MULTIPLE ACCESS

TECHNIQUES

DEFFINITION :

The ability of the satellite to carry many

signals

at the same time

Multiple access schemes are used to allow

many users to share simultaneously a finite
amount of radio spectrum.

ADVANTAGES :
Capacity is maximized
Bandwidth is used efficiently
Flexibility is maintained
Cost to the user is minimized

MULTIPLEXING
Vs
MULTIPLE ACCESS

Multiple Access
Techniques

Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA)

Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)

Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)

Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA)

In FDMA, each user is allocated a unique frequency

band or channel. During the period of the call, no
other user can share the same frequency band.

Each transmitter is allocated a channel with a

particular bandwidth.

All transmitters are able to transmit simultaneously.

FDMA :

FDMA :

FDMA :

Guard bands are used between each channel to

avoid the interference

Features of FDMA
If an FDMA channel is not in use, then it sits idle
and cant be used by other users.
Continuous Transmission: Transmit
simultaneously
and continuously. For continuous
transmission, fewer bits are needed for overhead
purposes
(such as synchronization and framing
bits) as compared to TDMA.
Narrowband system : FDMA is usually
implemented in narrowband systems.

Features of FDMA (Cont.)

FDMA uses duplexers since both TX

and RX

operate at the same time.

Advantages of FDMA :

Reducing the information bit rate can increase

the capacity

There is no equalization required

Since the transmission is continuous less no. of

bits are needed for synchronization

Simple to implement

Fairly efficient with a small traffic

Disadvantages of FDMA :

Network & spectrum planning are intensive and

time consuming

Spectrum inefficiency due to idle channels

The guard bands between two users result in

wastage of capacity

The C/N reduction due to inter-modulation

products

The C/N ratio with Inter-modulation :

(C/N)O = 1 [ 1/(C/N)up + 1/(C/N)dn + 1/(C/N)IM ]

Where

(C/N)up

Up link Carrier to noise ratio

(C/N)dn

Down link Carrier to noise ratio

(C/N)im

Inter - modulation Carrier to noise ratio

Number Of Channels Supported

By FDMA System

Bc

Bg

Bg

B t 2B g
Bc

B g GuardBand
Bc ChannelBandwidth
Bt

Total bandwidth of the System

Example
**Find the no. of channels for a satellite system
that has a bandwidth of 12.5 MHZ with a channel
bandwidth of 30 KHZ and guard band of 10 KHZ

Bt 12.5MHz
Bg 10KHz
Bc 30KHz
(12.5 10 ) 2(10 10 )
N
416
3
30 10
6

Time Division Multiple Access

(TDMA)

TDMA

TDMA systems divide the whole transmission

time into time slots.

Unlike FDMA, only digital data and digital

modulation must be used.

It is generally
considered as a wide band
communication system.

TDMA :
Allocation of time slot in TDMA

TDMA :

A guard time between the two time slots must be

allowed in order to avoid interference

P
o
w
e
r

Time

Time-frequency characteristics of TDMA

Types of TDMA
Synchronous TDMA:

access to the channel is restricted to

regular.
Asynchronous TDMA:

a station may transmit at any time that the

channel is free.

Features of TDMA

TDMA systems divide the radio spectrum into time

slots.

Each user occupies a cyclically repeating time

slot.

Data transmission is not continuous.

Flexible data rates by assigning multiple time

slots to
different users based on their demand.

Features of TDMA (Cont.)

Share a single carrier frequency with several
users.
No duplexers is required since users employ
different time slots for transmission and
reception.
Efficient power utilization : FDMA systems
require a 3- to 6-dB power back off in order to
compensate for inter-modulation effects.

TDMA frame structure

One TDMA Frame
Preamble

Slot 1

Guard
Bits

Sync
Bits

Information

Slot 2

Control
Bits

Slot 3

Trail Bits

Information
One TDMA Slot
A Frame repeats in time

Slot N

CRC

TDMA frame structure (cont.)

In TDMA, the preamble contains the address,
synchronization and other essential information.
Different TDMA standards have different TDMA frame
structures.
In GEO satellite system frame lengths of 125us upto
20ms have been used.
The preamble and trail bits represent overhead.
The smaller the overhead, the more efficient the
TDMA
system.

Number of channels in TDMA

System
N=

m(B tot -2B guard )

Bc
m --- maximum no. of TDMA users
B tot ---- total frame length
B guard --- guard time
Bc channel length

Efficiency of TDMA
Efficiency of TDMA is a measure of the percentage of bits
per frame which contain transmitted data.

