Wireless Communications

Fundamentals
Slides 8
David Tipper, Ph.D., Professor
Department of Informatics and Networked
Systems
University of Pittsburgh
[email protected]

Last Class
• Diversity Techniques
– Fade Margin è increase power or reduce cell size
– Error Control Coding,
• ARQ, FEC, Hybrid, Interleaving
– Frequency Hopping
– Equalization
– Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum
– Multiple Antennas
• SIMO, MISO, MIMO, Beamforming, MU-MIMO, MIMO
Multipliexing
– OFDM
• Different combinations of diversity techniques used in
various systems – along with other concepts like AMC
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 Typical Wireless Communication System
Transmitter

Source Channel
Source Modulator
Encoder Encoder

Analog
Channel
Source Channel Demod
Destination
Decoder Decoder -ulator

Receiver
Digital
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Source Coding
• Source Coding seeks to efficiently encode the
information for transmission: application layer function
L5 Application
• Mobile environment different from wired
– Efficient use of spectrum L4 Transport
• Compress to lower bit rate per user => more users L3 Network
– Quality L2 Data link
• Want near wired network quality in difficult transmission
L1 Physical
environment (high BER, bursty errors)
– Hardware complexity
• Size, speed and power consumption at UE
• Consider Digital Speech as example
– Convert speech to digital form and transmit digitally
– 4G/5G use Voice over IP
Ø Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)
Ø Real Time Transport Protocol (RTP)
Ø Real Time Control Protocol (RTCP)

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 Digital Speech
• Speech Coder: device that converts speech to digital
• Types of speech coders
– Waveform coders
• Convert any analog signal to digital form
– Vocoders (Parametric coders)
• Try to exploit special properties of speech signal to reduce bit rate
• Build model of speech – transmit parameters of model
– Hybrid Coders
• Combine features of waveform and vocoders

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Waveform Coders (e.g.,PCM)

• Waveform Coders
• Convert any analog signal to digital -
basically A/D converter
• Analog signal sampled > twice highest
frequency- quantized into `n’ bit samples
• Uniform quantization
• Example Pulse Code Modulation (PCM)
• band limit speech < 4000 Hz
• pass speech through µ-law compander
• sample 8000 Hz, 8 bit samples
• ITU G.711 standard for PSTN Landline
phones at 64 kbps (DS0 rate)
• Characteristics
• Quality – High
• Complexity – Low
• Bit rate – High
• Delay - Low
• Robustness – High
• Can vary quality with sampling and bits per
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 Waveform Coders
• For wireless want to reduce the data rate and maintain quality
• Sub-band coding and differential coding were used

Bandpass
A/D 1
Filter 1

Analog Bandpass Channel

A/D 2 Mux
speech Filter 2 encoder

Bandpass A/D 3
Filter 3
• Partition signal into non-overlapping
band Range encoding
frequency bands use different A/D
----------------------------------------
quantizer for each band
1 50- 700 Hz 4 bits
2 700-2000 Hz 3 bits
• Example: 3 sub-bands data rate
3 2000-3400Hz 2 bits
5600+12000 + 13600 = 31.2 Kbps
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Characteristics of Speech

• Bandwidth
– Most of energy between 20 Hz to
about 7KHz ,
– Human ear sensitive to energy
between 50 Hz and 4KHz
• Time Signal
– High correlation
– Short term stationary
• Classified into four categories
– Voiced : created by air passed
through vocal cords (e.g., ah, v)
– Unvoiced : created by air through
mouth and lips (e.g., s, f )
– Mixed or transitional
– Silence

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 Characteristics of Speech

Typical
Voiced
speech

Typical
Unvoiced
speech

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Vocoders
• Vocoders (Parametric Coders)
• Models the vocalization of speech
• Speech sampled and broken into frames (~25 msec)
• Instead of transmitting digitized speech build model of speech and
transmit parameters of model and synthesize approximation of speech
• Linear Predictive Coders (LPC)
• Models Vocal tract as a filter
• Filter excitation
• periodic pulse (voiced speech)
• noise (unvoiced)
• Transmitted parameters: gain, voiced/unvoiced decision, pitch (if voiced),
LPC parameters

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 Vocoders
• Example Tenth Order Linear Predictive Coder
• Samples Voice at 8000 Hz – buffer 240 samples => 30 msec
• Filter Model
• (M=10 is order, G is gain, z-1 unit delay, bk are filter coefficients)
G
H ( z) = M
1 + å bk z - k
k =1

