Introduction to Mobile Computing

Module 1 : Overview, Telecommunication Generations

● CSC603.1 To identify basic concepts and principles in computing, cellular
architecture.
● CSC603.2 To describe the components and functioning of GSM mobile network.
● CSC603.3 To classify variety of security techniques in mobile network.
● CSC603.4 To apply the concepts of WLAN for local as well as remote
applications.
● CSC603.5 To study various mobility management techniques.
● CSC603.6 To describe Long Term Evolution (LTE) architecture and its
interfaces.
The Development of the first Telephone
● While Italian innovator Antonio Meucci is credited with inventing the first
basic phone in 1849, He filed a caveat (a notice of intention to file a patent)
in 1871 but couldn't afford to secure a full patent.
● and Frenchman Charles Bourseul devised a phone in 1854,
● Alexander Graham Bell won the first U.S. patent for the device in 1876.
● Elisha Gray, an American inventor, also developed a telephone and filed a patent
caveat on the same day as Bell.
● Despite controversies, Bell is widely recognized as the inventor of the telephone
due to his successful patent.
● Bell: Invented the landline telephone (wired communication) in 1876.
Who introduced mobile communication?
● The first handheld cellular mobile phone was demonstrated by John F. Mitchell
and Martin Cooper of Motorola in 1973, using a handset weighing 2 kilograms.

● The first commercial automated cellular network (1G) analog was launched in
Japan by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone in 1979.

● Martin Cooper is father of the cellphone, and former head of Motorola's

communications systems division — and the first person to ever make a call from
a cellphone.
● Cooper: Developed the mobile phone (wireless communication) in 1973.
Who controls telecommunications?
● The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is a regulatory body set
up by the Government of India under section 3 of the Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India Act, 1997.
● It is the regulator of the telecommunications sector in India.
What is the mobile communication system?
● In mobile communications, high-frequency electromagnetic fields are used for
wireless transmission of voice and data.
● In free space they propagate as waves at the speed of light while being able
to transmit energy and information over long distances.
What is Mobile Computing?
● Generally, a mobile computing system involves a mobile device, such as a laptop
computer, tablet or smartphone, and a wireless network connection based on Wi-
Fi or cellular wireless technology, such as 5G.

● Mobile computers typically accommodate access to both wireless and wired

technology.

● Access to shared network resources, including Mobile cloud-based resources, is

essential given the collaborative nature of work today.
A computer in 2010
Advances in technology

– More computing power in smaller devices

– Flat, lightweight displays with low power consumption
– New user interfaces due to small dimensions
– More bandwidth (per second ? per space ?)
– Multiple wireless techniques

• Technology in the background

– Device location awareness: computers adapt to their environment.
– User location awareness: computers recognize the location of the user and react
appropriately (call forwarding)
• “Computers” evolve
– Small, cheap, portable, replaceable
Aspects of mobility
● User mobility: users communicate “anytime, anywhere, with anyone”
(example: read/write email on web browser)
● Device portability: devices can be connected anytime, anywhere to the
network.
● The demand for mobile communication creates the need for integration of
wireless networks and existing fixed networks.
● Local area networks: standardization of IEEE 802.11 or HIPERLAN
● Wide area networks: GSM and ISDN

● Internet: Mobile IP extension of the Internet protocol IP

 • Vehicles
• Nomadic user
• Smart mobile phone
• Invisible computing
• Wearable computing
Application • Intelligent house or office
• Meeting room/conference
Scenarios • Taxi/Police/Fire squad fleet
• Service worker
• Lonely wolf
• Disaster relief and Disaster alarm
• Games
• Military / Security
Vehicles
 Nomadic user has laptop/palmtop
• Connect to network infrequently
• Interim period operate in disconnected mode
Nomadic user • Access her or customer data
• Consistent database for all agents
• Print on local printer (or other service)
• Does nomadic user need her own hardware?
• Read/write email on web browser
 • Mobile phones get smarter
• Converge with PDA?
• Voice calls, video calls
• Email or instant messaging
• Play games
Smart mobile • Up-to-date localized information
– Map
phone – Pull: Find the next Pizzeria
– Push: “Hey, we have great Pizza!”
• Stock/weather/sports info
• Ticketing
• Trade stock
 • Tiny embedded “computers”
Invisible wearable • Everywhere
• Example: Microsoft’s Doll

