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Chapter 3
The Cellular Concept
System Design Fundamentals

Course instructor : Dr. Raza Ali Shah

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Cellular Systems
The cellular concept was a major breakthrough
in solving the problem of spectral congestion
and user capacity.
Cellular systems enable a service provider to
serve more customers within a limited spectrum
allocation.

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Objectives In Designing Cellular

Systems
Maximize users per MHz
Maximize users per cell cite
Base stations are too costly

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Before Cellular Systems

A single antenna would serve all the customers
in the service area
Service provider was limited to a certain
bandwidth

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Frequency Reuse
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
Partition the service area into smaller cells
One antenna (base station) serves each cell,
transmitting lower power, using only a subset of
the available channels
Adjacent cell uses a mutually exclusive subset of
channels

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Footprint:

Actual radio coverage of a cell is called foottprint

Determined from field measurements or propagation
prediction models
Total number of channels, S, are used in one cluster

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The same S channels are used simultaneously in

. another cluster
Max no. of users = S times no. of clusters
S is the total number of duplex channel for the system
from the regulation body.
K is the # of channel per cell.
If there are N of cells, then:
S=KN.
If the area covered by M clusters then:
C=MS=MKN.
Where C is the total capacity of the system.
M++ C++&as M-- C--.
Cell area fixed N-M++ &C++ but co-channel
interference ++ .
Cell area fixed : N++ M-- & Cbut co-channel
interference--

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. Frequency Reuse Factor

The frequency reuse factor of a cellular system is
given by 1/N, since each cell within a cluster is
only assigned 1/N of the total available channels
in the system.

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Cluster Size

Cluster size represented as N

N only takes values N=i^2+ij+j^2 where i and
j are non-negative integers.
Examples:
i =2, j =0: N =4
i =2, j =1: N =7
Location Rule
To find the nearest co-channel cell, move i cells
along a chain of hexagons, turn 60 degrees
counterclockwise and move j cells
i =2, j =1: N =7

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Problem Solving
Example 3.1
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) fourcell reuse, (b) seven-cell reuse, and (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.

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Channel Assignment Strategies

Developed to achieve objectives of increasing
capacity and minimizing interference
Types

Fixed

Dynamic

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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
variations in fixed assignment strategy
Several variations exist like borrowing strategy, a cell
is allowed to borrow channels from a neighboring cell if
all of its own channels are already occupied. Supervised
by MSC

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Dynamic Channel Assignment

Strategy
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Voice channels are not allocated to different cells

permanently
The switch allocates a channel to the requested cell
following the channel assignment algorithm.
It require the MSC to collect real-time data on channel
occupancy, traffic distribution, and radio signal
strength indications (RSSI) of all channels on a
continuous basis.
Advantage:
Increased channel utilization
Decreased probability of a blocked call

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Handoff Strategies
Strategies for identifying a new base station
Allocation of voice and control signal to new
base station
Must be performed successfully and as
infrequently as possible, and be imperceptible to
the users

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Optimum Signal Level to Initiate a

Handoff
= Pr handoff Pr minimum usable
is the margin it should be optimum
When is too large:
Unnecessary handoffs which burden the MSC
When is too small:
Insufficient time to complete a handoff
Dropped call event:
I. It happens when there is an excessive delay by the MSC in
assigning a handoff or when the threshold is set too small for the
handoff time in the system
Delay call events:
I. Computational Loading
II. No Channels Available

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Handoffs the basics

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Decision when to Handoff

When mobile is moving away from the serving base
station
Running average measurement of signal strength
should be optimized so that unnecessary
handoffs are avoided, while ensuring that
necessary handoffs are completed before a call is
terminated due to poor signal level
If the slope of the short-term average received signal
level in a given time interval is steep, the handoff
should be made quickly

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Dwell Time
The time over which a call may be maintained
within a cell, without handoff
Arbitrary user
the dwell time for an arbitrary user is a random
variable with a distribution that is highly
concentrated about the mean dwell time
Users in dense environments
there is typically a large variation of dwell time
about the mean

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Locator Receiver
A spare receiver in each base station, called the
locator receiver has been used in 1st generation CS.
Controlled by the MSC
Uses
Scan and determine signal strengths of mobile users
which are in neighboring cells
Monitor the signal strength of users in neighboring
cells which appear to be in need of handoff
Reports all RSSI values to the MSC

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MAHO (mobile assisted handoff)

Every mobile station measures the received
power from surrounding base stations and
continually reports the results of these
measurements to the serving base station
Used in second generation systems
Suited for microcellular environments where
handoffs are more frequent

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Intersystem Handoff
Used when a mobile moves from one cellular
system to a different cellular system controlled
by a different MSC
Issue:
a local call may become a long-distance call
Solution:
compatibility between the two MSCs must be
determined before implementing an intersystem
handoff

