The Cellular Concept

Cellular Network Organization

 Multiple low power transmitters
◼ 100w or less
 Area divided into cells
◼ Each with own antenna
◼ Each with own range of
frequencies
◼ Served by base station
 Transmitter, receiver,
control unit
◼ Adjacent cells on different
frequencies to avoid
crosstalk
Shape of Cells
 Square
◼ Width d cell has four neighbours at distance d
and four at distance 2d
◼ Better if all adjacent antennas equidistant
 Simplifies choosing and switching to new antenna
Shape of Cells
 Hexagon
◼ Provides equidistant antennas
◼ Radius defined as radius of circum-circle
 Distance from center to vertex equals length of side
◼ Distance between center of cells radius R is
3R
Components of cellular network architecture
MSC
❑ connects cells to wide area net
❑ manages call setup (more later!)
cell ❑ handles mobility (more later!)
❑ covers geographical
region

❑ mobile users attach to Mobile

network through BS Switching
❑ air-interface: physical Center
and link layer protocol Public telephone
between mobile and BS network, and
Internet
Mobile
Switching
Center

wired network

6: Wireless and Mobile Networks 6-5

Introduction to Cellular Systems
 Solves the problem of spectral congestion and user capacity.
 Offer very high capacity in a limited spectrum without major
technological changes.
 Replacing high power transmitter with many low power
transmitters. Each covers only small portion of the coverage
area.
 Reuse of radio channel in different cells.
 Enable a fix number of channels to serve an arbitrarily large
number of users by reusing the channel throughout the
coverage region.
 Frequency Reuse
• Each cellular base station is allocated a group of radio channels
within a small geographic area called a cell.

• Neighboring cells are assigned different channel groups.

• By limiting the coverage area to within the boundary of the cell, the
channel groups may be reused to cover different cells.
•• Keep interference levels within tolerable limits.

• Frequency reuse or frequency planning- The process of allocating

channel groups for all the base station with in a system .

• Seven groups of channel from A to G

Frequency Reuse

Same letter- same frequency channels

Cluster – Group of cells (bold line)
Cluster size given-7
Frequency reuse factor-1/7. Since each cell contains one-
seventh of the total no of channels.
Frequency Reuse
• Footprint of a cell - Actual radio coverage. It is determined from
field measurements or propagation prediction
models.
The shape of the cell may be square, triangular or hexogonal.
Hexogan shape is preferable .
Fewer cells can cover the geographic region.
Closely approximates the Circular radiation pattern occur in omni
directional base station.
Center excited cells- Omni-directional antenna
Edge excited cells – Sectored directional antenna
Total Capacity of a System
• Consider a cellular system which has a total of S duplex
channels.
• Each cell is allocated a group of k channels, k<S .
• The S channels are divided among N cells.
• The total number of available radio channels S = kN
• The N cells which use the complete set of available frequencies
is called cluster.
• The cluster can be repeated M times within the system. The
total number of channels, C, is used as a measure of capacity

C = MkN = MS
Total Capacity of a System
• The capacity is directly proportional to the number of
replication M.

• The cluster size, N, is typically equal to 4, 7, or 12.

• Small N – more M -To get the required capacity.

• The frequency reuse factor is given by 1/N

• Nis small- co channel cells are located close together.
• The value of N depends on interference tolerance limit
Identification of Cluster size
• Hexagonal geometry has
– exactly six equidistance neighbors
– the lines joining the centers of any cell and each of its neighbors are
separated by multiples of 60 degrees.
• Only certain cluster sizes and cell layout are possible.
• The number of cells per cluster, N, can only have values which
satisfy
N = i + ij + j
2 2

• Co-channel neighbors of a particular cell, ex, i=3 and j=2.

• i-move cells along chain of hexogan
• j-turn 60 degree counter clockwise and move
• Frequency reuse scheme
– increases capacity
– minimize interference
Channel Assignment Strategies
• Channel assignment strategy
– fixed channel assignment
– dynamic channel assignment
• Fixed channel assignment
– each cell is allocated a predetermined set of voice channel
– any new call attempt can only be served by the unused channels
– the call will be blocked if all channels in that cell are occupied.
– Borrowing concept allowed . The MSC supervises the borrowing
concept and ensures that, the borrowing channel does affect any
of the calls in progress of the donor cell.
• Dynamic channel assignment
– channels are not allocated to cells permanently.
– allocate channels based on request.
– reduce the likelihood of blocking, increase capacity.
 Handoff Strategies
• 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.
• Handoff operation
– identifying a new base station
– re-allocating the voice and control signals to channels with the new
BS
• Handoff Threshold
– Minimum usable signal for acceptable voice quality (-90dBm to -
100dBm)
 = Pr ,handoff − Pr ,minimumusable
– Handoff margin cannot be too large or
too small.
– If  is too large, unnecessary handoffs burden the MSC
– If  is too small, there may be insufficient time to complete
handoff before a call is lost.
Handoff Strategies
• Handoff must ensure that the drop in the measured signal is not due to
momentary fading and that the mobile is actually moving away from the
serving base station.
• Running average measurement of signal strength should be optimized
so that unnecessary handoffs are avoided.
– Depends on the speed at which the vehicle is moving.
– Steep short term average -> the hand off should be made quickly
– The speed can be estimated from the statistics of the received
short-term fading signal at the base station
• Dwell time: the time over which a call may be maintained within a cell
without handoff.
• Dwell time depends on
– propagation
– interference
– distance
– speed
Handoff Strategies
• Handoff measurement

