THE CELLULAR CONCEPT

The concept of a cellular type of structure to plan the frequency coverage of different
mobile communications to provide frequency re-use whilst minimizing the levels of interference
was at the centre of mobile communications when it was first launched and it still is today.
Cellular systems are widely used today and cellular technology need to offer very efficient use of
the available frequency spectrum.
With billions of mobile phones in use around the globe today and very high levels of
usage in centers of population, it is necessary to re-use the available frequencies many times over
without mutual interference from one base station to the next.
It is this concept of frequency re-use that is at the very heart of mobile communications
or cellular telecommunications technology.
Frequency Scarcity Problem

If we use dedicated RF loop for every subscriber, we need larger bandwidth to serve even
a limited number of subscriber in a single city.
Example

A single RF loop requires 50 kHz B/W; then for one lakh subscribers we need 1,00,000 x 50 kHz
= 5 GHz.

To overcome this B/W problem, subscribers have to share the RF channels on need basis,
instead of dedicated RF loops. This can be achieved by using multiple access methods FDMA,
TDMA, or CDMA. Even then the number of RF channels required to serve the subscribers,
works out to be impracticable.
Example

Consider a subs density of 30 Sq.Km., Grade of service as 1%, Traffic offered per mobile
sub as 30m E. Then number of RF channels required are −

Radius(km) Area in Sq.km Subs RF Channels

1 3.14 100 8

3 28.03 900 38

10 314 10000 360

For 10,000 subs to allot 360 radio channels we need a B/Wof 360 × 50 KHz = 18 MHz. This is
practically not feasible.

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CELLULAR APPROACH

With limited frequency resource, cellular principle can serve thousands of subscribers at
an affordable cost. In a cellular network, total area is subdivided into smaller areas called “cells”.
Each cell can cover a limited number of mobile subscribers within its boundaries. Each cell can
have a base station with a number of RF channels.

Frequencies used in a given cell area will be simultaneously reused at a different cell
which is geographically separated. For example, a typical seven-cell pattern can be considered.

Total available frequency resources are divided into seven parts, each part consisting of a
number of radio channels and allocated to a cell site. In a group of 7 cells, available frequency
spectrum is consumed totally. The same seven sets of frequency can be used after certain
distance.

The group of cells where the available frequency spectrum is totally consumed is called a
cluster of cells.

Two cells having the same number in the adjacent cluster, use the same set of RF
channels and hence are termed as “Co-channel cells”. The distance between the cells using the
same frequency should be sufficient to keep the co-channel (co-chl) interference to an acceptable
level. Hence, the cellular systems are limited by Co-channel interference.

Hence a cellular principle enables the following.

 More efficient usage of available limited RF source.
 Manufacturing of every piece of subscriber's terminal within a region with the same
set of channels so that any mobile can be used anywhere within the region.

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Shape of Cells

For analytical purposes a “Hexagon” cell is preferred to other shapes on paper due to the
following reasons.
 A hexagon layout requires fewer cells to cover a given area. Hence, it envisages fewer
base stations and minimum capital investment.
 Other geometrical shapes cannot effectively do this. For example, if circular shaped cells
are there, then there will be overlapping of cells.
 Also for a given area, among square, triangle and hexagon, radius of a hexagon will be
the maximum which is needed for weaker mobiles.

In reality cells are not hexagonal but irregular in shape, determined by factors like
propagation of radio waves over the terrain, obstacles, and other geographical constraints.
Complex computer programs are required to divide an area into cells. One such program is
“Tornado” from Siemens.
Cell clusters
When devising the infrastructure technology of a cellular system, the interference
between adjacent channels is reduced by allocating different frequency bands or channels to
adjacent cells so that their coverage can overlap slightly without causing interference. In this way
cells can be grouped together in what is termed a cluster.
Often these clusters contain seven cells, but other configurations are also possible. Seven is a
convenient number, but there are a number of conflicting requirements that need to be balanced
when choosing the number of cells in a cluster for a cellular system:

 Limiting interference levels

 Number of channels that can be allocated to each cell site

It is necessary to limit the interference between cells having the same frequency. The
topology of the cell configuration has a large impact on this. The larger the number of cells in the
cluster, the greater the distance between cells sharing the same frequencies.
In the ideal world it might be good to choose a large number of cells to be in each cluster.
Unfortunately there are only a limited number of channels available. This means that the larger
the number of cells in a cluster, the smaller the number available to each cell, and this reduces
the capacity.

