JNTUA [Link].

R20 Regulations

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY ANANTAPUR

[Link] IV- I Sem L T P C
3 0 0 3
(20A04706) PRINCIPLES OF CELLULAR AND MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS
Course Objectives:
 To understand the concepts and operation of cellular systems.
 To apply the concepts of cellular systems to solve engineering problems.
 To analyse cellular systems for meaningful conclusions.
 To evaluate suitability of a cellular system in real time applications.
 To design cellular patterns based on frequency reuse factor.

Course Outcomes:
At the end of the course, the student should be able to
 Understand the concepts and operation of cellular systems (L1)
 Apply the concepts of cellular systems to solve engineering problems (L2).
 Analyse cellular systems for meaningful conclusions, Evaluate suitability of a cellular system
in real time applications (L3).
 Design cellular patterns based on frequency reuse factor (L4).

UNIT I Introduction to Cellular Mobile Systems

Why cellular mobile communication systems? A basic cellular system, Evolution of mobile radio
communications, Performance criteria, Characteristics of mobile radio environment, Operation of
cellular systems. Examples for analog and digital cellular systems.

UNIT II Cellular Radio System Design

General description of the problem, Concept of frequency reuse channels, Cochannel interference
reduction, Desired C/I ratio, Cell splitting and sectoring.

UNIT III Handoffs and Dropped Calls

Why handoffs and types of handoffs, Initiation of handoff, Delaying a handoff, Forced handoffs,
Queuing of handoffs, Power-difference handoffs, Mobile assisted handoff and soft handoff, Cell-site
handoff, Intersystem handoff. Introduction to dropped call rate.

UNIT IV Multiple Access Techniques for Wireless Communications

Introduction, Frequency Division Multiple Access, Time Division Multiple Access, Code Division
Multiple Access and Space Division Multiple Access.

UNIT V Digital Cellular Systems

Global System for Mobile Systems, Time Division Multiple Access Systems, Code Division Multiple
Access Systems. Examples for 2G, 3G and 4G systems. Introduction to 5G system.

Textbooks:
1. William C. Y. Lee, “Mobile Cellular Telecommunications”, 2ndEdition, McGraw-Hill
International, 1995.
2. Theodore S. Rappaport, “Wireless Communications – Principles and Practice”, 2ndEdition,
PHI, 2004.

References:
1. Aditya K. Jagannatham “Principles of Modern Wireless Communications Systems – Theory
and Practice”, McGraw-Hill International, 2015.
 UNIT I
2 Marks Questions

1) Mention the elements of basic cellular systems. VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

2) Mention the limitations of conventional mobile telephone systems
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
3) What is Dropped call? VVVVVVVVVVV
4) What is blocked call? VVVVVVVVVVV
5) How voice quality can be tested (or) what is known as circuit
merit? VVVVVV
6) Give two advantages of cellular mobile systems over telephone
systems VV
7) Explain the operations of cellular systems VVVVVVVVVVVVV

5/10 Marks Questions

1) What are the various components in a cellular system? Explain (or)

Explain about basic cellular system with neat diagram.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
2) Describe the Operation of cellular mobile system VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
3) What are the limitations of conventional mobile telephone system?
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
4) Briefly describe the characteristics of mobile radio environment.
(or) Uniqueness of mobile environment VVVVVVVVV
5) What are the advantages of digital cellular system over analog
cellular system? VVVVVVV
6) Explain the call initialization, call progress and call
termination process VVVV
7) What is the difference between mobile originated call and network
originated call? VVV
8) Describe the performance criteria of Cellular mobile systems.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

UNIT II
2 Marks Questions

1) What is interference and co-channel interference? VVVV

2) What is Frequency reuse and advantages of frequency reuse VVVVV
 3) What is cell splitting VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
4) What is cell sectoring VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
5) What is Co-channel Interference Reduction Factor VVVVVVVV
6) If co-channel interference reduction factor q is 5.2 and the
cluster size is q what will be the carrier to interference ratio.
7) What is known as dropped call rate? VVVVVVVV
8) Define frequency reuse distance VVVVVVVVVV
9) What is the commonly used formula for interference limited system?
VVVVVV
5/10 Marks Questions

1) With neat sketch, explain the concept of frequency reuse. VVVVVV

VVVVVV
2) List the various techniques used to expand the capacity of a
cellular system VVVVVVVVVVVV
3) Derive C/I from a normal case in a omni directional antenna system
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
4) What is the need of Frequency reuse? Prove that for a hexagonal
geometry the co channel reuse ration is (3N) 1/2 where N=i2+ij+j2.
VVVVV
5) Explain the co-channel interference reduction factor and derive
the general formula for C/I. VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
6) What are the various techniques to measure CCI? Explain in detail
VVVVVVV
7) What is cell-splitting? Explain its types in detail VVVVVVVVVVVVVV
8) During a busy hour the no. of calls per hour Qi for each 10 cells
is 2000,1500,3000, 500, 1000, 1200, 1800, 3200, 2600, 800. Assume
that 60% of the car phones will be used during this period and
that one call is made per car phone. Find the no. of customers in
the system. VVVVVVVV
9) If the maximum no of calls per hour Qi in one cell be 5000 and an
average calling time T be 1.76 min. The blocking probability is
2%. Find the offered load. If Qi is 30000. Find the offered load
compare this with no. of channels by using Erlang B model charts.
VVVV
10) Explain the concept of cell splitting and cell sectoring.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
 UNIT III
2 Marks Questions

1) Write short note on initiation of handoff. VVVVVVVVVVVVVV

2) What is hand off? What are the types of handoff? VVVVVVVVVVVVVV
3) What is delaying of hand off VVVVVVVVVVVVVV
4) Draw a simple two-level handoff scheme diagram. VVVVVVVV
5) Mobile Assisted Hand off VVVVVVVVVVVVVV
6) Soft Hand off VVVVVVVVVVVVVV
7) Write short note on inter system handoff. VVVVVVVVVVVVVV
8) Write short note on setup channels VVVVVV
9) Comment on two-hand off level algorithm VVVVVVVVVVVVVV
10) Differentiate between the soft and hard handoff. VVVVVVVVV
11) What is meant by first-tier of interference? VVVVVV
12) If co-channel interference reduction factor q is 6 what will be
the cluster site? VVVVVVV

5/10 Marks Questions

1) What is meant by handoff initiation? Explain different methods of
Handoff initiation with suitable diagrams VVVVVVVVVVVVVV
2) Explain the following Handoffs
1. Initiation of handoff VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
2. Delaying a handoff VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
3. Forced handoffs VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
4. Queuing of handoffs VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
5. Power-difference handoffs VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
6. Mobile assisted handoff VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
7. soft handoff VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
8. Cellsite handoff VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
9. Intersystem handoff VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
3) What is meant by dropped call? Explain the factors that influenced
dropped call rate VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
4) Explain a two level handoff scheme with suitable example
VVVVVVVVVVV
 UNIT IV
2 Marks Questions

1) What is duplexing VVVVVVVVV

2) What is FDD, TDD? VVVVVVVVV
3) What is forward and reverse channel? VVVVVVVVV
4) Define FDMA, TDMA, CDMA, SDMA VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
5) What is the formula for total number of channels in FDMA SYSTEM?
VVVVVVVVV
6) Draw TDMA frame VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
7) Explain efficiency of TDMA frame VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
8) What is the formula for total number of channels in TDMA SYSTEM?
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
9) What is the significance of multiple access schemes? Explain
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

5/10 Marks Questions

1) Explain in detail about multiple access schemes. VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

2) What is CDMA? Explain CDMA in detail. VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
3) What is FDMA? Explain CDMA in detail. VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
4) What is TDMA? Explain CDMA in detail. VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
5) What is SDMA? Explain CDMA in detail. VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
6) List the difference between TDMA/FDMA/CDMA. VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

NOTE: Prepare solved problems given in the material (UNIT IV)

UNIT V
2 Marks Questions

1) Define paging channel.

2) What are main subsystems of GSM architecture? VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
3) Name the wireless access techniques used in 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G.
4) What are the channel types of GSM system? VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
5) What are the interfaces used in the GSM? VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
6) What are BCCH and CCCH? VVVVVVV
7) What are the functions of OMC? VVVVVVV
5/10 Marks Questions

1) Write advantages and disadvantages in 1G, 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G cellular

systems VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
2) With suitable block diagram explain the GSM system (or) Explain
architecture of GSM system. VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
3) What are the channel types of GSM system? Explain VVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
4) Discuss the salient features of FDMA and TDMA techniques.
VVVVVVVVV

* * *
 UNIT – I
Introduction to Cellular Mobile Systems

1.1 Why cellular mobile communication systems?

LIMITATIONS OF CONVENTIONAL MOBILE TELEPHONE SYSTEMS

One of many reasons for developing a cellular mobile telephone system and
deploying it in many cities is the operational limitations of
conventional mobile telephone systems: limited service capability, poor
service performance, and inefficient frequency spectrum utilization.
LIMITED SERVICE CAPABILITY:
A conventional mobile telephone system is usually designed by selecting
one or more channels from a specific frequency allocation for use in
autonomous geographic zones, as shown in Fig.1.1. The communications
coverage area of each zone is normally planned to be as large as
possible, which means that the transmitted power should be as high as the
federal specification allows. The user who starts a call in one zone has
to reinitiate the call when moving into a new zone because the call will
be dropped. This is an undesirable radio telephone system since there is
no guarantee that a call can be completed without a handoff capability.
The handoff is a process of automatically changing frequencies as the
mobile unit moves into a different frequency zone so that the
conversation can be continued in a new frequency zone without redialing.
Another disadvantage of the conventional system is that the number of
active users is limited to the number of channels assigned to a
particular frequency zone.

