Cellular and Mobile

Communications

Unit-3
Channel Interference

P. Anvesh
Assistant Professor
ECE Dept
SNIST

Prerequisites: Analog & Digital Communications (II-II)

Upcoming Subjects: Microwave and Optical Communications (III-II)
Advanced Communications and Networking (IV-I)
 Unit-III
Unit -III: Channel Interference:
• Measurement of real time Co-Channel Interference,
• Design of Antenna system,
• Antenna parameters and their effects;
• Diversity techniques- Space diversity, Polarization diversity, Frequency
diversity and Time Diversity.
• Non-co-channel interference-
– Adjacent channel Interference,
– Near end and far end interference,
• Cross talk,
• Effect on coverage and Interference by power decrease, antenna height
decrease,
• Effect of cell site components,
• UHF TV interference
 Channel Interference
• The addition of unwanted signals to a useful signal is called Interference.
• Interference is the major limiting factor in the performance of cellular
system

• Sources of interference
 Another mobile in the same cell
 A call in progress in the neighboring cell
 Other base stations operating in the same frequency band
 Non cellular system leaks energy into the cellular frequency band

• Two major cellular interference:

 Co-Channel Interference
 Adjacent Channel Interference (Non Co-Channel ).
• Next Channel Interference
• Neighboring Channel Interference
Channel Interference
 Channel Interference
• In most mobile radio environments, use of a seven-cell reuse
pattern is not sufficient to avoid cochannel interference.
• Increasing K > 7 would reduce the number of channels per
cell, and that would also reduce spectrum efficiency.
– Therefore, it might be advisable to retain the same number of radios as
the seven-cell system but to sector the cell radially, as if slicing a pie
(Cell Sectoring).
– This technique would reduce cochannel interference and use channel
sharing and channel borrowing schemes to increase spectrum
efficiency.

• Frequency reuse method is useful for increasing the efficiency

of spectrum usage but results in co-channel interference
because the same frequency channel is used repeatedly in
different co-channel cells.
 Measurement of real time Co-Channel
Interference
• When the carriers are angularly modulated by the voice signal and the RF
frequency difference between them is much higher than the fading
frequency, measurement of the signal carrier-to-interference ratio C/I
reveals that

• Signal is
• Interference is
• The received signal is

• Where

• And
• The envelope R can be simplified in Eq., and R2 becomes

• Consider,

• The average processes on X and Y are

• The signal‐to‐interference ratio

• Since X and Y can be separated in Eq.,

the preceding computation of Γ in Eq.

could have been accomplished by means of an envelope detector,

an analog-to-digital converter, and a microcomputer.
• The sampling delay time ∆t should be small enough to satisfy,

and
• Determining the delay time to meet the requirement of above
equation for this calculation is difficult and is a drawback to
this measurement technique.
• Therefore, real‐time co-channel interference measurement is
difficult to achieve in practice.
 Design of Antenna System
• In unit – II, we proved that the value of q = 4.6 is valid for a
normal interference case in a K=7 (or N=7) cell pattern.

• Design of an Omni-directional Antenna System in the Worst

Case
• The worst case is at the location where the mobile unit would
receive the weakest signal from its own cell site but strong
interferences from all interfering cell sites.
• In the worst case the mobile unit is at the cell boundary R, as
shown in fig.
Co-channel interference (worst case)
 Design of Antenna System
• Assume an ideal condition of flat terrain and following the
mobile radio propagation rule of 40 dB/dec,

• Carrier to Interference ratio is given by,

• substituting q = 4.6, we obtain, C/I = 17 dB, which is lower

than 18 dB.
 Design of Antenna System
• If we use the shortest distance D − R for all six interferers as a
worst case, then

• In reality, because of the imperfect site locations and the

rolling nature of the terrain configuration, the C/I received is
always worse than 17 dB(and could be 14 dB and lower).
– Such an instance can easily occur in a heavy traffic situation.
• Therefore, the system must be designed around the C/I of the
worst case.
• In that case, a co-channel interference reduction factor of
q=4.6 is insufficient.
 Design of Antenna System
• Therefore, in an omnidirectional-cell system, K = 9 or K = 12
would be a correct choice. Then the values of q are

