DIGITAL MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS

CHAPTER 3: CELLULAR CONCEPT AND CHANNEL

ALLOCATION
 OBJECTIVES

◼ Understand the definition of the free-space

propagation.
◼ Understand the characterization of the
random channel.
◼ Understand the methods for fading mitigation

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 CHAPTER 3:CELLULAR CONCEPT
AND CHANNEL ALLOCATION

3.1 Channel reuse: introduction of cells

3.2 Co-channel interference + noise
3.3 Traffic handling capacity
3.4 Channel Assignment Strategies
3.5 Handover
3.6 Improving Capacity

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 PRE-CELLULAR SYSTEM
▪ Achieve a large coverage area by using a single, high powered
transmitter.
▪ Put BS on top of mountains or tall towers

▪ Next BS was so far away that interference was not an issue.

▪ Severely limit the number of users that could communicate

simultaneously.
▪ Noise-limited system with few users.

▪ Bell mobile system in New York City in the 1970s could only
support a maximum of twelve simultaneous calls over a
thousand square miles.

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 PRE-CELLULAR SYSTEM
▪ Using a typical analog system, each channel needs to have a
bandwidth of around 25 kHz.
▪ to enable sufficient audio quality to be carried
▪ as well as allowing for a guard band between adjacent
signals to ensure there are no undue levels of interference
▪ Can accommodate only 40 users in a frequency “chunk” of 1
MHz wide.
▪ Even if 100 MHz were allocated to the system, this would
enable only 4000 users to have access to the system.

▪ Today cellular systems have millions of subscribers, and

therefore a far more efficient method of using the available
spectrum is needed..

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 PRE-CELLULAR SYSTEM
▪ Regions need to be well-separated!

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 CHANNEL REUSE:
INTRODUCTION OF CELLS
▪ Concept of cellular:
▪ The cellular concept does not use broadcasting over large
areas. Instead smaller areas called cells are handled by
less powerful base stations that use less power for
transmission. Now the available spectrum can be re-used
from one cell to another thereby increasing the capacity of
the system.

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 CHANNEL REUSE:
INTRODUCTION OF CELLS
◼ Cell structure:
◼ Advantages of cell structures:
◼ higher capacity, higher number of users.
◼ less transmission power needed.
◼ more robust, decentralized.
◼ base station deals with interference, transmission
area etc. locally.

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 CHANNEL REUSE:
INTRODUCTION OF CELLS
◼ Problems:
◼ fixed network needed for the base stations.
◼ handover (changing from one cell to another)
necessary.
◼ interference with other cells.

◼ Cell sizes from some 100 m in cities to, e.g.,

35 km on the country side (GSM) - even less
for higher frequencies.

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 CHANNEL REUSE:
INTRODUCTION OF CELLS
Other MSCs
(IS 41) F1,F2,..,F6

F7,F8,..,F12 F7,F8,..,F12
PSTN MSC
Base
Station
F1,F2,..,F6
Handoff
Cell
MSC: Mobile Switching Center (Theoretical)
PSTN: Public Switched Telephone Network

Practical Cell - coverage depends on antenna location and

height, transmitter power, terrain, foliage, buildings, etc.

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 HEXAGONAL CELL SHAPE
◼ Simplistic model of the radio coverage for
each BS.
◼ Universally adopted
◼ Permit easy and manageable analysis.

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 WHY HEXAGON
◼ Omnidirectional BS antenna and free space propagation ->
Circular radiation pattern
◼ Adjacent circles cannot be overlaid upon a map without leaving

gaps or creating overlapping regions.

◼ Tessellating Cell Shapes: When considering geometric shapes
which cover an entire region without overlap and with equal area,
there are three sensible choices: a square, an equilateral
triangle, and a hexagon.

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 WHY HEXAGON
◼ A cell must be designed to serve the weakest mobiles
within the footprint, and these are typically located at the
edge of the cell.
◼ For a given distance between the center of a polygon and its farthest
perimeter points, the hexagon has the largest area of the three.
◼ By using the hexagon geometry, the fewest number of cells can
cover a geographic region

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 HEXAGON
◼ Area:
1𝑅 3 3 3 2
𝐴𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙 =6 𝑅 = 𝑅 ≈ 2.598𝑅2
2 2 2

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 CHANNEL REUSE:
INTRODUCTION OF CELLS
◼ Frequency reuse:
◼ To be able to increase the capacity of the system,
frequencies must be re-used in the cellular layout
(unless we are using spread spectrum
techniques).
◼ Frequencies cannot be re-used in adjacent cells
because of co-channel interference.

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 FREQUENCY REUSE PLAN
◼ The frequency reuse plan is overlaid upon a map to indicate
where different channel sets are used.
◼ Cells labeled with the same letter use the same group of
channels
◼ Create co-channel interference.

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 CHANNEL REUSE:
INTRODUCTION OF CELLS
a cluster is a group of
adjacent cells, which have
different frequency, usually
7 cells; no frequency reuse
is done within a cluster

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 CHANNEL REUSE:
INTRODUCTION OF CELLS
◼ The total coverage area is
divided into clusters.
◼ The number of cells (N) in a
cluster is called the cluster
size.
◼ Cells in a cluster collectively
use the complete set of
available frequencies
◼ No co-channel interference
within a cluster.
◼ Replicated over the
coverage area.