computing
 Bluetooth replaces cables
• Plug and play, without the “plug”
• Again: Find the local printer
Intelligent Office • House recognizes inhabitant
and • House regulates temperature according
to person in a room
Intelligent House • Trade Shows
• Home without cables looks better
• LAN in historic building
 Share data instantly
• Send a message to someone
else in the room
Meeting room • Secretly vote on controversial
or issue
• Find person with similar interests
Conference • Broadcast last minute changes
• Ad-Hoc Network
 Connect
• Control
• Communicate
Taxi / Police • Service Worker

Fire squad / • Example: SBB service workers

have PDA
Service fleet – Map help finding broken signal
– PDA gives type of signal, so that
service person can bring the right
tools right away
 We really mean everywhere!
• Cargo’s and yachts
• Journalists
• Scientists
Lonely wolf • Travelers
• Sometimes cheaper than
infrastructure
 After earthquake, tsunami,
volcano,PANDEMIC:
• You cannot rely on
infrastructure but you need to
orchestrate disaster relief
Disaster relief • Early transmission of patient
data to hospital
• Satellite
• Ad-Hoc network
 With sensors you might be
able to alarm early
• Example: Tsunami
• Example: Cooling room
Disaster alarm • Or simpler: Weather station
• Satellite
• Ad-Hoc network
 Nintendo Gameboy [Advance]: Industry standard
mobile game station
• Connectable to other Gameboys
• Can be used as game pad for Nintendo Gamecube
Games • Cybiko [Extreme] is a competitor that has radio
capabilities built in
• Second generation already
• Also email, chat, etc
Military / Security From a technology standpoint
this is similar to disaster relief
Mobile devices
 • Energy consumption
– limited computing power, low quality displays, small
disks
– Limited memory (no moving parts)
– Radio transmission has a high energy consumption

– CPU: power consumption ~ CV2f

Effects of device • C: total capacitance, reduced by integration
• V: supply voltage, can be reduced to a certain limit
portability • f: clock frequency, can be reduced temporally

• Limited user interfaces

– compromise between size of fingers and portability
– integration of character/voice recognition, abstract
symbols
• Loss of data
– higher probability (e.g., defects, theft)
 • Higher loss-rates due to interference
– emissions of, e.g., engines, lightning

Wireless • Restrictive regulations of frequencies

– frequencies have to be coordinated, useful
networks in frequencies are almost all occupied
comparison to • Low transmission rates
fixed networks – local some Mbit/s, regional currently, e.g.,
9.6kbit/s with GSM
• Higher delays, more jitter

– connection setup time with GSM in the second range, several hundred
milliseconds for other wireless systems, tens of seconds with Bluetooth
• Lower security, simpler active attacking
– radio interface accessible for everyone, base station can be simulated,
thus attracting calls from mobile phones
• Always shared medium
– secure access mechanisms important
Generations of wireless communication
 ● First time calling was introduced in mobile systems.
● It used analog signals-Only support for voice calls.
● No data or sms service.
● Poor security.

1G ● Coverage area was small.

● No roaming support between various operators.
(1st Generation) ● Low sound quality.
1979 ● Speed :- 24 kbps
● Specturm is divided into subbands.
● Caller per band.
● Technology FDMA.
 ● Shifted from analog to digital.
● It supported voice and SMS both.
● Encoded voice and other information before transmitting.
● Noise imunity.
2G (2nd Generation) ● Better bandwidth utilization.
GSM ● Supported all 4 sectors of wireless industry namely Digital
1991 cellular, Mobile Data, PCS, WLAN.
● Moderate mobile data service.
● 2G WLAN provided high data rate & large area coverage.
● Speed :- 64 kbps.
● Technology CDMA & TDMA
 ● 2.5G came after 2G which used the concept of GPRS.
Streaming was also introduced and mail services too.
● Packet switching technology.

