Cellular Theory

Source: WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS: Chapter:11 Upena Dalal

Cellular Telephone Systems
● Achieve a large coverage area by using a simple, high powered transmitter.
Put BS on top of mountains or tall towers, so that it could provide coverage for a large
area.
● So good coverage, but it was impossible to reuse those same frequency throughout the
system
Cellular Telephone Systems
● The Bell mobile system in New York City in the 1970s could only support a maximum of
twelve simultaneous calls over a thousand square miles.
● Initial requirements were thought of as follows
A Large subscriber capacity
Efficient use of spectrum resources
Nationwide coverage
Adaptability to traffic density
Telephone service to both vehicle and portable user terminals
Toll quality
Affordability, which can eventually make it a mass-market service
Contd..
● To satisfy these requirement, a simple hypothetical system should have the following
components
Cellular station
Mobile telephone
● Apart from these some infrastructure is required to support the mobility of the user as well
as coverage of different areas with seamless connectivity.

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Introduction to Cellular Concept
● Cellular Concept – replacing a single, high power transmitter (large cell) with many low
power transmitters (small cells) and each providing coverage to only small portion of the
service area.
● Each base station is allocated a portion of the total number of channels available channels to
the entire system.
● Neighboring base stations are assigned different group of channels, so that interference b/w
base stations is minimized.
Cellular Radio Communication Infrastructure
Footprint
● The actual radio coverage of a cell is known as footprint
Contd..
Contd..

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Cell Shape
Ex. hexagon geometry cell shape
● Designed to serve the weakest mobiles within the footprint (typically located at the edge)
● The hexagon has the largest area of the three regular shapes
● Simplistic model, Universally adopted
● Fewest number of cells can cover a geographic region
● Approximate circular shape
no gaps
no overlap
equal area
Contd..
● A cluster is a group of cells and is denoted as N.
● No channels are reused within a cluster.
● Restriction on the value of N, N= i2 + ij + j2
i = 1, j=1; N =3
i = 2, j=1; N =7
i = 2, j=2; N =12
i = 3, j=2; N =19
● The size of a cell depends on the density of
subscribers in an area.
● In densely populated area, the capacity of the
network can be improved by reducing the size of a
cell or by splitting into more cells along with low
power base stations.
Contd..

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Cell Splitting
● Cell splitting is the process of splitting a mobile cell into several smaller cells. This is
usually done to make more voice channels available to accommodate traffic growth in the
area covered by the original cell
● If the radius of a cell is reduced from R to R/2, the area of the cell is reduced from Area to
Area/4. The number of available channels is also increased.
● Cell splitting is usually done on demand; when in a certain cell there is too much traffic
which causes too much blocking of calls. The cell is split into smaller microcells.

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Contd..

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Frequency Reuse
● Cellular radio systems rely on an intelligent allocation and reuse of channels throughout a
coverage region
• Each cellular base station is allocated a group of radio channels within a small geographic
area called a cell
• Neighboring cells are assigned different channel groups
• By limiting the coverage area to within the boundary of the cell, the channel groups may
be reused to cover different cells
• Keep interference levels within tolerable limits
• Frequency reuse or frequency planning
Contd..
Contd..
Nearest co-channel
• To find the nearest co-channel neighbors of a
particular cell:
 Move i cells along any chain of hexagon
 Then turn 60 degree counter- clockwise and
move j cells
18
19
Contd..

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21
Contd..
Reuse Distance
For hexagonal cells reuse distance---
D= R.
=R*
Reuse factor---
D/R=
Cellular System Components
● Along with cell structure, some system components are required to make the whole cellular
system work.

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24
Contd..

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Contd..
● Analog circuit switched cellular system Components
Mobile unit
Cell site or Base station
Mobile Telephone Switching Office (MTSO)
● Digital circuit switched cellular system Components
Mobile Station (MS)
Base station or Base Transceiver Station (BTS)
Base Station Controller (BSC)
Switching subsystems
● Packet Switched Cellular system Components

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Contd..
● Base Transceiver Station (BTS) – It is actually the antenna that you see installed on top of
the tower.
● The purpose of the BTS is to:
● It provides radio access to the mobile stations
● Manage the radio access aspects of the system

BTS contains:
● Radio Transmitter/Receiver (TRX)
● Signal processing and control equipment
● Antennas and feeder cables
Contd..
The BSC:
● Allocates a channel for the duration of a call
● Maintains the call:
● Monitors quality
● Controls the power transmitted by the BTS or MS
● Generates a handover to another cell when required
Functions of the MSC:
● Call setup Switching calls, controlling calls and logging calls
● Interface with PSTN, ISDN, PSPDN
● Mobility management over the radio network and other networks
● Radio Resource management - handovers between BSCs
● 28
Contd..