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 CAPACITY

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 EXAMPLE

◼ If a total of 33 MHz of bandwidth is allocated to a particular FDD

cellular telephone system which uses two 25 kHz simplex
channels to provide full duplex voice and control channels,
compute the number of channels available per cell if a system
uses (a) four-cell reuse, (b) seven-cell reuse, and (c) 12-cell
reuse. If 1 MHz of the allocated spectrum is dedicated to control
channels, determine an equitable distribution of control channels
and voice channels in each cell for each of the three systems.

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 EXAMPLE

◼ Total bandwidth = 33 MHz

◼ Channel bandwidth = 25kHz*2 simplex = 50 kHz/ duplex channel
◼ Total available channels S: = 33 MHz / 50 = 660 channels

◼ For N = 4: m = S/N = 660/4 = 165 channels

◼ For N = 7: m = S/N = 660/7 ~ 95 channels
◼ For N = 12: m = S/N = 660/12 = 55 channels

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 EXAMPLE
◼ A 1 MHz spectrum for control channels implies that there are 1000/50 = 20 control
channels out of the 660 channels available. To evenly distribute the control and voice
channels, simply allocate the same number of voice channels in each cell wherever
possible. Here, the 660 channels must be evenly distributed to each cell within the cluster.
In practice, only the 640 voice channels would be allocated, since the control channels are
allocated separately as 1 per cell.
◼ For N = 4, we can have 5 control channels and 160 voice channels per cell. In practice,
however, each cell only needs a single control channel (the control channels have a greater reuse
distance than the voice channels). Thus, one control channel and 160 voice channels would be
assigned to each cell.
◼ For N = 7, four cells with 3 control channels and 92 voice channels, two cells with 3 control
channels and 90 voice channels, and one cell with 2 control channels and 92 voice channels
could be allocated. In practice, however, each cell would have one control channel, four cells
would have 91 voice channels, and three cells would have 92 voice channels.
◼ For N = 12, we can have eight cells with 2 control channels and 53 voice channels, and four
cells with 1 control channel and 54 voice channels each. In an actual system, each cell would
have one control channel, eight cells would have 53 voice channels, and four cells would have
54 voice channels.

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 CLUSTER SIZE
◼ There are only certain cluster sizes and cell layouts which
are possible
◼ N can only have values which satisfy
N = i2 + i  j + j 2
◼ where i and j are non-negative integers.

Find the 10 smallest unique values of cluster size, starting with N = 1

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 LOCATING CO-CHANNEL CELLS
◼ To locate the nearest cochannel neighbors of a particular
cell
◼ move i cells along any chain of hexagons and then
◼ turn 60 degrees counterclockwise and move j cells
◼ Try N = 19 (i = 3, j = 2)

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 EXAMPLE
◼ For the specified cluster size below, find the corresponding i and j and
locate ALL co-channel cells of cell A in the each of the provided regions.
When applicable, this should include co-channel cells in the first tier,
second tier, third tier, etc. Assume the counterclockwise turn.

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 EXAMPLE

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 CHANNEL REUSE:
INTRODUCTION OF CELLS
D=31/2R[i2+j 2+ij]1/2 i,j are integers v R
R = radius of hexagonal u
(u,v)

1 3
300
D 2
31/2R 31/2R
R 1
(0,0)
u2-u1=3 1/2Ri
v2-v1=31/2 Rj

Distance between two co-channel cells = (3R2[i2+j2+ij])1/2 = D

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 DISTANCE BETWEEN TWO CO-
CHANNEL CELLS
◼ We have
◼ x = v + u sin(pi/6)
◼ y = v + u sin(pi/6)
◼ From Pythagorean Theorem
◼ D2 = (v + u sin(pi/6))2 + (u
cos(pi/6))2 = u2 + v2 + uv
◼ We have u = i31/2R and v =
j31/2R
◼ So D2 = 3R2(i2 + j2 + ij)

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 CHANNEL REUSE:
INTRODUCTION OF CELLS
◼ For two adjacent cells: D=31/2R

◼ The closest we can place the same frequencies is

called the first tier around the center cell (minimize
re-use distance -> lower -> more capacity!).

◼ For simplicity we only take the first tier of cells into

account for co-channel.

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 CHANNEL REUSE:
INTRODUCTION OF CELLS

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 CHANNEL REUSE:
INTRODUCTION OF CELLS

Radius = D D
First Tier
(all use same
Radius frequencies as
center cell)

R
Cluster of “N” cells with
frequencies different
from center cell
(large hexagon)

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 CHANNEL REUSE:
INTRODUCTION OF CELLS

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 CHANNEL REUSE:
INTRODUCTION OF CELLS
◼ Radius = dist. between two co-channel cells =
(3R2[i2+j2+ij])1/2 = D
◼ Since the area of a hexagon is proportional to the
square of the distance between its center and a
vertex (i.e., its radius), the area of the large
hexagon is:
Alarge = k[Radius]2 = k[3R2[i2+j2+ij]]
k: constant.

