IMPROVING COVERAGE AND SYSTEM CAPACITY

Engr. Munaf Rashid

OUTLINES
Summary of what we learnt so far Improving capacity and coverage
Power control for interference reduction Cell splitting Sectoring Microcell zone Use of repeaters

Recapitulation
Cell capacity and Reuse As N C Types of interference Co channel interference Co channel interference calculations
Average case Worst case

Adjacent channel interference

Power control to reduce interference

In practical systems the power level of the energy subscriber is under constant control by serving BS Power control not only reduces interference level but also prolongs battery life In CDMA spread spectrum systems power control is a key feature to ensure maximal utilization of the system capacity Reduced interference leads to higher capacity

Improving capacity
As the demand for service increases ,system designers have to provides more channels per unit coverage area. Common techniques are: cell splitting, sectoring and microcell zoning. Cell splitting increases the number of BS deployed and allows an orderly growth of cellular system. Sectoring uses directional antennas to further control interference and frequency reuse. Microcell zoning is relatively a new technique to distributes the coverage of a cell and extends the cell boundary to hard-to-reach places.

Cell splitting (1)

Cell splitting is a process of subdividing a congested cell into a smaller cells with
Their own BS A corresponding reduction in the antenna height A corresponding reduction in the transmitter power.

Splitting the cell reduces the cell size and thus more number of cells have to be used. More number of cells more number of clusters more channels higher capacity Cell splitting allows a system to grow by replacing large cells by small cells, without upsetting the channel allocation.

Cell splitting (2)

Cells are split to add channels with no new spectrum usage. Depending on traffic pattern the smaller cells may be activated/deactivated in order to efficiently use cell resources.

Example # 1
4 cells clusters Seven cells clusters

Smaller cells 7 cells clusters Twelve cells clusters

Typical city cellular radio cell plan different cell sizes and clusters.

Example # 2
Suppose the cell radius of the new cell is reduced by half. What is the required transmit power for these new cells? We have, =

For n=3, Thus, the transmit power of the new cell should be 9dB lower then the original transmit power

Example # 3
Suppose a congested service area is originally covered by
5 cells Each cell with 80 channels

Capacity 5 x 80 = 400 After cell splitting, Rnew = R/2. Now we have 24 cells Before splitting After splitting New capacity 24 x 80 =19200 For n=4 the transmit power for the new BS=12dB lower

Cell sectoring

(1)

As opposed to cell splitting, where D/R is kept constant while decreasing R, sectoring keeps R untouched and reduces the D/R. Capacity improvement is achieved by reducing the number of cells per cluster, thus increasing frequency reuse. In order to do this it is necessary to reduce the relative interference without decreasing the transmitter power.

Cell sectoring

(2)

The CCI may be decreased by replacing the single omnidirectional antenna by several directional antennas, each radiating within a specified sector. The directional antenna transmits to and receive from only a fraction of the total number of cochannel cells, thus CCI is reduced. The cell is normally partitioned into three 120 sectors, four 90 sectors or six 60 sectors.

Cell sectoring

(3)

Omni-directional a d

a b c

120 sector

120 sector (Alternate) e d a c

90 sector

60 sector

Cell sectoring

(4)

Placing directional transmitters at corners where three adjacent cells meet.

b c x A

Sectoring improves S/I

Cell sectoring
Problems with sectoring

(5)

Increased number of antennas at each BS Decrease in trunking efficiency due to sectoring (dividing bigger pool of channels into smaller group) Increased number of hand-off (sector-to-sector) Good news: many modern BS support sectoring and related handoff without the help of the MSC.

Microcell Zone concept (1)

The problems of sectoring can be addressed by the Microcell Zone concept. The cell is divided into microcells or zones. Each microcell (zone) is connected to the same base station (fiber/microwave link). Each zone uses a directional antenna. as mobile travels from one zone to another, it retains the same channel, i.e.., no hand-off. The BS simply switches the channel to the next zone site.

Microcell Zone concept (2)

Let each cell be divided into three zones.

Microcell Zone concept (3)

While a cell maintains a particular coverage area, the CCI is reduced because:
The large central BS is replaced by several low power transmitters. Directional antennas are used.

Decreased CCI improves.

Signal quality capacity

Microcell Zone concept (4)

Example
Suppose the desired S/I = 18db. Path loss exponent n=4. How much capacity increase can occur if use Microcell Zoning of 3 Zones/cell?

To achieve S/I = 18db we need N=7. We use Microcell Zone concept and create 3 zone within 1 cell. This makes the cluster size N=3. The capacity increase factor = 7/3 = 2.33

Repeaters for range extension

Useful for hard-to-reach areas
Within buildings, basements. Tunnels Valleys.

Radio transmitters, called repeaters, can be used to provide coverage in these areas. Repeaters are bidirectional.
Receives signals from the BS Amplifies the signals Reradiates the signals

Received noise and interference is also radiated.

Summary of lecture
Improving capacity and coverage
Power control for interference reduction Cell splitting Sectoring Microcell Zones Use of repeaters