• Substituting these values, we obtain

• The K = 9 and K = 12 cell patterns, are used when the traffic is less. Each
cell covers an adequate area with adequate numbers of channels to handle
the traffic.
 Design of a Directional Antenna System
Design of a Directional Antenna System
Case: K = 7
• In most mobile radio environments, use of a 7-cell reuse pattern is not
sufficient to avoid co-channel interference.
• Increasing K > 7 would reduce the no. of channels per cell, and that would
also reduce spectrum efficiency.
• Therefore, it would be useful to retain the same no. of radios as the 7-cell
system but to sector the cell radially.
• This technique reduces co-channel interference using directional antennas.
 Design of a Directional Antenna System
• Three sector case (K=7)

Let q = 4.6; then

• The C/I received by a mobile unit from the 120° directional antenna sector
system greatly exceeds 18 dB in a worst case.
• In reality, the C/I could be 6 dB weaker than the above value in a heavy
traffic area as a result of irregular terrain contour and imperfect site
locations. The remaining 18.5 dB is still adequate.
 Design of a Directional Antenna System
• Six sector case (K=7)

For q = 4.6,

• which shows a further reduction of co-channel interference.

• Similar to previous case if we subtract 6 dB from the result, the remaining
23 dB is still more than adequate.
• When heavy traffic occurs, the 60°-sector configuration can be used to
reduce cochannel interference.
– However, fewer channels are generally allowed in a 60° sector and the trunking
efficiency decreases.
– In certain cases, more available channels could be assigned in a 60° sector.
 Design of a Directional Antenna System
Case: K = 4
• Three sector case

• with q = √3K = 3.46; then

= 97 = 20 dB
• If, using the same reasoning used above, 6 dB is subtracted from the result,
the remaining 14 dB is unacceptable.
 Design of a Directional Antenna System
Case: K = 4
• Six sector case

• with q = √3K = 3.46; then

= 355 = 26 dB
• If 6 dB is subtracted from the result, the remaining 21 dB is still adequate.
 Antenna parameters and their effects
• Lowering the Antenna Height
• Lowering the antenna height does not always reduce the co-channel
interference.

• In some circumstances, such as on fairly flat ground or in a valley situation,

Lowering the antenna height will be very effective for reducing the co-
channel and adjacent-channel interference.

• However, there are three cases where lowering the antenna height may or
may not effectively help reduce the interference.
 On a high hill or a high spot.
 In a valley.
 In a forested area.
 Antenna parameters and their effects
• On a high hill or a high spot:
• The effective antenna height, rather than the actual height, is always
considered in the system design.
– Therefore, the effective antenna height varies according to the location of the mobile
unit.
• When the antenna site is on a hill, as shown in Fig., the effective antenna
height is h1 + H.
• If we reduce the actual antenna height to 0.5 h1, the effective antenna
height becomes 0.5 h1 + H.
• The reduction in gain resulting from the height reduction is

• If h1 << H, then Eq. becomes

• This simply proves that lowering antenna height on the hill does not reduce
the received power at either the cell site or the mobile unit.
 • In a valley.
• The effective antenna height as seen from the mobile unit shown in Fig. is
he1, which is less than the actual antenna height h1.
• If he1 = 2/3 h1 , and the antenna is lowered to 1/2 h1 , then the new effective
antenna height is

• Then the antenna gain is reduced by

• This simply proves that the lowered antenna

height in a valley is very effective in reducing the
radiated power in a distant high elevation area.
• However, in the area adjacent to the cell-site antenna, the effective antenna
height is the same as the actual antenna height.
• The power reduction caused by decreasing antenna height by half is only,
• In a forested area:
• The antenna should clear the tops of any trees in the vicinity,
especially when they are very close to the antenna.
• In this case decreasing the height of the antenna would not be
the proper procedure for reducing co-channel interference
because excessive attenuation of the desired signal would
occur in the vicinity of the antenna and in its cell boundary if
the antenna were below the tree top level.
 Antenna parameters and their effects
• Reduction of Co channel Interference by Means of a Notch in the Tilted
Antenna Pattern
• Introduction:
• Reduction of co-channel interference in a cellular mobile system is always
a challenging problem.
• A number of methods can be considered, such as
• (1) Increasing the separation between two co-channel cells,
– Method 1 is not advisable because as the number of frequency-reuse cells
increases, the system efficiency, which is directly proportional to the number of
channels per cell, decreases.
• (2) Using directional antennas at the base station, or
– However, method 2 is a good approach, especially when the number of
frequency-reuse cells is fixed.
• (3) Lowering the antenna heights at the base station.
– Method 3 is not recommended because such an arrangement also weakens the
reception level at the mobile unit.
(2) Using directional antennas at the base station
• The use of directional antennas in each cell can serve two purposes:
1. Further reduction of co-channel interference if the interference cannot be
eliminated by a fixed separation of co-channel cells and
2. Increasing the channel capacity when the traffic increases.

