The Cellular Concept - Fundamentals

I. 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
 Low cost
 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?
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I Frequency reuse pattern

 Cellular concept

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 Cells labeled with the same letter use the same
group of channels.
 Cell Cluster: group of N cells using complete set of
available channels
 Many base stations, lower power, and shorter towers
 Small coverage areas called “cells”
 Each cell allocated a % of the total number of
available channels
 Nearby (adjacent) cells assigned different channel
groups
 to prevent interference between neighboring base
stations and mobile users

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 Same frequency channels may be reused by cells a
“reasonable” distance away
 reused many times as long as interference between
same channel (co-channel) cells is < acceptable level

 As frequency reuse↑ → # possible simultaneous

users↑→ # subscribers ↑→ but system cost ↑ (more
towers)
 *** A fixed # of channels serves a large # of users
by reusing channels in a coverage area ***

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II. Frequency Reuse/Planning

 Design process of selecting & allocating

channel groups of cellular base stations
 Two competing/conflicting objectives:
1) maximize frequency reuse in specified area
2) minimize interference between cells

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 Cells
 base station antennas designed to cover specific cell
area
 hexagonal cell shape assumed for planning
 simple model for easy analysis → circles leave gaps
 actual cell “footprint” is amorphous (no specific shape)
 where Tx successfully serves mobile unit
 base station location
 cell center → omni-directional antenna (360°
coverage)
 not necessarily in the exact center (can be up to R/4
from the ideal location)

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 cell corners → sectored or directional antennas
on 3 corners with 120° coverage.
 very commom
 Note that what is defined as a “corner” is
somewhat flexible → a sectored antenna covers
120° of a hexagonal cell.
 So one can define a cell as having three antennas
in the center or antennas at 3 corners.

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III. System Capacity

 S : total # of duplex channels available for use

in a given area; determined by:
 amount of allocated spectrum
 channel BW → modulation format and/or standard
specs. (e.g. AMPS)
 k : number of channels for each cell (k < S)
 N : cluster size → # of cells forming cluster
 S=kN

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 M : # of times a cluster is replicated over a
geographic coverage area
 System Capacity = Total # Duplex Channels = C
C=MS=MkN

If cluster size (N) is reduced and the geographic area for

each cell is kept constant:
 The geographic area covered by each cluster is smaller, so
M must ↑ to cover the entire coverage area (more clusters
needed).
 S remains constant.
 So C ↑
 The smallest possible value of N is desirable to maximize
system capacity.
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 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.

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 To find the nearest co-channel neighbors of a particular cell
 (1) Move i cells along any chain of hexagons, then (2)
turn 60 degrees and move j cells.

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IV. Channel Assignment Strategies
 Goal is to minimize interference & maximize use of
capacity
 Two main strategies: Fixed or Dynamic
 Fixed
 each cell allocated a pre-determined set of voice channels
 calls within cell only served by unused cell channels
 all channels used → blocked call → no service
 several variations
 MSC allows cell to borrow a VC (that is to say, a FVC/RVC
pair) from an adjacent cell
 donor cell must have an available VC to give

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 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

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 Advantage: reduces call blocking (that is to say,
it increases the trunking capacity), and
increases voice quality
 Disadvantage: increases storage &
computational load @ MSC
 requires real-time data from entire network related
to:
 channel occupancy
 traffic distribution
 Radio Signal Strength Indications (RSSI's) from all
channels

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V. 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
channel belonging to a new base station
 new voice and control channel frequencies
 very important task → often given higher priority
than new call
 It is worse to drop an in-progress call than to deny a
new one

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 Minimum useable signal level
 lowest acceptable voice quality
 call is dropped if below this level
 specified by system designers
 typical values → -90 to -100 dBm

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 Quick review: Decibels

S = Signal power in Watts

Power of a signal in decibels (dBW) is Psignal = 10 log10(S)
Remember dB is used for ratios (like S/N)
dBW is used for Watts

dBm = dB for power in milliwatts = 10 log10(S x 103)

dBm = 10 log10(S) + 10 log10(103) = dBW + 30
-90 dBm = 10 log10(S x 103)
10-9 = S x 103
S = 10-12 Watts = 10-9 milliwatts
-90 dBm = -120 dBW

Signal-to-noise ratio:
N = Noise power in Watts
S/N = 10 log10(S/N) dB (unitless raio)
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 choose a (handoff threshold) > (minimum
useable signal level)
 so there is time to switch channels before level
becomes too low
 as mobile moves away from base station and
toward another base station

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 Handoff Margin △
 △ = Phandoff threshold - Pminimum usable signal dB
 carefully selected
 △ too large → unnecessary handoff → MSC loaded down
 △ 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

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 Handoff Decision
 signal level decreases due to
 signal fading → don’t handoff
 mobile moving away from base station → handoff
 must monitor received signal strength over a period
of time → moving average
 time allowed to complete handoff depends on
mobile speed
 large negative received signal strength (RSS) slope →
high speed → quick handoff
 statistics of the fading signal are important to
making appropriate handoff decisions

