Wireless and Mobile Networks

Radio Access & Spectrum Efficiency

• Modulation
• Multiplexing
• Medium Access Control
• Channel Allocation

Slides prepared by Dr. Aziz Qaroush

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.1
 Modulation

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.2

Modulation
• Modulation is the process of facilitating the transfer of
information over a medium.
• Sound transmission in the air has limited range for the
amount of power your lungs can generate. To extend the
range your voice can reach, we need to transmit it through a
medium other than air, such as a phone line or radio.

• In electronics, modulation is the process of varying one

or more properties of high frequency periodic waveform,
called the carrier signal, with respect to a modulating
signal.

• In telecommunications, modulation is the process of

conveying a message signal, for example a digital bit
stream or an analog audio signal, inside another signal
that can be physically transmitted.

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.3

Modulation
• Digital modulation
• digital data is translated into an analog signal (baseband)
• ASK, FSK, PSK - main focus
• differences in spectral efficiency, power efficiency, robustness
• Analog modulation
• shifts center frequency of baseband signal up to the radio carrier
• Motivation
• Large distance
• smaller antennas (e.g., l/4)
• Frequency Division Multiplexing
• Medium characteristics
• Basic schemes
• Amplitude Modulation (AM)
• Frequency Modulation (FM)
• Phase Modulation (PM)

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.4

Modulation and demodulation

analog
baseband
digital
data signal
digital analog
101101001 modulation modulation radio transmitter

radio
carrier

analog
baseband
digital
signal data
analog synchronization
demodulation decision 101101001 radio receiver

radio
carrier

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.5

 Modulation Techniques
• Analog Modulation: used for transmitting analog
data
• Amplitude Modulation (AM)
• Frequency Modulation (FM)
• Digital Modulation: used for transmitting digital
data
• Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK)
• Frequency Shift Keying (FSK)
• Phase Shift Keying (PSK)
• ……

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.6

 Analog and Digital Signals
• Analog Signal (Continuous signal)
Amplitude

S(t)

Time
0

n Digital Signal (Discrete signal)

Amplitude

1 0 1 1 0 1
+

0 Time

Bit
Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.7
 Amplitude Modulation (AM)

Message signal Time

x(t)

Carrier signal
Time

AM signal
s(t) Time

The modulated carrier signal s(t) is: cos 2pfct = carrier

s (t ) = [ A + x(t )] cos(2pf c t ) x(t) = input signal
na = modulation index ≤ 1
Ratio of amplitude of input signal to carrier
Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.8
 Frequency Modulation (FM)

Message signal
Time
x(t)

Carrier signal Time

FM signal s(t) Time

The modulated carrier signal s(t) is:

æ t ö Where f∆ is the peak frequency
s (t ) = A cos (2p f c t + 2p f D ò x(t )dt + q 0 ÷
ç deviation from the original
ç ÷
è t 0 ø frequency and f∆ << fc
Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.9
 Amplitude Shift Keying
• One binary digit represented by presence of
carrier, at constant amplitude
• Other binary digit represented by absence of
carrier
ì
ï
A cos (2pf c t ) binary 1
s (t ) = í
ï 0 binary 0
î
• where the carrier signal is Acos(2πfct)

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.10

 Frequency Shift Keying (FSK)

1/0 represented by two different frequencies

Carrier signal
for message signal ‘1’
Time

Carrier signal
for message signal ‘0’ Time

1 0 1 1 0 1
Message signal x(t)

Time
FSK signal s(t)
Time

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.11

Binary Frequency-Shift Keying (BFSK)
• Two binary digits represented by two different
frequencies near the carrier frequency

ï A cos(2pf1t )
ì binary 1
s (t ) = í
î A cos(2pf 2t )
ï binary 0

•where f1 and f2 are offset from carrier frequency fc by

equal but opposite amounts

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.12

 Phase Shift Keying (PSK)
• Use alternative sine wave phases to encode bits

Carrier signal Time

sin(2pf c t )
Carrier signal
Time
sin( 2pf c t + p )
1 0 1 1 0 1
Message signal x(t) Time

PSK signal s(t) Time

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.13

Digital modulation
• Modulation of digital signals known as Shift Keying
• Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK): 1 0 1

• very simple
• low bandwidth requirements t
• very susceptible to interference
• Optical fiber 1 0 1

• Frequency Shift Keying (FSK): t

• needs larger bandwidth
1 0 1

• Phase Shift Keying (PSK):

t
• more complex
• robust against interference

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.14

 Minimum Shift Keying (MSK)
§ A form of FSK known as continuous-phase FSK (CPFSK), in which the
phase is continuous during the transition from one bit time to the next.

ïA cos(2pf1t + q (0) )
ì binary 1
s (t ) = í
îA cos(2pf 2t + q (0) )
ï binary 0
§ For MSK, the two frequencies satisfy the following equations:

§ This spacing between the two frequencies is the minimum that can be
used and permit successful detection of the signal at the receiver. This is
the reason for the term minimum in MSK.
§ Provides superior bandwidth efficiency to BFSK with only a modest
decrease in error performance.
§ Used in some mobile commutation systems.

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.15

Minimum Shift Keying (MSK)
• special pre-computation avoids sudden phase shifts
è MSK (Minimum Shift Keying)
• bit separated into even and odd bits, the duration of each bit
is doubled
• depending on the bit values (even, odd) the higher or lower
frequency, original or inverted is chosen
• the frequency of one carrier is twice the frequency of the
other
• Equivalent to offset QPSK

• even higher bandwidth efficiency using a Gaussian low-

pass filter è GMSK (Gaussian MSK), used in GSM

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.16

Example of MSK

1 0 1 1 0 1 0
data bit
even 0101
even bits odd 0011

odd bits signal hnnh

value - - ++

low h: high frequency

frequency n: low frequency
+: original signal
-: inverted signal
high
frequency

MSK
signal
t

No phase shifts!
Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.17
 Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying
(GMSK)
§ The spectrum of an MSK signal has sidebands extending beyond a
bandwidth equals to the data rate
§ This can be reduced by passing the modulating signal through a low
pass filter prior to applying it to the carrier.
o Gaussian filter
o Its impulse response should show no overshoot with sharp cut-off

§ Reduces out-of-band interference between signal carriers in adjacent

frequency channels
§ Used in the GSM cellular technology
Wireless and Mobile Networks
2.18
 Quadrature Phase Shift Keying
(QPSK)
ü Four different phase shifts used are:

ì f0,0 = 0 ì f0 , 0 = p / 4
ï f0,1 = p / 2 ï f = 3p / 4
ï ï 0,1
í or
í
ï f1,0 = p ï f1, 0 = -3 p / 4
ïî f1,1 = 3p / 2 ïî f1,1 = -p / 4

I (in-phase) and Q (quadrature) modulation used

19 2.19
 Phase-Shift Keying (PSK)
• Four-level PSK (QPSK)
• Each element represents more than one bit

æ pö
A cosç 2pf c t + ÷
ì è 4ø
11

ï
ï
æ
A cosç 2pf c t +
3p ö
÷ 01
s (t ) = í è
æ
4 ø
3p ö
A cosç 2pf c t - ÷ 00
ï è 4 ø
ï
î æ
A cosç 2pf c t - ÷
pö 10
è 4ø

2.20
 QPSK Signal Constellation

Q Q
0,1

1 0 1,1 0,0
I I

1,0

(a) BPSK (b) QPSK

(Binary Phase Shift Keying) (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying)

21 2.21
 p/4 QPSK
ü The phase of the carrier is: q k = q k -1 +, fk
ü where θk is carrier phase shift corresponding to input bit pairs.
ü If θ0=0, input bit stream is [1011], then:

All possible states in p/4

QPSK

22 2.22
 Quadrature Amplitude
Modulation (QAM)
Combination of AM and PSK: modulate signals using two measures of amplitude
and four possible phase shifts
Bit sequence Amplitude Phase shift
represented
000 1 0

A representative
001 2 0
QAM Table 010 1 p/2
011 2 p/2
100 1 p
101 2 p
110 1 3p/2
111 2 3p/2

23 2.23
 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
(QAM)
ü Two carriers out of phase by 90 degrees are
amplitude modulated
Q

1000 1100 0100 0000

1001 1101 0101 0001

I

1011 1111 0111 0011

1010 1110 0110 0010

Rectangular constellation of 16QAM

24 2.24
Hierarchical Modulation
q Multi carrier system, about 2000 or 8000 carriers
q QPSK, 16 QAM, 64QAM
q Example: 64QAM
• good reception: resolve the entire
64QAM constellation
Q
• poor reception, mobile reception:
resolve only QPSK portion
• 6 bit per QAM symbol, 2 most
10
significant determine QPSK
I
• High Priority (HP) embedded within
a Low Priority (LP) stream
• HP service coded in QPSK (2 bit),
00
LP uses remaining 4 bit 000010 010101

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.25

Comparison of Modulation Types
Modulation Bandwidth Log2(C/B) Error-free
Format efficiency C/B Eb/N0
16 PSK 4 2 18dB
16 QAM 4 2 15dB
8 PSK 3 1.6 14.5dB
4 PSK 2 1 10dB
4 QAM 2 1 10dB
BFSK 1 0 13dB
BPSK 1 0 10.5dB
Eb S/R §Ratio of signal energy per bit to noise power density per Hertz
=
N0 N0 S: Signal Power R: Bit Rate, R = 1/Tb
Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.26
Comparison of Modulation Types
Bit-error rate (BER) vs
Eb/N0 curves for
different digital
modulation methods is
a common application
example of Eb/N0.
Here an AWGN
channel is assumed.

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.27

Practical Applications

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.28

 Multiplexing & Spread
Spectrum Technology

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.29

Multiplexing
• In telecommunications and computer networks, multiplexing
(also known as muxing) is a process where multiple analog
message signals or digital data streams are combined into one
signal over a shared medium. The aim is to share an expensive
resource. For example, in telecommunications, several phone
calls may be transferred using one wire.

• The multiplexed signal is transmitted over a communication

channel, which may be a physical transmission medium. The
multiplexing divides the capacity of the low-level
communication channel into several higher-level logical
channels, one for each message signal or data stream to be
transferred.

• A device that performs the multiplexing is called a multiplexer

(MUX)

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.30

Multiplexing
• Multiplexing in 4 dimensions channels ki
• space (si) k1 k2 k3 k4 k5 k6
• time (t)
• frequency (f) c

• code (c) t c
t

• Goal: multiple use s1

f
of a shared medium s2
f
c

• Important: guard spaces needed! t

s3
f

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.31

Frequency multiplex
• Separation of the whole spectrum into smaller frequency
bands
• A channel gets a certain band of the spectrum for the
whole time
• Advantages
• no dynamic coordination
necessary k1 k2 k3 k4 k5 k6
• works also for analog signals c
f
• Disadvantages
• waste of bandwidth
if the traffic is
distributed
unevenly
• inflexible
t

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.32

Time multiplex
• A channel gets the whole spectrum for a certain amount
of time

• Advantages
• only one carrier in the
medium at any time
• throughput high even k1 k2 k3 k4 k5 k6
for many users
c

• Disadvantages f

• precise
synchronization
necessary
t

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.33

Time and frequency multiplex
• Combination of both methods
• A channel gets a certain frequency band for a certain
amount of time
• Example: GSM

• Advantages
k1 k2 k3 k4 k5 k6
• better protection against
tapping
c
• protection against frequency
f
selective interference
• but: precise coordination
required

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.34

Code multiplex
• Each channel has a unique code k1 k2 k3 k4 k5 k6

• All channels use the same spectrum c

at the same time
• Advantages
• bandwidth efficient
• no coordination and synchronization
necessary f

• good protection against interference

and tapping
• Disadvantages
• varying user data rates t
• more complex signal regeneration
• Implemented using spread spectrum technology
Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.35
 Space Division Multiple Access
(SDMA)
Space divided into spatially separate sectors
Omni-directional
s(f,t,c) transmission
Beam i

s(f,t,c)
The concept
Beam 3 of SDMA
s(f,t,c)
s(f,t,c) s(f,t,c) Beam 2
Beam n Beam 1

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.36

 Transmission in SDMA
ü Noise and
interference for
each MS and BS is
minimized
ü Enhance the quality
of communication
link and increase
overall system
Beam 1 Beam 2 Beam 3
capacity
ü Intra-cell channel
reuse can be easily MS3
MS2 BS
exploited MS1

The basic structure of a SDMA system

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.37
Spread Spectrum Technology

• Spread Spectrum – a telecommunications technique in

which a signal is transmitted in a bandwidth considerably
greater than the frequency content of the original
information.
• Narrow and Wide Band – a relative comparison of a group or
range of frequencies used in a telecommunications system.
Narrow Band would describe a small range of frequencies as
compared to a larger Wide Band range.