• Here, we try to further reduce the co-channel interference by intelligently

setting up the directional antenna.
• Installation of a 120° directional antenna can reduce the interference in the
system by eliminating the radiation to the rest of its 240° sector.
• However, co-channel interference can exist even when a directional
antenna is used, as the serving site can interfere with the co-channel cell
that is directly ahead.
(2) Using directional antennas at the base station
• Let us assume that a seven-cell cellular system (K = 7) is used.
• If three identical directional antennas are implemented in every cell, with
each antenna covering a 120° sector, then every sector receives interference
in the central 19° sector of the entire120° angle at the interfering cell.
• Therefore, attempts should be made to reduce the signal strength of the
interference in this 19° sector.
• To achieve a significant gain of C/I in the interference-receiving cell, we
should consider using a notch in the center of the antenna pattern at the
interfering cell.
• An antenna pattern with a notch in the center can be obtained by tilting the
high-gain directional antenna downward.
• There are two ways to tilt down the antenna patterns; electronically and
mechanically.
 The electronic down tilting is to change the phases among the elements of a co-
linear array antenna.
 The mechanical down tilting is to down tilt the antenna physically.
 Antenna Parameters and their Effects
Umbrella pattern Affect
• In certain situations, umbrella pattern antennas should be used for the cell
site antennas.
• The umbrella pattern can be achieved by use of a staggered discone
antenna.
• It is applied to reduce co-channel interference just as the downward tilted
directional antenna.
Umbrella pattern Benefits
• Energy is confined to immediate area of the antenna, therefore it reduces
both co-channel and long distance interference.
• In hilly areas there are many holes (weak signal spots). With normal
antenna pattern we cannot raise the antenna height enough to cover these
holes and decrease co-channel interference at the same time.
• With Umbrella pattern we can increase antenna height and still decrease co-
channel interference.
• Frequency reuse distance can be shortened.
Use of Parasitic elements
• Interference at the cell site can sometimes be reduced by using parasitic
elements, creating a desired pattern in a certain direction.
• In such instances, the currents appearing in several parasitic antennas are
caused by radiation from a nearby drive antennas.

• [Link]

• [Link]
 Antenna parameters and their effects
• The effect of antenna parameters on the cell interfaces are described below

• 1. The base station antenna height must be decided just to cover the horizon
distance allotted for the cell because service area having hills, mountains,
valley regions.. Etc.
• 2. Co-Channel interference can be reduced by means of a tilted antenna
pattern. The pattern shown below is umbrella pattern in elevation. In this
pattern radiation near to antenna is higher compare to long distances. Then,
the result in reduction in co-channel interference under normal condition.
• 3. Using directional antennas
• » To reduce co-channel interference.
• » Concentrate radiation in the desired direction and avoid unwanted
directions.
• » Better co-channel rejection, switching them according to the movement
of the mobile unit is complex affair. This problem is overcome by smart
antennas can be put into Application. Smart antennas work on the principle
of adaptive arrays. This adaptive arrays have many elements. This prevents
required bandwidth for system.
• 4. Power variation at Base station
• Both mobile unit, base stations make use of transmitters to send
information to each others by wireless. This means power radiation in air.
• This power can be controlled by MTSO.
• When mobile unit approach to base station, the power radiated by mobile
unit is reduced. Then chance of interfering with the other co-channel base
stations can be reduced by lowering power level.
• When the power received from the mobile unit is quite strong at base
station, the MTSO must reduce the cell radiated power to mobile unit and
also send control signal to reduce the mobile unit radiated power.
• The power level can be controlled only by the mobile transmitting
switching office (MTSO), not by the mobile units, and there can be only
limited power control by the cell sites as a result of system limitations.
 Diversity
• Diversity:
• It provides significant link improvement with little added cost.
• It exploits random nature of wave propagation by finding independent
(uncorrelated) signal paths for communication.
• It is a very simple concept where in one path undergoes a deep fade and
another independent path may have a strong signal.
• As there is more than one path to select from, both the instantaneous and
average SNRs at the receiver may be improved, often as much as 20-30 dB.

