocate appropriate channels, the whereabouts
of the MS must be known and some steps are required to determine
this information before the data transfer to the MS has began
In the mobile is switched off, the network should be aware that it is
unreachable so that appropriate actions may be taken
Location Management in general has three parts to it: Location
Updates, Paging, and Location Information Dissemination

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 Mobility Management

Location Management – Location Updates

In the case most cellular networks, a group of cells is assigned a
location area (LA) identifier, as shown bellow

Each BS in the LA broadcasts this identification number periodically

over some control channel
An MS is required to continuously listen to the control channel for
the LA identifier
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 Mobility Management

Location Management – Location Updates

When the identifier changes, the MS will make an update to the

location by transmitting a message with the new identifier to the
database containing the location information
Location updates are messages sent by the MS regarding its changing
points of access to the fixed part of the network
Each time the MS makes an update to its location, a database in the
fixed part of the network has to be updated to reflect the new
location of the MS.
If there is an incoming message, paging is performed in the group of
cells corresponding to the location identifier stored in the database
The MS usually responds (unless the location area identifier has
changed in the meanwhile), and the communication can be delivered
successfully

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 Mobility Management

Location Management – Paging

Paging is broadcasting a message in a cell or group of cells to elicit a

response from the MS for which a call or message is incoming

In order to deliver an incoming message to the MS, the network will

have to page the MS in such a group of cells

The paged terminal will respond through the point of access that is
providing coverage in its cell

The response will enable the network to locate the terminal to within
the accuracy of the cell in which it is located

Procedures can then be initiated to either deliver the packet or set up

a dedicated communications channel for voice conversation

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 Mobility Management

Location Management – Location Information

Dissemination
When there is an incoming packet to the MS, there is the need for at
least one fixed network entity, whose location and database is known,
which can be reached to obtain information about the MS.
In general, this is often referred to as anchor
The anchor has some information regarding the location and routing
information of the MS
Every MS is associated with a home network and home database
The home database keeps track of the profile of the MS – such as the
mobile identification, authentication keys, subscriber profile,
accounting, and location
The location of the mobile is maintained in terms of a visiting
database, which keeps track of the MSs in its service area
The home and visiting databases communicate with each other to
authenticate and update each other about the MS
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 Mobility Management

Location Management – Location Information

Dissemination

In order to initiate paging, the calling party or the incoming message

should trigger a location request from fixed network entities. The
fixed network entity will the access its database which contains the
most current location information related to the particular Ms and use
this information to generate the paging request, as well as deliver the
message or set up a channel for the voice call.

Location Information Dissemination refers to the procedures that are

required to store and distribute the location information related to the
MSs services by the network

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 Mobility Management

Handoff Process
When a user moves from one cell to the other, to keep the communication
between the user pair, the user channel has to be shifted from one BS to the other
without interrupting the call
i.e., when a MS moves into another cell, while the conversation is still in progress,
the MSC automatically transfers the call to a new FDD channel without disturbing
the conversation.
This process is called as handoff.

Figure: Handoff scenario at two adjacent cell boundary.

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 Mobility Management

Handoff Process
Processing of handoff is an important task in any cellular system.
Handoffs must be completed successfully and infrequently, without being noticed
by the users as much as possible.
System designers must identify an optimum signal level at which to trigger a
handoff in order to meet these objectives.
Once a signal level is set as the minimum usable signal for acceptable voice quality
at a BS receiver (Prmin ) (usually between −90dBmto − 100dBm), then a slightly
stronger level is chosen as the threshold (PrH )at which handoff has to be made.

Figure: Handoff process associated with power levels, when the user is going from i-th cell to j-th cell.
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 Mobility Management

Handoff Process

Figure: Illustration of a Handoff scenario at cell boundaries.

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 Mobility Management

Handoff Process

A parameter, called power margin (Safety margin), defined as

∆ = PrH − Prmin (15)

is quite an important parameter during the handoff process since this

margin ∆ can neither be too large nor too small
If ∆ is too small, then there may not be time to complete the handoff
and the call might be lost even if the user crosses the cell boundary.
If ∆ is too high on the other hand, then MSC has to be burdened
with unnecessary handoffs.
This is because MS may not intend to enter the other cell.
Therefore ∆ should be judiciously chosen to ensure imperceptible
handoffs and to meet other objectives.

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 Mobility Management

Factors Influencing Handoffs

The following factors influence the entire handoff process:

Transmitted power: as we know that the transmission power is
different for different cells, the handoff threshold or the power margin
varies from cell to cell.
Received power: the received power mostly depends on the Line of
Sight (LoS) path between the user and the BS. Especially when the
user is on the boundary of the two cells, the LoS path plays a critical
role in handoffs and therefore the power margin ∆ depends on the
minimum received power value from cell to cell.
Area and shape of the cell: Apart from the power levels, the cell
structure also a plays an important role in the handoff process.
Mobility of users: The number of mobile users entering or going out
of a particular cell, also fixes the handoff strategy of a cell.

