MUTHAYAMMAL ENGINEERING COLLEGE

DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

21ITC13 Mobile Communication

UNIT I
WIRELESS COMMUNICATION
FUNDAMENTALS

Introduction – Wireless transmission – Frequencies for radio

transmission – Signals – Antennas – Signal Propagation –
Multiplexing – Modulations – Spread spectrum – MAC – SDMA
– FDMA – TDMA – CDMA – Cellular Wireless Networks.
 INTRODUCTION

Mobility-Moveable

Communication Media-Air

Characteristics:
Fixed and Wired
Mobile and Wired
Fixed and Wireless
Mobile and Wireless

Two Types of Mobility

1.User Mobility - ATM Services

2.Device Portability – Mobile Phone System
 Applications

Vehicles
 transmission of news, road condition, weather, music via DAB
 personal communication using GSM
 position via GPS
 local ad-hoc network with vehicles close-by to prevent
accidents, guidance system, redundancy
 vehicle data (e.g., from busses, high-speed trains) can
be transmitted in advance for maintenance
Emergencies
 early transmission of patient data to the hospital, current status,
first diagnosis
 replacement of a fixed infrastructure in case of earthquakes,
hurricanes, fire etc.
 crisis, war, ...

Mobile Communications: Introduction 1.3.1

 Typical application: road traffic

c
UMTS, WLAN, ho
DAB, GSM, ad
TETRA, ...

Personal Travel Assistant,

DAB, PDA, laptop,
GSM, UMTS, WLAN,
Bluetooth, ...

Mobile Communications: Introduction 1.4.1

 Applications II

Travelling salesmen
 direct access to customer files stored in a central
location
 consistent databases for all agents
 mobile office
Replacement of fixed networks
 remote sensors, e.g., weather, earth activities
 flexibility for trade shows
 LANs in historic buildings
Entertainment, education, ...
 outdoor Internet access
 intelligent travel guide with up-to-date

Buil C
location dependent information

150
t
B
 ad-hoc networks for
multi user games

Mobile Communications: Introduction 1.5.1

 Location dependent services

Location aware services

 what services, e.g., printer, fax, phone, server etc. exist in the
local environment
Follow-on services
 automatic call-forwarding, transmission of the actual workspace
to the current location
Information services
 „push“: e.g., current special offers in the supermarket
 „pull“: e.g., where is the Black Forrest Cherry Cake?
Support services
 caches, intermediate results, state information etc. „follow“
the mobile device through the fixed network
Privacy
 who should gain knowledge about the location

Mobile Communications: Introduction 1.6.1

 Mobile devices
Pager PDA Laptop
• receive only • simple graphical displays • fully functional
• tiny displays • character recognition • standard applications
• simple text • simplified WWW
messages

Sensors,
embedded

controllers

Mobile phones Palmtop

• voice, data • tiny keyboard
• simple text displays • simple versions
of standard applications

performance

Mobile Communications: Introduction 1.7.1

 Simple reference model

Application Application

Transport Transport

Network Network Network Network

Data Link Data Link Data Link Data Link

Physical Physical Physical Physical

Radio Medium

Mobile Communications: Introduction 1.20.1

 Influence of mobile communication to the layer model

Application layer  service location

 new applications, multimedia
 adaptive applications
 congestion and flow control
Transport layer
 quality of service
 addressing, routing,
Network layer device location
 hand-over
 authentication
Data link layer
 media access
 multiplexing
 media access control
 encryption
Physical layer
 modulation
 interference
 attenuation
 frequency

Mobile Communications: Introduction 1.21.1

 Wireless Transmission
 Frequencies for Radio transmission
 Signals
 Antenna
 Signal propagation
 Multiplexing
 Spread spectrum
 Modulation
 Cellular systems

Mobile Communication: Wireless Transmission 2.0.1

 Frequencies for Radio Transmission

twisted coax cable optical transmission

pair

1 Mm 10 km 100 m 1m 10 mm 100 m 1 m
300 Hz 30 kHz 3 MHz 300 MHz 30 GHz 3 THz 300 THz

VLF LF MF VHF UHF SHF EHF infrared

HF visible light UV
UHF = Ultra High Frequency
VLF = Very Low Frequency SHF = Super High Frequency
LF = Low Frequency EHF = Extra High Frequency
MF = Medium Frequency UV = Ultraviolet Light
HF = High Frequency
VHF = Very High
Frequency
Frequency and wave length:
 = c/f
wave length , speed of light c  3x108m/s, frequency
f
Mobile Communication: Wireless Transmission 2.1.1
 Frequencies for mobile communication