• It is the technique used to compensate for fading channel impairments.

• It is implemented by using two or more receiving antennas.
• Diversity is usually employed to reduce the depth and duration of the fades
experienced by a receiver in a flat fading channel.
• These techniques can be employed at both base station and mobile
receivers.
 Diversity
• A diversity scheme is a method that is used to develop
information from several signals transmitted over independent
fading paths.
• It exploits the random nature of radio propagation by finding
independent (uncorrelated) signal paths for communication.

• Objective of Diversity:
• Combining the multiple signals in such a fashion so as to
reduce the effects of excessive deep fades.

Diversity

Macroscopic Diversity Microscopic Diversity

 Types of Diversity
Macroscopic Diversity Microscopic Diversity

• Prevents Large Scale fading. • Prevents Small Scale fading.

• Large Scale fading is caused by • Small Scale fading is caused by

shadowing due to variation in multiple reflections from the
both the terrain profile and the surroundings. It is characterized
nature of the surroundings. by deep and rapid amplitude
fluctuations which occur as the
mobile moves over distances of
a few wavelength.

• This fading is prevented by

• This fading is prevented by selecting an antenna which
selecting an antenna which is not gives a strong signal that
shadowed when others are, this mitigates this small signal
allows increase in the signal-to- fading effect.
noise ratio.
 Types of Diversity

Diversity

Polarization Space Frequency

Time Diversity
Diversity Diversity Diversity

Selection Scanning Maximal Ratio Equal Gain

Diversity Diversity Diversity Diversity
 Polarization Diversity
• Principle:
• Polarization diversity relies on the correlation of the two receive ports to
achieve diversity gain.
• The two receiver ports must remain cross-polarized.

• In the early days of cellular radio, all subscriber unis were mounted in
vehicles and used vertical whip antennas.
• Today, however, all the subscriber units are portable: This means that
subscribers are no longer using vertical polarization due to hand-tilting
when the portable cellular phone is used.

• Circular and linear polarized antennas have been used to characterize

multipath inside buildings.
• When the path was obstructed, polarization diversity was found to
dramatically reduce the multipath delay spread without significantly
decreasing the received power.
 Polarization Diversity
• Polarization diversity has primarily been used for fixed radio links which
vary slowly in time.
• Line-of-sight microwave links, for example, typically use polarization
diversity to support two simultaneous users on the same radio channel.
• Since the channel does not change much in such a link, there is little
likelihood of cross polarization interference.
• As portable users grows, polarization diversity is likely to become more
important for improving link margin and capacity.
 Space Diversity
• Principle :
• A method of transmission or reception, or both, in which the effects of
fading are minimized by the simultaneous use of two or more physically
separated antennas, ideally separated by one half or more wavelengths.

• Space diversity, also known as antenna diversity, is one of the most popular
forms of diversity used in wireless systems.
• Conventional wireless systems consist of an elevated base station antenna
and a mobile antenna close to the ground.
– The existence of a direct path between the transmitter and the receiver is not
guaranteed and the possibility of a number of scatterers in the vicinity of the
mobile suggests a Rayleigh fading signal.
• The signals received from spatially separated antennas on the mobile would
have essentially uncorrelated envelopes for antenna separations of one half
wavelength or more.
 Space Diversity
• The concept of antenna space diversity is also used in base station design.
• At each cell site, multiple base station receiving antennas are used to provide
diversity reception.
• However, since the important scatterers are generally on the ground in the
vicinity of the mobile, the base station antennas must be spaced considerably
far apart to achieve decorrelation.
• Separations on the order of several tens of wavelengths are required at the
base station.
• Space diversity can thus be used at either the mobile or base station, or both.
• Space diversity reception methods can be classified into four categories:
1. Selection diversity
2. Feedback diversity
3. Maximal ratio combining
4. Equal gain diversity
 Selection Diversity
• Principle :
• Selecting the best signal among all the signals received from different
braches at the receiving end.

