Cellular Networks

Overview
Data Rates
2 Mbps

1 Mbps 3G
(144Kbps to 2Mbps)

100 Kbps
2.5G
(10-150Kbps)
10 Kbps
2G
(9.6Kbps)
1 Kbps
1G
(<1Kbps)

1980 1990 2000 2010

Years
 Cellular networks: From 1G to 3G
• 1G: First generation wireless cellular: Early 1980s
– Analog transmission, primarily speech: AMPS (Advanced Mobile
Phone Systems) and others
• 2G: Second generation wireless cellular: Late 1980s
– Digital transmission
– Primarily speech and low bit-rate data (9.6 Kbps)
– High-tier: GSM, IS-95 (CDMA), etc
– Low-tier (PCS): Low-cost, low-power, low-mobility e.g. PACS
• 2.5G: 2G evolved to medium rate (< 100kbps) data
• 3G: future Broadband multimedia
– 144 kbps - 384 kbps for high-mobility, high coverage
– 2 Mbps for low-mobility and low coverage
• Beyond 3G: research in 4G
 Issues Vital to cellular
•Frequency allocation
•Licensed
•Many providers
•Multiple Access
•Many users
•Wide area of coverage
•Traffic management
•Location management
•High mobility (in cars, trains)
•Multiple suppliers
•Handoff management, roaming
•General principles
• Handled differently by different generations
 Multiple Access Techniques: How to allocate users

Session4

Session2
Session3
Session4
Session1
Frequency
Session3
Frequency

Session2
Session1
Time
Time Time Division
Frequency Division Multiple Access (TDMA)
Multiple Access (FDMA) 2G TDMA
1G Cellular (AMPS) All sessions 3G TDMA
Frequency

based on a
code

Time
2G CDMA (IS-95) Code Division
3G CDMA Multiple Access (CDMA)
Cell 1
A Cellular Network

Mobile Public
Telephone Switched
Switching Telephone
Cell 2 Center Network
(MTSC) (PSTN)

HLR VLR

Mobile User Base Transceiver Station (BTS)

Cordless connection HLR = Home Location Register

Wired connection VLR = Visitor Location Register

Overview of Location Services
◼ Cell-id based location.
◼ assigned an id of the cell that you are in.
◼ cell-id is stored in a database.
◼ As you move from one cell to another, you are assigned a
different cell-id and the location database is updated.
◼ most commonly used in cellular networks. (HLR, VLR)
◼ Neighborhood polling: Connected mobile units only move to
adjacent cells
◼ Angle of arrival (AOA). the angle at which radio waves from your
device "attack" an antenna is used to calculate the location of
the device.
◼ Time taken. In this case, the time taken between the device and
the antenna is used to calculate the location of the device.
◼ Network assisted Global Positioning System (GPS). a GPS chip
is installed inside a phone and thus the location of the user is
tracked.
 Cellular System
Cell 1

Mobile Public
Telephone Switched
Switching Telephone
Cell 2
Center Network
(MTSC) (PSTN)
HLR VLR

Handoffs (typically 30 mseconds):

1. At any time, mobile station (MS) is in one cell and under the control of a BS
2. When a MS leaves a cell, BS notices weak signal
3. BS asks surrounding BSs if they are getting a stronger signal
4. BS transfers ownership to one with strongest signal
5. MTSO assigns new channel to the MS and notifies MS of new boss
 Frequency Reuse
The concept of frequency reuse is based on assigning to
each cell a group of radio channels used within a small
geographic area
Cells are assigned a group of channels that is completely
different from neighbouring cells
The coverage area of cells is called the footprint and is
limited by a boundary so that the same group of channels can
be used in cells that are far enough apart
 Frequency Reuse
• Cells with the
same number have
the same set of
frequencies

Frequency Reuse
 Frequency Reuse using 7
frequencies allocations

f2
f7 f3 f2
f1 f7 f3
f6 f4 f1
f2 f5 f6 f4
f7 f3 f2 f5
f1 f7 f3 f2
f6 f4 f1 f7 f3
f5 f6 f4 f1
f5 f6 f4
f5

Each cell is generally 4 to 8 miles in diameter with a lower limit

around 2 miles.
Problem with Smaller Clustersize

Interfering cells are closer by when clustersize is smaller.