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 1st Generation Cellular (Analog FM → AMPS)
 Received signal strength (RSS) of RVC measured
at base station & monitored by MSC
 A spare Rx in base station (locator Rx) monitors
RSS of RVC's in neighboring cells
 Tells Mobile Switching Center about these mobiles and
their channels
 Locator Rx can see if signal to this base station is
significantly better than to the host base station
 MSC monitors RSS from all base stations &
decides on handoff

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 2nd Generation Cellular: (GSM, IS-136)
 Mobile Assisted Hand Offs (MAHO)
 important advancement
 The mobile measures the RSS of the FCC’s from
adjacent base stations & reports back to serving base
station
 if Rx power from new base station > Rx power from
serving (current) base station by pre-determined
margin for a long enough time period → handoff
initiated by MSC

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 MSC no longer monitors RSS of all channels
 reduces computational load considerably
 enables much more rapid and efficient handoffs
 imperceptible to user

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 A mobile may move into a different system
controlled by a different MSC
 Called an intersystem handoff
 What issues would be involved here?

 Prioritizing Handoffs
 Issue: Perceived Grade of Service (GOS) – service
quality as viewed by users
 “quality(not voice quality)” in terms of dropped or
blocked calls (for a new call attempt) assign higher
priority to handoff vs. new call request
 a dropped call is more aggravating than an occasional
blocked call
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 Guard Channels
 % of total available cell channels exclusively set
aside for handoff requests
 makes fewer channels available for new call
requests
 a good strategy is dynamic channel allocation (not
fixed)
 adjust number of guard channels as needed by demand
 so channels are not wasted in cells with low traffic

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 Queuing Handoff Requests
 use time delay between handoff threshold and
minimum useable signal level to place a blocked
handoff request in queue
 a handoff request can "keep trying" during that time
period, instead of having a single block/no block
decision
 prioritize requests (based on mobile speed) and
handoff as needed
 calls will still be dropped if time period expires

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VI. Practical Handoff Considerations

 Problems occur because of a large range of

mobile velocities
 pedestrian vs. vehicle user
 Small cell sizes and/or micro-cells → larger #
handoffs
 MSC load is heavy when high speed users are
passed between very small cells

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 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

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 Cell Dragging
 low speed user with line of sight to base station (very strong
signal)
 strong signal changing slowly
 user moves into the area of an adjacent cell without handoff
 causes interference with adjacent cells and other cells
 Remember: handoffs help all users, not just the one which is
handed off.
 If this mobile is closer to a reused channel → interference ­
for the other user using the same frequency
 So this mobile needs to hand off anyway, so other users
benefit because that mobile stays far away from them.

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 Typical handoff parameters
 Analog cellular (1st generation)
 threshold margin △ ≈ 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 △ ≈ 0 to 6 dB
 enabled by mobile assisted handoff

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 benefits of small handoff time
 greater flexibility in handling high/low speed
users
 queuing handoffs & prioritizing
 more time to “rescue” calls needing urgent
handoff
 fewer dropped calls → GOS increased
 can make decisions based on a wide range of metrics
other than signal strength
 such as also measure interference levels
 can have a multidimensional algorithm for
making decisions
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 Soft vs. Hard Handoffs
 Hard handoff: different radio channels assigned
when moving from cell to cell
 all analog (AMPS) & digital TDMA systems (IS-136,
GSM, etc.)
 Many spread spectrum users share the same
frequency in every cell
 CDMA → IS-95
 Since a mobile uses the same frequency in every cell, it
can also be assigned the same code for multiple cells
when it is near the boundary of multiple cells.
 The MSC simultaneously monitors reverse link signal
at several base stations

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 MSC dynamically decides which signal is best
and then listens to that one
 Soft Handoff
 passes data from that base station on to the PSTN
 This choice of best signal can keep changing.
 Mobile user does nothing for handoffs except
just transmit, MSC does all the work
 Advantage unique to CDMA systems
 As long as there are enough codes available.

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VII. Co-Channel 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)

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 Frequency Reuse
 Many cells in a given coverage area use the same
set of channel frequencies to increase system
capacity (C)
 Co-channel cells → cells that share the same set of
frequencies
 VC & CC traffic in co-channel cells is an
interfering source to mobiles in Several different
cells

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 Possible Solutions?
1) Increase base station Tx power to improve radio
signal reception? __
 this will also increase interference from co-channel
cells by the same amount
 no net improvement
2) Separate co-channel cells by some minimum
distance to provide sufficient isolation from
propagation of radio signals?
 if all cell sizes, transmit powers, and coverage patterns
≈ same → co-channel interference is independent of Tx
power

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 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

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 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

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 Signal to Interference ratio → S / I, ____________

 S : desired signal power

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

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 Approximation with some assumptions

 Di : distance from ith interferer to mobile

 Rx power @ mobile  ( Di )  n

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 Path loss may be  Path loss is influenced
due to: by:
 Free space loss  Terrain contours
 Reflection  Environment (urban/rural,
 Refraction vegetation and foliage)
 Aperture-  propagation medium
medium ( dry/mist)
coupling loss  Distance between
 Absorption transmitter and receiver
 Height and location of
antenna

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 n : path loss exponent
 free space or line of sight (LOS) (no obstruction) →
n=2
 urban cellular → n = 2 to 4, signal decays faster
with distance away from the base station
 having the same n throughout the coverage area
means radio propagation properties are roughly the
same everywhere
 if base stations have equal Tx power and n is the
same throughout coverage area (not always true)
then the above equation (Eq. 3.8) can be used.