• Selection diversity offers an average improvement in the link margin

without requiring additional transmitter power or sophisticated receiver
circuitry.
• Selection diversity is easy to implement because all that is needed is a side
monitoring station and an antenna switch at the receiver.
• However it is not an optimal diversity technique because it does not use all
of the possible branches simultaneously.
• In practice the SNR is measured as (S+N)/N, since it is difficult to measure
SNR.
 Feedback or Scanning Diversity
• Principle :
• Scanning all the signals in a fixed sequence until the one with SNR more
than a predetermined threshold is identified.
• Scanning diversity is very similar to selection diversity except that instead
of always using the best of M signals, the M signals are scanned in a fixed
sequence until one is found to be above a predetermined threshold.
• This signal is then received until it falls below threshold and the scanning
process is again initiated.
• The resulting fading statistics are somewhat inferior to those obtained by
the other methods, but the advantage with this method is that it is very
simple to implement—only one receiver is required.
 Maximal Ratio Combining
• Principle :
• Combining all the signals in a co-phased and weighted manner so as to
have the highest achievable SNR at the receiver at all times.

• The signals from all of the M branches are weighted according to their
individual signal voltage to noise power ratios and then summed.
• Here, the individual signals must be co-phased before being summed
(unlike selection diversity) which generally requires an individual receiver
and phasing circuit for each antenna clement.
• Maximal ratio combining produces an output SNR equal to the sum of the
individual SNRs.
 Maximal Ratio Combining
• Thus, it has the advantage of producing an output with an acceptable SNR
even when none of the individual signals are themselves acceptable.
• This technique gives the best statistical reduction of fading of any known
linear diversity combiner.
 Equal Gain Combining
• Principle :
• Combining all the signals in a co-phased manner with unity weights for all
signal levels so as to have the highest achievable SNR at the receiver at all
times.

• In certain cases, it is not convenient to provide for the variable weighting

capability required for true maximal ratio combining.
• In such cases, the branch weights are all set to unity, but the signals from
each branch are co-phased to provide equal gain combining diversity.
• This allows the receiver to exploit signals that are simultaneously received
on each branch.
• The possibility of producing an acceptable signal from a number of
unacceptable inputs is still retained, and performance is only marginally
inferior to maximal ratio combining and superior to selection diversity.
 Frequency Diversity
• Principle :
• The same information signal is transmitted and received simultaneously on
two or more independent fading carrier frequencies.

• The rational behind this technique is that frequencies separated by more

than the coherence bandwidth of the channel will not experience the same
fade.
• The probability of simultaneous fade will be the product of the individual
fading probabilities.
• This is often employed in microwave LOS links which carry several
channels in a frequency division multiplex mode(FDM).
 Time Diversity
• Principle :
• The signals representing the same information are sent over the same channel
at different times.

• Time Diversity repeatedly transmits information at time spacing that exceeds

the coherence time of the channel.
• Multiple repetitions of the signal will be received with multiple fading
conditions, thereby providing for diversity.
• A modern implementation of time diversity involves the use of RAKE
receiver for spread spectrum CDMA, where multipath channel provides
redundancy in the transmitted message.
 Types of Interferences
• Interference in mobile communications is of two types
1. Co-channel interference
2. Adjacent-channel interference

• Co-channel Interference
– When same group of frequency channels are reused in different cells or cells
using the same set of frequencies, then such cells are called as co-channel cells.
– The co-channel interference (CCI) is crosstalk from two different radio
transmitters using the same frequency.

• Adjacent-Channel interference
– The adjacent-channel interference (ACI), also known as inter-channel
interference, is the interference caused by extraneous power from a signal in a
adjacent cell.
– An ACI may be caused by inadequate filtering, such as incomplete filtering of
unwanted modulation products in frequency modulation (FM) systems,
improper tuning, or poor frequency control, in either the reference channel or
the interfering channel, or in both.
 Adjacent-channel Interference
• Reduction of cochannel interference can be used to reduce
adjacent-channel interference.
– However, the reverse argument is not valid here.
• “Adjacent-channel interference” is a broad term. It includes
– Next-channel (the channel next to the operating channel) interference
and
– Neighboring-channel (more than one channel away from the operating
channel) interference.

• Adjacent channel interference can be reduced by,

– Channel Assignment (frequency assignment)
– Filter characteristics
– Reduction of near-end –far- end (ratio) interference
 Next-channel Interference
• Next-channel interference affecting a particular mobile unit
cannot be caused by transmitters in the common cell site, but
must originate at several other cell sites.
• Next-channel interference will arrive at the mobile unit from
other cell sites if the system is not designed properly.
• Also, a mobile unit initiating a call on a control channel in a
cell may cause interference with the next control channel at
another cell site.