– In first generation analog cellular systems, signal strength

measurements are made by the base station and supervised
by the MSC.

– In second generation systems (TDMA), handoff decisions

are mobile assisted, called mobile assisted handoff (MAHO)
• Intersystem handoff: If a mobile moves from one cellular system
to a different cellular system controlled by a different MSC.

• Handoff requests is much important than handling a new call.

Practical Handoff Consideration
• Different type of users
– High speed users need frequent handoff during a call.
– Low speed users may never need a handoff during a call.
• Microcells to provide capacity, the MSC can become burdened if
high speed users are constantly being passed between very
small cells.
• Minimize handoff intervention
– handle the simultaneous traffic of high speed and low speed
users.
• Large and small cells can be located at a single location
(umbrella cell)
– different antenna height
– different power level
UMBRELLA CELL
Practical Handoff Consideration

• Handoff for first generation analog cellular systems
– 10 secs handoff time
–  is in the order of 6 dB to 12 dB
• Handoff for second generation cellular systems, e.g., GSM
– 1 to 2 seconds handoff time
– mobile assists handoff
–  is in the order of 0 dB to 6 dB
– Handoff decisions based on signal strength, co-channel
interference, and adjacent channel interference.
• IS-95 CDMA spread spectrum cellular system
– Mobiles share the channel in every cell.
– No physical change of channel during handoff
– MSC decides the base station with the best receiving signal
as the service station
Interference and System Capacity
• Sources of interference
– another mobile in the same cell
– a call in progress in the neighboring cell
– other base stations operating in the same frequency band

• Two major cellular interference

– co-channel interference
– adjacent channel interference
 Co-channel Interference and System Capacity

• Frequency reuse - there are several cells that use the same set
of frequencies
– co-channel cells
– co-channel interference
• To reduce co-channel interference, co-channel cell must be
separated by a minimum distance.
• When the size of the cell is approximately the same
– co-channel interference is independent of the transmitted power
– co-channel interference is a function of
• R: Radius of the cell
• D: distance to the center of the nearest co-channel cell
• Increasing the ratio Q=D/R, the interference is reduced.
• Q is called the co-channel reuse ratio
Co-channel Interference and System Capacity

• For a hexagonal geometry

D
Q= = 3N
R

• A small value of Q provides large capacity

• A large value of Q improves the transmission quality - smaller
level of co-channel interference
• A tradeoff must be made between these two objectives
Signal to Interference power

• Let i0 be the number of co-channel interfering cells. The signal-

to-interference ratio (SIR) for a mobile receiver can be
expressed as
S S
= i0
I
I
i =1
i

S: the desired signal power

: interference power caused by the ith interfering co-channel
I i cell base station
Received Power
• The average received power at a distance d from the
transmitting antenna is approximated by
−n
d  d0
Pr = P0  
 d0  P0 :measued power
TX

d 
Pr (dBm ) = P0 (dBm ) − 10n log  
 d0 
P0 is the received power in ref point in the far field region
n is the path loss exponent which ranges between 2 and 4.
Signal to Interference power
• When the transmission power of each base station is equal, SIR
for a mobile can be approximated as

S R−n
= i0
I
 i
( D
i =1
)−n

• Consider only the first layer of interfering cells

S ( D / R)n
= =
( 3N
n
) i0 = 6
I i0 i0

• Example: AMPS requires that SIR be

greater than 18dB
– N should be at least 6.49 for n=4.
– Minimum cluster size is 7
Signal to Interference power
• For hexagonal geometry with 7-cell cluster, with the mobile unit
being at the cell boundary, the signal-to-interference ratio for the
worst case can be approximated as

S R −4
=
I 2( D − R)−4 + ( D − R / 2)−4 + ( D + R / 2)−4 + ( D + R)−4 + D −4
Adjacent Channel Interference
• Adjacent channel interference: interference from adjacent in
frequency to the desired signal.
– Imperfect receiver filters allow nearby frequencies to leak into the
passband
– Performance degrade seriously due to near-far effect.
receiving filter
response

signal on adjacent channel signal on adjacent channel

desired signal

FILTER
interference
interference desired signal
Adjacent Channel Interference

How to avoid adjacent channel Interference ?

