Chapter Three

Wireless Spectrum and Multiple

Access Methods

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Wireless Spectrum and Multiple Access Methods
 The radio spectrum is the range of frequencies used for wireless
applications such as :-

broadcast television and radio, cell phones, satellite radio and TV, wireless
computer networks, Bluetooth, and countless other general and specialized
applications that we use every day.

 For the most part, it’s difficult for these applications to utilize the same
frequencies at the same time. For example, if a local broadcast TV station
used the same frequency as your cell phone, your cell phone wouldn’t
work very well due to interference from the TV station, or your TV picture
would be fuzzy due to interference from your cell phone, or perhaps both
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Cont’d…
 To avoid such conflicts, the radio spectrum is carved up into different
portions, and each portion is allocated to one or more services.
 The use of the radio spectrum is at an all-time high due to the explosion in
demand for mobile voice, data, and entertainment. As a result, the demand
for additions and modifications to existing spectrum allocations is also
growing.
 Therefore regulation of radio spectrum is very important.

 Most wireless applications reside in the radio spectrum between 30 MHz

and 30 GHz. These frequencies are natural for wireless systems since they
are not affected by the earth’s curvature, require only moderately sized
antennas, and can penetrate the ionosphere.
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Cont’d…
 For wireless systems that span multiple countries, spectrum is
allocated by the International Telecommunications Union Radio
Communications group (ITU-R). The standards arm of this body,
ITU-T, adopts telecommunication standards for global systems that
must interoperate with each other across national boundaries.
 In the United States spectrum allocation is controlled by the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) for commercial use and by the
Office of Spectral Management (OSM) for military use. The
government decides how much spectrum to allocate between
commercial and military use.
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Cont’d…
 European Conference for Posts and Telecommunications (CEPT)
and European Telecommunication Standards Institute (ETSI) in
Europe
 Licensed spectrum is allocated for unique use, e.g., cellular
communication
 Unlicensed spectrum is available for general use (with restrictions),
e.g., 2.4 GHz ISM band.
Frequencies for Wireless Communication
twisted coax cable optical transmission
pair

1 Mm 10 km 100 m 1m 10 mm 100 m 1 m
300 Hz 30 kHz 3 MHz 300 MHz 30 GHz 3 THz 300 THz

VLF LF MF HF VHF UHF SHF EHF infrared visible light UV

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Multiple Radio Access Technology
Frequency

User 1
.

User 2
.
.

User n
Time

Code

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Cont’d…
 Multiplexing: Allowing many (mobile) users to share a given
resources
 Multiple access techniques are used to allow sharing of a finite
amount of radio spectrum by many simultaneous users.
 Conflict-free Protocols
 Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA)
 Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)
 Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)
 Direct Sequence CDMA
 Frequency Hopping CDMA
 Space Division Multiple Access (SDMA)
 Contention based Protocols
 ALOHA
6  CSMA CSMA/CD CSMA/CA 5/7/2018
Introduction
 Multiple access schemes allow many mobile users to share a finite
amount of radio spectrum in efficient manner.
 Multiple access control channels
 MSs (nodes) have to compete for a shared channel
 Each node is attached to a transmitter/receiver which communicates via
a channel shared by other nodes
 Transmission from any node is received by other nodes in the
neighborhood

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Cont’d…
Multiple access issues
 If more than one node transmit at a time on the control channel
to BS, a collision occurs
 How to determine which node can transmit to BS?
Multiple access protocols
 Solving multiple access issues
 Different types:
 Contention protocols resolve a collision after it occurs. These
protocols execute a collision resolution protocol after each
collision
 Collision-free protocols ensure that a collision can never
occur.
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Classification of Multiple Access Protocols

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Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA)
 The frequency band is divided into channels of equal

bandwidth such that each conversation is carried on a different

frequency.

 Best suited to analog mobile radio.

 Single channel per carrier.

 BS dynamically assigns a carrier frequency to each active MS.

