CHAPTER 2: THE CELLULAR CONCEPT

Fundamentals of Cellular concept

Initial aim of mobile radio system was to cover large area using high power transmitter by mounting
antenna on tall building. This technique offers good results but it was impossible to reuse the
frequency throughout the system because frequency reuse results in interference. The cellular concept
was a major breakthrough in solving the problem of spectral congestion and user capacity. . The
cellular concept is a system level idea which calls for replacing a single, high power traits titter
(large cell) with many low power transmitters (small cells), each providing coverage to only a small
portion of the service area. Each base station is allocated a portion of the total number of channels
available to the entire system, and nearby base stations are assigned different groups of channels so
that all the available channels are assigned to a relatively small number of neighbouring base stations.
Neighbouring base stations are assigned different groups of channels so that the interference between
base stations (and the mobile users under their control) is minimized. By systematically spacing base
stations and their channel groups throughout a market, the available channels are distributed
throughout the geographic region and may be reused as many times as necessary, so long as the
interference between co-channel stations is kept below acceptable levels.

As the demand for service increases (i.e., as more channels are needed within a particular market), the
number of base stations may be increased (along with a corresponding decrease in transmitter power
to avoid added interference), thereby providing additional radio capacity with no additional increase
in radio spectrum

What is cell? And why cell shape is considered as hexagonal?

Each cellular base station is allocated a group of radio channels to be used within small geographic
area called a cell. Land area is subdivided into regular shapes which can be hexagonal, square,
circular or other irregular shape. Criteria for shape of the cell are: 1) Area without overlap 2)
Geometrical shape for mathematical analysis 3) Area of cell.

Geometrical shapes that can be used are circle, triangle, hexagonal, square.

Circular shape problem: Generally circle is considered to represent the coverage area of base station;
adjacent circles cannot be overlaid upon a map without leaving gaps or creating overlapping region.

Hexagonal shape is perfect over circular, triangular square shape because it covers entire area without
overlapping i.e. it can cover complete geographical region without any gaps and hexagon permits easy
and manageable analysis of cellular system.
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 to be used within a small
geographic area. Base stations in adjacent cells are assigned channel groups which contain completely
different channels than neighbouring cells. The base station antennas are designed to achieve the
desired coverage within the particular cell. By limiting the coverage area to within the boundaries of a
cell, the same group of channels may be used to cover different cells that are separated from one
another by distances large enough to keep interference levels within tolerable limits. The design
process of selecting and allocating channel groups for all of the cellular base stations within a system
is called frequency reuse or frequency planning.

Above figure shows concept of frequency reuse. Cell with same letter use the same set of frequencies.

To understand the frequency reuse concept, consider a cellular system which has a total of S duplex
channels available for use. If each cell is allocated a group of k channels (K<S), and if the S channels
are divided among N cells into unique and disjoint channel groups which each have the same number
of channels, the total number of available radio channels can be expressed as

S=K*N

The N cells which collectively use the complete set of available frequencies is called a cluster. If a
cluster is replicated M times within the system, the total number of duplex channels, C, can be used as
a measure of capacity and is given
 C=M*K*N

If the cluster size N is reduced while the cell size is kept constant, more clusters are required to cover
a given area and hence more capacity (a larger value of C) is achieved. A large cluster size indicates
that the ratio between the cell radius and the distance between co-channel cells is large. Conversely, a
small cluster size indicates that co-channel cells are located much closer together.

N= i2+ij=j2

To find the nearest co-channel neighbours of a particular cell, one must do the following: (1) move i
cells along any chain of hexagons and then (2) turn 60 degrees counter-clockwise and move / cells.

Channel Assignment Strategies

With the rapid increase in number of mobile users, the mobile service providers had to follow
strategies which ensure the effective utilization of the limited radio spectrum. With increased capacity
and low interference being the prime objectives, a frequency reuse scheme was helpful in achieving
these objectives. A variety of channel assignment strategies have been followed to aid these
objectives. Channel assignment strategies are classified into two types: fixed and dynamic

i)Fixed Channel Assignment (FCA)

In fixed channel assignment strategy each cell is allocated a fixed number of voice channels. Any
communication within the cell can only be made with the designated unused channels of that
particular cell. Suppose if all the channels are occupied, then the call is blocked and subscriber has to
wait. This is simplest of the channel assignment strategies as it requires very simple circuitry but
provides worst channel utilization. Later there was another approach in which the channels were
borrowed from adjacent cell if all of its own designated channels were occupied. This was named as
borrowing strategy. In such cases the MSC supervises the borrowing process and ensures that none of
the calls in progress are interrupted.