2.5 GPRS ● Fast Upload and download.

&
● Then came 2.75G or EDGE which was faster in
providing services then 2.5G.
2.75 (EDGE) ● It gave faster internet speed upto 128kbps and also
used edge connection.
● Call cost reduced in 2.5G
 ● Internet system was improved.
● Better system and capacity.
● Offers high speed wireless internet.
● High speed data and voice.
3G (3rd Generation) ● 3D games.
1998 ● Web based application.
● Fast multimedia files.
● Connection used was UMTS and WCMA.
● Speed :- 2mbps.
 ● Fast data rastes.
● IP based protocols.
● LTE (Long term evaluation) was mainly
for internet.
● Vo-LTE (Voice over LTE) is for both voice
and internet.
4G (4th Generation) ● Freedom and flexibility to select any
2008 desired service with reasonable QOS.
● High usability.
● Supports multimedia service at low
transmission cost.
● HD quality Streaming.
● Speed :-100mbps.
 ● It is yet to come in many countries but here are
some notable points about 5G .
● Complete wireless network.
● Higher data rates.
● Connectivity will be more fast and secure.
5G ● Data Latency will be reduced to a great level.
(5th Generation) ● Simulteniuos access to various wireless
technology.
2019 ● Massive network capacity.
● It is 30 times faster than 4G.
● There would be more flexibility in the network.
● Speed 1-20gbps
● Packet and message switching
 ● A basic analog cellular system

A basic analog
consists of three subsystems:
● a mobile unit, a cell site, and a

cellular system mobile telephone switching office

(MTSO), with connections to link
the three subsystems.
● Mobile units. A mobile telephone unit contains a control unit, a transceiver,
and an antenna system.
● Cell site. The cell site provides interface between the MTSO and the mobile
units. It has a control unit, radio cabinets, antennas, a power plant, and data
terminals.
● MTSO. The switching office, the central coordinating element for all cell
sites, contains the cellular processor and cellular switch.
● It interfaces with telephone company zone offices, controls call processing,
provides operation and maintenance, and handles billing activities.
● Connections. The radio and high-speed data links connect the three
subsystems. Each mobile unit can only use one channel at a time.
A basic analog
cellular system
 • The coverage area of cellular networks are
divided into cells, each cell having its own
antenna for transmitting the signals.
Cell Geometry : ● Each cell has its own frequencies.

Shape of Cells ● Data communication in cellular networks is

served by its base station transmitter, receiver
and its control unit.
● The shape of cells can be either square or
hexagon.
 ● A square cell has four neighbors at distance d and
four at distance Root 2d

Square ● Better if all adjacent antennas equidistant

● Simplifies choosing and switching to new
antenna.
Hexagon
● A hexagon cell shape is highly
recommended for its easy
coverage and calculations.
● It offers the following
advantages −
● Provides equidistant antennas
● Distance from center to vertex
equals length of side.
 ● An Antenna is a transducer, which converts
electrical power into electromagnetic waves and
vice versa.
● An Antenna can be used either as a transmitting
antenna or a receiving antenna.
What is an ● A transmitting antenna is one, which converts
electrical signals into electromagnetic waves and
Antenna ? ●
radiates them.
A receiving antenna is one, which converts
electromagnetic waves from the received beam
into electrical signals.
● In two-way communication, the same antenna
can be used for both transmission and reception.
 Antennas may be divided into various
types depending upon −

Basic Types of ● The physical structure of the

antenna.

Antennas ● The frequency ranges of

operation.

● The mode of applications etc.

 ● Wire antennas

The types of ● Aperture antennas

antennas according ● Reflector antennas
to the physical ● Lens antennas
structure. ● Micro strip antennas
● Array antennas
 The types of
● Very Low Frequency (VLF)
● Low Frequency (LF)
antennas ● Medium Frequency (MF)

according to the ●

●
High Frequency (HF)
Very High Frequency (VHF)
frequency of ● Ultra High Frequency (UHF)

operation. ● Super High Frequency (SHF)

● Microwave
● Radio wave
 The types of
antennas ● Point-to-point communications
according to the ● Broadcasting applications

modes of ● Radar communications

applications
● Satellite communications
Type of antenna Examples Applications

Dipole antenna, Monopole Personal applications,

Wire Antennas antenna, Helix antenna, buildings, ships,
Loop antenna automobiles, space crafts

