Cellular Radio System

Dr Razali bin Ngah

 Outlines

Introduction
Cellular concept
Frequency Reuse
System Capacity
Channel Assignment Strategies
Handoff
Interferences
Cell Splitting
Cell Sectoring
Trunking and Grade of Service (GOS)

2
 Introduction
Goals of a Cellular System
High capacity
Large coverage area
Efficient use of limited spectrum
Large coverage area - Bell system in New York City
had early mobile radio
Single Tx, high power, and tall tower
Large coverage area - Bell system in New York City
had 12 simultaneous channels for 1000 square miles
Small # users
Poor spectrum utilization
What are possible ways we could increase the
number of channels available in a cellular system?
3
 Introduction
Early Mobile Telephone Systems: First mobile telephone system was
developed in the U.S. in 1945.
One high-power transmitter was used to cover a large area (approx. 50km.
Located at a very high spot.
The mobiles were
simultaneously connected
using different Frequency
channels.
Capacity of such systems
was very limited.
One and only one high power
base station with which all
users communicate.
Normal
Telephone Entire Coverage
System Area
4
Wired connection
 Conventional Mobile Radio Telephone

Up to 30
PSTN 50 km

Single High Power Transmitter and High Antenna Towers/Masts

Large Coverage Area and Bulky Mobile Station with Large Batteries
Limited No. of Channels and Poor Quality of Service

5
 Conventional Mobile Radio Telephone

Up to 30
50 km
Overlap
System Areas
A
Up to
100 km
Could get service from
either transmitter,
causing interference

Up to 30
50 km

System
B

6
Cellular Concept

Multiple low power

transmitters service multiple
smaller areas (Cells)
Frequency can be reused by
cells far away from each other
improve usage
The cluster is then replicated
throughout the desired
communication area
 Cellular Concept
Conventional Mobile Radio vs Cellular Radio System
No of channels = 7 X 700 = 4900
1 RBS 49 RBS

Same
area

Cluster

Cell

No of channels = Allocated BW/Duplex Ch BW

= 42MHz/2x30KHz
= 700

8
 Cellular Concept

Conventional Mobile System Cellular Radio System

No frequency reuse Frequency reuse

Used before 1980s Used after 1980s

Low capacity High capacity

Interference to adjacent service No interference with acceptable

areas C/I

High transmitted power Low transmitted power

High antenna height Low antenna height

9
Equipment bulky Hand portable
Cellular Concept
Frequency reuse pattern

10
 Frequency Reuse
Cells with the same
number have the same set
of frequencies

11
 Frequency Reuse: Cluster

Cluster:
the minimum number of cells that have the complete set of
available channels
set of different frequencies used in group of cells

Cluster size, N = 7 12
Cluster
 System Capacity
Number of cells per cluster, N
N i 2 ij j 2 ,
where i, j non-negative intergers
To locate co-channel cells, starting
from a reference cell:
move i cells along any chain of
hexagons
Turns 60 degrees counter-
clockwise and move j cells.
In this example, N = 19 ; i = 3, j = 2

The number of cells N in a cluster is

proportional to D2 i.e. N= D2
14
 System Capacity

Frequency Reuse (N=7, i=2,

j=1)

15
 System Capacity
Cluster size N determines:
distance between co-channel cells (D)

level of co-channel interference

A mobile or base station can only tolerate so much

interference from other cells using the same

frequency and maintain sufficient quality.
large N large D low interference but small

M and low C !
Tradeoff in quality and cluster size.

The larger the capacity for a given geographic

area, the poorer the quality.

16
 Problem with Smaller Clustersize

Interfering cells are closer by when clustersize is smaller.

 Design Objectives for Cluster Size
High spectrum efficiency
many users per cell
Small cluster size gives much bandwidth per cell

High performance
Little interference
Large cluster sizes
 Example
If a total of 33 MHz of bandwidth is allocated to a
particular FDD cellular telephone system which uses
two 25 KHz simplex channels to provide full duplex
voice and control channels, compute the number of
channels available per cell if a system uses :

(a) four-cell reuse

(b) seven-cell reuse
(c) 12-cell reuse.

