Wireless Mobile Communication [21ECE813]

MODULE-1
Wireless Fundamentals
Communication System Building Blocks
• All wireless digital communication systems must possess a few key building blocks, as
shown in Figure.
• An LTE system can be conceptually broken down into a collection of links, with each link
consisting of a transmitter, channel, and receiver.
• The transmitter receives packets of bits from a higher protocol layer, and its duty is to
send those bits as electromagnetic waves toward the receiver.
• The key steps in the digital domain are encoding and modulation.
• The encoder generally adds redundancy that will allow error correction at the receiver.
• The modulator prepares the digital signal for the wireless channel, and may comprise a
number of different operations.
• The modulated digital signal is converted into a representative analog waveform by a
digital-to-analog (D/A) convertor, and then upconverted to one of the desired LTE radio
frequency (RF) bands.
• This RF signal is then radiated as electromagnetic waves by a suitable antenna.
• The receiver performs essentially the reverse of these operations.
• After downconverting the received RF signal and filtering out signals at other
frequencies, the resulting baseband signal is converted to a digital signal by an analog-to-
digital (A/D) convertor.
• This digital signal can then be demodulated and decoded with energy and space-efficient
integrated circuits to (hopefully) reproduce the original bit stream.

Wireless Digital Communication System

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 Wireless Mobile Communication [21ECE813]

The Broadband Wireless Channel: Path Loss and Shadowing

• The channel in discrete time is a simple Tap Delay Line (TDL)

• The output of channel is given by (assuming channel is static over period (υ+1)T sec)

• The channel can also be represented as time varying column vector (υ+1) x 1

• A number of different effects cause the receiver power to vary over

➢ Long distance → Path Loss
➢ Medium distance → Shadowing (Large Scale Fading)
➢ Short distance → Fading (Small Scale Fading)

Path Loss
• Assuming an isotropic antenna is used, the propagated signal energy expands over a
spherical wavefront, so the energy received at an antenna a distance ‘d’ away is inversely
proportional to the sphere surface area 4d2.
• Free Space Path Loss Formula or Friis Formula is given by

where Pt and Pr are transmitted and received power

Gt and Gr are transmitter and receiver gain
 is wavelength given by  = c / fc
Pr / Pt is the average average value of channel gain.

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• Path Loss for 2-ray approximation model is given by

where ht and hr are the height of transmitting and receiving antenna.

• Empirical Path Loss Formula is given by

where α is the path loss exponent

Po is the measured path loss at a reference distance do.
• Po is approximated as ( / 4)2 when do = 1 and  = 2.

Problem
Consider a user in downlink of a cellular system where the desired base station is at a
distance of 500m (0.5km) and there are numerous nearby interfering base stations
transmitting at the same power level. If there are 3 interfering base stations at a distance of
1km, 3 at a distance of 2km and 10 at a distance of 4km, use the empirical path loss formula
to find the Signal to Interference Ratio when α = 3 and α = 5.
Solution
• Given, the desired base station is at a distance of 0.5km i.e. d = 0.5km
3 interfering base stations at a distance of 1km
3 interfering base stations at a distance of 2km
10 interfering base stations at a distance of 4km
• The desired received power is given by
Pr,d = [Pt P0 (d0)α] / (d)α
i) α = 3
• Pr,d = [Pt P0 (d0)3] / (0.5)3
• The interference power is given by
Pr,I= [Pt P0 (d0)3] * [3/(1)3 + 3/(2)3 + 10/(4)3]
• Therefore,
SIR = Pr,d / Pr,I = [1 / (0.5)3] * [1 / {3/(1)3 + 3/(2)3 + 10/(4)3}] = 2.27
(SIR)dB = 10 * log(SIR) = 10 * log(2.27) = 3.55dB

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ii) α = 5
• Pr,d = [Pt P0 (d0)5] / (0.5)5
• The interference power is given by
Pr,I = [Pt P0 (d0)5] * [3/(1)5 + 3/(2)5 + 10/(4)5]
• Therefore,
SIR = Pr,d / Pr,I = [1 / (0.5)5] * [1 / {3/(1)5 + 3/(2)5 + 10/(4)5}] = 10.32
(SIR)dB = 10 * log(SIR) = 10 * log(10.32) = 10.13dB

