THE CELLULAR CONCEPT SYSTEM DESIGN FUNDAMENTALS

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2. THE CELLULAR CONCEPT: SYSTEM DESIGN FUNDAMENTALS

Objectives 1. 2. Understand the concept of cell. Understand the parameters to consider for the cell design.

Distance between cells Co-channel Interference Cell Planning Channels/cell Hand off Channel capacity

Capacity increasement strategy

2.1 Introduction Old mobile communications Cover wide area with a high power antenna: Inefficient frequency usage Bell mobile communication systems in 1970 in N.Y., USA: Service only 12 calls in 16 km 16 km area Cellular: a major breakthrough in solving the problem of spectral congestion and user capacity A single, high power transmitter (large cell) many low power transmitters (small cells): each providing coverage to a small portion of the service area, low interference 2.2 Frequency Reuse Cell frequency reuse concept Frequency reuse or frequency planning: design process of selecting and allocating channel groups for all of the cellular base stations within a system Typical cluster size: 7, 4, or 12 Desired cluster size: As small as possible maximize capacity over a given coverage area

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Cell frequency reuse concept

Cell Cluster: total M clusters B Cell A F B G A F E D F E C G A D E B C D Cell Cluster Size=N=7 Frequency Reuse Factor=1/N=1/7 Given S duplex channels k disjoint channels/cell
S = kN

Footprint C

Total no. of duplex channels: Mk C= = MS N

Method of locating co-channel cells in a cellular system

N = i 2 + ij + j 2 , N = 19

i = 3, j = 2

A A Turn 60 degrees counterclockwise & move j cells

A A

Move i cells along any chain of hexagons A

A A

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Ex. S=33 MHz, Two 25 KHz simplex channels for full duplex voice & control channels (a) Determine the number of channels available per cell if a system uses i. 4-cell reuse: ( 33 M / 50 k ) / 4 165 channels/cell ii. 7-cell reuse: ( 33 M / 50 k ) / 7 94 channels/cell iii. 12-cell reuse: ( 33 M / 50 k ) / 12 55 channels/cell (b) Determine an equitable distribution of control channels & voice channels in each cell if 1 MHz of the allocated spectrum is dedicated to control channels. Assume that each cell only needs a single control channel. No. of voice channels: ((33 M 1M ) / 50 k ) = 640 , control channels: 20 Cell reuse # of control channels/cell # of voice channels/cell 4-cell 1 160 7-cell 1 91 (4 cells) 92 (3 cells) 12-cell 1 53 (8 cells) 54 (4 cells)

2.3 Channel Assignment Strategies (1) Fixed Channel Assignment Fixed Assignment Permanent assignment to all cells Simple, but what happens when there are local demand hotspots? High possibility of blocking (2) Dynamic Channel Assignment Simple Borrowing MSC borrows unused channel from adjacent cell Select cell with lowest number of in-use channels Hybrid Partition channels into those that are reserved for local use only and those that may be borrowed on demand Choose fixed partitioning based on expected traffic load Borrowing with Ordering Adjust reserved/borrowable ratio based on dynamic traffic conditions A call request Serving base station request a voice channel MSC Reducing the blocking increase the trunking capacity Increased role of the MSC Consider co-channel interference Collect real-time data on channel occupancy, traffic distribution, and radio signal

strength indications (RSSI) of all channels

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Received signla level

2.4 Handoff Strategies Handoff strategy has higher priority over the call initialization request. Handoff process A. Monitoring the signal level for a period (BS) to avoid unnecessary handoffs due to Momentary fading Fictitious moving away from the serving station B. Initiate the handoff System designer must specify an optimum signal level at which to initiate a handoff

Level at point A Handoff threshold Minimum acceptable signal to maintain the call (-90dBm~-100dBm) Level at point B (call is terminated) Time Improper handoff situation Level at point B Level at which handoff is made (call properly transferred to BS 2) Proper handoff situation Time

Received signla level

Pr handoff = Pr min. usable +

BS1

BS2

Reasons of the dropped call An excessive delay by the MSC in assigning a handoff Too small for the handoff time Dwell time Handoff methods A. 1st generation (analog cellular) BS: measure the signal strength, determine the relative location of each mobile user Locator receiver: a spare receiver in each BS measure the RSSI of calls in progress within neighboring cells, report RSSI to the MSC MSC: supervisor decide the handoffs Handoff initiation

Pr surrounding BS Pr serving BS + (6 ~ 12 dB) for a certain period

Requires about 10 seconds B. 2
nd

generation systems (digital TDMA): MAHO (mobile assisted handoff)

Mobile station: measure the received power from surrounding BSs, report the results to the serving BS. Handoff initiation