• G = 5 bits, bk = 8 bits each, voiced/unvoiced decision = 1 bit, pitch

= 6 bits => 92 bits/30 msec = 3067 bps

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Vocoders
• LPC coders can achieve low bit rates 1.2 – 4.8 Kbps

• Characteristics of LPC
• Quality – Low
• Complexity – Moderate
• Bit Rate – Low
• Delay – Moderate
• Robustness – Low

• Quality of pure LPC vocoder to low for cellular telephony -

try to improve quality by using hybrid coders

• Hybrid Coders
• Combine Vocoder and Waveform Coder concept
• Residual LPC (RELP)
• Codebook excited LPC (CELP)

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 RELP Vocoder
• Residual Excited LPC
• improve quality of LPC by transmitting error (residue)
along with LPC parameters

residue
s(n) Buffer/
Window

ENCODER
Encoded
LPC LPC parameters output
Analysis

v/u decision
gain, pitch
LPC
Synthesis

Block diagram of a RELP encoder

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2G GSM Speech Coding

Regular pulse excited - long term prediction (RPE-LRP)

speech encoder (RELP speech coder)
104 kbps 13 kbps
RPE-LRP Channel
Analog Low-pass
A/D speech
speech filter
encoder
encoder

8000 samples/s,
13 bits/sample

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 GSM Speech Coding (cont)

Regular pulse excited - long term prediction (RPE-LRP)

speech encoder (RELP speech coder)

160 samples/ RPE-LTP 36 LPC bits/20 ms 260 bits/20 ms

20 ms from A/D speech 9 LTP bits/5 ms to channel
(= 2080 bits) encoder encoder
47 RPE bits/5 ms

LPC: linear prediction coder

LTP: long term prediction – pitch + input
RPE: Residual Prediction Error:

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Hybrid Vocoders

• Codebook Excited LPC

• Problem with simple LPC is U/V
decision and pitch estimation does
not model transitional speech well,
and not always accurate

• Codebook approach – pass speech

through an analyzer to find closest
match to a set of possible excitations
(codebook)

• Transmit codebook pointer + LPC

parameters
• ITU G.729 standard 8Kbps – widely
used (Skype, Zoom, 3G, 4G, 5G)

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 CELP Speech Coders

• General CELP architecture

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Evaluating Speech Coders

• Qualitative Comparison
– based on subjective procedures Mean Opinion Score (MOS)
in ITU-T Rec. P. 830 -------------------------------------
• Major Procedures Excellent 5
• Absolute Category Rating Good 4
Fair 3
– Subjects listen to samples
Poor 2
and rank them on an
Bad 1
absolute scale - result is a
mean opinion score (MOS)
• Comparison Category Rating Comparison MOS (CMOS)
– Subjects listen to coded -------------------------------------
samples and original un- Much Better 3
coded sample (PCM or Better 2
analog), the two are Slightly Better 1
compared on a relative scale About the Same 0
– result is a comparison Slightly Worse -1
mean opinion score (CMOS) Worse -2
Much Worse -3
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 Evaluating Speech Coders
MOS for clear channel environment – no errors
Result vary a little with language and speaker gender

Standard Speech coder Bit rate MOS

PCM Waveform 64 Kbps 4.3
CT2 Waveform 32 Kbps 4.1
DECT Waveform 32 Kbps 4.1
NA-TDMA Hybrid RELP 8Kbps 3.0
GSM Hybrid RELP 13 kbps 3.54
QCELP Hybrid CELP 14.4 Kbps 3.4 – 4.0
QCELP Hybrid CELP 9.6 Kbps 3.4
LPC Vocoder 2.4 Kbps 2.5
ITU G.729 Hybrid CELP 8Kbps 3.9

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Speech Quality of Various Coders

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 Source Coding
• Many other source coding algorithms depending on
application
• Photos:
– png, jpeg, AVIF, etc.
• Streaming Audio:
– MPEG-1, Audio Layer 3 (MP3), Advanced Audio Coding (AAC),
Waveform Audio Format (WAV), Ogg vorbis, etc.
– App may use different coding based on interface (web, desktop, mobile
app) and/or available bandwidth
• Streaming Video
– MPEG-1, H.262 MPEG 2, H.264 MPEG-4/AVC, etc
– As in the audio may adapt coding used to the available bandwidth
• Trend is to use put intelligence in the app and use adjustable bit rate
coding - use UDP for the transport layer
– MPEG-DASH protocol does this