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 CHANNEL REUSE:
INTRODUCTION OF CELLS
◼ Similarly the area of each cell (i.e., small hexagon)
is:
Asmall = k[R2]
◼ Comparing these expressions we find that:
Alarge/Asmall = 3[i2+j2+ij] = D2/R2
◼ From symmetry we can see that the large hexagon
encloses the center cluster of N cells plus 1/3 the
number of the cells associated with 6 other
peripheral hexagons. Thus the total number of cells
enclosed by the first tier is:
N+6(1/3N) = 3N
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 CHANNEL REUSE:
INTRODUCTION OF CELLS
◼ Since the area of a hexagon is proportional to the
number of cells contained within it:
Alarge/Asmall = 3N/1 = 3N
◼ Substituting we get:
3N = 3[i2+j2+ij] = D2/R2
◼ Or: D/R = q =(3N)1/2
◼ “q” is referred to as the frequency reuse ratio!

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 CLUSTER SIZES VS FREQ.
REUSE FACTOR

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 CHANNEL REUSE:
INTRODUCTION OF CELLS
◼ For an omni-directional antenna, with constant
signal power, each cell site coverage area would
be circular (barring any terrain irregularities or
obstacles).

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 CHAPTER 3:CELLULAR CONCEPT
AND CHANNEL ALLOCATION

3.1. Channel reuse: introduction of cells

3.2 Co-channel interference vs. noise
3.3. Traffic handling capacity
3.4 Channel Assignment Strategies
3.5 Handover
3.6 Improving Capacity

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 CO-CHANNEL INTERFERENCE
◼ Frequency reuse -> co-
channel interference
◼ Consider only nearby
interferers
◼ In a fully equipped
hexagonal-shaped
cellular system, there
are always K = 6
cochannel interfering
cells in the first tier.

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 THREE MEASURES OF SIGNAL
QUALITY
◼ For noise-limited systems: SNR = Pr / noise
◼ Consider both noise & interference: SINR = Pr / (Interference
+ Noise)
◼ The best cellular system design places users that share the
same channel at a separation distance (as close as possible)
where the intercell interference is just below the maximum
tolerable level for the required data rate and BER
◼ Good cellular system designs are interference-limited,
meaning that the interference power is much larger than the
noise power: SIR = Pr / Interference

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 CO-CHANNEL INTERFERENCE
◼ The co-channel interference ratio S/I is given as:
S S
--- = ------------------------
I N
i
  I k
k=1
S = desired signal power in a cell (note that many
texts use “C” instead of S), Ik = interference signal
power from the kth cell, Ni = number of interfering
cells.

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 CO-CHANNEL INTERFERENCE
◼ Recall: Simplified path-loss
−
d 
PR = P0  
 d0 

◼ If all BSs transmit at the same power, SIR becomes

S R −
= i0
I
 (D )
−
i
i =1

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 CO-CHANNEL INTERFERENCE
NOISE
7 7
2 7 j
i 2
1 6 1
2
1 D
5 3
4 D = 4.41R
N=7 -> i=2, j=1

f2 f3 f7
f5 f2
f4 f6 f5
f1 f4
f3 f7 f1
f2 f3
f6 f5 f2

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 CO-CHANNEL INTERFERENCE
◼ If all interference BSs are
equidistant

( )

( D / R)

S R − 3N q
= i0
= = =
I i0 i0 i0
 (D )
−
i
i =1
◼ To achieve 18 dB SIR (required in
US AMPS), N > 6.49 provided
\gamma = 4
◼ => N > 7 should be used

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 CO-CHANNEL INTERFERENCE
◼ Worst case: When mobile is at the cell
boundary. The marked distances are
based on approx. for easy analysis.

S R −4
=
(
I 2 ( D − R )−4 + ( D + R )−4 + D −4 )
1
=
(
2 ( Q − 1) + ( Q + 1) + Q −4
−4 −4
)
◼ When N = 7, Q = 4.6
◼ SIR = 17 (using above approx.)
◼ SIR = 17.8 exact expression
◼ Since worst case rarely occurs, N = 7 is
usually acceptable

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 COMPARISON
◼ .

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 EXAMPLE
◼ If a signal-to-interference ratio of 15 dB 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 (a) \gamma = 4, (b)
\gamma = 3? Assume that there are six cochannel cells in the first
tier, and all of them are at the same distance from the mobile. Use
suitable approximations.

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 EXAMPLE
◼ \gamma = 4: q = 4.583 SIR = q^\gamma / 6 = 75.3 = 18.66 dB
◼ Since this is greater than the minimum required S/I, N = 7 can be
used.

◼ \gamma = 3: SIR = q^\gamma / 6 = 16.04 = 12.05 dB

◼ Since this is less than the minimum required S/I, we need to use a
larger N.

◼ Considering N = 12 (i = j = 2) => q = sqrt(3N) = 6

◼ => SIR = q^\gamma / 6 = 36 = 15.56 dB
◼ Since this is greater than the minimum required S/I, N = 12 is used

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 QUANTITY VS. QUALITY
◼ .

K=6

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 SIR THRESHOLD
◼ The SIR should be greater than a specified threshold for
proper signal operation.
◼ In the 1G AMPS system, designed for voice calls, the
threshold for acceptable voice quality is SIR equal to 18 dB.
◼ For the 2G digital AMPS system (D-AMPS or IS-54/136), a
threshold of 14 dB is deemed suitable.
◼ For the GSM system, a range of 7–12 dB, depending on the
study done, is suggested as the appropriate threshold.
◼ The probability of error in a digital system depends on the
choice of this threshold as well.

