Contents

1. Overview
2. Multiple Access Protocols
3. Multiplexing Techniques
4. TDMA
5. FDMA
6. CDMA
7. SDMA
8. Others
9. Example of GSM
1
Multiple Access protocols
❒ single shared communication channel
❒ two or more simultaneous transmissions by nodes:
interference
❍ only one node can send successfully at a time
❒ multiple access protocol:
❍ distributed algorithm that determines how stations share
channel, i.e., determine when station can transmit
❍ communication about channel sharing must use channel itself!
❍ what to look for in multiple access protocols:
• synchronous or asynchronous
• information needed about other stations
• robustness (e.g., to channel errors)
• performance
2
Ideal Multiple Access Protocol
Broadcast channel of rate R bps
1. When one node wants to transmit, it can send at
rate R.
2. When M nodes want to transmit, each can send at
average rate R/M
3. Fully decentralized:
❍ no special node to coordinate transmissions
❍ no synchronization of clocks, slots
4. Simple

3
MAC Protocols: a taxonomy
Three broad classes:
❒ Channel Partitioning TDMA, FDMA, CDMA
❍ divide channel into smaller “pieces” (time slots,
frequency)
❍ allocate piece to node for exclusive use
❒ Random Access ALOHA, CSMA, CSMA/CD, CSMA/CA
❍ allow collisions
❍ “recover” from collisions
❒ “Taking turns” Polling, Token passing
❍ tightly coordinate shared access to avoid collisions

Goal: efficient, fair, simple, decentralized

4
Channel Partitioning MAC protocols: TDMA

TDMA: time division multiple access

❒ access to channel in "rounds"
❒ each station gets fixed length slot (length = pkt
trans time) in each round
❒ unused slots go idle
❒ example: 6-station LAN, 1,3,4 have pkt, slots 2,5,6
idle

5
Channel Partitioning MAC protocols: FDMA
FDMA: frequency division multiple access
❒ channel spectrum divided into frequency bands
❒ each station assigned fixed frequency band
❒ unused transmission time in frequency bands go idle
❒ example: 6-station LAN, 1,3,4 have pkt, frequency
bands 2,5,6 idle
time
frequency bands

6
Channel Partitioning (CDMA)
CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access)
❒ unique “code” assigned to each user; i.e., code set partitioning
❒ used mostly in wireless broadcast channels (cellular, satellite,
etc)
❒ all users share same frequency, but each user has own
“chipping” sequence (i.e., code) to encode data
❒ encoded signal = (original data) X (chipping sequence)
❒ decoding: inner-product of encoded signal and chipping
sequence
❒ allows multiple users to “coexist” and transmit simultaneously
with minimal interference (if codes are “orthogonal”)

7
CDMA Encode/Decode

8
CDMA: two-sender interference

9
Random Access Protocols
❒ When node has packet to send
❍ transmit at full channel data rate R.
❍ no a priori coordination among nodes

❒ two or more transmitting nodes -> “collision”,

❒ random access MAC protocol specifies:
❍ how to detect collisions
❍ how to recover from collisions (e.g., via delayed
retransmissions)
❒ Examples of random access MAC protocols:
❍ slotted ALOHA
❍ ALOHA
❍ CSMA, CSMA/CD, CSMA/CA

10
Slotted Aloha
❒ time is divided into equal size slots (= pkt trans. time)
❒ node with new arriving pkt: transmit at beginning of
next slot
❒ if collision: retransmit pkt in future slots with
probability p, until successful.