 0G Wireless
• Mobile radio telephones were used for military
communications in early 20th century
• Car-based telephones first introduced in mid 1940s
– Single large transmitter on top of a tall building
– Single channel used for sending and receiving
– To talk, user pushed a button, enabled transmission and disabled
reception
– Became known as “push-to-talk” in 1950s
– CB-radio, taxis, police cars use this technology
• IMTS (Improved Mobile Telephone System) introduced in
1960s
– Used two channels (one for sending, one for receiving)
– No need for push-to-talk
– Used 23 channels from 150 MHz to 450 MHz
 First-Generation Cellular
• Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS) invented at Bell Labs
and first installed in 1982
• Used in England (called TACS) and Japan (called MCS-L1)
• Key ideas:
– Exclusively analog
– Geographical area divided into cells (typically 10-25km)
– Cells are small: Frequency reuse exploited in nearby (not adjacent) cells
– As compared to IMTS, could use 5 to 10 times more users in same area by
using frequency re-use (divide area into cells)
– Smaller cells also required less powerful, cheaper,smaller devices
 Cell Design
E
F D
E
F D A
G C
A
G C B
B E
F D
A
G C
B
•Cells grouped into a cluster of seven
•Letters indicate frequency use
•For each frequency, a buffer of two cells is used before reuse
•To add more users, smaller cells (microcells) are used
•Frequencies may not need to be different in CDMA (soft handoff)
 Cellular Network Organization
• Cell design (around 10 mile radius)
– Served by base station consisting of transmitter,
receiver, and control unit
– Base station (BS) antenna is placed in high
places (churches, high rise buildings) -
• Operators pay around $500 per month for BS
– 10 to 50 frequencies assigned to each cell
– Cells set up such that antennas of all neighbors are
equidistant (hexagonal pattern)
• In North America, two 25-MHz bands allocated to
AMPS
– One for transmission from base to mobile unit
– One for transmission from mobile unit to base
Approaches to Increase Capacity
• Adding/reassigning channels - some channels
are not used
• Frequency borrowing – frequencies are taken
from adjacent cells by congested cells
• Cell splitting – cells in areas of high usage
can be split into smaller cells
• Microcells – antennas move to buildings,
hills, and lamp posts
 Security Issues with 1G
• Analog cellular phones are insecure
• Anyone with an all band radio receiver can listen in
(many scandals)
• Theft of airtime:
– all band radio receiver connected to a computer
– can record 32 bit serial number and phone number
of subscribers when calling
– can collect a large database by driving around
– Thieves go into business - reprogram stolen
phones and resell them
 Second Generation Cellular
• Based on digital transmission
• Different approaches in US and Europe
• US: divergence
– Only one player (AMPS) in 1G
– Became several players in 2G due to competition
– Survivors
• IS-54 and IS-135: backward compatible with AMPS frequency
allocation (dual mode - analog and digital)
• IS-95: uses spread spectrum
• Europe: Convergence
– 5 incompatible 1G systems (no clear winner)
– European PTT development of GSM (uses new
frequency and completely digital communication)
 Advantages of Digital
Communications for Wireless
• Voice, data and fax can be integrated into a
single system
• Better compression can lead to better
channel utilization
• Error correction codes can be used for better
quality
• Sophisticated encryption can be used
 Differences Between First and
Second Generation Systems
• Digital traffic channels – first-generation systems