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 ADJACENT CHANNEL INTERFERENCE

◼ Interference resulting from signals which are adjacent in

frequency to the desired signal is called adjacent
channel interference.
◼ Adjacent channel interference results from imperfect
receiver filters which allow nearby frequencies to leak into
the passband.
◼ Near-far effect:
◼ If an adjacent channel user is transmitting in very close range to a
subscriber's receiver, the problem can be particularly serious.

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 ADJACENT CHANNEL INTERFERENCE

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 ADJACENT CHANNEL INTERFERENCE

◼ Adjacent channel interference can be minimized through

careful filtering and channel assignments:
◼ By keeping the frequency separation between each channel in a
given cell as large as possible, the adjacent channel interference
may be reduced considerably.
◼ Channel allocation schemes can also prevent a secondary source
of adjacent channel interference by avoiding the use of adjacent
channels in neighboring cell sites.
◼ High Q cavity filters can be used in order to reject adjacent
channel interference

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 CHAPTER 3:CELLULAR CONCEPT
AND CHANNEL ALLOCATION

3.1. Channel reuse: introduction of cells

3.2 Co-channel interference noise
3.3. Traffic handling capacity
3.4 Channel Assignment Strategies
3.5 Handover
3.6 Improving Capacity

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 CAPACITY CONCEPT: A REVISIT

◼ If I have m channels per cell, is it true that my cell can

support only m users?
◼ If we can “give” the time that “User 1” is idle to other
users, then one channel can support how many users
◼ If we allow > 1 users, then we (and the users) will have
to deal with congestion
◼ Real users access the channel randomly.

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 NEW CONCEPTS FOR A NEW LOOK AT
CAPACITY
◼ We can let more than one user share a channel by using it at different
times.
◼ Blocked call happens if a user requests to make a call when all the
channels are occupied by other users.
◼ Probability of (call) blocking: Pb
◼ The likelihood that a call is blocked because there is no available
channel.
◼ 1%, 2%, 5%
◼ In which case, the number of users that a cell can support can exceed
S/N.
◼ How much larger depends strongly on the value of Pb that can be
tolerated.

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 TRUNKING
◼ Allow a large number (n) of users to share the relatively small
number (m) of channels in a cell (or a sector) by providing
access to each user, on demand, from a pool of available
channels.
◼ Exploit the statistical behavior of users.
◼ Each user is allocated a channel on a per call basis, and upon
termination of the call, the previously occupied channel is
immediately returned to the pool of available channels

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 COMMON TERMS
◼ Set-up time: The time required to allocate a trunked radio channel to a
requesting user
◼ Traffic Intensity: Measure of channel time utilization (traffic load /
amount of traffic), which is the average channel occupancy measured in
Erlangs.
◼ Dimensionless
◼ Denoted by A
◼ Holding Time: Average duration of a typical call.
◼ Denoted by H = 1/ \mu
◼ Request Rate: The average number of call requests per unit time.
Denoted by \lambda seconds-1.

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 COMMON TERMS
◼ Traffic intensity of each user: Au = \lambda * H
◼ Total traffic intensity: A = n Au, where n is the number of users
supported by the pool (trunked channels) under consideration.
◼ Blocked Call: Call which cannot be completed at time of request, due to
congestion. Also referred to as a lost call.
◼ Grade of Service (GOS): A measure of congestion which is specified as
the probability of a call being blocked (for Erlang B) or the probability of
a call being delayed beyond a certain amount of time (for Erlang C).
◼ The AMPS cellular system is designed for a GOS of 2% blocking.
This implies that the channel allocations for cell sites are designed so
that, on average, 2 out of 100 calls will be blocked due to channel
occupancy during the busiest hour.
busy hour at busiest cell
Busy hour may be system busy hour
system average over all hours
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 EXAMPLE

◼ Compute total traffic intensity given 100

subscribers in a cell and
◼ 20 make 1 call/hour for 6 min => 20 x 1 x 6/60 =
2E
◼ 20 make 3 calls/hour for ½ min => 20 x 3x .5/60 =

.5E
◼ 60 make 1 call/hour for 1 min => 60 x 1 x 1/60 =

1E
=> 100 users produce 3.5 E load or 35mE per user

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 GRADE OF SERVICE (GOS)

◼ Grade Of Service (GOS)

◼ Grade Of Service = probability of blocking in lossy
system
◼ Blocked traffic is considered lost
◼ Usually expressed in percent
◼ Reported as a part of switch statistics
◼ Closely monitored
◼ Typical GOS requirement for cellular systems is 2% or
better

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 TRAFFIC HANDLING CAPACITY
◼ Definition of GOS:

 Served Traffic 
GOS =  1- ×100
 Offered Traffic 

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 TYPES OF TRUNK SYSTEMS
◼ Blocked Calls Cleared System
◼ No queuing for call requests

◼ For every user who requests service, there is no setup

time and the user is given immediate access to a channel

if one is available.
◼ If no channels are available, the requesting user is

blocked without access and is free to try again later.

◼ Blocked Calls Delayed System
◼ Queue is provided to hold calls which are blocked. If a

channel is not available immediately, the call request may

be delayed until a channel becomes available.