Narrowband
Amplitude

Wideband
Frequency

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.38

Spread spectrum technology
• Problem of radio transmission: frequency dependent
fading can wipe out narrow band signals for duration of
the interference
• Solution: spread the narrow band signal into a broad band
signal using a special code
• protection against narrow band interference

power interference spread power signal

signal
spread
detection at interference
receiver

f f
• Side effects:
• coexistence of several signals without dynamic coordination
• tap-proof
• Alternatives: Direct Sequence, Frequency Hopping
Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.39
Uses of Spread Spectrum
• Military - For low probability of interception of
telecommunications.
• Civil/Military - Range and positioning measurements. GPS
– satellites.
• Civil Cellular Telephony.
• Civil Wireless Networks – 802.11 and Bluetooth.

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.40

4-Types Spread Spectrum

• Time Hopping, (THSS)

• Frequency Hopping, (FHSS)
• Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum, (DSSS)
• Hybrid, DSSS/FHSS

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.41

FHSS
• FHSS - Acronym for frequency-hopping spread
spectrum. 802.11, Bluetooth.

Amp.

1 2 3 4
Freq.
Channel
Wide Band

Frequency Hop Sequence: 1, 3, 2, 4

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.42

FHSS
• Discrete changes of carrier frequency
• sequence of frequency changes determined via pseudo
random number sequence
• Two versions
• Fast Hopping:
several frequencies per user bit
• Slow Hopping:
several user bits per frequency
• Advantages
• frequency selective fading and interference limited to short
period
• simple implementation
• uses only small portion of spectrum at any time
• Disadvantages
• not as robust as DSSS
• simpler to detect
Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.43
FHSS Timing
Time

Amplitude Data
Hop
Time
Dwell
Time

Hop
Sequence

1
2
3
4
Channels Frequency

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.44

FHSS Timing

tb

user data

0 1 0 1 1 t
f
td
f3 slow
f2 hopping
(3 bits/hop)
f1

td t
f

f3 fast
f2 hopping
(3 hops/bit)
f1

tb: bit period td: dwell time

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.45

FHSS System Block Diagram

Antenna
FHSS

Data Mixer 1 3 2 4

Buffer Mod

Carrier
Frequency

Sequence
Generator

1 3 2 4

Frequency Synthesizer

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.46

FHSS Channel Allocation in 802.11b

2.403 GHz 2.480 GHz

2.402 GHz 2.479 GHz

CH CH CH CH
Amplitude 2 3 79 80

1 MHz 1 MHz

2.401.5 GHz 2.401.5 GHz

2.402.5 GHz 2.402.5 GHz

Freq.

2.400 GHz
2.4835 GHz

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.47

DSSS
• DSSS - Acronym for direct-sequence spread spectrum.
WLAN, 802.11.

Amp.

1 Signal

1 2 3 4
Freq.
Channel
DSSS Band

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.48

DSSS
• DSSS: XOR of the signal with pseudo-random number
(chipping sequence)
• many chips per bit (e.g., 128) result in higher bandwidth of
the signal
tb
• Advantages
user data
• reduces frequency selective
fading 0 1 XOR
tc
• in cellular networks
chipping
• base stations can use the sequence
same frequency range 01101010110101 =
• several base stations can
resulting
detect and recover the signal signal
• soft handover 01101011001010
• Disadvantages Spreading Factor s = tb / tc
• precise power control necessary tb: bit period
tc: chip period
Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.49
DSSS USA Channel Allocation in 802.11b

Amplitude
Channels

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Freq.
22 MHz
2.401 GHz 2.473 GHz

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.50

DSSS 3 Non-overlap Channels

Amplitude

Ch 1 Ch 6 Ch 11
(2.412 GHz) (2.437GHz) (2.462 GHz)

Freq.
22 MHz

2.401 GHz
3MHz 2.473 GHz
2401 MHz
2423 MHz
2426 MHz

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.51

Encoding and Modulation
• Encoding - To change or translate one bit stream into
another.
Barker Code, Complementary Code Keying
• Modulation – Appling information on a carrier signal by
varying one or more of the signal's basic characteristics -
frequency, amplitude and phase.
DBPSK (Differential Binary Phase Shift Keying) DQPSK
(Differential Quaternary PSK)

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.52

DSSS System Block Diagram

Carrier
Frequency DSSS Antenna

Mixer
Carrier
Generator
Mod

Pseudo – 11-bit Barker Code

Noise Data
Encoder
Generator Chipping Code Buffer
10110111000

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.53

DSSS System Block Diagram

spread
spectrum transmit
user data signal signal
X modulator

chipping radio
sequence carrier

transmitter

correlator
lowpass sampled
received filtered products sums
signal signal data
demodulator X integrator decision

radio chipping
carrier sequence

receiver

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.54

Security
• Neither FHSS or DSSS are inherently secure in and of
themselves. Additional schemes must be employed to
improve security of wireless technologies. Both systems
follow published IEEE standards for intercommunications.

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.55

Co-location
• FHSS has many more frequencies / channels then DSSS
which only has 3 co-location channels.
• However 3 DSSS access points co-located at 11 Mbps
each would result in a maximum throughput of 33 Mbps.
It would require 16 access points co-located for FHSS to
achieve a throughput of 32 Mbps.

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.56

Orthogonal FDM's (OFDM) spread spectrum
• Frequency division multiplexing (FDM) is a technology that
transmits multiple signals simultaneously over a single
transmission path, such as a cable or wireless system.

• Orthogonal FDM's (OFDM) spread spectrum technique

distributes the data over a large number of carriers that are
spaced apart at precise frequencies and null out of channel
sidebands.

• OFDM allows sub-channels to overlap, providing a high spectral

efficiency. The modulation technique allowed in OFDM is more
efficient than spread spectrum techniques.

• OFDM works by breaking one high-speed data carrier into

several lower-speed subcarriers, which are then transmitted in
parallel.
Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.57
OFDM

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.58

OFDM Channels in IEEE 802.11a

The frequency of the channel is 10 MHz either side of the dotted line.
There is 5 MHz of separation between channels.