1
POOR SERVICE PERFORMANCE:
In the past, a total of 33 channels were all allocated to three mobile
telephone systems: Mobile Telephone Service (MTS), Improved Mobile
Telephone Service (IMTS) MJ systems and Improved Mobile Telephone Service
(IMTS) MK systems. MTS operates around 40 MHz and MJ operates at 150 MHs;
both provide 11 channels; IMTS MK operates at 450 MHz and provides 12
channels. These 33 channels must cover an area 50 mi in diameter. In
1976, New York City had 6 channels of MJ serving 320 customers, with
another 2400 customers on a waiting list. New York City also had 6
channels of MK serving 225 customers, with another 1300 customers on a
waiting list. The large number of subscribers created a high blocking
probability during busy hours. Although service performance was
undesirable, the demand was still great. A high-capacity system for
mobile telephones was needed.

INEFFICIENT FREQUENCY SPECTRUM UTILIZATION:

In a conventional mobile telephone system, the frequency utilization
measurement Mo, is defined as the maximum number of customers that could
be served by one channel at the busy hour.

2
1.2 BASIC CELLULAR SYSTEM

A basic analog cellular system consists of three subsystems: a mobile

unit, a cell site, and a mobile telephone switching office (MTSO), as
Fig. 1.1 shows, with connections to link the three subsystems.

Mobile units: A mobile telephone unit contains a control unit, a

transceiver, and an antenna system.

Cell site: The cell site provides interface between the MTSO and the
mobile units. It has a control unit, radio cabinets, antennas, a power
plant, and data terminals.

MTSO: The switching office, the central coordinating element for all cell
sites, contains the cellular processor and cellular switch. It interfaces
with telephone company zone offices, controls call processing, provides
operation and maintenance, and handles billing activities.

Connections: The radio and high-speed data links connect the three
subsystems. Each mobile unit can only use one channel at a time for its
communication link. But the channel is not fixed; it can be any one in
the entire band assigned by the serving area, with each site having
multichannel capabilities that can connect simultaneously to many mobile
units.

The MTSO is the heart of the analog cellular mobile system. Its processor
provides central coordination and cellular administration. The cellular
switch, which can be either analog or digital, switches calls to connect
mobile subscribers to other mobile subscribers and to the nationwide
telephone network. It uses voice trunks similar to telephone company
interoffice voice trunks. It also contains data links providing
supervision links between the processor and the switch and between the
cell sites and the processor. The radio link carries the voice and
signaling between the mobile unit and the cell site. The high-speed data
links cannot be transmitted over the standard telephone trunks and
therefore must use either microwave links or T-carriers (wire lines).
Microwave radio links or T-carriers carry both voice and data between
cell site and the MTSO.

3
1.3 EVOLUTION OF MOBILE RADIO COMMUNICATIONS

The first wireline telephone system was introduced in the year 1877.
Mobile communication systems as early as 1934 were based on Amplitude
Modulation (AM) schemes and only certain public organizations maintained
such systems. With the demand for newer and better mobile radio
communication systems during the World War II and the development of
Frequency Modulation (FM) technique by Edwin Armstrong, the mobile radio
communication systems began to witness many new changes. Mobile telephone
was introduced in the year 1946. However, during its initial three and a
half decades it found very less market penetration owing to high costs
and

4
 Figure 1.3: The worldwide mobile subscriber chart.

numerous technological drawbacks. But with the development of the

cellular concept in the 1960s at the Bell Laboratories, mobile
communications began to be a promising field of expanse which could serve
wider populations. Initially, mobile communication was restricted to
certain official users and the cellular concept was never even dreamt of
being made commercially available. Moreover, even the growth in the
cellular networks was very slow. However, with the development of newer
and better technologies starting from the 1970s and with the mobile users
now connected to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), there has
been an astronomical growth in the cellular radio and the personal
communication systems. Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) was the first
U.S. cellular telephone system and it was deployed in 1983. Wireless
services have since then been experiencing a 50% per year growth rate.
The number of cellular telephone users grew from 25000 in 1984 to around
3 billion in the year 2007 and the demand rate is increasing day by day.
A schematic of the subscribers is shown in Fig. 1.3.

Present Day Mobile Communication

Since the time of wireless telegraphy, radio communication has been used
extensively. Our society has been looking for acquiring mobility in
communication since then. Initially the mobile communication was limited
between one pair of users on single channel pair. The range of mobility
was defined by the transmitter power, type of antenna used and the
frequency of operation. With the increase in the number of users,
accommodating them within the limited available frequency spectrum became
a major problem. To resolve this problem, the concept of cellular
communication was evolved. The present day cellular communication uses a

5
basic unit called cell. Each cell consists of small hexagonal area with a
base station located at the center of the cell which communicates with
the user. To accommodate multiple users Time Division multiple Access
(TDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple
Access (FDMA) and their hybrids are used. Numerous mobile radio standards
have been deployed at various places such as AMPS, PACS, GSM, NTT, PHS
and IS-95, each utilizing different set of frequencies and allocating
different number of users and channels.

1.2 PERFORMANCE CRITERIA

Performance of cellular mobile communication is evaluated on following

parameters:
 Voice Quality:
Voice quality is difficult to judge without subjective/practical tests
for users’ feedback. Voice quality is a major factor that is
considered in the performance criteria of a cellular system. It is
measured on the basis of circuit merits (CM). The voice quality will
be based upon the following criterion: a set value x at which y
percent of customers rate the system voice quality as a receiver as
good or excellent, the top two circuit merits (CM) of the five listed
below.

Circuit Merits (CM) Score Quality Scale

CM5 5 Excellent i.e. voice perfectly understandable
CM4 4 Good i.e. voice easily understandable but some noise is present
CM3 3 Fair i.e. voice understandable but required effort
CM2 2 Poor i.e. voice is understandable but required frequent repetition
CM1 1 Unsatisfactory i.e. voice not understandable

Service Quality
The service quality of cellular system is based on following parameters:
 Coverage: The coverage area of system should as large as possible.
Practically it is not possible to cover 100 percent of the area
because of irregular terrain configurations.
 Required grade of service: The blocking probability of each cell
site will be different. To decrease the blocking probability of
system required a good system plan and sufficient number of radio
channels.
 Number of dropped calls: Number of call drop should be less as
6
 possible. Suppose in an hour Q calls are made and among Q calls if a
call is dropped. Then Q-1 calls will be completed then the call drop
rate is given by 1/Q. This drop rate must be kept low. A high drop
rate occurs due to either by coverage problems or handoff problems
 Special Features
A system has to provide as many as special features such as the following
 Call Forwarding
 Call Waiting
 Voice Stored (VSR) Box
 Automatic Roaming
 Navigation Services.

1.5 CHARACTERISTICS OF MOBILE RADIO ENVIRONMENT (or)

UNIQUENESS OF MOBILE RADIO ENVIRONMENT

The uniqueness of mobile radio environment can be described on the basis

of following points:
 Description of mobile radio transmission medium
 Model of transmission medium
 Direct wave path, line of sight path and obstructive path
 Noise level in cellular frequency band
 Amplifier noise.
 Mobile fading characteristics

 Propagation Attenuation:

 There are number of factors which contribute to the signal strength at

receiver. For a line of sight (LOS) path, there is free space path
loss which is related to the radial distance between transmitter and
receiver.
 Propagation in free space and without any obstacle is the most ideal
situation. Where there is no line of sight path or when radio wave
reaches to an obstacle, various propagation effects like reflection,
scattering, diffraction, refraction occurs.
 The propagation path loss increases with frequency and distance.

C ∝ R-4

C = αR-4

7
Where C is the received carrier power, 𝛼 is constant and R is the
distance between transmitter and receiver. The propagation path loss
varies on the basis of environmental conditions.

 Fading

In wireless communications, fading is deviation of the attenuation

affecting a signal over certain propagation media. The fading may vary
with time, geographical position or radio frequency, and is often modeled
as a random process. In wireless systems fading may either be due to
multipath propagation, referred to as multipath induced fading, or due to
shadowing from obstacles affecting the wave propagation, sometimes
"referred to as shadow fading. The fading can be broadly classified into
two categories:
1. Large scale fading 2. Small scale fading.

Figure 1.2 Principle of small-scale fading

 Types of fading Small Scale Fading

Small scale fading refers to rapid variation of instantaneous received
signal strength due to the constructive and destructive interference
of multi-paths when the mobile station moves over very short
distances. Depending on the multipath delay spread small scale fading
can be classified as either frequency-selective fading or frequency
flat fading. Depending on the Doppler spread, small scale fading can be
classified as either fast fading or slow fading.

Large Scale Fading

Large-scale fading occurs as the mobile moves over a large distance.
It is caused by path loss of signal as a function of distance and
shadowing by large objects such as intervening terrains, buildings,
and vegetation. Shadowing is a slow fading process characterized by
variation of median path loss between the transmitter and receiver in
8
fixed locations. The received signal strength may be different for
even at the same distance from a transmitter, due to the shadowing
caused by obstacles on the path.
 Factors Influencing Fading
The following physical factors influence small-scale fading in the radio
propagation channel:
1. Multipath propagation-Multipath is the propagation phenomenon that
results in radio signals reaching the receiving antenna by two or
more paths. The effects of multipath include phase shifting,
constructive and destructive interference.
2. Speed of the mobile-The relative motion between the base station and
the mobile results in random frequency modulation due to different
Doppler shifts of each MPC.
3. Speed of surrounding objects-If objects in the radio channel are in
motion, they induce a time varying Doppler shift on multipath
components. If the surrounding objects move at a greater rate than
the mobile, then this effect dominates fading.
4. Transmission Bandwidth of the signal-If the transmitted radio signal
bandwidth is greater than the bandwidth of the multipath channel
i.e. quantified by coherence bandwidth than received signal will be
distorted.
 Direct wave path, line of sight path and obstructive path
In mobile communication air is used as medium, hence signal may serve
many possible paths to reach at receiver. A direct wave path will be
present between transmitter and receiver when the surface of earth is
plan/flat i.e. no terrain contour. If the path between transmitter and
receiver having no buildings/ obstacle this condition is known as line
of sight path. But practically we always do not have the line of sight
or direct path. The average received signal power is grater in case of
line of sight condition as compared to multipath.