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 M/M/M/M ASSUMPTION
◼ Calls arrive as determined by a Poisson process.
◼ There are memoryless arrivals of requests, implying that all users,
including blocked users, may request a channel at any time.
◼ There are an infinite number of users (with finite overall request rate).
◼ The finite user results always predict a smaller likelihood of blocking.

So, assuming infinite number of users provides a conservative

estimate.
◼ The duration of the time that a user occupies a channel is exponentially
distributed, so that longer calls are less likely to occur.
◼ There are N channels available in the trunking pool.
◼ For us, N = the number of channels for a cell or for a sector

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 ERLANG B FORMULA

◼ Erlang B model:
A N N!
B[A,N] = PB = N n
A

n=0 n!


A= Traffic intensity or load [Erlangs]


N = Number of trunked channels

Pb: Call blocking probability

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 TRAFFIC HANDLING CAPACITY

◼ Example: A cell site has 5 FDMA radios. The

average call origination rate is 60 calls per hour. If
the call holding times are distributed exponentially
with an average of 90 sec, calculate the GOS.
Call arrival  = 60 calls/hour
1 1
Holding time == = 40 calls/hour
H 90 3600
 60
Traffic intensity A = = = 1.5 erlang
 40
AN N ! 1.55 5!
B  A = 1.5, N = 5 = N n = 2 3 4 5
 0.0142
A 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5

n =0 n !
1 + 1.5 +
2
+
3!
+
4!
+
5!
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 ERLANG B SYSTEM

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 ERLANG B SYSTEM

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 EXAMPLE 1
◼ How many users can be supported for 0.5% blocking
probability for the following number of trunked channels in a
blocked calls cleared system? (a) 1, (b) 5, (c) 10, (d) 20, (e)
100. Assume each user generates 0.1 Erlangs of traffic.

◼ Hint: From Table of an Erlang B system, we can find the total

capacity in Erlangs for the 0.5% GOS for different numbers
of channels. By using the relation A = U Au, we can obtain
the total number of users that can be supported in the
system.

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 EXAMPLE
◼ Given C = 1, Au = 0.1, GOS = 0.005. From Erlang B chart, we obtain A =
0.005. Therefore, total number of users, U = A/Au = 0.005/0.1 = 0.05
users. But, actually one user could be supported on one channel. So, U =
1.
◼ Given C = 5, Au = 0.1, GOS = 0.005. From Erlang B chart, we obtain A =
1.13. Therefore, total number of users, U = \floor{A/Au} = 1.13/0.1 ≈ 11
users

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 EXAMPLE
◼ Given C = 10, Au = 0.1, GOS = 0.005. From Erlang B chart, we obtain A
= 3.96. Therefore, total number of users, U = A/Au = 3.96/0.1 ≈ 39 users.

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 EXAMPLE
◼ Given C = 20, Au = 0.1, GOS = 0.005. From Erlang B chart,
we obtain A = 11.10. Therefore, total number of users, U =
A/Au = 11.1/0.1 ≈ 110 users.
◼ Given C = 100, Au = 0.1, GOS = 0.005. From Erlang B chart,
we obtain A = 80.9. Therefore, total number of users, U =
A/Au = 80.9/0.1 = 809 users.

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 EXAMPLE 2
◼ Consider a cellular system in which
◼ an average call lasts two minutes
◼ the probability of blocking is to be no more than 1%.
◼ If there are a total of 399 traffic channels for a seven-cell
reuse system, how many traffic channels per cell
◼ From the Erlang B formula, can handle how many Erlangs
and calls per hour

Hint: Use erlangb function in matlab

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ERLANG B TABLE
 EXAMPLE 3
◼ An urban area has a population of two million residents. Three
competing trunked mobile networks (systems A, B, and C)
provide cellular service in this area. System A has 394 cells with
19 channels each, system B has 98 cells with 57 channels each,
and system C has 49 cells, each with 100 channels. Find the
number of users that can be supported at 2% blocking if each
user averages two calls per hour at an average call duration of
three minutes. Assuming that all three trunked systems are
operated at maximum capacity, compute the percentage market
penetration of each cellular provider.

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 EXAMPLE 3
◼ We have: Pb = GOS = 0.02
◼ Traffic intensity per user, Au = λH = 2 × (3/60) = 0.1 Erlangs

◼ System A: C = 19. From Erlang B chart => A = 12 Erlangs => U =

A / Au = 12 / 0.1 = 120 users. Since there are 394 cells, the total
number of subscribers that can be supported by System A is equal
to 120 × 394 = 47280

◼ System B: C = 57 => A = 45 Erlangs => U = 450 => Subscribers =

450 x 98 = 44100

◼ System C: C = 100 => A = 88 Erlangs => U = 880 => Subscribers

= 450 x 98 = 43120
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 EXAMPLE 3
◼ So the total number of cellular subscribers that can be supported
by these three systems are 47,280 + 44,100 + 43,120 = 134,500
users.
◼ Since there are two million residents in the given urban area and
the total number of cellular subscribers in System A is equal to
47280, the percentage market penetration is equal to 2.36%
◼ System B: 2.205%
◼ System C: 2.156%