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.59

 OFDM Channels in IEEE 802.11a
• Each high-speed carrier is 20 MHz wide and is broken up into 52
subchannels, each approximately 300 KHz wide. OFDM uses 48
of these subchannels for data, while the remaining four are used
for error correction.
• Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK) is used to encode 125 Kbps of
data per channel, resulting in a 6,000-Kbps, or 6 Mbps, data
rate. Using Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK), you can
double the amount of data encoded to 250 Kbps per channel,
yielding a 12-Mbps data rate. And by using 16-level Quadrature
Amplitude Modulation (16-QAM) encoding 4 bits per hertz, you
can achieve a data rate of 24 Mbps. The 802.11a standard
specifies that all 802.11a-compliant products must support these
basic data rates.
• Data rates of 54 Mbps are achieved by using 64-level Quadrature
Amplitude Modulation (64-QAM), which yields 8 bits per cycle or
10 bits per cycle, for a total of up to 1.125 Mbps per 300-KHz
channel. With 48 channels this results in a 54 Mbps data rate.
Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.60
Access method CDMA
• CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access)
• all terminals send on the same frequency probably at the same
time and can use the whole bandwidth of the transmission channel
• each sender has a unique random number, the sender XORs the
signal with this random number
• the receiver can “tune” into this signal if it knows the pseudo
random number, tuning is done via a correlation function
• Disadvantages:
• higher complexity of a receiver (receiver cannot just listen into the
medium and start receiving if there is a signal)
• all signals should have the same strength at a receiver
• Advantages:
• all terminals can use the same frequency, no planning needed
• huge code space compared to frequency space
• interferences (e.g. white noise) is not coded
• forward error correction and encryption can be easily integrated

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.61

CDMA in theory
• Sender A
• sends Ad = 1, key Ak = 010011 (assign: “0”= -1, “1”= +1)
• sending signal As = Ad * Ak = (-1, +1, -1, -1, +1, +1)
• Sender B
• sends Bd = 0, key Bk = 110101 (assign: “0”= -1, “1”= +1)
• sending signal Bs = Bd * Bk = (-1, -1, +1, -1, +1, -1)
• Both signals superimpose in space
• interference neglected (noise etc.)
• As + Bs = (-2, 0, 0, -2, +2, 0)
• Receiver wants to receive signal from sender A
• apply key Ak bitwise (inner product)
• Ae = (-2, 0, 0, -2, +2, 0) • Ak = 2 + 0 + 0 + 2 + 2 + 0 = 6
• result greater than 0, therefore, original bit was “1”
• receiving B
• Be = (-2, 0, 0, -2, +2, 0) • Bk = -2 + 0 + 0 - 2 - 2 + 0 = -6, i.e.
“0”
Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.62
CDMA on signal level I

data A Ad
1 0 1

key A
key 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 Ak
sequence A
data Å key 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0

As
signal A

Real systems use much longer keys resulting in a larger distance

between single code words in code space.

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.63

CDMA on signal level II

signal A As

data B 1 0 0 Bd

key B
key 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 Bk
sequence B
1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1
data Å key

Bs
signal B

As + Bs

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.64

CDMA on signal level III
data A
1 0 1 Ad

As + Bs

Ak

(As + Bs)
* Ak

integrator
output
comparator 1 0 1
output

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.65

CDMA on signal level IV

data B Bd
1 0 0

As + Bs

Bk

(As + Bs)
* Bk

integrator
output
comparator 1 0 0
output

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.66

CDMA on signal level V

As + Bs

wrong
key K

(As + Bs)
*K

integrator
output
comparator
output (0) (0) ?

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.67

Comparison of Various Multiple Division Techniques

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.68

 Media Access Control

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.69

 Introduction
• Multiple access control channels
ü Each Mobile Station (MS) is attached to
a transmitter / receiver which
communicates via a channel shared by
other nodes
ü Transmission from any MS is received
by other MSs
MS 3

MS 4
MS 2 Shared Multiple
Access Medium

MS 1 …
MS N
Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.70
 Introduction (Cont’d)
• Multiple access issues
• If more than one MS transmit at a time on
the control channel to BS, a collision
occurs
• How to determine which MS can transmit
to BS?
• Multiple access protocols
• Solving multiple access issues
• Different types:
• Contention protocols resolve a collision after it
occurs. These protocols execute a collision resolution
protocol after each collision
• Collision-free protocols ensure that a collision can
never occur

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.71

Motivation
• Can we apply media access methods from fixed networks?

• Example CSMA/CD
• Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection
• send as soon as the medium is free, listen into the medium if
a collision occurs (legacy method in IEEE 802.3)
• Problems in wireless networks
• signal strength decreases proportional to the square of the
distance
• the sender would apply CS and CD, but the collisions happen
at the receiver
• it might be the case that a sender cannot “hear” the
collision, i.e., CD does not work
• furthermore, CS might not work if, e.g., a terminal is
“hidden”
Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.72
Motivation - hidden and exposed terminals
• Hidden terminals
• A sends to B, C cannot receive A
• C wants to send to B, C senses a “free” medium (CS fails)
• collision at B, A cannot receive the collision (CD fails)
• A is “hidden” for C
• -> Collisions

• Exposed terminals
A B C
• B sends to A, C wants to send to another terminal (not A or B)
• C has to wait, CS signals a medium in use
• but A is outside the radio range of C, therefore waiting is not
necessary
• C is “exposed” to B
• -> Extended delays

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.73

Motivation - near and far terminals
• Terminals A and B send, C receives
• signal strength decreases proportional to the square of the distance
• the signal of terminal B therefore drowns out A’s signal
• C cannot receive A

A B C

• If C for example was an arbiter for sending rights, terminal B

would drown out terminal A already on the physical layer
• Also severe problem for CDMA-networks - precise power control
needed!

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.74

Channel Sharing Techniques

Static
Channelization

Medium -
Sharing
Techniques Scheduling

Dynamic
Medium Access
Control Random
Access
Classification of multiple access protocols for a shared
channel.