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Contd..

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31
Encoding: Multiplexing
● Frequency Division Multiplexing involves a different frequency channel given to each
user
● Time Division Multiplexing involves a channel with a given number of time slots (per
millisecond) where each user is assigned certain time interval.
● Code Division Multiplexing gives each user a “code” for differentiation purposes. The
receiver picks out each channel from the “noise” using the code. Wide frequency band is
used. Does not contain single frequencies or time slots.
Differences between FDMA, TDMA, and CDMA.
Contd..

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Operation of Cellular systems
● The operations of cellular systems can be divided into five different task
Mobile originated call : mobile to mobile and mobile to landline call
Mobile unit initialization to receive a call : mobile to mobile and landline to mobile unit call
Network originated or Landline phone originated call
Call termination
Handoff or Handover Procedure : Hard and soft handoff
Handoff probability
Rate of handover
Handoff delay
Probability of unsuccessful handoff
Handoff blocking probability

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 BASE STATION ASSISTED
MOBILE STATION ASSISTED
Reasons For Handoff
● Power loss owing to Distance
● Administrative
● Traffic
● Channel Quality
Contd..

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Channel Assignment
The aim of channel assignment is to use the available radio spectrum efficiently.
● Frequency reuse scheme
Increases the capacity
Minimize interference
● Channel assignment Strategy
Fixed channel assignment
Borrowing strategy
Dynamic channel assignment
Contd..
● Fixed Channel assignment
Each cell is allocated a predetermined set of voice channel
Any new call attempt can only be served by unused channels
The call will be blocked if all channels in that cell are occupied
● Borrowing strategy
● Dynamic channel assignment
Channels are not allocated to cells permanently
Allocate channels based on request
Reduce the likelihood of blocking, increases the capacity of network.

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 Contd..
A total of 33 MHz are allocated to a system which uses 2x25 kHz for full duplex (i.e., each
channel is 50 kHz). What is the number of channels per cell?
Number of channels per system
33,000kHz
 660 channels
2  25kHz
Since 4 and 7 are popular number of cells per cluster/system
a. For reuse N = 4:
660
 165 channels / cell
4
b. For reuse N = 7:
660
 95 channels / cell
7
Contd.. E2
Now assume 1 MHz of the 33 MHz is allocated to control channels. Each control
channel is still 50 kHz
● Total number of voice (traffic) channels is now 32,000kHz
 640 channels
2  25kHz
● For N = 4 => 640/4 = 160 voice channels + control channels.

● For N = 7 => 640/7 = 91 channels + control.

Example-3
Consider a cellular system in which total available voice channels to handle the traffi c are 960.
The area of each cell is 6 km2 and the total coverage area of the system is 2000 km2. Calculate
(a) the system capacity if the cluster size, N (reuse factor), is 4 and (b) the system capacity if the
cluster size is 7. How many times would a cluster of size 4 have to be replicated to cover the
entire cellular area? Does decreasing the reuse factor N increase the system capacity? Explain.
Solution
Total available channels = 960, Cell area = 6 km2, Total coverage area = 2000 km2, N = 4
a.
Area of a cluster with reuse N = 4: 4 x 6 = 24 km2
Number of clusters for covering total area with N equals 4 = 2000/24 = 83.33 ≈ 83
Number of channels per cell = 960/4 = 240
System capacity = 83 x 960 = 79, 680 channels
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Contd..
b. N = 7
Area of cluster with reuse N = 7: 7 x 6 = 42 km2
Number of clusters for covering total area with N equals 7= 2000/42 = 47.62 ≈ 48
Number of channels per cell = 960/7 = 137.15 = 137
System capacity = 48 x 960 = 46,080 channels
It is evident when we decrease the value of N from 7 to 4, we increase the system capacity
from 46,080 to 79,680 channels. Thus, decreasing the reuse factor (N) increases the system
capacity.