◼ All three systems: 6.725%

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 EXAMPLE 4
◼ A certain city has an area of 1,300 square miles and is covered
by a cellular system using a seven-cell reuse pattern. Each cell
has a radius of four miles and the city is allocated 40 MHz of
spectrum with a full duplex channel bandwidth of 60 kHz.
Assume a GOS of 2% for an Erlang B system is specified. If the
offered traffic per user is 0.03 Erlangs, compute
◼ (a) the number of cells in the service area,
◼ (b) the number of channels per cell,
◼ (c) traffic intensity of each cell,
◼ (d) the maximum carried traffic,
◼ (e) the total number of users that can be served for 2% GOS,
◼ (f) the number of mobiles per unique channel (where it is understood that channels
are reused)
◼ (g) the theoretical maximum number of users that could be served at one time by the
system.
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 EXAMPLE 4
◼ We have: Total coverage area: 1300 square miles, and cell radius = 4 miles =>
Each cell covers: 2.598 *42 = 41.57 square miles => Number of cells: Nc = 1300
/ 41.57 = 31 cells
◼ Total number of channel per cells = allocated spectrum /(channel width ×
frequency reuse factor) = 40 MHz / (60 kHz * 7) = 95 channels / cell
◼ Given C =95, GOS = 0.02, From Erlang B chart => A = 84 Erlangs / cell
◼ Maximum carried traffic = number of cells × traffic intensity per cell = 31 * 84
= 2604 Erlangs
◼ Given traffic per user = 0.03 Erlangs => Total number of users = Total traffic /
traffic per user = 2604 / 0.03 = 86,800 users
◼ Number of mobiles per channel = number of users/number of channels = 86,800
/ 666 = 130 mobiles/channel
◼ The theoretical maximum number of served mobiles is the number of available
channels in the system (all channels occupied) = C × NC = 95 × 31 = 2945
users, which is 3.4% of the customer base.
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 ERLANG C FORMULA
◼ Blocked Calls Delayed Formula (Erlang C formula):
◼ The likelihood of a call not having immediate access to a channel

◼ The probability that the delay is greater than t is

◼ The averaged delay D for all calls is

◼ Where the averaged delay for calls which are queued is H / (C - A)

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 ERLANG C SYSTEM

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 EXAMPLE
◼ A hexagonal cell within a four-cell system has a radius of
1.387 km. A total of 60 channels are used within the entire
system. If the load per user is 0.029 Erlangs, and λ = 1
call/hour, compute the following for an Erlang C system
that has a 5% probability of a delayed call:
◼ (a) How many users per square kilometer will this system support?
◼ (b) What is the probability that a delayed call will have to wait for
more than 10 s?
◼ (c) What is the probability that a call will be delayed for more than 10
seconds?

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 EXAMPLE 1
◼ We have: R = 1.387 km => Coverage area Acell = 2.598*R2 = 5 km2.
Number of cell per cluster = 4 and total number of channels = 60 =>
Number of channels per cell = 60 /4 = 15 channels.
◼ From Erlang C chart, for 5% prob. of delay and C = 15 => Traffic
intensity = 9.0 Erlangs. => Number of users = total traffic intensity /
traffic per user = 9 / 0.029 = 310 users per 5 km2 => 310/5 = 62 users /
km2 .
◼ Given \lambda = 1, => holding time H = Au / \lambda = 0.029 hour =>
The probability that a delayed call will have to wait longer than 10 s is
◼ Pr [delay >t |delay]= exp(–(C – A)t /H) = exp(–(15 -9.0)10/104.4) = 56.29%
◼ Given Pr [delay >0] = 5% = 0.05. Probability that a call is delayed more
than 10 seconds
◼ Pr [delay >10] = Pr [delay >0]Pr [delay >t |delay] = 0.05 x 0.5629 = 2.81%

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 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.

◼ 10 trunked channels at a GOS of 0.01 can support 4.46 Erlangs of

traffic
◼ Two groups of five trunked channels can support 2 × 1.36
Erlangs, or 2.72 Erlangs of traffic

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 CHAPTER 3:CELLULAR CONCEPT
AND CHANNEL ALLOCATION

3.1. Channel reuse: introduction of cells

3.2 Co-channel interference noise
3.3. Traffic handling capacity
3.4 Channel Assignment Strategies
3.5 Handover
3.6 Improving Capacity

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 CHANNEL ASSIGNMENT STRATEGIES

◼ Objectives:
◼ Increasing capacity
◼ Minimizing interference
◼ Classification:
◼ Fixed channel assignment strategies
◼ Dynamic channel assignment strategies

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 CHANNEL ASSIGNMENT STRATEGIES

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 CHAPTER 3:CELLULAR CONCEPT
AND CHANNEL ALLOCATION

3.1. Channel reuse: introduction of cells

3.2 Co-channel interference noise
3.3. Traffic handling capacity
3.4 Channel Assignment Strategies
3.5 Handover
3.6 Improving Capacity

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 HANDOVER STRATEGIES

◼ Handoff:
◼ When a mobile moves into a different cell while a
conversation is in progress, the MSC automatically
transfers the call to a new channel belonging to the new
base station
◼ Processing handoffs is an important task in any
cellular radio system

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 HANDOVER STRATEGIES

◼ Handoffs must be performed:

◼ Successfully
◼ As infrequently as possible
◼ Imperceptible to the users
◼ How to meet these requirements:
◼ Specify an optimum signal level to initiate a handoff
◼ Decide optimally when to handoff
◼ Consider the statistics of dwell time

23/09/2016 402081-Chapter 3: Cellular concept and channel 90

 HANDOVER STRATEGIES

◼ .