Flush-mounted
Waveguide (opening), Horn
Aperture Antennas applications, air-craft, space
antenna
craft

Microwave communication,
Parabolic reflectors, Corner
Reflector Antennas satellite tracking, radio
reflectors
astronomy
Type of antenna Examples Applications

Convex-plane, Concave-
Used for very high
Lens Antennas plane, Convex-convex,
frequency applications
Concave-concave lenses

Circular-shaped,
Air-craft, space-craft,
Rectangular shaped
Micro strip Antennas satellites, missiles, cars,
metallic patch above the
mobile phones etc.
ground plane

Yagi-Uda antenna, Micro Used for very high gain

strip patch array, Aperture applications, mostly when
Array Antennas
array, Slotted wave guide needs to control the
array radiation pattern
1. Isotropic Antenna
● An isotropic antenna is defined as a hypothetical
antenna having the same radiation in all
directions (i.e., uniform radiation).

● An isotropic antenna (also known as an

omnidirectional antenna) emits the signal
uniformly in all directions.

● In other words, at distance d from the antenna, in

any direction, the transmitted signal power is the
same.
 ● A dipole antenna is the simplest type of radio antenna, consisting of a
conductive wire rod that is half the length of the maximum
wavelength the antenna is to generate.

● This wire rod is split in the middle, and the two sections are separated

2. Dipole
by an insulator. ... Dipole means "two poles.“

● A dipole antenna (also known as a doublet or dipole aerial) is defined

Antenna as a type of RF (Radio Frequency) antenna, consisting of two

conductive elements such as rods or wires.

● Dipole antennas are the simplest and most widely used type of antenna.

● The length of the metal wires is approximately half of the maximum

wavelength in free space at the frequency of operation.
 ● This wire or rod is split at the center, and the
two sections are separated by an insulator,
these sections are known as an antenna

Dipole Antenna
section.

● These two antenna sections are connected to a

feeder or coaxial cable at the end closest to the
center of the antenna.

● Note that wavelength is the distance between

two consecutive maximum or minimum points.
The basic dipole antenna with the center feed
point is shown in the figure below.

● There are three types of dipoles:

● Ideal half-wavelength dipole
● Folded dipole
● Hertzian dipole
3. Directional ● A directional antenna is a radio-frequency (RF)
wireless antenna designed to function more

Antenna effectively in some directions than in others.

● The purpose of that directionality is improving

transmission and reception of communications
and reducing interference.
 ●
4. Omni
Just as the name suggests, omni-directional antennas
transmit and receive uniform signals in a 360 degree
pattern.

Directional ● In radio communication, an omnidirectional antenna is a

class of antenna which radiates equal radio power in all

Antenna directions perpendicular to an axis (azimuthal directions),

with power varying with angle to the axis (elevation
angle), declining to zero on the axis.

● The radiation pattern of an omni resembles a donut,

with reduced coverage immediately below and above the
antenna, and expanded coverage as you move further away
from the antenna.

● Due to the fact that omni antennas can transmit and

receive signals in any direction, they are commonly used
by WISPS with access points. Omnis are ideal for use in
rural environments, where initial subscriber counts are
expected to be low.
 ● These are directional antennas used in cellular
systems. Sector antennas are used extensively
for cellular communication.

5. Sectorized ● The largest use of these antennas is for cell

phone base-station sites.

Antenna ● The coverage area of sector antennas is

determined by the projection of the radiation
pattern on the ground, which can be adjusted by
changing the down-tilt angle of the antenna.
6. Arrays Antenna ● An antenna array (or array antenna) is a set of
multiple connected antennas which work
together as a single antenna, to transmit or
receive radio waves.
● An antenna array can achieve higher gain
(directivity), that is a narrower beam of radio
waves, than could be achieved by a single
element.
 ● The following are the advantages of using
antenna arrays −

● The signal strength increases

Antenna Arrays ●
●
High directivity is obtained
Minor lobes are reduced much
: Advantages ●
●
High Signal-to-noise ratio is achieved
High gain is obtained
● Power wastage is reduced
● Better performance is obtained
 ● The following are the disadvantages of

