PERSONAL COMMUNICATION

SYSTEMS: BASIC PRINCIPLES

(PART I)
Ian F. Akyildiz
Broadband & Wireless Networking Laboratory
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology
Tel: 404-894-5141; Fax: 404-894-7883
Email: ian@ece.gatech.edu
Web: http://www.ece.gatech.edu/research/labs/bwn

Overview of Wireless Networks:

Introduction

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Overview of Wireless Networks:

Existing Network Infrastructure
Public Switched
Telephone Network
(PSTN): Voice
Internet: Data
Hybrid Fiber Coax
(HFC): Cable TV

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Overview of Wireless Networks:

Market Sectors for Applications
Four segments divided into two classes: voice-oriented
and data-oriented, further divided into local and widearea markets
Voice:
Local: low-power, low-mobility devices with higher
QoS cordless phones, Personal Communication
Services (PCS)
Wide area: high-power, comprehensive coverage, low
QoS - cellular mobile telephone service
Data:
Broadband Local and ad hoc: WLANs and WPANs
(WPAN-Wireless Personal Area Network)
Wide area: Internet access for mobile users
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Overview of Wireless Networks:

Evolution of Voice-Oriented Services
Year

Event

Early 1970s

First generation of mobile radio at Bell Labs

Late 1970s

First generation of cordless phones

1982

First generation Nordic analog NMT

1983

Deployment of US AMPS

1988

Initiation of GSM development (new digital TDMA)

1991

Deployment of GSM

1993

Initiation of IS-95 standard for CDMA

1995

PCS band auction by FCC

1998

3G standardization started

FDMA Frequency Division Multiple Access

NMT Nordic Mobile Telephony
AMPS Advanced Mobile Phone System
GSM Global System for Mobile
Communication
TDMA Time Division Multiple Access

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IS-95 Interim Standard 95

CDMA Code Division Multiple Access
PCS Personal Communication System
FCC Federal Communication Commission

Overview of Wireless Networks:

Evolution of Data-Oriented Services
Year

Event

1979

Diffused infrared (IBM Rueschlikon Lab - Switzerland

Early 1980s

Wireless modem (Data Radio)

1990

IEEE 802.11 for Wireless LANs standards

1990

Announcement of Wireless LAN products

1992

HIPERLAN in Europe

1993

CDPD (IBM and 9 operating companies)

1996

Wireless ATM Forum started

1997

U-NII bands released, IEEE 802.11 completed, GPRS

started

1998

IEEE 802.11b and Bluetooth announcement

1999
IEEE 802.11a/HIPERLAN-2 started
HIPERLAN High Performance Radio LAN
CDPD Cellular Digital Packet Data
U-NII Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure
GPRS General Packet Radio Service

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Overview of Wireless Networks:

Different Generations
1G Wireless Systems: Analog systems

Use two separate frequency bands for forward

(base station to mobile) and reverse (mobile to base
station) links: Frequency Division Duplex (FDD)
AMPS: United States (also Australia, southeast
Asia, Africa)
TACS: EU (later, bands were allocated to GSM)
NMT-900: EU (also in Africa and southeast Asia)
Typical allocated overall band was 25 MHz in each
direction; dominant spectra of operation was 800
and 900 MHz bands.

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AMPS Advanced Mobile Phone System

TACS Total Access Communication System
NMT Nordic Mobile Telephony

Overview of Wireless Networks:

Different Generations
2G Wireless Systems: Four sectors
Digital cellular

GSM (EU/Asia): TDMA

IS-54 (US): TDMA
IS-95 (US/Asia): CDMA

PCS residential applications

CT-2 (EU,CA): TDMA/TDD
DECT(EU):TDMA/TDD
PACS (US): TDMA/FDD

CT-2 Cordless Telephone 2

DECT Digital Enhanced Cordless Telephone
PACS Personal Access Communication System

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Overview of Wireless Networks:

Different Generations
2G Wireless Systems: Four sectors (contd)
Mobile data

CDPD shares AMPS bands and site infrastructure;

GPRS shares GSMs radio system - data rates suitable for
Internet

WLAN Unlicensed bands, free of charge and

rigorous regulations: very attractive!