 Noise level in cellular frequency band

There are two types of man-made noise present in cellular frequency band
as follows
1. The Ignition Noise. The 800 MHz frequency band was not widely used
in past. The ignition noise generated by the vehicle is the man-made
noise at 800 MHz. The automotive noise introduced at 800 MHz by
ignition noise with a bandwidth of 30 kHz.
2. The 800-MHz-Emission Noise. As the cellular mobile systems is
9
 operating in all the major cities. The 800-MHz-emission noise can be
measured at an idle channel. We can calculate it at a forward voice
channel in from the 869 to 894 MHz region when the mobile receiver
is in no traffic spot of a city. In this case automotive ignition
noise will not be involved only the noise introduce by the emission
will present.

1.6 OPERATION OF CELLULAR SYSTEMS

The operation of a cellular system can be vided into following parts:

 Mobile unit initialization:
When subscriber activates the mobile unit the receiver scans 21 set-up
channels among the 416 channels. The strongest channel is selected and
locks on for a certain time. Generally the strongest set-up channel
selected from nearest cell site. This scheme is known as self-location
scheme.
 Mobile originated call:
The mobile subscriber entered the called number into an originating
register in the mobile unit, checks to that the number is correct or
not and press the send/call button. A request for service is sent on a
selected set-up channel obtained from a self-location scheme. The cell
site receives it, and in directional cell sites, selects the best
directive antenna for the voice channel to use. The cell site also
sends a request to the MTSO through a high-speed data line at the same
time. The MTSO selects an appropriate voice channel for the call, and
the cell site used the best directive antenna to link the mobile unit.
The MTSO also connects the wired line through the zone office of
Telephone Company.
 Network originated call:
A land-line party dials a mobile unit number. The telephone company
zone office identified that the number is mobile and forwards the call
to the MTSO. The MTSO sends a paging message to some cell sites based
on the mobile unit number and the search algorithm. Each cell site
transmits the page on its own set-up channel. The mobile unit
recognizes its own identification on a strong set-up channel, locks
onto it, and responds to the cell site. The mobile unit also follows
the instruction to tune to an assigned voice channel and initiate user
alert.

10
 Call termination:
When the mobile user turns off the transmitter, a particular signal by
a signaling tone transmits to the cell site, and both sides free the
voice channel.
 Handoff procedure:
When the mobile unit moves out of the coverage area of a particular
cell site, the reception becomes weak. The present cell site requests
a handoff. The system switches the call to a new frequency channel in
a new cell site without interrupting the ongoing call or alerting the
user. The call continues as long as the user is talking.

11
 UNIT – II
Cellular Radio System Design

2.1 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM

2.2 CONCEPT OF FREQUENCY REUSE CHANNELS

A radio channel consists of a pair of frequencies one for each direction

of transmission that is used for full-duplex operation. A Particular
radio channel, say F1, used in one geographic zone to call a cell, says
C1, with a coverage radius R can be used in another cell with the same
coverage radius at a distance D away.
Frequency reuse is the core concept of the cellular mobile radio
system. In this frequency reuse system, users in different geographic
locations (different cells) may simultaneously use the same frequency
channel (see Fig.2.2). The frequency reuse system can drastically
increase the spectrum efficiency, but if the system is not properly
designed, serious interference may occur. Interference due to the
common use of the same channel is called cochannel interference and is
our major concern in the concept of frequency reuse.

FREQUENCY REUSE SCHEME: The frequency reuse concept can be used in the
time domain and the space domain. Frequency reuse in the time domain
results in the occupation of the same frequency in different time
slots. It is called time division multiplexing (TDM). Frequency reuse
in the space domain can be divided into two categories.

1 Same frequency assigned in two different geographic areas, such as

A.M or FM radio stations using the same frequency in different
cities.
12
 2 Same frequency repeatedly used in a same general area in one
system - the scheme is used in cellular systems. There are many
co-channel cells in the system. The total frequency spectrum
allocation is divided into K frequency reuse patterns, as
illustrated in Fig 2.3 for K = 4, 7, 12, and 19.

Frequency Reuse Distance

The minimum distance which allows the same frequency to be reused will

13
depend on the number of co-channel cells in the vicinity of the center
cell, the type of geographic terrain contour, the antenna height, and
transmitted power at each cell site. The frequency reuse distance D can
be express by

Where K is the frequency reuse pattern or cluster size shown in figure

2.3 and R is the radius of cell site.

If all the cell sites transmit the same power, then K increases and the
frequency reuse distance D increases. This increased D reduces the chance
that cochannel interference may occur.
Theoretically, a large K is desired. However, the total number of
allocated channels is fixed. When K is too large, the number of channels
assigned to each of K cells becomes small. It is always true that if the
total number of channels in K cells is divided as K increases, trunking
inefficiency results. The same principle applies to spectrum inefficiency:
if the total numbers of channels are divided into two network systems
serving in the same area, spectrum inefficiency increases.
Obtaining the smallest number K involves estimating cochannel
interference and selecting the minimum frequency reuse distance D to
reduce cochannel interference. The smallest value of K is K = 3,
2
obtained by setting i = 1, j = 1 in the equation K = i + i j + j 2.

2.3 CO CHANNEL INTERFERENCE REDUCTION FACTOR

Frequency reuse technique is very useful for increasing the efficiency

of spectrum utilization. But which results the cochannel interference
since the same frequency channel is used repeatedly in different co
channel cells. To reduce the co channel interference, we need to find the
minimum frequency reuse distance. Assume that the all the cell sites are
identical in size. The cell size is area where particular signal

14
strength is available in cell site. As the cell size is fixed then the
cochannel interference is now independent of the transmitted power of
each cell. It means that the received threshold level at the mobile unit
is adjusted to the size of the cell.
The co channel interference is a function of a parameter q which is
known as cochannel inference reduction factor and defined as

…….1

Where D is the frequency reuse distance and R is the radius of cell

site. If value of q increases then co channel interference decreases.

Further on writing the D in Eq. 1 as a function of KI and C/I we have

D = f (KI,C/I) …….2

Where KI is the number of co channel interfering cells in the first

tier, C is carrier signal power, I is the interference signal power and
C/I is the received carrier-to-interference ratio at the desired mobile
receiver.

….3

In perfect hexagonal-shaped cellular system, in the first tier there are

always six cochannel interfering cells, as shown in figure 2.4. In first
tier the value of KI is 6. The co channel interference will be
experienced at both cell site and at mobile units in the center cell. If
the interference is much greater, then the carrier-to-interference ratio
at the mobile units caused by the six interfering sites is the same as the
C/I received at the center cell site caused by interfering mobile units
in the six cells. According to the reciprocity theorem and the
statistical summation of radio propagation, the two C/I values can be
very close. Assume that the local noise is much less than the
interference level and can be neglected. The propagation path-loss slope
variation in mobile radio environment is given by
C = αR-γ …….4

15
C/I then can be expressed, on the basis of the propagation path-loss slope

…….5
Where γ is a propagation path-loss slope determined by the actual
terrain environment. In a mobile radio medium γ usually is assumed to be
4. KI is the number of co channel interfering cells and is equal to 6 in
a fully developed system, as shown in figure 2.4. The six co channel
interfering cells in the second tier cause weaker interference than those
in the first tier. Therefore, the cochannel interference from the second
tier of interfering cells is negligible. Substituting Eq. 1 into Eq. 5 we
have

…….6
Where qk is the co channel interference reduction factor with kth co
channel interfering cell

16
1.3 DESIRED C/I RATIO
In case of calculating the C/I for omnidirectional antenna system we
considered following cases:
1. The co channel interference and signal received by mobile unit
2. The co channel interference and signal received by cell site.

Both cases 1 & 2 are shown in figure1 2.5. The local noises at the cell
site and the mobile unit is denotes by Nb and Nm respectively.

Normally the local noise is small as compared with the interference

level so we can neglect Nm and Nb . If the received carrier-to-
interference ratios at both the mobile unit and the cell site are the
same, the system is called a balanced system. In a balanced system, we
can choose either one of the two cases to analyze the system
requirement; the results from one case are the same for the others.
Assume that all Dk are the same for simplicity then D = Dk, and q = qk
,

….…1
Thus

…….. 2

17
 …….3

In equation 3 the value of C/I is based on the required system

performance and the specified value of γ is based on the terrain
environment. With given values of C/I and γ, the co channel
interference reduction factor q can be determined. Normal cellular
practice is to specify C/I to be 18 dB or higher based on subjective
tests and the criterion described. Because a C/I of 18 dB is measured by
the acceptance of voice quality from present cellular mobile receivers,
this acceptance implies that both mobile radio multipath fading and co
channel interference become ineffective at that level.

18
 1.4 Cell splitting

Cell splitting is a process which a larger cell is subdivided into

smaller cell on some conditions like congestion, heavy traffic at that
particular cell. Cell splitting is done in when traffic density is high
the frequency channels Fi in each cell Ci is not able to handle enough
mobile calls then the original cell can be split into smaller cells.
The radius of new cell is half of the original cell radius as shown in
figure 1.8. There are two ways of cell splitting, in figure 1.8(a) the
original cell site is not used but in the figure 2.7 (b) original cell
is used.

old cell radius

New cell radius =
2

old cell radius

New cell area =
4

Assume that maximum traffic load capacity of new cell is same as the old
cell

New Traffic Load Traffic Load

= 4
Unit area Unit area

There are two kinds of cell-splitting techniques:

1. Permanent splitting: This type of cell splitting is planned prior to
the traffic load on the basis of the analytical data. Permanent cell
splitting is done on the basis of number of channels, assigned
frequencies, transmitted power and the traffic load of the original cell.
The actual service of the original cell is stop for some time. This is
done usually at midnight on a weekend.
2. Dynamic splitting: This scheme is based on using the allocated
spectrum efficiency in real time. The algorithm for dynamically
splitting cell sites is a tedious job, as we cannot afford to have one
single cell unused during cell splitting at heavy traffic hours.

