Lecture II: Principles of Communication Systems

Overview of GSM/GPRS (2/2.5G) and 3G UMTS (WCDMA)

1.0 Generation Roadmap for Cellular Telephony

1st Generation
The first generation of mobile cellular telecommunications systems appeared in the 1980s.

The first generation used analog transmission techniques for traffic, which was almost entirely voice.
There was no dominant standard but several competing ones such as;

Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT)– used in Scandinavia, southern Europe etc. It comes in two variations:
NMT- 450 and NMT- 900
Total Access Communications System (TACS)– used in UK, and Middle Eastern countries. It uses 900MHz
band.
Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS) - used in US, Australia, New Zealand. It uses 800MHz band.
2nd Generation
 It was introduced from the year 1992.
 It uses digital radio transmission for traffic.
 The 2G networks have much higher capacity than the first-generation systems.
 GSM is by far the most successful and widely used 2G system.
 Data rate supported : 9.6kbps to 14.4 kbps
 It uses Circuit switching
There are several standards for 2G systems such as-
 Global System for Mobile (GSM) communications - Designed and developed by a
number of different organizations working together.
 Code-division multiple access (CDMA) IS-95 - Designed and developed by a single
company, Qualcomm.
 CDMA uses different codes to separate transmissions on the same frequency.
 IS-95 is the only 2G CDMA standard so far to be operated commercially.
 It is used in the United States, South Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore etc.

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 Generation 2.5
 It has been introduced in the year 2000-2001
 “Generation 2.5” is a designation that broadly includes all advanced upgrades for the
2G networks
 2.5G GSM system includes General Packet Radio Services (GPRS) and Enhanced Data
Rates for Global Evolution (EDGE) in addition to the 2G systems.
 Data rate supported: depending on the coding scheme (CS) and the number of time
slots used (1 up to 8).
 It uses circuit switching and packet switching both
 It supports the data rate up to 384 kbps
3rd Generation
 It has been introduced in the year 2001 as trial version
 It supports the data rate up to 2 Mbps.
 Evolution of GSM and CDMA has taken them as W-CDMA (UMTS) and CDMA-2000 in
third generation.
 It supports both circuit switching and packet switching
1.1 GSM Overview
 GSM stands for “Global Systems for Mobile communication”. GSM Technology is one of the
different types of the wireless communication available in the world.
 Frequency bands (Cellular):
 890 – 915 MHz Uplink (Mobile to BS)
 935 – 960 MHz Downlink (BS to Mobile, In Europe)
 GSM PCS Band is 1850 to 1990 MHz (Mobile to BS)
 Bandwidth: 25 MHz, uplink and downlink.
 Number of channels: 124

 25 MHz 
 Channel separation: 200 KHz  = 200 KHz / Ch  , e.g. 890.2, 890.4, … , 915.
 124 Ch 
 Modulation Method: GMSK (Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying). GMSK modulation was chosen for
GSM originally because it offered a number of advantages including good spectral efficiency,
resilience to interference, low levels of interference outside the wanted bandwidth, and the ability
to use a non-linear RF power amplifier. This last point is of great importance because the use of a

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 non-linear power amplifier brings greater levels of efficiency and this results in longer battery life -
an important factor for mobile phones.
 Frequency deviation: 67.708 KHz each way from the carrier frequency.
 Channel Access: Hybrid FDM / TDM, with 8 time slots per channel, thus each Voice Channel occupies
25 KHz. Thus, each radio channel carries 8 simultaneous voice calls on a time shared basis.
 Data Rate: 270.833 Kbps total bit rate per radio channel.
 Speech Coding: LPC (Linear Predictive Coding), speech is encoded at 13 Kbps. Speech is divided into
20msec sample. Each 20ms sample is encoded using 260 bits (That requires 13 kbps)
GSM Advantages:
 It is a wireless system. So mobile equipment (cell phone) can be on move.
 High secrecy in the system. So information cannot be tapped easily.
 Easy to carry MS. And consumes less power.
 GSM provides more voice channels in limited bandwidth.
 Cellular is based on concept of trunking. This allows large number of channels.
GSM Data Services
GSM networks handle both voice and data traffic requirements of the mobile communication by
providing two modes of operation:

 Circuit switched (high-speed circuit switched data)

 Packet switched (GPRS)

Circuit switching provides the customer with a dedicated channel all the way to the destination. The
customer has exclusive use of the circuit for the duration of the call, and is charged for the duration of
the call.