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.76

Conflict-free
• SDMA (Space Division Multiple Access)
• segment space into sectors, use directed antennas
• cell structure
• FDMA (Frequency Division Multiple Access)
• assign a certain frequency to a transmission channel
between a sender and a receiver
• permanent (e.g., radio broadcast), slow hopping (e.g.,
GSM), fast hopping (FHSS, Frequency Hopping Spread
Spectrum)
• TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access)
• assign the fixed sending frequency to a transmission channel
between a sender and a receiver for a certain amount of
time
• CDMA
• all terminals send on the same frequency probably at the
same time and can use the whole bandwidth of the
transmission channel
Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.77
Comparison SDMA/TDMA/FDMA/CDMA
Approach SDMA TDMA FDMA CDMA
Idea segment space into segment sending segment the spread the spectrum
cells/sectors time into disjoint frequency band into using orthogonal codes
time-slots, demand disjoint sub-bands
driven or fixed
patterns
Terminals only one terminal can all terminals are every terminal has its all terminals can be active
be active in one active for short own frequency, at the same place at the
cell/one sector periods of time on uninterrupted same moment,
the same frequency uninterrupted
Signal cell structure, directed synchronization in filtering in the code plus special
separation antennas the time domain frequency domain receivers

Advantages very simple, increases established, fully simple, established, flexible, less frequency
capacity per km² digital, flexible robust planning needed, soft
handover
Dis- inflexible, antennas guard space inflexible, complex receivers, needs
advantages typically fixed needed (multipath frequencies are a more complicated power
propagation), scarce resource control for senders
synchronization
difficult
Comment only in combination standard in fixed typically combined still faces some problems,
with TDMA, FDMA or networks, together with TDMA higher complexity,
CDMA useful with FDMA/SDMA (frequency hopping lowered expectations; will
used in many patterns) and SDMA be integrated with
mobile networks (frequency reuse) TDMA/FDMA

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.78

 Contention-based Protocols
• ALOHA
• Developed in the 1970s for a packet
radio network by Hawaii University
• Whenever a terminal (MS) has data, it
transmits. Sender finds out whether
transmission was successful or
experienced a collision by listening to
the broadcast from the destination
station. If there is a collision, sender
retransmits after some random time
• Slotted ALOHA
• Improvement: Time is slotted and a
packet can only be transmitted at the
beginning of one slot. Thus, it can
reduce the collision duration
Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.79
Aloha/slotted aloha
• Mechanism
• random, distributed (no central arbiter), time-multiplex
• Slotted Aloha additionally uses time-slots, sending must
always start at slot boundaries
• Aloha collision

sender A
sender B
sender C
t

• Slotted Aloha collision

sender A
sender B
sender C
t
Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.80
 Pure ALOHA

Node 1 Waiting a random time

Packet Node 2
Packet
Retransmission Retransmission

1 2 3 3 2
Time
Collision

Node 3
Packet

Collision mechanism in ALOHA

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.81

Throughput of Pure ALOHA
• The probability of successful transmission Ps is the probability no
other packet is scheduled in an interval of length 2T
Ps = P(no _ collision)
= e - 2 gT
where g is the packet rate of the traffic
• The throughput Sth of pure Aloha as: Sth = gTe -2 gT

• Defining G= gT to normalize offered load, we have

S th = Ge -2G
• Differentiating Sth with respect to G and equating to zero gives
dSth
= -2Ge - 2G + e - 2G = 0
dG
• The Maximum throughput of ALOHA is
1
S max = » 0.184
2e
Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.82
 Slotted ALOHA
Node 1
Packet Nodes 2 & 3
Packets
No Retransmission Retransmission
transmission
1 2
3 2 3
Time

Slot Collision

Collision mechanism in slotted ALOHA

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.83

Throughput of Slotted ALOHA
• The probability of successful transmission Ps is the probability no
other packetn is scheduled in an interval of length T

Ps = e - gT
where g is the packet rate of the traffic
• The throughput Sth of pure Aloha as: Sth = gTe - gT

• Defining G= gT to normalize offered load, we have

Sth = Ge - G
• Differentiating Sth with respect to G and equating to zero gives
dSth
= -Ge -G + e -G = 0
dG
• The Maximum throughput of ALOHA is
1
S max = » 0.368
e
Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.84
 Throughput
0.5

0.4 0.368
S: Throughput

0.3
Slotted Aloha
0.2 0.184

0.1 Aloha

00 2 4 6 8
G = gT
Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.85
DAMA - Demand Assigned Multiple Access
• Channel efficiency only 18% for Aloha, 36% for Slotted
Aloha (assuming Poisson distribution for packet arrival
and packet length)
• Reservation can increase efficiency to 80%
• a sender reserves a future time-slot
• sending within this reserved time-slot is possible without
collision
• reservation also causes higher delays
• typical scheme for satellite links
• Examples for reservation algorithms:
• Explicit Reservation according to Roberts (Reservation-
ALOHA)
• Implicit Reservation (PRMA)
• Reservation-TDMA

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.86

Access method DAMA: Explicit Reservation
• Explicit Reservation (Reservation Aloha):
• two modes:
• ALOHA mode for reservation:
competition for small reservation slots, collisions possible
• reserved mode for data transmission within successful reserved
slots (no collisions possible)
• it is important for all stations to keep the reservation list
consistent at any point in time and, therefore, all stations
have to synchronize from time to time

collision

t
Aloha reserved Aloha reserved Aloha reserved Aloha

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.87

Access method DAMA: PRMA
• Implicit reservation (PRMA - Packet Reservation MA):
• a certain number of slots form a frame, frames are repeated
• stations compete for empty slots according to the slotted
aloha principle
• once a station reserves a slot successfully, this slot is
automatically assigned to this station in all following frames
as long as the station has data to send
• competition for this slots starts again as soon as the slot was
empty in the last frame
reservation
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 time-slot
ACDABA-F
frame1 A C D A B A F
ACDABA-F
frame2 A C A B A
AC-ABAF-
frame3 A B A F collision at
A---BAFD reservation
frame4 A B A F D attempts
ACEEBAFD
frame5 A C E E B A F D
t
Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.88
Access method DAMA: Reservation-TDMA
• Reservation Time Division Multiple Access
• every frame consists of N mini-slots and x data-slots
• every station has its own mini-slot and can reserve up to k
data-slots using this mini-slot (i.e. x = N * k).
• other stations can send data in unused data-slots according
to a round-robin sending scheme (best-effort traffic)

e.g. N=6, k=2

N mini-slots N * k data-slots

reservations other stations can use free data-slots

for data-slots based on a round-robin scheme

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.89

Contention Protocols (Cont’d)
• CSMA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access)
• Improvement: Start transmission only if no
transmission is ongoing
• CSMA/CD (CSMA with Collision Detection)
• Improvement: Stop ongoing transmission if a
collision is detected
• CSMA/CA (CSMA with Collision Avoidance)
• Improvement: Wait a random time and try
again when carrier is quiet. If still quiet, then
transmit.
• CSMA/CA with ACK
• CSMA/CA with RTS/CTS