IEEE 802.11 and IEEE 802.11b use DSSS physical layer;

HIPERLAN/1 uses GMSK;
IEEE 802.11a and HIPERLAN/2 use OFDM: next generation

CDPD Cellular Digital Packet Data

GPRS General Packet Radio Service
DSSS Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum
GMSK Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying
OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

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Overview of Wireless Networks:

Different Generations
3G and Beyond
Purpose: develop an international standard that
combines and gradually replaces 2G digital cellular,
PCS, and mobile data services, at the same time
increasing the quality of voice, capacity of the
network, and data rate of the mobile data
services.
Radio transmission technology of choice: W-CDMA
3G was envisioned to provide multimedia services to
users everywhere

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Overview of Wireless Networks:

Different Generations
3G and Beyond
WLANs provide broadband services in hot spots
WPANs connect personal devices together: laptop,
cellular phone, headset,speakers, printers
WLAN and WPAN are the future of broadband and
ad hoc wireless networks
WPANs first standard: bluetooth lower rates than WLAN
but uses a voice-oriented wireless access method for
integration of voice and data services

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Overview of Wireless Networks:

Different Generations

Relative coverage, mobility, and data rates of generations of cellular systems

and local broadband and ad hoc networks.
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Operation of Wireless Networks

Getting familiar with terms:

MS/MT: Mobile Station/Mobile Terminal

BS: Base Station
MSC: Mobile Switching Center
HLR: Home Location Register (database)
VLR: Visitor Location Register (database)

Cellular Network Architecture

Mobility Management
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Cellular Network Architecture

Mobile
Switching
Center

Location
Register
(Database)
MSC

Radio
Network
Base Station
Controller

Backbone
Wireline Network
Mobile
Terminal
Base Station
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Cell

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BASIC ARCHITECTURE
Home Location Register
(HLR)

BACKBONE TELEPHONE NETWORK

Visitor Location Register
(VLR)
Mobile Switching Center
(MSC)

MSC
VLR

Mobile Terminal
(MT)
Local Signaling
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Long Distance Signaling

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Cellular Concept
A CELL is the radio coverage area by a Base Station (BS).
The most important factor is the SIZE and the SHAPE of a
CELL.
Ideally, the area covered a by a cell could be represented by a
circular cell with a radius R from the center of a BS.
Many factors may cause reflections and refractions of the
signals, e.g., elevation of the terrain, presence of a hill or a
valley or a tall building and presence in the surrounding area.
The actual shape of the cell is determined by the received signal
strength.
Thus, the coverage area may be a little distorted.
We need an appropriate model of a cell for the analysis and
evaluation.
Many posible models: HEXAGON, SQUARE, EQUILATERAL
TRIANGLE.
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Cell Shape
R

Cell
R

(a) Ideal Cell (b) Actual Cell

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(c) Different Cell Models

17

Size and Capacity of a Cell per Unit of Area and

Impact of the Cell Shape on System Characteristics

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Cellular Concept Example

Consider a high-power
transmitter that can support
35 voice channels over an area
of 100 km2 with the available
spectrum
If 7 lower power transmitters
are used so that they support
30% of the channels over an
area of 14.3 km2 each.
Then a total 7*30% * 35 = 80
channels are available instead
of 35.

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2
3
1

7
6

4
5

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Cellular Concept
If two cells are far away from enough that
the same set of frequencies can be used in
both cells, it is called frequency reuse.
With frequency reuse, a large area can be
divided into small areas, each uses a subset of
frequencies and covers a small area.
With frequency reuse, the system capacity can
be expanded without employing high power
transmitters.
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Capacity Expansion by
Frequency Reuse
Same frequency band or channel used in
a cell can be REUSED in another cell as
long as the cells are far apart and the
signal strength do not interfere with
each other.
This enhances the available bandwidth of
each cell.
A group of cells that use a different set of
frequencies in each cell is called a cell cluster.
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NUMBER OF CELLS IN A
CLUSTER