ii) Dynamic Channel Assignment (DCA)

In dynamic channel assignment strategy channels are temporarily assigned for use in cells for the
duration of the call. Each time a call attempt is made from a cell the corresponding BS requests a
channel from MSC. The MSC then allocates a channel to the requesting the BS. After the call is over
the channel is returned and kept in a central pool. To avoid co-channel interference any channel that
in use in one cell can only be reassigned simultaneously to another cell in the system if the distance
between the two cells is larger than minimum reuse distance. When compared to the FCA, DCA has
reduced the likelihood of blocking and even increased the trunking capacity of the network as all of
the channels are available to all cells, i.e., good quality of service. But this type of assignment strategy
results in heavy load on switching centres at heavy traffic condition.

Handoff Process

When a user moves from one cell to the other, to keep the communication between the user pair, the
user channel has to be shifted from one BS to the other without interrupting the call, i.e., when a MS
moves into another cell, while the conversation is still in progress, the MSC automatically transfers
the call to a new FDD channel without disturbing the conversation. This process is called as handoff.
A schematic diagram of handoff is given in Figure Processing of handoff is an important task in any
cellular system. Handoffs must be performed successfully and be imperceptible to the users. Once a
signal level is set as the minimum acceptable for good voice quality (Prmin), then a slightly stronger
level is chosen as the threshold (PrH) at which handoff has to be made.

Improper and proper handoff

Handoffs must be performed successfully and as infrequently as possible, and be imperceptible to the
users. In order to meet these requirements, system designers must specify an optimum signal level at
which to initiate a handoff. Once a particular signal level is specified as the minimum usable signal
for acceptable voice quality at the base station receiver (normally taken as between —90 dBm and —
100 dBm), a slightly stronger signal level is used as a threshold at which a handoff is made.

Figure (a) demonstrates the case where a handoff is not made and the signal drops below the
minimum acceptable level to keep the channel active. This dropped call event can happen when there
is an excessive delay by the MSC in assigning a handoff, or when the threshold is set too small for the
handoff time in the system. Excessive delays may occur during high traffic conditions due to
computational loading at the MSC or due to the fact that no channels are available on any of the
nearby base stations (thus forcing the MSC to wait until a channel in a nearby cell becomes free).

Prioritizing Handoffs

Guard channel concept:

One method for giving priority to handoffs is called the guard channel concept, whereby a fraction of
the total available channels in a cell is reserved exclusively for handoff requests from ongoing calls
which may be handed off into the cell. This method has the disadvantage of reducing the total carried
traffic, as fewer channels are allocated to originating calls. Guard channels, however, offer efficient
spectrum utilization when dynamic channel assignment strategies, which minimize the number of
required guard channels by efficient demand based allocation, are used. Queuing of handoff requests
is another method to decrease the probability of forced termination of a call due to lack of available
channels. There is a trade -off between the decrease in probability of forced termination and total
carried traffic.

Queuing:

Queuing of handoffs is possible due to the fact that there is a finite time interval between the time the
received signal level drops below the handoff threshold and the time the call is terminated due to
insufficient signal level. The delay time and size of the queue is determined from the traffic pattern of
the particular service area. It should be noted that queuing does not guarantee a zero probability of
forced termination, since large delays will cause the received signal level to drop below the minimum
required level to maintain communication and hence lead to forced termination. (FIFO) queueing
strategy is used and infinite queue size at the BS is assumed.

Practical handoff considerations

In first generation Analog cellular systems, the typical time to make a handoff, once the signal level is
deemed to be below the handoff threshold, is about 10 seconds. This requires that the value for
threshold on the order of 6 dB to 12 dB. In new digital cellular systems such as GSM, the mobile
assists with the handoff procedure by determining the best handoff candidates, and the handoff, once
the decision is made, typically requires only 1 or 2 seconds. Consequently, threshold is usually
between 0 dB and 6 dB in modem cellular systems.

In practical cellular systems, several problems arise when attempting to design for a wide range of
mobile velocities. High speed vehicles pass through the coverage region of a cell within a matter of
seconds, whereas pedestrian users may never need a handoff during a call. Particularly with the
addition of microcells to provide capacity, the MSC can quickly become burdened if high speed users
are constantly being passed between very small cells. Several schemes have been devised to handle
the simultaneous traffic of high speed and low speed users while minimizing the handoff intervention
from the MSC. Another practical limitation is the ability to obtain new cell sites.