Pr surrounding BS Pr serving BS + (0 ~ 6dB) for a certain period

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Suitable for microcellular environments where handoffs are more frequent. Requires 1~2 seconds (GSM) C. Intersystem handoff A mobile moves from one cellular system to a different cellular system controlled by a different MSC Handoff process for IS-95 1. Active set contains only pilot A The mobile measures pilot B Ec / I 0 and finds it to be greater than T_ADD (paging ch). Mobile sends a pilot strength measurement message (rvs traffic ch.) and moves pilot B from the neighbor set to the candidate set 2. The mobile receives a handoff direction message from cell A. The message contains the PN offset of cell B and the Walsh code of the newly assigned traffic channel. The mobile starts to communicate on a new traffic channel with cell B. 3. The mobile moves pilot B from the candidate set to the active set. After acquiring the forward traffic channel specified in the handoff direction message, the mobile sends a handoff completion message. The active set contains two pilots. 4. The mobile detects that pilot A has now dropped below T_DROP. The mobile starts the drop timer. 5. The drop timer reaches T_TDROP. The mobile sends a pilot strength measurement message. 6. The mobile receives a handoff direction message. The message contains only the PN offset of cell B. 7. The mobile moves pilot A from the active set to the neighbor set, and it sends a handoff completion message.

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AMPS Signalling: Handoff

BS2
H/O Measurement Req, Current SS, SCM, Pwr Lvl H/O Measure Resp, TCH assignment TCH assign Confirm TCH Freq H/O order, SAT, TCH Freq H/O confirmation MS keys on new TCH with SAT H/O OK Release source channel TCH Freq H/O order, SAT, TCH Freq H/O confirmation

MSC
H/O Req, Current SS, SCM, Pwr Lvl

BS1

MS

(1) Prioritizing Handoffs Guard channel concept: a fraction of the total available channels in a cell is reserved exclusively for handoff request Reducing the total carried traffic Offer efficient spectrum utilization with the dynamic channel assignment strategies Queuing of handoff request Delay time & size of the queue is determined from the traffic pattern of the particular service area (2) Practical Handoff Considerations Umbrella cell Large area coverage to high speed users Small area coverage to users traveling at low speeds High speed user: requires so frequent handoffs Mobile speed: evaluate how rapidly the short term average signal strength on the RVC changes over time by the BS or MSC

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Large "umbrella" cell for high speed traffic

Small microcells for low speed traffic

Cell Dragging A practical handoff problem in microcell system When there is a LOS radio path between the subscriber and the BS for a pedestrian user in an urban environment. cell moving Average signal level doesnt decay rapidly > handoff threshold Creates a potential interference & traffic management problem Handoff thresholds and radio coverage parameters must be adjusted New handoff decision parameters Signal strength Co-channel & adjacent channel interference levels Hard handoff Assign different radio channels during a handoff Soft handoff (IS-95 CDMA) Simultaneously evaluating the received signals from a single subscriber at several neighboring BSs MSC decides which version of the users signal is the best at any moment in time RAKE receiver Softer handoff 2.5 Interference & System Capacity Interference: co-channel & adjacent channel interferences Interfering sources Another mobile in the same cell A call progress in a neighboring cell MOBILE COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS DONG-SEOG HAN

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Other base station operating in the same frequency band Any non-cellular system Voice channel: cross talk Control channels: cause to missed & blocked calls (1) Co-channel Interference & System Capacity Co-channel cell & co-channel interference Remedy: co-channel cells must be physically separated by a minimum distance Co-channel reuse ratio:
Q= D = 3N , small Q: large capacity, large Q: good transmission quality R

Co-channel reuse ratio for some values of N

i=1, j=1 i=1, j=2 i=2, j=2 i=1, j=3

S/I (SIR)

Cluster size (N) 3 7 12 13

0 S = S / Ii I i =1

Co-channel reuse ratio (Q) 3 3.58 6 6.24

Average received power Pr at a distance d from the transmitting antenna

d Pr = P0 d 0
n

d , Pr [dBm ] = P0 [dBm ] 10n log d 0

n : the pass loss exponent (2 ~ 4 )

S I

P0 (Di / d0 )
i =1

i0

P0 ( R / d0 ) n
n

Rn

i =1

i0

(D / R )n =
i0

( =

Di n

3N i0

(if Di = D)

Ex. Assume that the six closest cells are close enough to create significant interference and the path loss exponent n = 4 . For the U.S. AMPS (FM, 30 kHz channels), sufficient voice quality is provided when
S / I 18 dB .