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Types of antenna
 Cell Sectoring
● Sectoring improves capacity by using sectorized antennas (120 degrees, 60 degrees) that
reduce the co-channel interference.
● Reduction in co-channel interference means that the cluster size can be reduced which in
turn leads to more channels per cell.
Contd..

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50
Cellular Interferences
MAJOR LIMITING FACTOR for Cellular System performance is the INTERFERENCE

Interferences can cause:

 CROSS TALK
 Missed and Blocked Calls.

SOURCES OF INTERFERENCE?
● Another mobile in the same cell (if distance & frequency are close)
● A call in progress in neighboring cell (if frequency is close).
● Other base stations operating in the same frequency band (from co-channel cells)
● Non-cellular systems leaking energy into cellular frequency band
1. Co-Channel Interference
● Cells using the same frequency cause interference to each other
● Called co-channel interference (CCI)
● CCI increases as the cluster size N decreases
● Important factor for signal quality is the Carrier to Interference Ratio C/I
● Most interference comes from the first tier of co-channel cells
Co-Channel Interference…

1 1
R
Second tier
1 Interfering Cell
First tier
D
1 1
1 1 1
1 1

1 1
54
Cell Geometry

R
D R

R
D
 q  3N
R
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CALCULATION
● Let i0 be the number of co-channel interfering cells (cluster size -1), then the
signal-to-interference ratio for a mobile receiver which monitors a forward
channel is

 where S is the desired signal power from desired BS and I i is the interference power
caused by ith interfering co-channel cell
Contd..
● By increasing the ratio of D/R,
Separation between co-channel cells relative to coverage distance of a cell is increased.
Thus interference is reduced.
● The parameter Q (co-channel reuse ratio) is related to cluster size. Thus for a hexagonal
geometry

A small value of Q provides larger capacity since N is cluster size

Large value of Q improves transmission quality due to smaller level of co-channel interference
A trade-off must be made between these two objectives
Contd..
● Let i0 be the number of co-channel interfering cells, then the signal-to-interference ratio for
a mobile receiver which monitors a forward channel is

 Where S is the desired signal power from desired BS and I i is the interference power caused by ith
interfering co-channel cell
Contd..
● Average received signal strength at any point decays as a power law of the distance of
separation between transmitter and receiver
● Average received power Pr at a distance d from the transmitting antenna is approx

Where Po is the power received at a close-in reference point at a small distance d o from the transmitting
antenna, n is path loss exponent ranging between 2 and 4
● Now consider co-channel cell interference
● If Di is the distance of ith interferer from the mobile, the received power will be proportional
to (Di)-n
● When the transmit power of each BS is equal and the path loss exponent is same throughout
coverage then S/I can be approximated as
● Considering only the first layer of interfering cells, which are equidistant D from the
desired BS
● Eqn 4 implies to

•
• 6

 It relates S/I to cluster size N, which in turn determines the overall capacity of the system
 Note: γ and n are same: represents line of sight
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Contd..

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Example-1
Consider the advanced mobile phone system in which an S/I ratio of 18 dB is required for the
accepted voice quality. What should be the reuse factor for the system? Assume n=γ=4. What
will be the reuse factor of the Global System of Mobile (GSM) system in which an S/I of 12
dB is required?
Solution:

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Example-2
Consider a cellular system with 395 total allocated voice channel frequencies. If the traffic is
uniform with an average call holding time of 120 seconds and the call blocking during the
system busy hour is 2%, calculate:
a. The number of calls per cell site per hour (i.e., call capacity of cell)
b. Mean S/I ratio for cell reuse factor equal to 4, 7, and 12.
Assume omnidirectional antennas with six interferers in the first tier and a slope for path loss
of 40 dB/decade (n = γ = 4).
For a reuse factor N = 4, the number of voice channels per cell site = 395/4 = 99. Using the
Erlang-B traffic table (see Appendix A) for 99 channels with 2% blocking, we find a traffic
load of 87 Erlangs. The carried load will be (1 - 0.02) x 87 = 85.26 Erlangs.

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Contd..

● The results for N = 7 and N =12 are given in Table 5.2.

● It is evident from the results that, by increasing the reuse factor from N = 4 to N =12, the
mean S/I ratio is improved from 13.8 to 23.3 dB. However, the call capacity of cell (i.e.,
calls per hour per cell) is reduced from 2558 to 724 calls per hour.