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.90

CSMA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access)

• Max throughput achievable by

slotted ALOHA is 0.368
• CSMA gives improved throughput
compared to Aloha protocols
• Listens to the channel before
transmitting a packet (avoid
avoidable collisions)

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.91

 Collision Mechanism in CSMA

MS 5 sense
MS 1 Packet
MS 2 Packet
Delay for MS 5
MS 3 Packet

1 2 3 4 5
Time
Delay for MS 4 Collision

MS 4 senses

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.92

 Kinds of CSMA

Unslotted Nonpersistent
Nonpersistent CSMA (no CSMA
wait)
Slotted Nonpersistent CSMA
CSMA

Unslotted persistent CSMA

Persistent CSMA (wait)

Slotted persistent CSMA

1-persistent
CSMA

p-persistent
CSMA

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.93

Nonpersistent CSMA Protocols
• Nonpersistent CSMA Protocol:
ü Step 1: If the medium is idle, transmit immediately
(same as p = 1)
ü Step 2: If the medium is busy, wait a random
amount of time and repeat Step 1
• Random backoff reduces probability of collisions
• Waste idle time if the backoff time is too long
• For unslotted nonpersistent CSMA, the
throughput is given by:
Ge -2aT
Sth =
G (1 + 2a ) + e -aG

• For slotted nonpersistent CSMA, the throughput

is given by:
aGe -2aT
S th =
(1 - e -aG + a )

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.94

 1-persistent CSMA Protocols
• 1-persistent CSMA Protocol:
ü Step 1: If the medium is idle, transmit
immediately
ü Step 2: If the medium is busy, continue to listen
until medium becomes idle, and then transmit
immediately
ü There will always be a collision if two nodes want
to retransmit (usually you stop transmission
attempts after few tries)
n For unslotted 1-persistent CSMA, the
throughput is given by:
G[1 + G + aG (1 + G + aG / 2)]e - G (1+ 2a )
Sth =
G (1 + 2a ) - (1 - e -aG ) + (1 + aG )e -G (1+a )
n For slotted 1-persistent CSMA, the throughput
is given by:
G (1 + a - e -aG )e - G (1+a )
Sth =
(1 + a )(1 - e -aG ) + ae -G (1+a )
Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.95
 p-persistent CSMA Protocols
• p-persistent CSMA Protocol (time is
slotted):
ü Step 1: If the medium is idle, transmit
with probability p, or delay the
transmission with probability (1 - p)
until the next slot
ü Step 2: If the medium is busy, waits until
the next slot and continue to listen until
medium becomes idle, then go to Step 1
• A good tradeoff between
nonpersistent and 1-persistent CSMA

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.96

 Throughput

1.0 0.01-persistent CSMA

0.9 Nonpersistent CSMA
0.8
0.7
0.1-persistent CSMA
S: Throughput

0.6
0.5-persistent CSMA
0.5
0.4
1-persistent CSMA
0.3
0.2 Slotted
Aloha Aloha
0.1
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Traffic Load G

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.97

CSMA/CD (CSMA with Collision Detection)
• In CSMA, if 2 terminals begin sending packet at
the same time, each will transmit its complete
packet (although collision is taking place)
• Wasting medium for an entire packet time
• CSMA/CD
Step 1: If the medium is idle, transmit
Step 2: If the medium is busy, continue to
listen until the channel is idle then
transmit
Step 3: If a collision is detected during
transmission, cease transmitting
(detection not possible by wireless
devices)
Step 4: Wait a random amount of time and
repeats the same algorithm

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.98

 CSMA/CD in Ethernet (Cont’d)
T0 A begins
transmission A (t is the propagation time) B

e
T0+t-e B begins
transmission A B

T0+t+tcd B detects collision

A B

T0+2t+tcd A detects collision just

+tcr -e before end of transmission
A B
Time

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.99

 Throughput of slotted
non-persistent CSMA/CD
1.2
α = t /T= 0
1
S: Throughput

0.8
α = 0.01
0.6

0.4 α = 0.1
α=1
0.2

0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100 1000

Traffic load G

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.100

 CSMA/CA (CSMA with collision
Avoidance) for wireless devices
• All terminals listen to the same medium as
CSMA/CD
• Terminal ready to transmit senses the medium
• If medium is busy it waits until the end of
current transmission
• It again waits for an additional predetermined
time period DIFS (Distributed inter frame Space)
• Then picks up a random number of slots (the
initial value of backoff counter) within a
contention window to wait before transmitting
its frame
• If there are transmissions by other MSs during
this time period (backoff time), the MS freezes
its counter
• It resumes count down after other MSs finish
transmission + DIFS. The MS can start its
transmission when the counter reaches to zero
Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.101
 CSMA/CA (Cont’d) for
Wireless Devices
MS C’s frame
MS A’s frame MS B’s frame
Delay: B
Delay: C Time

MSs B & C sense

the medium
MSs C starts
MSs B resenses the
transmitting
medium and transmits
its frame

MSs C resenses the

medium but defers to
MS B

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.102

 CSMA/CA Explained

Contention
Contention window
DIFS window DIFS

Medium Busy Next Frame

Time
Defer access Slot

Backoff after defer

DIFS – Distributed Inter Frame Spacing

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.103

Example of Backoff Intervals
(2) (3) Backoff=2
DIFS DIFS Backoff=9 DIFS Backoff=4 DIFS (5)

busy
Station 1

Packet arrival at MAC Backoff=5

busy
Station 2
(1)

busy
Station 3
Backoff=7 Backoff=2
(4)

busy
Station 4
(1)After packet arrival at MAC, station 3 senses medium free for DIFS, so it starts transmission
immediately (without backoff interval).
(2) For station 1, 2, and 4, their DIFS intervals are interrupted by station 3. Thus, backoff
intervals for station 1, 2, and 4, are generated randomly (i.e. 9, 5, and 7, respectively).
(3) After transmission of station 2, the remaining backoff interval of station 1 is (9-5)=4.
(4) After transmission of station 2, the remaining backoff interval of station 4 is (7-5)=2.
(5) After transmission of station 4, the remaining backoff interval of station 1 is (4-2)=2.
Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.104
 Random Backoff Time
• Backoff time = CW*
Random() * Slot time
• CW = starts at CWmin, CWmax