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CELL CLUSTER

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FREQUENCY REUSE
Example: A typical cluster of 7 such cells and 4 such

F7
clusters with no overlapping
area
F7
F2
F6
F1
F2
F6
F5
F3
|------ F1
F4
F5
F
3
|
F4
F7
|D
F7
F2
F6
F1
|
F2
F6
F5
F3
|---------- F1
F4
F5
F3
F4
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FREQUENCY REUSE DISTANCE D

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RULE to Determine the Nearest CoChannel Neighbors

Determining the Cluster Sizej
To find nearest co-channel neighbors
of a particular cell

Step 1: Move i cells along any

chain of hexagons;
Step 2: Turn 60 degrees
counterclockwise and move j
cells.
i and j measure the number
of nearest neighbors between
co-channel cells
The cluster size, N,
N = i2+ij+j2

If i =2 and j = 0, then N = 4
If i = 2 and j = 1, then N =7
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1
2
1

3
4
3

2
1
2

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RULE to Determine the Nearest

Co-Channel Neighbors Determining the
Cluster Size

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Frequency Reuse
The distance between 2 cells using the same
channel is known as the REUSE DISTANCE D.
There is a close relationship between D, R
(radius of each cell) and N (the number of
cells in a cluster)
D = (sqrt 3N) . R
The REUSE FACTOR is then
D/R = sqrt (3N)
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Frequency Reuse
Let N be the cluster size in terms of
number of cells within it and K be the
total number of available channels without
frequency reuse.
N cells in the cluster would then utilize all
K available channels.
Each cell in the cluster then uses 1/N-th
of the total available channels.
N is also referred as the frequency reuse
factor of the cellular system.
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Capacity Expansion by
Frequency Reuse
Assume each cell is allocated J channels (J<=K). If
the K channels are divided among the N cells into
unique and disjoint channel groups, each with J
channels, then K = J N
The N cells in a cluster use the complete set of
available frequencies.
The cluster can be replicated many times.
Let M be the number of replicated clusters and C be
the total number of channels in the entire system with
frequency reuse, then C is the system capacity and
computed by
C = M J N
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Cellular System Capacity

Example
Suppose there are 1001 radio channels, and each cell is A

cell
2

km2 and the entire system covers an area of Asys = 2100km .

1.
2.
3.
4.

= 6

Calculate the system capacity if the cluster size is 7.

How many times would the cluster of size 4 have to be replicated in order
to approximately cover the entire cellular area?
Calculate the system capacity if the cluster size is 4.
Does decreasing the cluster size increase the system capacity?

Solution:

1. J=K/N=143, Acluster=N*6=42km2, M=2100/42=50, C=MJN=50,050 chs.

2. N=4, Ac=4*6=24km2, M=2100/24=87.
3. N=4, J = 1001/4 = 250 chs/cell. C = 87 * 250 * 4 = 87,000 chs.
4.

Decrease in N from 7 to 4 increase in C from 50,050 to 87,000.

Decreasing the cluster size increases system capacity. So the answer is YES!
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Geometry of Hexagonal Cells (1)

How to determine the DISTANCE
between the nearest co-channel cells ?

Planning for Co-channel cells

D is the distance to the center of the nearest co-channel cell
R is the radius of a cell

j
D
3R

30o
3R

0
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Geometry of Hexagonal Cells

(2)
Let D be the actual distance between two centers of adjacent co-channel cells
where D=

3R

Let Dnorm be the distance from the center of a candidate cell to the center of a
nearest co-channel cell, normalized with respect to the distance between the
centers of two adjacent cells,
.
Note that the normalized distance between two adjacent cells either with
(i=1,j=0) or (i=0,j=1) is unity.
3R

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Geometry of Hexagonal Cells

(3)
Let D be the actual distance between the
centers of two adjacent co-channel cells. D is
a function of Dnorm and R.
From the2 geometry
we
have
2
2
o
o 2