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 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

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 What determines acceptable S / I ?
 voice quality → subjective testing
 AMPS → S / I ≧18 dB (assumes path loss
exponent n = 4)
 Solving (3.9) for N

 Most reasonable assumption is io : # of co-channel

interfering cells = 6
 N = 7 (very common choice for AMPS)
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 Many assumptions involved in (3.9) :
 same Tx power
 hexagonal geometry
 n same throughout area
 Di ≈ D (all interfering cells are equidistant from the
base station receiver)
 optimistic result in many cases
 propagation tools are used to calculate S / I when
assumptions aren’t valid

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 S / I is usually the worst case when a mobile is at the
cell edge
 low signal power from its own base station & high
interference power from other cells
 more accurate approximations are necessary in those cases

S R 4

I 2( D  R )4  2( D  R )4  2 D 4

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N =7 and S / I ≈ 17 dB

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 Eq. (3.5), (3.8), and (3.9) are (S / I) for forward link
only, i.e. the cochannel base Tx interfering with
desired base station transmission to mobile unit
 so this considers interference @ the mobile unit
 What about reverse link co-channel interference?
 less important because signals from mobile antennas (near
the ground) don’t propagate as well as those from tall base
station antennas
 obstructions near ground level significantly attenuate mobile
energy in direction of base station Rx
 also weaker because mobile Tx power is variable → base
stations regulate transmit power of mobiles to be no larger
than necessary

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Adjacent channel Interference (ACI)

 Interference resulting from signals which are

adjacent in frequency to the desired signal
 Primarily due to Improper filtering
 ACI can be reduced by
 Careful filtering
 Careful channel assignment
 Problem is serious if adjacent channel user is
transmitting in very close range to the
subscriber’s receiver.
 Near-Far Effect
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Near-Far Effect

Interferer close to BS radiates in the adjacent channel, while the

subscriber is far away from the BS

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Frequency seperation

Fig. Frequency band

allocation in a cell

Frequency separation between each channel in a

cell should be made as large as possible while
assigning them

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Improving Coverage and Capacity in cellular system
 Cellular design techniques are needed to
provide more channels per unit coverage area.
 Techniques used in general to increase
capacity are
 Cell Splitting
 Sectoring
 Coverage zone approaches

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Cell Splitting

 Process of subdividing a congested cell into

smaller cells
 Each smaller cell will have
 Its own Base station
 Reduced antenna height
 Reduced transmitter power
 Cell splitting increases the capacity of a
cellular system since it increases the number of
times that channels are reused

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 New cells are defined which have a smaller radius than the original
cells and these smaller cells (microcells) are installed between the
existing cells
 Capacity increases due to additional number of channels per unit
area
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 Imagine if every cell in above fig. is reduced such that the
radius of every cell was cut into half
 In order to cover the entire service area with smaller cells,
approx. four times as many cells would be required.
 number of cells number of clusters over coverage
area  number of channels capacity
 Cell splitting allows a system to grow by replacing large
cells with smaller cells, while not upsetting the channel
allocation scheme required to maintain the minimum co-
channel reuse ratio Q between co-channel cells

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 In fig. shown BSs are placed at corners of the
cells and area covered by BS A is assumed to
be saturated in traffic.
(i.e. Blocking of BS A exceeds acceptable
rates)
 New BSs are needed in the region to increase
the number of channels in the area.
 In Fig. original BS A is surrounded by six new
microcells

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 The transmit power of the new cells is to be reduced
 Transmit power of new cells with radius half that of the
original cells is found by examining the received power Pr
new and old cell boundaries and setting them equal to each
other

, are transmit powers of larger and smaller BSs

 Taking n=4 and setting received powers equal to each
other then,

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Cell Sectoring

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 In sectoring SIR is improved by using directional antennas,
then capacity improvement is achieved by reducing the number
of cells in a cluster

 Hence it is necessary to reduce the relative interference without

decreasing the transmit power

 CCI in a cellular system may be decreased by replacing single

omnidirectional antenna at the base station by several
directional antennas each radiating within a specified sector

 Using directional antennas, a given cell will receive

interference and transmit with only a fraction of available co-
channel cells
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 Sectoring is the technique for decreasing CCI and thus
increasing system performance using directional antennas
 A cell is normally partitioned into 3no. Of 120̊ sectors or
6no. Of 60˚sectors
 With sectoring, channels used in a particular cell are
broken down into sectored groups and are used within a
particular sector

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 Assuming seven-cell reuse for the case of 120̊
sectors, no. of interferers is reduced from six to
two
 two of the six co-channel cells receive interference
with a particular sectored channel group
 if omnidirectional antennas were used at each BS,
all six co-channel cells would interfere with the
center cell
 In fig. consider the interference experienced by a
mobile located in the rightmost sector in the center
cell labelled ‘5’

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