MOBILE

COMMUNICATION

ECED,SVNIT , Surat.
OBJECTIVE OF EARLY MOBILE RADIO SYSTEM
 To achieve large coverage area by using a single, high
powered transmitter with an antenna mounted on a tall
tower
 Results in good coverage

 Impossible to reuse same frequencies

 Maximum no. of simultaneous calls reduces

 Impossible to make spectrum allocation in proportion to

increasing demand and restructure radio telephone
system
THE CELLULAR CONCEPT

 Major breakthrough in solving the problem of spectral

congestion and user capacity
 Replace a single, high power transmitter(large cells)
with many low power transmitters(small cells)
 Each base station is allocated a portion of the total no.
of channels available to the entire system
 Nearby base stations are assigned different groups of
channels to minimize interference between base
stations
 Channels can be reused as many times as necessary as
long as the interference between co-channel stations is
kept below acceptable levels
 Increased service demand can be fulfilled by increasing
the no. of base station without addition increase in radio
spectrum
 Large no. of subscriber can be served by reusing a fixed
no. of channels
 Subscriber equipment can be manufactured with same
channels within country so any mobile can be used
anywhere in the country
 Cell Shape

• The actual radio coverage of a cell is known as the

footprint and is determined from field
measurement or propagation prediction models

• A real footprint is amorphous in nature

• A cell must be designed to serve the weakest signal

in the footprint.

• Regular shapes:
Square
Equilateral triangle and
Hexagonal

• adjacent circles can not be overlaid upon a map without

leaving gaps or creating overlapping regions.
AREA COMPARISION
 The area of an equilateral triangle to a circle approx
= 17.77%
 The area of a square to a circle approx = 63.7%

 The area of a hexagon to a circle approx = 83%

 It means hexagon has the highest coverage area

after a circle.
 Thus hexagon satisfies all the conditions which is
why the shape of a cell is hexagonal in cellular
network.
 IMPACT OF CELL SHAPE AND RADIUS ON
SERVICE CHARACTERISTICS

Channels/Unit Channels/U
Channels/Unit Area when nit Area
Boundary
Shape of Boundar Area with N Number of when Size
Area Length/
the Cell y Channels/Cell Channels of Cell
Unit Area
s Increased by a Reduced by
Factor K a Factor M
Square 4 N KN M 2N
cell (side R2 4R R2
R R2 R2
=R)
Hexagonal 3 3 2 4 N KN M 2N
cell R 6R
2 3R 1.5 3R 2 1.5 3R 2 1.5 3R 2
(side=R)
Circular 2 N KN M 2N
cell pR2 2pR p R2 p R2
(radius=R)
R p R2

Triangula 4 3N 4 3KN 4 3M 2 N
3 2 4 3
r cell R 3R 3R 2 3R 2
4 R 3R 2
(side=R)
 Cell Shape
Ex. hexagon geometry cell shape

• Designed to serve the weakest mobiles within the footprint

(typically located at the edge)

• The hexagon has the largest area of the three regular shapes.

• Simplistic model, Universally adopted

• fewest number of cells can cover a geographic region

• Approximate circular shape

no gaps
no overlap systematic system design
equal area
Base Station Location

• Base station location:

• At the center of the cell (Omni-directional antenna)
• At the vertices of three cells (directional antennas)

• Practical considerations usually do not allow base stations to be

placed exactly as they appear in the hexagonal layout (~1/4 cell
radius away from the ideal location)
• Fewest no. of hexagon cells are required to cover a geographic
region as distance between the center of polygon and its
farthest perimeter point has the largest area
• It closely approximate circular radiation pattern(allows easier
analysis)
 Circle to hexagonal cell shape approximation
THE MAIN LIMITATIONS OF THE PREVIOUS MOBILE
COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS ARE AS FOLLOWS:

In the beginning, there

The capacity of the systems was severely
were no handoffs and
limited because only a small number of
the cell size depended
radio channels
on how much power the
centralized BS could
transmit and receive.
Users who stepped out
of range of one system
had to re-establish the
call in the next system
HANDOFF
 Handoff is the process of transferring an active call
from one cell to another as the mobile unit moves
from the first cell to the other cell without
disconnecting the call.
 When a mobile moves into a different cell while the
call is in progress, the mobile switching centre
(MSC) automatically transfers the call to a new
channel belonging to the new BS.
 Handoff operation involves identifying a new BS
along with the allocation of voice and control
signals.
 A user is transmitting and receiving signals from a given
BS (say BS1).
 • Assume the user moves from the coverage area of one
BS1 into the coverage area of a second BS (BS2).
 • BS1 notices that the signal from this user is degrading.
 • BS2 notices that the signal from this user is improving.
 At some point, the user’s signal is weak enough at
BS1 and strong enough at BS2 for a handoff to
occur.
 Specifically, if messages are exchanged between
the user, BS1, and BS2 then the communication
to/from the user is transferred from BS1 to BS2.
 Types of handoff

 Hard handoff

 Soft handoff (SHO)

HARD HANDOFF
 Hard handoff is “break-before-make”, meaning that the connection to
the old BS is broken before a connection to the new BS is made.
 Hard handoff occurs when handoff is made between disjointed radio
systems, different frequency assignments, or different air-interface
characteristics or technologies.
 hard handoff can be further divided into two
different types:
 intracellular and intercellular handoffs

 A handoff made within the currently serving cell

(e.g. by changing the frequency) is called an
intracellular handoff.
 A handoff made from one cell to another is referred
to as an intercellular handoff.
SOFT HANDOFF (SHO)
 SHO is “make-before–break”, meaning that the connection to
the old BS is not broken until a connection to the new BS is
made. In fact, more than one BS is normally connected
simultaneously to the MS.
HANDOFF STRATEGIES

 two different handoff strategies, namely horizontal handoff and

vertical handoff:

 In case of horizontal handoff, handoff is between two network access

points or BSs that use the same wireless network access technology.
The handoff is purely due to mobility of the MS.
 In case of vertical handoff, handoff is between two network access
points or BSs that use the different wireless network access
technology.
INTRODUCTION TO BASIC CELLULAR
SYSTEM
Frequency Reuse
 By limiting the coverage area of a base station, the
same group of channels may be reused by different
cells far away.

 The design process of selecting and allocating

channel groups for all of the cellular base stations
within a system is called frequency reuse or
frequency planning.
INTRODUCTION TO BASIC CELLULAR
SYSTEM
Frequency Reuse :
 The design process of selecting and allocating
channel groups for all of the cellular BSs is called
frequency reuse or frequency Planning.
INTRODUCTION TO BASIC CELLULAR
SYSTEM
Cluster and Capacity :
 A cellular system which has a total of S duplex
channels available for use.

 If each cell is allocated a group of k channels (k<S),

and if the S channels are divided among N cells and
disjoint channel groups which each have same
number of channels, the total number of available
radio channels can be expressed as S=kN.
 Cluster Size and System Capacity

Assume the following system parameters:

k = Number of channels in a cell
N = Number of cells/cluster (Cluster size)
M = Number of times the cluster is repeated
S = kN Number of channels in a cluster
C = Total number of channels
C = MkN = MS

A cluster has N cells with unique

channels
Cluster Size & System Capacity

Cluster size N (with cell size const) more clusters are

required to cover a given area
Co-channel cells become closer

Cluster size N (with cell size const) the ratio between cell
size and the distance between co-channel cells is large

Design Objectives for Cluster Size

1. High spectrum efficiency
• many users per cell
• small cluster size gives much bandwidth per cell

2. High performance
• Little interference
• Large cluster sizes
INTRODUCTION TO BASIC CELLULAR
SYSTEM
Cluster and Capacity :
 N cells which collectively use the complete set of
available frequencies is called a cluster.
INTRODUCTION TO BASIC CELLULAR
SYSTEM
Cluster and Capacity :
 If a cluster is replicated M times within the system, the
total number of duplex channels, C, can be used a
measure of capacity and is given by C=MkN=MS.
 So the capacity of a cellular system is directly proportional to
the number of times a cluster is replicated in a fixed service
area.
 A larger cluster size causes the ratio between the cell radius
and the distance between the co-channel cells to increase,
leading to weaker co-channel interference.
EXAMPLE
 consider a cellular system having total available voice channels are
1,200. The area of each cell is 9 km2 and the total coverage area is
3600km2.
 a. Calculate the system capacity if the cluster size, N is 4.
 b. Calculate the system capacity if the cluster size is 7. Does
decreasing the reuse factor N, increases the system capacity?
Explain.
 c. How many times should a cluster of size 7 be replicated to cover
the entire cellular area?
SOLUTION
 Total available channels =1,200
 Cell area = 9 km2
 Total coverage area=3,600 km2