and doubles after each

failure until reaching
CWmax (e.g., CWmin = 7, 8 255 255
127
CWmax = 255) 63
31
• Random() = (0,1) CWmin 15
7
• Slot Time = Transmitter
turn on delay + medium
propagation delay +
medium busy detect
response time
• CW : contention Window
Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.105
Priorities
• Priorities
• defined through different inter frame spaces
• no guaranteed, hard priorities
• SIFS (Short Inter Frame Spacing)
• highest priority, for ACK, CTS, polling response
• PIFS (PCF IFS)
• Point coordination function (PCF) is an optional technique used
to prevent collisions in centralised controlled WLANs.
• medium priority, for time-bounded service using PCF
• DIFS (DCF, Distributed Coordination Function IFS)
• lowest priority, for asynchronous data service
DIFS DIFS
PIFS
SIFS
medium busy contention next frame
t
direct access if
medium is free ³ DIFS
Mobile Computing & Wireless Networks - Aziz M. Qaroush - Birzeit University 2.106
CSMA/CA with ACK for Ad Hoc
Networks
• Immediate Acknowledgements
from receiver upon reception of
data frame without any need for
sensing the medium
• ACK frame transmitted after time
interval SIFS (Short Inter-Frame
Space) (SIFS < DIFS)
• Receiver transmits ACK without
sensing the medium
• If ACK is lost, retransmission done

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.107

 CSMA/CA/ACK

DIFS Time
Data
Source
MS SIFS
ACK
BS
DIFS Contention window

Next Frame
Other
MSs
Defer access Backoff after defer

SIFS – Short Inter Frame Spacing

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.108

 Hidden Terminal Problem

Radio transmission range

R R R

A B C

A and C are hidden with respect to each other

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.109

 CSMA/CA with RTS/CTS for Hidden
Terminal Problem
• Transmitter sends an RTS (request
to send) after medium has been
idle for time interval more than
DIFS
• Receiver responds with CTS (clear
to send) after medium has been
idle for SIFS
• Then Data is exchanged
• RTS/CTS is used for reserving
channel for data transmission so
that the collision can only occur in
control message
Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.110
 CSMA/CA with RTS/CTS
DIFS SIFS
Data Time
Source RTS

MS
SIFS SIFS

CTS ACK
Destination
MS
DIFS
Contention window

Next Frame
Other
MSs
Defer access Backoff

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.111

 RTS/CTS
MS A MS B

Propagation delay RTS

C TS

Data This helps avoid

hidden terminal
problem in Ad hoc
ACK networks

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.112

 Exposed Terminal Problem

Radio Transmission
range

R R R R

A
A B C D

Transmission at B forces C (Exposed)

to stop transmission to D
Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.113
Polling mechanisms
• If one terminal can be heard by all others, this “central”
terminal (a.k.a. base station) can poll all other terminals
according to a certain scheme
• now all schemes known from fixed networks can be used
(typical mainframe - terminal scenario)
• Example: Randomly Addressed Polling
• base station signals readiness to all mobile terminals
• terminals ready to send can now transmit a random number
without collision with the help of CDMA or FDMA (the random
number can be seen as dynamic address)
• the base station now chooses one address for polling from
the list of all random numbers (collision if two terminals
choose the same address)
• the base station acknowledges correct packets and continues
polling the next terminal
• this cycle starts again after polling all terminals of the list

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.114

ISMA (Inhibit Sense Multiple Access)
• Current state of the medium is signaled via a “busy tone”
• the base station signals on the downlink (base station to
terminals) if the medium is free or not
• terminals must not send if the medium is busy
• terminals can access the medium as soon as the busy tone
stops
• the base station signals collisions and successful
transmissions via the busy tone and acknowledgements,
respectively (media access is not coordinated within this
approach)
• mechanism used, e.g.,
for CDPD
(USA, integrated
into AMPS)

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.115

 Traffic Channel Allocation

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.116

 Introduction
• What is channel allocation?
• A given radio spectrum is to be divided into a set of
disjointed channels that can be used simultaneously
while minimizing interference in adjacent channel
by allocating channels appropriately (especially for
traffic channels)
• Stotal channels equally partitioned among N cells
and each cell with S channels as
S = Stotal/N, e.g., 140/7=20
ü A1,1 : Channels 1-20, A1,2 : Channels 21-40
ü A1,3 : Channels 41-60, A1,4: Channels 61-80
ü A1,5 : Channels 81-100, A1,6 : Channels 101-120
ü A1,7 : Channels 120-140
Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.117
 Introduction

• Channel allocation
schemes can be divided A7
A2
in general into Static
A1,4
versus Dynamic A1,5 A1,3
A6
• Fixed Channel Allocation A1 ,1
(FCA); A1,6 A1,2 A3
A1,7
• Dynamic Channel
Allocation (DCA); A5
A4
• Hybrid Channel
Allocation (HCA).

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.118

 Fixed Channel Allocation (FCA)
• In FCA, a set of channels is permanently
allocated to each cell
• Number of available channels S is divided into
sets, the minimum number of channel sets N
required is related to the frequency reuse
distance D as follows:
D
N = D / 3R or
2 2 N =
3R
• If a cell of cluster A1 borrows channel, there
should not be interference with cells A2, A3, A4,
A5, A6, and A7

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.119

 Simple Borrowing Schemes
• In SB schemes, cell (acceptor cell) that has used all its nominal
channels can borrow free channels from its neighboring cell
(donor cell) to accommodate new calls.
• Borrowing can be done from an adjacent cell which has
largest number of free channels (borrowing from the richest)
• Select the first free channel found for borrowing using a
search algorithm (borrow first available scheme)
• Return the borrowed channel when channel becomes free in
the cell (basic algorithm with reassignment)
• To be available for borrowing, the channel must not interfere
with existing calls, as shown in the next figure

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.120

 Simple Channel Borrowing Schemes
Donor Cell for Sector X

Cell 3

X Y
2
Z

A call initiated in the sector X of cell 3 can borrow

a channel from adjacent cells 1 or 2

Wireless and Mobile Networks

 Complex Borrowing Scheme
• Partition the traffic channels into two groups, one
group assigned to each cell permanently and the
second group to be borrowed by neighboring cells
• The ratio between the two groups is determined a
priori