Tot available ch = 33000KHz/50kHz = 660 ch

(a) N=4, # Ch per cell = 660/4 165 channels

(b) N=7, # Ch per cell = 660/7 95 channels

(c) N=12, # Ch per cell = 660/12 55 channels

19
 Channel Assignment Strategies

To satisfy the user, a channel needs to be available on request.

Reasonable probability of call blockage (GOS) is 2%.
GOS fluctuate with location and time.
The goal is to keep a uniform GOS across the system.
Reduction of variations in GOS allow more users an increase
in capacity.
Three types of algorithms for channel allocation:
Fixed channel allocation (FCA)
FCA with Channel Borrowing
Dynamic channel allocation (DCA)

20
 Fixed Channel Allocation Techniques
Available spectrum is W Hz and each channel is B Hz. Total number
of channels:
Nc = W/B
For a cluster size N, the number of channels per cell:
Cc = Nc/N

To minimize interference, assign adjacent channels to different cells.

FCA is the optimum allocation strategy for uniform traffic across the
cells.
A non uniform FCA strategy, when it is possible to evaluate GOS in
real time and adjust the FCA accordingly. This requires a more
complex algorithm.

21
 Channel Borrowing

Borrow frequencies from low traffic cells to high traffic cells.

Temporary channel borrowing: channel is returned after call is
completed.
If all the channels in a cell are occupied, channels are borrowed
from neighboring cells.
The MSC supervises such borrowing procedures and ensures
disruption free service.

22
 Dynamic Channel Allocation
All channels are placed in a pool, and are assigned to new calls
according to the reuse pattern. Signal is returned to the pool,
when call is completed.
Dynamic
channels NOT allocated permanently

call request goes to serving base station goes to MSC

MSC allocates channel on the fly

allocation strategy considers:

likelihood of future call blocking in the cell

reuse distance (interference potential with other cells

that are using the same frequency)

channel frequency

All frequencies in a market are available to be used

23
 Comparison of Channel Allocation
Techniques
Fixed Channel Allocation
Advantages:
Less load on MSC
Simple
Disadvantages:
Blocking may happen
Dynamic Channel Allocation
Advantages:
Voice channels are not allocated permanently. That is shared on need-basis
Disadvantages:
More complicated
increases storage & computational load for processing (burden on MSC)

MSC requires real-time data from entire network related to:

channel occupancy
traffic distribution
Radio Signal Strength Indications (RSSI's) from all channels
24
 Handoff
Cell 1

Mobile Public
Telephone Switched
Switching Telephone
Cell 2
Center Network
(MTSC) (PSTN)
HLR VLR

Handoffs (typically 30 mseconds):

1. At any time, mobile station (MS) is in one cell and under the control of a BS
2. When a MS leaves a cell, BS notices weak signal
3. BS asks surrounding BSs if they are getting a stronger signal
4. BS transfers ownership to one with strongest signal
5. MTSO assigns new channel to the MS and notifies MS of new boss
 Handoff Strategies

Handoff: when a mobile unit moves from one cell to another while a
call is in progress, the MSC must transfer (handoff) the call to a
new base station
When a mobile moves into a different cell while a conversation is in
progress, MSC transfers the call to a new channel belonging to the new
base station. (Hard handoff)
In modern wireless systems, there may be no change in the actual
channel; only the base station changes (Soft Hand off).
Mobile Switching Center needs to:
Identify the new base station
Allocate new Voice and Control channels associated with the new base
station.

26
 Handoff Strategies
Desired Behavior/Requirements:
Prioritize Hand off to new call initiation
Successful transfer of call
Hand off should be as infrequent as possible
Hand off should be imperceptible (very slight) - unnoticeable to
users
In order to meet these requirements, system designers must specify an
optimum signal level at which to initiate a handoff
Hand off Threshold Power Level:
There is a minimum power level of the signal at BS for acceptable
voice quality. (-90 to 100 dBm).
Hand off Threshold is defined D dBm above this level, so that the
system has time to process hand off.