 a.
 N=4
 Area of a cluster with cluster size N = 4 is 4*9=36 km2
 Number of clusters for covering total area = 3,600/36 =100
 Number of channels per cell = 1,200/4 = 300
 System capacity = 100* 1,200 =120,000 channels
 b.
 N=7
 Area of a cluster with cluster size N = 7 is 7*9=63 km2
 Number of clusters for covering total area = 3,600/63 =57.14 ⁓ 57
 Number of channels per cell = 1,200/7 = 171.42 ⁓ 171
 System capacity = 57* 1,200 =68,400 channels

 It is evident that when we decrease the value of N from 7 to 4, we

increase the system capacity from 68,400 to 120,000 channels.
Thus, decreasing the reuse factor (N) increases the system capacity.
 c. To cover the entire circular area
= Total coverage area/Area of a cluster with reuse N=7
= 3,600 km2/63 km2 = 57 times.
SPECTRUM EFFICIENCY AND PROPAGATION PATH LOSS

 Spectrum efficiency of a cellular system: The spectrum efficiency

𝜂s expressed in Erlangs per square meter per hertz, yields a measure
of how efficiently space, frequency, and time are used, and it is given
by
𝑛𝑜.𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑛𝑜.𝑜𝑓 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑙𝑠 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑙 𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑢𝑠𝑦
 𝜂s = 𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 × 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑣𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 × 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑙
 FREQUENCY REUSE AND SPECTRUM EFFICIENCY

Conclusion:
Then
The the
Total total
• available number
high number
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that100 voice available
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be supported
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given system
cellular can be
system
The same coverage area is divided into seven of 25
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single power transmitter support
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cells of
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group1 to all cells
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and = number
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as 5. the system capacity * 7 = 175
PROPAGATION PATH LOSS:
 The propagation path loss of a signal is a function of several factors,
such as environment, location, antenna type, antenna height, and so
on.
 The difference in power reception at two different distances d1 and
d2 would be:

 where
 Pr1 = the received carrier power at receiver 1,
 Pr2 = the received carrier power at receiver 2
 d1 = is the distance measured from the transmitter to receiver 1, and d2 = is the
distance measured from the transmitter to receiver 2,
FREQUENCY REUSE FACTOR
 The distance between co-channel cells is known as
co-channel distance or frequency reuse distance and
the interference caused by the radiation from these
cells is referred to as co-channel interference.
 For proper functioning of any cellular system, the
co-channel interference needs to be minimized.
 Therefore, minimization of co-channel interference
requires a minimum co-channel distance; that is, the
distance cannot be smaller than this minimum
distance.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FREQUENCY REUSE FACTOR (D/R) AND CLUSTER SIZE
(N)

 It involves mainly
two steps:
 (i) finding the
relation between
the distance D
(two co-channel
cells) and R and
 (ii) locating the co-
channel cells.

Frequency reuse factor or co-channel reuse ratio (q)

 let us derive the relation between distance (D) (two co-channel cells)
and R in a hexagonal geometry.
 The actual centre-to-centre distance between two adjacent
hexagonal cells is,

 where R is the centre-to-vertex distance

 we can observe that OA = R, AB = R/2 and OPA is a right-angled
triangle.
 In the OAP triangle, OP = OA Sin 60° = (√3/2) R

 Let d be the centre-to-centre (OQ) distance

between two adjacent hexagonal cells 1 and
2, then
 The nearest co-channel cell in a hexagonal cellular structure to the
cell under consideration can be located using shifting parameters (i,
j). The two parameters i and j measure the number of nearest
neighbouring cells between co-channel cells in a hexagonal
geometry, where i and j are separated by 600
• The shift parameters can have any
value 0,1,2,3, and so on. The important
steps to be followed now are as follows:
• Move i number of cells along any
chain of hexagons.
• Turn 600 counter clockwise and
move j number of cells along the
chain that lies in this new heading.
 Locating co-channel cells in a (N=19) hexagonal geometry for i=3, j=2
 ESTABLISHMENT OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN D AND SHIFT
PARAMETERS (I AND J)