 VHF-/UHF-ranges for mobile radio

 simple, small antenna for cars
 deterministic propagation characteristics, reliable connections
 SHF and higher for directed radio links, satellite communication
 small antenna, focussing
 large bandwidth available
 Wireless LANs use frequencies in UHF to SHF spectrum
 some systems planned up to EHF
 limitations due to absorption by water and oxygen
molecules (resonance frequencies)
 weather dependent fading, signal loss caused by heavy rainfall
etc.

Mobile Communication: Wireless Transmission 2.2.1

 Signals

 physical representation of data

 function of time and location
 signal parameters: parameters representing the value of data
 classification
 continuous time/discrete time
 continuous values/discrete values
 analog signal = continuous time and continuous values
 digital signal = discrete time and discrete values
 signal parameters of periodic signals:
period T, frequency f=1/T, amplitude A, phase shift 
 sine wave as special periodic signal for a carrier:

s(t) = At sin(2  ft t + t)

Mobile Communication: Wireless Transmission 2.4.1

 Fourier representation of periodic signals

 
1
g(t)  c   an sin(2 pnft)   bn cos(2pnft)
2 n n1
1

1 1

0 0
t t
ideal periodic real composition
signal (based on harmonics)

Mobile Communication: Wireless Transmission 2.5.1

 Signals
 Different representations of signals
 amplitude (amplitude domain)
 frequency spectrum (frequency domain)
 phase state diagram (amplitude M and phase  in polar coordinates)
Q = M sin 
A [V] A [V]

t[s] 
I= M cos 

 f [Hz]
 Composed signals transferred into frequency domain using Fourier
transformation
 Digital signals need
 infinite frequencies for perfect transmission
 modulation with a carrier frequency for transmission (analog signal!)

Mobile Communication: Wireless Transmission 2.6.1

 Antennas: isotropic radiator
 Radiation and reception of electromagnetic waves, coupling of
wires to space for radio transmission
 Isotropic radiator: equal radiation in all directions (three
dimensional) - only a theoretical reference antenna
 Real antennas always have directive effects (vertically and/or
horizontally)
 Radiation pattern: measurement of radiation around an
antenna

z
y z

y x ideal
x isotropic
radiator

Mobile Communication: Wireless Transmission 2.7.1

 Antennas: simple dipoles

 Real antennas are not isotropic radiators but, e.g., dipoles with
lengths /4 on car roofs or /2 as Hertzian dipole
 shape of antenna proportional to wavelength

/4 /2

 Example: Radiation pattern of a simple Hertzian dipole

y y z

simple
x z x dipole
side view (xy-plane) side view (yz-plane) top view (xz-plane)

 Gain: maximum power in the direction of the main lobe

compared to the power of an isotropic radiator (with the same
average power)

Mobile Communication: Wireless Transmission

2.8.1
 Antennas: directed and sectorized

Often used for microwave connections or base stations for mobile

phones (e.g., radio coverage of a valley)

y y z

directed
x z x antenna

side view (xy-plane) side view (yz-plane) top view (xz-plane)

z
z

x
sectorized
x antenna

top view, 3 sector top view, 6 sector

Mobile Communication: Wireless Transmission 2.9.1

 Antennas: diversity

 Grouping of 2 or more antennas

 multi-element antenna arrays
 Antenna diversity
 switched diversity, selection diversity
 receiver chooses antenna with largest output
 diversity combining
 combine output power to produce gain
 cophasing needed to avoid cancellation

/2 /2
/4 /2 /4 /2

+ +

ground plane

Mobile Communication: Wireless Transmission 2.10.1

 Signal propagation

Transmission range
 communication possible
 low error rate
Detection range
 detection of the signal
possible
 sender
no communication
possible
transmission
Interference range
 distance
signal may not be detection
detected
 signal adds to the interference
background noise

Mobile Communication: Wireless Transmission 2.11.1

 Signal propagation

Propagation in free space always like light (straight line)