• The filter with a sharp falloff slope can help to reduce all the
adjacent-channel interference including the next-channel
interference.
 Neighboring-channel Interference
• The channels which are several channels away from the next
channel will cause interference with the desired signal.
• Usually, a fixed set of serving channels is assigned to each cell
site.
• If all the channels are simultaneously transmitted at one cell-
site antenna, a sufficient amount of band isolation between
channels is required for a multichannel combiner to reduce
inter modulation products.
 Near-End - Far-End Interference
• There are two types of near-end-far-end interference.
(i) In one cell
(ii) In cells of two systems
 Near-End - Far-End Interference
• Near-End - Far-End Interference in one cell
• The car phones in a given cell are usually moving, Some mobile units are
very close to cell site and some are far to cell site.
• Here near-end-far-end interference occur only at the reception point in the
cell site.

• If a separation of 5B (five channel bandwidths) is needed for two adjacent

channels in a cell in order to avoid the near-end - far-end interference, it is
then implied that a minimum separation of 5B is required between each
adjacent channel used with one cell.
• Because the total frequency channels are distributed in a set of N cells, each
cell only has 1/N of the total frequency channels. We denote {F1}, {F2},
{F3}, {F4} for the sets of frequency channels assigned in their
corresponding cells C1, C2, C3, C4.

• A good frequency management chart is required to assign the N sets of

frequency channels properly to avoid interference.
 Near-End - Far-End Interference
• Near-End - Far-End Interference in cells of two systems
• For instance, mobile unit A can be located at the boundary of its own home
cell A in system A but very close to cell B of system B as shown in Fig.
• The other situation would occur if mobile unit B were at the boundary of
cell B of system B but very close to cell A of system A.
• Following the definition of near-end—far-end interference,
– the solid arrow indicates that interference may occur at cell site A and
– the dotted arrow indicates that interference may occur at mobile unit A.
– of course, the same interference will be introduced at cell site B and mobile
unit B.

• Thus, the frequency channels of both cells of

the two systems must be coordinated in the
neighborhood of the two-system frequency
bands.
 Near-End - Far-End Interference
The two causes of near-end—far-end interference of concern here are
1. Interference caused on the set-up channels.
 Two systems try to avoid using the neighborhood of the set-up channels as
shown in Fig.

2. Interference caused on the voice channels.

 There are two clusters of frequency sets as shown in Fig. which may cause
adjacent-channel interference and should be avoided.
 The cluster can consist of 4 to 5 channels on each side of each system, that is, 8
to 10 channels in each cluster.
 The channel separation can be based on two assumptions.
a. Received interference at the mobile unit: The mobile unit is located away from its
own cell site but only 0.25 mi away from the cell site of another system.
b. Received interference at the cell site: The cell site is located 10 mi away from its
own mobile unit but only 0.25 mi from the mobile unit of another system.
 Near-End - Far-End Interference
• Adjacent-channel interference can occur between two systems in a duopoly-
market system. In this situation, adjacent-channel interference can occur at both
the cell site and the mobile unit.

• If the two system operators do not

agree to coordinate their use of
frequency channels and some of the
cell sites of system B are at the
coverage boundaries of the cells of
system A, then the two groups of
frequencies shown must not be used if
interference has to be avoided.

• If the two systems do coordinate their

use of frequency channels, adjacent
channels in the two clusters can be
used with no interference.
 Near-End - Far-End Interference
• we know,

• where γ is the path-loss slope.

• The ratio d0/d1, is the near-end—far-end ratio.

• The effect of the near-end—far-end ratio on

the carrier-adjacent-channel interference ratio
is dependent on the relative positions of the
moving mobile units.
• For example, if the calling mobile unit is 10 mi away from the BS receiver and
the mobile unit causing the interference is 0.25 mi away from the BS receiver,
then the C/I ratio for interference received at the base-station receiver with γ =
4 is,

• This means that the interference is stronger than the desired signal by 64 dB
• This kind of interference can be reduced only by frequency separation with
narrow filter characteristics.
 Crosstalk
• In a mobile cellular system a pair of frequencies is simply called a channel.

• Because of paired-frequency (as a wire pair) coupling through the two-

wire—four-wire hybrid circuitry at the telephone central office, it is
possible to hear voices in both frequencies (in the frequency pair)
simultaneously while scanning on only one frequency in the air.
• Therefore, just as with a wire telephone line, the full conversation can be
heard on a single frequency (either one of the two).
• This phenomenon does not annoy cellular mobile users; when they talk
they also listen to themselves through the phone receiver.
• They are not even aware that they are listening to their own voices.