Success (S), Collision (C), Empty (E) slots

11
 Slotted ALOHA
Assumptions Operation
❒ all frames same size ❒ when node obtains fresh
❒ time is divided into frame, it transmits in next
equal size slots, time to slot
transmit 1 frame ❒ no collision, node can send
❒ nodes start to transmit new frame in next slot
frames only at ❒ if collision, node
beginning of slots retransmits frame in each
❒ nodes are synchronized subsequent slot with prob.
❒ if 2 or more nodes p until success
transmit in slot, all
nodes detect collision
12
Slotted ALOHA

Pros Cons
❒ single active node can ❒ collisions, wasting slots
continuously transmit ❒ idle slots
at full rate of channel ❒ nodes may be able to
❒ highly decentralized: detect collision in less
only slots in nodes than time to transmit
need to be in sync packet
❒ simple
13
Slotted Aloha efficiency
Efficiency is the long-run
fraction of successful slots
when there’s many nodes, each
with many frames to send
❒ Suppose N nodes with
many frames to send,
each transmits in slot
with probability p
❒ prob that 1st node has
success in a slot
= p(1-p)N-1
❒ prob that any node has
a success = Np(1-p)N-1
❒ For max efficiency
with N nodes, find p*
that maximizes
Np(1-p)N-1
❒ For many nodes, take
limit of Np*(1-p*)N-1 as
N goes to infinity,
gives 1/e = .37
At best: channel
used for useful
transmissions 37%
of time!
14
Pure (unslotted) ALOHA
❒ unslotted Aloha: simpler, no synchronization
❒ when frame first arrives
❍ transmit immediately

❒ collision probability increases:

❍ frame sent at t0 collides with other frames sent in [t0-1,t0+1]

15
Pure Aloha efficiency
P(success by given node) = P(node transmits) .

P(no other node transmits in [p0-1,p0] .

P(no other node transmits in [p0-1,p0]

= p . (1-p)N-1 . (1-p)N-1

= p . (1-p)2(N-1)

… choosing optimum p and then letting n -> infty ...

Even worse !
= 1/(2e) = .18

16
CSMA: (Carrier Sense Multiple Access)

CSMA: listen before transmit:

❒ If channel sensed idle: transmit entire pkt

❍ If collision occurs has to retransmit again
❒ If channel sensed busy, defer transmission
❍ P-Persistent CSMA: (for slotted channels)
retry immediately with probability p when channel
becomes idle (may cause instability)
❍ Non-persistent CSMA: (for nonslotted channels)
retry after random interval
❒ human analogy: don’t interrupt others!

17
CSMA collisions spatial layout of nodes along ethernet

collisions can occur:

propagation delay means
two nodes may not hear
each other’ transmission

collision:
entire packet transmission
time wasted

note:
role of distance and
propagation delay in
determining collision prob.
18
CSMA/CD (Collision Detection)
CSMA/CD: carrier sensing, deferral as in CSMA
❍ collisions detected within short time
❍ colliding transmissions aborted, reducing channel
wastage
❒ collision detection:
❍ easy in wired LANs: measure signal strengths,
compare transmitted, received signals
❍ difficult in wireless LANs: receiver shut off while
transmitting
❒ human analogy: the polite conversationalist

19
CSMA/CD collision detection

20
“Taking Turns” MAC protocols
channel partitioning MAC protocols:
❍ share channel efficiently and fairly at high load
❍ inefficient at low load: delay in channel access,
1/N bandwidth allocated even if only 1 active
node!
Random access MAC protocols
❍ efficient at low load: single node can fully
utilize channel
❍ high load: collision overhead

“taking turns” protocols

look for best of both worlds!
21
“Taking Turns” MAC protocols
Polling: Token passing:
❒ master node ❒ control token passed from
“invites” slave nodes one node to next
to transmit in turn sequentially.
❒ concerns: ❒ token message
❍ polling overhead ❒ concerns:
❍ latency ❍ token overhead
❍ single point of ❍ latency
failure (master) ❍ single point of failure (token)

22
Frame Relay (more)
flags address data CRC flags

❒ Flag bits, 01111110, delimit frame

❒ address:
❍ 10 bit VC ID field
❍ 3 congestion control bits

• FECN: forward explicit congestion

notification (frame experienced congestion
on path)
• BECN: congestion on reverse path
• DE: discard eligibility

23
Frame Relay -VC Rate Control
❒ Committed Information Rate (CIR)
❍ defined, “guaranteed” for each VC
❍ negotiated at VC set up time
❍ customer pays based on CIR