Receiving power proportional to 1/d²
(d = distance between sender and receiver)
Receiving power additionally influenced by
 fading (frequency dependent)
 shadowing
 reflection at large obstacles
 scattering at small obstacles
 diffraction at edges

shadowing reflection scattering diffraction

Mobile Communication: Wireless Transmission 2.12.1

 Multipath propagation

Signal can take many different paths between sender and receiver
due to reflection, scattering, diffraction

signal at sender
signal at receiver
Time dispersion: signal is dispersed over time
 interference with “neighbor” symbols, Inter Symbol
Interference (ISI)
The signal reaches a receiver directly and phase shifted
 distorted signal depending on the phases of the different
parts

Mobile Communication: Wireless Transmission 2.13.1

 Effects of mobility

Channel characteristics change over time and location

 signal paths change
 different delay variations of different signal parts
 different phases of signal parts
 quick changes in the power received (short term fading)

Additional changes in power long term

fading
 distance to sender
 obstacles further away
 slow changes in the average power
received (long term fading)
t
short term fading

Mobile Communication: Wireless Transmission 2.14.1

 Multiplexing
channels ki
Multiplexing in 4 dimensions
k1 k2 k3 k4 k5 k6
 space (si)
 time (t)
c
 frequency (f)
t c
 code (c)
t
s1
Goal: multiple use f
of a shared medium s2
f
c
Important: guard spaces needed! t

s3
f

Mobile Communication: Wireless Transmission 2.15.1

 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
 guard spaces
t

Mobile Communication: Wireless Transmission 2.16.1

 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

Mobile Communication: Wireless Transmission 2.17.1

 Time and frequency multiplex

Combination of both methods

A channel gets a certain frequency band for a certain amount of
time
Example: GSM
Advantages:
 better
protectio
tapping k1 k2 k3 k4 k5
 n against against frequency
protection k6
selective interference c
 higher data rates compared to f
code multiplex
but: precise coordination
required

Mobile Communication: Wireless Transmission 2.18.1

 Code multiplex

Each channel has a unique code

k1 k2 k3 k4 k5 k6

All channels use the same spectrum at

the same time c
Advantages:
 bandwidth efficient
 no coordination and synchronization
necessary
 good protection against interference f
and tapping
Disadvantages:
 lower user data rates
 more complex signal regeneration
Implemented using spread spectrum t
technology

Mobile Communication: Wireless Transmission 2.19.1

 Modulation

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

Mobile Communication: Wireless Transmission 20.1

 Modulation and demodulation

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

radio
carrier

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

radio
carrier

Mobile Communication: Wireless Transmission 2.21.1

 Digital modulation

Modulation of digital signals known as Shift Keying

1 0 1
 Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK):
 very simple
 low bandwidth requirements t
 very susceptible to interference
1 0 1
 Frequency Shift Keying (FSK):
 needs larger bandwidth
t

 Phase Shift Keying (PSK): 1 0 1

 more complex
 robust against interference
t

Mobile Communication: Wireless Transmission 2.22.1

 Advanced Frequency Shift Keying
 bandwidth needed for FSK depends on the distance between
the carrier frequencies
 special pre-computation avoids sudden phase shifts
 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

 even higher bandwidth efficiency using a Gaussian low-pass

filter  GMSK (Gaussian MSK), used in GSM

Mobile Communication: Wireless Transmission 2.23.1

 Example of MSK
1 1 0 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!

Mobile Communication: Wireless Transmission 2.24.1

 Advanced Phase Shift Keying
BPSK (Binary Phase Shift Keying): Q
 bit value 0: sine wave
 bit value 1: inverted sine wave I
 1 0
very simple PSK
 low spectral efficiency
 10 Q 11
robust, used e.g. in satellite systems
QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying):
 I
2 bits coded as one symbol
 symbol determines shift of sine wave
 needs less bandwidth compared to 00 01
BPSK A
 more complex
Often also transmission of relative, not
t
absolute phase shift: DQPSK -
Differential QPSK (IS-136, PACS, PHS)
11 10 00 01

Mobile Communication: Wireless Transmission 2.25.1

 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation

Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM): combines amplitude and

phase modulation
 it is possible to code n bits using one symbol
 2n discrete levels, n=2 identical to QPSK
 bit error rate increases with n, but less errors compared to
comparable PSK schemes

Q 0010 0001 Example: 16-QAM (4 bits = 1 symbol)