19
Cell Sectoring

The co-channel interference in cellular systems may be decreased by

replacing a single Omni directional antenna at the base station by several
directional antennas each radiating within a specified sector. By using
directional antennas, a given cell will receive interference and transmit
with only a fraction of the available co-channel cells. The technique for
decreasing co-channel interference and thus increasing system performance
by using directional antennas is called sectoring. The factor by which the
co-channel interference is reduced depends on the amount of sectoring
used. A cell is normally partitioned into three 120˚ sectors or six 60˚
sectors as shown in below figure.

Fig: (a) 120˚ sectoring (b) 60˚ sectoring

20
 UNIT – III
Handoffs and Dropped Calls

3.1 Why handoffs and types of handoffs

WHY HAND OFF IS NECESSARY

In an analog system, once a call is established, the set-up channel is
not used again during the call period. Therefore, handoff is always
implemented on the voice channel. In the digital systems, the handoff is
carried out through paging or common control channel. The value of
implementing handoffs is dependent on the size of the cell. For example,
if the radius of the cell is 32 km (20 mi), the area is 3217 km^2(1256
mi^2). After a call is initiated in this area, there is little chance
that it will be dropped before the call is terminated as a result of a
weak signal at the coverage boundary. Then why bother to implement the
handoff feature? Even for a 16-km radius, cell handoff may not be needed.
If a call is dropped in a fringe area, the customer simply redials and
reconnects the call. Today the size of cells becomes smaller in order to
increase capacity. Also people talk longer. The handoffs are very
essential. Handoff is needed in two situations where the cell site
receives weak signals from the mobile unit: (1) at the cell boundary,
say, −100 dBm, which is the level for requesting a handoff in a noise-
limited environment; and (2) when the mobile unit is reaching the signal-
strength holes (gaps) within the cell site as shown in Fig below.

21
WHAT ARE THE TWO DECISIONS MAKING PARAMETERS OF HANDOFF
There are two decision-making parameters of handoff: (1) that based on
signal strength and (2) that based on carrier-to-interference ratio. The
handoff criteria are different for these two types. In type 1, the
signal-strength threshold level for handoff is −100 dBm in noise-limited
systems and −95 dBm in interference limited systems. In type 2, the value
of C/I at the cell boundary for handoff should be at a level, 18 dB for
AMPS in order to have toll quality voice. Sometimes, a low value of C/I
may be used for capacity reasons.
Type 1: It is easy to implement. The location receiver at each cell site
measures all the signal strengths of all receivers at the cell site.
However, the received signal strength (RSS) itself includes interference.
RSS = C + I
where C is the carrier signal power and I is the interference. Suppose
that we set up a threshold level for RSS; then, because of the I, which
is sometimes very strong, the RSS level is higher and far above the
handoff threshold level. In this situation handoff should theoretically
take place but does not. Another situation is when I is very low but
RSS is also low. In this situation, the voice quality usually is good
even though the RSS level is low, but since RSS is low, unnecessary
handoff takes place. Therefore, it is an easy but not very accurate
method of determining handoffs. Some analog systems use SAT information
together with the received signal level to determine handoffs. Some CDMA
systems use pilot channel information.
Type 2: Handoffs can be controlled by using the carrier-to-interference
ratio C/I.
we can set a level based on C/I ,so C drops as a function of distance but
I is dependent on the location. If the handoff is dependent on C/I, and
if the C/I drops, it does so in response to increase in (1) propagation
distance or (2) interference. In both cases, handoff should take place.
In today’s cellular systems, it is hard to measure C/I during a call
because of analog modulation. Sometimes we measure the level I before the
call is connected, and the level C+I during the call. Thus (C+I)/I can be
obtained.
Types of handoffs
A handoff is the process of transferring an active call or data session
from one cell to another in a cellular network without interpreting the
user. It is a unique feature that allows cellular systems to operate as
effectively. There are two types of handoffs

22
1. Hard handoff 2. Soft handoff.
 Hard handoff: The hard handoff is brake before make. In hard handoff
the link to the current base station is terminated before or as the
user is enters to the new cell’s base station. This means that the
mobile is not connected at a time to more than one base station.
 Soft handoff: The soft handoff is make before brake. Soft handoff is
also known as mobile directed handoff because it is directed by the
mobile phones. Soft handoff has the ability to select between the
instantaneous received signals from different base stations. In soft
handoff current channel in the source cell is used for a short time in
parallel with the channel in the target cell. In this the connection to
the target cell is made before the connection to the source channel is
terminated.
Reasons for a Handoff to be conducted:
 To avoid call termination when the mobile user is moving away from
the area covered by one cell and entering into the area covered by
some another cell.
 When the capacity for connecting new calls of a given cell is full or
used up.
 When there is interference in the channels due to the different
mobile users using the same channel in different cells.
 When the user behaviors change

3.2 Initiation of handoff

Signal strength is continuously monitored from a reverse voice channel

at the cell site. When the signal strength reaches at the desired level
of a handoff then the cell site send a request for a handoff on the call
to the mobile switching (MSO). A smart decision is made at the cell site
that whether the handoff should have taken place earlier or later. If an
unnecessary handoff is requested, then the decision was made too early.
If a failure handoff occurs, then a decision was made too late.

The some methods are used to make handoffs successful and to

reduce/eliminate all needless handoffs. Suppose that −100 dBm is a
threshold level of the signal at the cell boundary at which a handoff may
be take place. For this situation we must set up signal strength level
higher than −100 dBm, suppose it is −100 dBm +∆ dB and when the received
signal reaches this level, a handoff request is initiated. If the value

23
of ∆ is fixed and large, then the time it takes to lower −100 dBm + ∆ to
−100 dBm is longer.

3.3 Delaying a handoff

In many cases, a two-handoff-level algorithm is used. The purpose of
creating two request handoff levels is to provide more opportunity for a
successful handoff. A handoff could be delayed if no available cell could
take the call. A plot of signal strength with two request handoff levels
and a threshold level is shown in Fig.3. The plot of average signal
strength is recorded on the channel received
Signal strength indicator (RSSI), which is installed at each channel
receiver at the cell site. When the signal strength drops below the first
handoff level, a handoff request is initiated. If for some reason the
mobile unit is in a hole (a weak spot in a cell) or a neighboring cell is
busy, the handoff will be requested periodically every 5 s. At the first
handoff level, the handoff takes place if the new signal is stronger.
However, when the second handoff level is reached, the call will be
handed off with no condition. The MSO always handles the handoff call
first and the originating calls second. If no neighboring calls are
available after the second handoff level is reached, the call continues
until the signal strength drops below the threshold level; then the call
is dropped. In AMPS
systems if the supervisory audio tone (SAT) is not sent back to the cell
site by the mobile unit within 5 s, the cell site turns off the
transmitter.
24
ADVANTAGES OF DELAYED HANDOFF
1. Consider the following example. The mobile units are moving randomly
and the terrain contour is uneven. The received signal strength at the
mobile unit fluctuates up and down. If the mobile unit is in a hole for
less than 5 s (a driven distance of 140 m for 5 s, assuming a vehicle
speed of 100 km/h),the delay (in handoff) can even circumvent the need
for a handoff. If the neighboring cells are busy, delayed handoff may
take place. In principle, when call traffic is heavy, the switching
processor is loaded, and thus a lower number of handoffs would help the
processor handle call processing more adequately. Of course, it is very
likely that after the second handoff level is reached, the call may be
dropped with great probability.
2. The other advantage of having a two-handoff-level algorithm is that it
makes the handoff occur at the proper location and eliminates possible
interference in the system. Figure 3, case I, shows the area where the
first-level handoff occurs between cell A and cell B. If we only use the
second-level handoff boundary of cell A, the area of handoff is too close
to cell B. Figure 3, case II, also shows where the second-level handoff
occurs between cell A and cell C. This is because the first-level handoff
cannot be implemented.

3.4 Forced handoffs

A forced handoff is defined as a handoff which is normally would occur
but is avoided or prevented from happening, or "a handoff that should
not occur but it is forced to happen".
Controlling a Handoff: Controlling of forced handoff can be done by
assign a low handoff threshold level a high handoff threshold level. The
MSO also can control a handoff as receiving a handoff request from a
cell site by making either a handoff earlier or later.

25
Creating a Handoff
When MSO finds that some cells are having more call load or congested
but other cell are not in use or free, in this case the cell site does
not request a handoff then the MSO can request call sites to create
early handoffs for those congested cells. In such conditions a cell
site has to follow the MSO’s order and it increases the handoff
threshold to push the mobile units at the new boundary and to hand off
earlier.
3.6 Mobile assisted handoff and soft handoff
In general handoff mechanism a handoff request is initiated based on
measured signal strength mobile signal received by received signal
strength indicator (RSSI) at the cell site from the reverse link. The
mobile receiver in the digital cellular system is able of monitoring
the signal strength of the setup channels of the neighboring cells
while serve a call and in a TDMA system, one time slot is used for
serving a call and remaining the time slots are used to observe the
signal strengths of setup channels. In both systems if the signal
strength of its voice channel is weak then the mobile unit can request
a handoff and specify which neighboring cell can be assist for handoff
to the switching office. The switching office has two set of
information: the signal strengths of both forward and reverse setup
channels two different neighboring cells or of a neighboring cell. This
condition of handoff is known as mobile assisted handoff.
3.6 Cell - site handoff

Cell site handoff scheme can be used in a non-cellular system. The mobile
unit has been allotted a frequency in its home cell. When the mobile unit
in moving condition and enters a new cell, its frequency does not change
but the new cell must tune its frequency as per the frequency of the
mobile unit as shown in figure 4.7. In this type of handoff cell sites
only need mobile unit the frequency information. This scheme can be
implemented only in areas of very low traffic.