No.ofbits / frame containingtransmitted data

f
Total Numberof bits / frame

bOH includes all overhead bits such as

preamble, guard bits, etc.

Frame efficiency
parameters
bT Total Number of bits per frame

=Tf R
Tf =Frame duration
R=Channel bit rate

Frame efficiency parameters

(cont.)
bOH =Number of overhead bits /frame
=Nr br Nt bp Nt b g Nr b g
Nr Number of reference bits per frame
Nt Number of traffic bits per frame
br Number of overhead bits per reference burst
bp Number of overhead bits per preamble in each slots
b g Number of equivalent bits in each guard time interval

Advantages of TDMA :

More efficient use of spectrum as compared to

FDMA

efficient power utilization

flexible data rates

more no. of channels, compared to FDMA

Carrier-to-noise ratio is high, because of no intermodulation

Disadvantages of TDMA :

large no. of overhead bits for synchronization and

framing are required.

high inter-symbol-interference , due to higher

symbol rate

data transmission is not continuous

Example 1:
The GSM System uses a TDMA frame structure where each
frame consist of 8 time slots, and each time slot contains
156.25 bits, and data is transmitted at 270.833 kbps in the
channel. Find: 1. Time duration of a bit
2.Time duration
of a slot 3.Time duration of a frame
Sol:

Time duration of a bit

1
1
=Tb =

3.692 s
3
bit-rate
270.833 10
Time duration of a slot

Tslot 156.25 Tb 0.577 s

Time duration of frame

8 Tslot 4.615 ms

Example 2:
If a normal GSM timeslot consists of 6 trailing bits,
8.25 guard bits, 26 training bits, and 2 traffic bursts
of 58 bits of data, find the frame efficiency
Sol:

Time slots have 6 + 8.25 + 26 + 2(58) =

156.25 bits.
A frame has 8 * 156.25 = 1250 bits / frame.
The number of overhead bits per frame is
given by
bOH = 8(6) + 8(8.25) + 8(26) = 322 bits
Frame efficiency = (1250 322 ) / 1250

Code Division Multiple Access

(CDMA)

CDMA

In CDMA all users transmit on the same

frequency and at the same time.

CDMA is also called as

multiple access.

spreading occurs by combining the transmitter

signal with a spreading sequence (PN code).

CDMA channels can handle an unspecified no.

of users.

spread spectrum

CDMA used for military applications

CDMA :

CDMA Principle:

CDMA transmission & reception

CDMA Features:
All users use the same carrier frequency and
may transmit
simultaneously
There is no absolute limit on the number of users
in
CDMA
Multipath fading may be substantially reduced
because
of large signal bandwidth
more secure as compared to FDMA & TDMA
CDMA is a digital technique.
capacity is more as compared to FDMA & TDMA
requires less frequency planning

Types of CDMA
1. Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DS-SS)
2. Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FH-SS)

Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS)

A carrier is modulated by a digital code in
which the code bit rate is much larger than
the information signal bit rate. These
systems are also called pseudo-noise
systems.
A short code system uses a PN code length
equal to a data symbol.
A long system uses a PN code length that is
much longer than a data symbol.

SPREAD SPECTRUM TRANSMISSION

SPREAD SPECTRUM RECEPTION

Processing Gain of CDMA

Main parameter of CDMA is the processing gain

that is defined as:

GP =

Bspread
R
Gp: processing gain
Bspread: PN code rate
R: Data rate

Advantages of CDMA :

Many users of CDMA use the same frequency. Either

TDD or FDD may be used.

Multipath fading may be substantially

because of large signal bandwidth.

There is no absolute limit on the number of users in

CDMA.

reduced

Great spectrum efficiency since no guard bands

CDMA improves call quality since less interference

CDMA systems provide more privacy than TDMA &

FDMA

Disadvantages of CDMA :

Self-jamming is a problem in a CDMA system. Selfjamming arise because the PN sequence are not exactly
orthogonal, non-zero contributions from other users in the
system arise

The near- far problem occurs at a CDMA receiver if an

undesired user has high detected power as compared to
the desired user.

CDMA base station is expensive.

The system performance gradually degrades for all
users as the number of users is increased.

Near Far Problem

At a receiver, the signals may

come from various multiple
sources.
The
strongest
signal
usually
captures
the
modulator.
The
other
signals are considered as
noise
Each source may have
different distances to the
base station

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