Dnorm j cos (30 ) (i j sin(30 ))

i 2 j 2 ij
From

N and Dnorm equations

Dnorm N

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Geometry of Hexagonal Cells

(4)
With the actual distance between the centers of two
adjacent hexagonal cells, the actual distance between the center
of the candidate cell and the center of a nearest co-channel is
then

D Dnorm 3R 3N R

For

hexagonal cells there are 6 nearest co-channel neighbors to

each cell.
Co-channel cells are located in tiers.
In general, a candidate cell is surrounded by 6k cells in tier k.
For cells with the same size the co-channel cells in each tier lie on
the boundary of the hexagon that chains all the co-channel cells in
that tier.
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Geometry of Hexagonal Cells

(5)

As D is the radius between two nearest

co-channel cells, the radius of the hexagon chaining
the co-channel cells in the k-th tier is given by k.D.

For the frequency reuse pattern with i=2 and j=1 so

that N=7, the first two tiers of co-channel cells are
given in Figure.

It can be readily observed from Figure that the radius of

the first tier is D and the radius of the second tier is 2.D.
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Number of Cells in A
Cluster
A candidate cell has 6 nearest cochannel cells. Each of them in turn has 6
neighboring co-channel cells. So we can
have a large hexagon.
This large hexagon has radius equal to D
which is also the co-channel cell
separation.
The area of a hexagon is proportional to
the square of its radius, (let =2.598),

ASmall R 2
AL arg e D 2 [3(i 2 ij j 2 ) R 2 ]
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Number of Cells in A
Cluster
The number of cells in the large hexagon is then
AL arg e
ASmall

3(i 2 ij j 2 ) R 2

In general the large hexagon encloses the center cluster of N cells

plus 1/3 the number of the cells associated with 6 other
peripheral large hexagons.
Hence, the total number of cells enclosed by the large hexagon is

N 6( 13 N ) 3N
Finally
N (i 2 ij j 2 )
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Geometry of Hexagonal Cells (6)

We assume the size of all the cells is roughly the same, as long as the cell size is fixed
co-channel interference will be independent of transmitted power of each cell.
The co-channel interference will become a function of q where q = D/R = sqrt (3N).
q is the CO-CHANNEL REUSE RATIO and is related to the cluster size.
A small value of q provides larger capacity since N is small.
For large q, the transmission quality is better, smaller level of co-channel interference.
By increasing the ratio of D/R spatial separation between co-channel cells relative to the
coverage distance of a cell is increased.Thus, interference is reduced from improved
isolation of RF energy from the nmber of cells per cluster N co-channel cells.

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Geometry of Hexagonal Cells (7)

Furthermore, D (distance to the center of the nearest
cochannel cell) is a function of NI and S/I in which
NI is the number of co-channel interfering
cells in the first tier and S/I = received signal to
interference ratio at the desired mobile receiver.

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Frequency Reuse
Ratio
The frequency reuse ratio, q, is defined as
q = D/R
which is also referred to as the co-channel
reuse ratio.
Also q = sqrt(3N)
Tradeoff
q increases with N.
A smaller value of N has the effect of
increasing the capacity of the cellular system
and increasing co-channel interference
Tradeoff between q and N

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Interference
MAJOR LIMITING FACTOR for Cellular System performance is the INTERFERENCE
Implications:
CROSS TALK
Missed and Blocked Calls.
SOURCES OF INTERFERENCE?
Another mobile in the same cell
A call in progress in neighboring cell.
Other base stations operating in the same frequency band
Non-cellular systems leaking energy into cellular frequency band

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Interference

1. CO-CHANNEL INTERFERENCE
2. ADJACENT CHANNEL INTERFERENCE

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CO-CHANNEL INTERFERENCE

Frequency Reuse Given coverage area cells using the same set of frequencies co-channel cell!!!
Interference between these cells is called
CO-CHANNEL INTERFERENCE.
(Thermal noise increase SNR and combat it).
However, co-channel interference cannot be overcome just by increasing the carrier power of a transmitter.
Because increase in carrier transmit power increases the
interference.
Reduce co-channel interference
Co-channel cells must be physically separated by a minimum distance to provide sufficient isolation.