26
3.7 Intersystem handoff

Intersystem handoff occurs when a call initiated in one cellular system

which is controlled by one MSO and enters another system which is
controlled by another MSO. This condition occurred very less as the
maximum call may be terminated before entering in the area of other
MSO. Sometimes intersystem handoff can take place i.e. a call handoff
can be transferred from one system to a second system so that the call
be continued while the mobile unit enters the second system.
The software of MSO must be modified to apply this situation. Consider
that car travels on a highway and the driver make a call in system A as
shown in figure 4.8. Then the car leaves cell site A of system A and
enters cell site B of system B. Here cell sites A is controlled by
system A and cell B is controlled by system B. When signal strength of
the mobile unit becomes weak in cell site A then MSO A searches for a
suitable cell site in its system and but cannot find one. Then MSO A
sends the handoff request to MSO B through a dedicated line between MSO
A and MSO B, and MSO B makes a complete handoff during the call
conversation.

27
 UNIT – IV

Multiple Access Techniques for Wireless Communications

4.1 Introduction

In wireless communications systems, it is often desirable to allow the

subscriber to send simultaneously information to the base station while
receiving information from the base station. For example, in conventional
telephone systems, it is possible to talk and listen simultaneously, and
this effect, called duplexing, is generally required in wireless
telephone systems.
Duplexing may be done using frequency or time domain techniques.
Frequency division duplexing (FDD) provides two distinct bands of
frequencies for every user. The forward band provides traffic from the
base station to the mobile, and the reverse band provides traffic from
the mobile to the base station. In FDD, any duplex channel actually
consists of two simplex channels (a forward and reverse), and a device
called a duplexer is used inside each subscriber unit and base station to
allow simultaneous bidirectional radio transmission and reception for
both the subscriber unit and the base station on the duplex channel pair.
The frequency separation between each forward and reverse channel is
constant throughout the system, regardless of the particular channel
being used.
Time division duplexing (TDD) uses time instead of frequency to provide
both a forward and reverse link. In TDD, multiple users share a single
radio channel by taking turns in the time domain. Individual users are
allowed to access the channel in assigned time slots, and each duplex
channel has both a forward time slot and a reverse time slot to
facilitate bidirectional communication. If the time separation between
the forward and reverse time slot is small, then the transmission and
reception of data appears simultaneous to the users at both the
subscriber unit and on the base station side. Figure 1 illustrates FDD
and TDD techniques. TDD allows communication on a single channel (as
opposed to requiring two separate simplex or dedicated channels) and
simplifies the subscriber equipment since a duplexer is not required.

28
Figure 1 (a) FDD provides two simplex channels at the same time; (b) TDD
provides two simplex time slots on the same frequency.

There are several tradeoffs between FDD and TDD approaches. FDD is geared
toward radio communications systems that allocate individual radio
frequencies for each user. Because each transceiver simultaneously
transmits and receives radio signals which can vary by more than 100 dB,
the frequency allocation used for the forward and reverse channels must
be carefully coordinated within its own system and with out-of-band users
that occupy spectrum between these two bands. Furthermore, the frequency
separation must be coordinated to permit the use of inexpensive RF and
oscillator technology. TDD enables each transceiver to operate as either
a transmitter or receiver on the same frequency, and eliminates the need
for separate forward and reverse frequency bands. However, there is a
time latency created by TDD due to the fact that communications is not
full duplex in the truest sense, and this latency creates inherent
sensitivities to propagation delays of individual users. Because of the
rigid timing required for time slotting, TDD generally is limited to
cordless phone or short range portable access. TDD is effective for fixed
wireless access when all users are stationary so that propagation delays
do not vary in time among the users.

Introduction to Multiple Access

Frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access
(TDMA), and code division multiple access (CDMA) are the three major
access techniques used to share the available bandwidth in a wireless
communication system. These techniques can be grouped as narrowband and
wideband systems, depending upon how the available bandwidth is allocated
to the users. The duplexing technique of a multiple access system is
29
usually described along with the particular multiple access scheme, as
shown in the examples that follow.
Narrowband Systems — The term narrowband is used to relate the bandwidth
of a single channel to the expected coherence bandwidth of the channel.
In a narrowband multiple access system, the available radio spectrum is
divided into a large number of narrowband channels. The channels are
usually operated using FDD. To minimize interference between forward and
reverse links on each channel, the frequency separation is made as great
as possible within the frequency spectrum, while still allowing
inexpensive duplexers and a common transceiver antenna to be used in each
subscriber unit. In narrowband FDMA, a user is assigned a particular
channel which is not shared by other users in the vicinity, and if FDD is
used (that is, each duplex channel has a forward and reverse simplex
channel), then the system is called FDMA/FDD. Narrowband TDMA, on the
other hand, allows users to share the same radio channel but allocates a
unique time slot to each user in a cyclical fashion on the channel, thus
separating a small number of users in time on a single channel. For
narrowband TDMA systems, there generally are a large number of radio
channels allocated using either FDD or TDD, and each channel is shared
using TDMA. Such systems are called TDMA/FDD or TDMA/TDD access systems.
Wideband systems — In wideband systems, the transmission bandwidth of a
single channel is much larger than the coherence bandwidth of the
channel. Thus, multipath fading does not greatly vary the received signal
power within a wideband channel, and frequency selective fades occur in
only a small fraction of the signal bandwidth at any instance of time. In
wideband multiple access systems a large number of transmitters are
allowed to transmit on the same channel. TDMA allocates time slots to the
many transmitters on the same channel and allows only one transmitter to
access the channel at any instant of time, whereas spread spectrum CDMA
allows all of the transmitters to access the channel at the same time.
TDMA and CDMA systems may use either FDD or TDD multiplexing techniques.
In addition to FDMA, TDMA, and CDMA, two other multiple access schemes
will be used for wireless communications. These are packet radio (PR) and
space division multiple access (SDMA).

4.2 Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA)

Frequency division multiple access (FDMA) assigns individual channels to
individual users. It can be seen from Figure 2 that each user is
allocated a unique frequency band or channel. These channels are assigned
on demand to users who request service. During the period of the call, no
30
other user can share the same channel. In FDD systems, the users are
assigned a channel as a pair of frequencies; one frequency is used for
the forward channel, while the other frequency is used for the reverse
channel.

Figure 2 FDMA where different channels are assigned different frequency

bands

The features of FDMA are as follows:

 The FDMA channel carries only one phone circuit at a time.
 If an FDMA channel is not in use, then it sits idle and cannot be
used by other users to increase or share capacity. It is essentially
a wasted resource.
 After the assignment of a voice channel, the base station and the
mobile transmit simultaneously and continuously.
 The bandwidths of FDMA channels are relatively narrow (30 kHz in
AMPS) as each channel supports only one circuit per carrier. That
is, FDMA is usually implemented in narrowband systems.
 The symbol time of a narrowband signal is large as compared to the
average delay spread. This implies that the amount of intersymbol
interference is low and, thus, little or no equalization is required
in FDMA narrowband systems.
 The complexity of FDMA mobile systems is lower when compared to TDMA
systems, though this is changing as digital signal processing
methods improve for TDMA.

31
  Since FDMA is a continuous transmission scheme, fewer bits are
needed for overhead purposes (such as synchronization and framing
bits) as compared to TDMA.
 FDMA systems have higher cell site system costs as compared to TDMA
systems, because of the single channel per carrier design, and the
need to use costly bandpass filters to eliminate spurious radiation
at the base station.
 The FDMA mobile unit uses duplexers since both the transmitter and
receiver operate at the same time. This results in an increase in
the cost of FDMA subscriber units and base stations.
 FDMA requires tight RF filtering to minimize adjacent channel
interference

Nonlinear Effects in FDMA — In a FDMA system, many channels share the

same antenna at the base station. The power amplifiers or the power
combiners, when operated at or near saturation for maximum power
efficiency, are nonlinear. The nonlinearities cause signal spreading in
the frequency domain and generate intermodulation (IM) frequencies. IM is
undesired RF radiation which can interfere with other channels in the
FDMA systems. Spreading of the spectrum results in adjacent-channel
interference. Intermodulation is the generation of undesirable harmonics.
Harmonics generated outside the mobile radio band cause interference to
adjacent services, while those present inside the band cause interference
to other users in the wireless system .

The number of channels that can be simultaneously supported in a FDMA

system is given by:

where Bt is the total spectrum allocation, Bguard is the guard band

allocated at the edge of the allocated spectrum band, and Bc is the
channel bandwidth. Note that Bt and Bc may be specified in terms of
simplex bandwidths where it is understood that there are symmetric
frequency allocations for the forward band and reverse band.

32
4.3 Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)

Figure 3 TDMA scheme where each channel occupies a cyclically repeating

time slot.

33
Time division multiple access (TDMA) systems divide the radio spectrum
into time slots, and in each slot only one user is allowed to either
transmit or receive. It can be seen from Figure 3 that each user occupies
a cyclically repeating time slot, so a channel may be thought of as a
particular time slot that reoccurs every frame, where N time slots
comprise a frame. TDMA systems transmit data in a buffer-and-burst
method, thus the transmission for any user is non-continuous. This
implies that, unlike in FDMA systems which accommodate analog FM, digital
data and digital modulation must be used with TDMA. The transmission from
various users is interlaced into a repeating frame structure as shown in
Figure 4. It can be seen that a frame consists of a number of slots. Each
frame is made up of a preamble, an information message, and tail bits. In
TDMA/ TDD, half of the time slots in the frame information message would
be used for the forward link channels and half would be used for reverse
link channels. In TDMA/FDD systems, an identical or similar frame
structure would be used solely for either forward or reverse
transmission, but the carrier frequencies would be different for the
forward and reverse links. In general, TDMA/FDD systems intentionally
induce several time slots of delay between the forward and reverse time
slots for a particular user, so that duplexers are not required in the
subscriber unit.

