Cell Site

Equipment
A cell tower (also called a cell site) is a
cellular-enabled mobile device tower
where an antennae and other electronic
communications equipment are placed—
usually on a tower, radio mast, or other
raised structure—to facilitate
communication through a cellular
network.
Base station - it allows to have
uninterrupted voice communication, while
maintaining a link to the wires of the
public switched telephone network
(PSTN). PSTN refers to the international
telephonic system standard that uses
copper wires to carry analog voice data.
A cell tower is designed to
simultaneously support
hundreds of devices and
operate on different radio
frequencies. Cell sites allow
users to maintain their
connections while traveling
from one base station to
another, even while driving
at 100 miles/hour on a fast-
lane highway.
 How Do Cell Towers Work?
The main job of a cell tower is to elevate
antennae that transmit and receive RF
signals from mobile phones and other
cellular devices. A series of wires runs
from the tower antennas to the base station
equipment, which are usually located and
concealed at ground level.
 Components
Transceivers - to transmit and receive
radio signals through the antennae, along
with other components like signal
amplifiers, combiners, multiplexers and a
system controller.
Antennae should be tall enough to cover
all targeted cell area. Thus, cell towers are
often 50 to 200 feet in height. These
towers can be standalone structures, such
as lattice frame or steel poles, or they can
be affixed to other structures. Cell towers
are often attached to buildings, bridges,
tunnels, water towers, traffic lights, street
lights, billboards, etc.
 The Range of a Cell Tower
The range within which mobile
devices can connect reliably to
the cell tower.

 Factors :
The height of the antenna.
The frequency of the signal in use
The rated power of the
transmitter
Ambient weather conditions
around the cell tower
The directional
characteristics of the site
antenna array
Reflection/absorption of
radio energy by nearby
buildings
The rated uplink/downlink
data rate of the subscriber’s
mobile device
In practice, cell towers are grouped in densely populated
regions to better cater to most of their company’s
subscribers. Cellular traffic through a single site is limited
by the base station’s capacity. This capacity limitation is
usually the factor that determines the spacing of cell
towers. In suburban areas, cell towers are commonly
spaced 1-2 miles apart, but in dense metropolitan cities,
towers may be as close as 0.25-0.5 miles apart. Similarly,
the range will vary with the terrain. For a flat terrain, it
may be possible to space towers out between 30-45 miles.
On the other hand, when the terrain is hilly, the working
range can drastically shrink to as low as 3-5 miles.
Cells-on-wheels (COWs)
- Cell towers are generally
attached to permanent
structures, some operators
also maintain fleets of vehicles,
technically called cells-on-wheels (COWs). COWs serve as
temporary cell sites—as a makeshift process in the case of
damaged equipment or power outages. In the case of a
power failure at the main base station, a generator is
typically included with the COWs.
 Future of Cell Towers
With the introduction/discovery of efficient
digital protocols associated with upcoming 4G
 and 5G technologies, complimented by the
additional spectrum availability, many mobile
network providers are now looking to recombine
cell towers. This would, in turn, bring down the
operating expenses associated with each tower. All
of this would translate into increased revenues and
profits for telecom players.
 Traffic and Cell Splitting
Mobile Radio networks have traffic issues
that do not arise in connection with the fixed
line PSTN.
Call blocking
Dropped calls
The most obvious way to avoid cellular traffic
is to provide more channels.
  Phone Traffic is defined in erlangs (E)
T = NP
One erlang is equivalent to one continuous phone
conversation. Thus if 1000 costumers use the phone
10% of time each, they generate 100E of traffic in
average
Where:
T = Traffic in Erlangs (E)
N = Number of Costumers
P = Probability that a given costumer using the phone
Distances Between Cell Site Tower

1G – maximum of 35km

2G – 35 km – 70 km
3G – 50 km – 150 km
4G – 50 km – 150 km
5G – 250 m – 300 m