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 Mobility Management

Handoffs In Different Generations

In 1G analog cellular systems, the signal strength measurements were
made by the BS and in turn supervised by the MSC.
The handoffs in this generation can be termed as Network Controlled
Hand-Off (NCHO).
The BS monitors the signal strengths of reverse voice channels to
determine the relative positions of the subscriber.
The special receivers located on each BS (called locator receiver) is
used, which is controlled by the MSC to monitor the signal strengths
of the users in the neighboring cells which appear to be in need of a
handoff.
Based on the information received from the locator receivers the MSC
decides whether a handoff is required or not.
The approximate time needed to make a handoff successful was about
5-10s.
This requires the value of ∆ to be in the order of 6dB to 12dB.
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 Mobility Management

Handoffs In Different Generations

In the 2G systems, the MSC was relieved from the entire operation.
In this generation, which started using the digital technology, handoff
decisions were mobile assisted and therefore it is called Mobile
Assisted Hand-Off (MAHO).
In MAHO, the mobile station measures the power changes received
from nearby base stations and notifies the two BS.
Accordingly the two BS communicate and channel transfer occurs.
As compared to 1G, the circuit complexity was increased here whereas
the delay in handoff was reduced to 1-5 s.
The value of ∆ was in the order of 0-5 dB.
However, even this amount of delay could create a communication
pause.

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 Mobility Management

Handoffs In Different Generations

In the current 3G systems, the MS measures the power from adjacent

BS and automatically upgrades the channels to its nearer BS.
Hence this can be termed as Mobile Controlled Hand-Off (MCHO).
When compared to the other generations, delay during handoff is only
100 ms and the value of ∆ is around 20 dBm.
The Quality Of Service (QoS) has improved a lot although the
complexity of the circuitry has further increased which is inevitable.
All these types of handoffs are usually termed as hard handoff as
there is a shift in the channels involved.

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 Mobility Management

Handoff in CDMA

In spread spectrum cellular systems, the mobiles share the same

channels in every cell.
The MSC evaluates the signal strengths received from different BS for
a single user and then shifts the user from one BS to the other
without actually changing the channel.
These types of handoffs are called as soft handoff as there is no
change in the channel.

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 Mobility Management

Handoff Priority

While assigning channels using either FCA or DCA strategy, one

method for giving priority to handoffs is called the guard channel
concept.
This technique reserves a fraction of the total available channels
exclusively for handoff requests.
But this would reduce the total carried traffic as fewer channels are
allocated to originating calls.
A good solution to avoid such a dead-lock is to use DCA with handoff
priority (demand based allocation).
Queuing of handoff requests is another method to decrease the
probability of forced termination of a call due to lack of available
channels.

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 Mobility Management

A Few Practical Problems in Handoff Scenario

a. Different speed of mobile users

As the number of mobile users in cities grows, microcells are being

introduced into cells to increase capacity (this will be discussed later
in this chapter).
Users who frequently cross the micro-cells place a burden on MSC
because it must handle handoffs.
Several schemes thus have been designed to handle simultaneous
traffic from high-speed and low-speed users with reducing MSC
intervention, one of which is the 'Umbrella Cell' strategy.
By using different antenna heights (often on the same building or
tower) and different power levels, it is possible to provide large and
small cells which are co-located at a single location.
The Umbrella approach is used to provide large area coverage to high
speed users while providing small area coverage to users traveling at
low speed.
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 Mobility Management

A Few Practical Problems in Handoff Scenario

a. Different speed of mobile users

As shown in the figure, umbrella cell is co-located with few other microcells.
The BS can measure the speed of the user by its short term average signal
strength over the reverse channel (RVC) and decides which cell to handle that call.
If the speed is less, then the corresponding microcell handles the call so that there
is good corner coverage.
This approach assures that handoffs are minimized for high speed users and
provides additional microcell channels for pedestrian users.

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 Mobility Management

A Few Practical Problems in Handoff Scenario

b. Cell dragging problem

This is another practical problem in the urban area with additional

microcells.
For example, consider there is a LOS path between the MS and BS1
while the user is in the cell covered by BS2.
Since there is a LOS with the BS1, the signal strength received from
BS1 does not decay rapidly ( may be even greater than that received
from BS2).
Even when the used has traveled wel beyond the designed range of
the cell, the received signal at the base station may be above the
threshold, thus a handoff may not be made.
This creates a potential interference and traffic management problem.
This problem can be solved by judiciously choosing the handoff
threshold along with adjusting the coverage area.
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 Mobility Management

A Few Practical Problems in Handoff Scenario

c. Inter-system handoff

If one user is leaving the coverage area of one MSC and is entering
the area of another MSC, then the call might be lost if there is no
handoff in this case too.
Such a handoff is called inter-system handoff and in order to facilitate
this, mobiles usually have roaming facility.
MSC engages in intersystem handoff when signal becomes weak in a
given cell and MSC cannot find another cell within its system to
transfer the on-going call
Many issues must be resolved
Local call may become long distance call
Compatibility between the two MSCs

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 Security in Wireless Networks

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