0011 Symbols 0011 and 0001 have the same phase,
0000
but different amplitude. 0000 and 1000 have
I different phase, but same amplitude.
1000  used in standard 9600 bit/s modems

Mobile Communication: Wireless Transmission 2.26.1

 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
protection against narrowband interference
Side effects:
 coexistence of several signals without dynamic coordination
 tap-proof
Alternatives: Direct Sequence, Frequency Hopping

Mobile Communication: Wireless Transmission 2.27.1

 Effects of spreading and interference

P P
user signal
broadband interference
i) ii) narrowband interference
f f
sender
P P P

iii) iv) v)
f f f
receiver

Mobile Communication: Wireless Transmission 2.28.1

 Spreading and frequency selective fading

channel
quality

1 2 5 6
narrowband channels
3
4
frequency
narrow band guard space
signal

channel
quality
2
2 spread spectrum channels
2
2
2
1

spread frequency
spectrum

Mobile Communication: Wireless Transmission 2.29.1

 DSSS (Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum) I

XOR of the signal with pseudo-random number (chipping sequence)

 many chips per bit (e.g., 128) result in higher bandwidth of the signal
Advantages
 reduces frequency selective tb
fading
user data
 in cellular networks
 0 1 XOR
base stations can use the
same frequency range tc
 several base stations can chipping
detect and recover the signal sequence
 soft handover 01101010110101 =

Disadvantages resulting
 signal
precise power control
necessary 01101011001010

tb: bit period

tc: chip period

Mobile Communication: Wireless Transmission 2.30.1

 DSSS (Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum) II

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

Mobile Communication: Wireless Transmission 2.31.1

 FHSS (Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum) I

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
Mobile Communication: Wireless Transmission 2.32.1
 FHSS (Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum) II

tb

user data

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

f3 fast
f2 hopping
(3
f
1 hops/bit
t )

tb: bit period td: dwell time

Mobile Communication: Wireless Transmission 2.33.1

 FHSS (Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum) III

narrowband spread
signal transmit
user data signal
modulator modulator

frequency hopping
synthesizer sequence
transmitter

narrowband
received signal
signal data
demodulator demodulator

hopping frequency
sequence synthesizer
receiver

Mobile Communication: Wireless Transmission 2.34.1

 Cell structure

Implements space division multiplex: base station covers a certain

transmission area (cell)
Mobile stations communicate only via the base station

Advantages of cell structures:

 higher capacity, higher number of users
 less transmission power needed
 more robust, decentralized
 base station deals with interference, transmission area etc. locally
Problems:
 fixed network needed for the base stations
 handover (changing from one cell to another) necessary
 interference with other cells
Cell sizes from some 100 m in cities to, e.g., 35 km on the country
side (GSM) - even less for higher frequencies
Mobile Communication: Wireless Transmission 2.35.1
 Frequency planning I

Frequency reuse only with a certain distance between the base

stations
Standard model using 7 frequencies:
f3
f5 f2
f4

f6

f5 f1

f4
f3 f7 f1
f2

Fixed frequency
assignment:
 certain frequencies are
assigned to a certain cell
 problem: different traffic
load in different cells
Dynamic frequency assignment:
 Frequency planning II

f3 f3 f3
f2 f2
f1 f1 f1
f3 f3 3 cell cluster
f2 f2 f2
f1 f1
f3 f3 f3
f2 f3 f7
f5 f2
f4 6 f5
7 cell cluster f1 f4
f3 f7 f1
f2 f3
f6 f5 f2
f2 f2 f2
f f f
1 f3
h
h 2 1 f3
h
h2 1 3 cell cluster
g2 1 h 3 g2 1 h 3 g2
gf13
g3
g1
g3 g1 g with 3 sector antennas
3

Mobile Communication: Wireless Transmission 2.37.1

 Media Access

 Motivation  Collision avoidance, MACA

 SDMA, FDMA, TDMA  Polling
 Aloha  CDMA
 Reservation schemes  SAMA
 Comparison

Mobile Communications: Media Access 3.0.1

 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 (original 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”

Mobile Communications: Media Access 3.1.1

 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

A B C
Exposed terminals
 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

Mobile Communications: Media Access

 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

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

drown out terminal A already on the physical layer
Also
Mobile severe problem
Communications: for CDMA-networks - precise power control
Media Access 3.3.1
needed!
 Access methods SDMA/FDMA/TDMA

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

The multiplexing schemes presented in chapter 2 are now used to

control medium access!

