CSCI 7304 – Assignment 1

Summer 2006 Due: 5 July 2006 by 19:00

1. (15 points) Spread spectrum.

(a) What are the main benefits of a spread spectrum system?

(b) How can spreading be achieved?
(c) How can DSSS systems benefit from multi-path propagation?

2. (20 points) Cellular systems.

(a) What are the main reasons for using cellular systems?
(b) How is SDM typically realized and combined with FDM?
(c) How does DCA influence the frequencies available in other cells?

3. (15 points) Cell breathing.

(a) What limits the number of simultaneous users in a TDM/FDM system com-
pared to a CDM system?
(b) What happens to the transmission quality of connections if the load gets higher
in a cell, i.e., how does an additional user influence the other users in the cell,
for both TDM/FDM and CDM systems?

4. (20 points) Near/far effect and medium access control.

(a) How does the near/far effect influence TDMA systems?

(b) What happens in CDMA systems with respect to the near/far effect?
(c) What are the countermeasures in TDMA systems, what about CDMA systems?

5. (20 points) Reservation schemes.

(a) What are the benefits of the reservation schemes?

(b) How are collisions avoided during data transmission, why is the probability of
collisions lower compared to classical ALOHA?
(c) What are the drawbacks of the reservation schemes?

6. (10 points) How can MACA still fail in case of hidden/exposed terminals? Think
of mobile stations and changing transmission characteristics.