Antenna Arrays
array antennas −

● Resistive losses are increased

: Disadvantages ● Mounting and maintenance is difficult
● Huge external space is required
 ● The following are the applications of array
antennas −

Antenna Arrays ● Used in satellite communications

: Applications ●
●
Used in wireless communications
Used in military radar communications
● Used in the astronomical study
 ● The basic types of arrays are −

● Collinear array

Antenna Arrays
● Broad side array
● End fire array
● Parasitic array
: Types of Arrays ●
●
Yagi-Uda array
Log-periodic array
● Turnstile array
● Super-turnstile array
Signal Propagation / Radio Wave Propagation

● Generally radio waves travel in a straight line path.

● But where the earth and atmosphere alter their paths the wave needs to
change the straight lines path as there is change in medium.
● There are many factors which affect propagation of waves like frequency of the
radio waves, distance to be travelled by the wave, medium through which
radio waves travel, the objects in the path of propagation.
● There are three major propagation mechanism followed by the waves namely
Reflection, Refraction and Diffraction.
 ● In Radio communication systems, we use
wireless electromagnetic waves as the channel.
● The antennas of different specifications can be
used for these purposes. The sizes of these
antennas depend upon the bandwidth and
frequency of the signal to be transmitted.

● The mode of propagation of electromagnetic

Signal Propagation / waves in the atmosphere and in free space may

Radio Wave Propagation be divided in to the following three categories

● Line of sight (LOS) propagation / free

space
● Ground wave propagation
● Sky wave propagation
● Space wave propogation
 ● Among the modes of propagation, this line-of-
Line of Sight Propagation / sight propagation is the one, which we
commonly notice.
Free Space
● In the line-of-sight communication, as the
name implies, the wave travels a minimum
distance of sight.

● Which means it travels to the distance up to

which a naked eye can see.

● Now what happens after that? We need to

employ an amplifier cum transmitter here to
amplify the signal and transmit again.
 ● Ground wave propagation of the wave follows
Ground Wave the contour of earth. Such a wave is called as
direct wave.
Propagation ● The wave sometimes bends due to the Earth’s
magnetic field and gets reflected to the
receiver.
● Such a wave can be termed as reflected wave.

● The wave when propagates through the Earth’s

atmosphere is known as ground wave.
● The direct wave and reflected wave together
contribute the signal at the receiver station.
● When the wave finally reaches the receiver, the
lags are cancelled out.
● In addition, the signal is filtered to avoid
distortion and amplified for clear output.
 ● Sky wave propagation is preferred when the wave

Sky Wave
has to travel a longer distance.
● Here the wave is projected onto the sky and it is

Propagation
again reflected back onto the earth.
● Here the waves are shown to be transmitted from
one place and where it is received by many receivers.
● Hence, it is an example of broadcasting.
● The waves, which are transmitted from the
transmitter antenna, are reflected from the
ionosphere.
● It consists of several layers of charged particles
ranging in altitude from 30- 250 miles above the
surface of the earth.
● Such a travel of the wave from transmitter to the
ionosphere and from there to the receiver on Earth
is known as Sky Wave Propagation.
● Ionosphere is the ionized layer around the Earth’s
atmosphere, which is suitable for sky wave
propagation.
 ●
Space Wave
Waves above HF range travel in straight line are
known as space waves.

propagation ● Space wave propagation is defined as a category of

radio wave propagation for the radio waves that
occur within the 20km from the earth’s surface,
i.e., the troposphere.
● It comprises of direct or reflected waves. It is also
known by two other names:

● Tropospheric propagation as the waves here can

propagate directly from the earth's surface to its
troposphere surface.

● Line-of-sight propagation as the waves travel in a

straight line and cover a minimum distance of
sight. It means the waves propagate to a distance
up to which one can see with the naked eye.
Multiplexing
● Multiplexing is not only a fundamental mechanism in communication systems but also in
everyday life. Multiplexing describes how several users can share a medium with minimum or
no interference.