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Co-Channel Interference
Intracell Interference: interferences from other mobile
terminals in the same cell.
Duplex systems
Background white noise
Intercell interference: interferences from other cells.
More evident in the downlink than uplink for reception
Can be reduced by using different set of frequencies
Design issue
Frequency reuse
Interference
System capacity
Bottomline: It determines link performance which in turn
dictates the frequency reuse plan and overall capacity of the
system.
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Co-Channel Interference

Cell Site-to-Mobile Interference (Downlink)

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Mobile-to Cell-Site Interferences (Uplink)

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Co-Channel Interference
Base Mobile DOWNLINK
Mobile Base UPLINK
UPLINK All mobiles in 6 cells + central cell assigned
to the same frequency channel
DOWNLINK All base stations in 6 cells and central
cell have the same frequency channel.
DOTTED LINES show the interference of all 6
mobiles (all co-channel) received at central base
station (interference)
Actual signal is from the mobile in the center
cell to its own base station.
(Uplink
Signal Interference ratio)
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Co-Channel Interference
Base Mobile DOWNLINK CASE
From the base stations (from co-channel cells)
interference received by the mobile in the center cell.
Desired signal is from the base to mobile in the center
cell.
Alarge is the area of the hexagonal cells of the large one.
Asmall is the area of each cell.
Alarge/Asmall A number of cells in this each repetitous
pattern (3N).

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Co-Channel Interference
For simplicity, we consider only the average channel
quality as a function of the distance dependent path loss.
Signal-to-Co-channel interference ratio, (S/I), at the
desired mobile receiver which monitors the forward
channel is defined by

S
NI

i 1 from desired base station

S is the desired signal power
Ii interference power caused by the i-th interfering cochannel cell base station.
NI is the number of co-channel interfering cells

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Co-Channel Interference
The desired signal power S from desired base station
is proportional to r-, where r is the distance between
the mobile and the serving base station. is the path
loss component.
The received interference, Ii, between the ith interferer
and the mobile is proportional to (Di)-.
The white background noise is neglected in the
interference-dominant environment.
Assume the transmisson powers from all base stations
are equal, then we have

I
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NI

Di
i 1

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Co-Channel Interference
Consider only the first tier of interfering cells, if
all interfering base stations are equidistant from
the desired base station and if this distance is
equal to the distance D between cell centers, then
the above equation can be simplified to:
(i.e., r=R and assume Di=D and use q=D/R):
S

r
NI

Di

R
( D / R ) q

NI D
NI
NI

i 1

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Co-Channel Interference
Frequency reuse ratio,
1/

q [ N I ( )]
S
I

e.g., NI = 6

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1/

q [6( )]
S
I

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Co-Channel Interference
Example: In AMPS systems;
for =4, S/I = 18dB (i.e., 63.1),
[20 log (S/I) dB]
are acceptable; then (assume N=6)

q = (6 63.1)1/4 4.41.
Thus, the cluster size N should be
(from eq. q=sqrt(3N) N = q2/3 = 6.79 7.

i.e.,A 7-cell reuse pattern is needed for an S/I ratio of 18dB. Based on q=D/R,
we can select D by choosing the cell radius R.

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Co-Channel Interference
An S/I of 18 dB is the measured value
for the accepted voice quality from the
present day cellular mobile receivers.
Sufficient voice quality is provided when
S/I is greater than or equal to 18dB.

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Example:
Co-Channel Interference
If S/I = 15 dB required for satisfactory performance for
forward channel performance of a cellular system.
a) What is the Frequency Reuse Factor?
b) What Cluster Size should be used for maximum capacity?
(Use path loss component of =3 and =4) .