❒ DE bit: Discard Eligibility bit

❍ Edge FR switch measures traffic rate for each VC;
marks DE bit
❍ DE = 0: high priority, rate compliant frame; deliver
at “all costs”
❍ DE = 1: low priority, eligible for congestion discard

24
Frame Relay - CIR & Frame Marking

❒ Access Rate: rate R of the access link between

source router (customer) and edge FR switch
(provider); 64Kbps < R < 1,544Kbps
❒ Typically, many VCs (one per destination router)
multiplexed on the same access trunk; each VC has
own CIR
❒ Edge FR switch measures traffic rate for each
VC; it marks (i.e. DE = 1) frames which exceed CIR
(these may be later dropped)
❒ Internet’s more recent differentiated service
uses similar ideas

25
Example: GSM
❒ Frequency Band
❍ 935-960, 890-915 MHz
❍ Two pieces of 25 MHz band

(same as AMPS)
❒ AMPS has 833 user channels
❒ How about GSM?

26
Different Generations
❒ 1G
❍ analog

❒ 2G
❍ digital

❒ 3G
❍ higher data rate for multimedia applications

27
1G Cellular Systems
❒ Many Different Standards:
❍ AMPS (US)
❍ NMT (Northern Europe)
❍ TACS (Europe)
❍ NTT (Japan)
❍ many others...

❒ Spectrum
❍ around 800 and 900 MHz

28
2G Cellular Systems
❒ Four Major Standards:
❍ GSM (European)
❍ IS-54 (later becomes IS-136, US)
❍ JDC (Japanese Digital Cellular)
❍ IS-95 (CDMA, US)

29
Frequency Division Duplex (FDD)

Forward Link

mobile base
station
Reverse Link

Two separate frequency bands are used for

forward and reverse links.
Typically, 25 MHz in each direction.
AMPS: 824-849 MHz (forward)
869-894 MHz (reverse)

30
Frequency Division Multiple Access
(FDMA)

❒ The spectrum of each link (forward or reverse)

is further divided into frequency bands
❒ Each station assigned fixed frequency band
frequency bands

idle

idle
idle

31
Number of User Channels in AMPS

❒ Bandwidth allocated to each user in each link

(forward or reverse) is 30 KHz.

❒ No. of user channels

= Total bandwidth / user bandwidth
= 25 MHz / 30 kHz
= 833
❒ Is it enough?

32
Frequency Reuse

Radio coverage,
called a cell.

f
The same frequency can be
reused in different cells, if they
are far away from each other

33
Cellular Architecture
MS – Mobile Station
BSC – Base Station Controller
MSC – Mobile Switching Center
PSTN – Public Switched Telephone
Network
MS

BSC

segmentation
of the area
MSC PSTN into cells

34
Time Division Multiple Access
(TDMA)

❒ The mobile users access the channel in round-

robin fashion.
❒ Each station gets one slot in each round.

Slots 2, 5 and 6 are idle

35
FDMA/TDMA, example GSM

f
960 MHz 124

935.2 MHz 1 200 kHz

20 MHz
915 MHz 124

1
890.2 MHz
t

1 2 3 7 8

Each freq. carrier is divided into 8 time slots.

36
Number of channels in GSM
❒ Freq. Carrier: 200 kHz
❒ TDMA: 8 time slots per freq carrier

❒ No. of carriers = 25 MHz / 200 kHz

= 125
❒ No. of user channels = 125 * 8
= 1000

37
Capacity Comparison

❒ Reuse factor
❍ 7 for AMPS
❍ 3 for GSM (why smaller reuse factor?)

❒ What’s the capacity of GSM relative to AMPS?

A. one half of AMPS B. the same

C. 3 times larger D. 10 times larger

38
Answer
❒ AMPS
❍ reuse factor = 7
❍ no. of users / cell = 833 / 7 = 119

❒ GSM
❍ reuse factor = 3
❍ no. of users / cell = 1000 / 3 = 333
❍ almost 3 times larger than AMPS!