27
 Handoff Strategies
Handoff Margin D
D = Phandoff threshold - Pminimum usable signal dB

carefully selected

D too large unnecessary handoff MSC loaded down

D too small not enough time to transfer call dropped!

A dropped handoff can be caused by two factors

not enough time to perform handoff

delay by MSC in assigning handoff

high traffic conditions and high computational load on MSC

can cause excessive delay by the MSC

no channels available in new cell

28
 Handoffs the basics

(a)Demonstrates the case where a HO is not made and the signal drops below the
sensitivity level to keep the channel active call dropped.

29
 When to Hand off?
In deciding when to HO, it is important to ensure that the drop in the measured
signal level is not due to momentary fading and that the MS is actually moving
away from the serving BS.
MSC needs to ensure:
that the power drop is not temporary: because of FADING.

that MS is actually moving away from the current BS.

MSC measures signal strength for some time (average received signal
power). These calculations are performed to:
Avoid the unnecessary hand off,

Complete the necessary hand off before call drops

The time available (The length of time needed) to decide hand off
depends on the subscribers speed.

Speed of the user can be estimated from the slope of the short term
average Power. Steep curve Quick Hand off
30
 Practical Handoff Considerations
In practical cellular system, several problem arise when attempting to design for a
wide range of MS speeds.
High speed MS pass through the coverage region of a cell within a matter of
seconds, whereas low speed (pedestrian) MS may never need a HO during a call.
Problems occur because of a large range of mobile velocities
pedestrian vs. vehicle user

In micro-cells for more capacity, MSC may be over-burdened in case high

speed users changing the micro-cells quickly. (larger # handoffs)
MSC load is heavy when high speed users are passed between very small
cells
Obtaining a new Cell Site is not always practical: Zoning, Ordinances and
Laws are barrier to new cell sites.
The UMBRELLA CELL Concept: Large and Small cells are co-located.
Install small antennas etc for low-speed users for proper radio coverage.
This guarantees large area coverage as well.

31
 Practical Handoff Considerations
Umbrella Cells
use different antenna heights and Tx power levels to provide

large and small cell coverage

multiple antennas & Tx can be co-located at single location if

necessary (saves on obtaining new tower licenses)

large cell high speed traffic fewer handoffs

small cell low speed traffic

example areas:

interstate highway passing

thru urban center, office park,
or nearby shopping mall

32
 Typical Handoff Parameters
Typical handoff parameters
Analog cellular (1st generation)

threshold margin D 6 to 12 dB

total time to complete handoff 8 to 10 sec

Digital cellular (2nd generation)

total time to complete handoff 1 to 2 sec

lower necessary threshold margin D 0 to 6 dB

enabled by mobile assisted handoff

33
 Interference
Interference is the limiting factor in performance of all cellular radio
systems
What are the sources of interference for a mobile receiver?
Interference is in both
voice channels

control channels

Two major types of system-generated interference:

1) Co-Channel Interference (CCI)
2) Adjacent Channel Interference (ACI)
Adjacent Channel Interference
The interference resulting from signals which are adjacent in frequency
to the desired signal
Co-channel Interference
The interference between signals from co-channel cells (cells that use
34
the same set of frequencies)
 Co-Channel Interference
co-channel interference depends on:
R : cell radius

D : distance to base station of nearest co-channel cell

if D / R then spatial separation relative to cell coverage area

improved isolation from co-channel RF energy

Q = D / R : co-channel reuse ratio

hexagonal cells Q = D/R = 3N

i 2 ij j 2
3 i 2 ij j 2
D
Q
R 1/ 3

35
 Radius of a cell

R cos 30o = , R = 1/3 = 0.57735

SET 5514 (2006) 36

Distance between co-channel cell

Hexagonal cell geometry and axes

37
Example
 Co-channel Interference

R D

RBS
MS

Co channel cell
D = distance between 2 co-channel cells
R = cell radius

C = carrier in the desired signal, I = interference comes from

other cells using same channels , D/R = co channel reuse ratio

For analog cellular system , C/I >18 dB C

C/N C/I
For digital cellular system C/I > 11 dB I
N

39
 Co-channel Interference
D
3N can be used to calculate C/I
R
If a seven cells cluster is employed D 21R 4.58R

Assuming 4th power law propagation loss

4
Carrier D R
3.58
4

Co-channel interference R 4


C/I = 22.16 dB
Hexagon cellular geometry allows us to determine co-channel
interference which must be controlled to achieved transmission
quality as well as system quality.

