General Architecture of Cellular Systems

Other MSCs
(IS 41) F1,F2,..,F6

F7,F8,..,F12 F7,F8,..,F12
PSTN MSC
Base
Station
F1,F2,..,F6
Handoff
Cell
MSC: Mobile Switching Center (Theoretical)
PSTN: Public Switched Telephone Network

Practical Cell - coverage depends on antenna location and

height, transmitter power, terrain, foliage, buildings, etc.
 Cell phone antenna arrays Can be found on
virtually any type of building around us

Community May indicate (where we live)

Type of antenna setup we encounter, for e.g.,
Rural areas See tall stand-alone towers with
antennas on the top along the countryside

Urban and sub-urban areas Can be found on

rooftops of apartment houses, office buildings,
municipal buildings and even fire stations
What is a Cell Site?
Term used to describe a site where antennas
and electronic communications equipment are
placed, usually on a radio mast, tower or other
high place, to create a cell (or adjacent cells) in a
cellular network

Elevated structure Typically supports

antennas, transmitters/receivers OR transceivers
Other devices used Digital signal processors,
control electronics, primary and backup electrical
power sources, and sheltering etc.
 Antenna arrays need to be located high enough
for adequate coverage
Usually range in height from 50 – 200 feet
Communicate with nearby towers mainly through
RF waves Form of energy between FM radio and
microwaves
Waves are forms of “non-ionizing” radiation
Means they cannot cause cancer by directly
damaging DNA
At very high levels RF waves can heat up body
tissue But the levels used by cell phones and
towers are much lower
Cell Towers
Cell phone tower consists of

1. the Tower,
2. the Equipment,
3. the Antennas (most important for coverage
and for the understanding of engineers)
4. the Utilities (What are these??)
There are four different types of towers;

1. the Monopole tower,

2. the Lattice tower,
3. the Guyed tower, and
4. the Camouflaged or Stealth tower (Mostly
used outside Pakistan)
The Monopole Tower

Monopole tower Single tube

tower

Requires one foundation and

typically does not exceed 200’

Antennas are mounted on the

exterior of the tower
Edge Excited Antenna
Deployment technique preferred
The Lattice Tower

These are three and four sided

towers

Typically deployed at highways for

long distance communication links
and large coverage areas
The Guyed Tower

Used to be the cheapest tower to

construct, but require the greatest
amount of land
For taller heights (300' and greater)
it is much cheaper to build a guyed
tower
Most radio and television towers are
guyed towers as well (Start observing
Radio Pakistan and PTV offices)
Typically a straight tower supported
by guy wires to the ground which
anchor the tower
The Camouflaged Tower

Typically required by Zoning

Densely populated areas
where deployment is not
typically allowed
More expensive than other
types of towers
Require additional material to
“Stealth" their appearance
Typically Not provide
same amount of capacity as
other structures
The Antennas
The Antennas
Each carrier will typically use multiple
antennas on the tower
There can be as few as three antennas OR as
many as eighteen antennas per carrier
As additional subscribers come onto the carriers
system Carriers need additional antennas to
handle the added capacity
Can there be a solution? where a single Base
Station (BS) can serve for multiple carriers?
Antennas
Antennas are used to radiate and receive EM waves (energy)
Antennas link this energy between the ether and a device such as a
transmission line (e.g., coaxial cable)
Antennas Consist of one or several radiating elements through
which an electric current circulates

Types of antennas:
Omni-directional
Directional
Phased arrays
Adaptive
Optimal

Principal characteristics used to characterize an antenna are:

radiation pattern
directivity
gain
efficiency
 Antenna Types
Wire Antennas
[1]
Dipole, monopole, loop, helical etc.
Utilized in various fields such as
broadcasting, automobiles, mobile
communication, ships, aircraft, etc.

Aperture Antennas
[1]
Pyramidal Horn, Conical Horn,
rectangular waveguide Used on
Cell Phone Towers
Antennas of this type are very useful
for high gain applications; Aircraft
and spacecraft communication

[1] Constantine A. Balanis, Antenna Theory, Analysis and Design, Third Edition, John Wiley
16
& Sons, Inc. 2005
Isotropic Antennas
Isotropic radiator: equal radiation in all directions
(three dimensional) - only a theoretical reference
antenna
Real antennas always have directive effects (vertical
and/or horizontal)
Radiation pattern: measurement of radiation around
an antenna
y z
ideal
isotropic
x
radiator

Spring 2003 ICS 243E - Ch.2 Wireless Transmission 2.17

Omni-directional Antennas: Simple Dipoles
Real antennas are not isotropic radiators but, e.g., dipoles with lengths
λ/4, or Hertzian dipole: λ/2 (2 dipoles)

Shape/Size of antenna proportional to wavelength

λ/4 λ/2

Example: Radiation pattern of a simple Hertzian dipole

y y z

simple
x z x dipole
side view (xy-plane) side view (yz-plane) top view (xz-plane)
Gain Ratio of the maximum power in the direction of the main lobe
to the power of an isotropic radiator (with the same average power)
Directional Antennas
Often used for microwave connections (directed point
to point transmission) or base stations for mobile
phones (e.g., radio coverage of a valley or sectors for
frequency reuse)
y y z
directed
x z x antenna

side view (xy-plane) side view (yz-plane) top view (xz-plane)

z
z

x
sectorized
x antenna

top view, 3 sector top view, 6 sector

 Array Antennas
Grouping of 2 or more antennas to obtain radiating
characteristics that cannot be obtained from a
single element
Antenna diversity
switched diversity, selection diversity
receiver chooses antenna with largest output
diversity combining
combine output power to produce gain
cophasing needed to avoid cancellation

12 GHz Linear Array

Cell Phone Tower - Array Antennas

High Gain Sectored

Antennas
The Equipment
The Equipment –

each tenant who mounts their antenna on

the cell phone tower uses transmitters installed
in cabinets or in shelters,

different wireless carriers use different

means of protecting their equipment. Many
place outdoor cabinets on concrete pads, while
others use pre-manufactured equipment
shelters,
 this equipment is also called the "Base
Transmitter Station".
 equipment located at
the base of the tower,

the box houses the radio

transmitters and receivers that
let the tower communicate with
the phones. The radios
connect with the antennae on
the tower through a set of thick
cables,
 the tower and all of the
cables and equipment at the
base of the tower are heavily
grounded,

the plate in this

photo with the green
wires bolting onto it is
a solid copper
grounding plate.
The Utilities
The Utilities –

almost every cell phone tower site has utilities

installed at the site for use by the carriers,

typically each carrier has power run to the site

as well as phone service,

120 to 240 volt (50 to 200 amps) power supply,

An AC/DC rectifier coverts AC power to DC

power needed for the electronic circuits.
Camouflaged Towers