In a TDMA frame, the preamble contains the address and synchronization

information that both the base station and the subscribers use to
identify each other. Guard times are utilized to allow synchronization of
the receivers between different slots and frames. Different TDMA
standards have different TDMA frame structures.

34
The features of TDMA include the following:
 TDMA shares a single carrier frequency with several users, where
each user makes use of non-overlapping time slots. The number of
time slots per frame depends on several factors, such as modulation
technique, available bandwidth, etc.

 Data transmission for users of a TDMA system is not continuous but

occurs in bursts. This results in low battery consumption, since the
subscriber transmitter can be turned off when not in use (which is
most of the time).

 Because of discontinuous transmissions in TDMA, the handoff process

is much simpler for a subscriber unit, since it is able to listen
for other base stations during idle time slots. An enhanced link
control, such as that provided by mobile assisted handoff (MAHO) can
be carried out by a subscriber by listening on an idle slot in the
TDMA frame.

 TDMA uses different time slots for transmission and reception, thus
duplexers are not required. Even if FDD is used, a switch rather
than a duplexer inside the subscriber unit is all that is required
to switch between transmitter and receiver using TDMA.
 Adaptive equalization is usually necessary in TDMA systems, since
the transmission rates are generally very high as compared to FDMA
channels.

 In TDMA, the guard time should be minimized. If the transmitted

signal at the edges of a time slot are suppressed sharply in order
to shorten the guard time, the transmitted spectrum will expand and
cause interference to adjacent channels.

 High synchronization overhead is required in TDMA systems because of

burst transmissions. TDMA transmissions are slotted, and this
requires the receivers to be synchronized for each data burst. In
addition, guard slots are necessary to separate users, and this
results in the TDMA systems having larger overheads as compared to
FDMA.

 TDMA has an advantage in that it is possible to allocate different

numbers of time slots per frame to different users. Thus, bandwidth
can be supplied on demand to different users by concatenating or
reassigning time slots based on priority.
35
Efficiency of TDMA — The efficiency of a TDMA system is a measure of the
percentage of transmitted data that contains information as opposed to
providing overhead for the access scheme. The frame efficiency , is the
percentage of bits per frame which contain transmitted data. Note that
the transmitted data may include source and channel coding bits, so the
raw end-user efficiency of a system is generally less than . The frame
efficiency can be found as follows.
The number of overhead bits per frame is,
bOH = Nr br + Ntbp + Ntbg + Nrbg
where Nr is the number of reference bursts per frame, Nt is the number of
traffic bursts per frame, br is the number of overhead bits per reference
burst, bp is the number of overhead bits per preamble in each slot, and bg
is the number of equivalent bits in each guard time interval. The total
number of bits per frame, bT, is

bT = T f R

where Tf is the frame duration, and R is the channel bit rate. The frame
efficiency is thus given as

Number of channels in TDMA system — The number of TDMA channel slots that
can be provided in a TDMA system is found by multiplying the number of
TDMA slots per channel by the number of channels available and is given
by

where m is the maximum number of TDMA users supported on each radio

channel. Note that two guard bands, one at the low end of the allocated
frequency band and one at the high end, are required to ensure that users
at the edge of the band do not “bleed over” into an adjacent radio
service.

36
37
4.4 Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)
In code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, the narrowband message
signal is multiplied by a very large bandwidth signal called the
spreading signal. The spreading signal is a pseudo-noise code sequence
that has a chip rate which is orders of magnitudes greater than the data
rate of the message. All users in a CDMA system, as seen from Figure 5,
use the same carrier frequency and may transmit simultaneously. Each user
has its own pseudorandom codeword which is approximately orthogonal to
all other codewords. The receiver performs a time correlation operation
to detect only the specific desired codeword. All other code words appear
as noise due to de-correlation. For detection of the message signal, the
receiver needs to know the codeword used by the transmitter. Each user
operates independently with no knowledge of the other users.

Figure 5 Spread spectrum multiple access in which each channel is assigned a unique PN code which is
orthogonal or approximately orthogonal to PN codes used by other users.

In CDMA, the power of multiple users at a receiver determines the noise

floor after de-cor-relation. If the power of each user within a cell is
not controlled such that they do not appear equal at the base station
receiver, then the near-far problem occurs.
The near-far problem occurs when many mobile users share the same
channel. In general, the strongest received mobile signal will capture
the demodulator at a base station. In CDMA, stronger received signal
levels raise the noise floor at the base station demodulators for the
weaker signals, thereby decreasing the probability that weaker signals
will be received. To combat the near-far problem, power control is used
38
in most CDMA implementations. Power control is provided by each base
station in a cellular system and assures that each mobile within the base
station coverage area provides the same signal level to the base station
receiver. This solves the problem of a nearby subscriber overpowering the
base station receiver and drowning out the signals of far away
subscribers. Power control is implemented at the base station by rapidly
sampling the radio signal strength indicator (RSSI) levels of each mobile
and then sending a power change command over the forward radio link.
Despite the use of power control within each cell, out-of-cell mobiles
provide interference which is not under the control of the receiving base
station.
The features of CDMA including the following:
 Many users of a CDMA system share the same frequency. Either TDD or
FDD may be used.

 Unlike TDMA or FDMA, CDMA has a soft capacity limit. Increasing the
number of users in a CDMA system raises the noise floor in a linear
manner. Thus, there is no absolute limit on the number of users in
CDMA. Rather, the system performance gradually degrades for all
users as the number of users is increased, and improves as the
number of users is decreased.

 Multipath fading may be substantially reduced because the signal is

spread over a large spectrum. If the spread spectrum bandwidth is
greater than the coherence bandwidth of the channel, the inherent
frequency diversity will mitigate the effects of small-scale fading.

 Channel data rates are very high in CDMA systems. Consequently, the
symbol (chip) duration is very short and usually much less than the
channel delay spread. Since PN sequences have low autocorrelation,
multipath which is delayed by more than a chip will appear as noise.
A RAKE receiver can be used to improve reception by collecting time
delayed versions of the required signal.

 Since CDMA uses co-channel cells, it can use macroscopic spatial

diversity to provide

39
  Soft handoff. Soft handoff is performed by the MSC, which can
simultaneously monitor a particular user from two or more base
stations. The MSC may chose the best version of the signal at any
time without switching frequencies.

 Self-jamming is a problem in CDMA system. Self-jamming arises from

the fact that the spreading sequences of different users are not
exactly orthogonal, hence in the de-spreading of a particular PN
code, non-zero contributions to the receiver decision statistic for
a desired user arise from the transmissions of other users in the
system.

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

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

4.5 Space Division Multiple Access (SDMA)

Space division multiple access (SDMA) controls the radiated energy for
each user in space. It can be seen from Figure 8 that SDMA serves
different users by using spot beam antennas. These different areas
covered by the antenna beam may be served by the same frequency (in a
TDMA or CDMA system) or different frequencies (in an FDMA system).
Sectorized antennas may be thought of as a primitive application of SDMA.
In the future, adaptive antennas will likely be used to simultaneously
steer energy in the direction of many users at once and appear to be best
suited for TDMA and CDMA base station architectures.
The reverse link presents the most difficulty in cellular systems for
several reasons. First, the base station has complete control over the
power of all the transmitted signals on the forward link. However,
because of different radio propagation paths between each user and the
base station, the transmitted power from each subscriber unit must be
dynamically controlled to prevent any single user from driving up the
interference level for all other users. Second, transmit power is limited
by battery consumption at the subscriber unit, therefore there are limits
on the degree to which power may be controlled on the reverse link. If
the base station antenna is made to spatially filter each desired user so
that more energy is detected from each subscriber, then the reverse link
for each user is improved and less power is required.

40
 Figure 8 A spatially filtered base station antenna serving different users by using spot beams.

Adaptive antennas used at the base station (and eventually at the

subscriber units) promise to mitigate some of the problems on the reverse
link. In the limiting case of infinitesimal beam- width and infinitely
fast tracking ability, adaptive antennas implement optimal SDMA, thereby
providing a unique channel that is free from the interference of all
other users in the cell. With SDMA, all users within the system would be
able to communicate at the same time using the same channel. In addition,
a perfect adaptive antenna system would be able to track individual
multipath components for each user and combine them in an optimal manner
to collect all of the available signal energy from each user. The perfect
adaptive antenna system is not feasible since it requires infinitely
large antennas.

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 UNIT – V
Digital Cellular Systems

The digital cellular system has so many advantages over the analog
system. The most significant advantages are digital signal processing
techniques can be used to reduce transmission bandwidth requirement and
to extract signals in poor SNR conditions. Digital cellular radio
system uses different techniques for channel allocation as follows
1. Global system for mobile (GSM)
2. Time division multiple access (TDMA)
3. Code division multiple access (CDMA)

5.1 Global System for Mobile Systems (GSM)

The first global system for mobile (GSM) TDMA system was developed by
CEPT, a European group in 1982. GSM technique is most widely used for
digital cellular radio. A GSM system has maximum 200 full duplex channel
per cell. Each cell has different uplink and downlink frequency. It uses
digital modulation and network level architectures. GSM is a second
generation (2G) cellular system. GSM can handle voice and data traffic,
the voice waveform being digitally encoded before transmission. GSM
transmission is done within frequency bands of 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 1900
MHz.