Assume 6 co-channels all of them (same distance from the mobile)

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Example:
Co-Channel Interference

=4
The co-channel reuse ratio is

q=D/R=sqrt(3N)=4.583
S q

16 (4.583) 4 75.3
I NI
a) N= 7 and

Or 18.66 dB greater than the minimum required

level ACCEPT IT!!!

b) N= 7 and =3
S q 1
3

6 ( 4.583) 16.04
I NI

Or 12.05 dB less than the minimum required level

REJECT IT!!!
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Example:
Co-Channel Interference
We need a larger N. Use eq. N =i2+ij+j2
for i=j=2 next possible value is N=12.
q=D/R=sqrt(3.N) = 6 and =3

S q
3
1

6 (6) 36
I NI

Or 15.56 dB N=12 can be used for minimum

requirement, but it decreases the capacity since 12
cell reuse offers a spectrum utilization of 1/12
within each cell.
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Worst Case Co-Channel Interference

i.e., mobile terminal is located at the cell boundary where it

receives the weakest signal from its own cell but is subjected to
strong interference from all all the interfering cells.

We need to modify our assumption, i.e., assume Di=D.

The S/I ratio can be expressed as
S

r
NI

D
i 1

2( D R)

R
2 D 2( D R)

D+R

S
1

I 2(q 1) 4 2q 2(q 1) 4

Used D/R=q and =4.

Where q=4.6 for

normal seven cell reuse pattern.
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D+R

D
D-R

D
D-R
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Example: Worst Case

Cochannel Interference (2)
A cellular system that requires an S/I ratio of 18dB.

(a) If cluster size is 7, what is the worst-case S/I?

(b) Is a frequency reuse factor of 7 acceptable
in terms of co-channel interference?
c) If not, what would be a better choice of
frequency reuse ratio?

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Example: Worst Case

Cochannel Interference (2)
Solution
(a) N=7 q =3 N 4.6
.
If a path loss component of =4, the
worst-case signal- to-interference ratio is
S/I = 54.3 or 17.3 dB.

(b) The value of S/I is below the acceptable

level of 18dB. To ncrease S/I we need to
decrease I,
I.e., Increase the frequency reuse factor,
q=5.20 by using N =9.
The S/I becomes then 95.66 or 19.8dB.
Acceptable

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ADJACENT CHANNEL INTERFERENCE

Interference resulting from signals which are adjacent

in frequency to the desired signal is called
ADJACENT CHANNEL INTERFERENCE.
WHY?
From imperfect receiver filters (which allow nearby frequencies) to leak into the pass-band.
NEAR FAR EFFECT:
Adjacent channel user is transmitting in very close range to a subscribers receiver, while the receiver attempts to receive
base station on the desired channel.
NEAR FAR EFFECT also occurs, when a mobile close to a base station transmits on a channel close to one being used by a
weak mobile.
Base station may have difficulty in discriminating the desired mobile user from the bleedover caused by the close adjace
channel mobile.

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ADJACENT CHANNEL INTERFERENCE

How to reduce?
Careful filtering
Channel assignment no channel assignment which are all adjacent in frequency.
Keeping frequency separation between each channel in a given cell as large as possible.
e.g., in AMPS System there are 395 voice channels which
are divided into 21 subsets each with 19 channels.
In each subset, the closest adjacent channel is 21 channels away.
7-cell reuse -> each cell uses 3 subsets of channels.
3 subsets are assigned such that every channel in the cell is assured of being separated from every other
channel by at least 7 channel spacings.

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Cell Splitting
A method to increase the capacity of a cellular system
by dividing one cell into more smaller cells.
Each smaller cell has its own base station and
accordingly antenna height and transmission power can
be reduced.
Cell splitting reduces the call blocking probability
because the number of channels is increased.
But it increases the handoff rate, i.e., more frequent
crossing of borders between the cells.
We have the formula in calculating path loss: Pr(dBW)
= P0(dBW) - 10 log10(d/d0)
where d0 is the distance from the reference point to
the transmitter, and P0 is the power received at the
reference point.