39
Multiple Access Methods

Three major types:

❍ Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA)
❍ Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)
❍ Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)
• Frequency hopping (FH-CDMA)
• Direct sequence (DS-CDMA)

40
Frequency-Time Plane

Frequency

Partition of signal
space into time slots
and frequency bands

Time

41
FDMA
Frequency

Different users
transmit at different
frequency bands
simultaneously.

Time

42
TDMA

Frequency

Different users
transmit at different
time slots.
Each user occupy the
whole freq. spectrum.

Time

43
Frequency Hopping CDMA

Frequency

At each successive time

slot, the frequency
band assignments are
reordered.
Each user employs a
code that dictates the
frequency hopping
pattern.

Time

44
Synchronization
❒ The previous figure implies that each signal
synchronizes with each of the other
signals.
❒ In practice, this is not the case.
❒ Frequency hops may collide, but it does not
occur frequently.
❍ How often collisions occur depends on the
choice of codes.

45
Direct Sequence CDMA

Frequency

All users occupy the whole

bandwidth all the time.

Signals of different users

overlap with one other.

How can it be done?

Time

46
CDMA Encoding

❒ Each user is assigned a unique signature

sequence (or code), denoted by (c1,c2,…,
cM). Its component is called a chip.

❒ Each bit, di, is encoded by multiplying the

bit by the signature sequence:
Zi,m = di cm

47
Encoding Example

❒ Data bit
d1 = –1
❒ Signature sequence
(c1,c2,…,c8) = (+1,+1,+1,–1,+1,–1,–1,–1)
❒ Encoder Output
(Z1,1,Z1,2,…,Z1,8) = (–1,–1,–1,+1,–1,+1,+1,+1)

48
Bandwidth
❒ Note that the chip rate is much higher
than the data rate.
❒ Consider our previous example.
❍ Suppose the original data signal occupies a
bandwidth of W.
❍ What is the bandwidth of the encoded signal?

49
Spread Spectrum Technique

Frequency Frequency

Encoding

Time Time

The bandwidth expands by a factor of M.

M is called spreading factor or processing gain.

50
CDMA Decoding
❒ Without interfering users, the receiver
would receive the encoded bits, Zi,m , and
recover the original data bit, di, by
computing:

M
1
di =
M
∑Z
m =1
c
i ,m m

51
CDMA Decoding Example

(c1,c2,…,c8) = (+1,+1,+1,–1,+1,–1,–1,–1)
(Z1,1,Z1,2,…,Z1,8) = (–1,–1,–1,+1,–1,+1,+1,+1)

multiply
(–1,–1,–1,–1,–1,–1,–1,–1)

add and
divide by M
di = –1

52
53
Multiuser Scenario
❒ If there are N users, the signal at the
receiver becomes:
N
Z i*,m = ∑ Z in,m
n =1
❒ How can a CDMA receiver recover a user’s
original data bit?

54
 2-user
example

Multiplied by the signature

sequence of user 1

55
Signature Sequences
❒ In order for the receiver to be able to
extract out a particular sender’s signal, the
CDMA codes must be of low correlation.
❒ Correlation of two codes, (cj,1,…, cj,M) and
(ck,1,…, ck,M) , are defined by inner product:

M
1
M
∑c
m =1
c
j ,m k ,m

56
The Meaning of Correlation
❒ What is correlation?
❍ It determines how much similarity one sequence has
with another.
❍ It is defined with a range between –1 and 1.

Correlation Value Interpretation

1 The two sequences match each other exactly.

0 No relation between the two sequences

–1 The two sequences are mirror images of each

other.
Other values indicate a partial degree of correlation.

57
Generation of Signature
Sequences
❒ How to generate signature sequences of
low correlation?

❒ There are two classes of signature

sequences that are widely used in CDMA
systems.
❍ Orthogonal Codes
❍ Pseudo Noise Sequences (PN Sequences)

58
Orthogonal Codes
❒ Two codes are said to be orthogonal if
their correlation is zero.
❍ no interference between the two users.
❒ In our previous two-user example, the
codes are orthogonal.
❒ How to generate orthogonal codes?