• Adjacent channel interference can be minimized through careful filtering and

channel assignment.

• Keep the frequency separation between each channel in a given cell as large as
possible

• A channel separation greater than six is needed to bring the adjacent channel
interference to an acceptable level.
Power Control for Reducing Interference

• Ensure each mobile transmits the smallest power necessary to maintain a good
quality link on the reverse channel

– long battery life

– increase SIR

– solve the near-far problem

Trunking and Grade of Service
Trunking

It allows large number of users to share the relatively lesser no of

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

GOS
It is a measure of the ability of a user to access a trunked system
during the busiest hour.
Trunking and Grade of Service
• Erlangs: One Erlangs represents the amount of traffic density
carried by a channel that is completely occupied.
– Ex: A radio channel that is occupied for 30 minutes during an hour
carries 0.5 Erlangs of traffic.
• Grade of Service (GOS): The likelihood that a call is blocked.
• Each user generates a traffic intensity of Au Erlangs given by
Au = H
H: average duration of a call.
 : average number of call requests per unit time
• For a system containing U users and an unspecified number of
channels, the total offered traffic intensity A, is given by
A = UAu
• For C channel trunking system, the traffic intensity, Ac is given
as A = UA / C
c u
Improving Capacity in Cellular Systems

• Methods for improving capacity in cellular systems

– Cell Splitting: subdividing a congested cell into smaller cells.

– Sectoring: directional antennas to control the interference and frequency

reuse.

– Coverage zone : Distributing the coverage of a cell and extends the cell

boundary to hard-to-reach place.

Cell Splitting
• Split congested cell into smaller cells.
– Preserve frequency reuse plan.
– Reduce transmission power, Reduction in antenna height.
– No of cells increases
– No of channels increases
– No of clusters increases Reduce R to R/2
– Capacity of a cellular system increases.
microcell
• Transmission power reduction from Pt1 to Pt 2
• Examining the receiving power at the new and old cell boundary
Pr [at old cell boundary ]  Pt1R − n
Pr [at new cell boundary ]  Pt 2 ( R / 2) − n

• If we take n = 4 and set the received power equal to each other

Pt1
Pt 2 =
16
• The transmit power must be reduced by 12 dB in order to fill in
the original coverage area.
• Problem: if only part of the cells are splited
– Different cell sizes will exist simultaneously
• Handoff issues - high speed and low speed traffic can be
simultaneously accommodated
Sectoring
• Decrease the co-channel interference and keep the cell radius R unchanged
and decrease the D/R ratio.
– Replacing single omni-directional antenna by several directional antennas
– Radiating within a specified sector
Interference Reduction

position of the
mobile

interference
cells
 Microcell Zone Concept
• Antennas are placed at the outer edges of the cell
• Any channel may be assigned to any zone by the base station
• Mobile is served by the zone with the strongest signal.

• Handoff within a cell

– No channel re-
assignment
– Switch the channel
to a different zone
site
• Reduce interference
– Low power
transmitters are
employed
Problems
1.A spectrum of 30 MHz is allocated to a wireless FDD cellular system which uses two 25
KHz simplex channels to provide full duplex voice and control channels. Compute the no
of channels available per cell if a system uses
a) Four cell reuse b) seven cell reuse 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
cellular system.

Solution:
Total bandwidth= 30 MHz
Channel bandwidth = 25 KHz x 2 simplex channels=50 KHz /duplex channel.
Total available channels= 30000000/ 50000 =600 channels

a) N=4,

Total available channels/cell = 600/4 = 150 channels

a) b) N=7,

Total available channels/cell = 600/7 = 85 channels

Problems
a) N=12,

Total available channels/cell = 600/12 =50 channels.

For control channels, alloted spectrum = 1 MHz

Total channels= 1000000/ 50000 =20 control channels.

a) N=4,

Control channels/cell = 20/4 = 5 channels

Voice channels = 145 (580/4)

b) N=7,

Control channels/cell = 20/7, Voice channels = 580/7

4 cells - 3 Control and 82 voice

3 cells - 2 Control and 83 voice
Problems
b) N=12,

Control channels/cell = 20/12, Voice channels = 580/12

8 cells - 2 Control and 48 voice

4 cells - 1 Control and 49 voice
Problems
Illustration of cell splitting within a 3 km by 3 km square
Problems
2.Assume each base station uses 60 channels, regardless of cell size. If each original
cell has a radius of 1km and each microcell has 0.5 km, find the no of channels contained
in a 3km by 3km square centered around A under the following condition.
(a) Without the use of microcells
(b) Microcells are used
(c) All replaced by microcells

Assume cells on the edge of the square to be contained within the square.

(a)Without the use of microcells

5 base station. So total channels = 5x60=300 channels

(b)Microcells are used

11(5+6) base station. So total channels =11x60=660 channels

(c )All replaced by microcells

17 (11+6) base station. So total channels =17x60=1020 channels