Problem
Consider a user in downlink of a cellular system where the desired base station is at a
distance of 0.5km and the interfering base stations (i) B1 and B2 located at a distance of 1km,
(ii) B3, B4 and B5 located at a distance of 2km (iii) B6 to B11 treated at a distance of 2.66km.
Each of the stations transmitted power at the same level. Find the SIR when the path loss
exponent α = 3 and also when α = 5. (08 Marks – Jan 2020)
Solution
• Given, the desired base station is at a distance of 0.5km i.e. d = 0.5km
2 interfering base stations B1 and B2 at a distance of 1km
3 interfering base stations B3, B4 and B5 at a distance of 2km
6 interfering base stations B6 – B11 at a distance of 2.66km
• The desired received power is given by
Pr,d = [Pt P0 (d0)α] / (d)α
i) α = 3
• Pr,d = [Pt P0 (d0)3] / (0.5)3
• The interference power is given by
Pr,I = [Pt P0 (d0)3] * [2/(1)3 + 3/(2)3 + 6/(2.66)3]
• Therefore,
SIR = Pr,d / Pr,I = [1 / (0.5)3] * [1 / {2/(1)3 + 3/(2)3 + 6/(2.66)3}] = 2.97
(SIR)dB = 10 * log(SIR) = 10 * log(2.97) = 4.72dB

ii) α = 5
• Pr,d = [Pt P0 (d0)5] / (0.5)5
• The interference power is given by
Pr,I = [Pt P0 (d0)5] * [2/(1)5 + 3/(2)5 + 6/(2.66)5]
• Therefore,
SIR = Pr,d / Pr,I = [1 / (0.5)5] * [1 / {2/(1)5 + 3/(2)5 + 6/(2.66)5}] = 14.96
(SIR)dB = 10 * log(SIR) = 10 * log(14.96) = 11.75dB

Shadowing
• Since modelling the locations of all objects in every possible communication environment
is generally impossible, the standard method of accounting for these variations in signal
strength is to introduce a random effect called Shadowing.
• With Shadowing, the empirical path loss formula becomes

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• is a sample of the shadowing random process and is typically modelled as log normal
random variable where .
• is a Gaussian (normal) distribution with mean 0 and variance .
• The standard deviation s is expressed in dB and typical value for s is in 6-12dB range.

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Problem
Consider an LTE base station communicating to subscriber with the channel parameters
α = 3, P0 = -40dB, d0 = 1m and σs = 6dB. Assume a transmit power Pt =1W, a bandwidth of
B=10MHz and due to error correction coding, a received SNR of 14.7dB is required for 16
QAM while just 3dB is required for BPSK. Finally, consider only ambient noise with a
typical power spectral density of N0 = -173dBm/Hz with an additional receiver noise figure
of Nf = 5dB. At a distance of 500m from the base station, what is the likelihood that the base
station can reliably send BPSK or 16 QAM? Given Q(-4/6) = 0.75 and Q(7.7/6) = 0.007.
Solution
• Given Pt = 1W, P0 = -40dB, d = 500m, d0 = 1m, N0 = -173dBm/Hz = -203dB, Nf =5dB
B = 10MHz, σs = 6dB, SNR for 16 QAM is γ = 14.7dB and SNR for BPSK is γ = 3dB
• The received power Pr in dB is given by
(Pr)dB = 10 * log(Pt) + 10 * log(P0) - 10 * log(d)α + 10 * log (X)
= 10 * log(1) -40 - 10 * log(500)3 + (X)dB
= 0 -40 -81 + (X)dB = -121dB + (X)dB
• Total Noise / Interference Power Itot in dB is given by
(Itot)dB = (N0)dB + (Nf)dB + (B)dB
= -203 + 5 + 10 * log(107)
= -203 + 5 + 70 = -128dB
• The resulting SNR = γ = Pr / Itot = (Pr)dB - (Itot)dB
= -121dB + (X)dB - (-128dB)
= -121dB + (X)dB + 128dB = 7dB + (X)dB
• Therefore, the average received SNR is 7dB.
i) For BPSK with SNR = 3dB, probability is given by
• P[γ ≥ 3dB] = P[{(X + 7)/σ} ≥ (3/σ)]
= P[(X/σ) ≥ -4/σ] = P[(X/6) ≥ -4/6] = Q(-4/6) = 0.75
ii) For 16 QAM with SNR = 14.7dB, probability is given by
• P[γ ≥ 14.7dB] = P[{(X + 7)/σ} ≥ (14.7/σ)]
= P[(X/σ) ≥ 7.7/σ] = P[(X/6) ≥ 7.7/6] = Q(7.7/6) = 0.007
• While 75% of users can use BPSK modulation, less than 1% of users can reliably use 16
QAM.
• Without shadowing, all the users could at least get low rate BPSK through, with
shadowing 25% of users appear unable to communicate at all.
• Though, without shadowing, 16 QAM could never be sent, whereas with shadowing, it
can be sent a small fraction of time.

Why is Shadowing Log Normal?

• If a transmission experiences N random attenuation i, i = 1, 2, - - - - N between
N
transmitter and receiver, the received power can be modelled as Pr = Pt 
i =1
i .