With packet switching, the operator assigns one or more dedicated channels specifically for shared use.
These channels are up and running 24 hours a day, and when you need to transfer data, you access a
channel and transmit your data. Packet switching is more efficient than circuit switching.

The standard data rate of a GSM channel is 22.8 kbps.

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1.2 POTS – Plain old telephone system
Assignment 1:
1. Describe using a diagram, a typical POTS network of several exchanges.
2. Using the layout of network showing how a subscriber can be connected to the exchange, explain the
following in terms of construction, location purpose and its make up if applicable.
a) Telephone exchange
b) Cabinet
c) DP
3. Assuming you are an investor coming to Uganda with a Company called ‘GTC Telecoms Ltd’, describe
in one page what type of network you will setup (GSM or POTS) and why, stating clearly the
advantages and disadvantages of each.
1.3 Mobile systems
Figure 1 below, is a GSM system architecture.

Um Abis A

SIM
BTS

VLR HLR

PSTN
BSC MSC ISDN
BTS
PDN
MS

BTS

EIR AuC

BSS NSS

Fig: GSM system architecture

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Basic GSM Network consists of MS, BSS and NSS;
 MS. This is carried by the subscriber. It consists of;
 ME. Mobile equipment, hand portable or vehicle mounted unit.
 SIM. Subscriber identity module, it contains the entire customer related information
(identification, secret key for authentication etc)
 BSS. Controls radio link with mobile station. It consists of;
 BTS(Base Transceiver Station). It defines a cell and is responsible to establish the radio link
control protocol with MS.
BTSProvides physical connection between MS and BSC.
- Transmitting power determines the size of the cell.
- Provides radio channel to carry traffic and control signals.
- Have several antenna system (1 to 16 radio transmitter/Receivers) modules.
- Interface between MS and BTS is radio or UM
 BSC (Base Station Controller). Controls multiple BTSs and manages radio channel set up and
handovers. BSC is the connection between BTS and the MSCs.
BSC is a small digital exchange that connects many BTS’s thus reducing radio related load from MSC.
- Performs functions such as handover and power control
- Interface between BTS and BSC is Abis.
 Network & Switching Subsystem (NSS). Mobility management and Switching of calls between
mobile users and between mobile and fixed network users.
It consists of:
 MSC. It’s the central component of the NSS.
- Operates all switching functions for mobiles within its jurisdiction,
- Interfaces with mobile and other (Including fixed) networks,
- Manages the location of mobile
- Switches calls
- Manages security features
- Controls hand over between BSCs
- Resources management
- Interworks with and manages network database
- Collect call billing data and sends to Billing center
- Collects traffic statistics for performance monitoring.

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MSC is the Central component used to route calls within PLMN and to interface with PSTN/ISDN. It
works in conjunction with a set of registers to fulfill the NSS requirement. The BSC and MSC are
connected through the A-interface.
 HLR.Contains all subscriber information for the purposes of call control and location
determination. It’s a Centralized Permanent register of all subscribers. It stores information such
as Subscription information, allowed services, authentication information etc.This information
may be obtained by the VLR/MSC when necessary. When the subscriber roams into the location
area of another VLR/MSC, the HLR is updated. The communication between MSC, VLR and HLR
is done using the MAP (Mobile Application Part) of the Signaling System 7.
 VLR. It’s only a temporary storage while the particular subscriber is located in the geographical
area controlled by the MSC/VLR. The VLR can be associated with one or several MSCs. To ease
signaling one per MSC is recommended. The VLR stores data about all customers who are
roaming with in the location area of that MSC.
 AUC. Is a protected database that stores the security information for each subscriber (A copy of
the secret key is stored in the SIM). Database used for security purposes to provide parameters
needed for authentication and encryption.
 EIR.It contains three list of IMEI number; White list - Valid mobile equipment in the network,
Grey list - Suspected numbers, Black list - Totally barred.
It’s an optional register. Its purpose is to register IMEIs of mobile stations in use. By
implementing the EIR the network provider can blacklist malfunctioning MSs or even receive
reports to the operations center when stolen mobile stations are used to make calls.