 Since the hexagonal cell has

six equidistant neighbouring
cells, by following the two
steps given under the method
of locating co-channel cells
corresponding to six sides of
the hexagon.
 firstly, move i number of cells
along j axis
 secondly, turning 600 in
counterclockwise
 Finally, move j number of cells
along j axis
 ESTABLISHMENT OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN D AND SHIFT
PARAMETERS (I AND J)

 Let D be the distance from the

centre of the cell under
consideration to the centre of a
co-channel cell (XZ).
 Apply cosine formula to triangle
XYZ to derive the relation
between D, d, and shift
parameters (i, j).
 Derive the equation of D?
ESTABLISHMENT OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN D, R, AND N

 To establish the relationship between N and frequency reuse factor

(D/R),
 The geometry of the hexagon is such that number of cells per cluster
N can have values which satisfy

 Submit the value in the previous equation,

 where q is the reuse ratio and N is the cluster size or reuse factor.
the
thelarger
geometryhexagon
formedis by
formed
sevenby joiningand
clusters the each
centers of co-channel
cluster cellscells.
contains seven in the
first tier, which encloses seven cells of the middle cluster plus one-third of the
RELATIONSHIP
number BETWEEN
of seven cells AREA OF A six
of all surrounding HEXAGON , NUMBER
neighbouring OF CELLS
clusters.
IN A LARGE HEXAGON, AND N
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AREA OF A HEXAGON, NUMBER OF CELLS
IN A LARGE HEXAGON, AND N

 Area of large hexagon (Alarger hexagon):

 By joining the six nearest neighbouring co-channel cells centres, a
large hexagon is formed with radius equal to D, which is also the co-
channel cell separation

 Area of small hexagon (Asmall hexagon):

 Number of Cells in a Alarge hexagon:

IMPROVING COVERAGE AND CAPACITY IN CELLULAR SYSTEMS

 Cell splitting: Reduce radius of cell to increase

frequency reuse.
 Sectoring: Uses directional antennas to control
interference and frequency reuse.
 Repeaters for range extension: Use re-transmitters
to cover areas subjected to fading.
 Zone microcells: Distributes the coverage of a cell.
CELL SPLITTING

Original cell distribution and cell splitting

 Cell splitting increases the capacity of a cellular system since it
increases the number of times that channels are reused.
 By decreasing the radius R and keeping the co-channel reuse ratio
D/R unchanged, cell splitting increases the number of channels per
unit area.
 Cell splitting is the attractive feature of cellular concept and is the
process of dividing a larger congested cell into smaller cells, each
with its own cell site with a corresponding reduction in transmitter
power and antenna height.
 the power transmitted in the small cells is reduced compared to the
power transmitted in the large cells as it would require much less
power to cover the cell compared to the large cells. In fact the
power has to be reduced by a factor of
SECTORING
 Sectoring is another way to
increase capacity.
 In sectoring, a cell has the
same coverage space but
 instead of using a single omni-
directional antenna that
transmits in all directions,
either
 Three or six directional
antennas are used and each
with beamwidth of about 120°
or 60°
RANGE EXTENSION BY THE USE OF REPEATERS

 Used for extending the range of the reception of the receiver.

 Especially, the repeater is used when it is hard for the transmitted
signal to reach up to the receiver set.
 Repeaters are bidirectional in nature and simultaneously send
signals to and receive signals from a serving BS.
MICROCELL ZONE CONCEPT

 By the use of sectorization technique, we can increase the system

performance but there will be a large increment of handoffs
increment of load on the switching and control link.
 So a microcell zone concept is introduced which leads to an increased
capacity without any degradation in trunking efficiency caused by
sectoring
 The microcell zone concept is related to sharing the same radio
equipment by different microcells.
 This results in reduction of cluster size and increase in system capacity.

 Advantages:
 A given channel is active only in a particular zone. Thus, interference is
reduced and capacity is increased.
 Handoffs are reduced (also compared to decreasing the cell size) since
the microcells within the cell operate at the same frequency; no
handover occurs when the mobile unit moves between the microcells.
 Size of the zone apparatus is small. The zone site equipment being
small can be mounted on the side of a building or on poles.
NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS IN THE SYSTEM
 During a busy hour, the traffic conditions in the area
help determine both the sizes of different cells and
the number of channels in them.