GSM Architecture

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GSM architecture consists of following subsystems as shown in figure
5.1
1. Mobile station (MS)
2. Base station subsystem (BSS)
3. Network and switching subsystem (NSS)
4. Operation subsystem (OSS)
Mobile Station (MS):
The mobile station consists of mobile equipment and a subscriber
identity module (SIM). Mobile equipment does not need to be personally
assigned to one subscriber. All the subscriber related information is
stored in the SIM. When a subscriber’s SIM is inserted into mobile
equipment of any MS, and that MS belongs to the particular subscriber
and the call is delivered to that MS. The mobile equipment is not
associated with a called number, but it is linked to the SIM. The
International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) is assign to mobile
equipment for unique identification and SIM card contain International
Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI).

Base Station Subsystem:

The base station subsystem consists of two parts:
1. Base transceiver station (BTS)
2. Base station controller (BSC)
BSS connects to the MS through a radio interface and also connects to
the network and switching subsystem (NSS). The BTS contains reception
equipment and radio transmission similar to the ME in an MS. BTS
contains a transcoder rate adaption unit (TRAU) that perform encoding
and speech decoding and rate adaptation for transmitting data. The TRAU
may be sited away from the BTS, usually at the MSC as a subpart of the
BTS. BSC manages the radio resources for one or more BTS.

Network and Switching Subsystem:

The central component of network subsystem is the mobile service
switching center (MSC). NSS in GSM uses an intelligent network (IN). A
signaling NSS consists of main switching functions of GSM. NSS control
the communication between GSM users and other telecommunications users.
NSS management includes of:
 Mobile service switching center (MSC): MSC coordinates the call set-
up to and from GSM users. Single MSC controls many BSCs.

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 Interworking function (IWF): IWF plays the role of a gateway for MSC
to interface with external networks for communication with users
which are outside GSM, like circuit-switched public data network
(CSPDN) or packet-switched public data network (PSPDN).The role of
the IWF depends on the type network to which it interfaces and user
data.
 Home location register (HLR): HLR consists of a stand-alone computer
without switching capabilities, and maintain a database which
contains subscriber information, and information related to the
subscriber's current location, but not the actual location of the
subscriber. A subdivision of HLR is the authentication center (AUC).
The AUC manages the security data for subscriber authentication.
Another sub-division of HLR is the equipment identity register (EIR)
which stores the data of mobile equipment (ME) or ME-related data.
 Visitor location register (VLR): Links to one or more MSCs,
temporarily storing subscription data currently served by its
corresponding MSC, and holding more detailed data than the HLR. For
example, the VLR contains more current subscriber location
information than the location information at the HLR.
 Gateway MSC (GMSC): To set up a requested call, the call is firstly
routed to a gateway MSC, and then GMSS finds the correct HLR by
identifying the directory number of the GSM user. The GMSC has an
interface with the external network for gatewaying the signal.
 Signaling transfer point (STP): STP is an essential requirement of
the NSS to function itself as a stand-alone node. STP reduces the
cost of the signaling transport among MSC/VLR, GMSC, and HLR.

Operation Subsystem:
Operation subsystem contains following three areas as shown in figure 5.1
1. Network operation and maintenance functions
2. Subscription management (charging and billing)
3. Mobile equipment management.
These tasks require interaction between some or all of the
infrastructure equipment. OSS is implemented in any existing network.

Layer modeling (OSI Model)

The open system interconnection (OSI) of GSM consists of five layers as
transmission (TX), radio resource (RR) management, mobility management
(MM), communication management (CM) and operation administrator and

44
maintenance (OAM) as shown in figure 5.2.
 The transmission layer make the connection between MS and BTS
 The RR Layer manages the transmission over the radio interface and
provides the stable link between MS and BSC.
 MM layer manages the subscriber information and authentication
activity.
 The CM layer manages call control, supplementary services management
and short message service(SMS)

Figure 5.2 Functional planes of GSM

GSM Channel Structure:

GSM has four radio transmission modes a speech mode and three data
modes for services offered to users. The radio transmission modes use
the physical channels.
 Physical Channels:
Physical channels are used to carry either digitally encoded user
speech or user data in uplink and downlink direction. There are three
types of physical channels and it is also called traffic channels
(TCHs):
1. TCH/F (full rate): Transmits a speech code of 13 kbps or three
data-mode rates, 12, 6, and 3.6 kbps.
2. TCH/H (half rate): Transmits a speech code of 7 kbps or two data
modes, 6 and 3.6 kbps.
3. TCH/8 (one-eighth rate): Used for low-rate signaling channels,
common channels, and data channels.
 Logic channels:
Logical channels are also known as control channels. Control channels
carry signaling and synchronizing commands between base station and
mobile station. Types of logic channels are as follows:

45
1. Common channels:
All the common channels are combined in different traffic channels.
All channels are grouped by the same cycle (51 × 8 BP), where BP is
the burst period i.e. time slot. The value of BP is 577 μs.
2. Downlink common channels:
There are five downlink unidirectional channels, shared or grouped by a
TCH.
 Frequency correction channel (FCCH) repeats once every 51×8 BPs;
used to identify a beacon frequency.
 Synchronization channel (SCH) follows each FCCH slot by 8 BPs.
 Broadcast control channel (BCCH) is broadcast regularly in each
cell and received by all the mobile stations in the idle mode.
 Paging and access grant channel (PAGCH) is used for the incoming
call received at the mobile station. The access grant channel is
answered from the base station and allocates a channel during the
access procedure of setting up a call.
 Call broadcast channel (CBCH): Each cell broadcasts a short message
for 2s from the network to the mobile station in idle mode. Half a
downlink TCH/8 is used and special CBCH design constraints exist
because of the need for sending two channels (CBCH and BCCH) in
parallel.
3. Uplink common channels:
The random-access channel (RACH) is the only one common uplink
channel. RACH is the channel that the MS chooses to access the calls.
There are two rates: RACH/F (full rate, one-time slot every 8 BP), and
RACH/H (half rate, using 23-time slots in the 51 × 8 BP cycle, where 8
BP cycle is 4.615ms).
4. Signaling channels:
All the signaling channels have chosen one of the physical channels,
and the logical channels names are based on their logical functions.
5. Slow Associated Control Channel (SACCH):
A slow-rate TCH used for signaling transport and used for non-urgent
procedures, mainly handover decisions. It uses one-eighth rate. The
TCH/F is always allocated with SACCH. This combined TCH and SACCH is
denoted TACH/[Link] occupies 1-time slot (0.577 ms) in every 26 frames
(4.615ms × 26).

46
6. Fast Associated Control Channel (FACCH):
Indicates cell establishment, authenticates subscribers, or commands a
handover.
7. Stand-alone Dedicated Control Channel (SDCCH):
Sometimes the connection between a mobile station and the network is
used for passing signaling information only and not for calls. This
connection may be at the user's demand or for other management
operations such as updating the unit's location. SDCCH operates at a
very low rate and uses a TCH/8 channel. Radio slots are assigned to
users only when call penetration is required. There are two modes
channel modes one is dedicated and another one idle. The use of channel
mode depends on the uplink and the downlink. In GSM the uplink is the
signal transmitted in the opposite direction and the downlink is the
signal transmitted from the BS to the MS.
8. Voice/data channels:
Each time slot of a voice channel consists of 260 bits per block. The
whole block having 316 bits. Each time slot of a data channel having
120 or 240 bits per block.

GSM Channel modes

Due to the radio spectrum limitation, individual users cannot have their
own traffic control channel always. The different types of GSM channel
modes are as follows
1. Dedicated mode: In dedicated mode traffic channels are used during
call establishment and SACCH to perform location updating. TCH and
SACCH are dedicated channels for both uplink and downlink channels.
2. Idle mode: During non-call activities, the five downlink channels
are in the idle mode: FCCH; SCH; BCCH, which is regularly
broadcasting. PAGCH and CBCH, which sends one message in every 2
seconds. During idle channel mode of operation the mobile station
listens to the common downlink channels, and also uses SDCCH
(uplink channel) to register a mobile location associated with a
particular base station to the network.

Multiple Access Scheme:

GSM is a combination of TDMA and FDMA. The total 124 channels are
present in FDMA, and each is 200 kHz. Both the 935–960MHz uplink and
890– 916 MHz downlink have been allocated 25 MHz, for a total of 50 MHz

47
duplex separation is 45 MHz. If TDMA is used within a 200-kHz channel,
8 time slots are required to form a frame, frame duration is 4.615 ms,
and the time slot duration burst period is 0.577ms.
 Frequency Hopping: GSM using a slow frequency-hopping spread spectrum
technique for radio interface. The slow hopping is defined in terms
of bits per hop. Hopping rate of CDMA is 217 hops/s, if the
transmission rate is 270 kbps then hopping rate will be around 1200
bits/hop. If the PAGCH and the RACH were hopping channels, then
hopping sequences could be broadcast on the BCCH. The common channel
is forbidden from hopping and using the same frequency.
 Different Types of Time Slots: In CDMA system every cell provides a
reference clock, using this reference clock the time slots are
defined. Each time slot is given a number (TN) which is known by the
base station and the mobile station. The time slot numbering is
cyclic.
 Bursts and Training Sequences: In TDMA, the signal transmits in form
of bursts. The time interval of the burst brings the amplitude of a
transmitted signal up from a starting value of 0 to its normal value.
Then a packet of bits is sent by a modulated signal and after
transmission of the amplitude decreases to zero. These bursts occur
only at the mobile station transmission or at the base station when
the adjacent burst is not transmitted. Each burst contains tail bits
and training sequence. The tail bits are three 0 bits added at the
beginning and at the end of each burst which provides the guard time.
The training sequence is a sequence known by the receiver that trains
an equalizer, a device that reduces inter-symbol interference. The
training sequence bits are inserted in the middle of a time slot to
mitigate inter-symbol interference