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Streaming stored video: playout buffering

constant bit
rate video client video constant bit
Cumulative data

transmission reception rate video

playout at client
variable
network
buffered
video

delay

client playout time

delay

§client-side buffering and playout delay: compensate for

network-added delay, delay jitter

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 Streaming multimedia: DASH
Dynamic, Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH) also called (MPEG-DASH)
server:
§ divides video file into multiple chunks
§ each chunk encoded at multiple different rates (384kb, 1Mb, 5Mb, etc.)
§ different rate encodings stored in different files
§ files replicated in various content distribution nodes (CDN)
...
§ manifest file: provides URLs for different chunks
...

client:
...
§ periodically estimates server-to-client bandwidth client
§ consulting manifest, requests one chunk at a time
• chooses maximum coding rate sustainable given current bandwidth
• can choose different coding rates at different points in time (depending on
available bandwidth at time), and from different servers

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Streaming multimedia: DASH

§“intelligence” at client: client
determines
• when to request chunk (so that
buffer starvation, or overflow does
not occur) ...
...
• what encoding rate to request
(higher quality when more
bandwidth available) ...
client
• where to request chunk (can request
from URL server that is “close” to
client or has high available
bandwidth)

Streaming video = MPEG encoding + DASH + playout buffering

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 How does Netflix work?
§ Netflix: stores copies of content (e.g., MADMEN) at its (worldwide)
OpenConnect CDN nodes (> 17,000 servers, each > 10,000 movies)

§ subscriber requests content, service provider returns manifest

• using manifest, client retrieves content at highest supportable rate
• may choose different rate or copy if network path congested

… …

…
manifest file
…

where’s Madmen?

… …

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Typical Wireless Communication System

Transmitter

Source Channel
Source Modulator
Encoder Encoder
Analog
Channel

Source Channel Demod

Destination
Decoder Decoder -ulator

Receiver
Digital
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 Multiple Access and Mode
• Mode how two parties share channel during conversation
– Simplex – one way communication (e.g., broadcast AM)
– Duplex – two way communication Tx and Rx on both ends
• TDD – time division duplex: each end takes turns on the channel
• FDD – frequency division duplex: each end get two channels – one for
each direction of communication
– For example one channel for uplink (mobile to base station) another
channel for downlink (base station to mobile)

• Multiple Access: determines how multiple users in a

wireless system share the assigned frequency band :
– FDMA, TDMA, CDMA
• Wireless systems often use a combination of schemes;
GSM cellular network uses FDD/FDMA/TDMA

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Multiple Access Techniques

• FDMA (frequency division multiple access)
– separate spectrum into non-overlapping frequency bands
– assign a certain frequency to a sender and a receiver pair
– different users share use of the medium by transmitting on non-
overlapping frequency bands at the same time
• TDMA (time division multiple access):
– assign a fixed frequency to a transmission channel between a sender
and a receiver for a certain amount of time (users share a frequency
channel in time slices)
• CDMA (code division multiple access):
– assign a user a unique code for transmission between sender and
receiver, users transmit on the same frequency at the same time
• Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA):
• combination of FDMA and TDMA – assign a set of both frequency bands and
time slots to a sender and receiver – use OFDM on the combination of slots
and bands (sub-channels) 28
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 Multiple Access (cont)

FDMA TDMA CDMA

user 3
frequency

frequency
guard band

frequency
guard time

guard time
user 1

user 2

user 3
user 2
2 3
1,2,3
guard band
user 1 3 1
time time time

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Frequency division multiple access

frequency

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 Time Division Multiple Access

slot
frame
frequency

time
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Code Division Multiple Access

code

time

frequency 32
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 FDMA

• FDMA is simplest and oldest method

• Bandwidth F is divided into T non-overlapping frequency
channels
– Guard bands minimize interference between channels
– Each station is assigned a different frequency
• Can be inefficient if more than T stations want to transmit
or traffic is bursty (resulting in unused bandwidth and
delays)
• Receiver requires high quality filters for adjacent
channel rejection
• Used in First Generation Cellular (AMPS, NMT, TACS)

f1 f2
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FDD/FDMA - general scheme, example AMPS

(B block)

f
893.97MHz 799

880.65 MHz
355 30 kHz

20 MHz
849.97 MHz 799

355
835.65 MHz
t

f(c) = 825,000 + 30 x (channel number) KHz <- uplink

f(c) = f uplink + 45,000 KHz <- downlink
Most systems use some form of FDMA
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 TDMA

• Users share same frequency band in non-

overlapping time intervals, e.g., by round robin
• Receiver filters are just time windows instead of
bandpass filters (as in FDMA)
• Guard time can be as small as the
synchronization of the network permits
– All users must be synchronized with base station to
within a fraction of guard time
– Guard time of 30-50 microsec common in TDMA
• Used in many 2G cellular systems: GSM, NA-
TDMA, (PDC) Pacific Digital Cellular