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 HANDOVER STRATEGIES

◼ .

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 HANDOVER STRATEGIES

◼ .

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 HANDOVER STRATEGIES

◼ In deciding when to handoff, it is important to ensure that the

drop in the measured signal level is not due to momentary fading.
◼ Each base station constantly monitors the signal strength of all its
reverse voice channels to determine the relative location of each
mobile user with respect to the base station tower.
◼ Dwell Time: time over which a call may be maintained within a
cell, without hand-off.
◼ Dwell time of a particular user is governed by a number of
factors, including propagation, interference, distance between the
subscriber and the base station, and other time-varying effects.

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 HANDOVER STRATEGIES

◼ Mobile assisted hand-off (MAHO) : Every mobile station

measures the received power from surrounding base stations
and continuously reports the results of these measurements to
the serving base station => Faster hand-off rate.
◼ Inter-system handoff: One cellular system to a different cellular
system
◼ Prioritizing Handoffs: From the user’s point of view, having a call
abruptly terminated while in the middle of a conversation is more
annoying than being blocked occasionally on a new call attempt
◼ One method for giving priority to handoffs is called the guard
channel concept, whereby a fraction of the total available
channels in a cell is reserved exclusively for handoff requests
from ongoing calls which may be handed off into the cell

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 CHAPTER 3:CELLULAR CONCEPT
AND CHANNEL ALLOCATION

3.1. Channel reuse: introduction of cells

3.2 Co-channel interference noise
3.3. Traffic handling capacity
3.4 Channel Assignment Strategies
3.5 Handover
3.6 Improving Capacity

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 IMPROVE CAPACITY AND COVERAGE

◼ As the demand for wireless service increases, the number of

channels assigned to a cell eventually becomes insufficient to
support the required number of users
◼ Techniques to expand the capacity of cellular systems
◼ Cell splitting: increases the number of base stations in order

to increase capacity.
◼ Sectoring: relies on base station antenna placements to

improve capacity by reducing co-channel interference.

◼ Coverage zone: distributes the coverage of a cell and extends

the cell boundary to hard-to-reach places.

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 CELL SPLITTING

◼ Cell splitting is the process of subdividing a congested cell into

smaller cells, each with its own base station and a corresponding
reduction in antenna height and transmitter power.
◼ Cell splitting increases the capacity of a cellular system since it
increases the number of times that channels are reused.

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 SECTORIZATION

◼ Sectoring: The technique for decreasing co-channel interference

by using directional antennas.
◼ A single omni-directional antenna at the base station is replaced
by several directional antennas, each radiating within a specified
sector
◼ A given cell will receive interference and transmit with only a
fraction of the available cochannel cells
◼ When 120°sectorization is used, one cell that usually covers
360°is divided into three 120° regions.
◼ When 60°sectorization is used, one cell that usually covers
360° is divided into six 60° regions.
◼ These regions are called sectors.

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 SECTORIZATION

◼ Example: With no sectoring, suppose we have m = 18 channels/cell

◼ With 120o sectoring, we have 6 channels/sector
◼ With 60o sectoring, we have 3 channels/sector

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 SECTORIZATION

◼ 60 Degree Sectoring
◼ Out of the 6 cochannel cells in the first tier, only one of them

interfere with the center cell.

◼ If omnidirectional antennas were used at each base station, all 6 co-

channel cells would interfere the the center cell

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 SECTORIZATION

◼ Sectoring (N = 3, 60o)

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 SECTORIZATION

◼ Sectoring (N = 3, 120o)

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 SECTORIZATION

◼ Example: (N = 7, 120o)
◼ Assuming seven-cell reuse, for the case of 120o sectors, the number of
interferers in the first tier is reduced from six to two.

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 SECTORIZATION

◼ Example: (N = 7, 120o)
◼ Assuming seven-cell reuse, for the case of 120o sectors, the number of
interferers in the first tier is reduced from six to two.

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 SECTORIZATION

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 SECTORIZATION

◼ Advantages
◼ Reduce interference by reducing K
◼ Increase SIR (better call quality).
◼ The increase in SIR can be traded with reducing the cluster size (N) which increase the
capacity.

◼ Disadvantages
◼ Cost: Increase number of antennas at each base station
◼ Decrease trunking efficiency due to channel sectoring at the base station.
◼ The available channels in the cell must be subdivided and dedicated to a specific antenna

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 EXAMPLE

◼ Consider a cellular system in which an average call lasts two

minutes, and the probability of blocking is to be no more than
1%. Assume that every subscriber makes one call per hour, on
average. If there are a total of 399 traffic channels for a seven-
cell reuse system,
◼ (a) How many traffic channels per cell
◼ (b) Assume that blocked calls follow Erlang B distribution. Compute total
traffic of the system with omni-directional antenna and average calls per
hour of the system
◼ (c) If 120o sectoring is employed, how many traffic channels per antenna
sector
◼ (d) Assume the same GOS as (b) re-compute the total traffic and average
calls per hour of the sectoring system. Give commands

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 SUMMARY – BIG PICTURE

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 EXAMPLE 1

◼ Given 20 MHz of total spectrum

◼ Each simplex channel has 25 kHz
20*106
◼ The number of duplex channels: S = 3
= 400 channels
2* 25*10
◼ Pathloss exponent: 4
◼ Design requirements:
◼ SIR >= 15 dB

◼ GOS <= 5%

◼ Goal: Maximize the number of users that can be supported by the

system
◼ Questions: Cluster size ? Should we use sectoring ?