 Used in All first generation cellular systems and early cordless

telephones.
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Cont’d…
Separation of whole spectrum into smaller frequency bands
A channel gets a certain band of the spectrum for the whole
time
Advantages:
no dynamic coordination
necessary
works for analog signals
Disadvantages:
waste of bandwidth
if the traffic is
distributed unevenly
Inflexible guard band

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FDMA Transmitter

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FDMA Receiver

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Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)
A channel gets the whole spectrum for a certain amount of
time
Advantages:
only one carrier in the
medium at any time
throughput high even
for many users k1 k2 k3 k4 k5 k6

Disadvantages: c
Precise synchronization f
necessary

t
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Cont’d…
 TDMA systems divide the radio spectrum into time slots, and
in each slot only one user is allowed to either transmit or
receive.
 TDMA systems transmit data in a buffer-and-burst method,
thus the transmission for any user is noncontinuous.
 TDMA is a more expensive technique

 needs a highly precise synchronization between transmitter and

receiver
 Most of second generation systems use TDMA

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Cont’d…

 The channel time is partitioned into frames, which is

partitioned into slots.
 Each frame contains data slots plus additional slots for
preamble and trailer.

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Cont’d…
 Users have to transmit in their assigned slots from frame to frame.

 The slot assignment can be fixed or dynamic. Based on the type of

slot assignment, TDMA is classified as synchronous or
asynchronous.
 In Synchronous TDMA (STDMA), a user is assigned a fixed time
slot for the duration of its connection (whether it is active or not).
The frame length is fixed by the number of users.
 In Asynchronous TDMA (ATDMA), a user is assigned a time slot
when it has a packet to send. The frame length varies from frame to
frame, depending on the number of active users in the frame.
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TDMA System

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Features of TDMA
 TDMA shares a single carrier frequency with several users, where
each user makes use of non-overlapping time slots．
 TDMA uses different time slots for transmission and the reception.

 Data transmission for users of TDMA system occurs in bursts.

 Because of a discontinuous transmission, the handoff process is

simpler for a mobile station, as it can listen to the other base stations
during idle time slots.
 The guard time between the slots is required.

 High synchronization overhead is required because of burst

transmissions.
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TDMA

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Cont’d…
 Another TDMA classification depends on how the total bandwidth
is assigned:
 In Wideband TDMA, transmission in each slot uses the entire
bandwidth.
 In Narrowband TDMA, transmission in each slot uses only a sub
band since the whole frequency band is divided into sub bands. This
can be regarded as a FDMA/TDMA system.
 TDMA can use time division duplex (TDD) or frequency division
duplex (FDD). FDD provides two simplex channels at the same time
while TDD provides two simplex time slots on the same frequency
band.
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TDMA: Channel Structure

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Cont’d…

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Cont’d…

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Time and Frequency Division Multiplex
 Combination of both methods
 A channel gets a certain frequency band for a certain amount of
time (e.g. GSM)
Advantages:
 protection against frequency
selective interference
 higher data rates
Disadvantage:
 precise coordination
required

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Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)
All channels use the same spectrum
at the same time
Each channel has a unique code
Advantages:
 bandwidth efficient
 no coordination and synchronization necessary
 good protection against interference and tapping
Disadvantages:
 lower user data rates
 more complex signal regeneration

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Features of CDMA
 All the subscribers in a cell use the same frequency band

simultaneously

 The subscribers are assigned orthogonal codes to separate the

signals.

 Some second generation systems use CDMA

 Most of third generation systems use CDMA

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Types of Channels
Control channel

 Forward (Downlink) control channel

 Reverse (Uplink) control channel

Traffic channel

 Forward traffic channel

 Reverse traffic channel

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Types of Channels

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Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)

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CDMA Encoding
Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum(DSSS)
 Each user is assigned a unique signature sequence (e.g.
pseudorandom sequence), denoted by (c1,c2,…,cM). Its
component is called a chip.
 Each bit, di, is encoded by multiplying the bit by the signature
sequence:
Zi,m = di cm
Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum(FHSS)
 A pseudorandom sequence is used to change the radio channel
frequency, across a broad frequency band in a random fashion.