40
 Example: Co-channel Interference
Example
f1 = 900 MHz f2 =900 MHz
GT = 8 dB GT = 8 dB
PT = 20 W PT = 20 W
R = 1 km D = 5 km

BS D
BS
MS
R

41
 Fundamental tradeoff in cellular system design:
small Q small cluster size more frequency reuse larger

system capacity great

But also: small Q small cell separation increased co-

channel interference (CCI) reduced voice quality not so

great
Tradeoff: Capacity vs. Voice Quality

42
 Carrier to Interference Ratio
Carrier to Interference ratio C / I (S/I),

C : desired signal power

Ii : interference power from ith co-channel cell
io : # of co-channel interfering cells

43
 Carrier to Interference Ratio
Approximation with some assumptions

Di : distance from ith interferer to mobile

Rx power @ mobile ( Di ) n

44
Carrier to Interference Ratio

Now if we consider only the first layer (or tier) of co-channel

cells
assume only these provide significant interference

And assume interfering base stations are equidistant from the

desired base station (all at distance D) then

45
Worst Case for Co-channel
Interference

46
Worst Case for Co-channel
Interference
C Rn

I 2( D R) n 2 D n 2( D R) n
D C 1
Since, Q ,
R I 2(Q 1) n 2Q n 2(Q 1) n
C 1

I 2( 3 N 1) n 2( 3 N ) n 2( 3 N 1) n
For N 7, Q 4.6, n 4 (for worst case channel)
C
17dB
I
For N 7, C / I is slightly less than 18 dB (for analog system)
for worst case condition and no problem for digital system.
To design the cellular system for proper performance in the
worst case, it is necessary to increase N to the next largest
size, i.e. N 12 (i j 2) 47
 Adjacent Channel Interference
Interference from channels that are adjacent in frequency,
The primary reason for that is Imperfect Receive 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: Interfering source is near some Rx when desired
source is far away
ACI is primarily from mobiles in the same cell.

48
 Adjacent Channel Interference

desired filter response

actual filter response

49
 Adjacent Channel Interference
Channel spacing
Signal
Interference
strength

Receiver sensitivity

Frequency
Channel spacing: Analog-25KHz, Digital -200 kHz
Spectrum Overlapping: Imperfect BPF, LO drift & Doppler shift
In order to prevent adjacent channel interference the adjacent
channel has to be spread out

50
 Channel Allocation: To avoid ACI

Control of ACI
dont allocate channels within a given cell from a
contiguous band of frequencies.
for example, use channels 1, 8, 15, for a cell.
no channels next to each other

UL DL

890 915 935 960

Total Bandwidth = 25 MHz

Channel bandwidth = 200 kHz 51 51
 Channel Allocation: Example for GSM
System with 7 cell per cluster

CELL CHANNEL FREQUENCY MHZ

1 1,8,15,22, 890.1, 891.5,892.9,894.3,..

2 2,9,16,23,. 890.3,891.7,893.1,894.5,

3 3,10,17,24,.. 890.5,891.9,893.3,894.7,..

4 4,11,18,25,.. 890.7,892.1,893.5,894.9,..

5 5,12,19,26,.. 890.9,892.3,893.7,895.1,..

6 6,13,20,27,.. 891.1,892.5,893.9,895.2,..

7 7,14,21,28, 891.3,892.7,894.1,895.5,..
Channel Allocation: Hexagon cell

1,8,15

6,13,20 2,9,16

7,14,21

5,12,19 3,10,17

4,11,18...