 Two major issues:

 Co-channel interference : CCI

 inter-channel interference: ICI

 CCI between the cells limits frequency reuse and hence is a major
problem. Our aim is to find the minimum frequency reuse distance in
order to reduce this CCI.
 With the assumption that the size of all cells is the same, the cell size
is determined by the coverage area of the signal strength in each cell.
CCI is independent of the transmitted power of each cell as long as
the size of the cell is fixed. It is a function of a parameter q and is
defined as
 Here, q is the CCI reduction factor and N is the cluster size.
 CCI decreases when q increases.
 the separation D can be written as a function of KI, and C/I
 In a hexagonal-shaped cellular system,
there are always six co-channel
interfering cells in the first tier, that is KI
=6.
 Assume that the interference level is
very high; the local noise can be
neglected. Then, C/I can be expressed
as

 where the actual terrain environment

determines γ, the propagation path-loss
slope.
 Weaker interference is caused by the six
co-channel interfering cells in the
second tier than those in the first tier and
hence is negligible.
RELATION BETWEEN CO-CHANNEL REDUCTION FACTOR
AND FREQUENCY REUSE FACTOR

 From the above analysis, by substituting KI = 6

 If we assume Dk to be the same for the six interfering cells for
simplification, or D = Dk then

 For KI = 2

 where
 q = D/R (reuse factor)is the co-channel interference reduction factor and
 γ = is the path loss exponential constant.
 The denominator has been reduced from 6 to 2 to account for the reduced
number of interference sources.
C/I FROM NORMAL CASE IN AN OMNIDIRECTIONAL ANTENNA
SYSTEM

 The desired CIR (C/I) is related to the co-channel reuse factor q

which can be obtained with a simple analytical solution in which two
cases :
 The signal and CCI received by the mobile unit
 The signal and CCI received by the cell site

(a) (b)

Co-channel interference from six interferers: (a) Receiving at the cell site and
(b) Receiving at the mobile unit
 The local noises in both the cases are small and can be neglected
when compared with the interference level. It is called a balanced
system.
 For analysis any case can be considered,

 the values of C/I and γ are based on the required system

performance and the terrain environment, respectively.
 the normal cellular practice is to specify C/I to be 18 dB or
higher, where for the mobile environment, γ=4,
CELLULAR SYSTEM DESIGN IN WORST-CASE SCENARIO
WITH AN OMNIDIRECTIONAL ANTENNA

 When the mobile unit receives the weakest signal from its own cell site
but strong interferences from interfering cell sites, it is considered to be
the worst-case scenario.
 Let us re-examine the seven-cell reuse pattern and consider the worst
case in which the mobile unit is located at the cell boundary as shown.
The distances from the six interfering cells are given in Figure.
 The C/I can be given as

 Using D/R = q and the path-loss

exponent γ = 4
 where q = 4.6 for a normal seven-cell reuse pattern (N = 7), q = 3𝑁
 Substituting q =4.6 in Equation, we get C/I =54.3 or 17.3 dB.
 If we use the shortest distance (D- R), then

 The C/I could be 14 dB or lower in real situations. This can be due to

imperfect cell-site locations, terrain configuration, and also heavy traffic.
The cellular system should, hence, be designed around the C/I of worst
case and for a seven-cell reuse (N = 7) pattern.
 We conclude that when considering the worst-case scenario, q = 4.6 is not
enough in an omnidirectional cell system.
 Therefore, in an omnidirectional cell system, N = 9 or N = 12 would be a
correct choice.
 Then the values of q are

 By substituting these values in Equation

 The N=9 and N=12 cell patterns, are used when the traffic is light.
Each cell covers an adequate area with adequate numbers of
channels to handle the traffic.
DESIGN OF A DIRECTIONAL
ANTENNA SYSTEM
 Instead of increasing the number K in a set of
cells, let us keep N = 7 and introduce a
directional-antenna arrangement.
 The cochannel interference can be reduced by
using directional antennas. This means that each
cell is divided into three or six sectors and uses
three or six directional antennas at a base
station. Each sector is assigned a set of
frequencies (channels).
DIRECTIONAL ANTENNAS IN N = 7 CELL
PATTERNS
 Three-Sector Case:
 To illustrate the worst-case
situation, two cochannel cells
are shown.
 The mobile unit at position E
will experience greater
interference in the lower
shaded cell sector than in the
upper shaded cell-sector site.
 This is because the mobile
receiver receives the weakest
signal from its own cell but
fairly strong interference from
the interfering cell.
 In a three-sector case, the interference is effective
in only one direction because the front-to-back
ratio of a cell-site directional antenna is at least
10 dB or more in a mobile radio environment,
hence can be calculated.
 Because of the use of directional antennas, the
number of principal interferers is reduced from
six to two.
 The worst case of C /I occurs when the mobile
unit is at position E , at which point the distance
between the mobile unit and the two interfering
antennas is roughly D+(R/2);
 The value of C /I can be obtained by the following
expression (assuming that the worst case is at position E at
which the distances from two interferers are D+0.7 and D).
the path-loss exponent γ = 4