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An Example of Frequency Hopping Pattern

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CDMA Encoding Example(DSSS)
Data bit
d1 = –1
Signature sequence
(c1,c2,…,c8) = (+1,+1,+1,–1,+1,–1,–1,–1)
Encoder Output
(Z1,1,Z1,2,…,Z1,8) = (–1,–1,–1,+1,–1,+1,+1,+1)

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CDMA Decoding(DSSS)
 Without interfering users, the receiver would receive the

encoded bits, 𝑍𝑖,𝑚 , and recover the original data bit, 𝑑𝑖 , by

computing:

M
1
di 
M
Z
m 1
c
i ,m m

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CDMA Decoding Example(DSSS)
(c1,c2,…,c8) = (+1,+1,+1,–1,+1,–1,–1,–1)
 (Z1,1,Z1,2,…,Z1,8) = (–1,–1,–1,+1,–1,+1,+1,+1)
multiply

 (–1,–1,–1,–1,–1,–1,–1,–1)

Add and divide by M

𝑑𝑖 = −1

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CDMA (Single-user Scenario)

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Multi-user Scenario
 If there are N users, the signal at the receiver becomes:

N
Z i*,m   Z in,m
n 1

 How can a CDMA receiver recover a user’s original data bit?

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CDMA (Multi-user Scenario)
2 sender example

Multiplied by the
signature sequence of
user 1

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Space Division Multiple Access (SDMA)
 Space division multiple access (SDMA) controls the radiated energy
for each user in space.
 SDMA serves different users by using directed antennas (sectorized
antennas).
 In the future, adaptive antennas will be used to simultaneously steer
energy in the direction of many users

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Conflict-free Multiple Access Technologies

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Introduction to Contention Protocols
 ALOHA

 Slotted ALOHA

 CSMA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access)

 CSMA/CD (CSMA with Collision Detection)

 CSMA/CA (CSMA with Collision Avoidance)

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Contention-Based Protocols (ALOHA)
 ALOHA
 Developed in the 1970s for a packet radio network by Hawaii
University.
 Whenever a station has a data, it transmits. Sender finds out
whether transmission was successful or experienced a collision
by listening to the broadcast from the destination station.
Sender retransmits after some random time if there is a
collision.
 Slotted ALOHA
 Improvement: Time is slotted and a packet can only be
transmitted at the beginning of one slot. Thus, it can reduce the
collision duration.

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ALOHA

Node 1 Packet Waiting a random time

Node 2 Packet
Retransmission Retransmission

1 2 3 3 2
Collision

Node 3 Packet

In the worst case, the collision period is 2 times the length of each packet,
assuming the packets to be of equal length.

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Throughput of ALOHA

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Slotted ALOHA

Node 1 Packet

Nodes 2 & 3 Packets

Retransmission Retransmission

1 2&3 2 3
Time

Slot Collision

In slotted ALOHA, time is slotted and packets must be transmitted within a slot.
From the figure, we can see a collision in slotted ALOHA is a full collision and there is no
partial collision.
So the probability of the collision in slotted ALOHA is less than in pure ALOHA.
In other words, the throughputs of slotted ALOHA is higher than pure ALOHA.

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Throughput of Slotted ALOHA

• The probability of no collision is given by

P0   e  G

• The throughput S is

S  G  P0  G  e G

• The Maximum throughput of slotted ALOHA is

1
S max   0.368
e

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Throughput

0.5

0.4
0.368
Throughput S

0.3

Slotted Aloha
0.20.184

0.1 Aloha

00 2 4 6 8
G
Traffic load G
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CSMA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access)
 Max throughput achievable by slotted ALOHA is 0.368.

 CSMA gives improved throughput compared to Aloha protocols.