1,8,15

6,13,20
2,9,16

7,14,21

5,12,19 3,10,17

4,11,18...

53
 Channel Allocation: Sectorized Cell

9,30
2B
,51
2A 2,23
8,29 ,44 16,37,
1B 1,22 ,50
1A 58
2C ,43
15,36,
1C 57

1A 2A 3A 4A 5A 6A 7A 1B 2B 3B 4B 5B 6B 7B 1C 2C 3C 4C 5C 6C 7C
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42
43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63

54
 Cells

base station antennas designed to cover specific cell area

There are only certain patterns of cells which can be repeated over a
plane
(i) Regular Hexagon
(ii) Square
(iii) Equilateral Triangle

hexagonal cell shape assumed for planning

simple model for easy analysis circles leave gaps

actual cell footprint is amorphous (no specific shape)

55
Cell

56
 Cells Sizes

Global
Satellite

Suburban Urban
In-Building

Picocell
Microcell
Macrocell

Macro cells
Micro cells
Pico cells

57
 Cells Sizes

Macro cells
The cells typically have a radius of 10 35 km
For outdoors: rural, suburban & urban areas
Medium traffic densities
RBS antenna height greater than surrounding buildings
Micro cells
Radius up to 2 km
For outdoor and indoor: suburban & urban areas
High traffic densities
RBS antenna height lower than or near by building roof top
Pico cells
For indoor only
High traffic densities and high data rate
Coverage defined by characteristics of room and floor
58
 Types of Cell Sites

Using hexagon to model coverage areas, RBS antenna used are

either omni or sectorized antenna
Omni Cell Site
Used omni antenna

For rural areas

Sectorized Cell Site

Used directional antenna

For urban areas

Advantages:

Power is 1/3 of an omni-directional antenna

Better interference control (reduces interference)
Improved capacity
Better building penetration, provide better indoor coverage

59
 Sectoring
Sectoring
cell splitting keeps D / R unchanged (same cluster size and CCI)

but increases frequency reuse/area

alternate way to increase capacity is to reduce CCI (increase C/I)

Replace omni-directional antennas at base station with several

directional antennas
3 sectors 3 120 antennas

6 sectors 6 60 antennas

60
Sectoring

61
Sectoring

cell channels broken down into sectored groups

CCI reduced because only some of neighboring co-channel
cells radiate energy in direction of main cell
center cell labeled "5" has all co-channel cells illustrated
only 2 co-channel cells will interfere if all are using 120
sectoring
only 1 co-channel cell would interfere when using 60 sectoring
If the C/I was 17 dB for N = 7 and n = 4, what is the C / I
now with 120 sectoring?
24.2 dB

62
 Sectoring

How is capacity increased?

sectoring only improves C/I which increases voice quality,

beyond what is really necessary

by reducing CCI, the cell system designer can choose

smaller cluster size (N ) for acceptable voice quality

smaller N greater frequency reuse larger system

capacity

much less costly than cell splitting

only require more antennas @ base station vs. multiple new

base stations for cell splitting

63
 Sectoring

primary disadvantage is that the available channels in a cell are

subdivided into sectored groups
trunked channel pool , therefore trunking efficiency

There are more channels per cell, because of smaller cluster

sizes, but those channels are broken into sectors.

other disadvantages:
must design network coverage with sectoring decided in

advance
cant effectively use sectoring to increase capacity after

setting cluster size N

cant be used to gradually expand capacity as traffic like

cell splitting
More Handoffs

More antennas
64
 Cell Splitting

Another characteristic feature in a cellular mobile telephone system is

its ability to adjust to the increasing traffic demand in any single
coverage areas.
This is achieved by cell splitting
Further dividing a single cell into smaller cells.
When the traffic exceeds the capacity of the cell, cell split in required to
redistribute the traffic
Theoretically the cell can have unlimited cell split
The factor that limit the cell split
The number of frequency available
The minimum cell reuse distance
65
 Improving Cellular System Capacity
Cell Splitting
subdivide congested cell into several smaller cells

increases number of times channels are reused in an area

must decrease antenna height & Tx power

so smaller coverage per cell results

and the co-channel interference level is held constant

each smaller cell keeps same # of channels as the larger cell, since
each new smaller cell uses the same number of frequencies
this means that we keep that same cluster size

capacity because channel reuse per unit area

smaller cells micro-cells

66
Cell Splitting
Illustration is for towers at the corners

67
Cell Splitting

typical city cellular radio cell plandifferent cell sizes and

clusters.

