LEC 5- The Cellular Concept(1)

• The design objective of early mobile radio

systems was to achieve a large coverage area
by using a single, high powered transmitter with
an antenna mounted on a tall tower, While this
approach achieved very good coverage, it also
meant that it was impossible to reuse those
same frequencies throughout the system, since
any attempts to achieve frequency reuse would
result in interference.
• Faced with the fact that government
regulatory agencies could not make
spectrum allocations in proportion to the
increasing demand for mobile services, it
became imperative to restructure the radio
telephone system to achieve high capacity with
limited radio spectrum, while at the same time
covering very large areas.
• The cellular concept offered very high
capacity in a limited spectrum allocation
without any major technological changes.
• The cellular concept ;is a system level idea
which calls for replacing a single, high power
transmitters (large cell) with many low power
transmitters (small cells), each providing
coverage to only a small portion of the service
area.
• Each base station is allocated a portion of the total
number of channels available to the entire system,
and nearby base stations are assigned different
groups of channels so that all the available channels
are assigned to a relatively small number of
neighboring base stations.
• Neighboring base stations are assigned different
groups of channels so that the interference
between base stations (and the mobile users under
their control) is minimized.
• By systematically spacing base stations and
their channel groups throughout a market, the
available channels are distributed
throughout the geographic region and may be
reused as many times as necessary, so long as
the interference between co-channel stations
is kept below acceptable levels
• This fundamental principle is the foundation
for all modern wireless communication
systems, since it enables a fixed number of
channels to serve an arbitrarily large number
of subscribers by reusing the channels
throughout the coverage region.
• Frequency Reuse
• Cellular radio systems rely on an intelligent
allocation and reuse of channels throughout a
coverage region.
• Each cellular base station is allocated a group of
radio channels to be used within a small geographic
area called a cell.
• Base stations in adjacent cells are assigned channel
groups which contain completely
different channels than neighboring cells.
• By limiting the coverage area to within the
boundaries of a cell, the same group of
channels may be used to cover different cells
that are separated from one another by
distances large enough to keep interference
levels within tolerable limits.
• The design process of selecting and allocating
channel groups for all of the cellular base stations
within a system is called frequency reuse or
frequency planning.
• Figure 2.1 illustrates the concept of cellular
frequency reuse, where cells labeled with the same
letter use the same group of channels. The
frequency reuse plan is overlaid upon a map to
indicate where different frequency channels
are used.
• The actual radio coverage of a cell is known as
the footprint and is determined from field
measurements or propagation prediction
models.
• A cell must be designed to serve the weakest
mobiles within the footprint, and these are
typically located at the edge of the cell.
• there are three sensible choices: a square; an
equilateral triangle; and a hexagon. A cell
must be designed to serve the weakest
mobiles within the footprint, and these are
typically located at the edge of the cell.
• For a given distance between the center of a
polygon and its farthest perimeter points, the
hexagon has the largest area of the three. Thus,
by using the hexagon geometriç the fewest
number of cells can cover a geographic region,
and the hexagon closely approximates a circular
radiation pattern which would occur for an
omni-directional base station antenna and free
space propagation.
• Normally, omni-directional antennas are used
in center-excited cells and sectored directional
antennas are used in corner-excited cells.
• Practical considerations usually do not allow
base stations to be placed exactly as they
appear in the hexagonal layout. Most system
designs permit a base station to be positioned
up to one-fourth the cell radius away from the
ideal location.
• To understand the frequency reuse concept, consider a
cellular system which has a total of S duplex channels
available for use. If each cell is allocated a group of k
channels (k >S), and if the S channels are divided among N
cells into unique and disjoint channel groups which each have
the same number of channels, the total number of available
radio channels can be expressed as
S = kN (2.1)
The N cells which collectively use the complete set of
available frequencies is called a cluster. If a cluster is replicated
M times within the system, the total number of duplex channels,
C, can be used as a measure of capacity and is given
C = MkN = MS (2.2)
• As seen from equation (2.2), the capacity of a
cellular system is directly proportional to the
number of times a cluster is replicated in a fixed
service area.
• The factor N is called the cluster size and is
typically equal to 4, 7, or 12. If the cluster size N is
reduced while the cell size is kept constant, more
clusters are required to cover a given area and
hence more capacity (a larger value of C) is
achieved.