48
5.3 Code-Division Multiple Access (CDMA)
CDMA is the basis for many of the commercial 2G cellular systems around
the worlds and used in many types of communications systems like
personal communication system (PCS), fixed wireless, global
positioning system (GPS). CDMA is also known as IS-95. CDMA used
different codes for separation. CDMA reduce the interference by using
spread-spectrum modulation. The power control scheme in a CDMA system
is a requirement for digital cellular application.
Terms of CDMA Systems:
 Active set: The set of pilots associated with the CDMA channels
containing forward traffic channels assigned to a particular mobile
station (MS).
 CDMA channel number: An 11-bit number corresponding to the center
of the CDMA frequency assignment.
 Code channel: Code channel is a sub channel of a forward CDMA
channel. A forward CDMA channel having 64 code channels. Some code
channels are assigned to different logic channels.
 Code symbol: It is the output of an error-correcting encoder.
 Dim-and-burst: A frame in which the primary traffic is multiplexed
with either secondary traffic or signal traffic. It is similar to
the blank-and-burst function in AMPS.
 Forward CDMA channel: It is a channel which used for communication
and having one or more code channels.
 Frame: A basic timing interval in the system. For the access
channel, paging channel, and traffic channel, a frame is 20-ms
long. For the sync channel, a frame is 26.666-ms long.
 Frame offset: A time skewing of traffic channel frames from system
time in integer multiples of 1.25ms. The maximum frame offset is
18.75ms.
 GPS (Global Position System): System used for providing location
and time information to the CDMA system.
 Handoff (HO): The act of transferring communication with a mobile
station from one base station to another.
 Layering: A technique of organization of communication protocols is
known as layring.
 Long code: A PN (pseudo noise) sequence with period using a tapped n-
bit shift register.

49
  Modulation symbol: The output of the data modulator before
spreading is known as modulation symbole. There are 64 modulation
symbols on the reverse traffic channel. In CDMA 64-ary orthogonal
modulation is used, and six code symbols are associated with one
modulation symbol.
Modulation Characteristics
The reverse CDMA channel is composed of access channels and reverse
traffic channels. Since the MS does not establish a system time as at
the BS. The reverse channel signal received by the BS cannot use
coherent detection for demodulation. So the modulation techniques for
the reverse channel and forward channel are different. The modulation
of the reverse channel is 64-ary orthogonal modulation at a data rate of
9600, 4800, 2400, or 1200 bps. The forward CDMA channel consists of
following channels
1. Pilot Channel
2. The sync channel
3. Paging channel
4. Forward traffic channels
The actual burst transmission rate is fixed at 28,800 code symbols/
second. This results in a fixed Walsh chip rate of 307.2 thousand chips
per second (kcps). Every Walsh chip is spread by 4 PN chips. The rate of
the spreading PN sequence is fixed at 1.2288 million chips per second
(mcps).
Call Processing
Mobile station call processing in CDMA consists of following states:
1 MS initialization state
2 MS idle state
3 System access state
4 MS control on traffic channel state

 MS initialization state:
 MS selects the system to be used
 Selection of pilot channel of CDMA system within 20 ms
 Obtain timing and system configuration information of CDMA system.

 MS idle state: In MS idle state MS performs the paging channel

monitoring procedures and maintain all active registration timers.

 System access state: In this state, MS sends a message to the BS on

the access channel, and from BS it receives massages through paging

50
 channel this process called access attempt.

 MS control on traffic channel state: MS communicate with BS through

reverse and forward traffic channel and perform following functions
 MS verifies the transmission and reception of traffic channels.
 Wait for an order information message with alert
 Wait for the answer of call by user.
 After the completion of communication disconnects the call.

Handoff Procedures
The MS continuously searches for pilots to detect the availability of
other CDMA signals that are on the same carrier frequency and measures
or calculate the pilot strength. When the mobile station detects a
pilot of sufficient strength which is not associated with the serving
cell. Then MS sends a message to the serving base station. The cellular
network decides which neighbor base stations can be involved in a
handoff and selects an idle Walsh function associated with the selected
site, effectively selecting a traffic channel. Types of handoff of CDMA
are as follows:
 Soft Handoff
The condition where two cells are in simultaneous communication with the
mobile is called Soft Handoff. MS make communication with new BS without
disturbing communication with old BS. Same frequency is assigned in soft
handoff between old and new BS.
 CDMA to CDMA hard handoff
Different frequency assignment is done for two BS for the transmission by
MS.
 Softer Handoff
Softer Handoffs entail the simultaneous serving of a mobile unit by two
sectors within same cell.
 CDMA to Analog Handoff
If no CDMA channel is available for handoff, then the call would be
handed off to an available analog channel at the serving base station
and switched to the analog mode of [Link] directed to an analog
channel with different frequency.

51
5.4 Examples for 2G, 3G and 4G systems
Mobile communication is one of the hottest areas with advanced
techniques. It is developing extremely fast in present times and deals
with all the fields of mobile and wireless communications. The evolution
and development of various generations of mobile wireless technology
along with their advantages and disadvantages are discussed below.

1G
 This is the first generation of wireless telephone technology,
mobile telecommunications, which was launched in Japan by NTT in
1979.
 The main technological development in this generation that
distinguished the First Generation mobile phones from the previous
generation was the use of multiple cell sites, and the ability to
transfer calls from one site to the next site as the user travelled
between cells during a conversation.
 It used analog signals.
 Its Speed was up to 2.4kbps.
 It allowed only voice calls and in one country.
 Not possible to send or receive text messages.

Disadvantages
 Poor quality of voice
 Poor life of Battery
 Size of phone was very large
 No security
 Capacity was limited
 Poor handoff reliability

2G
 This is the second generation of mobile telecommunication was
launched in Finland in 1991.
 It was based on GSM standard.
 It used digital signals.
 It enables data transmission like as text messaging (SMS – Short
Message Service), transfer or photos or pictures (MMS), but not
videos.
 The later versions of this generation, which were called 2.5G

52
  using GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) and 2.75G using
 EDGE (Enhanced data rates for GSM Evolution) networks.
 It provides better quality and capacity.

Disadvantages
 Unable to handle complex data such as Video
 Requires strong digital signals

3G
 3G is the third generation was introduced in early 2000s.
 The transmission of data was increased up to 2Mbits/s, which allows
you to sending or receiving large email messages.
 The main difference between 3G and 2G is the use of packet switching
rather than circuit switching for data transmission.
 Faster communication
 High speed web or more security
 Video conferencing
 3D gaming
 TV streaming, Mobile TV, phone calls etc. are the features of 3G.
Disadvantages
 Costly
 Requirement of high bandwidth
 Expensive 3G phones
 Size of cell phones was very large.

4G
 4G is the fourth generation of mobile telecommunication which was
appeared in 2010.
 It was based on LTE (Long Term Evolution) and LTE advanced
standards.
 Offer a range of communication services like video calling, real
time language translation and video voice mail.
 It was capable of providing 100 Mbps to 1Gbps speed.
 High QoS (Quality of Service) and High security.
 The basic term used to describe 4G technology is
MAGIC. Where :
 M - Mobile multimedia

53
  A - Anytime anywhere
 G - Global mobility support
 I - Integrated wireless solution
 C - Customized personal service
Disadvantages
 Uses more battery
 Difficult to implement
 Expensive equipment are required

5.5 Introduction to 5G system

Salient Features of 5G
5th Generation Mobile Network or simply 5G is the forthcoming revolution
of mobile technology. The features and its usability are much beyond the
expectation of a normal human being. With its ultra-high speed, it is
potential enough to change the meaning of a cell phone usability.

With a huge array of innovative features, now your smart phone would be
more parallel to the laptop. You can use broadband internet connection;
other significant features that fascinate people are more gaming options,
wider multimedia options, connectivity everywhere, zero latency, faster
response time, and high quality sound and HD video can be transferred on
other cell phone without compromising with the quality of audio and
video.

54
What is 5G Technology?
The 5G technology is expected to provide a new (much wider than the
previous one) frequency bands along with the wider spectral bandwidth per
frequency channel. As of now, the predecessors (generations) mobile
technologies have evidenced substantial increase in peak bitrate. Then —
how is 5G different from the previous one (especially 4G)? The answer is
— it is not only the increase in bitrate made 5G distinct from the 4G,
but rather 5G is also advanced in terms of −

 High increased peak bit rate

 Larger data volume per unit area (i.e. high system spectral
efficiency)
 High capacity to allow more devices connectivity concurrently and
instantaneously
 Lower battery consumption
 Better connectivity irrespective of the geographic region, in which
you are Larger number of supporting devices
 Lower cost of infrastructural development
 Higher reliability of the communications
As researchers say, with the wide range of bandwidth radio channels, it
is able to support the speed up to 10 Gbps, the 5G WiFi technology will
offer contiguous and consistent coverage − ―wider area mobility in true
sense.‖

Application and Uses of 5g Technology

 Mobile Network With High Speed
 Multimedia and Entertainment
 Internet of Things
 Smart Cities
 Health Industry
 Autonomous Cars

Advantages and limitations of 5G Technology

Advantages of 5G Technology:
1. Increased Speed: 5G is 100 times faster than the current 4G
networks, enabling users to download files, stream content, and
interact with others quickly and efficiently.
2. Lower Latency: Latency is the time it takes for a signal to travel
from one point to another. 5G has a very low latency rate, meaning
the response time between devices is lowered.

55
 3. Improved Connectivity: 5G can support more connected devices than
4G.

Disadvantages of 5G Technology:
1. Cost: 5G technology is still in its infancy, and the cost of
implementation is high. This could prevent some businesses from
utilising the technology.
2. Security: 5G networks are still vulnerable to cyber-attacks, so
businesses must ensure their networks are secure.
3. Accessibility: 5G technology is unavailable in many areas, and the
coverage is still limited. This can limit the ability of businesses
to take advantage of the technology.

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