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Cellular System Design in Worst-Case Scenario with an Omnidirectional Antenna

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Contd..
● Where: q = 4.6 for a normal seven-cell reuse pattern (N = 7).
● Substituting q = 4.6 in Equation 5.18, we get S/I = 54.3 or 17.3 dB.
● For a conservative estimate, if we use the shortest distance (D/R) then

● In a real situation, because of imperfect cell-site locations and the rolling nature of the terrain
configuration, the S/I ratio is often less than 17.3 dB. It could be 14 dB or lower. Such
conditions may occur in heavy traffic. Therefore, the cellular system should be designed
around the S/I ratio of worst case.
● If we consider the worst case for a seven-cell reuse (N =7) pattern, we conclude that q =4.6 is
not enough in an omnidirectional cell system.
● In an omnidirectional cell system, N = 9 (q = 5.2) or N =12 (q = 6.0) cell reuse pattern would
be a better choice. These cell reuse patterns would provide the S/I ratio of 19.78 and 22.54 dB,
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(2) Adjacent Channel Interference
● Interference from channels that are adjacent in frequency,
● The primary reason for that is Imperfect Receiver Filters which cause the adjacent channel
energy to leak into your spectrum.
● Problem is severer if the user of adjacent channel is in close proximity. → Near-Far Effect
● Near-Far Effect: The other transmitter(who may or may not be of the same type) captures
the receiver of the subscriber.
● Also, when a Mobile Station close to the Base Station transmits on a channel close to the
one being used by a weaker mobile: The BS faces difficulty in discriminating the desired
mobile user from the “bleed over” of the adjacent channel mobile.
Contd…
Minimization of ACI
● Careful Filtering ---- min. leakage or sharp transition
● Better Channel Assignment Strategy

● Channels in a cell need not be adjacent: For channels within a cell, Keep frequency
separation as large as possible.
● Sequentially assigning cells the successive frequency channels.
● Also, secondary level of interference can be reduced by not assigning adjacent channels to
neighboring cells.
● For tolerable ACI, we either need to increase the frequency separation or reduce the pass
band BW.
Contd..
● Configurations of BTS
Contd..
Problems
● A service provider uses cellular theory to allocate the available frequency range of 850 to
920 MHz using a cluster size of N = 7. Assuming each user needs 8 KHz for voice calls,
compute
 The total number of users supported per cell
 The total number of users supported per cell if 1200 cell sectoring is used
 Further if TDMA (8 users) is used in each sector of a cell, calculate the number of users in a cell.
Contd..
Consider a FDMA cellular system with 120 hexagonal cells, having 900 overall two-way
channels/cluster. If this region has to be grouped into clusters with cluster size of N=12.
Calculate
a) The co-channel reuse ratio (D/R)?
b) The number of channels per cell,
c) Total number of channels available for service provider in entire region if N=7.
d) The signal-to-interference ratio of the system in dB if path loss exponent is 4.

A cellular service provider decides to use GSM with TDMA which can tolerate the signal-to-
interference ratio of 12dB in worst case. Find optimal value of N assuming n =4 for
a) Omnidirectional antenna
b) 120 degree sectoring
Contd..
● A mobile user is moving from Cell Site A to Cell site B at the speed of 30km/hr .The
radius of the cell site is 600m.Assuming handoff occurs over a duration of 5s and at a path
loss of 4, Calculate minimum required margin of handoff and comment on the effect of
margin on the performance of cellular systems. [Assume d 0 =1 P0=0dBm].

● A person is moving from city ABC to city DEF at the speed of 122.4km/hr. The distance
between the 2 cities is 2000 m and handoff occurs at a time of 6s. Assuming minimum
usable power to be -87dBm, path loss to be 3. Calculate the distance before which handoff
must be completed and minimum required margin of handoff. [Assume d0 =1 P0=0dBm].
Contd..
● A mobile user is moving from Cell Site A to Cell site B at the speed of 50km/hr .The radius
of the cell site is 800m. Assume path loss exponent = 4. Consider the time at which handoff
occurs is 8s.
i. Calculate the minimum required margin for handoff.
ii. Compute the distance at which handoff is initiated [Assume d0 =1 P0=0dBm].
iii. Recalculate (i) and (ii) if the duration over which handoff occurs is 5s.

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