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Prioritizing Handoffs
A. Guard channel concept:
A fraction of the total available channels in a cell is reserved
exclusively for handoff requests
Advantage:
Offer efficient spectrum utilization when dynamic channel
assignment strategies
Disadvantage:
Reduces the total carried traffic, as fewer channels are
allocated to originating calls
B. Queuing of handoff requests:
Possible due to 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

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Practical Handoff Considerations

Problems:
I. High speed vehicles pass through the coverage
region of a cell within a matter of seconds
II. Another practical limitation is the ability to obtain
new cell sites
III. Practically difficult for cellular service providers to
obtain new physical cell site locations in urban
areas
IV. cell dragging: results from pedestrian users
that provide a very strong signal to the base
station

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Solution to problem II:

By using different antenna heights and different

power levels, it is possible to provide large and
small cells which are co-located at a single
location

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Handoff Time
First Generation
about 10 seconds
= order of 6 dB to 12 dB.
Second Generation
1 or 2 seconds
= 0 dB and 6 dB

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CDMA concept
CDMA provides a unique handoff capability that
cannot be provided with other wireless systems
Hard Handoff
Spread spectrum mobiles share the same channel in
every cell
Term handoff does not mean a physical change in
the assigned channel, but rather that a different base
station handles the radio communication task
Soft Handoff
The ability to select between the instantaneous
received signals from a variety of base stations

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Cells
Hexagonal cell shape has been universally adopted,
since it permits easy and manageable analysis of a
cellular system.
The actual radio coverage of a cell is determined
from field measurements or propagation prediction
models.
By using the hexagon geometry, the fewest number
of cells can cover a geographic region, and the
hexagon also closely approximates a circular
radiation pattern which would occur for an omnidirectional base station antenna and free space
propagation.

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Co-channel Interference
Cells which use same set of frequencies are
called co-channel cells
Interference between signals
of these cells is called
co-channel interference
How to minimize :
Co-channel cells must be physically separated by
a minimum distance to provide sufficient
isolation due to propagation.

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Co-channel Reuse Ratio

Defined as:
Q=D/R
R=major radius of hexagonal cell
D=distance between centers
of nearest co-channel cells
Q= 3N, where
N=cluster size
A small value of Q provides larger capacity since the
cluster size N is small
A large value of Q improves the transmission quality,
due to a smaller level of co-channel interference

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Transmit Power Constraint

The power transmitted by each base station needs to
be large enough to cover its own cell, but small
enough to not cause too much interference in the cochannel cells
As cells get smaller, transmit power is reduced
The cells can be made small enough to support any
user density
Macrocells
Microcells
Picocells

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Received Signal
The quality of received signal depends on two
factors
Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)
Signal-to-interference ratio (SIR)

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SNR
Ratio of received desired signal power over the
average noise power in the receiver

SNR can be improved by

Increasing the transmitted power
Decreasing the range
Using a better low noise amplifier (LNA)

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SIR
Ratio of received desired signal power over the
received interference power

If all base stations increase their transmitted

power by the same amount, the SIR doesnt
change

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Received Power
Received power Po at the receiver is computed
as:
ddes be the distance to the desired transmitter
do be a reference distance
Po be the power received at the reference
distance
n be the path loss exponent

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Worst case of SIR

The SIR is worst for a mobile on the edge of a
cell
If all base stations transmit equal power, SIR can
be expressed

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Adjacent Channel Interference

Interference resulting from signals which are
adjacent in frequency to the desired signal is called
adjacent channel interference.
Adjacent channel interference results from
imperfect receiver filters which allow nearby
frequencies to leak into the passband.

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Worst situation of adjacent channel interference

called as Near-far effect.
Nearfar effect
user is transmitting in very close range to a
subscribers receiver, while the receiver attempts
to receive a base station on the desired channel
How to minimize:
Through careful filtering
Channel assignments
Maximizing frequency separation between
channels in a given cell

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Trunking and Grade of Service

Trunking theory tells the size of a population
that can be served by a limited number of
servers with a specified grade of-service (GOS)
In the simple case, the GOS is the blocking
probability
Developed in the late 1800s by Erlang

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Common Terms Used in Trunking

Theory
Set-up Time: The time required to allocate a trunked radio channel
to a requesting user.
Blocked Call: Call which cannot be completed at time of request,
due to congestion. Also referred to as a lost call.
Holding Time: Average duration of a typical call. Denoted by H (in
seconds).
Traffic Intensity: Measure of channel time utilization, which is the
average channel occupancy measured in Erlangs. This is a
dimensionless quantity and may be used to measure the time
utilization of single or multiple channels. Denoted by A.
Load: Traffic intensity across the entire trunked radio system,
measured in Erlangs.
Grade of Service (GOS): A measure of congestion which is specified
as the probability of a call being blocked (for Erlang B), or the
probability of a call being delayed beyond a certain amount of time
(for Erlang C).
Request Rate: The average number of call requests per unit time.
Denoted by seconds1.