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GSM - TDMA/FDMA/FDD
935-960 MHz
124 channels (200 kHz)
downlink
cy
en
qu

890-915 MHz
fre

124 channels (200 kHz)

uplink
higher GSM frame structures
time

GSM TDMA frame

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
4.615 ms

GSM time-slot (normal burst)

guard guard
space tail user data S Training S user data tail space
3 bits 57 bits 1 26 bits 1 57 bits 3
546.5 µs
577 µs

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 TDD/TDMA - example

417 µs

1 2 3 11 12 1 2 3 11 12
t
downlink uplink

CT2 cordless
phone standard

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CDMA

• Code Division Multiple Access

– Narrowband message signal is multiplied by very large bandwidth
spreading signal using direct sequence spread spectrum
– All users can use same carrier frequency and may transmit
simultaneously
– Each user has own unique access spreading codeword which is
approximately orthogonal to other users codewords
– Receiver performs time correlation operation to detect only specific
codeword, other users codewords appear as noise due to
decorrelation
– Cocktail party example

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 Simple example illustrating CDMA
Traditional Simple CDMA
• To send a 0, send +1 V for T
seconds • To send a 0, Bob sends +1 V for T
seconds; Alice sends +1 V for T/2
• To send a 1, send -1 V for T
seconds seconds and -1 V for T/2 seconds
• Use separate time slots or • To send a 1, Bob sends -1 V for T
frequency bands to separate seconds; Alice sends -1 V for T/2
signals seconds and +1 V for T/2

1 0 1
V 0 chip
Data 1 1
time
T T T T

Code [1, 1] [-1, -1] [1, -1] [-1, 1] 39

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Simple CDMA Transmitter

Bob User 1 data in

Spread

Alice User 2 data in

Spread

0 0 1 1 = [1, 1, 1, 1, -1, -1, -1, -1]

V
1 V
T 2T 3T 4T t 2

V 1 0 1 0 = [-1, 1, 1, -1, -1, 1, 1, -1] T 2T 3T 4T t

1

T 2T 3T 4T
t 40
Transmitted signal
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 Simple CDMA Receiver

Despread User 1 data out Bob

correlate with [1, 1]

Despread User 2 data out Alice

correlate with [1, -1]

V
2

Received
signal T 2T 3T 4T t
ò = -2 x T/2 = -T
V
1
Alice’s
Code T 2T 3T 4T t = -T has a negative sign
Þ Alice sent a 1
as the first bit 41
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Simple CDMA continued

• Proceeding in this fashion for each “bit”, the
information transmitted by Alice can be recovered
• To recover the information transmitted by Bob, the
received signal is correlated bit-by-bit with Bob’s code
[1,1]
• Such codes are “orthogonal”
– Multiply the codes element-wise
• [1,1] x [1,-1] = [1,-1]
– Add the elements of the resulting product
• 1 + (-1) = 0 => the codes are orthogonal
• CDMA used in IS-95 2G standard and both 3G
standards: UMTS, cdma2000
• CDMA has a capacity advantage over standard TDMA
or FDMA as can reuse the same frequency in every cell
just change spreading codes 42
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 CDMA Properties: Near-Far Problem

• A CDMA receiver cannot successfully despread the

desired signal in a high multiple-access-interference
environment

• Unless a transmitter close to the

receiver transmits at power
lower than a transmitter farther
away, the far transmitter cannot
be heard
• Power control must be used to
mitigate the near-far problem
• Mobiles transmit so that power Base station
levels are equal at base station
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Multiple Access with OFDM

• Consider a TDMA/FDMA grid of resources
• In each time slot can adaptively assign frequencies to users
• If frequencies are broken up into subchannels and OFDM used on
subchannels to combat multipath à OFDMA system

User 1

User 2

User 3

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 OFDMA
• OFDMA assigns each user a set of OFDM subchannels to use for a
fixed time interval
• Users separated by FDMA
• Bandwidth and assigned to each user can change each time interval
• Basis of 4G, 5G

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Summary
• Source Coding
– Speech Coding
• Waveform
• Vocoders
• Hybrid : RELP, Codebook
• MOS, CMOS
– Streaming Video
• Adapt rate to match available bandwidth – DASH protocol

• Mode and Multiple Access

– TDD vs. FDD
– FDMA
– TDMA
– CDMA
– OFDMA

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