68
 Cell Splitting
Advantages:
only needed for cells that reach max. capacity not all cells

implement when Pr [blocked call] > acceptable GOS

system capacity can gradually expand as demand

Disadvantages:
# handoffs/unit area increases

umbrella cell for high velocity traffic may be needed

more base stations $$ for real estate, towers, etc.

69
 Trunking and Grade of Service (GOS)

Trunking:
A means for providing access to users on demand from
available pool of channels.
With trunking, a small number of channels can accommodate
large number of random users.
Telephone companies use trunking theory to determine number of circuits
required.
Trunking theory is about how a population can be handled by a limited
number of servers.

70
 Grade of Services (GOS)
Measure the ability of a user to access a trunking system
(available channel) during the busiest hour
GOS is given as the likelihood that a call is blocked or delayed
longer than certain time
number of lost calls
GOS=
number of offered calls
e.g. AMPS had GOS of 2% blocking (i.e. 2 out of 100 calls
will be blocked due to the channel occupancy during the
busiest hour)
Objective of trunking system design
optimal trade-off in reducing channel number C and
reducing call block/delay rate GOS

71
 Types of Trunked System
Blocked calls cleared
No queuing for call request (serviced or blocked)

If no channel are available, the requesting user is blocked

without access and is free to try again later.

GOS: the blocking rate

Use Erlang B formula

Blocked calls delayed

Queuing is provided to hold calls which are blocked

If a channel is not available immediately, the call request may

be delayed until a channel becomes available.

GOS: probability that a call is blocked after waiting a specific

length of time in queue.

Use Erlang C formula
72
 Trunking and Grade of Service

Trunking is closely related to the concept of Grading

73
 Parameters for Trunking System

Traffic intensity Request rate Holding time

Au H (unit: Erlang 1/sec sec)
Total traffic intensity traffic intensity users
A U Au
Traffic intensity per channel (C : number of channels):
A U Au
Ac
C C
Maximum possible carrier traffic:
ACx (Erlangs)
No. of Cells

74
Erlang B

75
Erlang B Trunking GOS

76
 Example

How many users can be supported for 0.5% blocking probability for the
following number of trunked channels in a blocked calls cleared system?
a) 5 b) 10 c) 20 d) 100
Assume each user generates 0.1 Erlangs of traffic.

77
Erlang C

78
 Example

An urban area has a population of two million residents. Three

competing trunked mobile networks (Systems A, B and C) provide
cellular services in this area. System A has 394 cells with 19
channels each, System B has 98 cells with 57 channels each, and
system C has 49 cells, each with 100 channels.

Find the number of users that can be supported at 2% blocking if

each user averages two calls per hour at an average call duration of
three minutes.

79
 Example
A certain city has an area of 1,300 square miles and is covered by a
cellular system using a seven-cell reuse pattern. Each cell has a radius
of four miles and the city is allocated 40 MHz of spectrum with a full
duplex channel bandwidth of 60kHz. Assume a GOS of 2% for an
Erlang B system is specified. If the offered traffic per user is 0.03
Erlangs, compute
a) The number of cells in the service area
b) The number of channels per cell
c) Traffic intensity of each cell
d) The maximum carried traffic
e) The total number of users that can be served for 2% GOS
f) The number of mobiles per unique channel
g) The theoretical maximum number of users could be served at one
time

80
 Example

A hexagonal cell in a 4-cell system has a radius of 1.387km; and

a total of 60 channels are used within the entire system.
If the traffic intensity per user is 0.029 Erlangs, compute the
number of users per square km will the system support for an
Erlang C system that has a 5% probability of a delayed call.

81