N
• It can be expressed in dB as Pr (dB) = Pt (dB) + 10  log 10  i .
i =1

• Since the expression is in dB, the Shadowing is Log Normal.

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Cellular Systems
The Cellular Concept
• In cellular systems, the service area is subdivided into smaller geographic areas called
cells that are each served by their own base station.
• Hexagon shape is used to represent a cell since hexagonal is the closest shape to circle in
geometry.
• Group of cells form a cluster.
• Cells which are adjacent to one another either within the cluster or in between 2 clusters
form adjacent cells.
• Cells which share the same radio channel or reuse the same frequency are called
cochannel cells.
• The distance between the 2 cochannel cells is called Frequency Reuse distance.
• Frequency Reuse Factor ‘f’ is the inverse of cluster size ‘N’ where cluster size is the
number of cells in a cluster given by N = i2 +ij + j2.
• Cochannel Reuse ratio is the ratio of distance to the centre of the nearest cochannel cell
to the radius of the cell and is denoted by ‘Z’.
D 3
• Z= = 3N = .
R f
• Frequency Reuse Distance is therefore given by D = R 3N .
• If the number of interfering cells is NI, the SIR of mobile station is given by

• The received SIR for the worst case is given by

where i denotes the shadowing from the ith base station.

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• The outage probability that the received SIR falls below a threshold can be derived from
the distribution.
• If the mean and standard deviation of the Log Normal distribution are  and  in dB, the
outage probability is derived in the form of Q function as

where  is the threshold SIR level in dB.

Sectoring
• By using directional antennas instead of an omnidirectional antenna at the base station,
the cells are sectored to reduce the cochannel interference.
• Each sector can reuse time and code slots, so each sector has the same nominal capacity
as an entire cell and hence no capacity is lost from sectoring.
• If each sector 1 points the same direction in each cell, then the interference cause by the
neighbouring cells will be dramatically reduced.
• Sectoring increases the number of antennas at each base station and reduces trunking
efficiency due to channel sectoring at base station.
• Even though inter sector handoff is simpler compared to inter cell handoff, sectoring also
increases the overhead due to increased number of inter sector handoffs.

The Broadband Wireless Channel: Fading

• Fading is caused by the reception of multiple versions of same signal.
• Fading is variation of attenuation of signal.
• The multiple received versions are caused by reflections that are referred to as multipath.
• Some of the reflections arrive at nearly same time.
• Depending on the phase difference between the arriving signals, the interference can be
either constructive or destructive.

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• As either the transmitter or receiver move relative to each other, the channel response h(t)
will change.
• The channel response can be thought of as having 2 dimensions; a delay dimension ‘’
and a time dimension ‘t’.
• Since the channel changes over distance and hence time, the values of h0, h1, h2 - - - - hυ
may be totally different at time t versus time t + Δt.
• The most important and fundamental function used to statistically describe the broadband
fading channels is the 2 dimensional auto correlation function A(Δ, Δt).

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• The auto correlation function is defined as

Delay Spread and Coherence Bandwidth

• Delay Spread is the amount of time that elapses between the first arriving path and the
last arriving path.
• It can be found by inspecting A(Δτ,0).
• A(Δτ) is referred to as Multipath Intensity Profile or Power Delay Profile.

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• The number of taps is given by

• The average delay spread is defined as

• The rms delay spread is defined as

• A general thumb rule is

• Coherence Bandwidth is the frequency domain dual of the channel delay spread.
• The coherence bandwidth gives a rough measure for the maximum separation between
frequency f1 and f2 where the channel frequency response is correlated.

• The coherence bandwidth is given by

Doppler Spread and Coherence Time

• The Doppler Power Spectrum is caused by motion between transmitter and receiver.
• Doppler Power Spectrum gives the statistical power distribution of the channel versus
frequency for a signal transmitted at just one exact frequency generally normalized as
f = 0.
• The Doppler Power Spectrum is the Fourier Transform of i.e.

• The Doppler Power Spectrum is non zero strictly for Δf Є (-fD, fD)
• The Doppler Spread is given by

where ν is the maximum speed between transmitter and receiver

fc is the carrier frequency and C is the speed of light
• The Coherence Time is period of time over which channel is significantly correlated.

• The Coherence Time is given by

Angular Spread and Coherence Distance

• Angular Spread of a channel refers to the statistical distribution of the angle of the
arriving energy.
• It is denoted as .
• A large implies that channel energy is coming from many directions and this
results in more statistical diversity in channel.

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• A small implies that the received channel energy is more focused and this results
in less statistical diversity.
• The dual of angular speed is Coherence Distance.
• A coherence distance of d means that any physical positions separated by d have an
essentially uncorrelated received signal amplitude and phase.
• An approximate rule of thumb is
• For Rayleigh Fading,

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