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Cell Splitting (2)

Let Pt1 and Pt2 be the transmit
power of the large cell BS and
medium cell BS, respectively.
The received power at the edge
of large cell is
Pr1 = P0 - 10 log10(R/d0)
The received power at the edge
of large cell, Pr1 is proportional
to
Pt1 (R)- .
The received power at the edge
of R/2 cell, Pr2 is proportional
to
Pt2 (R/2)- .
With the equal received power,
we have Pt1 (R)- = Pt2 (R/2)- ,
i.e., Pt1/Pt2= 2
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R
R/2

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Example Cell Splitting

Suppose each BS is allocated 60 channels regardless
of the cell size. Find the number of channels
contained in a 3x3 km2 area without cell splitting,
i.e., R= 1km and with cell splitting, R/2 = 0.5km.

The number of cells for R=1km.

1. Each large cell can cover 3.14km2, for 9
km2 approximately need 9/3.14 => 3 cells.
However, 3 hexagon cannot cover a
square of 3x3. A better approximation is 4
cells. So the number of channels is
4x60=240.
2. With small cells, the number of cells is
approximately (1/0.5)2x4 = 16. Then the
number of channels is 16x60=960.
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Cell Sectoring
(Directional
Antennas)

Omni-directional antennas allow transmission of radio signals with equal power strength
in all directions.
Reality is an antenna covers an area of 60 degrees or 120 degrees DIRECTIONAL
ANTENNAS!!!!
Cells served by these antennas are called SECTORED CELLS!!!
Many sectored antennas are mounted a BS tower located at the center of the cell and an
adequate number of antennas is placed to cover the entire 360 degrees of the cell.

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CELL SECTORING
Directional Antennas
(Sectoring)
1

1
2

2
4
3

3
120 DEGREE SECTOR

OMNIDIRECTIONAL

5
4

90 DEGREE SECTOR

1
2
60 DEGREE SECTOR

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Cell Sectoring
(Directional
Antennas)

Advantages of Cell Sectoring:

Borrowing of channels
Coverage of smaller area by each antenna and hence lower power is required in
transmitting radio signals.
Helps to decrease interference between co-channels.
Also the spectrum efficiency of the overall system is enhanced.

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Co-Channel Interference Reduction

with the Use of Directional
Antennas (Cell Sectoring)

The basic form of antennas are

omnidirectional. Directional antennas can
increase the system capacity.

S
( ) omni
I

R
NI

Di

i 1

1
3

1
2
3

If we sectorize the cell with

120o in each sector, the S/I
becomes:
(The number of interferers is reduced from 6 to
2.)

S
q
( )120
I
2

The capacity increase in (S/I)120 vs (S/I)omni is 3.

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Worst-Case Scenario in 120o

Sectoring
Let D be the
distance between
the adjacent cochannel cells.
With the distance
approximation and
use path loss
component , the
signal-to
S
Rratio
interference
is

D+0.7R
1
2
3

( )120
I
D ( D 0.7 R )

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Fixed Channel Assignment

(FCA)
Each cell is allocated a
predetermined set of voice channels.
The BS is the entity that allocates
channels to the requests. If all
channels are used in one cell, it may
borrow a channel from its neighbors
through MSC.
Fast allocation, but may result high
call blocking probabilities.
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Dynamic Channel Assignment

(DCA)
Voice channels are not allocated to
each cell permanently.
When a request is received at the
BS, this BS request a channel from
MSC.
DCA can reduce the call blocking
probability, but it needs real-time
data collection and signaling
transmission between BS and MSC.
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Call Admission Control