Umbrella cell approach

The cellular concept clearly provides additional capacity through the addition of cell sites, in practice
it is difficult for cellular service providers to obtain new physical cell site locations in urban areas.
Zoning laws, ordinances, and other nontechnical bathers often make it more attractive for a cellular
provider to install additional channels and base stations at the same physical location of an existing
cell, rather than find new site locations. By using different antenna heights (often on the same
building or tower) and different power levels, it is possible to provide "large" and "small" cells which
are co-located at a single location. This technique is called the umbrella cell approach and is used to
provide large area coverage to high speed users while providing small area coverage to users traveling
at low speeds.

Umbrella cell approach ensures that the number of handoffs is minimized for high speed users and
provides additional microcell channels for pedestrian users. The speed of each user may be estimated
by the base station or MSC by evaluating how rapidly the short term average signal strength on the
RVC changes over time, or more sophisticated algorithms may be used to evaluate and partition users.
If a high speed user in the large umbrella cell is approaching the base station, and its velocity is
rapidly decreasing, the base station may decide to hand the user into the co-located microcell, without
MSC intervention.

Cell Dragging

Another practical handoff problem in microcell systems is known as cell dragging. Cell dragging
results from pedestrian users that provide a very strong signal to the base station. Such a situation
occurs in an urban environment when there is a line-of-sight (LOS) radio path between the subscriber
and the base station. As the user travels away from the base station at a very slow speed, the average
signal strength does not decay rapidly. Even when the user has travelled well beyond the designed
range of the cell, the received signal at the base station may be above the handoff threshold, thus a
handoff may not be made. This creates a potential interference and traffic management problem, since
the user has meanwhile travelled deep within a neighbouring cell. To solve the cell dragging problem,
handoff thresholds and radio coverage parameters must be adjusted carefully.

Types of handoffs

Handoffs are broadly classified into two categories—hard and soft handoffs

Hard handoff

It is essentially a “break before make” connection. Under the control of the MSC, the BS hand off the
MS’s call to another cell and then drops the call. In a hard handoff, the link to the prior BS is
terminated before or as the user is transferred to the new cell’s BS; the MS is linked to no more than
one BS at any given time. Hard handoff is primarily used in FDMA (frequency division multiple
access) and TDMA (time division multiple access), where different frequency ranges are used in
adjacent channels in order to minimize channel interference. So when the MS moves from one BS to
another BS, it becomes impossible for it to communicate with both BSs (since different frequencies
are used).

Soft Handoff

Soft hand-off is defined as a hand-off where a new connection is established before old one is
released. It allocates same frequency.it is also called as ‘make before break’ connection. Soft hand-off
used in CDMA and some TDMA systems. It is more complex than hard hand-off. Communicate up to
three or four radio link at the same time.

Interference & System Capacity

Susceptibility and interference problems associated with mobile communications equipment are
because of the problem of time congestion within the electromagnetic spectrum. It is the limiting
factor in the performance of cellular systems. This interference can occur from clash with another
mobile in the same cell or because of a call in the adjacent cell. There can be interference between the
base stations operating at same frequency band or any other non-cellular system's energy leaking
inadvertently into the frequency band of the cellular system. If there is an interference in the voice
channels, cross talk is heard will appear as noise between the users. The interference in the control
channels leads to missed and error calls because of digital signalling. Interference is more severe in
urban areas because of the greater RF noise and greater density of mobiles and base stations. The
interference can be divided into 2 parts: co-channel interference and adjacent channel interference.

Co-channel Interference

Frequency reuse implies that in a given coverage area there is several cells that use the same set of
frequencies. These cells are called co-channel cells, and the interference between signals from these
cells is called co-channel interference. Unlike thermal noise which can be overcome by increasing the
signal-to noise ratio (SNR), co-channel interference cannot be combated by simply increasing the
carrier power of a transmitter This is because an increase in carrier transmit power increases the
interference to neighbouring co-channel cells. To reduce co-channel interference, co-channel cells
must be physically separated by a minimum distance to provide sufficient isolation due to
propagation. When the size of each cell is approximately the same, and the base stations transmit the
same power, the co-channel interference ratio is independent of the transmitted power and becomes a
function of the radius of the cell (B) and the distance between centres of the nearest co-channel cells
(D). By increasing the ratio of DIR, the spatial separation between co-channel cells relative to the
coverage distance of a cell is increased. Thus interference is reduced from improved isolation of HF
energy from the co-channel cell. The parameter Q, called the co channel reuse ratio, is related to the
cluster size.