 Let q=4.6
 Similarly,
 it can be calculated for different combination of
cluster as well as sector sizes.
 Like N=7, six sector pattern

 N=4, Three sector pattern

 N=4, Six sector pattern

TRAFFIC, TRUNKING AND GOS
 Objective: To measure the traffic in well-defined
units through mathematical models and to derive
relationships between GoS and system capacity in
such a way that the theory helps in planning
investments.
 The task of tele-traffic theory is to design cost-
effective systems with a pre-defined GoS when we
know the future traffic demand and the capacity of
system elements.
CONCEPTS OF TRUNKING AND BLOCKING
 Early in the development of the PSTN, it was recognized that having fixed
connections between every possible pair of telephones is physically
impractical and economically prohibitive. The number of connections required
to provide fixed connections between every possible pair of N telephones is
given by

 where k is an integer.
 For example, 100 telephones require 4,950 connections and 10,000
telephones require almost 50 million connections.
 Assume that in a 10-digit telephone number, the first three digits are the “area
code”, the second three are the “central office code,” and the last four
represent the “line number” within the office.
 Clearly, a maximum of 10,000 phone numbers can be associated with a given
central office code. If we consider connections among telephones only within
a single central office, a worst-case maximum of only 5,000 connections
would ever need to be made, compared with the 50 million identified in
connection with the equation above.
 In fact, since the duration of a call is short, only a few hundred
connections would be needed.
 The central office, however, needs lines that connect to other central
offices and to long-distance switches that allow connections to other
area codes. Here, resources are shared so that the number of lines is
much smaller than the number of possible connections.
 A line that connects switching offices and which is shared among
users on need basis is called a trunk.
 As the number of trunks needed to make connections is much
smaller than the maximum number that could be used, there might
not be enough facilities to allow a call to be completed.
 A call that cannot be completed due to lack of resources is said to be
blocked.
 Then, the question arises as how to determine the quantity of
equipment that is needed so that the event of a call being blocked is
infrequent.
 Though the frequency of service requests and the
duration of service are not known in advance, it can
be calculated based on statistical data which is
known as queuing or traffic theory.
 The application of queuing theory to establish the
quantity of resources necessary to provide a given
level of service is referred to as traffic engineering.
GRADE OF SERVICE (GOS)
 In the context of a telephone system, the term GoS is used to mean
the probability that a user’s request for service will be blocked
because a required facility such as a trunk or a cellular channel is not
available.
 For example, a GoS of 5 % implies that on an average a user might
not be successful in placing a call in 5 out of every 100 attempts.
 “busy hour”, that is, the hour of the day during which there is the
greatest demand for service.
 Typically, telephone systems are engineered to provide a specified
GoS during a specified busy hour.
 the average number of call requests per unit time, λuser , and the
average holding time, H. The parameter λuser is also called the
average arrival rate, referring to the rate at which calls from a single
user arrive at the switch. The average holding time (H) is the average
duration of a call.
 The product is the average arrival rate and the average
holding time is called the offered traffic intensity or offered
load (Auser)

 This quantity represents the average traffic that is provided by

a user to the system and is traditionally measured in Erlang.
 One Erlang is equivalent to an arrival rate of one call per
minute multiplied by a holding time of one minute.
 Suppose during the busy hour, a user makes an average of three
calls per hour and holds each call an average of 15 min. Find the
offered traffic intensity.
 The average arrival rate is λuser =3 calls/h
= 3 calls/60 min = 1call/20min.
 Then, Auser= 1/20 (calls/min)* 15 min = 0.75 Erlang.
 If the blocking probability or GoS is Pb , then 1– P represents the
fraction of call requests that actually result in the assignment of a
channel.
 If we use (1 – Pb) λuser instead of λuser to calculate traffic intensity, we
obtain the carried traffic intensity or carried load Auser . The carried
traffic intensity is a measure of the traffic actually carried by the
system.
 Continuation of the last example if the GoS during
the busy hour is 10 percent (=0.1), find the carried
load for an individual user.
 The carried load (1 - Pb) Auser