1.3.1 Logical Channels

There are five types of logical channels:

 Traffic Channels
TCH.Used to carry traffic.
 Broadcast channels.
- BCCH. Used to carry signaling and control information
- FCCH. Used to correct the frequency of Mobile
- SCH. Used for synchronization of the base station
 Common control channels
- PCH. Used to page the mobile

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- AGCH. Used to access the signaling channel
- RACH. Used by MS to request for signaling channel
 Dedicated Control Channels
- SDCCH.Used as signaling channel
- SACCH. Used to carry measurement reports
- FACCH.Used during handover
 Cell Broad cast channel
- CBCH. Used to broadcast short messages in cells
MSISDN.The only important number for a user of GSM is the phone number i.e. MSISDN. The MSISDN
follows the ITU-T standard E.164 for addresses as it is also used in fixed ISDN networks. This number
consists of the country code (cc)(256 for Uganda), the national destination code (NDC)(the address of
the network provider; e.g., 7820 of BSNL WB) and the subscriber number (SN)e.g. 3941.
IMSI.GSM uses the IMSI for internal unique identification of a subscriber. The IMSI follows the ITU-T
standard E.212 Number series. IMSI consists of mobile country code (MCC)(e.g. 256 for Uganda), the
mobile network code (MNC)(i.e., code of the HLR; e.g., 74 of BSNL WB), and finally the mobile subscriber
identification number (MSIN).
1.3.2 Subsystems in GSM mobile networks:
Radio Sub System (RSS)
RSS = MS + BSS
BSS = BTS+ BSC
Network Sub System (NSS)
NSS = MSC+ HLR + VLR + GMSC
Operation Sub System
OSS = EIR + AuC
1.3.3 Base station system
DXU – Distribution Switch Unit
TRU – Transceiver Unit
- One TRU handle 8 air time slots
- Perform Channel Coding, Interleaving, Ciphering, Equalization
- One transmit output, two receive inlets
CDU – Combining and Distribution Unit
ECU – Energy control Unit

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 DXU
- Provides an interface to the BSC.
- It also helps in the software loading of the TRUs
TRU
PSU – Power supply units
- One TRU handles 8 air time slots
- Perform channel coding, interleaving, Interleaving,
Equalization.
CDU
- It is the interface between the TRUs and the 2-way
antenna system.
- To combine signals to be transmitted from various
transceivers and to distribute received signals to the
receivers.
ECU. Controls and supervises the power equipment and regulates
Figure 2: Base station system the power the environmental conditions inside the cabinet.
PSU
- To regulate the Mains input voltage
- Rectifies the power supply voltage t0 the +24Vdc
necessary for RBS operation.

1.4 3G UMTS Overview

1.4.1 Introduction

Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a 3G cellular telecommunication system based

on the GSM standard. UMTS uses wideband code division multiple access (W-CDMA) radio access
technology to offer greater spectral efficiency and bandwidth to mobile network operators.
Second-generation systems like, for example, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) were
originally designed for efficient delivery of voice services. Universal Mobile Telecommunication Services
(UMTS) networks, on the contrary, are designed from the beginning for flexible delivery of any type of
service, where each new service does not require particular network optimization. In addition to the
flexibility, the Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA)/High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA)
radio solution brings advanced capabilities that enable new services.
Such capabilities are;
 High bit rates, theoretically up to 2 Mbps in 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release
99, up to 14.4 Mbps in 3GPP Release 5 and up to 28.8 Mbps in Release 7. The practical bit rates
are 1–2 Mbps with the first Release 5 deployments.
 Low delays with packet round trip times below 100ms with Release 5 and even below 50mswith
Release 6.
 Seamless mobility also for packet data applications.
 Quality of Service (QoS) differentiation for high efficiency of service delivery.
 Simultaneous voice and data capability.

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  Interworking with existing Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)/General Packet
Radio System (GPRS) networks.

1.4.2 The UMTS Network

(a): The UMTS structure

(b): Detailed The UMTS structure

Figure: UMTS Network Structure
As illustrated in Figure 2-7(a) and (b), the UMTS network consists of three subsystems: User Equipment
(UE), UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), and the Core Network (CN). UEs are essentially
mobile handsets carried by end users. The UTRAN allows connectivity between a UE and the CN.

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It consists of two components: base stations, called NodeBs, and Radio Network Controllers (RNC),
which control multiple NodeBs. Most UTRAN features such as packet scheduling, radio resource control
and handover control are implemented at the RNC. The centralized CN is the backbone of the cellular
network. In particular the GGSN (Gateway GPRS Support Node) within the CN serves as a gateway hiding
UMTS internal infrastructures from the external network.
1.4.3 Heterogeneous network
A heterogeneous network is a network connecting computers and other devices with
different operating systems and/or protocols. For example, local area networks (LANs) that
connect Microsoft Windows and Linux based personal computers with Apple Macintosh computers are
heterogeneous. The word heterogeneous network is also used in wireless networks using different
access technologies. For example, a wireless network which provides a service through a wireless
LAN and is able to maintain the service when switching to a cellular network is called a wireless
heterogeneous network.