● One example, is highways with several lanes. Many users (car drivers) use the same medium
(the highways) with hopefully no interference (i.e., accidents).

● This is possible due to the provision of several lanes (space division multiplexing) separating
the traffic. In addition, different cars use the same medium (i.e., the same lane) at different
points in time (time division multiplexing).

● Definition : it is the process of combining multiple signals originated from single source to
make them pass through single transmission medium.
Frequency division multiplexing
● Frequency division multiplexing (FDM) describes schemes to subdivide the
frequency dimension into several non-overlapping frequency bands.

● Each channel is now allotted its own frequency band as indicated.

● Senders using a certain frequency band can use this band continuously.
● Again, guard spaces are needed to avoid frequency band overlapping (also
● called adjacent channel interference).

● This scheme is used for radio stations within the same region, where each radio
station has its own frequency.
● This very simple multiplexing scheme does not need complex coordination
between sender and receiver: the receiver only has to tune in to the specific
sender.
Time division multiplexing
● A more flexible multiplexing scheme for typical mobile communications is time
division multiplexing (TDM).
● Here a channel is given the whole bandwidth for a certain amount of time, i.e.,
all senders use the same frequency but at different points in time.
● Again, guard spaces, which now represent time gaps, have to separate the
different periods when the senders use the medium.

● In our highway example, this would refer to the gap between two cars.
● If two transmissions overlap in time, this is called co-channel interference.
● (In the highway example, interference between two cars results in an accident.)

● To avoid this type of interference, precise synchronization between different

senders is necessary.
Time division multiplexing
● This is clearly a disadvantage, as all senders need precise clocks or, alternatively,
a way has to be found to distribute a synchronization signal to all senders.

● For a receiver tuning in to a sender this does not just involve adjusting the
frequency, but involves listening at exactly the right point in time.

● However, this scheme is quite flexible as one can assign more sending time to
senders with a heavy load and less to those with a light load.
Code division multiplexing
● Code division multiplexing (CDM) is a relatively new scheme in commercial communication
systems.
● First used in military applications due to its inherent security features.
● It now features in many civil wireless transmission scenarios thanks to the availability of
cheap processing power how all channels ki use the same frequency at the same time for
transmission.

● Separation is now achieved by assigning each channel its own ‘code’, guard spaces are
realized by using codes with the necessary ‘distance’ in code space, e.g., orthogonal codes.

● The typical everyday example of CDM is a party with many participants from different
countries around the world who establish communication channels, i.e., they talk to each
other, using the same frequency range (approx. 300–6000 Hz depending on a person’s voice)
at the same time.
Space division multiplexing
Spread Spectrum
The process in which narrowband signal is converted to wideband signal is called as spreading of
spectrum. If the signal is in KHz range then after spreading it is converted to few MHz.
Spread Spectrum

PN : Pseudo Noise / White noise

Modulator Block : Continues Wave
MPSK : multiple phase shift keying
MFSK : multiple freq shift keying
1. Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum
-Security and confidentiality
● How DSSS Works:

● Input Data: The input data (message signal) is a sequence of bits to be transmitted.
● Spreading Code:

o DSSS uses a pseudo-random noise (PN) sequence, also known as a spreading code, which has a much higher frequency than the
input data.

o Each bit of the input data is multiplied by the PN sequence. This process is called spreading.

Spread Signal:

o The multiplication spreads the signal over a wide frequency range, making it appear noise-like.

Transmission:

o The spread signal is transmitted over the communication channel.

Reception and Despreading:

o At the receiver, the same PN sequence (synchronized with the transmitter) is used to despread the signal.

o The original data is recovered by correlating the received signal with the spreading code.
2. Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum
- Interference and spying
 How FHSS Works:

1. Input Signal:

o The message signal is the data to be transmitted.

2. Frequency Hopping:

o FHSS divides the total available bandwidth into multiple frequency channels.

o The system hops between these frequency channels in a pseudo-random sequence that is known to both the transmitter and receiver.

3. Transmission:

o The transmitter shifts the carrier frequency according to the hopping sequence and transmits the modulated signal.

4. Reception:

o The receiver, synchronized with the transmitter, follows the same hopping sequence to demodulate and recover the original message.