= (1 - 0.1)*0.75
= 0.675 Erlang.
 Grade of Service (GOS): measure of ability of a
user to access a trunked system during the
busiest hour. Measure of congestion which is
specified as a probability.
 Blocked Calls Cleared (BCC) or Lost Call
Cleared (LCC) or Erlang B
 Probability of a call being blocked
 Blocked call Delayed or Lost Call Delayed
or Erlang C
 The probability of a call being delayed beyond a
certain amount of time before being granted access
 The Erlang B formula is expressed as GoS or the probability of
finding N channels busy.
 The assumptions made in the Erlang B formula are as follows:
 Traffic originates independently from an infinite number of traffic
sources.
 Lost calls are cleared assuming a zero holding time.
 Limited number of trunks or service channels.
 Full availability.
 Inter-arrival times of call requests are independent of each other.
 The service time (probability of a user occupying a channel) is based
on an exponential distribution.
 Traffic requests are represented by a Poisson distribution implying
exponentially distributed call inter-arrival times.
 How many users can be supported for 0.5% blocking
probability for the following number of trunked
channels in a BCC system? (a) 5, (b) 10, (c) = 20
Assumed that each user generates 0.1 Erlangs of
traffic. (Au)
 Given C = 5 GOS=0.5, Au = 0.1
 From graph/Table using C = 5 and GOS=0.5 A = 1.13
 Total Number of users U=A/Au=1.13/0.1=11 users
 Given C = 10 GOS=0.5, Au = 0.1
 From graph/Table using C = 10 and GOS=0.5,A=3.96
 Total Number of users U=A/Au=3.96/0.1=39 users
 Given C = 20 GOS=0.5, Au = 0.1
 From graph/Table using C = 20 and GOS=0.5, A =
11.1
 Total Number of users U=A/Au=11.10/0.1=110 users
 Assuming that each user in a system generates a
traffic intensity of 0.02 Erlangs, how many users can
be supported for 0.1% probability of blocking in an
Erlang B system for a number of trunked channels
equal to 60.
 Solution 1:
 System is an Erlang B
 Au = 0.02 Erlangs
 Pr [Blocking] = 0.1,
 C = 60 Channels
 From the Erlang B figure, we see that
 A≈40 Erlangs
 Therefore U=A/Au=40/0.02=2000users.
 2. Consider a system with 100 cells. Each cell has
S = 20 channels, λ = 2 calls/hour, Avg. duration of
calls (H) = 3 min.
 How many number of users can be supported if
the allowed probability of blocking is 2% and
0.1%. Find Utotal.
 Can you observe any significant difference in the
results??
SOLUTION

 Pb = 2%
 Au = 0.1E
 A = 13.18 from table ≈ 13
 Total number of users per cell = 13/0.1 = 130 users/cell
 Total traffic carried = 100 cells*130 users/cell = 13100

 For Pb = 0.1%
 Au = 0.1E
 A = 9.412E ≈ 9
 Total number of users per cell = 9/0.1 = 90 users/cell
 Total traffic carried = 100 cells*90 users/cell = 9100
 Observation:
 Pb U

 Now consider a service provider wants to

accommodate 26000 users.
 Calculate A?
 Find Pb?
 Solution:
 user per cell A = (26000*0.1E)/total cells
 = 2600/ 100 = 26 users/cell
 C= 20 channels, A = 26, Pb=? From table
 Pb ≈ 25.92 = 30% probability
 As users increase, Pb also Increases
 What could be done to reduce blocking
probability, without changing the channels in the
previous scenario?