A small value of Q provides larger capacity since the cluster size N is small, whereas a large value of
Q improves the transmission quality, due to a smaller level of co-channel interference. A trade-off
must be made between these two objectives in actual cellular design.

Derivation for frequency reuse ratio

Worst case scenario

7-cell cluster, with the mobile unit is at the cell boundary, the mobile is a distance D-R from the two
nearest co-channel interfering cells and approximately D, and D + R from the other interfering 2 cells
in the first tier. When m=4 we get signal to interference ratio as
Above equation in terms of Q is given as

Adjacent Channel Interference

Interference resulting from signals which are adjacent in frequency to the desired signal is called
adjacent channel interference. Adjacent channel interference results from imperfect receiver filters
which allow nearby frequencies to leak into the passband. The problem can be particularly serious if
an adjacent channel user is transmitting in very close range to a subscriber's receiver, while the
receiver attempts to receive a base station on the desired channel. This is referred to as the near-far
effect.

Adjacent channel interference can be minimized through careful filtering and channel assignments.
Since each cell is given only a fraction of the available channels, a cell need not be assigned channels
which are all adjacent in frequency. By keeping the frequency separation between each channel in a
given cell as large as possible, the adjacent channel interference may be reduced considerably. Thus
instead of assigning channels which form a contiguous band of frequencies within a particular cell,
channels are allocated such that the frequency separation between channels in a given cell is
maximized.

Improving Capacity in Cellular Systems

As the demand for wireless service increases, the number of channels assigned to a cell eventually
becomes insufficient to support the required number of users. At this point, cellular design techniques
are needed to provide more channels per unit coverage area. Techniques such as cell splitting,
sectoring, and coverage zone approaches are used in practice to expand the capacity of cellular
systems. Cell splitting allows an orderly growth of the cellular system. Sectoring uses directional
antennas to further control the interference and frequency reuse of channels. The zone microcell
concept distributes the coverage of a cell and extends the cell boundary to hard-to-reach places. While
cell splitting increases the number of base stations in order to increase capacity, sectoring and zone
microcells rely on base station antenna placements to improve capacity by reducing co-channel
interference. Cell splitting and zone microcell techniques do not suffer the trunking inefficiencies
experienced by sectored cells, and enable the base station to oversee all handoff chores related to the
microcells, thus reducing the computational load at the MSC

Cell Splitting

Cell splitting is the process of subdividing a congested cell into smaller cells, each with its own base
station and a corresponding reduction in antenna height and transmitter power. Cell splitting increases
the capacity of a cellular system since it increases the number of times that channels are reused. By
defining new cells which have a smaller radius than the original cells and by installing these smaller
cells (called microcells) between the existing cells, capacity increases due to the additional number of
channels per unit area.
The base stations are placed at corners of the cells, and the area served by base station A is assumed to
be saturated with traffic (i.e., the blocking of base station A exceeds acceptable rates). New base
stations are therefore needed in the region to increase the number of channels in the area and to reduce
the area served by the single base station. Note in the figure that the original base station A has been
surrounded by six new microcell base stations. The smaller cells were added in such a way as to
preserve the frequency reuse plan of the system. For example, the microcell base station labelled G
was placed half way between two larger stations utilizing the same channel set G. This is also the case
for the other microcells in above figure; cell splitting merely scales the geometry of the cluster. In this
case, the radius of each new microcell is half that of the original cell.

Sectoring

The co-channel interference in a cellular system may be decreased by replacing a single omni-
directional antenna at the base station by several directional antennas, each radiating within a
specified sector. By using directional antennas, a given cell will receive interference and transmit with
only a fraction of the available co-channel cells. The technique for decreasing co-channel interference
and thus increasing system capacity by using directional antennas is called sectoring. The factor by
which the co-channel interference is reduced depends on the amount of sectoring used. A cell is
normally partitioned into three 1200 sectors or six 60° sectors.
When sectoring is employed, the channels used in a particular cell are bro ken down into sectored
groups and are used only within a particular sector. Assuming 7-cell reuse, for the case of 120°
sectors, the number of interferers in the first tier is reduced from 6 to 2. This is because only 2 of the 6
co-channel cells receive interference with a particular sectored channel group.

120 and 60 degree sectoring