S = I

3N i0

) =(
n

3 N 6

10 18/10 N 6.49

(c.f.) CDMA Eb / N 0 = 6dB

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Worst case SIR when the mobile unit is at the cell boundary
A

D+R

D+R/2

R A

D+R

D-R A D-R

D+R/2

S R 4 = I 2(D R ) 4 + 2(D + R / 2 ) 4 + 2(D + R ) 4 1 = 4 4 4 (D + R / 2 ) D+ R (D R ) 2 + 2 + 2 R R R 1 = 2(Q 1) 4 + 2(Q + 0.5 ) 4 + 2(Q + 1) 4

Cluseter size N=7

For N = 7 Q = 4.6 , worst case SIR=17.8dB Increase N=12 for proper performance capacity reduction of 7/12 Ex. Required SIR=15 dB. Find the frequency reuse factor and cluster size for maximum capacity if n = 3 . (Sol) First, consider a 7-cell reuse pattern.
S = I

( (

3N i0

) =(
n

37 6

= 16.04 = 12.05dB 15dB

Search for next possible value of N N = i 2 + ij + j 2 N = 12 S = I 3N i0

) =(
n

3 12 6

= 36 = 15.56 dB 15dB

N = 12 may be possible! , Q = 3N = 6

(2) Adjacent Channel Interference Results from imperfect filters Near-far effect Remedy Careful filtering Channels are allocated such that the frequency separation between channels in a given cell is maximized. Ex. If a mobile is 20 times as close to the BS as another mobile and has energy spill out of its passband, the SIR for the week mobile (before receiver filtering):

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S = (20 ) n , For n = 4 , S / I = 52 dB I

If the IF filter of the BS receiver has a slope of 20dB/octave. A separation of approximately 6 channel BWs is required for 0dB SIR from a close-in adjacent channel user. (3) Power Control for Reducing Interference The control of transmitting power level of the mobile unit by the serving BS. Especially important for CDMA systems 2.6 Trunking & Grade of Service Trunking theory Developed by Erlang, a Danish mathematician Embarked on the study of how a large population could be accommodated by a limited number of servers. 1 Erlang of traffic Average number of simultaneous calls The amount of traffic intensity carried by a channel Total usage during a time interval divided by the time interval. 8:00:01 14 calls, 8:00:02 14 calls, 8:00:03 13 calls, 8:00:04 13 calls, 8:00:05 13 calls, 8:00:06 13 calls, 8:00:07 12 calls, 8:00:08 12 calls, 8:00:09 15 calls, 8:00:10 15 calls for 20 channels
Traffic intensity =

Assume: a BS logs the no. of active calls on a second-by-second basis

(14 calls )(2s ) + (13 calls )(4 s ) + (12calls )(2 s ) + (15 calls )(2 s )

10 sec = 134 calls/10sec = 13.4 Erlangs

0.5 Erlang of traffic: a radio channel is occupied for 30 minutes during an hour carriers Set-up time: the time to allocate a trunked radio channel to a requesting user Blocked call (lost call) Holding time (H sec) Traffic intensity ( A ): average channel occupancy [Erlang] Load: Traffic intensity across the entire trunked radio system [Erlang] GOS (grade of service): a measure of congestion during the busiest hour. Erlang B formula : probability of a call being blocked or Erlang C formula: probability of a call being delayed beyond a certain period Request rate ( sec 1 ): the average number of call requests per unit time for each user. MOBILE COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS DONG-SEOG HAN

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Total offered traffic intensity A[Erlangs] = UAu for a system containing U users Traffic intensity per channel for C channel system: Ac = UAu /C AMPS: designed for 2% blocking (GOS: P.02). The channel allocation for cell sites are designed so that 2 out of 100 calls will be blocked due to channel occupancy during the busiest hour. Types of trunked systems Blocked calls cleared: no queuing for request (Erlang B formula)
Pblocking = A C /C !

Traffic intensity generated by each user: Au = H

(A
C k =0

/ k!

= GOS ,

C: the no. of trunked channels, A[Erlang]: total offered traffic.

Blocked calls delayed: queue is provided to hold calls (Erlang C formula)
P( delay > 0 ) = AC A C 1 A k AC + C! 1 C k =0 k!

Trunking efficiency The number of users which can be offered a particular GOS with a particular configuration of fixed channels Ex. 10 trunked channels at a GOS of 0.01: support 4.46 Erlangs of traffic 2 groups of 5 trunked channels: support 21.36=2.72 Erlangs of traffic Ex. Compute the percentage market penetration of each cellular provider. Population: 2 million, Cellular service providers: SK, LG, Hansol PCS A: 394 cells with 19 channels/cell, B: 98 cells with 57 channels/cell C: 49 cells with 100 channels/cell Erlang B system GOS=2%, =2 calls/hour =2/(3600 sec), H=3 minutes (sol) A: Consider only for a cell. From the Erlang chart:
A = 12.3 Au = (2 / 3600 ) 3 60 = 0.1 U = 12.3 / 0.1 = 123 Total number of users = 123 394 = 48462

B: Consider only for a cell. From the Erlang chart:

A = 45.9 Au = (2 / 3600 ) 3 60 = 0.1 U = 45.9 / 0.1 = 459 Total number of users = 459 98 = 44982

C: Consider only for a cell. From the Erlang chart:

A = 88 Au = (2 / 3600 ) 3 60 = 0.1 U = 88 / 0.1 = 880 Total number of users = 880 49 = 43120

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Ex. KNU village: 1,300 square miles Cellular system of 7 cell reuse pattern (each cell has a radius of 4 miles) GOS=2% Erlang B system Given communication channel: 40 MHz BW, 60 kHz/full duplex channel (a) The number of cells (N C ) in the service area The area of a hexagon cell:
2.5981R 2 = 41.57 sq mi. N C = 1300 / 41.57 = 31 cells

(b) The number of channels per cell

4 M /(60 k 7 ) = 95 channels/cell

(c) Traffic intensity of each cell

A = 83.1 Erlangs

(d) The maximum carried traffic

31 cells 83.1 = 2576.1 Erlangs

(e) The total number of users

2576.1 / 0.03 = 85 ,870 users

(f) The number of mobiles per channel

85 ,870 / 666 = 130 mobiles/channel

(g) The theoretical number of maximum users

95 channels/cell 31 cell = 2945 users

Erlang B Chart

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Erlang C Chart

2.7 Improving Capacity in Cellular Systems (1) Cell Splitting Cell Sizes Decrease with Growth of System Macro-cellular 1 - 30 km Micro-cellular 200 2000 m Pico-cellular 4 - 200 meter The effect of decreasing cell size Increased user capacity Increased number of handovers per call Increased complexity in locating the subscriber Lower power consumption in mobile terminal: Longer talk time, Safer operation Different propagation environment, shorter delay spreads Different cell layout, lower path loss exponent, more interference cells follow street pattern more difficult to predict and plan more flexible, self-organizing system needed (cf. DECT vs. GSM)

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Basestation Antennas

Subdividing a congested cell into smaller cells increase the no. of BSs with reduced antenna height and transmitter power

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Ex

C D G F C E G B F
The original BS A handles the high speed user calls.
Pr (at old cell boundary) Pt 1 R n , Pr (at new cell boundary) Pt 2 ( R / 2 ) n Pt 2 = Pt 1 / 16 in order to fill in the original coverage area with microcells, while

E D B F G B D G C F Base station BS A is assumed to be saturated with traffic E

E D C A

maintaining the S/I requirement. Ex. Assume: 60 channels/BS regardless of cell size, Original cell size: 1km radius, Microcell size: 0.5km radius. Find no. of channels contained a 3 km3 km square centered around A. (i) without the use of microcells: 560=300 channels (ii) when the lettered microcells are used: (5+6)60=660 cells (iii) if all the original BSs are replaced by microcells: (5+12)60=1020 channels (2) Sectoring Keep the cell radius unchanged & reduce the no. of cells decrease the D/R ratio Requires to reduce the relative interference without decreasing the transmit power: use directional antennas rather than omni-directional antennas

1 1 2 3

6 5

1 4

3 Served by different set of channels

120 sectoring

2 3

6 5

1 4

2 3

60 sectoring

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Penalty: increased no. of antennas, decreased trunking efficiency due to channel sectoring, increased no. of handoffs Available channels in the cell must be subdivided & dedicated to a specific antenna. breaks up the available trunked channel pool into several smaller pools Effect of 120 sectorization

5 5 7 5 2 A5 3 4 5 5 1 6 No. of co-channels to cell A: form 6 to 2 S = I 3N i0

4

212 = 18.6dB 6

S 212 = = 23.4dB I 2 Equal to N=12 in normal case Channel improvement = 12/7 = 1.71

Directional antennas substantially cuts down the cochannel interference. Allows the cocells to be more closely spaced. More channels per cell can be used. Higher capacity

Penalty: increased no. of antennas, decreased trunking efficiency due to channel sectoring, increased no. of handoffs Available channels in the cell must be subdivided & dedicated to a specific antenna. breaks up the available trunked channel pool into several smaller pools

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(3) A Novel Microcell Zone Concept A solution of reducing the no. of handoffs caused by sectoring. Each of 3 zone sites are connected to a single BS

Microwave, cable or fiber optic link ZONE SITE ZONE SITE Zone Selector Any BS channel may be assigned to any zone by the BS ZONE SITE
No need to handoff in the same cell Advantage: reduced co-channel interference while maintaining the coverage radius and trunking efficiency

Base Station

D Cell DZ R Zone RZ

For N (D / R = 3 ) = 3 , DZ / R Z = 4.6 S/I 18dB For omni - directional antenna to obtain S/I 18dB N = 7 D / R = 4.6 Capacity increasement = 7/3 = 2.33

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