In the context of cellular networks, a heterogeneous network (sometimes known as a HetNet) is a

network that uses several types of base stations macro-base stations, pico-base stations, and/or femto-
base stations in order to provide better coverage and bit rates. This is in particular used to cope with the
difficulty of covering with macro-base stations only open outdoor environment, office buildings, homes,
and underground areas.

The heterogeneous network concept proposes a flexible and open architecture for a large variety of
different wireless access technologies, for applications and services with different QoS demands, and for
different protocols. In this concept, services should be delivered via the network that is most efficient
for that service under the current system state conditions. A fundamental goal is to make the
heterogeneous network transparent to the user.
The heterogeneous network concept facilitates the utilization of a common manager of the radio
resources in each radio access network (RAN).
In general, the heterogeneous network concept is intended to propose a flexible and open architecture
for a large variety of different wireless access technologies, for applications and services with different
QoS demands, and for different protocols. A fundamental goal is to make the heterogeneous network
transparent to the user. These considerations lead to various requirements like mobility management
for seamless handover, authentication and billing, energy efficiency, mechanism to select the most
efficient configuration, and QoS mechanisms.

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To achieve a high utilization of the scarce radio resource in such heterogeneous scenario, following the
3GPP approach, CRRM strategies are considered to coordinately manage the radio resources with
multiple RATs (Radio Access Technologies) in an optimum way. CRRM is then a general concept,
applicable to any combination of RATs, although the specific implementation and the degree of
coordination highly depend on the degree of coupling existing between the specific radio access
networks.

UE
RNC VLR

NodeB Iu-r

UE

Circuit Switched Networks

Iu-CS

UE
RNC
NodeB A D
UTRAN MSC GMSC
Uu Iub
Gs

Iu-PS Gc
Gr
HLR

Gb Gn Packet Switched Networks

MS
Server BTS
BSC
SGSN GGSN

Core Network

MS

BTS
Server
BSC
BSS

Figure: UMTS-GSM heterogeneous network Architecture

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1.4.4 Handover in mobile cellular networks
Introduction:
What is handover?
As most of you may know, mobile communication is cellular. This means that the area of coverage is
segmented into cells, each one served by a base station. When a mobile user is moving across the
coverage area, he/she is passing through different cells and his/her communication should be
guaranteed without perceivable interruption during this passage. A procedure explicitly devoted at
managing the “transparent” transition of the user from a cell to another one, with the consequential
allocation (and deallocation) of radio resources for the mobile communication is called handover.
Handover and cellular networks evolution
Handover and 1st generation cellular network:
In old analog cellular networks(like AMPS and TACS), handover was not implemented, as cell dimension
was very large and coverage was only local (not global). During its travel, mobile terminal generally very
rarely came out from the coverage area and in these rare cases, the interruption of the call was
accepted.

2nd generation cellular networks:

In 2nd generation cellular networks(GSM), the network coverage was global and QoS requirements
imposed smaller cells (1Km of radius). Therefore, handover is regarded as an essential operation.

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Cellular networks: 3G and 4G:
In 3G systems, the handover is becoming more and more important, as the cell size is reducing in order
to guarantee a broadband link capability. Moreover, transparent roaming (or vertical handover) should
be guaranteed among heterogeneous wireless networks. Seamless vertical handover will be a basic
feature of 4G.

Basic principles and requirements of the handover procedure.

Basic principles:
During a call, the signal received by a mobile terminal is continuously monitored. When an anomalous
situation is detected (e.g. the signal level is strongly decreasing) a trigger signal is issued. When the
trigger signal is received, the network controller searches for a new cell, because it assumes that the
current cell is no longer able to provide a satisfactory QoS. If the controller finds a new cell, it allocates
new radio resources to the new base-station to support the call and releases old resources previously
allocated to the “old” BS in order to support other calls.

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Handover requirements:
 Handover should efficiently support terminal mobility(mobile handover)
 Handover should recover a call in the case of bad link quality(emergency handover)
 Handover should balance the traffic among different cells(traffic handover)
 Handover should optimize radio resource management
 Handover should minimize terminal power consumption.
Handover phases
Handover operation is articulated into three distinct phases:
 Monitoring (link measurement);
 Triggering (handover activation);
 Execution (commutation of the call from a cell to another one).