• This unnoticeable cross-talk phenomenon in frequency pairs has no major

impact on both wire telephone line and cellular mobile performance.
 Crosstalk
• But when real cross talk occurs it has a larger impact on the cellular mobile
system than on the telephone line, because the amount of cross talk could
potentially be doubled since cross talk occurring on one frequency will be
heard on the other (paired) frequency.
• Cross talk occurring on the reverse voice channel can be heard on the
forward voice channel, and cross talk occurring on the forward voice
channel can be heard on the reverse channel.

• The amount of cross talk is doubled since cross talk occurring on one
frequency will be heard on the other (paired) frequency.

• The situations which can generate Cross Talk,

 Near-end mobile unit
 Close-in mobile units
 Co-channel Cross Talk
 The Channel Combiner
Crosstalk
 Crosstalk
Near-end mobile unit
• Cross talk can occur when one mobile unit (A) is very close to the cell site
and other (B) is far from the cell site.
• When both units are calling their land-line parties, the near end mobile unit
has a strong signal such that the de-multiplexer cannot have an isolation of
more than 30dB.
• Near end mobile units can belong to one system or to another system.
• When the mobile unit is close to the cell site, and the cell site is capable of
reducing the power of the mobile unit, the near–end mobile interference
can be reduced.
Close-in Mobile unit
• When a mobile unit is very close to the cell site and if the reception at the
cell site is greater than -55dBm, the channel preamplifier at the cell site can
become saturated and produce IM (Inter Modulation) as a result of the non
linear portion of the amplification.
• These IM products are the spurious signal which leaks into the desired
signal and produces cross talk.
 Crosstalk
Co-Channel Cross talk
• The co-channel interference reduction ratio q should be as large as possible
to compensate for the cost of site construction and the limitation of
available channels at each cellular site.
• An adequate system design will help to reduce the co-channel cross talk.
The Channel Combiner
• The signal isolation among the forward channels in a channel combiner is
17dB. The loss resulting from inserting the signal into the combiner is
about 3dB. The requirement of IM product suppression is about 55dB.
• If one outlet is not matched well, the signal isolation is less than 17dB.
Therefore for each channel an isolator is installed to provide an additional
30dB of isolation with a 0.5 dB insertion loss.
• Cross coupled interference can be eliminated by routinely checking
impedance matching at the combiner.
• Sometimes cross talk can result from the cable imbalance or switching
error at the central office and be conveyed to the customer through the
telephone line.
 Effects of Cell-site Components
Channel combiner at the transmitting end
De-multiplexer at the receiving end
SAT tone
 Channel combiner
• A channel combiner is installed at each cell site.
• All the transmitted channels can be combined with min. insertion loss and
max. signal isolation between channels.
• Channel combiner can be eliminated by letting each channel feed to its own
antenna – economical and physical constraint
 Channel combiner at the transmitting end
Channel combiner
• A channel combiner is installed at each cell site.
• All the transmitted channels can be combined with min. insertion loss and
max. signal isolation between channels.
• Channel combiner can be eliminated by letting each channel feed to its own
antenna – economical and physical constraint
 Channel combiner at the transmitting end
Fixed-tuned channel combiner
• Tuned to match the impedances of a set of fixed
frequencies which are assigned to a combiner
• A conventional combiner has a 16-channel
combined capacity based on the frequency subset
of 16 channels, and it causes each channel to lose
3 dB from inserting the signal through the
combiner. Signal isolation is 17 dB.

• Intermodulation at the multiplexer is controlled

by ferrite isolators, provide a 30 dB reverse loss.
Intermodulation (IM) products are at least 55 dB
down from the desired signals.
• Each cable fed into a combiner must be properly
shielded, to avoid cross-coupled interference.
• Proper shielding and impedance matching are
very important with the channel combiner.
 Channel combiner at the transmitting end
Frequency-agile combiner
• Capable of returning to any frequency by
remote control in real time.
• Can be used when a dynamic frequency
assignment is applied.

• In many cases, it is preferable to redistribute

the frequency channels to avoid prominent
interference in certain areas
• To use this kind of combiner, cell-site
transceivers should also be able to change
their operating frequencies
• Can be designed to be tuned either
mechanically or electronically.
 Channel combiner at the transmitting end
Ring combiner
• Used to combine two groups of channels into a single
output.
• Insertion loss is 3 dB and the signal isolation between
channels is 35 to 40dB.