are almost purely analog; second-generation
systems are digital
• Encryption – all second generation systems
provide encryption to prevent eavesdropping
• Error detection and correction – second-generation
digital traffic allows for detection and correction,
giving clear voice reception
• Channel access – second-generation systems allow
channels to be dynamically shared by a number of
users
Integrating Data Over Cellular
• Direct access to digital channel
• Voice and data using one handset
• PCS 1900 (GSM-1900)
– 9.6 kbps circuit switched data
– 14.4 kbps under definition
– Packet mode specified
– Short message service
• IS-95-based CDMA
– 13 kbps circuit switched data
– Packet mode specified
– Short message service
GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications)
• Completely designed from scratch (no backward
compatability)
• Uses 124 channels per cell, each channel can
support 8 users through TDM (992 users max)
• Some channels used for control signals, etc
• Several flavors based on frequency:
– GSM (900 MHz)
– GSM 1800 (called DCS 1800)
– GSM 1900 (called DCS 1900) - used in North America
• GSM 1900 phone only works in North America.
• In Europe, you can transfer your SIM (Subscriber
Identity Module) card to a phone of the correct
frequency. This is called SIM-roaming.
 GSM (2G-TDMA)
• Circuit mode data
– Transparent mode
– Non-transparent mode using radio link protocol
– Data rate up to 9.6kb/s
• Short message service
– Limited to 160 characters
• Packet mode data: Plans for GSM Phase 2+
• Architecture specification very detailed
(500 pages)
• Defines several interfaces for multiple
suppliers
Mobile Station and Base Station Subsystem (BSS)
Mobile station
• Mobile station communicates across Um interface (air
interface) with base station transceiver in same cell as
mobile unit
• Mobile equipment (ME) – physical terminal, such as a
telephone or PCS
– ME includes radio transceiver, digital signal processors and
subscriber identity module (SIM)
• GSM subscriber units are generic until SIM is inserted
– SIMs roam, not necessarily the subscriber devices
BSS
• BSS consists of base station controller and one or more
base transceiver stations (BTS)
• BSC reserves radio frequencies, manages handoff of
mobile unit from one cell to another within BSS, and
controls paging
 Network Subsystem Center
Mobile Switching Center (MSC) is at core; consists
of several databases
• Home location register (HLR) database – stores
information about each subscriber that belongs to
it
• Visitor location register (VLR) database –
maintains information about subscribers currently
physically in the region
• Authentication center database (AuC) – used for
authentication activities, holds encryption keys
• Equipment identity register database (EIR) –
keeps track of the type of equipment that exists at
the mobile station
 GSM Location Services
6 2
9
BTS Terminating Gateway
10 MSC MTSC Public 1
10 10 Switched
9 10 7 8 Telephone
5 3
4 Network
(PSTN) 10
VLR HLR
5
6. Call routed to terminating MSC
1. Call made to mobile unit (cellular phone)
7. MSC asks VLR to correlate call to
2. Telephone network recognizes number
and gives to gateway MSC the subscriber
3. MSC can’t route further, interrogates 8. VLR complies
9. Mobile unit is paged
user’s HLR
10. Mobile unit responds, MSCs convey
4. Interrogates VLR currently serving user
(roaming number request) information back to telephone
5. Routing number returned to HLR and
then to gateway MSC
Legend: MTSC= Mobile Telephone Service Center, BTS = Base Transceiver Station
HLR=Home Location Register, VLR=Visiting Location Register
 GSM Protocol Architecture