 Listens to the channel before transmitting a packet (avoid avoidable

collisions).

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CSMA Protocols
CSMA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access)
 Improvement: Start transmission only if no transmission is
ongoing
CSMA/CD (CSMA with Collision Detection)
 Improvement: Stop ongoing transmission if a collision is
detected
CSMA/CA (CSMA with Collision Avoidance)
 Improvement: Wait a random time and try again when carrier is
quiet. If still quiet, then transmit
CSMA/CA with ACK
CSMA/CA with RTS/CTS

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Collision in CSMA

Node 5 sense
Node 1 Packet
Node 2 Packet
Node 3 Packet Delay

1 2 3 4 5
Time
Delay Collision

Node 4 sense

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CSMA/CD (CSMA with Collision Detection)
 In CSMA, if 2 terminals begin sending packet at the same time, each
will transmit its complete packet (although collision is taking place).
 Wasting medium for an entire packet time.

 CSMA/CD
 Step 1: If the channel is idle, transmit
 Step 2: If the channel is busy, continue to listen until
the channel is idle then transmit
 Step 3: If a collision is detected during transmission,
cease transmitting
 Step 4: Wait a random amount of time and repeats
the same algorithm
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CSMA/CA (CSMA with Collision Avoidance)
All terminals listen to the same channel as CSMA/CD.
Terminal ready to transmit senses the channel.
If channel is busy it waits until the end of current transmission.
It again waits for an additional predetermined time period DIFS
(Distributed inter frame Space).
Then picks up a random number of slots (the initial value of back
off counter) within a contention window to wait before transmitting
its frame.
If there are transmissions by other terminals during this time period
(back off time), the terminal freezes its counter.
It resumes count down after other terminals finish transmission +
DIFS. The terminal can start its transmission when the counter
reaches to zero.
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CSMA/CA-802.11
contention window
DIFS DIFS (randomized back-off
mechanism)

medium busy next frame

direct access if t
medium has been free time slot
for at least DIFS

• station ready to send starts sensing the channel

• if the channel is free for the duration of an Distributed Inter-Frame Space (DIFS), the
station can start sending (DIFS depends on service type)
• if the channel is busy, the station has to wait for a free DIFS, then the station must
additionally wait a random back-off time (collision avoidance, multiple of slot-time)
• if another station occupies the channel during the back-off time of the station, the
back-off timer stops. While channel idle for another free DIFS, the back-off timer
continues. When the timer expires, transmit.

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CSMA/CA with ACK
Immediate Acknowledgements from receiver upon reception of data
frame without any need for sensing the channel.

ACK frame transmitted after time interval SIFS (Short Inter-Frame

Space) (SIFS < DIFS)

Receiver transmits ACK without sensing the channel.

If ACK is lost, retransmission done.

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CSMA/CA with ACK

DIFS Time
Data

SIFS
ACK
Destination
DIFS Contention window

Next Frame
Other
Defer access Back off after defer

SIFS – Short Inter Frame Spacing

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CSMA/CA with RTS/CTS
Transmitter sends an RTS (request to send) after channel has been
idle for time interval more than DIFS.

Receiver responds with CTS (clear to send) after channel has been
idle for SIFS.

Then Data is exchanged.

RTS/CTS is used for reserving channel for data transmission so that

the collision can only occur in control message.

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CSMA with RTS/CTS
 station can send RTS with reservation parameter after waiting for DIFS
(reservation determines amount of time the data packet needs the channel, other
stations hear the reservation parameter in RTS and set their waiting time)
 acknowledgement via CTS after SIFS by receiver (if ready to receive)
 sender can now send data at once, acknowledgement via ACK
 other stations store channel reservations distributed via RTS and CTS

DIFS
RTS data
sender
SIFS SIFS
CTS SIFS ACK
receiver

NAV (RTS) DIFS

other NAV (CTS) data
stations t
defer access Contention
57 window 5/15/2018