Handover time constraints

 The main constraint of the handover operation is represented by the cell crossing time
 The computation time required by the measurement phase must be less than the cell crossing time
 The target cell to which the call should be routed should be found during the measurement phase
and the handover procedure activated with a suitable anticipation
 Finally handover execution should be as faster as possible in order to avoid that user “realizes”
about a forced switching (with unpleasant “click” effects or call interruptions).

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Handover procedure: measurement phase
Measurement phase (parameters to be measured):
 Handover procedure requires that a set of parameters are continuously monitored:
o Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI)
o Bit-Error-Rate (BER)
o Distance between mobile terminal and base station (mobile terminal are localized using
RSSI measures)
o Base Station identity
o Base station broadcast channel frequencies
o Channel positions (in the time-frequency domain).
 Such kind of measurements are managed by means of devoted signaling channels transmitting
fixed data strings from BS to MT
 A measurement report, containing all the set of measured parameters is periodically sent to the BS
by the MT (measurement period of GSM: 480msec).
Hypothesis on the channel:
 The test of link status is mainly performed by means of RSSI. This means that we are supposing that
the received signal is affected only by pathloss.
 If RSSI is decreasing, pathloss is increasing and, therefore, network controller assumes that MT is
going further and further from the “measured” BS.
 Also for handover, two-level mobile channel model is assumed “by default”. Multipath fading is
regarded here as a “side effect” to be managed in some way.
Candidate cell selection:
 The measures of parameters are processed in order to predict the cell to which MT is moving during
its travel. In such a way, a set of candidate cells is selected.
 Let’s consider the algorithm of candidate cell selection employed by IS-95 (a similar algorithm is
employed by GSM).
Cell selection algorithm is mainly based on the definition of some thresholds on RSSI, partitioning the
measured cells into different hierarchical sets. Cell sets are lists of channels that are dynamically
updated.
 The cell sets partitioned by the threshold criterion can be listed as follows:
o Active set containing only the channels of the BS currently serving the MT.

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 o Candidate set containing all channels related to other BSs than can provide a QoS very
similar to the current one. These BSs are supposed to be very close to our MT
o Neighboring set, containing all channels related to BSs that are not satisfying the threshold
criterion to be included in the active or candidate set, but they are able to provide a fair QoS
as well.
o Residual set, containing all other channels (not included in previous sets).
Threshold criterion
 A cell is moved from a set to another one on the basis of a threshold criterion. Each set is
characterized by its own threshold on RSSI.
 A cell sends its identification before sending on the devoted channel the signaling bits.
 If RSSI coming from a cell overcomes the threshold related to its current set, the cell is moved to a
higher-level set in the hierarchy.
 On the other hand, if RSSI undergoes the aforesaid threshold, the cell is moved to a lower-level set.
 Problem: possible “ping-pong effect” due to multipath fading.
Associate delay for cell selection
 In order to avoid the aforesaid ping-pong effect, cell selection waits for a given time interval before
moving a cell to list to another one.
 This “guard-interval” is called associate delay. It is implemented by means of a counter.
 The counter is started as soon as the RSSI of the pilot channel goes down the set threshold.
 The decision is suspended until the counter is working. In the meanwhile the RSSI is continuously
measured.
 If the counter ends its counting and RSSI is still lower than the set threshold, the cell is moved to a
lower-level set.
 If during counting, RSSI again overcomes the threshold, then the counter is immediately reset.
Associate delay and decision of cell removal
 A decision of cell removal from a list is taken when:
o The associate delay reaches its deadline
o A new item should be added to a list, but the list is full. In such a case, the cell of the list
whose associate delay is closest to the deadline (FIFO policy).
 The associate delay is chosen in dependence of channel parameters. A reasonable choice should
consider making it equal to the coherence time of the channel.

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Handover procedure: Triggering phase
Handover triggering
 Network controller (installed inside the MSC) reads the measurement reports periodically sent by
MT.
 As soon as the network controller realizes that the MT is going out the current cell and is coming
into a new cell, it triggers the handover.
 Triggering means decision before execution.
 Triggering is very critical. A false handover would be turned on a waste of radio resources and,
definitely in a QoS decrease.
Criteria adopted for handover triggering
 Triggering is issued when some conditions related to the link status are verified.
 The basic criteria adopted for handover triggering issue are:
o Relative power criterion
o Relative power and threshold criterion
o Relative power and hysteresis margin criterion
o Relative power, threshold and hysteresis margin criterion.
 Relative power criterion
 Upon this criterion, handover is triggered when the power received by the current BS drops below
that one received by a cell of the candidate set.
 This criterion is very simple and prevents from handover missing.
 However, this criterion is too much selective. In fact, it could issue a handover when the current BS
is still able to provide a satisfactory QoS.
 Moreover, the probability of unnecessary (false) handove r in the presence of shadowing can be
high. In the case of multipath fading, the risk of ping-pong effect becomes very relevant.
 Relative power and threshold criterion
 A threshold is added to the relative power criterion. Handover is triggered only when two conditions
are satisfied in AND:
o The power received by the current BS drops out that one received by a candidate cell
(relative power criterion);
o The power received by the current BS drops out a given quality threshold.