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Cell size
Even though the number of cells in a cluster in a cellular system can help govern the
number of users that can be accommodated, by making all the cells smaller it is possible to
increase the overall capacity of the cellular system.
However a greater number of transmitter receiver or base stations are required if cells are
made smaller and this increases the cost to the operator. Accordingly in areas where there are
more users, small low power base stations are installed.
The different types of cells are given different names according to their size and function:
 Macro cells: Macro cells are large cells that are usually used for remote or sparsely
populated areas. These may be 10 km or possibly more in diameter.
For these types of cells, tall towers are generally needed and the height will not only depend
upon the coverage required, but also what the local planning regulations might allow as some
countries do not allow mobile communications towers above a certain height, etc.
 Micro cells: Micro cells are those that are normally found in densely populated areas which
may have a diameter of around 1 km.
Having a small diameter, the signals will not extend so far and this will enable the
frequencies or channels to be re-used within a relatively short distance. Having smaller cells
sizes enables higher frequency re-use and much higher density of users to be supported.
 Pico cells: Picocells are generally used for covering very small areas such as particular areas
of buildings, or possibly tunnels where coverage from a larger cell in the cellular system is
not possible.
Obviously for the small cells, the power levels used by the base stations are much lower and
the antennas are not position to cover wide areas. In this way the coverage is minimised and
the interference to adjacent cells is reduced.
 Selective cells: Sometimes cells termed selective cells may be used where full 360 degree
coverage is not required. They may be used to fill in a hole in the coverage in the cellular
system, or to address a problem such as the entrance to a tunnel etc.
 Umbrella cells: Another type of cells known as an umbrella cell is sometimes used in
instances such as those where a heavily used road crosses an area where there are microcells.
Under normal circumstances this would result in a large number of handovers as people
driving along the road would quickly cross the microcells.
An umbrella cell would take in the coverage of the microcells (but use different channels to
those allocated to the microcells). However it would enable those people moving along the

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 road to be handled by the umbrella cell and experience fewer handovers than if they had to
pass from one microcell to the next.
Sectorisation
With the number of subscribers increasing, it was soon found that the traditional concept
of a base station in the centre of the cell with an omnidirectional antenna (in the horizontal plane)
was not the optimum way forwards.
Instead, base stations migrated to an antenna system that had tree, or possibly more
antennas with half power beam-widths of, say 65, 90 or 120 degrees. in the horizontal plane.
There were two basic ways of looking at cells with this approach, although in reality the final
outcome was similar.
In the US the cells used a layout that was based upon a hexagonal cellular layout wit the
base station at the centre of the cell.

Sectorisation using three antennas on each base station

By adding directional antennas so that, say, 120° was illuminated by each antenna, three
sectors were created within the cell. This enabled better coverage to be obtained, and also it gave
a much higher capacity. The antenna coverage is such that it needs to illuminate a coverage area
which is the shape of a rhombus.
Outside the USA, a similar style of approach was used, but it was implemented in a different
way.
Again, directional antennas were used, but instead of locating them at the centre of the
cell, they were placed at the intersections of the three hexagons. In this case the antenna should
cover a hexagonal shape rather than a rhombus.

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 Although the two solutions look very similar, there is a subtle but important difference
between them.
In the system used within the USA where the antennas are directed between the closest
neighbouring base stations, whereas for the second option, the antennas are directed towards the
nearest base station. This may not be an issue if they are operating on different channels.

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