• A large cluster size indicates that the ratio
between the cell radius and the distance
between co-channel cells is large. Conversely,
a small cluster size indicates that co-channel
cells are located much closer together. The
value for N is a function of how much
interference a mobile or base station can
tolerate while maintaining a sufficient quality
of communications.
• From a design viewpoint, the smallest
possible value of N is desirable in order to
maximize capacity over a given coverage area
(i.e.. to maximize C in equation (2.2)). The
frequency reuse factor of a cellular system is
given by I /N, since each cell within a cluster is
only assigned I/N of the total available
channels in the system.
• Due to the fact that the hexagonal geometry
of Figure 2.1 has exactly six equidistant
neighbors and that the lines joining the
centers of any cell and each of its neighbors
are separated by multiples of 60 degrees.
• In order to tessellate to connect without gaps between
adjacent cells — the geometry of hexagons is such that
the number of cells per cluster, N, can only have values
which satisfy equation (2.3). N=+ij+ (2.3)
• where i and j are non-negative integers. To find the
nearest co-channel neighbors of a particular cell, one
must do the following: (1) move i cells along any chain
of hexagons and then (2) turn 60 degrees counter-
clockwise and move j cells. This is illustrated in Figure
(2.2) for i = 3 and j = 2 (example, N = 19).
• Example 2.1
If a total of 33 MHz of bandwidth is allocated to a
particular FDD cellular telephone system which uses
two 25 kHz simplex channels to provide full duplex voice
and control channels, compute the number of channels
available per cell if a system uses (a) 4-cell reuse, (b) 7-
cell reuse (c) 12-cell reuse. If 1 MHz of the allocated
spectrum is dedicated to control channels, determine
an equitable distribution of control channels and voice
channels in each cell for each of the three systems.
• Solution to Example 2.1
Given: Total bandwidth =33 MHz
Channel bandwidth = 25 kHz x 2 simplex channels = 50
kHz/duplex channel The available channels = 33,000/50 =
660 channels
(a) For N= 4, total number of channels available per cell
= 660/4 =165 channels.
(b)ForN=7, total number of channels available per cell =
660/7 =95 channels.
(c) For N = 12, total number of channels available per
cell = 660/12 =55 channels.
• A 1 MHz spectrum for control channels implies that there
are 1000/50 = 20 control channels out of the 660 channels
available. To evenly distribute the control and voice
channels, simply allocate the same number of channels in
each cell wherever possible. Here, the 660 channels must
be evenly distributed to each cell within the cluster. In
practice, only the 640 voice channels would be allocated,
since the control channels are allocated separately as 1 per
cell.
• (a) For N = 4, we can have 5 control channels and 160 voice
channels per cell. In practice, however, each cell only needs
a single control channel (the control
 channels have a greater reuse distance than the
voice channels). Thus, one control channel and 160
voice channels would be assigned to each cell.
(b) For N = 7, 4 cells with 3 control channels and 92
voice channels, 2 cells with 3 control channels and 90
voice channels, and 1 cell with 2 control channels and
92 voice channels could be allocated. In practice,
however, each cell would have one control channel,
four cells-would have 91 voice channels, and three
cells would have 92 voice channels.
• (c) For N = 12, we can have 8 cells with 2
control channels and 53 voice channels, and 4
cells with 1 control channel and 54 voice
channels each. In an actual system, each cell
would have 1 control channel, 8 cells would
have 53 voice channels, and 4 cells would
have 54 voice channels.
• Channel Assignment Strategies
• For efficient utilization of the radio spectrum, a frequency
reuse scheme that is consistent with the objectives of
increasing capacity and minimizing interference is
required. A variety of channel assignment strategies have
been developed to achieve these objectives. Channel
assignment strategies can be classified as either fixed or
dynamic. The choice of channel assignment strategy
impacts the performance of the system, particularly as to
how calls are managed when a mobile user is handed off
from one cell to another.
• In a fixed channel assignment strategy; each cell is allocated
a predetermined set of voice channels. Any call attempt
within the cell can only be served by the unused channels in
that particular cell. If all the channels in that cell are occupied,
the call is blocked and the subscriber does not receive
service. Several variations of the fixed assignment strategy
exist. In one approach, called the borrowing strategy, a cell is
allowed to borrow channels from a neighboring cell if all of its
own channels are already occupied. The mobile switching
center (MSC) supervises such borrowing procedures and
ensures that the borrowing of a channel does not disrupt or
interfere with any of the calls in progress in the donor cell.