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 In such a way, the risk of unnecessary handovers is limited, however the choice of the threshold is
very critical, in particular when we are considering the presence of shadowing and/or multipath
fading.
 The risk is to have false handovers due to a deep fade or a shadow. This could suggest us to decrease
the threshold. But, such a solution may not be convenient (risk of missed handover).
 Relative power and hysteresis margin
 Just than a threshold, it may be more convenient to introduce an hysteresis margin to the
relative power criterion. In this way, we implement the criterion of relative power with
hysteresis margin.
 Actually, the handover is triggered only when the power received by the current BS drops out
for a fixed hysteresis margin the power received by a candidate cell.
 The hysteresis margin is chosen in order to counteract unexpected propagation impairments: it
can be related to some channel parameters: shadow standard deviation, fade amplitude, etc.
 Relative power with hysteresis and threshold
 Handover triggering in GSM joins all the criteria shown before.
 The handover is triggered when:
o RSSI from a candidate cell overcomes a fixed threshold (AND);
o RSSI from a candidate cell drops out the power received from the current cell (AND);
o The difference between two power level overcomes the hysteresis margin.
Handover procedure: Execution phase
Handover execution:
 After triggering, handover is executed.
 Handover execution, substantially, allocates radio resources for the connection between the MT
and the new BS, releasing those “old” radio resources that were exploited during current cell
crossing.
 Handover procedure can be executed with different modalities. In particular, we are speaking
about hard, seamless and soft handover.
Hard handover
 Handover procedure is “hard” when the allocation of the radio resources for the new link is
performed only after the release of the “old” radio resources.
 Practically, the call is switched from the old BS to the new one. The switch involves an interruption
of the call.

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  In order to make such an interruption as shortest as possible, the procedure for link activation are
conveniently anticipated.
 Data transmission from the old BS and routing of the call towards the new BS are simultaneously
performed. This involves that MSC should manage the entire handover operation, since beginning
to the end.

Advantages and disadvantages of hard handover

 Hard handover is very efficient in managing radio resources, as a single channel is used per call
without introducing any waste and redundancy.
 Its main disadvantage is that the probability of call interruption (and missing) is not negligible.
 Hard handover is employed in GSM standard. Radio resources in GSM are severely constrained and
(re)-used. Therefore, it is reasonable to maximize the efficiency in radio resource exploitation.
Seamless handover
 During the seamless handover the link with the old BS and the new one are employed together in
parallel.
 Therefore, the data flow is transmitted simultaneously by the two BSs: the old and the new one
(see Figure below).

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 The call switch is not performed at PHY-layer level(like in hard handover), but at network level. After
the virtual switch, the old radio resources are released. Seamless handover exhibits a redundancy in
radio resource management that allows to limit the probability of call blocking.
 The main drawback of this method lies in the waste of radio resources, involved by the redundancy.
 Seamless handover found very limited applications (it is employed in DECT standard for cordless
telephony).
Soft handover
 Soft handover is typical of CDMA systems (IS-95, UMTS).
 The two data links of the old base station and that one of the selected candidate cell are activated in
advance.

 The mobile terminal is connected to the two different base stations by means of two different radio
links.
 Cell radio resources are, mainly, CDMA channels (spreading codes) sharing the same bandwidth.
 The two links can be regarded as different paths carrying the same data streams (macro-diversity).

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 Soft handover continuously allocates and release radio resources to new links, depending on the
channel conditions.
Soft handover: advantages and disadvantages
 Main advantage: improvement of quality of service
 Main disadvantage: increase of the computational burden, charged on the mobile terminal (it must
manage more than one channel).
 Future trends: soft handover.
1.4.4 Antenna System
- Can be located on a mast, top of a building or under a ceiling.
- GSM antennas are Omni-directional (Whip antenna) or directional (sectored) for both outdoor
and indoor system.

a) Mast with limited space b) An antenna array on top of an Electricity pylon

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