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.122

 Complex Channel Borrowing using
Sectored Cell-based Wireless System

A7
c
a A2
b c
a
b

A6
c
a A1
b c
a A3
b x c
a
b

A5
c
a A4
b c
a
b
X borrows some
Wireless and Mobile Networks channels from a
 Simple Channel Borrowing Schemes
Scheme Description
Simple A nominal channel set is assigned to a cell, as in the FCA case. After all
Borrowing (SB) nominal channels are used, an available channel from a neighboring cell
is borrowed
Borrow from Channels that are candidates for borrowing are available channels
the Richest nominally assigned to one of the adjacent cells of the acceptor cell. If
(SBR) more than one adjacent cell has channels available for borrowing, a
channel is borrowed from the cell with the greatest number of channels
available for borrowing
Basic This is an improved version of the SBR strategy which takes channel
Algorithm (BA) blocking into account when selecting a candidate channel for borrowing.
This scheme tried to minimize the future call blocking probability in the
cell that is most affected by the channel borrowing
Basic This scheme provides for the transfer of a call from a borrowed channel
Algorithm with to a nominal channel whenever a nominal channel becomes available
Reassignment
Borrow First Instead of trying to optimize when borrowing, this algorithm selects the
Available first candidate channel it finds

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.124

 Dynamic Channel Allocation (DCA)
• In DCA schemes, all channels are kept in a central
pool and are assigned dynamically to new calls as they
arrive in the system
• After each call is completed, the channel is returned
to the central pool. Select the most appropriate
channel for any call based simply on current
allocation and current traffic, with the aim of
minimizing the interference
• DCA scheme can overcome the problem of FCA
scheme. However, variations in DCA schemes center
around the different cost functions used for selecting
one of the candidate channels for assignment
Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.125
 Dynamic Channel Allocation (DCA)
• DCA schemes can be centralized or distributed
• The centralized DCA scheme involves a single
controller selecting a channel for each cell
• The distributed DCA scheme involves a number of
controllers scattered across the network (MSCs)
• Centralized DCA schemes can theoretically provide
the best performance. However, the enormous
amount of computation and communication among
BSs leads to excessive system latencies and render
centralized DCA schemes impractical. Nevertheless,
centralized DCA schemes often provide a useful
benchmark to compare practical decentralized DCA
schemes
Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.126
 Centralized DCA
• For a new call, a free channel from the central
pool is selected that would maximize the number
of members in its co-channel set

• Minimize the mean square of distance between

cells using the same channel

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.127

 Centralized DCA Schemes
Scheme Description
First Available (FA) Among the DCA schemes the simplest one is the FA
strategy. In FA, the first available channel within the
reuse distance encountered during a channel search is
assigned to the call. The FA strategy minimizes the
system computational time
Locally Optimized The channel selection is based on the future blocking
Dynamic Assignment probability in the vicinity of the cell where a call is
(LODA) initiated
Selection with A candidate channel is selected which is in use in the
Maximum Usage on most cells in the co-channel set. If more than one
the Reuse Ring channel has this maximum usage, an arbitrary
(RING) selection among such channel is made to serve the call.
If none is available, then the selection is made based
on the FA scheme

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.128

 Centralized DCA Schemes

Scheme Description
Mean The MSQ scheme selects the available channel
Square that minimizes the mean square of the distance
(MSQ) among the cells using the same channel
1-clique This scheme uses a set of graphs, one for each
channel, expressing the non co-channel
interference structure over the whole service
area for that channel

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.129

 Distributed DCA Schemes
• Based on one of the three parameters:
• Co-channel distance
- co-channel cells in the neighborhood not using the channel
- sometimes adjacent channel interference taken into account
• Signal strength measurement
- expected CCIR (co-channel interference above threshold

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.130

 Comparison between FCA and DCA
FCA DCA

n Performs better under heavy n Performs better under

traffic light/moderate traffic
n Low flexibility in channel n Flexible channel allocation
assignment n Not always maximum channel
n Maximum channel reusability reusability
n Sensitive to time and spatial n Insensitive to time and spatial
changes changes
n Unstable grade of service per n Stable grade of service per cell in
cell in an interference cell group an interference cell group
n High forced call termination n Low to moderate forced call
probability termination probability
n Suitable for large cell n Suitable in microcellular
environment environment
n Low flexibility n High flexibility

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.131

 Comparison between FCA and DCA
FCA DCA

n Radio equipment covers all n Radio equipment covers the temporary

channels assigned to the cell channel assigned to the cell
n Independent channel control n Fully centralized to fully distributed

n Low computational effort control dependent on the scheme

n Low call set up delay n High computational effort

n Low implementation n Moderate to high call set up delay

complexity n Moderate to high implementation

n Complex, labor intensive complexity

frequency planning n No frequency planning

n Low signaling load n Moderate to high signaling load

n Centralized control n Centralized, distributed control

depending on the scheme

Wireless and Mobile Networks

 Other Channel Allocation Schemes

• Based on different criterion being used as a

potential way of optimizing the performance,
many other channel allocation schemes have been
suggested
• Hybrid Channel Allocation (HCA)
• Flexible Channel Allocation (FCA)
• Handoff Channel Allocation (HCA)

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.133

 Hybrid Channel Allocation (HCA)
• HCA schemes are the combination of both FCA and DCA
techniques
• In HCA schemes, the total number of channels available
for service is divided into fixed and dynamic sets
• The fixed set contains a number of nominal channels
that are assigned to cells as in the FCA schemes and, in
all cases, are to be preferred for use in their respective
cells
• The dynamic set is shared by all users in the system to
increase flexibility
Example: When a call requires service from a cell and all
of its nominal channels are busy, a channel from the
dynamic set is assigned to the call

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.134

 Hybrid Channel Allocation (HCA)
• Request for a channel from the dynamic set is
initiated only when the cell has exhausted using all
its channels from the fixed set
• Optimal ratio: ratio of number of fixed and
dynamic channels
ü 3:1 (fixed to dynamic), provides better service than
fixed scheme for traffic load up to 50% (105 versus 35
channels)
ü Beyond 50% traffic load fixed scheme perform better
ü For dynamic, with traffic load of 15% to 40%, better
results are found with HCA

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.135

 Flexible Channel Allocation (FCA)
• Similar to hybrid scheme with channels divided
into fixed and flexible (emergency) sets
• Fixed sets used to handle lighter loads
• Variations in traffic (peaks in time and space) are
needed to schedule emergency channels
• Two types: Scheduled and Predictive
• Scheduled: Prior estimate is done about traffic
change
• Predictive: Traffic intensity and blocking
probability is monitored in each cell all the time

Wireless and Mobile Networks 2.136