 Answer is Cell splitting or sectorization

BLOCKED CALL DELAYED(BCD) SYSTEMS
 Queues are used to hold call requests that are
initially blocked.
 When a user attempts a call and a channel is not
immediately available, the call request may be
delayed until a channel becomes available.
 Mathematical modeling of such systems is done by
Erlang C formula.
 The Erlang C model is based on following
assumptions:
 Similar to those of Erlang B
 Additionally, if offered call cannot be assigned a
channel, it is placed in a queue of infinite length.
 Each call is then serviced in the order of its arrival.
BLOCKED CALL DELAYED(BCD) SYSTEMS
 Erlang C formula which gives likelihood of a call
not having immediate access to a channel (All
channels are already in use)
INTRODUCTION TO BASIC CELLULAR
SYSTEM
Channel Assignment Strategies :
 A scheme for increasing capacity and minimizing
interference is required.
 Channel assignment strategies have been developed
to achieve this objective.
 Channel assignment strategies can be classified as
either fixed or dynamic.
 A channel assignment strategy impacts the
performance of the system.
INTRODUCTION TO BASIC CELLULAR
SYSTEM
Channel Assignment Strategies :
 How call is managed when a mobile user is handed off
from one cell to another.

Fixed Channel Assignment :

 Each cell is assigned a predetermined set of voice

channels.

 Any call attempt within the cell can only be served by

the unused channels in that particular cell .
INTRODUCTION TO BASIC CELLULAR
SYSTEM
Channel Assignment Strategies :
 If all the channels in the cell are occupied , the call is
blocked.

 In a variation of fixed channel assignment , a cell can

borrow channels from its neighboring cell if its own
channels are full.

 MSC (Mobile Switching Center) supervises the

borrowing procedure.
INTRODUCTION TO BASIC CELLULAR
SYSTEM
Channel Assignment Strategies :
Dynamic Channel Assignments :
 Voice channels are not allocated to different cells
permanently.
 Each time call request is made , the BS requests a
channel from the MSC.
 MSC allocates a channel to the requested cell using an
algorithm that takes into account
 the likelihood of future blocking
INTRODUCTION TO BASIC CELLULAR
SYSTEM
Channel Assignment Strategies :
 the frequency of use of the candidates channel

 Reuse distance of channels

o The MSC allocates a given frequency , if that frequency is not

currently in use in the cell or any other cell which falls within
the limiting reuse distance to avoid cochannel interference.

o
ADVANTAGES OF DYNAMIC CHANNEL
ASSIGNMENT

o Dynamic channel allocation reduces the likelihood of

blocking , thus increasing trunking capacity of the
system.

o Results in channel utilization.

DISADVANTAGES OF DYNAMIC CHANNEL
ASSIGNMENT

 Dynamic channel allocation strategies requires

the MSC to collect the real time data on channel
occupancy, traffic distribution and radio signal
strength indications of all channels on a
continuous basis.
 To handle such real time action needs faster
processor.
 Also increases the storage and computational
load on the system.
ANTENNA FOR THE BASE STATION
 Two main types:
 Omnidirectional-radiates equally in 360 degrees

 Bidirectional

 An antenna used for lower frequencies will be

physically longer than that used for higher
frequencies, if the gain assigned to both is the
same.
 Directional antenna
 A directional antenna is an antenna that shapes and
projects a beam of radio energy in a specific direction
and receives radio energy only form a specific
direction, employing various horizontal beamwidths.
 They are effectively omni antennas that uses
reflecting element, which directs or focuses the RF
signal (energy) over a specified beamwidth.
 They produce more gain than a typical omni base
station antenna.
 There are various directional antennas like…log
periodic, yagi, phased array and panel antenna
 To compensate for coverage shadows electrical
downtilt antennas and mechanical downtilt kits
were developed from industry.
 Downtilting antennas decreases distance
coverage horizontally but increases signal
coverage closer to the cell site.
 They are also used to reduce far field effect in
wireless network.
 Far field effect occurs when the radio coverage
projected from site A may completely and
unintentionally overwhelm the intended coverage
of site B or other nearby sites.
 The far field effect can occur for any of the
following reasons:
 RF power level is too high at the BS

 Downtilt antennas are not being used at the base

station
 The tower is too high at the BS or the BS
transmit antenna is too high on the tower.
 The antenna gain is too high at the BS, exceeding
its intended coverage area.
 The antenna selection can be based on:
 The size of the area to be covered

 Neighbouring cell sites’ configuration

 Whether the antenna is omnidirectional or

directional
 The antenna’s beamwidth in case of directional
antenna
 The allotted RF spectrum the antenna can utilize
END OF CONTENT