Mobile Communications: Media Access 3.4.1

 FDD/FDMA - general scheme, example GSM

f
960 MHz 124

935.2 MHz 1 200 kHz

20 MHz
915 MHz 124

1
890.2 MHz
t

Mobile Communications: Media Access 3.5.1

 TDD/TDMA - general scheme, example DECT

417 µs

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

Mobile Communications: Media Access 3.6.1

 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

Mobile Communications: Media Access 3.7.1

 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

Mobile Communications: Media Access 3.8.1

 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

Mobile Communications: Media Access 3.9.1

 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
frame 1 A C D A B A F
ACDABA-F
frame 2 A C A B A
AC-ABAF-
frame 3 A B A F collision at
A---BAFD reservation
frame4 A B A F D attempts
ACEEBAFD
frame 5 A C E E B A F D
t

Mobile Communications: Media Access 3.10.1

 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

Mobile Communications: Media Access 3.11.1

 MACA - collision avoidance

MACA (Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance) uses short

signaling packets for collision avoidance
 RTS (request to send): a sender request the right to send from
a receiver with a short RTS packet before it sends a data
packet
 CTS (clear to send): the receiver grants the right to send as
soon as it is ready to receive
Signaling packets contain
 sender address
 receiver address
 packet size

Variants of this method can be found in IEEE802.11 as DFWMAC

(Distributed Foundation Wireless MAC)

Mobile Communications: Media Access 3.12.1

 MACA examples

MACA avoids the problem of hidden terminals

 A and C want to
send to B
 A sends RTS first RTS
 C waits after receiving
CTS from B CTS CTS
A B C

MACA avoids the problem of exposed terminals

 B wants to send to A, C
to another terminal
 now C does not have RTS RTS
to wait for it cannot
receive CTS from A CTS
A B C

Mobile Communications: Media Access 3.13.1

 MACA variant: DFWMAC in IEEE802.11
sender receiver

idle idle
packet ready to send; RTS
data;
ACK
RxBusy time-out;
wait for the RTS RTS;
time-out  CTS
ACK right to send data; NAK
time-out 
NAK;
RTS CTS; data
wait for
wait for ACK data

ACK: positive acknowledgement RxBusy: receiver busy RTS; RxBusy

NAK: negative acknowledgement

Mobile Communications: Media Access 3.14.1

 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

Mobile Communications: Media Access 3.15.1

 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)

Mobile Communications: Media Access 3.16.1

 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 (e.g. 232) compared to frequency space
 interferences (e.g. white noise) is not coded
 forward error correction and encryption can be easily integrated

Mobile Communications: Media Access

3.17.1
 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“
Mobile Communications: Media Access 3.18.1
 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  key 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0

signal A As

Real systems use much longer keys resulting in a larger distance

between single code words in code space.

Mobile Communications: Media Access 3.19.1

 CDMA on signal level II

signal A As

1 0 0 Bd
data B

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
 key
Bs
signa
lB

As + Bs

Mobile Communications: Media Access 3.20.1

 CDMA on signal level III
data A 1 0 1 Ad

As + Bs

Ak

(As + Bs)
*
Ak

inte
grat
or 0 1 0
out
put
Mobile Communications: Media Access 3.21.1
co
 CDMA on signal level IV
data B 1 0 0 Bd

As + Bs

Bk

(As + Bs)
*
Bk

inte
grat
or 0 1 1
out
put
Mobile Communications: Media Access 3.22.1
co
 CDMA on signal level V

As + Bs

wrong
key K

(As + Bs)
*K

integrator
output
comparator
output (1) (1) ?

Mobile Communications: Media Access 3.23.1

 SAMA - Spread Aloha Multiple Access

Aloha has only a very low efficiency, CDMA needs complex

receivers to be able to receive different senders with individual
codes at the same time
Idea: use spread spectrum with only one single code (chipping
sequence) for spreading for all senders accessing according to
aloha collision

sender A 1 0 1 narrow
sender B 0 1 1 band
send for a
shorter period
with higher power
spread the signal e.g. using the chipping sequence 110101 („CDMA without CD“)

Problem: find a chipping sequence with good characteristics

Mobile Communications: Media Access 3.24.1

 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
typically fixed needed (multipath frequencies are a more complicated power
advantages 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

Mobile Communications: Media Access 3.25.1