CM CM
MM
MM
BSSMAP BSSMAP

RRM RRM BTSM BTSM SCCP SCCP

LAPDm LAPDm LAPD LAPD MTP MTP

Radio Radio 64 Kbps 64 Kbps 64 Kbps
64Kbps
Mobile Base Station
Base Transceiver Mobile Service
Station Controller
Station Switching Center

BSSMAP = BSS Mobile Application part MM = Mobility Management

BTSM = BTS management MTP = Message Transfer Part
CM = Connection Management RRM = Radio Resources Management
LAPD = Link Access Protocol, D Channel SCCP = Signal Connection Control Point
Functions Provided by Protocols
• Protocols above the link layer of the GSM
signaling protocol architecture provide
specific functions:
– Radio resource management: controls setup,
termination and handoffs of radio channels
– Mobility management: location and security
(MTSO)
– Connection management: connects end users
– Mobile application part (MAP): between
HLR,VLR
– BTS management: management base system
 2G CDMA Cellular
IS-95 is the best known example of 2G with
CDMA
Advantages of CDMA for Cellular
• Frequency diversity – frequency-dependent
transmission impairments have less effect on
signal
• Multipath resistance – chipping codes used for
CDMA exhibit low cross correlation and low
autocorrelation
• Privacy – privacy is inherent since spread
spectrum is obtained by use of noise-like signals
• Graceful degradation – system only gradually
degrades as more users access the system
 Drawbacks of CDMA Cellular
• Self-jamming – arriving transmissions from
multiple users not aligned on chip boundaries
unless users are perfectly synchronized
• Near-far problem – signals closer to the receiver
are received with less attenuation than signals
farther away
• Soft handoff – requires that the mobile acquires
the new cell before it relinquishes the old; this is
more complex than hard handoff used in FDMA
and TDMA schemes
Types of Channels Supported by
Forward Link
• Pilot (channel 0) - allows the mobile unit to
acquire timing information, provides phase
reference and provides means for signal strength
comparison
• Synchronization (channel 32) - used by mobile
station to obtain identification information about
cellular system
• Paging (channels 1 to 7) - contain messages for
one or more mobile stations
• Traffic (channels 8 to 31 and 33 to 63) – the
forward channel supports 55 traffic channels
 Forward Traffic Channel Processing Steps
• Speech is encoded at a rate of 8550 bps
• Additional bits added for error detection
• Data transmitted in 2-ms blocks with forward error
correction provided by a convolutional encoder
• Data interleaved in blocks to reduce effects of errors
• Data bits are scrambled, serving as a privacy mask
• Power control information inserted into traffic channel
• DS-SS function spreads the 19.2 kbps to a rate of 1.2288
Mbps using one row of 64 x 64 Walsh matrix
• Digital bit stream modulated onto the carrier using QPSK
modulation scheme
 Wireless Network Evolution to 3rd Generation
Enabling Technologies

3G
2 Mbps
CDMA Migration CDMA2000
3XRTT W-CDMA
1G-2G Migration (UMTS) (UMTS)
500 kbps
TDMA Migration

2.5G
150 Kbps EDGE
CDMA-2000
1XRTT
100 Kbps

GPRS
2G
50 Kbps

10 Kbps IS-95
1G
GSM
1 Kbps AMPS

1980 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

• Fig 8-13
• Table 8-3
 2G Technologies
cdmaOne (IS-95) GSM, DCS- IS-54/IS-136
1900 PDC
Uplink Frequencies 824-849 (Cellular) 890-915 MHz 800 MHz, 1500 Mhz
(MHz) 1850-1910 (US PCS) (Eurpe) (Japan)
1850-1910 (US 1850-1910 (US PCS)
PCS)

Downlink Frequencies 869-894 MHz (US Cellular) 935-960 (Europa) 869-894 MHz (Cellular)
1930-1990 MHz (US PCS) 1930-1990 (US 1930-1990 (US PCS)
PCS) 800 MHz, 1500 MHz
(Japan)
Deplexing FDD FDD FDD
Multiple Access CDMA TDMA TDMA
Modulation BPSK with Quadrature GMSK with BT=0.3 p/4 DQPSK
Spreading
Carrier Seperation 1.25 MHz 200 KHz 30 KHz (IS-136)
(25 KHz PDC)
Channel Data Rate 1.2288 Mchips/sec 270.833 Kbps 48.6 Kbps (IS-136)
42 Kbps (PDC)
Voice Channels per 64 8 3
carrier
Speech Coding CELP at 13Kbps RPE-LTP at 13 VSELP at 7.95 Kbps
EVRC at 8Kbps Kbps
 Alternatives to 3G Cellular
• Major technical undertaking with many
organizational and marketing overtones.
• Questions about the need for the additional
investment for 3G (happy with 2.5G)
• Wireless LAN in public places such as shopping
malls and airports offer options
• Other high-speed wireless-data solutions compete
with 3G
– Mobitex low data rates (nominally 8 Kbps), it uses a narrowband
(2.5KHz) as compared to 30 KHz (GSM) and 5 MHz (3G).
– Ricochet: 40 -128 kbps data rates. Bankruptcy

– Flash-OFDM: 1.5 Mbps (upto 3 Mbps)

 Major Mobile Radio Standards
USA
Standard Type Year Multiple Frequency Modulation Channe
Intro Access Band l
(MHz) BW
(KHz)
AMPS Cellular 1983 FDMA 824-894 FM 30