• Its function is to combine two 16-channel combiners

into one 32-channel output.
• If all the channel-transmitted powers are low, it is
possible to combine more than 32 channels by using
two or three ring combiners before feeding them into
one transmitting antenna.
• Total allowed transmitting power is a limiting factor.
• Reduces adjacent channel separation.
 Demultiplexer at the receiving end
• Used to receive 16 channels from one antenna.
• It is a filter bank.

• Each receiving antenna output passes through a

25-dB gain amplifier to a Demultiplexer.
• Demultiplexer output has a 12-dB loss from the
split of 16 channels.

• IM product at the output of the Demultiplexer

should be 65 dB down

• If the undesired mobile unit is close to the cell

site, then the preamplifier becomes saturated and
generates IM at the output of the amplifier; these
could be felt in one of the weak incoming signals.
It leads to cross talk.
 Supervisory Audio Tone - SAT Tone
• Major function of a Supervisory Audio Tone is to ensure that a
SAT tone is sent out at the cell site, is received by the mobile
unit on a forward voice channel, is converted on a
corresponding reverse voice channel, and is then sent back to
the cell site within 5s. If the time out is more than 5s, the cell
site will terminate the call.
• Every cell site has been assigned to one of the three (5970H,
6000H, 6030H) SAT tones.
• The cells have the same SAT tones, and the same channels are
separated by 3𝐷, which is farther than the co-channel
distance D.
• Therefore, a receiver located at either the cell site or at the
mobile unit and receiving the same frequency with different
SAT tones will terminate the call.
SAT Tone
 UHF TV Interference
• There is wide frequency separation between cellular phone systems and the
media broadcast services (TV and radio).
• The significantly high power levels used by the UHF TV broadcast
transmitters, the likelihood of interference from cellular phone
transmissions affecting broadcasting is very small.
• There is a slight probability that when the cell-site transmission is 90 MHz
above that of a TV channel, it can interfere with the image-response
frequency of typical home TV receivers.
 UHF TV Interference
• Some UHF TV channels overlap cellular mobile channels.
• These two types of service can interfere with each other only under the
following conditions.
1. Band region with overlapping frequencies: Two services have been
authorized to operate within the same frequency band region.

2. Image interference region: The TV receiver or the cellular receiver

(mobile unit or cell site) can receive two transmitted signals, for instance,
one from a TV channel and one from a cellular system, and produce a
third-order intermodulation product which falls within the TV or the
mobile receive band.
 UHF TV Interference
• Two types of interference can occur between UHF television and 850-MHz
cellular mobile phones.
 Interference to UHF TV Receivers from Cellular Mobile Transmitters.
 Interference of Cellular Mobile Receivers by UHF TV Transmitters.

Interference to UHF TV Receivers from Cellular Mobile

Transmitters
 Interference to UHF TV Receivers from Cellular
Mobile Transmitters
• Third-order intermodulation gives the following results in two cases of
interfering UHF TV receivers.

• Since the mobile transmit frequency fTm lies in the 825 to 845 MHz band,
and the TV transmit frequency fT,TV lies in 780 to 800 MHz band,
• fTm will interfere with the TV receiver as seen from Eq.
• This interference region is called the Image Interference Region.
 Interference to UHF TV Receivers from Cellular
Mobile Transmitters

• Because the cell-site transmit frequency fTc lies in the 870 to 890 MHz
band, and fT,TV lies in 780 to 800 MHz band,
• fTc will interfere with the TV receiver, as shown in Eq.
• This interference region is called the Image Interference Region.

• In these two cases an image-interference rejection range of 40 to 50 dB

isolation across the UHF TV band is required to prevent this interference.
• Interference of Cellular Mobile Receivers by UHF TV
Transmitters
• Here the image-interference region will be the same as that described in
previous section, but in the reversed direction.

• Because the mobile unit receiver frequency fRm lies in the 870 to 890 MHz
band, fT,TV which lies in 780 to 800 MHz band, will interfere with the
mobile unit receiver, as shown in Eq.
Interference of Cellular Mobile Receivers by
UHF TV Transmitters

• Since the cell-site receiver frequency fRc lies in the 825 to 845 MHz band,
fT,TV which lies in 780- to 800-MHz band, will interfere with the cell-site
receiver as shown in Eq.
• Applications:
• Design of a cellular systems using frequency reuse factor (k=19) for
directional and Omni-directional antenna systems