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 EXAMPLE 1

( )
1 
◼ SIR >= 15 dB SIR  3N
K

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 EXAMPLE 1

◼ .

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 EXAMPLE 1 - REMARK

◼ .

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 HOMEWORK
◼ A cellular service provider decides to use a digital TDMA scheme which can
tolerate a signal-to-interference ratio of 15 dB in the worst case. Find the
optimal value of N for (a) omnidirectional antennas, (b) 120° sectoring, and
(c) 60° sectoring. Should sectoring be used? If so, which case (60° or 120o
) should be used? (Assume a path loss exponent of n = 4 and consider
trunking efficiency.)
◼ If 20 MHz of total spectrum is allocated for a duplex wireless cellular system
and each simplex channel has 25 kHz RF bandwidth, find:
◼ (a) the number of duplex channels.

◼ (b) the total number of channels per cell site, if N = 4 cell reuse is used.

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 HOMEWORK
◼ A total of 24 MHz of bandwidth is allocated to a particular FDD cellular telephone system
that uses two 30 kHz simplex channels to provide full duplex voice and control channels.
Assume each cell phone user generates 0.1 Erlangs of traffic. Assume Erlang B is used.
◼ (a) Find the number of channels in each cell for a four-cell reuse system.
◼ (b) If each cell is to offer capacity that is 90% of perfect scheduling, find the maximum number
of users that can be supported per cell where omnidirectional antennas are used at each base
station.
◼ (c) What is the blocking probability of the system in (b) when the maximum number of users
are available in the user pool?
◼ (d) If each new cell now uses 120° sectoring instead of omnidirectional for each base station,
what is the new total number of users that can be supported per cell for the same blocking
probability as in (c)?
◼ (e) If each cell covers five square kilometers, then how many subscribers could be supported in
an urban market that is 50 km × 50 km for the case of omnidirectional base station antennas?
◼ (f) If each cell covers five square kilometers, then how many subscribers could be supported in
an urban market that is 50 km × 50 km for the case of 120° sectored antennas?

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 HOMEWORK
◼ For a N = 7 system with a Pr [Blocking] = 1% and average call
length of two minutes, find the traffic capacity loss due to trunking
for 57 channels when going from omnidirectional antennas to 60°
sectored antennas. (Assume that blocked calls are cleared and the
average per user call rate is λ = 1 per hour.)
◼ A cellular system using a cluster size of seven is described in
Problem 3.16. It is operated with 660 channels, 30 of which are
designated as setup (control) channels so that there are about 90
voice channels available per cell. If there is a potential user density
of 9000 users/km2 in the system, and each user makes an
average of one call per hour and each call lasts 1 minute during
peak hours, determine the probability that a user will experience a
delay greater than 20 seconds if all calls are queued.

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 HOMEWORK
◼ A receiver in an urban cellular radio system detects a 1 mW signal
at d = d0 = 1 meter from the transmitter. In order to mitigate co-
channel interference effects, it is required that the signal received
at any base station receiver from another base station transmitter
which operates with the same channel must be below –100 dBm.
A measurement team has determined that the average path loss
exponent in the system is n = 3. Determine the major radius of
each cell if a seven-cell reuse pattern is used. What is the major
radius if a four-cell reuse pattern is used?

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 HOMEWORK
◼ Exercises in trunking (queueing) theory:
◼ (a) What is the maximum system capacity (total and per channel) in
Erlangs when providing a 2% blocking probability with four
channels, with 20 channels, with 40 channels?
◼ (b) How many users can be supported with 40 channels at 2%
blocking? Assume H = 105 s, λ = 1 call/hour.
◼ (c) Using the traffic intensity calculated in part (a), find the grade of
service in a lost call delayed system for the case of delays being
greater than 20 seconds. Assume that H = 105 s, and determine the
GOS for four channels, for 20 channels, for 40 channels.
◼ (d) Comparing part (a) and part (c), does a lost call delayed system
with a 20 second queue perform better than a system that clears
blocked calls?

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 SUMMARY
◼ Understand cellular concept, design, freq.
reuse, co-channel interference, improve
capacity, handoff strategies, sectoring.
◼ Know to calculate the traffic capacity by
using Erlang B, C model.

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 HOMEWORK

◼ Review the chapter 3

◼ Read chapter 4 ( pp.200->235)
◼ Solve the exercises: 3.1,3.2,3.3,3.4,3.5,3.9

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
◼ This slide is synthesized from following resources:
◼ Theodore S. Rappaport, Wireless Communications_ Principles and

Practice 2ed, Prentice Hall 2001.

◼ Slide of School of Information Science and Engineering, SDU, Chapter 3,

The Cellular Concept – Fundamentals of design

◼ Slide of Prof. Yimin Zhang, Chapter 3, The Cellular Concept –

Fundamentals of design
◼ Slide of Dr. Prapun Suksompong, ECS455 Chapter 2, Cellular Systems

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