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Measuring Traffic Intensity

An Erlang is the average fraction of time
that a channel is occupied
One continuous call is an example of traffic
intensity of 1 Erlang
A channel that carries traffic only half the
time carries 0.5 Erlangs of traffic

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Single User vs. Total

Suppose each user generates a traffic intensity of
Au Erlangs
Suppose there are U users
Then the total traffic intensity in Erlangs is
A=AuU
Let be the rate of call requests per user.
Then the traffic intensity per user can be
expressed as
Au =H

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Channels
Each call requires a channel
One approach is to dedicate a channel to each
user
A users call request is never denied
A channel sits idle when its user is not making a
call
Not an efficient use of resources!

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Trunked System
Channels are pooled
No user has a fixed channel
A new user is assigned some channel from the
pool
When a call is finished, the channel is released
back into the pool

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Block Calls Cleared

In a Block Calls Cleared type of system, a call
request is simply denied if all channels in the
pool are in use
The blocked caller is free to make a new request
Mobile Cellular systems are Block Calls Cleared
systems

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Probability of Blocking
The GOS measure for Block Calls Cleared
systems is the probability that a users call
request is blocked
The Erlang B formula determines the blocking
probability, p, given a certain total offered
traffic intensity, A, and a certain number of
channels C in the pool
p=B( A,C)

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Assumptions
There are memory-less arrivals of requests
call can be made anytime
Probability of user occupying a channel is
exponentially distributed
Longer calls less likely
Finite number of channels are available

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Erlang B Formula

A is the total offered traffic

Because some calls are blocked, A is not the
traffic carried by the system

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Erlang B

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Blocked Calls Delayed

In a Blocked Calls Delayed system, if all
channels are busy, a new user goes into a queue
to wait for service
Private mobile radio (PMR) systems are often
the Blocked Calls Delayed type

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Erlang C Formula
The GOS is given by P(delay>t), where t is some
specified time limit, like 20 seconds

P(delay>0) shall be denoted C(A,N), and is

given by the Erlang C formula:

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Alternative Expression
C(A,N) can be expressed in terms of the blocking
probability B(A,N):

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Erlang C

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Full GOS Formula

The final expression for the GOS is

where H is the average call duration.

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Trunking efficiency
Measure of the number of users which can be
offered a particular GOS with a particular
configuration of fixed channels

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Summary
In Blocked Calls Cleared, if all channels are busy,
the new user is denied service
In Blocked Calls Delayed, if all channels are
busy, the new user waits for service
Erlang B is used for the former, Erlang C for the
latter

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Techniques for Improving

Coverage and Capacity in Cellular
Systems
1. Cell Splitting
2. Sectoring
3. Coverage Zone Approaches

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Cell Splitting
Process of subdividing a congested cell into
smaller cells
Reduces antenna height and transmitter power
Increases the capacity of a cellular system
By defining new cells which have a smaller
radius than the original cells and by installing
these smaller cells (called microcells) between
the existing cells, capacity increases due to the
additional number of channels per unit area

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This technique allows a system to grow by

. replacing large cells with smaller cells while not
upsetting the channel allocation scheme
required to maintain the minimum co-channel
reuse ratio Q between co-channel cells.

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Sectoring
The technique for decreasing co-channel
interference and thus increasing system
performance by using directional antennas is
called sectoring
The factor by which the co-channel interference
is reduced depends on the amount of sectoring
used

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Advantage:
Reduction in interference offered by sectoring
enable planners to reduce the cluster size N, and
provides an additional degree of freedom in
assigning channels

Disadvantage:
Sectoring reduces the coverage area of a particular
group of channels, the number of handoffs increases
Because sectoring uses more than one antenna per
base station, the available channels in the cell must
be subdivided and dedicated to a specific antenna.
This breaks up the available trunked channel pool
into several smaller pools, and decreases trunking
efficiency

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Repeaters for Range Extension

Radio re-transmitters used to provide range extension capabilities
Repeaters are bidirectional in nature
Repeaters work using over-the-air signals, so they may be installed
anywhere and are capable of repeating an entire cellular or PCS
band
Upon receiving signals from a base station forward link, the
repeater amplifies and reradiates the base station signals to the
specific coverage region
Directional antennas are connected to the inputs or outputs of
repeaters for localized spot coverage, particularly in tunnels or
buildings
Repeater does not add capacity to the systemit simply serves to
reradiate the base station signal into specific locations
Repeaters are increasingly being used to provide coverage into and
around buildings, where coverage has been traditionally weak

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A Microcell Zone Concept

In this scheme, each of the three (or possibly more)
zone sites are connected to a single base station and
share the same radio equipment.
The zones are connected by coaxial cable, fiber optic
cable, or microwave link to the base station.
Multiple zones and a single base station make up a
cell.
As a mobile travels within the cell, it is served by the
zone with the strongest signal.
This approach is superior to sectoring since
antennas are placed at the outer edges of the cell,
and any base station channel may be assigned to any
zone by the base station.

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Advantage :
. The cell maintains a particular coverage radius,
the co-channel interference in the cellular
system is reduced since a large central base
station is replaced by several lower powered
transmitters (zone transmitters) on the edges of
the cell.

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Questions

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