59
Walsh Codes
❒ The most common orthogonal codes used in
CDMA systems.
❒ A set of Walsh codes of length n is defined
by the rows of an n × n Hadamard matrix.
❒ Hadamard matrix can be constructed by an
iterative method.

60
Iterative Construction

 H n −1 H n −1 
H1 = ( 0 ) H 2n =  
 H n −1 H n −1 
❒ Example:

0 0 0 0
 
0 0 0 1 0 1
H 2 =   H4 = 
0 1 0 0 1 1
 
0 1 1 0 

61
Signature Sequences
❒ The signature sequences can be found by
❍ Taking the rows out
❍ Replacing 0 by –1

 0 0 s1 = (− 1,− 1)
H 2 =  
 0 1 s2 = (− 1,+ 1)
Are they
orthogonal?

62
IS-95 Forward Link
❒ Walsh Codes of length 64 is used for
spreading in the forward link (base-to-
mobile) of IS-95.

❒ It is NOT suitable for the reverse link

(mobile-to-base). (Why?)
❍ PN sequences are used instead.

63
PN Sequences
❒ What is Pseudo-Noise Sequences?
❍ They are deterministic.
❍ But they look like random noise.

❒ How to generate PN sequences?

❍ One common way is to use linear feedback shift
register.

64
 Shift Register Implementation:
An Example
x1 x2 x3
x1 x2 x3 Output

1 0 0 ---

0 1 0 0

1 0 1 0
Initial state: 1 0 0
1 1 0 1
Output: 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 …
(Periodic with period 7) 1 1 1 0

0 1 1 1
The output sequence must be
periodic (why?) 0 0 1 1
The period cannot be greater than 1 0 0 1
7. (why?)
65
2.2 Multiple Access protocols
❒ single shared communication channel
❒ two or more simultaneous transmissions by nodes: interference
❍ only one node can send successfully at a time
❒ multiple access protocol:
❍ distributed algorithm that determines how stations share
channel, i.e., determine when station can transmit
❍ communication about channel sharing must use channel itself!
❍ type of protocols:

• synchronous or asynchronous
• information needed about other stations
• robustness (e.g., to channel errors)
• performance

66
 2.3 Multiple Access Control Protocols

Three broad classes:

❒ Channel Partitioning
❍ divide channel into smaller “pieces” (time slots, frequency,
code)
❍ allocate piece to node for exclusive use
❍ TDMA, FDMA, CDMA
❒ Random Access
❍ allow collisions
❍ “recover” from collisions
❍ CSMA, ALOHA
❒ Taking turns
❍ tightly coordinate shared access to avoid collisions
❍ Token ring

Goal: efficient, fair, simple, decentralized

67
2.4 Random Access protocols
❒ When node has packet to send
❍ transmit at full channel data rate R.
❍ no a priori coordination among nodes
❒ two or more transmitting nodes -> “collision”,
❒ random access MAC protocol specifies:
❍ how to detect collisions
❍ how to recover from collisions (e.g., via delayed
retransmissions)
❒ Examples of random access MAC protocols:
❍ slotted ALOHA
❍ ALOHA
❍ CSMA and CSMA/CD

68
2.5 CSMA: Carrier Sense Multiple Access
CSMA: listen before transmit:
❒ If channel sensed idle: transmit entire pkt
❒ If channel sensed busy, defer transmission
❒ human analogy: don’t interrupt others!

69
2.6 CSMA/CD (Collision Detection)

CSMA/CD: carrier sensing, deferral as in CSMA

❍ collisions detected within short time
❍ colliding transmissions aborted, reducing channel wastage
❍ persistent or non-persistent retransmission
❒ collision detection:
❍ easy in wired LANs: measure signal strengths, compare transmitted,
received signals
❍ difficult in wireless LANs: receiver shut off while transmitting
❒ human analogy: the polite conversationalist

70
CSMA/CD collision detection

71
Thank You

72