• In a dynamic channel assignment strategy, voice
channels are not allocated to different cells
permanently. Instead, each time a call request is
made, the serving base station requests a channel
from the MSC. The switch then allocates
a channel to the requested cell following an
algorithm that takes into account the likelihood of
future blocking within the cell, the frequency of use
of the candidate channel, the reuse distance of the
channel, and other cost functions.
• Accordingly, the MSC only allocates a given
frequency if that frequency is not presently in
use in the cell or any other cell which falls
within the minimum restricted distance of
frequency reuse to avoid co-channel
interference.
• Dynamic channel assignment reduce the
likelihood of blocking, which increases the
trunking capacity of the system, since all the
available channels in a market are accessible
to all of the cells. Dynamic channel
assignment strategies require the MSC to collect
real-time data on channel occupancy, traffic
distribution,
 and radio signal strength indications (RSS!) of
all channels on a continuous basis. This
increases the storage and computational load
on the system but provides the advantage of
increased channel utilization and decreased
probability of a blocked call.
 Handoff Strategies
When a mobile moves into a different cell while
a conversation is in progress, the MSC
automatically transfers the call to a new channel
belonging to the new base station. This handoff
operation not only involves a new base station,
but also requires that the voice and control
signals be allocated to
channels associated with the new base station.
• Once a particular signal level is specified as the minimum
usable signal for acceptable voice quality at the base station
receiver (normally taken as between —90 dBm and —100
dBm), a slightly stronger signal level is used as a threshold
at which a handoff is made. This margin, given by Δ= Pr
handoff- Pr minimum usable‘, cannot be too large or too
small. If Δ is too large, unnecessary handoffs which burden
the MSC may occur, and if Δ is too small, there may be
insufficient time to complete a handoff before a call is lost
due to weak signal conditions. Therefore, Δ is chosen
carefully to meet these conflicting requirements.
• Figure 2.3 illustrates a handoff situation. Figure 2.3(a)
demonstrates the case where a handoff is not made and the
signal drops below the minimum acceptable level to keep
the channel active. This dropped call event can happen
when there is an excessive delay by the MSC in assigning a
handoff, or when the threshold Δ is set too small for the
handoff time in the system.
• Excessive delays may occur during high traffic conditions
due to computational loading at the MSC or due to the fact
that no channels are available on any of the nearby base
stations (thus forcing the MSC to wait until a channel in a
nearby cell becomes free).
• The time over which a call may be maintained
within a cell, without handoff, is called the
dwell time. The dwell time of a particular user
is governed by a number of factors, which
include propagation, interference, distance
between the subscriber and the base station,
and other time varying effects.
• During the course of a call, if a mobile moves from one cellular
system to a different cellular system controlled by a different
MSC, an intersystem handoff becomes necessary.
• An MSC engages in an intersystem handoff when a mobile
signal becomes weak in a given cell and the MSC cannot find
another cell within its system to which it can transfer the call in
progress.
There are many issues that must be addressed when
implementing an intersystem handoff;
For instance, a local call may become a long-distance call as the
mobile moves out of its home system and becomes a roamer in a
neighboring system. Also, compatibility
 between the two MSCs must be determined before
implementing an intersystem handoff.
• However, from the user's point of view, having a
call abruptly terminated while in the middle of a
conversation is more annoying than being blocked
occasionally on a new call attempt. To improve the
quality of service as perceived by the users, various
methods have been devised to prioritize handoff
requests over call initiation requests when
allocating voice channels.
• Prioritizing Handoffs
One method for giving priority to handoffs is called the
guard channel concept, whereby a fraction of the total
available channels in a cell is reserved exclusively for handoff
requests from ongoing calls which may be handed off into
the cell. This method has the disadvantage of reducing the
total carried traffic, as fewer channels are allocated to
originating calls. Guard channels, however, offer efficient
spectrum utilization when dynamic channel assignment
strategies, which minimize the number of required guard
channels by efficient demand based allocation, are used.
• Queuing of handoff requests is another method to
decrease the probability of forced termination of a call
due to lack of available channels. There is a tradeoff
between the decrease in probability of forced
termination and total carried traffic. Queuing of
handoffs is possible due to the fact that there is a finite
time
interval between the time the received signal level
drops below the handoff threshold and the time the call
is terminated due to insufficient signal level.
• It should be noted that queuing does not
guarantee a zero probability of forced
termination, since large delays will cause the
received signal level to drop below the
minimum required level to maintain
communication and hence lead to forced
termination.