USDC Cellular 1991 TDMA 824-894 DQPSK 30

CDPD Cellular 1993 FH/Packet 824-894 GMSK 30

IS-95 Cellular/PCS 1993 CDMA 824-894 QPSK/BPSK 1250

1800-2000
FLEX Paging 1993 Simplex Several 4-FSK 15
DCS-1900 PCS 1994 TDMA 1850-1990 GMSK 200
(GSM)
PACS Cordless/PC 1994 TDMA/FDMA 1850-1990 DQPSK 300
S
 Major Mobile Radio Standards -
Europe
Standard Type Year Multiple Frequency Modulation Channe
Intro Access Band l
(MHz) BW
(KHz)
ETACS Cellular 1985 FDMA 900 FM 25

NMT- Cellular 1986 FDMA 890-960 FM 12.5

900
GSM Cellular/PCS 1990 TDMA 890-960 GMSK 200KHz

C-450 Cellular 1985 FDMA 450-465 FM 20-10

ERMES Paging 1993 FDMA4 Several 4-FSK 25

CT2 Cordless 1989 FDMA 864-868 GFSK 100

DECT Cordless 1993 TDMA 1880-1900 GFSK 1728

DCS- Cordless/PC 1993 TDMA 1710-1880 GMSK 200

1800 S
• IEEE 802.11 vs 3G Cellular
 4G Systems
• Wireless networks with cellular data rates of 20
Mbits/second and beyond.
• AT&T has began a two-phase upgrade of its wireless
network on the way to 4G Access.
• Nortel developing features for Internet protocol-based 4G
networks
• Alcatel, Ericsson, Nokia and Siemens found a new
Wireless World Research Forum (WWRF) for research on
wireless communications beyond 3G.
• Many new technologies and techniques (multiplexing,
intelligent antennas, digital signal processing)
• Industry response is mixed (some very critical)
 Engineering Issues
• Steps in MTSO controlled call
• TDMA design
• CDMA design
• Handoff
• Power control
• Traffic engineering
 Steps in an MTSO Controlled
Call between Mobile Users
• Mobile unit initialization
• Mobile-originated call
• Paging
• Call accepted
• Ongoing call
• Handoff
• Call blocking
• Call termination
• Call drop
• Calls to/from fixed and remote mobile subscriber
 Mobile Wireless TDMA Design
Considerations
• Number of logical channels (number of time slots
in TDMA frame): 8
• Maximum cell radius (R): 35 km
• Frequency: region around 900 MHz
• Maximum vehicle speed (Vm):250 km/hr
• Maximum coding delay: approx. 20 ms
• Maximum delay spread (m): 10 s
• Bandwidth: Not to exceed 200 kHz (25 kHz per
channel)
 Mobile Wireless CDMA Design
Considerations
• Soft Handoff – mobile station temporarily
connected to more than one base station
simultaneously
• RAKE receiver – when multiple versions of a
signal arrive more than one chip interval apart,
RAKE receiver attempts to recover signals from
multiple paths and combine them
– This method achieves better performance than simply
recovering dominant signal and treating remaining
signals as noise
 What is WiMax?
• Worldwide Interoperability for
Microwave Access
• Last mile wireless broadband access
• Alternative to cable and DSL
• Deliver data, voice, video
• Support hundreds to thousands of
homes/business
• Defined by IEEE as 802.16
• Typical target environment:
• Targets fixed, portable, and mobile stations
• Environments with and without line of sight
• Cell radius of 3-10 kilometers
• Capacities of up to 40 Mbps per channel
• Mobile network deployments of up to 15
Mbps, 3 km radius
 Builds on and
Extends WiFi Technology
• Advantages of WiFi are:
• Easy to deploy, unlicensed spectrum, low
cost
• Supports (limited) mobility
• But WiMax needs to address the
following:
 WiFi limitations
• Susceptible to interference
• 802.11 targets short-range indoor
operation (mostly)
• Security is a concern
• Limited level of mobility
• WiMax is intended to complement WiFi
• WiMax Forum: promotes WiMax and
looks after interoperability
WiMax Deployment