CAC is used to avoid congestions over the radio links
and to ensure the QoS requirements of ongoing
services.
Quality of service (QoS)
Packet-level factors
Packet loss rate, packet delay, packet delay
variation, and throughput rate.
Grade of service (GoS)
Call-level factors
New call blocking probability, handoff call dropping
probability, connection forced termination
probability.
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CAC Procedure
Determine the amount of available channels, i.e., the number
of channels for accepting new and handoff requests.
When the N-th request arrives, i.e., there are (N-1) ongoing
services.
If there are enough resources to admit the N-th request,
then the new request is admitted.
Otherwise, it will be denied.
In order to maintain the continuity of a handoff call, handoff
calls are given higher priority than the new call requests.
The prioritized call admission is implemented by reserving
channels for handoff calls. This method is referred to as
guard channels.
Fixed reservation and dynamic reservation.
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Cell Capacity
The average number of mobiles requesting service (average
call arrival rate):
The average length of time a mobile requires service (the
average holding time): T
The offered traffic load: A = T
e.g., in a cell with 100 mobiles, on an average, if 30
requests are generated during an hour, with average
holding time T=360 seconds, then the arrival rate
=30/3600 requests/sec.
A servicing channel that is kept busy for an hour is
quantitatively defined as one Erlang.
Hence, the offered traffic load (A) by Erlang is then

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A

3 Erlangs
3600 Sec call

75

Call Blocking
How likely a new user can get a connection established
successfully? Admission control of new calls.
It is measured by the probability of call blocking,
which is a quality of service (QoS) factor, a.k.a.,
(GoS) factor.
Assume we have a total number of C channels in a
radio cell.
If the number of active users during any period of
time is C, then the call blocking probability is 1.
If and only if the number of ongoing calls is less than
C, the probability of call blocking will be less than 1.
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Erlang B
Probability of an arriving call being blocked Prob that (Blocked Calls
Cleared; Lost)) is

AC
Pr ob[ Blocking ] Pr ob[Cell _ Losses ) Pr ob A, C

C!

1
,
k
C
A
where C is the number of channels in a cell.

!
k 0 k
Prob(A,C) is also called blocking probability, probability of loss,
or
probability of rejection.

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Erlang C
Probability of an arriving call being delayed, i.e.,
probability that no trunk (server=channel) is
available for an arriving call in a system with C
channels and the call is delayed, is

Pr[ delay 0] Pr ob A, C

AC
C

A C !(1 CA )

C 1

k 0

Ak
k!

where Prob(A, C) is the probability of an arriving

call being delayed with load A and C channels.
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SEMANTICS
Prob that calls are lost..
GOS for telephone calls (realstic values 10^{-2} 10^{-3}
Physical Interpretation-> Ratio of calls rejected to the total number
of calls.
What can we do with these Erlang formulas?
a) Given a fixed offered traffic A in Erlangs and a fixed device
capacity C, then find the prob of blocking
b) Determine the offered traffic in Erlangs that produces a given
blocking probability for a fixed device capacity C.
c)
Determine the required device capacity given the blocking
probability and the offered traffic in Erlangs.

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EXAMPLE
An urban PC area has a population of 2 Million
residents. A cellular company serves this area.
System has 394 cells with 19 channels each.
Find the number of users that can be supported at 2%
blocking if each user averages 2 calls/per hour at an
average call duration of 3 minutes!!

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EXAMPLE
Prob of Blocking 0.02 (GOS)
Number of Channels C=19
Traffic Intensity per User A/mu = 2* 3/60 = 0.1 Erlangs
From Erlang B chart, total carried traffic obtained as 12
ERLANGS.
The number of users which can be supported per cell is
12/0.1 = 120.
There are 39 cells total number of subscribers supported is
120 * 394 = 47280.
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Efficiency (Utilization)
Traffic nonblocked
Efficiency
Capacity
Erlangs portions of nonblocked traffic

Number of trunks (channels )

Example: for previous example, if C=2, A= 3
then
B(2, 3) = 0.6, ------ Blocking probability,
i.e., 60% calls are blocked.
Total number of rerouted calls = 30 x 0.6 = 18
Efficiency = 3(1-0.6)/2 = 0.6
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Summary
The advantage of cellular communications
Capacity extension by frequency reuse
Cell cluster and cochannel cells
Number of cells in a cluster
Frequency reuse ratio
Co-Channel interference
Impact of cluster size
Worst-case cochannel interference
Traffic load and call blocking probability
Average delay
Probability of queuing delay
Cell splitting and sectoring
Fixed channel allocation and dynamic channel allocation

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